Ed's Thoughts

The day after

2008-04-28T10:10:00.002-05:00

Well I enjoyed Draft Weekend. Mark and I sat around for two days watching the draft and talking smack. I was disappointed with the Texans Draft. I thought that they reached for Brown OT, when he probably would have been available in the 3rd round. The CB Moulden as their first pick of the 3rd round was horrible! I'd have never selected him. He played for EKyntucky against small school recievers and was only average. Yes he scored very high at the combine, but obviously he doesn't play with heart and is an underachiever. The third pick of Slaton is solid and I think he will be a stud with the zone blocking scheme they use and his acceleration to the hole. He will average 4 yards a carry and is a danger to go all the way everytime he touches the ball. The fourth pick of Okam is a good pick too.

I would have taken Cason CB with first pick, Manningham WR with second, and Choice or Slaton with third pick.

I was really surprised that no recievers made it in the top round of the draft. Jacksonville was on crack when they traded up to 8th, and took Harvey. That was a dumbshit move as he would have been available later in the draft. I think Houston did right to trade back in the first as it gave an extra 3rd round pick. I think Kansas City had the absolute best draft, and the Cowboys did pretty good as well.

Overall I give the Texans a C on this one. I disagree with ever drafting a tweener or a project in the first two rounds. That's the kind of stuff Casserly and Capers did, and we are still rebuilding from that fiasco. I love Kubiak and Smith, so I hope they know what they are doing. Slaton's a great pick. Brown and Moldon....suck!

If Brown can pick up the zone blocking and get mean, maybe he will be worth it. If Molden can convert to safety and play up to his abilities, then maybe he will be worth it. I think there were many better players on the board at the time of the picks. If the Texans really wanted a Tackle they should have stayed at 18 and taken Otah or Cherilus.

Oh well. Here is another video to enjoy:

My Favorite three Days of the Year

2008-04-25T09:19:00.002-05:00

My favorite three days of the year (excluding Christmas)are the first day of the regular season of the NFL, the Superbowl, and the NFL Draft. These are like holidays to me. The past few years Mark Ramsey and I have sat on his couch, marked off draft picks, debated, cussed, ate dip, drank beer, and had a great time. This year is no different. I'm headed to Houston tonight, ready for our annual draft party.

I usually purchase 2 to 3 draft magazines, scour websites, and eventually make my own lists of top players at each position (its the Mel Kiper in me). Yeah I'm an NFL junkie, but I do love it.

Last years draft had alot of depth and some great players. I'd rate it a B for overall Class and talent. This year I'd be hard pressed to rate it a C-, but there are still some studs out there.

Best Quarterbacks of the draft are Brohm and Ryan, though Flacco might be okay. Ryan is tough and can take a hit, but he float his long passes. He'd be best in a west coast short passing attack. Flacco has the strongest arm, but seems to have trouble reading defensive coverages and often uses his arm to force the ball. With time and good coaching, he could be a starter.

There are two stud running backs: McFadden and Mendenhall. These guys are A- guys who could make a great difference on the right team. I'm hoping the Texans take Mendenhall with the 18th pick, but he may not be available then. I also like Ray Rice, he's a throwback that keeps his knees pumping and has the spirit of an Emmitt Smith. J. Stewart is big and solid, but I don't think he's aggressive enough, Mark disagrees. I also like Chris Johnson as a small, but awesomely fast 3rd down back. I think of an old friend, Mark Shapiro, saying, "He could score from there." Which would be from any location on the field.

Fullbacks are WEAK this year. The best being Hillis and Schmitt.

The Wide Recievers are deep this year, but I don't think they are as talented as the top guys last year. In order of preference, I like Kelly, Doucet, Caldwell, Jackson, and Sweed. These guys all go in the first and second round.

Tight Ends are also weak this year, but I love Bennett from A&M. Big, strong and athletic. Maybe 3rd or 4th round pick.

Offensive Tackles are the deepest I've ever seen. Jake Long, Clady, C. Williams, T. Hills, J. Otah, and Cherilus all go early. Hills has lots of upside only recently making the shift to tackle. Cherilus is huge and quick and could be a great left tackle. I like Cousins in later rounds as he is not great, but is versatile and can play any line position.

Offensive Guards are okay this year. Only Greco and maybe Murphy are worth a high pick. I like Greco because he can play Guard or Tackle and could start at either position. Murphy is still learning the position, so look for him to take a few years to develop. I like Crummy for his mean streak, as he makes up for lack of pure talent with lots of heart.
I don’t like McGlynn at all as he is a “tweener” and TWEENERS SUCK! Benedict is a good sleeper. If he overcomes injuries he could be the steal of the draft on the second day. I also like Hale.

Centers are very weak. Sullivan and Lichtenstieger are the only ones I’d take and not until the late 3rd or 4th rounds.

Defensive Ends are deep again, but still not as good as last year. Chris Long is a lock and probable perennial probowler IMHO. Next are Campbell, Merling, Jackson, Gholston, Harvey, Geathers, and Crhis Ellis. Whoever drafts Blake will regret it. He’s a bust waiting to happen.

Defensive Tackles has some talent this year with Dorsey being the head of the class. Ellis is also awesome and I’ve heard rumors of teams wanting to move up to take him over Dorsey! Sims is the only other one that should be taken in the 1st round. I also have my eye on Red Bryant from A&M. He is a sleeper pick and is one of my favorite guys. He’s from Jasper and has made several visits to our high schools. He’s just a classy good guy.

At Inside Linebacker I like Bell, Lofton, Mayo, Wheeler, and Butler. They are all good, but not great. At Outside Linebacker, only two are worth a 1st or 2nd round pick: Rivers and Groves. Hayes, Connor, and Henderson are good 3rd rounders.

At Cornerback, again this class is not as good as last years. Jenkins and McKelvin are awesome and worthy of a 1st round pick. Flowers, Smith, Cason, and Cromartie are worth 2nd rounders. I think King and Jackson could be steals on day 2.

At Safeties, I like Phillips in the 1st round, and Morgan in the mid to late 2nd. All others are projects that will need a few years to jell.

I hope the Texans take Mendenhall or McKelvin with their first pick. In the third they may still find some rough gems. I don’t expect much on the second day.

Texans need RB, CB, LT, S, OLB, and another DE. They won’t solve all these problems with this draft.

So…yeah, I’m an NFL freak. All other sports are just hobbies~!

Here is a clip of the Texans introduction piece played in Reliant Stadium on that famous first game of 2002 against the Cowboys. We won! I was there! Go Texans!

40 and a day

2008-04-24T14:41:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a good day. Thanks to all my friends and family for the past two days of food, fun, and cake. Thanks to Preston for the 2d20 gifts and the new Last Day on Earth Zombiefest game.

I left out of my 90s diatribe that the Oilers abandoned Houston because Bud Adams and the Local Mayor had a tiff and screwed all Houstonians. My beloved Oilers became the now hated flaming meatballs! No one rooted for the Rams harder than I did in that Superbowl.

I also did several plays for Fort Bend Community Theater including the Mouse that Roared and Calling Metropolis (where I got to play General Mayhem and my sidekick was the beautiful Private Parts!)

The past 8 years have been tough. We suffered through 9-11 and that was the single toughest day I ever had in teaching. My college roommate, Todd Gibbs, was killed in Iraq on December 7, 2006. We have a crappy economy, high gas prices, high food prices, and have been at war since 2001.

My youngest son, Kevin, was born in August of 2001, and is a high functioning autistic. He makes me very proud and keeps me grounded.

We also started 12 to Midnight. The original members were me, Jerry, and Mark Ramsey. It later expanded to Trey, Craig, Neal, and Brendan. These are the greatest guys in the world.

So there you have it....4 decades.

This is the end of the dismembered trip down memory lane.....back to business tomorrow.

Stay tuned for my take on the NFL Draft!

Meanwhile enjoy the greatest running back ever!

Da Big Four Oh

2008-04-23T08:23:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is. How do I feel? Tired.

Yesterday I left some good folks off the list: Mark Shapiro, Jonathon Wecker, Jonathan Meuller, Joel Schickmann, Vanessa Thompson, Lee Martin, and all the WTAG crew. I was in many plays: Playing for Time, Gold in them Hills, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love Rides the Rails, Glass Menagerie, Bus Stop, and several others.

My vehicles: A 1972 Four door Buick Limited, a white 79 Firebird with orange bird on the hood, a crappy blue 81 Camaro, extended cab GMC 92 Sierra Classic, Chevy Lumina car, Chevy Blazer, 86 Sierra pickup, 2001 Ford F150, Chevy Malibu, and now a Toyota Corrola.

Favorites: Firebird, and Ford F150. I'm also very impressed with our new gas saving Toyota. No more Chevy's in my life. Chevy can kiss my butt.

Okay...the Nineties

Graduated Sam Houston with a Criminal Justice Degree and a minor in History, met Tracey Stimac in November, went on first date in January, moved to Albuquerque with her in April and married her on September 11, 1992. She is the best wife a man could have and fits me perfectly. I went through many odd jobs from Supervisor at Astroworld, to Subway Manager in Albuquerque. I worked as a 10 key inventory guy, and in a blue print shop. We moved back to Houston in 1993 and I returned to AstroWorld as Full-time Security. Working with Barbara Ison, Steve Mizwa, and Ronnie Dunn was awesome and we had some great years together. In 1994 I became a teacher at Hastings High school. I've taught Life Skills, Resource classes, Co-taught, World History, US History, Government, Economics, and World Geography. In 1994 we purchased our first big brick house in Katy and in 1995 David was born.

We played lots of games and had a very fast, fun filled life from 1995 to 2000. In 2000 we decided to move to Caldwell and get the hell out of the city of traffic and smog. Many family members thought we were crazy to leave a brick home in Katy for a trailer house on 20 acres of land surrounded by green trees, a garden, a catfish pond....yeah, they just don't get it.

My favorites:

State: Texas
Nation: Texas
Place: East Texas Piney Woods
Song Artists: Sting, Willie, Billy Idol, Blondie, Stone Temple Pilots
Songs: Blue Skies, Georgia on my Mind
TV Shows: Soap, Crime Story, Miami Vice, Babylon 5, X Files, Buffy, Angel, 24, and Supernatural
Movies: LoTR(3), Star Wars, Screwed, Die Hard (4), Rambo, Rocky, Terminator (3), Alien (4)
Play: Glass Menagerie, Camelot

To end today: "Well Hello there. It's been a long, long time. How am I doing? Well I guess I'm doing fine. It's been so long now, but it seems now, that it was only yesterday. Gee, ain't it funny, how time just slips away."- Willie Nelson.

Here is a clip of another of my favorite shows, Soap. It's a clip of Bob and Chuck using mind reading abilities:

One Day to Go

2008-04-22T08:22:00.002-05:00

Okay before I go into memories of the 80s I gotta bitch about Oil and Gas prices. Crude oil hit $117.00 after reports of Arab pirates (terrorists) attacking a Japanese oil tanker. Okay, so one tanker gets attacked and speculators drive the price up. ONE tanker! There are thousands of tankers hauling crude, we currently have one of the biggest gluts of oil and gas in our history, but prices keep going up.

REGULATE THE INDUSTRY!!!! GOVERNMENT MUST REGULATE THESE BUTTHEADS!

Generally I'm anti-government, but again I find the big oil and gas companies' record profits vile when poor and middle class Americans can barely afford to fuel their cars and trucking prices are causing all our foods and products to suffer from inflated prices.

This is not Capitalism. This is not Supply and Demand as they try to lie to us regarding increased demand in China. If it was Supply and Demand we wouldn't have a glut of Oil and Gas right now! A glut should mean lower prices.

REGULATE THE INDUSTRY!

Okay, I'm done with my railing for now. Better hope I never get elected to Congress, cause guess who I would have in my crosshairs!

Okay...The 1980s. This decade rocked! Reagan reestablished that it was okay to love America, the hostages were released (due to threat of War, not anything Carter did- despite what revisionists would have us believe), Gorbachev rose to power and changed the world, Qadaffi was bombed out of his terroristic ways, and at the end of the decade the Berlin Wall came down and Eastern Europe was free.

Here are some random things I remember: Empire Strikes Back, A-Team, Magnum PI, Cheers, Night Court, Crime Story, Miami Vice, Blondie broke up, Big Hair Bands wearing Spandex, Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Elvis Costello, Elton John, BananaRama's VENUS, Clint Black, Dukes of Hazard, Buck Rogers, Mike Tyson, Morton Downey Jr., the House of Pain, trading Earl Campbell, Moon-struck, Drew Hill, Ernest Givens, and Allen Pinkett, Jack Pardee and UH Cougers Run and Shoot, Drama parties, sleepovers, high school football games, defeating Nacogdoches in the last football game I ever played in, skipping school every day of my senior year, hanging out in the Drama Shack, taking Megan to get her little love/peace tattoo, getting my palm read with Faith, playing games with da Boys (Maurice, John, Cliff, Brad, Brad Perry, Alan Champion, Trey Gorden, Lee Johnson, Robert West) and da Girls (Lorien, Lyle Kay, Marcie). Dancing with Sheila (da best dance partner ever!), hanging with Peanut, Amelia, and the Astroworld Internal Gang, playing intramurals in college with Todd Gibbs, Will Carpenter, and Jim Seri. I worked at Safeway, Astroworld in Merchandise Department, McCannic's Air Conditioning, AllBritton's Cafeteria, McDonalds, and AstroWorld as Internal Security Officer, and later as Supervisor.

I dated Lyle Kay McHaney for almost four years. We grew up together and she was definately one of the best friends I ever had. I hope everything turned out good for her. I loved her parents Darwin and Kay McHaney as well. I dated several other girls, but only a few really meant much to me, probably Staci McClintock being the one hardest to get over. Her mother and father were awesome as well. I'll never forget Mike (her dad) hanging out with me at NanCon until like 3 am.

Nancon in the 80s was awesome! It was there in 1985 that I met Jerry Blakemore who would go on to become one of my best and lifelong friends. We played in a game of Paranoia and killed each other a few times for being Communists.

I remember playing monopoly at Lorien's house during a Drama party until 5am and only Jenny and I still standing finally calling a draw. I remember going out with Ms. Hart (my Drama teacher) and buying margaritas (they carded her, but not me), I remember playing truth or dare and frenching her as well (hey she was only 4 years older than me!) I remember some great teachers: Ms. Jumper, Mrs. Brown, Killer Klopp. I remember some HORRIBLE teachers...Worst ever-Mr. Vanzandt.

I remember many games of football in the cowpastures, camping, fishing, hiking, and fighting with wooden swords, shooting shotguns, pistols, and rifles, and killing my first 8-point buck. I paraded the head throughout the neighborhood showing off (this seems sick to me now, but I was more of a country boy then). I remember both my grandfather's dying. I remember Grandma Wetterman spending Christmas' with us, and our Boston Terrior, Misty, farting on her. Grandma's reaction was priceless.

Well, of course, I'm leaving lots out, but this is only a temporary stream of conscious thing. My favorite show was Crime Story, so here is the opening. Enjoy.

Turning 40 and Fish Balls

2008-04-21T10:35:00.005-05:00

Well, here I am. Facing the big Four Oh. I have until Wednesday, then I am in officially starting my 4th Decade on the planet. So this week you can expect alot of introspection and me remembering stupid random stuff from those four decades.

But first....FISH BALLS. Okay I believe in embracing foriegn cultures, especially food, but this is just...wrong. I won't eat Rocky Mountain Oysters and I won't eat Fish Balls. That's right...FISH BALLS. Okay, I know they aren't testicles, but...the term "Fish Balls" just isn't....appealing.

QUOTE: "Nan - More than 140 people were rushed to local hospitals with food poisoning after eating fish balls apparently made from the puffer fish in Ban Luang district of this northern province on Friday.
The villagers ate the fish balls in a soup offered at the funeral of Kham Sudsom on Friday evening at a house belonging to Daoloy Mongkol in tambon Ban Fah.
After the funeral, guests started vomiting, their tongues felt numb, they had weak hands and legs and were suffering chest pains. They also experienced shortness of breath."

Turns out the Fish Balls came from puffer fish....What can I say about that? I mean...pork, beef, hell- horse, anything but...Fish Balls! Disgusting.

Now back to 40. Here are my random, stream of consciousness thoughts about the years 1968-1979:

I remember watching the Fall of Saigon on television. I remember riding my bike and David Flowers saying, "It's a sad day for America. The President has quit." I didn't understand it then, but I do now.

I remember Elvis dying.

Happy Days, Lavergne and Shirly, Rockford Files, Barney Miller, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars.

I remember the Iranians taking Americans hostage, and the yellow ribbons tied everywhere. I remember Carter seeming as if he was weak and couldn't do anything to make America better. I remember Ronald Reagan and his "There you go again" response to Carter in the big debate.

I remember fishing on Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend, water skiing, and watching the Houston Oilers (Luv ya Blue). Earl Campbell was the greatest running back ever!

I remember what it was like being an Oiler fan in Cowboy country.

I had the Farrah poster! I remember the first time I heard KISS. I remember loving Blondie and buying all their records....hell, I remember records!

I remember my Papaw taking care of me in the summers and after school, my Mamaw cooking huge meals for me to eat before my mom and dad came to pick me up as Papaw wanted to make sure I got enough to eat. (I got fat in 3rd grade from eating her meals and homemade buttermilk biscuits, then going home and eating my mother's meals too). I remember my first play, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and playing Ichabod Crane.

I remember deer hunting camps, playing in the Pine forests of East Texas, and discovering Dungeons and Dragons. I remember my parents adopting Samantha and Ann.

Finally here is a list of people I know were important in those years to me:

Mom, Dad, Papaw, Mamaw, Grandpa, and Grandma, Lonnie and Mary Flowers, John and David Flowers, Lary Gonzales, Jeff Easley, Thomas Driver, Scott Austin, Wayne Walker, Mr. Gin, Mrs. Dobbs, Mr. Nerron, Mr. Lamb, Mrs. Hill, Mrs. Vann, Angie Jacobs, Angie McAdams, Sara Botthoff, Cara Solly, Uncle Jim, Aunt Mary, Uncle Dee, Aunt Helen, Jimmy and Brian Wetterman, Danny Martin, Steven Carter, Alan Champion.

I'm sure I'm leaving lots off the list, but it is stream of consciousness.

Here is a great vid from the 70s for ya. If your my age or older you will definately enjoy it.

L8rs

Big Weekend starts tomorrow

2008-04-16T13:01:00.002-05:00

Today is Friday....well, actually it's Wednesday, but since I'm not working tomorrow or Friday, it feels like a Friday to me.

Why? I volunteered to be the outside team coordinator for the next Walk to Emmaus for Brazos Valley. This means I'll be working hard and from Thursday to Sunday, but it won't be teaching, and I'm really excited about doing this service.

I'm not even going to go into politics today, other than to say I really don't like any of the candidates.....All lying lawyer politicians, and there is a special place for those types of people, but that's between them and God.

Anyways, here is another 80s video. Remember Mad Max? I do, and Tina Turner was awesome in this role. Enjoy.

More and more...

2008-04-15T13:02:00.002-05:00

Man life is busy. I didn't post yesterday and I probably won't be posting Thursday and Friday, but hopefully next week I'll get back into it.

So...guess you heard about Obama's "small town America is bitter, so they are turning to guns and religion" comment.

WTHELL? Sigh....I thought he was smarter than that, even though I never really considered supporting him. So we poor, small town, rural backass woodsmen are bitter so we want to keep our guns, and turn to Jesus to make us feel better....

LAME!

Elitism shows through...you can't trust a lawyer politician. You Can't!

I got knews for you Mr. Harvard, Lawyer, Rich, Elitist, who calls out your Grandmother and talks about "typical white people," you are gonna lose. I don't like McCain. Not one bit. The worst of the Republicans. But with your continuing lapses of judgement and your looking down your nose at middle class, rural America, you are going to lose the general election by an even wider margin than Mr. Heinz-Kerry.

What I find most aggregious is that if a non-racist, good person, who happened to be white had made a comment about "typical black people" or that blacks use the pulpit of Churches only to state their political beliefs, that person would be labeled a racist and would probably have to leave our country for some place such as France. The media would be all over him, the liberals would want to invoke the death penalty, and only talk radio would concede he might have had a point, but that he shouldn't have said it.

When are we going to have a true discussion about racial inequality? African Americans have suffered predjudice and racism, but if we are ever to have true equality, the playing field has to be leveled for everyone.

Here's a fact for ya. 7 out of 10 African Americans have at least one white ancestor, and 3 out of 10 have more white ancestors than black.

Guess what? We are all cousins! Let's get on to making America great and realize that when you stereotype anyone, including "typical whites," you are expressing prejudice in the best of cases, and racism in the worst.

My two cents. Don't agree....Blogger is free, start your own. 1st Amendment. I'll die for you to express your ideas- even if I disagree with you, but I bet you wouldn't be willing to do the same.

OUT

Now for another 80s video. This one is by Genesis and is one of my all time favorite videos. Can you name the puppets in the video. I can do most of them.

Lawyers

2008-04-11T11:36:00.002-05:00

This was an email that I laughed about for a while.

Enjoy.

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published! By court reporters who had the torment! of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.

_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty-one.
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you kidding me?
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh.... I was getting laid!
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None .
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Are you shittin' me?

Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it?
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Guess.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Would you like to rephrase that?
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh....are you qualified to ask that question?
_____________________________________

And the best for last:
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Here is another great 80s video:

Protests

2008-04-09T10:22:00.002-05:00

The first Amendment gives all Americans the right to express their beliefs and the right to assemble peacefully. Carrying signs and chanting are fine. I support them fully in their rights to do this. But then you get the looney's. The ones that try to put out the Olympic torch to protest human rights violations in China are wacky and wrong and should be arrested.

My fellow Americans...Your rights end where another person's rights begin. This has been upheld in the Supreme Court time and again. It's not new. It's the law and it's your rights as listed in the Bill of Rights.

So...protest all you want. But don't be stupid. If you are, then I hope you are arrested.

Personally I think that China is the new "Evil" empire and I pray for those youth that believe in Democratic principles, such as the ones involved in the Tianamin Square Massacre almost 20 years ago. China ignores human rights of its own people, takes away the unalienable rights of human beings, pollutes the environment as there are very little controls on industry, and sends the US poison in our animal feed, and paints our children's toys with lead. Yeah, I don't like the government of China.

However...why protest the Olympics? Why hold our athletes responsible for world politics. Carter was wrong in 1980, and Hillary is wrong with her ideas today. Even her husband disagrees with her on this point.

So...Protest...sure. Attack the torch or the torchbearers....then I hope the po po arrests you after throwing you very hard on your ass.

My two cents.

Here's another great 80s video. Take on Me, by Ah Ha. This was one of my absolute favorites. Enjoy.

More of the same....

2008-04-08T10:04:00.002-05:00

Hillary got caught fibbing again. She made several speeches about a certain hospital that refused to care for someone who didn't have health insurance and then stated the person died as a result. The truth is that the person did have health insurance, was treated, but later died anyway.

Once this became known, how did she respond? Oops, my bad.

Okay...so we have a career lawyer politician who lies so often she doesn't even recognize when she's doing it.

And to think I was this () close to voting for her.

At least you don't hear such lies from Obama or McCain.

Tsk, tsk, and shame, shame.

This weekend my family and I are meeting up with my old friend Lorian and her family to see the bluebonnets at the Bluebonnet festival. This part of Texas is absolutely gorgeous covered in bluebonnets and Indian Paint brushes. If you ever get the chance, come visit during this time of year. You won't be disappointed, and Brenham is home to Bluebell icecream, the greatest in the country. Oh yeah, this is gonna be good.

I've been thinking about the 80s alot lately, some nostalgia. So this week I'm posting some of my favorite videos from those days. This one is Our House. Enjoy:

Adoption....I'm gonna be a daddy

2008-04-07T08:34:00.002-05:00

Here's a story. In 1979 (I was 11) my parents recieved a phone call from my Aunt. She stated that a cousin had two little girls that she couldn't take care of and was going to give them to the state. The oldest girl, Samantha, was two and a half, and the youngest, Charlotte Ann, was just under a year old.
My parents had thought for years about adopting a little girl. I remember the family gathering in the living room when I was about 8 or 9 and praying for God's Will to be done. We went to visit my Aunt and meet the woman, who we hadn't known prior, but that was a distant cousin by marriage. I'll never forget that day. Sam wouldn't talk, but only point at what she wanted. Ann was shy, but seemed very spirited once the initial shyness wore off. I remember Sam was very skinny and both had long dark hair.

Their natural father had a large family of his own, and when my parents first contacted him, he said, "Hell no you can't have my girls." He then came and picked them up. My parents were devastated and we believed we would never see them again. However, a day or so later, he called and said that my parents "could give them a better life than he ever could" and that he was willing to sign away his rights.

So in less than a week, I had two little sisters. Both girls were a challenge to raise. We also always wondered how their early years effected their lives and psyche. Both girls have had very troubled relationships as adults. Now Ann has two daughters. She finally has a good job and is just beginning to rebuild her life.

Last week she was very surprised to learn that she is pregnant. She realized she can barely take care of herself and her daughter now, and after speaking to her boyfriend realized he does not want to have a baby either. She and he decided that they would put the baby up for adoption hoping that a good family would adopt the baby and give it a better life.

My wife and I decided that we would adopt the baby. Am I excited? Definately. I never imagined I'd be a daddy again. In fact I've said often that I wouldn't do it again. But I can't turn my back on family, and I know there is enough love in our home for one more.

I spoke to David about it and he is thrilled. His only question was, "What about my room?" I assured him that his room was his, and that his privacy would be safe.

Kevin also liked the idea saying he wanted a "sister."

I just want healthy, but I'd be happy to have a daughter.

Names currently under consideration:

Boy: Travis Lee

Girl: Jessica Lynn

So..pray for us. Pray for the baby, Ann, the birth father, and my family.

God's will be done.

Friday and a New Release

2008-04-04T09:42:00.002-05:00

Howdy,

Kevin is a hoot. Last night he performed in a choir of first graders at his school. I was very surprised when he came down to speak into the mic to introduce the third song. The girl before him has turned off the mic. So he said his bit, realized it wasn't broadcasting, turned it back on and looked out at the crowd,"Hello?" he began to peals of laughter. He said the introduction, and did so flawlessly, but then everyone laughing made him smile and he forgot the last part of the intro. The teacher was trying to coach him, but he was having fun. Eventually he did finish and returned to his place where he danced, performed, and sang. He was a true Ham, and the hit of the show. I was simply amazed, overjoyed, and proud.

If you don't know, my son Kevin is mildly autistic and when he was three he had a vocabulary of maybe ten words. His growth has been tremendous and both my wife and I teared up with joy watching him last night.

Also we are real close to having Steamworks ready for sale. It's been a long road. I recieved the first draft of this two years ago and spent the summer editing the entire document. We then sent it off to a d20 guru who went over it again, then Korey (the author) rewrote much of it, and it went through another round of edits. Finally back in early February it was going to layout and we were gathering art. Art came in pretty steadily and man am I impressed with the final product.

I pushed originally to accept the work from Korey as I felt it really could be good. However, by last summer I had begun to doubt it as 4th edition had been announced and I knew we were still a long way away from finishing it. What's really funny is the biggest doubter in the company about the viability of the product was Preston Dubose, but now he has become its biggest proponent. It's a very cool book with hundreds of ideas and ways of including technosteam into any fantasy setting.

Korey did a fantastic job with it and I can't wait to see it completed.

Now for some fun. More awesome Jackie footage:

Bush...

2008-04-03T08:27:00.002-05:00

Did ya hear that Bush wants to give the Federal Reserve extra powers to watch over every aspect of the economy so it can step in and control the economy whenever the economic forecasts look bleak. So much for the Republican idea that government should take a Laisee Faire course with business.

A free market economy should have very little, if any, controls. This is definately not free market.

Now, I actually agree with this progressive move, but I find it funny that Bush is doing it. I think we are very close to the brink of a major recession if not an outright depression, the likes we have not seen since the 1930s. Why do you suppose the government stepped in to bail out that big bank deal two weeks ago and spent a couple of BILLION to do it? Because if that big bank went under, it would effect other banks, and the government was afraid of a run on the banks by people to get their money out just like what happened in the late 1920s.

The Great Depression had many causes, but most historians agree a big part of it was buying stocks on margin (taking bank loans to purchase stocks believing the stock market would forever improve).

I believe the situation is actually worse today with 7 out of 10 Americans heavily in credit debt, in houses they can't afford, and with the ever shrinking value of the dollar. Speculation has caused oil and gas prices to go through the roof, despite having a GLUT of the stuff right now.

Things are bad! The US economy is currently being propped up by loans from Communist CHINA! Think about that (of course only Cold Warriors truly understand the irony of that).

Add to all of this the fact that 35% of the US population will retire in the next five to ten years (baby boomers) and our economy is in trouble. Why? We are a consumer economy. We must spend money and buy things to keep our economy going. Once these folks retire, most will begin purchasing much less than they have the past thirty years. That's a huge chunck of our economy gone. America is getting older, not younger, and the youth will be paying much more of their income in taxes to support the retiring baby boomers for the next twenty-thirty years.

I'd really like to know what Obama, MCCain, or Hillary would do to increase the value of the American dollar? I have never heard any of them even discuss the issue.

Here is a wild idea....Imagine you are an internationalist businessperson looking to increase your personal wealth and the power of your company. Imagine what it would mean for you to have a huge workforce that you could control with very little pay, and without having to ship products from overseas. How would you make this happen? Simple...destroy the value of the American dollar forcing Americans to live like the rest of the world (India for example). Unite Canada, US, and Mexico and create a new unit of exchange, the Amero. This way you get richer at the expense of American nationalism and our current state of living will be greatly reduced.

I will be a rebel if that happens.

Big Oil and Crappy Government II

2008-04-02T09:25:00.002-05:00

For April Fool's I had a tooth yanked. It's fun to get old.

Did you hear about the Big Oil fellows going before Congress yesterday? Last quarter, and every quarter since Katrina and Rita hit several years ago, they have posted record profits while the middle class and poor suffer to pay $3.50 per gallon at the pumps with no end to the climbing prices in sight.

Kudos to the Democrats for holding these meetings. The Republicans were no where to be seen or heard.

Did you know that big oil and gas companies get over 18 Billion, YES BILLION dollars in tax abatements from our government. Sure wish I could get tax abatement. I guess my measly few thousand is more important to the tax base than 18 BILLION dollars of the big oil and gas companies. That's our frickin TAX system.

Republicans argue that it's just the market and that it will eventually correct itself. They point to the law of supply and demand.

Really?

Then how come we currently have a glut of oil and the cost still is going up? That's kinda against the basic law of supply and demand, and I'll say again that big oil and gas is not true free market. If it were, the consumers would have choice. We don't have any choice. Gas is gas and there is little difference in where you buy it.

They use a corn-ethanol mix in the summer supposedly to keep prices down, but it actually burns less effectively than gas and we get less gas mileage. In exchange we see higher food costs as most all canned goods use corn based preservation. So now consumers pay more for gas, and more for groceries.

AND...we give 18 Billion in Tax abatements to the Oil and Gas companies.

So...Democrats are leading the fight for middle class and poor on this issue. Republicans are hopelessly lost in their rich, lawyer, look out for the rich, screw the poor, mentality. That's why they are losing their base.

This about says it all...

Whether Democrat or Republican, I think you'll get a kick out of this!

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'

Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way:

I am the head of the family, so call me The President.

Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the
Government.

We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.

The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class.

And your baby brother, we will call him the Future.

Now think about that and see if it makes sense.'

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to
check on him.

He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.

So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep.
Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door
locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the
nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I
understand the concept of politics now.'

The father says, 'Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think
politics is all about.'

The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class
while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and
the Future is in deep shit.
_____

Monday

2008-03-31T13:44:00.002-05:00

Howdy. Hope everyone's weekend was fun and rewarding. Mine was. We (four of the six 12 to Midnight guys) met at Aggiecon and ran two panels. One on starting an RPG business, and the 2nd on Elements of Horror. Both were met with great success.

A recent article in the Economist magazine stated that many Europeans were rooting for McCain to be defeated in the election as they are "tired of Americans acting like the world's Sheriff."

Well, I agree. I don't think we should be the world's sheriff. I don't think we should be in South Korea, Iraq, Taiwan, or Serbia, or Yugoslavia. I don't think we should be a part of the United Nations as the European nations want us to be their "muscle", but to only flex that power when they want us to. I think NATO, which was formed to protect democratic nations from Communism should be ended. The US foriegn policy should be about us making money and protecting our National interests.

We shouldn't be giving Billions of dollars in aid to the rest of the world.

We shouldn't be using our armed forces to feed the hungry, or to help those hurt in national disasters.

We shouldn't be giving free foodstuffs to underdeveloped nations, they should pay for it, just like everyone else.

We shouldn't be shipping Billions of dollars in medical aid to foriegn nations, as that could be used here to lower our own health care costs.

And next time Europe faces another powerful dictator or evil regime, ah Hell, let him have it.

Yeah...Damn those Americans. What gives them the right?

Finally, here is something for your viewing pleasure. Some people will do or say anything. My lawyer friend Kyle will appreciate this one:

Go Rebels!

2008-03-28T13:29:00.001-05:00

This one is for all my 1986-87 classmates...the cool ones anyway.

GO REBELS!

Monica....That's none of yer business....

2008-03-27T08:02:00.002-05:00

Howdy,

Chelsea was asked by one of her momma's supporters (not a bra, but a dude) if she thought the Monica scandal effect people's perception of her mother. (You mean that she's a lesbian, or weak, or...I mean where was he going with this one?)

Chelsea said, "It's none of your business."

Hey, yer family wants to get back into the White House. Yer father had Yasser Arafat sit outside his office while he had a few minutes of fun with a fat chick in a blue dress (which she never bothered to wash!--CLASS). Then he testified in a trial that he never had such an affair, then he waggled his finger at the American people and said, "I never had sexual relations with that woman."

Yeah, yer right. A President who lies under oath and to the American people shouldn't be held accountable for it. I agree though, what does that have to do with yer Momma?

Oh well,....more Sex, Lies, and Videotapes in the White House amongst the rich elitists, Aristocratic, Lawyer types.....are you surprised? I'm not.

Do ya love Jackie Chan? I do! The man is out of his mind, and one of the most entertaining personalities that ever lived. It amazes me that he does all of his own stunts and up until a year ago never used a blue screen. Whatcha see is whatcha get. Check out the following video and be amazed.

Kids

2008-03-25T08:09:00.002-05:00

I didn't blog yesterday because my oldest son had used my computer all weekend and when I got to work with it Monday morning I realized the power cord was not in the bag, so with only a few minutes of battery power left, I checked email and logged out for the day. Thanks Dave!

This summer one of my goals is to get him his own laptop and cellphone. Independence is a good thing! I'm definately getting old now, as I actually daydream about not having any kids at home so I don't have to worry about such things as powercords not being put back in the computer bag, and sitting around in my underwear watching football, drinking beer, and eating cheese dip.

It's the little things that make life worth living....ya know! ;)

Well, Senator Clinton tried to pull a lawyer fast talk thing recently and she's being called on it. Lawyers....(except Kyle), lie so often I think they really don't realize what the truth is anymore. What did she do? She described a trip as first lady to Kosovo with her daughter. "There were snipers" shooting at them as they got off the plane and they had to be hustled to safety. But a video taken on that day shows them smiling and shaking hands with troops as they got off the plane. No snipers, no scary moments. The Clinton camp says this was a minor mistake. No...it's a big fat lie.

Lawyer politicians........I've got one thing for all of you, and it's a solo finger pointed skywards. Enjoy the view.

NOW FOR SOME FUN!

This is a treat.... Enjoy. L8rs

It's Friday...sort of

2008-03-19T11:38:00.002-05:00

My toothache is killing me! Entire jaw has throbbed in pain for a week now. So I called in sick tomorrow to go to the dentist. I also have a job interview tomorrow as I want to teach Texas History next year. Hope I'm not drooling in pain.

I can state that Kanka, a mouth pain liquid by Blistex is a fantastic, wonderful product. Five stars! Since this pain developed I've used Anbusol and Orajel but continued to suffer in waves of pain, until I tried Kanka.

Trust me. If your teeth or gums hurt get some Kanka!

I won't be posting again till Monday, so Happy Easter to everyone.

Enjoy the following Star Wars related video:

Responding to the Honorable Mr. Crouse

2008-03-18T10:02:00.002-05:00

I agree that I don't want fully socialized medicine. However, I don't think the republicans have a plan at all. Seems to me that Mr. McCain's ideas are simply let the market decide, with as little government interference as possible.

In my experience this has led to our broken system. Less than 30% of all Americans do not have health insurance. Those of us who do face ever rising costs. Even with insurance a major health care issue will cost you thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. A thousand to me, might as well be a million. Don't have it. Until the Republicans can show they are serious about helping the middle and lower economic folks by truly taking on the Pharmaceutical companies and the out of control Health care costs, and the malpractice insurance that Doctors now have to get, and out of control litigation, then I think the only solution is to vote Democrat.

My two cents

Ed

Spring Break Blues

2008-03-17T09:58:00.002-05:00

Spring Break is over now. So, I'm back at work. Tracey had me repaint the living room...twice! The first paint job was just...ugly...so I did it a second time and this time I'm really proud of how it turned out.

I'm suffering from a toothache and holding off from going to the dentist as long as possible. Why? Crappy insurance and outragious dentists fees.

I'm voting Democrat for one reason. Health Care.

Remember the caucus procedure I discussed earlier? Clinton is asking for delays in assigning the delegates for two reasons. First, despite winning the popular vote and 60% of all Texas delegates, she lost the caucus to Obama who is currently winning over half of the remaining 40% of delegates. Second there have been over 2000 reports of fraud and she wants over 1 million voters checked before the count is completed.

Fun...fun....fun....

TGIF Again...SPRING BREAK

2008-03-07T07:28:00.002-06:00

Okay, when the students leave today we are on spring break. Cool huh? This morning I saw the largest snow flakes I've ever seen in Texas. Of course none of it stuck (another great reason to live in Texas). It' supposed to be in the 70s by Sunday. Today the highs are in the 40s.

Texas weather, if you don't like it now, wait an hour...it'll change.

Today I'm proctoring the Science TAKS test. Here are some state rules which if I don't follow could get my liscense yanked:

1. Check and be certain that each student is working on the proper part of the test booklet.
2. Don't look at or read any part of the test booklet.

Do ya see a problem with that?

3. Teachers must actively monitor the students during the test. Teacher may not sit down and must be constantly moving about the class for the duration 3-5 hours.

4. Teachers must read the directions verbatim, even if the section does not apply. For instance, the answer documents are prepared in advance with student name, their PEIMs number, etc. The students do not have to do any of that, but the directions state I have to read that section on how to write in and bubble their answer documents for these things.

A full reading of the directions to take one TAKS test usually takes a full seven to eight minutes, and you should give time for the students to solve the sample questions too.

Our wonderful state government has decided to do away with the TAKS tests in English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Science in the next few years and to instead have End of Course Exams for all core courses (basically instead of 4 TAKS tests, we are going to have over 16). These tests are still going to be written, sold by, and graded by Special Interest groups who are making millions on the deal.

Yeah....that's what I thought too.

Here's a video for your viewing pleasure:

The Obama Man Can!

Stuff

2008-03-06T09:50:00.002-06:00

Wow...now that the primaries are over I have very little to blog about....

My buddies made fun of me last night for having voted for Clinton, but it was worth it!

I love Norm...the comedian. I was one of the few people who actually have watched his various tv shows and the man cracks me up!

I remember back in the early 1990s I woke up from a dream laughing out loud. I remember that in the dream I was hanging out and drinking with Norm, Adam Sandler, and Tommy Boy.

Anyways...Here's a funny video for ya:

A Win for Clinton

2008-03-05T13:17:00.002-06:00

Well it all fell out pretty much as I predicted in Texas. Huckabee has bowed out after losing to McCain. Clinton held on to a slim lead and finally got 60% of the Texas delegates.

Then came the Caucus nightmare that they are still sorting out. See every county is broken up into precincts (thanks to Gerrymandering by our State government). The Democratic party only had Precinct Captains (volunteers) for about 60% of the precincts, so 40% had no one to organize and ensure the caucus worked as it should. In some places people waited for hours to get the chance to caucus for their candidate. With 40% of the Texas Delegates still up for grabs, it is obvious that Obama will get some of them as well. But it was still a win for Clinton.

Man I felt dirty after voting for her. If you are a liberal and think of how much you hate Bush, then imagine voting for him. That's kinda the way I felt.

Who am I gonna vote for in November? I dunno. I really don't think Clinton or McCain will be very different from each other, and Obama's gonna have to REALLY convince me if he wants the vote. Right now...I'm leaning towards Clinton...if she recieves the partie's nomination.

Here's another great video. This guy was a mobile phone salesman....listen to this voice and be awed...

If Angels sing, they sing with this voice...enjoy.

Texas Tuesday

2008-03-04T10:00:00.003-06:00

Well Today is the Day. All of Hillary's hopes to become President depends on Texas. Even if she wins today, the decision won't be made until the National Democratic Convention which will depend on the Superdelegates to vote on Obama or Clinton. However, if Obama wins Texas, the nominations his and I predict Clinton drops out within a week.

McCain is gonna win today for the Republicans, but I do think Huckabee and Paul will have a good showing today. I also think Huckabee will drop out later this week if not tomorrow.

My wife and I talked at length this morning. We finally agreed to hold our noses and vote for Clinton for two reasons: 1. Obama seems wayyy too socialist/European in his thinking for me and never states the obvious--More Taxes. 2. I think she has the best ideas on Health Care. I would also like to see a National Caucus in the Democratic Party.

Happy voting, and remember, the process of changing an entire government through peaceful election is one of the greatest things about our nation.

Now for some fun. Enjoy

It's a Monday

2008-03-03T11:15:00.002-06:00

Monday's suck. Only way Monday's are good days are if no one you care about dies.

We worked taping and floating our living room in preparation for a new paint job. Lots of work was done. We also watched half the first season of Angel which I purchased Friday. Joss Whedon is the best. Please Joss....start a new show!!!

I also wrote and organized a lot regarding ETU: Degrees of Horror. It's coming together nicely.

Tomorrow we vote. I've decided. I'm voting for Clinton. I'll hold my nose and my shame and my anger at the aristocracy of America and vote for her.

I don't have much to blog on today...sooo....enjoy this video instead:

Fun on a Friday

2008-02-29T09:43:00.001-06:00

Gamer guys are geeks. Luckily Geeks are considered cool right now....

Here is a video just for us:

Enjoy.

TGIF....Fridays are the best days

2008-02-29T09:15:00.002-06:00

It's been a long week. The students have been crazier than usual, the teachers are tired, and we have TAKS retesting next week, as well as the elections.

I don't know how many of you have heard of the Trans Texas Corridor. It's a super highway our Governor Goodhair pushed through without ever having any kind of vote by the citizens of Texas. It's a 184 Billion dollar effort to build a highway from Mexico through the middle of Texas running into Oklahoma and beyond.

It's the biggest government land grab in history and runs contrary to everything most Texans believe in, such as the right to private property and basic liberties free of government interference. The state will purchase over 584,000 acres of land. 146 acres will be required per corridor mile. That equates to one acre every 36-feet. And who will own the land? A company in Spain. Not Texas, not the US, but SPAIN! They will be able to lease the land on either side of the highway, and will be in charge of all tolls from the tollway. WTF?

To quote the Corridorwatch website:

"This Corridor project is a very wide, very flat, extremely limited access, mostly toll, highway-rail-utility corridor. To cross the Corridor at any point will require a quarter-mile long overpass. These near one-quarter mile wide corridors will cut Texas up into pieces like the Great Wall of China, making it more difficult to get from one place to another. Many landowners will find that they have the choice of keeping land they can no longer access or sell it to the state.

"With a right-of-way approximately 1,200-feet-wide, the proposed corridor could change the face of agriculture in Texas forever as it swallows up thousands of production acres of farmland." — Juliet Briskin, Country World News (November 4, 2004)

This super highway will cut Texas into two halves and they even have the audacity to state that anyone crossing under or over the highway must also pay a toll!

So let me get this straight....we are going to give away over half a million acres of land that the government is stealing from it's citizenry without consent to give to a Spainish corporation, and we must pay to cross it, even if we don't actually use it.....

Frickin Brilliant! Governor Goodhair....you suck!

Here are some more basic facts: "I-69/TTC would slash 650 miles across Texas, from Laredo to Texarkana, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana. The right-of-way for I-69/TTC would be up to 1200 feet wide and could cover about 95,000 acres (148 square miles). I-69/TTC will cross and fragment some of the best farm and ranch lands and wildlife habitat left in the State of Texas. Southern, Central, and Eastern Gulf Prairies and
Marshes; the Piney Woods; Oak Woods and Prairies; and the Rio Grande Plain ecosystems of Texas will be permanently fragmented. I-69/TTC would act as a huge barrier to migrating wildlife including mammals, invertebrates, turtles and other reptiles, amphibians, and birds." Brandt Mannchen- Fact Sheet.

So it's wrong for Texans, it supports the North American Union and the end of the USA, it sends Texan wealth overseas to Spain, it surrenders our territory to foriegn investment, it forces citizens to sell land that may actually cut entire farms and ranches into halves, it will force citizens to pay a toll just to pass beneath it, and it is bad for wildlife.

In a nutshell: It is bad for Texas. Fight it!

It's time to make a decision

2008-02-28T07:54:00.002-06:00

Okay. If you have bothered to read my posts you have probably figured out that I am not enamored of any of our choices for President. I think Clinton is the best choice of the three big whigs still in the election, but personally I can't stand her or her husband. My arguement for her is at least you know what your getting. Here are my knocks on each of them:

Hillary Clinton: There has been a Clinton or a Bush on every Presidential ticket since 1980. I didn't realize we had an Aristocracy where only a couple of elite families rule us for over a quarter of a century. She is a true lawyer politian (the kind I absolutely hate), who says whatever she believes will get her votes. I still don't get the idea of living in Arkansas for 25 years, then when leaving the White House, she moves to New York and is elected a Senator. I disagree with her on abortion, energy policy, and the 2nd Amendment. I do think she has the best Health Plan.

John McCain: He was against Tax Cuts, has flip flopped on the 2nd Amendment, is more liberal in many ideas than Hillary, and is horrible on Energy and Health Care. He is strong on National Defense, though I don't like his "100 years or a 1000 years" speech and I don't agree with him on another surge in Afghanistan.

B. Hussein Obama: Why is his middle name an issue? Is it because it reminds us that his father was Muslim and he was raised in an Islamic school? Are people racist just because they question what his personal beliefs are? Do we have a right to question what a candidate's personal beliefs are? To know where they stand? I think we do, especially when we are discussing a religion that fosters terrorism at its worst, or supports anti-Americanism at its best. What does the Senator truly believe? Change...check. New Direction...check. But what else ya got? Give me something other than a catchy slogan. I'd be lying if I said he doesn't intrigue me, but I have some real questions for him. His website lists many ideas and issues (more than any other candidate) but he never states how he would pay for all these very Liberal ideas, such as paying every person's college tuition for the first year (up to $4000), and many others. He is for a Nationalized (big government-socialized) Health Care system (I'm against it). I've never heard him take a stand on the 2nd Amendment. I've never heard him state how he would lower taxes on the Middle Class, and I'm afraid that if he is elected and we immediately begin pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan the bad guys will think we are weak (as they did under Bill Clinton), and begin attacking us again. The only thing Islamic terrorists seem to understand is power, terror, and control. I think this would be bad for the US.

So....do I vote for McCain who I don't like on any issue, or do I vote for Clinton who I don't like on a personal level in the hope that we can truly do something about Health Care and knowing she would not totally cut and run from Iraq.

I will definately NOT vote for Obama in the Primary. I will be open minded in the November election and maybe he can convince me between now and then....but I doubt it.

Of course I could vote for Huckabee or Ron Paul. I like them both better than the leading candidates, but I'm a realist and know that neither can be elected at this point.

Or...I could vote for Darth Nader....NAH!!!! :>

Well, I do think each of the candidates can speak well and are eloquent. That is one positive change. Here is a video for your enjoyment:

I think it's funny

2008-02-27T10:15:00.002-06:00

Last night Hillary and Obama met for yet another debate. The high point of the night had to be when Obama was asked about his being endorsed by Minister Farakhan. He answered that he wouldn't say anything bad about someone who supported him, but that he did denounce any form of racism against anyone. Clinton attacked that Obama should not simply denounce, but should reject support of an openly racist individual. Obama conceded the point stating that if she preferred the word reject over denounce, than he would agree with her.

Also yesterday, McCain was to speak in Arizona, and a political hack/radio personality began attacking Obama by using his middle name several times. It's Barrack Hussein Obama in case you cared. McCain arrived and apologized stating basically that he denounced the use of the middle name as it was basically a personal attack on Obama and he would not stoop to that level.

Note that he didn't "reject" it, but only denounced it.

LOL

Whooooooo do I vote for.........more on that tomorrow.

check this out:

Texas Caucus is Cocka

2008-02-26T10:43:00.001-06:00

Usually Texas has no say in a Presidential Primary election, but this time we do. Unfortunately the Texas caucus system is arcane and outdated. Here is what I mean: There are a total of 126 delegates to be awarded based on the outcome of the vote in each of 31 State Senatorial Districts. These delegates are allocated based on the votes cast in earlier election so some districts have more delegates than others.
In big cities, where black voters have turned out heavily in past elections there are more delegates up for grabs than in largely Hispanic areas which have suffered in recent elections with low turn outs. What does this mean to this election? South Texas Districts may not have as many delegates as black precincts and this bodes very well for Obama.

Also, after the elections polls have closed, you need to return to your polling precinct as there will be a 2nd Caucus. In actuality you get to vote twice. Once for the popular vote for a majority of delegates, then to caucus for the rest. So if you want Hillary, you need to vote in the primary, then return after the polls close to represent her in the caucus. If only two people show up in a precinct, and both are for one or the other candidate, they may send more delegates to that candidate, even if he/she lost the popular vote in that precinct.

How fun.

Here is a video that is silly, sick, and fun.

Enjoy

Time to Get Nasty

2008-02-25T12:57:00.002-06:00

Mr. Insignificant...Ralph Nader has entered the race for President. At this point, his being involved will be less than Alan Keyes. Good luck with that.

Did you hear that Minister Farrakhan praised Barack Obama? Is that a surprise? Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation of Islam and IMHO the biggest bigot and racist of our time. He calls white people devils and white women jezebell whores. He wants a separate black nation (sounds like he and Klu Kluckers should get together on that). Well...all I can respond with is....Good luck with that.

I still don't know who I'm voting for....one of the three Democrats I guess...Obama, Clinton, or McCain....

Honestly, I'm leaning towards Clinton, and if I do vote for her, I'll be caucusing as well. What does that mean....well, tomorrow I'll tell ya.

Autism Update

2008-02-25T08:30:00.002-06:00

I wanted to give an update on Kevin. He's reading on level and does mathematics on level in his normal 1st grade class. He still has issues communicating, and when he is suffering from a cold he still chews his shirt. He has had a few bedwetting accidents lately, but generally speaking he has been fully potty trained for over a year now.

We are still doing the Gluten Free/Casein free diet and I highly recommend it. We owe much of Kevin's success to Karen Seroussi. Karen wrote a book that Tracey and I read that got us started and empowered us to help our child.

Before we started the diet, he did not speak more than a few words, had many repititious actions such as hand flapping, would crawl under tables and scream, and was out of control. Within a day of starting the diet he began speaking, and the autistic reactions began to fade.

Many Doctors say the diet is bogus, that there are no scientific studies of the diets effectiveness. Why? The big pharmaceutical companies perform these studies. Why would they do one about diet, when they are in the business of selling drugs for all ailments?

I just want to say thanks to Karen.

Here is a recent video of Karen speaking about her son:

He's Not a Conservative...He's Big Business

2008-02-21T10:45:00.003-06:00

The Bush Administration has asked Congress for legislation to allow employers to contact worker's Health Care Providers to determine if someone is actually ill when taking time off regarding the Medical Leave Act.

Should employers be allowed to fire folks who lie to them. Yes. I believe in the Right to Work, the Right to Quit, and am generally against Unions.

Should employers be allowed to know all of a person's private health information? Hell No! Talk about a loss of personal liberties. I can see businesses worried about skyrocketing health costs discovering an employee has diabetes, or high blood pressure, or some other illness, and then deciding to get rid of that employee so the almight dollar might be preserved.

I thought NeoCons were supposed to be for less government....maybe they are only for less government in big business, but want to screw all the working class folks.

Sorry Mr. President....you are quickly becoming the 2nd worst President (IMHO) in the last 100 years....2nd only to Jimmy.

No wonder the Obama camp is winning. The status quo has dropped crap on us for long enough.

Update on Beef Recall

2008-02-20T10:31:00.000-06:00

Two of the workers have been charged with animal cruelty in the case and one has been arrested. The pen manager of the slaughterhouse, Daniel Navarro, faces five felony counts of animal abuse and three misdemeanor counts of illegal movement of nonambulatory animals. He faces 5 years, 8 months maximum prison time for it.

The workers should be held responsible, but so should the company executives that allowed such practices to occur. Westland’s business practices are now being investigated for possible state or local violation.

I applaud Representative Rosa L. DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, who chairs the House subcommittee responsible for USDA’s funding. “Food safety ought to be of a high enough priority in this nation that we have a single agency that deals with it and not an agency that is responsible for promoting a product, selling a product, and then as an afterthought dealing with how our food supply is safe.”

What amazes me is that any non ambulatory animal is allowed to be slaughtered and served as food. I want only healthy animals to serve as meat for my family. These so called “Downer Cows” may pose a higher contamination risk for E. coli, salmonella, or mad cow disease, but the USDA still permits them to be slaughtered.

SHAME!

Is it interesting to anyone other than me that this beef was being served to the school lunch programs of our children. Of course the rich bastards don’t send their kids to public schools so they don’t care. Are our schools a dumping ground for bad meat? It would seem so.

Shut Westland down and prosecute everyone involved. Send a message that this is one area where the Public Welfare shall be ensured, as provided by the Constitution of the United States.

Thanks to Landon Gregory who forwarded me the link regarding this information.

Ron Paul's Ideas re Oil and Gas Prices

2008-02-20T08:59:00.002-06:00

I whole-heartedly agree about the falling dollar...check it out.

Big Oil and Crappy Government

2008-02-20T08:07:00.002-06:00

Crude Reality: Oil Closes above $100 a barrel. Oil has risen over $50 a barrel in less than 4 years. The Houston Chronicle quotes Brian Hicks of US Global Investors Resource Fund, "Today's price spike in the oil market is a bit puzzling given recent economic headwinds and rising crude inventories." Uh huh.

It's really not puzzling at all. See consumers have no choice about the gas we purchase. Sure you can go from Shell to Exxon and save a few pennies, but there is no true competition, so there is no reason to lower the market price. And yes, I agree that there is more demand in the world market and that does tend to drive up prices.

HOWEVER, the Big Oil and Gas Industries have again (for the past four years this is true) posted their biggest profit margins ever, so while they are pocketing trillions of bucks, the middle class and poor consumers of the US are seeing more and more of their money (which is worth less and less every year) go to line the industries pockets.

And what does our government, our President, our Congress do? The Repubs say more Laissez-faire to protect their big business friends. Bush has never had an energy plan and doesn't understand why the middle class and poor are complaining about $3.00/gallon gas prices. It shows how out of touch these rich lawyer politicos truly are. I suppose when you live on a six figure or more income, you can't possibly concieve what it's like for a family of four to attempt to live on $60,000 or less.

The Democratics are no better with their green politics and energy plans that kick in 15 to 20 years down the line.

I want a cohesive energy policy that attacks the problem NOW! We haven't built a new refinery since 1979, so even though there may be a glut, the amount of usable oil and gas has not increased, though our population has almost doubled in that time.

Speculation is responsible for 30 to 40% of the current prices and by regulating the industry we could cut more cost out of it.

Drill at home, offer huge incentives for corporations to truly create new energy sources (and make it as green as possible), build 3 to 5 new refineries, etc.

These are things that can be done NOW!

And yes, I am calling for Government regulation of an out of control industry.

Of course any politico with the balls to actually do this would be assassinated by these evil rich boys.

Sickening....

2008-02-19T10:29:00.000-06:00

check it out....

I think I'll be eating rice and beans tonight...

Where's the Beef?

2008-02-19T10:16:00.003-06:00

At the turn of the century (1890s to 1910) there were muckrakers who reported on graft, corruption, and the various ills of our culture and society. Upton Sinclair went undercover into the Chicago Meat markets and slaughterhouses and reported on the filth he found there. See he had heard his schoolage daughter singing a lymric that went "Mary had a little lamb, and when she saw it sicken, she sent it off to packingtown and now it's labeled chicken." He was so disgusted by it he went on a one man crusade to discover the truth. His book, The Jungle, is very revealing and sickening. If you read it, you may not eat meat for months. It's very descriptive, such as when a worker plunged his knife into a sickened animal and pus oozed out. Heh, that's just one of many.

So in response, Congress created the FDA to inspect our meat and hold these slaughterhouses to a standard of safety. That was a good government intervention and one way a Progressive would respond to an issue of basic public health and safety.

Then....the news today speaks of one modern slaughterhouse using forklifts to move sick cattle to the slaughter. WTF!!! Don't these assholes eat? Don't their children? Where is most of the meat headed? SCHOOL CAFETERIAS!

Prosecute them to the full extent of the law! Shut that company down! Make them repay all their customers for their orders! This is ridiculous. Perhaps we are so stupid as a culture and society, so unfeeling, that the terrorists don't need to attack us. Give us time. We will kill ourselves.

Did you hear about the valentine's suckers with metal shavings found by a teacher as she was giving them out to her class? 21st Century America....I'm glad we are so civilized (he uttered in disgust).

Righteous Outrage and Anger is the feeling of the day, but can we do better?

"Yes, We Can!" Puh leeeeezzzzzzz

I sent the following email to the company at info@westlandmeat.com and I invite all who read this blog to do the same.

I am an 8th Generation Texan and a huge advocate for eating beef. But what your company did sickens me. It should sicken you. I assume you have children as well. No sick animal should ever be butchered and served for human consumption. It's ridiculous and if I had any power in the US government I would shut your entire company down permanently as a warning to any other company that the basic issue of good, safe food will not be overlooked and I assure you I will be writing my Congressman regarding this issue.

Yes we can spooooooff

2008-02-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

Check it out:

Other Considerations

2008-02-18T11:17:00.002-06:00

I heard it reported that the Obama Campaign organizers are instructing their volunteers to not attempt to answer any issue related questions, but to steer the conversation to why they were first attracted to Obama as their candidate of choice. Well, you know how I feel about that. I really wish we would all look at substance and overlook style. Obama actually has a lot of detailed information on his website and I would point anyone interested to look there. In fact he has more detailed information on the issues than any other candidate in the race.

"Yes We Can!" has become a viral video on YouTube and has spawned many mockups. Again, it's a great slogan, but ....so ....what!?!?

We can do what? How? We can....raise taxes? We can....start a new war with Iran? We can....get new interns for Bill in the White House....

I mean...We can....do alot..good and bad.

I'm afraid I demand more of a candidate than a catchy slogan.

TGIF...Ya know

2008-02-15T08:49:00.002-06:00

I'm still getting over being sick. I woke up with a nasty headache, that just won't go away...Tracey's car was nearly out of gas....the gas station I normally use had broken pumps, so I went to another and I had to go inside to pay in advance....waited in line for several minutes, paid for 12 bucks of gas (cheaper in Bryan, so we will fill all the way up tonight), went back outside and she hadn't turned the pump on....finally got to work....yeah...I'm ready for this week to end.

Unless my head stops pounding I imagine today I'll be babysitting more than teaching....

On the Bright Side, I finally have a Presidential candidate I can vote for:

What are Superdelegates?

2008-02-14T09:44:00.000-06:00

For your learning pleasure....

It Has Begun...

2008-02-14T09:20:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I saw the first big commercials on Texas T.V. I saw two Clinton ads and one Obama. She must win Texas and Ohio, otherwise Obama will get the nomination. I think its funny that the Clinton's are having to rely on Texas to save her political aspirations. It's a state that has generally been anti-Clinton for many, many years (other than Austin).

Despite our Governor Goodhair asking Huckabee to drop out, the Huckster is still in and I'm glad he is, though I'm also certain that McCain will win big on March 4 and the Republican nomination will be sewn up.

Finally, what's with the Superdelegates in the Democratic Party. I think it's truly ironic that the party that bashed the Electorial College process in 2000, may go to Convention and have the "superdelegates (governors, Senators, etc) decide who the nominee may be even if the general populace voted for another. What do I mean? Well, if Obama wins the popular votes from the nation's various state races, but not enough to win the outright nomination, the Superdelegates may cast the deciding vote and right now it seems they would vote for Senator Clinton.

Things that make you go...hmmmmmmmmmm....

The Stuff of Government

2008-02-13T15:02:00.002-06:00

Here is a quick quirk.....

Why oh why are our Congressmen spending days and millions of our tax dollars to investigate steroids in baseball, and the Patriots Spygate? I thought things like the WAR, or Taxes, or Healthcare, or the failing economy might be more important. But what do I know?

Vote em all out of office! ALL OF THEM! Especially Sheila Jackson Lee. A worse Legislator never existed!

Dirty Politics

2008-02-13T09:34:00.000-06:00

Enjoy!

Work Safe.

Same old, same old...

2008-02-13T07:39:00.003-06:00

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I've had the flu for the past week and finally went to the Dr.'s office yesterday. He gave me a shot and a z-pack so of course I feel worse today! I had some really strange dreams and then couldn't open my eyes this morning as I awoke with the headache from hell.

But...fear not. I'm back at work and back to work....

I did purchase book yesterday for the wait in the Dr.'s office. It's one I'm devouring in no time at all and loving every word. I've wanted this book for a couple of years now, but it finally came out in an affordable paperback version.
It's David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize winning book John Adams. I've always loved and admired our 2nd President, and this book truly shows his human side.

He became a lawyer to "assist the feeble and the friendless, to discountenance the haughty and lawless, to procure redress to wrongs, the advancement of right, to assert and maintain liberty and virtue, to discourage and abolish tyranny and vice." I would hazard that very, very few in the profession today do it for such good reasons as that. Well, maybe Kyle. But few others that I've met. Most do it for greed, power, or political position.

As I've been writing this blog I have pointed out the great problems of our time and how I feel there are no good men (or women) to lead us. I found it comforting that John Adams, whose generation changed the political landscape of the world forever, wrote "I wander alone, and ponder. I muse, I mope, I ruminate" that we "have not men fit for the times. We are deficient in genius, education, in travel, fortune-- in everything. I feel unutterable anxiety."

Indeed, me too man!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I value friendship above all else. That you choose your friends, while being stuck with your family. Adams wrote that "Friendship is one of the distinguishing glorys of man" and his friendship with Thomas Jefferson is the stuff of legend. In fact he considered his greatest friend to be Abigail, his wife. A greater love would be hard to find.

He even gives advice to teachers, "A teacher ought to be an encourager. But we must be cautious and sparing of our praise, lest it become too familiar." Very true.

Now on to Politics. I guess you heard that McCain won the primaries yesterday, barely defeating Huckabee in Virginia, and Obama easily defeated Clinton. Hillary is doing the Guiliani thing by placing all her hopes on winning two big states, Texas and Ohio in early March. The Clintons hopes rely on Texas! That's funny.

By the way, Pecos Perry, our Governor Good Hair, is one of the Republican Elitists who wants a true North American Union. When he was running for governor last year he stated "National Security begins with border security." And told us he had a sweeping immigration package. Turned out it was just a sock. He gave a speech in Edinburgh, Texas last weekend stating that the immigration problems were complex and that open borders were important to the "North American Hemisphere." Right....Globalist, and North American Union man, the United States be damned! Bush Sr. Bush Jr. and Pecos Pete's ideas of what the US should be. Can Texas leave this Union? We shouldn't have joined in the first place.

Ed
Republic of Texas

Rich Lawyers are all the Same

2008-02-11T09:42:00.000-06:00

Enjoy

Elitism and the Republicans

2008-02-11T09:39:00.001-06:00

I remember how just a few months ago a standard Republican party line was “look at how elitist the democratic leaders are.” Really? I have news for you rich, lawyer, right wing conservative types….you have shown who is truly elitist.

Your core ideas of fiscal conservatism and nationalism are simply flawed. You attack Huckabee as an “Evangelical” and you state that the base of the party is stupid or ignorant as they don’t see things the way you do. Or is it simply that America has had enough of your politician, lawyer games, and your schemes and ways to continue to enrich your own lives at the expense of the poor and the middle class? I know you won’t like this reference, but Jesus once said not to worry about the splinter in another’s eye, when there is a plank in your own.

Just because others disagree with you does not make them stupid and your elitism is showing to the nth degree.

Proof?

At the http://electromneyin2008.com/ website one poster writes: “I’m sure I will cry again between now and the election; in frustration, aggravation, and definite sadness for what might have been if we had been smart enough as a nation to not let slip through our fingers the opportunity to have given this wonderful man, Mitt Romney, the chance to lead the greatest nation on earth.”

Some say the idiotic south simply state their preference of Huckabee over Romney “as religious prejudice: Mr. Huckabee’s heavily evangelical voters simply refusing to vote for a Mormon candidate for president.” I am so tired of Yankee elitists talking down about southerners. We are their friends when we vote their way, but when we disagree we become little more than rural, uneducated hicks. It’s tiresome.

Most of America is moderate. We are not liberal, we are not conservative. Anyone who is all one thing suffers from a gang-like, politics as usual mentality. Read the issues. Think, then decide.

Hearing the conservative talk show hosts bash the Republican base for not doing what they think is right makes me sick. Rich, Lawyer, Yankee, Elitists!

Yes, most Americans want change. Duh! Economy is in the toilet, embroiled in wars, high taxes, horrible health care, shrinking middle class, loss of basic American civil rights, government that is too big, too powerful, and too seated in Federal government rather than in State and local governments.

The Rich Republican Lawyer Elitists are also dissatisfied with President Bush. They (being mainly north eastern Yankees) resort to caricature attacks on him:

“Not so Mr. Romney. Analytic and data-driven, always prepared to change his mind when circumstances change, Mr. Romney really would have been the MBA president George W. Bush promised to be. (They overlapped at Harvard, where Mr. Romney was an academic star — and Mr. Bush was best remembered for chewing tobacco in class.)”
Or how about this one:
“And to those people in the Republican Party who persecuted this good man because of his faith - do not think for one moment that you will be blessed by God for what you did - God would NEVER approve of your actions - you are all fools - Huckabee included”
One of the best articles on the fall of the Republican party is found at http://spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12700
In it, George Neumayr, writes “It tells you a lot about the state of the establishment conservative movement that in the end, given a choice between a (basically) red-meat conservative from the South and a recently pro-abortion moderate from the North, it chose the latter. The savaging of Mike Huckabee has been highly revealing, betraying more than just personal distaste.”
Yes. It does.

Again, I lament that our system does not truly allow for a third party.

2008-02-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

Elitism Runs Rampant

I remember how just a few months ago a standard Republican party line was “look at how elitist the democratic leaders are.” Really? I have news for you rich, lawyer, right wing conservative types….you have shown who is truly elitist.

Your core ideas of fiscal conservatism and nationalism are simply flawed. You attack Huckabee as an “Evangelical” and you state that the base of the party is stupid or ignorant as they don’t see things the way you do. Or is it simply that America has had enough of your politician, lawyer games, and your schemes and ways to continue to enrich your own lives at the expense of the poor and the middle class? I know you won’t like this reference, but Jesus once said not to worry about the splinter in another’s eye, when there is a plank in your own.

Just because others disagree with you does not make them stupid and your elitism is showing to the nth degree.

Proof?

At the http://electromneyin2008.com/ website one poster writes: “I’m sure I will cry again between now and the election; in frustration, aggravation, and definite sadness for what might have been if we had been smart enough as a nation to not let slip through our fingers the opportunity to have given this wonderful man, Mitt Romney, the chance to lead the greatest nation on earth.”

Some say the idiotic south simply state their preference of Huckabee over Romney “as religious prejudice: Mr. Huckabee’s heavily evangelical voters simply refusing to vote for a Mormon candidate for president.” I am so tired of Yankee elitists talking down about southerners. We are their friends when we vote their way, but when we disagree we become little more than rural, uneducated hicks. It’s tiresome.

Most of America is moderate. We are not liberal, we are not conservative. Anyone who is all one thing suffers from a gang-like, politics as usual mentality. Read the issues. Think, then decide.

Hearing the conservative talk show hosts bash the Republican base for not doing what they think is right makes me sick. Rich, Lawyer, Yankee, Elitists!

Yes, most Americans want change. Duh! Economy is in the toilet, embroiled in wars, high taxes, horrible health care, shrinking middle class, loss of basic American civil rights, government that is too big, too powerful, and too seated in Federal government rather than in State and local governments.

The Rich Republican Lawyer Elitists are also dissatisfied with President Bush. They (being mainly north eastern Yankees) resort to caricature attacks on him:

“Not so Mr. Romney. Analytic and data-driven, always prepared to change his mind when circumstances change, Mr. Romney really would have been the MBA president George W. Bush promised to be. (They overlapped at Harvard, where Mr. Romney was an academic star — and Mr. Bush was best remembered for chewing tobacco in class.)”
Or how about this one:
“And to those people in the Republican Party who persecuted this good man because of his faith - do not think for one moment that you will be blessed by God for what you did - God would NEVER approve of your actions - you are all fools - Huckabee included”
One of the best articles on the fall of the Republican party is found at http://spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12700
In it, George Neumayr, writes “It tells you a lot about the state of the establishment conservative movement that in the end, given a choice between a (basically) red-meat conservative from the South and a recently pro-abortion moderate from the North, it chose the latter. The savaging of Mike Huckabee has been highly revealing, betraying more than just personal distaste.”
Yes. It does.

Again, I lament that our system does not truly allow for a third party.

Chris Rocks on War

2008-02-08T08:07:00.000-06:00

Here is a great video on Chris Rock.

It's not work safe and he does drop the f bomb.....

Enjoy!

The War

2008-02-08T07:54:00.000-06:00

Romney quits! Whatda….Okay. Big question now is will his folks vote for McCain or Huckabee? Romney was definitely the most fiscally conservative of the three and had the backing of all the right-wing media types. I heard Laura Ingram going nuts about Romney, Huckabee, and McCain on the radio the other night. Will the fiscal conservatives vote for Huckabee despite their dislike of him, or will they hold their nose and vote for the more liberal McCain. (In a high funny voice) “I think this is most interesting……”

The War and Foreign Policy

Wow. This is a sore subject for most Americans. Following September 11, 2001 our nation was united as never before. Blue and Red states all agreed that we needed to find who was responsible for that terrible day and bring them to justice. Most of the world’s nations actually supported the US at that time. Six and a half years later we have conquered two nations, bombed a few others, lost some allies, stretched our friend’s patience, and asked our brave soldiers to shoulder America’s burden in a way we have not done since World War II.
Let me say first that I view every American soldier as a hero and salute them all! Anyone with the courage to put on that uniform and serve their country deserves no less. Now the big question…should we have gone to war in Afghanistan and Iraq?
In Afghanistan I say absolutely! The Taliban definitely supported Bin Laden and were an evil regime that threatened not only their neighbors but their own people. Women were stoned to death for showing any individuality. To be seen in public without your husband, brother, or father meant certain death in one of the world’s poorest nations. Our mistake there was in Tora Bora when we had the bastard trapped, but decided to allow other nation’s forces to help us and he slipped away to freedom somewhere in Pakistan.
As to Iraq, everyone thought Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. The British, the French, the Israeli’s, the Democrats, and the Republicans all believed he had them. To say Bush lied is ridiculous. If he did, so did all the other nations and our Senators (except maybe Obama) and Representatives. In fact Saddam had used such weapons in the past on the Iranians in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, and on his own people the Kurds.
Was Saddam still a threat to the region and to the US. Absolutely. Should we have gone to war? Hindsight is 20/20. At the time I said yes. Take the bastard out. Is the world better with Saddam dead? Hell yes. Unequivocally. But, now we are faced with the fact that we have not discovered any WMDs. Did they exist prior to our invasion? Maybe. We gave them over six months to move them to Syria or Iran or elsewhere. If President Bush lied, then this would be what he lied about. Something was wrong with this picture. Colin Powell, a great man and American hero, was sent speak to the UN to make the case for war. He did so. I believed him then and I believe he told the truth as it had been presented to him. Turns out he had his doubts. Before the speech he asked the CIA chief about it and he was told it was a “slam dunk.” Turns out the CIA information was faulty and I think the department heads were telling our Commander in Chief what they thought he wanted to hear. It’s interesting that Powell resigned and refused to serve in the second administration. He knows the truth and I think it sickens him.
In the election of 2000, Governor Bush stated that the US must not be in the business of nation building, and other than a 9.1 Trillion dollar deficit, I think that is all he is going to be remembered for doing. Well, that, and inventing words such as “Strategery.”
So now we must move forward. How do we do that? If we pull out of Iraq now it will leave a civil war and a power vacuum that Iran will attempt to fill. It could be another Cambodia with millions killed after we leave. The world will blame the US for the crisis and things will be as bad or worse internationally than it is now.
If we stay we may be looking at a long term commitment to nation building that may not end in our lifetimes. (Look at Korea for what it could end up like), though I’m certain many US troops will be removed over the next year.
Some people have said the war was over oil. Not really. If it was I’m certain we would be having cheaper gas prices over here, though I do not doubt that keeping the flow of oil and gas to the rest of the world through the Persian Gulf is part of it.
What is the answer? I really don’t know. I’m as sick of the war as anyone, but I know history well enough to say that a full pullout right now would be bad for the world and many thousands of innocents would die in the resulting civil war. The war is personal for me too. My college roommate and good friend, Todd Gibbs, was killed in December a couple of years ago. This was shortly after we made the huge military mistake of not leveling the town of Fallujah. Had we done that, many of the terrorists would already be dead. I also wonder if a Republic can truly flourish in a nation where extreme views of Islam are commonplace. Will there be religious freedom, freedom of expression, of press? Remember we are talking about a religion that says it’s okay to kill someone who drew a cartoon representation of Muhammad. Where women are told they must be covered and in the company of a man. Where a woman can be the victim of a gang rape and be sentenced to prison because she was not in the company of her husband, father, or brother. No, I’m not a fan of Islam.

Here are what the pundits for president have to say:

Ron Paul states we have troops in over 130 nations with over 700 bases. This is too much and too costly. We must declare war properly and Constitutionally and that means only by an act of Congress. The US should NEVER fight when another global entity tells us we should (the United Nations), we should stop supporting rogue states and organizations for convenience, as we have done in the past. He is openly against the War in Iraq. I agree that we are in way over our heads around the world and I think we should bring most of our troops home and close lots of those bases. We should not be the world’s police force. The UN be damned!

Huckabee believes that Iraq is only a battle in a generational, ideological war on terror. "Withdrawal would have serious strategic consequences for us and horrific humanitarian consequences for the Iraqis. If we leave, Iraq's neighbors on all sides will face a refugee crisis and be drawn into the war: Iran to protect the Shiites; Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan to protect the Sunnis; and Turkey to protect its control over its own Kurd population. Iraq is a crossroads where Arab meets Persian and Kurd, Sunni meets Shiite, so if it's not a peaceful buffer, it can easily become a tinder box for the region. “He also believes we should fight the terrorists with small controlled attacks by our elite forces, but in big attack situations he believes in the Powell Doctrine of going in with overwhelming force. He wants to end our energy dependence and to support the rise of moderates in the Middle East. He also wants to expand the size of the army and increase defense spending. I agree about the severe consequences. Personally I think we should go back to the days of CIA assassination of terrorist leaders, rather than going to war with an entire nation to get to them.

McCain states that he wants more soldiers on the ground and a new robust counterinsurgency strategy to take away all areas from the terrorists and to prevent them from setting up bases anywhere in the country (assume this is true for Iraq and Afghanistan). Believes we should gradually turn the war over to the Iraqi government and that we should attempt to unite the international community to apply pressure on Iran and Syria for change. I totally disagree! More soldiers on the ground? A new surge in Afghanistan? Is he on crack?

Romney would create a Special Partnership Force (SPF) involving civilian governments and our special forces to win popular support, to create an intelligence driven operation with sustainable efforts to fight the radical Islamists. He also wants to create a new Summit of Nations to bring about a new partnership for progress and prosperity. He would create a new version of the Marshall Plan and strengthen our global alliances, especially with NATO. I like the SPF idea. Mr. Romney is rich so I guess he doesn’t mind giving billions of our dollars to other nations. Dollar Diplomacy under President Taft didn’t work, and I don’t think it will work now. They will just take our money and use it to buy weapons to give to terrorists or to develop WMDs. I think we should end NATO all together. Period.

Hillary wants to end the war and bring troops home, while providing direct aid to the people. She would send in the U.N. to barter peace. She likes to say she’s against the war in Iraq, but she voted for it, and has voted to approve every bill on the war since.

Obama has stated that he would withdraw all of our troops from Iraq within 16 months. He wants to use regional diplomacy in the Middle East by talking to friends and foes. He says he would use tough, direct diplomacy with Iran and wants to strengthen NATO by giving “NATO Commanders in the field more flexibility.” He wants to fight global poverty and to expand the military in numbers and technology. At least he is honest about his opinions on the war, though since becoming Senator he also has voted to approve every bill on the war. I would not strengthen NATO and I would never give foreign generals command of the American military. No way, never!

So who wins….no one really. It’s a lose-lose situation, but I guess I’d go with Huckabee.

What do you think?

What is a Trillion?

2008-02-07T08:12:00.000-06:00

What is a Trillion?

On Debt and Taxes

2008-02-07T08:01:00.000-06:00

On Debt and Taxes

The US debt is over 9 Trillion dollars. The average American pays more than 45% of their total income in taxes to the Federal government, state government, and local taxes. Even with the “tax cuts” of 2001 our tax problems just continue to increase. More Americans than ever are filing for bankruptcy, consumer credit counseling services, and are losing their homes due to adjustable rate mortgages (that should have been illegal due to being just bad business practice).
Nine Trillion dollars! Do you know how much that is? Really? In this era of high dollar contracts for superstars and sports figures, we really lose our sense of proportion when it comes to money.
For instance. You could not sit here and count to one million. It would take something like three days of counting nonstop to do it. So…count by 2s…4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14….it will still take a long, long time and we are really no closer to a million. Count by 5s….5, 10, 15, 20, 25….that’s better but still a long way to a million. Count by 100s….100, 200, 300, 400, 500,….still a long way to a million. Count by 1000s….1000, 2000, 3000,4000,5000,6000,7000,8000,9000, 10000….still a long way to a million. Count by 10,000s….10000, 20000,30000,40000,50000,60000,70000,80000, 90000, 100000…whew! Finally, we are 1/10th of the way to a Million. Count by 100,000s….100000, 200000,300000,400000,600000,700000,800000,900000, 1000000. Finally! One million. Do that 100,000 more times and you get one Billion. Do that 100,000 more times to get a Trillion, and do that nine more times…and you get our national debt.
Wow….umm…okay….so our Conservative Republican President just asked for another 3.1 Trillion dollar budget! Let that sink in….he’s not supposed to be a liberal spending Democrat, but he’s already outspent every previous President in our history. Clinton, Reagan, Carter, Nixon,…all of them. So where exactly are his “conservative” values…
Now…to taxes. I truly believe I am over taxed. I actually consider myself to be lower-middle class economically. I also believe the Middle class is shrinking and most are becoming lower class economically in a trend that has no end. If the government does not do something about taxes and debt, we truly will become a purely socialist nation. We would have to. The shrinking dollar, inflation, energy, a smaller population of consumers (as baby boomers go bye bye), and many other serious economic factors face our nation now. Health care is basically unaffordable for the poor and lower middle class folks, Hell…Milk is almost $4.00 a gallon. How can we survive as a nation this way? We need true CHANGES. We need someone with a real plan. We need a new Roosevelt to see us through some hard times ahead….who do we have to choose from for this? Clinton, Obama, McCain, Romney, Paul, and Huckabee….hmm…not a Roosevelt in that bunch!

Okay, so let’s hear what they have to say on this issue:

Ron Paul believes in lower taxes and lower government spending. We are now 9 trillion dollars in debt. The Government overspends and the Federal Reserve increases the money supply lowering the value of the American dollar. We are actually borrowing money from Communist China and Saudi royalty to keep up our spending levels. He states we should use the Constitution as written to control government spending.

Huckabee says he is for the Fair Tax. He believes we are not under taxed, but that government overspends and wants to use the line item veto. He wants to replace Income taxes with the Consumption tax. He does state that he is for globalization.

McCain says he wants to cut taxes on the middle class. He wants to require a 3/5ths vote of Congress to raise taxes. He is against any types of internet taxation, and wants to cut the debt by eliminating broken programs (1 in 5), to reform Civil Service, and to end pork-barrel spending.

Romney says government must establish spending limits, reform all entitlements, and the President should use a line item veto. We must control earmarking and pork barrel spending by Congress. The people are overtaxed, and government is overfed. He would require a 3/5th s vote of Congress to increase taxes.

Obama wants to use a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person or $1000 per family of refundable tax credit. He would create a Universal Mortgage credit of up to 10% of mortgages for those making less than $50,000 a year. He would eliminate income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000 a year. He wants to reform and simplify the tax code. He would provide a College tax credit so that the first $4000 of a college education is completely free. He believes in the globalization of our economy and supports a nationwide broadband access. He also wants a Credit Card Bill of Rights for consumers.

Hillary wants to lower taxes for middle class families. Offering new tax cuts for health care, college, and retirement, and expanding childcare tax credits. She would expand national access to broadband services and wants stronger unions and trade laws.

Ron Paul is right on inflationary practices of our government. I like Huckabee’s ideas on the Fair Tax and that we are not under taxed, but our government overspends. I like McCain’s 3/5ths vote idea, but that will NEVER pass Congress. Too many special interest groups controlling our lawyer/politicians. But at least he has come out against any internet tax. Romney is playing to the choir on earmarking and pork barrel spending. But that’s about all he says. Obama’s tax credit is okay, but I’d rather just have…I don’t know..umm…lower taxes! Universal Mortgage could be a good idea if done properly. The tax code could easily be simplified…a Fair Consumption tax. (Won’t happen as our dear lawyer friends must have loopholes). I do like the Credit Card Bill of Rights and would support it. Hillary is offering same old promises, though she sounds more like a Republican than a Democrat on this issue.

So..with so little to really choose from on this issue….I guess I’d go with Huckabee, though Obama’s outside the box thinking is definitely worthwhile. Come on ya rich bastards,…you can do better! We must do better if you want our great experiment to continue for many generations to come.

Here’s a question for you conspiracy types….Do many power players in our government (the Bushes, Clintons) want to see the Dollar continue to fall, to the point we can create a real American Union between Mexico, the US, and Canada? Have you heard of the Amero, or the not-so-secret meetings between the US and Mexico on how to bring this about?

Achie on Energy Crisis

2008-02-06T08:04:00.000-06:00

Remember as you watch this that Archie said this in the 1970s....Things haven't changed....

On to Energy Policy

2008-02-06T07:54:00.000-06:00

Today’s issue is Energy.

This is one of those points that I’m really angry about. I hate that the United States must determine all our policies at home and abroad based on the Middle Eastern control of oil and gas. This was an issue in the early 1970s and now it’s back. Jimmy Carter (IMHO one of the all-time worst Presidents) said in the late 1970s that we should work to create alternative fuels, especially ethanol, and to create new and better technologies. Congress disagreed, and then things “magically” got better in the late 1980s. We didn’t worry as much about alternative fuels. Gas prices in Texas were less than a dollar a gallon in the summer of 1986. I remember when $1.30 seemed high in the early 1990s. Now we have been over $2.50 a gallon for over a year and economists suggest it may go as high as $4.00 a gallon by the summer.

Why? Big Oil guys say it’s simply competition from Asia for the valued resources. Others state that the Middle Eastern nations and OPEC are keeping the amount produced low to turn higher profits and to “punish” America. Another reason is that the more environmentally savvy we become the less we are willing to create new factories and refineries. Did you know the US has not built a new oil/gas refinery since 1979? So even if we had more oil and gas produced, the amount that is usable would not increase!

California went so far as to outlaw almost all energy producing facilities and refineries and since the mid 1990s they have suffered for it. Big energy companies such as Enron have proven just how greedy and illegal these big corporations can be. For the past three years American Oil and Gas companies have reported record profits every quarter! Billions and billions of dollars in pure profit. They are hiding money behind their backs and winking at their lawyer/politician friends who are telling the American public that the rising fuel prices are not their fault, and to blame OPEC and China.

I call Bullshit! In this area I am firmly a Progressive Trust-busting Republican in the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt (not the –I’m a big oilman from Texas named Bush I, or Bush II). First, we have no real choice in whether to buy oil/gas. Whether you buy it from Exxon, Chevron, or Anyron you are buying it at an extreme price. That means there is no real competition for our dollars, or there would be lower prices. Capitalism works when there is competition. This is NOT competition. The only ones being hurt by this are the Middle class and the Poor.

Making more ethanol and having a summer mix is not the answer! Did you know that about 30% of our gasoline in the summer is made of ethanol and that it doesn’t burn as well as gasoline, so we are actually getting less gas mileage? The demand for ethanol has caused everything related to the corn industry to get more expensive. Corn is used in almost all canned goods, in some meats, to feed cattle, and who knows what else. This is causing a huge rise in inflation at the grocery stores, which is again hurting all middle class and poor people. And don’t get me started on the shrinking US dollar! I’ll discuss that another time.

So, what do we do? Personally I’d regulate the shit out of the industry. If they can’t clean their own homes, I’d do it for them. I would also provide huge tax breaks and incentives for these companies to really develop alternative fuels. Right now, with these companies making record profits, why would they? There would absolutely NEVER be a tax on oil and gas for the consumer. (Europe can do this. It’s tiny compared to the US. I drive 90 miles a day just to get to work so riding a bicycle is a ridiculous idea).

We must develop clean burning fuels as well. Did you know that Texas is one of the largest areas of shale (a type of coal) in the world? If this could be developed cleanly and cheaply, Texas could once again be the capital of the World’s energy supply.

We should do this while finding new ways to produce safer, more environmentally appropriate ways to refine and reuse energy. It is time to build new refineries and possibly new nuclear plants to meet our energy needs.

So…here are what the lawyers and politicians who regularly lie to the middle class and poor have to say about this issue:

Ron Paul wants a return to a purely free market in energy, not a government regulated one. He wants to end all energy subsidies, and to enforce private property rights (to fight big energy corporations growing power). (Obviously he and I disagree on this).

Huckabee’s goal is energy independence. "We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass." He says Oil has not only shaped our foreign policy but has deformed it. He says nations like Saudi Arabia literally have us "over the barrel." ( I agree with this, but he never says how to do it, nor does he hold Big Oil and Gas accountable).

McCain wants new programs to lead to more energy independence. However he is against any subsidies, tax breaks or similar stimulus programs. He believes the government should set achievable goals, and that the markets should be free to produce the means. (Obviously, McCain is not a Progressive Republican).

Romney says this must be a top priority of the next administration. He believes it should involve increased Federal spending on research and development to diversify our energy supply and efficiency. We must emphasize our energy security. Promote nuclear power and increase all domestic production. (I agree).

Obama Every hour we spend $41 million in foreign oil. He wants a Cap and Trade system to reduce Carbon Emissions with an auction for energy producing companies. He would invest 150 Billion dollars in next 10 years to advance the development of biofuels and in changing our energy infrastructure. He would double funding for science and research of clean energy products. He would require 25 percent of renewable electricity by 2025. He would invest Federal Resources, including tax incentives, cash prizes, and government contracts into developing cellulose ethanol with the goal of producing 2 Billion gallons by 2013. He would expand biofuel refineries and require car manufacturers to double fuel economy standards within 18 years. (Wow, that’s quite a plan for the future, but what about in this decade? What about now?)

Hillary believes in a Cap and Trade system to control carbon emissions. Would provide $50 Billion for the Strategic Energy fund for new research and development of clean and efficient fuel sources, and would double investment in basic energy research. She promises to increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030. She would provide $20 Billion to auto manufacturers to retool factories to produce “green” vehicles. Finally she would create a National Energy Council in the White House to oversee these efforts. (It’s not just about being green, it’s about having the energy we need to continue to be a great nation).

And the winner is Romney and Obama. I think we need a healthy mix of their ideas to make a real difference. I’m still disappointed that these rich lawyers and politicians care more for special interests (Big Oil and Gas) than the middle class and the poor.

The losers are a majority of Americans trying to feed their families with less spending power of the dollar and fighting inflation that our government doesn’t want to believe exists.

Shame on you rich lawyer/politicos. Shame.

Archie on Gun Control

2008-02-05T09:47:00.000-06:00

Check this out! I love Archie....

The 2nd Amendment and Civil Rights

2008-02-05T09:37:00.000-06:00

Before I get into the 2nd Amendment....did you hear Exxon posted it's greatest profits ever? Good for big oil......bad for all middle class and poor Americans who are paying $3.00 or more for a gallon of gas. And....the President has sent a 3.1 TRILLION dollar budget to Congress. This is a Conservative President? umm....HELLO! A third of our national debt he wants and then he says he's actually cutting the budget......

Feed me shit and call it chocolate and I'm pretty sure it'll still taste like shit!

Changessssss.......turn and face the strange.....

Now...

The 2nd Amendment

John Locke and other Enlightenment Authors on the Natural Rights of Man said the purpose of government is to protect our Natural Rights. Among these were the right to Life, Liberty, and Property. Government gets its right to govern from the consent of the people. Locke and Jefferson both believed that since the people give the power to the government, they have the right to take it away if the government is not serving the purposes for which it was established. The first document of American government was the Declaration of Independence. It said, “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government…”

The Second Amendment to the Constitution states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

A basic belief in Republicanism believes that a standing professional army is the enemy of freedom. They believed only a citizen militia could provide security without threatening the liberties of the people. It was a colonial raid on the British Fort William and Mary that provided arms for the Minute Men at Lexington and Concord. During the Constitutional debates of 1788, James Madison (the Father of the Constitution) stated that Americans did not need to fear the power of the new federal government as the citizens had “the advantage of being armed, which you possess over the people of almost every other nation.” In Europe, he said, the “governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” Even the anti-Federalists (those opposed to the Constitution), such as Patrick Henry, believed in the right of citizens to be armed. Henry stated, “The great principle is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun.” Richard Henry Lee stated that in order to “preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”

As a Texan, I was raised with guns. I shot my first rifle when I was about six years old. My family has hunted the Big Thicket of East Texas, and served in the many, varied wars of our nation’s history. I believe whole-heartedly in the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms and I believe that if we begin to deny any of our basic liberties (as provided by the Constitution), all of them are at stake.

Ron Paul states that he believes totally in the right to keep and bear arms and has sponsored bills to protect this right.

Huckabee states that he believes the founding fathers created the 2nd Amendment to allow Americans to defend themselves against our own government and to protect our lives and property. He has opposed all gun control legislation and is against the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban.

McCain supports the rights of citizens to own guns and opposes all bans on guns, including the Assault Weapons bans. He is for requiring gun manufacturers to provide trigger locks with each gun sold and is opposed to any waiting periods.
Romney believes that this issue is bigger than just being about self defense or sport. It’s about allowing lawful citizens to live their lives without the “interference of the heavy hand of government.”

Obama does not state a position on the 2nd Amendment, but he does offer a lot regarding Civil Rights including expansion of Hate Crimes Statutes, ending Racial profiling , eliminating sentencing disparities, and expanding the use of drug courts. My questions about Hate Crimes is simply, “Are not all crimes of violence Hate crimes? My brother in law was shot in the back by an African American because he was the only white person in the store in LA at the time. Was this not a Hate Crime? As to Racial Profiling, little old grandma’s are not the terrorists we are worrying about. The terrorists are generally Middle Eastern men from places like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, and Syria. Is it racial profiling to state the obvious? I do agree with him on eliminating sentencing disparities and on the use of Drug Courts.

Clinton also does not state anything regarding the 2nd Amendment in her issues statements, but supported the ban on handguns in New York. She is also pushing Civil Rights in the area of women’s rights. I agree with equal pay laws, though she and I part ways on the abortion issue and Plan B.

So…the winner is…

Huckabee, though I do like McCain’s idea to require trigger locks. I use these on my handguns.

So..where do you stand? Do you want to begin taking away our liberties? Or do you actually believe in the Constitution?

Funny video of the day

2008-02-04T16:29:00.000-06:00

I found this on Youtube. It's funny, though a few months out of date.

2008-02-04T11:38:00.000-06:00

Which Candidate are you going to Vote For?

2008-02-04T10:12:00.000-06:00

Here is a funny thing: Which Democrat are you voting for? Obama, Hillary,...McCain! LOL

Congrats to the Giants. I've been rooting for them since their last game of the season loss to the Patriots and man that Defense was AMAZING! Kudos to Michael Strahan, a fellow Westbury High School Alumni. Great to see you get the ring man!

I loved the Houston Chronicle headline today: 18 and OH NO! hehe

Okay, back to my choices.

Today's Issue:

Health Care.

Personally I want to see an overhaul of the system. The greatest nation in the world should be able to see that all it's people have basic health services. No child should go without medicine because their parents can't afford it, and no elderly person should ever have to choose between purchasing medicine or eating. That's ridiculous and it must end. How come Americans pay more than Canadians for the same frickin drugs? Pharmaceutical companies need regulation. Am I for Socialized Medicine? No, but more does need to be done.

I remember in 1987, my parents went to Colorado for a vacation and they had no phone for me to contact them. I visited some friends in East Texas and was involved in a four wheeler accident. I had third degree burns on my left calf from where my leg rested on a hot muffler, and the fender had cut into my right calf about 3/4 of an inch and the slit was about 3 inches long. I had insurance, but no proof of it. My buddies got me back to one of their homes and I wrapped the bleeding calf as best I could. They wanted to take me to the emergency room, but I had about fifty bucks and no proof of insurance. So I told them I'd be okay.

I then passed out on the couch and woke up in the ER of a Lufkin Hospital.

They refused to give aid as they said I was not in a "Life threatening situation" and had no proof of insurance. I was about to leave when Mrs. McHaney, an old girlfriend's mother who happened to be the Head Nurse in ICU spotted me. She told the ER crew to see to my injuries as she knew my mother and promised them I had insurance. They then gave me medical care. I ended up with a dangerous staff infection in the right calf, but was able to treat it with my family doctor in Houston.

So...yes, some folks who need help do not get it!

My father is now retired and in poor health. He worked since the mid 1950s, paid his taxes, saved for retirement, etc. However, he stuggles WITH medicade to pay for his medicines. That's horrible and I say we as Americans CAN do better. I have seen my co pays go from 10 a visit in 1993 to 30 bucks now. The costs of medicine continue to go up, and up, and up. The FDA approval system is whacked, the Pharmaceutical Companies screw Americans as much as possible, and so...YEAH, I think something needs to be done.

Ron Paul says all Medical expenses should be tax deductable, and Doctors should be allowed to negotiate directly with the Insurance companies. He is for allowing Health Savings Accounts, he pushed through H2117 that required truth in labeling of our foods (a big thing for me as Kevin is on the Gluten/Casien free diet). He is against increasing any FDA powers and against any forced medical vaccinations.

Huckabee says the system is irrevocably broken. We need to move to a more preventative health care system. He promises to work with Congress, corporations, and health care providers to overhaul the broken system.

McCain says we should reform the entire system. He believes we should provide health care to all American citizens. He wants to stop skyrocketing costs, fund Federal research programs to care and cure chronic illnesses. He wants to reform FDA to get new drugs approved quicker and at less cost. He wants to provide $5000.00 family Medical Tax credits, and to teach personal responsibility for health care.

Romney says he wants to deregulate all state markets, reform medical liability issues, give states control of how to spend their medicade dollars, and to allow people to purchase private insurance. He believes we should no longer allow any “free rides” and believes that medical care should include choice and personal responsibility.

Obama says he wants a National Health Care Plan for all Americans. Everyone would be granted eligibility. It must have affordable premiums, copays, and deductibles. He would provide subsidies for individuals and families that need financial assistance to afford the plans. It would be portable and be able to go from job to job with the employee.

Hillarys says she would provide tax credits for working class families to help defray costs of health care. No denials of coverage based on pre-existing conditions. She believes that there should be many different health plans. The government should provide tax credits to small businesses to help pay the costs of employee healthcare. Believes we must reform health care to generate competition between health insurance companies to lower costs and increase benefits. We must limit premium payments to a percentage of income.

Who wins this arguement IMHO?

Hillary Clinton.

Mitt is the worst on this issue. No free rides for those poor old people. Right.....

I believe in offering varied health plans and tax credits and I believe in competition between companies.

Anyone who knows me, knows I generally do not like the Clintons. But....She wins on this issue in my opinion.

Don't like it....feel free to comment. The First Amendment is about this!

Ed

Funny video of the day

2008-02-01T14:03:00.000-06:00

Now for something to make your Friday fun....

Now it's Hillary's Turn...

2008-02-01T09:39:00.000-06:00

Finally, here is Senator Clinton. Next week I'll begin breaking down the candidates. It will be my own biased opinion and I won't be pulling any punches as I think these folks are the worst batch of candidates we have had to vote for since 2004....:)

Health Care: Provide tax credits for working class families to help defray costs of health care. No denials of coverage based on pre-existing conditions. She believes that there should be many different health plans. The government should provide tax credits to small businesses to help pay the costs of employee healthcare. Believes we must reform health care to generate competition between health insurance companies to lower costs and increase benefits. We must limit premium payments to a percentage of income.

2nd Amendment: Da Nada. But she is a strong proponent of women’s rights and wants to strengthen equal pay laws, a woman’s right to choose, and sponsor the Plan B (morning after pill) to make it available over the counter.

Energy: She believes in a Cap and Trade system to control carbon emissions. Would provide $50 Billion for the Strategic Energy fund for new research and development of clean and efficient fuel sources, and would double investment in basic energy research. She promises to increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030. She would provide $20 Billion to auto manufacturers to retool factories to produce “green” vehicles. Finally she would create a National Energy Council in the White House to oversee these efforts.

Debt and Taxes: Would lower taxes for middle class families. Offering new tax cuts for health care, college, and retirement, and expanding childcare tax credits. She would expand national access to broadband services and wants stronger unions and trade laws.

War and Foreign Policy: Wants to end the war and bring troops home, while providing direct aid to the people. Would send in the U.N. to barter peace.

Obama's Turn....

2008-01-31T09:58:00.000-06:00

Howdy all. First check out this site for more info on all the candidates: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18549110

Here are Obama's issues from his website:

Health Care: Wants a National Health Care Plan for all Americans. Everyone would be granted eligibility. It must have affordable premiums, copays, and deductibles. He would provide subsidies for individuals and families that need financial assistance to afford the plans. It would be portable and be able to go from job to job with the employee. He would create a National Health Insurance Exchange to help people purchase a private insurance plan. Employers would be required to contribute a percentage of payroll to costs of the plan. Expand medicade and SCHIP programs and would reimburse employers who had to offset costs of catastrophic health expenditures. He wants to strengthen anti-trust laws to keep insurance companies from overcharging doctors for malpractice insurance. He would regulate pharmaceutical companies to promote “unjustified” price increases, and would increase Autism research and support of families by increasing funding “for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to truly ensure no child is left behind.”

2nd Amendment: Da Nada. But lots to say on Civil Rights including:
Combating employment discrimination, expanding Hate Crimes Statutes, end Racial Profiling, provide Ex-Offender Supports, Eliminate Sentencing Disparities, and expand the use of Drug Courts.

Energy: Every hour we spend $41 million in foreign oil. He wants a Cap and Trade system to reduce Carbon Emissions with an auction for energy producing companies. He would invest 150 Billion dollars in next 10 years to advance the development of biofuels and in changing our energy infrastructure. He would double funding for science and research of clean energy products. He would require 25 percent of renewable electricity by 2025. He would invest Federal Resources, including tax incentives, cash prizes, and government contracts into developing cellulose ethanol with the goal of producing 2 Billion gallons by 2013. He would expand biofuel refineries and require car manufacturers to double fuel economy standards within 18 years.

Debt and Taxes: He wants to use a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person or $1000 per family of refundable tax credit. He would create a Universal Mortgage credit of up to 10% of mortgages for those making less than $50,000 a year. He would eliminate income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000 a year. He wants to reform and simplify the tax code. He would provide a College tax credit so that the first $4000 of a college education is completely free. He believes in the globalization of our economy and supports a nationwide broadband access. He also wants a Credit Card Bill of Rights for consumers.

War and Foreign Policy: He would withdraw all of our troops from Iraq within 16 months. He wants to use regional diplomacy in the Middle East by talking to friends and foes. He says he would use tough, direct diplomacy with Iran and wants to strengthen NATO by giving “NATO Commanders in the field more flexibility.” He wants to fight global poverty and to expand the military in numbers and technology.

There were lots more, but I got tired of writing. Check out his website for more. Tomorrow I’ll do Mrs. Clinton….wait that didn’t sound right….I would never…ummm nevermind! J

Chaaaaaannnnggeees

2008-01-30T13:12:00.000-06:00

Check it out. This is great!

Now Mitt and Florida

2008-01-30T09:34:00.000-06:00

McCain has won Florida and everyone says he will now win the Republican Primary. Is it just me or is less than 30% of the nation's delegates been decided? Doesn't this mean that over half of the nation has yet to vote? Is it right for those few states to decide everything? Is it really over when Texas, California, Michigan and many others with huge delegate counts haven't even went to the polls yet?

Huckabee was ahead in all national polls three weeks ago. Then the rich lawyers who only believe in Conservative business principles and not about middle class Americans began attacking him and characterizing him as a "Holy" Evangelical and ignoring his message. Actually, though I did like Huckabee he is not my choice, but it does show what the "Vast Right Wing" of the Repubs can do when they decide to. Money talks.

Guliani and Edwards have announced that they are leaving the election. With less than half of the states having voted? LOOOOSSSSEEEEERRRRSSSS! Again...money talks.

Okay, here are Mitt's issues from his website:

Health Care: He wants to expand and deregulate private health insurance. He believes that government run, socialized medicine would threaten medical progress and hurt the free market. We must address the problems of high costs and the uninsured. He wants to deregulate all state markets, reform medical liability issues, give states control of how to spend their medicade dollars, and to allow people to purchase private insurance. He believes we should no longer allow any “free rides” and believes that medical care should include choice and personal responsibility.

2nd Amendment: Romney believes that this issue is bigger than just being about self defense or sport. Its about allowing lawful citizens to live their lives without the “interference of the heavy hand of government.”

Energy: This must be a top priority of the next administration. He believes it should involve increased Federal spending on research and development to diversify our energy supply and efficiency. We must emphasize our energy security. Promote nuclear power and increase all domestic production.

Debt and Taxes: Government must establish spending limits, reform all entitlements, and the President should use a line item veto. We must control earmarking and pork barrel spending by Congress. The people are overtaxed, and government is overfed. He would require a 3/5th s vote of Congress to increase taxes.

Education: We should have more local control and parental choice in education. He wants competition involving private and charter schools believing that this would result in better public schools. He wants to provide a tax credit for those that choose to home school their children. He would support performance based pay for school teachers.

War and Foreign Policy: Would create a Special Partnership Force (SPF) involving civilian governments and our special forces to win popular support, to create an intelligence driven operation with sustainable efforts to fight the radical Islamists. He also wants to create a new Summit of Nations to bring about a new partnership for progress and prosperity. He would create a new version of the Marshall Plan and strengthen our global alliances, especially with NATO.

Tomorrow I begin the Democrats, though the field is quickly down to two....

Now for McCain

2008-01-29T13:11:00.000-06:00

Did you watch the State of the Union address last night. Nice energy policy....."let companies develop new fuels." Yeah...and they will do that why? Big oil and gas companies have shown record profits for two years. Why would they want to give that up? No they will squeeze the middle class as long as they can, for as much as they can. Sorry, Mr. President, but that was no answer to the energy troubles we face. Also did anyone hear him tell Congress that they approved a bill, but refused to fund it, and then turn around and say he wants them to double it? Double of nothing is...lemmee see...ummm....nothing! Does anyone actually read his speeches before he gives them?

Sigh....

Anyways.....back to my regularly scheduled posting....

Here is what I found on John McCain's website:

Health Care: We must bring costs under control and reform the entire system. Wants to give families control of their own health care dollars. Believes we should provide health care to all American citizens. He wants to stop skyrocketing costs, fund Federal research programs to care and cure chronic illnesses. He wants to reform FDA to get new drugs approved quicker and at less cost. He wants to provide $5000.00 family Medical Tax credits, and to teach personal responsibility for health care.

2nd Amendment: He supports the rights of citizens to own guns and opposes all bans on guns, including the Assault Weapons bans. He is for requiring gun manufacturers to provide trigger locks with each gun sold and is opposed to any waiting periods.

Energy: He wants new programs to lead to more energy independence. However he is against any subsidies, tax breaks or similar stimulus programs. He believes the government should set achievable goals, and that the markets should be free to produce the means.

Debt and Taxes: Wants to cut taxes on the middle class. He wants to require a 3/5ths vote of Congress to raise taxes. He is against any types of internet taxation, and wants to cut the debt by eliminating broken programs (1 in 5), to reform Civil Service, and to end pork-barrel spending.

Education: Believes in parental choice in their child’s schools.

War and Foreign Policy: He wants more soldiers on the ground and a new robust counterinsurgency strategy to take away all areas from the terrorists and to prevent them from setting up bases anywhere in the country (assume this is true for Iraq and Afghanistan). Believes we should gradually turn the war over to the Iraqi government and that we should attempt to unite the international community to apply pressure on Iran and Syria for change.

Here's Rudy....

2008-01-28T11:52:00.000-06:00

Here is what I have gleaned from Rudy's website on the following issues:

Health Care: He believes we should increase competition to lower prices and gain better services. Patients and Doctors should have more empowerment to deal with health insurance providers. He proposes an Income Tax Exclusion of up to $15,000 for people without coverage and Health Insurance Credits for low income folks who do not have coverage or cannot afford medical care. He wants price visibility and options to increase competition. He wants to reform Medical Liability laws, to streamline the FDA to make new drugs more available and at lower prices. He is also for Health Savings Accounts.

2nd Amendment: He states he is for the 2nd Amendment. In regards to his outlawing guns in New York his website says “To deal with a city where crime was out of control, Mayor Giuliani worked to get guns out of the hands of criminals and cut the murder rate by 66%. The best way to deal with gun crime is to prosecute the criminals and enforce the laws already on the books. Rudy Giuliani will make sure that if someone commits a crime with a gun, they will go to prison for the mandatory sentence.”

Energy: He believes we need to diversify our Energy to include more bio fuels, renewable energy sources, nuclear power, clean coal, natural oil and gas and that we need to build new infrastructure including plants, refineries, and others that will decrease our dependence on foreign supplies of energy.

Debt and Taxes: He believes we should work to keep all taxes low and to control government spending. He is for a simplified tax system and wants to give additional tax relief to the poor and middle class. The also wants to kill the Death Tax.

Education: He believes in parent choice and is for school vouchers. He also wants more choice for Special Education students (broaden IDEA-Individuals with Disability Education Act), and to expand charter schools.

War and Foreign Policy: He believes we should stay in Iraq as long as it takes and that we need to build an “accountable” Iraq. He states that pulling out now would lead to a greater conflict and more death. His goal would be the destruction of Al Quida, Hezbollah, and Hamas. He would use a “surge” in Afghanistan to pacify the nation. He supports the Patriot Act. He would tie foreign aid to Arab nations to a benchmark system to push them into supporting the war on terrorism. He would expand NATO.

And Now Huckabee

2008-01-25T08:47:00.000-06:00

Okay, here is Mr. Huckabee's takes on these issues:

Health Care: He believes the system is irrevocably broken. We need to move to a more preventative health care system. He promises to work with Congress, corporations, and health care providers to overhaul the broken system. "We do need to get serious about preventive health care instead of chasing more and more dollars to treat chronic disease, which currently gobbles up 80% of our health care costs, and yet is often avoidable. The result is that we'll be able to deliver better care where and when it's needed."

2nd Amendment: He believes the founding fathers created the 2nd Amendment to allow Americans to defend themselves against our own government and to protect our lives and property. He has opposed all gun control legislation and is against the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban.

Energy: Goal is energy independence. "We have to explore, we have to conserve, and we have to pursue all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass." He says Oil has not only shaped our foreign policy but has deformed it. He says nations like Saudi Arabia literally have us "over the barrel."

Debt and Taxes: He is for the Fair Tax. He believes we are not under taxed, but that government overspends and wants to use the line item veto. He wants to replace Income taxes with the Consumption tax. He does state that he is for globalization.

Education: He believes in music and arts programs and believes schools should sponsor creativity. He believes in Parental Choice in schools and the Charter system. He believes that states should develop their own benchmark tests and that the Federal government has usurped the powers of the states in this area.

War and Foriegn Policy: Believes that Iraq is only a battle in a generational, ideological war on terror. "Withdrawal would have serious strategic consequences for us and horrific humanitarian consequences for the Iraqis. If we leave, Iraq's neighbors on all sides will face a refugee crisis and be drawn into the war: Iran to protect the Shiites; Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan to protect the Sunnis; and Turkey to protect its control over its own Kurd population. Iraq is a crossroads where Arab meets Persian and Kurd, Sunni meets Shiite, so if it's not a peaceful buffer, it can easily become a tinder box for the region. " He also believes we should fight the terrorists with small controlled attacks by our elite forces, but in big attack situations he believes in the Powell Doctrine of going in with overwhelming force. He wants to end our energy dependence and to support the rise of moderates in the Middle East. He also wants to expand the size of the army and increase defense spending.

More tomorrow (I'm doing the Republicans, then the Democrats, then Others):

Ed

Politics....

2008-01-24T14:55:00.000-06:00

Okay. I used to be a political junky. I admit it. I was 19 when I attended the Republican State Convention in Houston in 1988 as a Delegate for Fort Bend County. I served on the George Bush Sr. Steering Committee for Fort Bend County, and was a Precinct Captain as well. It was a great experience, and at the time I thought of getting into politics. But the Convention changed all that. The Special Interests groups met each delegate as we entered the Convention Hall and I realized politics isn't about grass roots, but Special Interest groups (Corporations and rich lawyers).

As I've gotten older my political views have changed drastically. I now generally consider myself a Constitutionalist and a Libertarian. Well, that's not exactly right, I actually believe I am a Progressive Republican, and yes, I know that in today's politics, there is no such animal. Theodore Roosevelt was our greatest President, and I do believe that government can have a positive impact and do things that can improve our nation. So here, I do break with the Neo Cons, as it's not always about smaller government. It should be about BETTER government.

The Election of 2008 is very disappointing to me. The leading Republican candidates do NOT represent me or my ideas of what is right for our nation. The leading Democrats scare me with their awesome ideas for change, but they never provide how we will pay for them.

Then I began investigating all the candidates. I went to their websites and read each of their issue statements point by point. I have yet to complete this, but here are my notes so far:

Ron Paul's Issues

Health Care: Government and our Congress founded the HMO system and is the cause of our failing Health care system. The FDA is biased towards the big pharmaceutical companies-thus keeping prices high and avoiding real competition. All Medical expenses should be tax deductable, and Doctors should be allowed to negotiate directly with the Insurance companies. He is for allowing Health Savings Accounts, he pushed through H2117 that required truth in labeling of our foods (a big thing for me as Kevin is on the Gluten/Casien free diet). He is against increasing any FDA powers and against any forced medical vaccinations.

2nd Amendment: He believes totally in the right to keep and bear arms and has sponsored bills to protect this right.

Energy: Wants a return to a purely free market in energy, not a government regulated one. He wants to end all energy subsidies, and to enforce private property rights (to fight big energy corporations growing power).

Debt and Taxes: Believes in lower taxes and lower government spending. We are now 9 trillion dollars in debt (This has almost doubled since Bush became President). The Government overspends and the Federal Reserve increases the money supply lowering the value of the American dollar. We are actually borrowing money from Communist China and Saudi royalty to keep up our spending levels. He states we should use the Constitution as written to control government spending.

Education: Return to local control. End the Department of Education. Turn control back over to the states and the parents. Local taxes should pay for education and local districts should control what is being taught in the schools. He does want to see Teir 1 supports by the government continued (this helps low performing, low economic, and at risk students). He is for giving a $3000 tax credit for all teachers and wants to stop out of control rising college costs.

Immigration and Border Security: Wants to physically control borders, enforce existing VISA rules, No Amnesty, No Welfare for illegals, wants to end birthright citizenship, and wants to pass true reform legislation on immigration.

War and Foreign Policy: We have troops in over 130 nations with over 700 bases. This is too much and too costly. We must declare war properly and Constitutionally and that means only by an act of Congress. The US should NEVER fight when another global entity tells us we should (the United Nations), we should stop supporting rogue states and organizations for convenience, as we have done in the past. He is openly against the War in Iraq.

MOre to come..

2008....A New Beginning

2008-01-24T14:14:00.000-06:00

Howdy Ya'll.

I'm going to try this blog thing again....I wouldn't expect too much!

My focus is changing to be about any random thing that I want to speak about. It may offend you...get over it. 1st Amendment rights....check it out.

I am going to try to blog regularly...yeah right, no really I am!

Origins

2007-07-11T18:10:00.000-05:00

Wow, I haven't posted in half a year. The reason...I forgot my password! Heh, finally found it and can start blogging again, but don't expect it on a regular basis.

Last week we went to Origins and I ran some awesome games for various Savages, played in a kicking game of Runepunk and got to meet, and play with Shane Hensley and Teller of Deadlands fame! It was an awesome experience.

hmmm.....I'm not much of a blogger am I? LOL

L8rs

2007-01-01T08:41:00.000-06:00

Last New Year's I posted the following:

1. New attitude at work. I need to be a better teacher.

I did this! This year has been the best I've had teaching since 1999.

2. Spend more time having fun with wife and kids. We're going camping several times in 2006, fishing, and a real summer vacation.

Nope.....didn't happen. I'm rolling this one into 2007.

3. Continue gaming every Tuesday night. Me time.

Yep! I have some of the best gaming buddies to be found and they break the mold of geek gamer....you know....they are married with children, good jobs, and are very stable fellows.

4. Learn more about autism, maybe even take a new job working with autistic kids in the fall.

My wife and I have done this, and Tracey just became a certified Special Ed teacher!

5. Put out Skinwalker, Midnight Tales I-IV, Fire in the Hole, Wild Things, The Gauntlet, Steamworks, The House, Prodigal, and the ETU setting book for 12 to Midnight. This will be a breakout year for us.

Okay...this is a feast and famine thing. We did put out Skinwalker, Midnight Tales I, Fire in the Hole. Wild Things is done, but we are purposefully awaiting January 15th or so to put it up for sale. The Gauntlet is in final edits, as is the Prodigal. The House and 12 Hours to Midnight are to be produced in 2007, and we hope Steamworks as well. The ETU setting book is coming together....slowly, but it is. 2006 saw us increase total sales and sales volume records for us by nearly a third and our imprints have been fantastic. Overall, a good year.
6. See Bloodlines released for Distribution in April!

Done!

7. Potty-Train Kevin!

Okay....this is difficult for an autistic child, but he has made tremendous strides in Kindergarten and is even in the top half of his class regarding his reading and other skills.

8. Be a better Christian.

Always room to improve.

9. Be a better friend.

Always room to improve.

10. Be a better Husband and father.

Have to ask my wife about this one. I think I'm pretty good overall.

Predictions:

1. US will begin pullout from Iraq by summer.

Okay, I was wrong, but there is a "new course" according to the President. Personally, I think we have begun the Vietnamization of the war and when we do pull out, we will see Iran take over and genocide between the Shiites and the Sunni.

2. There will be a new vice-President before next year. (Don't know why, but I think it.)

Okay, I was wrong, but Cheney did have health problems in February that came close to ending his time in office.

3. Democrats will win back the Congress in 2006, and the Presidency in 2008.

I was definately right on this one.

4. President Bush will get to nominate another Supreme Court justice this year.

Yep...right again.

5. More terrorist attacks in Europe, as they don't play hard ball and are easy victims.

The Muslim teenaged rampage in France is sickening.

6. UT will be National Champions winning 38-24.

Wrong score, but oh so right!

7. UFOs will be seen over several large cities, including a new wave over Mexico City.

Not as big as I thought, but it did happen.

8. 17 named hurricanes next season. Only 3 will enter the Gulf of Mexico and hit around Brownsville. Other two into Mexico and Yucatan.

I was right about the lessened frequency of the hurricanes.
But I was off by 6 or so.

9. Many folks will have serious depression by summer as no more Josh Whedon shows on tv, but Sci Fi channel will announce several movie deals for Firefly.

Half right......

10. Star Wars tv will flop.

Haven't heard anymore about it....so guess it flopped?

11. Economy will continue to improve until Congress passes new waves of taxes and Federal Reserve will continue to drive up interest rates, until the we go into another recession this fall.

Half right....recession will hit this Spring as new Congress increases taxes.

12. Deadlands Reloaded will win the Origins award and a major movie contract for HBO.

Still possible, maybe even a computer game.

13. Pirates of the Car 2 will be the biggest hit of the summer.

True.

14. Mongoose, one of my favorite game companies, will make the same mistake as AEG, put out a big book that doesn't sell and suffer from it.

Wrong, but I still think it will happen.

15. The d20 market continues to shrink, but the release of True 20 is a big success.

True

16. Somewhere, someone is writing the next great Fantasy series, but it is being turned down by the big companies. He will put it on PDF and word of mouth makes it sell like hotcakes. He signs a huge agreement for the book rights in late fall.

Okay, hasn't happened yet, but it will.
17. Conde Rice is set up to run for President against Hillary in 2008.

Will happen, but Hillary is unbeatable.

18. The governor of Texas fails in his reelection campaign and a folk singer becomes Governor.

Okay, this was wishful thinking, but I still love Kinky F.

19. Arnold Shwarzennegger is booted as Gov of California.

Nope, just a little surgery.

20. Serious thought is put into a wall between Mexico and US. This causes riots and severely hurts US/Mexican relations. The Mexican druglords start an uprising in southern Mexico and a new Civil War beckons.

Still happening.

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the Middle Class gets screwed.

Right on forever!

So....2007

More of the same. The US dollar continues to decline and driving us toward 3rd world status, eventually the dollar will be so weak as to cause a massive depression in the world market place as the US will no longer purchase 65% of the world's products. Outsourcing to Asian nations leave the US with no products or industry, and services only continue as long as we have money to spend. The Democrats and Republicans continue to ignore this issue and eventually we are going to pay the ultimate price.

I'd give anything for a true Nationalist Democrat or Progressive Republican (sans Teddy Roosevelt) to wake America up and truly lead us into the 21st century. I think I'll blog more on my political ideas later.

Happy New Year

A Memorial Trip around Texas

2006-12-31T08:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Jerry and I took his brother's ashes and spread them around Texas in all of his favorite places. Jerry's brother, Mike, died unexpectedly in November and no one knew that it had happened. The body was kept in a hospital morgue for several weeks until a friend went looking for him. Jerry had the body cremated and his friends and family gathered yesterday for a memorial trip. Mike would have loved it. I won't say where we went, but we hit many of his favorite places from his life and we spoke many wonderful words of remembrance of him. Mike had a unique laugh and was a genuinely happy gentleman that made everyone who knew him comfortable and at peace.

As we remembered our friend, I could almost hear him laughing and saying, "This is great!"
We drove to many different places, hell I was in a car for over 14 hours and my back is definately hurting, but it was worth it.

Thanks Mike. It was the nicest memorial I've ever been to. See everyone who was there knew and loved him. There was no preacher who didn't know him telling us about him. It was different, but very moving.

Well, here's to a better 2007.

Happy New Years my friends,

Ed

New Game

2006-12-26T23:51:00.000-06:00

Well, its nearly new years and I'm not sick yet, though I did have a stomach virus last week and my back is hurting from moving my sisters stuff (big sleeper sofa....ouch). Usually I seem to be very sick on New Years, so I'm hoping to break Sadie's Curse this year.

What's Sadie's Curse? Well back in 1992 (December 31st to be exact), my wife and I went to one of the poshiest (is that a word?) restaurants in Albuquerque. Everyone told us it was the best New Mexican food around. It wasn't. I found half a roach in my food, but not wanting to ruin the evening for my newly wedded bride I didn't say anything, just stopped eating. That night we both became deathly ill and stayed in bed for the next few days (not the fun type of staying in bed either, the sickohmygoshi'mthrowingupandhavenobalance type of illness. Seems that every year since I've had some ailment during New Years. You may remember that I had pneumonia last year, a severe nasal infection two years ago, stomach virus three years ago and so on. This cycle was last broken on New Years Eve 1999, but I drank too much that night and was sick New Year's Day.

So, here'e hoping that the stomach virus of last week will be the only ailment suffered this New Years.

Santa bought a new game for David this year. It's Heroscape by Hasbro. Man what a blast. David and I have played about 12 games so far and are having a great time. I see us buying lots of the expansions in the near future. Easy to play, quick play, lots of strategy. Great game. I give it five stars.

"But what about Warhammer and 40K?" I hear you asking. Screw em! I won't spend another friggin red penny for anything made or put out by Game Designers Workshop. Why? They are like crack dealers. Here's a great game, but we are going to make you buy all new toys every two years as we like to make lots and lots of money. And their toys cost wayyyyy tooooo much! I fell into their games twice and spent wayyyy too much on em. Never again. Heroscape is just as fun and cheaper to collect and play. Get yers today! If your one of those "I hate microsoft guys, you need to join me in the I hate Game Designers Workshop stuff!"

So sell all your GDW crap on Ebay and go buy Heroscape today!

This coming weekend I'm joining Jerry on a memorial trip for his brother who died last month. We are going to spread ashes in some of the places that meant the most to his brother.

Guess that's about it for now.

Love and Peace,

Ed

Dell: My Experience with them...

2006-12-23T09:11:00.000-06:00

I needed a new computer. My wife is taking a college class in January that is online, and I needed a laptop to use for writing lesson plans, and to write and edit for my company, 12 to Midnight. My friend, Mark Ramsey, has always purchased new computers from Dell and stated he has had great machines. My father has purchased hundreds of computers from Dell in his last job and never had any real trouble from them, and so Dell comes highly recommended by my friends and family. Dell is supposedly a Texas company, so there was another reason to go with Dell. I went online to the Dell store and shopped around, finally deciding on a B-120 that came with a wireless card and a few minor upgrades. I purchased the computer in early October (10-05-06). I was impressed when the computer arrived in two business days. It seemed to work great those first few days, but I was a bit concerned when the screen seemed to flash at times, and very occasionally a line would cross the video screen. This got progressively worse over the next two weeks and I finally decided I had to send it back into Dell for servicing. I hated to do so, and even contacted a Dell outlet in Houston to see if they had a service department I could drop it off with. They said all service had to be done through Dell’s service support company. I have always hated sending things through the mail, but as that was the only way to get the machine serviced, so I contacted a Dell Service Technician by dialing 1-800-624-9896 on October 25. The service technician had me do a diagnostic on the machine and I performed a series of tests for him. Afterwards, he said, “You definitely need to send it in to be serviced.” He said DHL would deliver a box for shipping the computer back to Dell. I gave him my father’s address as I am not living at home during the week, but in an apartment in Bryan and I knew my father would be home as he is retired. The box arrived on Friday, but I had to wait until the following Monday to return the computer, as I am only home on the weekends. My wife contacted DHL and had them pick up the computer from her work (West Oaks Mall) that Monday.

I had been told that most service calls take up to five working days. The following Saturday (11-04) I contacted another Dell Representative using the extension 7254338 and my case number 147228087. I believe the Representative I spoke to was named Annie. She checked my number and responded with, what is your name? I said “Ed Wetterman,” she responded by placing me on hold for about three minutes, then came back and said, “Yes sir, we have your computer, and they are servicing your modem.” This immediately sent off signals to me that something was wrong. I told her that my computer had an LCD display problem, that the modem was fine. She responded with, “Oh I see. It’s okay. You should be getting it back very soon.” She stated that I should receive a link with an email that I could use to check on the status of the computer. The links never worked.

On 11-07, I called and spoke to another service technician who stated that the computer was being serviced and should be sent back to me soon. I asked if there was any problem and he said they probably had to order a part and were waiting for it to come in. I called back on 11-11 and was again told that the service department was working on it and that it should be fixed shortly and returned to me. Another week went by and I called on Saturday 11-18 to ask what was going on. I was told it had been fixed and was being mailed to me. It did not arrive.

I called again on 11-22, as I was off that day preparing for Thanksgiving. I spoke to a male service technician who told me that my computer had never arrived at the service center! I was very upset and told him that I had been calling the past three weeks and was told it was being worked on. He said he would look into the matter and call me back. Not a minute after I hung up with him, I received a call from Eric, who stated he was a supervisor and that he was checking into my case. He stated that he had tracked down the service tech that had signed for my computer and that it had arrived. Apparently I had been given the same customer number as another customer and he had been having modem problems. Eric stated that he had spoken with the service department and that my computer had been “found,” has been fixed, and will be mailed via DHL as soon as possible. I asked him if the screen had been fixed, and not the “modem,” he stated that he thought so, but if it hadn’t been when I receive it to call him back at extension 1754338 and ask for him. Unfortunately this was Thanksgiving and DHL would probably not pick up the computer until Friday.

I call on Monday 11-27 and am told that DHL did pick it up and that it was scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday. It was delivered on Tuesday, and I drove to Caldwell to pick it up. Upon opening the computer I saw a Corrective Action Sheet that had an x marked on Other: and Modem Cable written in. I turned it on and the screen instantly went to horizontal lines.

I called the number Eric gave me almost immediately that night. It’s no longer a working number. I then called the customer service number wanting to get my money back. After thirty minutes of waiting I finally contacted an Indian named John. I explained what had happened and that I wanted a refund. He asked me to “hold on a second,” and I was disconnected. I called back and waited for an hour and finally got in touch with another representative who was also an Indian. I told him not to place me on hold as I had already been hung up on once and did not want to get disconnected again. I told him what had happened and that I wanted a refund. As he was getting my information, he asked me to hold on a second, and as I was shouting “No,” I was disconnected. I drove back late to Bryan in a very foul mood.

Then next day, Wednesday the 29^th of November, I called during my break and spoke first with Oscar, a service technician, and asked to speak to a supervisor. He transferred me to Crystal. I told her the story and she said she would see that the problem was resolved. I stated I wanted it fixed or my money back. She began to state that I had to ask for a refund within 29 days, but I told her that Dell had had my computer for over a month, so that was not the case in my opinion. She stated she was upgrading my warranty status to get a technician (just this once) to come to my home to repair the computer. She stated she was ordering the part, it would be shipped overnight to the technician, and we should hear from him in the next 24 to 48 hours, and usually before noon to set up a time when he could come to repair the computer. I thanked her and hoped that it would be done.

I heard nothing from Dell or from any service technician, so on Monday, 12-4, I called and spoke once more with Oscar. I asked to speak with Crystal, but he stated he currently had no way of connecting me. I asked to know the status of the part that had been sent to the local technician, if it had been delivered. He stated he would call me back with the information. I had him call my father, as I was unable to use the phone at that time.

Two hours later, a Dell Service Technician contacted my father and had my father run a diagnostic on the computer, he determined the screen was in need of repair, and told my father he would see about ordering the part for it. When I heard this, I realized that no one at Dell seemed to know what they were doing. I called until I finally got to speak with Todd who stated he was in Utah. Todd stated the part had been delivered on Friday and that I should hear from the technician soon. I asked him if Dell was ever going to get this machine fixed, or if they cared about their customers. He stated they did and would see that I get satisfaction. I stated that I wanted the computer fixed by Friday, a new computer, or my money back if it was not completed. He stated he understood. He stated that I should call extension 7254338 and that would ring the American offices in Utah. I told him that was the same extension I had always used and that it has most often been picked up by someone in India or the Philippines.

On 12-6-06 I called and spoke with Chad regarding the situation. He stated he would give me a direct number to the technicians group so I could set up an appointment directly. He gave me the number 1-800-654-1853 and the dispatch number #081968742. I immediately called Bangtech and spoke with Natasha. She stated that Dell had cancelled the parts and ticket and ordered them to be returned to Dell.

I then called Dell back and spoke with Muhammad and asked to speak to a supervisor. He placed me on hold for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, I went to another phone and contacted Brad at Dell. I explained what was happening and he began speaking with a supervisor. I hung up on Muhammad. After twenty or so minutes Brad explained that the “higher ups” were looking into the case and would call me back tonight or tomorrow morning. I told him I wanted this resolved by Saturday. They must fix my machine, send me a refund, or send me a replacement. I also told them I had spoken to an attorney and that this needed to be resolved soon! Thirty minutes later, Crystal contacted my father and he explained the same thing to her. She said she would look into it and call him back within the next 10 minutes.

My father called me and stated that Crystal had called him back and they had agreed to send me a new computer. She told him she would call me in the next 30 minutes to explain what had been decided. She did not.

On 6-7-06 I called at 1:20 and spoke with Joe. I asked for the status of the case, as I had not heard anything. He stated he saw how the new machine had been ordered. It’s waiting for a quote. “The dispatch has been sent for a new system and awaiting a quote.” He didn’t know exactly what that means, but he said no one had cancelled the order and that would have been done by now, so it seems to be moving okay.

On 6-11-06 Crystal contacted me and told me that the new computer should be arriving that day. She gave me the tracking number and then asked to check my address. She thought the box had been sent to my address, but then instead of Caldwell, read College Station. She said she would look into it.

On 6-13-06 a new Inspiron 1501 arrived. It worked fantastic and looked great. Dell had made me feel much better as the computer is a definite upgrade from what I had. The hard drive is 20 gigs larger, has a faster processor, and a better screen. I have to find a cross connection cable to use to pull my info off the old computer and then can send it back to Dell. Dell did finally make good by me, but it’s a real shame it took eight weeks and 22 calls, and me having to contact a lawyer to get this resolved. However, there was no return label for the other computer. Crystal contacted my father and told me to get the return label that was sent with the packing information. It was not with the box. My father asked for an extension where I could phone her back and she gave him the same extension I had always used.

At 11:40 I spoke to Travis and explained that I needed a label to mail the old computer back to them. He tried to contact DHL, but then came back and said they would have to mail me a label. I asked about keeping the old computer a few more days to get the info off the hard drive and he said that was okay. I asked about the software and he told me not to worry about that, just the power cord, the battery, and the computer.

I thanked him and asked for him to log my appreciation of Crystal, Eric, Brad and everyone who “tried” to help me and that I was satisfied that this was finally resolved and that Dell did make it right. He stated he would send me an email and that I could reply to it. I asked if my 1 year extended warranty was transferred to the new computer and he stated that it was.

In the final analysis Dell did make it right, but I sure had a lot of frustration to get to this point. I’m satisfied now, but I know Dell could do better. The biggest problem is the outsourcing to India and the Philippines and the lack of communication between the different parts of the company. I found that the folks in Utah believe that the 7254338 extension only rings to them, but I can attest to the fact that it is also picked up by folks in India. If that is not the case, then there are lots of South Asians in Utah, and I don’t really believe that is true. I’m still confused to how an automated system could give the same customer number to two different customers. Eric really tried to resolve the problem and had gone above and beyond in tracking down the computer and speaking to the service tech in Tennessee that had signed for it. At the time though, I was certain the screen had not been repaired, and as it turned out I was correct. I also believe Crystal worked hard to resolve the problem, but somewhere the company let her down as well by canceling the parts she had ordered to repair the system. Another example of miscommunication in the company was that whoever cancelled the parts did not update the file for the service technicians, so I constantly got bad information through no fault of the service techs. The lowest point for me in all of this was being accidentally hung up on twice after spending a total of almost 2 hours on the phone waiting to speak to him. As a customer I appreciate having a call back number to an actual supervisor, which I was never given despite the many, many phone contacts I had to make to get this resolved. I had contacted a lawyer, Kyle Miller, who was ready to help me get satisfaction if necessary, and I’m truly happy it did not come to that. If Dell wishes to continue to be the powerhouse of computers it currently is, then it must work harder to make the customer service more consumer friendly and to resolve inner-company communications, as it was truly a series of follies and happenstance.

I think my future purchases will be made at local stores that can provide me immediate service even if the computers are "below" par.

The X-Mas Season

2006-12-22T20:47:00.000-06:00

Howdy Friends,

Well, its that time of year again. I haven't posted nearly as often as I'd have liked to, but life is busy. Instead of mailing out those Christmas letters, I thought I'd just post some ramblings here as most of my friends read this on occassion.

David just graduated to Camo belt in Tae Kwan Do and is really loving it. He also won his first sparring match against a blue belt 3 points to none. He is a great student at school and a wonderful son who makes me very proud. He really wants me to start GMing him some, and I have promised to make a regular game for him. He loves Church and is really looking forward to 6th grade as he can start attending the youth program.

Kevin is also doing great in school. At his ARD we were told by the diagnostician that he was performing in the top half of his regular education class. He is reading and writing and doing basic mathematics. He still has problems communicating, but it seems he has really captured his teacher's heart. He is a real athlete and loves football, baseball, and such. The diet is still working great for him and Tracey and I have finally come to terms with his autism. We are so lucky he is high functioning and loving, which is rare for autistic kiddos.

My mother and father have had a difficult year as his diabetes is really taking its toll on his body. He retired last summer, and Mom hopes to join him next year. Grandma Lowe died in September and we are all still dealing with her loss.

My brother in law, Joe Callahan died on Thanksgiving day this year, and though he and I were never close he was a good fella and will be missed.

Tracey has completed the first part of becoming a teacher and has taken the Texcet tests for Special Education, but we have not recieved her score yet. We are both excited about her new career and are looking forward to summers off with our boys and doing some real vacationing.

I'm still plugging away at writing 12 Hours to Midnight using a 24 style format. Should be fun if I can actually finish it.

My writing goals are as follows:

1. Finish 12 Hours to Midnight
2. Finish an Agents of Oblivion adventure I've had in mind for a year now.
3. Complete a few writing assignments for Reality Blurs (Agents of Oblivion)
4. See The House on Dale Island and 12 Hours published in 2007.
5. Complete My State of Education- a true tell all book about what teaching is really like.
6. Begin writing the first of many stories of my shared Fantasy world with Mark Ramsey.
7. Write the Historical Fiction story of the Low Connor Feud.

Guess that's it. This schedule would definately take me into 2009, but I always believe you should dream big and work to get there.

Love to all,

Eddie

Emails re: Low Family

2006-10-29T19:34:00.000-06:00

Howdy,

I've recieved several great emails the past few weeks regarding the Low-Conner feud and the Low family genealogy. I want you all to know how much I appreciate hearing from you all and hope your roots continue to grow. I've got more I would like to post including an interview with Blanch Toole, a great genealogist and Sabine County historian who died a few years back. Unfortunately, I have very little free time right now, but hopefully during Christmas break I can add much more to the genealogy stuff I have posted so far.

Keep those emails coming as I love hearing from you all.

As to 12 to Midnight, we have finished Fire in the Hole except for layout, as well as Wild Things- our first fantasy adventure foray. I'm currently Savaging both for the Savage World's system and we hope to have all of them up for sale before Christmas. Then I hope to complete the 12 Hours to Midnight set of adventures to release next Summer, and finally see House on Dale Island published. We are still working on a few other things as well. Neal Hyde has written a fantastic horror adventure that is being edited now, as well as two new Modern Dispatches. The art we are getting in for Wild Things is fantastic! Hopefully we will post some to the website soon.

Happy Gaming,

Ed

Death

2006-09-10T00:17:00.000-05:00

Tonight I watched my grandmother die. She has suffered from Alzheimers for the past five years and yesterday we got a call saying it would be anytime now. Tonight at 1104 pm, my mother, father, sister, and aunt had circled around my dying grandmother. We prayed, sang her songs, held her hand, and cried together as she finally passed.

I am a Christian and I know she was. Now she is in heaven in the presense of God and eternal glory. She is having a happy reunion with those who went before her. My grandfather, my uncle D, her mother and father and many others. She lived a long full life and now she is reaping the reward in an eternity of love and glory.

Yes, I really believe that.

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, drop me an email and I'll help you discover what I have discovered. Peace and Love,

Ed

Warren Moon Inducted in the Hall of Fame

2006-08-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Warren Moon.

One of my passions is American Football. Not soccer, not baseball, not basketball, but hard hitting, grinding, passing, running, sticking, tackling, jaw-breaking action of the NFL. I've watched the NFL games since about 1975. I remember the first game I ever saw was the Dallas Cowboys against the Rams. I loved playing the game and watching the NFL. My favorite football memories include the Tyler Rose (Earl Campbell) and the 1978-1980 Bum Phillips led Oiler teams. Damn the Steelers! How I hated those tyrants in black, though now I can honestly say that was the best dynasty ever, and have grown to respect and even admire them. Growing up an Oiler fan in Dallas Cowboy country wasn't easy. I took alot of ribbing and joshing, and oh how I still hate the Boys!

When we moved to Houston in 1983, I started attending Oiler games. By 1986 I was a season ticket holder and would remain thus until I moved to Albuquerque in 1992. I was lucky enough to see Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, John Elway, Dan Marino and many other legends of the game play in the Astrodome against my beloved Oilers.

I was there when the Dome was the House of Pain. My favorite players of that era included Mike Munchak, Bruce Matthews, Johnny Lyles, Bubba McDowell, Drew Hill, Earnest Givens, Jamie Williams, and of course-Warren Moon.

I remember in the mid 1980s we would joke that once Moon had thrown his requisite 2 Interceptions a game, we had a chance of winning. The Seattle playoff game of 1987 began the real change and Moon became a machine. Jack Pardee and the Run and Shoot was amazing with Moon at the helm, and I still believe our 1991 to 1992 teams were the most talented ever. But as always, the Oilers were never the best team, and always fell short of the goal.

Stagger Lee in 1987 in Denver, A John Elway come from behind win the next season, losing to the Steelers, the Bills, The Biggest Choke in NFL history, and the Joe Montana Chiefs comeback win all broke my heart. Then they traded the best quarterback we ever had and said he was 38 and too old to play the game anymore.

Moon went to Minnesota and had his best season everrunning a conventional offense. The Oilers went down fast and then their fat obnoxious evil demonic owner, Bud Adams, decided to hold the city of Houston hostage over his flawed team and moved them to Tennessee where the flaming meatballs were born and the Oilers died. I just visited the Titan's fan board. The front page of the Meatballs website showed Moon at the Induction today. Not one poster mentioned Moon. Why? Because the Oilers were Houston's folly, Titan's fans think McNair was the greatest Quarterback in their history. Oh how I love the Texans beating the Meatballs the past two years.

Look out Meatball fans, we are gonna hurt you this season!

Anyways, Congrats Moon and thanks for all the memories, as well as the heartache.

Low Family Sources and Bibliography

2006-08-04T00:51:00.000-05:00

Bain, Robert. The Clans and Tartans of Scotland, 1968, London.

Bible records kept by Helen Lowe.

Cemetery records and tombstone references of the Frisby, Hemphill, and Isaac Low Cemeteries.

Census records for Jasper and Sabine Counties of Texas of 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910.

Gouldrup, Dr. Lawrence P., Writing the Family Narrative, Ancestry, Inc., 1987.

Humble Oil Company “List of Isaac Low Heirs,” 1947. Kept in the Sabine County Courthouse in Hemphill.

Rubincam, Milton, ed. Genealogical Research: Methods and Sources., Vol. 1, revised. American Society of Genealogists, Washington D.C., 1983.

Sabine County Marriages 1875-1900. Kept in the Clayton Library in Houston, Texas.

Schluter, Helen Gomer., Many various works on Sabine County, Texas, and on the Lowe Family. She compiled first list of Isaac Low and Elizabeth Parson’s children. 1860 Census of Sabine County, Texas with Civil War Records, 1983; and several other books including the Lowe Family Bible.

Smith, Elsdon C., New Dictionary of American Family Names, New York, 1988.

Southern Historical Research Magazine, Dallas, Texas, September 1936. Kept bound in the Sam Houston State Library.

Stryker-Rodda, Kenn., Genealogical Research: Methods and Sources., Vol. 2., American Society of Genealogists, Washington, D. C., 1983.

Texas v. George Lowe, case no. 3424, 1929. Kept in the Sabine County Courthouse.

Toole, Blanche., 1910 Population Census of Sabine County Texas, 1987, and personal interviews with her.

Many interviews with Betty Lowe, Helen Lowe, L.D. Lowe, Leslie Lowe, Maurine Marshall, Jack Lowe, and other family members.

Many tales and stories told to me by Pappaw Leslie when I was a boy.

Leslie Lowe and Maurine Marshall

2006-08-04T00:49:00.000-05:00

The early years of the depression were not as hard on Lowe family as it was on many other families. This was because they owned their own farm and were fairly self-sufficient. This does not mean that the depression did not affect the family, however. They did suffer some lean times and work outside the farm could not easily be found. Leslie quit school when he was seven years old and in the second grade to help work on the farm.

Leslie, who was born on June 14, 1919, met Maurine Marshall at a church they both attended and began to court her. One of his fondest memories of this time was seeing Maurine one afternoon after she had just finished plowing a field with the help of an old mule. She was exhausted and lying on the back of the mule, riding it to her home. She did not know he was there or that he had seen her. He said he thought she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. They were married on November 4, 1938. Leslie and Maurine had four children, but Kenneth-the youngest- died at birth. The surviving children were:

1. L.D. Lowe

2. Helen Lowe

3. Betty Lois Lowe

When Leslie was young, some misunderstandings had occurred between the Lowe and Garlington families. There was a rumor that if hunting dogs strayed onto Garlington land, the dogs went missing and were never found. In the1950s, Leslie had two hunting dogs he was very proud of. One was a blue-tick hound and the other was a mixed breed. One day the dogs were hunting, caught a scent, and took off at a full run, baying all the way. Leslie lost sight of them but followed the baying until it stopped. The dogs had entered Garlinton land by this time. Leslie searched everywhere for his dogs, but found no sign of them. Finally, he decided the Garlingtons possibly had his dogs. He took his rifle and walked up to the Garlington home. He yelled at them that he wanted his dogs back, but they called to him from the house and told him that they did not have the dogs. Leslie eventually gave up and left, but he never found out what happened to his dogs. For the rest of his life, he held a grudge because he felt the Garlingtons knew something about his dogs.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Leslie worked in tow of the alphabet programs that had been instituted by President Roosevelt. First, he worked in the NYA, and later in the WPA. For a few dollars a day, he would shovel dirt and fill up dumptrucks. He and others did this from sun-up to sundown every day.

With the outbreak of World War II, both Hardy and Acie Lowe joined the service. Acie joined the Army and made a career from which he would later retire. Hardy fough in the Pacific Campaign in the navy and had three P.T. boats on which he was serving sunk by the Japanese. In 1944, Leslie joined the Navy and his unit was scheduled to be part of the force that would invade Japan. However, due to President Truman’s use of the atomic bomb, the invasion was not necessary.

After the war, Leslie learned welding as a trade and worked for several years as a welder to support his family. Then, in 1955, he was working in a shipyard when he fell from some scaffolding. His neck was seriously injured and he could not work for more than a year. The family suffered but survived. Betty, one of Leslie’s daughters, remembers eating canned peas and drinking tea for most evening meals during that time. Maurine worked to help support the family as best she could. For a time, she worked making pies for $2.00 a day.

In 1964, Leslie suffered the first of three heart attacks. The first attack led to his being disabled and unable to continue working as a welder. In 1972, Leslie had his second heart attack. The doctors said that only a portion of this heart was still functioning and it was a miracle he was still alive. The attack did not stop him though. He continued to be active, working his garden every year. On August 29, 1983, Leslie suffered his third and fatal heart attack.

Later, Maurine would marry Jack Brown and together they would go fishing and had a large garden every season. Unfortunately, Maurine began suffering from Alzheimer’s in the late 1990s, and in 2004 had to leave Jack for health reasons. She now lives in an Alzheimer’s care home, not far from her daughter Betty, who visits her often.

George Lowe and Nora Ferguson

2006-08-03T15:20:00.000-05:00

George Lowe, a son of Ike and Melissa, was born in 1889 in Scrappin’ Valley, Texas. George married Nora Ferguson, a daughter of H.R. Ferguson and Ella Frisby. They had seven children:

1. Hardy

2. Lonnie

3. Acie

4. Leslie

5. Orene

6. Claudia

7. Elsie Mae

George and Nora’s home became the “Old Homeplace” for the Lowe family. According to family tradition, there was a problem with the mail being mixed up between members of the Low family, so some of Ike’s children added an “e” to Low so their mail would not be delivered to other Low families. The Old Homeplace stood on a hill that overlooked a small wooded valley in southwest Sabine County. The house was an average home of the day, possessing a dog run in the middle with rooms on either side. There was also a smokehouse, outhouse, and a deep well. The house was probably built between 1890 and 1900. L.D. Lowe, one of George’s grandsons, remembers drinking from the well as a boy, and says that it was “as good and refreshing as any water he had ever tasted.” George used to sit on the porch and shoot wolves that would come to near the home. George had known Nora since he was young, as she grew up about one-half mile to the east of the Old Homeplace.

Nora’s father, H.R. Ferguson, died on May 3, 1914, and his son, Albert, inherited the Old Ferguson Place. In the late 1920’s, a dispute (possibly over hogs) arose between George and Albert. The arguments must have gotten fairly heated because Albert had reportedly told Pete Ellis (a neighbor) that he intended to shoot George if he ever came near Albert’s home again. Also, one of Albert’s sisters, Julia Ferguson, had reportedly heard Albert and his wife threatening to kill George, and “burn him out.” Eventually, George went to the Ferguson home to discuss the problem with Albert. According to court testimony, when George arrived at the Ferguson home, Albert drew his shotgun and fired it at George, but missed him. Albert then ran out the “back of the house and around to the front and attempted to shoot” George again. George, who was rumored to be a crack shot with his 35 rifle, fired at Albert and hit him in the leg. George went to trial in Hemphill for the assault with a deadly weapon against Albert Ferguson. During the months prior to the trial and after the shooting incident, Albert reportedly told Dan Lowe, one of George’s brothers, that he “did not know why he shot” at George, but that “he did shoot at him and shot at him first.” Albert also reportedly pointed out to Lem Williams where he was standing when he “fired the first shot” at George. He said he wasn’t sure “why he shot” at George, but that “he did shoot at him and shot at him first.” Albert also reportedly pointed out to Lem Williams where he was standing when he “fired the first shot” at George.

George subpoenaed Pete Ellis, Julia Ferguson, Dan Lowe and Lem Williams, as well as many others to testify in his defense. Despite all the evidence that showed that Albert fired first, George was convicted of aggravated assault and was One of the main reasons that George was convicted was due to the fact that no one he had subpoenaed showed up to testify on his behalf. The jury had little choice but to find George guilty. One of the earliest memories of George’s son, Leslie, involved the family riding to the county seat at Hemphill on the back of a wagon for George’s trial.

Scrappin’ Valley truly earned it’s name in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the late 1920’s or early 1930’s, Dan Lowe, George’s brother, was stabbed at a party by an unknown assailant and died of the wound. One of Leslie’s early childhood memories occurred while he was hunting with his father on their land. A man who had killed one of Leslie’s cousins had trespassed onto George’s land. George had young Leslie hide inside the hollow of a dead tree while he went, gun in hand, to talk to the man. The man left without incident, but Leslie remembered being terrified and fearing for his father’s life.

During the 1920’s and the early years of the depression, the Lowe’s, as well as the other families of Scrappin’ Valley, ran moonshine stills. Most of the illegal liquor was consumed by their immediate families, but some was sold as far away as Beaumont, Texas. Jack Lowe, a nephew of George’s, remembers running the whiskey stills around Powell Town with other relatives. He also remembers selling the moonshine for $2.00 a gallon.

During the Depression, the Lowe family was a little better off than many other poor families of the time, as they owned their own farm and grew much of their own food. However, George and many of his son’s worked in various government work programs of the day. One family story states that while George was away working, a “Yankee Salesman” came to his home and “something” happened between Nora and the salesman. Perhaps he flirted with her, or even raped her. We will never know, but according to two different family sources, when George returned out and found out what happened, he calmly took his rifle, loaded up his mule and went hunting for the man. He reportedly found him along some back road in Sabine County, killed him and buried him there. This may sound harsh, but it needs to be understood that there was little law in that part of east Texas at that time and many families had to take care of their own.

George died on March 28, 1944. His death certificate states that he suffered from hypertension and that the right side of his heart was acutely dilated. He was 54 years old at the time of his death and was buried in Frisby Cemetery. Nora kept a trunk with some of George’s possessions, including his shoes with the socks in them as he had left them, with her everywhere she went for many years. She would live with various sons or daughters for the last years, before going to live in an “old folks” home.

I remember my “Little Granny”, and visited her often as a boy. I would always bring her a candy bar, which she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. She never remarried and as an outsider looking in, I think she truly loved and was devoted to George. They were not very demonstrative with their love, especially towards their children, but I think it was there nonetheless. Nora died in 1981, and she joined George in Frisby Cemetery, outside of Jasper Texas.

Ike Low and Melissa Travis

2006-08-03T14:55:00.000-05:00

Isaac (Ike) Low and Melissa Cordelia Travis

The youngest child of Isaac Hickman and Mary Ann was Isaac (Ike) Low. The family traditions that I learned from my grandfather, Leslie Lowe, stated that Ike was an orphan, and that he never talked about his family. Young Ike must have been affected by his father’s death while he was a young boy, and once Mary Ann died, Elmore Harper separated the children by farming them out to various cousins to raise.

Young Ike was raised by his father’s nephew, Isaac Wright Low, and it is assumed that he often felt isolated or different from the rest of the Low family. There are several reasons for this deduction. First, Ike never talked about his family or relatives. All he would say was that he was an orphan. This made researching his early life very difficult since I didn’t know where to look. Sabine county historians, as well as various family traditions state that Ike was known for his stinginess, or as Blanche Toole said, “He was very tight with everything.”

Ike was born on December 11, 1862, and he married Melissa Cordelia Travis, the daughter of Cannon Travis and Saphronia White, on January 10, 1882. Ike and Melissa had eleven children that I am aware of. They are:

1. Henry born in 1883

2. Tom born on March 27, 1884

3. Mattie born in 1886

4. Dan born in 1890

5. Cannon born in 1892

6. Jim born in 1894

7. Emma born in 1896

8. George born in 1889

9. Winnie born in 1898

10. Alvin born in 1902

11. Harvey born in 1903

Jack Lowe, a son of Tom Lowe, remembers that “Ike had a log house. It was a real good house and it had a dogpen [run], a hall down the middle, and he had a kitchen off making an L on one end of it.” Jack went on to say that it was a large house with both a front and back porch. Ike and Melissa’s home, outside Hemphill, Texas, was on a steep hill that went down to a little stream called Brushy. Jack Lowe remembers that Ike did not have a well, and that he would load a wagon with seven or eight barrels that he would take down to the creek to fill with water. Ike would pour the water into a cistern until it was filled.

Sabine county in the 1880s was still included in the Big Thicket territory. The Big Thicket spanned several East Texas counties and it is said that if a person wanders into the Thicket, out of sight of the road, he may be lost indefinitely. Sabine county remained a “frontier” county until well into the twentieth century. That is, people often settled disputes independently of the law.

All food was grown on local farms and families were self-supporting. Much of the land on which the Low family lived came to be called “Scrappin’ Valley.” The families would often fight among themselves and others. With each generation, the land would be divided among the children and their families. Intermarriages were not uncommon and a gunfight could easily be caused by a dispute over hogs. In a sense, the Low family did not change over the years. As with the original clan, they still feuded among themselves, as well as with other clans.

One of the major incidents in Ike and Melissa’s lives occurred shortly after they were married. Melissa’s family, the Travis’, was a very large family, and one of Melissa’s sisters, Saphronia, married Fed Conner. Fed was one of six sons of Willis Conner. The other sons were Bill, Alfred, charles, Leander, and John. It seems that on December 5, 1883, Eli Low, a cousin of Ike’s, and friend, Kit Smith, were clearing some land in what was known as Holly Bottom. Holly Bottom was not far from Brushy—where Ike and Melissa lived. According to family tradition, a big rainstorm hit and Eli and Kit decided to go hog hunting.

The Conner family operated a small farm about six miles east of Hemphill, and they had several hundred head of hogs that were allowed to run free in the unfenced forest. This was at a time when many people were at oddd over whether to allow ranchers to “freerange” their cattle and hogs. Many farmers were against the freerange animals, as they would get into gardens and cause all sorts of trouble. The situation in Sabine county had slowly escalated to the point were townspeople were carrying guns and threatening each other.

Fiamily tradition states that the Conners rode up on Eli and Kit, shooting them both, and starting the Low/Conner feud. Eli and Kit’s bodies were found covered by a cloth. The Conners were charged and convicted of the murders and were placed in jail in Hemphill while awaiting transfer to a state penitentiary.

In January of 1886, the jail was broken into and the Conners escaped. The people that helped them escape went to jail, but the Conners fled into the woods and became outlaws, professing their innocence to all who would listen.

The Conners, by fleeing into the woods, caused suffering in many families in Sabine county. Almost every family was related in some way to every other family and this was a very tragic affair to all of them. Blanche Toole stated that althought Melissa’s sister ws married to Fed, “he [Ike] was against them.” Blanche went on to state that eventually everyone in the “whole oounty got to hunting them.” Jack Lowe stated that he remembered his grandfather, Ike, telling him about the feud, and that Ike had, despite his feelings towards the Conners, “fed them some” while they were running from the law. Even the Texas Rangers got involved, and one of them, J.H. Moore, was killed. Eventually all the Conners were killed, or ran away, and the feud ended. Blanche stated that, “ in the books, little Ike doesn’t get too much credit for being very good to Saphronia Pauline Conner,” who was the widow of Fed Conner and Melissa’s sister. They all had a hard time getting by after the feud ended.

When Melissa had a baby, her mother, Saphronia White-Travis, would come and stay with them to help look after the house and the children. Ms. Toole told me a story that involved a Mr. John Paul Hyden. John used to live down from Ike and Melissa and had to pass their house to get to the school. Well, Saphronia, now an elderly lady, smoked a pipe and Ike wouldn’t buy her any tobacco. When she ran out of tobacco, she stopped John and told him that if would buy her some tobacco, he could “marry any of her daughters he wanted.” John was a very young boy, and remembered being scared to death of her.

On August 1, 1908, Melissa died and was buried in the Hemphill Cemetery. Ike later married a Ms. Emma Clark. Ike’s children seemed to be satisfied with his marriage to Emma. Jack Lowe stated that his father, Tom owe, felt that Ike “needed somebody to take care of him.” Ike and Emma had three children:

1. Wiley

2. Jack (Judge)

3. Winnie

Ike died on August 12, 1923, and it is believed that Emma moved back to Louisiana to be with her family.

Facts and Trivia on the Lowe Family

According to one family tradition, George, a son of Ike and Melissa changed the spelling of the name from Low to Lowe, because he was receiving another George Low’s mail and couldn’t get the Post Office to ever straighten out the problem. He changed the spelling and it has been spelled Lowe by every generation since. Many of the other relatives also began spelling the name with an e about this time as well.

Another tradition states that another son of Ike’s, either Cannon or Dan Lowe, was engaged to marry a Smith girl, and that the two attended church together. Apparently she got mad at him one day during a service and began beating on the poor fella, chasing him out of the church in front of everybody. From that day on the land the Lowe’s lived on became known as “Scrappin’ Valley.” As to the couple, they did get married, but the marriage didn’t last too long and they were soon divorced. I can’t imagine why!

More lines...

2006-08-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

7. Johann Neutzler and Eleanora (Germany)
John Wolfe and Jane B. Sharp
John R. Ramsey and Louisa Jane Hull
Drucilla Ricketts and Judah Jones
Isaac Hickman Low and Mary Ann Parker
Cannon Travis and Saphronia White
William W. Ferguson and Elizabeth Pace
Andrew Jackson Frisby and Elizabeth Primrose Robison
Daniel Marshall and Mary Francis McWilliams
George V. Simmons and Parmelia Walker
Lemuel Gray and Leatha Ann Everett
Thomas Carter and Elizabeth (Full blood Indian)

8. Jacob Wolf
John Sharp and Polly Tulluck
J. L. Ramsey and Elizabeth Dyer
Abraham Hull and Elizabeth Monger
Isaac Low and Elizabeth Parsons
William Barrett Travis and Nancy B. Hurst
Dr. Edward White and Elizabeth Strickland
Hardy Pace and Mahala Isaacks
Aaron Abraham Frisby and Marie Aimee Durusseau
John Robert Marshall and Morning Caroline Jordan
Thomas McWilliams and Lucinda Lamkin
Thomas Everett and Nancy Ann Felder

9. Johannes Hull and Anna Lingenfelter
John Monger and Catherine Deck
Aquilla Low and Nancy Lewis
John D. Traverse and Isabelle Graham
Henry Hurst and Judith Hudnall
Wiilliam White
Henry Strickland and Ruth Thompson
? Pace and Susan Hutchins
Elijah Isaacks and Hester Donahoe
William Frisby and Lucretia Johnson
Pierre Durousseau and Caroline Lacaze
Mathew Marshall and Polly Ann McCullough
Henry A. Jordan and Mary Ann Roberts
Miles Hodges McWilliams and Sarah Spears
John Everett and Sarah
Charles Felder and Sarah Lea

10. Abraham Hull and maria Stentz
Jacob Lingenfelter
John Monger and Anna Burckin
Johann Heinrick Deck and Catherine Froelich
John Traverse and Elizabeth Wilson
Dominick John Graham and Isabelle Cannon
Joseph Hurst and Winnefred Nutt
Soloman Strickland and Amy Pace
Alexander Thompson and Elizabeth Hodge
Samuel Isaacks and Mary Wallace
William Donahoe and Esther Daniel
Jean alexandre Codoin Durousseau and Catherine Josette Bello
Philip Lacaze and Genevieve Carrier
Mathew Marshall
Alexander McCullough and Esther Magee
Daniel Roberts and Elizabeth Keyser
James Edwin Spears and Lydia Meekins
Peter Felder and Elizabeth Lowe

11. William Henry Monger and Susannah Brodbeck
Johann Deck and Anna Barara (Germany)
Dr. Edward Travis and Mary Mills
John Wilson
Edward Cannon
John Hurst and Mary Harvey
Jacob Strickland and Priscila Young
Thomas Pace and Amy Boykin
James Thompson and Ruth Alexander
Elijah Isaacks
Jean Simon Durousseau and Marie Vigneras (Bordeaux, France)
Donato Bello and Susanna Maureau (Italy)
Charles Lacaze and Felicite Langlois
Joseph Carrier and marie Louise Lavergne
Dennis Magee and Bridget O'Conner (Antrim, Ireland)
Cornelius Roberts and Mary Polly Benton
Nathaniel Spears and Lydia Wise
Jonathan Meekins and Christian
Henry Felder and Mary Shaumloffel (Switzerland)
John Lowe

12. Daniel Travis and Susannah King
John Mills and Mary O'Luine
Thomas Hurst and Elisabeth
Mathew Strickland and Ann Braswell
Richard Pace and Rebecca Poythress
Samuel Isaacks (Wales)
Victor Bello and Marie De La Maro (Naples, Italy)
Joseph Valentin Moreau and Marie Jean Lafleur
Joseph Carriere and Marguerite Trepagnier
Louis Lavergne and Isabella Tommelin
James Roberts
hans Heinrick Felder and Ursula (Zurich, Switzerland)
John Shaumloffel and Anna Dirr (Germany)

Genealogy and my Family Lines

2006-08-01T15:29:00.000-05:00

I've had a few genealogists email me asking what lines I have information on. So I'll start with my kids and go back by generation here, and hope to eventually cover all of these.

1. David and Kevin Wetterman (my boys)
2. Ed Wetterman and Tracey Stimach (me and my wife)
3. Tom Wetterman and Betty Wetterman (my parents)
Ed Stimach and Shirley Rhine (wife's parents, you get the idea)
4. Edgar Wetterman and Arminda Louise Wolfe
Leslie Lowe and Maurine Marshall
John Stimach and Mary Stiglich
Ferman Washington Rhine and Katie Clubb
5. Charles Wetterman and Anna Wachsmann
Prince Albert Houston Wolfe and Martha Iredell Moore
George Lowe and Nora Ferguson
Van Daniel Marshall and Bessie Grey
Ivan Stimach and Mary Mufuic (Croatia)
Florian Stiglich and Francis Stiglich (Croatia)
George Rhine and Arinda Smith
GW Clubb and Josie Butler
6. Heinrich Wettermann and Karoline Wehring (Germany)
Johann Wachsmann and Karonlina Neutzler (Germany)
John Peeler Wolfe and Martha Tennessee Ramsey
James Henderson Moore and Mary Jane Ricketts
Isaac (Ike) Low and Malissa C. Travis
Hardy Ferguson and Ella Frisby
William Marshall and Sarah Ann Simmons
Marshal S. Grey and Winnie Opal Carter

More to come later.

Ed

Isaac Hickman Low and Mary Ann Parker

2006-07-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

Isaac Hickman Low and Mary Ann Parker

Isaac Low’s fifth son, and his namesake, Isaac Hickman Low, is our family’s direct ancestor. Isaac Hickman was born in Tennessee in 1820 and married Mary Ann Parker. They had six children that I have located. They are:

1. Ellen (Born in 1844)

2. Hannah (Born in 1846)

3. Mary J. (Born in 1848)

4. Emily (Born in 1856)

5. James (Born in 1861)

6. Isaac (Ike) (Born December 11, 1862)

There was possibly a daughter named Amanda, who married a Conner, but I am not sure if she was Isaac and Mary’s daughter or not.

Not much is known about Mary Ann Parker, but Blanche Toole, a Sabine County historian, and a member of the James Frederick Gomer Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, believes that Mary Ann was probably a sister to Matthew Parker, who was an Assistant Chief Justice in Sabine County.

Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Isaac Hickman, as well as several of this brothers and nephews, enlisted in the Confederate army. Isaac Hickman died in Marksville, Louisiana in 1864. Isaac died due to an illness and I believe it was measles. When the Civil War ended and all the menfolk returned to Sabine County, Isaac Hickman’s widow, Mary Ann, married Elmore Harper. Elmore’s wife, Julia Lane, had died while he was serving in the Confederate army. Mary Ann and Elmore had a son named Elmer Harper in 1868. Mary Ann and Isaac Hickman’s children lived in Elmore’s household, along with Elmore’s pervious six children with Julia Lane. Mary Ann died sometime shortly after 1870, and the Low children were farmed out to live with various cousins, uncles, etc.

Note: For the longest time I couldn’t find how Ike was related to the Low’s of Sabine County. Blanche Toole solved this for me as she showed me where he was in the 1870 census with the Elmore Harper family. My grandfather, Leslie Lowe, told me his grandfather, Ike, was an orphan who came to Sabine County and married Melissa Cordelia Travis. The truth was he lost his inheritance when his father died and the older generation divided Isaac Hickman’s lands up, along with the family when Mary Ann died.

What is roleplaying?

2006-07-23T20:22:00.000-05:00

Howdy. It amazes me how many people today do not understand roleplaying games. Most have heard of Dungeons and Dragons, but know little about it and think it is some sort of computer game.

I don't think computer games are "role-playing." At least not yet. Roleplaying to me involves sitting around a table with friends and sharing an intellectual story that we write as a group using certain rules to help it be consistant. You take on the "role" of a hero in that story, be it fantasy, pulp, horror, or any other genre.

The game system is only important to me as a vehicle to enjoy the game.

Now some folks do the LARP. (Live Action Role Playing) where they dress up and such. I ain't one of them, though I once wore an alien mask to a Low-Life adventure night where my character was a Grey alien.

Anyways,...just random thoughts of the day.

Ed

2006-07-19T13:44:00.000-05:00

First check this out....http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060718/ids_photos_ts/r2054771025.jpg

Call me a neo con if you want, but folks we are so fricking hypocritical. We were attacked once and we responded by taking out two nations. Israel is attacked on a daily basis by people who swear by their religion to kill all Jews and see Israel AND the US destroyed. The protest pics were taken in NEW YORK. Not in the crap hole of the middle east. Pay particular attention to the signs, the one with the Nazi swastika and the "Domination" sign with a picture of the White House. These folks do not care for our Freedom of Religion, they want Islam to rule all and kill everyone who disagrees with them.

Don't take my word for it,

Read their signs....

This is what we face, and we have not the stomach for it.

Sad that our ancestors fought so long and hard for the freedoms we are willing to give away.

Disagree? I don't care. I call it how I see it.

It amazes me how the liberal left and the Neo Nazi's can AGREE on what to do regarding Judaism. I'm a friend of Israel and I pray they stand strong, cause we sure won't.

Genealogy, Isaac Low and Elizabeth Parsons

2006-07-05T12:37:00.000-05:00

Here is the next generation of the Low family in Texas. Isaac Low was a son of Aquilla Low in Tennessee and is the first Low ancestor to move to Texas in 1828.

Isaac Low and Elizabeth Parsons

Our Isaac Low ancestor, who was born in 1781 in Tennessee, was married on September 25, 1804, to Elizabeth Parsons in Anderson county, Tennessee, by the Baptist minister, Wesley Walker. Elizabeth was born on February 25, 17878, in Virginia. Isaac fought in the War of 1812 against the British. He served as a Sergeant in Colonel S. Wear’s regiment of Tennessee militia from Knox County, Tennessee. Isaac and Elizabeth had eleven children born in Tennessee:

1. Mahalla Low (1806=1863)

2. Eli Low (1807-1848)

3. Levi Low (1809-1873)

4. Elizabeth Low (1811 – 1894)

5. Jessie Low (1812 – 1848)

6. Rebecca Low (1814 – 1907)

7. Joel Low (1816 – 1859)

8. Isaac Hickman Low (1820 – 1864)

9. John C. Low (1822- ?)

10. Edith Low (1824- c.1856)

11. Thomas M. Low (1827 – 1850)

In 1828, Isaac and his family migrated to Sabine County, Texas. There could have been several reasons for the family’s westward movement. One possible reason could be the “predominance of large families, [that is,] too many heirs for a single farm.” Another reason could have been “…[S]oil exhaustion within a generation after the settlement and consequent decrease of crop yield which made new land attractive,” or perhaps he was “inspired and directed by propaganda, conscious and unconscious,” such as letters from those who had already migrated to Texas, or by propaganda, such as that used by Stephen F. Austin to get Americans to come to Texas. I think, however, that the migration was most probably due to rises in land value in Tennessee so that only a few wealthy Tennesseans could afford to continue living there. Whatever the case, Isaac and his family moved to Texas in 1828.

Isaac and his family received 11, 056,008 square varas, or approximately a little over 2,000 acres of land from the Mexican government. Isaac’s son, Eli, was granted a league of land with amounted to 4,428.4 acres.
Because the Mexican government was Catholic, they required all citizens of Mexico to also be Catholic. Thus, Isaac and his family had to proclaim they were Catholic, though they did not necessarily practice Catholicism. James A. Michener’s Book Texas, discusses this situation in detail and I highly recommend it as a way to more fully understand what Isaac and other early Texas settlers faced.

Isaac and his sons operated a ferry across the Sabine River and this proved to be a valuable asset during the Texas Revolution against Mexico. In what came to be known as the Texas runaway Scrape, thousands of Texans fled Santa Anna’s oncoming army across the Sabine river into Louisiana following the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad. Isaac and his sons operated the ferry non-stop for several days and nights until the panic subsided. Upon the conclusion of the Texas Revolution, the new republic of Texas government issued new land laws that became effective on January 1, 1838. All Texas settlers who could prove that they had arrived in Texas before March 2, 1836, “were entitled to a league and a labor of land as heads of families.” All settlers who arrived after March 2, 1836, were entitled to only a fraction as much land. This led to widespread abuse of the Texas Land Laws and much forgery of the land assignment documents. One representative, I. W. Barton, was sent to Sabine County by the Republic of Texas Land Commissioner to assess the situation. He found that between 300 and 400 land claims issued in Sabine county were “spurious and were obtained principally by assignees under writs of mandamus or commissions from the Board.” A petition was circulated in 1839 in Sabine County as was presented to the Fourth Congress of the Republic of Texas. The petition was signed by Isaac Low, as well as his sons, Eli, John C., and Isaac Hickman, and it dealt with the “stupendous land frauds” that had been occurring and asked Congress to investigate he land frauds in more detail and to devise “some ways and means by which these lands may be ascertained.” Isaac Low was given a first class land grant, which entitled him to one league and one labor, or approximately 4,605.5 acres of land.

Isaac started a plantation and later served as Commissioner for Sabine County, and he and Elizabeth had one other child, Margaret Ann Low, who became the first Low child to be born a true Texan. Isaac died on August 27, 1853. Elizabeth died on July 4, 1860, and they were both buried at the Isaac Low Cemetery, located outside of Hemphill, Texas, in El Camino Bay. The Texas Historical Commission placed a historical marker there in 1981, as well as tombstone markers at the graves showing Isaac and Elizabeth to have been citizens of the Republic of Texas. There are also markers on several of Isaac and Elizabeth’s children’s graves and I highly recommend that all of Isaac Low’s descendants visit the little cemetery.

Quotes used in this document are taken from:

Isaac Low’s date of birth, as well as other relevant dates come from the Isaac Low Cemetary and various works by Mrs. Blanche Toole and most especially, by Ms. Helen Gover Schluter. Also referenced was the Isaac Low family bible; list of Isaac Low heirs by the Humble Oil Company of 1947; various census and tax records; county records; and the 1812 war record for Isaac Low.

White, Gifford, The First Settlers of Sabine County, Texas, Austin, 1983, 4.

Its the end of the world as we know it, maybe...

2006-06-30T17:14:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but the world may end on Monday. There is an asteroid about a half mile in size on a collision course with Earth and scientists best guesses have it coming within 250,000 miles of us. That's super close. As close as the frickin moon. Hope they got the math right. Otherwise, it's been a hell of a ride and see ya'll on the other side.

Out,

Ed

Kitty Kat

2006-06-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally did it. We have a kitty cat. I'm not a cat person. I love dogs. I have three of em. But we have a few mice that don't eat poison, stay away from traps, and seriously irritate me on many levels. So...we have a cat.

Black ball of love named Sasha. Why Sasha? In our homegame of fantasy Sasha is one mean fighting chick NPC. So....hopefully this Sasha will kick ass too.

History's Greatests

2006-06-19T06:50:00.000-05:00

If you could sit down to have lunch with any historical persons who would you choose and why? Here are some of mine.

1. Jesus- I always eat with him, but he would be my first choice.
2. Julius Caesar- The greatest general and Roman in history.
3. George Washington- How did he muster the desire to continue in the winter of 1776?
4. John Adams- My favorite Revolutionary. He and I share common beliefs and attitutudes.
5. Benjamin Franklin- The greatest American.
6. Winston Churchill- I'd love to ask him directed questions about WWII and world history. His books are some of my favorite reads.
7. Abraham Lincoln- Saved the US. Did he set out to only stop the spread of slavery into the territories, or did he always want to see an end of the evil institution? I know what the history books say, but what were his true feelings on the subject.
8. Robert E. Lee- America's greatest soldier and gentleman. It would be an honor to simply speak with such a man.
9. Joshua L. Chamberlain- My favorite Yankee. Almost named my youngest son after him.
10. Dr. Martin L. King- What would he think of Jessie Jackson today? Is this his dream?
11. Teddy Roosevelt- Best President of the 20th Century. Progressive policies and strong government.
12. Ronald Reagan- 2nd greatest President of the 20th Century. Policies ended the Cold War, brought down the Berlin Wall, and rebuilt US military after Carter and Vietnam.
13. US Grant- A failure at everything he ever did, except being a US General and the only Yankee capable of ending the Civil War.
14. Pope John Paul II- Greatest of the modern Popes. He stood up to Communism and redefined the role of the Church in modern times.
15. Irwin Rommel- Germany's greatest general. He understood modern military tactics better than anyone, and I'd like to know his true feelings about Hitler and the Nazis.
16. Charles Martell- I'd like to thank him for defeating the Muslims at the battle of Tours, saving Europe from Islam.
17. Joan of Arc- France's greatest patriot. Was she a saint or simply a schizophrenic girl?
18. D. D. Eisenhower- What were his plans if D-Day hadn't been successful?
19. Einstein- Please explain the theory of relativity one more time.
20. Carl Sagan- My favorite scientist growing up. There are "Billions and billions of galaxies..."

Okay that is a short list of my favorites, who I would like to have lunch with. How about you? Jerry? Neal? Preston? Trey? Anyone else?

l8trs,

Ed

Low Family Origins

2006-06-13T23:49:00.000-05:00

Howdy,

It's been a long time since I posted any genealogical writings, so I thought I'd share my explorations of my mother's family. These are the Low family of East Texas. I spent hundreds of hours at Clayton Library in Houston, interviewed numerous relatives, poured over last wills, probate records, tax rolls, and census records, as well as reading many books published by other distant relatives. If anyone is interested, contact me and I can point you to my resources.

Low Origins

The Low or Lowe surname is German and/or English in origin. It means “…(O)ne with lion-like characteristics, bold; dweller at the sign of the lion; dweller at the mound, or burial mound, or heap of stones; dweller at the sign of the wolf; descendant of Low, a pet form of Lawrence (laurel, a symbol of victory).

The Low name dates back many centuries and can, in some instances, be traced to it’s ancestral homeland of Scotland. Low was a family name used by the MacLaren Clan from the late hundreds AD in southern Scotland. The Lows are listed in the Rolls of Clans of 1587 and 1594. The MacLarens were known as a warlike clan who feuded among themselves, as well as with other clans. Another possibility is that our Low ancestor was of German origin, which may be most likely as the first Low of our line. He was Aquilla Low, who lived for a time in Pennsylvania and may have been the son of a German immigrant.

I do not yet know who or when our Low ancestor emigrated to the United States, but I am sure it was before the American Revolution, because the first Low we know to be our ancestor was Aquilla Low. He had settled in what would become Tennessee before the 1780’s, and his fifth child was born there in 1781. Kentucky and Tennessee were first settled in the late 1770’s. Migration patterns show that Tennessee was settled mainly by people from South Carolina, Virginia, and North Carolina. I have found a reference to an Isaac Low Sr., who was born in Virginia between 1720 and 1726, and a son named Isaac, who was born in 1746. The name Isaac is a Low family name that has been passed on throughout several generations, so Aquilla could logically be a son or grandson of one of these two earlier Isaac Lows, but this is purely supposition, and yet to be proven.

Aquilla Low

The earliest ancestor that can be proven to be ours is Aquilla Low. We know that Aquilla lived in the states of Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and later, Tennessee. Aquilla was probably born sometime in the 1740’s-1750’s, as he fathered nine children beginning in the early 1770’s.

Aquilla was a successful man, as can be shown in his will of 1818. He had several slaves, which were very expensive commodities in those days, and the total value of his estate settlement upon his death in 1819 was $5147.41.

He was married at least twice, but his early wife, or wives, are not known at this time. His last wife was a Nancy Lewis, who he married just two years before he died in 1817.

Aquilla made several land purchases in Green County, North Carolina. He purchased 400 acres on September 20th of 1787, then on May 6th, 1789, he purchased 270 more. Parts of North Carolina were ceeded to become the new state of Tennessee in 1789. By the 1790’s, Aquilla and family were living in Knox County, Tennessee, as can be proven by four of his children having been married there.

It is uncertain whether Aquilla fought in the Revolutionary War, but is sound to note that many ex-soldiers were paid with land in Tennesse, rather than in the specie they had been owed by the government for their service.

Aquilla died in 1819 in Knox, County, Tennessee.

Children of Aquilla Low

These are the children of Aquilla Low that have been found and researched at the time of this writing.

1. Elijah Low

2. Richard Low

3. Aquilla Low

4. John Low

5. Isaac Low

6. Martha Margaret Low

7. Mary (Polly) Low

8. Susannah Low

9. Elizabeth Low

These children parented many generations of cousins that are spread throughout the United States.

Aquilla Low’s Will

In the name of God, Amen, I Aquilla Low Senior of the County of Knox and the State of Tennessee, being weak in body, but sound mind and memory thanks to the Almighty God for his blessing but knowing I am mortal and have to go the way of all living, do make and ordain this my last will and testament. After my deaces to be executed by friend Caleb Low and John Calloway whom I have appointed to execute this my last will and testament in the following mannor. First I give and bequeath my loving wife one horse saddle and bridle and bed and furniture and five hundred dollars in money then I bequeth to my son Elijah Low all my land soly to be ???? By him after my death and the balance of my estate to be sold by my executors giving twelve monthly ???? Or negro men named George sold or one girl named Mint sold also her children to be sold to one person as I don’t wish them parted. After all just debts paid, the balance if any these be divided as follows to my son Richard Low five dollars my son Aquilla Low five dollars my grand daughter Elizabeth Low, daughter of Richard Low one hundred dollars. The balance if any to be equally divided between my children. That is to say John Low heirs Marth Godson, Mary Johnson, Elizabeth Scott, Susuanah Low, Elijah Low and Isaac Low ???? In confirmation of the above I ???? this to be my last will and testament revoking all wills I have made by me in Whitness whereas I have hereto set my hand this eighteenth day of December this year of One Thousand eight hundred and eighteen.

I'll post the next generation, Isaac Hickman Low, soon.

Ed

Adventures in Edland

2006-06-13T08:49:00.000-05:00

Howdy,

I've been a busy boy. Editing and writing for a minimum of three hours a day. I've worked on several projects since summer started including: Modern Dispatches, Steamworks, Fire in the Hole, The State of My Education (A Texas Teacher's Tale), and my fantasy novel. Unfortunately, due to all of this, I have not written any more on 12 Hours to Midnight, but hope to resume that this fall, as I love the "24" feel of it.
I've also done some traveling of late. Two weekends ago I went to Houston and played Threnia, our Fantasy Gameworld. We had a blast and played wayyy too long. Last weekend, I traveled with two friends and a child to Harlingen, Texas down in the valley, to attend another friend's wedding. You know, down next to the border with Mexico.
If you are not familiar with Texas, let me expand your understanding. This is a big place! I live in central Texas, about 50 miles east of Austin. We drove almost six hours down to the valley. This is roughly the same as if driving from East Texas across Louisiana, across Mississippi and into Alabama. It reminded me of the time I drove (one of several actually) from Houston to El Paso on I-10. Almost 700 miles of straight highway. 500 miles of the trek is bleak desert. Nothing to see, NADA. Well, except for the Dairy Queen signs warning you that the next one is 100 miles away, and then you get to watch the signs as they count down by 10 mile increments until it reaches 20. Then by miles down to 1. Then there is the obligatory "You missed us sign."
I love Texas and being a Texan. I'm pretty darn nationalistic about it, but it really is too darn big. This same trip could have taken me to nearly Kansas City had I driven north.
My home is in the Pin Oak area and just east of the "Hill Country." In the Valley, there are lots of scrub bushes, brown patches, and lots of palm trees. It's pretty I guess, but personally I love the tall Piney Woods of East Texas, and I will forever consider that area my home.
Interestingly, we were stopped by the Border Patrol like 100 miles inland from the border. Billions of dollars we have spent on this, right? The officer looked at us and said, "Are you American citizens." The butthead in me wanted to say, "Si!" But we nodded and he waved us through. Billions of dollars....yep....money well spent! Glad he didn't look in the back of the suv and find those two illegals we smuggled in for a hundred dollars!

JOKE! I'd never do that for a measley hundred bucks! Coyote Ed! Hell, all they would have had to answer is "Yes" anyway. Brilliant application of our tax dollars. Viva la Governmento!

Anyways,

Next weekend we (the family and I) are traveling to Houston to visit inlaws, and to accompany Mark and family to the beach. Maybe Galveston or Surfside. Haven't decided yet. My son has never seen the seawall of Galveston, so I may make it an historical trip and give him a tour of Galveston. Course the teacher in me would bore everyone else to tears.

Did I mention I'm really tired of driving, but the wife is making me do this. Last trip of the summer if I can have anything to say about it.

On a sad note, I learned yesterday that Mr. Dave Holmquest died. He was the best principal I've ever worked for. He was only in his fifties and had been a coach before becoming a principal. He had been the head honcho over at Hastings High school since about 1997. He was always in the halls during breaks, controlling the kids, assisting the teachers, and doing a fantastic job. I remember him berating a kid about an id, and looking really mad about it, and as the kid walked away, Dave looked at me and winked. He really loved kids and teaching. He will be missed.

Where have I been?

2006-05-25T19:30:00.000-05:00

Howdy folks.

Man, life has been busy and fast and hectic and surprising. My students did okay on TAKS and the end of the year happened today. Next year I'm teaching at another school and the head principal and administrator really impressed me. I'm looking forward to a great year next year.

I've heard from several folks regarding my geneaology postst regarding the Low-Connor feud, and I do want to post more genealogy talk here soon. Now that summer is here, I can guarantee it. So check back once in a while.

We plan on having several new games come out this summer and I'm really excited about them. Midnight Tales for Savage Worlds, Fire in the Hole for d20 and SW, and our first fantasy adventure- Wild Things, and several others are now in the work queue as well. Dirty Unicorn has been waiting for our slow butts with a fantastic add on for Fire in the Hole as well.

Kevin has been progressing great with the new diet and is starting Kindergarten in the fall. David has been transferred to the Bryan district for fifth grade and has begun Tai Kwon Do lessons. He loves em!

Laters,

Ed

TAKS is upon us...

2006-04-10T22:37:00.000-05:00

One week till TAKS testing time for the students of Texas. I've taught the past two weeks in review of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Popular Sovereignty, Federalism, Marbury v Madison, et al. Kids are tired, but they are as ready as I can make em.

hmmm...I wanted to blog more, but I'm tired, so check back tomorrow....

OUT

Palace of the Silver Princess Play Report

2006-04-09T21:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, I decided to start with module B3, Palace of the Silver Princess first.

We started it on Saturday and played about 4 hours, we played another 1.5 hours Sunday night. David is having a blast. His favorite moment was striking a critical hit for double damage on a wandering black bear. He is playing a Ranger, there is an NPC halfing thief, and an NPC Magicuser and a paladin and a cleric.
Tracey is having more fun than I though she would have and is really getting into the storyline and into her characters. (She's playing a cleric and a paladin). She was worried that the Orcs wearing the guard's clothing were actually humans who had been turned into Orcs. She tried to subdue Travis, but after he knocked out 2 of the party members they killed him instead. They have also gotten the "we use our iron spikes to lock the doors so we can rest and relearn spells" thing down too. The 8 orcs were almost too much for them, but they managed to survive with very few hit points left and 3 heroe's unconscious. So far they have been in the Palace for 1.5 days of gametime, and have used most of their arrows.

More to come next weekend.

Playing Old School

2006-04-08T12:54:00.000-05:00

My son David is 10 and wants to game. He has done some here and there, but he wants to become a serious gee....ummm gamer! ;)

So I've been thinking what to run and what system to use. If you read this, you know I love Savage Worlds, and while d20 has its place, the system is way too diffucult for a beginner. I want easy to play, fun, and something I can pick up anytime, sooo....I chose to use 1st edition AD&D. Character creation takes five to ten minutes, I have lots of old modules that I grew up playing that I know are lots of fun, and I don't have to do any conversions.

Last night, he created a half-elf Ranger named Chorin. Tracey created a half-elf cleric, and I'm providing 2 or three npcs to join with them. I'm starting them off in module B4 by Tom Moldvay, The Lost City, from there we will do B3 Palace of the Silver Princess, then The Secret of Bone Hill. Should be fun.

Of all of D&Ds incarnations, the original DM's Guide by Gygax is the crunchiest and the most fun to read! Period.

I'll let ya know how the game goes.

L8rs.