Friday

                        Musings and History

   

Quote of the day:

 “Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting with you now,

This much let me avow-

You are not wrong who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision or in none,

Is it therefore less gone?

All we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.”

Edgar Allen Poe

Trivia question of the day:

Why were wheeled vehicles not used by the Maya and Aztecs?  Answer at the end of the blog.

              This Date in History   June 29

1775 The Continental Congress ratified the Articles of War to be sent to King George III. This was a year before the Declaration of Independence was ratified. The Articles of War begins with the phrase “As his majesty’s most faithful subjects in these colonies”, and it goes on to describe “attempts of the British ministry to carry out the execution, by force of arms, unconstitutional and oppressive acts by British Parliament with taxes on America.” The colonists could not believe that King George III would knowingly allow unfair treatment of his subjects and this was an attempt to notify him of it. This was not a condemnation of King George, but of Parliament. King George not only did not agree with the colonists, he did not even read the Articles of War. With this the Colonists knew they were being raped with the approval and encouragement of King George III. After this, the wrath of the colonists turned from Parliament to King George himself. The Declaration of Independence attacked and accused King George not Parliament. In the span of 12 months the colonists re-focused their venom on the King alone. All of this was stoked into an inferno in January of 1776 when Thomas Paine published Common Sense and it scathingly called King George everything but a white man and listed many unfair things that he had allowed to happen to the colonists. This was a clear act of treason as the British saw it and they began applying even more harsh pressure on the colonists. It did not work then, nor in 1812 and hopefully never.

1862 We are about half way through the so-called Battle of the Seven Days. On this day the Battle of White Oak Swamp occurred. CSA General Robert E. Lee decided that the time has come to apply the coup de grace to the Army of the Potomac that is in full retreat with Lee hounding their every step. Lee gave a plan of attack to his three Corp commanders in which the Army of the Potomac would be attacked from three different directions at once. It was a complicated plan and required precise timing. After the attack began, inexplicably, CSA General “Stonewall” Jackson allowed his attack to stall at the edge of the swamp which allowed the Union troops being under attack by him to reinforce other troops that were being overwhelmed. No one has ever figured out to this day what Jackson was thinking. Anyway, this action also allowed the Army of the Potomac to go to the closet high ground and dig in……Malvern Hill. But that is another story.

1981 Glen Godwin got into an argument with a known drug dealer named Kim LeValley. In his rage Godwin stomped, beat, choked and stabbed him 28 times. He wasn’t done yet. He took the corpse out onto the desert near Palm Springs, California and using a home made explosive, blowed it into confetti. Godwin is caught and sentenced to 25 to life and goes to Soledad Prison. While there he marries Shelly Rose. In 1985 He is transferred from Soledad to Folsom prison. In 1987 he escaped from Folsom through a 300 yard drain pipe that someone had cut the iron bars off the end from the outside. He got on a raft, floats across the American River to freedom. In 1989 the American authorities receive a message from Mexico they have a man in custody named Stewart Carrera that has the same fingerprints as Glen Godwin. Before they could get him extradited, Godwin killed his cellmate and escaped. In 1996 Godwin is put on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list and he and Shelly are featured on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.” Someone recognized Shelly on the TV show as living in Dallas and she is arrested. But Shelly had divorced Glen long ago and had remarried. She had no idea where Glen was. And no one else does either because he is still at large to this day.

1878 On this day the 140 ft stern wheeler river boat “Far West” arrived on the Little Big Horn River and begins taking aboard the wounded troopers from the infamous battle. Remember, there were three units of US cavalry at that battle. It was only Custer’s unit that was annihilated. Even though the other two units suffered horrendous casualties, there were survivors. The pilot of the “Far West” was the best at the time in Grant Marsh. The boat only drew 20 inches of water when fully loaded and therefore could navigate a long way up streams and rivers before running out of water. Marsh took the wounded troopers to Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota. There is little doubt that the easy ride on the boat saved many of the wounded. A ride in a wagon to the fort would have been fatal to many of them.

1520 On this day the Aztecs in the capitol of Tenochtitlan led by their king Montezuma II finally get fed up with the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez and his troops and revolt. First of all, Tenochtitlan is an island in the middle of a huge lake with a man made causeway to the mainland. It was located approximately where Mexico City is today. The Aztecs sealed off the causeway making Cortez and company have to fight their way out by boat. Cortez loses many troops when the boats carrying the troops along with an overload of gold booty each, capsize and sink, drowning most of them as they are in armor. Cortez escaped, but Montezuma is killed. No one knows if it was the Spanish or the Aztecs that killed him but the next day Montezuma’s brother assumes the crown. Eventually, Cortez returned and with the help of other tribes retook the city. The other tribes resented the hated Aztecs because they subjugated them and required tribute from them all, even all the way to present day Nicaragua.

Births and deaths:

1918 US singer Lena Horne is born. She said “It is ill-becoming for an old broad to sing about how much she wants it. But occasionally we do.” Lena has her finger on the pulse of womanhood.”

Quotable Quotes:

“If there is no hell, a good many preachers are receiving money under false pretenses.”

Billy Sunday

Answer to the trivia question:

Wheeled vehicles were known to the Maya and Aztecs because wheeled toys have been found in tombs but they did not use them in their lives because they had no draft animals.  Horses and mules were unknown to Central and North America before the Spanish conquistadors came.

         Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                                 Musings and History

Quote of the day:

When speaking of Neville Chamberlain he said:

“An appeaser is one that feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.”

                                     Winston Churchill

Have any of you wondered by the HIV virus is still with us? Why hasn't it gone the way of polio or smallpox where a vaccine was developed. Here is the reason: The HIV virus has the innate capability of detecting the vaccine and will change its metabolism to avoid its effects. This is not the only virus with this capability. Asian Flu can do the same thing. That is why there is a different “strain” of influenza every year requiring a different vaccine. The difference is that one is far more deadly than the other. Then there is malaria...

Zeke’s marina is located near the inter coastal waterway just outside Orange Beach, Alabama. It is the home of the 46 foot charter boat Rookie and the captain of this boat was 52 year old Allen Kruse. After the oil spill in the Gulf Allen’s charter boat fishing business took a nosedive. He had been a charter boat captain for 25 years and now he was out of business. To make ends meet he hired his boat out to BP and was undergoing training on how to skim the oil off the water and to lay out floating booms. For the first time in 25 years he was not his own boss and had strangers yelling at him. He was exasperated at the snails pace operation and seeing the containment crews lounging around Zeke’s doing nothing. Later he kissed his wife goodbye at his Foley, Alabama home and went to the marina. Allen climbed into the wheelhouse of his boat and blew his brains out. He said that life as he knew it would never be the same in his lifetime. It was more than he could bear.

                     This Date in History   June 28

1836 James Madison died on his tobacco plantation in Virginia. He was a drafter of the Declaration of Independence, the chronicler of Continental Conventions, one of the authors of The Federalist Papers and the 4^th President of the United States. Had it not been for him and others with the same zeal for freedom as he, we would not be what we are today. His chronicles of the Continental Convention are recognized as some of the most detailed and well phrased ever written. He sealed his chronicles and made them inaccessible until all involved were deceased. Madison started his rise to fame when he attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) and completed a four year curriculum in two. He helped form the American Whig Society which became the rival of the Cliosophic Society, both were literary and debate societies. He, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton were the authors of the Federalist Papers which were instrumental in keeping the public at large informed and fostered independence from England and persuaded the public that a central government could be sensitive to individual rights. I believe these writings were instrumental in the successful adoption of the Constitution. He became a rector at Thomas Jefferson’s beloved University of Virginia. In 1938 the Virginia State Teachers College in Harrisonburg changed to Madison College in his honor, it later became James Madison University. His wife Dolly Tate Madison was recognized as a superb first lady and host. It was she that saved the famous Gilbert portrait of George Washington from the British when she and James had to evacuate the White House from the British onslaught during the War of 1812. We need more like James and Dolly. By the way, James Madison is the only sitting US President to participate in combat. During the War of 1812 a British infantry unit was approaching Washington from Maryland. Madison crossed over into Maryland and took command of an artillery battery. It was during this time period that Dolly evacuated the White House and the British burned it to the ground.

1964 On this date the employer of Jim Olive call the police and tell them that he has not shown up for work for several days and that was not like him. The Terra Linda, California police went to the home of Jim and Naomi Olive and find the house in disarray but no Jim and Naomi nor their teenage daughter Marlene. The next day Marlene showed up at the police department with a bizarre tale of the disappearance of her parents. She told several versions on the same theme from Naomi shot and killed Jim to Jim had shot and killed Naomi to the two were kidnapped by a group of Hell’s Angels. As you might suspect, the police did not believe her and finally she confessed. She had induced Jim to take her to the zoo and while they were gone Marlene’s boyfriend Chuck Riley, was to kill Naomi because she and Naomi did not get along. Marlene was using Riley as a source for her drugs by providing him sex in return. Once when Riley and Marlene went on a $6,000 shoplifting spree, Naomi found out about it threatened to tell the cops. It was then that Marlene decided that she had to go. Naomi was an acknowledged schizophrenic/paranoid. Anyway, Riley took a claw hammer with him and went in and started beating up on Naomi. That did not get the job so he resorted to a kitchen knife in the chest. While he was doing the stabbing Jim and Marlene walk in and Jim tried to intervene but Chuck shot Jim in the chest and he died also. Eventually Marlene and Chuck dragged the bodies out into the woods, dug a trench, put the bodies in and poured in several gallons of gasoline and lit it off. Marlene took the police to the site. Marlene got 20 years and Chuck got life without parole.

1969 The so-called “Stonewall” riot occurs on this day. The NYPD raided the gay bar known as “The Stonewall”. The police had cause because the bar was selling liquor without a license. The crowd that was present watched quietly as the owners and bartenders were herded up and put into a paddy-wagon but when the police arrested three drag-queens and a lesbian off the street, the crowd erupted and began throwing bottles and rocks at the cops. The cops had no choice but to retreat into the building and call for a riot squad to come and disperse the mob. It was later discovered that the NYPD raided the gay clubs almost three times as often as they did others. With this information in hands of the bar owners and bartenders the NYPD knew they had no chance and released all with no charges being made. Everyone has prejudices, they are guaranteed by the Constitution, but unequal enforcement of the law is not allowed.

Births and Deaths:

1910 Scottish politico Lord William Whitelaw is born. When speaking of Prime Minister Harold Wilson he said “He is traveling around the country stirring up apathy.”

1926 US comic/actor/producer Mel Brooks is born. He said “If God had wanted us to fly he would have given us tickets.” He is a funny guy.

1946 US Comedienne Gilda Radner is born. She said “I can always be distracted by love, but eventually I get horny for my creativity.” And what a creative talent she was. She is gone and I miss her.

The answer to the trivia queston is:

The second sitting president assassinated in office was James A. Garfield.

          Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

                         Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Wilma, I promise you; whatever scumbag did this, not one man on this police force will rest until he is behind bars. Now let's grab some lunch.”

               Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen), The Naked Gun

Trivia question of the day:

What was the only battle in WWII where the US Marines suffered more casualties (killed and wounded) than the enemy? Answer at the end of the blog.

I guess by no that all of you know that Great Britain has dropped out of the European Union. I did not really understand the significance until I did a little research. The headquarters of the European Union is in Brussels, Belgium. It essentially is an economic organization but those that govern have the ability to not recognize national borders, override national laws and to dictate how many immigrants a member of the Union should accept. This stuck in the craw of many of the Brits. Now the Brits will be able to govern immigration as they see fit but it could cost them economically. I guess you can push people so far then they revolt and to hell with the consequences.

This reminds me of the upcoming 4^th of July and an event that happened in Philadelphia in 1776...those people were pushed too far and did something about it and suffered the consequences for a while...but it was worth it. Freedom and self determination does not have a monetary value.

A while back President Obama indicated that if Great Britain did not stay in the EU it could effect the trade agreement with the United States. This display of unmitigated arrogance apparently lit a fire under the Brits and they did something about him trying to interfere with their national affairs...I don't blame them.

           This Date in History   June 27

1844 Earlier in 1823 Joseph Smith, an 18 year old Vermonter, claimed to have been visited by a Christian archangel named Moroni. Moroni supposedly told Joseph about a book that had been written on gold plates by a Native American in the 4^th century. The book was a history of an ancient Israeli tribe that had came to America centuries ago but had been wiped out except for about 34 survivors. Moroni told Joseph where the book was buried and he dug it up and it was written in an unknown language, unknown to everyone except Joseph. Joseph deciphered this book into English and it became the Book of Mormon. Joseph formed a church that became The Church of Latter-Day Saints which flourished and quickly grew in number. The tenets of the Mormon Church did not sit well with the regular Christians primarily because polygamy was allowed. This hostility caused Joseph Smith and his faithful to stay on the move to Ohio, Missouri and finally to a town near Carthage, Illinois that Smith named Nauvoo. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were arrested and jailed in Carthage. On this date, a group of “Christians” stormed the jail, removed Joseph and Hyrum and hanged them. This did not stop the growth of this religion, however, Brigham Young saw to that.

1864 In Early May the Union Army of the Tennessee had departed the Chattanooga, Tennessee area headed for Atlanta, Georgia about 100 miles distant. The Union army was commanded by US General William T. Sherman and the Confederate army in opposition was commanded by CSA General Joseph Johnston. It was a very slow moving campaign which was to the Confederate advantage. A couple of weeks before a corps of the Confederates led by CSA General John Bell Hood had attacked at a place known as Kolb’s farm and had lost 1,600 precious soldiers. The Confederacy had no replacements. Seeing this, Sherman thought that the Confederates were weakened and on this date he feinted to both the right and left of the Confederate lines and launched an 8,000 man attack on the Confederate center. The attack was repulsed with heavy losses for the Union and Sherman ordered a retreat. However, the unit that had feinted to the Confederate left held its ground and Johnston knew that eventually his position would be untenable and he retreated back toward Atlanta.

1874 Earlier Indian tribal chiefs Quanah Parker and Lone Wolf had signed the Treaty of Medicine Lodge in which they agreed to go to a reservation in Oklahoma but reserved the right to claim the panhandle of Texas as their private hunting grounds, primarily for the bison. However, a group of white buffalo hunters believed that the Panhandle of Texas was open range for hunting. The hunters established a small settlement in the panhandle known as Adobe Walls which is where most of the hides and meat was brought for trading. When Quanah Parker, Lone Wolf and the other chiefs saw that the US was not going to force the bison hunters off the agreed upon hunting ground they formed an army of their own totaling 700 Kiowa, Comanche and Cheyenne to drive the buffalo hunters off their lands. On this date the Indians attacked Adobe Walls that was manned by only 28 bison hunters. The difference was the bison hunters had the newly developed .50 caliber Sharps buffalo rifle that was hard-hitting and had a long range. Also to the advantage of the hunters was the thickness of the walls that could stop any bullet or arrow. After three days the Indians decided that the fort could not be taken and withdrew. Enraged at this loss, the Indians went on a rampage of raping and pillaging less well defended forts, house and farms that became known as The Red River War. This war decimated what was left of the plains Indians in that area and even more lands were taken by lies and conquest from the Native Americans.

1944 Thee weeks before, the Allies had successfully landed on the Normandy beaches and established a permanent beachhead. One of the main reasons for the attack at Normandy was to secure a deep water seaport to bring supplies in. That seaport was Cherbourg, France on the northern tip of the Contenin peninsula. The task of kicking the Germans out of the Contenin peninsula and Cherbourg in particular, fell to US General Omar Bradley. On this date Cherbourg was declared to be liberated. As the Allies turned east toward Germany they knew they would need another deep water port and that was Antwerp, Belgium. But that is another story.

Born today:

US billionaire H. Ross Perot. He said “Life is like a spider web, not an organizational chart.” I wonder what life would have been like with this Texan as our president.

1938 British writer Alan Coren. He said “I wonder if those companies that make fool proof items have a couple of fools on their payroll for testing purposes.” I don’t know, Alan, but I know where they can find a few.

Answer to the trivia question:

The only WWII battle where the US Marines suffered more casualties than they inflicted was Iwo Jima.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                       Musings and History

Quote of the day:

While being asked about the weight of William “Refrigerator” Perry (360 pound defensive lineman from Clemson) who ran for a Chicago Bears touchdown in Super Bowl XX he said: “When the Fridge goes home to South Carolina the chicken population goes down measurably.”

                                               Mike Ditka

Trivia question of the day:

In their adolescence Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart were cousins living close to each other in Louisiana/Mississippi border area and would frequently get together and jam musically. There was a biopic made about Jerry Lee titled “Great Balls of Fire” in which Dennis Quaid played Jerry Lee...who played Jimmy Swaggart? Answer at the end of the blog.

Here is a moment in time:
On April 1, 1945 the American 10th army arrived at Okinawa commanded by Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner. By evening of that day 60,000 troops had been put ashore. What followed was one of the bloodiest battles in recorded history. Okinawa is the last island before the Japanese mainland and the soldiers were fighting for there homeland. After suffering enormous casualties on both sides victory for the American troops was in sight. On June 18 General Buckner was killed by Japanese artillery. On Jun21 the troops had sealed the island. On June 22 the Japanese commander General Ushijima and his staff committed suicide and all hostilities ceased. There was 120,000 Japanese soldiers killed and there was none captured. Those left alive killed their wounded and committed suicide. Included in this was 2,000 Japanese kamikaze pilots that attacked the ships in support of the attack and 36 ships were lost. The US lost 13,500 killed and 35,000 wounded. The plan was to launch an attack from Okinawa onto the southernmost island of Japan with an estimated 1,000,000 casualties to capture the whole of Japan. However, on August 6 an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and August 9 another one was dropped on Nagasaki and the next day Japan surrendered making the attack on Okinawa unnecessary. God works in mysterious ways.

              This Date in History   June 26

1541 Earlier Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro had made a deal with another conquistador to split what they found while plundering what is now Colombia, South America. While raping and pillaging the natives in Colombia, Pizarro saw evidence of very rich civilization further south but did not discuss it with his partner. What he saw was evidence of the mighty Inca in Peru. Pizarro went around his partner, Diego de Almagro, and made a deal with King Charles V of Spain that granted Pizarro rights to the plundering the Inca if a percentage of the booty went to King Charles. Pizarro invaded Peru and captured the Inca king Atahualpa. He asked ransom for Atahualpa to the tune of a room full of gold. Incredibly, this demand was met but Pizarro killed Atahualpa anyway. Pizarro continued his slaughter, rape and enslavement of the Inca and was given the title of Governor. Lima, the city that became the capital of Peru was founded by Pizarro. Anyway, Pizarro’s erstwhile partner Diego de Almagro became very jealous of Pizarro’s success and demanded a piece of the action so Pizarro took out a map and drew out a sketch of the lands that he granted to de Almagro. Diego was displeased with the amount of land given and planned revenge and Diego de Almagro seized the city of Cuzco. Pizarro sent his half brother to take the city back which he accomplished with ease. On this date three years later some of the accomplices of Diego sneaked into Pizarro’s mansion and skewered him with a sword while he dined. The next day Diego de Mansa, Almagro’s son, declared himself as Governor of Peru.

1957 On this date Margaret Harold of Annapolis, Maryland decided to take ride in her car with her boyfriend. All of a sudden a car whipped in front of Margaret and stopped. The driver got out carrying a .38 revolver, shot and killed Margaret but her boyfriend managed to escape. In an abandoned building a short distance away the police found the walls plastered with porno of the most gruesome type. Two years later the Jackson family of Fredericksburg, Virginia was out riding down a dirt road in a rural area when a car cut them off and a man got out carrying a .38 revolver. The father, mother, a two year old girl and a five year old boy were killed but not before the mother was brutally raped. She was raped in the same abandoned building that the police had found all the porno. Word leaked out to the press and tips began flooding in and one of them pointed to a man named Melvin Rees. Rees was eventually located in West Memphis, Arkansas and his apartment was searched and a .38 revolver was found. But the most damning evidence was a handwritten note paper clipped to a newspaper article about the Jackson family killing. The note described in gruesome detail how he had raped the mother. Further evidence implicated Rees in the murder of four other young women in the Virginia/Maryland area. This monster was tried and convicted of three murders and was sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life without parole. He died in prison in 1995. I wonder where he is now.

1862 On June 1 the Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Joseph E. Johnston was replaced by General Robert E. Lee. Johnston had been severely injured at the Battle of Fair Oaks. On this date the Army of Northern Virginia encountered the enormous Army of the Potomac, US General George McClellan commanding, near a small town southwest of Richmond called Mechanicsville. The Battle was the first of the so-called Battle of the Seven Days. The Confederate cavalry commander Colonel J.E.B. Stuart had ridden completely around McClellan’s army and brought back information that the Union left flank was “in the air”. This meant that there was no natural barrier like a mountain or river protecting the left end of line of infantry. Lee sent CSA General “Stonewall” Jackson and his corps to attack the Union left. Jackson had just caught up with Lee after his brilliant Shenandoah Valley campaign. For reason known only to Jackson, he was slow in developing his attack and was discovered which allowed the Union troops to reinforce. The battle was a short but bloody one and was essentially a draw. The difference was that General McClellan was really unnerved at the sight of the carnage and his tactics softened. Lee jumped at this chance and aggressively drove the Union army backward to the end of the James River peninsula where they boarded ships and got their Yankee asses back to the house.

Born today:

1824 Lord Kelvin, Irish scientist. He said “A heavier than air flying machine is impossible.” Hey Kelvin, you were a brilliant man but had no vision.

1904 US actor Peter Lorre. When attending the funeral of Bela Lugosi who played a vampire in many movies he said “Do you think we should drive a stake in his heart just to be sure.”

1931 English writer Colin Wilson. He said “This new civilization bears a new type of hostility. To say it is the law of the jungle is being unfair to the jungle.” I understand, Colin.

Answer to the trivia question:

In the movie “Great Balls Of Fire” Jimmy Swaggart was played by Alec Baldwin, believe it or not.

Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow    

                         

Monday

                        Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Life is a smorgasbord. Take a little bite of different parts of it every day.”

                                               Al Campbell

Trivia question of the day:

Elton John wrote the song “Candle In The Wind” about a person. Who was it?

This is what I saw as a results of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010. This was Pensacola Beach a short while later.

As far as I am concerned the sky has fallen. The incoming tide on Pensacola Beach, Florida on Tuesday night brought a sheet of black tar and a chocolate brown sheet of emulsified crude oil. There was no mention of the aroma but from my days working in the oil fields I remember a heavy naptha/motor oil smell. It makes me very sad to see such a pristine, sugar white beach spoiled in that fashion. In addition to that, it makes me very angry. The problem is that they are wearing HAZMAT coveralls made of Kevlar. Kevlar is a tightly woven material that does not breathe. Not only that, the suit is taped at the ankles and wrists and full masks are worn. That is because that most petroleum can contain toxic benzene which can be absorbed through the skin. With the temperature in the nineties the workers cannot stay in the sun any longer than 15 to 20 minutes at a time because of the chance of heat stroke. This extends the clean up period several times over. The night clean-up crew worked at a much faster pace and the beach was clean by Thursday morning. I say clean, but there still was a visible stain on the sand at the high tide mark. The point where this pic was taken is adjacent to the condo that I normally stay in on my yearly visits. I will still go down there this year to visit with my trashy friends but it will not be the same. There is a ritual that is followed almost every morning, weather permitting. There is a man named “Mayor Bob” Merrimon that sets up on the beach for two or three hours in the morning and sunbaths. Bob is a friend of mine and even if he is not the official “Mayor” he is acknowledged to be the leader of the sun worshippers. Bob is in his mid-eighties and has a golden tan year round. When Bob sets up on the beach, there is a crowd of other sun worshippers that gather around him. Bob identifies his location with a portable flag pole with several identifiable flags aflutter. Dependent upon the aroma of the oil pollution, those days may be over. Bob has been holding his morning ritual for 30 years. It is possible that he will move over to Santa Rosa Sound and set up, but it will not be the same. From now on I will plan carefully where I buy my gasoline, I can promise you it will not be BP. By the way, there was a bottle-nosed dolphin (porpoise) that was in distress near the same place where I took a pic. A couple of life guards and wildlife officials wrestled the dolphin out of the oil-laden surf and loaded him aboard a truck and headed out toward a marine wildlife recovery facility in Panama City Beach, Florida. The dolphin died enroute. There was not a dry eye among the rescuers. What a damned shame and there is no end in sight.

Thursday afternoon the Brussels, Belgium police with a search warrant in hand, raided the home and office of a Roman Catholic Archbishop named Godfried Daneels. The cops captured a lot of written material and the hard drive out of his computer. Y’all can guess what the raid was all about but it was in connection with the sexual abuse of minors. The police were not specific if they were looking for evidence against the Archbishop himself of for information about others that participated. The cops did say that the Archbishop was fully cooperating. There is no telling for how long or how much abuse of children has been evident over the centuries.

            This Date in History   June 25

1876 Earlier the US Army tasked three US cavalry commanders to form three columns and proceed to south and central Montana and round up the hostile Sioux and Cheyenne and escort them to reservations. A few days earlier the main column of US General John Gibbon was attacked by over 2,000 Sioux warriors and was forced to retreat and re-group. This critical information never reached the other two columns thus informing them of the number of hostiles out there. Anyway, it was on this day that one of the divisions of US General Terry; the 7^th Cavalry commanded by Colonel George Custer approached an area of Montana known as Greasy Grass to the Indians. Several of Custer’s Crow and Shoshone scouts return to Custer with word of the largest Indian gathering ever seen on the northern plains and suggested they wait for reinforcements. Custer blew them off and said they were exaggerating. They were not exaggerating, there were over 5,000 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Custer ordered his troops into a two pronged attack formation. The Crow and Shoshone scouts asked for time to sing their death songs but Custer refused and launched the attack. He sent Major Benteen and Major Reno and their commands to attack from the east and Custer swung around and attacked from the north. From the time the first shot was fired an estimated 2,500 wild-eyed Sioux and Cheyenne swarmed out of the sea of teepees and delivered the mother of all ass-kickings. Major Benteen and Major Reno were immediately overwhelmed and were forced to dismount and fight from cover. They eventually retreated in a rout and were forced to leave Custer alone. When Custer saw the overwhelming number of warriors approaching, he hastily established a defense perimeter but it was too little too late. Crazy Horse surrounded the small group and picked them off one at a time until they were all dead. Then the worst happened. The Sioux and Cheyenne women came in and heavily mutilated the dead troopers. It was their belief that if a man’s body was not complete, he could not go to heaven (happy hunting ground). 227 US cavalry troopers were massacred on this day, but the Indians paid a price that has been exacted every day since.

1915 Four days before at the Battle of Ypres in Belgium the Germans unleashed a chlorine gas attack on their French adversaries via artillery shells. The French raised almighty hell at these “barbarism”. Once a person inhales chlorine gas, he dies by drowning in his own body fluids. It is horrible death that takes a long time. On this date the Germans respond by calling the French hypocrites because the French had already invented Mustard gas that is designed for warfare. That was true, but the French had not yet used it. A few weeks earlier the French has indeed used tear gas in an attack on the Germans which essentially blinded the German troops although temporarily, but it did allow the French infantry to attack unopposed. In short, the Germans did not repent nor apologize and the “War to End All Wars” continued its bloody course. Germany lost this war primarily because of the entry into the war by the British and the United States. After the end of the war in 1919 Germany was totally beaten and impoverished making it prime territory someone to restore German pride and hope. That individual showed his ugly head in Munich in 1934 in the form of Adolph Hitler and soon hell on earth prevailed.

The answer to the trivia question.

The person “Candle In The Wind” was written about was Marilyn Monroe or Norma Jean Baker.

           Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                                   Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“I don’t want to hear that we are ‘holding our position’. We are not holding anything. We will let the “Hun” do that. We are advancing constantly and not hold on to anything except the Germans. We are going to hold him by the nose and kick him in the ass.”

                                        US General George S. Patton

Trivia question of the day:

What famous American soldier believed he was at the Battle of Marathon as a Greek Hoplite (professional soldier) fighting the Persians under Darius the Great in the year of 490BC? Answer at the end of the blog.

At one time there was a Lebanese immigrant as part of my social group. He had immigrated to escape the civil war that was taking place between the Muslims and the Christians in the early and mid 1980's. He was a soldier in the Christian Militia. He and I had many long conversations about the middle east and the problems involved. He said the problem is the Shia Muslims wanting to take over the world by force if necessary. I asked him what is the solution and he said the Christian Militia had the answer...kill them all, man, women and child. But the world media began showing what was going on over there and their covert funding dried up.

A friend of mine said that one of her acquaintances was a Marine in Lebanon in that time period. He was introduced to a Russian soldier and in their conversation the Russian pointed at himself and said “We are not your problem, they are your problem” pointing to a group of Muslim children playing nearby.

A while back I finished a new book. It was “Picked By the King” I met the author of “Picked By the King” (Frieda Stroble) when she had a table set up in the lobby in one of of my favorite watering holes (Irashai) which is a pretty fancy-schmantzy sushi restaurant with a small bar. She and I talked a while and I took one of her books home. It was not what I had expected. This woman is a half Lumbee Indian from the cotton and tobacco belt of South Carolina. She and her family suffered incredible racial intimidation and discrimination most of her formative years. They were denied many things simply because they were dark skinned. Before the tenet of “separate but equal” was struck down by the Supreme Court, there were signs everywhere in the Dillon, South Carolina (the closest city to their farm) area say “White Only” and that included Indians as well as blacks. She finally was able to go to a “white” high school and essentially was ostracized for the entire time and it scarred her forever. The book was about her time as a hair dresser in a “retirement home”. My Mom and Dad spent a time in a retirement home and it was not a happy time for either them or the rest of the family, especially me. The author wrote a series of vignettes about her trying to make those men and women in the home happier. The title of the book “Picked by the King” is the author’s belief that God had picked her to be a hair dresser for the elderly making their lives more enjoyable. She is very religious and almost every page made reference to her religion and even included verses from the Bible. In my opinion this distracted from the ebb and flow of the sequence of events and it hinted the she felt herself an evangelist and can read the mind of God. When I spoke with her in person she was very amiable and charming, pretty too. But as most writers know, your soul shows itself when you write. The book was not the type of book that I normally read but I read it in one sitting. I am sorry Frieda, but I must call them the way I see them.

                              This Date in History June 22

1609 Two years earlier English navigator Henry Hudson had set sail from England aboard his ship Discovery having been tasked by Dutch merchants with finding a northwest passage to the Pacific ocean and the Orient without having to sail around the toe of South America known as Cape Horn. A passage around this headland was a major undertaking in any season. It was always stormy and very dangerous. Hudson sailed into New York, Delaware and the Chesapeake bays seeking a passage west. It was Hudson that was the first European that sailed up the river that bears his name to this day. No passage was found and when he tried the present day Hudson Bay in Canada he realized that he could not stay in this environment through the winter. His exit from the river back into the Atlantic became blocked with ice so he did the next best thing and anchored his boat as far south as he could and prepared to wait for spring. Henry and his crew were on the cusp of freezing and starving to death all winter long. As you might suspect the crew got really pissed and decided to mutiny when it got warmer and the ice began to melt. They set Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in a small boat none of which were ever seen or heard from again. It was Henry’s voyage up the present day Hudson River that gave the Dutch claim to that part of the New World and the English a claim to Hudson Bay. Once the crew reached England they were captured and tried for mutiny but were not executed because their knowledge of the New World was immeasurable.

2006 On this date the second trial of Andrea Yates began. Yates was the mother that drowned her three children in the bathtub of her Texas home. She had drowned her two sons aged 7 and 5 plus her 6 year old daughter. At her trial in 2001 she had given a not guilty plea by reason of insanity. During this trial the prosecution had gotten a conviction for 1^st degree murder and had presented a psychiatrist as an “expert witness” and later it was discovered that his credentials were false and her conviction was thrown out. In this trial there was no doubt that his bitch was crazy as a loon. She had been taking many types of psychiatric drugs and even had attempted suicide three times in the past. How could this lunatic be allowed to be a caretaker of little children? In this trial she was acquitted of first degree murder but convicted of murder but not aware of the consequences of her acts. In other word, she was crazy as a shit house mouse. With this conviction she could not be given a life sentence in a correctional facility but there is no doubt in any Texan’s mind that this beast will be is a nut house for the rest of her days. I read a little about her first trial and she said that the 7 year old by fought hard but she overpowered him and he went underwater screaming “No, Moma, no!” Yates claimed that the Devil was inside her and she was afraid he would get into her children. She was partially right.

Answer to the trivia question:

The American soldier that thought he was a Greek hoplite at the Battle of Marathon was General George Patton.

                     Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Happiness is not the absence of problems; it is the ability to deal with them.”

                                             Stacy Keach

Trivia question (s) of the day:

1. Who was the fastest player in NFL history? 2. Who ran the fastest 40 yard dash in the combine? Answer at the end of the blog.

A while back a containerized cargo ship docked at the municipal docks in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Early one morning the security cops arrested two unauthorized aliens walking away from the ship. These guys were stowaways inside one of the containers from the Dominican Republic. Both of these jackasses had been previously convicted of crimes here in the United States, did hard time and then were deported. They were handed over to Federal authorities. By the way, there originally were three of them but one of them died in the container and was left to rot by his buddies. Hell yes, let’s allow the unrestricted flow of Latino aliens, they will make great citizens.

Last week down in Columbia, SC a food delivery truck was re-fueling at a Sonoco station when the driver went inside for personal reasons. When he came back, the truck was gone. That’s right, someone was really hungry. The truck was found the next day just a few miles away. All that was missing was some food. Times are tough, y’all.

A while back the state of Utah offered a man on death row that was nearing his assigned execution date either the poison needle or a firing squad. He opted for the firing squad. Later on a firing squad was assembled and this convicted killer went to meet his make air conditioned. If you think about it, five rounds of 30.06 ammo simultaneously entering your chest causes death more instantaneous than the 20 seconds it takes for the poison. I do not see what all the hoopla is about, how about some sympathy for this animal’s victims.

Here is an item that should install confidence in the present bureaucracies. A while back the state of Louisiana had bought a number of barges that have a vacuuming device aboard that is very effective in gathering oil off water surfaces to combat the oil spill by the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The United States Coast Guard forbade these barges from going out into the Gulf because there were not enough life jackets aboard each vessel. These barges stayed in port for four days before the Coast Guard would give them the nod. They eventually ended up on site and operating. There is an old proverb that says “You do not worry about draining the swamp when you are up to your ass in alligators.”

This Date in History June 21

1782 On this date the Congress of the United States adopted The Great Seal. On the front of the seal is a bald eagle holding an olive branch in his right talons and arrows in his left. This represents that Congress has the power to work for peace or make war. There is a shield on his breast with red and white stripes with a blue field above. The eagle’s beak holds a ribbon with the phrase E pluribus Unum on it, this Latin for “Out of Many, One”. There is a ray burst on top of the eagle encircling 13 stars. One might think this represents the thirteen original colonies but it doesn’t. It represents the concept that a “new nation has joined the other countries of the world” and indeed we did.

1964 Earlier two civil rights workers from New York named Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman and arrived in segregated Mississippi. They were working for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and their purpose was to try to register black voters. After their arrival in Neshoba County they were joined by a black Mississippi native named James Chaney, also working for CORE. In January Schwerner organized a successful boycott of a few businesses in Meridian, Mississippi and had been instrumental in the surge of black voters being registered. As a result of this the Grand Wizard of the KKK, Sam Bowers, put a contract out for Schwerner’s life. On June 16, 15 Klansmen descended on a black church, beat the crap out of a lot of people and burned the church to the ground. Schwerner had used the church as a rallying place to get the blacks to register to vote. He was not there that night he and the other two had gone to a training seminar in Ohio. On this date they returned to Mississippi they found out about the burned church and went to the site to talk with blacks that attended the church about what happened. After this they headed back to Meridian. They were stopped and arrested by the Deputy Sheriff of Neshoba County, Cecil Price, for suspicion of arson. They were using the church burning as an excuse to lock them up long enough to notify the Klan where they were. After 7 hours in the slammer and denied any phone calls, they were released and they resumed their trip toward Meridian. Awaiting them at the edge of the city of Philadelphia, Mississippi, which was the county seat of Neshoba County, was two car loads of Klansmen. They stopped the civil rights worker’s car and killed them all. After it became apparent to the relatives of the three that they had disappeared under ominous circumstances, they called the FBI and agents from that agency descended on Philadelphia like a swarm of locusts. They found the ringleaders of the murders and put them on trial for murder in a Philadelphia courthouse with a Mississippi judge presiding. They were all convicted but the judge did not sentence them to any punishment saying that they were provoked by “outsiders”. The shocked FBI went one step further and sued the ringleaders for a violation of the Constitutional right of the three. They were all convicted and went to prison. The bodies of the three workers were found buried in an earthen dam that was under construction.

1990 On this night in northwestern Iran, an earthquake with the magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale begins on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The resulting devastation kills 50,000 and injures over 130,000. There was a stretch of a series of villages 80 miles long on the coast of the Caspian Sea that every building had collapsed and every person was killed.

Quotable Quotes:

“Always acknowledge a mistake, this throws those in authority off guard and give you the opportunity to make more.”

                                                Mark Twain

“Politics is more dangerous than war. In war they can only kill you once.”

                                           Winston Churchill

Answer to the trivia question:

The fastest player in NFL history was Bob Hayes of the Dallas Cowboys. Bob was gold medal winning sprinter in the Olympics. The fastest documented 40 yard dash in the combine was by Bo Jackson at a blistering 4.12 seconds.

                 Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow