Today marks the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. This is certainly not a celebration but a memorial for the lives lost then and those that followed. Today’s trivia quiz is related to the military and war.
What was the only US battleship to be present at both the attack on Pearl Harbor, and at the D-Day invasion, on June 6, 1944? The U.S.S. Nevada.
What was the name of the Japanese destroyer that sank PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy on August 2, 1943? The Amigiri.
Who was issued ID number when the US military started issuing dog tags in 1918? General John J. Pershing.
What is a military contractor referring to when talking about a “manually powered fastener-driving impact device? A hammer.
Who was the first American congressman tpo don a uniform following the attack on Pearl Harbor? Lyndon B. Johnson in the Navy.
What president ordered the integration of the armed forces? Harry S. Truman in 1948.
What actress obtained a patent as a co-inventor of a radar-controlled system to direct torpedoes at moving ships? Hedy Lamarr.
Why was actor Paul Newman disqualified from service in the Navy’s pilot-training program in WW II? His blue eyes were colorblind.
What was the name of Japanese propagandist Tokyo Rose’s WW II radio show for US servicemen in the Pacific? It was Zero Hour.
What entertainer sold more War Bonds than anyone else during WW II? Kate “God Bless America” Smith sold $600,000,000 worth.
I’m reasonably sure that most of us are familiar with the saying “Kilroy was here.” I’m also sure that most of us (especially non-military folk) haven’t a clue where it came from and how it’s managed to survive since its creation early in World War II. Here’s part of that story . . .
The exact creation of this image has never been discovered. It began appearing early in World War II and was found on ships, railroad cars, bunkers, fences, the occasional fighter plane, bombs, and the occasional torpedo.
In 1946, just after the war ended, the American Transit Association began a search for the real Kilroy and offered a real trolley car as the prize. Approximately 40 men tried to claim the prize, which was eventually awarded to 46-year-old James J. Kilroy of Halifax, Massachusetts. The judges thought that his story was the most convincing. During the war, Kilroy was an inspector at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, that produced ships for the military effort. Kilroy discovered that he was being asked to inspect the same ship bottoms and tanks again and again, so he devised a way to keep track of his work. He used a yellow crayon and wrote “Kilroy was here.” in big block letters on the hatches and surfaces of the ships he inspected. The same ships then made their way overseas with Kilroy’s inscriptions intact. Also, over the course of the war, 14,000 shipyard employees also enlisted, most of whom went overseas as well. No one knows who first decided to imitate the crayon scrawled words, but before long, soldiers saw them everywhere. It became common practice for the first soldier into a new area to pull out a piece of chalk and let those behind him know that Kilroy had already been there too.
True or not James J. Kilroy story convinced the judges and won the contest. What did he do with the trolley car? Kilroy had a big family, so he attached a 50 foot long, 12-ton trolley car to his house and used it as a bedroom for six of his nine children.
Just as an aside, I can’t tell you how many times when I was in the Army both here in the US and overseas, I discovered very quickly that “Kilroy was (already) here.” It was scrawled everywhere. Once while in Korea I was climbing through a deserted gun emplacement in the hills near Inchon. There was old graffiti on the walls from some Turkish soldiers which I couldn’t read and right next to them was a huge “Kilroy was here!” Most recently and most poignant was this magazine photo taken at the home of Osama bin Laden just after his capture.
TRUTHFULLY, I CONFESS TO PLACING “KILROY” ON A FEW THINGS MYSELF.
I purposely avoid posting about current political events after running a political blog in the early 2000’s called Anti-Stupidity. It was an interesting experiment that ultimately convinced me never to do it again. No matter what you post politically, half the country agrees, and the other half sends you hate mail and death threats. Such is the political condition of the country, and it hasn’t changed much in the intervening years.
I dislike all politics and political parties and will never understand why anyone would run for office these days. That includes those power-hungry individuals running for President. It would hardly be worth it if not for the corruption that eventually makes almost every former senator, representative, and President a multi-millionaire.
Today’s post is political trivia in its lamest form. These are odd and rarely known facts on many of our past Presidents chosen at random . . .
Jimmy Carter is the first President to have been born in a hospital. All thirty-eight previous presidents were born “at home.”
The chief drafter of the United States Constitution and twice President was a lightweight on the scales. James Madison weighed in at only 100 pounds and he was the shortest President, at 5’4″.
James Buchanan has been the only bachelor to serve as president of the United States.
Not until Herbert Hoover was President., in 1929, did the U.S. Chief Executive have a private telephone in his office. (The telephone had been invented 53 years earlier.) The booth in a White House hallway had served as the president’s private telephone before one was finally installed in the Oval Office.
A campaign issue in John Quincy Adams unsuccessful reelection campaign of 1828 was the White House expense account: $50 for a billiard table, six dollars for billiard balls and $23.50 for chessmen.
The first U.S. President to be born in the 20th century didn’t take office until 1961 – John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).
The longest Presidential inauguration Address lasted nearly two hours, 8,445 words, almost twice as many as any other Presidents. It was delivered during a snowfall by a hatless, coatless William Henry Harrison in 1841. He became ill and died of pneumonia exactly a month later making his presidency the shortest in history.
Theodore Roosevelt was the first US President to ride in an automobile and the first to fly in an airplane, among many other firsts.
Until 1826, white people in the United States were sold as indentured servants who would be freed after a certain period of time. Andrew Johnson, who became President in 1865, was a runaway white slave; advertisements appeared in newspapers in an attempt to get him back.
President William Howard Taft weighed 350 pounds. He got stuck in a bathtub in the White House and someone had to be called to pull him out. He then had a special bathtub made. It was so big that, when it was delivered, four White House workmen climbed into it and had their picture taken.
Most Americans are raised get an education, get a job, make money, and then make more money. There’s nothing like starting your work life in your early twenties with a huge student loan debt that will take you years to pay off. Money seems to be the driving force in this country and the pursuit of it is all consuming. In reality, it’s the same almost everywhere else as well. I think a lot of that make-money mindset was passed down through the Great Depression generation like my parents who were concerned with little else. It’s not a bad thing to chase money but how you go about is even more important. Make as much money as you can but try just as hard not to harm or destroy others in the process.
Today’s post involves a short history of money.
At the age of 12, Andrew Carnegie worked as a millhand for $1.20 a week. A half-century later, he sold his steel company for nearly $500 million.
Not a single bank existed anywhere in the 13 colonies before the American Revolution. Anyone needing money had to borrow from an individual.
Although he is famous for inventing the cotton gin, in 1793, Eli Whitney made no money from his invention because he did not have a valid patent on it.
Henry Ford shocked his fellow capitalists by more than doubling the daily wage of most of his workers in 1914, 11 years after he had established his first automobile factory. He knew what he was doing. The buying power of his workers was increased, and their raised consumption stimulated buying elsewhere. Ford called it the “wage motive.”
Paul Revere, the American silversmith and patriot, designed paper money for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which issued the money in defiance of English law even before independence was declared. The notes were handsome but soon depreciated. Some of them subsequently were used as wallpaper in barbershops.
When Jacob A. Riis published his classic book How the Other Half Lives, in 1890, the fortunes of about 1% of the US population totaled more than the possessions of the remaining 99%. The pattern hasn’t changed all that much. Today, the fortunes of about 8% of the US population total more than the possessions of the remaining 92%.
We hear all of the economy experts constantly raising fears about rising inflation. Here is why!At the height of inflation in Germany in the early 1920s, one American dollar was the equal of 4.2 trillion German marks.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
George Orwell
I’ve been a science-fiction fan for more years than I care to remember. It started when I was a child of about four and my mother painted the walls of my bedroom with planets and rocket ships. It was the days of Sputnick and the “space race”. That was the beginning of my interest in space travel just like every other kid in the country at that time. You need to understand what I mean by an interest in space travel. I’d love nothing better than see an alien craft land at the White House (and take Joe Biden for a much-deserved joy ride), but I’ve lived long enough and gotten smart enough to become something of a UFO non-believer. Since the first human beings that saw fireflies and thought they were demons or angels, everything is either an alien, UFO, a spiritual mystery, or an omen of the end of the world as we know it.
👽👽👽
“To see what is in front of one’s nose requires a constant struggle.”
George Orwell
People can be stupid and ignorant about many things and the internet media supplies video after video of BS stories that to any reasonably normal person are obvious fakes. I’d rather deal in facts.
Fact #1 – The Government supplies former military officers, former NASA employees, and a host of so-called scientific experts to the media and internet. It is their job to help use the subject of UFOs to distract the nation and the world from what they may be doing covertly. When you control all media, you control everything and the saying “Knowledge is Power” has never been closer to the truth. Mind games are the heart and soul of a government slowing eroding the rights of its citizens (President Eisenhower warned us about that) and that’s our new reality.
Fact #2 – ET’s if they even exist puzzle me. How can advanced beings keep crashing their ships all over the planet. I swear every effing country claims an alien craft crash site and a few even claim to have recovered alien vehicles. It doesn’t seem likely to me that such intelligent beings who are so more advanced than we are can’t seem to safely fly a UFO in our atmosphere. I’ll believe it when they land in my back yard and tell me something or anything that I haven’t already heard on the internet.
” Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
George Orwell
I’m also tired of hearing about the Egyptians and those stupid pyramids, tall skeletons, huge magical blocks of stone, treasures dug up in every back yard in American, and how every discovery about everything is all about every organized religion claiming it’s a sign from their god. How many people and governments have made billions of dollars by misleading billions of idiots. Unfortunately, a large percentage of the citizens worldwide will believe anything they’re told, no questions asked. Everything is always some sort of conspiracy, and we can rely on social media to spread it around the world, constantly repeating both the lies and the occasional truths ad infinitum.
I have three statements to make to start this post: I love T-shirts, I’m a proud American, and I have little or no use for politicians. That being said I wore one of my favorite T-shirts while food shopping yesterday. I have at least eighty T-shirts with all sorts of designs concerning musical groups to chintzy advertising logos, and I love them all. Yesterday’s shirt stated plainly “I love my country, but I fear my government”. I often get comments from passersby about the messages on my shirts, but this one apparently caught the attention of a number of people. They weren’t upset with me for wearing it, they were patting me on the back for wearing it proudly. Our founding fathers were very open about the responsibility of the citizenry to keep an eye on the government. Unfortunately, in recent years that is no longer the case. These days everyone can complain until their blue-in-the-face but unless your part of the politically elite you’re wasting your breath. Maybe it’s time to review some of the history of this country and the revolution that spawned it.
On June 12, 1775, the British offered a pardon to all colonists who would lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to this amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured they were to be immediately hanged.
“July 4th” could just as easily have been celebrated on July 2nd. It was on that date in 1776 that the Second Continental Congress voted our independence from England. John Adams, in fact, wrote: “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.” He believed that it would be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and Illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this day forward forever more.”
On July 4, 1776, King George III wrote in his diary, “Nothing of importance happened today.” He had no way of knowing what had just occurred that day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
And one signatory of the Declaration of Independence appended his address: Charles Carroll “of Carrollton,” Maryland. He wanted to be sure that the British, if they wanted to hang him, knew full well where to look for him.
It wasn’t until January 19, 1777, that the national Congress made public all of the names of the men who affixed their signatures to the Declaration of Independence. One reason for the delay may have been the knowledge that if the war effort failed, the signatories would have sealed their fate as traitors.
I’m willing to bet you couldn’t find five current politicians in this country that would even consider doing half of the things the Founders dealt with at that time. Their pride in this country during its formation in the 1700’s seems to be a long dead memory. I wonder what would happen if tomorrow the British decided to retake America and threatened to hang all of our politicians who refused to surrender. I fear the roads to Canada would be clogged with carloads of fleeing representatives from this great nation. What do you think? I also wonder how long it would take the Canadians to close their borders for their own protection.
Since my recent post of off-color limericks was so popular I thought I’d offer up a few more cute but nonetheless dirty jokes. I guess I should have figured out by now that I’ve got to “give the people what they want.” A few dirty jokes to help you continue the celebration of this important holiday.
Q. How did Pinocchio find out he was made of wood?
A. When his hand caught on fire.
A woman answers the door to a market researcher. “Good morning, madam, I’m doing some research for Vaseline. Do you use it at all in your household?” “Oh yes, all the time. It’s very good for cuts, scrapes, and burns.” “Do you use it for anything else?” “Like what”, she asked. “Ahem. . well, during. . ahem. . sex.” “Oh, of course. Yes, I smear it on the bedroom doorknob to keep my husband out.
Men are like parking spots: The good ones are taken, and the rest are too small.
A woman is in bed with her lover, who also happens to be her husband’s best friend. They have sex for hours, and afterward while they’re just lying there, the phone rings. Since it is the woman’s house, she picks up the receiver. Her lover looks over at her and listens, only hearing her side of the conversation (she is speaking in a cheery voice). “Hello? Oh, hi, I’m so glad you called. Really? Thanks. Okay. Bye.” She hangs up the telephone and her lover asks, “Who was that?” Oh,” she replies, “that was my husband telling me all about the wonderful time he’s having on his fishing trip with you.”
Wow, what is it that wonderful smell? I smell NFL football in my immediate future and my Steeler blood lust has taken over. I’m already holding high hopes for a truly successful season this year. I’ve hung my Terrible Towel collection in my man-cave and I’m praying for a gut-busting season similar to the years with Terry Bradshaw, Big Ben Rothlisberger, and the old and hopefully new Steel Curtain. With that in mind, how about some historical football trivia to whet your whistle.
As 1944 opened, the United States was deeply involved in World War II. Of the millions of Americans overseas, many thousands were in North Africa, which had been freed from Axis control during 1943. It happened that several units stationed in North Africa had formed a kind of North African Football Conference. The two top teams in this league wanted to play in an “Arab Bowl.” Other officers and men wanted a game between the Army and the Navy soldiers instead. Finally, a compromise was reached. Why not have a football doubleheader? The first game was to be played by the Casablanca Rab Chasers against the Oman Termites, for the North African Football Conference championship.
On January 1, 1944, it was a very hot day in Oran. In a rugged opening game, that Casablanca Rab Chasers defeated the Oran Termites for the title. And then another problem arose. Neither of these teams would lend their equipment to the teams for the Army-Navy game. Shoulder pads and jerseys were so hard to get at that time and were just too valuable to lend to strangers. It was decided that the second game would be played without equipment, it would be a touch football game between the Army and Navy, and blocking was permitted. Also, they announced the halftime entertainment would be camel and burro races, with members of the Women’s Army Corps and Red Cross nurses mounted on the animals. The selection of the beauty queen was declared a tie between three WAC contestants. Since no one had pads, the ground game was mostly end runs and passes. Nobody was really hurt by the blocking, but the heat caused many substitutions. The Navy scored on a blocked punt and a pass. The kick was good and made the score 7-0. Army tied the game before the half ended. The second half was scoreless until the last minute of the game when Army’s Eddie Herbert intercepted a pass and returned it to the Navy twenty-yard line. With time for one more play the kick split the uprights and Army won the game 10-7.
I’m sure that the men who played in that game remember it more fondly than any Super Bowl they’ve seen since. All that fun without an overpaid celebrity showing boobs or moonwalking during the half-time show.
Well yesterday was when the ever-so-lame Earth Day was celebrated. I’ve never celebrated this day the same way I don’t recognize or celebrate Kwanza. All of you so-called “Greenies” out there can get as excited as you’d like but not me. My concern for the environment is ongoing every day and not just on one day. Many people are truly “Green” but they’re in the minority. The majority of citizens when polled all love Earth Day but ask them again a week later. They aren’t quite that serious about it as they’d like everyone to believe. It’s become a social stigma not to beat the environmental drum.
This is a partial repost from April of 2013 to show that my opinions remain unchanged. Here are a few facts about how Earth Day was started and by the POS who was responsible. Read and learn you “Green” fools about one of your demi-gods who cared more for the planet than the life of an innocent women.
I’ve been around since the inception of Earth Day by Ira Einhorn and his half-assed hippy movement and while some of the initial ideas were valid concerning abuses of the environment it has now evolved into a semi-religious movement with goals and political aims that go way too far and are harming the country. Everything green becomes more important than life itself. The movement has no respect about another person’s property rights, their jobs, or the devastating effect many of the stupid EPA laws have had on unsuspecting citizens and businesses.
As in any political movement you must look at the leader for his ideas and credibility. Einhorn to me is just a stone-cold killer who thinks the laws of society don’t apply to him.
Ira Samuel Einhorn, a.k.a. “The Unicorn Killer” (born May 15, 1940), is a convicted murderer, and American activist of the 1960s and 1970s. He is now serving a life sentence for the 1977 murder of Holly Maddux.
How many Earth Days has “Holly Maddux” missed since she was beaten to death by Einhorn, stuffed into a trunk, and stuck in a closet. It took more than twenty years to find, arrest, return him to this country, and convict him.
To quote the murderer: “Underlying the themes of Earth Day is a call for mankind to align itself with nature, and against itself, enlisting human beings to take part in a battle that seeks to place humanity under the control of an enlightened elite, one that values the interests of nature above that of people.
If you’re interested and want more information about Einhorn and Earth Day, just click here to learn more about the case:
I’m feeling quite miscellaneous today. This last week has been a huge pain in the ass with two days of no electric or internet, and the never-ending smartphone interruptions. Add to that an ice storm and finally a visit to my least favorite doctor, my dentist. Things are now back in to normal (whatever the hell that means). Here is a Mish Mosh of trivia items that caught my interest earlier today, so let’s get this started with a list of ten actual pornographic movie titles that were takeoffs of real Hollywood movies.
Tiger’s Wood
Edward Penishands
Beverley Hills 9021-Ho!
Pulp Friction
Shaving Ryan’s Privates
Forest Hump
Raiders of the Lost Arse
Titty Titty Gang Bang
May the Foreskin Be With You
Girth, Wind, and Fire
Here are a few tidbits of mostly obscure information on a few of Hollywood’s endless supply of alleged celebrities.
Sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer of TV fame is a trained rifle sniper.
One of the few celebrities I like is Mel Brooks. Most people don’t realize that he fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
Many of you will remember the late James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) who was shot six times during the D-Day landings in World War II.
The word “fuck” appears more than 265 times in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
As a follow-up here are a few facts from the 1998 movie The Big Lebowski. The word “fuck” is spoken 292 times, the word dude is spoken 161 times, and the word man 147 times.
The male lead in The Terminator was initially offered to O.J. Simpson and Mel Gibson. They both turned it down and Schwarzenegger stepped in.
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger earned roughly $21,490 per word in the movie The Terminator. He received $15 million for the role and spoke only 700 words.
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