Wednesday

                     Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Everyone is entitled to my opinion.”

                      Madonna

A while back for breakfast I had two eggs soft scrambled with cheese, fried salmon patties, yellow grits, toast and strong coffee. You can't get that just anywhere.

I have started research of the most successful pirates in the western hemisphere. The most successful of all was a Chinese woman named Mrs. Cheng. This girl had about 600 ships and 17,000 troops. Here is the most successful pirate of the western hemisphere.

                     Bartholomew Roberts

There have been four pirates and/or “privateers” in the western hemisphere that have excelled at their craft. The difference between a pirate and a privateer is a pirate will attack any and all ships whereas a privateer is operating under the auspices of a particular nation and will only prey upon that nations enemies. In return the privateer will have safe passage in any of this nations harbors but must share a portion of the booty. Bartholomew Roberts was an out and out pirate. He was living a grinding existence on a British cargo ship when the ship was attacked and captured by pirate Howell Davis. Davis and Roberts were both Welshmen. After Davis threatened his life, Roberts agreed to join Davis' crew as navigator. A short while later Davis was killed during a land assault and the crew elected Roberts as captain because of his navigation skills. All pirate ships operated as a democracy. If they were not happy with the captain they had the authority to fire him and elect another one.

Roberts decided to establish his base of operations in the Cape Verde Islands off the tip of extreme western Africa. This way he could prey upon the Portuguese, French, Dutch and English slave ships heading south to the Ivory, Gold and Slave coast of Africa and then have another crack at them when they are northwest bound toward the Leeward Islands and the Bahamas loaded with slaves. On occasion he and his fleet could be found near the island of Tortola in the Leeward Islands preying on Spanish treasure ships.  Roberts captured and looted many ships and became a very wealthy man. On occasion he would keep one the ships he looted and transform it to fit his purposes. At one point he had four pirate ships in his fleet. He also was known as “Black Bart”. The English admiralty was desperate to stop Roberts. The Crown was losing millions due to his piracy and sent their one of their best marine commanders in Admiral Chaloner Ogle aboard the HMS Swallow to stop Roberts at any cost. He found Bartholomew Roberts during a raging thunderstorm aboard his flagship, the Royal Fortune, off the west coast of Africa near Cape Lopez. After Roberts spotted the Swallow he went below and changed clothes. He reappeared resplendent in a scarlet waist coat, scarlet pants, white stockings, a white blouse, a scarlet hat with a white egret feather and around his neck was a gold chain with a huge diamond encrusted gold cross.  He stood on the rail directing fire at the Swallow. A sniper on the Swallow found Roberts and he fell over the side into a stormy sea and was never seen again. He was 39 years old. The crew of the Royal Fortune surrendered and most were hanged and all that is left is the legend of Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts.

A Marine sergeant on Iwo Jima was assigned the duty as night guard of the Company CP (command post) during the first night of that infamous battle. Very shortly after taking his post a Japanese soldier attacked with his bayoneted rifle. The Marine was able to parry the attack and threw the Japanese soldier to the ground. The Japanese soldier pulled out a hand grenade and tried to throw it at the Marine. The Marine was able to wrestle the grenade from the Japanese but the pin had already been pulled. The Marine grabbed the soldier and initiated a “bear hug” holding the sputtering grenade against the soldier’s back. The grenade exploded taking the Marines hand and most of his arm with it. The Japanese was literally cut into. The Marine later said that just before the grenade exploded, he and the soldier were so close that they were touching noses and looking at each others eyes only inches apart. He said that the look on the soldier’s face stayed with him forever as did the smell of the soldier before and after the explosion and even the texture of his uniform.

In the battle for Fallujah, Iraq a US Green Beret unit led by a Captain Howell burst into a house known to be occupied by al-Qaeda insurgents. There was no lights in the building. Captain Howell entered a pitch black room and was struck on the left shoulder with a two by four which broke his collar bone. Howell grabbed the attacker with his good arm and finally was able to get his arm around his neck. He could not reach his knife because of the incapacitated left arm so he bit a chunk out of the man’s neck which included a piece of the jugular and held on until he bled out. He said the man’s mouth was just a couple of inches from his face and as he struggled to live he started yelling curses at the Captain Howell but at the last he was praying to Allah. Captain Howell said that the smell and feel of him and his struggles for life and even the taste of the man’s sweat will stay with him forever.

                This Date in History  March 1

1864 On this date the United States Congress chose to promote Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Lieutenant General effective on this date. Grant is an interesting study in success. He was born in Ohio in 1822. He graduated from West Point in 1843 an unimpressive 21^st out a class of 39. He was assigned to the western frontier and fought in the Mexican War. He resigned his commission and became a manger of a clothing store for several years in Ohio. After the attack on Fort Sumter Grant reenlisted and was given the rank of Colonel and assigned to the 21^st Illinois Brigade. In the fall of 1861 he was promoted to Brigadier General after he brilliantly captured the Confederate strongholds of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on the Tennessee River, which virtually gave the Union the control of the entire state of Tennessee. After a series of successes, and some failures, he was able to neutralize the city of Vicksburg which was a Confederate bastion on the Mississippi River giving the Union control of that great artery and the essentially split the Confederacy in half. After this he was brought back east to capture or destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, CSA General Robert E. Lee commanding. After a series of ferocious battles, Lee ran out of food and ammo and eventually surrendered to Grant in April of 1865. There were only two other three star Generals in the United States Army up to that time, they were Grant, Washington and Henry Halleck. Halleck’s rank was more an honorary one. He never was in command of a military unit in the field with that rank. Grant was the only commander of the Union military that understood his advantage over the Confederate Generals. He could afford to lose more men than the Confederacy. He had more cannon fodder. He was willing to sacrifice his men just so he could take out some of the Confederates knowing that they had few if any replacements. He fought a war of attrition and won.

           Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                         Musings and History

Quote of the day:

When speaking of Richard Nixon he said:

"He is a monument to all the rancid genes and broken chromosomes that corrupt the possibilities of the American Dream.”

                                     Hunter “Gonzo” Thompson

The astrophysicists worldwide are all agog because they have found a solar system with 7 planets orbiting a red dwarf sun. This means that some of the planets would fall into the “Goldilocks” category. It means that certain planets would be the right distance from the sun to allow the right range of temperatures and have the possibility of liquid water, both are necessities for life as we know it. They are also happy that the system is only 40 light years from Earth, a mere blink of the eye when it is compared with the size of the universe. A light year is the distance that light can travel in one year. The problem is the age of humans and time itself. Scientists know that we have not developed any means of propulsion that will allow acceleration to anywhere near the speed of light. Even if a method was conceived that would allow 1/10^th the speed of light it would take 400 years to get there and 400 back. 1/10^th the speed of light is about 67 million miles per hour, y'all. It also would take a hundred year to accelerate to that speed. Time is our enemy. We will have to figure out a way to make people live longer or put them into suspended animation otherwise there will be 5 generations to live and die aboard the spacecraft before it gets there. The length of time that a living being can be put into suspended animation is not known. Einstein said it is possible to manipulate the time/space continuum and travel in time but no one has yet figured out how. Until we solve these problems...we ain't going no where. Just remember this, light from those planets that we are seeing now is 40 years old. The planets and their sun may not be there any longer. If we send an electronic signal to them it will take 40 years to get there. It boggle the mind, y'all.

I was eating at a local buffet when a big crowd of people came in and they were clearly attendees of the Church of God. I knew that because my mother and father attended the same church. This church is one step forward of the Amish. The women wear no make-up, no finger nail or toe nail polish, their hair is always at least down to their shoulders, the men wear clothing that is out of style but that is their choice. Don’t get me wrong, they are fine people, they just have a different outlook on the world and what is good and what is bad.

This Date in History February 28

1784 On this date John Wesley established the first Methodist church in America in colonial Georgia. Wesley was a devout Anglican but after the defeat of the British during the American Revolutionary War the Anglican Church abandoned the United States and Wesley felt that he had to replace the Anglican Church so he devised the Methodical Anglicans or Methodists. While in Georgia he became involved with a religious sect mostly from Germany called the Moravians. This was a turning point in Wesley’s life because he admitted that for the first time that he felt the presence of God was at one of those meeting that he attended. While keeping touch with the Moravians he sought the advice of fellow Cambridge graduate George Whitefield. While at Cambridge Wesley and his brother Charles had founded the “Holy Club”. John Wesley’s teachings were not allowed in any Anglican Church so he preached out in the open and over a period of years he had gathered a large following. He finally realized that there had to be more evangelicals than himself along with an administrative staff. His only problem was that his new church had no bishops. He was still used to the Anglican way of things where a minister must be ordained by the”laying on of hands” by a bishop. So John decided that he would ordain the ministers himself and the first two were Dr. John Coke and Francis Asbury and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

1864 US Cavalry Commander Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and Colonel Ulrich Dahlgren are tasked with riding into Richmond and freeing the Union prisoners of war. It was Dahlgren’s job to release the prisoners while Kilpatrick provided cover. They had one additional job and that was to tell every Johnny Reb they met that President Lincoln had offered amnesty and restoration of property to those that would lay down their arms and swear allegiance to the United States. To provide a diversion two divisions of cavalry one led by General John Sedgwick and the other led by Colonel George A. Custer would made raid into the western parts of Virginia. On this date Sedgwick, Custer, Kilpatrick and Dahlgren parted company and went about their assignments. Dahlgren was supposed to approach Richmond from the west and Kilpatrick from the northwest. Kilpatrick arrived of March 1^st with CSA General Wade Hampton III and his howling, wild-eyed Confederate Cavalry hot on his tail. Kilpatrick knows he is danger of annihilation and turns his young ass back north which leaves Dahlgren cut off. In the mean time Dahlgren had hired a local guide to take his cavalry to the shallowest part of the James River for crossing into Richmond. The guide instead leads him to the deepest and swiftest current part of the river. The infuriated Dahlgren hanged the guide on the spot. Dahlgren had no choice but to backtrack out of there knowing the Confederates knew he was there. Not only that, by now he had found out that Kilpatrick had been routed and he was on his own. Dahlgren’s cavalry was ambushed time and time again on their way out and they were nearly cut to pieces. There is no record of a Confederate soldier taking Lincoln’s offer of amnesty and restoration. They were a hard-headed bunch.

1993 Earlier a squabble occurred between two people trying to organize the Mount Carmel Church. One of the squabblers was Vernon Howell who claimed to be God and therefore his children would be children of God. The other guy said that to prove who should lead the church would be the one that could dig up a corpse from a graveyard. Howell nixed that idea and in fact went to the police and told them that the other guy was out digging in graveyards. The police did not want anything to do with a religious disagreement. Finally, the two settle it the Christian way, they had a gun fight and Howell wins so it must be God’s will. Howell changed his name to David Koresh and called his church the Branch Dravidian. They then buy a compound outside Waco, Texas. One day a delivery man going to the compound drops a package and out rolls hand grenades. The deliveryman goes to the local police who then notified the Alcohol, Tax and Firearms division. Well, the ATF try to talk Davis Koresh into giving up his considerable stash of weapons and Koresh refuses saying he has the right to bear arms. On this date, the ATF organizes a raid of the compound in which 4 ATF agents are killed along with 6 of the faithful inside. The ATF back off and a two month siege ensues. Finally on one very windy day, a US Army tank rolled up to the buildings, poked its cannon through the wall and pumped in a hell of a lot of tear gas. The only problem here is that the tear gas canisters can, and very often do, cause a fire. The building caught fire and in that brisk wind it burns to the ground in minimum time killing 80 of the occupants, men, women and children. There were 11 that escaped the inferno. US Attorney General Janet Reno accepted full responsibility for the disaster because it was she that told the commander of the forces surrounding the compound to get it over with, “We have spent too much money on it already.” Indeed, Janet, indeed.

1881 A section of the US Great Plains had been occupied by Utes, Arapahoes and Cheyenne Indians with virtually no Anglos for centuries. Then gold was discovered near Pike’s Peak in what is now Colorado. Then one of many gold rushes was underway. The gold near Pike’s Peak played out early and so the gold seekers kept moving west to the Rocky Mountains and there they found more gold and silver. On this date, the US Government decided that a new state was needed and they took a piece of Kansas, Utah and New Mexico and came up with a rectangular state and called it the Territory of Colorado.

              Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                          Musing and History

Quote of the day:

“I went to a Pavarotti concert once. He doesn't like it when you join in.”

                                                 Mick Miller

I watch the movie “Invictus”. It as about the life of Nelson Mandela. He was released from prison after serving 27 years and elected as President of South Africa. Morgan Freeman deserved and Oscar for this one. Mandela said that there was a poem sustained him during the horrors of the time in prison. Here is that poem:

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeoning of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

William Earnest Henley

                    This Date in History   February 27

1776 Earlier the Royal Governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin, had ordered British Colonel Donald McLeod and 1,600 Loyalist soldiers to leave their encampment at Cross Creek, North Carolina and go to the North Carolina coastal town of Brunswick to rendezvous with another Loyalist unit. A 1,000 man Patriot force under the command of Colonel James Carswell decided to intercept the McLeod’s troops and prevent the meeting of the Loyalists. On this date the Patriots arrive ahead of the Loyalists coming from Cross Creek and prepare an ambush at the Moore’s Creek Bridge. Carswell arranges his artillery and troops evenly divided in the woods on either side of the bridge and wait. The Loyalists find out about the ambush but believing that it is just a small militia decide to cross the bridge anyway. So they gather at the bridge and yell “King George and broadswords” and begin running across the bridge only to be met with a hailstorm of musket balls and grape-shot from the Patriots. After only two salvos the Loyalists surrender. The planned gathering of a British/Loyalist army at Brunswick was cancelled and the British lost control of North Carolina. It was only two months later that North Carolina declared its independence from England. Josiah Martin knew he was in deep shit and departed the area. This was the first victory for the Patriots in an organized battle against the British/Loyalists. There is a monument and park there commemorating this great event

1827 Since the late 1600’s the French settlers in the New Orleans area had brought with them the tradition of the celebration of Carnival or Mardi Gras. It was mostly private parties at different homes. However, on this date a group of students that had been studying in France and enjoyed the celebration there, adorned themselves with costumes and masks and took to the streets of New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday. As you might expect, it became a tradition except there was no organization and therefore in the 1850’s the celebration degenerated into a series of drunken street fights. Then a rich land owner near New Orleans organized the Krewe of Comus and they organized the parade and the tradition of the people in the parade throwing gifts at the observers. After that, many “Krewes” have been organized and the celebration is much better. However, Hurricane Katrina put a severe crimp into Mardi Gras but this year the city fathers of New Orleans tell us that the attendance at this year’s Fat Tuesday was about 90% of pre-Katrina days. According to what I have read, tourism is the largest industry in that city. Maybe so, but there is a hell of a lot of boat and barge traffic going through there.

1991 Years earlier two brother, Artie and Jim Mitchell, opened a strip joint in San Francisco. The joint is a phenomenal success and the brothers become very rich. But in spite of that, they argue and fight frequently. When I say fight, I mean putting each other in the hospital on occasion. Then they decide to go into the porno film business when it was in its infancy. They being the first to make feature length porno movies made them both very, very rich but the fighting continued. On this date the 911 operator in Corte Madera, California gets an emergency call from Artie Mitchell saying he had been shot. In the back round there are heard 8 shots with a 30 second break between two of them. The police arrive and find Jim wandering around in the yard with a rifle in his hand. Jim is arrested and charged with the murder of Artie. The prosecution uses the 911 tape and reconstructs what they think happened during the 911 call and make an animated movie of it and introduces it into evidence. In spite of not knowing what shots that struck Artie was fire when, the judge allowed it. The defense attacked the movie as being imaginary and had no basis in fact. Because of the long history of the brothers fighting, the jury ruled that Artie was killed during yet another fight and the killing was not intentional. Jim went to jail for 6 years, believe it or not.

1942 America’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, is sunk by Japanese bombers with a little help from an American destroyer. The Langley was converted from a coal carrier named the “Jupiter” in 1922. On this date the Langley, with 32 War Hawk fighters aboard departed from its convoy headed for Java and the Dutch East Indies. The ship was supposed to rendezvous with a squadron of destroyers to accompany them to Java. The rendezvous was made and the destroyers strung out on both sides. The Langley asked for fighter cover but this early in the war none could be spared. When about 75 miles from Java, the Langley was attacked by nine Japanese bombers. The first three bombers missed but the second three hit their target and all the planes on the deck of the Langley were aflame. The ship began taking on water and began to list and the Captain ordered abandon ship. Because of the nearness of the destroyers, all but 12 crewmen were saved. One of the destroyers put two torpedoes in the Langley sent her to the bottom to keep her out of Japanese hands. The fighters on the deck of the Langley were the same type that was used by the immortal Flying Tigers.

1922 On this date the United States Supreme Court by a unanimous vote declared that the 19^th amendment to the Constitution allowing women to vote was indeed Constitutional. It had taken 70 years of meeting, petitions, rallies and marches to get this Amendment to even be introduced to Congress. On August 22 the state of Tennessee voted to adopt the amendment making it the required 75% and the 19^th Amendment took effect on August 28.

Born today:

1917 US Secretary of the Treasury John Connolly. When speaking of fellow Texan George H. Bush he said “All hat, no cattle.” Connolly felt that George H. was a pretender.

               Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                       Musings And History

Quote of the day:

“Being in politics is like being a football coach; you have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it is important.”

                                        Eugene McCarthy

One of my female subscribers complained about my prologues here lately. She said they needed more “bite” to them. These prologues should get the job done.

The TV series “Band of Brothers” was about the 101^st Airborne, “Easy” company in particular, part of the movie was about basic paratrooper training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia.

One of the obstacles that the trainees had to conquer was a nearby mountain named by the Creek Indians and called Currahee. All training units had to run up and down that mountain several times during their training curriculum. The running of that course was exceptionally grueling and the 101^st adopted the word Currahee as their motto.

A while back a member of the 101^st was wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq. It took off both legs and did something to his mind. He became essentially a zombie. He lay in bed, looking but not seeing, listening but not hearing, eating and drinking but not tasting, etc. His mother and father came to his bedside and were with him constantly getting no response.

This warrior was visited by General Petraus who was the commander of the 101^st at one point in his career. He spoke to the wounded man for several minutes to no avail. He turned to leave but at the last minute the General turned and said in a loud voice “CURRAHEE”...the warrior’s leg stumps began moving and soon he sat bolt upright in the bed and acknowledged those around him. A few weeks later General Petraus visited this man once again and they hugged each other amid an ocean of tears. A year later the warrior is moving around very well with artificial limbs and has recovered all of his communication skills. By the way, Currahee means “Stand alone” in Creek. God works in mysterious ways, y’all.

A while back I met an old friend that I had not seen in a couple of year and we got re-acquainted. He told me that his wife of 47 years had mysteriously died and he was at a loss as to how to live with the grief. He said that she knew the end was coming by the things she said and preparations she made. One morning she got up, showered and dressed for work. She told my friend that she was going to lay down on the couch and take a short nap before going to work. She never woke up. The doctors could not find a thing wrong with her except her heart just stopped. I did not pursue that because he got choked up talking about it. He said a little later on he was standing in the bathroom shaving when he saw his wife in the mirror standing behind him and she was radiant. He turned around and they hugged and he asked how she got there. She said that she was allowed this one visit and told him that it was time for him to get on with his life and stop grieving as best he could. He said he closed his eyes in tears and when he opened them she was gone. I do not know where reality lies here except that it certainly is real in the mind of my friend and that is all I need to know. God works in mys.....well, you know.

                 This Date in History   February 24

1836 On this date the commander of the Texas Militia, a South Carolinian named William Travis, sent out a plea for help to his embattled troops trapped in an old Spanish Mission named the Alamo in the city of San Antonio de Bexar, or San Antonio as it is known today. Colonel Travis sent a note to “The people of Texas” to come to the assistance of about 220 Militia along with volunteers under the command of Jim Bowie and another group under Davy Crockett. Travis sent his friend from the same area of South Carolina as he named James Bonham out carrying the message. Bonham was able to sneak out and sneak back in with 30 volunteers from Gonzales, Texas. But even with this help they were surrounded by a Mexican army of over 2,000 against a force of about 237 Patriots. Travis had ended the note he sent with Bonham stating those immortal words “victory or death”. The Mexican army under General Santa Anna kept tightening the noose and finally launched a night assault in early March and Santa Anna ordered “take no prisoners” and they stormed the Alamo and killed everyone to a man. The next encounter was the Texas Militia, commanded by Sam Houston, against Santa Anna southwest of Houston at a place called San Jacinto, but that is another story.

1981 On this date socialite Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower. Tarnower was the author of the bestselling book titled The Scarsdale Diet. Harris and Tarnower had been lovers/companions since 1966 in spite of the fact that Harris was the superintendent of a fancy-schmantzy girl’s school in Virginia. Tarnower was a notorious womanizer but in spite of that Harris helped Tarnower write his book. Tarnower had vaguely promised Harris that he would eventually marry the 56 year old Harris but never did, and then one day Harris found out that Tarnower was going to dump her for a younger woman. Harris, accompanied by a .32 caliber revolver, jumped into her car and headed for Tarnower’s house in Westchester County, New York. Upon arrival at Tarnower’s house Harris let herself in with her key, went upstairs to Tarnower’s bedroom and confronted him. Here is where things get a little fuzzy. Harris said she went up there to commit suicide and Tarnower tried to wrestle the gun away from her and it went off killing Tarnower making it an accident. The only problem was that Tarnower was shot four times in the abdomen at very close range with the wounds very close together. The jury did not buy the accident scenario and convicted Harris of first degree murder and gave her life in prison. Harris was a model prisoner and wrote a book about how women prisoners are treated titled “They Always Call Us Ladies”. Governor Mario Cuomo commuted her sentence in 1992 and upon her release she continued her campaign for better treatment of female prisoners. I have said it a million times, men have been putting up with rejection for centuries but if a woman gets rejected...look out. I have been asked why I say this and here is the answer. If you go to a dance, any dance, you will see men ask women to dance and get rejected and he just moves on to the next one. But if a woman asks a man to dance and he says no, the woman gets really pissed off and stalks away. I know what I am talking about here.

Born today:

1500 Roman Emperor Charles V. He said “Name me an emperor that has ever been struck by a cannonball.” Hey Chuck, don’t you know that old men start wars and young men fight them?

1940 Scottish soccer player Denis Law. He said “Whoever wins today wins the championship no matter who wins.” Denis, shut up.

        Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                      Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed often and for the same reason.”

                                             Harold Wilson

A while back an Oriental man flew into Sydney, Australia from Beijing to visit his girlfriend that he had broken up with the year before. She met him at the airport and took him to her apartment for a bite to eat. As you might suspect, she made some soup... Asians are big on soups. Without his knowledge, she loaded four sleeping pills into his soup and very soon he was taking a nap that was close to a coma. She took off all of his and her clothes and sat down straddle of his chest facing his head. She produced a butcher knife and stabbed him in the jaw just nicking the aorta and again in the upper arm. She then turned around facing his feet and exorcised any and all appendages below his crotch. She was not done yet. She remained seated until this man bled out and was arrested. I have heard that “hell hath no fury” statement before, but girl, lighten up, it had been a year for crying out loud. Now you are going to spend life without parole in the joint for premeditated murder, at least that is what it would be here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

84 year old Carol Knight was opening up her restaurant in Johnston, South Carolina (been there, farming community) when a 55 year old man that was a convicted sex offender walked into the restaurant and told Carol that this was a hold up. Carol made the mistake of not believing him and laughed. This enraged the intruder and he began beating the crap out of Carol yelling “give me the money”. Carol knew that she did not have a chance but she began fighting back the best she could. She took several blows that cost her black eyes and cut lips. I am sure she will heal physically, but not mentally. She still says that she has nightmares about the intruder. Eventually an employee came to work and saw the blood and called 911. The intruder was arrested and is spending much time in the Saluda County Jail with no bail available. I want all of you to close your eyes and imagine your mother or grandmother trying to scratch out a living with her restaurant in small town South Carolina and this happening to them. What would you do if you got to this animal first? I don’t want to think about it….yes I do.

            This Date in History   February 23

1778 On this date the Prussian Baron Frederich von Steuben joined General George Washington in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The Baron had been recommended by the French minister of war to Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, in turn recommends him to George Washington. Baron von Steuben was the son of a famous Prussian General and became an officer in the Prussian army himself at the age of 17. Frederich proved to be an able officer and distinguished himself in combat more than once and was promoted rapidly from the infantry to the general staff of the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great. For reasons unknown, after reaching the rank of captain he was discharged from the army. I might be able to shed some light on this event. He was a flaming homosexual albeit a brilliant military commander and would hold staff meeting on a regular basis that was attended by all the younger officers. Toward the end of the meeting the King would walk by and drop a handkerchief in one of his younger officer’s lap. This officer had the duty to stay an extra hour with the King after the meeting was ended. Perhaps Frederich von Steuben finally resisted the advances of the King, who knows. Anyway, almost immediately after arriving at Valley Forge he began intensive training of the troops emphasizing rock-hard discipline. He also educated the troops on simple hygiene. The American troops knew nothing about this and therefore many troops were lost to disease. He insisted that the latrines be on the opposite side of the camp than the eating facility. But in fact, the troops had no latrines at all; they just took care of business wherever they felt like it. Frederich also insisted that the latrines be on a down slope away form the camp. Eventually the American troops departed Valley Forge a proud and competent fighting machine. Frederich did not speak English but did speak French so Alexander Hamilton and Nathaniel Greene interpreted his French into English. He authored a handbook for the American military parts of which are still in use to this day. The arrival of this man into the America army was none too soon. The American army had been having its ass handed to it for two years and the morale was very low. But now the pendulum began to swing the other way and our independence was finally on the horizon.

1940 After years on the back roads and railroads of America during the grinding depression of the 1930’s, on this date Woody Guthrie wrote the song This Land is Your Land. Woody was born in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1912. When the depression came in 1929, Woody and millions of others hit the road looking for work and whatever they could find to stay alive. It was during this time that Woody wrote many, many songs about the poor and downtrodden during this trying time. In 1937 he went to California to try to become a country/western singing star. He appeared on a few radio programs singing traditional folk songs. But eventually he was able to do some of his own songs and that put him on the charts. He became the chronicler of the people that had been through the depression and his words and music showed that he had been there and done that. His success took him to New York City but WWII broke out and his career was put on hold while he was in the Merchant Marine. After the war he returned to NYC and tried to resurrect his career and again he was on his way up when in 1954 he was struck down with Huntington’s disease. This was the same illness that took his mother’s life. While bedridden he was visited by many musicians among which was Bob Dylan. Woody died in 1967 in New York City and was cremated with his ashes being spread across New York City. His home town of Okemah, Oklahoma put up a headstone with his name on it anyway. Many have tried to copy Woody’s style and music, few if any have succeeded.

Born today:

1824 US writer George William Curtis. He said about one of his rivals “He is so old his blood type has been discontinued.” I am A+ and don’t y'all forget it.

1914 US actor Zachary Scott. He said “As you grow older the only things you regret is the things you didn’t do.” This is why I am burning the candle at both ends, y’all.

1928 US writer Michael Harrington. He said “Clothes make the poor invisible. America has the best dressed poverty the world has ever known.” I have never thought of that. Get picture in your mind of the people in poverty in India and how they dress.

Died today:

1998 US comic Henny Youngman. He said “I read where drinking shortens your life, so I gave up reading.” I miss Henny...George Burns too.

           Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow         

Wednesday

                          Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Holding anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

                                                     Buddha

A while back investigations by federal and local authorities led them to raid a house in a quiet community in a middle income neighborhood in Charlotte, NC yielded 400 pounds of pot and $1 million in cash. Five Latinos were arrested on site three of which were illegal aliens from Mexico. The liberals would just say “They are here just trying to make a better life.” BTW...If they had escaped and made their way to a “sanctuary” could law enforcement go in after them?

Last Friday a 37 year old woman over in Gastonia, NC rammed a police cruiser and kept going like nothing had happened. The cops finally got her stopped and tested her for alcohol and then arrested her for DWI. The cops knew this girl by her first name; this was her seventh arrest for DUI. The cops knew that her license had been revoked long ago and asked her where she got the car. She said that she took her husband’s car without his knowledge...for a trip to the liquor store.

           This Date in History   February 22

1777 On this date Georgia heavyweight politico Archibald Bulloch is found dead under mysterious circumstances. The ongoing opinion was that he was poisoned. Bulloch was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1730 to a minister father named James, and a Puritan mother named Jean. Bulloch was educated at the College of South Carolina Law School (present day University of South Carolina) and opened a law practice in Charleston. In 1764 Bulloch moved to Savannah, Georgia and married Mary De Veaux, the daughter of a powerful judge and landowner. Bulloch began dabbling politics and was elected to the Georgia Commons House of Assembly in 1768 and eventually into the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1776 when it became obvious that Georgia would be invaded by the British, Bulloch was elected 1^st President and commander of the Georgia Militia and gave him essentially Carte Blanche to do what he wanted to combat the English invaders. He was given what were essentially dictatorial powers. It was soon thereafter he showed up dead. The reason and cause of his death was never determined. Bulloch was the great-great-grandfather of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy named his first son Archibald in honor of his ancestor. Bulloch County, Georgia is also named in his honor.

1819 Finally the disposition of the lands in Florida is determined on this date. Spanish Minister Don Luis du Onis met with American minister John Quincy Adams and signed over Florida to the United States. The United States received these lands just for the debts owed by Spanish to the settlers. Spain had a claim on Florida ever since the days of Pensacola and Saint Augustine settlements in the 16^th century.

By the way, Saint Augustine is advertised as the oldest continuously occupied European city in the USA. It was founded in 1565. Pensacola was founded in 1559 but a hurricane came three years later and the city was destroyed and the site abandoned.

1847 The United States and Mexico had been squabbling over the ownership of Texas for several years. Finally, President James K, Polk who believed heavily in western expansion for the United States sends the US Army into Mexico. A 15,000 man Mexican army commanded by General Santa Anna meets up with the recently landed 5,000 man America army commanded by General Zachary Taylor at Angostura Pass and the first day of the Battle of Buena Vista began. Santa Anna sent over an emissary under a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the Americans. In typical Taylor fashion he responded with “Tell the son-of–a-bitch to go to hell.” Santa Anna began a two pronged attack on Taylor’s position. Taylor organized the greater majority of his artillery onto one of the prongs. One of the commanders of an artillery unit was “Stonewall” Jackson. Taylor then sent Colonel Jefferson Davis and his hawk-eyed Mississippi sharpshooters to attack the other prong. We all recognize Jefferson Davis as later on being the President of the Confederacy. The American artillery on the left flank and the sharpshooters on the right flank lay down a blistering fusillade and Santa Anna decided to retreat. Apparently Santa Anna did not learn his lesson because he again confronted Zachary “Old Rough and Ready” Taylor at the Battle of Monterrey and has his ass handed to him even though he had Taylor outnumbered. In 1848 Zachary Taylor running as a Whig defeated the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

2006 On this date the largest robbery in the history of Great Britain occurs at the Kent bank depot. This evening two men dressed as policemen grab Securitis Bank president Colin Dixon as he was leaving the bank and persuade him to get into the car with them. They then drive to Dixon’s home and kidnap his wife and son and drive to a remote barn and a third person takes the wife and child into the barn and then reassured Colin Dixon that they would kill his wife and child if he did not cooperate. They go back to the bank and Dixon leads the other two through the bank’s security system and the two robbers tied up and gagged 14 other bank employees. They then load 53 million pounds into a van and drive away. The take was the equivalent of about 107 million US Dollars. Eventually one of the banks workers got loose and notified the police. The police put out a net for the robbers but to no avail because most of the loot was in used bills. The bank put out a reward of 2 million pounds with no takers. There were a few people arrested but they were all released. The police were able to recover only 20 million pounds but the majority of the loot is still out there.

1942 Things did not look good for the allied forces in the Philippines. The Japanese were running rampant across the Island of Luzon and were forcing the American army into a smaller and smaller perimeter ending up on the Bataan Peninsula. At this point the Commander of the American forces, General Douglas McArthur, was ordered out of the Philippines by the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt. McArthur hesitated at first as he was prepared to fight to the last with his troops but on this date he conceded and boarded a PT-boat and was taken to New Guinea and eventually Australia where he began planning his return.

Born today:

1732 George Washington...The father of our country...I do not believe he was here at this point in time by accident.

1857 Robert Baden-Powell...The founder of the Boy Scouts...He said “A Scout always smiles and whistles no matter the circumstances.” Obviously Mr. Baden-Powell had never been involved in a divorce action.

1892 Edna St. Vincent Millay...American writer...She said “It is not true that life is one damn thing after another, it is the same damn thing over and over.” Obviously Ms. Millay has been involved in at least one divorce action.

1900 Luis Bunuel...Mexican film maker...He said “Thank God, I am still an atheist” No comment.

             Thanks for listening  I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                        Musings and History

Quote of the day:

When speaking of a political opponent he said “He has the demeanor of an Easter Island statue with an ass full of razor blades.”

                                               Harold McMillan

Here is a brief resume' on a true genius.

1633 Incredible as this may seem, one of the most brilliant men in history, Galileo, is called to Rome to be censured because he is teaching astrophysics that is adverse to what Pope Urban VIII and the Catholic Church believes. I am going to paraphrase that. He was subject to torture because he did not teach what the Church wanted to hear. His crime was that he read a thesis by a Polish astronomer named Copernicus who proved to Galileo’s satisfaction that the earth orbited the sun rather than the sun orbited the earth as the Catholic Church believed. Not only that Galileo had secured himself a telescope and did indeed prove to himself that Copernicus was correct. What we have here is the Catholic Church making policy in the scientific arena without making even one observation. Galileo could not believe that God would give mankind the power of reasoning and then not allow him to use it and continued to teach the Copernican theory until a member of the church hierarchy came by and threatened him with torture and told him that he had better get his young ass to Rome because Pope Urban was really pissed at his disobedience. So Galileo went to Rome and was faced with a triumvirate of Catholic Church members who spare him from torture if he would recant his teachings and would accept being exiled to his villa in central Italy for the rest of his life. He took the exile but his writings and those of Copernicus prevail to this day. Galileo died on January 6, 1642 being part of an era of discovery never before equaled in history. By the way, it took the Catholic Church 300 years to admit that Copernicus and Galileo were right.

A while back Mel Gibson’s ex-wife agreed to a $16 million divorce settlement after it was found that my man Mel had ranted an anti-Semitic tirade in public that was caught on tape. Later on she reneged on that agreement stating that it wasn’t sufficient. I don’t want to say that she is undeserving because she is the mother of one of Mel’s kids but for crying out loud, $16 MILLION?

Chopper builder Jesse James and his wife du jour Sandra Bullock split up and so did Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson. Y’all will have to admit that Sandra and Scarlett are two of the best looking women on the planet and it seems that is not enough. Jesse was caught having an affair and Sandra left and the same with Ryan Reynolds. I don’t get it. A few months later Jesse was seen with his new squeeze. This girl looks just like a woman I met at Richard’s biker bar in Mount Pleasant, SC. The only difference was that the girl at Richard’s had on biker boots, leather chaps, lace bikini panties and a bra, but I don’t think that Jesse’s new squeeze had on the bikini panties.

                            This Date in History February 21

1777 Earlier George Washington was involved in the French and Indian War and had a man named George Weedon that served as a lieutenant under his command during the war. Weedon was an innkeeper in Fredericksburg, Virginia and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775 Washington sought out the services of Weedon. He was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and assigned to the regiment of General Hugh Mercer. In August 1776, Weedon was promoted to Colonel and given command of the 3^rd Virginia Regiment. Weedon was with George Washington at battles in New York and New Jersey including Trenton, Brandywine and Germantown. He also commanded Pennsylvania and Virginia regiments in General Nathaniel Greene’s division at Valley Forge. In 1778 Weedon resigns because a rival named William Woodford was promoted to a position superior to him. Woodford was also a fighter under Washington during the French and Indian War. Weedon did not abandon his country however; he took command of a Virginia militia unit and continued fighting separate from the Continental Army. Weedon was present with his militia at the immortal Battle of Yorktown. His rival, William Woodford, was captured by the British during the siege of Charleston and died in captivity in1780. George Weedon lived to see his country as an independent nation thanks in part to him and others like him. Weedon was a meticulous records keeper and his invaluable notes and orders which he kept while encamped at Valley Forge are in possession of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.

Quotable Quotes:

“There is nothing more responsible for the good old days as a bad memory.”

F.P. Adams

“I do not hate men. I think men are a terrific concept.”

Jo Brand

“When trying to describe modern man in one sentence it would be: He fornicated and read the paper.”

Madonna

“The act of sex, as gratifying as it may be, is God’s joke on man. It is man’s last desperate attempt at supremacy.”

Bette Davis

I love men, even if they are lying, cheating scumbags.”

Gwyneth Paltrow

“Money isn’t everything but it ranks right up there with oxygen.”

Rita Davenport

“Money isn’t everything but it sure helps keep you in touch with your children.”

J. Paul Getty

                Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                             Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“I was arguing with my son and said 'One day you will have kids of your own' and he said 'So will you.'”

                                             Rodney Dangerfield

Reasons why I know I am here for reason:

While in Alaska I was wading across a muskeg (swamp) wearing hip waders headed to a small steam that I thought would have some trout or grayling (type of trout). The water in the muskeg was about 3 inches below the top of the waders meaning if the waders filled with water there is no question there is a good chance I would drown. All I had with me was a fly rod and a box of flies. I got almost to the stream which was about 40 yards from dry land when a gigantic cow moose charged out of a patch of woods to my left headed straight for me. She probably had a calf close by. She was so tall and her legs were so long that the water depth meant nothing. She could have stomped me into tapioca if she wanted to. All I could do was yell, call her bad names and wave my fly rod at her. I stood my ground because I knew I could not reach dry land successfully. She stopped about 20 yards from me, snorted a time or two and retreated back into the woods. I could have been easily stomped to death or drowned...but I wasn't. This is reason number 1, more to follow in future editions.

                This Date in History   February 20

1985   Up until 1979 Irish law prohibited the importation and sale of contraceptives because the Catholic Church disapproved. I will paraphrase that. The Catholic Church wanted to go into the Irish bedrooms and tell them how to have sex. In 1979 the Irish Supreme Court ruled that the use of contraceptives fell under purview of privacy and was not a matter for the clergy to determine. The Catholic hierarchy in Ireland about peed their pants because the weight of the opinion of the Catholic Church was paramount in Ireland and with this ruling by the Irish Supreme Court the Church saw their power, influence and possibly a hell of a lot of money going down the toilet. But the sale and use of contraceptives still had a string attached. Contraceptives could only be distributed by a licensed pharmacist and only to those with a prescription from a licensed physician. And that is the way is stayed until this date when the Irish lawmakers shook off the shackles of the Catholic Church and on this date passed a law stating that it was up to anyone’s choice as to the use of contraceptives, prescriptions not withstanding. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I am free at last.

1725   On this date a posse from New Hampshire happened upon a group of Indians that they had been tracking and decided that they would try the Native American custom of “scalping”. The posse killed 10 of them and crudely scalped them. They brought the scalps back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony where they received 10 pounds sterling for each scalp. The act of scalping was not peculiar to the American Indian. Scalping had been practiced in Europe and Asia since before recorded history. In European, Asian and American Indian history it was believed that you gained the other person’s courage by taking his/her scalp. But as you might expect, this act by this posse set off a bloodbath of scalping between the Indians and the settlers that continued for generations.

1864   Earlier US General Quincy Gilmore had sent US General Truman Seymour and an army of 5,000 from Jacksonville, Florida to capture the rail yard at Lake City, Florida, about 60 miles west. Right behind Seymour was President Lincoln’s secretary John Hay trying to get some of the Floridians to sign and oath of allegiance to the Union and persuade them to come to the next Republican Convention so they could vote for Lincoln as the presidential candidate. He wasn’t having much luck then the US army ran across a Confederate army of 500 led by CSA General Joseph Finegan at the little crossroad town of Olustee. Seymour immediately attacked seeing that he had the Confederates greatly outnumbered. Finegan and company were able to hold their ground but were running out of ammo. Previously Finegan had sent for reinforcements and ammo and at the last minute the ammo and the reinforcements arrived and the forces were about equal at that point. After this it was no contest. The Confederates delivered a severe ass-kicking and Seymour and his army shuttled their asses back to Jacksonville. Secretary Hay gave up on recruiting any Floridians and the state stayed under Confederate control for the remainder of the war. The US army suffered 1,800 casualties to the CSA’s 900.

1974   A couple of days before this the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, Reg Murphy had been contacted by a man named William Williams who promised Murphy that he would contribute 300,000 gallons of heating oil for the poor if he would meet him and make the deal front page news. Murphy agreed and met with Williams whereupon Williams pulled out a revolver and kidnapped Murphy. Williams wanted a ransom of $700,000 to be used by an extreme right wing militia. Williams had him and Murphy riding around Atlanta awaiting the results of his ransom demand. The second in command on the newspaper, G. James Minton rounded up the $700,000 delivered it to the pick-up point and Murphy was released. In a matter of hours the Atlanta PD was knocking of William’s door and he was arrested and the money recovered. He was originally sentenced to 40 years but he was tried again in federal court because of the kidnapping and was given 50 years. He was released after serving 9 years, believe it or not.

1950   On this date one of the most gifted poets of all time arrived in the United States to go on a reading tour. The Welshman Dylan Thomas began his reading tour with blockbuster reviews. This man was truly gifted. Before coming to the US he had published a book titled 18 Poems in 1934 and then 25 Poems in 1936. Dylan’s shortcoming was that a very heavy drinker. He met a young woman named Caitlin McNamara in a London Bar. Dylan was smitten and began to court Caitlin. Caitlin was not enamored with Dylan at first but after she heard him read his poetry in his rich and resonant Welsh voice, she was also smitten and they married. They had issue of three children. The only problem with this union was that Caitlin could hang with Dylan drink for drink and they spent many a foggy night together. In August of 1953 Dylan visits the White Horse Bar on Hudson Street in New York City and knocked back 17 shots of Scotch and walked out on the sidewalk and promptly dropped dead. He was 39 years old. What a damned shame and a waste of talent. Caitlin never forgave him for that.

1942   Earlier the USS Lexington, a United States aircraft carrier, had departed Bougainville in the Marshall Islands headed for the Japanese Island stronghold of Rabaul. This was supposed to be surprise attack but somehow the Japanese got wind of the pending attack and sent a squadron of bombers to intercept the Lexington. The Lexington picked up the oncoming bombers on radar and sent a squadron of F-4-F Wildcats led by Lieutenant Edward O’Hare to intercept the bombers. In the span of four minutes Lieutenant O’Hare shot down five of the bombers making him an ace. Not only was he an ace he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on this day. The O’Hare airport near Chicago is named for him. After this action the Lexington knew they had lost the element of surprise and retreated back to Bougainville. BTW, Lieutenant O'Hare's father was a capo in the Mafia. It just goes to show you...

Born today:

1924   US heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. She said “The fame you earn is a lot different that the fame that is thrust upon you.”

           Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow