Texas has more than its share of kooks

We arrived in Texas City just in time for one of my sister's great old fashioned breakfast. My brother-in- law doesn't realize how lucky he is. After the usual greeting, hugs and handshakes, we all sat down to eat. As we were eating, my brother-in-law said “did you know that shooting in Tucson  was a hoax?" A lot was going through my mind, as I was preparing to answer. I knew my brother-in-law didn't drink anymore, so he had to be kidding or off his meds. This is what happens when my wife and I decided to unplug our cell phones and computers, and have an old fashioned family get- together. We got completely out of touch. My brother-in- law read about the conspiracy theory in Sunday's Houston Chronicle. We talked about it for a little while, laughed at the idiocy, and went to the next topic. It wasn't until were driving home  and cleared Highway 6 , when I asked my wife if she wouldn't mind driving the rest of the way home because I couldn't stand not being informed anymore. She agreed, and as I turned to page A 4 of the Houston Chronicle, where I found the story “Conspiracy buffs alarm victims of Tucson shooting “by Marc Lacey of the New York Times.

It didn't surprise me when I learned that one of the leading forces behind the conspiracy is being led by a Texan, named Ed Chiarini. We have more than our share of kooks. Mr. Chiarini claims to be an inventor and a web entrepreneur. The site does solicit donations for further investigations.

Despite the fact that, it's downright disrespectful to the family members, first responders, medical staff and especially to the memory of the  9- year old girl who was killed; these conspiracy buffs are going the extra mile to be obnoxious. Some so-called investigators went to some of the homes of the victims, saying they were investigators who are trying to determine whether the shooting was a hoax. In order for this conspiracy to have 1 ounce of credibility, these skeptics would have to prove these thousands of people will have to be in on this conspiracy. Did a 9- year old girl get killed or did she  rejoin her classmates in the fall? What would be the motive and what would be the gain? The conspiracy sites have the most to gain with their quest for publicity and donations?

Some conspiracy sites are contending the shooting that nearly killed U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords,killed a Federal judge, a 9- year old girl, and four others was manufactured by the Department of Homeland Security. The conspirators show pictures of all those involved in the shooting, including Jared Loughner-and claims, they resemble photographs of Tucson -area actors, found on the Internet.

Richard Kastigar, investigative chief of the Pima County sheriff's department said he passed information about the website to his intelligence unit. The FBI said that they were aware of the site but would not comment on whether they are investigating.

Rick Perry for Prez ????

Run Rick run......Texans remember this is what he is capable of at the state level.

Governor Rick Perry said he would consider running for president now that he has been inspired by Rush Limbaugh. Governor Perry has been a governor of Texas since the year 2000, and he does have an impressive resume but that is not enough to beat president Obama. I can see him wooing the evangelicals in Iowa and South Carolina plus the libertarians in New Hampshire, so he could be up and running with the first three states in his pocket. His competition for the evangelicals could be Michelle Bachmann, but I’m sure they know that she's unelectable. It's the same in New Hampshire where Ron Paul would be his competition but the electorate knows that Ron Paul is not capable of going all the way. Those first three states might give in the momentum, money, and the press he needs. He will have to get two new political aides because his two top aides are in the Newt Gingrich campaign. If Perry waits for a couple of weeks they should be available after Newt Gingrich bows out of his campaign that's running on life-support.

All these years he served as governor, I don't really know what Rick Perry knows. He refused to campaign against his democratic opponent and Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina didn't challenge him. The governor will be able to brag about our low unemployment and business climate in the republican primaries. If he gets to the big time, president Obama will rake him over the coals on education and Health Care. President Obama might have a question of two about his 10th amendment stance and secession. I don't see an opportunity for him to get out his message being in a field of 10 presidential candidates. He will have to get at least 5% in the polls to be heard in the debates.

Who knows, I never gave it much thought until Edith Ann mentioned it a few days ago because the pundits haven't mentioned him....I still don't think he is running but I've been wrong before.

Just a few minutes ago his spokesman emailed this:

Shortly after reports surfaced suggesting that Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is considering a potential presidential bid in 2012, his spokesman said he's not.
"Nothing has changed," Mark Miner told National Journal in an e-mail. "The governor has no intention of running for president."

America loves socialism

Americans don't want an economic system where the federal government redistributes wealth equally amongst its people. I will also argue that Americans are freedom loving people who rather not depend on government for their success or failures. However, I do believe 48 million Americans love their single- payer government run Medicare. I don't believe people were all that upset when president Obama took temporary control of Chrysler and GM Motors. It was a successful temporal measure, intended to save over one million jobs. It would have been Un-American to just let the automotive industry die although it might have set a bad precedent. It was a gamble that paid off. They key word is temporary.

After six years of reading what some posters have said about every government action under the sun; I'm convinced that they have no idea of what the word  socialism means. It's interesting that the highly conservative 23rd district of New York elected a democrat just because the republican candidate supported the controversial Medicare plan of Congressman Paul Ryan. It's also surprising that the republicans are going to continue supporting the Ryan plan, but they will repackage the message. Then again, all but four GOP representatives voted for the Ryan plan, so they might as well try to make lemonade out of some bad lemons they were handed. Paul Ryan is trying to make an argument that his plan was not about a voucher system but more of a “premium support" plan. Mr. Ryan said his plan would allow Medicare recipients who are younger than 55 years old, to choose among various private insurance companies for their coverage and the government would help with their premiums. That's where republicans don't get it; insurance companies will not willingly insure the elderly but when they do, it will be very expensive.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said if the democrats don't do anything about Medicare; it would go bankrupt. I don't believe anyone is arguing Mr. Rubio's main point but as Nancy Pelosi said" democrats do have a plan; it's called Medicare." It's no question that Medicare needs additional funds and those funds can be obtained by eliminating the subsidies for the oil companies, raising taxes on the top 2%, and cutting defense spending. The democrats have already made Medicare cuts by eliminating the Medicare Advantage program but more could be done like adding $20 co- pays, means testing, and an increase in the 1.45% Medicare payroll tax. When the republicans throw down the gauntlet of “no tax increases" they're just as much of fault as their opposition, of sticking to ideology instead of compromising for the greater good.

I have to agree with the liberal pundits; the republicans have fumbled at their own 2 yard line, how are the democrats going to mess this up? The liberal left is already saying that former president Bill Clinton should just shut up because he said that the democrats need to come up with a plan for saving Medicare and not just think the mistakes of the GOP will be enough...... Liberal talk show host, Ed Schultz, has been suspended from MSNBC for calling Laura Ingraham a "right-wing slut" and "talk slut" on his syndicated show Tuesday. Ed Schultz should know better because liberals punish bad behavior, so they will never master the art of the "politics of personal destruction" like Limbaugh and Ingraham obviously have. In fact, Laura Ingraham will use the punishment Schultz received as a weapon of convenience. She will say something like “Oh, I don't know who he is" or "his comments were so incendiary, even for a left-wing network like MSNBC."

The GOP can’t catch a break because this afternoon,  a Wisconsin judge struck down the state's controversial anti-collective bargaining law.The senate may win on Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to the Patriot Act.Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) will  demand that the chamber vote on an amendment that would restrict national security officials from examining gun dealer records in their efforts to track potential terrorists….That makes no sense at all. Paul voted,YES, to the Patriot Act but he wants to exempt gun dealers from compliance. I guess if you factor in the gun lobbyist’s future campaign contributions;it makes a great deal of sense.

Finally when you thought that this current group of house members couldn’t stoop lower,they go and do this:

While much of Joplin, Mo., is still under rubble from a devastating tornado, conservatives in Congress are starting to argue for a tougher approach to disaster aid, demanding that any funding be offset by cutting federal money elsewhere.

Disasters will no longer be considered “emergencies” if conservatives win this battle to redefine the way Congress funds aid packages for states and cities stricken by natural and man-made catastrophes.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55776.html#ixzz1NUTZR7wB

Mind you the tax cut for the top 2% is still in tack.

I’m still standing

I may still be standing but I have changed my approach because I don't want to host a WWF like blog. I'm not trying to change opinions anymore because it's useless, but it took me a few years to realize that. I will continue giving my opinion on the issues based on what I have read, heard, or viewed. I started going down this path after the 2008 elections knowing full well that my opponents would always try to lure me back to the “politics of personal destruction." For example,I was so relieved to hear the answer from our county democrat chair, Kelly Gill, on its role in a dispute over the UHV fiasco saying “We have no official position on the bill. Education should not be a partisan issue." There are a lot of issues that should not be partisan. I have not changed my opinion on social issues, political parties, and ideologies but it's not that difficult to know where I stand.

The VA blogs have changed from its initial format of only having a few bloggers state their views. It is my understanding that the original bloggers had to submit their initial writings before they were accepted as full time bloggers. The initial bloggers were exceptional and their blogs were a joy to read, but, unless you were interested in the topics they chose to write about; it was a quick read and back to the comment section. That’s where most of the viewers were. I would've never submitted a sample of my writing because I knew that I would be rejected. I was happy when VicAd started offering blogging privileges to everyone with an account with the ViCad on- line forum. It offered a lowly poster like me a chance to write about my passion," national politics."

Yesterday, I received a couple of emails from some old friends,  telling me what I already knew. They told me that Roy Mark (mightyjo) was picking apart my last blog...  I know a lot of you probably think that I could change all that by confronting him on my VA blog or his.  I know better, I've tried but he just wants to start his silliness of exaggerating the context of  my sentences.  If you don't believe me ask born2Bme or pay closer attention to his tactics.  Pretty soon, you've wasted about 3 hours and your blog will have about 30 incoherent responses from Roy Mark.  In the old days I might have retaliated but that is what he wants. Roy Mark needs two things to keep him satisfied. It’s same for all trolls. He needs constant attention, so my reaction would supply him with that. He also needs to marginalize "Mike and his message" but since I'm still standing, his job is not done. He will use the comments of someone like rollingstone as proof that I don't know what I'm talking about. The troll will throw out the bait every day, hoping to lure someone new. He's trying to get me to say something where I will get deleted; he doesn't worry about his admonishment or banishment because he knows the Advocate will reinstate him. He might even argue about his first amendment rights or a member of his family rights to own an account. He uses a questioning like approach that is never-ending; to irritate a poster. In my last blog, he is questioning my reasoning for questioning. I still don't know why other posters are not reinstated since the most notorious troll is constantly being reinstated..... I will reiterate, I will continue to delete the comments of Roy Mark and his associate because their comments are intended to marginalize me, distort the message by using unsubstantiated references, and to start a fight in order to divert attention away from the subject......I don't need that... I'm fully aware that I could get a lot more hits by allowing them to comment, but before I know it, my blog about "gasoline prices" turns into anything but. I'm too old to be engaging in childish behavior....I might change my mind(for 1 day) if Roy Mark would dare face me over here where I don't have to fear deletion...I wouldn't mind if someone were to put a bug in his ear because I'm not going to email him,write on his blog,or acknowledge his comments but it would give me closure..We have a 6 year history...It's personal.

Now, I would welcome a credible poster submit a blog that is contradictory to my views. I would look forward to posting on that blog and perhaps having a civil debate such as the ones between Kyle and maryann.

I guess I'm lucky because I only have to contend with two local right wingers; I would come unglued if I heard a comment like the one Laura Ingraham made. She criticized President Obama for drinking beer in Ireland while a tornado was destroying Joplin, Missouri....  Do these people stay up that night waiting for a disaster, so they can think of something stupid to say about the president?

It’s hard being a GOP presidential candidate

If you're a republican running for a national office, you have to be for the Ryan budget plan even though it's very unpopular. Paul Ryan told David Gregory of Meet the Press that he will double down because a leader changes the polls. David Gregory reminded Paul Ryan that he was a politician and not just a budget director and in the end his policies may spell doom for the Republican Party. The republicans like to say that Paul Ryan is a courageous leader because at least he put out a plan. If we are to use that standard then president Obama is a hero for passing the Health Care Law. Paul Ryan kept insisting that the democrats will scare old people by demagoguing his voucher plan for Medicare. In the very next sentence Mr. Ryan said that the democrats will set up a board of 15 bureaucrats to ration Health Care. You can't complain about demagoguing when you do the same thing.

Every serious republican presidential candidate has supported policies that are considered taboo today. In the past republicans have supported the individual mandate for Health Care, climate change legislation and cap-and-trade. Since that no longer is the case, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Jon Huntsman will have to spend much their time explaining their flip flops Jon Huntsman impressed the people of New Hampshire(liberals, conservatives and moderates) this past weekend by visiting a gun shop and explaining his positions without using hateful rhetoric. He is not backing away from his decision to serve in the Obama administration as an ambassador to China; in fact, he said if the president called, he would serve again. It is his belief that you just don't say no when the president asks you to help your country. I guess that we would just have to wait and see how well civility plays in a republican primary. It is puzzling why he picked Florida as this campaign headquarters because he's from Utah, where he served as governor. I suspect it's because it's the site of the republican convention, this year and Florida gets more media attention than Utah.

After all the hoopla about the president's remarks on the Israeli /Palestinian talks; most of the pundits agreed that present Obama was just repeating what has been the United States policy for years. Chris Wallace did say that he has never seen a leader from another nation lecture a sitting United States president at a press conference. I believe that lecture will have consequences down the road but if anybody thinks that the United States president will “throw Israel under the bus" they are genuinely naive. I was impressed that Chris Wallace chided Liz Cheney for saying that the president was leading from behind. He reminded Liz Cheney that the comment was from a journalist quoting an unidentified official of the White House. He asked her how she would have responded if someone had quoted an unidentified official  as the official Bush administration response. I don't think Herman Cain will last long after yesterday's performance. Chris Wallace asked him a simple question like what are your thoughts on "the right of return?" I can't believe the man running for president of the United States did not know what the "right of return meant." When asked if he would raise the debt ceiling, Mr. Cain said no and gave four of his reasons for not doing so. Then he admitted that his plan not to raise the debt ceiling won't work now, because Congress has allowed the situation to become a disaster. This man is not ready for prime time.

