Self-esteem Saturday

Feeling down?  Struggling to get motivated?  Well, here's a Beavis & Butt-head classic from Phys Ed coach and Marine Corps veteran Bradley Buzzcut to help get you out of that rut:

Sunday's Quote: Defending the (seemingly) indefensible

Yesterday I came across an individual (online) who chose to rail against the placement of the Confederate flag on the grounds of the State capital in Columbia, South Carolina.  Here's my response:

"When someone can adequately explain why such an appreciable uprising of mostly underprivileged, non-slave-holding Southerners would even consider battling against their brethren of the logistically superior North to maintain a slavery establishment perpetuated by the wealthiest 6% of the Confederate populace (according to the U.S. Census of 1860), then, and only then, are you able to convince any thinking individual about the malignancy of the Southern Cause.

"Those who fly the Confederate banner to demonstrate a hatred of anyone do not require a symbolism to exhibit their disdain.  If the Confederacy had never existed, they would still hate.  And let's be especially real about this -- heavy racial issues persist to this day in New York City, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit, stretching all the way to Los Angeles and many points in between.

"Because all arguments against the flag eventually make their way back to a matter of slavery, let us not overlook the fact that human servitude is a phenomenon that has existed on practically every corner of the planet for nearly 4,000 years.  In fact Free the Slaves, a human rights lobby group in Washington, D.C., claim as many as 27 million slaves exist in the world right now.  Yet it's the South that is hit with the inclusive liability of all racial matters while practically all others, past and present, are given a collective pass.

"Eliminate the Confederate flag, and you accomplish nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Convince yourself otherwise if you like, but your energy is better served in other capacities.  God bless."

-- Me, just yesterday responding to the impassioned plea of an anti-Confederate activist.  I have opted to identify neither the person, nor the website, as my innocuous rebuttal was removed just hours after it was posted.  Presumably he accepts comments from like-minded individuals only.

Soldiers of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Regiment, 2nd Marine Division during Operation Moshtarak somewhere in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan.

On This Day in History: March 3, multiple years

Because history matters...

1776 -- The first amphibious landing of the Continental Marines, the forerunner to the United States Marine Corps, begins the Battle of Nassau.  The victors were led by Samuel Nicholas, the first officer commissioned in the United States Continental Marines, and by tradition the first Commandant of the Marine Corps.

1845 -- Florida is admitted as the 27th State.

1915 -- The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor of NASA, is founded.

1923 -- TIME magazine is published for the first time.

1924 -- The 1400-year-old Islamic caliphate (Muslim-centered theocracy) is abolished when Abdul Mejid II of the Ottoman Empire is deposed.

1931 -- The United States officially adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as our national anthem.

1938 -- Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.  They've been a pain in the ass ever since.