Wednesday

                   Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate cake now and then doesn't hurt.”

                                  Charles Schultz

Trivia question of the day:

Who put down the rebellion at Harper's Ferry led by John Brown?

Answer at the end of the blog.

From two years ago:

I am back home after a month long hiatus on Pensacola Beach. On the way down I normally stop somewhere about half way and spend the night. For the past 13 trips on the way down it has been the LaQuinta on Carmichael Road in Montgomery. Not any more. When I made the reservations I requested a first floor room. When I checked in the clerk said that all the first floor rooms were booked and sent me to a second floor room that was as far from the elevator as you could get. The next morning I talked with the maid on the second floor and asked her how many rooms did she have on the first floor and she said 14. There are 40 rooms per floor in that motel. Why would the desk clerk do this? Obviously the clerk had an agenda...a very ugly agenda. I sent a blistering letter to LaQuinta corporate and Tripadvisor. I got plenty of apologies but I will never darken those doors again. On the way back I stopped at Motel 6 in Newnan, Ga...they left the light on for me.

I just can't fix it in my mind about the problem with mixed bathrooms in public places. What the hell is the problem? Who is complaining...it certainly is not the men that I have talked to, so it is the women that are freaked out. I asked a woman what the problem was and she said they were afraid for the children. I don't believe that. Almost in every case little boys are abused by adult men so who uses what bathroom has no effect on them. The chances of a little girl being abused in broad daylight in a public bathroom by a predator transsexual or a male is so minuscule that it is not worth mentioning. A little girl would not be in there by themselves anyway. You cannot assume that all transsexuals and men are sexual predators either...that is asinine. How could you tell a person is a transsexual anyway? It certainly will not be by their appearance. The whole scenario is stupid. I will make a compromise. I promise I will not try to get into a stall with a woman if they will promise to not try to turn me around when I am at the urinal.

              This Date in History   May 2

1670 On this date King Charles II of England chartered the Hudson Bay Company which was essentially a group of French explorers that was beginning a fur trapping operation in what is now Canada. The charter allowed the Frenchmen to set up a lucrative trade monopoly with London merchants. Not only this, it gave control of most of the lands around North America’s Hudson Bay. This deal was highly contested by English traders in the area and French fur trappers already in place but none the less the Hudson Bay Company enjoyed enormous success in what would become eastern Canada. France lost influence in Canada during the French and Indian war and some Montreal merchants established the North West Company and began a fur trade with Scottish traders. The Hudson Bay Company continued enjoying success in spite of the company’s failure to find a northwest passage out of Hudson Bay. Eventually the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company merged under the better known name of the Hudson Bay Company. The united companies then controlled the fur trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific in Canada. The company was under the governorship of Sir George Simpson from 1821-1856 when the company reached its monetary peak. Canada was granted dominion status in 1867 and the monopoly fell apart. But by then the company was diversified and remained Canada’s largest corporation through the 1920’s.

Speaking of King Charles II, it was his father King Charles I that was beheaded during the English Civil War in 1649 at the behest of Oliver Cromwell who became the Lord Protector of England until his death in 1660. After this England decided they wanted a monarchy again and Charles II assumed the throne but he argued with the Presbyterians in Scotland for several years before he was named as King of Scotland. Charles II was known as “The Merry Monarch” for his many parties. He also acknowledged to fathering 14 illegitimate children but did not name any as his heir. “Merry” indeed.

1808 Earlier France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte had successfully invaded the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain). On this date the Spaniards in Madrid, Spain got fed up and began a rebellion. The fight against the occupying Frenchmen reached a crescendo in the main square of Madrid. The Spanish rebels were defeated and that night the French commander Grand Duke Joachim Marat sent his troops through the city and hundreds of Spaniards were unmercifully killed in retribution. The success of Napoleon in his occupation forced the King of Spain, Charles IV, to abdicate. But eventually the British sent an expeditionary force under the leadership of Arthur Wellesley to kick the French out the peninsula. The French were kicked out of Portugal in short order but the struggle for Spain took a while. In 1813 Wellington finally routed the French army in the Battle of Vitorio and Spain was free once again. Later on Napoleon and Wellesley met again in the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium where Wellesley beat the crap out of Napoleon and was titled the Duke of Wellington for his efforts. He was known as the “Iron Duke” for his rigid discipline, but it paid off in the long run.

1924 On this date Patrick Mahon was arrested in a London train station for murder. He had a bloody knife in his luggage the he readily admitted he used to dismember his mistress. He said the she had fallen and struck her head and died and he felt the need to hide her remains so his wife would not find out. The police went to the apartment and find that Patrick had indeed dismembered his mistress to the point that there was nothing larger than a foot square. To verify that the mistress had died from a blow to the head or not, the police had to reassemble the corpse for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death. This job was the beginning of the police using rubber gloves in an investigation of a murder. They could not confirm that the woman had died from a blow to the head because they never found a head but the rest of the corpse was reassembled. Patrick was tried and convicted of murder and was executed in September of the same year. I like it. By the way, Patrick was caught because his wife found a receipt for a storage locker in Patrick’s clothing and sent the police to the locker. There they found Patrick’s bloody clothing from the murder. Moral: Men...do not cheat with, kill and dismember your mistresses unless you have a change of clothes.

Born today:

1762 Russian Empress Catherine the Great. She said “You philosophers are lucky people. You write on paper and the paper is patient. I, as an unfortunate Empress, must write on the skins of living beings.” Did she mean she was a tattoo artist?

Died today:

1519 Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci. He said “As a well spent day brings a happy sleep, a well spent life brings a happy death.” Leonardo was so smart he was scary.

Answer to the trivia question:

John Browns attempt at capturing the arms at Harper's ferry was quashed by US Colonel Robert E. Lee, Captain J.E.B. Stuart and a detachment of Marines.

               Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow