Pleasure or Reality

Freud discovered the "pleasure principle." If a person is confronted with facing reality that is often upsetting or turning to pleasure he or she will choose pleasure most of the time.
I wanted to test this theory so I have been bringing up the possibility of hyperinflation and a loss of personal wealth to people I know. It is safe to say that eight out of ten people I approach appear not to know current events, say very little, and often change the subject.

Pontotoc Mississippi

The Chickasaw Nation ranged from south of Memphis (Chickasaw Bluffs) angling south of Tupelo to what is now the Alabama line some ten miles north of Columbus Ms. Their territory went north across West Tenn. up into what is now Paduca Ky. My understanding it that there were large villages in Pontotoc and Tupelo.
In the winter of 1540-41 Hernando de Soto's expedition came upon one of the main Chickasaw camps. Desoto demanded 200 women to carry supplies and offer other services for the remainder of his journey. The entire village of males attacked the Spaniards and drove them out. These people were much feared by the Choctaw, and stood their ground against the Creek
Indian removal in the 1830's forced the tribe West. They took their belongings and slaves to Oklahoma
It is said they never lost a major battle until Elk Horn Tavern while fighting with Gen. Earl Van Dorn's Confederate Army.
Pontotoc is thought by some to mean =The Place of Hanging Grapes however further examination seems to indicate the word comes from the Chicksaw - ponti meaning cat-tail
and tokali meaning battle - Battle Where The Cat-tails Stood

Blue Angels

The man who holds the right wing of the Blue Angel formation is always a Marine.



The military has so many traditions. Twenty One is the highest number and silver is more precious than gold.

Corsair

I have a friend who flew planes just after WWII came to a close. He flew several kinds because he was delivering them to different bases. The Corsair when taking off and landing tilts 12 degrees above the horizon therefore the pilot can't see over the nose especially on an aircraft deck. He is 5'6". He said that he opened the cockpit of some plane designs and hung his head out to see where he was landing since he sat on a wooden seat that wouldn't adjust.
This navy fighter had an eighteen cylinder Prat-Whitney engine with a two stage turbo, 100 hp per cylinder and flew speeds up to 470 mph. It had a 13'4" propeller to get maximum use of its power. The navy had to build a special inverted gull wing to prevent the huge triple prop from hitting the deck when taking off and landing. It carried six 50 cal Browning machine guns. Tracers were never used because the flash obstructed the pilot's vision. What a beautiful bird.
Remember all those who flew

The Cat Bird Seat

As a kid I explored the woods and fields around our home. I was fascinated how birds would impale lizards and insects on the barbed wire fences. (now a quick shift)

The famous baseball announcer Red Barber was born in Columbus Mississippi. He worked for the Reds, Dodgers, and the Yankees, perhaps others. Red began what we call "play by play" announcing.
He coined the term "in the Cat Bird Seat." This is a sports term meaning you have your opponent where you want him.
Like many people Barber thought that it was the Cat Bird, with its catlike meow to the end of its song that impaled its victims, but the Cat Bird is shy and stays in the cover most of the time. The cruel bird is actually the Logger Headed Shrike. He crucifies his victims and sits on his favorite perch to watch over his domain.

Thanks To All Veterans

Today I called my Dad in Tennessee. He is eighty seven, a veteran of WWII and Korea. It is Memorial Weekend. I've been thinking about him and so many others of that greatest generation, those who grew up during the depression.

He told me that back in the thirties his family tried to eat a groundhog. He said, "It was so tough that you couldn't stick a fork in the gravy."

I try to call every Saturday. One day before too long there won't be an answer.
My sincere appreciation to all good fathers; my eternal thanks to veterans, the dead, the living, the shattered, and the old ones fading away.

Bonnie and Clyde

Seventy five years ago today Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed near their hideout in Bienville Parish Louisiana. Bonnie Parker was an honor student from Rowena Texas. She had married Roy Thornton. They split but never divorced. She died wearing her wedding band. Clyde Barrow
was from Telico Texas where he and his brother began a life of crime early. From 1931 to 1934 the Barrow gang pulled off small time robberies across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and parts of the Midwest. Clyde's favorite weapon was a Browning Automatic Rifle, BAR.
Texas lawmen swore to get the couple. It appears they did the killing without any warning. Later they said two Louisiana lawmen were with them for jurisdictional purposes. Who knows.
May 23, 1934

An Old Irish Tune

The Southern Confederacy adopted a song that rivaled "Dixie" as their anthem. The song was
"Bonnie Blue Flag." The tune came from an Irish song called "The Irish Jaunting Car"


I wonder is Matt could play that on his bagpipes

Johnny and Edgar Winter

I believe the first blues album I purchased was by Johnny Winter.
Johnny and Edgar Winter's grandfather was a cotton merchant in Leland Mississippi. Being a family of some means the cotton dealer sent his son to VMI. The son came home but didn't stay in the cotton business. He went into the military and met his wife in Beaumont Texas. They lived a while in Leland but moved back to Beaumont where Johnny and little brother Edgar were born. Both were albino but they had extraordinary talent when it came to music. Edgar was the first man in Rock-n-Roll history to use a synthesizer. His trademark song was "Frankenstein." If you "Youtube" Edgar Winter and find his live performance, he will show you how to play every instrument on stage.
Johnny has been a pioneer in blues. If you listen to some of his music you may, like me, believe that Stevie Ray Vaughn as a kid listened to Johnny's music. This cat can play.

Youth In Asia

I was also told that euthanasia wasn't a Chinese Rock Band, but with the new health care system, I may get to experience it.

Waterboarding

I just found out that waterboarding wasn't an Olympic sport.

Roll the presses

"Give me control over a nation's currency and I care not who makes its laws."


Barron M.A. Rothchild





How many trillion since Janurary

Neshoba County

The Neshoba County Fair in Mississippi has long been a week of horse racing, festivities for all ages and THE place where politicians come to stump. First held in 1889 the fair has long been a stage for State politicians. President Reagen, then a candidate, spoke at the Neshoba Fair.



Neshoba in Choctaw means wolf.

Go West Young Man

Reno Nevada is further west than L.A.


and I thought California was really out there

First Memorial Day

National Memorial Day is here.
In the spring of 1866 the ladies of Columbus, Mississippi carried flowers to Friendship Cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate Soldiers who fell, probably mortally wounded at Shiloh (Pittsburgh Landing.) After the battle, trains moved southward dropping off the wounded in Tupelo, Columbus, Macon, Meridian and all points in between. Many men who died in homes of these communities were buried in those towns.
While decorating graves of our fallen, the women looked over to the graves of the boys in blue with compassion for their sacrifice as well. They too were covered in the fragrance of spring that represents awakening, resurrection.
Other states argue that they were first but it seems to be agreed upon by most that Mississippi was first.
Francis Miles Finch happened to be in Columbus that day and was inspired to write the poem
"The Blue And The Grey"

I need a lear jet

Pink Anderson b. 2-12-1900 in South Carolina. He started singing and playing blues at age fifteen.
Floyd Council b. 9-2-1911 in Chapel Hill N.C. He played blues along with his brothers around town.

Stagga Lee

The song Stagger Lee goes back in Blues history a long way, recorded over 400 times. There are dozens of versions of this song as in many folk songs. It hit big in 1959 when recorded by Floyd Price, a black Korean war veteran.

Saint Louis Globe Democrat 1895 - William Lyons 25, levee worker was shot in the abdomen by Lee "Stag" Shelton.
Lyons died later of his wounds. Shelton was tried but the jury was hung.
(I didn't go into their archives to verify this)

I was standin' on the corner
When I heard my bulldog bark
He was barkin' at the two men
Who were gamblin' in the dark

It was Stagga Lee and Billy
Two men who gambled late
Stagga Lee threw a Seven
Billy swore that he threw eight

Stagga Lee told Billy
I can't let you go with that
You done won all my money
And my brand new Stetson hat

Stagga Lee went home
And he got his .44
He said I'm goin' to the bar room
Just to pay that debt I owe

Stagga Lee went to the bar room
And he strolled across the floor
He said you did me wrong Billy
And he pulled his .44

Stagga Lee said Billy
Oh please don't take my life
I got three little children
And a very sickly wife

Stagga Lee shot Billy
Oh he shot that boy so bad
That the bullet went through Billy
And broke tha bartender's glass

Go Stagga Lee, Go Stagga Lee

Youtube Stagger Lee Floyd Price

Montana fights for State's Rights

Millions of Americans are watching to see if Montana's State's Rights bill will win a future Supreme Court decision. Thomas Jefferson once said and I paraphraise "As long as Govt. fears its citizens our Republic is safe, but when the citizens fear the Govt. we're in deep Sh--.

Being just a cotton picker, I realize that I'm over my head when discussing court decisions, but

Dr. Mark Levin explained "Liberty and Tyranny" If I read it right and heard it again correctly, the Court ruled against a small wheat farmer in Wickard v Filbum in 1941. It ruled against this ole boy for growing wheat for his own consumption. In no way did he violate interstate commerce.

Levin says Roosevelt made one of the greatest power grabs in American History in this decision. Google it if you care to. Montana, I hope the Feds don't sucker punch you. It has an arsenal of power grab brass knuckles to choose from.

High Water Mark At Gettysburg 11th Miss

I have been reading a little book that I picked up from "Books on the Square" in Oxford Mississippi. It is called "The University Greys." So many young men left Ole Miss in 1861 to fight in Virginia the place was pretty much put on hold for the duration. These were Mississippi's best and brightest, future professors, lawyers, physicians etc. On July 3, 1863 they were part of Pickett's charge. They were Co A 11th Miss on the left flank being decimated by 32 union cannon from their left. As part of Heath's Div they made the rock wall just as Pickett's men did. Some crossed the wall against four lines of the enemy. First hand accounts by surgeons, former soldiers and officers place their advance exactly 47 yards past the high water mark that Pickett claimed. A map of the offset wall is proof. But it was Pickett's charge even though there were more from other divisions, and it was Virginia publishers who wrote the history. In three days fighting the University Greys with only 31 men remaining in the 11th lost 14 killed and 17 wounded. There are three glass panels in the Geology building at Ole Miss. They are in one window depicting the Greys.

VMI Cadet Artillery

VMI had four six pounder cannon for training in the 1850's -60's. Thomas J. Jackson was the artillery instructor. He was lackluster in the classroom. The guns first saw action at Manassas Junction or as the Yankees call it Bull Run Creek. (the South named battles for nearby towns etc while the Union named them by landmarks.) At Manassas the guns were commanded by Capt. Wm. Pendleton who would command the Artillery Corps for the Army of Northern Virginia. Pendleton an Episcopal Priest named the four pups - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John because
they spoke a strong gospel.

Separation of Church and State

In 1803 at the request of President Jefferson, Congress allocated Federal funds to build a church for the Kaskaskia Indians and salary for a preacher to last seven years. Most of the Indians became Christians.
Wait a minute. Did this man not understand the Constitution?
Oh, that's right, he wrote that document.