NOVEMBER 30 — 1993 Brady Bill goes into effect; 1864 Battle of Franklin; 1977 Happy birthday ElectroHouse Music Genius Steve Aoki
NOVEMBER 30
1993 – Brady Bill goes into effect. Here’s a quick story on that and we’ll get to the debate on gun control. In 1981 press secretary to President Ronald Reagan James Brady took a bullet in the head for the president. Reagan would be shot in the left lung but recuperate and would be back in the White House two weeks later. Brady also made a remarkable recovery and became a leading proponent of gun control legislation. He got a bill going and President Bill Clinton signed it on November 30, 1993. The bill basically requires a five business day wait period while authorities check on the gun buyer’s background during which time the sale is either approved or prohibited based on an established set of criteria. Alright. Now the debate. It tends to bring the worst in many people, especially after a few cocktails.
These debates often lead to name calling, insults, and other childlike behavior. According to wiki, Gun control supporters say that broad or unrestricted gun rights inhibit the government from fulfilling that responsibility.[2]:1–3[3] Gun rights supporters promote firearms for self-defense, hunting, sporting activities, and security against tyranny.[4]:96[5] Gun control advocates state that keeping guns out of the hands of criminals results in safer communities, while gun rights advocates state that firearm ownership by law-abiding citizens reduces crime. Look, I’m just telling you what people say. Let’s take a look at the polls. According to Gallup in January 2014, 400% like the laws the way they are, and 31% wants stricter gun control, 16% want less. I’m going to stay out of it but I even I can only hold my tongue for so long. I’ll just say this: if you’re going to wear a pink shirt to tell the world you’re for stricter gun laws, you’re telling bad guys who actually do have guns that you’re unprotected. So you might want to rethink that pink shirt thing before you get your wallet stolen. I dare you to tell me I’m wrong there.
1864 – Battle of Franklin. John Schofield V John Bell Hood. The result: not just a Union victory, but more of a Union slap down, otherwise known as the Pickett’s Charge of the West. General William T. Sherman had recently defeated Hood’s forces in Georgia, and now turned his men east in what is known as the March to the Sea. Hood moved north to Tennessee to draw Sherman out of the deep south. Sherman dispatched General George Thomas to Franklin, near Nashville, and Schofield’s forces met up with him there. Hood marched his 30,000 men to Franklin, but Schofield’s men marched right past him. Hood was furious, and attempted to prevent Schofield from reaching Nashville, even though Thomas was already there. Hood’s artillery wing hadn’t show up yet, but Hood went on the attack against the Yankee defenders anyway.
At first the Rebels were able to advance through George Wagner’s center, but Union General Emerson Opdycke disobeyed a direct order from Wagner to fall back and instead plunged his division into the battle and was able to secure the Union line after several hours of fighting. Col. Arthur McArthur Jr. a.k.a., the Boy Colonel, led his 24th Wisconsin unit into the defense and was shot in the shoulder, and kept going, then was shot in the chest, and still moved on. Then McArthur was shot in the leg, and was carried by his troops to safety. His son, Douglas McArthur, would of course be of huge help later on in WWII, incidentally. Speaking of casualties, the Yankees suffered about 2300, with 189 dead, and the Rebels lost nearly three times that amount, including 1700 killed. Out of the 6400 casualties, an astonishing six of them were Confederate generals, and 55 were regiment officers. The loss was a huge blow to the Confederate army, and two weeks later in Nashville, Hood would fight again with more disastrous results.
1931 – Happy birthday Bill Walsh, inventor of the West Coast offense. When he was a young lad he was not a great football player. But his love for the game helped him to be a good coach, then later the best. He began his career as a head coach at Washington Union High School in Fremont, California. The team at the time was on a 27 game losing streak, but when Walsh took over he turned them into conference champions the next season. He went on to work for Cal, Stanford, and then moved to the NFL and Raiders and Bengals. In 1977 he got his first head coaching job for the Stanford Cardinals and led them to two bowl victories in two seasons.
In 1979, he took over the 49ers. The previous season the 9ers were 2-14. Horrible. Even though they had the worst record in all of football, but within two years they would win the super bowl. Then again in 1984, then again in 1988, when he retired. What made him such an outstanding coach was the West Coast Offence, or the nickel-and-dime offense. Up until this point, football was mostly played by running the ball. With this new offense, quick, short passes on any given down could get the team up the field and into the End zone. It didn’t hurt that Bill Walsh had the magic of Joe Montana and later Steve Young either. Walsh finally died in July 2007. All he need was a blackboard and some chalk. ESPN analyst Beano Cook said that If Walsh was a general; he would be able to overrun Europe with an army from Sweden. Happy birthday, Bill, like a boss!
1977 – happy birthday electro-house musician, record producer, DJ, and music great Steve Aoki.
His daddy was a bad-ass wrestler from Japan who came to America and started a fun and delicious restaurant chain called Benihanua. But this story isn’t about Aoki Sr, much as I love that restaurant, this story’s about Steve and it always has been. He has 800 records under his Dim Mak label, he DJs around 300 shows per year, and pushes health habits such as meditation and exercise through the Steve Aoki Charitable Fund which raises money for global humanitarian relief. Old Man Rocky, playboy of the 70s and 80s, didn’t help his son Steve achieve any of it. In fact, Old Man Rocky used to wonder why Steve was doing gigs and hustling shows trying to sell records when he could’ve been a Benniehaunas regional manager.
Not that everybody doesn’t find stories about tori spelling getting burnt on the grill as hilarious as I do lol, Instead, Steve went out on his own slinging his records at parties and gigs and living in cramped apartments with his road crew. Rocky gave him college money, other than that not one penny. Steve had a lot to prove, growing up in Newport Beach as a dorky rich Asian kid in a white neighborhood. His dad came to America and made millions with the concept of turning a Japanese restaurant into a playhouse.
Rocky was charismatic and barely had time for Steve, already the middle child that he was! Definitely Steve had a lot to prove. So Steve focused on the next project, and the next. Somehow, through maxed out credit cards, he was able to keep the rent paid and his momentum going. He grew a reputation for antics while touring, such as throwing cake in the audience, popping champagne and spraying the crowd, and raft surfing. The apple, as we can see, doesn’t fall far, or in this case, thrown far. Thanks for the idea, dad!
Once Steve started Dim Mak records, he was able to pay off his maxed out credit cards. Tragically, Steve lost Rocky in 2008. Check out the Netflix show about Steve called I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead. This goes on more detail about how Rocky influenced his life. Turned out, he taught Steve well. He’s remixed Kid Cutie, and collaborated with will.i.am, Afrojack, Linkin Park, Iggy Azalea, Lil Jon, Laidback Luke, Fall Out Boy, Blink 182’s Travis Barker, Lil Uzy Vert, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, millions more. He’s won awards for best DJ,, best Set of the Season, Billboard 2007, Best Mix Album of the Year 2008, and MTV Latin America Award 2015. Steve Aoki avoided the stigma of being a first generation American nothing SoCal brat by riding Daddy’s coattails.
He did it all on his own, using passion, will and determination, and course, goal setting.