Tuesday

                         Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Finding Nemo was the number on hit at the box office. It was based on a game President Clinton used to play with the White House interns. “

                                            David Letterman

Here is a short bio of a madman:

1997 The body of 45 year old cemetery caretaker William Reese of Pennsville, New Jersey was found dead shot in the head with a Golden Saber .38 pistol. It was found that the murderer was Andrew Cunanan who killed Reese just for his pick-up truck. Cunanan was in the middle of a murder spree that began on the American west coast with Reese being the fourth victim. Cunanan was a homosexual that serviced elderly and wealthy homosexuals across the country. On the way to New Jersey he had killed three other homosexuals for reasons known only to him. Cunanan was featured of the famous TV show America’s Most Wanted several times. He spent a few days in New York City in Greenwich Village before heading to Miami. There he stalked the famous clothing designer Gianni Versace and on July 15 caught Versace on the front steps of his Miami mansion and blew his brains out. The police began scouring the countryside for the murderer believing that it was probably Cunanan. During the search, a caretaker at a Miami marina called the cops and told them that someone had broken into a houseboat moored at the marina. The Miami PD surrounded the houseboat and demanded anyone inside to come out. No one came out and finally a SWAT went inside and found the body of Andrew Cunanan dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Too bad. It would have solved a lot of questions if he could have been interviewed so we could get a clue as to what was on this madman’s mind.

               This Date in History August 1

1966 On this date an ex-US Marine named Charles Whitman gathered arms and ammo and makes his way to the top of the 300 foot tall bell tower located on the University of Texas campus in Austin. Whitman also was an Eagle Scout, if you can believe that. In March of 1966 his mother had left his father for reason not known and Charles did not take it well. He began getting treatment from a psychiatrist complaining about a feeling of uncontrolled anger. He also told the doctor that he was thinking about going to the top of the bell tower and shooting people. This wonderful doctor blew it off and did not believe he meant what he said. On this fateful day Whitman walked into the base of the bell tower armed with several pistols and the rifle and killed the receptionist and two other visitors and made his way to the top. Before he went to the tower, he stopped by a sporting good store and bought plenty of ammo and a .30 caliber carbine, he even packed a lunch and dinner. Once he arrives at the top he opened fire with the sniper rifle. He is an expert marksman and is able to hit people at 500 yards. He ended up killing 16 and wounded 30. Oh, by the way, the night before he had stabbed and shot his mother to death and then went home and stabbed his wife to death. He left a note saying that after he died he wanted an autopsy performed on himself to see if there was a detectable brain disease. For an hour and a half the campus police and the Austin PD were at a loss as to how to deal with this maniac. They had their own marksmen but they could not get a good shot and realized that someone had make their way up there and cap this son-of-a-bitch. Finally two members of the Austin PD volunteered to go after Whitman. They charged up the stairs (300 feet, mind you) and Officer Ramiro Martinez got an open shot and capped Whitman ending this carnage.

1953 After the trials of WWII the American adults wanted more realistic movies rather than the Grade B movies like Hopalong Cassidy. On this date one of the greatest western movies ever made is released. The movie was Shane starring Alan Ladd and Van Heflin. It is a story about a gunfighter who is known only as Shane (Alan Ladd), came down out of the rugged Teton Mountains and stumbled upon a small ranch owned by Joe and Marian Starrett and their young son Joey. Shane wanted to give up the life of the gun and took a job as a ranch hand on the Starrett ranch. The problem was that the Starrett ranch was on a plot of land that was previously open range and used by a nearby cattle rancher to graze their cattle. The Starrett ranch and others like it was in the way. The cattle baron hired a gunfighter named Wilson (played by Jack Palance) to scare the settlers off their legally obtained lands so he can continue to graze his cattle unhindered. Wilson ended up killing one of the settlers and Joe Starrett strapped on a gun and headed to town to confront Wilson and the cattle baron. Shane knew that Joe would be killed and knocked him out and strapped on his own gun and went into town. He capped Wilson and several others employed by the cattle baron. Shane realized that the west is not ready for non-violence and rode off into the sunset with little Joey behind him yelling: “Come back, Shane”, what a great movie.

1943 The Japanese had been bombing the hell out of the US Naval installation on Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands. Rendova was a major PT boat base for the US Navy. The Japanese had to keep open a supply route to their combat troops in the area and the PT boats represented a definite threat. A PT boat is a small but very fast boat that was capable of sneaking in close to a ship and launching a torpedo at nearly point blank range. On this date, PT-109, Lieutenant John F. Kennedy commanding, was on patrol on this dark and murky night when a Japanese destroyer suddenly appeared close aboard and rammed the small plywood boat slicing it in two. Two crewmen were killed outright but 11 survived, including Lt. Kennedy. They swam to a nearby coral island hoping that someone would come after them. Other PT boats saw the debris the next morning and assumed that all of the crewmen were killed. At night Lt. Kennedy would swim out into the channel hoping to flag down a friendly boat but none came. Kennedy led the group in swimming to another larger island hoping that there would be detected by friendly forces. They met a couple of natives and Kennedy carved a message on a coconut as to their location and asked for help. The natives paddled away on their canoes and gave the coconut to a coast watcher and soon Kennedy and crew were rescued. Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Cross for gallantry. By the way, the coconut has a permanent home in the White House Oval Office.

Born today:

1819 US writer Herman Melville. Melville gave us the immortal novel Moby Dick. Melville said “It is better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.” I think I have slept with both, but not at the same time.

1881 English writer Dame Rose Macaulay. She said “It is a common delusion to believe you can make things better by talking about them.” That sounds like Rose knew my third ex-wife.

1942 Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. He said “Taking the lesser of two evils is still taking evil.” He must have known my third ex-wife.

                      Thanks for listening    I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                         Musing and History

Quote of the day:

“I am not going to deny myself things that I want just so I can spend an extra two years in the geriatric ward.”

                                              George Carlin

I met a lady named Ronda while celebrating life with members of my eastside social group. Unfortunately the conversation got to present day politics. She had me at a disadvantage because I have stopped watching/listening to the media because of their unreliability. She finally said that she thought that Hillary should be president because she is squeaky clean and has demonstrated leadership. She said that she knows how bad Donald is because she is in the real estate business herself. I had bid her good evening after that stunning display rock hard logic.

                        This Date in History July 31

1777 On this date a 19 year old Frenchman named Marquis de Lafayette joined George Washington’s Continental army as a Major General. Earlier Continental Congress secret envoy to France, Silas Deane had persuaded French military expert Baron Johan De Kalb and his protégée Marquis de Lafayette to offer their services to the fledgling United States in its war with England. The ruling monarch of France was King Louis XVI and he knew that any support sent to the colonies by France would result in war with England and forbade DeKalb and Lafayette from donating their expertise. In fact the British demanded at the ship Lafayette was aboard to be captured and Lafayette imprisoned. This in fact did happen but Lafayette escaped and boarded another ship that was able to evade the pursuing British ships. Lafayette finally arrived in South Carolina and made his way north and met up with Washington. The Continental Congress was reluctant to bestow such a rank on such a young man but Washington’s influence prevailed and Lafayette was given the rank. Lafayette served with distinction at the Battles of Brandywine, Monmouth and Rhode Island. After the United States and France signed a treaty, as expected, England declared was on France. This disturbed Lafayette and he requested to return to his homeland and see what Louis XVI had in mind for him in the war against England. He returned to France but came back to the United States and joined with Washington once again. He was at Yorktown, Virginia when British General Charles Cornwallis and his entire army were forced to surrender which virtually assure a Patriot victory in their war for independence. In fact if was a division of French troops that blocked Cornwallis from retreating. After the surrender ceremony George Washington made a stirring speech but Lafayette just said “The play...is over.”

1975 The leader of the powerful Teamsters Union of America, Jimmy Hoffa, is reported missing in Detroit. Jimmy had been waiting in the back seat of his Cadillac in front of the Red Fox restaurant in suburban Detroit on minute and the next minute both Jimmy, his driver and the Cadillac were gone. Jimmy had gone to jail for jury tampering for 8 years and while he was gone, his second in command in the Union Jim Fitzsimmons moved in and was elected President. This precisely what Hoffa had ordered not to happen. Hoffa wanted to remain President and run the Union from a jail cell. After he got out of jail, he went on a campaign to regain control of the Teamsters. Jimmy had some murky dealings with organized crime but nothing specific was ever determined. He finally was re-elected as President of the Union but Fitzsimmons and his followers were not pleased and the word on the street was that organized crime felt that Jimmy had become a threat. So it could have either or both that sent Jimmy to where he is today and has never been found. The most popular theory is that he was killed and his corpse was encased in one of the 8 foot diameter concrete columns that were under construction building the Meadowlands arena in New Jersey. I don’t think we will ever know what happened to Jimmy.

1715 On July 5 10 Spanish galleons and 1 French frigate departed Havana, Cuba loaded to the scuppers with Maya and Inca gold and silver headed for Europe. The Spanish ships hugged the Florida shore while the French ship sail further off shore. On this date when the Spanish ship were somewhere between Cape Canaveral and Fort Pierce, Florida a hurricane struck and all 10 of the Spanish ships were sunk spilling tons of gold and silver on the ocean floor. The French ship was able to ride out the storm with minimum damage. Later salvage boats from Cuba recovered 80% of the booty but the rest of it lay on the bottom until the early 1960’s when the rest of the treasure was salvaged.

Born today:

1912 US writer Irv Kupcinet. He said “What can you say about a civilization that says God id dead and Elvis is alive.” Hey Irv, do you meant that Elvis is not alive and working at a Dairy Queen in Kalamazoo, Michigan?

1919 US Sports announcer Curt Gowdy. At an automobile race he said “If there is a pile-up they might have to give some of the driver’s artificial insemination.” That may be good for Danica Patrick, Curt, but I had rather have artificial respiration.

1921 US racial advocate Whitney Young. He said “It is better to prepare for an opportunity and not have one than to not be prepared and have an opportunity.” You are right, Whitney, that is why I have Viagra, Cialis and Levitra in a capsule holder on my key chain, for what good it does.

Died today:

1928 US writer Michael Harrington. He said “If there is a technical advance and no social advance, there is almost automatically an increase in human misery.” I don’t get it Mike. What has the ATM machine, I-pod and the cellular phone, etc. got to do with social well being?

                     Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                              Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Your best friend is the one who lifts you up when the wings of your heart forget how to fly.”

                                                       Golda Meir

A county deputy in Mobile, Alabama was called to a domestic disturbance. As he got out of his car a man came running out of a house wielding a machete and struck the deputy on the shoulder. The deputy was able to retrieve his 9mm Glock and sent that man to the Promised Land. The cops later found out that that man’s parents had been found hacked to death down in Palm Beach, Florida with a machete-like weapon. The deputy saved us a lot of money….no incarceration for years and years.

Recently a group of New Zealanders built a 65 foot catamaran sailboat made totally of plastic bottles. They were able to sail that puppy 4,000 mile across the Pacific Ocean successfully. They were demonstrating the invincibility of the plastic bottles and stressed that they should never be thrown into the ocean as trash. They last forever.

I am still reading the history of the Comanche in the western United States. I have changed my mind somewhat about their fate. When the settlers began moving into west and southwest Texas the Comanche were already the bullies of the southern plains because of their possession of thousands of Spanish mustangs and their unparalleled horsemanship. Not only that, their unbridled brutality was legendary. The beginning of the end was the breech loading Sharps .50 caliber used by the buffalo hunters. This rifle had and effective range of 800 to 1,000 yards. 26 buffalo hunters armed with the Sharps were able to hold off 300 Comanche at the battle of Adobe Walls in the Texas Panhandle. Then along came the repeating Henry and Winchester rifles. But the Comanche were able to gather up many of those weapons themselves. The final blow came in the form of a US Cavalry officer name Ranald MacKenzie. This man decided that he was not going after the Comanche themselves, he went after their horses knowing that the Comanche could not exist without them. They had no agrarian segment; they relied on the buffalo alone. MacKenzie was responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Comanche and Kiowa ponies which put the warriors afoot. This horrible campaign worked and eventually all the Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho and hundreds of other southern plains tribes surrendered to a life of having to wait for a handout from Uncle Sam. It broke their spirit; it would have broken mine too.

Tidbits:

Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel of Harlem has become a liability to the Democratic Party and they are leaning on the 80 year old legislator to resign/retire. They are hitting him where he is the most vulnerable...ethics. This influence peddler will go down in history as having the hungriest pockets in the catalog of corruption.

Jack "The Assassin" Tatum formerly of the Oakland Raiders has died at the age of 61 from a heart attack.  As far as I am concerned he is among the top five hardest hitting defensive backs in history.

Tim Tebow former quarterback of the Florida Gators has signed a contract to model underwear for Jockey. Tim had mention that after college he was going to become a missionary. I suppose that to some women (and some men) seeing Tim Terrific in a pair of abbreviated briefs would be a spiritual experience.

             This Date in History   July 28

1976 On this date the most powerful earthquake in modern history occurred in Shantung Province, China. The quake occurred at 3:50am while all were asleep. The earth shook for 23 seconds and the city was leveled. As you might suspect, the buildings were light years from being earthquake proof and collapsed and crushed the people inside to the tune of an estimated 500,000 killed. Not only that, the earth rose and fell and ruptured many natural gas lines and enormous fires erupted and thousands were incinerated. The strange thing was that the people reported that a few days before the quake, large packs of rats ran panic stricken through the streets in broad daylight. They reported that they saw multi-colored lights and bright flashes in the sky and wells would overflow and then the water would go so deep that their rope and bucket would not reach it. Offers from all over the world offered assistance and medical supplies but the arrogant Chinese government refused saying that they would take care of their own. They certainly were not prepared for a disaster of this magnitude but they were not going to admit to the world that the Communist Chinese government was not perfect. Thousands of Chinese people died from the lack of medical treatment and supplies. Shantung has been rebuilt and the greater majority of the buildings were rebuilt using earthquake proof technology. But even this disaster cannot hold a candle to another earthquake that also occurred in China in about 1760 that took the lives of over 800,000.

1868 On this date the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution is adopted. This amendment assured the full American citizenship to blacks. One of the phrases in the amendment stated that “all citizens shall have equal protection under the law.” This was the hardest thing for our citizenry to accept, both north and south. But it was the US government implemented the Reconstruction Act that cause the most animosity and polarized the northern states the southern states. This act made the southerners just a hair short of vassals to agents that were sent to oversee both legal and illegal transactions to cheat the southern land owners after the Civil War. It was this behavior that gave birth to the KKK that thrived as long as the Reconstruction Act was in effect and for many years thereafter. Don’t get me wrong, the KKK was/is a bunch of disgusting bigots but it was the Reconstruction Act gave this organization the fire in its belly.

1943 Earlier the British Air Force launched Operation Gomorrah the mission of which was the destruction of the tools of war being manufactured near Hamburg, Germany. The Brits had bombed Hamburg into kindling but on this night they dropped over 2, 600 tons of incendiary bombs creating a firestorm unparalleled in history until Hiroshima. Some of the British pilots reported that there was not a series of fires but one monster that scorched 8 square miles of the city and killed 40,000 civilians. The fire was so hot that air was rushing into the middle the winds reached hurricane force and literally sucked people into it if not asphyxiated them by using up all the oxygen within a certain radius. War is hell, literally.

Born today:

1807 Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz. He said “I cannot waste my time making money.” Hey Louis, where did you go to eat and drink?

Died today:

1913 English naturalist Sir John Lubbock. He said “What we see mainly depends of what we look for.” A few years back I was looking for a girl friend that looked like a 30 year old Elizabeth Taylor and had the libido of an alley cat. Now I am looking for a more comfortable couch to take naps on.

                Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                             Musing and History

Quote of the day:

“There is no doubt that is around family and home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created.”

                                                   Anne Frank

Up in Pontiac, Michigan 23 year old Torrie Emery and 20 year old Michelle Booth had been throwing darts at each other on Facebook because both of them were in love with the same inmate in a Michigan prison. Last week Torrie saw Michelle in the passenger seat of a car driven by Michelle’s friend Alesha Abernathy and gave chase. The two cars reached speed of over 100 mph with Abernathy just trying to get away. The cops fell into line and joined the chase trying to put a stop to it. Abernathy was unable to stop for a red light and T-boned a dump truck in the intersection turning the truck on its side but the driver was not injured. However, Alesha was killed and Michelle was seriously injured. Lunatic Torrie was arrested and charged with murder. All of this happened for a convicted felon. I don’t get it. By the way, lunatic Torrie had her three year old daughter in the car with her during the chase.

Military units of South Korea and the United States were conducting joint war games in South Korea and South Korean waters. Those maniacs from North Korea saw this exercise as a threat and have promised a “nuclear response”. I am sure that they are aware that there are enough free world nuclear submarines in the Sea of Japan that a person could walk from Pyongyang to Nagoya, Japan without getting their feet wet. Not to mention the United States aircraft carrier USS George Washington. This puppy has fighter bombers that can carry nuclear devices also. I can promise you that if those idiots launch a nuclear devise of any kind the North Korea part of the Korean peninsula will glow in the dark for years to come.

                This Date in History July 27

1974 On this date the House Judiciary Committee handed down a bill of impeachment with a recommendation of removal from office of the sitting President of the United States, Richard Nixon. All of this adventure began when a group of men were caught and arrested inside the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. Two of those arrested were on the White house staff. It was a given that Nixon could not be beaten in upcoming election because the Democrats did not have a viable candidate but his staff still felt it was necessary to burglarize. Originally the report of these arrests were stuck in the fourth or fifth page of the Washington Post newspaper but two reporters named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein smelled a rat and began digging. The more they dug the closer they came to the White House. When these two began writing their columns about what they had discovered, the staff at the White House circled the wagons and refused to cooperate with law enforcement which attracted the attention of the Congress. Congress selected Archibald Cox, the head of the Harvard Law School, to act as special prosecutor. Not only did Nixon try to get two Assistant Attorney Generals (Caper Weinberger and Nick Katzenbach) to fire Cox, he called in a very high official in the FBI and told them to not investigate the Watergate incident. Weinberger and Katzenbach not only refused but resigned in protest at this obvious cover-up. Nixon finally persuaded a lesser Federal judge (Richard Bork) to fire Cox. During this time it was determined that Nixon had been taping all the conversations in the Oval Office. Judge Leon Jaworski along with Judge John Sirica, who had replaced Cox, demanded the tapes but Nixon refused claiming executive privilege and a threat to national security. Over a period of time the US Supreme Court ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes which he did. Nixon was not done yet. Some of the most critical tapes had blank spaces which experts said was an erasure. Again the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to produce depositions saying what had been said during the erasures. When these damning documents reached the House Judiciary Committee, A Bill of Impeachment soon followed. Soon thereafter Nixon resigned, turned over the reins to Vice-President Gerald Ford, and moved back to where he came from, San Clemente, California. It was a tragic and time of testing for the United States judiciary/legislative system.

1981 On this date 6 year old Adam Walsh is abducted at a Hollywood, Florida shopping Mall. It seems that Adam and his mother Reve went shopping and little Adam wanted to watch some older boys play video games while his mother was shopping close by. As will happen, the older boys got rowdy and the mall security guard came by and ran everybody out. Little Adam just followed the older boys outside rather than seeking his mother. He waited out side for a short while then he disappeared. A few days later, Adams’s head was found in drainage ditch near Vero Beach, Florida which is nearly 100 miles from Hollywood. The police focused on career criminals and convicted child molesters Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas. Toole was found in jail for another crime and confessed to the murder of little Adam but said that career criminal Henry Lee Lucas was with him and it was he that did the murder. The police investigated and found to no one’s surprise, that Toole was lying because Lucas was in jail in Virginia when Adam was abducted. Toole then recanted his story. The police decided that they would need Adam’s complete body to prosecute anyone. Adams body was never found and the case remains unsolved. Toole was executed in Florida for another murder. We all know what work Adam’s father John has done by establishing the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.”

1806 During the Lewis and Clark expedition, the group reached the Great Falls on the Missouri River. Clark took a few men and began exploring further downstream, Lewis headed north to explore the Marias River basin. They left 6 men to portage their boats around the falls. Lewis knew they were in Blackfoot country. The Blackfoot were the fiercest tribe in the area and are to be feared and sure enough, Lewis met up with a party of Blackfoot and he tried to be cordial. It appeared to be working and Lewis invited the Indians to his camp. After it got dark, one of Lewis’s men yelled out that the Indians were trying to steal their horses and rifles. Lewis ran after them and one of the Indians turned and moved toward Lewis whereupon Lewis shot him in the stomach. The rest of the Indians retreated and the horses and rifles were saved. Lewis knew that if there was trouble between the expedition and the Indians while going west, there would be trouble coming back east. Not only that, one of his men said that during the attempt to get the horses back, he had caught up with one of the Indians and stabbed him to death. More trouble, but they would have been in more serious trouble without horses and rifles.

Born today:

1824 French author Alexander Dumas the Younger. He said “I prefer rogues to imbeciles because sometime they take a rest.” We all know some of each.

1956 US comic Carol Liefer. She said “He tricked me into marrying him, he said he was pregnant.” Carol, shut up.

Died today:

2003 US comedian Bob Hope. He said “You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.” Amen, brother.

               Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

                           Musing and History

Quote of the day:

“The greatest way to live an honest life is be what you pretend to be.”

                                                  Socrates

Out in Bell, California, a small town southeast of Los Angeles, there are just short of 40,000 residents. The majority is Latinos and 17% live below the poverty level spending a lot of time getting food stamps and standing in line at the Food Bank. The Los Angeles Times published the salaries of the city governing body and here is what the residents discovered. The city manager’s salary was $789,000/year with a 12% raise per year guaranteed. That, my friends, is double what the President of the United States salary is. The fire chief had a salary of $458,000 which is half again what the fire chief of Los Angeles gets in a city of 3.8 million. Needless to say, the residents showed up at city hall in force demanding the ouster of the Mayor, the City Manager and the Fire Chief. After a while those three did resign in the knowledge that they would receive 2/3 of their salary as a retirement pension. More hell was raised and finally the District Attorney of Los Angeles County stepped in and began an investigation as to whether obviously corrupt city officials were indeed eligible for a pension.

Over in Cowpens, South Carolina a few days ago an undercover cop working in the vice squad paid a visit to “Mr. Waffle” near I-85 (been there) seeking prostitutes. He saw a woman loitering out front and struck up a conversation. The woman asked him to buy her a soft drink which he did. The woman offered him “any kind companionship he liked.” She introduced herself as Angela which surprisingly was her real name. They got into the deputy’s truck and she demanded to see the man’s penis and he complied and Angela grabbed him by his penis and said “Ok, I guess you are not a cop.” The man suggested a form of sex and Angela “repositioned” herself and it was at this time that the deputy identified himself as being under cover and arrested poor Angela. The question I have is how did Angela expect to identify the man as a cop or not by feeling of his penis? Do cops have a tacitly identifiable peculiarity down there? We learn things every day. By the way, they had a photo of Angela in the item and she had a strangely familiar looking face…she looked a lot like Jeremy Shockey, used to be the tight end for the new Orleans Saints.

A few years ago a group of men got together and decided to open a bar/restaurant on the east side of Austin, Texas. The discussed a name and a logo and decided on The Long Branch Inn was the name and a caricature of a beaver as their logo. The beaver ended up with just the smiling head and buck teeth with LBI on the brim of a sailor’s hat. This last week they got a cease and desist order from an organization saying that the Long Branch was infringing on the copyrights of the University of Oregon State Beavers logo. The owners thought it was a joke but it proved not to be. A comparison photo of each logo was shown and sure enough they were identical except for the “LBI” on one of the sailor’s caps and “OSU” on the other. The Long Branch agreed to change their logo and initiated a contest. The Long Branch has a stuffed Beaver above their bar. So far the leading entry is the same beaver logo except this one has black Groucho Marx glasses on. I don’t know if that will be enough, however. It is pretty damned bad when there is an organization that makes a living making comparisons on college logos against those in free enterprise.

            This Date in History   July 26

1775 Earlier in October of 1774 a Patriot printer from Philadelphia named William Goddard, after years of being frustrated because the Royal Mail Service was not unable to deliver his newspaper to his readers nor to bring important information to Goddard, petitioned the Continental Congress to form a Continental Post Office. The Congress delayed its decision until after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. On this date Congress authorized the formation of a Continental Post Office with Ben Franklin as this nations very first Postmaster General. Ben held this post until the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and then he was sent to France as the American Emissary. Ben’s son-in-law Richard Bache was named to replace Ben. This was the very first act, and would not be the last, of nepotism in the United States government arena.

1908 On this date Attorney General Charles Bonaparte ordered a group of newly hired investigators to report to Chief Examiner Stanley Finch of the Department of Justice. This event was the first baby step in the formation of the FBI. One year later the Office of Chief Examiner was renamed the Bureau of Investigation. When America entered WWI, the Bureau of Investigation was tasked with investigating draft dodgers, violators of the Espionage Act and immigrants suspected of radicalism. The last one bothers me. Radicalism could be interpreted as an every day attitude to some people but very dangerous to others. Anyway, lawyer and librarian J. Edgar Hoover joined the bureau in 1917 and quickly worked his way to be an assistant to the Attorney General. Hoover and his anti-radical philosophy made him popular during the time period known as the “Red scare era” in 1920-1921. Hoover established a card file on anyone he felt was a “radical” numbering over 450,000. He also had over 10,000 “suspected” communists arrested. The great majority of these people were questioned briefly and released. Hoover was just flexing his muscles. This was a very dangerous ideology and gave Hoover enormous power. Congress eventually became very afraid of this man but his powers of investigation insured his longevity at his position. The upside of the formation of the FBI was they could pursue criminals across state lies since they were a federal agency. Hoover became the acting director of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924. With Congressional approval, Hoover greatly expanded and improved the Bureau with a centralized fingerprint file, an agent training school for agents and he whipped the Bureau into a very efficient crime fighting entity. They were going to need it in the 1930’s during prohibition because powerful criminals like the head of Murder, Incorporated Lepke Burkhalter, “Machine Gun” Kelly who specialized in the kidnapping of people of rich families and demanding enormous ransoms, not to mention Al “Scarface” Capone, “Dutch” Schultz among many others would present a great challenge. The bureau was titled the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. Hoover established an arm of the bureau called COINPRO which was an acronym for counter-intelligence program. This unit was used to counter the supposed infiltration of communists into the US. But it was also used to keep tabs on organizations like the KKK and was used unashamedly to harass and track the movements of Martin Luther King, Jr. simply because Hoover did not agree with his goals of equality for all. When the Watergate scandal broke much pressure and criticism was brought on the Bureau in general and Hoover in particular for the first time Hoover’s tenure. It was during this time frame that Hoover died of heart failure at the age of 77. Evidence proved that the FBI had suppressed evidence that would have proven the culpability of President Richard Nixon in the knowledge of the wrong doing and the attempt to cover it up. Since this time the Congress has established a process of selection of the FBI director that included Congressional approval and limited the tenure to 10 years. The FBI has proven to be a great asset to Americans, but at times have severely over stepped its boundaries.

                   Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                          Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“I am not a fascist. I am a priest. Fascists dress up in black and tell people what do, whereas priests drink a lot more.”

Father Ted Crilly

                      This Date in History July 25

1955 On this date the impossible happens. Two ocean liners collide off shore from Nantucket. The Andrea Doria was outbound and the Stockholm was inbound to New York. As y'all may or may not know there are definite “rules of the road” in the marine world. What ships do when approaching at 90 degree angles, when overtaking, when approaching head-on, etc. are set so each ship's captain knows what to expect from the other ships. The trouble here was that the navigator on the outbound ship was navigating by radar and misinterpreted what he saw on the screen. He thought the other ship was crossing his path when it was going to pass to his right with plenty of clearance. The navigator ordered a turn to the right into the path of the Stockholm. The bow of the Stockholm plowed into the side of the Andrea Doria inflicting a fatal wound. The Stockholm was damaged but was still able to sail. The Stockholm stayed with the Andrea Doria and was responsible for the rescue of many of the passengers. Not only that, the luxury French cruise ship the Ile de France that had left New York earlier, turned around and rescued many of the passengers. The Andrea Doria finally rolled on her side and slipped to the bottom. The Andrea Doria is in waters that can be reached by amateur divers and is considered the “Mount Everest” of sport diving. But the divers are faced with very cold water, heavy current and hundreds of Great White sharks. Not this horse.

1963 On this date Bob Dylan performed at the Newport Jazz Festival and a new type of music was born. Bob was able to blend jazz, folk and rock and roll into one genre. He was born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota in 1941 but he changed his name because he was an admirer of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. While in high school he formed a band but eventually dropped out of school to pursue his musical career as a performer/songwriter. His life changed when he went to New York and met folk music legend Woody Guthrie several times. It was Woody’s semi-protest song writings that influenced Bob the most. It was Dylan that gave us “Blowin’ in the Wind” which was a monster hit for “Peter, Paul and Mary”. The next hit was “Times they are A-changing” which was the keystone hit of a very successful album. Bob Dylan has been a world recognized songwriter for over 40 years now. He remains very secretive and reclusive when it comes to his personal life. When was the last time y'all have read anything scandalous about Bob Dylan? In fact, when is the last time you read anything at all about Bob Dylan?

1853 Earlier a Mexican immigrant named Joachim Murrieta had moved to northern California during the gold rush of 1849 and staked a claim on the Stanislaus River. According to unsubstantiated stories written by a San Francisco newspaper reporter, Murrieta and his family were treated severely by the other prejudicial gold miners. It was said that he was beaten and whipped, his wife repeatedly raped and his children killed. Because of this, Murrieta organized a gang of thieves and began a reign of terror throughout the gold fields of the area. Finally the state of California got fed up and put out a reward of $6,000 on the head of Joachim Murrieta. They also hired professional gunman Harry Love to hunt down and bring Joachim in, dead or alive. Harry hired 20 men to accompany him on his search. Love finally located Joachim and his gang camped out on Cantua Creek in Calaveras County. At sunrise Harry Love and his posse attack Joachim and his gang of seven others and kill them all including Joachim and his right hand man “Three fingers Jack”. As you might suspect, Jack was missing a finger on his right hand. In order for Harry and his men to collect the $6,000 reward they had to prove that they had killed Joachim. Rather than bring Joachim’s body in they decided to bring his head in instead. So they behead poor Joachim, put the head in a large glass jar and fill it up with whiskey. On this date the head of Joachim Murrieta was put on display in Stockton, California and Harry and the boys collected the $6,000. As a show of class, Harry had cut off the right hand of “Three Fingers Jack” and had it dangling by a string for all to see.

1861 On this date the US Congress passed the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution. This document stated that the purpose of United States fighting the Civil War was to keep unity and was not for the abolition of slavery. John Crittenden felt that this resolution was necessary to keep the slave-holding states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware from seceding. Even though these were “slave” states they had not joined the Confederacy. At the beginning of the war most northerners felt that the war was necessary for unity but did not give a damn one way or the other when it came to the issue of slavery. Even this attitude changed after the Union armies had suffered one ass-kicking after another including a rout at the Battle of Manassas. Then the northern attitude was “To hell with it. Stop the slaughter and let the Confederacy become their own country.” Even though the resolution had good intentions, the whole meaning was compromised two weeks later when Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act which allowed for the seizure of the property (including slaves) from any rebellious person. This really upset the slave owners in the afore mentioned states and it took a lot of dancing around to stop them from seceding.

Born today:

1902 US philosopher Eric Hoffer. He said “Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.” I guess that is the reason that I see so many agitated people.

1905 Bulgarian writer Elias Canetti. He said “Whenever you observe an animal closely, you feel as if a human being is inside making fun of you.” I think my brother’s dog “Katie”, a golden retriever who is no longer with us, did exactly that.

1973 Brazilian soccer star Ze Maria. He said “The pain is very painful.” Ze, shut up.

Died today:

1834 English writer Samuel Coleridge. When speaking about a fellow writer he said “Gibbon’s writing style is detestable, but that is not the worst thing about him.” Sam, I like your style.

            Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                            Musing and History

Quote of the day:

“Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed 12 minutes. Half time in a NFL game is 12 minutes, this is no accident.”

                                            Erma Bombeck

I met a lady named Ronda while celebrating life with members of my east side social group. Unfortunately the conversation got to present day politics. She had me at a disadvantage because I have stopped watching/listening to the media because of their unreliability. She finally said that she thought that Hillary should be president because she is squeaky clean and has demonstrated leadership. She said that she knows how bad Donald is because she is in the real estate business herself. I had bid her good evening after that stunning display rock hard logic.

            This Date in History   July 24

1911 On this date American explorer Hiram Bingham is the first honky to lay eyes on one of the most spectacular sites in archaeological history. He had found Machu Picchu, an Inca city hidden in the Andes Mountains northwest of the capitol of Cuzco. After the rape of the Inca by the Spanish conquistadors, the Inca rulers no longer summered in Machu Picchu and its location was kept a secret for 350 years. Only the local natives knew of its existence. This magnificent city had surrounding lands that had been terraced for the raising of crops and the city had running water. It was built of huge stones that were cut so accurately that cement was not required and a razor blade could not be inserted in the seams. This is not the only Inca city that has been found in the Andes that was engineered so greatly. How these cities were build is still a mystery to the world. The Inca were very small in stature and had no draft animals other than the llama. There is no evidence that they had knowledge of the wheel. Machu Picchu was found high up on two peaks that had been leveled to allow construction and it is one of the most visited tourist sites in the world.

1567 Mary Queen of Scots had been imprisoned because of her unbending dedication to Catholicism in a land filled with Presbyterian Royalty. On this date she is forced to abdicate the throne and the crown goes to her infant son that would become James VI of Scotland and eventually James I the first king of England, Scotland and Ireland. Mary was an ambitious girl and tried to take back the crown of Scotland by force but her army was destroyed and she booked to England and asked her cousin Queen Elizabeth I to allow her to have safe haven. The Queen was acceptable to this. But Mary got the itch again and conspired with a bunch of Catholics in England and other countries to overthrow Elizabeth and then Mary would assume the throne. Mary paid for this indiscretion with her head. She just would not give up her religion.

1847 On this date Brigham Young tops a hill and looks down on the Great Salt Lake Valley and utters “This is the place”. Then he and 148 Mormons walk down into the valley and began to lay out a city for the throngs that would come in the future. Here is a short story about Mormons. When my oldest daughter was just a child, two well scrubbed young men rode up to my house astride bicycles. They knocked on the door and presented themselves as Mormons and would like to tell me about their religion. I asked if they had a bible and they said yes. I told them to leave the bible and come back in a week. It was the Book of Mormon. I read it cover to cover and I want to tell ya’ll, it was one of the most fascinating books of history I have ever read. But it was almost like reading science fiction because some of it was so unbelievable. But then I asked myself if these events happened before or after Moses turned the Nile River into blood, parted the Red Sea and had a flaming tornado to lead an estimated 7 million Jews into the thirsty Negev desert northeast of Egypt, stay 40 years and leave no physical evidence of it. It is all in what you choose to believe, isn’t it?

1864 Earlier CSA General Robert E. Lee had tasked General Jubal Early with clearing those damned Yankees out of the Shenandoah Valley. General Early left and made a feint toward Washington before entering the valley. Early was pursued hotly by a Yankee army commanded by US General George Crook. The two armies had skirmished somewhat but nothing heavy. Then when Early found that Crook and his army was in terrain that was to Crooks disadvantage then he turned and struck Crook with everything he had. It was a rout, ya’ll. Those Yankees headed their young asses back toward Washington as fast as they could and Early and company headed at a leisurely pace down the valley. By the way, it was General Crook that was at the head of one of the columns headed to Little Big Horn to capture the Sioux and Cheyenne. He was late. Then he was assigned the task of capturing that wily Apache Geronimo. He pursued Geronimo for five years and in all that time he only got a fleeting glance of him. Crook resigned because of this failure. He was a superb officer but was assigned tasks that were near impossible.

1915 The steamer “Eastland” was in the harbor in Chicago and had been hired by a church to take the congregation out to an island in Lake Michigan for a picnic. The crowd was about 2,500. The boat had originally been built to accommodate 800 but some marine engineers had made some “modifications” to where it would handle 2,500. Another marine engineer published a notice that the so called modifications were bogus and was dangerous. Well, all of the crowd got aboard and then ran to the starboard rail for a group photo. The Eastland began to list and it just kept on rolling trapping nearly all under the hull right there in the slip. Dock workers immediately got their torches working and began cutting holes in the hull and began pulling people to safety. But over 800 were drowned. What a nightmare.

Born today:

1878 English writer Lord Dunsany. He said “Logic, like whiskey is no good if taken in too large of doses.” Hey Lord, Plato, Aristotle and Socrates would beg to differ.

1947 US comic Gallagher. He said “I wish there was a knob on the TV labeled “Intelligence” but the closest I can find is “Brightness” and it don’t work either.” A lot of people like Gallagher but he ain’t my cup of tea.

1970 US actress Jennifer Lopez. Comedian Chris Rock said of her. “I saw Jennifer Lopez on TV the other night accepting some kind of award and she thanked her agent, her family her minister her make-up artist and a lot of other people. She needs to thank that ass, that’s what got where she is today.” Chris must be an ass and legs man like myself.

Died today:

1862 US president Martin Van Buren. He said “It is easier to do the job right than to have to explain why you didn’t.”

             Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires and a touch that never hurts.”

                                           Charles Dickens

I read about the number of people injured on the job, some fatally. I also read how much construction firms in the US hate the people from OSHA which tries to guarantee the safety of the workers. That reminded me of an engineering job I was on early in my career. It was a polyester plant to be built in Mexico. Polyester is originally a solid pellet that is heated and melted into a thick liquid and sent to the molds of different things. The piping that is used to transport the polyester is called “jacketed” pipe. This means that there is a pipe within a pipe. The polyester is in the inner pipe and a chemical called Dowtherm is in the larger pipe and heated to 600 degrees by a boiler to keep the polyester from becoming solid before reaching the molds. This chemical will not boil or foam making it ideal for this purpose, the downside is that the fumes are a carcinogen. The Dowtherm return piping to the boiler is under great scrutiny because of this. I was designing the return piping on one segment of the plant and was called in to a meeting along with several others. We were told that instead of designing the entire return piping system we were to tap the Dowtherm pipe after the appropriate length of pipe run and put in a valve. But we were told that the valve had to be at least a meter off the floor of the building. We were confused until we received an explanation. To save money the client was not going to have the return piping, he was going to have people put buckets under the valve and physically carry the Dowtherm (about 400 degrees and the fumes a carcinogen) to the boiler and pour it back in for reheating. They needed a meter under the valve to get the bucket under it. I think the client eventually changed their feeble minds and return piping was designed, but it goes to show you what corporate America's minds were capable of...and still are. How many lives would it have cost and who would have spoken for those Latino laborers had they followed through with that insane plan?

                 This Date in History July 21

1861 On this date the first major battle of the War of Northern Aggression (The American Civil War) was fought at a railroad junction near the Virginia town of Manassas which was about 22 miles west of Washington, DC. The Union army had sent General Irvin McDowell and a force of 34,000 ill-trained and ill-equipped militiamen to seek out and subdue a Confederate army known to be nearby. As the Union army was heading toward Manassas civilians fell in line and followed them to watch the Rebs get spanked. The Confederates were led by CSA General P.T.G Beauregard (former superintendent at West Point as was R. E. Lee) commanding a force of 20,000 who were joined by CSA General Joseph Johnston and a force of 9,000 brought in by railroad shortly before the battle. At the outset the Union forces were able to drive back the right flank of the Confederates but Beauregard establish a line of defense on Henry House Hill with a unit of Virginia infantry led by CSA General Thomas J. Jackson anchoring the right flank. The Union army attacked Jackson’s unit and were repulsed several times, Jackson’s men just could not be dislodged. It was at this action that General Jackson gained the nickname of “Stonewall”. Finally the Confederates counter-attacked and the great majority of the Union army broke and ran back toward Washington and literally ran over the civilians watching the action. Before this battle the Union army and politicians thought the Confederates would be easily defeated with a minimum loss of life. After this battle the Union army suffered 3,000 casualties, the Confederates 2,000 both sides realized it was going to be long and bloody conflict.

                                   Medal of Honor

                              BORDELON, WILLIAM JAMES

Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 25 December 1920, San Antonio, Texas.

Citation:

For valorous and gallant conduct above and beyond the call of duty as a member of an assault engineer platoon of the 1st Battalion, 18th Marines, tactically attached to the 2d Marine Division, in action against the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands on 20 November 1943. Landing in the assault waves under withering enemy fire which killed all but 4 of the men in his tractor, S/Sgt. Bordelon hurriedly made demolition charges and personally put 2 pillboxes out of action. Hit by enemy machinegun fire just as a charge exploded in his hand while assaulting a third position, he courageously remained in action and, although out of demolition, provided himself with a rifle and furnished fire coverage for a group of men scaling the seawall. Disregarding his own serious condition, he unhesitatingly went to the aid of one of his demolition men, wounded and calling for help in the water, rescuing this man and another who had been hit by enemy fire while attempting to make the rescue. Still refusing first aid for himself, he again made up demolition charges and single-handedly assaulted a fourth Japanese machinegun position but was instantly killed when caught in a final burst of fire from the enemy. S/Sgt. Bordelon's great personal valor during a critical phase of securing the limited beachhead was a contributing factor in the ultimate occupation of the island, and his heroic determination throughout 3 days of violent battle reflects the highest credit upon the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

                                          Medal of Honor

                                       INOUYE, DANIEL K.

Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper's bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge. Second Lieutenant Inouye's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

Lieutenant Inouye was of Japanese ancestry and his parents were interred during the war. He was born in Hawaii and after the war he became a well respected United States Senator.

                     Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow