Innovation and the American Spirit

Innovation and the American Spirit

I am very optimistic about the future of America. I think there are exciting times in innovation and invention ahead of us. However, our present problems and struggle for prosperity may be on the shelf sooner than we realize, as the price of maintaining this lavish lifestyle languishes in the doldrums, but let's look at our past to see the possibilities of our future.

As I've said many times before, we diverse and resilient Americans blindly box ourselves into a corner and after we've had our collective heads pummeled into mush, we suddenly awaken and come out swinging and that is exactly what I see happening and in our future. We truly are the champions of the world, but we are going down folks and the way back to the top will be difficult and full of challenges.

We are used to being on top – on top of everything and we refuse to acknowledge our pinnacle position is precarious at best and all but gone at worst. We see ourselves as the creme de la crème of fancy spring waters and everyone else is just white generic cans marked "Cola". Tough love; this is the way we roll - world.

We unashamedly see ourselves as better than the rest of the world because we are Americans and we have the strength of our ethnic and cultural diversity, freedom, privilege, democracy and lots of guns. We are unstoppable and arrogant, but hey – when you got it – flaunt it, right? It's our way or the highway and the way we prove we believe this to the world, is by borrowing, spending and accumulating cool recreational stuff. We alone get in our personal (usually multiple occupancy) transportation vehicle weighing 3 to 5000 pounds and go wherever we wish, whenever we wish and damn the torpedoes. We got it all, baby.

We are users/consumers first and since we are all about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it's perfectly okay to keep using, consuming and dumping. We are defined by what we eat, read, watch and where we spend our quality time and folks, to the rest of the world we can be summed up in one word: gluttons. We are first and foremost in the global game of life and a man's worth is measured by how many barns he has stuff stored in…and we like it that way. I too am an American and all of this describes me to a certain degree, as sad as that may be.

Now, let's take a look at the future of our country and each and every one of us fortunate enough to be a part of the solution and a self-imposed successful change.

I see a cultural paradigm shift on the horizon. A paradigm is nothing more than a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline.

I see a general mentality adjustment or movement in our future where Americans will lead the rest of the world in doing things the right way and have our precious righteous fun also. Imagine a new America where efficiency in personal transportation becomes "cooler or hipper" than how much horsepower your vehicle delivers to the drive train or where the general population delights in Zen-like recycling - because they want to, not because it's forced on us. It's what we will do because we are Americans.

Organic vegetable gardening becomes the rage and folks forsake conventional lawn maintenance for xeriscaping. Endless trips to the supermarket will be reduced in lieu of fresh homegrown veggies. New homes will be built with functionality in mind instead of past aesthetics and the quality of life in America in general will be about its timbre, not bulk quantity, size, speed or accumulation. Can you imagine how wonderful this would be?

Capitalistic entrepreneurs whose vision is not confined to fossil fuel-based propulsion systems will best solve the current energy problem by inventing and investing in alternative ways to travel. In other words, who says we have to continue using Henry Ford's antiquated internal combustion engine to get from point A to point B? Loose the creative dogs of efficiency on America and let them market solutions that make a real difference. The Smart car is one such new option that challenges convention.

Drilling for oil so we can keep consuming like there is no tomorrow should be given the green light – but, we should also jump head first into alternate methods of transportation, because there will be a tomorrow. Finding alternative fuels to keep burning our hydrocarbon-hungry engines is still the old school way of looking at the problem. We need exciting and creative solutions to free ourselves of the dependency on this mode of conveyance.

In the future, we Americans must demand better quality and efficiency by making wiser purchases. Who says we have to settle for what is offered? I say boycott junk and encourage good quality by smart purchasing and with that said we have to do our share to make this a better country too.

We foolishly have empowered greedy corporations and encouraged inefficient outdated technology and shoddy workmanship on everything from deplorably slow high-speed Internet/cable service to only having the choice to buy about five of the nine hundred plus varieties of bananas grown globally. We've bought $40,000 four-seat chunks of metal and plastic with miserable MPG and warranties and we almost felt blessed to own it. Why? Regardless of how much a dealer cuts off the buying price, for most of us this mode of transportation is too fuel-costly to maintain and some fat cat, our money in his pocket, leans back and blows Cuban cigar smoke through his toothy grin.

As my Pastor of many years, L.S. Marcus used to say, I said all that to say this: We Americans will be the only obstacle to change and ultimately - survival. We are our own worst enemy…or friend.

The Intrepid Baytown Cycle Hiker

Baytown can be a tough place to get outdoor exercise if you are a bicycler, jogger, walker or an urban trekker. Sure, we have a few places to do these activities, but they require an automobile to get to them. Here in America, using an automobile to get to your place of exertion has never really been an issue, but it sure is now and in the future, it will become even more so.

This past Friday I decided to grab my camera and take a walk around town instead of driving to Jenkins Park or the Goose Creek Stream Trail head. (I don't particularly like the idea of parking my vehicle and leaving it while I exercise, only to come back and find it vandalized or missing).

What this meant was walking in the street or in someone's yard for 6 of the 7 miles I eventually traveled. The problem is we are not a bicycle or foot-friendly city and since we are a "city on the move", the lack of sidewalks and road shoulders will get worse before it gets better.

Every step taken or pedal pushed brings a risk of stumbling and falling or getting ran over by an unforgiving public in 3 to 5000 pound moving vehicles. The obvious question many would ask is why not just remain on a known path and then there is little chance of being injured? Well, for those of us who regularly hike or ride bicycles we need greater distances to reduce monotony and to get a change of scenery.

You see, a 2 mile foot path may appear adequate to people who do not regularly use them, but to a trekker, 2 miles is nothing. The beautiful Jenkins Park trail is hopefully going to be expanded to a 3.1 mile trail when the park expansion takes place and this will give runners a true 5K or 5 kilometer trail with markers. This will be a major improvement to runners who can make 8.45 laps and log in a complete marathon distance. It's my hope that the city of Baytown will sponsor a 5 and 10K fun run here in the future, like the old Baytown Heatwave we used to have on July 4^th.

The Goose Creek Stream Trail is very nice, but it should be expanded north all the way to Rollingbrook Drive, which incidentally has beautiful flowers growing alongside of it. I know, as I walked from my home in Chaparral Village down Massey Tompkins, to Rollingbrook and down the east fork of Goose Creek to the trail head at Garth and Decker. It was my intention to walk all the way to Bayland Park, but at this point the delicious smell of Mexican food coming from El Toros wafted over me and I decided to return home by the shortest distance.

This meant walking the roadways and negotiating business and lawn frontage for the most part (a tricky and rough way to walk) since there are no sidewalks. By the time I made it to HEB I had a 4 hour walk behind me and I made my way to the feeder road of SH146 and turned onto one of the few countryfied paths left in this city, albeit not exactly legal…the path by the RR tracks. Yes, it is private property and I am guilty. I won't even argue about it.

I love to ride my modified beach cruiser bicycle out to Beach City on a 33 mile bike ride, but it has become too dangerous in my estimation. Note here: I'll probably do it again anyway. What this means is leaving CV down Massey Tompkins (shoulder-less) to SH146 and then turning right onto 565 (very shoulder-less) to 3180. This is very dangerous and I don't recommend anyone doing it. 3180 has a nice shoulder for a ways, but then it too becomes just a two lane at about 2354 and cars really fly out there, so you have to be very watchful and ready to bail off the road.

I like to stop at the little store out there close to 1405 and support them and frankly, the old legs are ready for a break at this point. I take 1405 to 99 and make my way (usually to Kilgore road) and eventually back to CV. It's always a great ride and on a 30 pound cruiser-type bicycle, a great rewarding ride.

I envision this city with a network of paths and trails, suitable for hiking and bicycling that will allow residents to get from one side of the city to the other on nothing more than a bicycle seat or a pair of sneakers. Am I asking too much? I don't think so and I was told one time that if I ever go fishing for whales – I should take along the tarter sauce.

Police: Crime watches help make neighborhoods safer

by JOSH HARDWICK
jhardwick@hcnonline.com 06/19/2008

Members of the Chaparral Village neighborhood Crime Watch in Baytown have seen their fair share of unruly activity over the years, from street racers blowing past stop signs to thefts and even recent instances of a reported flasher in the area.

Criminal activity is something that all communities must deal with, but with the cooperation of law-abiding citizens, police can be more effective in their response, said Capt. David Alford of the Baytown Police Department. Alford was the guest speaker at Chaparral Village's Crime Watch meeting, June 15.

Alford said that of the 136 deputies employed by the Baytown Police Department, at least nine will be on patrol at any given time – one for each police district in the city. However, he said that a particularly busy night in one district might call patrol deputies away from their own districts, leaving a temporary gap in police coverage.

In order to minimize the vulnerability of homes and neighborhoods, Alford outlined the do's and don'ts for those taking an active role in protecting themselves and their property:

Do get involved. Crime Watch communities work when residents remain vigilant about their surroundings.

Alford stressed the need to commit to weekly or monthly meetings and to set up watch schedules that incorporate overlapping areas of surveillance.

Do call police. Alford said that many residents are angered whenever police are late responding to a disturbance call, so much that some may not call at all out of frustration or even fear of burdening the system.

"There have been times when it took me as much as three hours to respond to a call, and it's something I hate as much as they do," Alford said. "All I can do is tell them about the fight I broke up over here, and the big auto accident I had to stop at there, before responding to their complaint and hope they understand."

All calls to the station are routed into a database that police often use to track disturbances and make arrests even when someone is unable to respond to the initial complaint in a timely manner, Alford said

Don't be a potential victim, especially when it comes to theft. Many reports of theft are a result of valuables being left unattended that are simply too obvious for criminals to pass up.

"In the past we've dealt with burglars who had a set procedure: The car would drop off the crooks at the end of the street and park at the other end while the guys would walk by flipping car handles," Alford said. "If the door opened they would look inside and rummage around, and they would spend less than 10 seconds on each car."

Police advise that valuables be stored in places where they can't be easily seen by would-be burglars, such as inside garages and in the glove boxes of locked vehicles. Even a visible cell phone or GPS device can attract unwanted attention to a parked vehicle, Alford said.

Don't confront a problem directly. Crime Watches should be conducted for the purpose of quickly reporting issues and disturbances to the police, not to take action.

Alford warned against making any attempts to confront someone either suspected of committing, or in the process of committing, a crime.

"The laws provide the guidance, and we will enforce those laws – if we can catch them in the act," he said.

For neighborhood resident Bert Marshall, a sense of safety can be achieved by the presence of an attentive community. Marshall said that citizens should not fear their own neighborhoods simply because of the presence of a few bad apples.

"Don't be afraid to walk the streets here. Chaparral Village is a very safe place to live, and I think it's just a matter of us becoming better neighbors to help make it safer," he said.

Chaparral Village standing up to crime

By Barrett Goldsmith Baytown Sun

Published June 17, 2008

About 35 residents from the Chaparral Village subdivision met this week at the home of a local resident to discuss ways to prevent and fight crime in the area, including a recent spate of car burglaries and late-night street racing.

Folks spilled out of the living room and up the stairs to hear Crime Watch leaders and Capt. David Alford, head of the community service bureau of the Baytown Police Department. All stressed the importance of remaining vigilant and taking steps to ensure the safety of every family.

“Basic crime prevention doesn’t change – it’s a mentality,” Alford said. “Remaining observant doesn’t mean being paranoid. Just be aware. And always lock those doors and keep those valuables out of sight.”

Alford said such community involvement was essential, helping the police department better execute its fundamental task of reducing and punishing crime.

“I hope they keep doing what they’re doing,” Alford said. “They need to continue meeting so they can continue to share information with each other and with the police department. That helps us find out what their needs are, and helps them understand our limitations. We tell everybody to call. We may not get to it right away, but we’ll get on it.”

The resident who hosted the event, who asked not to be identified because of family concerns, said the neighborhood will get serious about the “watch” in Crime Watch, perhaps creating patrols that will observe and report any suspicious activities.”

“But a lot of what we need to do are common sense things,” she said. “Don’t leave valuables in the car. Don’t have shrubs that are easy to hide in. Don’t leave ladders lying against the house. And keep your lights on.”

Increased lighting, both on the street and at Barkaloo Park, is a priority for residents of homes in the area, which number about 500. The park, said several residents, has been the site of drug deals and other criminal activity at night.

The crime stopping spirit of the neighborhood is embodied in perhaps its most prominent citizen, “Baytown” Bert Marshall, who began the Baytown Concerned Citizens group last year. Marshall is a longtime resident of Chaparral and hopes to stay there for a long time to come. On his web log, www.baytownbert.blogspot.com, he calls on his fellow residents to help in the cause.

“It boils down to what we as tax-paying home owners want to see when we look around our homestead,” Marshall said. “Do we want to stop crime before we are victimized or do we want to pretend it couldn’t happen to us? Are we willing to change the way we do things if it reduces the chance we will be robbed or targeted for criminal mischief?”

It appears that, for at least 35 people, the answer is yes.

The Peaceful Baytown Neighborhood

I stepped out onto my front porch to get my newspapers like I do every morning I am off work and surveyed my peaceful neighborhood. I love this place. Down the street are the usual array of lounging cats; a stealthy furry night predator of innocent birds and rodents not indigenous to this country, but somehow introduced and accepted. Are they a metaphor of present day Baytown? Maybe, but then again I may just be thinking too much…again.

Looking around I observe an ominous pinkish tinge in the clouds and the myriad bird sound imitations of the ever present mockingbird or birds. Who knows how many are out there this morning? It’s peaceful here and feels warm and inviting; a great place for a kid to play and ride their bike – or maybe it isn’t. Of course kids don’t rise at the crack of dawn these days to meet their buddies and play baseball, but sleep, weary from an all-nighter playing video games, so it remains quiet. That is fine with me. Quiet times in the neighborhood are something I enjoy more than I can explain.

Walking around to the back I disturb a bouncing and boisterous blue jay as it launches off the limb of my dwarf cherry laurel, one of my sunflower seeds in its beak. Is there a more arrogant bird in Harris County than the blue jay? They land with a thump and a bump like they own the place and grab what they want. There’s nothing neighborly or easy about them – all flash and pizzazz and some refer to them as robber jays, as they have been known to hop in and take what they haven’t earned.

What - not another analogy to crime and criminal activity? Could be, but this thought is probably just a side effect of the neighborhood watch meeting we had with Captain D. W. Alford of the Baytown Police Department Saturday evening. Instead of enjoying the company of his own neighbors and family, he willingly gave us three informative hours and we appreciated it.

It’s no secret I live in Chaparral Village and CV is typical of almost any neighborhood in the city including your own. What happens here is an indicator to everyone else of what is happening in their neck of the woods with few exceptions. What we do that may set us apart is a neighborhood watch program that is growing stronger each day and that means we are collectively seeing more stuff that used to go unnoticed. We are calling more and that is a good thing.

According to Captain Alford, other than the street racing issue, we have less crime now than other parts of town and a lot of that stems from residents taking precautions and calling the police when we see something suspicious. We are installing night motion lights and for the most part locking our garage doors. We are removing our electronics and pilferables from our cars, locking the doors and setting alarms. In short, we are taking away the initiative of thieves by changing our pattern of behavior. Yea, we are changing the way we do things.

I guess it boils down to what we as tax-paying home owners want to see when we look around our homestead. Do we want to abort crime before we are victimized or do we want to pretend it couldn’t happen to us? Are we willing to change the way we do things if it reduces the chance we will be robbed or targeted for criminal mischief?

We here in CV are bolstering our stance of using the police department as the first line of defense in the event that our preparation fails. We are not vigilantes, but we are being vigilant. Capt. Alford told our group that a good way to decide if a call to BPD is warranted is if something seems amiss, doesn’t feel right, or makes us suspicious – then by all means call, but before you do, get a reasonable description of the situation. Get an address location and be as specific as possible. Think of it this way: Imagine the dispatcher is not familiar with your area and try to explain so anyone can find it. Don’t assume a vague description will be adequate – prepare as much as possible before making the call.

We CV folks enjoy our neighborhood as much as the next subdivision and realize the burden of creating a positive place to raise our family lies on us as individuals as much as anything. We have to communicate and share information more. We have to meet for Neighbors Night Out in August. We have to watch out for each other and by doing this; we increase the odds of keeping the bad guys at bay.

