good talk

On the "History Channel" today I heard economists talking about the doom almost upon us due to overpopulation, lack of water, etc., take a peep. You remind me of a bunch of monkeys. At these 5-minute stop lights they have in Las Vegas and San Diego I often turn off my engine as it saves on fuel, wear and tear and lessens pollution, they should run everybody through in half that time. These metal studs they have on the roads are bad for your car, I would think anybody could plainly see the white and yellow lines, maybe they're for blind drivers like Braille. Hermann Wilhelm Goering (1893 to October 15, 1945) as a German fighter pilot in WW I had 22 confirmed kills and won the coveted "Blue Max" and was the last commander of the squadron once led by Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron." I had thought they had made him a baron for doing good, he was one. Manfred died after being shot down by a camaflouged Australian machine gun battery as he was going for his 81st kill, a British officer ran up saying do you know who that was?.....a Fritz......That was the famous Baron von Richthofen. Manfred was "25," war is a young man's game. Von Clausewitz the acclaimed Prussian military stategist said that the best soldiers are 18-26. Anyway, Goering joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and rose quickly due to Hitler's recognition of his organizational skills and that he was a war hero. Wounded in the groin in the "Beer Hall Putsch" in Munich on Nov. 9, 1923 he became a morphine addict to deal with the pain and remained such until forced to go Cold Turkey after WW II had ended. After Hitler became Chancellor in January, 1933 Goering also became more important and in 1935 was made Commander of the Luftwaffe and in 1940 was promoted by Hitler to Reichsmarchall and 2nd only to Hitler and designated as Hitler's successor. By 1942 Goering's stature had been greatly reduced due to the Luftwaffe's failures although he remained Hitler's 2nd. As the war was ending Goering turned himself in to the Americans on May 9, 1945 and the American Officers and Goering spent the night in drinking, eating and making merry, upon hearing this Eisenhower was furious. Tried at Nuremberg as one of 22 defendants (Nov. 21, 1945 to Oct. 1, 1946) Goering made a good defense and was able to poke holes in the prosecutions' assertions and won many over with his jocular personality. But he couldn't overcome that he had been head of he slave labor program and that he had signed orders that sent Jews and others to their deaths. Goering was 1 of 12 sentenced to hang. Robert Taft, the son of Pres. and Chief Justice William Howard Taft and later to be Senate Majority Leader known as "Mr. Republican," said that this was "Victor's Justice," and that these trials and punishments had no basis in international law. I first read of this in high school when I read John Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage." And of course he was right, probably all 12 got what they deserved but there was no legal basis for it, basically it was a lynch mob. Goering asked to be shot due to his military rank and the Americans said he should hang like a criminal. Jack G. Wheelis was an American Lieutenant in charge of the baggage room and became friends with Goering. They were both extroverted and liked to hunt. On Oct. 15, 1945 the 12 condemned were being led out to be hung except for Goering who had ingested cyanide, it was widely thought that Wheelis had gotten them from the baggage room for Goering. If he was his friend then this was what he had to do. A lot of big people were mad at Wheelis over this and he didn't live that long. Goering's suicide 2 hours before he was to be hung was a black eye for the victors as he was the Star, the only one remaining of Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler. Goering and the others had been tried under Ex Post Facto laws and considering Goering's dire position he made the best of things by getting the last laugh on those who would hang him. Master Sergeant John C. Woods made a hash of the hangings with the 11 hung having the trap door smack them in the face and dangling for great lengths of time and it's thought that he was possibly a sadist. At any rate Sergeant Woods died from being accidentally electrocuted in the Marshall Islands in 1950 although it's too much for us to believe that he died while testing an electric chair.