Wednesday

                                 Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Music hath the charm to sooth the savage beast, but carry a revolver just in case.”

                                               Josh Billings

Trivia question of the day:

What baseball player has/had the highest lifetime batting average? Answer at the end of the blog.

Here is a reminiscence:

On my way from Newnan, Ga. to Ballentine, SC on I-20 I passed a Porterdale, Ga. exit on I-20. It reminded me of a time when I was in my early teens.

My fraternal grandfather had a brother named Perry that lived near Porterdale. My father decided to take me rabbit hunting with Uncle Perry but I did not know what to expect because Uncle Perry was nearly 90 years old. In your mind's eye imagine a very small but stout house up off the ground on stone pilings built around the turn of the century and that would be Uncle Perry's house. His wife's name was Aunt Sally and had been with Perry most of her life. They had no electricity, no natural or bottled gas but they had running water and an indoor toilet. Aunt Sally cooked on a wood stove, lighting was by kerosene lanterns and heat was wood in fireplaces and the wood stove. Down the hill was a spring where they chilled a few things like milk and butter. They had a dairy cow, a pen with several pigs and a small chicken coop. I don't remember seeing a car but I remember him telling us that one of his son's came by on a regular basis to check on them. At one time Perry farmed and there was a small barn where kept a couple of mules but he gave that up and the barn was empty...kinda. We got to Perry's house late in the afternoon and we ended up on the porch chatting until dark then we went inside because it was getting very cold.

Aunt Sally had been busy cooking supper of fried rabbit, collards, biscuits, gravy and milk or tea. It was really cold outside but we were warm by the wood stove. After stuffing ourselves we went into another part of the house with a fireplace, Aunt Sally lit a couple of lamps and we resumed story telling. Actually we did not say much because we were all enthralled at Uncle Perry's experiences. He was a grown man when Jesse James was killed. I remember him telling us about that but unfortunately I cannot remember any of his other tales...what rich library that would have been had I written it all down. We did not sit up long and went into a bedroom that was ice cold. I got into bed and there was a blanket and feather comforter on the bed that almost pinned you to the mattress they were so heavy but I was not cold.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee. Aunt Sally was already up, had built a fire in the stove and was cooking breakfast. It was scrambled eggs, fried rabbit again, biscuits and gravy and strong coffee. The coffee pot was one that you see in western movies with cowboys outside cooking around a campfire. After Uncle Perry told us to take a piece of rabbit and a biscuit with us for lunch he gave the word that it was time to go hunting. We bundled up and stepped out into really frosty morning.

Uncle Perry began walking down a dirt road and I asked him where his dog pen was and just began yelling and whistling. Remember the barn...several beagles came out of there one or two came out from under the house and we were under way. The dogs knew what to do, they got together in a pack and began hunting. I was wondering what Uncle Perry did for money and I soon found out. He had about 12 “rabbit gums”. These are traps that are used to catch mostly rabbits but other critters are caught also. He skinned the rabbits and kept the meat for he and Aunt Sally, then he tanned the rabbit and other critter hides and sold them to a local hardware store. He was a modern day trapper and he and Sally did not need much money except for a smidgen of kerosene. I don't remember how many rabbits we shot but Uncle Perry recovered three from his traps. We sat on a small hill and listened to the music of that pack of beagles trailing a rabbit...it was a symphony. By the way, he out walked all of us, almost 90 years old be damned.

About a year after this trip Uncle Perry died and within a couple of weeks Aunt Sally was gone too. Sadly, it was the end of an era.

                          This Date in History   May 9

1671 Earlier during the English Civil War and the beheading of King Charles I of England, Irish adventurer Thomas Blood had lost

all of his lands and possessions in Ireland upon the reinstatement of the English monarchy when King Charles II assumed the throne. Thomas became known a “Captain Blood” because of his adventuresome spirit. Thomas brooded about his losses for a while than he decided to do something to gain back the assets he had lost. On this date Captain Blood was caught trying to steal the crown jewels from the Treasure Room in the Tower of London. This guy had one hell of a nerve. He and three others approached the Treasure Room with Blood dressed as a priest and the other three kept in the shadows. Blood was able to talk the guard at the Treasure Room to hand over his pistols. After this Blood’s accomplices stormed from the shadows and force the guard to open the door and they began gathering up the Crown Jewels. One of Blood’s accomplices stuffed the Royal Orb down his pants. The Orb is essentially a golden globe about the size of a soft ball encrusted with precious gems. Blood grabbed the Crown and crushed it flat with a mallet and stuffed it down his pants. About then the son of the guard showed up and when he saw what was happening, he screamed an alarm and swarms of English soldiers quickly arrived and surrounded Blood and company. Blood was brought before King Charles II himself. The King was very amused and thought that Blood showed great courage. Rather than punish him, the King gave Blood his lands and property that he had previously owned back to him and made him a member of the Royal Court with a yearly pension. Blood was very popular with the general public and was considered a celebrity. After Blood died in 1680, he had to be disinterred to convince the public that he was really dead.

                           Here is a profile in courage

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

FIRST LIEUTENANT JACK LUMMUS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE

for service as set forth in the following
CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Leader of a Rifle Platoon, attached to Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands, 8 March 1945. Resuming his assault tactics with bold decision after fighting without respite for two days and nights. First Lieutenant Lummus slowly advanced his platoon against an enemy deeply entrenched in a network of mutually supporting positions. Suddenly halted by a terrific concentration of hostile fire, he unhesitatingly moved forward of his front line in an effort to neutralize the Japanese position. Although knocked to the ground when an enemy grenade exploded close by, he immediately recovered himself and, again moving forward despite the intensified barrage, quickly located attacked and destroyed the occupied emplacement. Instantly taken under fire by the garrison of a supporting pillbox and further assailed by the slashing fury of hostile rifle fire, he fell under the impact of a second enemy grenade, but courageously disregarding painful shoulder wounds, staunchly continued his heroic one-man assault and charged the second pillbox annihilating all the occupants. Subsequently returning to his platoon, position, he fearlessly traversed his lines under fire, encouraging his men to advance and directing the fire of supporting tanks against other stubbornly holding Japanese emplacements. Held up again by a devastating barrage, he again moved into the open, rushed a third heavily fortified installation and killed the defending enemy. Determined to crush all resistance, he led his men indomitably, personally, attacking foxholes and spider-traps with his carbine and systematically reducing the fanatic opposition until, stepping on a land mine, he sustained fatal wounds. By his outstanding valor, skilled tactics and tenacious perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds, First Lieutenant Lummus had inspired his stouthearted Marines to continue the relentless drive northward, thereby contributing materially to the success of his company's mission. His dauntless leadership and unwavering devotion to duty throughout enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.

/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

I read an eyewitness account of this action and this is what the he said. “After seeing Lieutenant Lummus absorb all this punishment alone and keep fighting, all of the men of his rifle company were crying and when the land mine finally killed him, they rose up together and with a great shout charged the entrenched Japanese.”

Answer to the trivia question:

The player with the highest lifetime bating average was Ty Cobb who averaged .366 over a 24 year career with the Detroit Tigers. Ty died very wealthy because he invested heavily in a new company based in Atlanta named Coca-Cola.

             Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“It is just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I knock dudes out.”

                                                   Muhammad Ali

Trivia question of the day:

Recently Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels delivered his 3,000^th hit. There are only 2 players to have had over 4,000 hits, Ty Cobb is one of them, who is the other one? Answer at the end of the blog.

Once again here in the buckle of the bible belt there are evangelicals saying that denying illegal immigrants entry is not “the Christian thing to do”. This nation is not now nor has it ever been a “christian nation”. The founders of this nation went to great lengths to keep specific religious beliefs out of the machinations of government. No where on any document associated with our government is there reference to Jesus Christ but “God”, “Providence”, “our Maker”, etc. is common. It was pointed out to me that oaths of office is taken with a hand on the Bible. This is true and half of the Bible is about people believing that Jesus Christ was the son of God and the other half is about people that don't...but both believe in God. The oath ends with “so help me God”. I am not anti-religion or anti-Christian but religion has no place in the decision making when it comes to the operation of a nation. Why? Because all religions require a leap of faith or a belief that cannot be proven. Affairs of the heart and mind vary widely depending on the persons involved. When our founding fathers set the rules for entering this country as an immigrant their religious beliefs or the lack thereof was a non-issue and rightly so. Our ancestor had been through that nightmare in Europe and were very careful in the construction of the foundation of this, the mightiest nation in history. But after all, Paul Tibbett the pilot of the Enola Gay (see Hiroshima) was a Christian...and so was George Patton.

                        This Date in History   May 8

1864 Yesterday after completion of the bloody Battle of the Wilderness, US General Ulysses Grant headed for the important crossroads near the Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia in the hopes of gaining the lead ahead of CSA General Robert E. Lee toward Richmond, Virginia. General Lee again was able to sniff out Grant’s intentions and sent CSA General James Longstreet’s division, under the command of CSA General Richard Anderson because Longstreet was wounded, on a forced march to reach Spotsylvania before Grant. On this date the Confederates did indeed reach Spotsylvania before Grant and was able to construct defensive breastwork before Grant arrived. This made it extremely difficult for Grant because of the determination and grit of the Confederate defenders. One of the top three bloodiest battles in the American Civil War ensued. The Union and Confederate soldiers fought each other without a break for 10 hours. The battle finally waned because of sheer exhaustion of the troop and the coming of night. But the next day it started all over again. At times the soldiers’ bayonets were touching across the breastwork. It was hell on earth, y'all. But again, Grant knew that he had more troops and artillery than Lee and kept pushing.

1945 On this date the United States and Great Britain announced that German soldiers everywhere they were to be found laid down their arms and surrendered to whatever Allies were close by. The war in Europe was over. They called it VE-Day for victory in Europe. Ever since 1939 and the invasion of Poland and the Balkans by the Germans, the devil incarnate in Adolph Hitler had ruled Europe. He had preached that the “3^rd Reich” would rule the world for a thousand years. They lasted a little over 7.

1541 In 1539 the Spanish conquistador Hernan De Soto landed on the west coast of Florida with 600 troops and 200 horses, a pack of war dogs and began exploring the territory. As usual they were looking for silver and gold like they found in Central and South America among the native tribes. They headed north through North Florida, Georgia and South Carolina before turning west across the Appalachians where they went into north Alabama. They did not find any gold and silver but they did find some valuable pearls in north Georgia. As usual the Spanish took many Indians captive and treated them like hell using them to carry supply packs and as guides. However, the Indians set an ambush for De Soto and his troops near the Indian village of Mabilia (Mobile) and they barely got out without annihilation. De Soto’s troops wanted to head south and try to reach any Spanish ships known to be cruising the area. De Soto headed his troops north and then west through Arkansas and Louisiana and on this date, he reached the Mississippi River just south of Memphis. De Soto and his troops built rafts to cross the river but would only do it at night to avoid the ever patrolling Indians on both sides. DeSoto and his troops went west a short distance when De Soto came down with malaria and died soon thereafter. His troops brought his body back to the Mississippi and buried in the river at night so the Indians would not know he was dead. De Soto had convinced the Indians that he was a God and Gods don’t die. The troops wanted to get home so they rafted down the Mississippi to the delta and followed the Gulf Coast across Texas and on down into Mexico. They reached Vera Cruz in late 1543 with only half of the troops the started with, but they were saved.

1792 On this date the United States Congress passed a conscription law stating “all able bodied men between the age of 18 and 45 will make themselves available to the military”. It was the beginnings of the draft. Nearly every major power in the world has drafted or conscripted troops at one time or another. In ancient Rome able bodied men were drafted for a 20 years tour...If I am not mistaken, able bodied women are also drafted into the Israeli army. Speaking of that, two of the most vicious military commanders in history were women. One was an early Britain name Boudicca and the other was a Viking name Freida, the daughter of Eric the Red.

1846 On this date US General Zachary Taylor engaged a Mexican army of nearly twice his size near the now Texas town of Palo Alto. General Taylor and the Americans inflicted a severe ass-whipping on the Mexicans. Not only that, the next day Taylor met them again near Resaca de la Palma and kicked their ass once again. Again, even though they were outnumbered, the Americans were much better trained and had superior weaponry. The Mexican War had not been officially declared but it might as well had been because Taylor had already been engaged in two battles.

1988 Earlier Stella Nickell of Seattle, Washington had decided to murder her husband. She took out a life insurance policy on her husband that had a rider stating that if her husband died an accidental death, she would get an extra $100,000. So she did some research and found out all she could about cyanide. She went into her husband’s bottle of Excedrin and took apart one of the capsules and replaced the contents with cyanide. A few days later her husband did indeed take the Excedrin and died. Believe it or not, an autopsy was performed and the coroner decided that Stella’s husband had died of emphysema making his death of natural causes not accidental as stated in the insurance policy. Stella panicked and in order to make his death appear as an accident, she went into two separate drugstores and replaced the contents of a few Excedrin capsules with arsenic and put them back on the shelf. This was the days before there was a seal over the top of the cap like it is today. A few days later, a woman named Susan Snow took a newly purchased capsule of Excedrin and died instantly. Stella had in mind that if this happened and the FDA investigated, there would be no doubt that her husbands autopsy would be done again and his death would be ruled as accidental giving her an extra 100K. But she was caught and convicted and given 90 years. She will be eligible for parole in 2018...if she is still alive.

Answer to the trivia question:

Other that Ty Cobb the only other major league player to have over 4,000 hits was Pete Rose.

             Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                        Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“People love others not for who they are but for how they make them feel.”                                            Irwin Federman

Trivia question of the day:

Who was most of the cities in America with the name of “Greene or Green” as part of it named after? Answer at the end of the blog.

Out in the San Francisco area two high school kids were sitting around having their lunch when the vice-principal approached and told them to take off their bandanas with the American flag displayed. He also told them to turn their tee shirts inside out. The tee shirts also had an American flag displayed. The kids refused and were ordered into the principal’s office. The principal told them that since it was “Cinco de Mayo” and the school had a large Latino population a display of the American flag would be inflammatory. He told them that on any other day they could wear the bandanas and tee shirts. The kids still refused and were sent home. I am glad that I was not the parent of one of those kids because I would be in jail for trashing the principal’s office and I’ll bet most of you would do the same. Cinco de Mayo my ass.

                 This Date in History   May 7

1763 Earlier the French were kicked out of America during the French and Indian War and the British takes control of former French territory. The local Indian tribes find that the English are not as conciliatory as the French and are a hell of a lot more demanding. So the chief of the Ottawa Indians named Pontiac decides to do something about it. He has a meeting with many of the other tribes including the Wyandot, Ojibwa and the Potawatomi and they decide that Pontiac should take control of the now British enclave at Fort Detroit. It was Pontiac’s plan to suggest a meeting with the British in Fort Detroit under the guise of hammering out a peace treaty but what he really wanted was for them to open the gates and he then would order his hidden braves to attack and kill all they could but what they wanted most was the large arsenal known to be there. The problem was that the British commander of Fort Detroit found out about the plan and when Pontiac arrived he refused him entry and a long siege ensued. Simultaneously Pontiac’s allies such as the Delaware, Shawnee and Seneca began attacks on British forts and outposts in Maryland, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. On July 31 a British relief expedition reached Fort Detroit and attacked Pontiac. The British are met with a ferocious counter-attack and received heavy casualties and were repulsed. But they were able to get some reinforcements and supplies into the fort which allowed them to last until fall. Fort Pitt and Fort Niagara also were able to withstand the assaults but eight other forts were wiped out. The British put two huge armies afield and one of them was able to defeat the combined forces of the Delaware and Shawnee which broke Pontiac’s alliance. With out this support, Pontiac finally was forced to sue for peace and signed peace treaty in 1766. In 1769 he was murdered by a visiting member of the Peoria tribe. A bitter war ensued between the followers of Pontiac and the Peoria tribe. The Peoria tribe was all but annihilated. That’s right; there is a town in Michigan and an automobile named for him.

1864 A few days earlier the Army of Northern Virginia, CSA General Robert E. Lee commanding, enticed the Army of the Potomac, US General Ulysses S. Grant commanding, into an area of Virginia known as “The Wilderness”. This area of thick woods and swamps would make Grant’s superior numbers of troops of no consequence to Lee’s Confederates. A savage battle ensued that resulted in appalling losses for Grant. Lee’s army inflicted twice as many casualties as they received but they were outnumbered by almost two to one so the battle was considered a draw. After such a bloodbath as that, previous US commanders would have retreated and licked their wounds but not Grant. He assembled his troops and headed south toward Spotsylvania, Virginia to keep the pressure on Lee. Strangely, this action was inspiring to the Union troops because they then knew they now had a leader that would accept nothing short of victory regardless of the price. In the past they had leaders that were more afraid of defeat than thirsty for success. Things were different now.

1954 Since the end of WWII the country of Vietnam had been a French possession. But early on the French were attacked by guerrillas led by a small man named Ho Chi Minh. The French Legionnaires were not used to a fighting force with the determination of these fighters but they fought as fiercely as their reputation is known for. Finally on this date, a large group of Legionnaires were surrounded by artillery and infantry of the forces of Ho Chi Minh and were forced to surrender. This ended the presence of the French in Vietnam. The place of was known as Dien Bien Phu. Five years later the United States send some “military advisers” into the southern part of that nation. We all know what happened then.

1902 On this date a volcano named Pele on the Island of Martinique in the Caribbean exploded sends mountains of ash and lava onto the city of Saint Pierre. This beautiful city was known as the Paris of the west. Not any more. This city no longer exists nor does the thousands of its inhabitants. It was the most devastating volcano in the 20^th century.

1896 Earlier a man named Herman Mudgett was born in New Hampshire. He started at an early age torturing animals showing what kind of demon was inside. He was a smart person and attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a medical degree. He financed his education by insuring non-existent people and gathering the insurance money upon presenting a corpse as the insured. In the meantime he had changed his name to Dr. H. H. Holmes. Holmes moved to Chicago in 1886 and went to work as a pharmacist. He eventually bought the pharmacy from the female owner. Soon thereafter the woman disappeared and was never seen again. Through a series of cons Holmes was able to buy a big house across the street from the pharmacy that he called the “castle”. Holmes fitted all the bedrooms with camouflaged gas outlets and he rented some of those bedrooms during the Chicago Worlds Fair and killed the occupants with gas, dissected them, and sold their skeletons to medical schools. He was finally caught using a corpse in another insurance scam and said “I was born with the devil in me; I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet cannot be inspired to sing.” This monster existed at the same time as the infamous “Jack the Ripper” in London but he did not achieve the notoriety. Holmes went to meet his maker at the end of a rope. The police searched his “castle” and found the remains of over 200 people. I wonder where he is today.

Died today:

399BC Greek philosopher Socrates. He said “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” This man was ahead of his time...way ahead.

Answer to the trivia question:

Most of the towns and cities in America with the name Greene or Green as part of it are named after Nathaneal Greene. This man was the leader of a group of Patriot guerrillas that bled the British army white in the southern US. He never really won a battle because he did not command a very large force but he was very skillful doing as much damage as possible and retreating. Not only that he financed his own operations and paid his troops out of his own pocket. After the war he was given 2 plantations as a reward for his service. One of the plantations was in South Carolina and the other was in Georgia. He sold the one in South Carolina to recover some of the money he had spent and moved into the one in Georgia. One year later he died of a heat stroke. God works in mysterious ways.

              Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow.

Friday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“A parent is only as happy as their saddest child.”

                       Nichole Helget

Trivia question of the day:

Where was Genghis Khan buried? Answer at the end of the blog.

I have been telling y'all about the homeless man that is working a certain intersection in Pensacola. On the way out of town coming home I saw him again. He was on the north sidewalk on Gregory Street riding a bicycle headed for his favorite intersection...with his Lab on a leash trotting along side. I don't know where he is sleeping but he is coming from the direction of a block square park with plenty of trees. In fact there is a gazebo in case it rains. Is this a miserable life? I ain't sure.

               This Date in History   May 4

1970 Two days before in Kent, Ohio over 2,000 college students began rioting on the Kent State University campus to protest the Vietnam War in general and the United States incursion into Cambodia in particular. The Governor of Ohio called out the National Guard to control the crowds and the presence of the Guard dispersed the crowd. The next day scattered rioters were dispersed with tear gas. On this date the rioters gathered in a few crowds and the National Guardsmen donned gas masks and fixed bayonets after the crowds began throwing rocks. For an unknown reason the Guardsmen opened fire killing 4 and wounding 8 students. The closest was 40 yards away and the farthest was 250 yards. After a period of shock and first aid the rioters were again told to disperse by the commander of the National Guard. At this the rioters gathered and took steps at the Guardsman and a bloodbath appeared to be on the horizon but members of the Kent State faculty ran out in front of the rioters and was able stop their advance and persuaded them to go home. The Commander of the National Guardsmen that were there along with a few others went on trial for this massacre but the state of Ohio chose to drop all charges. I guess that was the best thing to do. The sooner the time of healing starts the better it will be.

1979 On this date Margaret Thatcher is elected as the first female Prime Minister in the history of Great Britain. She earned the nickname of “Iron pants Maggie” for her unbending attitude. She was no dummy either. She graduated from Oxford and was the first woman to be president of the Oxford Conservative Association. She has a degree in chemistry and is a licensed attorney. She failed in her first attempt at Parliament but attracted a lot of attention with the number of votes she garnered. In 1959 she was elected to Parliament from the Finchley district in the northern district of London. From here she rose in prominence an eventually was elected Prime Minister. She earned the nickname “Iron Pants” during the 1982 encounter with Argentina over the disputed Falkland Islands when the Argentinians invaded the Falklands. There was some guessing that the Argentinians had chosen wait until Maggie came to power before attempting to take the Falklands, a British Protectorate, because they did not think a woman would be as aggressive as a man. They were wrong. Maggie sent a message to the Argentinians that they had two weeks to get back home. That is about how long it would take the British military to mobilize their Navy and Marines and get down there. They did not go home and sure enough, two weeks later the British Navy and Marines arrived at the Falklands. In a week they had sent the Argentinians back to the house.

1776   On this date the state of Rhode Island, the home of the most the radical of religious dissidents, are the first state to declare themselves independent from the heel of King George III of England. It was Rhode Island that served as the mercantile center of the slave trade in the 18^th century. It was West Indies molasses that was brought to the Rhode Island distilleries and made into rum and then taken to West Africa and traded for slaves. Those slaves that survived the crossing were brought to Rhode Island and traded to the West Indies for molasses. That’s right folks; all the slaves that came to America did not come to Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, or Annapolis, MD and sent to cotton plantations. Anyway, the Rhode Islanders were close to the last in adopting the United States Constitution. They are just a belligerent bunch up there.

1948 A twenty-five year old author named Norman Mailer delivered what is acknowledged to be one of the best novels about World War II in The Naked and the Dead. Norman was raised in Brooklyn, NY in 1923 and attended Harvard but enlisted in the army during World War II. After being discharged in 1946 Mailer attended the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He wrote The Naked and the Dead about his personal experiences in the war. Even though Norman is known as a two-fisted drinker and an advocate of male superiority, he has won a Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction and a National book award about a peace march that he attended. He is a very talented but violent writer. He stabbed his wife while they were attending a party.

Born today:

1796 US educator Horace Mann. He said “Trying to teach students without inspiring them is like hammering on cold iron.”

1825 English botanist Thomas Huxley. He said “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” I am trying, Tom, I am trying.

1905 US impresario Lincoln Kirstein. He said “Bringing ballet into the United States is like trying to raise a palm tree in South Dakota.”

1937 US guitarist Dick Dale. He said “I will never die. I will just explode right before your very eyes on stage.”

1941 US journalist George Will. He said “Football combines the two worst features of American life; violence and committee meetings.”

Died today:

1969 English writer Sir Osbert Sitwell. He said “In reality, killing time is a misnomer. It is time that is killing us.” Now I am depressed.

1975 Member/leader of the Three Stooges, Moe Howard. He said “We are not nearly as violent as western movies.” That’s right Moe, but you made a quantum leap toward silliness.

1984 British sex goddess Diana Dors. She said “I am the first sex symbol from England since Lady Godiva.” Perhaps, but Lady Godiva had a prettier dress.

1989 US Attorney General from California Evelle Younger. He said “An incompetent attorney can delay a trial for months. A competent lawyer can delay one for even longer.”

Answer to trivia question:

It was a trick question, no one knows where Genghis Khan was buried. A small escort party carried his corpse from his place of death and killed all people that they encountered along the way numbering close to a million to keep his burial site a secret. It is assumed he was buried near his birthplace in Mongolia. This man has the distinction of being the most prolific child producer ever documented...at least 1,000 and maybe as many as 2,000. He was busy.

               Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                     Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you do you will be successful”

                                          Albert Schweitzer

Trivia question of the day:

Who was Quasimodo? Answer at the end of the blog.

A couple of days ago I mentioned that USMC 1^st Sgt. Daniel Daly had been awarded two Medals of Honor. Here is how he got the first one:

During the Boxer Rebellion Daly's unit was sent to an American legation building in China to protect it from attack. It was Daly and one other Marine assigned to protect the wall. Daly had one corner and the other Marine had another corner. The other Marine was wounded and that left Daly alone. He had a bayoneted rifle and a pistol. He was on the wall all night repelling one attack after another. The next morning he was relieved with over 30 people lying dead on the wall or on the ground below it. He was awarded many medals for his bravery but he always said “This is no need for all this foolishness.” He never married, his bride was the Marine Corp for 32 years.

                  This Date in History    May 3

1992 Four days before Exxon executive Stanley Reso was kidnapped from his driveway in Morris Township, New Jersey while picking up the newspaper. He was shot in the arm, bound and gagged and put into a wooden box with minimum ventilation and the box was put into a storage vault where his yells could not be heard should he had been able get the gag off. The perpetrators were a husband and wife named Arthur and Irene Seale. They begin sending ransom notes demanding $18.5 million in various denominations. On this date Stanley Reso died of suffocation but the Seales continued to make their ransom demands. The FBI was able to identify the DNA on the ransom notes with samples taken from a pay phone at an Exxon station near the home of the Seales. The pay phone was staked out and the Seales were caught and arrested. There were over 100 FBI agents investigating this case. As you might suspect, the police tried to get Irene to roll on her husband but New Jersey law forbids a person testifying against their spouse so the case went to a federal court where spousal testimony is allowed. Irene agreed to testify against her husband for a reduced sentence and took the police to where they had stashed Stanley. Arthur Seale was convicted and sentenced to 95 years plus a fine of $1.75 million and Irene got 20 years. Say what you want but that ain’t fair. Speaking of what ain’t fair, more than 100 agents on one case because the victim was wealthy ain’t fair either.

Now here is where it gets really weird. The Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court Sol Wachtier got mad at his mistress, Joy Silverman and began sending her harassing notes very similar if not identical to the ones that the Seales sent out. The judge was fascinated with the Reso kidnapping and fashioned the harassment of his mistress as the Seales designed it. In fact, the NYPD first thought that the Seales were somehow involved. They eventually ran down Judge Wachtier and charged him with stalking Joy and her teen aged daughter. The judge resigned and went to jail for 3 years. Can y'all imagine what kind of life the judge had in jail being there with inmates that he had sent up?

1863 In the previous lesson I described how CSA Generals Lee and Jackson had out-foxed US General Joe Hooker at Chancellorsville, Virginia. What I did not describe was after the US army was routed and ran like hell for two miles before stopping the Confederate advance General Stonewall Jackson went out to inspect his troops a little after dark and was shot in the arm by his own troops by mistake. Jackson’s cavalry commander, CSA General J.E.B. Stuart, assumed command of Jackson’s division. On this morning Stuart led a cavalry charge on the US artillery position on Hazel Grove, the highest ground around and was able to dislodge the Union artillery positions. Stuart then brought up Confederate artillery and began shelling the hell out of the Union troops. Even with this, Hooker had a chance of mounting a counter-attack and defeating Lee because of his vastly superior numbers but he was defeated psychologically since Lee had anticipated his every move. Hooker ordered a retreat out of the Chancellorsville area and Lee again was able to defeat the commander of the Army of the Potomac. Lee suffered a tremendous loss because General Stonewall Jackson died of pneumonia a week later, a loss the Confederates could ill afford and his death went a long way toward the defeat of the CSA.

1886 After several days of simmering tensions between the striking workers and the scabs at the McCormick Reaper Works in Chicago, a rally was called by the strikers in Haymarket Square. The police were there in force because it was likely that there would be trouble. Someone threw a Molotov cocktail (fire bomb) and the Chicago PD opened fire. Eight police officers were killed and 10 wounded along with scores of strikers. The police arrested eight people that they believed were the troublemakers. Four of them were convicted and hanged. The workers were on strike for an eight hour work day. Many people were wounded and killed in the past so you can have a decent life today.

1951 On this date the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committee opened hearings on the firing of General Douglas MacArthur by President Harry Truman. This hearing was primarily to give General MacArthur an opportunity to present his side of the issue. What happened was this. When the Korean War erupted Truman sent MacArthur to command the Untied States military. China warned the US to not approach the Chinese border. The US army attacked the invading North Koreans and drove them back into North Korea and continued to drive them further north toward the Chinese border. Truman told MacArthur not to approach the Chinese border but he kept driving and disregarded Truman’s orders. One day 250,000 Chinese troops swarmed across the border and inflicted heavy casualties on the Americans while driving them back to a very small perimeter in South Korea. MacArthur told Truman that he wanted to bomb China, nuclear if necessary, to cut off their supplies. Truman said no and MacArthur began to publicly criticize Truman and what he called his “weak response” to the Chinese invasion and disallowing him to bomb China. Finally Truman got fed up and ordered MacArthur to meet him at Wake Island. At that meeting Truman told MacArthur that he was essentially an employee of the US government and he did not make foreign policy, relieved him and sent US General Matthew Ridgeway as a replacement. MacArthur was a very popular General with the US public and his firing did not go well. That is until he testified before this committee and the public saw how arrogant he really was.

Born today:

1907 US columnist Earl Wilson. He said “Success is just a matter of luck, ask any failure.”

1928 US entertainer James “The Godfather of Soul” Brown. He said “Sometime you have let your hair do the talking.” James had some real fancy hair from time to time.

Answer to the trivia question:

Quasimodo was the deformed bell ringer in the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris as described in Victor Hugo's immortal novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

             Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

                   Musings and History

Quote of the day:

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

                                  Charles Schultz

Trivia question of the day:

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

Answer at the end of the blog.

From two years ago:

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

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

              This Date in History   May 2

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

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

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

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

Born today:

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

Died today:

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

Answer to the trivia question:

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

               Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

                        Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“A study shows that the average man uses 60 calories in 30 minutes of foreplay. Listen, a guy that engages in 30 minutes of foreplay is not the average man.”

                                                Jay Leno

Trivia question of the day:

What is the family name of the present and 7 past generations of rulers of Monaco? Answer at the end of the blog.

                   This Date in History   May 1

1863 On this date began the first day of the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. It was in this battle that the superior battle savvy of CSA Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson became known to the world. The Union army in that area known as the Army of the Potomac and had been through several commanders and all had their asses handed to them by CSA General R.E. Lee. The newest one was US General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker. Hooker relieved US General Ambrose Burnside after the disastrous Fredericksburg winter campaign where Burnside lost 14,000 to Lee’s 5,000. Now was the best chance the Union army ever had. The Army of the Potomac numbered 133,000 and Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia numbered 60,000. The Confederate corps under the command of CSA General James Longstreet was on detached duty to the south. Hooker’s plan was a good one. He was going to pin down the Confederates that were dug in on the flat plain of the Rappahannock River and then head upstream with a substantial number of troops, cross the river and attack Lee from the rear. Lee surmised that Hooker had this in mind and detached most of his troops and headed upstream to meet Hooker’s flanking attack leaving CSA General Jubal Early and his corps dug in on the flat plain. Lee and Hooker met just north of the Wilderness and a battle ensued. Hooker was baffled to think that Lee had correctly guessed his strategy, and even though he had Lee outnumbered more than two to one, he chose to dig in and set up a defensive perimeter. Lee jumped at this chance to take the initiative and take it he did. Lee split his army yet again and sent Stonewall Jackson and 25,000 troops around the right flank of the Union defenses and about 5:00p, rabbits, deer and other wildlife boiled out of the wood behind the Union lines followed closely by Stonewall Jackson’s cavalry and howling infantry. The Union infantry were gathered around their campfires making dinner and we caught completely by surprise and tumbled eastward in a headlong retreat. This action fragmented the Union infantry and the Confederates were able to isolate and crush them piecemeal. After a couple of days of this ass-whipping they and General Hooker were heading their young asses back to Washington in a total rout. It was in this battle and the Shenandoah Valley campaign that made “Stonewall” Jackson is a legend in the annuls of military history. Military historians call Lee’s action in this encounter as “the perfect battle”. This evening Stonewall Jackson was out scouting to find out where the Union positions ended up. He was shot by a Confederate soldier by accident. The wound cost him his left arm but it did not appear to be life threatening. They were wrong. Jackson developed pneumonia and died 10 days later. It was a terrible blow to the Confederate army.

1960 On this date I was in the United States Air Force stationed at Eielson AFB, Alaska. Eielson was an intelligence gathering and cold weather testing base, meaning there was a lot of spy planes that passed through there like RB-47’s, RB-66’s, RB-58’s, and an occasional U-2. I found out later that the U-2’s were capable of flying at or above 70,000 feet and the CIA believed that the Russians had no fighters or missiles that could reach that altitude so they would send U-2’s on over flights of Russia taking precision photos along the way. On one particular night, the klaxon began blasting and SAC intelligence officers ran up in the control tower with me and we spent the night together. The story was that the Russians had something interesting going on near the Bering Straits and our military wanted photos. This particular night they chose to send out an RB-47 and a KC-135 tanker. Neither plane got off the ground because the fuel was contaminated. To this day I think it was sabotage and so did the SAC officers. Speaking of U-2’s, later on one of them departed Karachi, Pakistan and was on his way to Buda, Norway, but it might have been vice-versa but in any event Russia is in the middle of that flight path. This spy flight U-2 was shot down in Russia with CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers aboard. The CIA was not worried, the said that there was no part of the plane that was identifiable as American and the pilot was suppose to commit suicide with a cyanide tablet that was aboard the aircraft, therefore President Eisenhower said it was a weather recon aircraft that had gotten off course. Little did President Ike know that the pilot had not taken the poison but was alive and in the hands of the Russians, parachute and a large chunk of the aircraft included. Well, after this Ike had to admit it was indeed a spy flight and the relationship with the Russians hit an all time low. Powers was a prisoner for two years then he was swapped for master Russian spy Rudolph Abel. It seems that Abel had been spying for Russia on United States while on the ground and not aloft. Spying is spying.

1852 On this date Martha Jane Canary is born in Princeton, Missouri. Martha Jane became a legend in the old west by claiming to be the lover of Colonel George A. Custer and had indeed bore him a child. The history of the west and Custer in particular showed that this was a bullshit story. But she was indeed part of an expedition into the so-called sacred hills of South Dakota, better known as the Black Hills which the Cheyenne held sacred. It was there that she gained the nickname of Calamity Jane. She was probably just a laundress, but she was there. Eventually she ended up in one of the most famous towns of the old west, Deadwood South Dakota. It was there that she claimed that she was the lover of Wild Bill Hickock who was indeed a temporary resident of Deadwood but there is no evidence that she and Wild Bill ever got together. Eventually she told her tales so many times that she began to believe them herself. Jane eventually let the booze soak into her brain and she was found hiring her self out in a black brothel in a town called Horr, Montana. She was offered help but she said that she wanted to be left alone and “wanted to go to hell by her own path.” A few months later she was found dead in Terry, Wyoming. She was 51 years old.

1898 A few months before the US battleship Maine exploded in Havana harbor for reasons unknown. A naval investigation showed it was caused by a mine no matter whose it was but that was probably not the real reason. In any case, a series of events led to the United States and Spain declaring war on each other. At the same time US Commodore George Dewey was tasked by US President William McKinley with the destruction of the Spanish fleet in the Pacific. Dewey found the Spanish fleet anchored in Manila Bay in the Philippines. Dewey had all the ships in his fleet to extinguish their lights and on this night they sneaked into the harbor and deployed. At the crack of dawn Commodore Dewey issued the famous order to the commander of his flagship the USS Olympia saying “You may fire when ready, Gridley.” And Gridley indeed opened fire and 10 of the Spanish vessels were sunk in their moorings from which the Spanish navy never recovered. The Spanish-American War was over in short order after this fiasco.

Born today:

1922 US writer Joseph Heller. He said “Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include phlegm and tooth decay as his divine system of creation?” Joe Heller wrote the famous book “Catch 22”.

Answer to the trivia question

The family name of the past and present rulers of Monaco is Grimaldi.

              Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow