Link Missouri Rep. Talibdin El-Amin is a moron of the highest order. No wait, he's insulting to every intellectually challenged person on the planet. See, El-Amin, D-St. Louis (note the "D" in front of the name? Still think the GOP has the bonehead legislator monopoly) has now taken the war on drugs to a new front. The legislator has introduced HB 1189, a bill that calls for identification to be produced and a list kept for anyone who purchases baking soda. That's right, baking s...
In May, I will hit my 37th birthday. That will be about 5 days short of 19 years since I filled out my Selective Service registration. Like many young adults my age, I received my registration information not long after. In the years intervening, I did not hear from the Selective Service. Not in 1993, when I first attended college and had to verify my registration. Not last fall, when I returned to college. But in February, when I applied for Texas workforce grants to assist with m...
In keeping with the wishes of the yard nazis, we've been working hard on our yard. Our yard looks better than 90% of the yards in town now, but it is entirely possible that will not be enough. But the problem is, the illegals. See, we have an illegal immigrant problem on our property. As quick as we clear them away, they're back, in ever increasing numbers. We live on a hill, and these illegals invade, crossing our border with reckless abandon. And nothing we can do will keep them out. ...
Anyone who really knows me knows how important travel is to me. I'm just not one of those people that's ever done well chained to one place. Like a dog continually seeing the view of the same inside of the fence, I have to get out to what's BEYOND the fence, to travel, to move around. So the last two and a half years, without a vehicle suitable for long range travel, were sheer torture. In all that time, we made ONE lengthy trip as a family, back to the community where I grew up. One trip in suc...
OK, I'm a little confused. Ever since 9/11, a select group of far left liberals (read: NOT mainstream Democrats) has demanded that we were the reason 9/11 happened...and that other countries hate us because of our hegemonic tendencies. And while mainstream Democrats weren't among the sandwich board kooks shouting on main street, they certainly didn't raise much of a protest while the fringies stood on their soapboxes. Now today I read about presidential hopeful John Edwards' plan to educat...
I bank at a large bank. Oh, it wasn't a large bank when I started going there, but you know, the buying and selling of financial institutions is and has always been big business. Anyway, I go there, and I haven't had a lick of trouble with them. Really. Honestly. Until today. See, I went in to cash my paycheck and the cashier dutifully informed me there is a balance of -$15 something on my account. Really? I had a couple of debits since my last deposit (LAST Thursday) but there should have...
As many of you know, I used to be a hard core socialist. I was the socialist of all socialists. I was involved with radical communist organizations in the city of Chicago, and I read Marx and Che Guevara (as well as biographies of both). But as time went by I began to see just how wrong I was. See, to this day, I care deeply about the plight of the poor. If my study of socialism taught me anything, though, it taught me that the answer to poverty does not lie in socialist revolutions, it does ...
Ireland had its potato famine. I believe that 2007 will be regarded as the year of the peanut butter famine. We all know about the Peter Pan/Great Value fiasco. And we've all either dismissed it as bunk or blamed it for every sniffle of the young year. But now a look at the local WalMart shows shelves nearly bare of peanut butter. When I walked in today, I had two choices: Skippy or Jif. Beings how I wasn't in the mindset to overpay for ANY peanut butter, I declined the choices offered. I ...
A funny thing happened to my hometown rag... See, I grew up in a smallish community in Oklahoma (after two years in a town where the stray dogs literally outnumber the people, I have a hard time calling Enid, Oklahoma a "small town"), and being close to it, I pay close attention to the newspaper, because if there's an event worth attending, it's a nice road trip and we're there. This paper has a forum on the forum service "Hey Martha!", ostensibly kept for Enid citizens and interested peop...
Every once in awhile an article means something to me personally. This is one of those. Yahoo! News reported the Library of Congress' 2006 "inductions" to their sound archives. These are recordings that are considered historically significant. The article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_en_ot/sound_archive The selections this year include the following: _"Uncle Josh and the Insurance Agent," Cal Stewart (1904). _"Il mio tesoro," John McCormack, orchestra conducted by Wal...
Link By now you've all heard the news. Or if you haven't, it's one of those articles you skim and pass on by. The story of the bus crash involving students from the small Mennonite College of Bluffton University. For me, it would have passed as a footnote as well, except for one thing. See, in 1992, in my first halfhearted attempt at completing college, I attended a small but prohibitively expensive school in my hometown. I was 22, a few years out of high school, and I really didn't wan...
In all of my years, I have never been called to jury duty. So I was somewhat surprised to see my first ever jury duty notification in the mail today. I don't know why I've dodged it so far, but it was past time for me to get the call for jury duty. I mean, I've been an adult, a registered voter, for over 18 years. So now, on March 12, 2007, I will show up in district court and present myself for jury duty. And promptly attempt to have myself dismissed (I'm a FT college student, so I may ha...
I did good with taxes this year. Managed to skate away with a nice newer vehicle (downpayment, anyway) AND a top notch washer. About a month ago, our washer took a dump. Because it was close to tax time, and because it made no sense to purchase another $75 POS, I told my wife that we would get a brand new washer...and a GOOD one, at that, with our tax check. We alread knew exactly what we wanted...a front end loader, with a large capacity. My choice of vehicles notwithstanding (a choice, I...
As we waver between what to do and what to do in my battle with the city that's leading to my unconditional surrender, one option we considered has made itself painfully obvious: Moving, at this juncture, is not a viable option. If we moved to town, there are just not enough houses at the right price at this time. There are more jobs than there are people, and this has led to housing being filled. Unless we move FARTHER out, we're not going to find a good place to rent. And as I've said earli...
As I've mentioned before, I have my day in court February 28. This will likely be the first of many, because my defense is that indiviaudls in the city are abusing their power and singling out individuals for prosecution. I've got a lot of evidence to support this, actually, but today I got a GEM, one that will work nicely on appeal. We were "in town" for our baby's two week checkup. As we were leaving town, i happened to look at my clock and notice that if I went home at 70 mph (the speed li...