Second Chance Sunday: Two Great Men and a Historic Document

I am gonna be busy most of the day tuning up the new blog, Because Toby Said So, so today on Three States Plus One I am using the Not-So-Wayback Time Machine to locate some of the most - read posts from the past few weeks. It's a great time to take a second look at something you enjoyed reading before for some of you. For those who are newer readers or those who missed them the first go round, prepare to be amazed at the bullshit brilliance you are about to witness.

• I am ashamed of myself, but I had totally forgotten about this post. It's about a true American hero named Captain Dan Luckett. Dan was severely injured when an IED blew up under the Humvee he was in. If you do nothing else today, please take a few minutes to read a story of courage, bravery and the will to survive. It'll make you feel good about being an American and proud of young men and women who serve in our country's Armed Forces.
• We The People - Need I say more?
• We are in Week 10 of the NFL Season and I thought it appropriate to remind each of us, that there are far more important things than football. This man was more than a Coach.

Enjoy the games and be thankful to the Almighty that Brent Musburger ain't doing play by play. Drop in here during halftime and look through the archives for plenty of good stuff. Today is also a good day to make story suggestions or drop a comment in the comment section. I'd be thrilled to hear from you. Until next time, adios!

A Carefree Dumbass Saturday

Typical Dumbass***

It's a beautiful autumn Saturday here in New England and the whole family is busy doing what we do on such a magnificent day. Heather is in the kitchen making gingerbread (which neither of the kids have had before), the girls are outside making a large pile of leaves suffice as a mattress and I am at my laptop looking out the back windows watching the blue jays, dove, cardinals and chickadees battle for a corner booth at the bird feeder. It hasn't snowed here yet, which is a little surprising to me. But soon enough I'll be telling you about the Nor'easter that blew through and dumped a couple of feet of snow on us. this will be Bailey the Three Year Old's first winter where she'll actually know what snow is all about. That should be a hoot.

Here's a bit of news for you: I am putting together another blog! On it, I'll be writing about whatever crosses my mind, probably about life and the way I see it. No matter the subject, you'll continue to get the type of crap insightful and brilliant commentary that makes you sick to your stomach   you've come to loathe expect from me. On the new blog, I highly encourage you to participate in the comment section. I know you have a lot to say, and all points of view no matter how stupid are welcome. I am still in the design phase of the new place and I hope to have it up and running by Monday. Stay tuned.

I think for this weekend I'll feature some dumbass stories to keep you bored to hell entertained.

• Let's start with this one about a guy named Leon who ran afoul of the law in Waco, Texas. Let me tell you this. A guy named Leon gettin' busted in Waco will not end up good for Leon. Just sayin'.
• I don't know about you, but when I hear of a story that involves a a crook and a riding lawnmower, I can almost feel the hilarity that will ensue.
• This is one of the first stories I posted on my other blog Dumbass News. It features the Wide World of Dumbass Sports and how they can improve your marriage. Hey, I aim to please. 

That lineup of dumbasses ought to keep you nauseous busy for a while. Enjoy them and rejoice in the fact that no matter what you do in life, there's always a bigger dumbass than you. 

***mugshot from The Smoking Gun***

Maine Minutiae: North Pole or Bust!

One of the most celebrated explorers of the 20th Century was Admiral Robert Peary, a resident of Fryeburg, Maine, near Portland. On April 6, 1909, Peary claimed to be the first man to reach the geographic North Pole. This amazing accomplishment had its detractors at the time, and is widely doubted even today. No matter the claim as accurate or not, a feat of this magnitude is simply amazing just considering the "technology" of the day. I realize that a dog sled is a dog sled is a dog sled, but modern technology in just the clothing alone as compared to the clothing worn by Admiral Peary in 1909 and before, is like comparing the Wright Brothers' flight to the space shuttle. I don't know how many of you have spent any time at altitude, but it can be damn cold. I have experienced, live and in living color, 32 degrees BELOW ZERO, with 40 mph winds. What Admiral Peary and his crew experienced at or near the North Pole in 1909 is something that escapes me. Those SOB's were COLD. The navigation equipment in the early 20th Century was a compass and the North Star. Today, GPS devices can pinpoint your exact location to within a foot or so anywhere in the world (!), thanks to satellites orbiting the Earth.

I am not writing this post to debate whether or not, Admiral Peary reached the exact location of the geographic North Pole, but to show that what the man and his crew accomplished is nonetheless historic. They made it to the Top of the World with the hand that was dealt them. The Admiral and his comrades exemplify the Spirit of Maine and of America - the innate urge deep inside the human soul that somehow spurs us to seek and understand the unknown. I believe that urge to explore and discover is something that bring us closer to God. He created this world for the benefit of Man and left it to us to endeavor to understand it so we can understand Him. Otherwise, I think, we would lead a lonely existence on this big blue marble and we would have an empty place in our souls. And God would be irrelevant to us. But He had a much better plan than that, and He gifted us a magical place. A place where our discovery and exploration of such wonders as the North Pole, would give us pause to think and marvel at what we see around us. When we observe the seemingly ordinary things in the world, I think we should look at them through the eyes of a child - with wonder and amazement at how things "work". How does something as innocuous as an acorn create something as majestic as an oak tree? Or how does a seed smaller than the eraser on a pencil evolve into the magnificence that is a tomato.

 I think that is how men like Admiral Peary see the world. For example, the North Pole doesn't represent the top of the world, it represents something much more than that. It's a challenge waiting to be met. An obstacle waiting to be overcome. An army of sorts waiting to be conquered. Simply put, the adventurer that is part of the character of men like the Admiral, seek the most arduous task to complete because...it's there.

Texas Tidbits: A P B & J Experience

Grape Jelly and Smooth Peanut Butter

I was goofing around looking for a subject to post about this morning and actually came across a few neat things quite by accident, so I figured what the heck, go ahead and do a story about one of them?

Small towns in East Texas always have the best local festivals anywhere. We have previously talked about the East Texas Yamboree in Gilmer and today we'll check out another local festival in rural Texas.

• Our stop will be a place I visited a thousand times as a kid - Grand Saline. And, yes, the "saline" part of the name means salt. There's a huge salt deposit in the area and it is currently being mined by Morton Salt. This year the inaugural  The Great American Peanut Butter Festival will be held in Grand Saline and the featured attraction will be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich being put together by area residents. This is no ordinary pb and j, however. By the time all is said and done, this sandwich will weigh more than 950 pounds! A new World Record! From the festival's website we get a little inside information on what it takes to build a 950 pound pb and j, "We expect the process to take most of the day", says sandwich builder Keith Parsons. "We'll have to wait for the dough to rise, bake the bread in a large oven and then finally we'll spread the peanut butter and jelly onto the bread with long boat oars". And what would a Peanut Butter Festival be without naming a Peanut Butter Queen? Fear not! A Peanut Butter Queen will be named! I just wander if they'll name a Jelly Queen, too?

Community events such as the Great American Peanut Butter Festival make me realize how much I miss living in East Texas. This festivals may seem to be a little silly to some folks, but not to me. I participated in literally thousands of local events like the PB & J Festival when I was a Radio Guy and I always took something home with me after being a part of the festivities. Things that stick out in my mind are: 1)  How much time and effort goes into putting together an event such as this one. Countless hours are put in by people volunteering their time to do something beneficial to the community. Then there's the sigh of relief when the whole thing is over with. Once the festival is over, these same people immediately start thinking about how to make it better for next year. Now, that's dedication. 2) The sounds of children echoing throughout the town square. You can't beat that. 3) The write up in the local newspaper. Whoever reviews these hometown events has the best job in the world for a few days. First, there's the big build up to the event itself. Then the event. And finally the recap of the happenings themselves. The pride and excitement of the event are chronicled with such excitement and pride, you'd think the local baseball team just won the World Series. 4) The aftermath. The local citizenry huddle in groups at the local diner for breakfast and/or coffee on the Monday after the festival to relive their favorite memories and to brag how their child/grand child won the pb & j sandwich eating contest in his/her age group. A good time was had by all.

I think I'll salute the Great American Peanut Butter Festival by slappin' together a pb &j and sharing it with Bailey the three year old. A good time will be had by both.  :)
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Happy Remembrace Day to Our Canadian Friends!

On November 11, our Canadian neighbors celebrate Remembrance Day to honor military personnel and civilians who died while in service to their country. Remembrance Day is similar to Memorial Day in the USA.

