Gunplay in the Senate and The Nudist Prophet April 17, 2009

Nice Deliberation

On This Date In History: Antebellum US Senate days got pretty hairy.  If you think partisanship is tough in our era, today’s debates are quite mild in comparison.  in the mid 19th Century, Senator Henry S. Foote of Mississippi and Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri were bitter rivals. Benton is well known for his opposition to the Compromise of 1850. Each routinely tossed insults at one another on the Senate floor.  In short-they hated each other. On this date in 1850, Senator Foote was giving a speech in support of the Compromise of 1850.  In it, he lobbed verbal grenades at Benton who promptly kicked back his chair and began stomping toward the stage.  Foote responded from his position at the podium by pulling a pistol and aiming it at Benton, who stopped and opened his coat and exclaimed, “out of the way! Let the assassin fire!”  Order was restored when the gun was taken from Foote who claimed he was defending himself against the unarmed Benton.

The Senate today seems pretty boring, doesn’t it?  Certainly more boring than Edmund Franz Creffield, the nudist prophet!

Creffield called himself Joshua II and led the Bride of Christ Church in early Twentieth Century Corvallis, Oregon.  He would preach to largely female congregations in someone’s home.  He would shutter the windows and then declare “Vile Clothes Be Gone!”  Off came the dresses, the corsets…everything.  Then the group would roll around on the floor together.  (This really happened!)  Joshua was looking for the “second mother of Christ.”   After a few of these “services” a 17-year-old girl earned the crown.   Needless to say, when the husbands found out about this chicanery, there was hell to pay.  Joshua got tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.  Joshua also got tossed in the slammer for adultery.  Undeterred, upon his release he gathered another group of women….including the formerly 17-year-old girl.  This time though, on this date in 1906, he put a curse on Corvallis and Portland and Seattle and San Francisco.  Not sure what the other cities did but they somehow made the list. 

The next day…San Francisco was hit with a devastating earthquake.  Kinda helps explain the term “holy roller.”  In fear, 50 other women rushed to join Joshua.

Now, the young girl…the chosen bride had a brother who tracked the group to Seattle where he shot the supposed prophet in the head behind the left ear.  He was acquitted of a murder charge.  His sister, the “bride”, then proceeded to shoot her brother in the head behind the left ear.  She lived out much of the rest of her life in an insane asylum.

I’m not sure what the moral is to this story.

Weather Bottom Line:  The clouds stuck around a bit for the first half of the day on Wednesday but all turned out fine as we ended up in the 60′s.  Snow White, Lillipution and I went to Henry’s Ark and Snow White said good bye to the beloved Lady Di who went to dromodary heaven.   She was a good girl and was wonderful on our Christmas Card one year.  Then we spent the evening on the Spirit of Jefferson.  Nice way to have dinner if you get a chance.  I would anticipate Friday being a fine day for a trip to the zoo with temperatures in the low 70′s.  Saturday still looks good for Thunder Over Louisville.  I’m still not overly concerned about rain.  That will hold off, methinks, until Sunday.

http://alphainventions.com/

alphainventions

Fewer Hurricanes In The Future? April 19, 2007

One of the big items that is supposed to come about because of Global Warming is an increase in the number and the intensity of hurricanes. Many media reports suggest that this type of prognostication is a certainty and is supported by science experts world wide. Below is a link from the local National Weather Service site that has a new report. It says that a study by folks at the Global Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) revealed that data supports a conclusion that global warming would actually cause a decrease in the number and intensity of hurricanes.a

Do you suppose you will see the results of this report trumpeted in the headlines of a newspaper or in the national television news?

While this report may not end up being accurate, it is an indication that perhaps it is wise to question the veracity of reports which lead one to believe this or any other conclusion is agreed upon by a “consensus” of the scientific community. Here is the story:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_story.php?wfo=lmk&storyid=7408&source=0

On This Date In History
In 1906, the city of San Francisco was hit with a very strong earthquake estimated, methinks, to be about 7.9 on the richter scale. How anyone can arrive at that conclusion is beyond me. Ask a seismologist. Anyway, the city was largely destroyed by fire after the big temblor. An interesting aspect of this event was that the Sunset Automotive Company was also destroyed by the fire. To this day, there has not been a successful automotive enterprise on the West Coast of the US.

In 1961, President Kennedy denied to the Soviets that the US was planning an invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. Three days prior to this denial, the President had signed an order authorizing the landing of 1200 Cuban nationals at the Bay of Pigs in the hopes of overthrowing Castro. Those 1200 who were supplied and trained by the CIA, in fact, had landed in Cuba 24 hours before Kennedy issued the denial. In 1969, President Nixon said the prospects for peace in Vietnam had “significantly improved”. This announcement came just two months after the US began its secret bombing of Cambodia. A peace treaty was signed in January of 1973. A little more than two years later, South Vietnam ceased to exist.

I wonder if this date is a good one for US presidents to make proclomations or denials. Or, better yet, maybe we should put our fingers in our ears for the day.

BY THE WAY…the weather looks quiet and really looks great for Thunder Over Louisville. Its plausible that the middle to end of next week, things could get interesting.

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