It’s about time democrats

Democrats are finally taking charge and controlling the message. It wasn't that long ago when the republicans made the debt and the deficit the number one problem. The democrats have stuck with their job's message, and it's working,now all they have to do is hold it for dear life, for the next fifteen months.

I don't know whether President Obama intentionally upstaged the GOP's September 7th debate by asking for a televised joint session speech on jobs and the economy on the same night of their debate.. The president's spokesman said we only have one president, and the GOP will have about 20 debates, besides, they can schedule the debate after the president's speech. Yes, the GOP debate was scheduled a long time ago, but it's not easy to get national air time for a presidential speech. The Republican presidential candidates all have a chance to rebut the president's speech, and tell the country how they would create jobs. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman have job's plans, but they are the same republican boilerplates plans; cut corporate taxes, zero taxes on dividends and capital gains, and repeal EPA regulations and Dodd-Frank. I still don't know how those plans will make consumers spend more because we have a housing crisis and a demand problem.

This August recess republican town hall meetings have been disrupted by people announcing their displeasure over Social Security and Medicare cuts while not asking for the top 2% to contribute more. A couple of nights ago one constituent stood up and asked a prominent republican to lift the cap on the Social Security wage tax on the employee and employer, in contrast to cutting benefits or raising the retirement age. Constituents all over the country are making their views known to the representatives, especially those that will serve on the super committee.

Most of the president's supporters want him to go for it all, knowing that the republicans won't pass his proposal, but it will give them an issue they can campaign on. The republicans will deny anything short of tax and spending cuts. The democrats will make their case that you can't lower the deficit and create the environment for more jobs at the same time. They will make the case that more jobs will create the tax revenues necessary to lower the deficit. The democrats will answer the demand problem by putting more people to work so they can afford to buy the big-ticket items, like cars and homes.

This morning Joe Scarborough was talking about in FDR's social programs, infrastructure projects, and a message of caring brought us back to prosperity. He said while not as severe, Ronald Reagan's policies brought us back from financial ruins of the 1980s by lowering taxes. That leads me to believe that economics' is not really a science because human beings can be manipulated. It's certainly not proof that Keynesian economics' does not work because a good percentage of the stimulus package was tax cuts. It may not be popular to say, but I think America is a hybrid nation with the basis being capitalism mixed in with a little of socialism. Since we have a central banking system, we will never have a true capitalist society because we like our VA medical care, Social Security and Medicare, we just don't like to take the steps to pay for them.

It's still early but the pundits are already saying Rick Perry is running away with the nomination because the Tea Party will never back Mitt Romney. Governor Perry cannot run away from what he wrote in his book 10 months ago; he took a pretty radical stand by calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme. I don't know what caused Ron Paul's fall to fifth place, but I suspect his interview with Anderson Cooper might have had something to do with it. They both argued over the role of FEMA where Ron Paul finally had to admit that government does have a role to play in rescue efforts. It didn't surprise me that kinky Friedman is now supporting Rick Perry; I listened to his message and knew instantly that he was not a Democrat.

It's still early in the whacky world of national politics.

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.

A Compelling Weekend

Hurricane Irene dominated the weekend news, but it's it was also a good time to sit back and reflect. It was a huge hurricane but did New York and the eastern seaboard go a little overboard in its coverage? I'm not downplaying any major storm or its affect but Hurricane Katrina was much more powerful, but the response didn't match what we saw this weekend. I know the politicians didn't want to be Katrinasized, so they took the extra precaution. I understand that a category 2 hurricane can cause a lot of havoc in a populous area like the northeast in contrast to the open spaces along the Gulf Coast. Especially, after an earthquake.

The earthquake and hurricane situation were used by Congressmen Eric Cantor and Ron Paul to make a stand on their principles. Erick Cantor said an equal amount of cuts would have to be made to pay for the relief efforts in his district and state. Ron Paul used this opportunity to downplay the importance of FEMA. Ron Paul said, "FEMA is not a good friend of most people in Texas because they only come in and tell you what you can and can't do," Paul said.Paul's statements came before Hurricane Irene made landfall in North Carolina then pummeled the East Coast through the weekend, leaving millions without power and leaving at least 20 dead. “He also told Chris Wallace that we can't afford FEMA because it's full of bureaucracy and our country is broke. Ron Paul voted against Hurricane IKE relief for his constituents in Galveston. Was that a stand on principle or did he know his colleagues would vote for the relief? I think it's the latter but Ron Paul is trying to use the Katrina response to bolster his argument, but that doesn't hold any water because Bill Clinton's FEMA director, James Lee Witt, did a tremendous job. President Bush put his inexperienced cronies at the head of that important agency, and we got what we paid for. Rick Perry got FEMA aid and wanted more. Ron Paul said that we could pull our troops from other countries or reduced foreign aid to pay for FEMA. That's the same line that he uses for Social Security, Medicare, and any other government program. Ron Paul is pretty consistent, "pull yourself up by your bootstraps, yourself up by your bootstraps and if you don't have bootstraps, you've done something wrong to get yourself in that situation." It's the philosophy of Ayn Rand.

The talk shows were lacking this weekend due to the coverage of Hurricane Irene, but the topic was centered pretty much over the Republican front runners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. They pointed out the lack of foreign policy credentials will not be a factor in the next election. It's Ron Paul making all the foreign policy news because of his nonintervention views. Mr. Paul said Al qaida may now be in Libya. He's taking a small point and exaggerating it. Some of the rebels who took part in the overthrow of the Libyan government did enlist in the fighting in Iraq against us, but they weren't really members of Al qaida. There were more like adventurous mercenaries out for the weekend thrill. We just killed Al Qaida’s number two, Omar Qaddafi has been overthrown, and so forth, or we just around the corner or just running in place? I don't know, but it calls for a serious discussion, not one driven by politics.

The role of government is a conversation that we should have. We shouldn't have this discussion in the middle of a storm because the outcome would be lopsided in favor of FEMA. Congressman Ron Paul, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Grover Norquist are all on the same page on taxes and a goal of making government small enough where you can drown it in a bath tub. I imagine that those people cringe every time FEMA is applauded for helping people in dire need. It doesn’t help their cause when 67% of the people think that the top two should get taxed more in an effort not to put most of the burden on the old, disabled, elderly, and middle class. There is a lot a waste at all levels of government but that's no cause to throw the baby out with the bath water. I get a kick out of our locals arguing our tax rate in Victoria, especially when they try to impress without knowing the difference between a marginal tax rate and an effective tax rate. I still think those people are just trying to muddy the waters because they hate taxes and government.

I know that Michelle Bachmann is behind the frontrunners but I just can't get over how people will use God in politics.  She said"“I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians,” Bachmann said to supporters. “We've had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here? Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending.' ”....  Do they know I stupid this sounds?  I imagine Ed Rollins (Bachmann's campaign manager) put the fear of  God in her , because now she is saying that she was just kidding. If we believe that God is the lone creator, why would God put so much emphasis on  United States(~310 million people) over the other six billion people?  Pat Robertson said the crack the Washington monument received from earthquake was a sign.

Remember you can hold you mouse cursor over any subject or person I mentioned  for more information.

How do you handle trolls?

Clearing my spam filter is getting to be routine, now that the troll keeps trying to make his nest on my personal blog. You would think an 85-year-old would know when he's not wanted and just move along. The obnoxious troll tried to become a follower of my personal blog. He set up a Google Account Id just to get past the spam filter, but that doesn't hide his ip address. Why is this blog so important to him? Does he think he can intimidate or irritate me enough that I will quit posting? Or is he afraid that my message will influence others? His words never make it past the spam filter, unless I allow it to, I guess he gets his kicks in thinking he can slip by the spam filter.

I'm not describing a poster that occasionally disrupts a conversation to post something that might incite other posters and then move on. I'm describing Roy Mark, who has suffered with "trolliomyelitis" for several years. He has been banned from posting on the Victoria Advocate on line forum several times for being a troll. He is currently going by "texastwostep" at the VA. He doesn't mind the ban because the last time he hid behind his wife's skirt saying it was her account. He doesn't really care if he is banned because he's using three different IPs (127.255.255.255 ,99.64.192.56, and 75.0.235.239) just to post as anonymous on this blog. He puts a lot of work in being a troll. He'll just get another ip address and anonymity, and he's good to go He’s been doing it for years, so he's immune to shame; humility is not in his vocabulary. He has a disease that man has not come up with a cure for. I ask, would a sane person post on a blog several times a day, knowing their words go to a spam filter and are deleted? Normally trolls like to see their words in print and get the recipient's response because it excites them. I don't know if he's doing me a favor or keeping me from having a civil discussion with the anonymous posters since comments not linked with an ID, go straight to the spam filter where I can approve or delete. Roy Mark claims he is responsible for all the anonymous posts but lying comes pretty easy to him.

Ignoring Roy (the troll) Mark doesn't work because he won't go away; he's like a stalker on a mission. I have to wash my hands every time I delete his comments. I get this image of an 85-year-old in his boxers, sporting a Rush Limbaugh tee shirt, wearing white socks and slippers, drinking out of his Bill O'Reilly coffee cup, with Fox News playing in the background, just sitting there typing his gibberish thinking it will actually make the comment section of my blog. Then he'll submit a post to the VA feeling all proud because he slipped by them once again. He admits that he is one of the same Roy Mark, but in the next anonymous post he claims I'm paranoid. I realize he's 85 years old, but I wish he would take his drool elsewhere.

I had run out of new material for a new blog but you would be amazed how easy it was to write this blog; the ideas from my head to my fingertips came naturally. I know this blog won't deter someone suffering from severe "trolliomyelitis," it might even excite him, but he can make it easy on himself by just going away. I guess he can take pride because I've never devoted a blog to anyone, but drastic times calls for drastic measures. I went about six months without having one comment in my spam filter, now it's up to about 25 a week. I have to empty it daily; true, it's not such a big chore, but I shouldn't have to do that.My comments on this blog should not be copied to a VA blog. I should at least get the promo for my web site and full credit for my words.

A long way to go

As a self admitted political junkie, I enjoyed a discussion between MSNBC's guest host Ron Reagan, Politico’s Jonathan Martin and the number one political analyzer, Charlie Cook. Mr. Cook said a placebo could beat president Obama right now, but he wasn't so sure about the current candidates. The polls are all over the place because according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll,” Americans don’t approve of the president’s economic performance, but they continue to blame President Bush and congressional Republicans for getting the country into the mess: While Republicans have pushed to cast the sputtering economy as Obama’s fault, Americans place their blame elsewhere. Fifty-one percent say that George W. Bush is most to blame for the down economy, while 31 percent say it’s Obama.”….. Yet, president Obama is at 38% in his job approval. The American people are frustrated and don't want excuses or finger pointing for answers.

It's still 15 months before the presidential election, so the polls are not an indicator of who will get the Republican nomination. Charlie Cook said Rick Perry's double-digit lead over his closest opponent Mitt Romney may be due to his being the flavor of the month. The nation will have to see how he does in the next debate. Unless some states take some bold actions to move up in the primaries, the natural order will be Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Super Tuesday. It's good money to say if Mitt Romney wins a right wing evangelical base state like Iowa; it's all over because he's a sure bet to win in New Hampshire. Romney would get the momentum and most of the big money, even though he'll probably lose in South Carolina. If Romney and Perry are neck and neck after South Carolina; it will come down to how Perry does in the suburbs of Ohio and Pennsylvania. I just don't think the Republican Party is ready for a Mormon, so the nod would probably go to Rick Perry, unless he self destructs.

Bad Boy: The Life and Politics of Lee Atwater, Bill Clinton's book “The Agenda" and “Game Change" are excellent books covering political elections. Lee Atwater's book was about the dirty tricks he used and passed onto his protégé Karl Rowe. The Agenda was about how the Clinton campaign coined a phrase “it’s economy stupid" and never strayed from the message and how they set up a war room to fight off the negative ads. James was the perfect attack dog by making his opponents play defense. “Game Change” dug into the campaigns of Barrack Obama and John McCain. It went into detail explaining how the Obama team used and expanded Howard Dean's way of using the Internet for campaign contributions. They credit the groundwork of Chuck Schumer and Howard for recruiting southern conservative democrats. The conservative democrats (blue dogs) got them the majority but it put Nancy Pelosi in the same predicament as John Boehner is today. It makes it very difficult to govern. The Tea Party got the GOP their majority in the house but now speaker Boehner had his hands full because it's like herding cats.

President Obama quickly found out that campaign promises are difficult to keep and a majority is not necessarily a good thing. The president promised to close Guantanamo Bay in his very first year, but it remains open. The daily presidential briefs go a long way in changing a president's perspective. He promised not to hire people with ties to Wall Street or lobbyist but quickly found out that you can't throw a rock in Washington, DC without hitting a lobbyist. In choosing his cabinet, he found out that the senates" advice and consent" was a powerful tool keeping him from nominating someone who could not be confirmed. A lone senator can hold up a confirmation indefinitely. He now knows how difficult it is to try to govern with a polarized Congress. His speech and suggestions on the path forward will be dead on arrival at the doorsteps of the GOP controlled, House of Representatives. The president will be alright because 53% still trust him on foreign policy but unless the economy improves, and unemployment comes down to about 8.5%, that placebo candidate may beat him. The election is still 15 months away, and everyone knows a lot can happen between now and then.

The republican candidates will soon have to break Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment" thou shall not talk ill of a fellow republican" if they expect to catch the two-front runners. Mitt Romney was concentrating on president Obama, but he can no longer ignore Rick Perry. Except for Jon Huntsman (1%) and on some day, Mitt Romney, these republican candidates represent the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. I don't think that they can go back to the middle where the country is. They don't believe in evolution or climate change and except for Jon Huntsman (today) they won't accept $10.00 in spending cuts for $1.00 in tax revenues. Those are extreme positions. That is why I think Brian Williams of NBC and John Harris of Politico, as moderators of the next GOP debate on September 7, 2011 should give each candidate a chance to stick with their answer or modify it. I would also like the moderators to revisit a question asked by a Fox moderator at the last debate. Since we have a polarized Congress, he should ask each candidate if they have an economic plan that could pass both houses. It's always good to ask a candidate about their cabinet but not one will answer for a good reason. The candidate does not know if their nominee would accept if asked, or if they would pass a confirmation hearing. That's why all appointments go through a campaign vetting process during the transformation phase.

The campaign is interesting for people like me but for most it's safe to continue your daily life without paying much attention to the process because today's gaffes will be forgotten, and the topics will be much different. As it gets closer to November of next year, the pundits will be talking about voter turnout, polls, different economic numbers (maybe), world events, and state by state importance.

Read those disclaimers

I don't watch too many commercials but don't you just hate it when they all end with disclaimers. You can take this medication unless you have been diagnosed for diabetes, hypertension, or numerous other conditions. I wonder how many people took their drug not knowing if they had hypertension or diabetes? I guess a doctor's prescription for that drug would require a test for diabetes or hypertension. I hope it does.

I received an e-mail yesterday from ATT informing me, that since I was such a good customer, they were going to let me have the brand-new Blackberry Torch for a low of price of $49.95.I was not fooled by the email flattery,I was just on the list. What the hell,I'm retired ,so  I decided to go to the main branch to check it out. The salesman said everything was a go until I told him that I was ineligible for an upgrade. I then showed him the e-mail. His smile changed to a disappointed one; as he informed me that the phone would be in the range of $400 or more. It only cost me the trip to ATT, but why can't we just have the disclaimer in bold print: this offer is for new customers or those wanting to use their upgrade? I should have known better because companies no longer reward their longtime customers. Everything is computerized such as your shopping preferences, contract, and complaints, but customer loyalty is seldom recognized.

Do you really believe all those ads about extra strength, 20% more and extra light? I'm a bit of a skeptic, but I got that way running an old Hancock Service station that advertised about five blends of gasoline, but I only had one fuel nozzle with a selector switch on the pump. It was supposed to blend premium and unleaded to the customer's desire. As long as I had the station, I only used premium and unleaded because no one ever asked for the other blends. I guess it's possible to blend the different grades, but it never should have been a selling point.

It just angers me on how companies are set up to take advantage of one’s vulnerability. Last week I was watching an episode of PBS's "Need to Know" where a company "Structured Investments Co.” offered “pension buyouts.” Under these “buyouts,” the company gives an individual an immediate lump sum of cash in exchange for some part of that person’s future pension payments. Although federal law prohibits members of the military from “assigning” their pension to any other parties. This company argued that it was in compliance because it's just a loan. This was a story of a story of Louis Kroot, a former Navy medic, who entered into a deal with this company to help pay off his family’s medical and tax bills. The company gave Lou roughly $92,000 in cash, and in exchange, Lou promised to give the company roughly 95 months of his Navy pension, which works out to over $240,000.

http://tinyurl.com/3f6zoej

Will we ever go back to the truth upfront without a need for disclaimers?

Telling it like it is

I was out of town Saturday, so Sunday morning I decided to see what I'd missed at the VA forum. I couldn't miss Alton Easton's blogs about the same subject with the same title. I had read this story in the Thursday's edition of the New York Times, but I didn't find anything to get excited about. Alton's blog served its intent on stirring up the emotions of the usual suspects. I couldn't find any mention of Homeland Security recent policy change in Sunday's edition of the Victoria Advocate or the Houston Chronicle. It wasn't even mentioned on any of the talk shows. That doesn't matter, title your blog " Pro -illegal immigration" type in some words using assumptions instead of facts, and you are guaranteed 100 plus hits of the same unsubstantiated comments.

It's fair to say that the recent policy change to suspend deportation proceedings against many illegal immigrants who pose no threat to national security or public safety might be a back door way of implementing parts of the Dream Act and a way to regain the Hispanic vote. It's important to realize that this policy only includes 300,000 people who were going through deportation proceedings. There are going to use “prosecutorial discretion" in weeding out the criminals and those who have flagrantly violated immigration laws. It did not say that the border patrol would stop enforcing immigration laws. The anger from the “no amnesty crowd" will be even greater when they find out that the administration includes gay and lesbians when they use the status “family" in their efforts to keep the family together. The president's approval in the Hispanic community has fallen from 84% to 49% because of his unwillingness to submit a comprehensive immigration reform package. They're not any different from any other special-interest groups that are waiting for President Obama to fulfill his election promises. That group doesn't understand that the GOP won't do a fraction of what they expect President Obama to do.

I wasn't surprised Alton used this topic to misrepresent the facts because he has done that so many times before. I remember a blog of his where he stated that Obama was coming after your guns with HR 45, which was sponsored by one legislator. It didn't have any support whatsoever, but that didn't matter to Mr. Easton. He also said the media was sexist toward conservative women because of the way that they treated Sarah Pain. It could never be because of her lack of intelligence. I was impressed with writein's answer on why liberals, Democrats, non-conservatives, Moderates, and/others do reply to his blogs. I wish that I could post Writein's answer but it's unavailable, so I'll take a stab at it. I can only speak for myself but who wants to get into a discussion with the likes of fatguy and jasonbourne types? One poster wanted to know with they could file a petition against a policy decision in enforcing immigration laws. A petition would do what? Then, there was the dictator, the Marxists, and the standard abuse of the freebies without a shred of proof. There are two statements that stand out. One poster said he would think about them serving in a military. There's no thinking about it, those people want others to die on the front line, so their friends and relatives don't have to. It's not unlike the American Revolution where the rich were able to buy themselves out of it. The second statement is a burr earn on my saddle. A poster said it was not racist to be against illegal immigration because Hispanics don't like illegal immigration either. That's a simplistic statement to give cover for blatant racism. I would say that Hispanic like all others do not like any of our laws being broken but there are able to spread equally the blame to our government's blind eye, employers, and ALL those entering this country illegally. Every Hispanic I now deplores the harsh rhetoric and inhumane treatment in dealing with our broken immigration policy. The “no amnesty" crowd would like for the immigrants to do the work for low wages and then go back home and come back in the morning and start all over. They don't have a plan on how to deport 11 million people because they want to do it all by attrition. They want to militarize the border, so they have a legal excuse to use strong-arm tactics and if enough immigrants die, it will send a message. Meanwhile, they insist we use the words “criminal" and” illegal alien," so we can continue to dehumanize this issue.

We won't have an immigration policy anytime soon because the Republican Party won't allow it. Republicans say that the Democrats just want new voters and think these illegal immigrants actually vote. I'm going to start calling these republicans the “no math" crowd. Let's take Victoria, we have X amount or register voters. Anything above that would trigger an investigation. Voter fraud is not even an issue because it's not widespread, I believe one year we had a total of 50, all against democrats but that's to be expected when you have a republican state Atty. General. The national Republican Party will not allow amnesty (their interpretation of amnesty) under any circumstances, but they don't have a plan on how to deport 11 million people. The only thing that you will hear in the GOP presidential debates is, "let's secure our borders first." That's fine but immigrants are going home in great numbers, and this administration has deported a lot more than the previous administration, so illegal immigration is on a downward trend. The president was joking in El Paso, but his message had a lot of truth in it. He said" they wanted us to build a fence. We built it, now they want it higher.....The GOP wanted more troops; we sent them; they wanted more technology;.we supplied it... What's next a mote with alligators?" I'm paraphrasing, but the GOP is like dealing with a steel trap when it comes to an immigration policy or any other domestic problems. I guess the plan is to continue to gin up the hateful rhetoric hoping that scares the immigrants away and deters our legislators from coming up with a comprehensive immigration reform package.

I'm glad I have this blog to vet my frustration because a lot of people aren't making an effort to even learn the basics. I would never post a blog like this on our VA forum because it would have an opposite effect of my intentions. Instead of having a reasonable discussion, it would turn in personal stories, immigrant bashing, name calling, and everything under the sun except the subject at hand. I don't expect to have comments from people agreeing, even in this venue, but it gives me a chance to state my case.

It’s time to regroup

Since we've decided not to take a vacation this year, I think we will just take a trip to Sugar Land tomorrow and see if we can take some pictures of the prison before they it tear down. The Sugar Land sugar factory and the prison were the landmarks we recognized as kids, on our way to Houston.... Today, my wife and I like to call the trip from Victoria to Houston, our discussion drive. It's a straight hundred plus mile trip where we can discuss impending problems or just chew the fat. I think the first topic will be about telling my family physician to start keeping better records because Medicare does not pay for duplicate blood tests. It's a good thing that the CPL employee informed me of that this morning or I would have ended up paying for it.

We can't take a long vacation this year because my grandson is entering his senior year at St.Joseph high school. He plays football and I'm going to cam cord all his games. I'm going to have to play the videos, so I can remember what he looks like. My grandson will be pretty busy between his job, football, and senior league activities, so we won't see much of him until graduation. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were watching him play little league baseball.

It's time to take a break from all the politics (I know, I'm a big part of the problem) because it's addictive. Beakus was right, about 20 consecutive political blogs is probably too much because I don't want to be known as a one -trick- pony. Right now, I feel like I have to defend my side, but there will be plenty of time for that in the next 15 months. Beakus has to decide what he wants. About a month ago, he was complaining because I didn't respond to Alton's blog. He said “where all the liberals are like Mike, Kyle, and waywardwind and why aren’t they chiming in on this intelligent blog." The man has control issues but I'll cut down from two blogs a week to one so I won't over saturate the forum....:-) He's calling waywardwind a liberal because of a stance on gay- marriage. It's that "either you are with me or you are against me mentality." The majority of Alton's blogs are political but that's OK if he's playing your type of music.

I'm late coming to the table but local politics is beginning to stir my interest. I'm wondering if the 11% increase inflamed the “no tax" crowd, the people who do not trust the current regime or is it just complete frustration with everything in general? I'm not impressed with the projections; all I want to know is the dollar amount.

This morning I heard Apple was working on iPad III, but the only improvements for a 9 inch screen and more resolution. I'm not going to partake in all the upgrading not even when it comes to my Blackberry. Blackberry didn’t have a choice but to upgrade but they will still be behind other smart phones. My Blackberry Torch was not included in the OS upgrade...:-(

I'm taking a little break until Monday morning ,so I can decide whether to get back on the political horse or join the regular folks for  a little while. I do know other subjects...no, really.

It's that political season again

We're still 15 months from a presidential election, but the hateful political rhetoric has already started. I don't mean a playful snipe here and there; I mean full-blown hate. It's contagious, and it's like 2007 all over again.

You know it's getting out of hand when Karl Rowe is telling the republican candidates to tone it down. He said Rick Perry was not being presidential when he said of Chairman Bernanke ""If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous – or treasonous, I thought." Rick Perry came out like a man who needed to put out all of his talking points in one day. He's going to have to walk a lot of it back, like his vaccine mandate, after some concern from some key GOP constituencies. He now says "I readily stand up and say I made a mistake on that," Perry said Monday on an Iowa radio call-in show.

I don't think we'll hear much from Michelle Bachmann until next GOP debate, unless she says something really outrageous. I think the media wants it to be between Perry and Romney, and they will continue to throw out the red meat; hoping to get the next big story. That's the reason James Carville and Paul Begala started the Clinton war room. It was set up to answer their opponent's latest criticism, before the press could run with it. In the 2008 campaign, Obama set up a web site to counter the falsehoods. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are ready exchanging blows, so we will get a nightly recap. They have thrown out that old Ronald Reagan commandment “thou shall not talk ill of a fellow republican." I can't lie. I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

I thought it was just a habit of national republicans, not to answer a stated question, but instead just continue with their talking points. I noticed where a local poll asked what people thought of Governor Rick Perry running for president. A simple question but the Ron Paulities used it to promote Ron Paul's run. I think Sarah Palin came up with that strategy after her interviews with Katie Couric. Michelle Bachmann will not shy away from the press, but she stays on her talking points and won't answer questions about her controversial views or statements. Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have yet to go on "Meet the Press" but I don't think they can avoid it and still have a successful run.

I think it would be great if the national press would manufacture a jobs crisis. The debt ceiling crisis was manufactured by those who wanted stipulations. Wouldn't be great if we had a super committee with a mandate to come up with a jobs program, in a month or so? Once they came up with a jobs program that was successful, we could pick another super committee to come up with a plan to start withdrawing our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. What's the real message? We have a polarized Congress that can't function as a normal lawmaking body because of ideological differences that some cannot let go of.

Are you reluctant to change?

I don't think our fair city of Victoria, is different from any other city in the United States when it comes to human emotions. I'm keeping up with a very interesting and informative discussion about compact fluorescent bulbs and the old conventional ones. I wonder how much of that discussion is from not wanting to change?

Last Friday, my wife and I enjoyed our 44th wedding anniversary, I still enjoy listening to 60s and 70s music, but I enjoy reading about the latest technological advances, so I'm not completely against change. I separate nostalgia from change. Whenever we gave my parents something new, they always said “there was nothing wrong with the old one." That's fine to a point, but I remember it took me several months to get my stepfather to direct deposit their Social Security checks. He was already up in age and a traffic accident waiting to happen. It broke my heart because, when we started mowing the lawn for him; he just gave up on life. It's important to note that gradual change is best but there are unforeseen consequences that must be considered.

I guess people want the latest and the greatest when it comes to their entertainment. I don't believe there are many that went from vinyl to DVD, kicking and screaming. We transformed from bulky VCRs to  blue ray players and from digital to HD TV without complaining. Does anyone still prefer a dial up connection to the Internet over DSL or cable?

We have a 100-year-old power grid and have been on fossil fuels forever, but one mention of replacing those energy sources will bring cries of “drill baby drill" and get rid of the EPA because people don't want to pay the initial costs of the new alternative energy source. We will eventually pay for them but it will be Germany, South Korea, or China, who will be supplying us with the new green energy the world is craving for. Guess what, it won't be cheap!

I have witnessed the outrage over gay marriage become a dull roar. When “don’t ask don't tell" was repealed, very few organized to protest. I haven't seen the evangelical right try to use gay marriage, as a political issue lately. I'm not saying these people still don't have strong feelings against it, but they see the eventuality of it becoming a moot point. It's one of those “if no one shows up at the protest to challenge, is it a protest?"

I have noticed traffic on Navarro beginning to pick up. I have also seen a rise in murders, and crime is a whole, so these are obvious signs of growing pains? Will Victorians accept the change or will they accept plans to stay ahead of the game? Will we start thinking about hiring more police officers or doing some traffic surveys? I have several old friends who tell me that they might move to the country or another small town because Victoria is getting too big for them.

It all comes down to how we accept change. A good example of that comes in the form of Gheni Platenburg's blog today. She is writing a blog about people not finding a job because they haven't mastered the English language. The first commenter (tafoer) stated "I look forward to you story. Please ask the question of those you might interview why they refuse to learn English." He takes it for granted these people refuse to learn English but English is hard to learn. I know several who won't speak Spanish because they're laughed that, and it's the same way with English. We can only change ourselves but if we don't, how can we expect others to change?

My analysis of last night's GOP debate

After the Bachman-Pawlenty face off, I couldn't stand the Fox live presentation of the GOP presidential debate anymore, so I recorded the rest. I watched the rest of the debate this morning.

The presidential candidates were asked to show by raising their hands, to state that they wouldn't ever compromise, even if the ratio was $10.00 in spending cuts to $1.00 in revenues. I bet a smile came across Grover's face because all the candidates raised their hands, they all have been Grovernized. Grover Norquist has a lot of power.

"In 2004, Congress enacted the American Jobs Creation Act, which allowed overseas profits returned to the U.S. in 2005 to be taxed at a 5.25% effective tax rate. Will the U.S. government temporarily lower U.S. tax rates by 85% again, as it did in 2004, so those firms will bring roughly $565 billion of it home? No, at least not during the next two years, mainly because studies show the 2004 dividend repatriation didn't create many jobs here, and most of it went to buy back shares and to pay dividends. The Senate rejected it in early 2009. President Obama opposes it, and even if the Republicans take Congress, they won't have enough votes to overcome a Senate filibuster or a veto."

http://tinyurl.com/3o7wxdu

When ask about this, Herman Cain said" so what if it went back in dividends." That's the GOP mindset, corporations can do no wrong. Take that same scenario to the people on welfare and some would have those people limited to two children to stay eligible for public assistance. It doesn't matter to Herman Cain if we are cutting taxes to those corporations (redistributing the wealth) to line the pockets of the CEOs and shareholders. Mitt Romney said he would create bank accounts for the unemployed. I don't think the banks will set up free accounts, so what would be the advantage of those bank accounts. It's more money for the banks.

Many of the pundits thought that Michelle Bachmann did pretty well, but they were talking about style in appealing to the right wing evangelical tea party crowd. That's who she has to appeal to in order to win the Iowa straw poll. When the Fox commentator asked her about her position on not raising the debt ceiling, she stuck to her guns, not even addressing the fact that analyst have reported how devastating it would've been to workers 401K's. She obviously doesn't know the basic math of our economic problems. As Rick Santorum, (I can't believe I'm quoting Rick Santorum) accurately stated “Our debt is comprised of 40% discretionary spending and 60% of it is entitlements, defense spending, and interest on the debt. By not raising the debt ceiling, we would have taken the cash route and no longer been able to borrow 42 cents out of every dollar. We would eventually have to eliminate all the discretionary spending and about 2% of the entitlements, defense spending, and interest on the debt. Remember, tax increases are off the table and the top 2% are not asked to contribute as part of a shared sacrifice. You could mix it up, but it's still doesn't take away from the fact that Michelle Bachmann doesn't understand the basic principles. Her claim to fame is the" Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act" that was defeated. Michelle Bachmann might win Iowa, but she's not ready for prime time. I was not surprised that Michelle Bachmann did not know that one credit-rating agency downgraded us because of our inability to solve our problem politically. Never mind, the credibility of that agency. Michelle Bachmann said that she could have by economy on the road to recovery in just one quarter by lowering the corporate rate and more tax cuts. What's wrong with this picture? The Obama administration passed 16 tax cuts and ~40% of the stimulus was, tax cuts, but we still have a demand problem. The Bush administration passed two major tax cuts but only 1.1 million were created in that duration. The Clinton administration raised taxes and about 22, million jobs were created. That makes a case for demand and not necessarily a tax rate. It's important to remember the goal. Tax cuts mean the inability to fund the entitlements and eventually eliminate them.

The foreign policy (as little as it was) was pretty dull except for the exchange between Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. I thought Ron Paul got the best of that because he correctly said the trouble with Iran started in 1953 with the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953, orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

Mitt Romney likes to use the GOP line of listening to his generals, but he will quickly find out that some of those generals are willing to fight endless wars and rack up billions in costs. There some generals that believe in nation building, but we need to do a lot of that back here in the United States.

The social issues were as crazy as ever because Herman Cain still fears Sharia law being used in United States and Newt Gingrich  would make everyone sign a loyalty pledge. What is it with all these pledges? Does Newt really think that if a terrorist who wanted to work in his administration would be bound by that pledge? Rick Santorum thinks that if states are given as much right as Ron Paul wants them to have; they might choose to make polygamy legal.

It was just another early Republican debate where the emphasis was on corporate tax cuts, spending cuts and very little about jobs and growth; unless you think austerity only will promote growth.

It’s all about the role of government

It's time for Americans to stop skirting the issue because they might think that it's too controversial. You are what you are, and it doesn't matter whether you are a conservative libertarian, liberal, are a combination of all or not. The political parties need to sharpen the contrast between the parties. It's going to boil down to the role of government.

It used to be that divided government was best, but now it is just the cause of polarization. Every constituent should know what the party and political candidate stands for. It's time to stop relying on the slogan “smaller government and fewer taxes" because that's a pretty vague stance. Everyone wants less bureaucracy, and I've never known anyone that enjoys paying taxes; granted most don't mind paying their fair share. If a candidate is running on "smaller government" ask them what departments they will eliminate. If it's less taxes; ask them what they will cut. That way, you will know if they are for your programs, you will know if the candidate is for status quo, improvements, or elimination. It's the same way with taxes, if they are for never increasing taxes; then you know where that candidate stands. It's important to know if they will compromise, or if they have an ideology that won't allow them to compromise.

I will bet my last dollar that most people will say that they pick a candidate not the political party, but historical data proves them wrong. Subconsciously, people will choose a political party when they're voting for a questionable person that they know nothing about. It's where those negative ads that people say they don't like come into play. A lot of people will say they are a pragmatic moderate because it's the popular thing to say. They want to portray an image of being above the fray.  I have run into a few people like that but that stance is more of an exception that it is the norm. A lot of people don't know a lot about politics, so they are sincere when they say that they vote for the candidate and not the party. That doesn't mean that they don't have an opinion about the safety net, entitlements, social issues and the war. I know many that agree with the democrat's stance on the environment, war, and economic policies, but they will never vote for a pro-choice Democrat. There's nothing wrong with that stance because it's how the person feels. That's the very reason I won't vote for republicans and their stance on the social issues. People try to make straight party voting a bad thing, but in order to believe that, you would have to ignore the significance of party platforms. I think older republicans have seen the future demographics and they know they have to stop straight party voting or they are doomed. I have voted for several republicans in the local elections because it doesn't really matter who fixes the roads or votes in a budget proposal. There are extreme ideologists, I will never vote for, but that's unusual in local elections. It's usually about the shopkeeper you do business with, or the person they helped you coach a little league team. Politics never comes up in the daily conversations with these people.

On the national front, the lines are drawn. A republican has to be in denial, if they don't think that, their party doesn't want to eliminate the safety net, regulators, unions, the minimum wage, entitlements, and Roe v Wade. It's a party of individualism, and it hates every element of “it takes a village." It’s a party of capitalism, but ignores the fact that government always bails them out because capitalism in America likes to privatize the gains and socialize the losses. On the other side, the democrats need to realize that their programs have had a long run, and it's time to reform them, if they are to be sustainable. It's time for democrats to grow a spine and not be ashamed of protecting the environment, the poor, a woman's reproductive rights, collective bargaining, and middle class issues. Democrats need to vote for those that talk against plutocracy and not avoid the topic because it might influence their donors. The inequality between rich and poor is what brought down the Roman Empire and was the main contributor of the 1929 Great Depression, and it's time to let our fellow Americans know that. You would be surprised of the similar talking points, but back then the middle class went after the poor farmers instead of the Wall Street giants.

It's not always about politics or ideology, a lot of times its how we treat fellow human beings. Will we really take the life of a teenager wanting our cell phone? Are we at that point where we think that violence, guns, and chest beating is the answer? A lot of my friends disagree with me about politics and ideology, but our friendship takes us beyond those issues. My friends don’t mind telling me how wrong I am because they know I can defend my position and vice versa.

Things aren’t always as they seem

I probably shouldn't be so judgmental but the Rick Perry "Day of Prayer" threw me for loop, so much that I started laughing. It went from being unconstitutional, a separation of church and state event, the usual battle between Christians and non-Christians and even took a little detour to Tripoli. The threads and blogs have a life of their own, but this one took the cake for now. I think that I made one comment to point out some of the controversial pastors and their views.

I didn't see anything wrong with the governor having his Day of Prayer even thou it excluded Muslims and homosexuals, and I didn't see anything wrong with posters pointing that out. The Houston Chronicle and the Victoria Advocate gave the event a front-page status, and I thought it was proper; since 30,000, people attended the event and its national prominence warranted front page status. It is my opinion that the governor had a political motive. I also think that wearing his religion on his sleeve will help him with the base in Iowa. He will get the evangelical vote over Michelle Bachmann, but that's not saying much. I think the independents want to hear his economic views not his religious ones. While I'm on Rick Perry, I wonder if his budget prowess will surface. According to an article from Sunday's Houston Chronicle written by Patricia Kilday Hart, the attendees to the prayer vigil, organized by the governor were treated to 12,000 tons of air conditioning. That's great, but many of our state's poor and elderly will not benefit as well because the republican legislators dipped into the $650 million fund set aside to help the poor elderly and disabled citizens, to balance the state budget. This was done to keep the “no tax pledge." The System Benefit Fund was created by Representative Sylvester Turner. The bill tacked a small monthly fee onto everyone's utility bills to provide aid to the needy. About 500,000, Texans receive this aid. The Public Utilities Commission reduced the percentage of assistance offered each consumer from 17% of a monthly bill to 10%. Using, accounting tricks like these, was how the governors balance their budget. There are times legislators will not give their employees a cost to living raise but instead will offer them a pension or benefit increases. When hard times hit, it's easy to convince the public that their excessive benefits are putting a strain on the state's budget. They won't tell you that the employees did not get their cost of living wage increases.

I find it utterly useless to argue with some posters that are stuck on stuff they hear on talk radio. I found it amusing that a poster thought 1400 millionaires who didn't pay any taxes was not so bad because it only represented 1% of the millionaires. If two millionaires didn't pay their taxes, it's a crying shame because he's the first one to point out welfare fraud. A blogger thought it was fitting that welfare recipients be drug tested. I think discretion should be used and not just hold their predicament to standards you wouldn't put on other human beings. The poor and the middle class don't have a lobby, but I can never understand how people one paycheck away from being on unemployment; can vilify those that aren't so fortunate.

I can never understand how someone can take a position of superiority just because they have a different opinion or ideology. I don't think being a liberal democrat automatically makes me dumber than the person I'm having a discussion with. I've often praised conservatives who have a different opinion. The other night I almost stood up and applauded with MSNBC's liberal host Lawrence O'Donnell and his staff as they stood up and applauded the actions of a conservative governor of New Jersey, Chris Christi. I have my differences with Governor Chris Christie, because I think, he's an egotistical bully but on this occasion, he was a leader. Christie called the critics of Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who he appointed to a judgeship in New Jersey, "crazy" and "ignorant" and saying he was tired of hearing "crap" about Sharia law spreading in the United States."

I met an old friend

I met an old dear friend that I had retired with, way back in December of 2002. He was a couple of years younger than me, but he had more tenure, and worked a lot of overtime. He retired with a better pension and a hefty converted ROTH IRA. It was the younger age that got the best of him because he really needed to work. At age 55, he had a lot of things he wanted to do because he just couldn't sit around the house. He was a typical workaholic, but it paid off for him. I had been dreaming and making plans to retire five years before the company made us an offer. We would be stupid to refuse. Some refused and were eventually laid off without the same severance package. They said that they had to pay off their mortgage or their children's college tuition but we had one that wanted the company's 40 year award and another who didn't want to share his pension with his ex-wife. I believe wives have caught onto that trick by now; I believe they receive their share upfront in the divorce proceedings. We had guys who took a lesser paying job assignment and refused over time to keep their child-support payments low. After my retirement I heard of an old supervisor who had to return to work shortly after he retired. Our company mailed a letter to the retiree’s first spouse informing her of her legal obligations. The story that was told was that she took him for ½ of his retirement and a portion of his future pension. She had a good divorce lawyer but some spouses didn’t. I remember hearing a story where the wife was in a bind for money, didn’t want to pay a lawyer, so she settled for about $25,000 but no calculated future earnings.

I was in Sam's Wholesale the other day for just a few minutes before I ran across my friend. I'm sure the other customers complained because two old geezers were tying up to shopping lanes with their empty baskets, reminiscing, laughing and joking. When I finally asked him what he was doing these days; I couldn't help seeing how anxious he was to tell me about his small construction business. He just got a contract to renovate an office building, one house and two apartments with his eight-man crew. He said that he pays them pretty good, but he laughed when I asked him if he takes taxes out of their check. He invited me to drop by, but I bet he thought I was going to be a no show. I'm retired, what else do I have to do? I waited a few minutes while he was telling his employee what to do, and then I had to walk sideways because he was laying down some tile and only left a narrow pathway. He gave me the grand tour and talked like he had the situation well in hand. My friend is a jack of all trades, but he's a master of all of them. Have you ever met someone who succeeds at everything they do? When we were workmates, he never aspired to be a supervisor, but when things got hectic; he was the go- to person. I'm sure he felt stressed at times, but he never showed it. He had a reputation for being "Cool Hand Luke." After I retired, I asked a couple of supervisors why my friend never got promoted. They both said that the first time his name came up; he was turned down for lack of social skills. He didn't attend company functions, and he didn't always toe the line. They reminded me that in the latter years, applicants had to put in for a supervisor's job. He never did.

My old friend reminds me of some classmates who made it through school effortlessly but I had to study all night just to come up with a C. When our company was making the transition to computerize everything; he was right there keeping up, while we were hunting and pecking, backspacing and starting all over. The man was an aura of self -confidence. He told me that a couple of years after he retired, he sold his home and downsized to a smaller one, so he could afford to start his business. He had his pension and savings, but he was so confident he was going to succeed. He didn't use his savings or even think about getting a business loan. That's confidence; I can't imagine telling my wife that we were going to sell our home, so I could have enough money to start a business. I think that he should have borrowed the money to start his business and if it didn't work out he could've cut his losses and paid off the loan with his savings. It worked out for him, and even though he is 62 years old, he's thinking about building another home. He once told me something that I will never forget. Our severance package included about $5000 for continuing education or retraining. I was 57 at the time of my retirement, so I said “I’m too old to go back to school" and he replied “how old will you be in four years?" It took me awhile to realize he was saying that age should not be impairment. That's easy for him to say.

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.

Hit dog hollers

I'm saying this prematurely, but I'm glad that the debt ceiling issue is over for now, because it was taking up too much of my time. I know that I have control over that, but I became addicted waiting around for the latest little tidbit. An old nemesis dropped by my blog to post a couple of denigrating comments. The president and yours truly were his targets as always. As usual, he never contributes anything worthwhile.

I was going to take my usual weekend break from the VA forum, but around noon I received the usual alarm that someone had commented on my blog. It was from observer, so I just erased the message from my Blackberry and continued my chores. Later, I went into the house to read the post and said to myself" Oh my, I can't let this garbage stand for a fact on my blog" so I quickly responded. I then examined the rest of my blog and found some comments had slipped in while the Blackberry was charging last night.

The comments on the other threads were unbelievable. I would bet my last dollar that two or three posters have never been to Coleto or had no intentions of going this weekend, but they felt the need to take a stand against the Gay pride event. I was wrong thinking that the thread would be shut down because of too many vile comments.To my surprise the thread still has a little life. I did notice where a poster pulled up the “birth announcements" and predicted doom for the babies because the announcements didn't list a father. Another poster said that 90% of those babies were on the public dole. The 90% was not backed up with a reference, but it doesn't matter because neither was the accusation of food stamps, Medicaid, child nourishment programs. That behavior defies explanation...Mr. Tasin showed up today to post his latest gibberish, and the insanity continues.

Today, a poster that goes by the name of "siub" accused me of posting a “cut and paste" blog in an attempt to marginalize me. I remember another poster that tried to use the same words, so I did a little comment history research, and it's amazing how his words match up with another longtime poster who despises the left-right arguments and some other little tidbits. This character that goes by the name of “siub” and his deletion ratio is pretty high. He writes something that should be deleted and then he throws a hissy fit when it's deleted. What has he got to lose since he has two identities? He accuses me of plagiarizing, yet he thinks nothing of it when he uses two identities. Oh I know this character and once my little investigation is complete; you will too. I need to dot all my “I" and crossed my "T" before I place it a blog. That's one of the side benefits of a personal blog but it's one that I will not abuse. I've used the same avatar and name for six years without having to resort to a second identity to gain an advantage or to post something I wouldn't ordinarily post under my chosen screen name. I'm not worried because "siub" is not that intelligent, and he will post something that ties it all together. We can change our screen name, but we probably post our true feelings, about a subject or we don't post at all. We used to have some trolls that would stir the pot and leave, but I don't see that now. The trap is set and "if you throw a rock over the fence, it’s the hit dog that hollers."

Sunday's Victoria Advocate had some good articles about the boom in our city, and I do see some business renovations expecting the spillover from the Cuero windfall and Caterpillar. I've always been told that the real estate firms have all the insight, and the city's permit office is another good source. The article alone might boost consumer confidence in our area, but I hope it leads to more jobs. The posters haven't responded much to this information. What do you think? Do you think it's premature hype or is it a sign of what's happening?