Wednesday

                     Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“The trouble with jogging is that the olive keeps bouncing out of your martini glass.”

                                            Martin Mull

I saw "Hell or High Water" today. It is a damn good movie starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gill Birmingham and Buck Taylor among others. Buck Taylor sounded familiar so I looked him up. He was the blacksmith on the "Gunsmoke" TV series. Anyway, it is worth your while to see. It takes place is west Texas in towns like Childress and Vernon. I spent some time in that area and it is flat and treeless. The locals said "In the winter time there is nothing between us and the North Pole but barbed wire fence."

I saw an obviously ignorant but well known news analyst on a program a few days ago. The moderator pointed out that some of the changes that he suggests are clearly a violation of several Bill of Rights Amendments and promotes the change from a democratic republic form of government that we now have as described in the US Constitution. The US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the two most important documents in the history of western man. This jackass said that the Constitution was out of date and hard to understand and should be abolished and another form of government examined. I cannot tell you how outraged I was. I had to go take another high blood pressure pill and another Lexapro. I thought I had control of my temper a lot better lately, I was wrong. A group of very intelligent men and women got together and hammered out a way to live in freedom and guaranteed it with the Bill of Rights and this jackass want to change it because it is adverse to what he wants. I will tell y’all something in metaphor. This great ship of State known as The United States was carved out of the bones of our ancestors and is afloat on a sea of their blood from the deep past and present day military heroes that die every day in YOUR behalf to preserve YOUR freedom. All of this is glued together with a love and faith of our founding fathers and the faith and love we have for each other. We all sail along on this ship designed by Thomas Jefferson and friends. Then some arrogant jackass says that the Constitution should be trashed. He should go read any Medal of Honor citation and find out what being an American is all about because he certainly is not. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the most treasured documents ever written and will stay that way as long as this old, grey-haired Patriot is alive. It makes me teary eyed to think on it. Don't test me.

I don't get it, y'all. I and all of my friends and family on both sides had firearms readily accessible. I got a .22 rifle (Remington, single shot, bolt action) for Christmas when I was 13 but I frequently went hunting with my father's shotgun (Stevens 12 ga. single shot, breech load). Even when I was in the Air Force in Alaska I could go check out a shotgun (Ithaca 3” 12 ga. pump for ducks and geese), pistol (S&W .357 mag. 6 shot revolver, at the time required by law in Alaska when hunting) and a high powered rifle (Winchester Model 70 30.06 w/4x Weaver scope) anytime I wanted. Neither I nor anyone I know ever considered shooting anyone.

The guns haven't changed...people have. I could offer a multitude of opinions about what has happened to the American personae when it comes to weapons but you can't legislate morality, that is learned at home. That, my friends, is where the problem lies.

Recently a grandfather down in McCormick, South Carolina gave his granddaughter a dog. Later on the dog attacked the 9 year old girl and killed her with a bite to the throat. The dog was an Akita, a dog that originated in Japan and was bred for fighting and as a guard dog. This dog is renowned for its viciousness and willingness to attack without provocation. Not a good animal for a nine year old.

       This Date in History January 25

1945 On this date, after a stiff fight the Russian army broke through the German defenses near Auschwitz, Poland. What they found here was evidence of the most cruel and inhumane treatment of human beings yet recorded. It was a death camp of unimaginable proportions. There were three main camps, I, II and III with 8 other “satellite” camps. This camp had but one purpose and that was killing of human beings. The Russians discovered ovens with human remains still inside smoking, metal buildings with an opening for the insertion of poison gas. The German’s used Cyklon B gas. It was an insecticide and easy and cheap to make, the down side was that it did not kill quickly meaning that the people that were put inside those buildings knew after a short while that they were being poisoned and fought and struggled for life. The Russians found 645 corpses and 7,000 walking skeletons who told them that the guards found out that the Russians were close and they began killing all that they could until they ran out of ammo and then they began blowing up the crematoria and death buildings. The Russians also found three warehouses that were stacked to the top with women’s dresses, men’s suits and shoes that the German’s did not have a chance to destroy. And finally they discover the laboratories and journals of Dr. Josef Mengele. This monster performed inconceivably cruel and inhuman medical experiments on the prisoners, especially children. There are many records of what this animal did to others but I will not describe them now. But I can tell you that when the Russian army left Auschwitz, they had lost all mercy and remorse for any and all Germans and killed all they found, man, woman, children, dogs, cats, geese, ducks, etc...They intended to wipe the slate clean of Germans. When one particular Russian tank crew entered Berlin they were confronted by an antitank gun manned by seven Germans no older than 14. The Russians destroyed the German crew and repeatedly ran back and forth across the corpses with their tank until there was nothing there that could be identified as human. Hate and no remorse, all wars depend on it.

1905 About noon of this day, the supervisor of the Premier Diamond Mine in South Africa in making an inspection and stops briefly and notices something sticking out of the wall above his head. He pulls out the largest diamond ever found. It is a 3,160 carat monster that was named the Star of Africa. The diamond is sent to the greatest diamond cutter in the world in Amsterdam for cutting and polishing. The cutter examines the stone for six months before making the first cut. When he decides where the cut will be made, he has a doctor standing by in case he makes a wrong cut and shatters the stone. He is successful and he produces two gigantic polished stone that are now in the Tower of London as part of the British National Treasury. There were hundreds of smaller stones also that made the Star of Africa the most valuable gem ever found.

Born today:

1759 Scottish poet Robert Burns. He said “There is nothing more uncertain as a sure thing.” Obviously Robert has been to a horse track.

1882 English writer Virginia Woolf. She said “On the outskirts of every agony sits some observant fellow who points.”

1950 US writer Gloria Naylor. She said “I don’t believe life is supposed to make you feel good, or make you feel miserable either. Life is just supposed to make you feel.” This sounds like a person I know in Black Mountain, NC.

         Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow