Wednesday

                          Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”

         John Keating/Robin Williams Dead Poets Society

This is from two years ago:

For breakfast: Two soft scrambled eggs liberally sprinkled with regular Tabasco, one biscuit opened and covered with tomato gravy also sprinkled with Tabasco, split and grilled kielbasa and lots of strong coffee. Tomato gravy at the Coffee Cup restaurant in Pensacola is regular milk gravy with Rotel tomatoes, thyme, one spice I could not identify (basil maybe) and a hint of Cayenne...it has the perfect wake-up bite for your palate.

Someone asked me why I put Tabasco on everything. It is because when I was stationed in Alaska in the USAF on occasion fresh eggs were not available and they served us powdered eggs. This concoction is not palatable unless something is added...I chose Tabasco and have been addicted ever since. I only use the traditional Tabasco like the Good Lord intended, that other stuff is a scam.

I recently told y'all about a trip from Greenville, SC to Medford, Or. The trip took me from Greenville to Houston to San Francisco and then to Medford. On the trip from Houston to San Francisco the plane was a Lockheed 1011 and I was in the the jump seat which is right behind the pilot but about a foot higher. I could see everything that was happening. There was a window right beside me that curled down under...I could see the ground directly under the aircraft...that was a little disconcerting. The pilot asked for and got permission to fly a route that would allow the passengers to see the Grand Canyon even though we were at 32,000 feet. Even then I could see the spectacular layering in that geological wonder. It was an extraordinary experience.

              This Date in History  April 12

1864 Two years earlier the United States infantry had captured Fort Pillow, a Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. The Union occupation forces numbered about 500 of which over 250 were black. On this date, CSA General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his 1,500 man cavalry encircled the Fort and demanded its surrender. The surrender offer was refused and Forrest ordered an attack. It was not much of a fight and was over in a matter on minutes with the Federal garrison being reduced by 2/3’s and the Confederates taking control of the Fort. Later on an investigation was made by the US army with testimony by the survivors. Most of the survivors testified that the black soldiers were not allowed to surrender and were shot almost to a man with their hands in the air. This testimony was denied by the Confederates present at the Battle and this controversy continues to this day.

1770 Earlier the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Townshend, imposed a tax on nearly everything coming into the colonies from paint to tea. This outrage was known as the Townshend Act. Not only that, he told the head of the Admiralty to enforce that tax collection by force of arms if necessary. There was almost an immediate hell-raising from the colonists, as you might suspect. In fact, they started yelling “Taxation without representation” and murmurs of war abounded. The colonists were pissed that they could be taxed by Great Britain at will when there was no one in Parliament to represent their interests. The resistance to this hated law became so hot that on this date Parliament trashed the whole thing. It did not help though, war came anyway.

1633 Earlier two of the finest minds on the planet, Galileo and Copernicus had determined that the earth was indeed in orbit around the Sun and had published their findings. After the invention of the telescope and the improvements made by Galileo, the heavens were opened up and it became obvious to both Copernicus and Galileo that the Earth was indeed orbiting the Sun. One of the facts that convinced both Copernicus and Galileo was that the planet Venus went through phases like the moon. The only way that could happen was if Venus was in orbit around the sun. Galileo had been warned about his then revolutionary thoughts even though great thinkers had known that the sun was the center of the “universe” for centuries but kept quiet because of the threat of inquisition by the Catholics. On this date, Galileo was convicted of “heresy” for opposing the Pope’s view of the Universe, all the facts and observations with a telescope be damned. He was condemned to exile in his estate in Tuscany and made to promise that he would not teach anymore “heresy”. There were writings and calculations that were smuggled out but one of the most brilliant minds ever to exist was smothered by religion. By the way, the Catholic Church finally admitted their error....300 years later.

1858 Earlier the Mormons in Utah had attacked a wagon train full of immigrants passing through. They had recruited some Ute Indians to help. The Utes were responsible for the killing of the women and the Mormons would take care of the men. The Mormons stopped the wagon train and told the leader that if the men would surrender their weapons the Mormons would escort them over into Idaho. After the men delivered their weapons the Mormons and the Utes opened fire and killed all but a few children. When news of this massacre reached President James Buchanan, he contacted the Mormon Governor and asked what he was going to do about this atrocity. All Buchanan got from the Governor was dancing around so on this date he sent Alfred Cummings, a non-Mormon, to be Governor and backed him up with a US Cavalry unit commanded by a no nonsense hard-ass and the perpetrators of the massacre were rounded up a put on trial. It would not have done for me to have been the judge at those trials.

1908 On this date a fire broke out in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, at the Boston Blacking Company. This company made glue that was used on shoe soles. After the fire got started the winds suddenly increased to over 50 MPH and the fire was out of control soon thereafter and headed toward the gigantic Standard Oil refinery. The Chelsea neighborhood was primarily one of immigrant Russian Jews and 12 were killed and 85 missing. The fire left 17,000 homeless. The wind died when the fire was just yards from the refinery and the Boston FD was able to extinguish it.

Born today:

1947 US novelist Tom Clancy. When asked the difference between truth and fiction he said “That is easy, fiction has to make sense.” The author of “Patriot Games” and other great novels is one of my favorites.

1981 US heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis. When asked if he was afraid to fight German heavyweight champion Max Schmmeling he said “Scared, yeah I am scared. I am scared I might kill him.”

1989 US revolutionary Abbie Hoffman. He said “The first thing you have to do as a revolutionary is get away with it.”

                 Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow