Friday

   Musings and History

Quote of the day

“I am not going to spend the later years of my life as a hermit so I

can spend an extra two years in the geriatric ward.” Me neither.

                                                  George Carlin

Trivia question of the day:

Where did Tiger Woods go to high school?  Answer at the end of the blog.

Some of you have read something similar written by me in the past...here it is again.

Since recorded history the method of subjugating people has been taught and learned. To make people abide by your will is to take control of the three basics of life and that being food, water and shelter. You burn their shelter, destroy their food and either poison their water supply or protect it. This forces them to come to you for the basics of existence and you are able to dictate terms...or you kill them all. This tactic is taught in every military school on Earth. Nearly every military officer in the United States army in 1860 graduated from the Citadel, Virginia Military Institute, West Point, US Naval Academy or similar facilities and were familiar with this premise.

In 1861 when states began seceding and forming the Confederacy the Federal Government began forming an invasion army to prevent the fracturing of the union and that was their battle cry. What exactly would be the function of this army? It certainly was not to gather up slaves and bring them out, it was to implement the previously mentioned tactic of gaining control of the basics of life so they could dictate terms. They were to burn or occupy houses and barns, destroy or confiscate crops and destroy or confiscate livestock then place guards around the water sources. The trained military officers from those states that seceded knew this. Nearly all of them decided that not only would they not participate in this action against their family and friends, they were going to fight to prevent it from happening. The protection of slave owners and institution of slavery was a non-issue to the military participants, it was a survival issue. How do I now this? I read the diaries of those soldiers and sailors of both sides rather than the politicians. You can put any spin on it that makes you feel good but the actuality is what you just read.

The cry of “Save the Union” lasted about 2 years until the Union and Confederate armies suffered unforeseen horrific casualties. In April of 1862 came the Battle of Shiloh was the bloodiest 2 day battle in American history and 6 months later in September of 1862 came the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history. After this there was a move afoot in the northern states to “Give them their country, just stop the slaughter”. Lincoln saw that patriotism was not working and changed it to a matter of conscience and in January of 1863 issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slave “in those states in rebellion”. There were 4 “slave” states that did not join the Confederacy and they continued buying, selling and trading slaves throughout the war. They were Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri. The slaves were finally freed nationwide in December of 1865 with the enactment of the 13^th amendment by ALL of the United States. This is what happened folks...in spite of the fear and prejudice merchants.

                        This Date in History   June 28

1993 On this date a knife-wielding man broke into the Allentown, Pennsylvania home of Denise Sam-Cali and tried to rape her. A struggle ensued but the rapist succeeded in raping Denise on the front lawn. He then stabbed Denise trying to kill her but she fought him off and the rapist ran away. This courageous woman would play a big role in the resolution of this crime. On the 9^th of July a 15 year old girl was abducted and her body was found by a reservoir stabbed 22 times. She had been raped also. On the 15^th of July a five year old girl was abducted and raped and the attacker unsuccessfully tried to strangle her. Then on the 19^th of July the house of Denise Sam-Cali was broken into while she was away. The police decided to set a trap and staked out Sam-Cali’s house and left a window enticingly open. On July 30 a man crawled into the open window and was greeted by a policeman and a gunfight ensued. The intruder crashed his way out through another window and fled. A few hours later, career criminal Harvey Robinson staggered into a hospital with two gunshot wounds. While waiting he was recognized by a policeman and Harvey fled with the cop in close pursuit. The cops ran Harvey down and arrested him. He went to trial and was easily convicted due to the DNA evidence that they retrieved from Denise Sam-Cali’s clothing. Denise had carefully laid aside her underclothing she had on during the rape just for this eventuality. Harvey got the death penalty. I wish I could designate the type of death to be given to animals like this. If I could, I promise you crimes of this sort would drop precipitously.

1941 On June 22, a German army of 3,000,000 soldiers, thousands of tanks and aircraft crossed into Russia as Operation Barbarossa began. It was Hitler’s intention to subdue Russia in spite of signing a peace agreement with Joseph Stalin less than a year before. One week after beginning this operation, July 29, the Germans were at the door steps of Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev. During the previous week the Germans had captured the Ukrainian city of Lvov and slaughtered thousands and sent thousand to German slave labor camps. Those that were not killed or enslaved blamed the Jews for all of this and began killing the Jews in the streets. What’s up with that? Anyway, the Germans thought that if they were able to quickly overcome the Russian army, the populous would side with them since Stalin was an acknowledged monster. It didn’t happen. The Russian army was much larger than the German intelligence had supposed and the Russian people chose the lesser of two evils and stuck with Stalin and dug in their heels and resisted bitterly. This decision cost the lives of 6,000,000 civilians. Eventually “General Winter” shows up in mid-October and the German offensive ground to a halt. Because of the bitter cold, and the German soldiers having no winter clothing, the army was decimated. The very same thing happened about 130 years before when a short Corsican name Bonaparte tried to do the same thing as the Germans with the same results. The German army command believed they could wrap this operation up by early September and winter clothing was not necessary. They had severely miscalculated the resolve of the Russians and paid a terrible price for it. Eventually the Russian army got on its feet and crushed the attacking Germans and sent them fleeing back toward Germany with the Russian army hot on their heels. When the Russians entered Germany, they had no problem with slaughtering any air-breather they ran across in retribution. What goes around....

1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was the lead scientist on the “Manhattan Project” or the project to invent a nuclear weapon before the Germans did during WWII. The military branch of the project was led by Army General Leslie Groves. It seems that General Groves, being a military man, was very tense about security on such a secret project as this and set up the laboratories for the scientist in the middle of a New Mexico desert near the town of Alamogordo so it could be easily be made ultra-secret without attracting a lot of attention. The scientists were not really pleased with the living quarters and the extra tight security which resulted in friction between Oppenheimer and Groves. The latter succeeded and two years later early one July morning, a bright flash lingered over the New Mexico desert when a nuclear device known as Trinity is detonated. The scorpion was out of the bottle

Answer to the trivia question:

Tiger Woods went to high school at Western High School in Anaheim, Ca.

                    Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

               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

Wednesday

  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    

Tuesday

     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 from a while back:

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

Monday

                         Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Civilian politicians make policy, not Generals.”

President Harry Truman when firing US General Douglas MacArthur.

Trivia question of the day:

Other than size what is the main difference between an ostrich and an emu?  Answer at the end of the blog.

Here is a little of my ancestry on my father's side. I know nothing earlier that this census report of 1910. My Grandfather was 33 years old living in Cross Anchor, South Carolina with my Grandmother who was 22 years old. He worked in the card room of a local cotton mill and my grandmother was a house wife. They had a daughter named Nora and a son named Roy who was from from my Grandfather's previous marriage. Here is a few facts to put thing into perspective. My Grandfather was born one year after Little Big Horn. He was 5 years old when Jesse James was murdered. My Grandmother was two years old when the Massacre at Wounded Knee occurred. Makes me feel old...but I am old. Thanks again to Mr. Ralph McGlasson for his research. My maternal grandmother was 5 years old when Jesse James was killed and lived to see a man on the moon.  Think about that.

                         This Date in History   June 24

1997 On this day the United States issues its final report on the 1948 incident at Roswell, New Mexico. The locals in the area had reported that a space ship in the shape of a disc had crashed in the desert on a ranch owned by J. J. Brazell. While riding patrol on the ranch, Brazell ran across some scattered metallic debris and two bodies, one alive and the other dead. His descriptions of the bodies are what you imagine them to be today. Big head, small torso, large almond shaped eyes, almost no nostrils or lips, very short and skin with a greenish tint. The local newspaper printed that it was indeed a “flying saucer” and the bodies were those of alien beings. Well, United States Air Force officers and other government officials descended on Roswell and the alleged crash site like locusts and spirited away any scrap of evidence including the bodies. The next day the local newspaper reported that it was a high altitude balloon that had crashed with two dummies that were to be used for high altitude parachute tests. And that is the report that was issued on this date as the “official’ report on the incident and the US government would no longer discuss the incident. There are two things that keep my interest alive when it comes to this and that is soon after the Government officials departed the Roswell area, a hangar at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio became restricted with an armed AP’s guarding it. Wright-Patterson was noted for its medical facilities on site. Another thing was the extraordinary activity near Grooms Lake, Nevada. This place eventually became the infamous Area 51. By the way, if you have “Google Earth” software, you can crank in ‘Grooms Lake” or just look at the west central area of the Nevada desert and , Voila!, there is an airport with two very, very long runways and various and assorted buildings in a place where the US Government says that there is no such place. I look at it frequently and can see aircraft on the ground but I am unable to determine what kind. Secret bases always make me suspicious.

1675 After fifty years of relative harmony the settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Wampanoag tribe began to have disharmony. It all started when the Indians found out that they had a “mole” in the tribe. A “mole” is one that spies on his tribe for the British. Anyway the mole was discovered and killed. This angered the British and they captured and killed three of the tribe. Well, not to be out done, the chief of the tribe named King Phillip sent an attack group to the new English settlement of Swansea, Massachusetts and killed every air-breather there, including birds and livestock. Well, y'all know what happened next. A young war broke out between the tribe and the settlers known as King Phillip’s War. Soon the whole of New England was involved in destroying Indian villages and the Indians destroying settler’s villages. It was a massacre on both sides. The settlers accidentally burned a Narragansett village which brought them onto King Philip’s side and the war was escalated. The Narragansett were easily overcome but King Philip was another story. That tribe was finally brought under control but not before King Philip was found in his secret headquarters in Rhode island and was assassinated by yet another British ”mole”. After this the settlers finally gained control as peace again prevailed.

1812 After Czar Alexander I rejected the “continental” plan as described by Napoleon Bonaparte making Napoleon the ruler of the European continent, Napoleon assembles what he calls the “Grand Armee” in anticipation of the invasion of Russia. Napoleon has amassed over 500,000 troops for this adventure. On this day, the invasion began. Napoleon made the same mistake Hitler made 30 years later. He waited too long before advancing. The result was that winter arrived before their objectives were met. When Napoleon and his army arrive at the gates of Moscow and Petersburg in the middle of the winter, he smelled smoke and soon all of Moscow was an inferno. The Russians had move out into the countryside carrying their extra food and supplies with them and burned any building that could be used as shelter denying Napoleon and his army protection from the fierce Russian winter that was already upon them. Napoleon had no choice but head back to France. The Russian army was waiting. At nearly every bridge the Russians would wait until the majority of the troops were across and then burn the bridge stranding some of Napoleon’s troops on the other side where they were massacred by the awaiting Russians. Napoleon arrived back in the Balkans with just over 100,000 troops. That right folks, he had lost 400,000 troops. This adventure by Napoleon is one of the worst military disasters in recorded history.

1853 As one might expect, the California gold rush brought a lot of gold seekers but it also brought a hell of a lot of bandits one of which was Joachim Murrieta and his number one henchman “Three Fingered” Jack. Joachim and Jack were raising hell with the gold miners and were named “The Terror of the Stanislaus” meaning the Stanislaus River. The miners finally got fed up and hired a group of professional man-hunters to bring Joachim and Jack to justice. Joachim became this vengeful because he came to the Stanislaus River from Mexico to pan for gold but because of his Mexican heritage, he was beaten, his claim stolen and his wife repeatedly raped. After all of this Joachim formed his own gang of Mexicans and sought his revenge. Anyway, the man-hunters hired by the miners departed Stockton, California seeking Joachim and his gang. It was reported that the man-hunters found Joachim and his gang near El Tajon Pass. On this day they arrived back in Stockton and spiked the head of Joachim Murrieta on top of a lamp post and hung the hand of Three Fingered Jack on a string below. They explained that it was a lot easier to do it this way than to have to bring them in alive.

Born today:

1842 US writer Ambrose Bierce. He said there are four kinds of murder. “Felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy.” Does anyone know a person that fits the last two?

1915 English astronomer Sir Fred Doyle. He said “Space is not that far away. You can reach it in your car in a couple of hours if you drive straight up.”

1946 US enonomist Robert Reich. He said “In Washington it is dog eat dog. In academia it just the opposite.”

Answer to the trivia question:

The ostrich has only two toes on each foot where the emu and all other birds have three or more.

           Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                              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