Monday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

When Houston Oiler coach Bum Phillips was asked why he took his wife with him when he went on the road he said: “That way I don't have to kiss her goodbye.”

Here is another one

“You know those shows where people call in and vote on different issues? Did you ever notice that there is about 18% that say, ‘I don’t know’? It costs $.90 to make the call and vote and they’re voting ‘I don’t know’. Imagine it: ‘Honey, I feel strongly about this. Give me the phone. Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe you are not sure about.’ This guy probably calls the phone sex girls for $2.95 a minute and says ‘I am not in the mood.’

                                                      Andy Rooney

              This Date in History   August 14

1776 On this date the city of Boston celebrated the 11^th anniversary of the revolt against the hated “Stamp Act”. The Stamp Act was a resolution passed by the British Parliament whereby any and all documents of any kind, including newspapers, must have a Stamp attached. The cost of the stamp varied dependent upon the document it went upon. Parliament needed money to help finance the British army in the colonies. Well, the colonists hit the roof saying that Parliament had levied a tax on the colonies with the colonies not represented in Parliament. Soon those hell-raisers “The Sons of Liberty” began leaning heavily on the collectors of the stamp tax by going to their homes and unabashedly threatening their lives, burning down the warehouses where they thought the stamps were stored, etc. Finally the collector of the stamp tax said “To hell with it, I am out of here” as did the majority of the other stamp tax collectors in the colonies making the Stamp tax unenforceable. Less than a year later Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. But in its place they enacted the “Declaratory Act” making Parliament or their representative have supreme legislative authority everywhere in the colonies. It took a while for the colonists to figure out the ramifications of this abomination. Parliament also added a few pence tax on every barrel of molasses that came into the colonies. There was no complaint here. Molasses was essential to manufacture of rum and the male colonists just would not sit still without that tankard of “grog” every night. It was the women that drank the tea and raised hell when England forbade the colonies from buying tea from anyone but English traders and they goaded the men (Sons of Liberty) into the infamous “Boston Tea Party” in objection to this bullshit.

1862 On this date Confederate General Kirby Smith led his 10,000 man army out of Knoxville, Tennessee headed for the Cumberland Gap. His mission was two-fold. He was to draw US General Don Carlos Buell and his army out of Chattanooga, Tennessee hoping to give relief to CSA General Braxton Bragg. Part two of his mission was to cross over into Kentucky and begin recruiting soldiers for the Confederate army. CSA General Smith met a small US force in the Cumberland Gap which just melted away at the approach of Kirby’s army. They met a little stiffer resistance near Richmond, Kentucky but routed them in short order. Soon General Smith captured Lexington. They succeeded to drawing US General Buell out of Chattanooga who pursued Smith into Kentucky. Buell finally caught up with the combined armies of CSA General Smith and Bragg at Perryville. A major engagement ensued which was lost by the CSA and Bragg and Smith retreated back into Tennessee and safety. They had succeeded in drawing Buell out of Chattanooga but had failed in the capture of Kentucky.

1831 On this date one of the most famous vigilantes in United States history in born in Pennsylvania. John X. Beidler drifted west into Kansas and tried a variety of occupations like brick making and farming. He got hooked up with the king of the abolitionists in John Brown but he moved to Texas when Brown made the infamous raid on the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. As we all know Brown and his raiding party were captured on site and all were hanged for treason including Brown. Eventually “X” as he preferred to be known, ended up in Virginia City, Montana during the gold rush. The people of Virginia City had a serious problem with highwaymen robbing and killing travelers with a psychopath named Henry Plummer being the worst. Henry was cool though and got himself elected as sheriff of nearby Bannock, Montana. Well, the people of Virginia City and Bannock got fed up with the lack of law enforcement and the unbridled lawlessness so they formed a Vigilante Committee. They went out through the countryside and captured and hanged on the spot what robbers they found including good old Henry Plummer. The most famous and enthusiastic of the vigilantes was our man “X”. Most of the vigilantes wore hoods and did not want their identification known, not so with “X”. He labeled himself as “Vigilante X” and was proud to be known as a killer of robbers as a vigilante. Eventually, due to the vigilante’s bloodlust, the travelers in and around Virginia City were much safer. He became a stagecoach driver and eventually a US Marshal and was very effective at both. But hard times befell John X. Beidler and he existed on charity alone from those people that remembered him as the man that cleaned up Virginia City with a pistol and a noose. He died in Helena, Montana in 1890 and his occupation listed on his death certificate was “Public Benefactor”. His name is mentioned several times in other books I have read about the Mountain Men of that era.

Born today:

1867 English writer John Galsworthy. He said “Idealism increases directly proportional to one’s distance from the problem.” Talk about hitting the nail on the head.....

1925 US columnist Russell Baker. He said “The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him.” That reminds me of trying to assemble a ten speed bike on Christmas Eve.

1945 US actor/comedian Steve Martin. He said “I think Ronald Reagan can turn this country into what it used to be....an artic region covered with ice.” Ouch!

1950 US cartoonist Gary Larson (The Far Side). He said “I never liked my own species.”

I remember one of Larson’s cartoons that showed a cowboy holding a smoking gun standing over and obvious dead man and saying “What is the circumference of the earth?” “What is average yearly rainfall in the Amazon river basin?” Another cowboy walks up and says “Charlie, the phrase ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ is just figure of speech.”

Died today:

1972 US composer/pianist Oscar Levant. He said “The first time I embraced Judy Garland it made pharmaceutical history.” Judy was a junkie on prescription drugs and so was Oscar.

               Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow