This Day in History, June 28th...

1776 - Thomas Hickey, Continental Army private and Life Guard to General George Washington, was hanged for mutiny and sedition.

1865 - The Army of the Potomac is disbanded.

1894 - Labor Day becomes and official US holiday.

1914 - Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria, and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli (justification for acts of war) of WWI.

1919 - 5 years later, The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, formally ending WWI between Great Britian, France, Italy, the United States and allies on one side and Germany and Austria Hungary on the other side.

1950 - Seoul is captured by troops from North Korea.

1978 - The US Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke bars quota systems in college admissions.

1997- Tyson v. Holyfield II - Tyson is disqualified in 3rd round for biting a piece of Holyfield's ear.

2004 - Sovereign power in handed to interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the US-led rule of that nation.

2005 - Canada becomes the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

Notable Birthdays:

1491 - King Henry VIII of England
1703- John Wesley, English Founder of Methodism
1706- Benjamin Franklin, Scientist, Philosopher and Founding Father.
1926- Mel Brooks
1932- Pat Morita, (Mr. Miyagi)

Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead!!

No, we're not in Munchkin land, but for a while, I thought we were in La La land with the US Senate trying to pass a bill that over 70% of the country opposed. Today, on a vote of 46-53 on a motion to invoke Cloture and end debate on S. 1639, the US Senate killed Amnesty and the sham of immigration reform until after the 2008 election. President Bush lost the last piece of legislation that he was hoping would be his legacy, but its dead. What we have seen in the last 2 weeks is the power of grass-roots activism still being the tool that affects change. What every politician fears the most is their constituency and the fear of losing. Sometimes, you have to make it painful for them to do the right thing. Politics without pressure is ineffective. I thank groups like ProEnglish, Howard Phillips, American Conservative Union and Lou Dobbs for helping to derail this legislation.

People will try to blame one side over the other, but it was both Democrats and Republicans who fought to bring this down. Democrats said it didn't protect immigrants enough and Republicans said it was Amnesty. In the end, the fragile coalition couldn't keep people in line and were just hell bent on getting this bill passed, no matter the price. Both of my Senators, Webb and Warner from VA voted against cloture today and Webb has not been happy with this legislation for a while. The Big defections for the Dems were Bryd and Rockefeller from WV, surprisingly Harkin from Iowa, Bernie Sanders from VT and Debbie Stabenow from MI. On the Republican side, while Lott, McCain, Graham and Kyl have been on the side of evil, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell from KY, Kay Bailey Hutchison from TX, and Saxby Chambliss from GA, who supported this bill the entire time finally voted right. I knew when Hutchison said she would vote no that the bill was DOA.

I do feel bad that no REAL Immigration reform was addressed, but anything without border security, English only, and other guest worker provisions just cannot be seriously considered.

John McCain suffered 2 big blows this week. First, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of McCain-Feingold Incumbency Protection act (Campaign Finance Reform) and then the immigration bill goes down in flames. When you're on the wrong side of every major issue, you can't be a serious contendor for President of the United States. I'm just glad that the Kennedy-McCain bill failed.

To see how your senator voted, go to thomas.loc.gov and then go to Roll Call votes, then US Senate. You will find it there.

What's been in the news lately...

Since i last posted, Barry Bonds is now at 749 Homeruns. I can't believe we are having the debate if he should be in the All-Star Game. There is no discussion. He should be in and I urge all the fans to vote him in. The greatest baseball player of all time should be in the All-Star Game, especially when it might be his last, if he retires next year.

Paris Hilton went to jail, although i'm still not sure why. I don't think she should have gone, but I really don't care. Bob Barker retired from the Price is Right. That was a sad day, as a true American Icon is now finished. The Price is Right will never be the same, but thankfully, it looks like Drew Carey is in line to get the gig, and not that loudmouth Rosie O'Donnell.

Rogue Duke prosecutor, Mike Nifong was disbarred and immediately removed as District Attorney in Durham after his reckless and unethical handling of the Duke lacrosse Non-Rape case. Only, at the end, did Nifong apologize to the 3 Duke players who had their lives ruined for 390+ days by Nifong, Duke University, the Media, and the people of Durham and Raleigh. I am glad that the University had to pay some Money to the boys and their families. Now, if we could hold the "Duke 88" accountable for their actions, then it would be progress. I thank William Anderson, a columnist on LewRockwell.com, for keeping the heat on Nifong, the Attorney General of NC and for being the first person to right about the real facts of the case and to proclaim the innocence of the players. We owe him a debt of gratitude.

Finally, the Amnesty Bill was defeated today, which i will talk about in an upcoming post.

Charleston and Savannah, Great Towns

On our Honeymoon, we went to Savannah and Charleston. After overcoming some flight cancellations and the 24 loss of our luggage, we really got started on Tuesday morning in Savannah. We stayed at the Olde Harbour Inn on Factors Walk, which overlooks River St. If you're looking for a good B&B to stay in while in Savannah, I highly recommend the Olde Harbour Inn. For the price and the location , you can't beat it. While in Savannah, we ate at great restuarants, such as The Cotton Exchange and The Boars Head Inn. The best meal, was Tuesday at lunch, when we dined at Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse. Our cab driver told us it was better than Paula Deen's restuarant and a little cheaper, so we tried it out. Boy, was he right. We had to wait an hour to get in, but when we did, it was well worth it. The serve food family style, so we had about 14 sides at our table, then they brought us biscuits and cornbread, and then Fried Chicken. The food was great and the chicken was good, but in my opinion, not quite as good as the chicken I had at Stratford Hall once. That fried Chicken was incredible. Anyway, for $15 each, you get a huge Southern meal at Mrs. Wilkes. If you ever make it to Savannah, go there. We took a ghost tour and then a trolley tour of the city. We got to visit the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Lowe, the woman who founded the Girl Scouts. Our last night on our honeymoon, we came back to Savannah and took a riverboat cruise for dinner, and that was enjoyable.

Charleston is a totally different city. Its a little more ritzy, but still enjoyable. We stayed at the French Quarter Inn, and boy, was it nice. Every day we had a wine and cheese reception at 5 and then milk and cookies at 9pm. That was a nice treat. The hotel was right on Church and Market St., so the location was great. I highly recommend this hotel if you want luxury and location. In Charleston, we took a carriage ride at night and toured the downtown area . That was very nice. We dined at Poogan's Porch, T-Bonz and Ghirabaldi's while we were there. The food was great. The last day in Charleston, I went to Ft. Sumter which was nice, but hot.
For me, I think the stop off in Beaufort, SC on the way to Charleston was one of my favorite stops. Beaufort is a great town on the water. I could live there easily.

I think Savannah is a little better than Charleston, but i like both immensely.

Its Been So Long...Now I'm Married

Its been such a long time since I last posted that now I'm married. I married the love of my life, Rachel Henderson, on May 26, 2007 in Glen Daniel, WV. We were blessed to have about 130 of our closest friends and family to attend. The wedding was wonderful and my bride looked breathtaking. We were married by Rachel's brother, Roger, who is in fact an ordained minister. Her other brother, Rodney, who looks like Joel Osteen, and his wife Jennifer performed at the wedding. Rodney is an accomplished guitarist while Jennifer is a very good singer. For me, the highlight of the wedding was when Rachel performed a song for me during the ceremony. It brought everyone to tears. I almost cried, but tried not too.
Following the ceremony, we had a reception at Lake Stephens pavilion. It turned out well, although it was hot, as there is no A/C in the building. Lots of friends and family from all across the country helped make our day very special. For that, we are eternally grateful.

We went to Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC for our honeymoon and I will post more on that later.