I Would've Never Thought

Today, I was in and out of my doctor's office in 15 minutes and that included removing my stitches.  I thought that would be the highlight of my day, but I just may surpass the 100,000 page load counter sometime tonight.  It doesn't take much to please a 68-year-old  retiree.…:-0

I started this personal blog in October of 2010 as a means to vent.  I mostly ignored it until the Victoria Advocate switched to their Facebook book format.  Now I use it as a way to write my slant on topics that I'm interested in.

 When I got to the 90,000 mark, I started receiving  a lot of emails from Google, Yahoo and others trying to get me to support ads.  That's not me, because this is for fun.

I would gladly trade in 50,000 page loads  for 5000 more comments, but that's something that I have not accomplished.  I don't know if people are scared that I would delete their comments or that the subject of my blog, and my opinion is not worth commenting on.  It could be that they prefer a Facebook format, or that they don't want to be the only one commenting.  Getting more comments will be a priority.  Who knows I may only attract passive readers who don't like to comment.  I remember getting 100 comments for every blog that I posted at the VA but that had a much larger viewership.

“EA and that's the truth” set and exceeded the standard for local personal blogs. I can't replicate what she brings to blogging but I can thank for the help she gave me when I first started.
One goal will be reached an I'm now reaching out for more comments, so if you have any ideas e-mail me mjngmg@gmail.com.

Thanks a lot for all those who have read this blog and special thanks to those who have posted their comments.

A quick analysis of this week's thoughts

I posted my analysis of yesterday's Supreme Court decision and we can discuss that if you want but I want to first describe my experience with that. The posting of my blog was the same and but I soon found out that I couldn't comment because I don't have a Facebook account. Not being able to respond to any criticism or the rare compliment is going to make it pretty awkward. In the old format I pretty much knew who to respond to and the ones to ignore After reading the comments by posters unknown to me; I really didn't know what to expect. Evidently the posters feel the same way about me because I've only received one comment and it was from Jessica. I saw a lot of posts that would have been deleted pretty quickly under the old format. In the old format, I pretty much knew who to respond to and the ones to ignore. The first two days prove that using real names doesn't necessarily promote civility. I'm going to have to find a new way of searching because I used to just check out the avatars and the poster's name and that made it easy scrolling through the latest comments. I believe we can only view the latest 50 comments, then they disappear. That's no good.Hopefully the newness and the kinks in the system, will work itself through, but I'm not liking what I'm seeing right now.

I've seen and heard a lot of comments and about free health care but that's been pretty much the theme when it comes to anything government. For some, buying a postage stamp is considered socialism. It's as if we're having a civil war between the private and the public sector. I wonder if the same people dislike their next door neighbor because they are a teacher, firemen, police officer, or an IRS agent. I was having a good discussion with a poster at ViCad the other day and he said that me we didn't used to have public assistance in the old days,so families and friends took up the slack. I showed him where we've had public assistance since colonial days but I'm sure it didn't change his mind but I'll never know because he didn't respond.A commenter was asking if paying the fine was cheaper than paying for health care. I bet he's probably one of those complaining of people getting free health care.  I can certainly understand the uneasiness of too much government but it seems to me those distinctions are too extreme. I've been saying for quite some time, that this year's election will be about the role of government. I've been asked several times for my definition of how much is too much government.It's supposed to be their idea of making me admit that I want more government. My reply is “that’s a loaded question with an anticipated  numeric answer." The simple answer is whatever takes to make it effective.

 We still have the silliness,the idea of holding the Atty. General of the United States in contempt prompted the Congressional Black Caucus to bringing charges of charge as a reprimand against  Rep. Darrell Issa.  It was defeated 259 to 161, with 24 Democrats siding with all Republicans but it was put in the record.


It's not all bad because Congress just sent President Barack Obama a comprehensive extension of highway and infrastructure projects, along with a one-year extension of low student loan rates that were set to double. I may be wrong but this what the country wants. I don't think constituents mind the partisan battles as long as at a given time both sides will compromise and send the president a needed jobs bill.

Once again you know my "no real rules" policy; if you don't like subject change it to something you want to discuss..... It's open thread Friday.

Blogging Can Be An Exhausting Hobby

The last blog I submitted to the VA forum took about three days of reading, watching, and listening and another couple day and hours to complete.  I can't believe that I used up about 15 yellow pages just to complete my draft.  After all that, I condensed it so much, I'm afraid I left out a lot of important points I was trying to make.  Why do I do it?  I guess it's because after consuming all that information, I want some place where I can release it, for lack of a better word.

I think Legion was right; I miss the give and take I had at my old work place and I'm just trying to replicate that by writing multiple blogs. Back then, I had an outlet to release the worthless information, I was consuming.  My wife got a little more interested in world affairs and politics and her ears still perk up every time a politician mentions Social Security but she still more interested on who will be kicked off " Dancing with the Stars." If a candidate promised to restore her soaps, they would get her vote. I forgot to check for her " Yellow Dog Democrat" card when I married her.  Just when I think she's liberal; she disappoints...:-)

I did a lot of catching up this morning, since I didn't get my morning's paper. Poor miserable Gary White, he will never get it.  I saw the same ol' battles fought by the same people about socialist Democrats and worthless poor people.  Today's argument over the confederate flag license plate issue has some new posters but the message is the same.  That's one good thing about writing a personal blog; it's a place you can get all that nonsense out of your system.  It looks like Gheni is getting a lot of flack for her stories and blog.  Victoria is a tough crowd.

I couldn't believe my ears when my older sister(75 years old) told me that she and her husband were taking computer classes.  After my nephew passed away, they didn't want to sell his computer nor let it gather dust.  They said they were going to get on Facebook, so now I'm the lone holdout.  I can imagine what the computer instructors are going through because after Christmas, I'm going to have to teach my wife how to use the tablet computer that I'm buying her.

I'll end this blog because I'm exhausted after all the work I put in that last blog. I can't even imagine what a journalist goes through to write their daily column. I heard a columnist say that she wrote 200 blogs a month. Now, that's exhausting!

So Much Anger

Tell em Lawrence

They're is just so much anger out there and for good reason, but things seem to be coming to a boiling point. I don't know if  New York is a good metric, but I've seen protesters lining up outside of Wall Street for about a week now. At first the protests didn't get any media attention because they really didn't have a common cause, leader, or  not that many people were participating. MSNBC tried to give it a little bit of coverage to it but it was only because they weren't given coverage by anyone else. The protesters were mingling with the policmen and having a good time, until the merchants got tired of it and complained. I really don't blame the merchants, because they do have to make a living but I don't think that they expected the New York supervisors to do what they did. They started by trying to corral the people like cattle, using plastic barriers, but things were still in control, until the supervisors saw the video cameras and cell phone cameras recording the actions of the police. The first night went OK. as far as police were concerned because the police chief had plausible deniability that everything was going according to a procedure. According to Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC, the only reason internal affairs got involved was that celebrities like Michael Moore gave it coverage and Lawrence did a scathing piece on police brutality regarding the New York protest. They showed a clip of New York City police Deputy Inspector, Anthony Bologna, pepper spraying a woman that was behind the police barricade and then showed him where he just started spraying into the crowd.

I didn't see what the protesters were actually doing to provoke the police supervisors; if anything but I think it does need investigating, instead of sweeping it under the rug. I'll be keeping up with this incident, but I think it's going to spread  because people are angry, unemployed, and without answers. I just hope it's not as bad as the Arab Spring or the European riots.

It's even getting bad on the forum where I thought it was appropriate to write something about our CIA and Special Forces killing the person responsible for the last planned attacks made on our country. This American born terrorist was not going to stop. I didn't praise the president's part, because I didn't want to make it political or partisan. Along comes BOstinks and ruins everything with just regurgitated talking points, just to start trouble. That irritated me and I told him so. He kept coming back, so I warned him but that just excited him more. He kept posting so I just deleted him but he kept free posting for total of 44 times. That irritated me to no end, so I called the Advocate to report this nuisance but they told me that the lady in charge of that would be in later. I left my phone number and went  back to my blog to delete his posts. That is the third person ,who just won't take no for an answer. I expected that from Roy Mark, but the other night a poster by the name of neighbor kept re-posting and now this BOstinks is doing the same thing.He has been doing this for the last two hours but the joke is on him because I think VA automatically deletes after so many deletions.  They have to be related because what rational person thinks this his comment is so important that it must not be deleted? These posters always say that I will not allow a contradictory remark but I know that's not true and I have about 500 blogs to prove it. I do not want to host a blog, even it if it's a public one, for trolls. As a poster said the other day, I do this for free.

I Don’t See A Sense Of Urgency

It's times like these, when I wish, I was back in the workplace having some interesting discussions, instead of just watching the depressing news, as it unfolds. I need someone to talk me out of thinking that this world is just stagnated with no sense of urgency.Perhaps I just need a vacation or I need to get another hobby besides blogging.

I think education, health care solutions, jobs, innovation, and fiscal responsibility should be at the forefront in all our path-forward discussions.

We used to be the leaders in graduating college students, but we have seen 16 countries pass us by. I don't sense any urgency at the local, state, or federal level. I always see the Department of Education and teachers unions being attacked on a partisan basis, but I don't see enough emphasis on the 54% of dropouts across the nation. The United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, is doing a great job with his "Race to the Top" initiative and is now allowing states to opt out “No Child Left Behind" because those goals were impossible to meet. Surprisingly, Mr. Duncan is not carrying water for the Democrats, because he doesn't believe the federal government can micro manage 95,000 schools and 15,000 school districts. He's right, but the local districts need to come up with their own credible plan, which can be adapted to get our children to learn the subject rather than the test. Mr. Duncan believes in rewarding progress not necessarily test scores. For example, a rich school with superior labs, students, and equipment should do better than a crumbling public school. If that public school shows progress, it should be rewarded. One man, one committee, one legislator, one governor, or one president can only set the wheels in motion; the rest of it is up to parents, teachers, and administrators, but they have to have funding and support. If we are going to favor school vouchers, perhaps we should find a way to keep public schools going at the same time. If we don't do that, we will be heading back to the days before the landmark “Brown vs. The Board of Education."I don't know a lot about the problems we are having with education, but that does not mean I'm not interested.I've seen and heard some excellent ideas,so if we know the solutions,what's the hold up?

Health care solutions, jobs, and innovation are intertwined because I think healthcare is a right, not a privilege. As legions357 stated, we have tried all the gimmicks but we're still in the same place or retreating to a double- dip recession. I also agree with BigJ that both parties are playing politics. Somewhere, somehow there has to be a way to find a viable reason for the Fortune 500 companies to invest their $2 trillion surplus in America. Our European trade partners are just diddling, so the innovations should be geared to American consumers. Barriers will first have to be trampled, because we need to get over the idea that a partnership with government is socialism. Capitalism in America is suffering because of a lack of an educated work force, expensive health care plans, greed, and a huge trade imbalance. I'm not for protectionism, but we need to get back to the days where it was feasible for the middle class to consume. The innovator for the next alternative energy solution will lose his enthusiasm, if we get into that “drill baby drill" mindset. I know that we will be on fossil fuels for a long while, but oil is not infinite and its effect on our health and environment should be considered.

The most disturbing thing to me is a lack of accountability. I'm reading yet another book where everyone knew about the financial crisis but no one from Wall Street stood up and told the world and worse, they don't want rules to protect them from themselves. Europe is going through the same thing, but they haven't had their Lehman Brothers, "come to Jesus" moment yet. Our former vice president admitted he ordered torture, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention, yet he never paid the price. It's not one or two incidents, but a series of them were no one is held to account for their misdeeds. I hope I'm wrong but I just read a story (Wiki Leaks cable) where our troops went into the wrong house looking for a terrorist, severely roughed up the women and children, but when they found out, and they were at the wrong house; they called in an air strike, destroying the home, children, and evidence. Atrocities happen during a war, but we must punish our own and send a signal of accountability.

I think that we need to see more stories of success because we're going down the road of negativity. I know that we react to what we see, but I'm not one that thinks that we will become a country without accountability, adaptability, or a sense of urgency.

New Rule

I stumbled onto a unique position of not allowing anonymous posters to make a comment on my blog. At first, I thought I was making a very bad decision and not in line with my position to allow free flowing viewpoints.After sleeping on it,I realized that I'm not asking for names or even emails as one popular blogger demands; just, a Google ID. will satisfy. That way, everyone will know (more or less) who's making the comment. I know my new position will drive away those wishing to make an anonymous contradictory comment, but I honestly feel that it's not that hard to comply. I also know that very few people comment as it is, but it is my hope that will change in the years to come. After all, I've only had this personal blog up since November of last year. Am I being a hypocrite because I don't use my full name? I can understand how a reasonable person can come to that conclusion, but I'm willing to accept that. As of August, 28, 2012 anonymous postings will be purged weekly without being read. I hope you get a Google ID, so we can discuss the issues as civilized human beings.

I would guess that about 99% of the anonymous postings I have received are not fit to be reprinted. They are mostly about President Obama (no matter what the topic) some are about my inability to write a good blog, but most are incoherent ramblings. There have been those rare occasions where an anonymous poster or two have made some excellent points. In my “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good" world, that's something I will be deprived of. I made a conscious decision to delete comments at the VA from rude and obnoxious posters whose only goal is to engage in daily ad hominem attacks. That decision has worked out to my benefit because there were only two posters who were put on my permanent delete list. I still get an occasional rude comment, but ignoring their comment usually works.

I usually write about politics and yes, it's from my left-of-center perspective, so it's not surprising that many people don't agree, but I admire those who will read my blog anyway. I know the demographics of Victoria County and its conservative /libertarian roots, but I'm just as proud of my ideology and beliefs as they are of theirs. I'm not married to all my beliefs and over time I have evolved, but I realize some will think that not being resolute is compromising your principles....I.E. I may change my mind about allowing anonymous comments, sometime in the future, but I will try it for a year or so. I don't tell other people how to police, their blogs, and I expect the same courtesy. That does not mean you can’t tell me why I’m wrong in taking this approach. I hope a Google ID. will not deter a person from posting a contradictory comment because, if you’re like me; it's all about the civil exchange of ideas. I know all the large blogs sites allow anonymous comments, but as you can see, I'm not a large blog site. I'm still fairly new to this personal blog etiquette, so I will be making changes as I go along to see what works and what needs improving. I'm assuming that readers do not want to see the constant attacks from anonymous posters, but would rather have an identifiable poster agreeing or disagreeing. To most it won’t matter one way or the other because they will read and go on. As you probably have noticed the rude posters will try to dominate the blog and their opinion is the only one that matters. My new rule will encourage others to post as often as they like, and change the topic anytime they wish because you will  not be a anonymous poster...Please sign in and comment.

Make lemonade

I still have some minor problems using Firefox (my preferred browser) and logging into the Victoria Advocate forum but if you are dealt lemons make lemonade. I had to use Explorer to post my last blog, but some strange things happened. When I hit the submit button, I received an error message, and I couldn't find it on the site. About a minute or two later it showed up on the back page, and then it mysteriously moved to the front. Some interesting screens that I have not seen before showed up. They could've been there all along but all I do is post blogs and comments. I found a menu that showed all the bloggers and the amount of blogs they have submitted. I also found a neat add- on application called " Apture" that will allow the readers of this blog to scroll over a word and get a definition or a description of what I'm writing about. That's another advantage of reading books on my iPad. I can hold my finger or stylus over a word, and it will pull up the definition of the word.

It looks like the traffic on our online forum is starting to pick up or some old posters are coming back with new identities. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think every poster has a unique characteristic trait which they can't or want to conceal. I'm not all that great at spotting the ones that are using multiple identities, but some old posters are. I remember a banned poster that went by the name of "holly “just posted a few words. A blogger recognized the style and in a matter of just a few minutes, holly was caught and made to serve the rest of his sentence. Again, the monitors of a forum have a never-ending job that I don't relish.

I think vet43 stumbled onto something when he posted "I have noticed that with some folks as their mind grows narrower they become convinced the they are the center of the universe, and because they are "Keepers of the truth" all must revolve around them." I have a nephew who fits that description but I've tamed him with my at- ready iPad. Some are so opposed to joint projects with the city or county that they won't listen to logic. For instance, John Stockbauer ,is probably the most-used road in Victoria. Wait just a minute, sure it seems like Navarro or the Houston Highway might get that distinction but John Stockbauer is used by the plant workers early in the morning when no one is monitoring. I remember when not enough consideration was given to home construction, the mall, and routine traffic in that area. All of us can remember the standing water. The large trucks do a lot of damage to a road that was once a farm- to- market road. Preventive dollars will go a long way but saying that the city is catering to Caterpillar is just another baseless charge. I don't know a lot about City Council matters, but I have talked to a lot of friends who reside in that area, one being a civil engineer. City, State, and Federal government will always be questioned, but it's like I used to tell my baseball players," there are several ways to play the game, and everyone in those stands will question my moves at some time or another. That's fine, but I will not go into the stands to ask for permission to make a move, and if I was in the stands, I would probably be doing the same thing."

I'm going to download a few books about being tactful because I'm lacking in that department. I like having discussions where the truth has not been settled. Economics' and politics fall into that category, but we don't come in with an open mind. It's more about mocking the opponent than anything else. I've enjoyed the few civil discussions I've had, but I need to correct my bad habits, if I expect to have any in the future. It’s  a thought and now I've put together a plan.

Why do people blog?

I know blogging means a lot of things to different people; I would guess the most common reason is sharing. We share our thoughts, likes and dislikes, with the hope that someone who shares our thoughts will respond. There are others that like to vent, and they too hope, some like minded people will agree with them, because we all like to think we're normal.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think I have found my comfort zone. I no longer think that I am the lonely liberal who shouting from roof top because no one is listening. I used to feel the need to correct every myth stated as fact, but I quickly found out that's a full time job. I then decided to write a blog that supported my views, thinking that I would get a civil discussion going. I soon found out that there's no such thing as civility in politics. I quickly found out that instead of debating the topic I wrote about; my opponents continuously changed the subject to something they wanted to discuss. I then made what I presume to be the worst mistake a blogger can make. I let the trolls get the best of me. I started arguing with people who didn't have the working knowledge of the subject I was writing about. I started writing in a defensive mode; instead of a person who has a view but is willing to have a civil discussion. The second mistake I made was not paying attention to those who emailed me encouraging me not to engage in ad hominem attacks. They wanted me the clean up my blog, so they could post again. I found my inner peace with my blog, and I hope to transform it to my VA blogs.

As Chris Cobler said on Jared's blog "A blog out in the wilderness is not quite the same as one that's part of a larger conversation. Each has its place, of course -- it's a matter of the audience that you seek" and that rings true. My blog helped me find my comfort zone because at the Advocate forum, there is a built audience, but I have to work harder to retain my readers in my blog. I don't expect to catch up with Edith Ann, and that's not my goal; I would like to have half of the number of comments she gets with each blog. Edith Ann is a platinum standard and my blog its copper right now, but I'm striving for silver and then gold. It's going to take a little while, but I've only been working at it since November of 2010.

I just submitted a blog about "Elizabeth Warren" to the VA forum, knowing full well it won't get many hits because not that many people know who Elizabeth Warren is or the controversy that surrounds her appointment. It's just something that I wanted to write about. I finally acquired the comfort zone to write about what I feel; not worrying about others might think or approve of. I've been a member of Vic Ad forum for about six years, so my reputation (good or bad) has been established. I used to get a false sense of accomplishment because I had a streak of hundreds of blogs with 100 hits or more but writing about controversial subjects was the catalyst for those hits; it had been very little to do with my writings. It took me six years to get here, but I got here.

Why do you blog? Is it to get a conversation going, share a story, or just for the fun of engaging?

Online integrity

It's getting a little testy on our online forum because the moderators are finally starting to enforce some rules and the usual suspects are squawking. Some are asking for a free in -for -all format and others are whining about equality. Still another poster day goes by the name of justamom would benefit by reading the constitution.... The Victoria Advocate online forum is not censoring anyone, nor can they infringe on anyone's first amendment rights of free speech. It's not rocket science; the Advocate staff is just reemphasizing the rules for posting. The implicated individuals are in denial; they know exactly what they're doing, but they want to do more of it and want others to agree with them. The waywardwind continues to make a plea for the return of Kenneth Schustereit, but he doesn't have the foggiest idea, what transpired to get Kenneth banned. Was it multiple warnings or a disagreement that couldn't be reconciled?

I have mixed feelings concerning Lamppost's latest blog. On one hand, it would certainly get my ire to get emails like the ones he has posted. I have never have received an unflattering e-mail but a lot of my online friends have. I know two females that got threatening e-mails because they took a liberal side. Those emails worked because they left the forum but the individual that wrote those emails is still posting today. That's the reason I have mixed feelings. About three years ago, I threatened to expose the blogger who wrote those threatening emails by submitting the evidence online. For some reason, he took a long leave of absence, so I forgot about it. There is a cabal that not only wants their opinion to be seen and heard, but like online evangelists, they want to convert everyone to their line of thinking. I would like to think that I would never divulge an e-mail that was sent to me in confidence but according to Lamppost, he didn't solicit nor was he expecting an email from Dale Zuck. If that is the case; he is under no obligation to keep an e-mail secret; especially if it's an ongoing feud. I know for a fact that the Ron Paulites (don't tax me bro) types are anti- taxes zealots who will demagogue anyone and anything, if they think it will raise their property taxes by $1.25. People like that can't wait to get into office, so they cut anything that might raise their property taxes. They are driven by ideology and their wallets. Don't take my word for it, compile a list of their comments, and I bet at least 90% of their posts have to do with taxes.

Am I being hypocritical for complaining about personal information being revealed online? I complained about a login script that was doctored without the express permission from the Victoria Advocate. Lamppost's blog did divulge the contents of two e-mails but evidently it was within the rules because he had done that before. Perhaps we're taking a kinder and gentler approach now, where questionable blogs and comments will be deleted...I guess it's about keeping a free flowing respectful environment.

I've had a couple of blogs that were directed at me, but I considered the source, so I never retaliated. I used to write a contradicting blog because I didn't want unsubstantiated material to stand for a fact. I also remember the "mosque at ground zero" blog I wrote last year where another blog with the exact opposite view was placed above mine. Then there what I call the "AM radio blogs."..It’s a place where those interested in participating, can have their ideological food fights until heart content.Then again, some die the lonely death of dismissal.

Am I being a hypocrite again?Is there verifiable proof that the Advocate treats one group or an individual better or worse than others?I haven't seen it.... Is there another way at looking at the whole situation? Of course there is, so why don’t you tell where I’m wrong.

Is it just my blog?

I have the hardest time trying to keeping people on subject.  I know a lot of it has got to do with the subject matter I choose to write about. I also know that VicCad offers a lot more in variety ,when it comes to posters because I don't seem to have a problem with this personal blog.

I was really interested in how people felt about getting corporal punishment removed from our schools but the subject immediately went to parental corporal punishment. No one mentioned the 220,000 children that were admitted to the hospital because of corporal punishment in schools.  I saw where maryann said we had over 40 school districts that were still using corporal punishment.She said we had a long way to go.  I wanted to respond and ask her to look at my blog where I mentioned that we don't have to take it district by district because we could do it in one clean swoop by writing our legislators,telling them to repeal the act.  I didn't get a chance to because people were engaged in parental corporal punishment.

I'm still confused about  the reason for our engagement in Libya but so far only arlewill  has made a comment that had nothing to do with common sound bites like “tar baby, and policemen of the world” but I guess that's my fault because I titled the blog “ Mission Creep?” If I choose economics,it usually goes to left,right,liberal,conservative argument and I’d be a fool to think politics would be any different. I’m always amazed when someone excepts me to write a balanced view. If I saw a balanced view,  then I would write it that way, but I don’t have an obligation to do that, if I don't really believe it.  Sometimes, events, don't have two sides to it. One side may be blatantly wrong, of course that's never my side…:-)

Rebecca unknowingly gave me a great idea the other day on how to stay on  one of my Lenten promises of  remaining civil at VicAd and still have the ability to vent.  I will continue to use this personal blog to express my true feelings,so if you think I let someone off the hook or I was being too passive,come over here and I will tell you what I really think…I feel so much better now and  I’m ready to be a much kinder and gentler poster when I ‘m responding to posters on ViCad. It’s  going to be a long 20 plus days.

It's kinda hard picking sides between those that want the $24,000 to go to the booster club and those that agree with the school's decision. On one hand it reeks of commercialism but on the other hand schools have to find new scources of income. I wouldn't mind if it beneifited all the students like a new classroom,computers,or teaching enhancements but a booster club!....The new computers or classroom could bear the company's name but no student involement or the commercial use of school property....I don't think it has to be equally divided because each school could solicit their own sponser or do I really believe that?...I'm stuck,someone help me out.