Wednesday-2

I made the mistake of repeating Tuesday's edition.  Here is the real Wednesday edition.

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

I asked a friend that is an LSU fan how to stop the Crimson Tide football juggernaut and he said:

“I don't see a way except maybe a sniper with a high powered rifle up high in the cheap seats.”

Trivia question of the day:

Who was Vlad the Impaler?

                                      Reasons

For reasons that I don't understand after citing events in the past where Christians proved to be great mass killers like 7 Crusades and 5 inquisitions I was accused of being an “Left Winger” by bringing up events from the "Dark ages". I was asked has any Christians beheaded anyone. The answer is yes (see Mary Queen of Scots, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Charles I, Anne Boleyn among many others) in addition to “The Rack”, the “Iron Maiden” and many other tools of torture not to mention burning at the stake (see Joan of Arc). Here is some more recent events:

What was the most devastating terrorist attack in America's history beside 9/11? Give up? It was the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. There were 168 dead including at least 30 children under the age of 7 and 680 wounded of varying severity. The bombers were America born and military veterans named Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols...both were Catholic. What was next?

It was the destruction of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. 86 killed including several children under age of 12. The leader of the compound was a man named Vernon Howell but later changed it to David Koresh. He was born in Houston, Texas and claims to have been "saved" in a Southern Baptist Church. He later changed to the Mormon church apparently because he had the hots for the daughter of a particular Mormon Church pastor. He eventually formed a splinter group known as the Branch Davidian. After a 51 day siege a tank was brought in and knocked down a wall and discharged several tear gas canisters which might have caused the fire that killed the 76 inhabitants. There were 10 others killed in earlier skirmishes including several federal officers.

I have a very talented friend that is a songwriter, here is the lyrics of one of my favorites. It is a tribute to Patsy Cline.

Where I Could Be Patsy

Writer Brenda McAfee

Legs dangling from a limb, salt shaker in my hand

Green apples and imagination, my childhood combination

For flights of fancy

Queen of the hill, world at my command

Dreaming dreams beyond my means, a reverie of finer things

Utopia, my own fairyland, where I could be Patsy

Home alone, front porch for a stage

Crazy, Sweet Dreams and Wayward winds would take me away

But I never could stay

Rope on a limb, wood plank for a seat

I'd sing and swing my fantasy complete

Then there I'd be, back to reality

Queen of the hill, world at my command

Dreaming dreams beyond my means, a reverie of finer things

Utopia, my own fairy land, where I could be Patsy

This Date in History October 31

1863 US General Winfield Scott retired from military service. Scott had been given command of all the US army by A. Lincoln at the outbreak of the Civil War in April. Lincoln’s detractors criticized Lincoln for this because of Scott’s advanced years and ill health. Scott was the commander of the American Army during the Mexican War of 1846-1847. When asked how best to defeat the Confederacy he proposed what was called “The Anaconda Plan” whereby all of the Confederate naval ports would be blockaded to strangle them financially and gain control of the Mississippi River to starve them. This plan was scoffed at as being too sluggish but in the final analysis, that is exactly what happened. After his resignation Scott moved to West Point to write his memoirs. He died in 1866 at the age of 80.

1892 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is published. Doyle had been writing about Sherlock Holmes in different magazines as a serial but this was the first time in a book. Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and attended Edinburgh University and became a doctor. One of his teachers at the university was renowned for his deductive reasoning and it is believed that Doyle used him as a model for Sherlock. After graduating from Edinburgh Doyle went to London and set up a medical practice that was moderately successful and gave him time to dive into more of his writing. After the success of the Sherlock Holmes novels, he dropped out of the medical profession and began writing full time. Doyle died in 1930 as an icon of creative writing.

1926 Escape artist Harry Houdini died of peritonitis in Detroit. Twelve days earlier Houdini had been giving a speech at a university and told everyone there how hard his stomach muscles were. One of the students came up and blindsided him with two hard blows to the stomach before Houdini could prepare for it. The blows had ruptured his appendix. Houdini had a scheduled performance the next day and went through with it even though he was in severe pain. After another day or two the pain became unbearable and he went to a hospital and went into surgery almost immediately but it was too late, the poison had already taken its toll throughout his entire system. Houdini had made a pact with his wife and a close circle of friends that after the death of either one of them, they would try to contact the others from the spiritual world. A few of Houdini’s friends did indeed die but Houdini never received any contact. After he died his wife had heard nothing from Harry and declared the test a failure

1864 Nevada became a state. Even though the state only had 40,000 residents as opposed the normal requirement of 60,000 it was allowed into the fold for two reasons: The state was hard core Republican and Lincoln needed all the help he could get for the upcoming election and the largest silver deposit ever found was discovered in Nevada in the Comstock Lode not to mention placer gold mining. Politics and money...a deadly combination.

Births and Deaths:

1948 Baseball player Mickey Rivers is born. Mickey once said “Me, George and Billy are two of a kind.” If Mickey wasn’t black I would think he was related to Yogi Berra.

1993 US actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose outside a Los Angeles nightspot at the age of 23. River was a very talented actor but as many who achieve fame do, he thought he was ten feet tall and bulletproof. Wrong. Ironically he once said “I would rather quit while I am ahead, there is no use in overstaying your welcome.” What a waste of god given talent.

Answer to the trivia question:

Vlad the Impaler was Vlad Dracula the ruler of the western European country of Wallachia in the 15^th century. The regent of Hungary decided to invade Wallachia so Vlad killed many prisoners and many other of his own people that he didn't like and impaled them on long stakes and stood the up at the Hungarian border. When the invading army arrived and saw this horror they decided not to continue and went back to the house.

              Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Extra for the season

                             Halloween

This pagan celebration of Halloween goes back more that 2000 years to the ancient Celts of present day Ireland, England and northern France. The original name of the festival was Sawhain pronounced “sow-in” and was to celebrate the harvest and prepare for the upcoming harsh winter. The Celts celebrated November 1 as the beginning of a new year and the evening before became known as “All Hallow’s Eve” which morphed to Halloween. It was the only day of the year that the boundary between the living and the dead became cloudy and on this night the dead walked the earth. It was also believed that only on this night could one person predict the future of another. This was very important because of the rigors of the upcoming winter did indeed kill many of them. Every house extinguished the fire in their hearth because the Celtic priests (Druids) would cut down a sacred tree and build a gigantic bonfire for this night’s celebration. The people believed that if they could get a scrap of burning wood from this sacred fire and bring it into their homes, it would keep them warm throughout the winter. When the Celts approached the sacred fire they were costumed in animal heads and skins for ritualistic reasons. Upon the arrival of the Romans the rituals changed somewhat and Roman rituals were introduced as being part of the ritual. One of these rituals was the celebration of the harvest also except here they would honor the Roman goddess Pomona of fruits and trees. Pomona is represented by the symbol of an apple. I guess y’all see where this is going. That’s right; it is the bobbing for apples and trying to bite an apple while it is hanging from a string that was the result of paying homage to Pomona. During the 8^th and 9^th century the Roman Catholic Church tried their damnedest to eliminate this pagan festival and make it a church related event and instituted all Saint’s Day on November 1 hoping to sway the existing pagans back under the umbrella of the church. It did not work. This pagan festival continues to this day. There is no written evidence for the rise of the event known as “trick or treat” except that on All Hallow’s Eve some of the dead that walked the earth were mean, spiteful creatures. I suspect that ritual was really fostered by candy manufacturers and costume makers. Anyway the colors that are associated with Halloween as being orange and black have a meaning. Orange represented the changing color of the leaves on deciduous trees and black meant winter, shorter days and death was on the horizon for some. It bothers me somewhat for different churches to sponsor a Halloween event. It means that they are fostering a pagan festival. Maybe I am too old-fashioned...Bah Humbug!

               Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

                            Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Sorrow is tranquility remembered in emotion.”

                        Dorothy Parker

Trivia question of the day:

Who was the Russian Premier during the Cuban missile crisis? Answer at the end of the blog.

              This Date in History   October 30

1775 The Continental Congress decides that if they are going to war with England they will need more than two war ships to combat the mightiest navy in the world. So they decided to form a seven man committee headed by Esek Hopkins to do something about it. Esek and the others first start by trying to find naval commanders and crews with combat experience. This was a tall order because this young nation had never been at war before that required a navy. But they round up seven men with sailing experience including a young Scotsman named John Paul Jones that later became a hero of the upcoming conflict. They finally round up seven warships in the Alfred, Columbus, Andrea Doria, Cabot, Hornet, Wasp and the Fly. These vessels were in no way the equal of even the smallest British war ship but it was a start. The plan was to use these vessels to surreptitiously board British vessels, murder the captain and most of the crew and abscond with the warship. In other words, they were to utilized open piracy to advance the strength of their country’s navy. It was soon discovered that the best at this strategy was the young Scotsman John Paul Jones. After a time the fledgling Continental Navy had increased their navy to 40 warships and toward the end of the war were able to more than hold their own against the British warships one-on-one. After the war was over in 1781 these ships were decommissioned and the Captains and crews furloughed. It was not until 1798 that it was decided that a permanent United States navy would be required. This was caused by the constant harassment and capture of United States merchant ships by pirates off the west coast of Africa and in the Mediterranean Sea near the North African coast, especially near the coast of Tripoli. If you listen to the Marine Corps hymn and the phrase “to the shores of Tripoli”, this is the Tripoli they are talking about. That’s right; the ubiquitous Marines went ashore and took care of business. No more pirates.

1938 Communications genius Orson Welles and distinguished actor John Houseman formed a radio program named the Mercury Radio Theatre. They would put on weekly plays using guest actors and actresses. Keep in mind that Orson was still a teenager. At the beginning of the show on this date, Orson stated that everything the public heard in the following show was fiction and wished everyone a Happy Halloween. The show started with a mystery play and about five minutes into the show, a voice broke into the play and announced that he was a news reporter and was observing the following. An alien spaceship had landed on a farm in central New Jersey and was moving across the countryside vaporizing everything and everyone in sight. The US Army was on site and had nothing that could stop the space ship. It looked like it was the end of the world. He went on telling what carnage the ship was producing and how impotent the military was. Well, people from all over the country ran out of their houses screaming for divine intervention from this apparently unstoppable foe. After about 20 minutes of this nonsense the “reporter” bade his farewell to the audience because the spaceship was nearly on top of him and the “death ray” was coming his way. After this Orson came back on the air and said that he wished that all had enjoyed the program and wished them a good night. Only then did America realize it was a ruse. I am a loss for words at this, after all it was Halloween. It was Adolph Hitler who said “The more preposterous the suggestion, the more likely it is to be believed.”

1811 On this date one of the greatest novels ever written in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is published in England. Jane would not allow her name to be used as the author and the author was named as “a young lady”. Jane refrained from using her name because a woman writing novels was not considered “ladylike”. Even when she was writing at her desk and someone came in she would hide her manuscripts under the blotter. Jane also delivered to the world other masterpieces such as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. As for Jane not using her real name because of what she thought people would think of her. There are some of those writers of “romance” novels out there need to stop generating that trash and go home, the 1^st Amendment not withstanding.

1735 One of the heroes of the American Revolution, John Adams, is born in Braintree, Massachusetts. Braintree is now part if Quincy, Massachusetts. He was the third son of John and Susanna Adams and was recognized at an early age as an intellectual. He attended Harvard at the age of 16 and graduated at the age of 20. For a while he worked and studied in the law firm of James Putnam and taught school at Worchester, Massachusetts. He was admitted to bar at the age of 26 and married Abigail Smith at the age of 29. Abigail was the daughter of a Weymouth, Massachusetts congregational minister. From the start of the marriage John and Abigail developed a deep trust and respect for each others thoughts and opinions and Abigail was not afraid to express hers even if it was the opposite of John’s. John and Abigail were eyewitnesses to the Battle of Bunker Hill that was fought literally in their back yard. John became a ridgepole in the support of the cause for American independence. He was never in the military but his political guidance was instrumental in the machinations of our government. It was he that brilliantly mapped out the three branches of Federal Government; Legislative, Judicial and Executive. He also saw the Legislative branch with two sections (House and Senate). This man had incredible vision and ideas that are in practice to this day. He had a problem with the Federalists party under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton who wanted a Federal Government stronger than Adams had envisioned. But that problem dissolved when Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. It was said that Madison was an intellectual, Jefferson was the unquenchable idealist, and Franklin the most charming and versatile but is was Adams that was the most captivating of all of out founding fathers on most counts. Even though the Declaration of Independence was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson, Adams was among the group of people to offer help to Jefferson in the phrasing. The Declaration of Independence was introduced as a resolution to the Continental Congress by Richard Henry Lee and that resolution was seconded by John Adams. After the Revolutionary War he was elected as representative to The Court of St. James in 1787. This today is known as the Ambassador to Great Britain. Adams was responsible for beginning the healing of the wounds inflicted to both sides in the Revolutionary War that had ended in 1781 and establish a friendship and rapport between the United States and England that exists to this day. Adams played a very important role in establishing the United States as a major player in the world politic, especially in Europe and Holland in particular. The Dutch were major worldwide traders in those days and Adams saw the market for American goods being shipped on Dutch vessels as an advantage for both America and Holland. There are so many contributions that Adams made to his country, including the first Vice-President and the second President, that it would take a book to fully cover this man’s life and indeed there are many of them out there. It would be worth all of out times to read one about this giant in the history of the United States.

Births and deaths:

1751 English satirist Richard Sheridan is born. In an argument with his son about his academics, his son suggested that he should write “Room for rent” across his own forehead and Richard responded with “Write under that ‘unfurnished’”

The answer to the trivia question:

The Russian premier during the Cuban missile crisis was Nikita Khrushchev

                 Thanks for listening   I can hardy wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                               Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Sorrow is tranquility remembered in emotion.”

                             Dorothy Parker

Trivia question of the day:

Who was the Russian Premier during the Cuban missile crisis? Answer at the end of the blog.

This Date in History October 30

1775 The Continental Congress decides that if they are going to war with England they will need more than two war ships to combat the mightiest navy in the world. So they decided to form a seven man committee headed by Esek Hopkins to do something about it. Esek and the others first start by trying to find naval commanders and crews with combat experience. This was a tall order because this young nation had never been at war before that required a navy. But they round up seven men with sailing experience including a young Scotsman named John Paul Jones that later became a hero of the upcoming conflict. They finally round up seven warships in the Alfred, Columbus, Andrea Doria, Cabot, Hornet, Wasp and the Fly. These vessels were in no way the equal of even the smallest British war ship but it was a start. The plan was to use these vessels to surreptitiously board British vessels, murder the captain and most of the crew and abscond with the warship. In other words, they were to utilized open piracy to advance the strength of their country’s navy. It was soon discovered that the best at this strategy was the young Scotsman John Paul Jones. After a time the fledgling Continental Navy had increased their navy to 40 warships and toward the end of the war were able to more than hold their own against the British warships one-on-one. After the war was over in 1781 these ships were decommissioned and the Captains and crews furloughed. It was not until 1798 that it was decided that a permanent United States navy would be required. This was caused by the constant harassment and capture of United States merchant ships by pirates off the west coast of Africa and in the Mediterranean Sea near the North African coast, especially near the coast of Tripoli. If you listen to the Marine Corps hymn and the phrase “to the shores of Tripoli”, this is the Tripoli they are talking about. That’s right; the ubiquitous Marines went ashore and took care of business. No more pirates.

1938 Communications genius Orson Welles and distinguished actor John Houseman formed a radio program named the Mercury Radio Theatre. They would put on weekly plays using guest actors and actresses. Keep in mind that Orson was still a teenager. At the beginning of the show on this date, Orson stated that everything the public heard in the following show was fiction and wished everyone a Happy Halloween. The show started with a mystery play and about five minutes into the show, a voice broke into the play and announced that he was a news reporter and was observing the following. An alien spaceship had landed on a farm in central New Jersey and was moving across the countryside vaporizing everything and everyone in sight. The US Army was on site and had nothing that could stop the space ship. It looked like it was the end of the world. He went on telling what carnage the ship was producing and how impotent the military was. Well, people from all over the country ran out of their houses screaming for divine intervention from this apparently unstoppable foe. After about 20 minutes of this nonsense the “reporter” bade his farewell to the audience because the spaceship was nearly on top of him and the “death ray” was coming his way. After this Orson came back on the air and said that he wished that all had enjoyed the program and wished them a good night. Only then did America realize it was a ruse. I am a loss for words at this, after all it was Halloween. It was Adolph Hitler who said “The more preposterous the suggestion, the more likely it is to be believed.”

1811 On this date one of the greatest novels ever written in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is published in England. Jane would not allow her name to be used as the author and the author was named as “a young lady”. Jane refrained from using her name because a woman writing novels was not considered “ladylike”. Even when she was writing at her desk and someone came in she would hide her manuscripts under the blotter. Jane also delivered to the world other masterpieces such as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. As for Jane not using her real name because of what she thought people would think of her. There are some of those writers of “romance” novels out there need to stop generating that trash and go home, the 1^st Amendment not withstanding.

1735 One of the heroes of the American Revolution, John Adams, is born in Braintree, Massachusetts. Braintree is now part if Quincy, Massachusetts. He was the third son of John and Susanna Adams and was recognized at an early age as an intellectual. He attended Harvard at the age of 16 and graduated at the age of 20. For a while he worked and studied in the law firm of James Putnam and taught school at Worchester, Massachusetts. He was admitted to bar at the age of 26 and married Abigail Smith at the age of 29. Abigail was the daughter of a Weymouth, Massachusetts congregational minister. From the start of the marriage John and Abigail developed a deep trust and respect for each others thoughts and opinions and Abigail was not afraid to express hers even if it was the opposite of John’s. John and Abigail were eyewitnesses to the Battle of Bunker Hill that was fought literally in their back yard. John became a ridgepole in the support of the cause for American independence. He was never in the military but his political guidance was instrumental in the machinations of our government. It was he that brilliantly mapped out the three branches of Federal Government; Legislative, Judicial and Executive. He also saw the Legislative branch with two sections (House and Senate). This man had incredible vision and ideas that are in practice to this day. He had a problem with the Federalists party under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton who wanted a Federal Government stronger than Adams had envisioned. But that problem dissolved when Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. It was said that Madison was an intellectual, Jefferson was the unquenchable idealist, and Franklin the most charming and versatile but is was Adams that was the most captivating of all of out founding fathers on most counts. Even though the Declaration of Independence was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson, Adams was among the group of people to offer help to Jefferson in the phrasing. The Declaration of Independence was introduced as a resolution to the Continental Congress by Richard Henry Lee and that resolution was seconded by John Adams. After the Revolutionary War he was elected as representative to The Court of St. James in 1787. This today is known as the Ambassador to Great Britain. Adams was responsible for beginning the healing of the wounds inflicted to both sides in the Revolutionary War that had ended in 1781 and establish a friendship and rapport between the United States and England that exists to this day. Adams played a very important role in establishing the United States as a major player in the world politic, especially in Europe and Holland in particular. The Dutch were major worldwide traders in those days and Adams saw the market for American goods being shipped on Dutch vessels as an advantage for both America and Holland. There are so many contributions that Adams made to his country, including the first Vice-President and the second President, that it would take a book to fully cover this man’s life and indeed there are many of them out there. It would be worth all of out times to read one about this giant in the history of the United States.

Births and deaths:

1751 English satirist Richard Sheridan is born. In an argument with his son about his academics, his son suggested that he should write “Room for rent” across his own forehead and Richard responded with “Write under that ‘unfurnished’”

The answer to the trivia question:

The Russian premier during the Cuban missile crisis was Nikita Khrushchev

                 Thanks for listening    I can hardy wait until tomorrow

Monday

                                    Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“You might have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”

                        Margaret Thatcher

Trivia question of the day:

What language did Jesus speak? Answer at the end of the blog.

There was a family near Pensacola that was the idol of everyone that knew them. It was the Billings family who lived on large estate west of town. They were wealthy and had adopted 9 special needs children and a full time nurse to care for them. About this time last year a group of four men allegedly led by Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. invaded the home. With Gonzales as the alleged shooter, Mr. and Mrs. Billings were shot and killed in cold blood. There were two of those poor kids that were witnesses. The first adult to arrive was the on-site nurse who could do nothing for them. Gonzalez and crew made their escape in an older red colored van. The reason for the attempted robbery was Gonzalez believed that there was at least $31 million in the house that would so a long way in keeping his failing Karate business afloat. The gang found a small safe in the house and took it with them when they left. There was a minimum amount of cash in the safe meaning the Billings died for nothing. The house well fitted with cameras so as to keep tabs on all the kids. Apparently, someone had cased the house very well because not many of the gang was caught on film inside but the outdoors cameras got some good pictures which resulted in the arrest of all four and led to the arrest of two accomplices. A couple of the gang pled guilty and rolled on the others for a lighter sentence. The trial of Gonzalez began 10/27/2009. I do not believe Gonzalez and the others will see the light of day for the rest on their lives…or worse. The Florida Department of Corrections is very familiar with “the needle”.

            This Date in History   October 29

1777 After a prolonged illness, on this date John Hancock resigned as president of the Continental Congress. Hancock is famous for his large and flowing signature on the monumental Declaration of Independence that was signed on July 4, 1776. He was present in one capacity or another at nearly every important document signing in this country’s fight for independence. He was a very wealthy man and had much to lose if the rebellion had failed. After resigning he went back home to Massachusetts and started his recovery from his illness. By 1780 he had recovered enough to run for the Governor of Massachusetts which he easily won. He served for five years and then refused to run again in 1785 and went back to his home. Two years later in 1787 he ran for the Governorship again and won. He served in this capacity until his death in 1793. His tenures as Governor of Massachusetts proved this man’s great leadership and administrative skills. Not only that, he was a feisty devil and the British knew it and had a bounty on him. After signing the Declaration of Independence, Hancock said “Now the British can read it without their spectacles, their bounty be damned.” I like it.

1962 Bahamian actor Sidney Poitier testified before the United States Congress about the lack of opportunity for black actors and actresses in the movie industry. Sidney was recognized as a superb actor and was indeed an Oscar winner for his performance in the movie Lilies of the Field. What I don’t understand is what Sidney wanted Congress to do about it. The movie industry is like any other business, its goal to make money for their investors. If I was an investor I would not give damn about the equality of the casting of roles, I would just be interested in the making of a profitable enterprise and the producers and casting directors had damn well better keep that in mind, racial issues not withstanding. Congress cannot dictate to a business enterprise such as this who they must hire or not hire. After all the success of any movie is greatly dependent on the skill of the actors, not the color of their skins. Or am I being too pragmatic?

1740 On of the greatest writers of his time is born on this date. James Boswell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland to wealthy and influential parents. The name Boswell goes deep into the history of the ancestry of Scotland. As with most parents of that era, they had already decided that James was going to be a lawyer. Well, after James grew up he decided that he wanted to be a writer instead and ran away from home and traveled Europe and met with other great writers such as Rousseau, Voltaire and a short Corsican that later became the legendary Napoleon Bonaparte. But James parents ran him down and brought his young ass back Edinburgh and began forcefully teaching him English law. That did not extinguish the flame of writing burning inside James in spite of the fact that he established a successful law practice in London. He eventually became a very successful writer of essays. He consorted with another successful writer in Samuel Johnson and they exchanges ideas regularly. James delivered his most famous and successful essay “The Life of Samuel Johnson”. This essay came in three volumes. Boswell finished writing the first two but while writing the third he decided to drink heavily and chase skanky women in the London night life. Boswell died drunk with a smile on his face before finishing the third volume. He was 53 years old.

1619 English explorer and bon vivant Sir Walter Raleigh has a fateful meeting with a big guy with a big axe on the lawn of the Tower of London and goes to meet his maker in two pieces. It seems that Sir Walter had been a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I and she was quite fond of him. She sent Sir Walter on several exploratory trips to the new world including the fateful settlement on Roanoke Island, North Carolina of which not one scrap was ever found after a supply ship arrived two years later. After returning to London Queen Elizabeth found out that Sir Walter had been having a liaison with a Scottish beauty named Bessy Throckmorton, one of the Queen’s Maids-of-Honor, and the Queen became enraged the threw Sir Walter and Bessy into the Tower. Sir Walter coughed up enough money to bail him and Bessy out. Sir Walter and Bessy were married and they tried their damnedest to stay out of the way of the Queen. Elizabeth died in 1603 and James I rose to power. James accused Sir Walter of opposing his becoming King shortly after the coronation but allowed him to live so he could send Sir Walter on some more expeditions. Sir Walter finally returned from an expedition of establishing a village near a gold mine in South America. James I evidently felt that Sir Walter had outlived his usefulness and recalled the supposed crime of 15 years before and had him executed. Sir Walter Raleigh was 66 years old and had spent the greatest part of his life in the service of his country. But as the saying goes “What have you done for me lately, Walt?”

Born today:

1897 Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. He said “If the day should ever come when we Nazis must go, if some day we are compelled to leave the scene of history, we will slam the door so hard that it will shake the universe and mankind will stand back in stupefaction.” Hey Joe, what really happened was the Allies sealed off the western side of Germany and allowed the Russian army to attack unhindered from the east. The Russians were bloodthirsty for revenge because the Germans had slaughtered over 26,000,000 Russians in their attack toward Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad. Then when the Russians found the German extermination camps of Dachau, Buchenwald and several others, they decided that no German air breather should live. They headed toward Berlin slaughtering everybody and everything in sight including dogs, cats and various and sundry livestock. The Russians crushed any resistance to the city of Berlin that was being defended by sub-teen boys and men in their 70’s. Yeah Joe, mankind was stupefied alright. And you, being the brave son-of-a-bitch that you were, poisoned yourself, your wife and your five children. It was that kind of cruelty that stupefied mankind to this day.

Died today:

1619 English adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh. He said “All men are evil and will declare themselves so if the occasion occurs.” See the above paragraph on Joseph Goebbels.

Answer to the trivia question:

Jesus spoke Aramaic not Hebrew. They are from the same family but not to the same.

                  Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                             Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Many men go fishing all their lives not knowing that it is not the fish that they are after.”

                                          Henry David Thoreau

Trivia question of the day:

What is a “light year”? Answer at the end of the blog

A while back down near Clinton, South Carolina a female

State Trooper stopped a car near the intersection of I-26 and I-385, there were two Latinos aboard. The trooper arrested the driver and asked the passenger to get out of the car, at the same time she called for backup and two deputies of the Laurens County sheriff’s department headed her way. The passenger refused to get out of the car and threatened the trooper’s life while producing an xacto knife. The passenger then tried to slide over into the driver’s side but the trooper held on like a bulldog and they started down the road struggling. Finally the trooper pulled her trusty .40 caliber Glock and shot the Latino several times killing him on the spot. I just have a few questions. Why not shoot out one of the tires? Did the late Latino believe that a woman would not use deadly force? Was he wrong? I can assure you, some women are lethal with or without a gun.

A while back night up in Charlotte, NC there was a football game between Charlotte Catholic and Garinger high schools. At the beginning of the fourth quarter a fight broke out in the Garinger stands. The cops came in and called an end to the game after breaking up the fight. Soon afterward shots were fired in the parking lot and another fight began. The cops took a more aggressive stance at breaking up that fight. The cops said that they believed the fight was gang related. What the hell is this world coming to? A gang fight at a high school football game!

              This Date in History   October 26

1948 Earlier Betty and Jerry Ferreri had been married for some time with Betty getting the worst of the deal. Jerry was the spoiled son of a New York family and gave Jerry enough income that he never worked and after moving to Los Angeles and they bought him a five bedroom house in upscale Hancock Park. Jerry was a notorious and unapologetic womanizer and a wife beater. He hit Betty so hard on the side of her face that it ruptured an eardrum and when he got the doctor bill he became infuriated and hit her on the other side of her face an ruptured that eardrum also. He said “Maybe the doctor will give a two-for-one now.” On this day the final straw came when Jerry brought a young model home while Betty was there. Betty produced a large wrench and ran them both off. Betty knew that when Jerry came back home it would be hell to pay so she conspired with her housekeeper, Alan Adron, to kill Jerry upon his arrival. Sure enough, Jerry came home and began dragging Betty around the house by her hair. As directed, Alan shot Jerry twice in the stomach and then the gun jammed and Jerry was still alive and kicking. It was then that Betty produced a large meat cleaver and struck the staggering Jerry 22 times in the head and shoulders that resulted in his demise. Both Betty and Alan went to trial for first degree murder. It was touch and go until the defense attorney quoted the things that Jerry had done to Betty. Both Betty and Alan were acquitted. This jury resorted back to justice in the old west when men were acquitted of murder if the victim “needed killin'.”

1881 Earlier on October 25 Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury had came into Tombstone, Arizona for supplies. The Clanton-McLaury gang lived out of town on ranches and felt that the range was theirs to rob and rustle and the town of Tombstone was the Wyatt Earp’s domain. All throughout the day Ike Clanton and Wyatt Earp had been verbally sniping at each other and the atmosphere was very tense. The next day, October 26, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury and Billy Claiborne rode into town to help Ike and Tom. Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury went into the closest bar and the first person they met was Doc Holiday. Doc told them that Wyatt was about fed up with Ike’s mouth and there would probably be a fight. Billy and Frank immediately left and went to find Ike and Tom. In the mean time Wyatt Earp had assembled his brothers Morgan and Virgil knowing that a fight might be on the horizon. Wyatt’s close friend Doc Holiday also offered his expertise. At about 3:30p Wyatt had seen the Clanton/Mclaury bunch at the end of Fremont Street near the OK Corral and the four of them headed that way. When the men were about 20 feet apart Wyatt said “You sons-of-bitches have been looking for a fight and now you’ve got one”. No one knows who really fired the first shot but it is believed that it was Virgil that pulled his revolver and shot Billy Clanton point blank in the chest. Almost simultaneously Doc Holiday unloaded both barrels of his double barreled shotgun into Tom McLaury’s chest. Wyatt got off a couple of rounds into Frank McLaury’s stomach, Frank did not go down right away and got off a couple of rounds at Wyatt before collapsing as did Billy Clanton. There were about 30 shots fired and it was all over in about 30 seconds. Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers were dead. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran like hell and got their young asses back to the ranch. Sheriff John Behan, a supporter of the Clantons, had witnessed the fight and arrested the Earps and Doc Holiday for murder. They were all acquitted when the judge ruled that they “were fully justified in committing these homicides”. To paraphrase the judge, “they needed killin’.” Morgan, Wyatt and Doc were all wounded but survived.

1998 Earlier a tropical storm named Mitch had ambled in to the Caribbean Sea apparently without much punch and seemed to be headed toward the Nicaragua/Guatemala border. Soon thereafter it blossomed into a category 4 Hurricane and stormed ashore as such. Belize had already evacuated 70,000 people but the poor and indigent in Nicaragua and Guatemala did not get the word and even if they had, they had no transportation to escape. Mitch stalled out over Nicaragua and eventually dumped over 50 inches of rain. The flooding was the worst in 200 years as you might expect. Entire villages disappeared in gigantic mudslides. There was 10 feet of water in the Nicaraguan capitol of Tegucigalpa. No one knows for sure but it is estimated that between 11,000 and 18,000 people perished. In several villages that were buried in mudslides, the Presidents of Guatemala and Nicaragua did not even attempt to dig them out and just declared the whole area as a cemetery. In addition to this misery, the crops of both nations were destroyed by 60% making the agricultural workers in even more in a bind. Sometimes we think we have had it bad, but just think of these people.

1942 On this date during the battle of Guadalcanal the aircraft carrier USS Hornet is struck by an avalanche of Japanese aerial bombs and torpedoes. The Japanese were desperate to hold onto control of Guadalcanal as a fighter/bomber base to protect their advance onto Indo-China and sent swarms of fighter and bombers to attack the US Navy and Marines that were attacking that island. The Japanese had put underway several shiploads of troops to counter the Marine landing. The ultimate battle was called the Battle of Santa Cruz where the US Navy and Marines knew that if those reinforcements reached Guadalcanal the Marines already there would be in deep doodoo. The explosions from the Hornet were so severe that a couple of Japanese bombers that dropped the bombs were damaged and crashed. By the way, it was the Hornet that US Colonel James Doolittle launched his famous B-25 air attack on Tokyo. After a series of gigantic explosions the Hornet was abandoned and it now rests on the ocean bottom near Santa Cruz Island but the Japanese reinforcements never reached Guadalcanal in force and the Marines secured control. There was a second aircraft carrier built and launched during the war in 1943 that was also named the USS Hornet.

Answer to the trivia question:

A “light year” is the distance light will travel in one Earth year at a speed of 186,000 miles per SECOND.

            Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                         Musings and History

Quotes of the day:

“It is no use in saying ‘We are doing our best’. You have to succeed at what is necessary.”

                                          Winston Churchill

Trivia question of the day:

Robert E. Lee's horse was named “Traveller”, what was the name of Ulysses S. Grant's horse? Answer a the end of the blog.

A while back down in Simpsonville, SC the neighbors in an apartment complex heard gunshots in one of the apartments. The cops came and could not get anyone to come to the door so they broke out a window and gained entrance. There were two people dead. One was a 42 year old woman and the other was a 58 year old man and they were known to live together in that apartment. The cops determined that the woman had died first from a gunshot wound and the male had taken his own life seconds later. It was well known that these two people frequently argued and fought. What I do not understand is why the man who was an apparent “cradle-robber”, even though I have done it myself, did not just walk away rather than terminate 1/3 of his life because of this woman. But it has been a while since I have been in love, so what do I know?

           This Date in History   October 25

1994 On this date a Union, South Carolina woman named Susan Smith called the Union County Sheriff’s department and reported that her car with her two small boys Michael and Alex aboard had been carjacked by a black man and that he had left her at a convenience store and drove away. In very short order, with the help of several other law enforcement offices including the FBI, there was a dragnet thrown around that area of South Carolina and an intensive search began. Nothing was found and after nine weeks the sheriff of Union County held a news conference and reported that Susan had confessed to killing those two boys by driving the car into nearby John D. Long Lake with the kids strapped into their car seats. This event came as a culmination of her tumultuous on and off marriage whereby both Susan and her husband had participated in several affairs each. Finally Susan found the man of her dreams but he did not want children and Susan saw fit to fix that problem permanently. It apparently never crossed that bitch’s mind to file for divorce and surrender custody. Susan was tried and convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. While in prison she was disciplined several times for having sex with the inmates and/or the guards. Her husband w

rote a book about his experiences during this ordeal and stated that he could not live a comfortable life while Susan was alive and wished that the court had seen fit to execute her. With animals like this we need to resort back to medieval methods of dispensing justice.

1415 Two months earlier Henry V of England and an army of 11,000 had sailed across the English Channel and laid siege to the city Harfleur, France. After five weeks Harfleur fell. During the five week siege Henry had lost half of his army to disease and combat casualties. Henry decided to head north to the French port of Calais and meet up his navy that was coming to pick up him and his army and take them back home. About half way to Calais he met up with a French army of 20,000 near the town of Agincourt. Henry chose to array his troops in a fairly small field that was bordered by forests. This would prevent any large scale maneuvering by the French. At 11:00a the battle was joined. The French knights in their newly designed heavy armor began an attack toward the English across a muddy field. The English responded with a barrage of arrows from their newly designed long bows that had a range of 250 yards. The French knights were so densely packed that many could not even raise their arms and the knights in the rear kept pushing. Even though they were in armor, the English had designed a type of an arrowhead that could penetrate it and launched wave after wave of the deadly missiles into the French ranks. Soon the French knights were just a mass of confused humanity slipping, sliding and dying in the mud. It was then that Henry ordered his lightly armored bowmen to lay down their bows and take up pikes, swords, axes and clubs and led the rest of the 5,500 man army into the ranks of the French and took care of business. The slaughter was fantastic. The French lost 6,000 troops in that one afternoon while the English suffered 400 killed. After this resounding victory, Henry was declared heir to the French throne but it was for naught because he died of a fever two years later near Paris. Henry V’s victory at Agincourt went down as one of the greatest victories in military history.

1929 Two years earlier the Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, had petitioned to have control of the naval oil reserves at the Elk Hill in California and Teapot Dome in Wyoming transferred to his department. The naval oil reserves are set aside for the US navy to use in case of a war. The transfer did indeed take place and soon thereafter Secretary Fall accepted a $100,000 bribe from the president of Pan-American Petroleum to allow them to drill in the Elk Hill reserve and $300,000 to allow Mammoth Oil to drill at Teapot Dome. This deception was discovered and on this date Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was arrested. Fall was tried, convicted and was imprisoned. This was the first time that a sitting cabinet member was jailed, and hopefully it will not be the last.

1853 On this date US Army Captain John Gunnison and his survey crew of 35 were set upon by a war party of Piute Indians near Sevier Lake, Utah. The survey crew was trying to find a route for a railroad to get to the west coast. Seven members of the survey team were killed including Gunnison. His second officer, Lt. Edward Beckwith assumed command and continued the survey and did indeed find three possible routes. Beckwith and his survey party made it back to Saint Louis and reported their findings which went a long way toward the completion of a trans-continental railroad.

1944 On this date the largest naval battle ever fought began in the Philippines at a place named Leyte Gulf. It was also the first time the Japanese had used Kamikaze aircraft attacks. The Japanese had not been able to stem the western advance of the US navy using traditional means so they decided to use nontraditional means. They asked for volunteers to dive their bomb laden aircraft into US navy ships, aircraft carriers in particular. They had swarms of volunteers and on this day the pilot of a Japanese Zero aircraft crashed his plane into the escort carrier St. Lo and it was on the bottom in 20 minutes. This was the very first attack of this kind. In all the Kamikaze sank 34 ships and damaged many more in this battle. Even though this carnage was phenomenal, the worst was yet to come at Okinawa. But that is another story. In all there were 1,321 Kamikaze aircraft used in WWII.

Births and deaths:

1989 US writer Mary McCarthy died. She said “We must not force sex to do the work of love nor love do the work of sex.” Mary, you are making it far more complicated that it really is...isn't she?

Answer to the trivia question:

Ulysses S. Grant's horse was named “Cincinnati”.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.

Wednesday

                          Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“A pessimist is a person that looks both ways when crossing a one way street.”

                                               Laurence Peters

Trivia question of the day:

When was the sound barrier first broken in level flight and by whom? Answer at the end of the blog.

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.

           This Date in History   October 24

1775 The last British governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, ordered British Captain Matthew Squire to take British warships up the James River and then up Hampton Creek and attack and capture Norfolk. On this date Captain Squire carried out his orders and brought 6 British warships into Hampton Creek and opened up an artillery barrage on the city of Norfolk. At the same time a contingent of British infantry disembarked in small boats and headed to the city. Upon arriving the artillery barrage ended and the infantry deployed in finely shaped lines of attack and await a similar arrangement from the Patriots. The only problem here is that the Patriots are not about to line up out in the open and array themselves in front of the British. The Patriots are outnumbered at least two to one and it would be suicide to fight as the British wished so they did the smart thing. The British did not know that the Patriots had a large contingent of expert sharpshooters and they began picking off the British infantry at extreme range while well hidden. Upon hearing the gunfire, the leader of the local militia brought an additional 100 marksman to the fore and the British infantry suffered even more dramatically. Even though the British thought this form of warfare as being ungentlemanly, they knew they had to do something and fast because they were falling like leaves. They beat a hasty retreat back to their ships and re-boarded still falling in rapid succession. Once aboard their ships, the carnage was not yet over. The sharpshooters moved closer and began picking them off while aboard their ships. Captain Squire ordered his ships to sail the hell out of there and fast. In his retreat, two of his warships ran aground and were captured. There was not even one injury to the Patriots. It was not a good day for the British, this October 24, 1775.

1862 US General Don Carlos Buell is relieved of his command and is replaced by US General William Rosecrans. Buell had proven himself as a capable leader in previous engagements, especially at Shiloh. A few days before Buell had defeated the army of CSA General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky and for reasons known only to Buell, he failed to vigorously pursue Bragg and try to eliminate the threat of that army and Bragg and his army slipped away. Needless to say the US military and especially A. Lincoln was not pleased. Buell was assigned several different tasks but none that included combat. His days of command of a combat unit were over. After the war Buell retired and settled in Kentucky. He died in 1898.

1970 On his third try for the Presidency of Chile, devout Marxist Salvador Allende is elected much to the chagrin of the United States. The US, ITT and Kennecott Copper had poured a lot of money into keeping Allende out of office knowing what he would do one elected. Allende did not disappoint. He established diplomatic relations with North Korea, Red China and Cuba and began nationalizing ITT and Kennecott Copper. With that the US, ITT and Kennecott started peeing in their pants and began trying to find a way to get that son-of-a-bitch out of there. It would not be easy because Allende was elected peacefully and democratically so an invasion like the Bay of Pigs was out of the question. But the CIA was equal to the challenge and spread enough money around that the Chilean army rose up in a coup, arrested and murdered Allende and peace, as the CIA saw it, prevailed. I suspect that the ouster of Allende was not the first nor will it be the last interference in a foreign government by the good old CIA.

1997 Famous sportscaster Marv Alpert is arrested in New York for biting a woman on the butt. That right folks, I said Marv was arrested for biting a woman on the butt. It seems that Marv had met 42 year old Vanessa Perhach in Miami a few years before and they had a continuing liaison since. On this night, after Marv had called a basketball game in Madison Square Garden between the Knicks and the Bullets, he had invited Vanessa up to his hotel room. At first Marv approached Vanessa for a threesome and she refused. Then he approached her for oral sex and she again refused. It was then that Marv pinned her down and administered the bites. Yes, there was more than one bite. At first Marv denied it but a court ordered dental match of Marv’s teeth and the bite marks confirmed Marv as the biter. To add insult to injury, another woman came forward claiming the Marv had done the same to her. Marv was convicted and was sentenced to one year probation and a $2,500 fine and was fired by the Madison Square Garden. The deal was that if Marv kept his nose clean for year his arrest record would be expunged. After a year his record was indeed cleansed and he was re-hired by MSG.

1648 On this date the 30 Year War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia. The war had started in 1618 when the king of Bohemia, Ferdinand II, became the Holy Roman emperor and had declared that everyone is his domain, almost all of Eastern Europe, would be required to become a Catholic. Needless to say what happened next. The Protestant princes and kings said “Not no, but hell no we ain’t giving up our Duchies and Earldoms to the Catholic Church” and went to war. It was not one continuous battle but several battles stretched out over many years. The end result was that the Catholic Church did not get what it wanted and France, with Louis XIV as king, emerged as the most powerful country in Europe. It still do not understand the need of the Catholics to own property or dominate people. What has that got to do with saving my soul?

Births and deaths:

1830 US writer Belva Lockwood is born. She said “No one can be called a Christian that spends money on warships or arsenals.” Hey Belva, you need to read about Adolph Hitler, Attila the Hun, Francisco Pizzarro, Hernan Cortez, Napoleon Bonaparte, etc, etc. But better still, just stay encapsulated in that little cocoon you are in and quit ruining my life.

1909 US writer Moss Hart is born. He said “So far as I know, anything worth hearing is not uttered at 7:00 in the morning; if it is, it will probably be repeated later on at a reasonable hour.” I like the way Moss thinks.

1981 US costume designer Edith head died. She said “I have yet to see a completely unspoiled star, except for Lassie.”

Answer to the trivia question:

On October 14, 1947 the sound barrier was broken in level flight at 45,000 feet over the California desert by Chuck Yeager flying the Bell X-1 rocket powered aircraft.

          Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.