Taps

We in the United States have all heard the haunting song, "Taps." It's the
song that gives us that lump in our throats and usually tears in our eyes.
But, do you know the story behind the song? If not, I think you will be
interested to find out about its humble beginnings.

Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War,when Union Army
Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison's Landing in
Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of
land.

During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay
severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate
soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man
back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the
Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his
encampment. When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered
it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead. The Captain
lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In
the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy
had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling
his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his
superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status.
His request was only partially granted. The Captain had asked if he could
have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the
funeral.

The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of
respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician.
The Captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical
notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth's
uniform. This wish was granted. The haunting melody, we now know as "Taps"
... used at military funerals was born. The words are ...

Day is done ... Gone the sun ... From the lakes ... From the hills ..

From the sky ... All is well ... Safely rest ... God is nigh ...

Fading light ... Dims the sight ... And a star ... Gems the sky ...

Gleaming bright ... From afar ... Drawing nigh ... Falls the night ...

Thanks and praise ... For our days ... Neath the sun .. Neath the stars,..

Neath the sky ... As we go ... This we know ... God is nigh ...

I, too, have felt the chills while listening to "Taps" but I have never seen
all the words to the song until now. I didn't even know there was more than
one verse. I also never knew the story behind the song and I didn't know if
you had either so I thought I'd pass it along. I now have an even deeper
respect for the song than I did before.

LET US ALWAYS REMEMBER THOSE LOST AND HARMED
WHILE SERVING THEIR COUNTRY.

~Via email

IGNORANCE IS ONE THING. . . . .
. . . . .STUPIDITY IS JUST UNEXCUSABLE!

Brain Cramps

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should
not live forever, because if we were supposed to live
forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live
forever, which is why I would not live forever,"
--Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.
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"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world,
I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all
those flies and death and stuff." --Mariah Carey
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"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life,"
--Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for the
federal anti-smoking campaign.
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"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body,"
--Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.
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"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in
the country,"--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC.
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"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers.
We are the president."
--Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.
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"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass,
and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas.
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"I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them.
There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the
Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves." --John Wayne
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"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
--Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark
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"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in
our air and water that are doing it." --Al Gore, Vice President
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"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." --Dan Quayle
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"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"--Lee Iacocca
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"I was provided with additional input that was radically different from the
truth. I assisted in furthering that version."
--Colonel Oliver North, from his Iran-Contra testimony.
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"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like
Norman Einstein."--Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.
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"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of
people."--Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.
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"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." --Bill Clinton, President
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"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." --Al Gore, VP
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"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery
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"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we
received notice that you passed away. May God bless you.
You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."
--Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina
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"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they
go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the
next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record."
--Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman
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~Via email

Marketing 101

Several women asked for an explanation of Marketing. Perhaps
the following analogies will help clear it up:

You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and say,
"I'm fantastic in bed."
-- That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome
guy. One of your friends goes up to him and pointing at you says,
"She's fantastic in bed."
-- That's Advertising.

You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get his
telephone number. The next day you call and say,
"Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
-- That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. You get up and straighten
your dress. You walk up to him and pour him a drink. You say,
"May I," and reach up to straighten his tie brushing your breast lightly
against his arm, and then say,
"By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
-- That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to you and says,
"I hear you're fantastic in bed."
-- That's Brand Recognition.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. You talk him into
going home with your friend.
-- That's a Sales Rep.

Your friend can't satisfy him so he calls you.
-- That's Tech Support.

You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be
handsome men in all these houses you're passing. So you climb onto the
roof of one situated toward the center and shout at the top of your lungs,
"I'm fantastic in bed!"
-- That's Spam.

~Via Email

STUPID GROUNDHOG!

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

CLASSIC VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer
long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances
and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm
and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so
he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer
long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances
and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering
grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know
why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed
while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the
shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his
comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be,
that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is
allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah
with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing
"It's Not Easy Being Green."
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's
house where the news stations film the group singing "We
shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to
pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Al Gore exclaims in an interview with Peter Jennings that
the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and
calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his
"fair share." Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity
and Anti-Grasshopper Act," retroactive to the beginning of
the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate
number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his
retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper
in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried
before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a
list of single-parent welfare recipients.
The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the
grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while
the government house he is in, which just happens to be the
ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't
maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and
the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders
who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: VOTE REPUBLICAN

~Via Email

Hope Forsaken

Seven beautiful precious lives lost in the cold abyss,
Only moments from the warmth and safety of earth.
Hot fragments raining down, scattered, barely miss!
Bringing to a shattered end our space travel birth

~Whurl