Old & N the Way

Okay, Weiner's Gone Now.......

2011-06-16T20:57:00.000-05:00

........a loss of a very talented individual that never hesitated to say what needed to be said in congress. I will miss him but he was an idiot beyond politics and rendered himself useless in the causes he held dear. His next trial is in his marriage and I hope that isn't another 24 hrs a day news cycle event.

Sooooo, how come Vitter is still in office?

30 Day Reprieve Upsets "Kill" Schedule

2011-04-05T21:42:00.002-05:00


Texas Justice Dept Photo; Cleve Foster

Mr Foster (pictured) was scheduled to be executed this evening in Texas and got a 30 day reprieve from the US Supreme Court to allow time for a review on specifics of the case against him. A reprieve for different reasons was sought in Texas but denied at all levels and apparently not considered in the reprieve from the SCOTUS.

The reprieve from Texas wasn't about guilt or innocence but about a change in the execution procedure to substitute pentobarbital for sodium thiopental as it is no longer produced in the US. Apparently the change was made without consulting Pharmaceutical or medical professions in order to meet the scheduled execution date (today).

Mr Foster is bad guy. He's probably guilty of the murder he was convicted of (although there is some doubt....read the first link) but that doesn't excuse hustling this thing just to meet a damn schedule! Now that there's a 30 day stop because of the SCOTUS ruling, I wonder if the Texas Dept of Justice will use it to review their "kill" method?

One Hundred Years After, Something You Need to Know

2011-03-24T20:51:00.001-05:00

Friday, March 25th marks the 100th anniversary of the "Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire" where 146 people, 129 women and 17 men, mostly Jewish and Italian immigrants 16 to 23 years old, either leaped or burned to death as a result of a fire when their escape was blocked by locked doors on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the Asch Building. The scene was horrific;

One Saturday afternoon in March of that year — March 25, to be precise — I was sitting at one of the reading tables in the old Astor Library... It was a raw, unpleasant day and the comfortable reading room seemed a delightful place to spend the remaining few hours until the library closed. I was deeply engrossed in my book when I became aware of fire engines racing past the building. By this time I was sufficiently Americanized to be fascinated by the sound of fire engines. Along with several others in the library, I ran out to see what was happening, and followed crowds of people to the scene of the fire. A few blocks away, the Asch Building at the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street was ablaze. When we arrived at the scene, the police had thrown up a cordon around the area and the firemen were helplessly fighting the blaze. The eighth, ninth, and tenth stories of the building were now an enormous roaring cornice of flames.
Word had spread through the East Side, by some magic of terror, that the plant of the Triangle Waist Company was on fire and that several hundred workers were trapped. Horrified and helpless, the crowds — I among them — looked up at the burning building, saw girl after girl appear at the reddened windows, pause for a terrified moment, and then leap to the pavement below, to land as mangled, bloody pulp. This went on for what seemed a ghastly eternity. Occasionally a girl who had hesitated too long was licked by pursuing flames and, screaming with clothing and hair ablaze, plunged like a living torch to the street. Life nets held by the firemen were torn by the impact of the falling bodies.
The emotions of the crowd were indescribable. Women were hysterical, scores fainted; men wept as, in paroxysms of frenzy, they hurled themselves against the police lines.

LABOR UNIONS: We needed them then and need them now.

In the Triangle Factory tragedy, locked doors blocking exits were an effort to stop union organizers. In the aftermath of this event the International Ladies Garments Workers Union (ILGWU) was formed as was the American society of Safety Engineers, which later precipitated OSHA. If you think unions aren't important because you aren't in one, then think again. Unions gave all labor, union or not, advantages like the 40 hour work week, health and retirement benefits, and safer working conditions. Unions provide labor a collective voice that is not otherwise available to counter unfair labor practices by management. Without this voice, labor is reduced to the odd solo voice in the wind and carries little or no weight against unfair practices which even in today's working environment can create an environment for accidents and loss of life. The cost for unfair/unsafe labor practice, at home or abroad, is something we all pay one way or another....for some, as those in the Triangle Factory, it's life or death. Something to keep in mind in light of recent events in Minnesota.

H/Tip to Tengrain and Blue Gal

Flying Fortress over Willis

2011-03-16T17:31:00.000-05:00

Heard the unmistakable sound of radial engines overhead this morning and a little later while running some errands saw a B17 low over the south horizon. Montgomery County Airport lies there so I took the short trip over to see what I could see. I didn't have quality video gear with me (which makes since as I don't own any!) so I took these two videos with my cell phone.
Quality being what it is I've attached is photo of the actual machine in the vids.

75 years ago, the Boeing Airplane Company B-17 for a contract that called for 200 of the aircraft, and by the end of production, Boeing had built a total of 6,981 B-17s. The Douglas Aircraft Company and the Vega Aircraft Corporation (a subsidiary of the Lockheed Aircraft Company) together built another 5,745 B-17sBoeing. designed the under license from

“Texas Raiders” was built in 1944 by the Douglas Aircraft Company at their Long Beach, CaliforniaU.S. Army Air Corps as B-17G-95-DL 44-83872. Her fuselage number was 2987, and factory number was 32513. Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) had past, and the USAAC did not have a need for more of the heavy bombers, so on July 21 of 1945, all 20 of these Douglas B-17s were transferred to the U.S. Navy to serve as PB-1W Patrol Bombers. B-17G U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) 77235. plant. Built under contract number AC-1862, she was one of the last 20 B-17s built by Douglas and was delivered on July 12, 1945 to the #44-83872 was assigned the the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) 77235.

Only 13 - 14 of these left flying today so it was a rare treat to see first hand. I stuck around after taking the videos so I could savor the visual event without being hampered by aiming a phone and it did a few more takeoffs and landings.....very cool!

Fisting, No it Aint What You Think, It's Worse

2011-03-05T19:41:00.000-06:00

I don't watch Beck, and I've tried......really, just in the interest of the "train wreck" aspect of it all....sad but compelling, Charlie Sheen like, if you will. I find this idiot (Beck, not Sheen...well Sheen too but that's another issue) more offensive than Hannity or even Limbaugh, and that's saying something. Regardless, dig this.... shamelessly ripped off from Joe. My. God.

Opression, Better late Than Never

2011-02-28T20:45:00.000-06:00

I can't handle this sort of pressure. Besides all my other problems, shortcomings, and faults, acquired through years of practice and patience, now it seems I'm oppressed for being a white male as well. I guess it's easy for this sort of thing to sneak up one. Fortunately, others are out there on the vanguard to spot these things for those of us that don't have the advantage of previous oppression in our heritage. The newly formed "Former Majority Association for Equality" is that vanguard. Catchy F/Book logo!

They're a Texas based non-profit group in San Marcos offering $500 scholarships to white male students as we are now part of the minority here in Texas. Probably Obama's fault as the last census results show non-Hispanic whites only make up only 45% of the population. The scholarship doesn't appear to apply to white females even though they are probably a part of that 45% but hey, that only means I still get to oppress someone while I'm being oppressed........take that my white sisters...and get me a beer dammit!

On the positive side, my recent absence from blogging I owe to my return to college. Willis can now not only get a scholarship, soon I'll be able to pack heat on campus as well! About time dammit...every fetus should have the right to bear arms.

Texas, what a country!

Miss Me Yet?

2011-02-23T19:46:00.000-06:00

NO...Not Now, Not Ever, thanks so much for asking!

In December 2008, during this idiot's lame duck period (one could argue that, in deference to ducks, the "lame" portion of his administration started in 2000...but I digress), he issued a stack of "sweeping" rules for health care workers allowing them to refuse to take part in any care they considered contrary to their religious beliefs.

"The astonishingly broad and far-sweeping reach of the regulations extended beyond reproductive healthcare, such as sterilization and abortion, to cover areas such as end-of-life directives, care of patients with HIV, and even use of psychiatric medicines"

The Obama administration has issue new regulations to fix this final kiss off from from GW.

Small but important things happen from time to time. Sometimes even in favor of people over beliefs.

Texas' First Execution for 2011

2011-02-20T20:18:00.001-06:00

Tim Adams is the convicted man to be executed tomorrow. See the post prior to this one for details on his case. On the face of it, I never really had a problem with the death penalty. I always felt comfortable with at least the notion that if I was ever in a jury where I had to make that choice, I could do it without losing sleep. The facts would always be clear enough. Not so much any more. I heard a quote by actor George Hamilton a while back, something to the effect "That now that I'm old enough to finally get my head together, my ass is falling apart" which seemed appropriate one begins to comprehend that there are always mitigating circumstances to any situation. In Tim Adams case, those mitigating circumstances should allow his death penalty to be commuted to "life".

I've attached some quotes to show how some famous folks feel about this...

"People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty ... I have yet to see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial." Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court.

"Where would Christianity be if Jesus got eight to fifteen years with time off for good behavior?" NY State Senator James Donovan, speaking in support of capital punishment.

"I like it the way it is." Comment by Governor George W. Bush of Texas at the time that a law prohibiting execution of the mentally disadvantaged was defeated.

"Capital punishment is our society’s recognition of the sanctity of human life." Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

"The death penalty is a poor person's issue. Always remember that: after all the rhetoric that goes on in the legislative assemblies, in the end, when the deck is cast out, it is the poor who are selected to die in this country." Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J.

Update: The "mitigating circumstances" were not as I thought they were. See the update to the previous post. And, this was the second execution this year for Texas...not the first as stated in the title. My feelings about the death penalty remain unchnaged and the quotes still seem appropriate.

Any Killing is Too Much

2011-02-12T00:28:00.003-06:00

This is Timothy Adams, age 42. He's scheduled to be executed here in Texas on February 22nd after being convicted of murdering his 19 month old son in Houston on February 20, 2002.

Adams and his wife were having problems and a few days before the date of the murder, his wife left him taking their child with her. She returned on the 20th to pick up her belongings and was confronted by Adams. She called the police but during the confrontation, Adams shot at her. She fled leaving the child behind. In a stand off with police, Adams was suicidal though was eventually talked into surrendering and was arrested. His child had already been shot.

Adams really screwed up, I mean criminal level type screw ups. Shooting at someone, even if you miss would seem to be "attempted murder" or similar (willis is no lawyer)....accidentally killing someone other than your intended victim is hardly a good defense. Adams admitted guilt when he was arrested and also plead "guilty" at his trial. He had no prior criminal record. Regardless, at the sentencing portion of his trial he was determined to be a risk to society (by the jury) which is a prerequisite for the death penalty in Texas and there wasn't "mitigating evidence" to warrant a life sentence.

Adams has a father, brother, sister and 20-something old son from previous marriage all begging for commuting the death penalty. Additionally, at least three of the original jurors also agree with this sentiment based on further knowledge of Adams history and no disciplinary infractions since incarcerated.

A very sad story where nobody wins. I question why the death penalty is the default option when "prerequisites" to it are met and "mitigating" evidence isn't apparent? Seems to me that "life" would be the default sentence until the absolute certainty of mitigating circumstances are not an issue....after all, death is pretty fucking absolute isn't it! I've been on a criminal jury before and know you get pulled in and out of the courtroom while they decide what you can legally hear. What happens if "mitigating circumstances" become apparent after conviction or worse, aren't even heard? Why is the jury allowed to decide a penalty like "death" without hearing everything?

More importantly, why are we killing people?
Willis

Update: willis had this wrong. This guy apparently held his child hostage and killed him in cold blood not an accident as I stated in the original post. The accidental angle was an interpretation of the reports I read before posting this.
I don't agree with the death penalty regardless. It doesn't look like it was a real deterrent in this case.

Gov Perry Opens the Door For Beck

2010-05-01T08:51:00.000-05:00

Governor/Secessionist/idiot Rick Perry continues to embarrass the state of Texas by making Glenn Beck an honorary Texan. I'm more than a little offended by this move as it amounts to an amnesty for Beck. While the rest of us had to wait to achieve residency, Beck has it handed to him making in-state college tuition cheaper as well as allowing him to use our unemployment benefits.

Drill When?

2010-04-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

Regarding the natural disaster we are creating in the Gulf of Mexico. The Exxon Valdez had a capacity of 1.26 million barrels of oil when it ran aground in March of `89 resulting in it's "spill" though not all of that capacity was leaked. At the rate the sunken oil rig in the gulf is "spilling", it'll take a little over 3 weeks to equal the Valdez in scope without regard for lives lost.

Don't seem to hear much from the "drill here, drill now" crowd lately.

Good On The Health Care!

2010-03-23T15:54:00.000-05:00

I'm really happy over the passing of the health care bill finally, as this was truly a case where private enterprise failed when left to its own devices. The icing on the cake I believe will be the hole dug by those who opposed the bill and I'm looking forward to watching all the explanations and excuses now that the commies have taken over and it didn't hurt. Even more to be pleased about is Rush Limbaugh making good on his promise to leave the country....surely he wouldn't lie about a thing like that would he?

Fortunately, It's Not About Gays Trying To Marry

2010-03-18T04:46:00.000-05:00

James Wallace Fall is 58, lives in Minnesota and is married ...........twice........to his 10 year old niece (now 19) and her aunt. He defended his actions to the police explaining that it was God's will that he take his niece. It isn't clear when this guy relocated to Minnesota from Texas (`cause he must have come from down here) but at least he didn't catch "the gay"....God would really be pissed.

A Friend I Never Knew

2010-03-06T20:43:00.001-06:00

I'm not real good at this but that really doesn't matter as it isn't about me. I never knew Jon Swift personally but I would've liked to. He has a great blog, was a gifted writer, and suddenly stopped posting a year ago for unknown reasons. The subject of his last post would be enough for anyone to make a change, I don't know. Jon Swift's real name was Al Weisel and he died on Feburary 27th, this year on his way to his father's funeral. His Mother annouced the news of his death in the "comments" to his last blog post.

"Sometimes, there aren't words".... But in reality these aren't those times, dammit, Go to the link above and read what he wrote. Damn, he's good and I'll remember him for the thrill of reading him!

Jon Swift: Sometimes There Are No Words

2010-03-06T19:55:00.000-06:00

Jon Swift: Sometimes There Are No Words
And sometimes "there are no words".....

"Xe" Are On The Road Again

2010-02-10T17:59:00.000-06:00

So now Iraq is kicking out the "Xe" security folks in their country allowing them a couple of days to pack. Seriously, can't we just change their name? That seemed to help their image over here.

Gettin Our Maverick On

2010-02-08T18:04:00.003-06:00

Part time governor, full time idiot, and occasional truth assassin on Fox "News" is in Texas stumping for secessionist/governor Rick Perry yesterday and today. Fresh from a tea-bagging event (let your imagination run with it) her visit here only makes sense as we too don't require facts to get all mavericky and stuff and we love us some Palin! Not that her visit here is a big deal but I wanted to post what I heard from a woman being interviewed on the local news yesterday. She apparently couldn't decide between Kay Baily (R-lying douche) or Rick Perry for Texas governor until she heard Palin endorse Perry and she's all Perry now bitches!

No wonder Texas is in a never ending shit storm against its own middle class when the middle class doesn't know enough to even consider alternatives to the same crap that have resulted in things like keeping 30% of Texans without health insurance (or other equally appalling metrics like national education rankings, etc.). Palin makes her mark like Perry, Kay Bailey, and numbers of others always have: incite the crowd to feed on the belief that everything wrong is the result of things like bad border security, Washington interference, and liberals instead of the asshole you put in office.

And another thing....how come Palin is addressed as "Governor"? She quit that job so that shit should stop...just sayin.

Phelps, Bringin It To Houston!

2010-01-04T18:30:00.005-06:00

Yep, we haven't had this much hate in town since Sean Hannity's "Freedom Concert" last summer. Thank God the folks from Westboro Baptist came through to give us that "Fred bounce"! Not sure if everyone knows but the city of Houston had the nerve to elect an open gay mayor right here in the middle of the Republic of East Texas (land of Cornyn, Kay Bailey, Tom Delay, Dick Armey, Bush(s)...I could go on). Annise Parker's swearing in ceremony was held today and the Phelps clan drove all the way down from Topeka to bless the occasion.

Good on Houston for electing someone on issues instead of fear/hate or other stupidity driven factors. And, good on Houston as well for takin one for the country because if the Phelps bunch is down here, they aren't fuckin up something somewhere else.

Politics suck, this should help!

2009-12-18T20:18:00.004-06:00

willis is pretty much disgusted with everything political so I'm counting on the joy of the season to help my mood.....who better than muppets to bring cheer to anyone. Let me be the first to wish anyone that passes this way, Have a Very Merry One!

Invite Glenn Beck for Dinner? This would be the same and easier to stomach.

2009-12-11T18:42:00.007-06:00

Shamelessly ripped off from The Chive.

Contradictions...

2009-12-11T06:08:00.004-06:00

Obama's Nobel peace award may be a bit of a contradiction. Particularly right after announcing plans to add 30000 troops to the war in Afghanistan. Obama himself was very humble about the event although it gave those on the right some crap to feed on. My opinion is that while this may be a contradiction of sorts, it's not as bad as Bush (42) having a fuckin library.

Huckabee On The Daily Show Tonight

2009-12-08T06:49:00.005-06:00

It'll be interesting to see what if anything, is said about Huckabee's commuting a 108 year sentence on Maurice Clemmons. Clemmons killed four police officers in Washington on 11/29 and was himself killed by police several days later. Huckabee caught a fair degree of grief from both the left and right for his actions while he was governor of Arkansas and has stood his ground.

I don't have much use for Huckabee. To me he is one example of what's wrong on the political right. I say "one example" as each of the republican nominees for the presidential election in 2008 brought their own slice of batshit crazy to the table (McCain = war is good, Rudy = everything is 9/11, Fred = senility, Tancredo = wholly crap!, etc). That and since then Bible-Huck got his own show on Fox to continue to show us why we should be thankful he didn't get close to being elected. That said, I'm backing Huckabee (just this once, dammit) sticking with his decision on Clemmons (one might say there's little else he can do and one would probably be right). However, living here in the Republic of East Texas and watching our Governor Perry repeatedly refuse to move on the death penalty against the recommendations of parole boards and others for several Texas inmates makes Huckabees's actions laudable by comparison....just sayin. It shows an unexpected degree of open-mindedness from a member of a crowd that views everything in black and white.

News.....

2009-12-01T12:17:00.003-06:00

Apparent non-celebrities crash White House party, Tiger Woods wrecked his car, Oprah is gonna quit while Lou Dobbs did and Micheal Jackson is still dead. On less important matters, we are gonna send about 30000 (the population of Dorchester County, Maryland) more troops over to Afghanistan.........the most awesome war ever!

Palin, An Alternate Read

2009-11-14T16:55:00.004-06:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Going Rouge! Looks like this has been out there for a few weeks but it's the first I saw it and certainly worthy of a willis post! Its full of contributions by writers like Jim Hightower, Juan Cole, Joe Conason, Chrstopher Hayes, etc. and can be purchased at the publishers ("Or Books") website. There is also an activity/coloring book out there by the same title. Either of these books I'll guess would be more entertaining and probably more honest than the book Palin quit her governor position to write for us.

Animation of US Airways Ditching

2009-11-12T14:17:00.004-06:00

Additional related animations at the link. Presents a "real time" exchange of information with the visual of what's transpiring at the same time. Old news I know, but this enhanced version of the animation was just released......that and I think it's really cool!

A Fair Sunday

2009-11-08T07:40:00.006-06:00

Live recoding of Bonnie Raitt doing "Too Long At The Fair". That's "Freebo" on bass behind her in the beginning of the song. Haunting melody that has stuck with me since I first heard it played by a solo guitarist at a coffee shop in Denver. Hard to find tunes in those days without Internet abilities. Bonnie did it in `72 on her "Give It Up" album which I believe is the only time it was recorded. I doubt anyone could have done it better.

Today is Bonnie Raitt's 60th birthday.

Death by "Numbers"

2009-11-06T18:25:00.004-06:00

This is Khristian Oliver. He was executed last night in Texas at 32 years old. He committed a horrible crime when he was 20 when he shot and beat to death a man whose house he was burglarizing. The victim was shot 5 times and bludgeoned so badly he was unrecognizable. I'm not going to get into how I feel about the death penalty as we could be hear all night and you don't deserve that. The reason I bring up Mr Oliver is that his sentencing was determined by jurors who relied on bible passages to support their determination for execution. Specifically some sections of the Book of Numbers; "the murderer shall surely be put to death" and "the revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer". Mr Oliver was a bad guy and maybe deserved what he got, I don't know. But I wonder if the jury happened to be all Muslim and used the Koran to arrive at their decision, how it would fly for Mr Oliver or anyone.

Doubt We've Seen the Last of Her

2009-11-05T08:12:00.004-06:00

Carrie Prejean and the Miss California USA organizers have apparently settled their legal battle with each other. They were suing her for not showing up and she was suing them for religious discrimination so she can say "god" as much as she wants. The settlement is confidential of course however, the folks over at TMZ.com say she "folded like a cheap suit" during settlement negotiations when confronted with a solo sex tape. "We're told it took about 15 seconds for Carrie to reduce her demand for more than one million dollars to.....just validate my parking please."

So lets see..... fake boobs, hates gays, loves god and porn, zero contribution to society (except for maybe the porn, I'll have to see it first), and rivals "Joe the Plumber" for milking her notoriety for every thing it'll get her....yep, she's a republican. She'll be writing a book, running for office, or providing insightful analysis on Fox any day now.

Washing Machines to be as Safe as Airliners?

2009-10-24T10:22:00.003-05:00

Electrolux announced Friday that it is going to close down its production facilities in Iowa and move the operation to Mexico. It represents about 850 workers in two small towns (Webster City and Jefferson). While moving jobs from Americans that bother companies with stuff like healthcare, vacations, living wages, sick pay, maternity leaves, etc. to locations that don't have to screw around with these distractions is nothing new, it deserves to be mentioned when ever it happens. On a side note, my brother tipped me off to the following NPR radio article that seems to match well with the Electrolux story.

Something A Little Different

2009-10-15T15:25:00.002-05:00

Nice A Capella medley of Michael Jackson's stuff I ran across. I've always liked his music all the way from "1-2-3" days to his new stuff. Yep, he was a little strange but that's not what this post is about.

Speaking of MJ. Do ya think he invented the "moonwalk". I did, but it ain't so......

Geesh willis, almost a month without a post and this is all ya got!?! .....Yep!

An Award, Really, An Award for willis!

2009-09-18T19:52:00.020-05:00

.....From my good blogging friend Annette. What can I say, the lady obviously knows scrap when she sees it. She has a wonderful blog, is a very talented writer, posts frequently and if she isn't one of your "favorites", she should be. I'm flattered by this award and her recognition of me and this little blog. The first thing I did was go to the other sites awarded by Annette and I'm also more than a little flattered to be named amongst them! Great blogs all (no surprise from Annette's "Just My Little Piece Of The World") and I'm ashamed to admit 5 out 6 were not on my blog roll...but they are now! Being lazy and an infrequent poster it took me a while to get to this post accepting this fine award. It is a pretty high honor for willis and I don't take it lightly!

Honest Scrap Award Rules (yep, there are some!):

1. You must brag about the award.

2. You must include the name of the blogger who gave you the award and link back to that blogger.

3. You must choose a minimum of seven blogs that you find brilliant in content or design (not sure how I fell through the cracks on this one!)

4. Show their names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with this award.

5. List at least ten honest things about yourself.

.........then pass it on with the instructions!

I'll claim 1 & 2 done with the first paragraph of this post and will now list seven blogs to pass the award to. Difficult to do for several reasons. I have a set of blogs I visit pretty regularly and I link to their blogrolls as well as items in their post that expose me to more blogs than I can remember or stuff into one bag called "favorites"...so I don't. But from this I know there are good blogs out there far beyond the ones I know and to pull seven blogs out of my hat for recognition (willis' "recognition".....yea, well I'll get to that in a minute) is difficult. If you want to know which blogs I think deserve any award from me, just look at my blog roll and whom I follow! These certainly aren't in any order of preference as each of these blogs are unique and terrific in their own right (willis' clever disclaimer). Okay, an award from willis.....one might say who cares and that's okay and probably appropriate. None of these blogs need any recognition from me to be the great sites they are. This is really only the "willis edition" of this award and If I could add a rule to those listed above, I would say that none should feel obligated to do anything and willis is down with that.....word up!

First is "Field" at The Field Negro. Field's blog holds a bunch of blog awards and for good reason. He stirs it up just fine on issues of life, sports, politics and people in general and he does it with honesty, wit, humor and just plain talented writing ability. I really can't say enough about this blog, there's is just so much there you have to look and its very worthwhile. The Field Negro is a very powerful blog with frequent well researched post and has always been one of my favorite stops.

Second is Bill at Tome Of The Unknown Writer. I linked to the Tome Of The Unknown Writer from one of the other sites I frequent and once there, I never left. Bill can write, and like any of the other sites I'm "honoring" here, he could be paid columnist at any venue. Bill is different in that he should be. Bill does some wonderful stuff on his blog and is definitely worth the read.

Third is Madam Miaow at Madam Miaow Says... Madam Miaow hails from across the pond and keeps my love of all things English (Fawlty Towers, the irreverent decorum of the House of Commons, The Beatles, Eddie Izzard, etc) intact. She post with a beautiful blend of wisdom, wit, humor and honesty that you will enjoy immensely. She's bloody awesome!

Fourth is Doug at When Will I Use This?. Doug is a math teacher dealing with adolescents which should carry an award all by itself. I know he's not in it for the money. "mathman6293" (Doug's handle) writes about education, family, history, politics,the sciences and baseball. He's honest above all, the man pulls no punches and I love his post and displays of dry humor that show up in his and his lovely wife's blog. I have yet to be able to answer the question his blog title ask but a new question with every post works for me!

Fifth is Rachel at Art Of The Possible.....now with cupcakes! Rachel writes about her life experiences, her Mary Kay goodies, politics and feminist issues. She does it very well and is a joy to read. She always seem to provide me with a new perspective on something I thought I knew everything about.

Sixth is Tengrain's blog Mock Paper Scissors. Shouldn't be much intro required here. Tengrain along with several others are part of the reason I started blogging. Yes, you have him to partially blame for Old & N The Way. Tengrain is a master of "snark" and a true artist of display on a webpage. And lest I forget, he can write as well. One of the masters!

Seventh is John Coby at Bay Area Houston. There is so much stupidity down here in The Republic of East Texas that "Bay Area" never lacks for material. If ya think Texas politicians are only about the national stage, visit here for all the insanity on a local level. If you can't find it here, you can find a link to it. Every state should have a site like this one!

Ten honest things about willis.......you are allowed to go to any of the above sites at this time as I'm about to bore the pants off you ( me, I'd rather go with you but I have to do this instead):

1. I was in the Navy between `68-72 and I enlisted to keep from hiking around in rice paddies in Viet Nam. Another wonderful war that solved nothing.

2. I was stationed on a troop carrier ship (USS Duluth) and the first place I went after enlistment was Viet Nam. I spent all 4 years on this ship and while Navy duty did keep me away from rice paddies we did get some mortar rounds lobbed at us from the beach occasionally.

3. I taught myself to play guitar, bass and keyboard while on the Duluth generally out of boredom. The option was playing cards. While on the ship, I and others formed a band that played on the ships flight deck for the crew from time to time and when visiting ports in various countries we would "sit in" and play. As a result, I've played clubs in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, The Philippines, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. That was a blast!

4. I call this lovely lady my "first wife" and you may see her comments here from time to time but know that she is my first and only as well. She's a character and keeps willis honest about himself which has always been a problem for some reason!

5. I have one child; a wonderful, beautiful daughter who is an adult now and still lives with the first wife and I....and we love it. She's is just a beautiful person regardless how much I did to screw her up!

6. We have one dog and a parrot for pets although we had three cats, two birds, and a dog at one time. The current pooch is "Buddy", a black russian terrier which translates to about 150 pounds of black fuzzy dog. The Parrot is "Tiffin" (named for Merlin's owl.... she is so wise!?) and she's a goffin cockatoo. I used to think it was a male bird as it always humped the mirror (mine's mounted very high for a reason it seems....who knew?) but the color of the eye iris is the determinate.....they can live 65 years!

7. I current play bass guitar in three music groups. Two church venues and a regular band.

8. I have mostly republican friends. It is east Texas ya know. Over all I find them very good folks and otherwise very intelligent people. I'm not sure what happened along the way but I know I can't correct it by arguing with them and they are sure aren't gonna change me! I don't hide my opinions and I let them think of me what they will.

9. I drive a 2007 VolksWagon GTI. It can handle anything I need to play a gig or golf!

10. I've thought some about giving this blogging thing up. It turned out to be more effort than I thought although I do enjoy it! This award is an inspiration and I feel I do have some people to offend yet so I'm in!

My apologies to each of these folks I've blessed!

willis

Crackin That "Acorn" Nut.

2009-09-17T06:36:00.003-05:00

I'm completely on board shutting down "Acorn's" public funding for the actions of some of their employees. This should mean that "Blackwater" (Xe, as it is now called) will finally be on the ropes for federal dollars as well for the actions of some of their employees getting a little out of hand by killing 17 civilians in Iraq. If nothing else, "Acorn" should at least be forced to change its name.

Willis Has $.02 and He's Blowing it Here...

2009-09-15T18:20:00.007-05:00

Kinda looks like my checkbook.... This whole thing about Joe Wilson (R, Scumbag) being dragged through the streets to apologize before Congress pisses me off. I know, the guy is a miserable right wing tool and he's proved he's dumber than a warm box of sand by the content of his comment during Obama's speech more so than its timing, but that's not the point. He apologized (half-assed, under duress, etc.) to Obama, the President accepted it and now it's over. For Congress to waste time on a display of indignation for an idiot's fuck up by a body whose members are famous for fuckin up accomplishes nothing...NOTHING! People need health care, wars to end, jobs, etc. .........Get after it dammit!

Town Hall Meetings

2009-08-28T19:14:00.005-05:00

Rick Casey (columnist for the Houston Chronicle) wrote a piece today titled "How to Hold a Civil Town Hall Meeting" that I had to read at least three times to appreciate. I hope you'll look at least once. What I find telling is that in congressional districts that are staunch anti-Obama on any level and have a republican representative (redundant in Montgomery County, Texas but I hold hope for all others), the representatives need to put forth no effort to hold a town hall meeting. Just show up (late, drunk, hungover, in golf attire from an outing with the Pharm-guys,......it doesn't matter) and parrot Limbaugh lines. Otherwise, you have to work at it and this is how you do it.

Something About This Idiot....

2009-08-26T07:22:00.007-05:00

Makes me miss the quiet, reasoned, intelligence of Katherine Harris.

Here's a tune that may explain it, but I could be wrong....

The Montgomery County Texas Watch!

2009-08-03T17:42:00.004-05:00

There's a new blog started here in the Republic of East Texas and from what I've read, It's a very good one. I've welcomed it to my blog roll, give it a look!

Considering SCOTUS Nominee? 1st Consideration, The Very 1st Thing to Weigh is Protect the Guns!

2009-08-01T09:10:00.008-05:00

Of our two Texas senators, Kay sucks slightly less than the other one. However, the other one being John Cornyn doesn't leave much for Kay as Big John pegs out the suck-o-meter on the vacuum side of zero. Trying to push the envelope for worse, Kay vows to vote against the confirmation of Judge Sotomayer due to Kay's perception of how the judge will handle gun ownership rulings should one come up.

Sixteen years ago, Hutchinson took the stand that she "would only vote against a Supreme Court nominee if there was a question of character, if the person was unfit for office, or unqualified for office". Sorry, gotta ditch that stand now, gun ownership is at risk!

For the record, willis doesn't own a gun but I'm not against the rights others to do so. The 2nd Amendment isn't at issue here. My problem is that one of my senator's is about to vote against a SCOTUS nominee over one issue for a perceived notion. My opinion of Kay's vote is that she is throwing up a 2nd amendment scare to pander to the flock of idiots that keep voting for her so she won't have to own up to the real reason which she can't support, i.e.; Sotomayor is too liberal.

Miserable hack!

Update: I guess George Sodini's 2nd amendment rights trumps the right to life for the three people he murdered. Heidi Obermier (46), Elizabeth Gannon (49), and Jody Billingsley (39), their families and friends, and the rest of us lose. Look, I don't know if this guy broke any laws to get his weapons but at the very least he was legal as hell but a lunatic and the NRA fundamentalist will fight ANY additional controls on gun ownership anywhere which makes them stupid, in my opinion, if not compliant when events like this occur. They own a piece of this, you judge the size but any is too much. Nice to see Kay use guns as her reason to take a stand....idiot.

Hannity's Hate Show is Coming to Houston!

2009-07-30T10:38:00.006-05:00

Yep, this Saturday, August 1st Sean himself will open the floodgates to shower hate and discontent among thousands that I'm sure will make it to The Woodlands Pavilion. Texas is still reeling from the election of a black president and the local purveyors of hate and stupidity must need the reinforcements. I wonder how many people of the non-Caucasian persuasion or those afflicted with "teh gay" will be there?

"Africa", Humpday Music

2009-07-29T16:52:00.003-05:00

Something we could use a little of here in Texas. Never thought I'd say that from the Houston Metro area. The folks out west of us are even worse off as their drought is labeled "extreme" by the NWS. Anyway, this is great tune. This is Toto recorded line in Amsterdam in 2003 in support of their album "Through the Looking Glass". I think this was their last album and tour together. "Africa" was a number 1 hit back in `82/83. These are the same guys except the drummer, Jeff Porcaro who died at 38 in 1992 due to an allergic reaction to some pesticides he was using at home. Simon Phillips took his place as they were fans of each other as drummers.

Govenor Race Where Nobody Wins

2009-07-29T14:41:00.005-05:00

Sea hag, former prom date of Karl Rove, and part time Senator for us poor slobs in Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchinson (She's the one on the left, next to the ethically void, feckless flaming pustule) announces she'll resign her senate seat this fall to run for Texas Governor. She vows to stay in the senate until this fall so she can fuck up any one's chance of getting decent health care unless you're rich enough to deserve it. Her main adversary in the gubernatorial (where the hell did that term come from anyway?) race is secessionist and current "goberist", Rick Perry.

I only hope that Perry will be able to find another reptile to replace her that will continue maintaining Texas' trend of being just about last in anything except importing cheap labor from Mexico. At least Oklahoma still likes us. Mark my words here, you haven't seen the last of Kay on the national stage....be very afraid.

Rain, Too Cool

2009-07-27T12:12:00.002-05:00

I'm Gonna Miss Her

2009-07-27T01:02:00.004-05:00

Bah Bye, Ya useless twit. As much as I'd like to see you disappear, I hope you remain a mainstay in the republican plans for years to come. Stupidity like yours, when coupled with the hair brained logic that allowed you to think you were wonderful without having any facts to support you is more rare than the recent solar eclipse (Newt Gingrinch, not withstanding). The beauty of your irrationality will stand the test of time.....not really, but who cares.

I Got Your "End Pin" Right Here!

2009-07-26T22:31:00.010-05:00

Willis has a new project. Beyond my current endeavours of solving my unemployment, C-Span, Maury, employment websites, learning church and secular music, maintaining a daytime neighborhood watch (I'm on it if anyone breaks into her house), golf, etc. and I still find time for the arts. Yes, willis acquired a cello. Pronounced "chello" (not "sello", dammit...I figured it out the hard way...don't ask, he's a liar if you already heard about it).

I figured since I've already excelled beyond belief on bass, I can't get into much trouble with another 4 stringed instrument. This is the way willis thinks and years of therapy after parole have confirmed it, so here I am, and you could too!

The 1st pic is my bass next to the cello (that's me in the background with the fedora..kinda pale). The second shot are those from a cello instruction site that I found for you folks....willis doesn't need no stinkin' instructions after all its just a fuckin bass without frets, rotated 90 degrees, tuned completely different that you play with a bow........what could be easier?!

I'll let you know how well the sello floats, burns or plays.

Republican Roy Blunt on Health Care, Idiot!

2009-07-24T17:55:00.003-05:00

Annette has a great post up on Republican Roy Blunt's history, his valued contributions for the bettering of society and his efforts toward health care. She has a wonderful blog (much better than the one you're reading) and nails this one......go read!

Lovely Display of Wingnut Hate over at Tengrain's

2009-07-23T11:57:00.001-05:00

Egads!

Fighting The Good Fight, Awesome!

2009-07-23T11:11:00.011-05:00

Continuing the fight to control who is allowed to marry, the city of Ft Myers florida voted to fire their city manager because his wife is in the adult entertainment industry. Guess he should have just lived with her instead of degrading everyone elses marraige by tying the knot. "Don't ask, don't tell" aparently needs to be expanded to civilians and their spouses incase someone is working at something that isn't "acceptable". So much for my thriving dildo business (I was just about to go "green" with a solar powered unit too)!

willis, On Stage

2009-07-20T21:16:00.008-05:00

I've always loved how my blog-friend Lisa (whom I've never met but totally adore) does personal pictures on her blog (I just like her blog, period). With that inspiration, I'll add some of my own pics here (taken by my "first wife"(and recent follower), and lovely daughter). I play bass guitar in three different groups. These shots are from one of these groups when we played at a local community 4th of July fest just before the fireworks this year. This group is a pops/jazz ensemble that gigs about once a month in local establishments (that don't have "drive thrus" or do massages), private parties and anywhere else that pays us (particularly if they have "drive thrus" or do massages)! We do some pretty diverse stuff from the likes of Van Morrison, Sinatra, Queen, Billy Holiday, Bacharach, etc...all the way from the 30's to recent (currently working on waltzes on accordion and polkas but ya gotta build first donchakno). The band includes Me, guitar, drums, trumpet, sax, percussionist, keyboards, and two vocalist. I love to play live which is why I'm involved in three groups...it is addicting. I'll likely never have pics of the other two as they are church venues....we'll see. I don't have (and didn't ask for) the permission of the other players in this gig and feel like I should before I post their pictures so all ya get is "willis". What, willis ain't enough for ya!? Who else do ya know that has his own tower?

Anyway, this post is not near as prolific as Lisa's in either prose or photos, but it's a start. How about that shirt, eh? Somewhere there's a house without a shower curtain!

Cardinals

2009-07-18T08:48:00.008-05:00

A friend of mine has a nest of cardinals right outside his bedroom window which provided a very cool opportunity to watch Mom feed her single hatchling. The little bastard is still hungry after having that fat worm shoved down its throat! Cardinals mate for life and have two broods per year. Dad must be out with the boys...

Palin's Out!?

2009-07-03T21:41:00.005-05:00

Came back from band rehearsal tonight and saw that Sarah has resigned her Governorship...OMG! I mean my first thought was who the hell is gonna watch Russia now? Once my panic subsided (and after a few adult beverages) I had time to actually think this thing through (willis needs time to react and recover from such traumatic events). While Sarah being on watch in Alaska was good, it never occurred to me that the people she is watching can see us (well, her anyway) as well (sneaky bastards). I'm sure the trade off for this arrangement was acceptable to our intel folks (the same ones that think bombing Pakistani civilians has to net at least a few Taliban types) but losing Sarahs looky-looky would change everything. We are having a tough time here in Texas trying to cram a border fence down the throats of some property owners on our border with Mexico so I suggest that the Texas fence be donated to be used on the Alaska border to fix this mess...problem solved.

Seems I have to think of everything.

Senator Cornyn's Battle Against Franken

2009-07-01T17:01:00.004-05:00

Big Bad John setting the stage on December 31st, 2008:

“Minnesotans will not accept a recount in which some votes are counted twice, and I expect the Senate would have a problem seating a candidate who has not duly won an election.”

Johnny's getting upset on January 5th, 2009:

“There are a lot of questions about double-counted ballots, about absentee ballots that likely favor Norm Coleman that were refused to be counted by the canvassing board,Cornyn said. I do not think Al Franken will have a legal right to claim that Senate seat until all the votes are properly counted.”

From the same post, John wants to show his concern for the voters. Touching, I know:

“It is a matter of equal justice,” he added. “Everybody's vote ought to count equally. None should be discounted in favor of others.”

Cornyn takes a stance on March 30th, 2009:

"Texas Sen. John Cornyn is threatening “World War III” if Democrats try to seat Al Franken in the Senate before Norm Coleman can pursue his case through the federal courts. Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, acknowledges that a federal challenge to November’s elections could take “years” to resolve. But he’s adamant that Coleman deserves that chance — even if it means Minnesota is short a senator for the duration."

Jump ahead to now..........The Minnesota Senate Race Is Over -- Coleman Has Conceded Defeat To Franken.

I really want to maintain the spirit of fair play and all but now that WWIII has been avoided I do feel the ability to release a little. You know, it being a "WW" and all, nothing like Iraq. So to Our Senator Cornyn, I offer the following:

HEY JOHNNY, SUCK ON IT!!

How'd She Get Out?

2009-06-30T05:38:00.003-05:00

I thought we had all the most severely afflicted batshit crazy people gathered in Texas. Seems one of them may have oozed accross the border into Oklahoma. Either that or they have their own supply. From DU.

Insured or Not, it's a Crap Shoot.

2009-06-14T08:50:00.005-05:00

This is just about as good an explanation as I've seen about why we need health care reform and why the government needs to be involved. I know at least one family where bankruptcy was the only alternative after a serious illness while they were "covered" under an employers health plan. I had a bout with melanoma late last year where a large patch of skin was removed from my arm along with some lymph nodes in my shoulder. The cost deductible had to be met for each discipline of the medical procedure instead of what one (a non medical type person like myself) would expect. The bottom line was thousands out of pocket.

Almost everyone I know is one major medical event from being bankrupted regardless of their "coverage". This is not a good system.

More hate from the local folks

2009-06-10T21:15:00.003-05:00

Continuing with my obsession ( stole the idea from "first draft", a much better blog than this one) with the local pitchfork crowd here in the republic of SE Texas. The following article appeared in the local paper today and even something as benign as this drags this bunch out from under their rocks to spew intolerance and hate. My comments in bold type.

Live music, community part of Juneteenth
By Lucretia Cardenas
Updated: 06.09.09
Bring a lawn chair and an empty stomach next week to spend the afternoon enjoying what’s expected to be the largest Juneteenth celebration hosted in downtown Conroe.“A Dream Achieved” will be from 1-9 p.m. on June 19 at Heritage Place Park, located at 500 Collins St., to celebrate anniversary of the day in 1865 when slaves in Texas learned they had been freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.

Article comtinues at site..... Now for the fun stuff. The following are the comments attached to the news article:

Bass1511 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 7:51 AM:
" Another ridiculous holiday that would be racist but for the race that is celebrating it. "

smokinjoe wrote on Jun 10, 2009 8:36 AM:
" Bass1511Well said. "

perse wrote on Jun 10, 2009 8:56 AM:
" On the other hand, if you stopped trying to be such bigots about other races and cultures, you could join in an absolute multitude of ethnic and religious holidays and festivals around here and begin to celebrate the diversity that actually makes this such a terrific place to live -- well, except for a few too many redneck throwbacks still trying to live in the general ignorance of the 18th and 19th centuries.You shouldn't have to be Black to celebrate the joy of Juneteenth in Texas when our neighbors actually became our neighbors instead of our livestock. Nor should you have to be Hispanic to appreciate the overwhelming victory celebrated in the state as Cinco de Mayo. How about March 2 -- the holiday we all should celebrate but no longer do because too many of us like you two no longer recall our own cultural history and apparently feel threatened by those who do? "

Bass1511 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 9:16 AM:
" perse, I am not a bigot - I am an American who is tired of Black College Funds, Black History Month, Black only Unions, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Museums of Black History...I could go ON AND ON, but you get the gist of it - now when it becomes okay to have White College Funds, White History Month, White only unions, Museums of White History, etc. etc. etc., without hearing the screams of RACISM, come on back and talk to me. Seems to me that EVERY race except the WHITE race has their "multitude of ethnic and religious holidays and festivals" - and THOSE, my little friend, are the bigots. The white race continues to stumble around trying to be politically correct to keep from hurting your little feelings. "

woodlands64 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 10:12 AM:
" perse, what an opportunist "

pprwrtr wrote on Jun 10, 2009 10:24 AM:
" We celebrate and even re-enact the Civil War in Texas. The Civil War is a low point in our history, no matter what side you were on. It devastated the country (deaths and destruction), but it was worth is to free the slaves, if that's what it took! We celebrate a lot of ethnic and racial cultures during the year and this is another way for people to get together and celebrate. The African-American (Negro) race is one of the many races and ethnic groups that came to America (mostly against their wills). We all came from some other country (except the American Indian--and we took care of that when we got here!) and we all have our celebrations. Some of the bigoted rednecks (who never consider themselves bigots), who don't want any diversity in America, try to hold down certain groups (different ones at different times, whoever is most unpopular with them at the time). The attitude is that if they "allow" others to have less rights, they will have more--but greed/denial of rights for some Americans never really accomplishes anything. Another example of this ignorance of cultures is 9/11, which took cultural and redneck ignorance to a new high--a few Muslim extremists committed crimes and some were so ignorant that they couldn't or wouldn't understand the difference between the thousands of good Muslims everywhere and the few criminals! This also brought cultural ignorance to a new high and is very hard on Muslims in America. The majority of Americans just have to accept the unwillingness of a few to keep up with modern civilization. We are all Americans now and have to live together, even if some don't like it. "

Bass1511 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 10:41 AM:
" Per pprwrtr, "The attitude is that if they "allow" others to have less rights, they will have more". I agree 100%, but probably not for the way you meant it. By the way "negro" is now politically incorrect - shame on you for saying the "n" word. I'm surprised they haven't changed the name of the NAACP - after all, saying someone is "colored" is also a no no. Boo hoo hoo. I agree wholly, unconditionally, and 100% in equal rights - so when do we all start being equal? When ANY race can decide to have its own holiday, its own Miss America pagent, its own history month, its own civil liberty unions, its own civil rights activists, its own award for someone who has accomplished something special each year, its own police/fireman's union, its own heritage societies, its own holiday, its own Association for the Study of [Afro-American Life and History], its own [Black] Caucus of the American Library Association, its own National Association of [Black] Journalists its own National [Black] Bar Association, its own National Conference of [Black] Mayors, its own National Council of [Negro] Women, its own National [Minority], its own National Society of [Black] Engineers, its own National Urban League - do I need to go on for you?* Rainbow/PUSH Coalitionfor then I will certain agree that we have finally reached that point. "

pprwrtr wrote on Jun 10, 2009 11:09 AM:
" Bass1511--We (white people/Causasians) still segregate ourselves all the time socially and even a lot of work places. Why can't the blacks/Negro race do that? There are three races on earth--Caucasian, Negro, and Oriental. This is fact and is not degrading, etc. to call a race the official name, nor would I have done that. I do not agree that Caucasians have more rights than Negroes. I think it is starting to become more equal and I think we have a long way to go. The only way to be kind and live together is to have equality. When people form groups, it is usually to have camaraderie among them--usually a social group. A Negro college encourages youth, who are still white/shy to get an education. All history is white history until recently. Associations for studying black history are to learn black history, which isn't taught in public schools. The winners write history the way they want it. I could go on about these awful organizations, but you get the point. Some people object to equality--period--and get upset if any group that hasn't had it before is obtaining it. I hope you aren't prejudice and bigoted, but sometimes when you don't know people, it sounds like it. If you have ever personally known middle class black people and have enjoyed or admired them, it changes all your outdated beliefs you have been brought up with. "

smokinjoe wrote on Jun 10, 2009 11:42 AM:
" You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day. You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day. You have Yom Hashoah.You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi. You have the NAACP. You have BET... If we had WET (White Entertainment Television), we'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists. If we had White History Month, we'd be racists. If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR lives, we'd be racists. We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce , and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that??A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships... You know we'd be racists.There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US . Yet if there were 'White colleges', that would be a racist college.In the Million Man March, y ou believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.Why is it that only whites can be racists?? "

Bass1511 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 11:46 AM:
" Thank you, Smokin Joe. "

Bass1511 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 11:59 AM:
" pprwrtr - I haven't seen in "white/shy negro youth" lately. That is a very interesting term. So, what you are saying is that these poor shy black youth just never would be brave enough to attend a college unless it was all black? And I certainly agree that Caucasians don't have more rights than Negroes. That is the only statement in your post that I actually did agree with.By the way, I have a lot of black (is that okay?) friends - very good friends, in fact. And none of them slander me for my opinion for the simple reason that my opinion does not attack the race, it attacks the racism. My thought is, if the word racism is going to be thrown out, then it should apply in every situation for every race, not just the convenient ones. "

htfno316 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 12:29 PM:
" so what is it pprwrtr...you don't think if we were to come to know a poor or rich blacke person it wouldn't change all our outdated beliefs...you think 600,000 american lives was worth it to free the slaves.I have many friends you would call negro pprwrtr that own businesses and have jobs, work hard each day, own homes, the american dream, and they are just as fed up with all this race card cra* that you and your like throw around...they did what it takes in this country to succeed and haven't spent their lifetime standing around leaning on the racism crutch. stop being bitter and take a hard look at yourself... "

woodlands64 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 1:01 PM:
" Wow, if I hated my country as much as some, I think I would go to Russia where you belong "

pprwrtr wrote on Jun 10, 2009 1:20 PM:
" Bass1511--I did not mean to write "I do not agree that whites have more rights than blacks." Whites have always had more rights than blacks, but it is getting more equal. Thank goodness those who resent Juneteenth celebration are few and far between! "

pprwrtr wrote on Jun 10, 2009 1:24 PM:
" htfno316--YES, I definitely think all the lives lost is worth not treating human beings like animals! You wouldn't think that unless it involved you and yours, but some have a bigger picture of reality. This made the blacks free of being slaves in America forever. It was worth whatever it took. At least now, we aren't as barbaric and/or uncivilized. "

devilmaytell wrote on Jun 10, 2009 2:15 PM:
" And the racist rednecks post on and on and on.........ad nauseum. "

perse wrote on Jun 10, 2009 2:57 PM:
" Don't they ever.... "

mls123 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 2:58 PM:
" Bass1511 is just staing a fact and we should not have all this racism. If David Duke decided to start up the NAAWP people would start crying RACISM but it is ok to have the naacp. We should not have a black history month, we should have an American history month and talk about all of our history.Devil has said in the past that when WHITE people gather at Heritage Park it is just a bunch of redneck racist so I guess this juneteenth is just a bunch of black panthers and lazy democrats eatting bbq and watermelon. "

smokinjoe wrote on Jun 10, 2009 3:10 PM:
" mls123 LOL!!! Good memory! LOL!!! "

woodlands64 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 3:46 PM:
" All of Rev Sharptons followers are coming out. "

cottonpicker wrote on Jun 10, 2009 5:32 PM:
" Can't wait! "

pprwrtr wrote on Jun 10, 2009 6:22 PM:
" mls123--You are right about one thing--we should have an American History month and talk about ALL history, but we never did. Through the years, it's been all about white history. I, nor the next generation, did not learn about black heroes in school or anywhere except through post-school study, we persisted with our education. We should never have had to have a black history and a white history. We should never have had to have a Civil War to stop treating blacks like livestock either, but some things need to be said and need to be done to get things straight. My ancestors died in the Civil War (on the Rebel side) and the least I can do is try to get people to be tolerant, promote equality, and think about these things. It is just total ignorance to resent Juneteenth and not want people to celebrate. What they are celebrating is quite a big deal! "

woodlands64 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 9:07 PM:
" The true issues are with the liberals and race pimps who continue to keep the chains on the poor and the minorities through social programs. They tell them they are underprivledged, not good enough. They place the bonds of economic slavery of welfare on these people, and then profess to be the savior of the lower classs.In the mean time, orientals and hispanics come to this country, speaking little or no english, and work themselves up to be very successful and proud........and at the same time the distungisting liberals keep the economic bonds of slavery on other classes. What a group of hypocrites and ignorant. "

Hard to believe, aargh!

Ellen's Address at Tulane

2009-06-06T10:51:00.002-05:00

Candor and humor with depth. I ran accross this from my Saturday romp through some of my "favorites" that I've neglected of late. They say they don't mind a "double post" and while I'm not sure I know what that is, my guess is me posting it here. Begging their indulgence, it's too good to keep to myself.

The Local Rag

2009-06-04T08:15:00.002-05:00

This is what passes for news and commentary in the local rag here in the Republic of SE Texas. Aaargh! Once a week this paper runs a list of convictions in the local courts by name and charge and the first thing that some idiot spews in the comments are that they are all "Obama supporters". Any comments to the contrary are immediately pounced on by the rabid hoard of idiots screaming "liberal!!". No mystery to me why we are stuck with Cornyn, Hutchison, Brady, Perry, etc.

Judicial Reign of Abuse

2009-06-04T07:20:00.003-05:00

US District Judge Samuel Kent has been convicted of obstruction of justice for lying about his sexual misconduct toward at least two female members of his staff and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison. Even though he'll be in jail, he gets to keep his $174000 annual salary unless he is impeached by Congress. The two staffers that came forward testified at his sentencing trial and yesterday provided testimony before Congress on the assaults they have endured for years.

The humiliation of the events themselves coupled with the emotional trauma from testifying in public twice to ensure this Judge is stopped should be more than enough to support impeachment. Why this went on for as long as it did until these women came forward isn't an issue and so far it hasn't been. I say this as it was the first thing I thought of although not as a means of defending the offense. Being male naturally disqualifies me as any judge of the torment suffered by the victims. My disgust for the crime and the added insult of continuing to pay the judge becomes relevant to me when I put myself in the position of the husband, son, or father of either victim. My respect and appreciation of their courage comes from the same comparison.

I've gotta ask why any congressionally appointed official doesn't automatically lose their salary and pension when convicted of a felony?

Don't ask, Don't Tell.

2009-05-30T07:59:00.006-05:00

(Click for the full image)

However, it is consistent with war = good, peace = bad logic.

Shamelessly ripped off from "theChive"

Big Insurance....I got your back.

2009-05-29T06:11:00.005-05:00

Our state governor, Rick "good hair" Perry, is threatening to veto legislation that managed to get out of this session of the Texas state legislature. The bill authorizes an expansion of "CHIP" (child health insurance program). As it stands now only families of four making about $44100/year, twice the federal poverty level are eligible. The bill threatened would increase that to cover families making 3 times the poverty level with some shared cost based on ability to pay. Perry's reasoning is that those included that have private insurance may drop those plans and opt for CHIP instead. We sure don't need any poor folks slippin through and trying to get ahead!

If there was ever a reason to justify a single payer national health plan, this is it. For the record, I have no problem with Perry leaving the union whenever he wants.....I'll drive.

Some credits due here, I'm on the email list from Garret Coleman, a state representative that sent me this story (wish he was my representative!) and the moniker "good hair" was given by the wonderful wit and wisdom of Molly Ivins.

Pelosi in the Wind

2009-05-14T21:33:00.003-05:00

The broadcast news today displayed House Speaker Nancy twirling in the wind regarding when she knew what about torture. As much as I appreciate the fact she's a democrat I still have my problems with her and have, off and on during the last few years. I can't be descriptive on the formation of my opinion but that's part of the beauty of having a blog I guess. Others do it better, but I am what I am....naturally lazy. That said, what I like about the position Pelosi finds herself in is that it places her where she may push to have more of her dealings, hence where the Bush administration was, brought to light. Where I'm disappointed is that it takes a threat to her to make this happen if she knows something. The jury's out.

Torture is torture. Plain and simple. If you condone it, you're wrong....if you authorize it from a position of responsibility, you broke the law, ours and the rest of the civilized world's. I really hope this exposes the entire Bush regime sales job to justify invading Iraq. Or not, however it comes out.

Immigration Status Vs "Life"

2009-05-02T22:59:00.004-05:00

Maybe that's a bit much as a title to this post but I find myself less tolerate of this sort of thinking and I can't help that it's what I hear when I read it. You're welcome to make up your own mind of course. Regardless, A Houston City Councilwoman (R-of course) questions if the 24 month old child that recently died from "swine flu" should have been admitted to a Houston hospital due to citizenship issues.......go read!

`Nuff Said

2009-05-02T22:30:00.003-05:00

I've listened to all the slants and it doesn't seem any clearer than this from saint Ronnie:

Convention Against Torture, signed and championed by Ronald Reagan, Article II/IV:

No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. . . Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law.

Hey Glenn Beck, suck on this!

edit: In my initial haste to post this I skipped where I found it and linked directly to the source. It is now properly linked, one of my favorite sites - blondsense.

Now, For Something Completely Different...

2009-04-20T06:48:00.009-05:00

A friend of mine likes to fool around with "Photoshop" and over time has become quite talented at it. He uses all of his own photography, which is quite good in its own right, and his imagination to composite some unique scenes. Here are some examples of his work that I wanted to share.

Maybe a take-off from the "dogs playing poker" pictures, these are just shots taken from the Keys and he "shops" in the characters and accents to build the scene.

This is a tropical island version of the Star Wars bar scene.

Anyway, all very cool. Let me know what you think and I'll pass it on to the "artist".

Regarding the "First Dog"......

2009-04-15T05:02:00.003-05:00

...given the problems with some earlier cabinet nominees, why would one pick Blagojevich for this position?

Patriot On The Front Lines

2009-04-11T09:18:00.006-05:00

Being a border state, Texas bears the awesome responsibility of keeping the rest of the nation safe from the hordes of gay-illegal immigrant-terrorist that stream across our common border with Mexico. Fortunately, some of our legislators also have the fortitude and foresight to ensure that not only members of this menacing group are kept away from our voting process, but also those with funny, un-American sounding names are also kept away. State Representative Betty Brown (TX-4) is one of those patriots.

Here Betty Brown in discussion on the voter ID bill in the Texas legislature suggest that Asians should maybe think about changing their names so that they're easier on us "real" Americans. The stupid, it burns! I suggest that all Asian Americans immediately change their names to "Betty Brown" so Betty can handle it. Wonder how she does with "neukular".

The Big One?

2009-04-10T23:01:00.007-05:00

willis has a birthday coming up this Tuesday, April 14th. Except to thank my Mom, I don't really celebrate my birthdays..... I just get pissed when others don't. Keep that in mind. while giving me a tower is better than tube socks it hardly measures up to the occasion. Other less significant events on that date would be Lincoln's assassination in 1865 and an ice berg recklessly ran into the HMS Titanic in the north Atlantic in 1912. The latter should settle the myth of global warming once and for all (these frozen murdering hordes have been out there for years). However, on exhaustive research of the date (I looked at wiki) I did find one item worthy of sharing this noble calendaric (I just made that word up....its my birthday donchakno) event:

"1894 – Thomas Edison demonstrates the kinetoscope, a device for peep-show viewing..."

In honor of Tom's demonstration in 1894 and it's future contribution to the modern world or porn we now enjoy, I'll donate a floor of the aforementioned willis tower to peep-shows. I know, I'm excited as well.

willis will be 59 on Tuesday. When one thinks about it, my 59th year is over and I'm starting on my 60th year on April 15th, otherwise I'd have been born one year old. So I'm starting my 60th year soon and it's cool! I have good health (regardless of self destructive habits), a wonderful family (again, regardless of self destructive habits) and about everything I could ever want......"regardless of..." you know the rest.

It isn't that as one gets older one needs less, I think that as I get older, I appreciate what I have more. Cheers!

When is a Business Too Big?

2009-03-26T00:44:00.007-05:00

The recent bailouts are deemed necessary because the business involved has become large enough to threaten the well being of the country's economy. Oh yes, it matters how they got there and the schleps involved should be held accountable and maybe some oversight rules changed. Free enterprise is wonderful thing except when it gets to a point where a boardroom can make decisions that threaten everyone's well being. Companies like AIG, GM, etc are at that point thanks to deft management skills so remedies are sought at our expense which is all well and good (I'm too busy to pick out a card to send so billions will have to do). But the "when is a business too big" decision is still open as far as I can tell and like gay, drug running, job stealing illegal immigrants streaming across our borders to destroy their former country (I'm in Texas ya know..the front lines!)and our marriages, the problem festers.

"Willis, you're full of shit" you say! Yes, that and margaritas but I do have a point....it's here somewhere....hold a second.....still looking......not under the WMD from Christmas, dammit......okay here it is! FedEx is about to cancel 15 Boeing 777's assembled right here in America if the congress enacts legislation to make it adhere to NLRA (National Labor Relations Act) versus the RLA (Railway labors Act). The effect on FedEx:

"Since FedEx was founded as an airline in 1971, it has fallen under the jurisdiction of the RLA, which forces railway and airline workers to go through a long arbitration process before taking work actions and bars the formation of localized unions. Rival UPS, considered a trucking company, falls under the NLRA, which allows workers to organize on a local level and has fewer barriers to work actions."

The effect on Boeing and GE (engines):

"Avondale Partners analyst Donald Broughton wrote in a research note that "thousands of jobs" at Boeing and GE could be affected if FedEx were to cancel its 777F order."

I'm not here to sell unions, bash management, or sell the converse of either of these options. But why the hell wouldn't somebody figure out by now that FedEx isn't a railroad and UPS isn't just a trucking company? Neither operate railroads and both operate trucks and aircraft. So as far as a business entity; UPS = FedEx anything else is anti competitive right? Except when a company gets "too big" (told ya I'd get there). So now the choice is to restrain all the workers at FedEx from a free union, screw labor at Boeing, or allow an unfair business advantage FedEx at the expense of UPS.

Wanna guess you gets the rump rocket regardless how this turns out?

Rick Perry, Taking a Stand

2009-03-14T01:24:00.007-05:00

Texas governor Rick Perry was initially considering rejecting all the stimulus money headed to Texas for a day or two then relented and decided to accept it. Yesterday (after deep thought I'm sure) his office issued a press release rejecting the portion of the money that would extend unemployment benefits. This is about $550 million out of the $17 billion available to Texas. The effects of his decision screams a hardy Texas “EAT ME” to over a quarter of a million people so Perry can take a stand against a little more than 3% of the total funds that the federal government is recklessly sending to Texas (This is Texas ya know; we could use that money to build walls along the southern border with Mexico, build a “White House” of sorts for Chuck Norris, or even do worthwhile stuff like relocating the Willis Tower.) It is projected that about 300,000 Texans will be out of work by the end of this year and the state’s portion of the unemployment money is projected to be close to broke by this fall. Keep in mind the 300,000 unemployed doesn’t consider the families involved. In order to keep it stupid, one of our two worthless senators, Kay Hutchinson (although she is slightly less worthless than Cornyn who is a total fuckin tool) is going to run for governor against Perry in 2010 and she says:

“With the state unemployment fund dangerously close to falling below the legal threshold, it is imperative (he) does nothing that potentially burdens small businesses with higher taxes in tough economic times or pushes those who have recently become unemployed and their families into further economic peril.”

So with Perry flipping the finger at anyone out of work and our future looking bright with Kay straddling the fence (at least she will be out of Washington....no worries, we’ll elect Harriet Miers or Karen Hughes), I guess its up to our republican controlled state legislature.

Don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t important to vote in local elections! Dammit, it has consequences.

I Can Haz Tower?

2009-03-12T17:53:00.007-05:00

This must be part of the stimulus bill! Really, I had no idea that I would be getting my own tower! From the looks of this thing, it'll be a bitch to move to Texas and its much too far to commute so I guess I'm moving to Chicago.......AND, everyone is invited! The rent's free until the bastard is full. I, of course will have the top floor suite where I plan on installing a tee box platform kinda like Tiger Woods had in Dubai a few years ago. I'll be slicing balls over downtown.

I'm sure I'll have to deal with some paperwork so I'll keep everyone posted about the date of the grand opening! Hot damn!

Updated: Now that I've sobered up (a little), this appears to be a question of "if" so I changed the title to reflect that small nuance. Maybe Sears knows who I am, wants to take full advantage of the moniker "willis" and doesn't really plan to give it up (hey Sears, I got your tower right here!). More importantly, my friend Eddie has brought up some valid points in the comments that I hadn't considered which may effect if I want this thing. My neighbors may be real pissed but if I can't hit a golf ball off of it........willis has priorities and tolerances, don-cha-kno.

A Compass?

2009-03-12T08:58:00.004-05:00

There's a handy two volume set of manuals that no one should be without for sale on Ebay . Oops, looks like its gone but some of the more useful pages are posted at a well respected "medical site" that you can copy and keep near just in case.

I post one of them below so that in the event of an emergency you won't have to refer to this site or its links for immediate help. Everyone needs to be careful out there, dammit! I am more than a little curious about the discovery of a compass. I hope no one is loss in there.

Sometimes the Obvious Escapes Me

2009-03-12T05:55:00.002-05:00

I think The General has picked up on something here.

Jesus' General: (Bristol - Levi) + Joe the Plumber = Camelot#links

"Pro Life" Warped Beyond Reason

2009-03-08T19:56:00.005-05:00

A particularly nasty set of events in Brazil where a 9 year old girl, raped and impregnated by her step father with twins, was excommunicated from the Catholic Church along with her Mom and the doctors........the step father, not so much. Go read.

I'm Sorry Rush

2009-03-04T19:14:00.003-06:00

The sensitive folks at the DCCC have begun to feel a little remorse over Limbaugh getting kicked around so they set up a template for everyone to contribute to this humanitarian effort.

I'm Sorry Rush - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Doublecross

2009-03-03T12:05:00.008-06:00

Not to be out done by the new Sagemont Baptist Church 170" cross . The Grace Community Church is planning two ginormus crosses to be located near I-45, one at the north end of Houston and the other at the south. Everyone knows two 150 footers is better than one 170 footer although this does leave the eastern and western portals to our city exposed.

The Sagemont cross is more than a cross though in that it includes:

"an amphitheater and 2,500 square foot platform that is open around the clock, is part of the Living Proof Project which they describe as "landscaping that includes a master-planned design complete with two lakes, prayer garden, and places to meditate and worship God the Creator" and "a beautiful new building that will house a 2,400-seat worship auditorium, adult discipling rooms, prayer room, bookstore, library, coffee shop, reception area, foyers for fellowship, fabulous restrooms, wide halls, and much more. This 120,000 square foot building, designed by Shanks Architects in Dallas, will allow Sagemont to embrace our core value of excellence as we worship together and equip people for life and service."
Anyone know what "adult discipling rooms" are?

Up in the panhandle of Texas, (near a town called "Groom") they have one that is 200 feet tall. These are all privately funded so our taxes can be applied to more useful ventures like Wall Street.

Some folks are against these monuments as they are visible from local homes and highways. I, for one, know they perform a valuable service in that I've never heard of any vampires even close to these areas.

Trying to Keep Things In Perspective

2009-02-27T20:28:00.011-06:00

Land mine mitigation actions in 33 countries and territories are expected to cost about $459 million in 2009 according to a report (front page of the report pictured) provided to the UN back in December. It further states that countries included in that report only have about 5% of the funding leaving a $437 million gap.

The countries involved in this report are those that have support from the UN and other organizations to provide the data. I didn't read the full report, (458 pages in pdf) but from the absence of countries involved in WWII, The Korean War and other more localized events (like those south of us) tell me that despite best efforts from well meaning organizations, no one knows about all the unexploded mines out there.

I bring this up to show that the $437 million shortfall problem is huge ("....nearly 6000 casualties last year, more than half of them children") for its affect on the people involved yet it's small in comparison to the money being discussed in the 2009 budget or what we already blew on "TARP". It's more or less equal to what we spent every seven months on "emergency spending" bills for Iraq under the debacle of the Bush years as well as less than 10% of our annual military budget.

I wonder how the priorities of the republicans, suddenly finding a concern over the dollar figures that are flying around now, would change if a portion of these mines were in the US?

Human Hemroid

2009-02-20T18:48:00.009-06:00

This shot was originally part of a very valid post at blondsense, which I love reading by the by. Go read the post at blondsense `cause its good....real good and puts this shot in better context than I will. So now that I've given credit for ripping off the shot, I'll bring all of this to a lower level.

I spewed coffee all over the keyboard and had tears I was laughing so much at this shot. I have to believe that the dude up the elephants ass in no way had this in mind when applying for the job. Just how does one cover this in an interview:

"Can you work nights, weekends?" "Can you travel?" "If the travel involves cramming yourself up an elephants ass from time to time...is that a problem?"

Do ya suppose they drew straws to see who's "going in" and why is the guy on the right is so smug? What sort of a suit is the ass-diver wearing? Do they make a garment specifically for elephant ass spelunking? What covers the guy's head in there and how does he see or is this a tactile job only? I only hope that yellow hose going up the ass-divers suit is for his air supply. Most importantly, I wonder how you prep an elephant for this event? A 55 gal drum of "KY" comes to mind but is it available in drums and how embarrassing would that be to order? Does the elephant like it, especially the tactile part?

Trial Starts For The Iraqi Journalist That Missed Bush With His Shoes

2009-02-19T04:08:00.006-06:00

Muntadhar al-Zeidi goes to trial today and could get 15 years. Lets hope that the 15 year maximum is not enforced but instead the whole thing is dismissed - it was a fuckin shoe for chrissak!

On a side note, note in the photo that he had his shot partially blocked by the guy on the left, or maybe this was a shot taken of the second shoe being tossed......and is that Jonah Goldberg in the lower right (for some reason the words "Jonah Goldberg" and "lower right" strike a certain harmony)?

Just Being American Ain't Enough, You Have to Look Like One Too.

2009-02-15T21:16:00.007-06:00

In my opinion, one of the casualties of Bush's "global war on terror" (GWOT) is the perception and prejudice against US citizens of Muslim faith. I remember watching the events of 9/11 as they happened on TV and thinking that collectively as a country, we have no understanding of the people that did this and the religion in the name under which they perpetrated it, however misguided. From my meager understanding of the Muslim faith, 9/11 was as much an abomination to them as it was to non -Muslims. To keep things in perspective here, Christians have their own set of nut cases as evidenced by the Reverend Jerry Falwell who thought it reasonable to blame gays for 9/11, and others that do worse things driven by their faith like murdering doctors or bombing clinics.

The prejudice toward the Sikh family, silently profiled to be dangerous in the minds of the Harris County (Houston TX) Sheriffs deputies that responded to the family's 911 call about their home being burglarized, is very apparent. This family was "terrorized in their own home" because they didn't look are act like the officers expected. While wearing turbans and ceremonial daggers may be unusual, there should be no reason to swear at 8 year old children or to handcuff a 60 year old woman.

The Hudson Aircraft

2009-02-12T22:53:00.026-06:00

These are photos of the fuselage of aircraft that ditched in the Hudson River being transported through New Jersey. The aircraft played no small part of the survival of those on board.

Note the lower rear portion of the fuselage is crushed and the belly skin is gone and wrinkles are visible on the upper side of the fuselage closer to the over wing exits. The aircraft ditched with the nose high and the rear fuselage making first contact with the Hudson River. This initial impact crushed the lower fuselage (damaged in "tension"), actually bending the entire fuselage as if the tail was pushed up which is where the "wrinkles" come from (damaged in compression).

Great job "Sully", and the aircraft did its job as well by absorbing and distributing the unusual applied loads from the ditching to remain relatively intact.

2009-02-10T17:31:00.010-06:00

I'm really taken with this song. My lovely daughter turned me on to it...or rather it was on her Rhapsody page and I fell into it. I looked around on "You Tube" and other locations and viewed quite a few slide shows people put together behind the music, all of them good but when it came right down to it the original was the best. The music and the lyrics are so powerful it augments any visual accompaniment and apparently it moved others as well. I was thinking how appropriate this is for the Bush years. Then it occurred to me how well it would have fit during our Viet Nam era, the current situation in Darfur, and almost anytime during my lifetime for Israel/Palestinian problems. Now that we have a new president with some long overdue "change" promised, I'm disappointed to say that its still appropriate.

Dammit willis, give Obama a chance. Jeebus dude, he's only been in office for a few weeks! That would sell except for me "change" meant investigations into the Bush administrations wrong doings......all of them, bring in help if you have to but people need to be held to account. That and we shouldn't be bombing Pakistan whenever we feel like it! I'm impressed with Obama and I know he's not going to do everything willis wants. But these things are the big ones...the ones he swore to uphold in his oath, the ones people have died for and are still dying for."

....Don't know why I say the things I say but I say them anyway."

Ain't" No Reason By Brett Dennen

PS: I couldn't figure out how to embed this video so you have to link. Dammit, I said there'd be challenges.....deal with it!

Texas Republicans...yep, that about says it!

2009-02-08T23:03:00.005-06:00

"Honey, you know the difference between the Taliban and Texas Republicans? One is opposed to science, equal rights for women, religious freedom, peaceful resolution of disagreements, and democracy. The other is the Taliban."

Shamelessly ripped off from one of my new favorites, Brains and Eggs

Obama "Screws up" ProvingThe Imperfections Of His Adminstration

2009-02-04T10:27:00.004-06:00

I may be rehashing stuff someone already posted or posting the painfully obvious but I remember in an April 2004 news conference when asked if he could recall any mistakes he's made and Bush was stumped for an answer. Note the date is not only after the Iraq invasion, WMD, etc. (maybe an error or two there ya think?) it's also after his first 4 years in office. Fast forward to now, President Obama after just a Little over two weeks in office admits he's "screwed up" with his last two cabinet nominations.

What appears consistent to me is that both Presidents were wrong. Obama in the poor vetting of his nominations and Bush in thinking he hasn't made a mistake. If one is going to try to fix something or make a correction, it helps if a problem or mistake is identified. All this seems to support the Bush administration's opinion that everything they did over the last eight years, while unpopular, is never the less correct.

This may have had something to do with the results of the last election......I hope the republicans don't figure this out for awhile.

Flinging Some POO on Senator Cornyn

2009-02-03T22:55:00.007-06:00

John Cornyn enthusiastically supported the Alberto " fuck you, we waterboard" Gonzales nomination to be the head lawbreaker, formerly the office of the Attorney General, and oozed the following:

"Senate confirmation was a repudiation of ‘unjustified attacks’ and a victory for national and homeland security.
"Despite the angry rhetoric and unjustified attacks by Democrat leadership, I’m delighted that Alberto Gonzales has been confirmed as our nation’s top law enforcement officer," Cornyn said. "I’m confident he’ll do an outstanding job in this new post and his example will be an inspiration, not just for the Hispanic community, but for all Americans.""

Cornyn will never miss an opportunity to fling poo at the obstructionist Democrats while licking Bush's ass regardless if any of them reluctantly supported Gonzales.

Despite "You Tube", the Congressional Record, and other Islamic media formats that record him verbatim, he erases his earlier remarks from everyone's memory on 8/10/2007 with the following to the American-Statesman editorial board:

"He's (Gonzales) a good person, but I look at his jobs he's held, and I wonder what has prepared him for being the head of the Department of Justice and 110,000 employees in a highly partisan and difficult political environment,"

A little over two weeks later Abu Al resigns and Cornyn is taken with the sadness of the occasion.

There were two short term AGs after Gonzales hung up his jumper cables, Paul Clement for 24 hours then Peter Keisler. Both out of session appointees by Bush. Clement resigned to teach at Georgetown then Keisler came in. If guilt by association means anything, Peter clerked for Judge Bork and defended Bushes policies in our never ending GWOT. Mukasey came in after a stormy approval to finish the Bush term.

Under Obama, Holder is now confirmed and approved but Cornyn, his ethics intact, has reservations:

“Part of my concern relates to his statements at the hearing with regard to torture and what his intentions are toward our intelligence personnel who were operating in good faith based on their understanding of what the law was.”

The former AG for the State of Texas doesn't care if any laws were broken, only that intelligence personnel might be prosecuted. Give me a break. Cornyn cares as much for intelligence workers as he does for child health care and veterans - ZIP! All he wants to do is protect the people of power responsible for establishing an environment that allowed the shredding our Constitution.

If he can't be arrested, why can't he be disbarred, or waterboarded, or even had some poo flung at him?

Molly Ivins

2009-01-31T22:48:00.002-06:00

She left us two years ago today. We were richer than we knew for the time she was here. Go read.

John Cornyn is a Major Asshat

2009-01-30T19:32:00.004-06:00

Chart positioning Cornyn at the left isn't much more than I would need to convince myself but after listening to this idiot today on C-Span I couldn't stand it. So you get a small rant from willis.

Just from memory during Senator's Fiengold's censure hearing on Bush when John Dean was called to testify, Cornyn "assailed Dean calling him a “convicted felon” and accusing him of selling a book and his testimony being “part of the marketing effort.”" Dean is no angel. He is a convicted felon from the Watergate fiasco and regrets his crime. Cornyn's disregard for convicted felons only seems to go so far as he licks Oliver North's ass. Just as a side bar, North's actions in Iran-Contra resulted in deaths untold while I don't believe anyone lost their life in Dean's obstruction of justice.

Pastor John Hagee supports Cornyn with financial contributions (along with Huckabible and McSame). I don't care if its legal or not. Both are way right and way asshat.

Now Cornyn is all upset about "oversight" and vetting the new appointments from the Obama administration. Forchrisakes he hasn't batted an eye about oversight, subpoena avoidance, or spending us into oblivion for the past 8 years and now he gives a shit? I almost starting drinking at 10AM!

Cornyn will say whatever he has to to shove his philosophy forward. He is an opportunist that will shield his lies in persuasive oratory. He'll do his campaign ad's in jeans, cowboy hat and a work shirt on the Texas prairie to smoosh his re-election. What's worse is he enjoys the support of most Texans. Most Texas don't even know who the new vice president is. Gads!

Later in Life

2009-01-28T20:26:00.006-06:00

No child left behind strikes. Ah, maybe not. I remember being forced to do this stuff when I didn't want to and the project reflected it. I had to do a term paper in Senior HS English where we couldn't pick our subjects and I was assigned "the effects of the middle ages on Thomas Gray". I had no idea who the fuck Gray was or how the middle ages affected him. It strikes me later in life that these were assigned to make it easier for the teacher to spend less time grading because it was a subject she knew. The bitch... why do I have to know about anything she enjoyed versus something I want to do (which was nothing, by the way)? I turned in something plagiarized from an encyclopedia, triple spaced and as a result, I hated Senior HS English and graduated with a "D".

It also strikes me later in life (as so much does - anyone have time for crap that smacks them later in life versus dealing with "later in life" as it is? Okay thanks.) that if I was her I probably would have done the same thing or worse. I'd have told the miserable little fucks to provide a written description of how to tie your shoe and pass it to the idiot to the left, see what they do with it and base the grade on that. Just because I didn't care about Gray or the middle ages doesn't mean crap. She wanted to see what I could do... the bitch.......I'll never forgive her for letting me graduate.

Former French President Chirac hospitalised after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle

2009-01-28T20:01:00.003-06:00

No need to go into how I found this but it is pretty good. I'll try to make an effort not to post trash here....no I won't, I'll post all kinds of stuff here.

Do you know....

2009-01-27T19:02:00.001-06:00

...That while the us airlines are required to meet very stringent interior flammability requirements to enhance occupant survival, there are no such regulations for buses or rail cars? From my background in maintaining & modifying transport category aircraft I have no problem with anything that helps anyone (child, adult, handicapped, etc) survive an accident. To me this was government oversight at it's best because as an airline, this stuff doesn't make any money except as a sales tool (Check a Volvo commercial for advertising pro activity). All it does is add weight and make maintenance more difficult but it forced the airlines to adopt standards that, at least in my opinion , have been a factor in saving lives in several accidents over the last 10 years. Most recently demonstrated by the Continental crash in Denver earlier this month. The caption to this picture from the Federal Railroad Administration is:

"Instrumented Anthropomorphic Test Devices (“crash dummies”) are used to develop improved occupant protection strategies in passenger rail cars.
The Train Occupant Protection Program will carry out research on structural crashworthiness and interior safety of locomotives and in intercity and commuter rail cars, in addition to improve the survivability of rail passengers and crewmembers in accidents. It also addresses system safety and fire protection issues. The goal of this research program is to promote and improve the safety of the national passenger rail transportation system."

Okay, all well and good. Why now.....Why isn't rail, bus, ship, ferry passenger transportation as overseen as much as air transport. The size of the transport vehicle or the medium in which it operates should not be what drives the oversight for passenger safety. The "Sunset Limited" didn't burn but after the recent "ditching" in the Hudson River demonstrated the relevant issue is "crashworthiness" of the vehicle and it applies to all vehicles.

Money to Local Schools, Not So Fast Says Brady

2009-01-26T19:09:00.000-06:00

There's an article in today's local paper describing that the schools in Montgomery County Texas could be in for about 36 million dollars if the the new stimulus package goes through. Our local US Rep Kevin "I'm still carrying Bush's water" Brady (TX-8) isn't so sure its a good idea as it isn't "free money".

I don't know if the package is a good deal or not but I am amazed at the emergence of Brady's zeal for oversight now and wonder where the hell it was when retroactive immunity was approved for shredding the constitution and allowing an invasion of a country that didn't do anything to us. Asshat.

PS: I commented to this effect in the paper's web page. May stir this county's over-population of repubs to attack.

willis

There are pilots, then there are pilots!

2009-01-23T18:41:00.000-06:00

This may be dated but still worth a look.

This pilot makes it look like part of the show. When these aerobatic aircraft fly wings vertical (or any aircarft for that matter. These are designed for it), they use the fuselage as an airfoil, a bunch of power and deft handling of the rudder and elevators. All that and some airspeed which this pilot acheived by the loss in altitude and full throttle.

So, the aircraft will need at least the right wing, maybe some landing gear work, and probably a new seat cushion!

2009-01-20T00:14:00.000-06:00

Its January 20th, 12:15 in the AM Houston Time. Early but still 1/20/2009 and I have a blog (OMG!) where I can post anything I want to say to the world. First off, willis is fairly inebriated. Not planned, but it is what I am as shit sneaks up on one once in a while.

Tomorrow at 12:01PM we will have a new president. The eight years of horror from the Bush administration have resulted in two wars, one of them started under false assumptions aggressively sold to us and Congress resulting in almost 5000 American soldiers lost, close to 20,000 disabled and an untold number of innocent civilians dead in both theatres, the loss of New Orleans, The adoption of torture as a military means of intelligence gathering, the shredding of our rights of individual protections under the Constitution, etc.....Fuck it, check this to see all of it as it's too long a list.

I hope the bastards are all held accountable for their crimes. All of `em; Rice, Wofowitz, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Pearle, Ashcroft, Gonzales...my god, where does it stop.

If I was Obama, I wouldn't want the job. But he's there with better than a million others hoping for some salvation from the last 8 years of destruction, and I hope to hell he can deliver. I fear, however it may be beyond what any one man can do in 4 years or even 8, regardless how competent he is. Still I look on this new administration with hope. There'll be disappointments for sure, things he'll do I won't like and maybe policies I won't agree with. But as long as his administration is "relatively" straight with me, I can deal with it. I say "relatively" as there are 300 million of us....I don't expect a personal call!

If there is a God, now is the time for him to bless America and its leaders.

willis

Somebody May be Hiding Your Mail, & You Might Care!

2009-01-19T15:32:00.000-06:00

Periodically, the Post Office audits the functions of carriers, clerks and others which doesn't seem like a big deal. Afterall, prudent management would want to be aware of changes in order to properly respond by shifting manpower or changing route structure, etc. as things evolve. However, recently in Philadelphia it was discovered by Nick Casselli (pictured at the link) after a little snooping that management at a Philly postal processing plant was using their audit to support management's position that they were over staffed by falsely dropping the workload by "hiding" the mail.

So why does "willis" give a shit what happened to postal workers in Philly beyond being the caring individual I am? My first wife (also my current and only wife) is a letter carrier at a Houston area post office which is undergoing the same audit process. It's odd that for some reason the mail volume at her office drops almost in half during "audit week" and this phenomenon occurs without fail every time they are audited. Her office currently operates with too few clerks and several "open" routes and yet they are taking the numbers they get from this audit to use to support additional staff cuts. Right now they use overtime to support the open routes.

Maybe not germane to any of this but the Postmaster General, John E. Potter, received a whopping 39% compensation increase last year ........$258,840, up from $186,600 . I'm sure its just a coincidence.

I'd like to put on the Greg Palast Hat and go under cover to see what really goes on. There would have to be a fair number of folks involved and everyone either isn't as good a liar as Rumsfeld, Rice, or Cheney and/or they would blow the whistle on a deception of this scale. One would think. However, rank and file postal workers are not generally millionaires and whistle blowing is a rare occurrence for fear of retaliation I have on good athority.

I'll post more if I hear anything....

willis

The View from Russia

2009-01-14T18:19:00.000-06:00

Alaska village dying while Palin focuses on her mistreatment at the hands of the "liberal media". She needs to do the job she was hired to do and stop worrying about the national media.

View of Russia

2009-01-09T07:46:00.000-06:00

Wanted to catch up on world affairs this AM, particularly the happenings in Russia so naturally I checked the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman in Wasilla. It's a better view than NORAD has nevermind the fact I have no access there.

Anyway, I was drawn to the following gossip on the Op-ed page. Go look, the comments are the best part.

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/01/08/opinion/letters/doc496060ba26f97695081760.txt

PS: I know there's a way to link to stuff by embedding the address in my text....I just don't know how. Any help there would be appreciated. I said I'd be challenged, dammit.

Dobbs Cheap Shot

2009-01-05T20:24:00.000-06:00

So Lou Dobbs ask tonight if congress really needs another comedian with Al Franken coming in (hopefully). Actually, it was a pretty good line in a "Dennis Miller" kinda way but an easy rim shot for the front row folks.

I don't think much of Lou Dobbs as a "journalist". Maybe he was a journalist once but I don't think he is now. Wonder how many more aren't now....I'll look into that for future post (he said w/confidence).