Lost and Found – April 30th Edition

What to remember about April 30th…

• 1789  George Washington is inaugurated as 1st President of the United states in ceremony in New York City
• 1803  Treaty formalizing Louisiana Purchase is signed; 828,000 square miles acquired for less than 3 cents per acre
• 1812  Louisiana is admitted as the 18th state in the union
• 1927  1st federal prison for women opens in Alderson, West Virginia
• 1938  American science fiction author Larry Niven is born
• 1939  New York Yankees 1st baseman Lou Gehrig plays his final Major League Baseball game
• 1945  In fortified bunker under Berlin, Adolf Hitler and his new bride Eva Braun commit suicide as Allied forces close in
• 1948  Organization of American States is formed when U.S. and 20 other nations sign agreement to resist communist expansion in the Americas
• 1956  Former 35th Vice President of the United States Alben William Barkley dies during a speech after stating “I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty.” (b. 1877)
• 1961  Soviet Union commissions the K-19; their 1st nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles
• 1975  South Vietnam surrenders as communist forces take capital of Saigon
• 2009  Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Lost and Found – April 29th Edition

What to remember about April 29th…

• 1776  General Nathanael Greene takes command of Continental troops to set up defenses against British attack on Long Island, New York
• 1854  Ashmun Institute in Pennsylvania is 1st college founded solely for African-American students; named for U.S. agent that helped establish Liberia
• 1861  Other than Delaware, Maryland is the only other slave-holding state to vote against secession
• 1899  African-American jazz pianist, composer, and band leader Edward “Duke” Ellington is born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1974)
• 1945  Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler are married in a bunker beneath the German chancellery as Soviet troops approach; Hitler appoints a successor
• 1945  Dachau concentration camp is liberated by the Allies
• 1953  3D-TV technology is tested on network television for the 1st time with a broadcast of Space Patrol
• 1974  President Nixon announces release of transcripts of 46 taped White House conversations in response to House Judiciary committee subpoena regarding Watergate break-in investigation
• 1975  Operation Frequent Wind begins; 1300 Americans and 5500 Vietnamese are evacuated from Saigon by helicopter as communists approach city
• 1992  Jury in Simi Valley, California acquits 4 police officers charged with excessive force in beating of Rodney King; rioting breaks out in Los Angeles; 3-days of violence will leave 53 dead and hundreds of buildings destroyed
• 2004  National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C.
• 2004  Last Oldsmobile rolls off assembly line after 107 years

Lost and Found – April 28th Edition

What to remember about April 28th…

• 1758  Founding Father,  U.S. Senator, Governor of Virginia, and future 5th President James Monroe is born in Virginia (d. 1831)
• 1788  Maryland becomes 7th state to Ratify the U.S. Constitution
• 1789  Captain William Bligh and 18 loyal crew of HMS Bounty set adrift in small, open boat in middle of the Pacific; Fletcher Christian leads mutiny
• 1945  Fascist dictator of Italy Benito “Il Duce” Mussolini and his mistress are caught and killed by partisans while they flee for Switzerland
• 1952  United States ends its post-WWII occupation of Japan in accordance with 1951 Treaty of San Francisco
• 1965  President Lyndon Johnson orders 22,000 troops to join forces from Organization of American States in installing stable government in chaotic Dominican Republic amid fears nation could go the way of Cuba
• 1967  Muhammad Ali refuses to be drafted into the U.S. Army and is stripped of heavyweight title; cites Muslim faith in objection to service
• 2001  American engineer Dennis Tito becomes 1st “space tourist” when he goes into orbit with Soyuz TM-32; spends 8 days aboard International Space Station for bargain price of $20 million
• 2011  Phillip and Nancy Garrido plead guilty in kidnapping of 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard; she was held captive in their back yard for 18 years

Presidential Trivia – Ulysses S. Grant

Think you know a lot about the President of the United States?  Let us dig down into the dustbin of history and see what we can find.

Our candidate today is:  Ulysses S. Grant (born. Hiram Ulysses Grant), 18th President of the United States

• Born April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio
• Died July 23, 1885, Mount McGregor, Saratoga Springs, New York
• Height: 5’8″
• Childhood and school activities:  Fishing; riding and breaking horses; worked in his fathers tannery
• Education:  United States Military Academy at West Point (Nominated by Congressman Thomas L. Hamer, the application mistakenly listed the name “Ulysses S. Grant of Ohio”. Grant opted to let the mistake go and accepted the moniker “U.S. Grant”.)
• Military Service:  United States Navy 1839-1854, 1861-1869, final rank General of the Army
• Civilian profession: Soldier, author
• Married to Julia Boggs Dent (January 26, 1826 – December 14, 1902) at White Haven plantation west of St. Louis, Missouri
• Children: Frederick Dent Grant, Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., Ellen Wrenshall Grant, Jesse Root Grant
• Political Party – Republican
• Term of office:  August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977
• At 46 years old, he was the youngest man to that time elected to the presidency.
• Early in life his political leanings were Democrat.  However, during the Civil War, Grant became and voted Republican.
• Having received a slave from his father-in-law, Grant freed William Jones in 1859 despite being in need of money.
• Though rumors of drunkenness dogged his career, Grant actually suffered from debilitating migraines that often left him “hung over” and irritable.
• Grant’s offer to return to military service after the attack on Ft. Sumter was lost by the War Department until after the Civil War had ended.  He joined the Union army as Colonel of the unruly 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
• Eschewing pomp and finery, Grant often wore a privates uniform with stars of rank as the only adornment.
• He accepted the surrender of Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee (whom he had served with in the Mexican-American War) at Appomattox Courthouse.  He allowed Confederate soldiers to retain their personal weapons and horses if they would return home in peace.
• Grant oversaw ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
• Grant signed legislation establishing the Department of Justice, the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) and Yellowstone National Park, America’s first national park.
• During his terms of office, Grant strove to improve the living conditions of Native Americans, repair foreign relations with Great Britain, reconcile differences among the North and South, secure civil rights for all Americans, and annex (unsuccessfully) the Dominican Republic into the United States.
• Grant is the first of only three Presidents to have graduated from the military academy – Grant (USMA – 1843), Eisenhower (USMA – 1915), Carter (USNA – 1947, accelerated to 1946)
• Assassination attempts:  Grant had been invited to the performance at Ford’s Theatre with President Lincoln.  However, he declined so that he and his wife could visit their children in New Jersey.  John Wilkes Booth had previously stalked Julia Grant.
• Grant is the first of only three Presidents to have graduated from the military academy – Grant (USMA – 1843), Eisenhower (USMA – 1915), Carter (USNA – 1947, accelerated to 1946)
• He is buried beside his wife Julia in the General Grant National Memorial in Riverside Park, New York, New York; the largest mausoleum in North America. There is no “Grant’s Tomb”.
• Hobbies:  horseback riding – he once received a speeding ticket from a Washington, D.C. police officer that didn’t recognize him
• Famous quote: “The right of revolution is an inherent one. When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of oppression, if they are strong enough, whether by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.” Personal Memoirs, 1885

Gun Show This Weekend

It’s going to be a great weekend.  There will be a gun show in town Saturday and Sunday.  Crowds of 2nd Amendment loving people will fill the aisles of our local arena to browse the tables full of weapons, accessories, and ammunition.

Personally, I always enjoy checking out the newest firearms to hit the market.  Hopefully someone will have the new “Senator” commemorative pistol in stock.  I’ve seen them on TV and on the web but this will be my first chance to see one up close.

New Commemorative Pistol

“The Senator”

“It doesn’t work and you can’t fire it!”

Lost and Found – April 26th Edition

What to remember about April 26th…

• 1607  English settlers land at Cape Henry, Virginia to establish Jamestown; 1st permanent English settlement in North America
• 1865  John Wilkes Booth dies after an hours-long stand-off with Union soldiers; assassin had shot President Lincoln 12 days ago
• 1933  Brutal secret police force of Nazi Germany is founded; the Gestapo terrorized German citizens into informing on each other
• 1962  Failure to deploy solar panels leaves NASA’s Ranger 4 spacecraft powerless; mission ends when ship crashes on dark side of the moon
• 1977 Infamous discotheque and nightclub Studio 54 opens its doors
• 1986  Near Kiev in the former Soviet Union, explosions rock Chernobyl nuclear power plant; 31 die and tens-of-thousands exposed to radiation
• 2011  Rep. Ron Paul announces that he will be seeking Republican nomination for President of the United States… again

Military Censors Christian Soldiers Internet Access

In a disturbing display of the negative influence the Obama administration is having over the institutions with the constitutional responsibility for protecting this nation, the U.S. military has blocked internet access to the websites of the Southern Baptist Convention.  When trying to access the sites from a military base, service members and even chaplains are greeted with the message

 “The site you have requested has been blocked by Team CONUS (C-TNOSC/RCERT-CONUS) due to hostile content”. 

Other attempts have elicited the message

“Access Denied. You request was categorized by Blue Coat Web Filter as ‘Religion’”.

Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention told FOX News that

“This is outrageous, Southern Baptists make up a higher percentage of the all-volunteer military than in the general population… They need to unblock the website and find out who is responsible,”

FOX News has contacted the Department of Defense and was told by spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart that

“The Department of Defense is not intentionally blocking access to this site. We are working diligently to investigate what might be causing access issues for some of our service members and to correct the situation as quickly as possible.”

Leaving aside that any half-decent IT department could instantly rectify an erroneously blocked site, this is just one more example of the Obama administration is increasing hostility towards traditional American values in general and Christianity in particular.  Just a few weeks ago an Army Equal Opportunity training brief placed evangelical Christianity at the top of a list religious extremist groups that also included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam.  Further recent evidence of increasing alienation of Christians in the military include:

• Army Silences Catholic Chaplains
• Bibles Banned at Walter Reed Medical Center (dropped)
• US Military Scrubs Material for Offense to Islam

As former soldier, these developments disturb me greatly.  Men and women of faith have fought and died to found and protect this nation.  Their sacrifices and the freedoms of those still serving should not be dismissed and forgotten by those who worship at the altar of political correctness.  Ephesians 6:10-17, says much to me in these times.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (NIV)

Lost and Found – April 25th Edition

What to remember about April 25th…

• 1846  70 U.S. cavalry troops encounter 2,000 Mexican troops that had crossed the Rio Grane into Texas; skirmish leads to Mexican-American War
• 1859  Ground is broken for the Suez Canal; beginning at Port Said, Egypt is stretches 101 miles east to connect Mediterranean Sea to Red Sea
• 1862  Union Admiral David Farragut demands surrender of Confederate city of New Orleans after fleet defeats forts protecting the city
• 1915  British, French, Australian and New Zealander troops land on Gallipoli Peninsula; well prepared Turkish troops prevent Allies from advancing
• 1939  DC Comics Batman character makes his premier appearance in Detective Comics issue #27
• 1945  American and Soviet forces link up near Torgau; Germany now cut in two by advancing Allied forces
• 1947  President Truman officially opens the 1st bowling alley installed in the White House
• 1953  Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish paper describing the double helix structure of DNA; celebrated as “DNA Day”
• 1960  U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe
• 1964  President Lyndon Johnson appoints controversial figure General William Westmoreland as Commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam
• 1982  In compliance with the Camp David Accords, Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula
• 1992  Radical Islamic Taliban forces take control of Kabul, Afghanistan after Soviet withdrawal and collapse of communist government
• 2011  At least 300 killed in massive tornado outbreak across southern United States

Lost and Found – April 24th Edition

What to remember about April 24th…

• 1781  British General Benedict Arnold leads attack on Virginia militia near Petersburg; traitor Arnold was once an American General
• 1800  President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 for books to establish Library of Congress
• 1863  Union Army issues 1st code of battlefield conduct in the modern era; later used as basis for Geneva Convention
• 1918  British Mark IV and German A7V tanks clash at Villers-Bretonneux, France; 1st armor battle in history
• 1945  President Truman is briefed on the Manhattan Project and details of projects to develop an atomic bomb
• 1955  Afro-Asian Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia; 29 non-aligned nations including China and India declare they will take no side in cold war; refuse to take a stand against communism and totalitarianism
• 1967  Soviet Soyuz 1 crashes when parachute fails to open; Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is 1st human to die during a space mission
• 1980  Operation Eagle Claw ends in disaster and deaths of 8 servicemen; hostages remain in hands of Iranian captors
• 1990  On mission STS-31, Space Shuttle Discovery launches Hubble Space Telescope into orbit; initial flaws later repaired during other shuttle missions
• 2005  Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany is inaugurated as Pope Benedict XVI; 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church

Lost and Found – April 23rd Edition

What to remember about April 23rd…

• 1564  English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-on-Avon (traditional); dies on same date in 1616
• 1778  John Paul Jones leads 30 volunteers from USS Ranger on raid of British port of Whitehaven, England; fire consumes the town in only American raid on British soil during the revolution
• 1791  Future 15th President James Buchanan is born in Cove Gap near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1868)
• 1872  In Washington, D.C., Charlotte E. Ray becomes 1st African-American female lawyer admitted to the Bar
• 1969  Palestinian immigrant Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to death after conviction in the assassination of politician Robert F. Kennedy
• 1985  Coca-Cola changes formula and releases New Coke; product changed back less than 3 months later after overwhelming negative response
• 1998  Convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dies in prison; James Earl Ray had confessed to the crime and then recanted
• 2005  “Me at the zoo” is 1st video ever uploaded to YouTube