I want to spend the rest of my days right here in beautiful and peaceful CV and that means keeping it beautiful and peaceful in the future. So, as long as my fellow denizens and I keep vigilant, we can look forward to many more morning newspaper deliveries, pretty blue jays, lazy kitty cat sightings and beautiful pinkish fluffy clouds.

Texas Summer too hot? – Nope!

I love summer. I love working when it's real hot and sunny bright. Even though my job requires wearing fire-retardant clothing, I actually find the heat and brilliant sunshine irresistible. When many are complaining about the high temps, I am out in it piddling, tinkering and just wandering around.

At home my bride and I sit on our patio and soak up the rays. We're seriously considering getting one of the Baytown Pool businesses to install an in-ground pool so we can enjoy the sunshine even more. I am open for recommendations if anyone thinks one is better than the other, as I do not want to send our money outside of the city if I can help it.

I was off for the better part of last week and had my mower running almost every day. I use the mower for exercise and when the sun is blasting away and the temperature is smoking hot, I want to feel the sweat running down my back. I even mow the pipeline behind my place and that adds a third of an acre to my sunny entertainment.

With the billowing clouds and burnished sun, we decided it was the perfect time to shovel and wheelbarrow eight yards of pine bark mulch into our flowerbeds (my bride told me it was perfect timing). I'm going to wait for another hot sunny day next week and get eight more yards to finish the job. I'm simply waiting for the work order to come down from my bride and anyway; I always need the exercise and what better way to get it than in the blistering sun with a shovel in my sweaty hands?

My bird feeders and birdbaths are a constant source of sunny entertainment and my usual seed offering runs about 3 pounds of wild bird mix and black oil sunflower seeds. This year we've had a bumper crop of squirrels and 2 in particular grace our patio. They're babies and about the size of sparrows. Truthfully I'm worried a cat or hawk will pick them off, they're so innocent and reckless, but I must let nature take its course. I learned this sad fact watching Meerkat Manor. Speaking of sad facts, my sweet little doggie of 14 wonderful years was finally laid to rest and we are just now recovering from her loss.

This past week I was delighted to see a pair of Mississippi Kites and an American Swallow-tailed Kite flying over the neighborhood. Up till then, I thought the only kite in the sky had a string attached to it. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was heavily seated in my wire rocking lawn chair, (which incidentally makes my gluteus area look like a waffle iron for all you lady readers, especially Granny Adcox out in Highlands) binoculars in hand, cool iced green tea on the table when to my surprise I identified a pair of crested Cara Cara, commonly known as the Mexican eagle, flying above. I got on the horn and called Sally Sherman at the nature center and she told me it was indeed a rarity. By the way, later on this year I plan to join Sally for the butterfly count – everyone is welcome to join us. Last years count can be found here.

I keep my bride annoyed/amused by calling out what airplanes and jets I see using my binoculars. "Can you believe that is a 747 way up there"? I say as I point. "That's a Continental Express Embraer mate" I imagine to offer in a thick Australian accent as I ponder the life of a WW2 island coast watcher. "Did you see that small jet over there? It had USAF markings on the wings"? It's non-stop important information on the patio.

Would you believe that I am harvesting delicious juicy tomatoes about the time that they are being recalled? Would you believe that I unfortunately do not have enough to share? True, true. Is it just me, or do big juicy homegrown tomatoes picked off the bush taste truly righteous when salt is sprinkled over them?

Ah folks, our summers are hot and muggy and at times unbearable, but the more time we spend outside the higher our quality of life.

Texas summers? Bring 'em on and I'll take the sunshine over our winters any day of the week.

BAYTOWN, TX (KTRK) -- Neighbors in a Baytown subdivision say they're living in fear.

By Andy Cerota

BAYTOWN, TX (KTRK) -- Neighbors in a Baytown subdivision say they're living in fear.

Nearly every weekend in the middle of the night and early morning hours, they are awakened by the sounds of roaring engines.

By day, life in Chaparral Village seems perfect enough. Children ride their bikes and neighbors take time out to socialize.

But at night, it's a whole other story.

"The main complaint we're having is this high speed Vin Diesel, Fast and Furious stuff that's happening all the time," said Bert Marshall who is concerned about the speeders.

Street racers have turned Chaparral Drive into their own personal speedway. That includes blasting music, taunting homeowners at all hours of the night. Residents fear it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

"We stand out in our yard and watch them fly through the stop sign doing at least 60 to 70 mph, not even slow down at all," said Sally Odom who is concerned about speeders.

What's more, they've managed to stay one step ahead of police.

"They congregate and each person gets their mission, you go check this area, you go check that area," said Capt. D.W. Alford of the Baytown Police Department. "From what we've received from witnesses, [the speeders] range anywhere from teenagers to 30, possibly 40-year-old people."

The head of community services, Baytown's Captain Alford is frustrated too. From marked patrols roving through the neighborhood to undercover surveillance, Alford says police have tried everything.

"We have just not been successful. We used MDT messaging, we stay off the radio, we use text messaging on phones," Captain Alford said.

It's so bad, residents say the speeders threatened violence against one of the homeowners.

"One of the cars stopped, got out and threw a brick at the window hitting the side of her house," said Marshall.

Residents who've been working with police are talking about setting up a video surveillance system of their own.

"So we can record their license plates and have something to turn over to the police," said Marshall. "We want it back. It's like a little war zone going on here on the weekends, we're tired of it."

Cost Cutters Slash Prison Food Budgets

(AP) Around the country, budget-cutting state officials are looking behind bars for savings - keeping prison buildings unoccupied, double-bunking inmates or laying off employees. Even the prison mess halls aren't exempt. Minnesota is considering following Virginia's lead in serving only two meals per day on weekends, calling one of them "brunch."

Texas prisons have been ordered to cut inmates' daily calories. The prison food proposals are among many cuts being considered as states struggle to balance their budgets. Thirty-four states have overspent their budgets for fiscal 2003, the National Conference of State Legislatures said last month, and 27 still have deficits to close before July 1. At least 19 are responding with plans to reduce prison budgets - and many are starting with the food tray.

Texas prisons have been ordered to cut inmates' daily calories from 2,700 per day to 2,500 in response to budget cuts, said Larry Todd, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Though a budget plan being considered by the Legislature could mean still more food-budget reductions, he said prisoners will continue to get nutritious meals.

BB: (I say misbehaving or violent prisoners be put on an 1800 calorie per day diet until they have 30 days correct behavior, with no access to other food).

My Birdseye View of Baytown

Last Monday my brother TJ Bustem and I drove down to the Memorial Day service at Bicentennial Park and listened to Army veteran George Rincon and others as they honored our fallen military brothers. PFC Wesley Riggs was left off the list by accident, but was remembered and honored. TJ Bustem and I attended the dedication of the memorial to him where it resides in Beach City. My hat is still off to this soldier hero and his family.

This was my first attendance at our Memorial Day service, but not my last and I talked with a number of folks and photographed the event and later published the photos on www.OurBaytown.com. We were moved to tears as we sang about our freedom and once again pledged allegiance to the flag of our great country. One young MROTC member in particular cried and I told them it was perfectly fine and to let the tears flow. As the photographs show, everyone was visibly moved and solemn and all should attend this memorial service in the future. It is another fine example of good things to do in our city.

Well, we Chaparral Village folks, although abnormally above average in intelligence (just ask anyone over here) set our recyclables on the curb last Thursday as instructed by the label on the side of the blue recycle bin and fully expected someone to pick them up by 7am. We are all about recycling and dang-nabit, we didn’t particularly care if the program hadn’t started yet. After 2 days I put mine back in the garage till next Thursday so I wouldn’t appear to be one of the “Village People”.

They’ve finally striped McKinney Road! Hooray! The road was resurfaced a couple of months ago and instead of stripes, there were yellow reflective tabs sticking up in the middle of the road. Seeing those tabs on the solid black surface was hardly comforting at night and since there is no shoulder – read none – the road appeared less than safe to travel on, especially at night or in the rain. I’ve asked the city to install culverts and at least one sidewalk on this stretch of road because there is always foot or bike traffic and folks are forced to walk in the road. I was told there is no money available for this project.

Here’s one for consideration: Try riding a bicycle on our streets and you will know how Bear Grylls feels when he free-falls out of a hot air balloon over a remote part of the world. It’s the same experience and I promise you will feel the same sense of dying that this man feels in every episode of Born Survivor. Our roads have no shoulder or bike lane for the most part and every trek on a bicycle may be your last. Welcome to Baytown bike riders!

I don’t like to air Baytown’s dirty laundry on Houston television, but it was time to drop a line to Andy Cerota - the ABC13 crime reporter and someone well versed with our past crime problems. He called yesterday and I spilled the beans.

The Houston Speedway is evidentially inspiring Street Racing in Baytown, or maybe it’s the video game Grand Theft Auto – one way or another organized groups of racers blast down Chaparral Drive every weekend, flying through 4-ways stops, skidding around corners, music blaring and with bottles in hand they dash them against the road surface and brick homes and taunt homeowners. The incidents usually start just after dark and continue until about 3am.

As if on cell phone cue the bombardment begins and ends only to repeat 45 minutes later. This Friday night, one alert homeowner recorded the action. The vehicles involved are as follows: Motorcycles (2), Silver Van, Silver Extended cab Truck, Red 4-door sedan, White 2-door economy car, Silver Single-Cab Truck, Beige Malibu, Burgundy Acura, Burgundy Ford Explorer, Dark Green Ford Explorer and a Red 2-door sports car.

This is no small incident folks and we here are all afraid someone will be killed in a terrible collision.

I like to walk the trail system at Walter Jenkins Memorial Park. I like it so much that I’ve asked the City Manager to let me in on planning the trail when the new section is developed. The beautiful path meanders past the new Skate Park and until recently, it was unmarked with graffiti (which was removed yesterday). Graffiti is not art - period. It is defacing public or private property by outlaw idiots posing as respectable artists who have no regard for the law or social propriety. Graffiti sprayers should be beaten with a rattan cane by a bona fide Singapore caning expert, kept on retainer by the City.

If a person were caught spraying graffiti and caned, they would assuredly retire from tagging for the rest of their natural born life, as one Texas boy used to say. Severe? Heck yes it’s severe, but isn’t that the idea? You do the crime – you pay the fine and we Americans need to demand pain as punishment and forget making the parents fork over dollars for crimes their teenagers commit.

I recommend this course of action for criminal mischief convictions. Cane them and then force them to make civil restitution. If a child, teen or adult makes the ridiculous claim that they did not know right from wrong, then after their caning - cane the parents too...

Do You Hate Gas Prices? Blame Yourself

It seems that nothing can stop the galloping gas prices. Blame the stubborn Congress that refuses to allow the drilling in the Atlantic and the Gulf of Alaska. Blame the vicious Arabs who keep the price at an artificially high level by greedily stocking their resources in their own countries. But first and foremost blame yourself.

If we are to believe the latest news, Brazil may soon become one of the world leading oil exporters. In April, the Associated Press informed that researchers had found an underground deposit of some 33 billion barrels of oil, three times as much as the country had possessed until then. Only last year, a national company discovered some 8 billion barrels in another location hidden deeply under the seabed. Unlike Arab states, Brazil plans to export most of the oil in order to hold down the skyrocketing gas prices.

It would be a mistake, however, to hope that we will again pay $2 per gallon. Financial experts predict that unless the world major oil exporters significantly increase their production, gas prices will not tumble or even stabilize. Short-term solutions such as the proposed drilling in the Gulf of Alaska or the suspension of federal gas tax will not help. If anything, they could only enrage consumers when after several months of relative improvement at gas stations they will have to pay more when the additional resources have been digested.

The painful truth is that we, consumers, are to blame for the present $4 per gallon. We drive more than our grandparents and even if contemporary cars burn less gas than a couple of decades ago, the difference is still too thin to compensate the shortages of oil on the world market. Moreover, Americans now have to compete with consumers from China, India, and other fast developing countries that we could hardly find on the map twenty years ago. It is easy to imagine what may happen to the world market when one billion people in China scrap their primitive bicycles and roll into the narrow roads with their new, big cars.

Some thought that biofuels would save us from bankruptcy. Enriched with plant extracts, biofuels were to make cars not only environmentally friendly, but also cheaper in maintenance as more plants meant less oil. But what looked like a miraculous solution now turns into disaster with much of Africa and Asia starving. Farmers quickly smelled that growing biofuel plants was very profitable and soon large paddies of rice gave way to the fields of linen and algae. The fact that millions of people have nothing to eat derives from the green policies of the European Union and United States.

With all its political and military might, the United States seems hopeless when it comes to controlling gas prices. With most of its gas reserves used up, the world sole superpower depends heavily on such unpredictable countries as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Iran. The oil crisis from the late 1970s was a painful lesson but it hasn't taught us anything. We are more oil hungry than ever.

Krzys Wasilewski is a NewsBlaze journalist, particularly interested in history and literature that expands his love of travel and historical curiosity. If you have any comments or suggestions, please write to: krzys.wasilewski@yahoo.com.

Should the government make us drive 38mpg cars?

I firmly believe Americans should make an adjustment to their lifestyles and leave the government out of it. In other words, if Detroit wants to sell a 6500 pound ten-cylinder Hemi vehicle which gets 6 mpg, then I think that is just fine and if someone wants to own and drive and pay for that sucker, go ahead. This would become the rich mans vehicle, like the 427 Cobra of my early youth.

However, if Americans take responsibiltiy for their own actions and realize if they keep buying these vehicles, Detroit will keep making them and the opposite is true too. We have to have a paradigm shift. Our obsession with horse power should be relegated to those who can truly afford it instead of every Tom, Dick or Harry with a line of credit.

If we Americans demand a better product by NOT buying these poor mileage vehicles, then Detroit will get the message and make a product that will get the mpg we will settle for. They make and sell these gas-guzzlers because we continue to buy them, not because they are the only vehicle available.

One of the main problems with us is we are constantly bombarded with high horse power demonstrations on TV and the media. We buy into it and in fact we believe it. The other day a friend spent almost $20,000 on a new motorcycle with 1600cc's because he was tired of paying for gas. Do the math on that decision.

Most of our roads are full of vehicles going so fast that if you tried to drive an older vehicle on the road you would never get up to speed before you were rear-ended. Another case comes to mind concerning this H.P. business. About 4 years ago, a New Mexico Highway Patrolman clocked a 2.6 liter stock 2004 Hundai Sonata doing in excess of 140 mph on the desert highway. How much H.P. do we need in our vehicles anyway? We are blatantly manipulated by commercials of cars skidding sideways and whipping around the roads and we don't even know it.

Realize here I am not talking about hotrod hobbyists, but daily drivers and I'm talking about we Americans educating ourselves on our wasteful lifestyles, not to mention we are pumping gas straight into the billfolds of OPEC.

A good 5-cent cigar

This past Thursday while I was seated in the Control Room with my fellow Operators, the normally rambling and desultory conversation became animated and yes - ugly. It regularly turns ugly, as Operators by natural selection tend to be rather assertive. This does not mean our words were hostile, just highly opinionated and…righteous, as we all like to believe we have a good eye on whatever it is we are discussing, especially if it is about sports and politics.

As a side note, I don't do sports or offer an opinion on sports figures, so I usually stay out of anything resembling inside info when sports are discussed and I guess this appears a bit odd, but that's just the way it is. I appreciate sports and realize they are an important form of entertainment for many, but to me there are other things more significant than memorizing statistics and obsessing over the particular physical talents of a jock (literally or figuratively – you decide what I mean).

This particular day the conversation turned to the current exorbitant cost of gasoline/diesel, groceries and animal feed. Our entire government was viciously blamed for failing us and many valid points were cussed and discussed. So much cussing was interjected in fact, that if those words would have been deleted, it would have looked like this: "Our #$%^& government is #$%^& us in the #$%^& and if something isn't #$%^& done immediately, then #$%^& and #$%^& I'm going to #$%^&.

I pretty much abstain from that form of conversation, but the points brought out in this fashion were valid and reflected the deep resentment and bitterness felt by those expressing them. One fellow claimed that if our government would simply force the price of fuel back down to a reasonable level, Americans would regulate their consumption until a cheaper fuel or alternative method of locomotion became available.

From personal experience based on the late 70's early 80's, I knew this to be untrue. Americans will only conserve fuel and change their driving habits when fuel becomes scarce – not because it is expensive. Until then folks will simply pay whatever it costs and then, as if they had a full belly, forget they had been hungry. Americans are users and we use like there is no tomorrow. We are also great and regular rewarders of ourselves. We want it and we get it. We deserve it.

Tom Davenport, a good friend of mine from Dayton, reluctantly admits he has reached the limit on the cost of diesel fuel and the high cost of animal feed. He doesn't feel it is profitable at these prices to keep feeding his cows and livestock, which he enjoys. Once the livestock is gone, there is no reason to keep his big Ford 9N tractor and related equipment. He won't need his 3/4 ton 4X4 diesel pick-up, trailers and even his bigger sized boat will then need to be down-sized and so the list is growing daily of items in his personal inventory that he feels have become a liability. He grudgingly admits he will have to rethink his lifestyle and he is only one of many who are taking steps to adjust. Even the 43 mile commute from Liberty county to work has become an issue and many of my coworkers live in Winnie and that is 12 miles further down the road.

I offered (what I feel are valid) counter-points and some of them went like this: We have enjoyed a fairly long run of prosperity in this country and we have accumulated a lot of oversized and in some cases extravagant toys, trucks/cars, homes, boats, RV's, ATV's, vacations, tons of electronic gadgets and currently subscribe to all kinds of services and no one appears to remember that just a few short years ago, it wasn't like this at all. We all used to drive older work trucks and had one family car instead of, well, look in your driveway and many folks planted a yearly garden.

These days a work truck is about $35,000 and one year old.

In times of fiscal prosperity, all of these extra goodies and over-sized and over-priced items are perfectly normal expenditures, but when lean times come, no one should attempt to keep them to the point that they fall by the wayside. Cut these services and sell off all the extra stuff in your life before it overwhelms you and you will survive just fine. Downsize in times of leanness, because you can always repurchase when everything is affordable.

U.S. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall said to a U.S. Senate clerk, "What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar." At the time, he was speaking about current economic woes, but his words are apropos of today's market. We demand a fix and we need it now if we are going to continue the lifestyle most of us are addicted to. We will have our cake and by all that's American, eat it too.

We either need cheap fuel of some kind, or a device that bolts onto our current vehicle, which will boost our mpg numbers significantly. We need to stop converting food grains into biofuels if that is going to drive up the price of grain making farming and husbandry impossibly expensive…or (gasp!) we need to change our habits, tighten our belts, adapt and overcome.

Americans historically have adjusted in times of trouble, but sadly we have always been whacked right in the schnozzle before we did so. We have stubbornly believed in our own superiority when all indicators point to the opposite and ignoring China and India's guaranteed developing appetite for fossil fuels, we blindly assume gas prices will return to their former low dollar per gallon price.

Take a look around as you drive our streets and you will see brand new paper plates on large pick-ups and SUV's, as people continue to buy, buy and buy as if the gas crunch is a passing cloud. There is even an Excel spreadsheet floating around in cyberspace, which shows you how you can "save" by parking your big rig and buying a 38-mile per gallon economy car with the "savings". How in the world can you save by buying? You save by selling that parked rig and THEN buying. Parking the big rig is a major assumption that gas/diesel prices are going to drop back down below $2.50 per gallon and they are not.

It could be said it is a sad day when folks like my friend will no longer be able to roll on as before, but in my opinion it's time for we Americans to adapt to a different lifestyle before we are slapped silly and moved into a second world position. Ever so often we have to change course in this American dream of ours to stay in the lead and that time is now.

What in the world is going on?

I tuned in to the Glenn Beck Show Friday afternoon to watch an interview with William Shatner, the actor who is currently on Boston Legal, but is known to many as Captain Kirk, of the Starship Enterprise. What an interesting man! I don’t know what his appeal is exactly, but he definitely appeals to many and from multiple generations.

Glenn Beck is just as entertaining to me, so I figured this would be interesting. It was for the most part. Glenn’s usual delivery is basically scripted and as fine of a performance as Hollywood or New York can generate, albeit appearing to be spontaneous and maybe some of it is, so the interview, which wasn’t scripted jumped around a bit.

Mr. Shatner is 77 years young (it appears) and as Glenn Beck put it, gaining steam. He looks to be in his 60’s and is full of piss and vinegar, to shamelessly use a phrase that best describes him - blame Grampa from John Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath for the vulgar sounding expression, if you must.

Mr. Shatner is concerned with the sad state of affairs here in our U.S.A. and since Mr. Shatner is Canadian, Glenn Beck delved into the reasons for his concern. Well, it turns out William Shatner from the time of his youth has seen our country the same way I have and still do - a land of freedom and opportunity and free for the harvesting by anyone willing to work for it. I like the man.

He is worried about the over-population of the Earth, something most Americans for the last 30 years have not really been guilty of. Most of us have simply replicated ourselves with two children or maybe three. Not so our neighbors to the South who are still birthing children like there is no tomorrow and a lot of them across our border. I blame it on the dominant religion of the countries and their belief that birth control is sinful.

Well, guess what? William Shatner is right about over-population and the reduction of our resources, because they are tied together as sure as Forrest Gump’s peas and carrots, but not because of we Americans, but because of the multitude of people breaching our borders and in numbers that stagger the imagination.

People who are loyal to Mexico and other Latin American countries - not this country, are diluting whole areas that used to be dominated by AMERICAN citizens with American values, as ethnically diverse at that may be. Yes, we live within 6 or 7 hours of the Mexican border, I know that and there is always a certain amount of exchange of cultures when areas meet, but how can we explain the very same phenomenon all across this great country?

We fine American citizens, thanks to Planned Parenthood and other zero growth organizations have diminished our growth numbers almost into extinction. If a husband and wife birth two children, the law of attrition plainly reveals that this is less than replacement, but an actual decline.

Close to 25% of all the children under the age of 5 in this country are the direct result of the influx of Hispanic minorities according to the United States Census Bureau. Our meager growth rate of .88% (as opposed to the average World growth rate of 1.16%) is mostly being bolstered by many people whose first loyalty is not even to the USA. According to the Population Reference Bureau, fully one half of the US population growth is Hispanic. While most Americas have been limiting our numbers for the sake of responsible growth, our neighbors to the south haven’t received the message. We Americans have bred ourselves into the minority and risk losing our identity, culture and language. Heck, we are losing our country.

Is it any wonder that Spanish is becoming a commonly heard language everywhere? Am I attacking Mexican Nationals? Do I hate Hispanics? What about their delicious food? Should I get rid of my Chihuahua?

Please. Understand where all of this is going before you brand me as anti-anything other than a red-blooded American. I am an American citizen of the United States of America - FIRST. My interest in this country is putting this country first, not second or third. If my neighbor is law abiding and ethnically and culturally different than me, that’s okay - but my neighbor needs to have America’s best interest at heart. If any country puts the security and future of this country in jeopardy, I am for bombing it back to the Stone Age.

Our system can only support so many freeloaders and it surely doesn’t need to support vampires, leaches and downright criminals from any other country, especially inside our borders. We need a politician who will fight to have the law changed to boot out any illegal alien/immigrant and their children, yes I said their children. If they come across our border to birth their children, then the child should go back where it came from with the mother.

We have grown weak and limp-wristed in every area trying to appease those who have long forgotten that a good paddling does more to correct a kid’s behavior than a thousand time-outs in a corner somewhere. It’s time to put the hammer down and as the great Democratic candidate and savior of the world Barrack Obama has said repeatedly "Enough is enough"!

Caregivers are God’s Gift to Mankind

For the last week, I’ve been under a doctor’s care for bronchitis, which as everyone knows is simply the inflammation of the membranes lining the bronchial tubes. It came over me in about 24 hours and rapidly made it almost impossible to breath. The asthma-like symptoms of bronchitis are alarming and debilitating. Any activity at all leaves a person gasping for air and for the first time in my life I am using an asthma inhaler. I suspect the underlying cause in all of this discomfort is this year’s heavy pollen count.

About the time this malady struck, I witnessed my little doggie convulsing in the side yard. I let her out to chase a cat and being fourteen years old; my doggie has a poor track record of success, so the cat is never in danger (as if cats actually fear most dogs). After a couple of minutes I called her in and that is when I observed her distress.

As all pet lovers know, seeing your baby convulsing is as traumatic as all get out, if I can use that old Southern saying. To those who do not understand how a human being can become attached to an animal and treat it like one of their best behaved family members, I submit pity to you for missing out on one of God’s greatest blessings and I say that kindly and without malice. To me, my dog is my best little unassuming friend.

So, here I am, a normally healthy and still semi-virile man, barely able to breath and get around, carrying my obviously sick and whimpering dog into the house, muttering feeble attempts at comfort and all of this on a Saturday afternoon, when the nearest open animal hospital is on the Gulf Freeway. I did what any self-respecting American in 2008 would do; I went to the Internet to attempt to find the cause of my doggie’s suffering.

I thought she had had a stroke and seeing that the best care was TLC (tender loving care), I made her as comfortable as possible until Dr. Cynthia Lipps could take a look-see come Monday morning. My daughter Melody brought Muffin to the Archer Road Animal Hospital and low and behold, it wasn’t a stroke at all, but Canine Vestibular Disease or what is commonly called old dog syndrome and Muffy was admitted for treatment and more TLC.

Right about this time, we receive a phone call from my son Nick in Austin. His car was broken into while he was studying for finals and his driver’s window was broken, radio, IPOD, backpack and yes, his wallet are all taken. He is in a major bind – out of gas with no way to access his bank account, I’m sick as my dog, my daughter is stressed out over our dog and her finals and generally working full time at Uruku/Skoogies Salon and attending Lee College, so it all falls on my bride to pull us through.

She’s used to all this care giving stuff, as she is… Mom. She and her sister Tammy take care of their mother at Green Acres Nursing home on a regular basis, washing her hair and combing it, doing her laundry, sneaking in an occasional candy bar and comforting her in her old age. Now I know that women feel stress, as I’m married to one and I regularly stress her out with my uncouth behavior, but Mom’s have a built-in ability to handle stress that would cripple a grown (read growed if you live in Liberty County) man and render him useless (or more useless according to many).

It’s been a long week for us here in the Marshall Fam, but as is always the case, everything works itself out. I’m breathing much easier and only have about five more days of antibiotics to go. Finals for both kiddos have come and went with good grades. Nick has resurfaced identity intact and access to all his old documents and the car window is repaired. Muffin is making daily progress and we are optimistic about a full recovery.

Mom is shouldering it all like a true matriarch and the de facto head of this little family. Moms everywhere, you are the best.