Remembrance Day is celebrated by the countries of The Commonwealth throughout the world. Here's an explanation from Wikipedia "The common British, Canadian, South African, and ANZAC tradition includes either one or two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (11:00 am, 11 November), as that marks the time (in the United Kingdom) when armistice became effective.
The Service of Remembrance in many Commonwealth countries generally includes the sounding of the "Last Post", followed by the period of silence, followed by the sounding of "The Rouse" (often mistakenly referred to as "Reveille"), and finished by a recitation of the "Ode of Remembrance". The "Flowers of the Forest", "O Valiant Hearts", "I Vow to Thee, My Country" and "Jerusalem" are often played during the service. Services also include wreaths laid to honour the fallen, a blessing, and national anthems.^[2] Mozambique does not observe the Remembrance Day."

I felt it was only proper to salute our neighbors to the North as our friends and allies in the causes of freedom and liberty. May we always share this common bond that unites us. God bless Canada and those who, in her name, gave their lives in times of war, so that the many may live as free citizens.

Veterans Day, 2010 God Bless Our Armed Services Personnel

Happy Veterans Day for those of you in the United States! It was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 that the end of World War I was officially declared. At that time and for 36 more years, this date was known as Armistice Day, a day honoring World War I veterans. It wasn't until 1954 when President Eisenhower signed into law the bill that would make November 11 Veterans Day, that we honor all veterans in the United States on November 11.How did Armistice Day morph into Veterans Day?

The idea of Veterans Day came from an unlikely source - a shoe store owner in Emporia, Kansas. In 1953, shoe store owner Alfred King believed that November 11 should honor all veterans in the United States, not only those who served in World War I. Wikipedia picks up the story from there : "King had been actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II. He began a campaign to turn Armistice Day into "All" Veterans Day. The Emporia Chamber of Commerce took up the cause after determining that 90% of Emporia merchants as well as the Board of Education supported closing their doors on November 11 to honor veterans. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954."

A lone voice in the Heartland of the United States was heard loud and clear in the Halls of Congress, and thanks to Alfred King, shoe store owner, we now celebrate the service to our country by roughly 25,000,000 veterans throughout the Fruited Plain each November 11.


God bless Alfred King, God bless our Veterans and God bless the United States of America.

PLUS ONE: A VERY SPECIAL EDITION! SEMPER FIDELIS!

Always Faithful

Picking out a subject to for today's post was as easy as falling down after a night of tequila shots and barley pop (beer). Today is the 235th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. From the halls of Montezuma to shores of Tripoli, for almost two and a half centuries, the Marines have been at the ready to defend the United States at a moment's notice. On November 10, 1775, Captain Samuel Nicholas formed two battalions of Continental Marines in Philadelphia as naval infantry. Since that day, the Marines have played a major role in every armed conflict in which the United States has been a part. Wikipedia notes "The Marine Corps fulfills a vital role in national security as an amphibious, expeditionary, air-ground combined arms task force, capable of forcible entry from the air, land and sea."

Like their brothers of the 18th century, today's Marines serve as an infantry unit aboard Naval vessels charged with protecting the ship and performing offensive and defensive measures during combat. "Continental Marines also manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore. America's first amphibious assault landing occurred early in the Revolutionary War as the Marines gained control of a British ammunition depot and naval port in New Providence, the Bahamas".(wikipedia) While the tactics and certainly the equipment have changed over the last 235 years, the mission of the USMC has remained the same, to protect and defend, to attack and neutralize. There is so much history of the United States Marine Corps, that it would take a week's worth of blogging to even scratch the surface of it. Therefore, I am going to link to wikipedia and two fantastic pages that describe the history and mission of the Corps. This page is a fairly detailed account of the history of the USMC. While more general in nature, the wikipedia page at this link has some great information about and history of the Marine Corps.

My oldest son, while no longer on active duty, is a United States Marine. The Marine Corps took a raw young man wondering down the wrong path in life, and turned him into a man with his priorities in order.  Today that wayward young man is the father of two of my grand children and is married to a wonderful young lady. I bring this up for a reason. The Marines are not just all about killing bad guys and protecting the country. They are also about taking a young man like my son and transforming him from a boy headed in the wrong direction in life into a man, in every sense of the word. That's how I see the Marine Corp - as a maker of men.

For 235 years, the United States Marine Corps has served this country with distinction, bravery and honor. I can not begin to express my personal gratitude for the sacrifices these men and women have made in service to their country. The United States is forever in your debt.

Semper fidelis.