Saturday, February 27, 2010

If You Have Talent....

The Texas Country Reporter is a weekly television show that travels the state looking for stories that are different and interesting. I think this one meets those requirements.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Catching up-February Edition

Nothing has made my list of must-comment subjects recently, so I’ll do the potpourri thing again.

You might have read in the national news that there have been a series of church burnings in East Texas. Well, they’ve charged two young men with the crime. One was an honor student in high school, regular church goer, a talented artist and an Eagle Scout. Yep, he got into drugs. Sad to say, but they both lived within a few miles of our house. They burned ten churches in four counties before they were caught. Story is that they were turned in by a sister of one of the boys. She happens to be a dispatcher with a local law enforcement entity.

The law says they could get life in prison, but despite the anger in this Bible thumping part of the state, I doubt they will get that much.

The Lindale motels are filled with folks from the Extreme Makeover television show. They are going to build a house for a family in the Tyler area. We don’t know exactly where, but it should be revealed later this week. Everything has to be hush-hush until the builders have been assembled and trained. So far, over 300 construction workers have volunteered.

Got our second taste of snow earlier this week, and every flake adds to the decades-old record. Temperatures have been 10-20 degrees below normal all month, with only three days over 50 degrees. Normal for February is 60-65. Thanks for the global warming, Al, we’d really be freezing our buns if things were normal.

The weather seems to be keeping the birds from migrating, and I’m tired of feeding the hungry little buggers. They manage to empty the feeder at least once every day. I'll run out feed bythis weekend, and then the welfare is going to be cut off. They can clean up their spillage and then point their little beaks north

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Flaky Internet Service

Cloudy skies and light snow have made our internet service flaky again, so while I can get on, I'll share the link to a good read about this nation's state of affairs.

Link

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Great Minds Think Alike?...or Zoomies are nuts?

It appears that I'm not the only one who saw the Joe Stack suicide attack as a frightening first symptom of citizen frustration gone amok. This widely known author mirrors my thoughts, right down to the canary in the coal mine similitude.

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2010/02/journal-rage-against-the-machine.html

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Canary in a Coal Mine?

Is Joe Stack, the pilot who flew a plane into the Austin IRS office, the canary in the coal mine? Is this the beginning of blood in the streets?

There is no doubt the man was deranged and morally weak to take the lives of innocent people in his battle with the IRS, but he had experienced enough government ignorance and incompetence to send him over the edge.

Another man bulldozed his $300,000 home to send a message to the banks who were trying to foreclose and the IRS who destroyed his business.

One man was willing to die to send a message, and another is willing to go to jail to prove his point. At what point do stronger people say they have had enough?

Will the government take steps against private plane ownership and operation in a knee-jerk reaction to one incident? Will they step on the tea party goers with jack boots in an attempt to intimidate those who protest against an incompetent, overbearing government?

The idiots in Washington had better seriously look at these and other recent events and ask themselves if their policies and their disregard for the Constitution will only invite more extreme reactions from a frustrated populace.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Old Guard






If you ever had the honor to wear the uniform of our country, you can't help but hold these soldiers in awe. The guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier come from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment...The Old Guard...and I salute each and every one of them for their dedication and love of country.

Photos courtesy of Dan Bell from a post at: www.old hippie.com

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

New Toyota Lawnmower


I make no bones about my dislike for Toyota and Honda, but I do think Toyota is getting unfair treatment in the media. That said, it sure is fun to poke fun at the arrogant SOB's.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Winter Has Arrived


This picture was taken just after dawn yesterday.

A long power outage is a marvelous way to remind us how spoiled and dependent we have become on the outside world.

When the storm arrived Thursday afternoon, I expected to see the the ground white in the morning, but when I got up, about 5" had already accumulated and it was still snowing heavily. At dawn, both the Internet and television were down, and our power was off by 10 AM.

It was a long, dark, uncomfortable night, but the kerosene heater I bought last month kept the house temperature in the high 50's, so our suffering was minimal. Last night turned into a three dog night that was cold enough to make Cricket burrow under the covers and convince the two big dogs to snuggle together at the foot of the bed. I always wondered what that saying meant, but now I know.

What a wonderful surprise to return from eating dinner in town tonight to be greeted by lights, Internet, a furnace cranking out a bunch of btu's, and a television signal again!

I think the time has arrived to seriously consider buying an emergency generator.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Muslim Mafia

frontpagemag.com
The religion of peace is exposed once again.

Dave Gaubatz, the author of the book discussed in this interview, and his family were Thanksgiving dinner guests at our house back in 2001 or 2002. Judy had sold them a house when he retired from the Air Force, and being a people person, she often invited her clients to join us for holidays dinner. He had recently been hired by the US Government (CIA?) and his family was living in the DFW area while he attended Arab language school. His son, Chris, also rented a room in a rental house we had in Denton.

I only recall that Dave was a quiet, soft-spoken guy, and little did I know that he would be the first American civilian to enter Iraq with the invasion, or that he would be involved in the rescue of the Iraqi lawyer who saved the life of POW, Jessica Lynch, or that he would write a book about terrorism.

You never know who you will rub shoulders with as you stumble through life.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

They Called Him a Nut

Two years ago, when Rep. Ron Paul was running for president and warning what a mess our country would be in by this time, he was called a radical nut. Now that many of his predictions have come to pass, he suddenly sounds like one of the few rational voices in Washington.

I watched an interview with his son, Rand, a few months ago and was very impressed. He doesn't come off as an extremist in any way, and has the common sense of his father. Rand is now running for the senate in Kentucky and has been endorsed by Sarah Palin, which gives him a lot of credibility.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Canada Is Now Safer

If you want to see how our country will look if the Democrats stay in power, we only have to look north of the border. Government health care programs that are broke and broken, and here is the intelligent application of their gun laws that make Canadian citizens safe from crime.
Take Their Guns