| | Home
The Daily Dose/May 6, 2011
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
HEY, THE FIRE'S OUT, LET'S CLOSE THE BARN DOOR NOW: This week Pakistan issued a strongly worded statement saying how it will no longer tolerate other nations raiding its country and killing terrorists.
Uh-Oh: The Pakistani foreign minister issued a statement, apparently with a straight face, warning of a 'terrible catastrophe' if some nation tries this again, and how the same military that was unable to stop the United States from killing Osama bin Laden is standing by to repel all invaders. The statement read, in part:
There should be no doubt Pakistan has adequate capacity to ensure its own defence.
Fly In The Lube: Hey, guys, we're pretty sympathetic to you sovereignty claims here at the old Writer's Shack. Not completely sympathetic, but we realize, more so than most Americans, how we bent you over and made you take it in the shorts and violated your airspace by sending in a couple of helicopters into Pakistan.
Icing On The Cake: And we further violated your sovereignty by putting some of the very best warriors this planet can produce on your soil and proceeded to conduct our mission with some zero interference from you.
In Conclusion: So maybe you don't have the capacity to ensure your own defense.
Dry, Technical Matter, International Relations Edition: And if bin Laden wasn't in Pakistan in the first place we wouldn't be having this little problem now, would we?
One More Thing: It is not a bulletin to find out bin Laden was shot even though he wasn't holding a weapon. Taking everything into consideration, unless bin Laden was naked, holding a white flag in each hand while singing "God Bless America", he was going down.
FABULOUS: The Justice Department, having little better to do, sent a letter to the NCAA asking why there wasn't a playoff for major college football.
Get Your Official Writer's Shack Policy Right Here: We are on record here as favoring a playoff. They work in other NCAA divisions and anybody who doesn't think they would become a license to print money for the NCAA is deluding themselves. But the government, of course, should butt out.
Oh, I Don't Know: Maybe the Justice Department could worry about innocent people on death row or something like that.
IN HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE: The last surviving combatant of World War I died Thursday. Britain's Claude Choules died in Australia, where he had been living since serving in World War II. He was 110.
FunFact: One World War I veteran survives. Britain's Florence Green, also 110, was a mess hall steward, serving at two airbases in England.
USA! USA! America's last surviving World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, died in February.
Oh, Canada: John Babcock, Canada's last surviving War I veteran, died in 2010.
GREAT MOMENTS IN REBELLION: Arkansas secedes from the United States on this date in 1861, the ninth state to do so. The Confederacy would be completed when Tennessee followed suit the following day and North Carolina fleeing the Union on May 20.
FunFact: Also on this date in 1861, Richmond, Virginia was declared the capital of the Confederate States of America.
Who The Hell's Going To Do Our Laundry Now? President Chester Arthur signs the Chinese Exclusion Act on this date in 1888, which forbids virtually all Chinese from emigrating to the US. This prohibition would remain in force until the 1940's, when a token number of Chinese would be allowed to emigrate, and all restrictions on Chinese immigration would not be lifted until 1965.
Hitless Wonders: The Chicago White Sox become the only team in major league history to be no-hit on consecutive days as Bob Groom of the St. Louis Browns no-hits them in the second game of a doubleheader in St. Louis on this date in 1917. The previous day Ernie Koob of the Browns had thrown a no-hitter against the White Sox.
As Long As Your History Books Are Out: Groom also closed out the first game with two hitless innings.
FunFact: What's funny, more or less, is the White Sox would go on to win the American League pennant that year and finished third in the league with a .253 team batting average. After losing the first three games against the Browns, Chicago would rally to win the last three games of the six-game series, and would eleven of their next 13.
Bombs Away: Detroit's Ty Cobb establishes the American League record for most home runs in consecutive games on this date in 1925, hitting home runs number four and five in St. Louis in an 11-4 win over the Browns. Cobb had hit three home runs the previous day against the Browns. This also ties the major league record, which had been done by Cap Anson of Chicago had done in 1884.
Uh-Oh: The Hindenburg, a German zeppelin, is destroyed after catching fire while attempting to land at a naval base in Lakehurst, New Jersey on this date in 1937. The exact cause of the explosion was never determined, and 35 of the 97 people on board died.
All Aboard: The Hindenburg had departed Frankfurt, Germany on May 3.
While certain events will find themselves in the On This Date section from year to year, we try to freshen the entry up by, perhaps adding a fresh fact or insight. We take great pains to avoid repeating an entry verbatim.
However, in the following case - and in a cheap attempt to garner a cheap laugh - we are doing just that:
Oh The Humanity II: Bob Hope performs his first USO show for American troops on this date in 1941 at March Field in Riverside, California.
Despite the fact he's been dead since 2003, Hope still performs a couple of dozen shows a year for the troops. Nobody can tell the difference.
Thought For The Day: These poor bastards. They've got us right where we want 'em. We can shoot in every direction now. - Lewis B. 'Chesty' Puller, United States Marine Corps.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Shriners Hospitals were originally for the treatment of polio. They diversified when polio was eradicated.
Today's Stumper: Richmond is one of several US cities that have served as capitals of countries other than the United States. Name the other nations that have had current US cities serve as their capitals. - Answer next time!
Comments? Recipes? Complaints? Email the Writer's Shack here!
Home |
| |
