Thursday

                             Musings and History

“Men would sleep with a bicycle if it had the right color lip gloss on. They have no shame. They are like a bull elk in an open field. They locate what they want by scent.”

                                                      Tori Amos

Yesterday a friend of mine said that he was going to start taking Karate lessons because it was getting dangerous out on the streets in our city. I told him that instead of that he needs a course on how to meet people…..like Colt, Smith, Wesson, Remington, Rossi, Glock, etc…They have something that barks over here and bites over there.

A while back down in Orangeburg, South Carolina a 44 year old man knocked down an 87 year old woman with his car in a K-Mart parking lot, jumped out grabbed her purse and got back in his car and took off. The car was located and a pursuit ensued. The attacker finally ran out of gas, ditched the car and started running across a cotton field. The cops ran him down, subdued him with a Taser and took his rotten ass to the joint. The lady is in the hospital with a fractured pelvis. Last Thursday he was denied bond. I can assure you that he is looking at growing old behind a chain link fence surrounded by, and topped with, razor wire. What if it had been your mother or grandmother?

The United States delegation to the United Nations walked out on a speech given by that moron from Iran, Ahmadinejad. This jackass suggested that it was the United States that orchestrated the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center to help insure the survival of Israel. If I had been in that delegation I would not have been able to contain myself. I would had to have called him something I heard from a drunk sailor in Biloxi a few years back. It was not complimentary, I assure you.

A few months ago the Sheriff of Lee County, South Carolina was arrested along with three of his deputies for selling drugs out of the evidence room. Last week the Feds added 48 more charges of being involved in a drug ring several states wide. How did that dumb-ass sheriff expect to get away with that? Eventually the criminal will come to trial and the drugs would be evidence.

             This Date in History September 28

1991 Trumpet virtuoso Miles Davis died at the age of 65. Miles was born to a privileged family who gave to him a good education including the renowned Julliard School of Music where Miles soared with his virtuosity. Miles was basically a jazz musician but was not restricted to that. He was not afraid to venture out into or mix different genres of music. He had a monkey on his back most of his adult life as did his roommate Charlie “Yardbird” Parker. Charlie was a gifted musician on the alto sax. Miles and Charlie played many, many sets together. If I am not mistaken, Charlie Parker died of a heroin overdose. Miles was finally able to kick the habit and produced several jazz milestone albums before going to the great trio in the sky.

1863 US Generals Alexander McCook and Thomas Crittenden are given the blame for the severe ass-kicking that was received at Chickamauga at the hands of CSA Gen. Braxton Bragg and CSA Gen. James Longstreet. It was the flanks held by McCook and Crittenden that were shattered by Longstreet’s Rebs resulting a panic and rout of the Union left. The Union right flank under the command of US Gen. George Thomas stayed cohesive and withdrew in an orderly manner. It was the Union overall commander US Gen. Rosecrans that did the finger pointing to take the heat off him. McCook and Crittenden were relieved and sent to the Indiana area to menial jobs. Rosecrans did not dodge the bullet and he also was relieved and the command of his army was given to US Gen. George Thomas known as “The Rock of Chickamauga.” What goes around...

1066 One of the most important events the history of western man occured on this day. William of Normandy set foot on English soil near Pevensey in Southeast England to stake his claim for the English throne. However, he wasn’t the only one who had eyes for the throne. Three days before William’s brother Tostic and King Harald III of Norway joined forces and had attacked England from Scotland but were met by King Harold of England and his army at Stamford Bridge. The English army annihilated Tostic and Harald III and their army. The destruction was total. King Harold of England was told of the landing of William at Pevensey and turned his army in that direction. He marched the 250 miles to Hastings battlefield in 29 days gathering volunteers as me went. Once there he and his army dug in on a hill to minimize any cavalry movements and awaited Williams attack. William did not disappoint and struck hard at Harold’s center. Harold was correct in assuming the hillside minimized the effect of the cavalry and the fight was mostly with infantry. A chronicler wrote that “William’s forces looked as a dancer in their movements whilst Harold’s army appeared to grow out of the ground unmoving.” A French mounted knight got through Harold’s lines and swept by and beheaded Harold with one swipe of his sword. After this the English forces scattered. Harold of England’s army was soundly defeated and William was crowned King. William got his claim to the throne by being the illegitimate son of one of the natural heirs to the English throne who had died. William was from a long line of Scandinavians meaning Vikings. His crowning marked the end of Anglo-Saxon England and the French speaking people from Normandy melded their languages into what now is modern English. William from this day on was known as William the Conqueror. I have a separate essay on William the Conqueror I think y’all would find it interesting.

1542 Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo attempting to find a “northwest passage” across North America to get back to the Atlantic and home discovered San Diego Harbor. There had always been a legend about “The Straights of Alina” that was a waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific in North America. There was no such thing as we know but it promoted a lot of exploration up and down the American west and east coast. Strangely Cabrillo sailed right by San Francisco Bay and never saw it.

1988 I am reading the story of Roch Theriault a cult leader in Canada. It is difficult for me to tell you about this monster that hacked off peoples arms and legs, put vise grips on women’s nipples, disemboweled people while still alive in an attempt to drive “demons” out of their bodies, etc. He was arrested and put on trial for murder after one of his people the he disemboweled died. The judge and jury were so appalled at what they heard that they tried and convicted him and gave him life just to get the trial finished. They forgot to add life “without parole” in their haste. Roch is eligible for parole after a given time.

Born today:

555BC Chinese philosopher Confucius. He said “Have no friends not equal to yourself”. Hey Confucius, not equal to yourself doing what?

1972 US actress Gwyneth Paltrow. She said “Beauty to me is being comfortable in your own skin, or maybe a kick-ass red lipstick.” This girl has great lips.

               Thanks for listening I can hardy wait until tomorrow