Current events should baffle the educated

I am a news addict and I’m a progressive/conservative/libertarian voter. By this I mean I vote what I think is best regardless of which party is pushing which agenda. If you read my columns, you have figured this out. I am not for the far Right and I sure as heck ain’t for the far Left. I look at how these professional politicians have voted, not what comes out of their mouth.

Mrs. Clinton, who astoundedly has did most everything wrong, now comes out against something that would create thousands of jobs. She was vaguely for it until now. The Labor unions even endorse it. It’s the Keystone Pipeline and it would put money in the pockets of many Texans and food on their table. Now before you jump all over this, look back on the feet dragging for Alaska Pipeline fiasco that made us dependent on OPEC oil.

In his book “Fundamentals of the Petroleum Industry”, Robert O. Anderson, the wild-cat oil man who formed ARCO Chemical Company explained how environmentalists screamed foul and all of it was as hollow as a corn-cob pipe stem. The environmental evisceration carbon footprint simply did not pan out and we went through 45 plus years of Saudi dominance because we failed to build it immediately missing the opportunity.

Sure, we built it… ten years later. Environmentalists screamed to high heaven about how the herd animals would not walk under the pipeline, so every so often a giant expansion joint was added so they could cross. Guess what? They walked under all of it. While everything was at a halt awaiting legal finagling, which lasted years, the thousands of machines had to be ran to keep them from freezing up and the cost of all this was laid on the project.

“President Barack Obama is expected to make a decision in coming months on the (Keystone) pipeline that has been pending for seven years. The White House declined to comment on Clinton's position on Keystone.”  7 years?  Seriously? We have an administration that can’t make a call of something as big as this for 7 years?

The man can make a call on everything from sports to people being beaten by cops in seconds. What’s the problem?

President Obama continues to rip apart tradition in this country, alienating the masses to placate the few. Ask almost anyone and they will tell you the same thing. Everything from smooching up to communist Cuba, to inviting the Pope here is his pleasure. Throw in recommending we appoint an openly gay civilian to running our Army and you have an astounding Presidency that openly pushes the lunatic fringe ahead of they typical voter. 

I am old enough to remember the hesitancy of this country to elect JFK because he was Catholic. If you are a student of history, you will understand why and I’m not going to try to educate anyone here on this. That’s what Google is for. By the way, can I end a sentence with “for” and get away with it?

How is it some of our educators cannot see how bizarre this Democratic Party has become? When according to the latest Gallup Pole, only3.8% of the US population is gay, transgender, etc. How is it that an openly gay man is the most qualified person to lead an Army that 10 years ago he had to be undercover to even be in? God help us if Obama wants him to lead the Marine Corps.

Am I against gay people? No. That’s not even the point. The point is the current administration is going to great lengths to placate the few in spite of what the majority thinks or wants. The majority is not even considered in most cases. It’s almost as if the man checks to see what is open for radical change and heads straight for it.

There is open season on Christians. Muslims, anti-police groups, fringe elements and almost everyone else are hugged with giddy abandon by this administration.  Take the kid who simply disassembled a clock and put it in a suitcase as an example. Only morons, imbeciles, and idiots wouldn’t think this looked like a bomb, but yet he gets an invitation to the White House immediately and is hailed as a “Science” guy.  Never mind that he also happens to be a Muslim and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wants to buddy up with him.

“Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great. — President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015”

Imagine this boy bringing this “clock” into the White House prior to this incident.  He would have been slammed down on the floor immediately and the bomb squad called in.  In the news release there would be no mention of his religion, unless he was Apostolic. Then he would have been thrown in with that other “wacko” Kim Davis.

On another note, if my birth certificate was in question, I would simply publish it instead of letting folks guess – wouldn’t you? Geeze, I’m just a guy here in Baytown; not the President of the United States, but like Hillary and her email server, Obama would rather keep people guessing. Why? Because he can get away with it. You try something like that and you’ll be held in contempt and jailed.

The only thing this President has done that I agreed with was calling Kanye West an idiot when he jumped on stage to announce Beyonce should have beat Taylor Swift. The truth is he should have kept his mouth shut, as that was simply not Presidential. Our President is supposed to represent the bulk of this country. He is not a king or a demigod. He simply does not represent me as a voter. His only claim to fame is he presents himself well and that doesn’t stack up to a whole lot. Look at Joe Biden’s smile as an example of a hollow gesture. If I met Joe at a car dealership, I would run.

No, I don’t understand how any educated person can see that this is the direction our country needs to go or has gone so far. Health insurance premiums and prescription drug costs are through the roof. I want someone in the big house who can make these costs realistic. I want to see racial tension ease and our police forces returned to a place of respect. I want to feel like there is a future in this country and that is the person I will vote for.

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Carl's Jr. tops my list of burgers

I've yet to find a MAJOR hamburger chain to match Carl's Jr. YMMV and I want to know what you think. I used to really think JIB was good, but they have went downhill. I stopped in Kerrville and ate a burger at Wendy's and it was disappointing also. Surprisingly DQ's Beltbuster is very very good. Okay, I know someone will post about a local place, but that is not what this is about. Its about your take on a MAJOR chain. Opinions?

What if The Donald actually wins?

What if the impossible actually happens and Donald John Trump becomes President of the United States? Will this be the end of the America as we all know it? Will everything go to Hades in a hand basket? Will The Donald make us a laughing stock for the rest of the world because he’s not a dyed in the wool slippery politician?

If elected, will he continue the politically correct trend of neutralizing anything and everything that could/would/might offend even one person?  Under President Trump will we rename the White House to something less offensive? Will people start naming their baby boy and girl children Donald or John because gender shouldn’t be an issue? Will the gardening term “green thumb” be found to be racist?

If Trump runs the White House the way Chemical Engineers and accountants run Exxon-Mobil, it should work as far as our economy goes.  Albeit, it would hurt like the Dickens for a while as they jerked the economy around - but remember Reaganomics?  Folks hated Reagan back in 1982 for correcting the Jimmy Carter idea of what America should look like.  Sound familiar?  It should, because we are currently experiencing the downside of fuzzy planning.

There is no doubt Donald Trump is a financial wizard and frankly, our politicians on both sides of the fence has decimated our finances.  Our finances. They’ve promised to give away more money than we have and borrowed it to fulfill their promises.  Their solution hasn’t been sound either, as they’ve raised taxes to cover it. Why not just quit spending? That’s what my bride and I do when we don’t have extra cash.

It is as if they cannot see the obvious when almost the whole country is clamoring for them to stop spending. Ockham’s razor folks.  “In the absence of differences in predictive ability—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better.”  In other words, stop spending and the problem will go away! 

Trump's big challenge would be to surround him with intelligent people and then let them do their jobs without a Jerry Jones attitude of micromanagement. This would be difficult for him and I’m sure it would stunt any cancerous growth in government… Wait, what did I just say?  Shoot, maybe that is the answer after all.

Franklin Roosevelt wanted Harry Truman for a VP because Old Harry was a nobody and FDR didn’t plan on giving him any leash at all.  After FDR died, cursin’ Harry stepped in and did what no one else would have believed possible – he won the war and ran the country and he did it pretty danged well.  Most people don’t know that before he got into politics and he owned a five and dime-size clothing store.

Maybe we need a non-professional politician in the number one seat.  Maybe it’s time to elect someone who will do what is good for the United States over openly placating and bowing to the whole world. Maybe it’s high time we voted in a person who Putin wonders what in the world they will do on almost anything. I do believe the spin machine has everyone believing we need to reelect the same old same old and rocking the boat with anything else is too scary to consider.

The Donald is promising to cut through the baloney and create jobs and this appeals to everyone who wants to work, regardless of race or creed. He’s not afraid to ad lib and doesn’t give a hoot about a script and most of us find this amazingly refreshing. The Blue and Red are scared to death of him, as neither group of professional politicians can control him and this is another big plus for us.

Like I’ve said in the past, anyone they can’t control they demonize. Will he make mistakes?  Sure. Is he scary and unpredictable?  Yup. Will other world leaders try to bully him?  Maybe once.

In the coming months, they will do everything they can to discredit Mr. Trump.  They will compare him to Dan Quayle and explain how out of touch he is with the reality of running a government. They will call him an airbag of smoke and a buffoon and all because he is a major threat to them.

The Donald might have started this as a joke, but it isn’t now and he’s not going away. He doesn’t need lobbyist dollars and won’t promise favors to anyone. Wow, what a concept in American politics! Our Country is a business and he’s a successful businessman. Nope, Donald Trump isn’t going to suddenly back down and hand off an endorsement.  He’s seriously running for President.

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I wish I had a solution to all this mess.

I am not against immigration. I am against immigrants putting the country they left ahead of this country. Whole parts of the country are being converted into areas where English is not even spoken, let alone learned. The old country customs and way of life is pushed ahead of learning to become Americans. When this continuous influx of migrants happens, it changes the demographics of an area forever. Note I am referring to legal immigration here.

Germany is experiencing this very thing where over 30,000 refugees are being resettled. Germans are

welcoming these masses with open arms. I think five years from now they’ll wonder what in the heck they were thinking. The demographic change will be a mixture of religion and customs and

permanently change the community where they move.

This was what happened to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of Hispanic workers

moved to the area to rebuild it — and never left. What was once a predominately solid culture of Louisiana cooking and customs suddenly became a town full of taquerias.

Am I against Hispanic workers?

No, I am making a point about demographic change. Many of the immigrants who are flooding into Europe come from the Fertile Crescent region of the Earth. This is the oldest civilized area in the world and yet they are preying upon each other like black ants against red. With all of their thousands of years of history, they can’t find peace.

Today is Sept. 11, 14 years after that fateful day when Islamic jihadists attacked the United States. Now, 14 years later, we as a country are more fractured than ever. We have open season on our police departments, no faith in our politicians, and a tanking economy. If you don’t believe me, look at your savings account. I told my bride that every time our country goes to war, the country we try to liberate comes home with our troops.

When the planes hit the twin towers, you hardly saw an American man with a shaved head and a

beard. Look around you now. Today, it’s not uncommon to see a covered Muslim woman or a mosque. I can’t recall seeing either prior to the attacks.I’ve long ago figured out that skin color means nothing, but customs do. The old tried and proven Mom, apple pie, and the Bible days are a thing of the past.

The old security of a stable family is gone, as many people have been married three or more times

and have kids scattered all over. No one can have a traditional family reunion, because their ex would be there.

I guess we are all to blame for messing up our country. That’s what our political leaders want us to believe, because it sure as heckire ain’t their fault. They are hell-bent on dropping in more and more immigrants into locales that will be smothered by the sheer numbers.

According to various news sources, immigrants accounted for 13 percent of the total 316 million

U.S. residents; adding the U.S.-born children (of all ages) of immigrants

means that approximately 80 million people or one-quarter of the overall U.S. population, is either of

the irst or second generation.OK, we are talking legal immigrants only with all these numbers.

What are the chances that an illegal immigrant wants to assimilate? My guess is very low, as staying

under the radar would probably be a good strategy.

I wish I had a solution to all this mess. Hillary and Joe have come out saying they believe they can ix

what Obama has done. I’m not sure there is a reset button anyone can push. Maybe The Donald can do it.

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Concerning Kim Davis

Here is my understanding of what took place with Kim Davis and we share beliefs. She is Apostolic and I am Oneness Pentecostal- same-same.

She swore to perform her office, but when the law changed, she appealed to be allowed to let others in her office sign the paperwork, citing her beliefs. She was denied. The outcome was inevitable if she stuck to her guns - which she did.

The final outcome is what she originally asked for and that is what is so stupid about all of this.
I truly believe the people in power and in our court system are doing everything possible to bend over backwards to meet the demands of all the other religions, but doing the opposite if a fundamentalist Christian throws up a red flag.

Evidence is all over the place the way they force Islam down the throat of this country, trangenderism, or atheism while pushing anything resembling Christian teaching as unconstitutional, bigoted, racist, or ignorant.

The First aMendment right concerning religion is so obvious, I can't for the life of me understand how it can be interpreted ambiguously by our courts and politicians.
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The irony of awareness campaigns

Our society has become inundated with symbolic awareness movements in the last decade. From pink this and that for breast cancer to toy runs for kiddos and a plethora of organized outings for returning Veterans and list goes on and on ad finem – out there somewhere. Of course, there is no real end, because more causes are added each day.

It’s confusing to me for the most part. Sure, I understand how wearing pink reminds people that breast cancer kills and ruins people’s lives; I’m just not convinced that wearing pink will make a dimes worth of difference, seeing how it’s become common. I’m not sure that the person wearing it has contributed a single dime to fight the disease or if they are wearing it and making no connection to the cause.

5 new "causes to join" in one day on my Facebook

Take for instance the car in front of you with the Christian symbol of a fish and you watch how they drive and wonder what kind of association there is between the two. Don’t get me wrong on what I am writing here. I believe in supporting causes; I really do, but when a symbol of a movement becomes hip and cool, it loses all the momentum it fought so hard to get.

After 9-11 happened, I bought a pair of those yellow ribbons and magnetically attached them to our vehicles. I also put up Old Glory in my yard as did almost everyone. I wanted folks around me to know that I was supportive of our government and our troops.

Yellow ribbons became so profuse that they quit selling, so enterprising merchants came out with 50 variations and suddenly, there were ribbons for every cause. I took our two ribbons off our vehicles, but a year later, I was still flying my flag. Sadly, only a few yards out of hundreds continued to show support this way. They had ribbons a plenty though, because it had become hip to have them. Some cars had rows of every imaginable ribbon including the camouflaged ones.

Now here is the real irony in this awareness business.

We are living in a time where people are so distracted, they can’t even drive their car without fooling (in the true sense of the word) with their phones, adjusting their undecipherable media system, eating everything from a plate of spaghetti (an actual sighting by one of my brothers), or rubber-necking.  This is the short list.

Coming home from Houston the other day, a woman in the car next to me, while doing 75 miles per hour, was driving with her knees and eating a bowl of food with her hands using a fork. I constantly wonder if most of the people around me got their drivers license illegally, because they surely don’t know how to safely operate anything larger than a tri-cycle – and that may be a stretch.

We are distracted by everything from our phones dinging, ringing, or Lady Gaga’s ringtone to figuring out which campaign we will support next. In the meantime we watch TV and sit though the stupidest programs and commercials they can dream up. There must be a prerequisite in programming that it has to insult the intelligence of a 5^th grader before it gets the go ahead. We are like dunces without the pointed cap, allowing ourselves to be manipulated 24-7. Our politicians are no help in clearing up anything and most of us think they don’t represent us anyway, so why listen to them?

There is an astoundingly stupid post on Facebook that asks the question “if you would be willing to be unplugged for 3 months, you could win 3 million dollars!” I think it may be a hypothesis, but I haven’t seen any takers either. 

On any given day I observe people texting as they drive.  I don’t have to wait more than a few minutes and I will see it. Usually they are the first car at the red light and don’t go when it turns green. So tell me; how can we be a nation who is aware of all these causes and we can’t even get it through our thick heads that texting and driving will kill or maim us and those driving around us?  We can believe in the long range effect of carrying a ruck sack on our back for a 10 mile hike and showing support of police officers, but we can’t stop texting while driving?

How can we be so blind to the obvious, but optimistic about something that may or may not have a lasting effect?

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Ashley Madison Hack an Unrighteous Act!

Have you known a person who successfully quit smoking cigarettes and goes on what can only be labeled as a righteous campaign against smoking? They become almost militant and openly complain that the mere smell of cigarette smoke over-powers their sensitive nose holes. They want everyone to stop smoking and voice this opinion every chance they get.

Never mind that just months ago they were equally indignant when anyone even suggested that their cigarette smoke was repugnant. There is often nothing more intolerant than a reformed person.

This is the only logical reason hackers would out the adults who have paid to look for extra-marital affairs on AshleyMadison.com in my opinion. They must have either been the victim of adultery, or repented from it – and now they want to expose all the consenting adults who are active in what society deems immoral activity. They claim it was for poor business practices.

“The hackers who took responsibility for Ashley Madison's data breach have said they attacked the website in an effort to close it down as punishment for collecting a $19 fee without actually deleting users' data.” Yea, right. That’s why they committed this crime.

Now, extortionists are coming out of the mud like money-ravenous leeches, hungry to black-mail AM.com subscribers or they will expose the filthy-minded prurient transgressors.

“Extortionists are now sending messages to the publicized e-mail addresses, demanding a payment of several hundred dollars in bitcoin, threatening to otherwise send their personal information to their significant others.”

The hackers see themselves as righteous bastions of good, when in fact they should serve time for hacking into a secure server. Their behavior and actions are greater transgressions than those they are outing. The proof is it is not illegal to have an affair, but hacking is.

Let me go on record and say I never heard of this website before it appeared in the news.  My email address is not one of the 39 million addresses exposed. I would like to say I lead a spotless life of a born again Christian, but I have failed at it so many times, I will get into heaven by God’s grace alone. I have a saying that any man who thinks he can handle more than one woman is either deceived, an idiot, or lives in Utah.

I have a good woman I’ve loved for 38 years and I know enough about what goes on in Anytown, USA to know that if a spouse wants to fool around, you don’t need to go further than a few blocks away to find someone who thinks the same way. So why in the world would any sane person join a website, pay money, and risk ruining their marriage to fool around with a stranger online?

Beats me.  The outcome of this heinous act of server hacking will now put millions of marriages in jeopardy and do the exact opposite of a righteous deed. I used to work with a guy who had a saying that went something like this’ “I do not support what people do, but I support their right to do it.” I mulled that over for a long time as a Christian man and finally concluded he had it right.

I do not support adultery and think it is a sin against you. You will be living a lie and breaking your vows, not to mention damaging your marriage and hurting the one you claim you will go to the grave with. However, I am not God and neither are the hackers. This AshleyMadison business is for consenting adults. Consenting adults. They may be wrong, or reckless, or to many – sinners, but I support their freedom to make this choice. I ain’t going to make it, but I sure as heckfire ain’t going to play God and mentally cast them into the infernal smoking fires at their misfortune. On top of that, I am fairly certain that many of these folks are on that site out of curiosity and vicarious sexual excitement and it never will go further than that.

“There is going to be a dramatic crime wave of these types of virtual shakedowns, and they’ll evolve into spear-phishing campaigns that leverage crypto malware. And the proof, in this scenario, would be a booby-trapped attachment that deploys spyware or malware.”
Cyber attacks are something most of us will experience in the future and they need to be seen as such, whether what is hacked goes against our values or our money. Hacking is a crime and this AshleyMadison theft should be seen as a monstrous breach of freedom, nothing more.
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Voting doesn’t have to be complicated

I’ve been a conservative voter for many years and still am for the most part.  If you have read my opinion on some of the more controversial subjects, you understand that in some ways, I side with the more liberal thinkers.  Blame my service record for that.

Years ago I read Lyndon: An Oral Biography and Plain Speaking an Oral Biography of Harry. S. Truman both by Merle Miller. I read 5 of John McCain’s books.  I’ve read many other books about our presidents and political figures and they have helped me understand how American politics are supposed to function. For the people, by the people, etc. Of course I am no expert and don’t want to give that impression.

The TV series House of Cards pretty much nails how it works though, with powerful politicians calling in favors and chits, often skewing the voting records of those under their lofty positions. Lyndon Johnson was possibly the best at getting things done in the White House of all the presidents and political figures this country has ever seen.

On television and before the people, he drawled on in a monotone, appearing to be this slow-talking Texan with very deliberate word choices. In reality he had almost inexhaustible energy and forced through his policies and opinions by stabbing a big index finger in his victim’s chest and then using his Texas cowboy boots, he would kick them in the shins.

I’m not making that up. Hubert Humphrey was permanently scarred by Johnson and would pull his trouser legs up to show the permanent bumps. 

Over the years the crevasse between the 2 major parties has became a so wide that neither side wants to give an inch and herein lies the problem. Whereas LBJ could push things through, through compromise, nobody on either side wants to be accused of “working with the enemy”

Take the Kennedy-McCain immigration bill for instance. It would have and still would work, but it was picked to pieces by both parties and made both politicians look foolish and like turncoats. What did we end up with when the immigration bill failed?  Nothing. The same old thing that didn’t work. Americans were carefully manipulated to thinking both of these guys were jerks for even suggesting the joint plan.

So who benefited from this failed bill? The illegal aliens, that’s who. The reason I say this is because I actually read the whole thing! Yup. Unlike idiots in high places like Nancy Pelosi, I actually read this stuff.

There is a website located here: http://www.ontheissues.org/

It is where you can see how a politician actually voted on major issues. Now bear in mind, that on some of this stuff, they were coerced into voting against their desire so they could get their own stuff passed. That is important to remember.

At the bottom of each politician’s page is a matrix that shows how they rate as far as Liberal versus Conservative, etc. You may believe that the far left or far right truly reflects your views, but understand that any of these representatives whose mark is in the extreme, has more intention of pushing their parties policies over what the voters want.

They no longer represent YOU. They represent their party and their party knows what you need or want or deserve more than you do. As a Conservative with Libertarian leanings I do not want anyone in the White House who is against returning this nation back to the way the Constitution and Bill of Rights initially declared.

Think about that. You should feel the same way. Our freedoms are disappearing and all for our own good according to them. They have massive benefits while ours are vanishing. The do not call list is an tiny example of their self-serving privilege. They voted to exempt themselves so they can call you while you and your family eat supper.

Our political system has been allowed to morph into a government that is parasitical and has little to do with the voter’s wishes.  Whether you love or hate marijuana 68% of the population of this country believe it is time for marijuana law reform. When Jeb Bush votes “No medical marijuana; it's just a guise toward legalization”, he ceases to be anything to me but a Party hack out of touch with 7 out of 10 voters.

I’m expressing marijuana here to prove a point. Look at above website. Forget what is coming out of their mouths and see how they vote. Every once in a while one of them will speak the truth though. Bravo to Joe Biden for calling the Chattanooga shooter who killed our Marines and one sailor, a “perverted jihadist”. As far as I know, he’s the first person in the Obama Administration to call the guy a terrorist.

Our few good politician’s are made villains by other politicians and we lemmings sit back and let them. Look at Sarah Palin’s voting record. She was ridiculed to the point that she became a laughing stock. Her voting record is clean and reasonable. If all I could see was her voting record, I would vote for her.

The Presidency is serious business folks. Choose carefully. We can only support so many people who don’t and won’t work. We can only give so many anti-American countries 150 billion dollars – thank you Obama. Our country has to make the correct choices and our leaders need to find a way to work together.

Donald Trump is not the villain he is being portrayed as. He is an uber-threat to the 2 established ultra-partisan parties and both parties are scared to death, so they are demonizing him. He knows this and is forcing both parties to actually declare what they are going to do on real issues.

That may be the only reason he is running and I say bravo. Research how these people vote before you punch out that chad.

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If I won the lottery

I guess at one time or another, everyone dreams about inheriting or winning a huge sum of money and I am no exception. However, how much money you might win is in question.  How much is enough to fulfill your vision? That question deserves an answer and I am determined to find it.  Now (I hate to add this caveat) there is math involved… yes, the dreaded conversation stopper.

Let’s say you would be happy with Texas two-step’s initial lotto winnings of $200,000.00. Well, right off the bat, the gov-ment is going to take about $70,000, leaving a piddley $130,000 which equates to purchasing 2 large 4X4 ¾ ton diesel pickem-up trucks with over-sized bumpers and accouterments (One for you and one for your lady).  Blam, you are out of lotto money!

You won’t even have money to MAXX-out your truck on Massey-Tompkins and put them big ol tares and cool 24 inch rims on them trucks, so Texas two-step is out (in my book). Well, at the initial offering stage anyway.

One time over in Channelview when this subject came up, one fellow exuberantly declared he would buy his wife a brand new “Esplanade!” I looked down his street and thought to myself, well, that would be an improvement on a grand scale.

I’ve seen that program where they followed up on people who have won a couple hundred million bucks and the resulting “buys” have been amusing or sad, and flabbergasting most of the time. One fellow and his wife bought this gigantic water fountain with all kinds of cement statues and placed it right in the middle of their front yard next to a broken down truck. It was an incredible view from the trashed-out deck of their mobile home.

It appears that most of my friends want to win a modest amount, say 2 million or in some cases less and they would do incredibly noble things with it, like build a house for a crippled lady, or pay for 1200 kids lunches.  A great deal said they would tithe to their church, which is very honorable (this usually came about 10 minutes later with a second reply).  Giving money away is very easy when you don’t have it. I pray if I ever do come into a great deal, I can be as generous as these people.

My Channelview buddy was way more expansive and a bit greedy in his wishes. “I would have a whole fleet of Ka-ma-rows; the ones with the big ol stripes on the hood and all and I would park them all in the front yard so’s people could admire them. They’d all be top of the line!” He made no mention of getting dentures and every time he ended a word with an “S” he whistled.

Me? I would like to win about 20 million after taxes, tithe on that, plus a goodly offering and then build my bride a real nice house. I wouldn’t move away, buy a log cabin in Montana, or a desert isle in Pago-Pago. If I did buy one of those big ol 4X4 ¾ ton King Ranch chicken trucks, I would probably leave it parked and drive my Jeep.

I could raise my Jeep higher and put bigger tires on it, but they’re already real big and the vehicle can go anywhere I point it. Its named Tha Choppa, as in Schwarzenegger’s “Get to the Choppa!” It is my vehicle of choice and having more money won’t change that.

With a cool 20 mil in the bank, I would probably still buy 2 gallons of Ug-Lee’s gumbo and their beans an Andouille sausage each month. About once a month, my bride and I would still drive down to San Leon and eat at Bubba’s Shrimp Palace. The gym named after the clock would still be our morning ritual 4-5 times a week.

Some folks told me they would create a giant pet asylum and spay and neuter all the animals for free. Others would send all their kids through college, or buy their Mom or sister a new home. Another said they would launch out on a world tour and stay gone until they came back.

I guess the biggest revelation for me was that the big money wouldn’t really change what I want and am already doing, so in one sense… I’ve already won the lotto.

It’s an outrage I say!

We have come to a time in space where people are cocked, locked, and ready to angrily fire at an instant. We are modern day Minutemen/women ready to be outraged and by sweet fancy Moses, we are armed to the teeth with righteous indignation. It’s ultimately righteous because it is coming from us. Those other fools are uneducated morons.

Someone said, you do well to win an argument with a learned person, but no one wins an argument with an idiot. This is true and if you happen to like to lock horns over something passionate, you will encounter this torch-carrying passionate activist who moments before was entirely rational. Now understand I have my tongue firmly planted in my cheek as I write this.

The reason I say this, is other than one of the deep philosophical discussions (read jujitsu wrestling matches) I get into with Jared Eikhoff, I can stand clear of passion and emotion and pretty much be open-minded. It’s not so with Jared because he’s like one of my kids and he’s well-educated, albeit still defining what to believe. I wrestle his brain trying to get some of the stuff he learned from Professor Cummings out of there and into the open so he can decide if the liberal stuff she teaches is fact or fiction.

I like and appreciate Professor Susan Cummings, the liberal phenom of Lee College and like to believe my 5 years in high school badgering the teacher have qualified me to take her on in civil debate. Years ago we agreed to disagree and I would sit down with the scholar and enjoy talking about most anything and even pick up the tab. Both she and I can separate passion from being civil in debate and that is very important if you want to verbally sword fight over ideals and remain friendly.

It’s simply not so when dealing with an unbridled passionate activist. Suddenly Dr. Jekyll turns into Mr. Hyde before your very eyes and vitriolic babblings overtake all sense of logic and opportunity to offer a comeback.  Why, because they can no longer hear anything except their heartfelt passion towards everything from animal rights to “God” being removed from everything.

Passion is good when it comes to causes.  Sure, if someone abuses a child or leaves a pet locked in a hot car this is cause for alarm and I’m not talking common sense items here.  What I am referring to is extremism and with the politically correct movement firmly established, this lends to a self-appointed righteous air to the subject.

For instance, take the recent interest in a 13 year old lion being killed in Africa.  One fellow declared the dentist should be fined a million dollars. A million dollars?  Seriously? Another angrily wrote he should have his head cut off.  I find this so absurd, it’s laughable. Lions in the wild live 10-14 years. This was a very old animal, so a million bucks seems extreme. How about $5000?

Some passion is earned by blood and a smart person knows not to provoke a cobra snake. When I encounter a Marine I also say “Semper Fi” which translates as “Always faithful” and call them Devil Dogs. I’m not stupid and insultingly say jarheads. They’ve earned the moniker on both ends, but Devil Dog is a compliment. Marines are passionate about being Marines all their life and I understand that.

Other rabid subjects include the Confederate flag, the right to bear arms, eating meat, the environment (on 17 levels) and my most recent discovery is… where Vidalia onions were developed!  Yup, boy did I open up a can of whoop bunns on that subject.

I have many dear friends from my Georgia days and I recently enlightened – read baited Allyce Lankford on the less known fact that the present day cherished Georgia Vidalia onion is actually a Texas onion. Holy smokeski’s, talk about an instant eruption of passion! I of course acted as innocent as a nun and shocked that she would take offense.

Being me, I had to poke her with a fact stick on Facebook and this simply fanned the flames. You see, the Vidalia onion can only be grown in a certain area of Georgia due to the soil and is a state treasure. “Them’s fightin’ words, suh!” Now having lived in Georgia, them Georgians take their onions very seriously and I am guilty of igniting this passion, I admit.

The ultimate smack down was when I claimed the 1015 (also a Texas A&M invention) was sweeter and I only buy Vidalia’s when the 1015’s are out of season. The truth is other than the size difference, I really can’t tell all that much difference. 

Not to let facts get in the way of a good argument, onions are so good for your heart that you should eat them with every meal. The harsher the onion is on your eyes, the better it is for your heart and both of these onions are very mild. I love them both and eat onions every day, and I am guilty of provoking this good woman to see her reaction and give me fodder for this column.

Folks, if you feel very strong emotions about a certain subject, do your best to keep it in check around your friends who do not share the same views or you may find them becoming strangely mute when you go off on your righteous tangent. Also beware of passion baiters like myself. We can be real irrational.

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It is so hot outside…

 “It's so hot; farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs!”

I looked at the thermometer on my patio, which incidentally is in the shade, and it read 100 degrees. The thought hit me that if I were to light a fire, I might actually cool off.  That’s when I realized I was unbearably hot and not exactly thinking straight.

I love sunshine; I really do. In fact I thrive on it, but can’t we get it without the waffle iron? I remember an old Beetle Bailey cartoon where the colonel paid a visit to the mess hall and asked the cook (Cookie) why he wasn’t in full uniform. Cookie replied that it was too hot to wear all those clothes. The colonel in his wisdom had no choice but to order an investigation into the actual temperature.

The next frame showed the old sergeant cooking in the buff. That’s the way it is here. It is so hot; I can’t seem to get cool when I am outside. We thank the Lawd for air conditioning and curse the de-bil if we lose power. We are slaves to A/C and make no apology.

I’ve witnessed people out walking on the trail system behind my house wearing a plastic suit or a lot of clothing. They are operating in a pre-1980 mentality that they need to sweat to lose weight. Well, here is a PSA (public service announcement). Don’t do this! You will stress your heart to a ridiculous level.

Instead, carry a bottle of water and wear wicking material to allow your skin to breathe and get rid of moisture. When wearing “sweats” all you do is elevate your blood pressure and endanger yourself. You will gain back whatever you lost when you gulp down the water you will ultimately crave.

“It was so hot that corn popped in the field and the mules saw it and thought it was snow. 14 dropped dead from hypothermia!”

Too much heat real or imagined is not good, but I’ll take it over freezing any day.  Two winters in Montana taught me that. Being hot is uncomfortable. Being cold is painful. I went straight from Great Falls, Montana to Southeast Asia in 1972. From freezing weather to tropic heat closer to the equator. One word can describe both extremes: brutal.

It was hot there, but not really any hotter than we are experiencing right now.  It is dangerously hot right now.  Just this week I rode my bike down Blue Heron Parkway and into Jenkins Park to do maintenance on the many geocaches I own there. Even on the bike, I was totally soaked by the time I return 2 hours later. I imagine I lost two pounds of water weight in that 2 hours and I was riding most of the time.

“It is so hot, the local fire hydrant was asking dogs for a visit.”

If you have an inground pool, the sun is sucking an inch of water out of it a day. There is no telling what it is doing to our skin. I imagine it is radiantly cooking us. The good news is we are almost into August and maybe 3 weeks away from when it doesn’t beat down on us so hard. It’s bizarre in that suddenly it won’t feel as oppressive. It’ll be the same sun, but it just won’t have that blow torch scorching feel.

By the time we make it into delightful October, we will experience one of the two times a year that we have wonderfully pleasant weather and that is right around the blessed corner.

“It is so hot; I put crimson charcoal briquettes in my ice tea to chill it down.”

Like it or not, we never get used to it and this question has been raised a million times by travelers visiting the area. That welcoming smell at the airport is indeed mildew – get used to it! I guess the answer to it all if you must venture outside is to hydrate and stay in the shade as much as possible. My sweaty visor cap is off to garbage collectors, roofers, lawn care folks, and the Parks department workers who labor in it all day.

Now, where’s my sweet tea?

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Exercise is not just for athletes

 I hang out with a pretty tough crowd at the gym. What? Another column about exercising? Geeze, BB can’t you write about food, or maybe give us an update on that danged bacon-luring dog catcher again? We do have an animal control problem here fella! What is your obsession with exercise?

Believe it or not, almost on a daily basis I question not only my motives, and goals, but my own sanity. Here’s how I roll; I do a Boot camp on Monday, Spin class on Tuesday, and Body Pump on Wednesday. I try to convince myself to take Thursday’s off for rest and recuperation – and am partially successful. Friday’s are a run day and since the temp has jumped into the 80’s at daybreak, this has turned my 5K run into something quite embarrassing.

Let’s break this down further and if you are still reading, there is a direct correlation between working your body with boosting your mental health. A good solid push of your muscles equates to a positive state of mind. I love to ask other seniors if they “got your money’s worth” as the exit the gym and 100% report they did, often with a weary grin.

At the gym named after the clock, our Boot camp instructor is a young personal trainer named Chelsea. Last Monday, Chelsea with her sweet demeanor and semi-soft commands nearly “killed off” the entire class of hardcore trainees. I use that term to define a point where people walk out prematurely or collapse at the home-20 and take a good nap in a coma state. Boot camp is a series of exercises that vary week to week designed to challenge ordinary work-out routines.

“I can’t feel my legs, Forrest!” I yelled out at one point and my peeps giggled. You see, working out in a group is fun and sometimes the classes take on a near monkey cage cacophony of squeals and grunts – and laughter as we all go into muscle fail mode. Fail mode is the point where your muscles are strenuously objecting to what your mind has told them they must do.

Our Spin instructor is a lithe cycling gynoid named Page and I swear she is a literal sadist at times. Her sweet smile belies the fact that she routinely tries to break everyone in the class. My friend Elaine came to her first Spin class Monday and I warned her to try and make it through the class by NOT doing what the rest of us do and I watched her grin the entire class as she peddled slowly behind us. In her mind I am sure she thought we were all nuts. The driving music in these classes helps us to get through and I often close my eyes and just peddle like a lunatic. I won’t lie and say it’s easy.

I’ve had a lot of instructors over the years, both in exercise and karate and our Body Pump instructor is the most incredible trainer I’ve ever had the pleasure of training with. Her name is Clarissa and she is indeed an apex instructor and a totally delightful person. Body Pump is a very organized and engineered weight lifting program designed to fatigue every major muscle group in sets of threes or more. Just when your muscles scream for relief, you change to something else. At the end of the class, you are exhausted and for some strange reason, there is a lot of water on the floor around you.

Clarissa knows and sees all and misses nothing. Her commands are as exact as her movements and you immediately are aware that she really cares not only about your safety, but your development. On top of everything else, she will remember your name after the first class. Her instruction is mixed with philosophy, positivity, and encouragement. I am truly impressed by this instructor as you can tell.

The crowd I train with are tough. They have endurance and stamina and take their training seriously. I cannot hang with their schedule though. They often meet at 6am and run for an hour, or come to the gym 2 hours early to lift weights and then take one or more classes. Most are in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s too – like me, but I just can’t hang like that.

Those dang women are something else!

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