Thursday

                   Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“My wife and I decided that we were in love, but it turned out to be benign.”

                                           Woody Allen

A while back I went to a local diner for breakfast. I got there about 8:30a. By 9 o'clock there were 10 old men sitting at two table pulled together. They obviously knew each other and it was a planned meeting. All they could talk about was how bad Clemson was going to beat Bama and how bad their physical problems were. They were the garden variety grumpy old men. They walked, talked and looked like old men. I was probably the oldest one in there and I was not acting that way. I got so disgusted that I sneered at them, griped at my server James about the grits being of good taste but too lumpy, said “Roll Tide” and tottered out the door limping a little because of my left hip. That reminds me, my hip ain't all that is wrong with me let me tell you about it. I went to the doctor the other day and.........

This Date in History January 26

1950 On this date after years of hassling with the British, India passed its own Constitution and became an independent nation. Indian religious leader Mahatma Gandhi had been leading the fight for independence for decades and he finally succeeded. But before all of this came to pass, religious differences between the Hindus and the Muslims raised it ugly head. To settle this problem the British Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, declared that the country would be partitioned with the Muslims going to Pakistan and the Hindus to India. This seemed like a perfect plan but the Muslims and the Hindus still fought vicious battles where thousands were killed, including Mahatma Gandhi. He was a Hindu and was assassinated by another Hindu because Gandhi accepted the partition in the interest of peace. You can say what you want but the most bloody and vicious wars ever fought were in the interest of one or more religion against another. Remember the Crusades?

1863 After the disastrous tenure of US General Ambrose Burnside in command of the Army of the Potomac and his subsequent removal, on this date US General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker takes command. Hooker knew that the morale of the Army of the Potomac was at its lowest ebb and he needed to do something to restore pride. He allowed each regiment to design and wear their own “badge” or shoulder patch hoping this would have an effect. Hooker was a West Point graduate and participated in the Seminole War. When the Civil War broke out he was given the rank of Brigadier General and given command of a Division in the Army of the Potomac. Speaking of command, Abe Lincoln had been having a hell of a time finding a commander that could defeat Robert E. Lee. This was a tall order for anyone. Lincoln had gone through Generals Irwin McDowell, George McClellan, John Pope, McClellan again, Ambrose Burnside and now Joseph Hooker, none of which had been successful against Bobby Lee but Hooker had his chance coming. Hooker had two faults: women and whiskey. In fact he allowed prostitutes to follow his army around and that is where the word “hooker” to identify prostitutes came from. In May of this year Joe Hooker got his chance against Bobby Lee in an engagement near the small Virginia village of Chancellorsville. Hooker had a good plan and by dark of this fateful day he had the Army of Northern Virginia caught in a pincer movement. But “Fighting Joe” had not planned on the tactics of Lee and the brilliance of “Stonewall” Jackson. Jackson led his division on a forced night march around the right flank of Hooker’s army. The next evening while the Union troops on the right flank were cooking their suppers, all of a sudden deer, rabbits and all types of game came running out of the woods behind them and right behind the animals came Jackson’s wild-eyed screaming Confederates and those stunned Yankees got up and ran without even stopping to gather their weapons and put out their camp fires. Hooker had the Army of Northern Virginia outnumbered by at least two to one but was routed by Bobby Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Thus was the beginning of the end of the legend of “Fighting Joe”.

1936 On This date the dismembered corpse of Frances Portillo was found with the head in a basket and the remainder of the various parts stuffed into burlap sacks in Cleveland, Ohio. This was not the first nor would it be the last. The killings and dismemberment continued until the number reached double digits. Needless to say the Cleveland PD was frantic to find the “Mad Butcher”. The corpses had been dissected with precision and therefore the PD began looking for a real butcher. The arrested a butcher named Frank Dolezal and interrogated him for 40 straight hours until he confessed to killing Frances Portillo. Frank committed suicide in his cell soon thereafter. Very few of the people of Cleveland believed that Frank Dolezal was the actual “Mad Butcher” and that the real killer was a well heeled and well connected member of the community. The Cleveland PD chose to destroy any and all records about these crimes and the killings stopped after the suicide of Dolezal. But the actual identity of the “Mad Butcher” is unknown to this day.

Born today:

1715 French philosopher Claude Helvetius. He said “To limit the press is an insult to a nation; to prohibit the reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants either fool or slaves.” A short while ago a church in a small town outside of Greenville, SC threatened to picket the local library to remove the legendary novel Catcher in the Rye from the shelves as being immoral because it mentions masturbation. They library complied but kept the book available but you had to ask for it. There is no need for me to tell you what my response to that bullshit was. There is nothing more immoral on the planet than to tell someone what they can or cannot read. That is nothing but an attempt at mind control. I had forgotten why I don’t attend organized religions, after this, I remember.

Born today:

1918 US writer Phillip Farmer. He said “The universe is a big place, maybe the biggest.” Phillip, shut up.

1925 US actor Paul Newman. Paul has a side business of different salad dressings and once said “It is embarrassing to know that my salad dressings are out grossing my movies.” Paul donates all of the profits from his salad dressings to charity. He is no longer with us. He had been married to actress Joanne Woodward since 1958.

1961 Canadian ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky. He said “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.” I have a friend in Charlotte that said “80% of all the golf balls that you do not putt hard enough don’t go in the hole.”

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorro