Tuesday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“The Jews invented guilt and the Irish turned it into an art form.”

                                  Walter Matthau

Here is a story of a tortured but talented soul:

Back in 1955 a woman child was born in the vicinity of Norfolk, Virginia. The exact location and last name are not known by me but it doesn’t seem to matter much. Robin had a hard time growing up because of a dysfunctional family. She was very unhappy and ran away from home more than once. Soon she was in a reform school for a period of time and eventually was released at the age of 15. Her refusal to go back to her parents put her on the streets and made her a prime target for junkies and dealers. She became addicted to alcohol and heroin and did share needles. In addition to this she became addicted to music and taught herself to play the guitar and harmonica. During the next few years she played on the streets of cities like Richmond, Virginia, Detroit, Atlanta and Coconut Grove, Florida. She played on the streets and coffee houses for tips and an occasional club date. Most of the time she slept under park benches, abandoned cars or service station rest rooms, etc. She spent several years in south Florida and played mostly club dates. At the age of 34 she decided to give up the drugs and moved to Gastonia, North Carolina to get away from the drug influenced life style. She connected with a guitarist named Tony Rogers. Robin had steady work in the clubs around Gastonia and her deep, rich contralto blues notes sent chill bumps down Tony’s arms and he told her that she needed to get out on her own. So Tony and Robin were married in 1998 and formed the “Robin Rogers Hot Band” with Robin doing the vocals and occasional harp with Tony on guitar and a drummer and an upright bass. Soon after that Tony and Robin tried to get life and health insurance and the resulting physical indicated that all was not right with Robin’s liver and she was rejected. But Robin and Tony continued with their beloved blues and Robin was soon recognized as a superior blues vocalist and several tours and CD’s were launched. The sun was finally rising on Robin’s world and she and Tony basked in its warmth…until September 2, 2010. Robin began bleeding from the mouth and the diagnosis was Hepatitis C. Several procedures were attempted to no avail and the doctors reported that she could not stand surgery because of her condition. She was sent home in the care of hospice. It was not be long for this woman of soul and she indeed withered away right before our eyes. Look her up on youtube. I think she will rip your heart out like she did mine.

              This Date in History  October 10

1780 The most powerful hurricane ever recorded arrived in the West Indies, known simply as the Great Hurricane of 1780. Keep in mind that the United States was in the midst of the Revolutionary War meaning that in addition to British and French cargo ships in the West Indies there were many British and French warships dueling each other for control. As the storm approached the British warships sought safety in St. Lucia harbor and the French in Jamaica. The British and French warships were no match for this killer storm anchored or not. The British lost 8 of this squadron of 14 warships and the French lost 40 ships and both lost hundreds of sailors and soldiers. British Admiral George Radney later wrote: “There were only two houses on St Lucia left standing with the majority of them being built of stone and only the foundations left. Even the stone forts were destroyed with several of the cannon being moved several hundred feet. If someone had told me about this storm I would not have believed it. There was even bark blown off trees.” Bark being blown off trees usually means winds over 200 MPH. But it was the locals that suffered. There were 6,000 deaths on St. Lucia, 9,000 on Martinique, 4,000 on Barbados and 1,000 on Jamaica. In total there were 24,000 deaths. The next closest disastrous storm was hurricane Mitch in 1998 that stalled out over Guatemala/Nicaragua and dumped several feet of rain and about 18,000 perished in the resulting floods.

732AD On this date the first of the Carolingian kings of the Franks, Charles Martel defeats an army of North African Muslims that had him and his army severely outnumbered near Tours, France and they did it the hard way with swords, pikes, axes, and cudgels. This defeat was so complete that the Muslims never again tried to invade Europe in force again. It was Martel’s grandson Charlemagne the achieved the most fame and fortune. He was able to hack out a huge kingdom in Europe. I have not done the research but I will almost bet that Charles Martel had a lot of Viking blood flowing in his veins. The Vikings were doing a lot of raping and pillaging in Europe in that time period.

1957 US President Dwight Eisenhower issued a formal apology to Ghana’s Finance minister. It seems that the good minister was denied service in a restaurant in Dover, Delaware because of his race. Does that mean that Delaware is considered a southern state? The US government had received many complaints from both black and Asian foreign diplomats along these lines. It seems that they have been having trouble getting service in many arenas, such as restaurants, barbers shops, dry cleaners, etc. Whether you believe it or not, prejudice is guaranteed by the Constitution. No one can be forced the fraternize with anyone they do not want to. However, the local government can withhold their business with anyone that is predjucial. An example is the next county west of Greenpatch. The County Council put out a notice that they would not let any contracts to companies that hired illegal aliens. I like the way they talk. I don’t blame the illegal aliens as much as I do the greedy employers that hire them knowing they are illegal or not requiring proper proof of citizenship or a work visa.

1877 For some reason the US Army decided to disinter Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer’s remains from his grave at the Little Big Horn battleground and re-bury him on the grounds of West Point in a place of honor. Custer and most of his 7^th Cavalry were wiped out by the Sioux and Cheyenne one year before. There was no doubt that he was reckless and flamboyant at times that cost the lives of many of his troopers. Not only that, he would kill Indians even if they were no threat just to keep himself in the limelight. There was little doubt that Custer had political ambition after his retirement. I see no reason that someone that vain and uncaring about human life should get a place of honor anywhere.

Births and deaths:

1813 Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi is born. He said “I will give you the universe if I can have Italy.” It is all yours, Giuseppe, as far as I am concerned. Ciao.

1895 Chinese Writer Lin Yutang is born. He said “In order to appreciate England, one must have a contempt for logic.” I loved London. Across the street from where I was staying was the Stanhope Pub. What a great bar except they did not have many cold beers, most of them were at room temperature. But they did have Budweiser and Fosters that was cold.

Quotable quotes:

“Have any of you noticed that when those people that believed the day of their deaths are predestined always look right and left before crossing the street?” Stephen Hawking

On William Buckley’s first visit to a McDonalds he was asked what he would like to drink he said “I will have glass of your house Chablis.” Buckley was a sophisticate.

                 Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                            Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Always do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

                                                   Mark Twain

              This Date in History   October 9

1970 The Khmer Republic is established in Phnom Penh by Cambodian General Lon Nol by a military coup that unseated the Monarchy led by Prince Sihanouk. The good General was supported and financed by the good ole CIA. From 1970 to 1975 the General battled with the forces of the Communists called the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot who was financed by the good ole KGB. Does that sound familiar? Anyway, when the American support stopped in 1973 with the evacuation of Vietnam General Lon Nol knew it was just a matter of time before his forces were defeated and he was right. Lon Pol and his army capitulated in 1975. The Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot took over the reins of Cambodia, evacuated the capital city of Phnom Penh and started killing people wholesale. It is estimated that 10% of the total population of Cambodia died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. There was a movie made about this bloodbath named “The Killing Fields”. Don’t see it if you are not able to handle horror at its peak.

1864 The Battle of Tom’s Brook happened on this day in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. US General U.S. Grant was especially interested in CSA Gen. Jubal Early’s control of the Shenandoah Valley because the Valley was essentially the breadbasket of R. E. Lee’s army. Grant ordered US Gen. Phillip Sheridan to go valley and kick Early’s army out. Sheridan ordered Gen. Merritt and his cavalry unit of 3,500 and Col. Custer (George A.) and his cavalry unit of 2,500 to find Early’s cavalry and neutralize them. They finally found the Confederate cavalry at Tom’s Brook. Merritt and his 3,500 attacked a Confederate cavalry unit of 1,500 led by CSA Gen. Lomax and succeeded in running them off. General Custer and his 2,500 had a lot more trouble when they attacked CSA Gen. Rosser and his 3,000. By the way Custer and Rosser were close friends at West Point. It was a huge struggle but Custer was able to get 3 of his regiments out and attacked the Confederate flank and it was all over. The Confederates took off galloping toward their infantry for protection with Custer in close pursuit. After reaching the Confederate infantry, Custer broke off the chase. The locals called that action “The Woodstock Steeplechase”.

1940 During the bombing of London by the Germans, on this day a bomb penetrated the great dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and destroyed the high altar. Later a live bomb that failed to explode was removed from the dome. The history of St. Paul’s is an interesting one. Tradition has it that the Romans had built a temple to Goddess Diana on the present day site of St. Pauls. London was founded by the Romans as an outpost. While in London in the year ‘04 I saw some of the walls of Roman military barracks that are still standing. Anyway, the first St. Pauls was built in 604 A.D. by King Aetheberht but burned to the ground soon thereafter. St. Pauls was rebuilt but was destroyed by the Vikings in 962 A.D. The long suffering Brits rebuilt it and again was destroyed by fire in 1087. You guessed it, it was rebuilt but fell into disrepair and damaged by fire and by the English Civil War in 1616. In 1660 the great English architect Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to design a new St. Pauls but the rebuilding was delayed because of the great London Fire of 1666. Finally the building process got back underway in1675 and was completed in 1710. Wren died in 1723 and is buried in the great cemetery at St. Paul's along with other heroes like Lord Horatio Nelson and the Duke of Wellington.

1970 The Smith-Barney investment group is hit with a class action suit brought by its female employees for sexual harassment. The women believed that the firm paid them less than they did the men and they received fewer promotions than men. The suit was thrown out of court because the plaintiffs (women) did not prove their case. But very soon thereafter a large number of executives at Smith-Barney were fired for using the company’s computer network to exchange porn among them and others outside the firm. I guess they DIDN’T do it the old fashioned way.

1967 Argentinean Ernesto Guevara de Serna better known as Che Guevara is executed by members of the Bolivian army. Che was a born revolutionary and was good at it too. He started out trying to help a communist revolution in Guatemala which failed. He then went to Mexico where he met Fidel Castro and they formed a hard and fast relationship. Che was invited to join with Castro in his attempt to overthrow the government in Cuba which was right up Che’s alley. Castro tried a direct military coup on the Cuban government which failed so Che, Fidel and his followers went into the hills and started a guerrilla war. After a while the Cuban government was indeed overthrown and Fidel seized control and made Che his finance minister. Che sat on this a while but soon became bored and started looking for another revolution and found one in Bolivia. Little did he know that the CIA was very interested in capping Che as they saw him as a threat as indeed he was. The CIA provided the Bolivian Army with information about the location of Che by satellite surveillance and a spy network. The Bolivians found him and it was all over for Che. I read a book once written by an ex-CIA agent that was there when the execution took place and said that Che knew what was coming and told them that he understood why they had to do it and if the situation was reversed he would do the same thing. His picture is one of the most recognized in the world. His book “Guerrilla Warfare” is used as a textbook by revolutionaries to this day.

Born today:

1757 French King Charles X. He said “There is no middle ground between the throne and the guillotine.” French King Louis XIV can verify that.

1940 Beatle member John Lennon. He said “There is a great woman behind every idiot.” You lost me there John, I thought all women are great, that is what they keep telling me at least.

1975 The son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sean Oko Lennon. He said “Peace is good but so is smoked salmon.” He Sean, you forgot about Key Lime Pie.

                  Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                            Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.”

                                   Bill Clinton

Speaking of Bill Clinton:

In 1998 the House of Representatives brought Articles of Impeachment against sitting President William Clinton. The major charges were perjury and obstruction of justice. It seems that Bill had allowed oral sex from a woman named Monica Lewinsky several times in the White House and other locations. He gave sworn testimony saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” The same charges were made with a woman named Paula Jones that Bill had known back in Arkansas and Bill had the same response. There was several votes but there as never enough to kick him out of office. As you might suspect the votes were split almost exactly down party lines with those voting against removal saying “it would not be good for the country.” They came within 8 votes of an expulsion. Bill was only the second American President to be impeached. The other one was Andrew Johnson. Richard Nixon would have been kicked out of office but he resigned before it got that far. By the way, impeachment mean “Charged with a Crime or malfeasance in office” the penalty could include removal. Bill was censured and left to finish his term in office. Censured is a slap on the wrist but the chief prosecutor said in part “Not prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law for lying under oath by the President of the United States presents a dangerous precedent”. The issue was not if Bill and committed these acts but whether or not he lied about them under oath. The prosecutor had taped conversations of Monica Lewinsky talking with one of her friends about what had happened with her and Bill. In one of the conversations Monica said “If this continues I am going to have to get some knee pads.” Nothing more was heard from Monica, however Paula Jones filed a civil suit against Bill. The original charge was disallowed but Paula appealed. Before the appellant process ended Bill settled with Paula for $850,000. Thanks God this jackass did not end up back in the White House in a position of influence and trust.

On Friday September 30, 2016 about noon a man named Douglas M. Rainey walked into a Family Dollar Store at the intersection of Hiway 14 and Hiway 11 near the town of Campobello, SC, pulled a gun and robbed the place. Apparently a silent alarm was activated while the robbery was in progress and the cops were on the scene almost before the thief was out of sight. The robber chose to run around a neighborhood that bordered the Links 'O Tryon golf course. A helicopter was called in and the thief was sighted running through some woods. A police dog with a handler were sent in and quickly cornered the thief. The robber decided that he wanted to fight and he, the handler and the dog engaged in hand to hand combat...that is until the cop saw that he still had his weapon and yelled that out. Another cop arrived and capped the thief with one shot to the head. God works in mysterious ways.

              This Date in History   October 6

1973 Even after the severe ass-whipping they received in the 1967 six day war, the combined armies of Egypt and Syria attack Israel on this date. The Syrians attack down through Lebanon and the Egyptians attack across the thirsty Sinai desert. This attack came during Yom Kippur and the war was named such. The Israelis were not expecting this and their defensive forces were thrown back into a headlong retreat. After a while the Israelis got their act together and began a counter-attack. The Syrians/Egyptians were using the latest Soviet equipment and the Israelis were using the latest French and American equipment. After a ferocious tank battle with the Syrians, the Israelis gain the Golan Heights and brought swarms of artillery and rockets up there and rained hell on the hapless Syrian army. That, along with air superiority, sent the Syrians scurrying back to Damascus. Then the Israelis turned their attention to the Egyptians. Again using air power, the Israelis cut the retreat of the Egyptians and had them surrounded on the Sinai. It was within the Israeli’s grasp to virtually annihilate the Egyptian army. The Egyptians ran out of food, water and medical supplies and the end was near. Then Russia stepped in and threatened to go rescue the Egyptians if a cease fire was not brought to fruition. The Americans said ”Like hell you will” and both the Russians and Americans began to ramp up their military presence in the middle east. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and a shaky cease fire was reached. The Russians and Americans came within a gnat’s ass of open warfare but the cease fire held and peace, of a sort, again prevailed. Those countries that want Israel out of there just do not get the picture. The want to attack without air supremacy and in that part of the world tanks, artillery pieces and rolling stock have no place to hide and the Israeli fighter-bombers just blow their asses into confetti. Not only that, they fail to realize the Israel has nuclear weapons, Armageddon indeed.

1981 Previous to this date Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israel President Menachem Begin had signed a peace accord at Camp David, Maryland under the sponsorship of US President Jimmy Carter. Begin and Sadat had been deadly enemies since they were in their teens but somehow Carter was able to persuade them to seek peace together. They ended up signing the peace accord and shaking hands. On this date, Sadat is sitting on a reviewing stand watching a military parade commemorating the Egyptian losses in the Yom Kippur War (see above). About halfway through the parade, a personnel carrier rolled by and several men dressed in Egyptian camo jumped down and began firing and throwing grenades at the reviewing stand. Sadat was hit four times and died the next day. Vice President Hosni Mubarak was on the stand also but escaped injury. Mubarak assumed power soon thereafter and had over 800 people arrested looking for the culprits. I will give ya’ll one guess as to who the perpetrators were. Correct, it was Arab terrorists that do not want peace. As we all know these mad dogs thrive on chaos and turmoil and should be shot down as such. Mubarak finally whittled down the 800 detainees to 24. Most were hanged defiant to the end but a few went to prison for life. They were not given trials y'all, they were just executed or sent to prison. I like it.

1866 On this date the Reno Brothers, John and Simeon, executed the first train robbery in American history in Jackson County, Indiana. There had been some pilfering of some trains while they were stopped at a station but not one where a moving train was stopped and robbed out in a remote area away from curious onlookers. The Reno brothers got away with $13,000, an enormous sum for the time. Even though this method of robbery was invented in Indiana, it became very popular in the American west. The railroad owners finally installed very heavy safes and heavily armed guards to protect the cash and gold. They even went so far as to have a special rail car built whereby law enforcement officers and their horses would be ready to quickly disembark and give chase to the outlaws. Eventually, train robbery became more dangerous than it was worth and faded into legend.

Births and deaths:

1908 US actress Carole Lombard is born. When actor George Raft caught her applying peroxide to her pubic hair she said “Relax George, I am just making my collar and cuffs match.”

             Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Letting go has never been easy, but holding on can be as difficult. Yet strength is measured not by holding on, but by letting go.”

