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[CigarBanter]

Dang, it's Tuesday again?  In between insults we'll occasionally discuss cigars.  Join in and perhaps learn something along the way.  Be warned, post on this site and you will catch hell from members and trolls alike.  Therefore, don't proceed if you have thin skin.  If you can accept all that, light a cigar, pour a beverage and welcome aboard!

[IrascibleOldFool]

Good morning everyone!

[TruDog]

The Ohio State University...

[LSUFAN]

Good morning guys.

[LSUFAN]

4 Nub Special Edition Box-Pressed Maduro
         10/39.99
 3 Brick House Robusto
          5/24.10
 2 Man O' War Immortal
         10/39.99
 1 E.P. Carrillo Dark Rituals
             5/25.00

[LSUFAN]

Arthur "Doc" Barker is killed while trying to escape from Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay. Barker, of the notorious "Bloody Barkers" gang, was spotted on the rock-strewn shore of the island after climbing over the walls. Despite the fact that guards were ordering him to surrender, Barker continued tying pieces of wood together into a makeshift raft. As he waded into the water, the guards shot and killed him.

Doc Barker, along with his brothers Herman, Lloyd, and Fred, and their mother, the infamous Ma Barker, formed one of the more formidable criminal gangs of the 1920s and 1930s. Carrying out a series of bank robberies and kidnappings throughout the Midwest, Ma shrewdly paid off officials in towns all over the region, allowing the gang to avoid the law for long stretches of time.

In 1934, with their pictures in all of the newspapers, Doc and Fred Barker tried to change their appearance through plastic surgery. They enlisted Dr. Joseph Moran to conduct the operations, including removing their fingerprints. But the plan was a disaster, and each ended up with terrible scars, infected fingers, and recognizable faces anyway. Dr. Moran was adopted into the gang as a matter of necessity, but when he started to talk about their activities to a prostitute, the Barkers killed him.

On January 8, 1935, FBI agents, led by Melvin Purvis, captured Doc Barker in Chicago, Illinois. As he searched Barker, Purvis reportedly asked, "Where's your gun?" Barker replied, "Home—and ain't that a place for it?" Eight days later, Fred and Ma Barker were pinned down at their hideout in Florida. A massive gun battle left both of them dead.

[LSUFAN]

On January 13, 1842, a British army doctor reaches the British sentry post at Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the lone survivor of a 16,000-strong Anglo-Indian expeditionary force that was massacred in its retreat from Kabul. He told of a terrible massacre in the Khyber Pass, in which the Afghans gave the defeated Anglo-Indian force and their camp followers no quarter.

In the 19th century, Britain, with a goal of protecting its Indian colonial holdings from Russia, tried to establish authority in neighboring Afghanistan by attempting to replace Emir Dost Mohammad with a former emir known to be sympathetic to the British. This blatant British interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs triggered the outbreak of the first Anglo-Afghan War in 1839.

Dost Mohammad surrendered to British forces in 1840 after the Anglo-Indian army had captured Kabul. However, after an Afghan revolt in Kabul the British had no choice but to withdraw. The withdrawal began on January 6, 1842, but bad weather delayed the army's progress. The column was attacked by swarms of Afghans led by Mohammad's son, and those who were not killed outright in the attack were later massacred by the Afghan soldiers. A total of 4,500 soldiers and 12,000 camp followers were killed. Only one man, Dr. William Bryden, escaped to recount the details of the military disaster.

In retaliation, another British force invaded Kabul in 1843, burning a portion of the city. In the same year, the war came to an end, and in 1857 Emir Dost Mohammad, who had been restored to power in 1843, signed an alliance with the British. In 1878, the Second Anglo-Afghan War began, which ended two years later with Britain winning control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs.

[LSUFAN]

In the charity ward of New York's Bellevue Hospital, Stephen Foster, America's first professional songwriter, dies at the age of 37.

Stephen Foster was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1826--the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He developed his talent for music early and while still young began to compose in the style of African-American minstrel music. His first hit as a professional songwriter was "Oh! Susanna," which he sold to a publisher for $100 in 1848. In 1849, he was hired to write songs for the minstrel troupe of E.P. Christy; "The Old Folks at Home" (also known as "Swanee River") was among the most popular from this period. Between 1850 and 1860, Foster wrote many of his most famous songs, including "Camptown Races" and "My Old Kentucky Home."

Despite his success, copyright laws were rarely enforced in music at the time, and he reaped few financial rewards from the widespread performance and publication of his songs. In 1857, economic difficulties led him to sell all rights to his future songs for just under $2,000. Near the end of his brief life, he lived alone in New York City and suffered from alcoholism. In 1864, he died in Bellevue Hospital. He had been taken to the hospital after suffering from a protracted fever which left him so weak that he collapsed and hit his head on a washbasin. Foster composed more than 200 songs in his lifetime, many of which are still popular today.

[LSUFAN]

On this day in 1898, French writer Emile Zola's inflammatory newspaper editorial, entitled "J'accuse," is printed. The letter exposed a military cover-up regarding Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus, a French army captain, had been accused of espionage in 1894 and sentenced in a secret military court-martial to imprisonment in a South American penal colony. Two years later, evidence of Dreyfus' innocence surfaced, but the army suppressed the information. Zola's letter excoriated the military for concealing its mistaken conviction.

Zola was a well-known writer who had published his first story collection more than three decades earlier. A high school dropout, he had worked in the sales department of a major French publisher, who encouraged his writing and published his first book. He became one of the most famous writers in France with the publication of his 1877 hit, The Drunkard, part of his 20-novel cycle exploring the lives of two families.

Zola's letter provoked national outrage on both sides of the issue, among political parties, religious organizations, and others. Supporters of the military sued Zola for libel. He was convicted and sentenced to one year's imprisonment, but he fled France to avoid the sentence. In 1899, Dreyfus was pardoned, but for political reasons was not exonerated until 1906. Zola returned to France shortly after Dreyfus' pardon, and died in 1902.

[LSUFAN]

On January 13, 1999, the National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls announces his retirement from professional basketball, for the second time, in front of a crowd at Chicago’s United Center.

Jordan had an outstanding college career, but left the University of North Carolina after his junior year when he was selected by the Chicago Bulls as the third-overall pick in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft. Jordan helped the Bulls make the playoffs in each of his first six seasons on the team. In 1991, he got to his first NBA finals, where he led his team to the first of three consecutive championships.

Shaken and disillusioned by the murder of his father and an NBA investigation into allegations of illegal betting (of which he was eventually cleared), Jordan announced his retirement from basketball in 1993. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox baseball team and was assigned to a White Sox affiliate team, the Birmingham Barons. Though his very presence on the field drew crowds, Jordan batted only .202 in his first summer, striking out 114 times in 127 games. By March 1995, he had decided to put down his bat and return to the basketball court.

After a disappointing finish in the 1994-95 season, Jordan (aided by his old allies Scottie Pippen and Coach Phil Jackson, as well as the new star Dennis Rodman), turned things around for the Bulls. Jordan led the league in scoring that year with 30.4 points per game and helped his team to a 72-10 record, the best regular season finish in the history of the NBA. The Bulls won three more consecutive NBA championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998, becoming the first team in league history to win three straight championships twice. In his 12 full seasons with the Bulls, Jordan was voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player five times and won six NBA Finals MVP awards, one for each final his Bulls played.

Jordan’s second retirement announcement, in January 1999, came after bitter tension between General Manager Jerry Krause and Coach Jackson resulted in Jackson’s leaving Chicago. Though he had earlier stated publicly that he would not play for any coach besides Jackson, Jordan explained his decision to retire by saying he had lost the drive and desire that was necessary to continue playing at such a high level, and that he wanted to spend more time with his family. When asked if there was a chance he would come back, Jordan said he was "99.9 percent" sure he would not.

In January 2000, Jordan became part-owner and president of basketball operations of the Washington Wizards, a struggling NBA franchise. After the Wizards won only 19 games in Jordan’s first full season in this position, he decided to rebuild the team, hiring the former Bulls coach Doug Collins. Most surprisingly, the 38-year-old Jordan got himself into playing shape and came out of retirement yet again in September 2001 as a free agent with the Wizards. Though he scored his 30,000th career point on January 4, 2002, against his former team, the Bulls, Jordan was never able to lead the Wizards into playoff competition. He retired for the third and final time on April 16, 2003, and is widely considered to have been the greatest player in the history of the sport.

[LSUFAN]

On this day, representatives of nine German-occupied countries meet in London to declare that all those found guilty of war crimes would be punished after the war ended. Among the signatories to the declaration were Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski and French Gen. Charles de Gaulle. The core of the declaration was the promise of "the punishment, through the channels of organized justice, of those guilty of, or responsible for, these crimes, whether they have ordered them, perpetrated them, or participated in them."

Knowledge of German atrocities occurring in Poland and Russia were reaching both the Allied governments and the exiles from the countries in which the butchering of innocents was taking place. News of Jews, political dissidents, and clergy being systematically murdered, tortured, or transported to labor camps as the Nazi ideology advanced along with Hitler's armed forces increased the resolve and solidarity among the Allies to defeat the Axis.

Also on this day: President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the U.S. War Production Board, with business executive Donald M. Nelson as its chairman.

This was not the first time Roosevelt called on Nelson. In 1940, the president asked Nelson, then executive vice president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., to head up the National Defense Advisory Commission. As Roosevelt established agency after agency to coordinate the transition of industry from peacetime to wartime production, Nelson skipped among jobs, becoming director of purchases for the Office of Production Management and, in August 1941, director of the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board. The War Production Board, created to establish order out of the chaos of meeting extraordinary wartime demands and needs, replaced the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board.

As chairman, Nelson oversaw the largest war production in history, often clashing with civilian factories over the most efficient means of converting to wartime use and butting heads with the armed forces over priorities. Despite early success, Nelson made a major judgement error in June 1944, on the eve of the Normandy invasion, when he allowed certain plants that had reached the end of their government/military production contracts to reconvert to civilian use. The military knew the war was far from over and feared a sudden shortage of vital supplies. A political battle ensued, and Nelson was eased out of his office and reassigned by the president to be his personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek in China.

[dwgbryant]

Good morning Chip. We have reading material this morning.
Punch BareKnuckle robusto and coffee here.

[LSUFAN]

Car Accident
-------------------------

A man wakes up in the hospital, bandaged from head to foot. The doctor comes in and says, 'Ah, I see you've regained consciousness. Now, you probably won't remember, but you were in a pile-up on the freeway. You're going to be okay, you'll walk again and everything, but..... something happened. I'm trying to break this gently, but the fact is, your willy was chopped off in the wreck and we were unable to find it.'

The man groans, but the doctor goes on, 'You've got $9,000 in insurance compensation coming and we have the technology now to build you a new willy that will work as well as your old one did - better in fact! But the thing is, it doesn't come cheap. It's $1,000 an inch.'

The man perks up at this. 'So,' the doctor says, 'it's for you to decide how many inches you want. But it's something you'd better discuss with your
wife. I mean, if you had a five inch one before, and you decide to go for a nine incher, she might be a bit put out. But if you had a nine inch one before, and you decide only to invest in a five incher this time, she might be disappointed. So it's important that she plays a role in helping you make the decision.'

The man agrees to talk with his wife. The doctor comes back the next day.
'So,' says the doctor, 'have you spoken with your wife?'

'I have,' says the man.

'And has she helped you in making the decision?'

'Yes, she has,' says the man.

'And what is it?' asks the doctor.

'We're getting granite countertops.'

[LSUFAN]

“Try and live your life
the way you wish
other people would live theirs.”
~ Raymond Burr

[LSUFAN]

Birthdays today

1936 - Edward R Madigan, (Rep-R-IL, 1973- )
1936 - Renato Bruson, Italian operatic baritone
1938 - Billy Gray, actor (Bud-Father Knows Best), born in Los Angeles, California
1938 - Paavo Johannes Heininen, composer
1938 - William B. Davis, Canadian actor
1938 - Tord Grip, Swedish football manager
1939 - Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
1940 - Edmund White, American author
1941 - Meinhard Nehmer, German DR, 2 man bobsledder (Olympic-gold-1976)
1941 - Pasqual Maragall, Spanish politician
1943 - Richard Moll, Cal, actor (Night Court, House, Dungeonmaster, Survivor)
1943 - William Duckworth, composer
1945 - [Eileen] Joy[ce] Chant [Rutter], UK, sci-fi author (High Kings)
1946 - Eero Koivistoinen, Finnish musician
1947 - John Lees, England, rock guitarist/vocalist (Medicine Man)
1947 - Peter Sundelin, Sweden, yachtsmen (Olympic-gold-1968)
1947 - Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Kraków
1947 - Carles Rexach, former Spanish-Catalan footballer and coach
1948 - Kenia Jayantilal, cricketer (5 at Kingston 71 his only inns for India)
1948 - Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
1949 - Brandon Tartikoff, TV exec (NBC)
1949 - Rakesh Sharma, India, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-11)
1950 - Bob Forsch, American baseball player
1950 - John McNaughton, American film director
1952 - Cornelius Bumpus, keyboardist (Doobie Bros-Minute by Minute)
1952 - Sharon Gabet, Fort Wayne IN, actress (Edge of Night, Another World)
1954 - Vicki McCarty, playmate (Sep, 1979), born in Los Angeles, California
1955 - Fred White, rocker (Earth Wind & Fire-Shining Star, Easy Lover)
1955 - Jay McInerney, author (Bright Lights, Big City)
1955 - Titus M Mafolo, S Afr journalist/ANC-leader
1955 - Trevor Rabin, rocker (Yes)
1955 - Paul Kelly, Australian singer
1956 - Janet Hubert-Whitten, actress (Vivian Banks-Fresh Prince of Bel Air)
1956 - Jay McInerney, writer (Bright Lights, Big City)
1956 - Malcolm Foster, rock bassist (Pretenders-Mystery Achievement)
1957 - Christina Seufert, Sacraento California, diver (Olympic-bronze-1984)
1957 - Don Snow, rocker (Squeeze)
1957 - Mark Francis O'Meara, Goldsboro NC, PGA golfer (1984 Greater Milw)
1957 - Lorrie Moore, American writer
1958 - Ricardo Acuna, Chile, tennis star
1959 - James Lomenzo, American musician (Megadeth)
1960 - Kevin Anderson, American actor (Hoffa, Sleeping with the Enemy), born in Gurnee Illinois
1960 - Takis Lemonis, Greek footballer and coach
1961 - Graham "Suggs" McPherson, Sussex, rock vocalist (Madness-Our House)
Seinfeld Comedienne Julia Louis-DreyfusSeinfeld Comedienne Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961)
1961 - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, comedienne (SNL, Seinfeld, Soul Man, Troll), born in NYC, New York
1961 - Kelly Hrudey, Edmonton, NHL goalie (LA Kings)
1961 - Kent Hull, NFL center (Buffalo Bills)
1961 - Suggs, English singer
1962 - Brett Maxie, NFL safety (Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers)
1962 - Kevin Mitchell, US baseball outfielder (NY Met, SF Giants, Cin Reds)
1963 - Dirk Tazelaar, cricketer (Queensland & Surrey left-arm pace bowler)
1963 - Felita Carr, Fort Lauderdale Fl, dance skater (& Komarov-1995 Pac Champ)
1963 - Tim Patrick Kelly, Trenton NJ, guitarist (Slaughter-Stick it Live)
1963 - Kevin McClatchy, American businessman
1964 - Penelope Ann Miller, LA Ca, actress (Kindergarden Cop) [or Feb 13]
1964 - Ronan Rafferty, Northern Irish golfer
1966 - Joseph Harper, Ventura California, American canoeist (alt-Olympics-96)
1966 - Marcus Turner, NFL cornerback/safety (NY Jets)
Actor Patrick DempseyActor Patrick Dempsey (1966)
1966 - Patrick Dempsey, Lewiston Me, actor (Mike-Fast Times)
1966 - Tabitha Stevens, fictional character (Bewitched)
1967 - Annie Jones, Australian actress
1967 - George Paterson, Scottish singer/songwriter DMP
1968 - Kelly Boucher, Canadian basketball forward (Olympics-96), born in Calgary, Alberta
1968 - Mike Whitlow, English footballer
1968 - Chara, Japanese singer and actress
1969 - Andre Cason, US runner (world record 50 indoor)
1969 - Dan Footman, NFL defensive end (Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts)
1969 - John Flannery, guard/corner (Dallas Cowboys)
1969 - Katarzyna Nowak, Lodz Poland, tennis star (1994 Futures France)
1969 - Kevin Foster, US baseball pitcher (Chicago Cubs)
1969 - Orlando Miller, Changionola Panama, infielder (Houston Astros)
1969 - Robert Wilson, NFL running back (Miami Dolphins)
1969 - Stephen Hendry, Edinburgh, Scottish professional snooker player
1970 - Anne-Marie Goddard, Utrechtum Netherlands, playmate (Jan, 94)
1970 - Frank Kooiman, soccer player (Sparta)
1970 - Keith Coogan, Palm Springs, California, American actor (Jeffrey-Waltons, Gun Shy)
1970 - Nachi Abe, WLAF tight end (Scotland Claymores)
1970 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
1970 - Shonda Rhimes, American screenwriter/creator Grey's Anatomy
1971 - Elmer Dessens, Hermosillo Mexico, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1971 - John Mallory Asher, American film actor/director
1972 - Byron "Bam" Morris, NFL running back (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1972 - Nicole Eggert, Glendale California, actress (Charles in Charge, Baywatch)
1972 - Richard Woodley, NFL cornerback (Detroit Lions)
1972 - Atoosa Rubenstein, Iranian-born American magazine editor
1972 - Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
1973 - Nikolai Khabibulin, Sverdlovsk Russia, NHL goalie (Winnipeg Jets)
1973 - Gloria Yip, Hong Kong actor
1974 - Matt Lepsis, NFL tackle (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl 32)
1974 - Sergei Brylin, Moscow Russia, NHL center (NJ Devils)
1975 - Angela Holbeck, Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1976 - Gary Brent, cricketer (Zimbabwe ODI pace bowler 1996)
1976 - Vaclav Batlik, Costa Mesa California, American canoeist (alt-Olympics-96)
1976 - Michael Peńa, American actor
Actor Orlando BloomActor Orlando Bloom (1977)
1977 - Orlando Bloom, Kent England, English actor (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings)
1977 - James Posey, American basketball player
1979 - Jill Wagner, American Actor
1980 - Krzysztof Czerwinski, Polish conductor and organist
1980 - Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
1980 - Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
1980 - Michael Rupp, American ice hockey player
1981 - Reggie Brown, American football player
1981 - Shad Gaspard, American professional wrestler, bodyguard, and actor
1981 - Jason James, Welsh musician (Bullet for My Valentine)
1981 - Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
1982 - Guillermo Coria, Argentine tennis player
1983 - Julian Morris, English actor
1983 - William Hung, American Idol contestant
1983 - Ronny Turiaf, French basketball player
1986 - Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater
1989 - Bryan Arguez, American soccer player
1989 - Triinu Kivilaan, Estonian singer