Saturday - October 23, 2004

Civil War?

Saturday has finally arrived .. and not a second too soon as far as I’m concerned. The workload at the office has been miserable this week with all manner of deadlines coming due this week or next. Plus, I’ve been spending my evenings attending on-line Bush/Cheney Team Leader meetings and mailing out letters to about thirty newspapers I have targeted. I’ve canvassed my neighborhoods and I can safely say that folks around here are 100% behind George Bush. Florida, where Vilmar is, is another matter entirely. I was proud to see Vilmar get a chance to attend a Bush rally earlier this week. He sent me a DVD with ALL the pictures and several MPG movie files of the event. As Vilmar said, the crowd was highly responsive to Bush’s message. The pictures and movies he took are definite proof.

Needless to say, our Benevolent Dictator has been fired up this week and has churned out one editorial, research article or opinion piece after another. I’ve kinda let him run with it and stood aside. Reading his posts has been much fun and entirely interesting, I think you will agree. Let’s encourage him to keep it up. There are only ten days until the election and Kerry and the Liberals are holding on. We have to defeat them. If we don’t it will mean the end of the world as we know it. Asteroids hitting the earth, monstrous floods and volcanoes, plagues of frogs and locusts descending on all the earth .... it will be Armageddon of Biblical proportions.

The only good thing that might come from a Kerry victory would be the end of the perpetual whining from the Left that we have endured for four long, tedious years.

As William F. Buckley noted in a recent editorial ....

It pays to remind ourselves that working democracies depend for their existence on one thing, one thing alone. It is the submission of the minority. When that isn’t forthcoming, as in the U.S. in 1860, confederations break apart.

Think about that for a few minutes. If the party which loses an election is content to accept their loss and bide their time until the next election, democracy survives. If the voters who cast their vote for a particular law are defeated and they accept the verdict of the majority of people, democracy survives. As long as the course of the country is determined by the majority of the people, democracy survives. Do you see where I’m going with this?

Take a careful look back at the last four years. The Democrats never accepted their loss in 2000 and have been on a steady, unrelenting, divisive attack on President Bush since he was sworn into office in January, 2001. The liberal media have carried their share of that hatred and venom to all parts of the country, poisoning the social atmosphere in a steady barrage of attacks on President Bush’s administration. Fringe groups like the ACLU and PETA and many others have tried over and over again to overrule the wishes of the majority of people in this country by using the nation’s court systems. Trial lawyers have almost managed to bankrupt entire industries and in some cases have succeeded. Case in point: did you know that the recent flu vaccine shortage is actually due to trial lawyers? True. Evidence: the flu vaccine is currently made by two companies only .... one in Britain and one in France. Why don’t American companies make our own vaccine? You guessed it. Every one of them has stopped making vaccines because of the trial lawyers and million-dollar lawsuits by trial lawyers like John Edwards.

What has the last four years taught us?

Well, here is my list:

(1) George Bush had the guts and determination to carry the war to the terrorists after they attacked us in a cowardly fashion on Septmeber 11, 2001.

(2) The American people stood solidly behind the President for a brief period after the attack - after all, none of us wants to be dead, do we?.

(3) With their craven, mad attacks on the President, the Democrats have gradually eroded support for the war overseas as a means of regaining power.

(4) Their attacks have nothing constructive about them, but are only based on “promises”, “plans” and personal attacks on the President’s early life.

(5) Hollywood has not lost its chance to divide the country and make millions off of movies like “Fahrenneit 9/11”. The line between politics and entertainment is now blurred in their minds.

(6) Nearly half of the population of this country has been suckered into this mindless hatred of Bush and most of them really can’t tell you why in a rational manner.

(7) The major news media have finally come out of the closet and decided that influencing the elections is more important than reporting the news. They have become propaganda stooges of the Democratic Party.

(8) Minority groups like homosexuals and atheists are changing the social landscape of America in spite of the wishes of the populace in general. Tolerance is one thing. This is something else, something dangerous when the wishes of minorities overrule the wishes of the majority.

(9) From all the signs above, the Democrats and Liberals are making this their “last stand”. They are going all out to win this election. They know they’re outside the mainstream and if they lose they will be relegated to the toilet of history. They are lying to the people, physically breaking into Bush campaign offices around the country, resurrecting every old Democratic politician in the vault, mounting personal attacks on Bush, Cheney and their families, firing off attacks ads, movies & editorials while complaining about every response by the Bush/Cheney campaign. It is a scorched-earth campaign.

(10) A vote for John Kerry is a vote in favor of all of the “wrongs” noted above. There is nothing “right” about the Kerry/Edwards campaign. This election is not about Right and Left. It is about Right and Wrong.

America, you can go to the polls on November 2 and cast your vote as you see fit. Just try to remember that this is the most important election since 1860. In that election, the Democrats were wrong and the Republicans were right. It took a Civil War .. and 620,000 dead Americans .. to sort that one out. Will history repeat itself? It’s your choice. Choose wisely please. We can’t afford another meeting at Appomattox Courthouse.

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/23/2004 at 12:29 PM   
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   Tuesday - October 19, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“I am prepared to filibuster, if necessary, any Supreme Court nominee who would turn back the clock on a woman’s right to choose...”
-- John Kerry, June 20, 2003

1781 - Victory At Yorktown
Hopelessly trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, effectively bringing an end to the American Revolution. Lord Cornwallis was one of the most capable British generals of the American Revolution. In 1776, he drove General George Washington’s Patriots forces out of New Jersey, and in 1780 he won a stunning victory over General Horatio Gates’ Patriot army at Camden, South Carolina. Cornwallis’ subsequent invasion of North Carolina was less successful, however, and in April 1781 he led his weary and battered troops toward the Virginia coast, where he could maintain seaborne lines of communication with the large British army of General Henry Clinton in New York City. After conducting a series of raids against towns and plantations in Virginia, Cornwallis settled in the tidewater town of Yorktown in August. The British immediately began fortifying the town and the adjacent promontory of Gloucester Point across the York River. General George Washington instructed the Marquis de Lafayette, who was in Virginia with an American army of around 5,000 men, to block Cornwallis’ escape from Yorktown by land. In the meantime, Washington’s 2,500 troops in New York were joined by a French army of 4,000 men under the Count de Rochambeau. Washington and Rochambeau made plans to attack Cornwallis with the assistance of a large French fleet under the Count de Grasse, and on August 21 they crossed the Hudson River to march south to Yorktown. Covering 200 miles in 15 days, the allied force reached the head of Chesapeake Bay in early September. Meanwhile, a British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves failed to break French naval superiority at the Battle of Virginia Capes on September 5, denying Cornwallis his expected reinforcements. Beginning September 14, de Grasse transported Washington and Rochambeau’s men down the Chesapeake to Virginia, where they joined Lafayette and completed the encirclement of Yorktown on September 28. De Grasse landed another 3,000 French troops carried by his fleet. During the first two weeks of October, the 14,000 Franco-American troops gradually overcame the fortified British positions with the aid of de Grasse’s warships. A large British fleet carrying 7,000 men set out to rescue Cornwallis, but it was too late. On October 19, General Cornwallis surrendered 7,087 officers and men, 900 seamen, 144 cannons, 15 galleys, a frigate, and 30 transport ships. Pleading illness, he did not attend the surrender ceremony, but his second-in-command, General Charles O’Hara, carried Cornwallis’ sword to the American and French commanders. As the British and Hessian troops marched out to surrender, the British bands played the song “The World Turned Upside Down.” Although the war persisted on the high seas and in other theaters, the Patriot victory at Yorktown effectively ended fighting in the American colonies. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of war.

John le Carré, (pseud. of David John Moore Cornwell), (1931- ), English spy novelist
John Lithgow, (1945- ), Actor
Evander Holyfield, (1962- ), Boxer

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 10/19/2004 at 01:23 AM   
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   Monday - October 18, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“I committed the same kinds of atrocities as thousands of others in that I shot in free fire zones, used harassment and interdiction fire, joined in search and destroy missions, and burned villages.  All of these acts were established policies from the top down, and the men who ordered this are war criminals.”
-- John Kerry, April, 1971 - to William Fullbright’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee

1867 - The United States Formally Takes Possession Of Alaska From Russia
On this day in 1867, the American flag flew for the first time in Alaska, marking the formal transfer of this massive northern territory from Russia to the United States. Separated from the far eastern edge of the Russian empire by only the narrow Bering Strait, the Russians had been the first Europeans to significantly explore and develop Alaska. During the early 19th century, the state-sponsored Russian-American Company established the settlement of Sitka and began a lucrative fur trade with the Native Americans. However, Russian settlement in Alaska remained small, never exceeding more than a few hundred people. By the 1860s, the Russian-American Company had become unprofitable. Faced with having to heavily subsidize the company if an active Russian presence in the territory was to be maintained, the tsar and his ministers chose instead to sell to the Americans. Seeing the giant Alaska territory as a chance to cheaply expand the size of the nation, William H. Seward, President Andrew Johnson’s secretary of state, moved to arrange the purchase of Alaska. Agreeing to pay a mere $7 million for some 591,000 square miles of land-a territory twice the size of Texas and equal to nearly a fifth of the continental United States-Seward secured the purchase of Alaska at the ridiculously low rate of less than 2ýF an acre. Later myths to the contrary, most Americans recognized that Seward had made a smart deal with the Alaska Purchase. Still, a few ill-informed critics did not miss the opportunity to needle the Johnson administration by calling the purchase “Seward’s Folly” and “Seward’s Icebox,” or joking that the administration had only bought the territory to create new political appointments like a “Polar Bear’s Bureau” and a “Superintendent of Walruses.” Johnson’s opponents (who were trying to impeach him at the time) also succeeded in delaying approval of the $7 million appropriation. But after a year of squabbling, Congress approved the purchase, and Russia formally transferred control of the vast northern land to the United States. Within a few decades, Alaska would prove to be an amazing treasure trove of natural resources from gold to oil, proving Seward’s wisdom and exposing the shortsightedness of those who had once poked fun at the purchase.

1469 - Ferdinand II of Aragón married Isabella of Castile, uniting Spain and making it a dominant world power.

1767 - The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon line, was agreed upon.

1931 - Inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.

1968 - The U.S. Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes for giving a “black power” salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.

Chuck Berry, (1926- ), American rock music guitarist, singer, and songwriter
Lee Harvey Oswald, (1939–63), presumed assassin of John F. Kennedy
Martina Navratilova, (1956- ), Czech-American tennis player
Jean-Claude Van Damme, (1960- ), Actor

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 10/18/2004 at 05:13 AM   
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   Sunday - October 17, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs.”
-- John Kerry, Oct. 9, 1998 - in a letter to President Clinton

1777 - American Revolution: Victory At Saratoga
During the American Revolution, British General John Burgoyne surrenders 5,000 British and Hessian troops to Patriot General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York. In the summer of 1777, General Burgoyne led an army of 8,000 men south through New York State in an effort to join forces with British General Sir William Howe’s troops along the Hudson River. After capturing several forts, Burgoyne’s force camped near Saratoga while a larger Patriot army under General Gates gathered just four miles away. On September 19, a British advance column marched out and engaged the Patriot force at the Battle of Freeman’s Farm, or the First Battle of Saratoga. Failing to break through the American lines, Burgoyne’s force retreated. On October 7, another British reconnaissance force was repulsed by an American force under General Benedict Arnold in the Battle of Bemis Heights, also known as the Second Battle of Saratoga. Gates retreated north to the village of Saratoga with his 5,000 surviving troops. By October 13, some 20,000 Americans had surrounded the British, and four days later Burgoyne was forced to agree to the first large-scale surrender of British forces in the Revolutionary War. When word of the Patriot victory reached France, King Louis XVI agreed to recognize the independence of the United States. Soon after, French Foreign Minister Comte de Vergennes made arrangements with U.S. Ambassador Benjamin Franklin to begin providing French aid to the Patriot cause.

1931 - Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

1933 - Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

1979 - Mother Theresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor in Calcutta, India.

1989 - An earthquake measuring 7.1 in magnitude killed 67 and injured over 3,000 in San Francisco.

Arthur Miller, (1915- ), American dramatist
Rita Hayworth, (Margarita Carmen Cansino), (1918-1987), Fiery movie actress and popular World War II pinup

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 10/17/2004 at 02:19 AM   
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   Saturday - October 16, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

‘’I’m a liberal, and proud of it.’’
-- John Kerry, July, 1991

1793 - Marie Antoinette Is Beheaded
Nine months after the execution of her husband, the former King Louis XVI of France, Marie-Antoinette follows him to the guillotine. The daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, she married Louis in 1770 to strengthen the French-Austrian alliance. At a time of economic turmoil in France, she lived extravagantly and encouraged her husband to resist reform of the monarchy. In one episode, she allegedly responded to news that the French peasantry had no bread to eat by callously replying, “Let them eat cake.” The increasing revolutionary uproar convinced the king and queen to attempt an escape to Austria in 1791, but they were captured by revolutionary forces and carried back to Paris. In 1792, the French monarchy was abolished, and Louis and Marie-Antoinette were condemned for treason.

1946 - Nazi War Criminals Executed
At Nuremberg, Germany, 10 high-ranking Nazi officials are executed by hanging for their crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and war crimes during World War II. Two weeks earlier, the 10 were found guilty by the International War Crimes Tribunal and sentenced to death along with two other Nazi officials. Among those condemned to die by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior. Seven others, including Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Three others were acquitted. The trial, which had lasted nearly 10 months, was conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the USSR, France, and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace, to crimes of war and crimes against humanity. On October 16, 10 of the architects of Nazi policy were hanged one by one. Hermann Goering, who at sentencing was called the “leading war aggressor and creator of the oppressive program against the Jews,” committed suicide by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia; he is now known to have died in Berlin at the end of the war.

Noah Webster, (1758–1843), American lexicographer and philologist
Oscar Wilde, (Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde), (1854–1900), Irish author and wit
David Ben-Gurion, (1886–1973), Israeli statesman

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 10/16/2004 at 06:01 AM   
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   Friday - October 15, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“[Ex-]President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn’t be upset if I could earn the right to be the second”
-- John Kerry, Mar 2, 2004

1863 - C.S.S. Hunley Sinks During Tests
The C.S.S. Hunley, the first successful submarine, sinks during a test run, killing its inventor and seven crewmembers. Horace Lawson Hunley developed the submarine from a cylinder boiler. It was operated by a crew of eight--one person steered while the other seven turned a crank that drove the ship’s propeller. The Hunley could dive, but it required calm seas for safe operations. It was tested successfully in Alabama’s Mobile Bay in the summer of 1863, and Confederate commander General Pierre G.T. Beauregard recognized that the vessel might be useful to ram Union ships and break the blockade of Charleston Harbor. The Hunley was placed on a railcar and shipped to South Carolina. The submarine experienced problems upon its arrival. During a test run, a crewmember became tangled in part of the craft’s machinery and the craft dove with its hatch open; only two men survived the accident. The ship was raised and repaired, but it was difficult to find another crew that was willing to assume the risk of operating the submarine. Its inventor and namesake stepped forward to restore confidence in his creation. On October 15, he took the submarine into Charleston Harbor for another test. In front of a crowd of spectators, the Hunley slipped below the surface and did not reappear. Horace Hunley and his entire crew perished. Surprisingly, another willing crew was assembled and the Hunley went back into the water. On February 17, 1864, the ship headed out of Charleston Harbor and approached the U.S.S. Housatanic. The Hunley stuck a torpedo into the Yankee ship and then backed away before the explosion. The Housatanic sank in shallow water, and the Hunley became the first submarine to sink a ship in battle. Unfortunately, its first successful mission was also its last--the Hunley sank before it returned to Charleston, taking yet another crew down with it. The vessel was raised on August 8, 2000, and will now reside in an exhibit at the Charleston History Museum.

P. G. Wodehouse, (Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse), (1881–1975), English-American novelist and humorist
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche , (1844–1900), German philosopher
Lee Iacocca, (Lido Anthony Iacocca), (1924- ), American business executive

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 10/15/2004 at 06:29 AM   
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   Thursday - October 14, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“I am saddened by the fact that Vietnam has yet again been inserted into the campaign, and that it has been inserted in what I feel to be the worst possible way. By that I mean that yesterday, during this Presidential campaign, and even throughout recent times, Vietnam has been discussed and written about without an adequate statement of its full meaning.”
-- John Kerry, Jan. 30, 1992

1947 - Chuck Yeager Breaks The Sound Barrier
U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. Yeager, born in Myra, West Virginia, in 1923, was a combat fighter during World War II and flew 64 missions over Europe. He shot down 13 German planes and was himself shot down over France, but he escaped capture with the assistance of the French Underground. After the war, he was among several volunteers chosen to test-fly the experimental X-1 rocket plane, built by the Bell Aircraft Company to explore the possibility of supersonic flight. For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis,” was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet. Because of the secrecy of the project, Bell and Yeager’s achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot, and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general.

1066 - The Normans, under William the Conqueror, defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.

1964 - Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in civil rights.

1968 - The first live telecast from a staffed U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, (1890–1969), American general and 34th President of the United States
William Penn, (1644–1718), English Quaker, founder of Pennsylvania

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 10/14/2004 at 05:48 AM   
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   Wednesday - October 13, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“I’m an internationalist. I’d like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations.”
-- John Kerry, Feb. 18, 1970

1775 - Continental Navy Established
The Continental Congress authorizes construction and administration of the first American naval force--the precursor of the United States Navy. Since the outbreak of open hostilities with the British in April, little consideration had been given to protection by sea until Congress received news that a British naval fleet was on its way. In November, the Continental Navy was formally organized, and in December Esek Hopkins was appointed the first commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy. His first fleet consisted of seven ships: two 24-gun frigates, the Alfred and the Columbus; two 14-gun brigs, the Andrea Doria and the Cabot; and three schooners, the Hornet, the Wasp, and the Fly. During the American Revolution, the Continental Navy successfully preyed on British merchant shipping and won several victories over British warships. After being disbanded for several years, the United States Navy was formally established with the creation of the Department of the Navy in April 1798.

1843 - The Jewish organization B’nai B’rith was founded.

1943 - Italy declared war on Germany, its former Axis partner, during World War II.

1974 - Ed Sullivan died in New York City at age 72.

Margaret Thatcher, (1925- ), British political leader
Paul Simon, (1941- ), American singer, songwriter, and guitarist

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 10/13/2004 at 01:21 AM   
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   Tuesday - October 12, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn’t mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.”
-- Edward R. Murrow (1908 - 1965)

1492 - Columbus Reaches The New World
After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sights a Bahamian island, believing he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.

During his lifetime, Columbus led a total of four expeditions to the New World, discovering various Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South and Central American mainlands, but he never accomplished his original goal--a western ocean route to the great cities of Asia. Columbus died in Spain in 1506 without realizing the great scope of what he did achieve: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.

1870 - Gen. Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at age 63.

1960 - Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev created a disturbance at the U.N. General Assembly by pounding his desk with his shoe.

1964 - The Soviets launched Voskhod I, the first space capsule to carry three people into orbit.

1999 - NBA Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain died at his Bel Air home at age 63.

2000 - 17 U.S. sailors killed with the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.

Elmer Ambrose Sperry, (1860–1930), American inventor
Luciano Pavarotti, (1936- ) Italian tenor

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/12/2004 at 12:48 AM   
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   Monday - October 11, 2004

The Good Old Days

I’m currently reading Neal Stephenson’s “The System Of The World”, Part III of “The Baroque Cycle”. The story takes place in London in the early 1700’s, back when Christians didn’t feel impelled to put up with a rash of shit from foreigners. I stumbled across this paragraph and had to share it with you. Here is your quote for the week ....

“.... this was one of the old gates of the City Of London. And in accordance with an ancient and noble tradition, common to almost all well-regulated Christian nations, the remains of executed criminals were put on display at such gates, as a way of saying, to illiterate visitors, that they were now entering into a city that had laws, which were enforced with gusto.To expedite which, the top of the tower above Great Stone Gate had been fitted with numerous long iron pikes that sprayed out from its battlements like black radiance from a fallen angel’s crown. At any given time, one or two dozen heads could be seen spitted on the ends of these, in varying stages of decomposition. When a fresh one was brought in from Tower Hill, or from one of the City’s hanging-grounds, the wardens of the gate would make room for it by chucking one of the older heads into the river. Though here as in every other aspect of English life, a strict rule of precedence applied. Certain heads, as of lordly traitors who’d been put to death at the Tower, were allowed to remain long past their Dates Of Expiration. Pickpockets and chicken-stealers, by contrast, were swapped through so rapidly that the ravens scarcely had time to peel a good snack off of them.”

Ahhhh, those were the days, my friend.

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/11/2004 at 05:21 PM   
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Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Underlying the whole scheme of civilization is the confidence men have in each other, confidence in their integrity, confidence in their honesty, confidence in their future.”
-- Bourke Cockran

1899 - Boer War Begins In South Africa
The South African Boer War begins between the British Empire and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of southern Africa. Britain took possession of the Dutch Cape colony in 1806 during the Napoleonic wars, sparking resistance from the independence-minded Boers, who resented the Anglicization of South Africa and Britain’s anti-slavery policies. In 1833, the Boers began an exodus into African tribal territory, where they founded the republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The two new republics lived peaceably with their British neighbors until 1867, when the discovery of diamonds and gold in the region made conflict between the Boer states and Britain inevitable. Minor fighting with Britain began in the 1890s, and in October 1899 full-scale war ensued. By mid June 1900, British forces had captured most major Boer cities and formally annexed their territories, but the Boers launched a guerrilla war that frustrated the British occupiers. Beginning in 1901, the British began a strategy of systematically searching out and destroying these guerrilla units, while herding the families of the Boer soldiers into concentration camps. By 1902, the British had crushed the Boer resistance, and on May 31 of that year the Peace of Vereeniging was signed, ending hostilities. The treaty recognized the British military administration over Transvaal and the Orange Free State and authorized a general amnesty for Boer forces. In 1910, the autonomous Union of South Africa was established by the British. It included Transvaal, the Orange Free State, the Cape of Good Hope, and Natal as provinces.

1939 - A letter from Albert Einstein was delivered to President Franklin D. Roosevelt concerning the possibility of atomic weapons.

1968 - The first staffed Apollo mission, Apollo 7, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

1984 - Space shuttle Challenger astronaut, Kathryn Sullivan, became the first American woman to walk in space.

Eleanor Roosevelt, (1884–1962), American humanitarian, wife of FDR
Jerome Robbins, (1918–98), American choreographer and dancer

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/11/2004 at 01:45 AM   
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   Sunday - October 10, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has.”
-- Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)

732 - Battle Of Tours, Muslims Defeated In Europe - By French, No Less
At the Battle of Tours near Poitiers, France, Frankish leader Charles Martel, a Christian, defeats a large army of Spanish Moors, halting the Muslim advance into Western Europe. Abd-ar-Rahman, the Muslim governor of Cordoba, was killed in the fighting, and the Moors retreated from Gaul, never to return in such force. Charles was the illegitimate son of Pepin, the powerful mayor of the palace of Austrasia and effective ruler of the Frankish kingdom. After Pepin died in 714 (with no surviving legitimate sons), Charles beat out Pepin’s three grandsons in a power struggle and became mayor of the Franks. He expanded the Frankish territory under his control and in 732 repulsed an onslaught by the Muslims. Victory at Tours ensured the ruling dynasty of Martel’s family, the Carolingians. His son Pepin became the first Carolingian king of the Franks, and his grandson Charlemagne carved out a vast empire that stretched across Europe.

1845 - The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Md.

1886 - The tuxedo dinner jacket made its debut at a ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.

1935 - George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess debuted on Broadway.

1943 - Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.

1970 - Fiji gained its independence from Great Britain.

1973 - Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with tax evasion.

1985 - Actor and director Orson Welles died in Hollywood at age 70.

James Clavell, (1924–1994), (Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavelle), screenwriter, director, producer, novelist
Helen Hayes, (1900-1993), Actress
Thelonious Monk, (1917-1982), Jazz pianist, composer, arranger
Brett Favre, (1969- ), Football quarterback

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/10/2004 at 12:39 AM   
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   Saturday - October 09, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?”
-- George Carlin

1936 - Hoover Dam Begins Transmitting Electricity To Los Angeles
On this day in 1936, harnessing the power of the mighty Colorado River, Hoover Dam begins sending electricity over transmission lines spanning 266 miles of mountains and deserts to run the lights, radios, and stoves of Los Angeles. Initially named Boulder Dam, work on the dam was begun under President Herbert Hoover’s administration but completed as a public works project during the Roosevelt administration (which renamed it for Hoover). When it was finished in 1935, the towering concrete and steel plug was the tallest dam in the world and a powerful symbol of the new federal dedication to large-scale reclamation projects designed to water the arid West. In fact, the electricity generated deep in the bowels of Hoover Dam was only a secondary benefit. The central reason for the dam was the collection, preservation, and rational distribution of that most precious of all western commodities, water. Under the guidance of the Federal Reclamation Bureau, Hoover Dam became one part of a much larger multipurpose water development project that tamed the wild Colorado River for the use of the growing number of western farmers, ranchers, and city dwellers. Water that had once flowed freely to the ocean now was impounded in the 115-mile-long Lake Mead. Massive aqueducts channeled millions of gallons of Colorado River water to California where it continues to this day to flow from Los Angeles faucets and irrigate vast stretches of fertile cropland. With Hoover Dam, the federal government set out to demonstrate that the aridity of a region once called the Great American Desert need be no serious obstacle to its full settlement and development. However, as rapidly growing western cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix today face increasing difficulties in obtaining the water they need, it remains to be seen if the Great American Desert might still dictate its own limits to western growth.

1635 - Religious dissident and Rhode Island founder, Roger Williams, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1888 - For the first time the public was admitted to the Washington Monument.

1930 - Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States.

1967 - Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia.

1975 - Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the nuclear arms race.

John Lennon, (1940–1980), singer, guitarist, songwriter
Trent Lott, (Chester Trent Lott), (1941- ), American Senator (R-MS)

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/09/2004 at 12:18 AM   
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   Friday - October 08, 2004

Daily Dose

Quote Of The Day

“I’ve done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are identical whether you play or not.”
-- Fran Lebowitz

1871 - Great Fire Of Chicago Begins
At nine o’clock on a Sunday evening, the Great Fire of Chicago erupts after a cow reportedly kicks over a lantern in the barn of a resident named Mrs. O’Leary. Within hours, the conflagration, driven by a strong wind out of the southwest, engulfed the center of the city and around midnight jumped the Chicago River, burning the southern portion of the city to the ground by daybreak. As thousands of panicked Chicagoans fled to the north, the fire pursued them, and by Monday the flames had reached Fullerton Avenue, then the northern-most limit of the city. Tuesday morning, a saving rain began to fall, and the flames finally died out, leaving four square miles of Chicago a smoking ruin. Property damage was estimated at $200 million, 90,000 people were made homeless, and at least 250 people perished in the blaze.

1918 - Alvin York Kills 25 & Captures 132 Germans
During World War I, U.S. Corporal Alvin C. York is credited with single-handedly killing 25 German soldiers and capturing 132 in the Argonne Forest of France. The action saved York’s small detachment from annihilation by a German machine-gun nest and won the reluctant warrior from backwater Tennessee the Congressional Medal of Honor. On October 8, 1918, York and 15 other soldiers under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched to seize a German-held rail point during the Allies’ Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The Americans lost their way and soon found themselves behind enemy lines. A brief firefight ensued with a superior German force, and in the confusion a group of Germans surrendered. However, German machine-gunners on a hill overlooking the scene soon noticed the small size of Early’s patrol. Yelling in German for their comrades to take cover, the machine gunners opened fire on the Americans, cutting down half the detachment, including Sergeant Early. York immediately returned fire and with his marksman eye began picking off the German gunners. He then fearlessly charged the machine-gun nest. Several of the other surviving Americans followed his lead and probably contributed to the final total of 25 enemy killed. With his automatic pistol, York shot down six German soldiers sent out of the trench to intercept him. The German commander, thinking he had underestimated the size of the American force, surrendered as York reached the machine-gun nest. York and the other seven survivors took custody of some 90 Germans and on the way back to the Allied lines encountered 40 or so other enemy troops, who were coerced to surrender by the German major that the Americans had in their custody. The final tally was 132 prisoners.

1869 - The 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, died in Concord, N.H.

1934 - Bruno Hauptmannn was indicted for the murder of Charles Lindbergh’s baby.

1945 - President Harry Truman announced the U.S. would share the secret of the atomic bomb only with Great Britain and Canada.

1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the first and only perfect game in a World Series.

Jesse Jackson, (1941- ), Civil rights activist & loud-mouthed, race-baiting extortionist
Edward VernonRickenbacker, (1890–1973), American war hero and airline executive
Chevy Chase (Cornelius Crane Chase), (1943- ), Comedian & actor
Sigourney Weaver (Susan Weaver), (1949- ), Actress & killer of aliens

_{Thanks to The Quotations Page - The History Channel - InfoPlease.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/08/2004 at 12:16 AM   
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