07 August 2014

Thoughts For Thursday...
Okay, so THIS morning is starting out a LOT different than yesterday, isn't it?
No rain to speak of, the sun's rising exactly where (and when) it SHOULD be, and it's not hot or humid outside.
A very fine start...so far.
The Hoosierland weather today will see us with a high around 81 degrees, good amount of scattered sun (and some clouds) and little chance of rain.
All in all...not too damn bad, hmm?
So go fill up that morning beverage as we get busy seeing what's going on...
*** First out of the rucksack today is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"There's nobody who cares more about you than you, and there's nobody better equipped to take of you than you."
This was spoken by none other than America's number one talk radio host - RUSH LIMBAUGH, and here is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh
And here is his "official" website:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/
Now, you have to admit that Rush has a very sharp mind...and can see things they way they are.
Back in 1992, his first book (The Way Things Ought To Be) became a New York Times BEST SELLER.
His second book, (See, I Told You So - 1993) also claimed best seller status.
And the funny thing is, if you change the name from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama, the book reads as if it were published in 2010!.
I happen to own BOTH, and they are just as timely today as they were back then.
I'll leave it up to all of you to read up on his life and times, but I will say I really like one of his latest ventures (and he doesn't have that many) - the TWO-IF-BY-TEA business.
We've bought some of it, and it IS better than Kroger brand sweet tea, even if it costs a bit more...not as "cloudy", and no after-taste.
We also got those tumblers with his children's book "character" Rush Revere on them.
This is his newest thing...children's books, and they are flying off the shelves.
The first book was Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims...a "time-travel" story with a talking horse (Liberty) and a trip back to the early colonial days in America.
The second book was Rush Revere and the First Patriots. Both have become best sellers.
A marvelous attempt at teaching children REAL American history, as opposed to the homogenized and left-slanted texts we have today.
Goes to show that a self-made man CAN achieve the AMERICAN DREAM...through diligence, failures, persistence, and hard work.
Moving on...
And now, for  OUR trip through history, it's time for "What the hell happened TODAY, Bob?"
August 7:
1679 - The brigantine Le Griffon by Rene-Robert Cavelier,  Sieur de LaSalle is towed to the southeastern end of the Niagara River, to become the FIRST ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America.
1782 - George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit, for wounded soldiers, later to be renamed The Purple Heart.
1789 - The United States Department of War is established.
1794 - President George Washington invokes The Militia Act of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
A LONG drive for a new pair of shoes?
1909 - Alice Huyler Ramsey  (and three friends) become the FIRST women to complete e transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days from New York city to San Francisco.
1927 - The PEACE BRIDGE opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, NY.
1930 - The LAST confirmed lynching of blacks in thee northern United States occurs in Marion, Indiana. 
Two men (Thomas Shipp an Abram Smith) are killed.
1940 - WW2 - Alsace-Lorraine is annexed by the Third Reich
1942 - WW2 - The Battle of Guadalcanal begins.
1944 - IBM dedicates the FIRST program-controlled calculator (known as Harvard Mark 1)
1947 - Thor Heyerdahl's raft, Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reefs near the Tuamotu Islands, ending a 101-day, 4.300 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean to prove that pre-historic people could have sailed there from South America. (a great book, too).
1955 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (precursor to SONY) sells it's FIRST transistor radio in Japan.
Penny for your thoughts
1959 - The LINCOLN MEMORIAL design in the U.S. penny foes into circulation, replacing of the "sheaves of wheat" design, and was minted until 2006.
1964 - The Gulf of Tonken Resolution is passed by Congress, giving LBJ broad powers when dealing with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
1966 - Race riots occur in Lansing, Michigan.
"It's not the fall...it's that sudden STOP at the bottom."
1974 - Phillipe Petit performs a high-wire act between the TWIN TOWERS of the WTC, 1,368 feet in the air.
1978 - President Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that as not disposed of properly.
1987 - Lynne Cox becomes the FIRST person to swim from the USA to Soviet Union.
Notable Birthdays:
1726 - James Boudoin - American politician, and 2nd governor of Massachusetts (d-1790)
1742 - Nathaniel Greene - American General (d-1786)
1876 - Mata Hari - Dutch dancer and spy (d-1917)
1904 - Ralph Bunche - political scientist, academic and diplomat - Nobel Prize Laureate (d-1971)
1926 - Stan Freberg - American voice actor and singer
1927 - Carl Switzer (Alfalfa) - Actor and "singer" (d-1959)
1942 - Garrison Keiller - author and radio host (Prairie home companion)
Never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
1942 - B.J. Thomas - singer
1944 - John Glover - American actor
1950 - Alan Keyes - American diplomat, 16th Asst. Sec of State for Int'l Affairs
1955 - Wayne Knight - American actor (JFK, Jurassic Park)
1960 - David Duchovney - American actor
1963 - Nick Gillespie - American journalist (Reason.com)
Yeah, she's hot!
1975 - Charlize Theron - S. African/American actress
1978 - Cirroc Lofton - American actor (ST: DS9)
And...it's YOUTH DAY in Kirabati (wherever the hell THAT is).
So, now you know a LOT more than you did when you woke up, right?
*** Last back to the sleeping bag today...it now seems like the USA will open some sort of "CDC" in AFRICA to confront this latest outbreak of the EBOLA virus.
And, while that seems well enough (and will cost BILLIONS along the way, as things always do), WHY can't Africa do something like this for ITSELF?
I mean, it's not like WE (the USA) haven't been dropping boatloads of MONEY (and other items such as food) their way for YEARS...we HAVE, but to what end?
It's as though the cash is falling into some sort of black hole (no pun intended) and into an alternate reality.
But the REAL reality is that many warring factions have been siphoning OFF the moolah to fund their little "games" over there.
Been busy, lately?
Civil war is nothing new to them...and you'd think by NOW, they'd be getting BETTER at it, meaning they'd find some way to FINISH the damn thing and get on with BUILDING a damn nation somewhere over there.
No...that's up to US...WE build the schools, the hospitals, and all sorts of other infrastructure, only to see it go to waste as some OTHER tribal war monger comes along and upsets the "apple cart".
Learn it...Live it...Love it!
I don't begrudge ANYONE some assistance to get them back on THEIR feet, but whenever we help others and they wind up getting back on OUR feet, and taking more of OUR money and resources, I have to draw the line.
We've enough (major) issues that need attention HERE, and not getting it, and perhaps it's time we took care of our OWN "house" before we get busy building all those other ones for someone else.
It's just a thought (and a pretty good one, if you ask me).
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.

4 comments:

CWMartin said...

Y'know, you're ending set sounds a lot like a response I made to an article about Central American Bishops bitching about the US needing to do more about the drug problem, the children's crisis, etc. I told them they need to stop living on US welfare and straighten out their own countries first. THEY have the corrupt politicians, THEY allow the drug lords, THEY allow their children to be shipped up here, and THEY think WE should do something about it. Is it any wonder that when Wilson wanted to join the league of Nations, Congress told him to go jump? Is it any wonder why so many want the UN to do so now?

Bob G. said...

Chris:
I promise you I have never had anything to do with ANY bishops, foreign OR domestic (or on a chess board).
But I have met a couple here and there. Cool hats.

Then there is ALWAYS this possibility...(dare I say it?) GREAT MINDS do tend to think alike.
So, there 'ya go.

Yeah, there needs to be a LOT more self-reliance...ALL over the world.

Hey, thanks for stopping by today to comment.

Stay safe up there, brother.

Slamdunk said...

I saw today where Rush has an IQ of 160. Makes all of the lefties look pretty pathetic when they attempt to attack his intelligence--guess that most of the attackers are like 110.

I like you "real American history" lesson. It reminded me of a Civil War era artifact that my son had identified and bought at a thrift store. It was a "grape shot" that the store had lumped in with the play toy balls--he got it for like a dime.

The Mrs. suggested that we ask the history professor who lived near us from the local university. I laughed and looked up his background just for giggles--thinking that there is no way there is a real historian around us. I was right. Unless we were going to ask about feminist tendencies in colonial times or communist thinkers of the early 20th century, the history prof was going to be way out of his league with a War Between the States artillery artifact.

Slamdunk said...

I read a couple of books on the development of the submarine, and was astonished. How they ever got anyone to set foot on those early death traps was beyond me. What a horrible way to die….

And, I know better than to applaud the shooter Lapsley's long sentence too much, as sadly there are so many other violent threats to society waiting to be apprehended.