~ sent in by Tom ... Thanks Tom!
I love it when complex things are simplified so that we can all understand.
Check this out in less than 60 seconds.
. U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
. Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
. New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
. National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
. Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000
Now, remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget.
. Annual family income: $21,700
. Money the family spent: $38,200
. New debt on the credit card: $16,500
. Outstanding balance on credit card: $142,710
. Total budget cuts: $385
Sorta brings out the issue "
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Handout's Abound
This gleaned from a politicians web site
Ahhh, yes, another bailout - this time to a group that engages in an activity that has, as part of its risk, the risk of a freaking drought.
Yet everyone bitches and moans
etc - I could go on forever ...
All of it seemingly set up to revolve on special 'interest" .. but hey, as long as I get my "special interests" paid for at your expense then why should I care . You don't, when it is the other way around.
While there, I pledged to work with them to ensure all emergency federal resources are readily available; our agriculture industry should not be left to fight one of the most severe droughts we’ve ever seen alone.
Ahhh, yes, another bailout - this time to a group that engages in an activity that has, as part of its risk, the risk of a freaking drought.
Yet everyone bitches and moans
when it is the homeless that want "their" handout
when it is the drug users that want "their" handout
when it is the alcoholics that want "their" handout
when it is the auto industry that want "their" handout
when it is the oil companies that want "their" handout
when it is the treehuggers that want "their" handout
when it is the lazy people that want "their" handout
when it is the retired that want "their" handout
when it is the unions that want "their" handout
etc - I could go on forever ...
All of it seemingly set up to revolve on special 'interest" .. but hey, as long as I get my "special interests" paid for at your expense then why should I care . You don't, when it is the other way around.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Congressman Lamar Sellout Smith Does it AGAIN!
From Congressman Lamar Sellout Smith's website .....
Seneca's Commentary in Red
Smith to Vote for Budget Control Act ARRRGGGG
Washington, Jul 29 -
Congressman Lamar Smith will today vote for the Budget Control Act of 2011. This bill would cut federal spending by more than the debt ceiling is increased. NO It will not
“The United States is facing a fiscal crisis, caused by excessive government spending. The federal government is now borrowing 42 cents for every dollar it spends. No family, no community, no business, no country can afford to do that.
“I have long believed in fiscal responsibility. BALONEY I was a member of the Budget Committee when we achieved the first balanced budget in over twenty years. I have co-sponsored balanced budget amendments to the Constitution. And I have voted against raising the debt limit in the past.
“I support this legislation because it meets two important goals – it cuts spending by more than it raises the debt ceiling and it doesn’t raise taxes. Tax increases have never created jobs. This is the first battle in a long war on reckless government spending. We must continue to put restraints on future spending. This bill is a step in the right direction though many more steps are needed.”
No Lamar - It will not cut spending - You sold out the voters again. You know how the people will know that the situation in Washington is turning around??? When the Republicans in your own District 21 post a candidate against YOU in your own primary.
The Budget Control Act of 2011:
· Requires the House and Senate to vote on a balanced budget amendment before the end of the year.
· Saves $917 billion over ten years, and raises the debt ceiling by less –$900 billion. BALONEY
· Includes no tax hikes. Nawww - Just fuels inflation and devaluation of the dollar
· Creates a Joint Committee of Congress that is required to report legislation that would reduce federal spending by another $1.8 trillion over 10 years. FAT Chance - Just what we need in Washington another fuc*&^ing committee
Seneca's Commentary in Red
Smith to Vote for Budget Control Act ARRRGGGG
Washington, Jul 29 -
Congressman Lamar Smith will today vote for the Budget Control Act of 2011. This bill would cut federal spending by more than the debt ceiling is increased. NO It will not
“The United States is facing a fiscal crisis, caused by excessive government spending. The federal government is now borrowing 42 cents for every dollar it spends. No family, no community, no business, no country can afford to do that.
“I have long believed in fiscal responsibility. BALONEY I was a member of the Budget Committee when we achieved the first balanced budget in over twenty years. I have co-sponsored balanced budget amendments to the Constitution. And I have voted against raising the debt limit in the past.
“I support this legislation because it meets two important goals – it cuts spending by more than it raises the debt ceiling and it doesn’t raise taxes. Tax increases have never created jobs. This is the first battle in a long war on reckless government spending. We must continue to put restraints on future spending. This bill is a step in the right direction though many more steps are needed.”
No Lamar - It will not cut spending - You sold out the voters again. You know how the people will know that the situation in Washington is turning around??? When the Republicans in your own District 21 post a candidate against YOU in your own primary.
The Budget Control Act of 2011:
· Requires the House and Senate to vote on a balanced budget amendment before the end of the year.
· Saves $917 billion over ten years, and raises the debt ceiling by less –$900 billion. BALONEY
· Includes no tax hikes. Nawww - Just fuels inflation and devaluation of the dollar
· Creates a Joint Committee of Congress that is required to report legislation that would reduce federal spending by another $1.8 trillion over 10 years. FAT Chance - Just what we need in Washington another fuc*&^ing committee
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
My Conversation with Bill
Bill XXX
Born- 1927
Enlisted in the Army - at 17 years old (1944)
Served in Europe in a Combat Unit
Met him at a Local Starbucks 7/19/2011
In he comes, the man with a cane and pushing a shopping cart, which he parks outside the entrance to the local Starbucks. Hobbling over to the barrista, he orders up a venti vanilla latte, and then proceeds to shuffle over and sit down in the overstuffed chair next to me. I took a look at him and figured that he was about my moms age (85), and because of that I wondered if he had ever served in World War II.
Now, for those know me, also know that I am not shy about striking up a conversation with total strangers. In this instance, however, I hesitated. I was not sure why. Perhaps it was because many of the older people that I try and talk to, seem to have lost it, or are hiding it, perhaps figuring that all the young people like me (55) simply have to learn about the world on our own. Or perhaps they think that we would not be interested.
After a while, however, the old man begins to talk to me. Speaking as clearly as any 30 year old, he tells me that he is 83 and that he came in to get a coffee for his wife and was taking a rest before crossing the street back to his house. Somewhere in the conversation he mentioned that when he was in the Army (my ears perking up now) they drank coffee all the time, but did not have anything like Starbucks. He also said that he used to drink a lot of beer too - but that was when he was young.
Alerting on his introduction of the Army into the discussion, I took my shot and asked him where he was stationed. Whereupon he told me his story.
At this point, I asked, just to make sure I heard him right, if me meant that all of his buddies were stood up and shot dead right in front of him like ducks in a row.
After a reflective pause, he continues .....
Another reflective pause ......
So you went to the wedding?
And thereafter our conversation turned to other things.
Born- 1927
Enlisted in the Army - at 17 years old (1944)
Served in Europe in a Combat Unit
Met him at a Local Starbucks 7/19/2011
In he comes, the man with a cane and pushing a shopping cart, which he parks outside the entrance to the local Starbucks. Hobbling over to the barrista, he orders up a venti vanilla latte, and then proceeds to shuffle over and sit down in the overstuffed chair next to me. I took a look at him and figured that he was about my moms age (85), and because of that I wondered if he had ever served in World War II.
Now, for those know me, also know that I am not shy about striking up a conversation with total strangers. In this instance, however, I hesitated. I was not sure why. Perhaps it was because many of the older people that I try and talk to, seem to have lost it, or are hiding it, perhaps figuring that all the young people like me (55) simply have to learn about the world on our own. Or perhaps they think that we would not be interested.
After a while, however, the old man begins to talk to me. Speaking as clearly as any 30 year old, he tells me that he is 83 and that he came in to get a coffee for his wife and was taking a rest before crossing the street back to his house. Somewhere in the conversation he mentioned that when he was in the Army (my ears perking up now) they drank coffee all the time, but did not have anything like Starbucks. He also said that he used to drink a lot of beer too - but that was when he was young.
Alerting on his introduction of the Army into the discussion, I took my shot and asked him where he was stationed. Whereupon he told me his story.
“Oh yeah, I was in the army, I was a runner for General Patton in Germany during World War II. I enlisted when I was 17, and was shipped over there real soon. I was in the infantry, and was supposed to be in a foxhole, but somehow the Army found out that I was a long distance runner and that I had been doing that since I was a little kid.
They also discovered that I had a good memory, and after that, they assigned me as a runner ( and I mean that literally) to carry messages back and forth between General Patton and the other combat units during the fighting in Germany.
It wasn’t like it is nowadays, where you have radios and all that stuff. It was a situation where actual messages from one commander to another several miles away had to be read, committed to memory, and then delivered in person by a guy like me - a runner. Not only that, we had to memorize three messages - exactly. One of them was the real message, and the other two were fake messages so that if we got captured by the Germans we could give them a fake message.
To deliver a message meant we had to head out cross country in the direction of the other unit, and actually navigate through the combat zone during the fighting. Because a fighting line is not something straight, we had to travel behind enemy lines in order to reach our units on the other side. Because of this, we traveled in peasant clothes so as to not draw enemy attention. We also had to travel across our own units who were fighting with the Germans and so we never knew when we were going to be shot by Germans, or our own soldiers.
During one of those message runs, our squad came under attack by a German unit and we were pinned down pretty good. There was no way it looked like we could hold out, and so, our new 90-day Lieutenant, fresh from the States, told us that it was no use and that we had to surrender. We did not want to surrender as we were afraid of what the Germans would do to us, but the Lt. insisted. It was at this point we told him to go on ahead for himself if he wanted to be the first to try out his idea.
So then, up out of our position he went to surrender, where he was immediately shot dead by the Germans. After that we (all 12 of us) were captured by the Germans. After our capture, they stood us in a line, with me standing at the end, and proceeded to shoot us dead, one-by-one, right down the line. Now, we had one of our guys who was some sort of Indian, and he did not speak very well, but he was kind of a big fella, and when they shot the man next to him, he fell down as if he had been shot, and in doing so the knocked me to the ground. My helmet came off, and the German officer in charge, after having his men get the Indian back up and shoot him dead along with the other 11 of my squad, saw my blond hair and blue eyes and asked “Sind Sie Dutsch?”, to which I replied in my bad German that indeed I was German. Hell, if he had asked if I was Japanese, I would have agreed to that too.
And so it was, that out of all 12 of us, plus our Lieutenant, I was the only one that lived. I was sent to a POW camp, and about 4 months later, when the Germans had to retreat, I was liberated from the POW camp.”
At this point, I asked, just to make sure I heard him right, if me meant that all of his buddies were stood up and shot dead right in front of him like ducks in a row.
“Sure, we were shot dead just like that. It was a war, and that was the way things were done. We did the same things on our side, and the Germans were just doing what you do in war. You can’t have a bunch of captured soldiers bogging you down in a combat zone with bullets flying all around, and everybody on each side knew that.”
After a reflective pause, he continues .....
“Yeah, after that, I was sent down to Dachau. You know Dachau don’t you? The camp had been liberated by that time, but all the prisoners were still there because there was noplace else to put them, and it was just a horrible situation.”
Another reflective pause ......
“And you know, many years later, that German Officer wrote me a letter telling me that his daughter was getting married and inviting me to the wedding. He sent me a plane ticket and money for all my costs to come.”You mean, the same guy who had all your fellow soldiers killed, invited you to the wedding, and that you had kept in touch with him.??
“Sure - he and his soldiers were simply following their orders, and that was just the way it was in war. It is not all sweetness and nice in a war.”
So you went to the wedding?
“Sure I went.” “ Now I think also he wanted to hook me up with his sister, but that never happened.”
And thereafter our conversation turned to other things.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Never Give an Ape an AK47
Reminds me of what has happened to the United States Economy after Obama was given the presidency
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Debt Ceiling Commentary
I saw this in a headline this morning
Geithner: Debt showdown means tough choices
Yeah - It sure does mean tough choices - the tough choice for you f&(&^%ers to stop taxing me and spending my money on crap for your social engineering programs. War on This , War on That, War on everything = War on ME!
Thank GOD for the fact that we actually gave a debt ceiling. Can you imagine what mischief there would be without it?
These people in Washington and extending all the way down to the local government - regardless of party - , think that we exist for them and that all money really belongs to those that pull the levers of government.
Geithner: Debt showdown means tough choices
Yeah - It sure does mean tough choices - the tough choice for you f&(&^%ers to stop taxing me and spending my money on crap for your social engineering programs. War on This , War on That, War on everything = War on ME!
Thank GOD for the fact that we actually gave a debt ceiling. Can you imagine what mischief there would be without it?
These people in Washington and extending all the way down to the local government - regardless of party - , think that we exist for them and that all money really belongs to those that pull the levers of government.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
What's Worse - The Government or The Doctor?
I just got off the phone with “Julie” in Medical Records at a local doctors office. She called to see if there was anybody they needed to contact to get records from prior to my upcoming doctor’s visit.
[Props to this doctor having his staff to do this beforehand. Sounds like they are running their practice as a business.]
She asked if I had any primary care physician (to which they should send or get records from), and I explained that I do not, and that this is on purpose. I continued, telling her that the “on purpose” part is that it is so darned difficult to get a doctor’s appointment in any reasonable time (no, 4 weeks is not reasonable), and then, after getting an appointment for a visit, say, at 9am, to be left waiting until the doctor gets around to seeing me which is almost NEVER at 9 am, or any reasonable time thereafter.
I told her that I am a businessman and my time is valuable too, and that while others may put up with such treatment, I do not. I further continued, saying that it is unacceptable for a doctor to not manage their practice and see people within a reasonable time, and that when I encounter such things, I get up and leave.
You see folks, while all of you are thinking such things, I just happen to be one of those that talks about it. (And one that would rather bleed to death than wait 2 hours on a doctor that can’t keep to a reasonable schedule) BTW - Can you imagine any other profession doing this?? Can you imagine what Southwest Airlines would look like financially if they engaged in such practices??
And NO, I do not want to hear about how the doctor can’t determine in advance how delayed he will become because that each patient needs variable amounts of time. That is a load of crap. Doctors generally do not give any patient the time they need, and the modern doctors office is all according to the doctor’s needs (or the doctors business ignorance) and not the needs of the patient. To prove it have YOU ever tried to “stay” with your doctor over YOUR 15 minutes of allotted time or tried to give your doctor your list of questions, or even tried to have a free-form discussion with your doctor?
No? Well, just try it sometime, and see how you are herded out or how your doctor gets fidgety and starts ushering you to the door.
Regardless of this excuse about not knowing how much time each patient may need, the doctor is supposed to be running a business, and it is his job to “load plan” with extra float time/capacity, so that the lettuce is not left waiting in the heat to wilt because he wants to cram 12 patients into a morning according to a 15 min per patients so as to maximize HIS income. What part of the “Do No Harm” does the profession not understand?
Doctors of the world, do you not realize that there are people out there that detest you because of how you treat them like cattle? Sure, you can get away with it, and perhaps that is why you continue to do it, but that does not make it right. In addition, do you not realize that there are those that would pay more for better service?? Do you not realize that there are those that will eventually try to use the government to force you to pay a fine each time you are late in seeing a patient?
Back to the beginning of this story, I then asked “Julie”, if they had gotten yet the records off a remote monitor device that they had wanted me to wear. She, after all the preceding. told me she did not know ...... and that I would have to call back and ask somebody else in the office if they had gotten them.
Wait ... SHE is in medical records, and now in typical doctor’s office illogic and arrogance wants ME to waste MY time to call her office back and speak to someone else about M..E..D...I..C..A..L R..E..C..O..R..D..S.????
As you can imagine, I went ballistic on this and told her that I am not going to spend MY time calling them back and that it was THEY that needed to call ME.
Follow Up - to their credit I got a call a short time later and they report that they did get those records. But that is not the point is it?
Post-Script - No wonder old people want to commit suicide. They would rather do that than see a doctor.
[Props to this doctor having his staff to do this beforehand. Sounds like they are running their practice as a business.]
She asked if I had any primary care physician (to which they should send or get records from), and I explained that I do not, and that this is on purpose. I continued, telling her that the “on purpose” part is that it is so darned difficult to get a doctor’s appointment in any reasonable time (no, 4 weeks is not reasonable), and then, after getting an appointment for a visit, say, at 9am, to be left waiting until the doctor gets around to seeing me which is almost NEVER at 9 am, or any reasonable time thereafter.
I told her that I am a businessman and my time is valuable too, and that while others may put up with such treatment, I do not. I further continued, saying that it is unacceptable for a doctor to not manage their practice and see people within a reasonable time, and that when I encounter such things, I get up and leave.
You see folks, while all of you are thinking such things, I just happen to be one of those that talks about it. (And one that would rather bleed to death than wait 2 hours on a doctor that can’t keep to a reasonable schedule) BTW - Can you imagine any other profession doing this?? Can you imagine what Southwest Airlines would look like financially if they engaged in such practices??
And NO, I do not want to hear about how the doctor can’t determine in advance how delayed he will become because that each patient needs variable amounts of time. That is a load of crap. Doctors generally do not give any patient the time they need, and the modern doctors office is all according to the doctor’s needs (or the doctors business ignorance) and not the needs of the patient. To prove it have YOU ever tried to “stay” with your doctor over YOUR 15 minutes of allotted time or tried to give your doctor your list of questions, or even tried to have a free-form discussion with your doctor?
No? Well, just try it sometime, and see how you are herded out or how your doctor gets fidgety and starts ushering you to the door.
Regardless of this excuse about not knowing how much time each patient may need, the doctor is supposed to be running a business, and it is his job to “load plan” with extra float time/capacity, so that the lettuce is not left waiting in the heat to wilt because he wants to cram 12 patients into a morning according to a 15 min per patients so as to maximize HIS income. What part of the “Do No Harm” does the profession not understand?
Doctors of the world, do you not realize that there are people out there that detest you because of how you treat them like cattle? Sure, you can get away with it, and perhaps that is why you continue to do it, but that does not make it right. In addition, do you not realize that there are those that would pay more for better service?? Do you not realize that there are those that will eventually try to use the government to force you to pay a fine each time you are late in seeing a patient?
Back to the beginning of this story, I then asked “Julie”, if they had gotten yet the records off a remote monitor device that they had wanted me to wear. She, after all the preceding. told me she did not know ...... and that I would have to call back and ask somebody else in the office if they had gotten them.
Wait ... SHE is in medical records, and now in typical doctor’s office illogic and arrogance wants ME to waste MY time to call her office back and speak to someone else about M..E..D...I..C..A..L R..E..C..O..R..D..S.????
As you can imagine, I went ballistic on this and told her that I am not going to spend MY time calling them back and that it was THEY that needed to call ME.
Follow Up - to their credit I got a call a short time later and they report that they did get those records. But that is not the point is it?
Post-Script - No wonder old people want to commit suicide. They would rather do that than see a doctor.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Gourmet Hot Dogs? - You Better Believe It!
~ Art Koenig
San Antonio, Texas
“Gawd man, I have never done drugs, but this must be what cocaine feels like.” So said me, the guy cramming another bite of one of Chef Kris Martinez’s Rocker Dogz into my mouth.
Never in a million years would I have thought such a thing existed - out of a club vendor’s food cart no less, but that is exactly the way it went down Friday Night at the Lava Lounge on N. St Marys Street in San Antonio, where I was doing photographic coverage on the wild and crazy Beyond the Canvas Body Painting event.
Being a curious sort, as we street scene photographers are, and asking what kind of "drug" he was pushing from the cart, and looking for a shot (photograph opportunity), he replied “Gourmet Hot Dogs”. Aww come on, I thought, a gourmet hot dog? That was like me telling viewers on my Facebook profile that I look like Tom Cruise.
We talked a bit and while doing so, Chris offered to fix me up one of his Rocker Dogz. I declined, saying that I did not want to get all filled up before the photo shoot at the club. He insisted, saying that he would do it just to show me what it looked like. I replied OK, go ahead and I can see if it makes for a street scene shot.
As Kris goes about making my dog, (Thai Kick Boxer Rocker ) the first thing I see is a bun that has toasting marks on the outside of it . Hummmm ... This looks like a good sign is what was going thru my head. Next, he lays in a plump dog having some sort of glaze to it, and then what does he do but start putting on some Thai red cabbage slaw, some pickled things that turned out to be pickled Serrano peppers, and then laying into the top of it with some sort of dressing.
Presenting it to me, all wrapped in its foil boat, he said "Here it is the Thai Kick Boxer Rocker". Seeing as how he had gone to all that trouble .......I took it, sat my camera aside, wrapped down the foil a bit, and plowed ahead.
What struck me was an unbelievable combination of tangy sauce, the crunch of the cabbage and then the taste of the dog spices and glaze. After that first bite, I took another, and just then I was starting to feel the heat from the pickled serranos. Thereafter, the tastes got even better.Holding that dog and looking at it, shaking my head, and licking the drool off my chin I blurted out to Kris the lead to this story ...“Gawd man, I have never done drugs, but this must be what cocaine feels like.”
Big smile on his face he says ... I told you so. Man was he right.
Rocker Dogz by Chef Kris Martinez
To be found outside Lava Lounge Friday and Saturday night and also doing corporate events and perk parties for staff.
Rockerdogz business number is (210)467-8066.
ROCKERDOGZ “GOURMET STREET DOGZ" page on Facebook under category of restaurant/café.
Menu Follows
Thai Kick Boxer Rocker
All beef hot dog glazed with sweet chili sauce, topped with sliced tomato, pickled Serrano peppers, mustard, Thai red cabbage slaw drizzled with mint and cilantro lime sesame vinaigrette
The "Chicano style" Rockero
All beef hot dog with savory homemade chili, roasted poblano queso blanco, pico de gallo, caramelized Spanish onion with fresh thyme, chile de arbol salsa roja and a drizzle of Mexican crema
Italian Stallion Rocker
Grilled Italian sausage topped with grilled peppers & onions, parmesan cheese, mustard and drizzle of balsamic reduction and chopped Italian parsley
San Antonio, Texas
“Gawd man, I have never done drugs, but this must be what cocaine feels like.” So said me, the guy cramming another bite of one of Chef Kris Martinez’s Rocker Dogz into my mouth.
Never in a million years would I have thought such a thing existed - out of a club vendor’s food cart no less, but that is exactly the way it went down Friday Night at the Lava Lounge on N. St Marys Street in San Antonio, where I was doing photographic coverage on the wild and crazy Beyond the Canvas Body Painting event.
 |
| Heaven on Earth ~ A Rocker Dogz (Thai Kickboxer Rocker) |
At first, I was just trying to get the lay of the club while waiting for the painter’s models to show up, and after I made the circuit, I wandered back to the front, where I struck up a conversation with Kris Martinez, who turned out to be the owner of Rocker Dogz.
He was dressed in a white chef's-jacket, looking like he just stepped out of one of those Food and Wine magazines, and he was standing in from of his stainless steel vendor cart. At first, I wondered what that was all about - I mean usually when I see a club vendor they are dressed pretty much like me when I think nobody is looking. (Think tatters and tears with grease spots on the tee shirt.)
He was dressed in a white chef's-jacket, looking like he just stepped out of one of those Food and Wine magazines, and he was standing in from of his stainless steel vendor cart. At first, I wondered what that was all about - I mean usually when I see a club vendor they are dressed pretty much like me when I think nobody is looking. (Think tatters and tears with grease spots on the tee shirt.)
Being a curious sort, as we street scene photographers are, and asking what kind of "drug" he was pushing from the cart, and looking for a shot (photograph opportunity), he replied “Gourmet Hot Dogs”. Aww come on, I thought, a gourmet hot dog? That was like me telling viewers on my Facebook profile that I look like Tom Cruise.
We talked a bit and while doing so, Chris offered to fix me up one of his Rocker Dogz. I declined, saying that I did not want to get all filled up before the photo shoot at the club. He insisted, saying that he would do it just to show me what it looked like. I replied OK, go ahead and I can see if it makes for a street scene shot.
As Kris goes about making my dog, (Thai Kick Boxer Rocker ) the first thing I see is a bun that has toasting marks on the outside of it . Hummmm ... This looks like a good sign is what was going thru my head. Next, he lays in a plump dog having some sort of glaze to it, and then what does he do but start putting on some Thai red cabbage slaw, some pickled things that turned out to be pickled Serrano peppers, and then laying into the top of it with some sort of dressing.Presenting it to me, all wrapped in its foil boat, he said "Here it is the Thai Kick Boxer Rocker". Seeing as how he had gone to all that trouble .......I took it, sat my camera aside, wrapped down the foil a bit, and plowed ahead.
What struck me was an unbelievable combination of tangy sauce, the crunch of the cabbage and then the taste of the dog spices and glaze. After that first bite, I took another, and just then I was starting to feel the heat from the pickled serranos. Thereafter, the tastes got even better.Holding that dog and looking at it, shaking my head, and licking the drool off my chin I blurted out to Kris the lead to this story ...“Gawd man, I have never done drugs, but this must be what cocaine feels like.”
Big smile on his face he says ... I told you so. Man was he right.
Rocker Dogz by Chef Kris Martinez
To be found outside Lava Lounge Friday and Saturday night and also doing corporate events and perk parties for staff.
Rockerdogz business number is (210)467-8066.
ROCKERDOGZ “GOURMET STREET DOGZ" page on Facebook under category of restaurant/café.
Menu Follows
Thai Kick Boxer Rocker
All beef hot dog glazed with sweet chili sauce, topped with sliced tomato, pickled Serrano peppers, mustard, Thai red cabbage slaw drizzled with mint and cilantro lime sesame vinaigrette
The "Chicano style" Rockero
All beef hot dog with savory homemade chili, roasted poblano queso blanco, pico de gallo, caramelized Spanish onion with fresh thyme, chile de arbol salsa roja and a drizzle of Mexican crema
Italian Stallion Rocker
Grilled Italian sausage topped with grilled peppers & onions, parmesan cheese, mustard and drizzle of balsamic reduction and chopped Italian parsley
Friday, April 29, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Frog Boiling 101
I read this interesting piece this morning and it gave me pause to consider the natural progression of all government and the reasons for citizens to be constantly on watch and suspicious of any taxes, and any government program, for any reason.
As can be surmised, the natural progression of government is to spend more than it takes in and to spend on unnecessary things, and then, instead of cutting spending, simply blame the revenue side, and go out and seek devices that allow you to collect more. Now, the best way to “get more” is NOT to institute a pervasive across the population tax. No, that would excite the passions of too many, and so what is done, as in any good military operation, is to segregate the population into groups, find an attribute unique to that group and then tax the group based on that attribute
For example, if a city want to raise more money from homeowners, they can first start by finding an attribute that gives them a small enough “taxation group”that will be below the critical mass which would incite riot and blowback. Maybe they would institute a special tax on all those like me that have artificial turf in their front yards - claiming increased fire hazard, or reduction of green plant’s or some other made up reason.
Now, because of human nature, my neighbor will not storm city hall on my behalf, and indeed will welcome a tax on my yard because it keeps his taxes low.
After this tax on me in rolled into place, the government can then add another tax against my neighbor's swimming pool, the other guy's 3 car garage, and other people's incandescent lights, stand alone mailboxes, etc. By the end of things, everything is taxed and the citizens are in chains. (Pretty crafty those in government can be, huh?)
Back to Connecticut. This was surely sold as a modest tax to cover the cost of supporting the boating infrastructure, and surely was sold under the “promise” that the revenues would be used for boating purposes. Now, once the mechanism of boiling the frog has been put in place, and the infrastructure for collecting and paying the tax has been implemented without revolt, the government moves into Phase II of the shakedown. This phase consists of raising the taxes and diverting the monies to the general fund where they will be used for other things. Phase III will come when they raise taxes on boats again, under the promise of course that this time their money will have to go into a boat trust fund and this time really, really will not be diverted .... that is, until they want to divert it again.
Lest you think this happens only to boaters in Connecticut, think again. I happens to motorists in Texas whose hiway fuel tax money has been diverted, leaving the state hiway department having to curtail projects. It has happened to engineers in Texas, where, in addition to paying a registration fee, they are now required to pay another general fund fee that is spent elsewhere by the state.
This, all my good readers, is the nature of the STATE. Although at first the state is “by the people, for the people, of the people”, those elected to the functionary positions within the government soon turn to mischief and they inexorably pervert that ideal of “by the people, for the people, of the people” into the ugly reality of people being “of the state, by the state, and for the state.”
This natural tendancy to grow and devour is why we have a constitution - a document that tells us how our government is to be constituted, such constitution (makeup and structure) of the state being that of a state with shackles placed on it. Not to put too fina a point on things it is because the framers knew that a state, unrestrained, would end up devouring the very countrymen that created it in the first place and the people wopuld end up serving the STATE instead of the other way around.
BTW - If you want to see it in fiction set with an array of archetypal characters just read Ayn Rand’s - Atlas Shrugged. If you want to see this in action - just look around.
.
HARTFORD, Conn. April 20, 2011 - Do boaters in the Constitution State deserve to be taxed more? Governor Dan Malloy's proposed 2012 budget adds significant new tax levies for boaters and proposes to eliminate the state boating fund and divert boating registration fees and tax dollars - paid by boaters - into the state's general fund. BoatUS says these changes could threaten the state's vibrant boating industry, and lead many cash-strapped residents to quit boating. Connecticut boaters are urged to send a message to their state legislator this week by going to BoatUS.com/gov/ctaction
As can be surmised, the natural progression of government is to spend more than it takes in and to spend on unnecessary things, and then, instead of cutting spending, simply blame the revenue side, and go out and seek devices that allow you to collect more. Now, the best way to “get more” is NOT to institute a pervasive across the population tax. No, that would excite the passions of too many, and so what is done, as in any good military operation, is to segregate the population into groups, find an attribute unique to that group and then tax the group based on that attribute
For example, if a city want to raise more money from homeowners, they can first start by finding an attribute that gives them a small enough “taxation group”that will be below the critical mass which would incite riot and blowback. Maybe they would institute a special tax on all those like me that have artificial turf in their front yards - claiming increased fire hazard, or reduction of green plant’s or some other made up reason.
Now, because of human nature, my neighbor will not storm city hall on my behalf, and indeed will welcome a tax on my yard because it keeps his taxes low.
After this tax on me in rolled into place, the government can then add another tax against my neighbor's swimming pool, the other guy's 3 car garage, and other people's incandescent lights, stand alone mailboxes, etc. By the end of things, everything is taxed and the citizens are in chains. (Pretty crafty those in government can be, huh?)
Back to Connecticut. This was surely sold as a modest tax to cover the cost of supporting the boating infrastructure, and surely was sold under the “promise” that the revenues would be used for boating purposes. Now, once the mechanism of boiling the frog has been put in place, and the infrastructure for collecting and paying the tax has been implemented without revolt, the government moves into Phase II of the shakedown. This phase consists of raising the taxes and diverting the monies to the general fund where they will be used for other things. Phase III will come when they raise taxes on boats again, under the promise of course that this time their money will have to go into a boat trust fund and this time really, really will not be diverted .... that is, until they want to divert it again.
Lest you think this happens only to boaters in Connecticut, think again. I happens to motorists in Texas whose hiway fuel tax money has been diverted, leaving the state hiway department having to curtail projects. It has happened to engineers in Texas, where, in addition to paying a registration fee, they are now required to pay another general fund fee that is spent elsewhere by the state.
This, all my good readers, is the nature of the STATE. Although at first the state is “by the people, for the people, of the people”, those elected to the functionary positions within the government soon turn to mischief and they inexorably pervert that ideal of “by the people, for the people, of the people” into the ugly reality of people being “of the state, by the state, and for the state.”
This natural tendancy to grow and devour is why we have a constitution - a document that tells us how our government is to be constituted, such constitution (makeup and structure) of the state being that of a state with shackles placed on it. Not to put too fina a point on things it is because the framers knew that a state, unrestrained, would end up devouring the very countrymen that created it in the first place and the people wopuld end up serving the STATE instead of the other way around.
BTW - If you want to see it in fiction set with an array of archetypal characters just read Ayn Rand’s - Atlas Shrugged. If you want to see this in action - just look around.
.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
I want it to "Shutdown"
The news headline fomr 4/8/2011 says
Deadline nears: Shutdown looms without agreement (AP)
Deadline nears: Shutdown looms without agreement (AP)
- 1 hour
I say - go ahead and let it "shut down" because $10 bucks says that a bunch of crap that is not needed will become extinct, and what we have left will be a start toward seeing what the people really have to have out of a federal government and what is just overgrowth and waste
.
Survival of the fittest program Baby!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
God Grant Me ..
I received an email telling me about the FreedomFest gathering in Las Vegas where I could mix and mingle with all the freedom lovers that come to their annual event.
Intrigued, I went to the website and looked things over.
The first thing I noticed was the banner which had a girl running with some kind of flag, and underneath having the phrase
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite
Now, I have always been sensitive to disturbances in the force and so seeing this tag line and experiencing some perturbations in the back of my mind over its use, I clicked around to see just what this thing was all about and who the speakers were going to be.
Saw Judge Napalitonio was going to speak - OK.
Saw Steve Forbes was going to speak - OK
Saw Tom Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods was going to speak --- WTF??.
And thus it was that my mind recoiled. A libertarian fest where one of the speakers was the CEO of Whole Foods, an establishment that is supported by the anti-freedom, liberal voting, collectivist crowd?? Quite frankly I do not care what Wikipedia says about how free market he is .. He created a watering hole for all the foofoo eating, anti-free market thinkers out there IMO.
Thus it was that I sent this email to the event sponsor ....
Intrigued, I went to the website and looked things over.
The first thing I noticed was the banner which had a girl running with some kind of flag, and underneath having the phrase
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite
Now, I have always been sensitive to disturbances in the force and so seeing this tag line and experiencing some perturbations in the back of my mind over its use, I clicked around to see just what this thing was all about and who the speakers were going to be.
Saw Judge Napalitonio was going to speak - OK.
Saw Steve Forbes was going to speak - OK
Saw Tom Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods was going to speak --- WTF??.
And thus it was that my mind recoiled. A libertarian fest where one of the speakers was the CEO of Whole Foods, an establishment that is supported by the anti-freedom, liberal voting, collectivist crowd?? Quite frankly I do not care what Wikipedia says about how free market he is .. He created a watering hole for all the foofoo eating, anti-free market thinkers out there IMO.
Thus it was that I sent this email to the event sponsor ....
Surely you are joking...
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite ???? The national motto of ... wait for it .. wait for it ... FRANCE?????
With Liberte I do not need the other 2! The same people that dreamed up that phrase were the ones that were in the country that instituted the Reign of Terror. This conflation of Liberty with the counter ideas of Equality and Brotherhood is exactly what the socialists and collectivists all over the world have been trying to achieve for the last 200 or so years.... and now a libertarian group uses it in the banner for FreedomFest?????
It matters not a wit to restrict the Equality to equality under the law because no one in the general population whose passions are aroused by words rather than reason, makes that distinction - and that the mob does that is the reason not to use it.
Do you not think that it is for this very reason that Che, and Castro, and all the other socialists and collectivists have at some time, when it suited the purpose of inciting the mob to act in support of their collectivist and anti-liberty agenda, spouted this same pap of Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood???
Art Koenig
A guy that only wants liberty and wants no part of equality .. or brotherhood. Not to put too fine a point on things, I am not equal to my brother nor is he equal to me; furthermore, he is his own keeper not me.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Freedom of Speech
As far as protests go, it was a quiet affair - 4 or five people standing on the sidewalk holding up signs in front of one of the local “Womens” clinics near the intersection of San Pedro and IH 35 (downtown) that reminded passing motorists that “Life is God’s Choice” and asking to them to “Honk for Life”.
I came across the group as I was passing by on my way up the street to take photographs of the spray-art that adorns many on the buildings in the area, and on approaching them, I discovered that they were a mix of religions and persuasions with one exception - that they are all against the practice of abortion.
Keeping carefully to the public sidewalk, they explained to me that they come to this location almost every Monday morning to engage sending their message to the passers-by. As I stood there taking pictures and talking with them, many motorists gave them the honk and the thumbs up, indicating to me that there are many who feel the same way as these “free-speechers”.
All this gave me pause to think about the ability that we have in this country to engage in such “speech”, and how in many countries such a gathering would not be allowed. It also gave me pause to think that the same right that these people have to assemble and proclaim their points of view, were the same rights that anti-Semites, 3rd Reichers, the socialists, and Obamunists have to assemble and proclaim their views. Just a thought.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wish I had Written This
A friend sent this to me he said that it was in the Waco Tribune Herald in Waco , TX on 11/18/10. I do not know if that is true but even if it is not, it is a good piece.
Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.
Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.
Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your "home" will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.
In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the "common good."
Before you write that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and ruin their "self esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.
If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make mistakes and bad choices.
AND while you are on Government subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes, that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from the voting rolls while you are receiving a Government welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.
Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.
Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.
Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your "home" will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.
In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the "common good."
Before you write that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and ruin their "self esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.
If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make mistakes and bad choices.
AND while you are on Government subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes, that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from the voting rolls while you are receiving a Government welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.
Weighing In on Libya
From news this morning ..
Gates: US expects to hand off Libya lead in 'days' (AP) - 9 hours ago
Comments
Like a gang of bullies - What? The US thinks that it will now isolate itself from payback??? There is NO high ground here. The US has declared war on a sovereign nation.
Sovereign Nation, No provocation - not even a hint of WMD like in Iraq and yet the gang of thugs of Britain France and the US decide to go killing people and issue a fatwa on Gadhafi. I do not care if we do not like how a country treats its people, or if Gadhafi is an ahole, or if we feared Gadhafi would succeed in crushing the civil rebellion in Libya, that country is not our property and a leader's treatment of a people, or regime change is not a justification for war .. unless of course you do not mind the same logic being used by others against you.
This kind of foreign entanglement crap is exactly what George Washington warned of and will be the death of the United States in the long run.
And they shake their heads is stupefaction as they wonder why, just why, these nations want to get their hands on nukes. Ain't rocket science.
BTW, where is the press yammering on about the wrongness of all this, like they were when Bush did his "thing"? Must be an Obama thing.
Gates: US expects to hand off Libya lead in 'days' (AP) - 9 hours ago
Comments
Like a gang of bullies - What? The US thinks that it will now isolate itself from payback??? There is NO high ground here. The US has declared war on a sovereign nation.
Sovereign Nation, No provocation - not even a hint of WMD like in Iraq and yet the gang of thugs of Britain France and the US decide to go killing people and issue a fatwa on Gadhafi. I do not care if we do not like how a country treats its people, or if Gadhafi is an ahole, or if we feared Gadhafi would succeed in crushing the civil rebellion in Libya, that country is not our property and a leader's treatment of a people, or regime change is not a justification for war .. unless of course you do not mind the same logic being used by others against you.
This kind of foreign entanglement crap is exactly what George Washington warned of and will be the death of the United States in the long run.
And they shake their heads is stupefaction as they wonder why, just why, these nations want to get their hands on nukes. Ain't rocket science.
BTW, where is the press yammering on about the wrongness of all this, like they were when Bush did his "thing"? Must be an Obama thing.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Bad vs Good
From a poster's comment.....
Bush "stimulus" = Bad
Obama "stimulus" = Good
Bush $4 gas = Bad
Obama $4 gas = Good
Bush deficits = Bad
Obama deficits = Good
Bush General "Be-tray-us" = Bad
Obama General Petraeus = Good
Bush tax cuts for the "rich" = Bad
Obama extending tax cuts for the "rich" = Good
Bush unemployment 5.1% - BAD
Obama unemployment 8.9% - GOOD
Bush Patriot Act = Bad
Obama Patriot Act = Good
Bush Medicare D = Bad
Obama expanding Medicare D = Good
Bush wiretapping program = Bad
Obama wiretapping program = Good
Bush innocents killed in Afghanistan = Bad
Obama innocents killed in Afghanistan = Good
Bush chiding China President over human rights = Bad
Obama silent on Chinese human rights = Good
Bush accepting big money from special interests = Bad
Obama accepting bigger money from special interests = Good
Bush 4 lobbyists in administration = Bad
Obama 12 lobbyists in administration = Good
Bush abusing alcohol = Bad
Obama snorting cocaine & smoking weed = Good
Bush suppressed college transcripts = Bad
Obama suppressed college transcripts = Good
Bush vacations to home in Texas = Bad
Obama vacations at lavish resorts abroad = Good
Bush troop surge = Bad
Obama troop surge = Good
Bush insulting US enemies = Bad
Obama insulting US allies = Good
Bush called racist in error = Bad
Obama screaming racism twice in error = Good
Bush ignores Katrina victims = Bad
Obama ignores TN flood and Oil disaster victims = Good
Bush doesn't fail on oil rig inspections = Bad
Obama fails on oil rig inspections = Good
Bush beholden to Wall Street = Bad
Obama beholden to Wall Street = Good
Bush "stimulus" = Bad
Obama "stimulus" = Good
Bush $4 gas = Bad
Obama $4 gas = Good
Bush deficits = Bad
Obama deficits = Good
Bush General "Be-tray-us" = Bad
Obama General Petraeus = Good
Bush tax cuts for the "rich" = Bad
Obama extending tax cuts for the "rich" = Good
Bush unemployment 5.1% - BAD
Obama unemployment 8.9% - GOOD
Bush Patriot Act = Bad
Obama Patriot Act = Good
Bush Medicare D = Bad
Obama expanding Medicare D = Good
Bush wiretapping program = Bad
Obama wiretapping program = Good
Bush innocents killed in Afghanistan = Bad
Obama innocents killed in Afghanistan = Good
Bush chiding China President over human rights = Bad
Obama silent on Chinese human rights = Good
Bush accepting big money from special interests = Bad
Obama accepting bigger money from special interests = Good
Bush 4 lobbyists in administration = Bad
Obama 12 lobbyists in administration = Good
Bush abusing alcohol = Bad
Obama snorting cocaine & smoking weed = Good
Bush suppressed college transcripts = Bad
Obama suppressed college transcripts = Good
Bush vacations to home in Texas = Bad
Obama vacations at lavish resorts abroad = Good
Bush troop surge = Bad
Obama troop surge = Good
Bush insulting US enemies = Bad
Obama insulting US allies = Good
Bush called racist in error = Bad
Obama screaming racism twice in error = Good
Bush ignores Katrina victims = Bad
Obama ignores TN flood and Oil disaster victims = Good
Bush doesn't fail on oil rig inspections = Bad
Obama fails on oil rig inspections = Good
Bush beholden to Wall Street = Bad
Obama beholden to Wall Street = Good
Friday, February 18, 2011
Food for Thought
"MANAMA, Bahrain – Soldiers opened fire Friday on thousands of protesters defying a government ban and streaming toward the landmark square that had been the symbolic center of the uprising to break the political grip of the Gulf nation's leaders.
........
Then the soldiers turned firearms on the crowd, one marcher said."
Naw - no need for any pesky 2d ammemdment in Bahrain
........
Then the soldiers turned firearms on the crowd, one marcher said."
Naw - no need for any pesky 2d ammemdment in Bahrain
A Misguided View of the Role of (Federal) Government
From the news this morning 2/18/2011
Casting about for innovative job-creation ideas, President Barack Obama is naming one of his critics to an advisory council responsible for finding new ways to promote economic growth and bring jobs to the U.S.
Yeah right. As if Ben Franklin, John Adams, James Madison and the other founders, and the people got together, had a revolution and then crafted the Constitution because they thought the function of a Federal Government was to " ....promote economic growth and bring jobs to the U.S."
Sorry to break it to you, but the role of the Federal government does NOT include these items - regardless of what Hamilton may have thought.
Casting about for innovative job-creation ideas, President Barack Obama is naming one of his critics to an advisory council responsible for finding new ways to promote economic growth and bring jobs to the U.S.
Yeah right. As if Ben Franklin, John Adams, James Madison and the other founders, and the people got together, had a revolution and then crafted the Constitution because they thought the function of a Federal Government was to " ....promote economic growth and bring jobs to the U.S."
Sorry to break it to you, but the role of the Federal government does NOT include these items - regardless of what Hamilton may have thought.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Patriot Act Non-Renewal
As others have done, I too would like to thank the following Republican representatives for standing up for America and the Constitution.
Justin Amash (Mich.), Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), Rob Bishop (Utah), Paul Broun (Ga.), John Campbell (Calif.), John J. Duncan Jr. (Tenn.), Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Christopher P. Gibson (N.Y.), Tom Graves (Ga.) Dean Heller (Nev.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Timothy V. Johnson (Ill.), Walter B. Jones (N.C.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), Raul R. Labrador (Idaho), Connie Mack (Fla.), Kenny Marchant (Tex.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Ron Paul (Tex.), Denny Rehberg (Mont.), Phil Roe (Tenn.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Robert Schilling (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.), Rob Woodall (Ga.), Don Young (Alaska).
These are patriots of the first order and have placed We The People above their own personal political advantage.
Also Like others, I will vote for whoever supports the Constitution regardless of party.
Justin Amash (Mich.), Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), Rob Bishop (Utah), Paul Broun (Ga.), John Campbell (Calif.), John J. Duncan Jr. (Tenn.), Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Christopher P. Gibson (N.Y.), Tom Graves (Ga.) Dean Heller (Nev.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Timothy V. Johnson (Ill.), Walter B. Jones (N.C.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), Raul R. Labrador (Idaho), Connie Mack (Fla.), Kenny Marchant (Tex.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Ron Paul (Tex.), Denny Rehberg (Mont.), Phil Roe (Tenn.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Robert Schilling (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.), Rob Woodall (Ga.), Don Young (Alaska).
These are patriots of the first order and have placed We The People above their own personal political advantage.
Also Like others, I will vote for whoever supports the Constitution regardless of party.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Bob's Journey
My name is Bob and, it started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then -- just to loosen up and be a part of the crowd.
Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.
That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's.
I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't help myself.
I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau, Muir, Confucius and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!" "But Honey, surely it's not that serious." "It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver.
"You think as much as college professors and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.
She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama.
"I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.
I headed for the library, in the mood for some John Locke. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors.
They didn't open. The library was closed.
To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Emerson, a poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.
You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster.
This is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker.
I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.
I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.
Today I took the final step...I joined the Democratic Party
Ed Note: Keep in mind now that as Karp points out in his book Indispensable Enemies, the 2 part system is actually a one power system created to maintain control and any threat to one party is a threat to the other. Think of this when you hear either party railing against the Tea Party members.
Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.
That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's.
I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't help myself.
I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau, Muir, Confucius and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!" "But Honey, surely it's not that serious." "It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver.
"You think as much as college professors and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.
She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama.
"I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.
I headed for the library, in the mood for some John Locke. I roared into the parking lot with NPR on the radio and ran up to the big glass doors.
They didn't open. The library was closed.
To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Emerson, a poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.
You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster.
This is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker.
I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.
I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me.
Today I took the final step...I joined the Democratic Party
Ed Note: Keep in mind now that as Karp points out in his book Indispensable Enemies, the 2 part system is actually a one power system created to maintain control and any threat to one party is a threat to the other. Think of this when you hear either party railing against the Tea Party members.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Staking a Claim on Trailer-Q
“That is the best pulled pork in San Antonio”. So says the man as he drives off with his wife and his dog from the Smoke Shack, a new traveling BBQ house-on-wheels located from 11 to 2 pm in the vacant lot at the southwest corner of the intersection of Nacodoches and Loop 410 .
For those of you on the lookout for a building with all the hoopla and with those interminable waiters asking if you want to hear the specials - don’t. Look instead for the wood-clad trailer of the sort that might just have pulled off your uncle’s ranch, and look also for some of the best BBQ and pulled pork that I have run across in a long, long time.
I first noticed Chef Chris Conger’s “shack” a couple weeks ago and wondered if it was for real. After seeing that it was there from 11- 2 pm M-F, I just had to stop and see if they had real BBQ - or if it was just some of that junk that passes for BBQ “Up North”.
Seeing that a Slider (small bun sandwich) with chips and a drink was only 4 bucks, I ordered up and was told by Chris that I was going to want another. Now, at the time I did not know that Chris, the guy that was giving me “the sell”, and the guy taking my money, and the guy that was toasting the bun, was the owner of this enterprise, and so I reserved judgement. I also reserved judgment because I am known by my friends as the guy that could eat his way across the United States on nothing but BBQ and consider myself a connoisseur of this style of Southern fine dining. ( BTW, that is how I know that roast beef, stuck in the pit for 20 minutes and covered with ketchup, ain’t BBQ.)
After a couple minutes and some conversation while I took some photos to put in my street scene photographer's gallery, my slider appears thru the window and taking it back to the tailgate of my truck, I bite into it to find that I had just received the most delectable treat this side of heaven. There it was, a chopped brisket sandwich on a gleaming grill-toasted bun, complete with the brown spot and slight amount of sheen that comes when the chef takes the time to toast on BOTH sides, and where doing so makes all the difference. I also noticed that the meat was overflowing so that there would be the proper amount of finger pickings after the main event. I also noted that the 4-bite bun stayed together instead of breaking all apart and that it was suffused with the wonderful bouquet that only happens when it is toasted on a seasoned grill.
Standing there a-scarfing my slider, I was not alone. There were the two old timers sitting on their tailgate, a couple of head-bangers ordering for their truck, and after a couple minutes a couple with their dog in tow.
After finishing, I go over and tell Chris and Ben, the guys at “The Shack”, that they were right about it being the best BBQ around. On talking with them is when I find out that I was talking to “The Man” Chris Conger himself, who tells me that he has always loved BBQ and that his enterprise at the corner is only about 2 months old.
Well. Welcome to town Chris - and get ready for the rush. I know other guys and gals that like BBQ too!
PS - For those of you wondering if this is one of those paid write-ups in exchange for graft and corruption, I tell you that it certainly is not. As an ex-businessman that knows what it is like to take a risk, and as someone that has always enjoyed running across people and businesses that “get it”, I just felt I had to do a write up on "The Smoke Shack”.
 |
| Chris Conger and sidekick Ben - Serving up the best BBQ Sliders in San Antonio |
For those of you on the lookout for a building with all the hoopla and with those interminable waiters asking if you want to hear the specials - don’t. Look instead for the wood-clad trailer of the sort that might just have pulled off your uncle’s ranch, and look also for some of the best BBQ and pulled pork that I have run across in a long, long time.
I first noticed Chef Chris Conger’s “shack” a couple weeks ago and wondered if it was for real. After seeing that it was there from 11- 2 pm M-F, I just had to stop and see if they had real BBQ - or if it was just some of that junk that passes for BBQ “Up North”.
Seeing that a Slider (small bun sandwich) with chips and a drink was only 4 bucks, I ordered up and was told by Chris that I was going to want another. Now, at the time I did not know that Chris, the guy that was giving me “the sell”, and the guy taking my money, and the guy that was toasting the bun, was the owner of this enterprise, and so I reserved judgement. I also reserved judgment because I am known by my friends as the guy that could eat his way across the United States on nothing but BBQ and consider myself a connoisseur of this style of Southern fine dining. ( BTW, that is how I know that roast beef, stuck in the pit for 20 minutes and covered with ketchup, ain’t BBQ.)
After a couple minutes and some conversation while I took some photos to put in my street scene photographer's gallery, my slider appears thru the window and taking it back to the tailgate of my truck, I bite into it to find that I had just received the most delectable treat this side of heaven. There it was, a chopped brisket sandwich on a gleaming grill-toasted bun, complete with the brown spot and slight amount of sheen that comes when the chef takes the time to toast on BOTH sides, and where doing so makes all the difference. I also noticed that the meat was overflowing so that there would be the proper amount of finger pickings after the main event. I also noted that the 4-bite bun stayed together instead of breaking all apart and that it was suffused with the wonderful bouquet that only happens when it is toasted on a seasoned grill.
Standing there a-scarfing my slider, I was not alone. There were the two old timers sitting on their tailgate, a couple of head-bangers ordering for their truck, and after a couple minutes a couple with their dog in tow.
After finishing, I go over and tell Chris and Ben, the guys at “The Shack”, that they were right about it being the best BBQ around. On talking with them is when I find out that I was talking to “The Man” Chris Conger himself, who tells me that he has always loved BBQ and that his enterprise at the corner is only about 2 months old.
Well. Welcome to town Chris - and get ready for the rush. I know other guys and gals that like BBQ too!
PS - For those of you wondering if this is one of those paid write-ups in exchange for graft and corruption, I tell you that it certainly is not. As an ex-businessman that knows what it is like to take a risk, and as someone that has always enjoyed running across people and businesses that “get it”, I just felt I had to do a write up on "The Smoke Shack”.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
On Anchor Babies
From todays news (1/5/1011) from Reuters (States plan crackdown on immigration but risk Latino ire)
Commentary
About time that the states figured out that their banding together is an absolute requirement for any efforts to stop the Federal juggernaut that has gathered unto itself powers that were never delegated to it under the Constitution which sets the inviolable ground rules for the allowed operations and spheres of control allowed to the Federal entity that the States themselves created. (remember there was NO direct election by the people for or against the document that set forth how the Federal entity was to be constituted - it was done (ostensibly by the people) via the State legislatures)
The States used to act through their legislative appointment of their Senators and it was intentionally set up that way by the founders so as to protect States Rights, and allow States to check encroachments of the Federal entity, and also to temper the passions of the mob which throughout history have spelled the death of all democracies.
It is also about time that the States put an end to the aberrant implementation of the constitutional provision of "birthright citizenship" whose plain language says that only for children of those subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are granted "birthright citizenship", but which like an ugly monster has been twisted as a nose of wax to allow a child born on US soil, said child of persons NOT under the jurisdiction of the United States to be citizens.
The wording of the Constitution is the way it is for a reason. If the founders and the ratifying states and the people had meant that citizenship shall be automatic for anybody that is born on US soil, then the language would have been crafted that way. It was not crafted that way, and for the exact reason that birthright citizenship is not automatic - except for children of those under the jurisdiction of the United States.
Not to put to fine a point on it, illegal aliens are NOT under the jurisdiction of the United States Like Duh ,THAT is why illegal aliens are deported. Illegal aliens are citizens of other countries. As such - that Mexican illegals are not under the jurisdiction of the United States (they are under the jurisdiction of Mexico) - children of illegal aliens do not have US citizenship.
It ain't rocket science
".... And in a sign of growing cooperation on immigration issues, at least 14 states are working together on a shared legislative framework to challenge automatic U.S. citizenship for children born to illegal immigrant parents, which is grounded in the 14th amendment to the Constitution.
Commentary
About time that the states figured out that their banding together is an absolute requirement for any efforts to stop the Federal juggernaut that has gathered unto itself powers that were never delegated to it under the Constitution which sets the inviolable ground rules for the allowed operations and spheres of control allowed to the Federal entity that the States themselves created. (remember there was NO direct election by the people for or against the document that set forth how the Federal entity was to be constituted - it was done (ostensibly by the people) via the State legislatures)
The States used to act through their legislative appointment of their Senators and it was intentionally set up that way by the founders so as to protect States Rights, and allow States to check encroachments of the Federal entity, and also to temper the passions of the mob which throughout history have spelled the death of all democracies.
It is also about time that the States put an end to the aberrant implementation of the constitutional provision of "birthright citizenship" whose plain language says that only for children of those subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are granted "birthright citizenship", but which like an ugly monster has been twisted as a nose of wax to allow a child born on US soil, said child of persons NOT under the jurisdiction of the United States to be citizens.
The wording of the Constitution is the way it is for a reason. If the founders and the ratifying states and the people had meant that citizenship shall be automatic for anybody that is born on US soil, then the language would have been crafted that way. It was not crafted that way, and for the exact reason that birthright citizenship is not automatic - except for children of those under the jurisdiction of the United States.
Not to put to fine a point on it, illegal aliens are NOT under the jurisdiction of the United States Like Duh ,THAT is why illegal aliens are deported. Illegal aliens are citizens of other countries. As such - that Mexican illegals are not under the jurisdiction of the United States (they are under the jurisdiction of Mexico) - children of illegal aliens do not have US citizenship.
It ain't rocket science
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