Two months ago, I had the opportunity to drive down to Fredericksburg, VA to visit the Sunken Road national park. On December 13, 1862, the forces from the North thought they would be able to interrupt the economic support of the South by capturing the city of Fredericksburg, but due to poor planning and leadership, the North suffered a crushing defeat. However, out of tragedy comes a story of kindness and mercy.
During the lulls in the failed Northern raids on the Southern forces behind the Sunken Road stone wall, a Confederate soldier risked his life to rush out into the open field to tend to the wounded Federal forces. Sergeant Richard Kirkland (featured in pictures #3 and #4 above) was a 19-year-old soldier from Mississippi who became known as the “Angel of Marye’s Heights.” At first, when he would cross over the wall, Union forces would take shots at the young man, but once it was understood that he was bringing water to “the enemy,” the Union forces would hold their fire and cheer Kirkland for his service.
Unfortunately, hundreds of soldiers have lost their lives on both sides of the war. At the national park you will find the cemetery housing those that lost their lives. While many of the soldiers were identifiable, many more were not. Stone blocks bearing only numbers remain. If you note in image # 5 above, the first row of numbers identifies the plot number, while the second identifies how many bodies were buried there. In this example, one small stone block marks the final resting place of nine souls.
Below is a fantastic amature video that will give you a great perspective of the battlefield and the defensive position along the Sunken Road that the Confederate soldiers took advantage of in order to defeat the Union forces. If you ever have a chance, visit this national park and walk along the tombstones in the cemetery.
I would like to thank Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia for pointing out an unforeseen threat to Guam. For those of you who are not familiar with Guam, it is our Eastern-most territory (due to the international date line) in the Pacific. The United States has claimed ownership of the island ever since the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898.
With plans to start scaling back the presence of U.S. armed forces in Japan (under the agreement of 2006), the U.S. is relocating the troops to Guam. This relocation has led to millions of dollars to be spent on developing the military bases on the tiny island to receive over 8,000 troops as well as their families and the support staff needed to handle the increased presence. With this sudden population swell on the island, Rep. Johnson discovered an unforeseen threat to the island. It is going to capsize!
That’s correct, according to Johnson, the increase in population on the tiny island (which is only 30 miles long and ranges between 4-12 miles wide), the increased population and weight of equipment will cause the island to tip over. He states, “My fear is that the whole island will become so overly-populated that it will tip over and capsize.” Here’s the video:
I think we need a break from reading all of the various views and opinions on the Health Care Reform debate. With that, I offer you two videos instead. The first video is one you might have seen on TV, featuring Will Ferrell and friends. If you are not able to see the video below, you can click this link and view it through Funny or Die.
The second video parodies the first one, poking fun at the Hollywood actors. If you are not able to see the video below, you can click this link and view it through YouTube.
This is a very interesting video from CNBC. Commenting from the floor of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Rick Santelli causes a stir and gains support of traders nearby as he expresses his views on the current stimulus legislation. The video is about four minutes long.
Incase you cannot see the video, here is the link to YouTube.
This is too funny not to post. I received the following link via e-mail today, and wanted to pass it along to you. When asked if the stimulus bill will be finished before the President’s day weekend, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi states the following:
Every month that we do not have an economic recover package, 500 million Americans lose their jobs. I don’t think we can go fast enough to stop that. – Nancy Pelosi
The link to the video can be found here (if it does not display below).
