September 8, 2007, 12:14 pm  I tend to forget that the Revolutionary War included the southern states too. Washington’s army and the battles in Boston and New York seem to grab most of my attention, but the Carolinas played an important role in the war. Jimmy Carter portrayed this in his historical novel “The Hornet’s Nest,” which was unfortunately marred by poor writing.
In 1780 Cornwallis’ forces occupied South Carolina and began a push into North Carolina. While there were many loyalists in the area, there were also a number of neutrals—folks up in the mountains who just wanted to be left alone. Cornwallis believed these people could be swayed to the British side and made some threats to push them into the British camp. Bad move. Mountain men don’t like to have their property and families threatened, so they took action.
At King’s Mountain about 1,000 militia men loyal to Britain (not regular British army, but colonists) were engaged by about an equal number of patriot militia men. The patriots had no military training, but they were superb hunters with rifles and they used their skills effectively. It was a decisive patriot victory. It altered British strategy in regard to the Carolinas, and it gave the patriots a much needed morale boost and hope. The battle is considered a turning point in the war.
In another sense, I think the battle showed how new technology (the rifle as opposed to the musket) coupled with new strategies and tactics (dispersed fire from cover) exploited the weakness of the British system of warfighting.
September 7, 2007, 12:12 pm After a relatively uneventful flight to Charlotte yesterday, we’re feeling the effects of jet lag. I say relatively uneventful because we were only delayed an hour at our flight change in Dallas because the aircraft needed a new brake assembly, wheel, and tire. It made some strange squealing noises as it seated in (I guess) during taxi, but the plane stopped straight as an arrow when we landed. I think we’re feeling jet lagged not just from the time change, but from lack of sleep (we’re not used to all the motel noises at night—air conditioner, ice machine, vehicles, etc.). We have been planning to hike at Chimney Rock, but we may just take it easy and head to our motel in Asheville early and crash.
September 6, 2007, 12:10 pm I guess I’m not surprised by all the uproar over Apple cutting the price of the iPhone, but I’m kind of puzzled by the thinking processes of the early adopters. There is always a price to be an early adopter—usually enduring early bugs, but price drops are likely somewhere in the life-cycle of the product. I think Apple customers have always reacted this way whenever there has been a price cut on a product. The only thing unusual with the iPhone is that the $200 price cut came after just 2 months.
Clearly, the folks who plunked down $600 on day 1 for an iPhone felt the product was worth it. In fact, they were probably pretty elated. Whether they knew it or not, they also agreed to terms and conditions that gave them a 14 day price protection. So why do they feel so ripped off now, to the point where many of the complaints sound to me as if they are arguing Apple should not have dropped the price. I can understand being angry with yourself over a decision like this, but why be angry with Apple?
Ah well… my iPhone was 13 days old when the price drop was announced, so a quick trip to the store netted me about $100/week 🙂
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Consider this:“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7 |