No More Mr. Nice Guy, No More Mr. Clean.

It is time to bury “Women and children first”.

"Women and children first" is a code of conduct dating from 1852, whereby the lives of women and children were to be saved first in a life-threatening situation, typically abandoning ship, when survival resources such as lifeboats were limited. However, it has no basis in modern culture or in an established society.

We need to stop this ancient anti-male practice immediately. Women and children are no more valuable to an established society, than men. In fact in many instances, they have little impact on their loss. If this sounds harsh, blame the women’s liberation movement for removing women and children from the endangered species list. Women especially are now given the exact same status as expendable men and this is the goal of the feminists. You’ve come a long way baby.

In some ways this is extremely liberating to men. No longer do you have to entertain the idea of opening a door for a female, or stepping to the side to let a woman or child enter first. Walk in like you own it men, because now, whoever can step in the lifeboat first gets the seat!

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Women and children first, for God's sake!

Here is an age old strategy being currently deployed by the unseen steering committee of the many people marching north through Mexico. Focus attention on the women and children for the sympathy vote. Every single time you invoke "children" and now more than ever, "women", it automatically gets the sympathy of citizens who empathize with their plight. Never mind that what is happening is a mass invasion of our border where the bottom line is we have to physically HURT them.

Now here is the hard part and it is unpopular to boot. A woman or child’s life is not as important as it was ages ago when they meant the survival of the clan or tribe. I WON’T trade my life for a migrant child or anyone. Remember in the movie “I, Robot” when Will Smith’s character rebelled because the rescuing robot saved his life over the young girls? The robot made the choice that it could only save one of the two and according to triage rules, he was more valuable.

Honduras and Guatemala are responsible for THEIR OWN citizens, not the USA. If the people marching are suffering, it is their own country’s fault, not ours and not our problem until they try to forcefully enter our country. I don’t watch the advertisements for starving children in a 3^rd world country, or those of abused animals and I put this in the same category. If they force their way into our country, they must be stopped even if it means violence. They will become invaders. If they tried this in any number of other countries, they would repel them as such.

I believe in immigration, but only the legal way of applying. Sneak into my house and I will consider you a burglar. If you think my rational is off the mark, then ask yourself how many of these poor women and children you are willing to house and subsidize permanently on your current wages? None? No surprise there.

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2,000 Immigrant Children Have Been Separated From Parents?

BB's take:  Watching numerous TV news channels this morning, I noticed that they are dropping one word from their reporting which would change the national perception of the separation of family issue. That word is "illegal or illegally".

What is not being reported is mention that the parents have entered the country illegally and this makes the US Government look like the bad guy separating innocent children from their parents. As word spreads people will stop breaking our immigration laws because they will realize they will be treated as a criminal. This especially applies to those who are brought in by coyotes, by crossing a fence, swimming a river, or using a tunnel.

Sorry moms, but this is not really about the children. It is about illegal entry into this country. You do it, you are a criminal and criminals are not allowed to bring their children to jail with them.

Solution? Stop coming into this country illegally.

More misleading news: "2,000 children separated from parents in six weeks under Trump policy"  

The truth?  "To be clear, there is no official Trump policy stating that every family entering the US without papers has to be separated. What there is is a policy that all adults caught crossing into the US illegally are supposed to be criminally prosecuted — and when that happens to a parent, separation is inevitable."

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Its always sunny in Baytown

Nurture Nature Festival 2017 by Larry Houston

 Did you know that Baytown has a micro-climate? It does. Our 7 bays wrap around our town and keep a lot of bad weather away. If you have ever drove over the Fred Hartman bridge and noticed that it is a different temperature on this side of the bridge, then you are getting the message. Very often the Houston weather doesn't apply to us. For a long time I've observed a storm blowing in from the Gulf toward us, only to go into League City. It then makes its way toward Sugar Land and then turns north for Jersey Village pounding them with torrents of rain.

At this time, the storm will turn east and head for the north side of I-10 eventually dropping copious amounts of water on Winnie before it heads toward Beaumont. It has happened so many times, I fully expect it each time a storm comes in. The only variation is when the storm is so big that nothing can stop it. So, if its been raining a lot here, everyone else is getting it too. Quite often I stage geocaching events here in Baytown for various reasons. A standard event is to simply meet and eat and trade idea, etc. I like to have my event coincide with actually doing something... outside.

We may hike to find geocaches, or have a workshop to learn various stuff about the game. I've been involved in geocaching since 2003, teach classes on it, and yet, it seems I learn something I didn't know. The point of this is my events prove my theory that Baytown has a micro-climate. It can be a 90% chance of rain in the Houston area and folks will arrive for my class with the sun shining over their shoulder. I'm accused of "having a rapport with the big guy" but truthfully, not anymore than anyone else.   

Our tourism department with Anna, Sheree, and Sabrina have been very active in getting activities going in Baytown. The old whine that "there's nothing to do in Baytown" just ain't true anymore. Market square on Texas Avenue if you haven't noticed is roiling with activities. There is so much happening that I can't even keep up with it. This next Saturday is the annual Nurture Nature Festival at the Baytown Nature Center at 6213 Bayway Dr. It is KID FRIENDLY, so grab the kiddos and some cash for vendors and come on out. Say hey to Christina Butcher and Tracey Protho while you are out there for extra sunshiny mojo.

There is plenty of parking the park staff is everywhere with Snake Bracelets, Crab Marsh, Seed Cups, TX Geocaching Society, Watering Hole Golf, Angler education, Backyard bass, archery to name just a few of the booths. The festival is set up to educate kids and adults on the great outdoors, but in a very festive environment. If you want them chiren to get off the couch and do something besides exercise their thumbs, then make sure you facilitate getting them there. Oh, you will find me in Tent 4 next to Baytown Tourism doing my geocaching thing!

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Beating a dead horse?

 We are really in for it.  “It” being what Baytown is to become in our near future.

I think its time to remind folks that this sleepy little tri-settlement is no more.  Back in 1974 when I made Baytown my home, a person could exit the tunnel on this side of the ship channel and not see a single light until the Holiday Inn close to Texas Avenue came into sight.  Not a single light bulb was burning, because it was out in the country.

In this same area, there will soon be a flyover heading onto Highway 99 and a second bridge over Cedar Bayou.  Below the second bridge will be a large barge terminal that no one here wanted.  Thank you Sammy Mahan for setting me straight on this.   I saw it as jobs for Baytownians and not as something that would lower the standard of those who live nearby.

My answer then (after attempts failed to stop the building of the terminal) was to hold the city’s feet to the fire to force environmental, sound-abatement, and aesthetic concessions. 

I was against banning of cigarette smoking inside bars and food establishments after they were forced to put in mega-expensive ventilation systems to accommodate non-smokers.  I was against removing the red light cameras and still am, but other than getting a laugh out of smoking out the Madalyn Murray O’Hair of red light cameras, I accepted it.

The next big thing I didn’t vote for was the expansion of the Blue Heron Parkway.  I felt like my fellow citizens let us local folks down by voting for a useless road through our woods, just so people could drive to Sjolander Road.  What?  “Why would anyone want a shortcut there”, was my reasoning.

Turns out it was a lot of people, me included.  I was wrong – but, I hounded my councilman and the city to do the very thing I suggested they do with the barge terminal - force environmental, sound-abatement, and aesthetic concessions.  No luck on sound abatement, but wow!  It is beautiful and with the hike and bike trails and the awesome-looking detention/retention pond, it is a real eye pleaser.

We planted 55 trees and will probably plant 55 more when the money becomes available and the trails and road are heavily used.  So it turns out this giant negative was actually a positive.  Now I can’t say that the barge terminal will be a positive, but don’t give up on making it appear and sound acceptable.  Just don’t stop forcing those concessions.

When it comes to making our city leaders accountable, there is no such thing as beating a dead horse.  It’s been my personal experience that they listen.  I have had a fantastic response from our city officials and basically because they know I actually care about Baytown.  I even got a high-five from T-Bone Schaffer when I was involved in the Baytown Concerned Citizen’s movement and to me, that was something special.

This brings us to the present serious issue of the planned Transportation Center beside Gentry Junior School.  Seeing emissions are a very big part of the complaint, a simple exhaust header could be erected behind the many parked buses with flexible hoses.  When a bus is parked and before it is started, the hose could be attached to the tail pipe and while the bus is idling, the vapors are ran through a scrubber.  This is very common in all the chemical plants and allows almost zero emissions to go to the atmosphere.

When the bus is ready to leave, they simply drive away and the hose automatically disconnects, closing itself off.  At present, every bus at Stallworth Stadium discharges exhaust to the atmosphere, so this would be an ecological improvement.

Next is noise and light abatement and with proper landscaping and noise reducing vegetation and sound absorbing panels, this could be properly negated.  The vacant view across that field being viewed as pristine is somewhat a mystery to me, but maybe to the locals it is beautiful.

The main point of this column isn’t that we should build the Transportation Center on Archer Road, but that the city is growing and there will be terrible concessions to many people who still believe they are living in the country.  They are not.  Little Pelly-Baytown-Goose Creek is no more.  We are the biggest thing east of Houston and God help us if they ever try to absorb us.

I predict that one of the next projects will be to four-lane Sjolander Road all the way to I-10 and widen Archer all the way to Garth or further.  We will see many more Hunt roads cutting across fields with many more people displaced.  Twenty years ago I heard this was going to happen and now it is.  There ain’t no more “country” in Baytown and the sooner we accept that, the quicker we can start holding the city’s feet to the fire to make the improvements appealing and most importantly, safe for residents.