                                                  Len Santos

A while back I was reading about a 19 year old girl who was arrested in Spartanburg, SC for shoplifting. This girl took three vibrators into the ladies room in a K-Mart and stuffed them in her purse. Then she went to the cheap jewelry counter and did the same thing with three pair of earrings. All of sudden an image flashed across my mind involving the vibrators and the earrings…it was not a pretty sight.

A few days ago the MacArthur Foundation ‘Genius Fund’ made selections for this year’s “geniuses”. The award is $500,000 each distributed over a five year period. Included were a stone carver, an astrophysicist, a jazz pianist, a high school physics teacher, a theater director, a marble sculptor and an entomologist working on stopping the decline of the honey bee, etc. I wonder if there is an award for just being a good guy.

It has been determined that the “fattest” city in American is Vicksburg. Mississippi. Recently a gym owner has been trying to change all of that. She offered free gym time, persuaded several weight loss companies to offer free diet food and recipes, etc. So far that city has lost a combined total of over 15,000 pounds. This effort was strongly objected to by the makers of Twinkies, Krispie Kreme, Uncle Ben’s instant grits, Budweiser, among many others.

A while back the Pensacola, Florida city police were called by a family of a man they thought was in trouble. The cops tracked the man to a Motel 6 on the north side of town. Two city cops (1 male and 1 female) showed up at the motel and went to the room to investigate. A shootout erupted and the male cop was shot in the thigh. The bullet went clean through and exited the back of his leg. The female cop returned fire and the 21 year old shooter was killed instantly. A meth lab was found in the room along with two other people. They cooled their heels in the County lockup. To my knowledge no one has ever won a shootout with US law enforcement. They have nearly everyone out-gunned and out-trained.

This past Wednesday the US Marshals arrested 30 year old Santo Mendez at a Greyhound Bus Station in Austin, Texas. Santo has been charged with sexually assaulting 4 and 5 year old girls in Charleston, SC. This dumb ass told the arresting officers that he was now in Texas and they had no control over him. Do you think this jackass is an illegal alien? Anyway, the way he was found was the cops in Charleston contacted the US Marshals and told them what the charges were and that Santo had fled, probably to Texas. The US Marshals in Texas were notified and they tracked Santo to members of his family near Austin along with his description. A surveillance network was established at the airport, train station, bus station, etc. It worked. The last thing that Santo wants is to be extradited to South Carolina and convicted of sexual conduct with a minor. If he is his days will be be numbered once he is jailed.

Child molesters are targeted by prison inmates, especially here in SC.

Multi-zillionaire basketball player Lebron James is complaining that people hate him because he is black. He is wrong. People hate him because he is a whiner and his insufferable arrogance. I don’t hate Colin Powell, David Robinson, Michael Jordan, George Rogers and Barry Sanders among many, many others and I certainly am not alone. All of these men have honor and class, but not you Lebron.

               This Date in History   October 4

1777 The battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania happened on this day. Germantown was just a few miles north of British occupied Philadelphia. It was George Washington’s 11,000 ill-fed, ill-clothed and ill trained troops but Washington thought they were ready for a fight. He was opposed by British General Charles Cornwallis and his 9,000 well-fed, well-clothed and well trained troops. Washington had his troops to put a small piece of white paper in their hats so they could be seen in the early morning darkness. Washington chose to attack in four columns. The only problem here was that two of the columns got lost in the early morning fog and the army lost cohesion and were being chopped to pieces a few at a time and Washington retreated to the White Marsh area of New Jersey. The battle was over by ten o’clock with heavy casualties on both sides. In early December Washington fenced with Cornwallis until he established his winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. A few days before Christmas Prussian officer Frederick Von Stueben joined Washington. Washington assigned Von Stueben the task of whipping his troops into a well trained fighting unit rather than the rag-tag undisciplined army they were. Von Stueben immediately began a hard disciplined training program and eventually did complete his assignment of creating a fighting machine that proved its worth at the victory at Saratoga, New York. It was the victory at Saratoga that persuaded France to give their support to the fledgling United States and began giving the colonies much needed arms and money. When I was working near Reading , Pa. I wanted to go to most of these battle sites and asked the local about them. Nearly all of them had never been to any of them including Valley Forge. It was disappointing but in all honesty I don't know if any of my friends here in South Carolina have ever been Fort Thickety, Kings Mountain or Eutaw Springs.

1970 On this date Rock singer Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose in the Landmark Hotel in Hollywood, California. Janis was born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1943 and was in the same class as ex-coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson. She led a troubled life up until she was 17 when she left home and began singing in clubs in Houston and other cities in Texas. In the early 60’s she moved to San Francisco and began singing with a group called Big Brother and the Holding Company. In 1968 the band issued an album called Cheap Tricks. One of the songs on that album was Janis singing the song Piece of my Heart. It gives me chill bumps to think Janis doing this song to this day. This song brought Janis into the world spotlight. She left that band and formed her own band The Kosmic Blues Band. This band was immensely popular and brought Janis even more fame and fortune. During all this rush at fast living Janis had developed two addictions. One was Southern Comfort and the other was heroin. Her final band was The Full Tilt Boogie Band. It was with this band that Janis gave us the immortal Me and Bobbie Magee. It was only a few weeks after recording this song that she killed herself by injecting sh-t into her veins. By the way, Me and Bobbie Magee was written by Kris Kristofferson.

Births and deaths:

1970 US rock singer Janis Joplin died. She said “I would rather live 10 years of super-hypermost than to live 70 years sitting in a god-damned chair in front of a TV.” Janis lived her 27 years on this planet in exactly that fashion.

Quotable quotes:

“I have as much authority as the Pope. I just do not have as many people that believe it”

                                                 George Carlin

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

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

                                              Robert Orben

Here is tale that should scare you.

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

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

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

            This Date in History   October 5

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

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

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

           Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                          Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Patriotism is your conviction that you live in the greatest country in the world because you were born there.”

                                           George Bernard Shaw

A long time ago I as working in Pensacola, Fl. as an air traffic controller. Pensacola was a TRACON meaning a Terminal Radar Air Traffic Control facility. We were essentially responsible for providing air traffic control services to aircraft within 50 mile radius. That is an oversimplification but you get the idea. The skies were full of US Navy aircraft in training both on land and on aircraft carriers that were based there like the USS Lexington and later the USS Kitty Hawk. At times especially during hurricane evacuations the stress level was approaching unmanageable. The US Navy in Pensacola would send nearly all their aircraft to a navy base in Missouri to wait out a hurricane. They sent them all at once and brought them back all at once. We had a controller with us that was approaching the end of his career and we tried to protect him knowing that he was not as capable as the rest of us. It was suggested that he go to Mobile, Al. to finish his career but he said he did not want to take a pay cut. Back then in the air traffic control business your salary is based upon the traffic count. During one evacuation he was caught in a very busy and very difficult situation...he was over his head. He said that he was about to faint and laid down on the floor and his “coordinator” took over for him. He went to the hospital and it was determined that it was caused by stress and him hyperventilating. He very nearly died trying to keep working at the job. He went to Mobile but kept his house in Pensacola and commuted (about 65 miles). He eventually retired. The point I am trying to make is your health is not worth your job. By the way, a coordinator is a person that monitors what is being said between the controller and the aircraft and communicates with all the associated facilities on the land lines so all the controller has to do is talk with the aircraft.

           This Date in History   October 3

1781 British General Charles Cornwallis and 9,000 of his troops had been pinned up against the Chesapeake Bay by a combined force of 17,000 Patriot and French infantry at Yorktown, Virgina for about two weeks. The British had been able to persevere because they were being re-supplied from across the York River. Patriot General George Washington sent French Brigadier General Marquis de Cloisy and 1,000 infantry to cut that supply route. On this date Marquis de Cloisy was able to ambush the British supply wagons led by British Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Dundas and 800 infantry with complete success. With this the last supply route to the British encampment now cut, it was just a matter of time before they had to surrender and bring this war for independence to a successful termination.

1862 Confederate Generals Earl Van Dorn and Sterling Price combined their forces and attempt of take back the city of Corinth, Mississippi that had been captured by US General William Rosecrans earlier. Corinth was an all important railroad center. The US forces had taken Corinth after the Confederates had been there for some time and had developed considerable breastworks. Rosecrans’s troops just reinforced what was there into an even more formidable embrasures. On this date the Confederates attempted three direct and flank attacks and were able to gain the first entrenchment but could not hold and withdrew with heavy casualties.

1995 On this date one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American history occurs in Los Angeles, California. Former NFL football star O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife Nichole Brown and an innocent passer-by named Ron Goldman. The trial had been underway for almost a year. In the past Nichole Brown had called 911 several times because Simpson had shown up at her house enraged and had beat the hell out of her at least once and threatened her many times. Ron Goldman was a waiter at an upscale restaurant where Nichole had eaten lunch a few hours before. Nichole had left her sunglasses at the restaurant and Goldman was dropping the sunglasses off at Nichole’s house on his way home when they both were murdered. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind, except for that jury, that O.J. was the murderer. O.J. was defended by a formidable crew of attorneys led by Johnny Cochran. I personally think that O.J. was acquitted because he was black, as was the majority of the jury. Take it from me bigotry exists on both sides of the race issue.

1895 One of the best and most influential novels in the history of American literature is published on this day. It is The Red Badge of Courage written by Stephan Crane. It is a novel about a group of young men that enlist in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, one young man in particular. When he encounters combat for the first time he runs away in terror. Then he has a talk with himself about self esteem and courage and returns to his unit. The book is an icon in annuls of American literature and is worthy of everyone’s time to read. Crane was born into poverty one of a family of 14 living in the New York/New Jersey area. Crane died in 1899 of tuberculosis at the age of 28. That’s right folks, he wrote this great novel at a very early age. What a waste of writing talent.

1873 Earlier a group of Modoc Indians got fed up with settlers moving in on their lands in Central Oregon and killed a few of them and ran up into the Cascades to hide. They stayed there for quite a length of time and refused several attempts to negotiate their surrender. It seems they did not trust us honkies at our word and I don’t blame them. Finally, the US Cavalry decided to send in high ranking US General Canby to negotiate thinking the Modoc would more readily believe him. Canby went in to negotiate but the Modoc were not impressed and capped all of the party except one who went back and told what happened. The US cavalry sent an overwhelming force and captured all the Modoc. On this day four of them were hanged for the killing of General Canby, not the settlers, General Canby.

Births and deaths:

1941 US writer Anne Rice is born. She said “I was particularly stunned by the casting of Tom Cruise; he is no more the vampire La Stat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler.” One of my daughters suggested that I not read that book because there was homosexuality in it and they thought I would find it offensive. I did not read it because of that, I did not read it because it is fiction. If I was going to be offended at homosexuality I could not read the biography of many, many leaders, Frederick the Great, in particular. I have completed his biography and will send it out soon.

Quotable quotes:

“My favorite animal is steak.”

      Fran Lebowitz

“My wife has wonderfully colored eyes; I particularly like the blue one.”

                                               Dave Barry

                 Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                        Musings and History

Quote of the day:

When explaining why he sold the rights to the song “My Way” to Frank Sinatra he said “I did not want to wake up with a horse's head in my bed.”

                                                  Paul Anka

Here is a short history lesson.

The Revolutionary War lasted 8 bloody years and thousands of Patriots died or were killed to insure the independence of the United States from the heel of Great Britain. 29 years later Great Britain, along with most of Europe, was at war with France and Napoleon. Great Britain tried to blockade French ports to prevent the movement of troops and the re-supplying of the tools of war. The United States was not at war with France and continued to try to trade with them. Not only was American ships stopped from approaching French ports, the English war ships would “impress” sailors from American merchant vessels and force them to serve on British warships. President James Madison and the United States congress declared war on Great Britain. As a result Great Britain sent part of the mightiest navy in the world to fight against this upstart nation. In fact James Madison was the last sitting president to be involved in combat. The British landed near Baltimore and sent a large number of troops toward Washington, DC with the intention of burning to to the ground. This was in retaliation for a United States army unit burning down the British embassy building in Canada. Madison commanded an American artillery battery at the Battle of Bladensburg, Md. which as unsuccessful in stopping the British advance and they did considerable damage to our nations capitol. Before the British troops landed, a naval bombardment was delivered to Fort McHenry which was at the mouth of Baltimore harbor manned by American troops. The bombardment lasted all one night. An American was on board one of the British warships and watched in awe at the ferocity of the attack. But the next morning a gigantic American flag had been raised on Fort McHenry indicating that the fort as still in American hands. The American was Francis Scott Key and he wrote a inspired poem about what he had seen that became our national anthem. What I tearfully think of when I hear this song is the hundreds of thousands of Patriots in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812 that surrendered their lives to make all of this happen. 

I do not think about some arrogant millionaires that are trying to stress that they don't think they are been treated fairly and I deeply resent them using the sacrifice of such importance to my devotion to the United States as a sounding board. The 1^st Amendment applies to them of course...but it applies to me also. 

                      This Date in History   October 2

1967 On this date United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren swore in Thurgood Marshall as an associate Supreme Court justice replacing retiring Justice Tom Clark. Marshall was the first black person to be selected the high court. He was born in Baltimore in 1908. When he graduated from high school he applied to go the University of Maryland Law School and was accepted but the acceptance was withdrawn once it was found that he was black. He then applied to and was accepted into the Howard University Law School in Washington, DC and graduated first in his class. He became a lawyer for the NAACP and eventually became Chief Council. In his capacity with the NAACP he argued several cases before the Supreme Court including his most important victory in the Brown vs. The Board Of Education decision which was the first giant step in the elimination of segregation in public facilities in America. He was nominated for the United States Court of Appeals by President John Kennedy but his confirmation was delayed for almost a year by southern Senators. He was then selected by President Lyndon Johnson to be Solicitor General. Finally, it was Lyndon Johnson that nominated him to the Supreme Court. I took some time but he was eventually confirmed. He served on the high court for 24 years, retired in 1991 and died the next year.

1780 Earlier British officer John Andre had been captured by a group of highwaymen (robbers) that were sympathetic to the Patriot cause. They found a document in Andre’s boot that described a deal with Patriot General Benedict Arnold whereby Arnold would turn over control of the Patriot fortress at West Point, NY to the British for 20,000 pounds Sterling. They then turned Andre over to the Patriot army including the document. Andre was not in uniform making him a spy. Andre was tried as a spy, convicted and was sentenced to death. On this date, Andre was hanged. When Arnold found out about the capture of Andre he and his wife ran like hell to the British warship HMS Vulture and surrendered to them. The British did not waste Arnold’s considerable military talents and made him an officer in the British Army and gave him command of a division of infantry. Arnold did not disappoint. He proved to be a very capable commander against his countrymen. After the war was won by the Patriots, he had no choice but to go to England. He died penniless and unknown in London in 1801.

1836 After exploring Argentina, Peru and the Galapagos Islands, the HMS Beagle with British naturalist Charles Darwin aboard arrives back in England. Darwin has made many observations in his travels the most important of which was what he called “natural selection” and evidence as he saw it, of homo-sapiens evolving from a lower form. Darwin was embarrassed at what he had found and delayed publishing his findings for several years because he knew what hell would be raised about it. But he finally published The Origin of Species and sure enough, hell was raised and plenty of it and it is still ebbing and flowing to this day. I don’t have a dog in that fight because it eventually gets to the use of the bible as the final authority which requires a leap of faith. As I have said before, you cannot mix science and religion successfully.

1864 US General Alvan Gillem decided to attack the CSA encampment of Saltville, Virginia to capture the salt and lead mine there. The salt mine was very important to the Confederacy because the salt was used to preserve their food. Gillam wanted US General Burbridge and his small division to join him in a coordinated attack from the south but Burbridge wanted a separate attack from the north so he could get individual credit for the victory. Both armies totaled 4,000 men. The Confederate officers in charge at Saltville were CSA Generals Harry Giltner and John Williams. When they found out what was coming, the hastily rounded up about 1,000 Confederate infantry and prepared a plan of action. You would have thought they would have dug in but they didn’t. They sent Giltner and about 400 troops to delay Gillam coming up from the south and Williams and the rest prepared an ambush of Burbridge’s troops coming down from the north. When the trap was sprung the astonished US troops turned around and ran back to Kentucky. Williams turned his troops around and headed south to join Giltner. It was unnecessary because when Gillam found out about the rout of Burbridge, he turned around and headed back to West “by God” Virginia. However, this brilliant victory was tarnished somewhat when some of the black troops of the US 5^th and 6^th cavalry were captured and then murdered. War is hell.

Births and deaths:

1940 Sports columnist Scott Ostler is born. After watching the 49ers get routed in the 1993 playoffs, he wrote “The 49ers were so badly flattened that they didn’t fly back home, they were faxed.”

1981 US singer and pianist Hazel Scott dies. She said “I have always respected everyone’s religion; there is only one God but a hell of a lot of confused people.” Here, here.

                  Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow