Election Year Blahs

It's that time of year again that I hate almost as much as Christmas...

The pre-November election year parade of American misery has begun and Katie Couric is your perky, but vapid host...

Yesterday the CBS Evening news started out bad and ended up worse than all those God-damn drug company commercials for erectile dysfunction, cholestrol, incontinence, arthritis, grey hair combined and tossed into a highball glass and downed in one quick draught. There was foreclosure, floods, fires, lost jobs, recession...like a garish Marti Gras parade that never ends.

And by the way, would someone please tell the Babyboomers that they are old and they need to get over it. All these drugs the drug companies push and all the drugs they take will not bring back their youth...

Machine Gun Mitch

Here we go again...

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Dept. has asked Commissioner's Court for permission to purchase 4 M240B machine guns that would be mounted to the new patrol boats purchased earlier.

The Sheriff's Dept. think they should have the same fire power as the U.S. Coast Guard, which is a branch of the United States military. Supposedly the guns will be used to help the Coast Guard with escorts and in the case of a "threat". What do they expect? A flotilla of terrorists on motor boats?

Does anyone remember that the terrorists hijacked the 9-11 airplanes with nothing more than box cutters?

What could Sheriff Mitch Woods want next? A submarine?

According to the Jefferson County website:

The Marine Safety Patrol is the law enforcement unit that is charged with the responsibility of patrolling the many waterways of Jefferson County. This division is comprised of certified deputies possessing the skills and knowledge of Water Safety Enforcement Laws within the State of Texas.
The duties of the Marine Safety Patrol deputies are not limited to just boating safety but much other law enforcement duties as well. These deputies respond to all types of offenses such as but not limited to: boating accidents, boat thefts, drowning, and the search and recovery of property.

Now they've added national security to the list.

I think a better idea, especially after the rash of shootings in Port Arthur this past weekend, would be to mount those suckers to a couple of cruisers and help the police in Port Arthur patrol their trouble spots. After seeing those things driving around criminals and gang bangers of the West End would be scared straight. It would take only a couple of weeks to calm things down there and then they could send them to Beaumont to patrol the North and South Ends of town and even Crockett St. which is having it's share of problems lately with arrests and fights that end with gunshots or stabbings.

Hell, they could use them during the next evacuation to flush out those that refuse to evacuate or to gun down those pesky residents trying to sneak back into the County after the next hurricane has landed...

Gay Marriage and Christian Hypocrisy

The state of California is suffering from multiple personality disorder over the issue of gay marriage. California is giving it's gay and lesbian population another shot at legalized marriage since 2004 when the mayor of San Francisco performed them on the steps of City hall and the California Supreme Court later ruled that the marriage licenses were invalid and banned the marriages until it ruled on the issue. In a 5-4 decision in May the court decided that people have a fundamental "right to marry" and that the ban on gay marriage discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

Of course all of this could change after the November election on the outcome of an initiative that would amend the state's Constitution to prohibit same sex marriage and California's Catholic bishops and other conservative and religious groups have vowed to get out the vote to pass the initiative.

But why all the controversy?

On the legal side the Feds have already passed laws that other states do not have to recognize these marriages and that same-sex couples do not have rights to Social Security or to jointly file income tax returns.

Marriage in the United States has become a sham. Divorce has been rampant for the last 30years shacking up and out of wedlock pregnancies have become the norm and family courts are kept busy with the child custody cases that follow. Most people can count on one hand the couples they know that have married only once in their life and/or remained happily married and raised their children together in one home.

Ironically, divorce is most common among Christians in the group most vehemently opposed to gay marriage: the Christian Conservatives or Evangelicals.

A recent study done by the Barna Research Group shows that 34% of Conservative Christians or non-denominational groups have been divorced. That compares to 29% of Baptists, 25% of mainline Protestants, 24% of Mormons, 21% of Catholics and Lutherans.

Oddly the divorce rate among atheists and agnostics is 21%

So the next time you hear a Conservative Christian crowing about the evils of gay marriage inform them that they should quit throwing stones and clean up their own house.

Obama breaks pledge

Senator Obama has broken a pledge he made back in February of this year to accept public funding for the general election. He called the current system broken (sound familiar?) and blamed his decision on Republican nominee John McCain: “The public financing of presidential elections, as it exists today, is broken, and we face opponents who have become masters at gaming this broken system,” Obama said. "John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. And we've already seen that he’s not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations."

He went on to add: "Instead of forcing us to rely on millions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs, you’ve fueled this campaign with donations of $5, $10, $20, whatever you can afford. And because you did, we’ve built a grassroots movement of over 1.5 million Americans. ...You’ve already changed the way campaigns are funded because you know that’s the only way we can truly change
how Washington works." Obama said, "I’m asking you to try to do something that’s never been done before. Declare our independence from a broken system, and run the type of campaign that reflects the grassroots values that have already changed our politics and brought us this far."

This happens every presidential election. At least one candidate takes the smarmy, hypocritical, self-righteous position that they are going to take the public financing for their campaign because they don't want give the impression that "special interests" and "lobbyist" money will influence their decisions as president. Of course it never works out and the media plays it's part and slams the one that doesn't take the public money and the candidate takes the knocks because in the end he has done the right thing for his campaign.

Now I'm not blaming Obama for doing what is needed to win the presidential election in November, the whole public financing thing is nothing but a carrot for voters. I think money is political speech and the inability of a candidate to raise money indicates that he probably won't get much support at the polls either. So much the better if his campaign fails altogether than to be propped up by public financing.

And you have to admire the slick way Obama flatters his supporters into believing they have been the instrument of his salvation from lobbyist, special interests and PACs in a transparent attempt to keep them from thinking too hard about that broken promise...

But it always goes back to this: Obama is running as a candidate of the new and time and time again he reveals himself to be the same old bad Christmas present re-wrapped in better paper and passed on the following year.

Stupid is as Stupid does

The democrats answer to all problems seems to be nationalization.

Early in Bill Clinton's first term, Hillary Clinton headed over a commision to solve the "health care crisis" and the answer they came up with was to nationalize it. Nothing ever came of it and it remained a dead issue until Hillary's presidential bid when the "health care crisis" morphed into the "health insurance crisis" and of course the solution was from the same bag of tricks: nationalize it.

Now in response to President Bush's call to end the ban on offshore drilling, which was put into place by his father, the House Democrats want to nationalize refineries.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), member of the House Appropriations Committee stated: We (the government) should own the refineries. Then we can control how much gets out into the market.

Does that sound like the naked power grab to you? Does anyone else find this prospect scarier than OPEC and Hugo Chavez combined?

The government may be able control the American oil market but we import most of the oil we use and if OPEC decides to cut production what will the government do about it? Go beg the Saudi king to increase production? Uh, it hasn't worked the last two or three times President Bush tried.

Would someone tell these idiot politicians that the immediate solution to the problem is MORE refineries and MORE drilling and MORE nuclear power plants and the long term solution is energy from hydrogen, wind and solar power...

It's time to move into the future.

It's a dog's world

The Humane Society of Southeast Texas should stick to finding homes for stray and unwanted animals.

Now they are making the ridiculous recommendation that in the event a hurricane evacuation is called, you should bring your pets as well. In fact, it is morally wrong to leave them home. After all, they are family members too and you wouldn't leave Grandma behind, would you?

Most people are multiple pet owners and would have to rent a Suburban to fit in all the family and pets along with the food, clothes, valuable possessions...The idea is even more ridiculous when you consider that most hotels/motels and shelters don't allow pets. Your friends and relatives that you run to probably don't appreciate it either: it's hard enough to absorb a whole family into their home much less the animals they drag with them.

Aggravating the problem will be local county leaders who will not let people return to their homes until THEY decide...how would you like to be on the road with an upset wife and kids AND dogs/cats for a week or more?

A lady I know evacuated for Rita with 3 cats in the same pet taxi and guess what, the cats fought and she ended up losing one of them somewhere in East Texas. Poor Mineaux.

Hell, all of our cats rode out the storm in the yard and every one of them made...although they were traumatized by the sound of tin flapping in the wind. We even ended up with an extra one.

Lately every idiot leader of every idiot organization out there has become an "expert" and has to put in their worthless two cents about what we should do in case of another hurricane.

Does anyone remember the two evacuations Jefferson County and the city called for that came to nothing? It dramatically slowed down the local economy for weeks after that. We must of been the laughing stock of the state, maybe nation, when Andrew went wide north east and landed in the Louisiana marsh a couple of hundred miles away from us. Presumably the only casualties were Nutr'a rats and some alligators.

Another thing that bugs me is people who go everywhere with their dog. They even take them on vacation...invite them to the beach and Fido comes too. You see them at the resorts in the early morning hours wandering around the grounds until their dog finally decides to take a crap...then they head back to the A/C. The funniest ones are the old men following the little lap dogs.

I hate dogs.

I've had the bastards chase me on my bike in all parts of town this year. This spring the dogs all had a bad attitude and would chase anything that moved. Even in the West End. I think it should be open season on dogs that wander the streets chasing after people. Don't bother to call Animal Control because by the time they get there sometime later that day the little culprits are gone.

Don't believe dog owners who say their doesn't bite...I got bit by one on a chain. The owner kept saying "don't worry, he won't bite"... They all think little Rover can do no wrong and turn a blind eye to their baby, even though the thing will kill all the wildlife in the yard, bury it and later dig it up the corpse for a gruesome snack. They even make excuses when the dumb beasts sniff the butts and hump the legs of their guests. I'd be willing the owner of the one that bit me still tells people his dog doesn't bit.

Cats get a bad rap for bird killing. Some birding nut in Galveston even shot a bunch of cats at the San Luis Pass Bridge last year that were kept by the toll booth clerk. The nut says he killed them because he caught them eyeballing some seabirds. I rode down that way last year on the bike and talked to the guy at the toll booth before all that happened. Nice fellow. I noticed the plates of cat food placed around the booth area.

Other wackos have said domestic cats are responsible for a decline in bird populations. I think more birds are killed by flying in front of automobiles than by cats.

You never hear anyone complaining about how many squirrels and 'possums meet an untimely death at the jaws of a household dog. I guess it's kinda like how some people's lives in the human world are worth more than others...

Friendly folk out in Buna






















Yeah, but does God hear that tree falling in the forest?







West End shows it patriotism with flag lined streets.
Ah, paradise...

The new Hike and Bike Trail off Old Sour Lake Road.

Burned by the Sun and Jackass Politics

It looks like Al Gore's global warming prophesy may get burned by the sun. Earlier this year Canadian and European scientist noted that the sun may be going through a period of extended inactivity. These periods of have corresponded with cooler temperatures here on Earth. It was confirmed during a solar conference held this week in Montana. The last sun cycle peaked in 2001 and should be ending and the next one should begin and peak in 2012 however, the sun is still as inactive as it was 2 years ago and solar physicists don't know why.

The lastest global warming nonsense comes from Seattle WA.:

Apparently the beach can be quite chilly on the Great Northwest Coast so they have a long standing tradition of building beach bonfires in some Seattle public parks.

Now they have had problems in the past with people burning "illegal materials", such as sofas which emit toxic fumes when in flames, but the reason they want to curtail the practice and eventually end it is the mayor's concern that the fires are contributing to global warming. The city of Seattle is going to spend taxpayer money on a public service campaign and handouts to promote their politically correct but scientifically unproven point of view.

The Park Board first considered imposing fees and permits for beach fires proving that a governmental body no matter how small or insignificant never misses a chance to hoist more tax, fees, and regulations on citizens. But they surmised that this may discriminate against young people and the poor. They also considered reducing the number of fire pits but decided that may cause more illegal fires and fights over the few fire pits left to use, human nature being what it is.

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When city governments get away from merely providing services we are the ones who get screwed.

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Here in Beaumont, Texas the City Council has passed a law, punishable by fine, regulating where we can smoke and they are considering another law that would allow them to confiscate automobiles, private property, of people who are caught driving without liability insurance.

They also wanted to ticket automobiles, which are inanimate objects, running red lights via a Big Brother system of cameras spying on certain intersections in town. The ticket would have been issued to the vehicle license plate regardless of who was driving. For some reason unknown to the anyone, they nixed that idea.

When these elected babysitters pay my way (mortagage, utilities, groceries, insurance, car) then they can tell me what's good for me and what I should do.

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Jefferson County, Texas is worse. I doubt as many people would have left when the "manditory" evacuation was called if they knew they wouldn't be allowed to go home for over a week after Hurricane Rita hit. They have already devised a system of identification to allow only certain person's back into town after the next storm hits...the County government and city officials decide who that will be.

The wise men of Jefferson County finally allowed people back into the area to inspect their property Friday, a week after Rita hit, but they were discouraged from staying. They were supposed to leave by sundown.

I remember the Mayor of Beaumont Guy Goodson and Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith saying no one would want to stay with the lack of electricity. I guess neither of them has heard of camping, except this was camping in your house.

At the time we snuck into Beaumont early Monday morning three days after the storm hit, the water situation was spotty at best. You never knew when you'd have water but a couple of days later the service was pretty reliable. Of course you had to boil it first. But thanks to the hard work of City Employees we had water later that week, although it had a piney smell and taste.

And as if we didn't need another reason to hate Ford Park we got one when the County leaders used it to lure people with the promise of ice and food just so they could bus them out of town to a "refugee camp" out in San Antonio, 281 miles away from home. Ford Park was the only place they allowed provisions to be given out. I hope that stinkin' place gets flattened to the ground if we get hit by another hurricane.

Some people said after it was all over that County Judge 'Ole Carl Griffith stepped up to the plate and demonstrated real leadership ability, but the real heros were the Joe Blows that worked for the City of Beaumont, the Beaumont Police Department, C and C ice company who gave away free ice when local government wouldn't provide it, the guys at KLVI whose off the wall zany desperate humor made the hot nights by candlelight a little easier, the grocery merchants who opened up their doors within days, the poor utility workers fresh from the disaster of Katrina and the tree guys from Wisconson...

Yeah, 'Ole Carl was soundly defeated the next election in the Democratic primary...shows what leadership ability will get you.

Wham, bam. Thank you ma'am.

Uh...now you're going to jail.

Seems some undercover officers with Beaumont P.D. may have engaged in questionable activities themselves while investigating a couple of massage parlours out there in the West End. Demodumbass D.A. Tom Maness endorsed cop/prostitution sex saying that it makes for a stronger case against the prostitute but might turn-off the jury when presented as evidence.

It might, however make jury duty in the misdemeanor courts of Jefferson County more interesting.

But D.A. Maness also stated that no laws were broken by the officers in question and that must also be great relief to all the Johns out there trolling for street prostitutes in the Avenues.

So what we may have is Chinese women screwing cops for money and cops screwing Chinese women to make a case.

Who are the prostitutes?

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"Mother's life stolen"

Coty Day's possession left on curb for whoever may need them