Now that Mitch Daniels has bowed out, the republicans are trying to convince Jed Bush or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to run, but they will have some flip flops to consider. It's obvious that the republicans are not happy with their choices.

We don’t have to agree

My last blog was not intended to be a controversial but several seemed offended. I was even called a sycophant on Edith Ann's blog... It was just a segment from 60 Minutes. The half- banned poster put up a blog to question the validity of 60 Minutes. CBS chose the “sovereign citizens" as the sect they wanted to report on. The segment got my attention, so I decided to share, but I was never going to mention all the domestic terrorism in the United States. I don't know if the posters that objected were sympathizers, members of a fringe group or close to it, or just want to be argumentative. That's why it takes an extra couple hours to submit a blog to the Advocate. I have to constantly question myself, making sure I am not unknowing offending anyone and questioning whether I need to write a couple extra lines to make sure I don't. I thought everyone would be against these people but evidently not. It's a different process for political blogs because opposing views come with the territory. There are a lot easier because everyone should know where my views come from; that doesn't mean that I'm right....Kind of ridiculous; writing a blog about a blog...:-)

It seems that you have to take a side if you're going to discuss matters concerning the City of Victoria. The battle lines are drawn, and amateurs are advised to keep their comments to themselves because there's not a third way. A poster either has to play defense or offense when discussing social issues such as abortion, religion, or gay marriage. It's always been that politics has to be about the left and right, liberal, conservative; democrat or republican, and the mushy middle need not apply. I know that I would like to discuss the fallacy of tax abatements vs. of when it's feasible, austerity vs. Keynesian economics' without all the name- calling but after about six years, I'm giving up hope.

So far my experiment is working because I've kept a good temperament with other posters. I've deleted several of rollingstone's comments, but he is relentless; last night he posted at 11:30 while I was asleep.... Tonight is Friday night; my Blackberry is fully charged and ready to alarm me when someone makes a comment on my VA blog. He can now post his comments on mightyjo’s blog; everything works out in a “birds of a feather “way.

Have a good weekend.

Victoria needs a young mayor

After reading all the comments about the proposed river walk, the talk of replacing our city council's old computers with iPads and everything in between; I think we need a mayor between the ages of 40 and 50 years old. The mayor would need to be old enough to know better but young enough to accept new ideas. Ideally, the mayor would have acquired their leadership skills in the military or as a manager of a large group of people. It might take a different viewpoint altogether, such as a woman's point of view, now that might shake up the good ole boy culture.

I can just imagine what's going through the mind of the City Council when it's obvious they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. A lot of the criticism is justified for past mistakes, but you can't move forward with a gun shy council. I understand our current mayor will not run for reelection, so it's a perfect opportunity to bring in new blood that can say with a straight face" I was not here when those mistakes were made, but we must move forward." It's quite evident that we don't use our city manager as to go- to person for important decisions but instead use the mayor to be our spokesman. The new mayor should campaign on their new ideas, and the voters should ask the pertinent questions.

I get sick of hearing “I’m a conservative, and I will ensure that we have smaller government and lower taxes" that's a slogan for a bumper sticker; nothing else. As Victoria slowly transitions itself from the powers of old to the future, we need to have someone who will lead, not pass the baton to someone who will follow in the same footsteps. I would like a young mayor that knows that we should consider the savings in paper and other obvious reasons as to why we should replace the old computers with iPads. At the same time, the mayor should be able to say that we need a fix that old 60 inch water main at today's prices before we tackle a large project like a river walk. That doesn't mean we can't continue the talks in committees, but we must be good stewards of the taxpayers' money. I think the new mayor should tell the naysayer who will always say" public funds should not be used" that we will not throw down the gauntlet; all ideas will be considered. If a good deal comes up that will benefit the taxpayer in the future, it must be considered.

Why do I want a young mayor? My city of birth and choice will not progress with people that are mired in the days of old practices and ideas. I don't know how well Robert Cortez, County Clerk, is doing but a replacement at that office was long overdue. I have no doubt that Victoria will grow because we have the foundation for growth; the only piece left out of that foundation is good leadership. It doesn't matter if the leader is conservative liberal, libertarian, democrat, or republican because they have to align themselves with Victorians, not the national party or ideology. It's like in baseball; it's much easier to replace the manager than the whole team.

Don’t you just hate that?

I woke up in a great mood, but it didn't take that long for things to change. I was on my way to get a routine cholesterol blood test at Detar, when I encountered a little traffic jam just before you get to the HEB on Rio Grande. I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to hold up traffic and allow a lady from the area around FedEx to enter Rio Grande in front of me. I sat there for a couple of minutes with horns honking behind me. The lady finally acknowledged me, as she put down her cell phone for a minute but resumed talking while slowly entering Rio Grande. She couldn't hear me but I said"I really didn't need the smile and the wave lady; just get in the traffic lane and resume driving, so we can all get to our destination." Yes I know we all have been in that situation, in one way or the other, but are cell phone calls really that important?

I decided that I would just let out all my pet peeves, so I can enjoy the rest of the week.


The national media drives me up the wall; who is really surprised that Arnold Schwarzenegger had an affair? That happened 10 years ago, but it will dominate the news. The media made Sarah Palin's tweets and Facebook entrees a CNN exclusive. It needs to be covered but only as an afterthought. I can't picture Walter Cronkite reporting this type of news to us.

I really hate superficial and selective outrage. I have to admit I had no idea who "Common" was, but I have since found out that he was a poet who won two Grammy awards. As some of you know, Fox News and Sarah Palin made a big issue because Common was invited to the White House to take part in a poetry event. The rapper Common supposedly made comments about killing cops in a poem. . Bill O’Reilly said" and he was invited on Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week." What a stretch, is the White House supposed to scrutinize their invitations to accommodate special days? Bill O'Reilly told Jon Stewart that president Obama was following a bad pattern. He said, first there was Bill Ayers, then it was Rev. Wright and now Common.... This is all trivia; why can't we acknowledge that?

Now, I’m feeling better..:-)………..You try it what are your pet peeves?
I will start the ball rolling.

1. BigJ hates Geanie Morrison
2. Legion357 hates golf balls in his yard
3. Edith Ann wants a clean sweep of city officials
4. Sugar Magnolia gets upset when our local paper blows it one way or the other
4. Rebecca hates the political bickering
5. Kyle gets upset with religious fundamentalist. but he does like to debate them.
6. VBB hates EIC fraud.


BTW Is it just me or do I awaken some posters?  I swear it sure seems that way...What is the status of MightyJo, his comments do not show up in comment section but he is able to submit a blog? Strange.

If it’s Sunday..It’s meet the GOP candidates

It seems some as though the republican primary is the most important subject to talk about on the Sunday talk shows. President Obama does not have a democratic opponent, so every week the talk shows will trout out a new republican candidate. This week the honors went to Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.

I have to admit that I was totally surprised to hear Newt Gingrich call Ryan Paul's budget plan too radical and a product of right wing social engineering. Newt Gingrich went onto say that he supported an individual mandate but not like the one in our current Healthcare Law. Gingrich wants those not wanting to participate to post a bond. That's one of those" you say the glass is half empty; I say the glass is half full." The rest of the interview with David Gregory of Meet the Press had Newt Gingrich showing his pearly whites, as he tried to spin some of his most outrageous statements. He said that he was not a hypocrite, even though he was having an extramarital affair while condemning Bill Clinton for his, because he reconciled his sins with God. He blamed the author of a magazine article for saying that president Obama had a ""Kenyan, anti-colonial" worldview. As usual, you can forget what he said on “Meet the Press" because today he is blaming the media for taking his words out a context. So, if you saw his interview Sunday, don't believe your lying eyes and ears.

I will never vote for Ron Paul, but I’ve always credited him as being a nice old harmless gentleman. I'm seeing a different Ron Paul this time around because he seems more combative and more interested in selling his far out libertarian views than anything else. This is a just sample of what he is peddling today.

From Fox News Sunday transcript yesterday:

WALLACE: You talk a lot about the Constitution. You say Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid are all unconstitutional.
PAUL: Technically, they are. … There's no authority [in the Constitution]. Article I, Section 8 doesn't say I can set up an insurance program for people. What part of the Constitution are you getting it from? The liberals are the ones who use this General Welfare Clause. … That is such an extreme liberal viewpoint that has been mistaught in our schools for so long and that's what we have to reverse-that very notion that you're presenting.
WALLACE: Congressman, it's not just a liberal view. It was the decision of the Supreme Court in 1937 when they said that Social Security was constitutional under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.
PAUL: And the Constitution and the courts said slavery was legal to, and we had to reverse that.

This is the same man who recently said he would not have voted for the Civil Rights legislation because of his stance on property rights... He said the Federal government did not need that legislation because a business would not survive if they discriminated. He doesn't think that we should have Federal laws against heroin use. I agree that the "war on drugs" has failed, and we should view drug addiction as a disease but certain drugs and chemicals should be off limits. He said everything should be left up to the states. He's pushing liberty to the hilt; a civilized nation cannot exist without laws. His son Rand Paul did not fall for from the tree because he recently said that the Health Care law was like slavery because it forced him to treat people. Using that logic, Medicare, Social Security, VA Security, A benefits and Medicaid are all akin to slavery. How can someone be making more than $350,000 a year be called a slave? I don't think the slaves would agree with him.

Set your DVR to Fox's Bill O' Reilly tonight @7:00 PM if you want to see Jon Stewart trounce O'Reilly, on they call a debate....Bill O'Reilly is out of his league,he needs to stay with Glenn Beck where he is seen as the sensible one.

Big surprise, Donald Trump dropped out of the presidential race today...lol
MSNBC's Mark Halperin said Donald Trump appealed to republican voters because he would get in president Obama's face....  What good is that, if you don't have anything worthwhile to say?  After Obama produced the long form birth certificate,Trumps days were numbered but when the president slam dunked him at the correspondents dinner, it was just a matter of time.  Oh well, his reality show has been renewed...:-)

Victoria Advocate please wake up

I've appreciated the Victoria Advocate's on line forum for several years but lately, I'm ashamed that they don't have the expertise to keep a banned poster from posting for more than two days or so. I'm sick and tired of watching good posters leave because of the nonsense that is allowed. I turned in Roy Mark two of the five times that he has been banned but that's not my job. A regular poster may lose his cool one of these days, get their comment deleted and leave because of the shame of what they posted... Not so with Roy Mark, he has infected the forum for several years now. Don't you have the tools and the desire to keep him banned?Roy Mark doesn’t think so,because he keeps returning to make a mockery of the rules.I'm not a detective but I can see what is in front of me.

Whatever you thought of Pat Bean,no one can say he didn't run a tight ship...He kept posters from  cutting and pasting entire articles, posting unsubstantial comments, and he challenged the posters online but most importantly, he kept Roy Mark banned. I know the current moderators are up to the task, because it seems like they have a laser beam on comments about UHV and the City Council. That's fine, and your paper is justified in some cases because we should know how to control ourselves. We're all adults. The other day a poster was allowed to post four blogs within a matter of hours. Yes, if it was eventually corrected, but it was allowed to happen. People will obey the rules if they are enforced according to the way they were set forth by this newspaper. It’s going to take a heavy use of the DELETE button for awhile, and they will whine but the message would have been sent.There are a lot of people on your side and I have some emails to prove it, but a small group (that I know of) thinks the forum should be cleaned up. Posters come and go, but I think we need to retain the good ones.

The online forum used to be intimidating because you had to actually know something before commenting. The veteran posters or the designated moderator would politely ask for a legitimate source. The delete button was common back then until everyone got on board. It wasn't perfect but it was a lot better than the free- for- all forums we have today.

I'm not going to be a daily tattletale because I'm quite content with my little space over here, but I was hoping that the forum could go back to its original format. An exchange of ideas, a little disagreement now and then ,but a place where I could learn something. We have some smart people in Victoria but smart people don't engage in daily nonsense. I'm but a lowly poster, and I know my blog and comments wouldn't be missed on the VA forum, so I'm not saying I'm quitting; I'm just not contributing as much, until we clean it up.

BTW, I agree with the deletion of the Chauncey M. DePree, Jr. article…It was trash and it needed to go into the waste basket before some unsuspecting poster would take it for fact.

I need a time out.

Rabbit ear syndrome

When I read the daily inflammatory comments made about president Obama, I often sit back and wonder “was I that bad?" I guess it's normal to think that I wasn't, but I really don't have a clue. I remember stating that President Bush was incompetent and the worst president in my lifetime but that is my honest opinion. I never wished the man or his family harmed. I never thought it would be appropriate for them to be put in situations where they might be. I certainly didn't make stuff up, but I always agreed with the negative stuff that was said about him. Most of my contempt for President George W. Bush came from his ill- advised invasion of Iraq and the aftermath of that decision.

I'm doing a little better controlling my “rabbit ear syndrome" by constantly reminding myself that I have to consider the source. Perhaps others were using that same logic when they read my comments. I unwisely thought that I could write a blog to say to my fellow Victorians" save your ammo for another day because the speech president Obama gave in El Paso doesn't have any teeth, and it's not worth getting excited about." I received a pretty good response from Hictoria, but the rest of the comments were just schoolyard taunting- like responses. I should've expected the response I got because the emotional issue leaves no room for logic or discussion. People come to the forum with no expectation of debate; their minds are made up, so the rest is scoring cheap political points. I'm aware of that, so I should be contented to state my views and let it go at that. I just get so tired of hearing the democrats want 11 million new voters. Like their republican counterparts, democrats will pander to constituents but there is no documentation that shows the illegal immigrants vote; quite the contrary. I think that statement is code for" the democrats have to manufacture their votes because everyone wants to be a conservative." I never thought that President Ronald Reagan used amnesty to acquire new voters for the Republican Party. Those are myths that stand for a fact these days. The two parties have their platforms they stick to.

Come to think of it, why would I want carry on a conversation with some of these posters.  There are insensitive, uninformed, and that's their strong suits. One poster( worth keeping an eye on) MightyJo, is suggesting attacking the country Mexico and waywardwind wants to fill the Rio Grande with alligators and the desert with more rattlesnakes and land mines.  There are just some people you just can't have a reasonable conversation with.  They are doing what they do best with what their limited knowledge allows.

The rest of the week and will probably better because my desktop has been repaired. Best Buy diagnosed my problem for a nominal fee of $69.00. The technician said I had to replace my power supply. I must be getting old because in the old days; I would have installed it myself. I should've immediately recognized my problem because I've replaced a few power supplies in my lifetime. I didn't even think about it, I gave him the go ahead to charge the extra $49.99 installation fee. It took him about 7 minutes; it wasn't until I got back home when I started questioning that extra expenditure.

Cremation or Traditional?

I know we've all had those days where if it wasn't a bad luck we would have no luck at all. I had mine this past weekend when the central air unit quit working and my desktop computer kept turning itself on and off. The central air unit was out of coolant, so I had to go a complete day without air, it was even worse trying to get to sleep Sunday night.

I might have a software problem because after I downloaded the last windows 7 updates, I noticed problems loading Firefox with the the new SP 3 updates. I hope the Geek Squad from Best Buy will fix the problem. It's a 3 to 5 day dianostic check,so they better fix the problem!...It's much easier writing a blog on my desktop.

We continued the tradition of visiting the grave sites on Mother's Day but on this day it was a good reason to get out of a hothouse. It was 81° and climbing inside the house when we left. The first stop was Memory Gardens, where my mother and stepfather are buried and then we took a ride through Riverside. I thought the park would be full but it wasn't. I guess Mother's Day is celebrated at mom's house. I was also surprised of how many mothers, old and young, wanted to spend a nice quiet afternoon at home rather than having a family gathering. That's what my wife, my older sister, and my oldest daughter wanted. That's funny; perhaps that's what my mother wanted, when we all showed up at her house for Mother's Day. We then drove to Resurrection Cemetery where my grandmother, two sisters and a brother-in-law are buried. We managed to find my grandmother and one sister but we will look for my other sister and brother-in-law this coming Sunday.

My wife wants to be cremated because she thinks that the ceremony, burial plot, casket and police escort is just a waste of money because friends and relatives will not visit the grave site. I'm on the fence but I know it is not for monetary reasons; it's more for traditional reasons.. Until 1963 the Catholic Church would not allow cremation and even now it's not their preference for burial, because they think of the body as God's temple and cremation desecrates it. I've always thought that after a few days underground, the worms do the same thing. The Catholic religion frowns upon immediate cremation as it does not give friends and family a chance to engage in the grieving process to their way of thinking. I've been an executor three times and its been my experience that the cost of the funeral coincides with the amount received in Life Insurance policies. I never had a case where I had to distribute excess cash from Life Insurance policies to the beneficiaries.
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Is it a difference of opinion or something else?

It's hard for me to believe that the so- called mainstream media have a bias. I know for some in our fair city, that if it doesn't have a conservative view, then it's liberal. Recently, the Republican Party gave up on their efforts to privatize Medicare and repealing the Healthcare Law; that’s huge but I haven't seen any coverage of this. Congressman Paul Ryan got all the accolades for being a genuine, upcoming republican star, but when his party abandoned him; nada, zilch.

I know that if President Bush would have captured Osama bin Laden, Karl Rowe, and others would have staged a ticker tape parade in New York City with President Bush all decked out in his flight suit. Both houses of Congress would have submitted bills to have President Bush's likeness to be carved on Mt. Rushmore and a holiday to boot. Republicans know how to brag but the democrats think that "ah shucks" will be remembered on Election Day. Republicans know how to milk the situation for all it's worth. The media eats that up. You don't have to believe me but remember the “Mission Accomplished” celebration, yet there were several years of war to follow. I liked the fact that president Obama low keyed the situation, but I'm a democrat. I'm hardwired that way, but I also know that this will all be forgotten in a couple of weeks and the media will be out to cover the most flamboyant politician. A man I used to work with used to say jokingly “if you're going to be blamed for it; you might as well do it." ..I thought of that when a poster named reeder accused president Obama of milking the situation to use in his presidential run. He used all the talking points like "a bump in the polls" but I just know if the mission would have failed; he and others would've been criticizing nonstop. They are criticizing now, when the mission by all standards was a success.

I think that I have finally found a remedy for those that like to sabotage my blog and insert their message. Since it's only a couple of people, I am going to delete all incoming comments from them. I know it seems like I'm being petty for not allowing a contradiction from a couple of posters but this has been going on for several years.Don't feel sorry for them because it seems like vet43 is an adequate replacement.Right now he is standing toe-to toe with them and winning.. It may seem like I'm censoring all unfavorable comments but be patient, and I will prove otherwise. The contradictions will continue, as they should, just not from those posters. I have a goal of having a VA blog where controversial subjects can be discussed without being obnoxious. I know it's unrealistic but I'm working on the number one bottleneck, me. I also know it's hard because we have so many different personalities on the public forum. It's not like I don't have experience in doing something like this, because I argued, and discussed politics for over 30 years without incident. At my retirement Roast -Toast party, one of my regular opponents; lifted his bottle of beer to me and said" this is to the only man with whom I could argue politics with, and I hope he has learned as much from me, as I have from him."He used to laugh when I told him " I'm not here to agree, I'm here to prove you wrong."

I may have a stalker

It looks like the most despicable troll to ever post on the VA blog is back, his real name as Roy Mark but he has used about 10 aliases in the years I’ve been posting. I have noticed a poster that is using the screen name of "topsarge" is bringing up my past remarks in a continuing loop manner; much like the old Roy Mark used to do. It would be very appropriate for him to do that, if I was arguing with him, but I have ignored him since day one. If I’m wrong and this poster is not Roy Mark, I won’t be violating the forum rules by revealing my suspicion. It’s another good reason to have a personal blog.

Roy Mark has been banned from the Victoria Advocate on line forum multiple times for his abusive tactics toward posters that disagree with him. It's not that he had disagreements with the Advocate. It's his methods of discouraging others to post because of his dribble. Older posters should remember the time the Advocate exposed him for having seven different identities at the same time. Oftentimes, he would use those identities to agree with a remark he had just posted. I don't know why they keep giving this particular poster more chances; because it doesn't take him long to violate that trust. Another six months of being banned won't teach him a lesson but in the meantime, he might get another poster banned, which might be his plan all along. His goal is to create mischief and discredit anyone who agrees with democrats or liberals.

He always used the same MO, of being obnoxious and posting unrelated cut and paste articles in a series of loops. He will make continuous posts in a row to discourage others from posting. He wants to control the subject matter. I have a way of bringing him out in the open... When he makes a post to my next blog, I will instantly delete his remark. This will cause him to say that I have a “read only blog."...How do I know this? He did this for about a year until he was banned again.

Another sign of a getting old is when making childless remarks starts to get to you. I felt bad after singling out waywardwind, when I was doing the same thing. I feel a lot better now that I have apologized, but I realize that will make me look weak to some. That's the punishment for making remarks that I shouldn't have.

Let’s turn the page

After 911, I remembered this country being united and President Bush having a 95% approval rating. Those were my pre-VA blog days, so I can't really say what the action would've been back then on the left and the right... It did seem as though we were united.

Time has changed those on right blame President Clinton for not taking out Osama Bin Laden in 1995, and in those on the left blame President George W. Bush for not taking al Qaeda seriously in the first eight months of his presidency. There is enough blame to go around for both administrations, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FBI and the CIA. It doesn't stay at the government level because it trickles down to political parties, constituents and ideologies.

I wrote a blog this morning about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, and I was very careful not to lay blame on anyone or go overboard with presidential praise. I thought it was important for some to know that although our Navy Seals were the ultimate heroes; they had a great supporting cast. It wasn't hard to see how some posters were trying to diminish the role of present Obama in the important mission. A blog was immediately posted to wrongly praise General Petraeus for the killing of Osama Bin Laden and endorse him for president. Along the way, Sandwichh, quoted the Moveon.org sign that called General Petraeus... General betray us.... It was very obvious that the first thing that crossed Sandwichh mind was “Obama doesn't deserve any credit, at all." No one responded to his blog but the local newspaper had several related stories that posters could make comments on. And comments they made; their hate has turned to Muslims now.

It didn't take long for redwhiteandblue to weigh in with his nonsense by saying"Let us hope he has truly met his demise, and this is not a fraud on a massive scale, perpetrated upon the American people by someone who is desperate to get re-elected. I'm sure they'll now put a whole new spin on why Obama kept Guantanamo open. Let us focus on this administration's pathetic performance, and not be blinded at the voting booth by this one real or perhaps contrived event. God bless and protect America and our military." He has opened the floodgates for more the same from our local right wing posters..... I'm as partisan as they come, but I would have never said anything close to this, if President George W. Bush would have given the order to kill Bin Laden. I would have to believe that the CIA, Navy Seals and others would take part in a conspiracy just so president Obama would get another term. The same people are cheering for a bad economy just so Barack Obama will be a one term president. That's pathetic because the republicans will get the opportunity to make their case to the American people. Why can't they remain quiet instead of letting everyone know how stupid they are?

I know those stupid people are not representative of Victoria, but I still think we have more than our fair share, commenting on our local blog.