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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Better buy a pair of hammers

Folks, you may not realize how hard working some citizens are in attempting to tear down the Constitution and it goes on right here among us.

Here is my response to one local anti-gun activist in the online edition of the Baytown Sun, who basically wants everyone to turn in all their evil firearms:

"I talked to a Russian citizen who had a Visa to drive an 18-wheeler here. Knowing citizens in Russia are forbidden to own firearms, I asked him about murder there. His exact words were, "In Russia, when we want to kill someone, we use a hammer."

Another local bellowing activist asked this golden question: "Is baytownblert's point supposed to be if the US banned all guns like Russia has done, then American white supremacists would instead use hammers to murder Mexicans?"

Now, FYI, this active radical is a 55+ year old white guy who is a true radical Leftist and extremely active. He never rests and sees nothing good about anyone or anything. I call him and his kind curmudgeons. They never contribute anything positive and never stop trying to stink up any place they visit.
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No cookie cutter parks please!

As you all know I am an advocate of unique park amenities and I especially believe by making our parks unique, we can draw people to Baytown. "No cookie cutter parks" has been my battle cry for some time.

Because of my endless droning over the years about how hostile Baytown area drivers are to pedestrians and people who still enjoy walking, hiking, and/or riding a bicycle, I was shocked to see the Baytown Poll recently. 31% of our citizens chose the option that our Parks are a waste of money? I sat in disbelieve when I read that.

The simple answer here is fully one third of our population don’t get out of their cars except to shop or get gasoline. If their doctor ever orders them to get exercise, they will suddenly become an advocate for places to walk, let me tell you. My area is near Blue heron and daily I watch as seniors “pound their feet” on the cement trail.

When the hard-working Dustin Schubert was the park planner, I begged him to install not only a certified 5K trail with obvious markers, but to add elevation changes, as we live on the flat, right? Runners, cyclists, and exercisers have nothing short of our bridge or overpasses to get in some hills. No park that I know of has a certified 5K trail for runners to practice on. Believe it or not, our brains are not working as well as we think when we are running, so putting a person a course that is easy to follow is very important to runners.

To my knowledge and disappointment, this has not happened.

The grandest fantasy of us walkers/runners/cyclists would be a flyover pedestrian trail from Blue Heron Parkway over the RR tracks to Jenkins. I envision a steady stream of exercisers coming to Baytown specifically to walk/run/cycle this new pedestrian bridge. I cannot exaggerate how big of an attraction this flyover would be.

Finally, I propose we add 3 elevation changes to the new trail addition in Jenkins Park. This will get people to the far South side trail like flies to a potato salad picnic and give Baytown something many other parks do not have. I'm including an image and each elevation could cover an easy 150 feet beginning to end. Fill dirt could be used and I do not believe this is a budget breaker. If it is as successful as I think, we can add numerous more elevations changes and soon runners are coming from all over to use the new challenge.

Input from the public can be shared by writing your city council person and believe it or not this is exactly the kind of input they need and desire before they make changes in the city policies.

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Do the two mass shootings realy represent gun violence here?

 Would someone please shed light on this for me, because I'm having trouble getting the impact of the two shootings in Ohio and Texas on gun violence in general in the US.

Homicides and gun violence of this magnitude takes place every weekend in Democrat-controlled Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit, and New Orleans, so how is this different? Chicago is not even listed!
Oh gosh. Now I get it. It's a white Supremacist guy shooting people of color! Never mind that "people of color" regularly slaughter each other with total abandon in our big cities...

My bad. Move along. No news here folks. Here are the stats: Of the 36,383 Americans killed with guns each year, 22,274 are gun suicides (61%), 12,830 are gun homicides (35%), 496 are law enforcement shootings (1.4%), and 487 are unintentional shootings (1.3%).

- Firearm violence: Nationally, about 12 people are killed with guns for every 100,000 US residents.

- Vehicle accidents: Nearly 1.25 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day. An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled. More than half of all road traffic deaths occur among young adults ages 15-44.

- Choking: In the United States, the odds of one dying from choking on food is around 1 in 2,696. These odds are greater than the odds of dying from an accidental gun discharge or as a passenger on a plane. In 2017, there were around 1.6 deaths from choking per 100,000 population.

- Prescription drugs: More than 70,200 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids—a 2-fold increase in a decade.

- Marijuana overdose: “We know from really good survey data that Americans use cannabis products billions of times a year, collectively,” argued Keith Humphreys, a former senior policy adviser at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, “Not millions of times, but billions of times a year,” the policy adviser said. “So, that means that if the risk of death was one in a million, we would have a couple thousand cannabis overdose deaths a year.” Clearly this is not the case as there has only been ONE unexplained marijuana overdose in recorded history in the US.

The Nihilist Squad and their goal

If you watched the movie, The Big Lebowski, you learned their antagonists are Nihilists, who, "don't believe in anything". "The term nihilism has been employed to denote a wide range of phenomena. It has been variously used to express contempt or horror on the one side, approval and admiration on the other. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, it has almost always been an emotional and axiological term, frequently employed to cut off debate on a moral issue by representing a particular position as absolute, totalizing, and extreme."

This is the goal and aim of AOC and the "Squad" of absolute, totalizing, and extreme politics. They know they cannot win, but they can make inroads new fanatics will plunder and violate in the future. Their ultimate goal is the collapse of our constitution. This group won't be able to do it, but the next and the next and the next will succeed.

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Give Me The Cage Anytime!

Typical caged conditions of border crossers, minus crying babies, as depicted by the media.

In this country, people who love tennis are forced against their will to play inside a cage.  Conditions can be brutal in the Texas humidity and heat and often debris must be cleared from the cage in order to use the facility.

I worked inside a cage for almost 40 years in the Chemical Plant industry and they wouldn't let me leave when I wanted and rarely fed us and acted like they were expecting something in return! When they did feed us, you would think it was amazing by the way they acted, but a lot of times we had to stand in lines and stuff -  just terrible. Showers were available, but they kept me busy enough I never really had time to take one. It was awful.

The reality is the "cages" on the border look nothing like what people envision when the slanted news coverage appears.

Bamboo Cage used to hold prisoners.

 

Beer Drinkers Throw Harder

 Who knew that people who drink and drive can throw an empty beer can like a professional athlete?
There has been an alarming trend on Blue Heron Parkway when it comes to litter. I feel it is my obligation to report the facts on this bizarre mystery.

The beer drinkers are throwing their cans and bottles further than the Monster drink and Red Bull crowd. Mind-boggling comes to my... mind to attempt to explain this phenomenon.

Have they secretly infused Michelob Ultra-lite with caffeine and not told anyone? I mean it has become apparent there is an issue with the once powerful sports drinks.

I used to find the littered cans 30 or more feet from the road and the beer cans were 20 feet closer. In the last two weeks I've found more and more cans of "powerfully explosive powered" sports drink close to curb, as if the poor athletic wannabe barely had the energy to drop it beside their moving hooptie.

Now it appears if you really want to throw that empty can a long ways, you have to switch to beer. Hollywood has proven over and over again that people who drink alcohol are full of energy. If you are going to litter, you might as well throw it like Randy Johnson.

 Disclaimer: In no way am I advocating littering, throwing any kind of litter out of a car or truck, or soiling the good name of Randy Johnson.

MAGA is what we really want

If you think constantly bashing the President of the United States is benefiting you and the people around you... try it at work with and around your bosses. Never say anything to agree with them and constantly run them down behind their back and see, just see if your life and those around you prospers. It won't and you will be unhappier and folks will avoid you. No one wants to hear it.
 
Making America great again (MAGA) has NOTHING to do with restoring the bad things this country has went through. Its about placing America ahead and before any other country. Plain and simple, so when you hear folks lie to you and say it is a racist saying, simply walk away from that ignorant and decidedly racist person.
 
If we are all not working to better the state of affairs for America's future, we are working against it.
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Trump is our President

I love this President! Of course, I would like him to talk less, but if he wants to talk, go for it. He is more candid and honest when talking to the American people than any other president in my lifetime. YMMV Notice how quiet the Democrats have been about the border and Trump’s harsh treatment toward people entering the country illegally? There is a reason and a shameful one at that.

They are quiet because more illegals have entered the country under Trump than Obama and Obama deported far more. Of course they won’t admit this or apologize because they don’t care anything about anything except retaining power. The country could fall into a chasm and as long as they held the reins, they would yell, “giddy up horsey”.

After 2 years, Obama was turning gray-headed and looked tired. Trump looks like he’s barely warmed up. The presidents before him played politics. Trump looks world leaders in the eye and tells them it is quid pro quo or we cut off their allowance. No other president has done this that I know of. 

Henry Kissinger said world leaders are all off-balance around Trump because unlike other presidents, he looks you in the eye when he threatens to stab you in the chest and they know he will do it. It is no secret they laughed in Obama’s face, but they sure as the Dickens aren’t laughing now, are they?

Understand that for the first time in our lifetime we have a president who has the guts and backbone to break tradition. Understand that a global economy like we have had under Clinton, Bush, & Obama is a thing of our past. If it doesn’t set right on our stomach, we have no stomach for global equality. I for one do not want to see American standards lowered to salve over any Third World country.

The tariff issue will balance out (1-5 years) and we will see prices rise as the Chinese have to compete with the rest of the world for our money. We will also see higher quality American-made products that can now compete. In other words, stay the course. Vote Trump 2020

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Why we should read the Dew Point

Here is why looking at the humidity outside to understand how yucky it feels is misleading. We should be watching the dew point temperature to tell how sticky it feels to our skin.

The humidity can be high and the dew point low and it feels great and vice versa. Look at our current weather here. It is only 75 and should feel great, but our dew point is 73 AND our humidity is 95%. This makes it feel sopping wet outside even with our 8mph southeasterly wind.

Billings, Montana where my BIL  works, it is 56 degrees and has a humidity rating of 88%. It should feel cool and damp, right? Maybe even cold for us Gulf Coast Texans.

Wrong. It has a dew point of 53 degrees and with a 6 mph wind, it feels downright dry, cool, and pleasant. Montana folks would swim in this weather if the rivers and lakes weren't about 35 degrees. In fact, Montana folks fish in the water instead of swimming in it.
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Democratic leadership in 2019

If Bill and Hillary had a press conference and admitted everything bad they and the Democratic Party did since he became President through to this date, the Democrats would acknowledge it was indeed the Clinton’s but deny they were telling the truth.
If Jesus the Christ and almighty God was to announce that there was no collusion between Russia and Trump, the Democratic leadership would acknowledge it was indeed the Messiah, but he “is misremembering” what actually happened and be very smug about it to boot.

If Mother Teresa were to come back from the grave with a warning about wholesale abortion she would be discounted as mentally feeble by the Democratic leadership, which is suffering from the same issue. If a Socialist Democrat’s own mother came out for contraceptive by abortion, they would agree with her.

There are now over 20 Democrats running for President in 2020 and soon, they will begin debating and throwing mud on each other. It will probably be ugly, but highly entertaining. I believe DT will be our next elected President by a land slide that crushes the Democrats hope of turning our Republic into Venezuela.
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Baytown Texas Takes on the #TrashTag Challenge

 

This is SH-146 at Tabb's Bay in 1974. We were a dirty and smelly Tri-city town with a lot of growth in our future.

We used to be viewed as just another stinky oil town. That is no longer the case. Baytown is actually cleaner than many cities surrounding Houston, but we can do better by educating the masses and actually going outside and removing debris from our town.

I've started a grass-root effort here on Facebook to address educating the public AND getting them involved in litter abatement and I am going to pursue this over the next year with great passion.  

Baytown Trashy People

We already have over 100 like-minded members and it is a vision where all members are accountable to contribute effort to remove litter on a daily basis.

Possibly quarterly we will tackle a large project and have a potluck meal afterward. There will be no galas, no scholarships awarded, just people actually working to make our city very clean. There will also be no kings, or queens and no $65 a plate to raise money at this event... just people working.

I took this photo in the parking lot of Food Town on N. Main in Baytown.

It is the goal for this group of volunteers to be heavily represented by the Baytown Sun and any TV news station we can entice to cover it. I want Baytown to shine and I do believe it will have an almost magical effect on our perception of the city.

It is important that we document through photography and placing the photos on our individual pages to encourage others to help. There is also an opportunity to shame litterers into stopping. People who litter look just like us, our family, and our friends. They need to be educated to stop throwing trash out the window of their cars and truck.

Here is today’s photo of #TrashTag (add this to your photo when you post it to FB) and the difference ONE person can make: 

The idea is each person works every day to remove litter. Small amounts add up quickly.

The #TrashTag movement is an international effort for the average person to make a positive impact on the litter problem.

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Is Keep Baytown Beautiful really doing anything?

BB's take: Keep Baytown Beautiful just had a great big "Gala" and handed out awards all over the place, with lots of high fives and back-slapping celebrating all kinds of accomplishments unrelated to making Baytown beautiful. "The Baytown Sun was awarded as Media of the year." Boy, I feel our city is more beautiful than ever and that award exemplifies making Baytown more beautiful, now doesn't it?

It was a major success according to the fact-based Baytown Sun. Baytown is surely cleaner and nicer than it was last year, right?

I went to their website, but it is down. You mean they had a great big event and their web site ain't workin'? I was looking for a great big list of all their projects and accomplishments (as they are not listed in the newspaper column) so I could applaud the organization.

I'll have to wait until an expert fixes the website to see what they have done, because frankly, I'm not really feeling it. Sure, I participate in the yearly Keep Texas Trash-off like many, but we need a monthly clean-up event that involves the whole city, like #TrashTag efforts going on across the planet.

One productive year from now at the next gala, they first need to interview 10 random people off the street and ask them in front of everyone in attendance to explain how Baytown is more beautiful than it was last year. If the average denizen of Baytown does not perceive that improvements have been made, this organization has not done their job.

It is what it is folks. Boots on the ground is what this city needs. It needs the average citizen educated and involved. It will take an entire city to shift their perception and become proactive. To John and Joan Q. Smith, hosting big shindigs with lots of awards is just more bureaucrats awarding each other and passing smoke for real work. When I see EVIDENCE of KBB's efforts on a regular basis, then and only then will I think the organization’s leadership is paying more than lip service to the community.  #KeepBaytownBeautiful

Reminicing the Vietnam War

 

I arrived in a C-130 out of Clark AFB in July 1972 and left in May 1974. I was the lone human passenger and an E-3. I came from Malmstrom AFB and was a tool issue supply clerk with supply point experience in Minuteman Missiles (SAC). It was so cold in that plane I liked to have froze solid in my 1505 short-sleeved tropical uniform and the crew chief neglected me. 

 

1505 tropical uniform

To this day I would like to kick his arse.  Especially when by the time we actually landed, it was about a hundred degrees inside the cargo compartment of the plane.

Tent city was still going strong and I elected to move into a hootch from the open bay barrack that I stayed in the 1st week. That was awful with no fan and lizards all over the walls and ceilings combined with the National Geographic/Vietnam War in full swing with aircraft blasting the skies on afterburner. We had F-4 Phantom jets and when they took off in pairs it was so loud my ears would ring and all conversation would stop until it was over.

The point is I came when the base reopened and it was wild and woolly in the extreme. 19 bars opened up on the strip and a good number that were off limits. My buddy and roommate Tim Wheeler told me that in all the years he was in the AF, he remembers this time as the best.

There is a tale to be told in the middle and we all have them, but I was also there when most of the G.I’s and working girls left and many of the bars and stores closed and it was a quiet and very sad time. Takhli AFB and Bahn Takhli will always be a major part of my coming of age experience and like many, I cherish the memory and forget how many long hours I worked.

Just like when I arrived, I caught the freedom jet and I was the lone passenger leaving Takhli. I think this is one of the reasons so many airmen didn’t experience the “spitting” and derogatory remarks of protestors. Many of us came back one at a time and we made very small imprints on agitators. I have always claimed and believe I would have knocked the teeth out of anyone who spit on me because I was in uniform.

I would be interested in your initial response when you arrived. I remember the jungle humid mildew smell when the door opened on that C-130 and the thought that I would have to spend a year in this jungle hell-hole. So my initial thought was very sad and very negative. it changed very shortly when the world class adventure began.

Freedom bird back to the States (not mine)