Thursday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Sometimes I feel like the whole world is out to get me, but deep down I know that some of the smaller counties are not involved.”

                                              Robert Orben

Here is tale that should scare you.

Back about 1460BC several city-states in what is now central Israel and southern Lebanon got fed up with being Egyptian vassals and revolted. Being a vassal meant that Egypt demanded a bribe called “tribute” from these city-states that would prevent the Egyptian from declaring war on them and bringing their much superior army and destroying them. It was clearly extortion but it was common throughout the known world at the time. The Egyptians did not want precious metals and gems as much as they did grain, horses, sheep and cattle. The Pharaoh at the time was Thutmose III. He got fed up with their snot nose and in the spring of 1457BC he led his army of between 12,000 and 15,000 including charioteers out to crush this rebellion. The city-states had formed a coalition and elected the king of the city-state of Kadesh as their military leader. He assembled an army of between 10,000 and 15,000 including charioteers. On April 16, 1457BC these two armies engaged in a gigantic battle. The much more experienced Egyptians completely dominated and the destruction of the rebels was complete. The rebels lost about 8,000 killed and wounded to about half of that for the Egyptians. The Egyptians carried their booty back to Egypt to the tune of 600 chariots, hundreds of horses and a variety of arms not to mention the capture of hundreds of people whom they brought back to Egypt and sold into slavery. The Egyptians prevailed primarily because of their training, leadership of Thutmose's generals and a new kind of bow. This was the first time that a composite bow was used in combat. Before this all bows were made of wood but the Egyptians had invented a bow that could cast and arrow much further than normal. The bow had several layers of different kinds of wood and even slivers of bone. What makes this battle scary in the location. It was fought on the “Plains of Meddigo” in present day north central Israel. The translation of this place is Armageddon and is about 500 miles from Syria...where there is a war raging between “good and evil.” The Bible mentions that the world will end with a giant battle between good and evil on the “plains of Armageddon.” How do we know about this battle in 1457BC? It is because Thutmose III have every nuance of this battle written in stone. He was a vain man. BTW, this battle occurred about 200 years before the given date of the arrival of the Hebrews led by Moses.

In 1810 Pope Leo XIII was born. In the later stages of his life as Pope he said “It is quite unlawful to demand, defend, or to grant unconditional freedom of thought, or speech, or writing or worship as if these were so many gifts given by nature to man.” I had to read this statement over and over again to make sure that I copied it right from the text. Pope Leo XIII has since gone on to his reward.

A while back a Cub Scout pack in the Atlanta area lost all of their camping gear when it was stolen from a church parking lot. The camping season looked bleak for these kids. Word spread across Atlanta about this travesty and the Atlantans responded with a lot of donations including $10,000 given by actor-film maker Tyler Perry who is a native of Atlanta. The Cub Scout pack had a very successful camping season.

            This Date in History   October 5

1986 Earlier the United States Congress became alarmed with President Reagan’s apparent obsession with Sandinista paramilitary group in Nicaragua which Reagan believed was Communists led and financed seeking a foothold in Central America. Their opposition was the Contras which Reagan wanted to finance and supply. Congress saw the whole situation as a civil war and passed the Boland Amendment which forbade any appropriated funds from being used in any way to aid the Contras. On this day an unmarked cargo plane flying over Nicaragua was shot down with two of the crewmen killed but the pilot, Eugene Hasenfus, survived. Hasenfus was interrogated and admitted that he and the dead crewmen were employees of the CIA and were supplying arms to the Contras. Meaning that he, the dead crewmen, the CIA and President Reagan were breaking the law as being in violation of the Boland Amendment. Many Senators and Representatives hit roof at the apparent arrogance of the CIA and the cavalier attitude of the Reagan administration in defying Congress and an in depth investigation began. This debacle became known as the Iran-Contra scandal. What came to the fore was that the CIA was selling surplus US arms to Iran and using those funds to purchase arms and materiel to give to the Contras. In effect they were dancing around the Boland Amendment because no “appropriated” funds were used. But they were converting arms that had been purchased with appropriated funds as barter. This was defeating the spirit of the Boland Amendment which was to keep the US out of a Central American civil war. The broker in these transactions was a US Marine Lieutenant Colonel named Oliver North. In the final analysis the public confidence in the Reagan administration was shaken to the core. 13 members of the administration received various forms and lengths of punishment. Eugene Hasenfus was tried and convicted in Nicaragua and sentenced to 30 years. However, he was back in the US in a matter of weeks.

1892 On this autumn morning in Coffeyville, Kansas, Bob Dalton, Grat Dalton, Emmett Dalton and Dick Broadwell, better known as the Dalton gang, attempt to rob two banks at once. The banks were across the street from each other. They think that the sheer audacity of the plan would stun the general population into inaction. They were wrong, dead wrong. The local populous had spotted the gang when they rode into town even though they were in disguise. The heavily armed good citizens of Coffeyville were waiting when the gang came out of the banks having already killed one bank teller. The gang made it to the alley where their horses were tied and then the mother of all gunfights erupted. A virtual hailstorm of gunfire rained upon the gang killing all but Emmett Dalton who had suffered 13 gunshot wounds but was still alive. Dick Broadwell was able to ride out of town even though he was severely wounded. Two miles out of town Dick fell off his horse and died. Emmet survived his wounds and served 16 years in prison. He eventually became a successful screenwriter in Hollywood. He died in 1937 at the age of 62.

1945 At the outset of WWII and the capitulation of France to the Germans, French politico Pierre Laval is convinced that the Germans will win the war and begins to kiss the Germans’ ass so as to get a good position in the French Government when the war is over. He proved his stripes more than once by pointing out French Jews to the Germans and sending his French countrymen to German labor camps. When France was liberated, Laval knew he was in deep shit and tried to flee. But he was caught, tried and convicted of treason and sentenced to death by firing squad. Laval was scheduled to be executed on October 6 but somehow got his hands on some cyanide and attempted suicide of this date. Luckily for him, a doctor was close by and was able to pump Laval’s stomach and save his life. Two weeks later Laval went to meet his maker air conditioned by a squad of riflemen. That was a lot better than a cyanide suicide now wasn’t it?

           Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow