This Date In History, The Southern Version

Monday, December 28, 2020

Friday

Musings and History
Merry Christmas, y'all!
Quote of the day:
“In Los Angeles there is a hotline for people in denial. So far no one has called.”
George Carlin

Trivia question of the day: In the movie “Gone With The Wind” Scarlett's boyfriend before Rhett was Ashley Wilkes. What was the name of the Wilkes' plantation and who played Ashley in the movie? Answer at the end of the blog

On the weekend ending July 16, 2016 there was six murders in Greenville, SC, the buckle of the Bible Belt. On Friday afternoon a woman in her mid-thirties drove into the parking garage of an apartment complex in downtown Greenville. She waited for and then shot a 28 year old woman to death while she was getting out of her car. She then drove about 7 miles to a race track, stopped her black Jeep Patriot and shot and killed her 9 and 5 year old kids and then herself. What in the hell could have caused this craziness? Here is the reason:
She and her husband had separated and there was trouble brewing about custody of the kids. Not only that her estranged husband had moved out of their pretty fancy home in an affluent neighborhood and moved into that apartment complex downtown where the murder took place. His wife thought he was having an affair with the 28 year old woman and apparently was moving on with his life. Both he and the alleged girlfriend were employees at Michelin. The cops had visited the estranged wife on several occasions because of threats she had made to her husband and the murdered woman but no action was taken. According to many that woman's mind was clearly unbalanced and the kids needed to be removed from her custody but there is a limit on what the police can do. But there are agencies that do have the authority to judge a parent's mental state when children lives are involved or threatened and take action. This did not happen and the kids and the murdered woman paid the price.

Then over on the west side a man and woman were seen arguing. A short while later the man with gun in hand was seen chasing the woman and eventually caught up and shot her. In the meantime some of the witnesses to this called the cops and they were on the scene very shortly after that shooting and confronted the shooter who responded by opening fire on the cops. They responded with gunfire of their own and the shooter was dead before he hit the ground. The woman lived for a few minutes after she was shot but succumbed a short while later. Merry Christmas.

This Date in History December 25

1776 After a few days of planning General George Washington decided that on this date he would sail back across the Delaware River from Valley Forge and retake the Hessian compound known to be in Trenton, New Jersey. The Continental army consisted of 5,400 men and several artillery pieces. When Washington arrived on the New Jersey shore he had only 3,000 troops and no artillery but he decided to attack anyway. He suspected that the most of the Hessians would be under the weather from partying the night before. The Hessians had the mother of all hangovers and when the Patriots swarmed the town they either ran away or surrendered. The Patriots lost only 4 killed and they captured over 1,000 Hessians. One peculiar thing that happened was that the commander of the Hessians in Trenton was dying of tuberculosis and was very near death. Some of the Hessian soldiers asked that Washington visit with him and accept sword of surrender before he died. Washington initially said “to hell with the bastard.” But his officers persuaded him that it would be the honorable thing to do. So he went into the tent and waited while the German General said a speech before handing over his sword with Washington standing there tapping his foot. Finally the General handed over the sword, Washington took it and with out a word turned away and quickly left the tent. I don’t think he wanted to be there. This victory was not significant in any way except it proved to each of his soldiers that they could prevail against the enemy after a series of losses.

1996 Little JonBenet Ramsey is murdered in her Boulder, Colorado home. At 5:52 a JonBenet’s parent John and Patsy Ramsey called the police the next morning and reported her missing. There was a ransom not of $188,000 found the seemed peculiar because that was the exact amount of John Ramsey’s bonus for that year. The ransom not was unnecessary because the corpse of JonBenet was found in basement of her parent’s house wrapped in a carpet. She had her hands tied behind her with electrical cord and there was duct tape over her mouth. There also were signs of sexual assault. The dumb-assed Boulder PD screwed up the crime scene when they allowed the father to moved JonBenet’s body to her bedroom. As you might suspect, this corrupted any and all further forensic evidence that could be used to find the killer. As a result the murderer of little JonBenet has not been determined to this day.

1869 On this date a 16 year old John Wesley Hardin got into an argument in a card game and with definite lack of Christmas spirit, Wes called the man out into the street for a show down. Both men drew and Wes shot his fellow card player in the forehead killing him instantly. This was neither the first nor the last of men killed by Wes Hardin. In fact he was by far the most prolific murderer in the history of the old west; it is known that he had killed at least 20 men, maybe more. On one occasion he got into a gun fight with a soldier and killed him. The military sent three troopers to arrest him and he killed all three of them. He hated blacks and would hunt for them just like he hunted rabbits so blacks gave Wes a wide berth. Finally law enforcement got fed up and Wes was sent to prison for 14 years and came out a changed man. He was no longer the bloodthirsty killer of before and had studied law while in prison and came out and was admitted to the bar. He opened a practice in Gonzales, Texas but found the town too boring and moved to El Paso. While standing in a bar in El Paso a local sheriff's deputy walked up behind Wes and shot him point plank in the back of the head. This jackass wanted to be known as the man that killed Wes Hardin. The Judge in El Paso decided that the shooter had enough notoriety and sent him to the gallows. I’ll bet he was shocked, or maybe he felt suspended.

Born today:

1642 English physicist Sir Isaac Newton. He said “I can calculate the motions of the heavens but not the madness of man.” Me neither, Sir Isaac. He is one of my heroes, by the way.

1887 American Hotelier Conrad Hilton. He said “Success seems to be connected to action. They that are successful are always moving, they may make mistakes but they are always moving.”

1908 Flaming homosexual Quinton Crisp. Once while making a speech in Ireland he said he was an atheist. This dumb-ass woman got up at asked “Is that the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants that you don’t believe in.” There is no accounting for blind stupidity.

Answer to the trivia question:
Leslie Howard played Ashley Wilkes and his plantation was “Twelve Oaks”.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.

Settings

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Thursday Christmas Eve

Musings and History
Instead of the usual quote and trivia question of the day I am offering this poem written by a good friend and very talented musician and poetess. This poem has become a sort of tradition with me on Christmas Eve. Here it is again. Enjoy.

One Christmas Eve, not long ago, the house was dark and cold
No food to find on any shelf, no wood to fill the stove
Empty stomachs and empty hearts dwell within these walls
Without hope it seems so dark when light should show the cause
When others have a tree and gifts when they have Christmas joy
It was a cold, cruel, real world, for us hopeless girls and boys
I was the middle child of seven, ages two to twelve
Alone on the side of a mountain singing Carols to soothe ourselves
Waiting, hoping, watching, for a miracle of sorts
Not sure about the nature, we were certain of the sport
The odds were stacked against us, poverty laid its ugly claim
Still a child has wonder with the essence of the game
Mama had to work, cooking at a country club
Dad was in his cups, where he stayed while we grew up
We had cornmeal mush for supper then sister sang us all to sleep
But even in my repose I let hope for Santa creep
Dreaming of another’s life portrayed with Christmas cheer
In my slumbered state I kept my place in the human sphere
Quiet as an observer my dream took me to this house
Where the smell of ham with cloves wafted all about
A tree stood in the living room decorated with gold and silver
Presents abounded underneath, so much it made me shiver
A little boy runs to the tree making lots of noise
Anxiously he tore off wrap revealing his new toys
For some reason I kept waiting for all the other children
But this one little boy, by himself was unwrapping all the ribbon
It dawned on me he was all alone, his parents' only child
He seemed bored and somewhat lonely, as he put each gift aside
Then his parents appear and seem upset, to find their son exploring
Chastise him for not waiting on them this fine Christmas morning
They video the boy with each toy recording every moment
No wonder I thought, he has no one, to help his mind hold on it
No laughter or play, no rivalry stage, just adults to spend his day with
It seemed to be a lonely lot to me, with so many toys to play with
What's this I’m being pulled away by the scrumptious smell of bacon
Am I awake or dreaming it was bacon mama’s makin’
Sure enough the house is warm I hear the hot pan sizzle
One by one we come alive and watch while mama drizzles
Gravy on our biscuits, eggs and bacon on our plate
She said go ahead and eat, your dad and I can wait
I noticed though when we were done she simply cleared the table
I wondered if she ate at all, this made me feel unstable
She had a made a tree from the limbs of a fir that stood out in our yard
The way she wrapped and wove each spray, I asked her, was that hard
With her loving touch she had livened up and made festive the old house
Stockings around the doorway, snacks and candy all about
There was crayons, paints, papers, felt and clay for model baking
So busy making our own gifts we no longer felt forsaken
The miracle we were hoping for was there all along
Just to have each other close sharing life in a living home
That night when I lay down
I remembered my dream from the night before
I thought about the way I feel now and how I love my family all the more.
I’d rather have my brothers and sisters than all the toys in the world
A Christmas revelation for a poor young southern girl
Brenda McAfee

This Date In History December 24

1865 On this date a group of Confederate veterans met in Pulaski, Tennessee and formed the core of what became the Ku Klux Klan. They felt it was necessary for two reasons: To combat the influx of northern people into the south to take advantage of a defeated nation like taking lands and property from Confederate soldiers that had been killed in the Civil War. They also were very apprehensive about the rise of privilege and power of the black man. The first Grand Wizard was the famous CSA General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The name of the organization came from the Greek word “kyklos” meaning circle and “clan”. After two years Forrest resigned as Grand Wizard and tried to disband the organization because he felt the Klan had become too violent and indeed they had. In counties that were nearly balanced racially black and white, the Klan would make raids at night against the blacks and the white Republicans in an attempt to influence any upcoming elections to keep white men in control of the political machinery. Eventually in 1871 Congress decided that action was needed and they passed the Ku Klux Klan act giving the President, Ulysses Grant, the power to use what ever means he deemed necessary to subdue the Klan. In nine counties in South Carolina alone Grant instituted martial law and thousands were arrested. In 1882 the US Supreme Court declared the Klan act unconstitutional but by that time Reconstruction had ended and the Klan faded away. But the Klan arose again mightily during the 1920’s and 30’s. This time the major base was in Skokie, Illinois. The Klan was very influential in the internal politics of several states. But as the old saying goes, power corrupts and there was a sex scandal involving the Grand Wizard where a young lady died. After that the popularity of the Klan and those associated with it went to hell in a hand basket. The Klan has had its ups and downs though out the years but their basis for existence is white Anglo-Saxon supremacy. They don’t like Jews either. I don’t understand that concept, ya’ll, and I can find nothing admirable about it.

1745 On this date Benjamin Rush is born in Byberry Township, Pennsylvania. There were two famous Patriots named Benjamin during the formation of this great country. One was the self made and self educated Benjamin Franklin and the other was Benjamin Rush. Rush was educated in the finest schools on both sides of the Atlantic. His father died when he was six and he was raised by his grandfather Samuel Finley. He graduated from the College of New Jersey which is now Princeton. His grandfather wanted Ben to become a lawyer but he wanted to be a doctor. His grandfather sent him to medical school at one of the finest in the world, the Medical University of Edinburgh, Scotland. When he returned to the Colonies he became an active and trusted Patriot and established a practice in Philadelphia. His medical knowledge was invaluable during the eventual Revolutionary War. He was and eager signer of the Declaration of Independence. He raised almighty hell at the treatment of the wounded Patriot soldiers which Washington took personally and Rush resigned his post. In spite of that he continued to offer invaluable advice to continued emergence of this nation. He spoke long and hard for the ratification of the Constitution he also was an advocate of the emancipation of the slaves. Rush chartered the first college in the newly founded United States in 1873. It was Dickenson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania whose motto is “A bulwark of liberty.” Indeed.

1953 On this date a very unusual event occurred in New Zealand. A train was traveling from Wellington to Auckland filled with passengers on there way to spend Christmas aboard the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II that was docked in Auckland for the holidays. Then an active volcano north of the train track had a small eruption and the molten lava ran down and melted and ice dam on a nearby glacier releasing millions of gallons of water. The water runs downhill toward a railroad bridge gaining speed every second. The train was approaching this bridge when the torrent of water arrived and the train was washed off of its tracks into the river below. 185 people were drowned out of a total of 260, some of the bodies were never found. Their bodies were merely washed out to sea with the current in the river. You never know, do you?

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Settings

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Wednesday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought, what good would it do?”
Ronnie Shakes

Down on I-20 near Fort McClellan, Alabama the road surface is in terrible shape. A while back a family of four was traveling east toward Atlanta in an SUV. The parents were in the front and their two young children were in the back strapped into safety seats. A car was coming in the opposite direction and hit a pothole. The pothole had been repaired in the past but was falling apart again. When the car hit the pothole a piece of concrete flew up and crashed into the windshield of the SUV coming in the opposite direction striking the mother in the forehead killing her instantly. Then the concrete went between the two kids in the back and exited through the rear window. What are the chances of that piece of concrete and that woman’s forehead being at the same point in space at the same instant traveling in opposite directions. The odds are astronomical, but it happened.

I have written several times about football players and the results of concussions on their memories in spite of their helmets. One of my subscriber, and a dear friend, reminded me that it was not only football players that received one concussion after another...she asked what about those kids that were physically abused as she was. This really good person has said that she exhibits effects very similar to those football players and there appears to be no cure. There is no question that physical abuse of children has and does exist today and her reminder is one that I will pass on to the rest of us. Be aware of this abomination and look for signs of it. There is a special place in hell for people like these abusers of those that cannot defend themselves. If makes me tearfully angry to think about it.

Here is a few thoughts. I hear other people adamantly proclaim a viewpoint and then try to postulate it by quoting others opinions that agrees with theirs. People are not born with a political, philosophical, religious or nearly any other viewpoint. It is human nature to listen to or read information gathered and constructed by others and then discard the parts that makes them uncomfortable and accept those that they agree with. There is no question that people disseminate descriptions of particular events do so with a certain amount of prejudice making their conclusions flawed. If you are not an eye or ear witness to certain events then you can count on a witness writing his version dependent upon what makes him/her feel comfortable...the actual facts be damned. I have read many, many descriptions of certain battles by different authors. You would think they were talking about different battles because of certain events that were added or omitted dependent upon the authors prejudices. The point I am trying to make is if you encounter someone that preaches a sermon about what reality is or what will happen in the future it is almost certainly prejudicial and has not examined his/her own heart and mind and is merely parroting the thoughts of others. As Socrates said “Know thyself”. Stay suspicious of those that try to guide your thoughts and opinions...they are preaching just to make themselves appear superior when in reality, it is just the opposite...and they are boring as hell.

This Date in History December 23

1944 In January of this year a man named Eddie Slovik was drafted into the United States Army. Slovik was originally rejected for the draft because he was a convicted felon (grand theft auto) but the standards were changed when more manpower was needed. Slovic was trained as a rifleman and in August of 1944 was assigned to the 28^th Division which had taken a beating in the last few months both in France and in Germany because of the Battle of the Bulge. Slovic vowed that he would never fight because he hated guns but in October he arrived in France and went in search of the 28^th Division during a ferocious battle and got lost. He found a Canadian outfit and they took him in. Eventually the heat of the battle abated and the Canadians took him to 28^th Division Headquarters. It was not unusual for replacement troops to get lost in the midst of a major battle so Slovic’s tardiness was overlooked. Slovic again told the personnel at Division Headquarters that he hated guns and would not fight and would run away if forced to. He was ignored until the next day and Slovic showed up missing. A day later he came back in but still told his superiors that he would not fight. His commanding officer was fed up and told him he had a choice. Grab a rifle and go into combat immediately or face a court martial. He reminded Slovic that the United States Army in general and the 28^th Division in particular was not in a forgiving mood because of all the casualties they had suffered. Slovic still refused and sure enough a court martial was convened. He was found guilty of desertion and given the death penalty and Slovic was “to be shot to death by musketry”. A stunned Slovic appealed to General Eisenhower for leniency. On this date General Eisenhower signed the order for the execution of Private Slovic. Eisenhower was in no mood for mercy either because of all the American casualties and the “Battle of the Bulge” was well under way where thousands of Allied solders were being slaughtered. In January of 1945 Private Slovic was stood up before a squad of 12 riflemen and shot to death. None of the riflemen even flinched because they believed that Slovic was getting what he deserved. He was the first American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War.
What about Bowe Bergdahl?

1783 After the signing of the Treaty of Paris which declared the United States as a separate and sovereign nation General George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the American Army. He told his men this:

"Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task; which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.”

George Washington wished to go back to his plantation and live the life of a gentleman planter but his country called again when he was elected our first President. As I have said before, we were very fortunate to have the group of Patriots that we had on our side during this time frame. There is no doubt in my mind that all of this is an act of God for all of these things came together as they did when they did.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.

Settings