A Random Chance

The 4th Amendment

2011-05-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

I recently became concerned about an Indiana Supreme Court ruling, one that negates (my opinion) the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution. Below is a link to an article (a HotAir.com blog) that discusses the decision.

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/05/14/indiana-supreme-court-rules-hoosiers-have-no-right-to-resist-unlawful-entry-of-their-homes-by-police/

This is a link to a pdf document, the court's ruling:

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nwitimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/c/82/cdb/c82cdbb8-7ea0-5c55-bb00-2aa247134bbb-revisions/4dcc5c97c31bf.pdf.pdf

I periodically meet with a 9-12 group, our focus is on studying the Constitution using a text book, "The Heritage Guide to the Constitution", which addresses the subject from the perspective of an "originalist", the way the founders meant it to read and NOT as a "living document" where the meanings of the words are changed to match current political philosophy. I traded emails with members of the group and was appalled at some of the feedback, being told that the ruling does not mean cops can willy-nilly enter my home and search at will.

I was not convinced but decided to shut up at that point because maybe I did read more into the ruling than I should have. That was until I came across the following blog entry from an Indiana sheriff:

http://smargus.com/indiana-sheriff-if-we-need-to-conduct-random-house-to-house-searches-we-will/

Even given all of the above I still felt pretty smug as the 4th Amendment was still in effect because this particular ruling had not been appealed to the US Supreme Court where it would surely be struck down.

Oopsey, the Supreme Court just spoke:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110517/12313814301/4th-amendment-what-4th-amendment-supremes-say-police-can-create-conditions-to-enter-home-without-warrant.shtml

This is all worse than I could have believed, especially given the increase in "Delayed Notice Search Warrants:

http://www.koat.com/r/27922147/detail.html

Welcome to the fascist state of America, we're no better than Russia, China or Iran.

More Obama idiocy

2010-12-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

So today, 12-01-2010, the Obama administration annouced that the ban on offshore drilling will NOT be lifted. Instead it WILL BE EXTENDED for 7 years. Not only that but the ban also covers the Atlantic coast as well as the Pacific coast.

So all you folks living on the Gulf states, enjoy your time off: you're on track for a 7 year subsistence life.

Oh, the ban doesn't effect the other nationsdrilling in the same Gulf of Mexico, most notably: China and Mexico.

Guess this manchurian candidate simply wants to show "us" how the Cloward / Piven strategy really works.

The stupidity of the GOP

2010-12-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

Well not the entire GOP, just (for the moment) Eric Cantor. Speaking to students at American University Cantor stated that the Republicans intend to push for repeal of that abomination known as ObamaCare.

Cantor went on to say that Republicans would incorporate some of the "good" ideas of ObamaCare into the Republican replacement. Those "good" ideas (according to Cantor) are: coverage for pre-existing conditions and the ability of "children" (up to the age of 26) to stay on their parent's plan.

What idiocy. This statement of Cantor's is as ignorant as anything out of Obama's mouth concerning health insurance. Health insurance as with insurance in general is a financial product that protects the purchaser against risk. If you have a re-existing condition and an insurance company is forced to cover you then you are recieving WELFARE, you are not purchasing insurance.

The idea of covering 25 year olds on a parent's plan is also idiocy. 26 years old and you're a child? Stupid, stupid, stupd.

The Republic put on hold

2010-07-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

The judge in Arizona just upheld the Obama administration's request for an injunction to stop enforcement of the Arizona law dealing with illegal immigrants.

I sincerely hope and pray that all the Democrats in this country are proud of electing a president determined to destroy the country. They're all fools and November will correct the problem in a very large way.

Canceled my newspaper subscription

2009-09-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

The reason:

Yesterday I canceled my subscription to my local paper, the Indianapolis Star for several reasons all of which I detailed for the lady who handled my call. Specifically:

The day after taking part in a TEA Party demonstration in downtown Indianapolis I opened my local Indianapolis newspaper, the Indianapolis Star, I discover that there were not 10,000 to 12,000 people there as I had actually seen but a mere 2,500. Obviously I could believe my lying eyes or my newspaper. I almost canceled it then but decided I enjoyed the comics entirely too much at that point.

After returning from the 9-12 DC protest (driving all day 9-11 to get there), spending the day in the midst of a minimum of 1.5m like minded individuals on 9-12, on 9-13 driving all day to return to Indianapolis - on 9-14 I get my newspaper excited to read about an historic event only to find a tepid article that doesn't begin to do the event justice.

On Tuesday 09-22-2009 my local paper offers me:

A front page article describing the plight of 5 individuals who don't have health insurance and the paper attempts to tug at my heart strings to feel sorry for a 25 year single mother of 3 who lost her $10.25 per hour job along with 4 other stories of people who've made similar bad life decisions. 25 years old, single with 3 kids and I'm to support destroying the best health care system in the world for her benefit? The other 4 were equally inane stories.
An inside the fold opinion piece (this was not the editorial page) that demeans me for paying attention to Glenn Beck instead of that monument to conservative thought, Joe Scarborough).
An editorial opinion piece by one Dan Carpenter that explains to me why I'm so terribly wrong about ACORN.

The editorial opinion piece didn't bother me because it was opinion on an opinion page but in total it was the straw that broke this camel's back.I explained to the gentle lady on the other end of the phone that I was simply tired of seeing opinion masquerading as news on the front page and was tired of contributing to the salaries of the other fools whose opinions didn't come near to my own set of values.

Now I have $200+ per year to waste on something useful.

2009 Washington D.C. TEA Party

2009-07-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

On Thursday July 2 of 2009 Margie and I drove from Indianapolis Indiana to Washington D.C. This was a 10 hour drive that took us through: Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and then to D.C.

The reason for the drive was to take part in a TEA Party protest on July 4th. TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already, which is an understatement. There should also be an acronym for, The Government is too damn big already, but I can't think of anything catchy to describe full blown fascism, our current political system of governance(?).

We had a great time taking in both the history memorialized by the many monuments and staid buildings while still making our point. Margie actually appeared on a CNN video clip, it was a shot f her that was taken as we "marched" from our parking place to the protest site.

Here are some shots of the TEA Party speakers, signs and participants:

2009 Washington D.C. TEA Party

The TEA Party took place on July 4th but we arrived in D.C. late on the night of the 2nd. That gave us a full day Friday to explore. We visited as many monuments, cool buildings and museums as possible. I think we probably walked 10 miles but the sights were worth it. Here's some shots of what we saw:

2009 Washington D.C. Monuments and Museums

We found a couple of gardens tucked away with some interesting plants and trees. Here are a couple of shots of those:

2009 Washinton D.C. gardens

On the evenng of the 4th we took a dinner cruise on the Potomoc. We were able to watch the fireworks from the cruise boat and it was terrific. As you can see, Margie had a dandy time. I'm a lousy dancer so she had to dance with other sufferers. Anyway we got some shots of the fireworks:

2009-07-04 DC Trip - Fireworks and Cruise

Just why are Blacks so tied to the Democrats?

2008-11-12T15:40:00.000-08:00

Democrats have ALWAYS been the Party of Slavery and Racism United States History of Racism against Blacks

The Republican Party was formed in 1854 specifically to oppose the Democrats, and for more than 150 years, they have done everything they could to block the Democrat agenda. In their abuses of power, they have even used threats and military violence to thwart the Democrat Party’s attempts to make this a progressive country. As you read the following Republican atrocities that span three centuries, imagine if you will, what a far different nation the United States would be had not the Republicans been around to block the Democrats’ efforts.

March 20, 1854 Opponents of Democrats’ pro-slavery policies meet in Ripon, Wisconsin to establish the Republican Party

May 30, 1854 Democrat President Franklin Pierce signs Democrats’ Kansas-Nebraska Act, expanding slavery into U.S. territories; opponents unite to form the Republican Party

June 16, 1854 Newspaper editor Horace Greeley calls on opponents of slavery to unite in the Republican Party

July 6, 1854 First state Republican Party officially organized in Jackson, Michigan, to oppose Democrats’ pro-slavery policies

February 11, 1856 Republican Montgomery Blair argues before U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of his client, the slave Dred Scott; later served in President Lincoln’s Cabinet

February 22, 1856 First national meeting of the Republican Party, in Pittsburgh, to coordinate opposition to Democrats’ pro-slavery policies

March 27, 1856 First meeting of Republican National Committee in Washington, DC to oppose
Democrats’ pro-slavery policies

May 22, 1856 For denouncing Democrats’ pro-slavery policy, Republican U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) is beaten nearly to death on floor of Senate by U.S. Rep. Preston Brooks (D-SC), takes three years to recover

March 6, 1857 Republican Supreme Court Justice John McLean issues strenuous dissent from decision by 7 Democrats in infamous Dred Scott case that African-Americans had no rights “which any white man was bound to respect”

June 26, 1857 Abraham Lincoln declares Republican position that slavery is “cruelly wrong,” while Democrats “cultivate and excite hatred” for blacks

October 13, 1858 During Lincoln-Douglas debates, U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas (D-IL) states: “I do not regard the Negro as my equal, and positively deny that he is my brother, or any kin to me whatever”; Douglas became Democratic Party’s 1860 presidential nominee

October 25, 1858 U.S. Senator William Seward (R-NY) describes Democratic Party as “inextricably committed to the designs of the slaveholders”; as President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State, helped draft Emancipation Proclamation

June 4, 1860 Republican U.S. Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA) delivers his classic address, The Barbarism of Slavery

April 7, 1862 President Lincoln concludes treaty with Britain for suppression of slave trade

April 16, 1862 President Lincoln signs bill abolishing slavery in District of Columbia; in Congress, 99% of Republicans vote yes, 83% of Democrats vote no

July 2, 1862 U.S. Rep. Justin Morrill (R-VT) wins passage of Land Grant Act, establishing colleges open to African-Americans, including such students as George Washington Carver

July 17, 1862 Over unanimous Democrat opposition, Republican Congress passes Confiscation Act stating that slaves of the Confederacy “shall be forever free”

August 19, 1862 Republican newspaper editor Horace Greeley writes Prayer of Twenty Millions, calling on President Lincoln to declare emancipation

August 25, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln authorizes enlistment of African-American soldiers in U.S. Army

September 22, 1862 Republican President Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, implementing the Republicans’ Confiscation Act of 1862, takes effect

February 9, 1864 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton deliver over 100,000 signatures to U.S. Senate supporting Republicans’ plans for constitutional amendment to ban slavery

June 15, 1864 Republican Congress votes equal pay for African-American troops serving in U.S. Army during Civil War
June 28, 1864 Republican majority in Congress repeals Fugitive Slave Acts

October 29, 1864 African-American abolitionist Sojourner Truth says of President Lincoln: “I never was treated by anyone with more kindness and cordiality than were shown to me by that great and good man”

January 31, 1865 13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. House with unanimous Republican support, intense Democrat opposition

March 3, 1865 Republican Congress establishes Freedmen’s Bureau to provide health care, education, and technical assistance to emancipated slaves

April 8, 1865 13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. Senate with 100% Republican support, 63% Democrat opposition

June 19, 1865 On “Juneteenth,” U.S. troops land in Galveston, TX to enforce ban on slavery that had been declared more than two years before by the Emancipation Proclamation
November 22, 1865 Republicans denounce Democrat legislature of Mississippi for enacting “black codes,” which institutionalized racial discrimination

December 6, 1865 Republican Party’s 13th Amendment, banning slavery, is ratified

February 5, 1866 U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (R-PA) introduces legislation, successfully opposed by Democrat President Andrew Johnson, to implement “40 acres and a mule” relief by distributing land to former slaves

April 9, 1866 Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Johnson’s veto; Civil Rights

Act of 1866, conferring rights of citizenship on African-Americans, becomes law

April 19, 1866 Thousands assemble in Washington, DC to celebrate Republican Party’s abolition of slavery

May 10, 1866 U.S. House passes Republicans’ 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the laws to all citizens; 100% of Democrats vote no

June 8, 1866 U.S. Senate passes Republicans’ 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the law to all citizens; 94% of Republicans vote yes and 100% of Democrats vote no

July 16, 1866 Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of Freedman’s Bureau Act, which protected former slaves from “black codes” denying their rights

July 28, 1866 Republican Congress authorizes formation of the Buffalo Soldiers, two regiments of African-American cavalrymen

July 30, 1866 Democrat-controlled City of New Orleans orders police to storm racially-integrated Republican meeting; raid kills 40 and wounds more than 150

January 8, 1867 Republicans override Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of law granting voting rights to African-Americans in D.C.

July 19, 1867 Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of legislation protecting voting rights of African-Americans

March 30, 1868 Republicans begin impeachment trial of Democrat President Andrew Johnson, who declared: “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government of white men”

May 20, 1868 Republican National Convention marks debut of African-American politicians on national stage; two – Pinckney Pinchback and James Harris – attend as delegates, and several serve as presidential electors

September 3, 1868 25 African-Americans in Georgia legislature, all Republicans, expelled by
Democrat majority; later reinstated by Republican Congress

September 12, 1868 Civil rights activist Tunis Campbell and all other African-Americans in Georgia Senate, every one a Republican, expelled by Democrat majority; would later be reinstated by Republican Congress

September 28, 1868 Democrats in Opelousas, Louisiana murder nearly 300 African-Americans who tried to prevent an assault against a Republican newspaper editor

October 7, 1868 Republicans denounce Democratic Party’s national campaign theme: “This is a white man’s country: Let white men rule”

October 22, 1868 While campaigning for re-election, Republican U.S. Rep. James Hinds (R-AR) is assassinated by Democrat terrorists who organized as the Ku Klux Klan

November 3, 1868 Republican Ulysses Grant defeats Democrat Horatio Seymour in presidential election; Seymour had denounced Emancipation Proclamation

December 10, 1869 Republican Gov. John Campbell of Wyoming Territory signs FIRST-in-nation law granting women right to vote and to hold public office

February 3, 1870 After passing House with 98% Republican support and 97% Democrat opposition, Republicans’ 15th Amendment is ratified, granting vote to all Americans regardless of race

May 19, 1870 African-American John Langston, law professor and future Republican Congressman from Virginia, delivers influential speech supporting President Ulysses Grant’s civil rights policies

May 31, 1870 President U.S. Grant signs Republicans’ Enforcement Act, providing stiff penalties for depriving any American’s civil rights

June 22, 1870 Republican Congress creates U.S. Department of Justice, to safeguard the civil rights of African-Americans against Democrats in the South

September 6, 1870 Women vote in Wyoming, in FIRST election after women’s suffrage signed into law by Republican Gov. John Campbell

February 28, 1871 Republican Congress passes Enforcement Act providing federal protection for African-American voters

March 22, 1871 Spartansburg Republican newspaper denounces Ku Klux Klan campaign to eradicate the Republican Party in South Carolina

April 20, 1871 Republican Congress enacts the Ku Klux Klan Act, outlawing Democratic Party-affiliated terrorist groups which oppressed African-Americans

October 10, 1871 Following warnings by Philadelphia Democrats against black voting, African-American Republican civil rights activist Octavius Catto murdered by Democratic Party operative; his military funeral was attended by thousands

October 18, 1871 After violence against Republicans in South Carolina, President Ulysses Grant deploys U.S. troops to combat Democrat terrorists who formed the Ku Klux Klan

November 18, 1872 Susan B. Anthony arrested for voting, after boasting to Elizabeth Cady Stanton that she voted for “the Republican ticket, straight”

January 17, 1874 Armed Democrats seize Texas state government, ending Republican efforts to racially integrate government

September 14, 1874 Democrat white supremacists seize Louisiana statehouse in attempt to overthrow racially-integrated administration of Republican Governor William Kellogg; 27 killed

March 1, 1875 Civil Rights Act of 1875, guaranteeing access to public accommodations without regard to race, signed by Republican President U.S. Grant; passed with 92% Republican support over 100% Democrat opposition

September 20, 1876 Former state Attorney General Robert Ingersoll (R-IL) tells veterans: “Every man that loved slavery better than liberty was a Democrat… I am a Republican because it is the only free party that ever existed”

January 10, 1878 U.S. Senator Aaron Sargent (R-CA) introduces Susan B. Anthony amendment for women’s suffrage; Democrat-controlled Senate defeated it 4 times before election of Republican House and Senate guaranteed its approval in 1919

July 14, 1884 Republicans criticize Democratic Party’s nomination of racist U.S. Senator Thomas Hendricks (D-IN) for vice president; he had voted against the 13th Amendment banning slavery

August 30, 1890 Republican President Benjamin Harrison signs legislation by U.S. Senator Justin Morrill (R-VT) making African-Americans eligible for land-grant colleges in the South

June 7, 1892 In a FIRST for a major U.S. political party, two women – Theresa Jenkins and Cora Carleton – attend Republican National Convention in an official capacity, as alternate delegates

February 8, 1894 Democrat Congress and Democrat President Grover Cleveland join to repeal Republicans’ Enforcement Act, which had enabled African-Americans to vote

December 11, 1895 African-American Republican and former U.S. Rep. Thomas Miller (R-SC) denounces new state constitution written to disenfranchise African-Americans

May 18, 1896 Republican Justice John Marshall Harlan, dissenting from Supreme Court’s notorious Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” decision, declares: “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens”

December 31, 1898 Republican Theodore Roosevelt becomes Governor of New York; in 1900, he outlawed racial segregation in New York public schools

May 24, 1900 Republicans vote no in referendum for constitutional convention in Virginia, designed to create a new state constitution disenfranchising African-Americans

January 15, 1901 Republican Booker T. Washington protests Alabama Democratic Party’s refusal to permit voting by African-Americans

October 16, 1901 President Theodore Roosevelt invites Booker T. Washington to dine at White House, sparking protests by Democrats across the country

May 29, 1902 Virginia Democrats implement new state constitution, condemned by Republicans as illegal, reducing African-American voter registration by 86%

February 12, 1909 On 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, African-American Republicans and women’s suffragists Ida Wells and Mary Terrell co-found the NAACP

June 18, 1912 African-American Robert Church, founder of Lincoln Leagues to register black voters in Tennessee, attends 1912 Republican National Convention as delegate; eventually serves as delegate at 8 conventions

August 1, 1916 Republican presidential candidate Charles Evans Hughes, former New York Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, endorses women’s suffrage constitutional amendment; he would become Secretary of State and Chief Justice

May 21, 1919 Republican House passes constitutional amendment granting women the vote with 85% of Republicans in favor, but only 54% of Democrats; in Senate, 80% of Republicans would vote yes, but almost half of Democrats no

April 18, 1920 Minnesota’s FIRST-in-the-nation anti-lynching law, promoted by African-American Republican Nellie Francis, signed by Republican Gov. Jacob Preus

August 18, 1920 Republican-authored 19th Amendment, giving women the vote, becomes part of Constitution; 26 of the 36 states to ratify had Republican-controlled legislatures

January 26, 1922 House passes bill authored by U.S. Rep. Leonidas Dyer (R-MO) making lynching a federal crime; Senate Democrats block it with filibuster

June 2, 1924 Republican President Calvin Coolidge signs bill passed by Republican Congress granting U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans

October 3, 1924 Republicans denounce three-time Democrat presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan for defending the Ku Klux Klan at 1924 Democratic National Convention

December 8, 1924 Democratic presidential candidate John W. Davis argues in favor of “separate but equal”

June 12, 1929 First Lady Lou Hoover invites wife of U.S. Rep. Oscar De Priest (R-IL), an African-American, to tea at the White House, sparking protests by Democrats across the country

August 17, 1937 Republicans organize opposition to former Ku Klux Klansman and Democrat U.S. Senator Hugo Black, appointed to U.S. Supreme Court by FDR; his Klan background was hidden until after confirmation

June 24, 1940 Republican Party platform calls for integration of the armed forces; for the balance of his terms in office, FDR refuses to order it

October 20, 1942 60 prominent African-Americans issue Durham Manifesto, calling on southern Democrats to abolish their all-white primaries

April 3, 1944 U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Texas Democratic Party’s “whites only” primary election system

August 8, 1945 Republicans condemn Harry Truman’s surprise use of the atomic bomb in Japan. The whining and criticism goes on for years. It begins two days after the Hiroshima bombing, when former Republican President Herbert Hoover writes to a friend that “[t]he use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul.”

February 18, 1946 Appointed by Republican President Calvin Coolidge, federal judge Paul McCormick ends segregation of Mexican-American children in California public schools

July 11, 1952 Republican Party platform condemns “duplicity and insincerity” of Democrats in racial matters

September 30, 1953 Earl Warren, California’s three-term Republican Governor and 1948 Republican vice presidential nominee, nominated to be Chief Justice; wrote landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education

December 8, 1953 Eisenhower administration Asst. Attorney General Lee Rankin argues for plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education

May 17, 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren, three-term Republican Governor (CA) and Republican vice presidential nominee in 1948, wins unanimous support of Supreme Court for school desegregation in Brown v. Board of Education

November 25, 1955 Eisenhower administration bans racial segregation of interstate bus travel

March 12, 1956 Ninety-seven Democrats in Congress condemn Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, and pledge to continue segregation

June 5, 1956 Republican federal judge Frank Johnson rules in favor of Rosa Parks in decision striking down “blacks in the back of the bus” law

October 19, 1956 On campaign trail, Vice President Richard Nixon vows: “American boys and girls shall sit, side by side, at any school – public or private – with no regard paid to the color of their skin. Segregation, discrimination, and prejudice have no place in America”

November 6, 1956 African-American civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy vote for Republican Dwight Eisenhower for President

September 9, 1957 President Dwight Eisenhower signs Republican Party’s 1957 Civil Rights Act

September 24, 1957 Sparking criticism from Democrats such as Senators John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, President Dwight Eisenhower deploys the 82nd Airborne Division to Little Rock, AR to force Democrat Governor Orval Faubus to integrate public schools

June 23, 1958 President Dwight Eisenhower meets with Martin Luther King and other African-American leaders to discuss plans to advance civil rights

February 4, 1959 President Eisenhower informs Republican leaders of his plan to introduce 1960 Civil Rights Act, despite staunch opposition from many Democrats

May 6, 1960 President Dwight Eisenhower signs Republicans’ Civil Rights Act of 1960, overcoming 125-hour, around-the-clock filibuster by 18 Senate Democrats

July 27, 1960 At Republican National Convention, Vice President and eventual presidential nominee Richard Nixon insists on strong civil rights plank in platform

May 2, 1963 Republicans condemn Democrat sheriff of Birmingham, AL for arresting over 2,000 African-American schoolchildren marching for their civil rights

June 1, 1963 Democrat Governor George Wallace announces defiance of court order issued by Republican federal judge Frank Johnson to integrate University of Alabama

September 29, 1963 Gov. George Wallace (D-AL) defies order by U.S. District Judge Frank Johnson, appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower, to integrate Tuskegee High School

June 9, 1964 Republicans condemn 14-hour filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act by U.S. Senator and former Ku Klux Klansman Robert Byrd (D-WV), who still serves in the Senate

June 10, 1964 Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) criticizes Democrat filibuster against 1964 Civil Rights Act, calls on Democrats to stop opposing racial equality

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was introduced and approved by a staggering majority of Republicans in the Senate. The Act was opposed by most southern Democrat senators, several of whom were proud segregationists—one of them being Al Gore Sr. Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson relied on Illinois Senator Everett Dirkson, the Republican leader from Illinois, to get the Act passed.

June 20, 1964 The Chicago Defender, renowned African-American newspaper, praises Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) for leading passage of 1964 Civil Rights Act

March 7, 1965 Police under the command of Democrat Governor George Wallace attack African-Americans demonstrating for voting rights in Selma, AL

March 21, 1965 Republican federal judge Frank Johnson authorizes Martin Luther King’s protest march from Selma to Montgomery, overruling Democrat Governor George Wallace

August 4, 1965 Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) overcomes Democrat attempts to block 1965 Voting Rights Act; 94% of Senate Republicans vote for landmark civil right legislation, while 27% of Democrats oppose

August 6, 1965 Voting Rights Act of 1965, abolishing literacy tests and other measures devised by Democrats to prevent African-Americans from voting, signed into law; higher percentage of
Republicans than Democrats vote in favor

July 8, 1970 In special message to Congress, President Richard Nixon calls for reversal of policy of forced termination of Native American rights and benefits

September 17, 1971 Former Ku Klux Klan member and Democrat U.S. Senator Hugo Black (D-AL) retires from U.S. Supreme Court; appointed by FDR in 1937, he had defended Klansmen for racial murders

February 19, 1976 President Gerald Ford formally rescinds President Franklin Roosevelt’s notorious Executive Order authorizing internment of over 120,000 Japanese-Americans during WWII

September 15, 1981 President Ronald Reagan establishes the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to increase African-American participation in federal education programs

June 29, 1982 President Ronald Reagan signs 25-year extension of 1965 Voting Rights Act
August 10, 1988 Republican President Ronald Reagan signs Civil Liberties Act of 1988, compensating Japanese-Americans for deprivation of civil rights and property during World War II internment ordered by FDR

November 21, 1991 Republican President George H. W. Bush signs Civil Rights Act of 1991 to strengthen federal civil rights legislation

August 20, 1996 Bill authored by U.S. Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY) to prohibit racial discrimination in adoptions, part of Republicans’ Contract With America, becomes law

April 26, 1999 Legislation authored by U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) awarding Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks is transmitted to President

January 25, 2001 U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee declares school choice to be “Educational Emancipation”

March 19, 2003 Republican U.S. Representatives of Hispanic and Portuguese descent form Congressional Hispanic Conference

May 23, 2003 U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduces bill to establish National Museum of African American History and Culture

February 26, 2004 Hispanic Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX) condemns racist comments by U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL); she had called Asst. Secretary of State Roger Noriega and several Hispanic Congressmen “a bunch of white men…you all look alike to me”

I should also point out that The Klu Klux Klan was created by the democrats for the express reason of terrorizing blacks and republicans in the south to prevent them from voting, and that every known Klansman that were members of congress have been democrats.

My Candidates Lost

2008-11-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

Okay so the first Tuesday of November has come and gone and my candidates lost. Of course I am sad but then again my choice didn’t lose by enough to convince me that the nation has gone completely mad.

It is important to remember that Mr. Barack Hussein Obama had the media sucking his … and he reversed his commitment to only take public financing so he had wheel barrows full of cash to buy advertising between the media slurps.

I enthusiastically await Barack Hussein Obama’s sprinkling of magic dust to see him provide free healthcare for all, income tax reductions for people who do not pay income tax in the first place, and then to bring the entire world to the campfire so we can toast marshmallows and hug and shit.

He’s promised to deliver a lot, how sad do you think the loonies will be once he cannot? Time will tell. Actually that is the bright spot because not everyone who voted for his majesty were loons, some were actually well intentioned but mislead by the press.

Mislead by the press? How could that be? Now there’s a good question because if you had paid attention over the last 8 years you would realize than McCain / Palin ticket lost because the press demonized Republicans in general and President Bush specifically. The electorate, guided once again by the press, tied McCain / Palin to President Bush so they stacked the deck.

If you give the Bush presidency some thought you’ll remember that:

President Bush came to power just as the infamous dot.com boom came to a screeching halt and the stock market hit a difficult patch with a lot of folks losing both money and jobs.
The mistakes of the Clinton presidency bore fruit through the Al Q attacks on New York.
We know that the New York attacks were not the only planned, yet President Bush has prevented any more such attacks for 7 years. He did it by taking out an avowed enemy of our nation and suckering our enemies into a fight on our terms in a place of our choosing.

Not the way the press reported it though, is it? Nope. Led by that pit of dishonest scum (The New York Times) we were told constantly that the Iraq war was evil because soldier died. Did the press explain to you that more civilians are killed in Philadelphia / Chicago than are killed in Iraq? Nope. They sure didn’t. Why didn’t they? It doesn’t matter but look at the results. We’ve won by any measure and the press has lost as have other dishonest news outlets such as MSBNC and the corporate evil that sells to Iran, GE.

Speaking of honesty and the press, have you ever heard them clamor against automobiles? No? Why not, automobile accidents kill in excess of 40,000 people each and every year.

The election

2008-10-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well I am about to drive to the post office to drop off another contribution to the McCain-Palin campaign.

I’m compelled to do so because I absolutely cannot stomach the idea of “The One” and a Democratic congress turning this nation into a communist pit of nanny states.

As a result of a union controlled public school system and a moronic media (newsprint as well as electronic) we’ve educated generations of Americans to believe that it is patriotic to hold their hands out and ask the government to take care of them. I saw the beginning of this during the presidency of LBJ and the, “War on Poverty”. That “war” did nothing but destroy black families and create a greater dependency on the Federal government.

It absolutely defies logic but somehow Barack (Barry, until he decided he was black) Hussein Obama has convinced many people that their lives will be better if only they would give him permission to redistribute wealth more evenly by increasing the tax level of some for the benefit of others.

In the Barack Hussein Obama view it is somehow appropriate to rape high income earners so he can write a check for the rest of the country. He calls it tax relief but it is welfare pure and simple because the people he is giving the tax break to, pay NO INCOME TAXES. The come back to my comment is that, “well sure they do, they pay Social Security Taxes”.

That is an utterly ignorant come back, but you’re welcome to your opinion. Why do I say it is ignorant? I say it because Social Security was implemented as a way of forcing “you” to save for your retirement. Now the messiah (ok, Barack Hussein Obama) wants a tax increase on the 1% of the population that currently pays 60% of the federal income tax so that the 40% who pay No income taxes will not have to shoulder the burden of saving for their own retirement.

What is so irritating is that this 40% who pay NO income taxes today ALREADY GET A CHECK TO COVER PAYMENT OF THESE TAXES. Yes folks, they do. It is called the, “Earned Income Tax Credit”. Yep, pay NO taxes, but get a refund.

Make sense to you?

Yes, it makes sense if you live in Venezuela or communist Russia –or- if you think it is okay to follow that model.

Speaking of Venezuela or Russia, please kneel down and say a prayer of thanks that our founders were prescient enough to give us the 2nd Amendment. Then stock up on ammo. We may need both.

In case you can’t tell, I fully support the McCain-Palin ticket, because we defeated Communism once and we can’t give it life here

Whose fault is it?

2008-10-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

So ... whose fault is it? Not quite the story you've been told.

My Opinion, re: the November Election

2008-09-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

McCain v. Obama

McCain
McCain is first and foremost a man with integrity and a love of his country.

I don't trust McCain on: immigration, global warming (I think he's sipped the kool-aid or bought into what I consider to be the secular religion - back to worshipping mother earth).

I'm iffy on McCain regarding economic issues, my preference being open / free / a relatively unregulated market. I'm not terribly astute on these issues but every time the government tries to fix or regulate you get a patch on a flea applied by a gorilla - temporary relief with a subsequent doubling or tripling of problems somewhere else. But, he's not about to target the income and assets of high earners so everyone else can get a government written check in the mail as proposed by Obama. Additionally, he'll seek good advice.

I absolutely trust McCain to deal effectively with international issues, security and I want him to lead with the awakened Russia over there and Marxists south of us (Chavez, et.al.)

Obama
I don't trust Obama's integrity, he's entirely too comfortable with the left as exhibited by: his friendship with an admitted and unrepentant American terrorist, his pastor of 20 years and a radical Chicago priest (who should be thrown out of the church). His background is suspect and I do not believe we have an honest picture. I struggle to see how a single mother was able to educate him via private schools. Similarly I don't believe his self portrayal as a black man, he was educated and raised by whites and portraying himself as the every black man who made it in the white mans world is fraudulent, in short, he's no Michael Steele.

I don't trust Obama at all when it comes to the economy. His view is socialism at best and that isn't the economic model that I want to live under. There's little doubt the USA is moving in that direction but it is death to a nation built on capitalism, I want no part of it.

I consider Obama weak and believe he'll fold the first time a Putin or doofus from Iran calls his bluff. With Russia breast beating and China on a roll, I want someone a damn sight stronger in the Whitehouse.

Palin v. Biden

Biden
Has been rejected by his own party twice. Reportedly has a vast amount of international knowledge, yet has been on the wrong side of every current issue. Was willing to cut all funding for our soldiers in Iraq with little concern for the resulting effect on both those men and the Iraqis themselves.

Biden has little or no integrity, participating with Obama railing against lobbyists and just today had his son quit his job as a lobbyist. Apparently it just became visible.

Touts himself as a practicing Catholic yet doesn't follow the tenets of his faith.

This is not the man to have a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Palin
A fresh face with a quick mind and a role model for young women throughout our country.

Little or no real international knowledge but, as I said, she has a quick and facile mind and will learn. Her approach will be conservative with America foremost in her mind, and I like that.

On security and defense, I believe she'll learn from McCain and that is good.

McCain and Palin - one more thing
Both McCain and Palin will I beleive be supportive of bringing in the likes of Liebermann as well as Democrats and other independents. At no time has Obama led me to believe his presidency would be anything other than a Democratic fiefdom.

The Balkenizatin of America

2007-10-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

I recently got into a discussion on a technical forum that took a turn away from technical (programming) considerations. We wound up discussing multiculturalism and I tried to make the point that multiculturalism would be the death of America and was contrary to the basic ideal of America as a melting pot, something that has made us great.

I was replied to with, "yes but your opinion doesn't matter because it has happened, what would you propose to do about it?" - my reply follows.

What does matter is touchy / feely politics and similar mindsets in our society have in fact created a balkenized nation.

To fix it, we need to:
Eliminate all government forms that are printed in a foreign languageEliminate all, "press 1 for ..." options, governmental and corporate. It seems like a stretch to "impose" on corporations in this manner, but with OSHA + EEOC + IRS - I would bet they'd be glad not to fret about the next language they need to support.

Eliminate all ESL classes and replace those with English classes for anyone here legally that cannot speak and write English. These English classes should be held after hours and conducted by teachers who either volunteer or recieve extra pay. The idea being to reserve core shool hours to teach the 3 R's.

To further that concept, we need to realize that the Blakenization isn't just a problem with recent entrants into our society - it is also a function of ghettos and the drug culture.

To correct these problems:
Eliminate all Federal funding for local schools that do not have a dress code, this is to eliminate the ghetto look in schools - helps to eliminate a ghetto mindset (stress helps, not a panacea).

Draw a line in the sand and require that anyone who is 12 (just pick an age) today must complete high school as a prerequisite for any government assistance that they might apply for once they reach adulthood.

Draw another line in the sand similar to the above and add marriage as a prerequisite to anyone who applies for governmental assistance for a child. They don't have to be married when they apply, just need to have been married when they gave birth.

The first line in the sand works against balkenization for folks who land on our shores.

The second works against balkenization for generations of folks (of all shades) who live in the ghetto.

Harsh? yep - but without doing something radical 20 yer olds of today are looking at some dire circumstances 20 years down the road.

Then, legalize recreational drugs to take away the revenue source for the worse of ghetto denizens.

Finally, make it mandatory for all new entrants into America that are of public school age to take: American History and Civics.

2007-08-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

Margie (that would be my wife) and I are ever so sadly wrapping up one of the very best vacations that we've ever had. I'm saying that even though this vacation was the same year as our Hawaiian vacation earlier this past March.

On this vacation we my brother (Jim) and His wife (Nanette) drove up from Texas and arrived early on a Saturday evening. We had dinner at a favorite Mexican joint (no illegals there!) and hit the rack shortly thereafter.

Sunday was rest and relaxation. Steaks (2 inch think filets) grilled on the b-b-q grill out back, shared by the 4 of us plus Johnny (my stepson) and his soon to be mother of Scarlet, Katie.

Monday we arose relatively early and after filling up on both gas and breakfast at a local BP attached to a Mickey D's we were on the road and headed to visit our (me and Jim's) roots in Pennsylvania. We drove from Indianapolis through Ohio, a particularily boring state, and on to Pittsburgh PA. Pittsburgh was awesome, Jim and I had forgotten how beautiful the countryside was in and immediately around Pittsburgh. Our old home was in North Braddock, and both North Braddock and Braddock had really gone down hill in the last 46 years. When we moved to texas it was 1961 and the area was starting to go down hill way back then and while Pittrsburgh proper felt healthy, our old area did not.

It is pretty interesting how your memory plays tricks on you. I had remembered our town being a healthy distance away from Pittsburgh but it was virtually next door.

Talk about change, we stopped by and visited the projects where I lived from ages 1 - 10. What had been concrete block projects was now condos. The concrete block appearance was changed to field stone and a rough hewn wood facing of some sort. They had even added central air, quite a shock.

A bigger shock was the neighborhood we had moved to when we left the projects. I had remembered a really big two story home with insul-brick (an asphalt siding, sometimes called ghetto brick), a slate roof that my dad, unaware that I was deathly afraid of heights, used to make me patch with hot tar. Height was an issue since the ground was maybe 30 feet or morre below. The home was still there, now with vinyl siding, an asphaalt shingle roof and central air conditioning. The back porch was no longer there, I wonder what they did with the door that led to that porch - hope the closed it up because the porch was 20 feet off the ground.

Jim and I walked up and down the street remembering stuff. We talked to a few oldtimers but they had all moved to the street afe=ter we had already moved to Texas.

We then drove to South Greensburg where our grandparents had owned a small farm, they bought this and moved to it after my grandfather retired from the coal mines. This was a sad sight. Whoever bought it from my grandfather was one of those families that share their home with 20 cats and 10 dogs. It was abandoned and sad. Even though it was posted, "no tresspassing, no hunting, no fishing" I walked through the weeds and undergowth to see if some of my memories were correct. Sure enough, I found the 2 x 4s that supported the roof over the basement exit. This was important because I remembered my grandfather doing chin ups while holding on to the 2 x 4s with just his index fnger and thunb. He was one strong guy, this was when he was in his 60s. The old concrete block garage was still there. I would have loved to be able to go in the house, but ......

That was the end of Monday so we found a Days Inn and a place to eat and called it a night. The next day we (shock) found a recently opened up racino and played for a few hours, then headed back home. The drive took the rest of that Tuesday.

On Wednesday we woke before the crack of dawn so we could hit opening day at the Indiana State Fair. Jim, Nanette, Margie and I were at the fair by 6:00 AM. We did the early thing because on the opening day there is a hot air balloon race and we were there in time to watch them fill the things with heated air then take off. An inspiring sight. After that we spent an hour in line for breakfast then spent the better part of the day schlepping through exhibits and eating stick food. By exibhits I mean a whole building full of arsty stuff, a lot of needle work that Nanette and Margie really enjoyed. Jim and I were thrilled too.

Thursday was a Caesar's Casino day, our favorite casino a 1oo miles south and across the river from Louisville KY. We're desperately trying to avoid leaving an estate. Well, I am anyway. Everyone besides me actually came out okay.

On Friday Jim and I spent the day at the track, did I mention I'm trying to avoid leaving an estate? Margie and Nanette trucked up north a ways an visited a quilt shop.

On Staurday Jim and Nanette slunk away before the crack of dawn and arrived home in record time.

All in all, this is one of the best vacations I have ever had. Revisiting memories with Margie, my Bro and his lovely bride. One for the books.

Now here are some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11680034@N05/show/

Information regarding the immigration debate

2007-06-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

As background, I attended a protest last Saturday in downtown Indianapolis. The protest was in front of senator Lugar and senator Bayh' offices. The event was sponsored by iFire the Indiana branch of Grassfire.org

The material below was sent to all participants, Well worth your time to read.
========================================================

To ALL,

I want to "thank you" all of you for taking your time, using your energies and spending your $$$$'s for gas to be with us today in downtown Indy. I was delighted to see so many new faces who were obviously as patriotic, passionate, concerned, angry, frustrated.....and even fearful, as are we members of IFIRE and Hoosiers For Secure Borders.

We have a wonderful military fighting to destroy terrorist groups overseas, but we, here at home, also have a battle royal to fight and that of course, is AMNESTY for a possible 20-30 MILLION illegal aliens. DO NOT believe the 12-million number that has been quoted in the liberal media and by politicians from all three Parties, since 1986! That folks, has become an outright lie.

Now, when speaking with you today, I mentioned the first email I sent would contain this Report. PLEASE take the time needed to thoroughly read and digest what the (foreign) author is quite pointedly letting us in on. I sincerely believe it is happening now, with this latest 'Comprehensive Immigration' Bill. Too me, after having read this information, it's has become as plain as day. Let me know if you agree, or disagree.

Again, "thank you" for participating today and I truly hope we will all continue to fight this together, as much as we possibly can.

One other thing, after reading (and understanding) this Report, if you know of any other folks who you believe would benefit from this information, PLEASE share it with them.

Immigration and Usurpation (Or, Real reasons why your Senators want this Amnesty/'immigration' Bill)

July 2006
By Fredo Arias-King[Fredo Arias-King from March 1999 to July 2000 was an aide to presidential candidate Vicente Fox Quesada of Mexico, largely handling the foreign relations of the campaign along with Dr. Carlos Salazar, who handled the foreign relations of Fox’s party, the PAN. After the July 2000 victory, Arias-King declined government jobs but agreed to represent the PAN at both the Republican and the Democratic national conventions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, respectively. In 14 trips to Washington and to both party conventions, he spoke extensively to U.S. public figures, including 80 members of Congress, about the bilateral relationship. His role in the Fox campaign has been recognized in several books published in Mexico. A Harvard-trained businessman and Sovietologist, his academic work focuses on the post-communist transitions, and he is the founding editor of Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, published in Washington.]

Americans are aware that their political class may not always act in their best interest. This belief is enshrined in the American character, its laws, and the very philosophy underpinning the U.S. Constitution. The Founding Fathers crafted things so that the "knaves" will be forced to abide by the will of the people, but they warned that their "natural progress" is to find ways to remain in power and increase that power at the people’s expense. They therefore also urged eternal vigilance, spiritedness, and the occasional revolt of the people.

Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others got it right—the knaves have, by and large, behaved, and their actions largely reflect in some way the will of the American people. Americans do not need to engage their politicians in an uncivil way—as happens most elsewhere—since the ballot box, the media, and other constitutional tools largely suffice. Indeed, the American political system works remarkably well. However, there are a handful of topics where the elites do not act in the interests of those they govern. Of these, the most notorious is the contentious issue of immigration. Why are politicians so keen on mass immigration while the common American is not? This has perplexed analysts.

When I aided the foreign relations of presidential candidate and president-elect Vicente Fox back in 1999 and 2000, I met with almost 80 U.S. congressmen and senators during numerous trips and at several events. With just over 50 of them, my colleagues and I spoke about immigration in some depth, as it is one of the important bilateral topics. My findings were reported in a Backgrounder published by the Center for Immigration Studies called "Politics by Other Means."1 It is a dense and academic paper, but the basic finding was: Indeed, American politicians are overwhelmingly pro-immigration, for a variety of reasons, and they do not always admit this to their constituents. Of those 50 legislators, 45 were unambiguously pro-immigration, even asking us at times to "send more." This was true of both Democrats and Republicans.

These empirical findings seemed to confirm what some analysts without that level of access termed as a political "perfect storm" of widespread political-elite support for immigration despite its general unpopularity with the average American. The paradox is that immigration is the only issue (perhaps besides trade policy) that represents a notorious discrepancy between elite and popular opinion in the United States.2 But this contradicts the established conventional wisdom of a representative democracy such as the United States. If mass immigration from Latin America has debatable benefits for the United States as a whole, if a majority of the American people is against it, and if immigrants cannot vote until they become naturalized (which can take years after their arrival), why would nine-tenths of the legislators we spoke with be so keen on increasing immigration?

Before these encounters, I believed that it was a problem of either diffusion of responsibility, "creeping non-decision," or collective rationalization with those legislators, but that was dispelled the more of them we met. Most of them seemed to be aware of the negative or at least doubtful consequences of mass immigration from Latin America, while still advocating mass immigration.3

The familiar reasons usually discussed by the critics were there: Democrats wanted increased immigration because Latin American immigrants tend to vote Democrat once naturalized (we did not meet a single Democrat that was openly against mass immigration); and Republicans like immigration because their sponsors (businesses and churches) do. But there were other, more nuanced reasons that we came upon, usually not discussed by the critics, and probably more difficult to detect without the type of access that we, as a Mexican delegation, had.

Their "Natural Progress"
Of a handful of motivations, one of the main ones (even if unconscious) of many of these legislators can be found in what the U.S. Founding Fathers called "usurpation." Madison, Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and others devised a system and embedded the Constitution with mechanisms to thwart the "natural" tendency of the political class to usurp power—to become a permanent elite lording over pauperized subjects, as was the norm in Europe at the time.

However, the Founding Fathers seem to have based the logic of their entire model on the independent character of the American folk. After reviewing the different mechanisms and how they would work in theory, they wrote in the Federalist Papers that in the end, "If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America …"4 With all his emphasis on reason and civic virtue as the basis of a functioning and decentralized democratic polity, Jefferson speculated whether Latin American societies could be governed thus.5

While Democratic legislators we spoke with welcomed the Latino vote, they seemed more interested in those immigrants and their offspring as a tool to increase the role of the government in society and the economy. Several of them tended to see Latin American immigrants and even Latino constituents as both more dependent on and accepting of active government programs and the political class guaranteeing those programs, a point they emphasized more than the voting per se. Moreover, they saw Latinos as more loyal and "dependable" in supporting a patron-client system and in building reliable patronage networks to circumvent the exigencies of political life as devised by the Founding Fathers and expected daily by the average American.

Republican lawmakers we spoke with knew that naturalized Latin American immigrants and their offspring vote mostly for the Democratic Party, but still most of them (all except five) were unambiguously in favor of amnesty and of continued mass immigration (at least from Mexico). This seemed paradoxical, and explaining their motivations was more challenging. However, while acknowledging that they may not now receive their votes, they believed that these immigrants are more malleable than the existing American: That with enough care, convincing, and "teaching," they could be converted, be grateful, and become dependent on them. Republicans seemed to idealize the patron-client relation with Hispanics as much as their Democratic competitors did. Curiously, three out of the five lawmakers that declared their opposition to amnesty and increased immigration (all Republicans), were from border states.

Also curiously, the Republican enthusiasm for increased immigration also was not so much about voting in the end, even with "converted"

Latinos. Instead, these legislators seemingly believed that they could weaken the restraining and frustrating straightjacket devised by the Founding Fathers and abetted by American norms. In that idealized "new" United States, political uncertainty, demanding constituents, difficult elections, and accountability in general would "go away" after tinkering with the People, who have given lawmakers their privileges but who, like a Sword of Damocles, can also "unfairly" take them away. Hispanics would acquiesce and assist in the "natural progress" of these legislators to remain in power and increase the scope of that power. In this sense, Republicans and Democrats were similar.

While I can recall many accolades for the Mexican immigrants and for Mexican-Americans (one white congressman even gave me a "high five" when recalling that Californian Hispanics were headed for majority status), I remember few instances when a legislator spoke well of his or her white constituents. One even called them "rednecks," and apologized to us on their behalf for their incorrect attitude on immigration. Most of them seemed to advocate changing the ethnic composition of the United States as an end in itself. Jefferson and Madison would have perhaps understood why this is so—enthusiasm for mass immigration seems to be correlated with examples of undermining the "just and constitutional laws" they devised.

One leading Republican senator over a period of months was advising us, through a mutual acquaintance, about which mechanisms to follow and which other legislators to lobby in order to ensure passage of the amnesty proposal. In the meantime, he would speak on television about the need to "militarize" the border. This senator was recently singled out by a taxpayer’s advocacy group as a leader in "pork"-related politics.

Bill Richardson, who had served in Clinton’s cabinet and later became governor of New Mexico, kindly stopped to speak to our delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. He commented favorably to us: "What do Hispanics want? Fully funded government programs!"

The Economist mentioned about his state:
New Mexico is a poor place, with one of the highest proportion of people living on food stamps … Its political tradition also long had a Latin American feel, based around a padrón system of clients and bosses. The bosses ran grocery stores, gave you credit, helped you if you needed a job. And all you had to do was vote for the Democrats … New Mexican politics is still about jobs, contracts and personal loyalty, not ideology. And Mr. Richardson personifies this.6

Trailer-park poverty combined with a cult of personality, where government initiatives regularly bear the governor’s name, as they would with some Latin American potentate (the governor is half Mexican himself), prevails in a state that is 40 percent Hispanic, including Hispanics already many generations in the United States.

Those that have come out supporting amnesty are also associated with other attempts to undermine the Jeffersonian and Madisonian model of democracy. Sen. Arlen Specter, for instance, a leading supporter of amnesty, years ago proposed another bill that would have changed the outcome of elections based on quotas, whereby electoral outcomes could be changed by a federal judge.7

Some legislators had also mentioned to us (oftentimes laughing) how they had "defanged" or "gutted" anti-immigration bills and measures, by neglecting to fund this program or tabling that provision, or deleting the other measure, etc. "Yes, we passed that law, but it can’t work because we also…" was a usual comment to assuage the Mexican delegations.

In light of what we learned from speaking to them privately, it is surprising that many legislators have gone public recently with their pro-immigration views, as opposed to simply adding their votes discreetly and imposing a fait accompli. This is another conundrum, but may be explained because legislators also suffer a collective-action problem. My feeling is that if the vote on granting amnesty to the illegal migrants was up for a secret vote, then perhaps we would see a 90 percent vote in favor, coinciding with my random sample from six years ago.

One such example of "natural progress" that legislators attempted to impose with no debate was when Pennsylvania state legislators—in the middle of the night before a recess— in July 2005 passed a bill giving themselves a modest pay raise. The civic reaction and spontaneous popular mobilization was such (with effigies of pigs carried by demonstrators calling their legislators "Harrisburg Hogs"), the legislators recanted and, with only one dissenting vote, repealed their pay raise weeks later.

To Govern Is to PopulateA group of Argentine statesmen in the 19th century sought to populate their country with immigrants from certain parts of Europe, believing that they were more politically mature and more propitious for a stable state than the criollo and mestizo populations in their country at the time. One of those statesmen, President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, had a slogan: "To govern is to populate," perhaps because Argentina traditionally has been both under-populated and ungovernable.

What could be motivating U.S. legislators to do the opposite, that is, to see their constituents—already politically mature and proven as responsible and civic-minded—as an obstacle needing replacement? In other words, why would they want to replace a nation that works remarkably well (that Sarmiento was hoping to emulate), with another that has trouble forming stable, normal countries?

Mexicans are kind and hardworking, with a legendary hospitality, and unlike some European nations, harbor little popular ambitions to impose models or ideologies on others. However, Mexicans are seemingly unable to produce anything but corrupt and tyrannical rulers, oftentimes even accepting them as the norm, unaffected by allegations of graft or abuse.8

Mexico, and Latin American societies in general, seem to suffer from what an observer called "moral relativism," accepting the "natural progress" of the political class rather than challenging it, and also appearing more susceptible to "miracle solutions" and demagogic political appeals. Mexican intellectuals speak of the corrosive effects of Mexican culture on the institutions needed to make democracy work, and surveys reveal that most of the population accepts and expects corruption from the political class.9 A sociological study conducted throughout the region found that Latin Americans are indeed highly susceptible to clientelismo, or partaking in patron-client relations, and that Mexico was high even by regional standards.10

In a Latin environment, there are fewer costs to behaving "like a knave," which explains the relative failure of most Spanish-speaking countries in the Hemisphere: Pauperized populations with rich and entrenched knaves. Montesquieu’s separation-of-powers model breaks down in Latin America (though essentially all constitutions are based on it) since elites do not take their responsibilities seriously and easily reach extra-legal "understandings" with their colleagues across the branches of government, oftentimes willingly making the judicial and legislative powers subservient to a generous executive, and giving the population little recourse and little choice but to challenge the system in its entirety.

These pathologies are already evident across the border. For example, at the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, when even President Clinton’s strongest backers such as Rep. Richard Gephardt were distancing themselves from him and calling on the president to "tell the truth," the Hispanic Caucus in the U.S. Congress lent its support to the president. Rep. Esteban Torres stated "We’re going to stand by him to the end … no matter what!"11 The case of the "unconditional support" by the Hispanics in Congress to their patron demonstrated why the Montesquieu-Madisonian model had difficulty functioning in the Latin American context. This type of unconditional support seems to be what professional politicians of both parties expect from their Hispanic constituents and allies.

When thinking of populating as a way of obtaining power, perhaps these U.S. legislators, rather than from the statesman Sarmiento, took an unconscious cue from another Latin American leader who used migration and ethnic policy for less laudable goals. Mexican President Luis Echeverría (1970-76), who began the cycle of political violence and economic crisis from which the country has yet to recover, pursued a policy of moving hundreds of thousands of impoverished people from the country’s south to the more prosperous and dynamic northern states, where they remain to this day, mostly in shantytowns. His goal was to neutralize those states’ more active civic culture that threatened his power—as these states were at the time the main source of opposition to his dictatorial ambitions.

These pauperized and dependent migrants and their offspring would provide a ready source of votes for the ruling party along with a mobilizeable mass to counter (politically as well as physically) the more civic-oriented middle classes of those northern states and "crack" their will to challenge his corporatist regime. Along with other extra-constitutional tools (he almost succeeded in canceling the constitution to remain indefinitely as president), migration from undeveloped areas was used by Echeverría as "politics by other means." Echeverría, in other words, was the ultimate knave.

Do the U.S. legislators have an overt and well thought-out "plan," as Echeverría did? That is unlikely.

Unlike Echeverría, these 45 U.S. legislators (especially the Republican ones) may simply be following a string of what can be called "rational short-termisms," that seem beneficial now even though they may unwittingly lead to adverse outcomes for them in the end. Like a diet rich in fats and sugar brings a jolt of energy and pleasure in the short run but causes health problems in the longer term, these congressmen still have incentives to allow and encourage mass immigration because of its low political cost for them and the perceived short-term benefits it brings (for them and the special interests that fund them).

If these "rational short-termisms" exist within a given individual (where he assumes both the benefits and the costs, such as with an irresponsible diet), they are more prevalent in a country, as those accruing the benefits are not those who pay the costs, and have an incentive to organize themselves to pursue the behavior leading to those outcomes. Because of collective-action problems, those benefiting from mass immigration are better organized, even if they are in the minority and even if they are vaguely aware that "someone else" pays for their largesse. These groups only see the assets, not the liabilities. By nature, legislators should prefer these short-termisms, since the payoffs are immediate and directly attributed to a political figure, whereas the costs can be pushed into the future.

The payoffs and benefits of more long-term policies are unlikely to be associated with a particular political figure and become, essentially, public goods. Just as there is a large body of literature on "economic failure," we should begin to explore a related concept—"political failure," which could be the Achilles heel of the American and other models of representative democracy. In the end, the result of mass Latin American immigration will not likely present the stark choice of democracy versus non-democracy for the United States, but the quality of democracy may indeed be affected.

Acción Directa as a Double-Edged Sword
What awaits the United States when a critical mass of the American people realizes the immigration issue is little different than what happened in Pennsylvania with the pay-raise issue? What if they decide to organize?

These legislators are probably correct that, by acquiescing to mass immigration, they will eventually "crack" the immigration-control advocates. They do not need to win or even engage in a debate if they can change the terms of the game so decisively. However, they have only taken into account the legal or civilized resistance—from those who write in the papers or volunteer peacefully at the border. In Latin America, people engage in un-civil direct action because they have come to realize that attempting to convince their elites that their antisocial behavior has adverse consequences for the country—and expecting that this will dissuade them from engaging in it—is largely a futile exercise. But in the United States as well, once immigration-control advocates realize they cannot reach their goals through legal means, this could breed a form of resistance that has not occurred yet, but cannot be discounted offhand.

The degree of usurpation and neglect of their fiduciary duty by legislators could provoke immigration-reform advocates to engage increasingly in civil resistance, so that instead of influencing political institutions through civic engagement (as Americans traditionally have), they may attempt to politicize individual institutions.

Their direct actions are already being reported: local officers taking it upon themselves to detain illegal migrants, sit-ins at immigration offices, vandalizing of Mexican restaurants, threatening calls to the Hispanic mayor of Los Angeles, etc. Once these types of mobilizations begin, they will be difficult to stop.

Some Americans may take a cue from Spanish/Latin American culture itself and engage in what Spaniards call acción directa, or "direct action." A Spaniard once lamented that "In this country, nobody votes, but everyone protests." Immigration advocates should not be surprised if Latin American immigrants and their offspring continue their tradition of direct action and ignoring laws and institutions—as the recent mass protests in cities across the country demonstrate. But they should also not be surprised if Americans also learn to pursue acción directa. An interesting test for the U.S. political class will be how they respond to Americans utilizing direct action, since they seem to tolerate and even encourage it for Latin American immigrants and their offspring. So far, their reaction has been predictable—accusing peaceful volunteers of being "vigilantes" and labeling critics as "racist," while backing down in the face of mass protests by the illegal immigrants.

There were even reports that the U.S. government had handed over to the Mexican government the names of the "Minutemen" critics and border-control volunteers.

Moreover, those who challenge through extra-legal means the extra-constitutional and fait accompli pro-immigration methods of the elites would, paradoxically, be abiding more by the spirit and even letter of the U.S. Constitution than the political class being targeted by them. The Federalist Papers are replete with this philosophy. If they do so effectively, the reaction of the U.S. Congress may be the same as it was for the Pennsylvania legislature in the aftermath of the pay-raise scandal. Both policies are difficult to defend openly and publicly with an engaged citizenry.

If Americans do indeed take up civil disobedience and acción directa, hopefully they would realize that targeting Mexicans will not solve their problem, because even if for some reason they could "neutralize" Mexico as a source of mass immigration, soon they would be targeting Indonesians or Africans or South Americans. But that would be attacking the symptoms and not the root cause of their malaise.

Realizing this, what other events could turn the tables in favor of moderate and civic-minded immigration-reform advocates?

One, if these politicians begin to realize that the consequences of mass immigration for them are not what they expected—when the string of "rational short-termisms" crashes in the rocks of failed electoral campaigns or mass mobilization by critics of immigration against their political careers. Perhaps that is why three of the five lawmakers critical of mass immigration we met with are from border states. They perhaps have already come to realize that their "fantasy constituents" were different than expected. But this realization is unlikely to come any time soon to the remaining lawmakers.

Two, if a critical mass of Americans of Mexican and other Latin American descent take the lead in opposing the openly partisan and irredentist leaders mobilizing the illegal immigrants and the Latino citizens, since it is those types of leaders and provocateurs, not average populations at large, who start ethnic conflicts, as in Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland.12 But this is also unlikely because of the collective-action problem. American Latinos who criticize mass immigration tend not to organize, as they are especially targeted by the pro-immigration Latino "leaders."

A third peaceful way to close the gap between elite and popular opinion on the immigration issue is to pass certain political reforms that would help to assuage lawmakers’ concerns for their political and financial stability. Increasing their (already-high) salaries may be a small price to pay to reduce their proclivity to find solutions for their "natural progress" elsewhere, such as with immigration. However, in this case the medicine may be worse than the illness.
A fourth way would be for a political entrepreneur to successfully use popular discontent with mass immigration to reach power.

This is essentially what happened in Denmark. There, the antisocial behavior of Middle Eastern and other immigrants was largely ignored by both main parties and the press, both also displaying an elite consensus against the population’s antipathy for immigrants and for further immigration. The parties had even agreed between them not to make immigration an issue in campaigns or on television debates. Eventually, a political entrepreneur named Anders Fogh Rasmussen used the immigration issue to capture power inside his party, and then go on to win the general elections in 2001. As prime minister he enjoys popular support for his tough immigration and law-and-order policies, which also coincided with other reforms against big government and the welfare state. He was reelected in 2005, and even the opposition Social Democrats have dropped their prior position and now largely agree with Rasmussen’s views on immigration.

Bilateral Codependence
Some American and Mexican pundits argue that the outcome of the amnesty debate will affect the way Mexicans view the United States and their own democracy. The argument goes that if the U.S. Congress does not pass a law favorable to the undocumented workers, there will be a Mexican backlash against the United States that could ensure the victory of the illiberal, anti-American Left. However, this argument assumes that Mexico (through its population and political elites) acts in a rational way, and that these American overtures will be understood and appreciated (much the same way that France also understood and appreciated the American role in its liberation from Nazi Germany).

However, the same argument was made by Russian elites and their American sympathizers during the debate on expanding NATO, with the argument that if America pursued its interests (expanding NATO), this would cause an irreversible collapse of Russian democracy and a backlash from the Kremlin. This argument held sway for years at the Clinton White House. In the end, NATO expanded and Moscow’s relations with its former imperial colonies and with NATO itself actually improved.

Rather than rational and mutually beneficial, U.S. bilateral relations with Mexico (as it was with Russia in the 1990s before NATO expansion) can instead be called "codependence," which is defined by the Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology as "silent or even cheerful tolerance of unreasonable behavior from others," or even a pathology of trying to fix things for other people and rescue them, which in turn encourages a certain behavior from the object to be rescued.

These sacrifices and concessions (with countries as with people) produce a sense of entitlement and an unending string of additional unreasonable demands. The IMF also engaged in a form of codependence with Moscow in the 1990s—the more money that was lent to the Kremlin, the fewer reforms it implemented, and the more anti-U.S. and anti-Western rhetoric it engaged in, with much of that money going to finance the war in Chechnya, for its weapons industries, and for its political class.13

During the 18 months when I aided Fox’s foreign relations, in those meetings with what became the new Mexican elite I do not recall so many discussions about "what can we do to make tough decisions to reform Mexico," but rather more "how can we get more concessions from the United States." Indeed, Fox largely continued governing the country as his predecessors did, even appointing as head of the federal police agency an Echeverría loyalist who was allegedly involved in a deadly extortion attempt against a museum owner in 1972. According to several leading world rankings on corruption, quality of government, development, and competitiveness, Mexico actually worsened during Fox’s presidency.14

Lacking internal or external pressure, the Mexican elites have taken the path of least resistance, which is not the best outcome for the country. Paradoxically, as happens in co-dependent relations, a firm but polite defense of American interests by Washington would force the Mexican elites to act and in the end (surely after a brief period of acrimonious recriminations) would be beneficial for Mexico, much as the European Union’s tough accession laws force elites in lesser-developed aspiring members (Spain in the 1980s and Central European countries in the 1990s) to adopt painful and otherwise politically unfeasible reforms that affect special interests but that benefit average citizens. After all, the gap between elite and popular aspirations in these countries is wider than in the United States, and on a broader range of issues.

This co-dependence is perhaps nowhere more evident than the personal relations of the political classes of Mexico and the United States. When speaking to these congressmen, we noticed an affinity toward the corrupt party we were attempting to overthrow in Mexico. Several had visited Mexico and apparently enjoyed lavish treatment from their hosts, even mentioning how some of the things they enjoyed in Mexico would not be possible at home.

Even though the Mexican political class is notoriously corrupt, they can often count on stronger support in Washington than can several more worthy world leaders who are genuinely attempting to reform and improve their countries. The history of the Bush family is symptomatic.

While snubbing pro-American reformers in the newly liberated Eastern Europe, George H.W. Bush did go out of his way to accommodate Mexico and its leader Carlos Salinas. Then-vice president and presidential candidate Bush openly endorsed Salinas after the latter’s fraudulent election in 1988, a favor that Salinas returned four years later when he met only with Bush and snubbed his Democratic rival, Bill Clinton. As presidents, Salinas and Bush crafted NAFTA, and then Bush assisted Salinas in joining the OECD (though Mexico was not qualified) and was even attempting to promote him to head the WTO before Salinas’s political star collapsed amid a torrent of corruption and political murders. Whereas Lech Wałesa—the slayer of communism and harbinger of democracy for Poland and the rest of east-central Europe—publicly scolded his fellow former president George H.W. Bush in a Prague meeting in 1999 for having done much less than expected for the transformation of his country and the region as a whole, Salinas remains a close friend and admirer of Bush Sr. to this day.

While Bush Sr. went out of his way to help Salinas, other deserving reformers besides Wałesa also complained of having been ignored by Bush Sr., even in countries more important to U.S. security and prosperity than Mexico. For example, Bush Sr. repeatedly refused to give even a modicum of assistance (moral or financial) to the Russian government of acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar during the risky and painful reforms launched to dismantle the Soviet legacy and attempt to put Russia on a reform and democratic path. Bush’s lackadaisical and lukewarm relations with such figures have been widely criticized, and seem counterintuitive. Gaidar’s failure can largely be traced to the lack of political and financial support from the West, and the United States in particular, for his reforms.

In April 2000, candidate George W. Bush followed in his father’s footsteps when he tacitly but unambiguously endorsed the candidate of Salinas’s ruling party against a then little-known opposition figure named Vicente Fox, perhaps believing that the official-party candidate, the former secret-police chief Francisco Labastida, would engage in a quid pro quo as president. Labastida himself could not receive the honor in person on April 7, 2000, since he had been fingered by the U.S. press as a possible target of the Drug Enforcement Administration because of his record as governor. Instead, he sent his wife to meet with Bush. Florida governor Jeb Bush knew for many years and apparently also received lavish treatment from Salinas’s brother Raúl, before Raúl was arrested on corruption and murder charges and spent the next decade in a Mexican high-security prison.

Bush Sr. had a long friendship and business relations with Jorge Díaz Serrano, then director of the Mexican oil monopoly pemex, before he was also arrested in a power struggle and accused of embezzling over $50 million. The long-time politicos of the Hank Rhon family, who were suspected of laundering drug money and who continue to win elections in Mexico, were also reported to have contributed money to the gubernatorial campaigns of George W. Bush from a Texas bank they own.15 To their credit, no overtly illegal practice has been proven against the Bush family in their dealings with Mexico, but the appearance of admiration toward its ruling classes cannot be easily discounted.

Though similar stories involving lesser politicians do not make headlines, several lawmakers we met also had a special, giddy mystique of Mexico as a place where moneyed leaders coexist with tame, grateful citizens. It would seem that the American political class has a special affinity for their colleagues south of the border. The appeal of their lavishness and impunity seems to strike a positive chord in the American politicians, who perhaps resent being held accountable by their citizens, who cannot become wealthy from politics, and who may be removed from power "unfairly" and without warning.

ConclusionSamuel Huntington speculated that the American "creed" (values and beliefs) cannot be used to openly oppose mass immigration.16 That may change. So far, the immigration debate has centered on the immigrants themselves—whether they are worthy or unworthy. This debate is a red herring, since average Americans are unusually kind and restrained in the face of mass immigration, something that cannot be said about other nations (including Mexico).17 Recent poll findings from Zogby challenge the popular belief that the average American somehow has negative or overtly prejudicial feelings toward Mexicans in particular.18 However, Huntington did not take into account the possibility that the debate could yet be framed in terms of potential usurpation from the political class using immigration as a tool.

If an organizeable mass of Americans comes to suspect that mass immigration from Latin America is being used by the political class to undermine their democracy and as a tool to liberate the political elites from the Jeffersonian and Madisonian constraints, then indeed we may witness a reaction—but hopefully not against the immigrants themselves, as they are also objects of elite manipulations in more than one country.

The Founding Fathers also prescribed a cure for usurpation. Hopefully the American people will not apply it so literally, for the sake of those legislators.

End Notes
1 "Politics by Other Means: The ‘Why’ of Immigration to the United States," Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder, December 2003, http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/back1703.html .

2 "See Elite vs. Public Opinion: An Examination of Diverge
nt Views on Immigration," by Roy Beck and Steven A. Camarota, Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder, December 2002, http://www.cis.org/articles/2002/back1402.html .

3 Maybe this is where immigration policy differs from trade policy. At least the elites that promote free trade with other countries do genuinely believe it benefits the U.S. economy and the average person, and the evidence proves them right.

4 The Federalist Papers, No. 57.

5 Jefferson wrote "I wish I could give better hopes of our southern brethren. … what will then become of them? Ignorance and bigotry, like other insanities, are incapable of self-government. They will fall under military despotism …" Jefferson letter to Marquis de Lafayette, 4 May 1817, in http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl249.htm .

6 "Bill Richardson’s Story," The Economist, 29 May 2004, p. 34.

7 S 1992 (vote No. 177, 97th Cong.).

8 An analyst actually argued that allegations of corruption and abuse have a positive impact on a politician’s career throughout Latin America. Andrés Oppenheimer, "Los más denunciados, los más votados," Reforma, 17 September 2002, p. 33A.

9 Surveys indeed reveal a distrust of institutions by the citizenry, but also a distrust of each other—55 percent thought "most people in Mexico are corrupt," whereas 25 percent believed most other Mexicans are honest. See the Reforma survey focused on corruption, in "La cultura del soborno," Reforma, 29 August 2002, 8A. Moreover, social status and education seem to be positively correlated with corruption. Another survey by Transparency International revealed that the younger and more educated Mexicans are actually more likely to engage in corruption, and that most people believe public officials are entitled to gain financially from their positions. See Leonardo Valero, "Son más corruptos los jóvenes, revelan," Reforma, 5 April 2002, 7A.

10 The survey was conducted in 18 Latin American countries by Latinobarómetro. The question was if the respondent knew of someone who had received privileges for sympathizing with the party in power. The average for Latin America was 18 percent, whereas the Mexican figure was 34 percent. "Lidera México en clientelismo," Reforma, 30 October 2005, A1.

11CNN Headline News, 4 August 1998.

12This is the theory of Fintan O’Toole, The Lie of the Land: Irish Identities (London: Verso, 1997). O’Toole’s writings on Yugoslavia include "Serbian aim to kill all Kosovans is nothing new," The Irish Times, 5 May 1999.

13See Stephan Hedlund, "Russia and the IMF: A Sordid Tale of Moral Hazard," Demokratizatsiya, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2001),
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3996/is_200101/ai_n8944035 .

14See my article "Mexico’s Wasted Chance," The National Interest, Winter 2005-6.

15Steve Sailer, "Latino Magazine Probes Bushes’ Mexican Contacts," United Press International, 23 February 2001. See also Alan Zarembo, "Bush Family Ties," Newsweek International, 26 February 2001.

16 Samuel Huntington, "The Hispanic Challenge," Foreign Policy, March/April 2004.

17See "Mexico’s Glass House: How the Mexican constitution treats foreign residents, workers and naturalized citizens," by J. Michael Waller, Center for Security Policy Occasional Paper No. 7, April 2006, http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/Mexicos_Glass_House.pdf , and "Mexico’s Immigration Law: Let’s Try it Here at Home," by J. Michael Waller, Center for Security Policy Occasional Paper No. 8, April 2006, http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/Mexicos_Immigration_Law.pdf .

18See "Zogby Poll: Americans, Mexicans Want Closer Ties, But Suspicion Abounds," 19 March 2006, http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1082 .
http://www.cis.org/articles/2006/back706.html

A Wonderful Holiday

2006-12-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

Even though I am still numb from a 14 hour drive I had to take a minute and post a word of gratitude to the guy upstairs for a truly wonderful Christmas. It actually started with a really enjoyable Thanksgiving visit here in Indianapolis with my youngest son Doug and his family. We all had a chance to connect and really enjoyed our time together. After they left Margie went into a full steam ahead baking marathon and we shipped Christmas cookies to all compass directions. Once that was accomplished it was time to drive to Texas to spend a week there with my brother and his wife Nanette. Christmas Eve, our traditional family day, was once again a real joy. The family expands each year as new relationships are entered into the fold. Really looking forward to the next one when there will be a brand new great grandchild for us to coo over.

A Random Chance

2006-11-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well hello there! I have some breaking news for you!! Randall and Kat have told me that they are "expecting". Don't look now but it looks like there's going to be another: Great grandkid, Grandkid, Great Grand Neice or Nephew, etc. You know who you are...I think he or she will be here around July! I just love babies!! Tyler and Dominic will be sharing the attention next Christmas.

It appears that we are in for "round 2" of kiddos...

WHO is going to be next??? Hmmmm ;0*)

2006-10-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Dennis Green tirade

The Bears are who we thought they were Damn'it! Any Questions? You'd better ask somebody....Edge

Summer fun 2006

2006-09-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Please check out my "Photoshow". I hope you enjoy viewing as I did making it! Okay, I thought it was going to put a link...Oh well, ENJOY THE SHOW!!

Our Rennovation

2006-08-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

If you're interested in seeing what we've had done to our condo, click on the pix[^] and then either go through the pictures manually or click on the show button. The show button is much more fun but then you don't get to see the comment.

This all came about as a result of the nexus of several circumstances:
My desire to have a whirilpool tub
Saying the heck with it and our decision to redo the whole master bathroom
The sale of a rental property in Texas to fund major work by the Owner's Accociation
The Association deciding not to do the major work
Our realization that life is short

We certainly didn't start out with the idea of a major rennovation, but here we are and it is much more pleasant to enjoy our surroundings than it was to cash a small monthly rent check.

Anyway -come visit and enjoy it with us.

My family-Summer Fun

2006-07-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

This is my part of the family...some pictures, mostly of "the boys" having tons of fun this summer. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I did taking them.

This is my most favorite picture of my wonderful Husband of 14 years, Ozzy. As the kids say, He's "the man"!

Here's Randall. He looks just like his Dad, huh? (all grown up...)

He's looking more like him every year...

This is the big tree in our backyard...we just can't keep 'em out of it.

Randall and the boys at the waterpark...

Tyler...this is his last day of (Pre-K) school below. He loved it there.
(They're all superheros)...

Dom and Tyler at the park.

You know Boys will be boys....

Hot fun in the Summertime...

Tyler started Kindergarten this year...yes, already; Dom has started the Second grade. He just turned 8...

You know Papa has to get into the action!!

They're going to a brand new school in Allen...Gosh it seems like only yesterday...

These are some pics of them just having fun.....at Dominic's Birthday party...First, a couple of Randall and Kat.

Who's this young man??

Dom got his trophy!

There was a pinata...watch out, Randall has "control".

This is Tyler and just one of his many favorite cousins, Catherine.

You know they're always worn out by the time we get done with them!!

I hope you all had a great summer!!!! Those're my babies, I hope you enjoyed the photos!!
%0

May 1st – Demonstrations that our government has failed

2006-04-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

May 1st – Demonstrations that our government has failed

Tomorrow on May 1st, a day synonymous with communism and communist movements we’ll reportedly have millions of illegals marching in the streets of major cities to show us their strength. Today I heard that not only will it be Hispanics but Muslims as well. The demonstrations are supported by state governments (California), churches (my own church, in California of course) and silly-assed feel good liberals of all stripes.

If the activities of May 1st do not move you to call your congressional representatives and take a stand, then: you, your grandchildren and all future generations deserve the results.

What are the results?

There is anarchy, a total disrespect for our laws and our sovereignty. We have no borders, certainly no national language (press 1 for English) and no national leaders willing to enforce the laws they have sworn to up hold.

Should our inept national leaders decide to implement the so called “compromise” that hasbeen discussed, those inept leaders will extend a form of citizenship to law breakers. You will hear statements in the current debate that these illegals are not law breakers, they’re simply people looking for a better life. Well, both statements are true but if a legal status is extended, the result will be horrific. Think not? Well, do the math.

Estimates tell us that there are 11,000,000 to 20,000,000 illegals currently in the country. Few of these are here with their families.

If we compromise and say it is 15,000,000 and the Senate and the president have their way, these 15,000,000 will be bestowed a legal status, the immediate impact will be twofold. First they’ll be able to lay claim on the entire range of social services, forcing higher taxes (property, income and sales) to support. Second they’ll be able to bring their families into the country. Now we can multiply the 15,000,000 by as much as 5, adding 60,000,000 to the population. That 60,000,000 would be on the lower end of the economic scale and ultimately be able to VOTE.

Get the picture?

60,000,000 new citizens or legal residents, considering a current population of 300,000,000 means the new population would represent 16% to 15% of our population, a dramatic shift in the demographics of our country. If you consider that more than half of our current population pays exactly no incomes tax, then in the future envisioned by the senate and silly-assed liberals, something like 65% of the population will pay no taxes and be able to vote. Guess how our professional politicians get elected. Here’s a hint, they promise the masses something for nothing. Here’s another question. How to they pay for the promise? Here’s a hint, if you pay taxes then the politicians are promising your money away and will be doing so on far more dramatic terms because they will have a larger, non-tax paying group to cater too.

Mad yet? Probably not. If you are, then what can be done?

Let me repeat. Call your legislatures. Call your representative. Call your senators. Call the Whitehouse.

For my money, what needs be done:

First:
Build a real fence on the southern border.

Second:
Actually enforce the law against both the illegals and the businesses that hire them

Third
One and two above are a start. I do realize that there is a need for foreign labor so we need a guest worker program. To do that correctly and in a manner that allows our laws to be enforced, we need to support the guest worker program with state of the art identification cards. Those cards would be issued not here but in countries where the workers (should) live. That includes many South American countries. Those cards would be issued by a US Government agency and be encoded with biometrics that identify the worker and possibly a GPS signal capability. Once a worker is qualified and issued a card that worker could then contact US employers via web-site that matched business needs to worker capabilities. Once the card is issued and an employer accepts the worker, then and only then can he come to the USA.

Fourth
Once the engagement between employer and worker is completed, the worker must leave. I believe the employer should fund transportation costs, something as simple as bus fare. If the ID card is GPS enabled then we'd know the location of the worker.

Fifth
Any illegal caught violating the law / rules would then lose all privileges of entry into the USA for all times.

What should be done if our government continues to fail us? Ultimately it is the citizens of the country who must be in control, after all our form of government is democratic and the people must speak and be heard.

How can we make them listen if they refuse?

A set of simple steps:
First
On January 1, submit a W-4 claiming 99 dependents. That will squeeze the nation's coffers since virtually no tax revenue will be collected.

Second
On January 1, cash in any and all government bonds, further squeezing the federal government.

Third
Cease any and all political contributions and when asked why, explain.

Fourth
On January 1, contact your mortgage company and get the paperwork you need to fill out that says you no longer want them to escrow for your property taxes. Then refuse to pay those property taxes – that will squeeze local governments just as we did with the federal government. It will takes years of action for the local government to do anything significant in the way of collection activity. The minute they take action pay the minimum necessary to get them off your back.

Fifth
On April 15th of the following year fill out the federal tax form that requests an automatic 4 month extension for your federal income taxes.

Sixth
On August 15th of that same year make your personal decision whether or not you’ll pay. My guess is that by that time the federal government will have gotten the message or the country would have imploded.

I’m not sure which is worse. An imploded national government or a country that has been handed over to an invading army, which is what is now taking place.

Summary
I believe our country is committing national suicide, for corporate greed and silly-assed liberal feel good notions. The next time someone explains to you that these people just want a better life, remember that they got here illegally and achieved employment by using falsified social security numbers and utilizing other falsified papers – so, extending a legal status to these people is extending a legal status to people who have already proven they have no respect for our laws.

The point is, we lose and lose big if you don’t do something. The “something” today is as difficult as making a couple of phone calls and making your voice heard. Later it gets much much worse.

Not a rant - just a good idea

2006-04-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

The other day I needed to create a back up of a project that I've been working on. It is huge and I have been working on it for years so if it ever gets trashed I'd have a problem. when I tried to burn a CD I discovered that the result was unreadable, so I have a problem with the one high capacity media on my machine. This isn't a surprise as I have had this system for 5 or 6 years and it is wellpast it's prime. I still had to find a way to create the back up though because one thing is certain, if you think you need to back up something and don't then you'll soon regret it.

Here is what I did:
Identified the files I wanted to back up
Using winzip, zip up the files
Get on my Google gmail account and create yet another
Create an email from my old account to my new one
Attach the zipped file to the email and hit send

Now I have a redundant copy of those important file, 1 in my sent folder and 1 in my new in-box. Really works well, Google storing my files for me. Since they give you a little more than 2 gigabytes of space per account, I'm good for a while and have to find a new way to justify a new PC.

Eight of the People Arrested were Illegal Immigrants

2006-04-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is "eight of the people arrested were illegal immigrants" but I would like to point out that they ARE illegal immigrants. You have to understand that up here in the "Great Northwest", we seem to be very politically correct.
Three pounds of Meth and four pounds Pot? Eight of the nine "were" illegal?

No, there's no cause for concern here.... read the article for yourself.

I guess a fair question is; what would have prevented this? Would a change in our immigration laws have stopped this from happening? Maybe tighter border security, deploy the National Guard!

How can we rid our country of illegal immigrants? During World War II, we put a lot of people in internment camps to “protect” our citizens. Now understand that I’m NOT suggesting this course of action, but would like to point out that we have come a long way since then…..maybe too far.

We have to address the issues of illegal immigration and border security better then we have in recent history. Otherwise, our country will continue to arrest, prosecute and keep these illegal immigrants using our tax dollars and burdening a legal system they are not entitled to.

Article on illegal migrant workers

2006-04-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

A few days ago our local Indianapolis paper published an article on the protests / rallies / marches conducted by illegal migrant workers. I fully agree with Representative Hostettler's opinion but was absolutely disgusted by Senator Lugar's opinion. A representative government like our own is incredibally frustrating when our elected officials refuse to enforce the laws they have passed. At least one Indiana representative, Hosettler[^], has it right. The content of the article quoted Lugar and prompted me to write to the editor and express my opinion[^]

The 14th Amendment and more on the invasion of illegals

2006-04-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

As pointed out by MG below, the 14th Amendment makes any child born in the USA a citizen.

In the current debate, these children are called, “anchor babies”. The idea being that “you” won’t want to deport the parents (here illegally) if their children, born here, are citizens.

The question becomes, what do you do where “you” is the United States of America.

First there needs to be an effective wall built on the Southern border.

Yes, it can be done – Google up some research on Israel to see how effective this can be.

Second, as MG stated there needs to be serious penalties for any business that employs an illegal, migrant worker. Maybe a hand slap the first time, a stiff penalty the second, and forfeiture of their business and jail time the third. The effect will be to dry up the opportunities for work. This should be followed by a voluntary migration back to thee home of origin for these people.

Third, create special migrant centers in Mexico and other countries. These migrant centers would issue biometric (possibly GPS enabled) migrant worker identification cards. Once issued to a potential migrant worker, the worker can then contact employers through a web-based system that is accessed in the migrant worker center. If they connect with an employer then their migrant worker identification card would be authorized to allow entry into the United States.

If the now legal migrant worker wants to become a citizen and his background permits, he can apply for citizenship through a formalized process.

Forget about and fight against the garbage about creating paths to citizenship for the illegals already here. Allowing that is the next step into turning our country into something you don’t want for your grandchildren.

Along those lines, at today’s march of illegals in Dallas the news captured a leader of LULAC as he exhorted the crowd with, “this is our land, we’re not going anywhere”. This “our land” exhortation is (as I’ve been told) the battle cry of Hispanics who are working to create a Hispanic homeland in our country. Read up on LULAC, LaRaza, the Reconquistador movement, MEChA (Aztlan) – think long and hard, then make your voice heard.

Dig into Lulac[^]
and read between the lines.

Dig into LaRaza[^] and read between the lines.

Dig around on some of the links provided by MEChA[^]

If you don't read anything else, dig into Aztlan[^] - this is what is at risk, a Hispanic homeland carved out of your country, helped along by cowardly poiticians.

I'm With You - But Would Like to Add That...

2006-04-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

I to am sick and damned tired of the politicians who refuse to address this problem. In my view this is a clear demonstration of why the political division in this country runs too deep. This is an example of patrician politics at its height.

We are asking, no demanding that our elected leaders perform their constitutional duty and protect our borders. For them to guarantee our border security, more then a wall will be required.

A bi-partisan solution has to be created that will address border security and illegal immigration. I don’t think we can successfully address one without thoughtfully addressing the other. I don’t think we can put a wall up and deport every illegal in the country back to their homeland (even if we knew where their homeland was). Mostly because when those illegals give birth in the US, then they are US citizens according to the 14th amendment.

So when we ask our elected leaders to perform their constitutional duty, we cannot be selective as to which constitutional duties we are asking them to execute. There will have to be compromise to the extent where those in this country illegally have motivation to become legal US citizens. If not, then they will continue to be the financial burden of every legal citizen and community across America.

This motivation should come from those who employ non-documented workers. These employers should be severely fined, and if found to continually violate policy, be subjected to more harsh penalties such as liquidation, or forced retrenchment. This is similar to the policy for violations of the EPA. If there were no employers willing to hire them would they come?

I have agreed, in part, to almost each of the proposals recently talked about on the Hill. I think the real question is, are there a couple of leaders in this country willing to put forth a proposal that will possibly lose them the “swing” vote in the next election for the greater good of our country.

What can you do about the border and immigration?

2006-04-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

I am sick and damned tired of the politicians who refuse to address the problems they have created by ignoring the danger of unprotected borders. Repeat, THEY HAVE CREATED THE PROBLEM.

Those same buffoons have now converted the problem they have created such that it is now an immigration problem. So let me have the luxury of repeating myself, I AM SICK AND DAMNED TIRED OF THE POLITICIANS WHO REFUSE TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS THEY HAVE CREATED BY IGNORING THE DANGER.

Sorry President Bush, as much as I respect you, it is not a problem with our immigration laws it is a problem with you and your partners on both sides of the political spectrum who refuse to do their constitutional duty and protect our borders.

The most recent farce was the idiotic dance in the Senate. If you didn’t watch it or pay attention to what went on, a couple of bills introduced in the Senate focused on creating a path to citizenship for people who are here illegally.

That would have been the equivalent of rewarding the guy who tried to jack your car by forcing you to buy him a new one. Just how stupid are these people?

Those Senate bills were roundly defeated, the most egregious being the McCain / Kennedy piece of garbage. That was soundly rejected.

Then there was the farce created by Frist / Reid. This was a “compromise”. This particular compromise INCORPORATED AND EXPANDED the McCain / Kennedy bill – the same bill that was defeated earlier that same day.

The House of Representatives has it right. They have a bill that focuses on border security. Of course the senate can’t stomach it, because it makes sense.

What can you do? Don’t say nothing because it is time to wrest back your country. Consider the following:

Put them on notice. I mean you should let Washington DC (the President, your Representative in the House, your two senators) know how you feel. Call and email each and all.

When you call and / or email, tell them:
If they don’t do anything about border security, and I mean build a real wall like Israel has done, that you’ll mail in your voter registration card and sit out the next election.

Make sure they know you’re a voting Republican or Democrat.

Let them know your household income (you’ll see why below).

Tell them you’ll cash in any US savings bonds you happen to own, this will put a drain on the Treasury if there are any significant number of bond holders out there.

Tell them that on 1-1-2007 you’ll submit a W4 form claiming 99 (or the maximum amount) of dependents so the government will have a limited flow of income during the year.

And if we still don’t get something done, continue not voting and continue the W4 activity years into the future. No, it won’t hurt our country because we’ll have lost it anyway.

The Circus came to town...

2006-04-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

A tiger in the making....

Lions, tigers and bears, Oh my......

Well, we went to the circus the other day.....what did we see? Tyler the Tiger!! (Boy did we have fun with this one! I don't know what was more fun, getting ready and practicing, or the actual production at school).Of course Oz did all the make up and costume design. (remember Spiderman?)It was so cute! Just check out these shots.....He really fit the part! They had a wonderful time.

"A Star is Born..."

Still not completed

2006-03-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

Geez, this is taking forever. We've now nearly completed our painting project, but not totally.

The office is painted and Margie did a superlative job. Instead of "just" a color Margie did sponging for the walls. What "we" did was create a Florida kinda room with a coral color. The way it was done was: 1) wash the walls and ceiling with a solution of TSP, 2) rinse the walls and ceiling with clean water, 3) prime the ceiling with Killz [a kick butt primer that hides everything], 4) prime the walls with a tintable primer that contained pigment that matched the first coat of color, 5) paint the ceiling with an off-white called "Honey Bloom", 6) paint the walls with an undercoat of Blaze Red, 7) apply a Coral color, using sea sponges instead of a brush or typical roller. The result is really slick and makes it look like high dollar wall paper.
Three walls of the living area are painted a nifty green color. We went through the same drill on those walls: 1) wash, 2) rinse, tinted primer, 3) paint - but no sponging.
The other wall in the living area is yellow, again the same drill. We carried the yellow color down the hallway. Unlike with the green, we did a special effects thing on the yellow. We mixed in some sparkling granite chips. The result on the yellow walls is a sparkling effect when the light hits it just right.
The TV now sits inside one wall of the living area, in one of the green walls. It is really pretty, the 61" TV is framed in the green wall with a 3" wide frame, painted off white to match the ceiling.

All of this goes very nice with the bamboo floors.

This weekend we'll paint the kitchen. We're going to carry the yellow into the kitchen and get rid of that gawd-awful orange color I chose umpty-two years ago,

Next week we're having our remaining bathroom redone. This isn't as major an undertaking as the other bathroom was. Here we're going to install a stacked washer and dryer and use the bamboo flooring that remains instead of tile. This means our full size shower will be a half sized shower as the washer and dryer will go in that area. We'll install a new toilet, the black one just doesn't look right now that everything else in our home is brightly colored. Of course, this means more painting. We're going to try another sponging technique on this bath, using a glaze. It should be interesting.

Once the bath and kitchen are complete we're going to re-do the paint in the master bedroom. We aren't satisfied with the paint job the contractor did so we're going to re-paint it using the same color but use a technique called "dragging". That is a base coat of a high gloss (for color and slickness), with a top coat of the same color but maybe a slight variation. You put the top coat on over the base, then take a stiff bristled brush and drag it through the top coat creating lines in the covering. It will look something like a linen finish.

Once we finish that, I'm propping my feet up for a while.

A New Addition

2006-02-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

Please allow me to introduce the newest “future members/additions to” our family. These lucky people are Kat Mir and her 6 year old son Dominic. (We call him “Dom” for short) Some of you met Dominic on Christmas Eve.

On Valentine’s Day my son (and eldest Gaskey Grandchild) Randall asked for her hand in marriage and presented her with an engagement ring. (She accepted!) The neat part of the story is that this is the also ring that my husband, Ozzy proposed to me with, and my brother Michael also gave to his wife, Nani when they became engaged. (Isn’t that sweet! I think we’ve started a tradition here…) Wearers of “the ring” so far have been together for 15+ years…It has been at the beginning of at least two successful unions.

Randall will be the first “Gaskey Grandchild” to get married.

They are looking at dates between 7-12 months from now. (Doug will you be able to marry by then? hint, hint) Kat is a nice girl and just seems to bring out the best of Randall; and the most important part is that Tyler just loves Kat and Dominic both!

A little about Kat. She is 25 and the mother of 6 year old Dominic. She recently moved here from California. She is an Assistant Manager at Bed Bath and Beyond in Plano. She does not drink and they all attend church on Sunday as a family. She has definitely been a good influence on Randall.

I think that she is very lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of our unique and ever growing family; we are lucky to have her and she will certainly add a new aspect to our family in general. Our family is one of a kind and there is a deep love for one another. That’s not only the definition of “my branch of the family” but rather the “Gaskey Family” in general.

Tyler is in Pre-K, learning a Kindergarten curriculum at present and doing is very well. The plan is for Tyler to move in with them after school lets out in May. He is looking forward to it.

Now, that last part is what is going to be difficult for Oz and I, but isn't this a parent's goal? Tyler is so very excited. He especially loves having Dom for a playmate… they even have a puppy now.

It will be nice to enjoy the leisurely part of being Grandparents … plus we just got our hot tub!

Please join me in congratulating them and wishing them well.

Check this out

2006-02-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, enough of all the ranting and renovation for now ... Take a second and try this:

1. Grab a calculator. (You won't be able to do this one in your head.)

2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code).

3. Multiply by 80

4. Add 1

5. Multiply by 250

6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number

7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.

8. Subtract 250

9. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer?

Pretty cool huh!

(this message was brought to you courtesy of my little brother)

Half finished

2006-01-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

Okay it has been a while since I posted anything. Normally I'd be upset enough about something going on that I'd post a rant. Problem is, we're still upside down here with the latest bit of renovations we have going on. Actually this bit is done. The master bedroom is now big enough to call it a master bedroom. The cat, poor Moose - bless her kitty heart, walks around trying to figure out what has happened. A couple of months ago she watched a bathroom disappear, only to see it be replaced by a much bigger one. Then she watched the bedroom disappear only to see it be replaced by yet another, bigger room. She's still having trouble figuring out where the wwalk-in closet came from, I don't think she's noticed that the office has disappeared.

We still haven't put everything back in it's proper place. We have 3 bedrooms worth of "stuff" (actually an office and 2 bedrooms) scattered on the balcony (hope nothing blows off) and in our living room, hallway and dining area. It really is fun to have to stumble over "stuff". Oh yeah, the dust is great too. I never in my wildest imagination (and I have an active one) would I have thought that a little sanding could generate dust dunes, but for sure we'll get that taken care of as well.

I haven't posted any pictures from Christmas, much less the renovations, since one of the things that is scattered all over the house happens to be our personal, non-work PC. With luck we can get that set back up and I can go back to ranting about things I can't control. Or not. Now that we've done the back of the condo (bath, bedroom, walk-in) it has become apparent that we need to do something about painting the rest of the place and re-carpeting. We're toying with not doing carpet but going with a bamboo floor. Bamboo is interesting, more expensive than laminate flooring (imitation wood) and less expensive than wood. Since it is a renewable resource (bamboo grows fast) it doesn't come at a premium. So we still have a decision to make, wood v. carpet v. laminate v. bamboo.
Oh, did I say the bedroom is red?

Just an Update

2006-01-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

This is just an update about what has been going on with us. I thought I needed to provide an update because Grandpa has been going for so long I thought he might be out of breath. Well, trying to catch his breath anyway!

Everything on the home front is going well for us. We have a plan in the works that might get us back to the east coast around the June timeframe. We thought since we have already visited Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina it was time for an extended visit to the north in Virginia. Not to mention the fact that we have found the "Great Northwest" unappealing.

This is sort of nostalgic for me in a sense. I remember when we were in North Carolina and Grandpa and Grandma came to visit there. This is when I think Grandpa became a Republican! After their visit to see our youngest daughter (and the youngest Grand child) I actually thought there was a change in beliefs during this visit. During the visit to North Carolina there was the chance to see and experience many (a few) of the things that make our country great. This experience I think changed some beliefs, to an extent anyway.

So here we are, close to twenty years of service to the Country, and still looking for a place to call home. Hopefully these next couple of years will help to clear the waters for us. It'd be nice for my oldest daughter Veronica, (the 14 year old named after her Great Grandmother and Aunt) to spend her high school years in the same school. You can wager that I'm going to work for that to happen. She happens to have a unique combination, academic and athletic ability. Guess where I place the emphasis.

Speaking of academic accomplishments, I'd be remised not to mention a March 5th graduation. I will be graduating with a Master's of Science in Management degree (MSM). If you didn't know me, you'd never understand. That's because somewhere along the way I grew up. Must have been on August 12th, 1988. That's when I married my wife, Sun Yon. She's the only person that has unquestionable stood beside and in front of me. She provided the needed direction and support, right on time. I didn't want to disappoint and didn't even know it until I really understood. Not bad for a high school dropout!

It's difficult for me to talk about my family without fully acknowledging some things my sister thought or may think I forgot. I have to say I never forgot anything, I just didn't find use for a lot of the things I do recall (that's for you Tina). That's just who I am. I do know and remember everything as it happened! I just want to live in today and work to be the best father and husband I can be. We are all imperfect; I just want those imperfections to be less pronounced so my children can have the best example of what to be.

Wow, didn't mean for that to happen, but I got to take it in stride. I only have to answer to a few folks, and they all just happen live under the same roof! If I left off here, I'd not have talked about Joseph or Shauna, and I couldn't do that.

Joseph is my only son and is 10 years old. He's a great guy. Smart as can be, sometimes too smart! He's in 4th grade but in 5th grade classes (how does that work)? Must be like an ace in the whole, like I ever had one! I think he's still looking for what he finds interesting, he finds interesting, not me. But that's cool, he's a great son. I'll do what I can to point him in a direction seemingly successful, but you just have to know Joseph. He is successful and I'm sure always will be.

Shauna is my little baby girl. She's the one who never gets in (real) trouble. She's just too cute for that! I sometimes worry about her in school, but have to realize what her strengths are. I'll be bold here and say that academics are not her strong suite. She is just too innocent for simple things. It must be hard for her to keep up with the rest of her class. Her birthday is the 9th of September and the cutoff for school was 1 September. So really she is a year behind in age compared to the majority of her classmates. This happened because I was selfish. Her brother was in the grade in front of her and I didn't want there to be two years separating the two of them. I thought it'd be cool for her big brother to be there for her in case a boy gave her trouble later. Regardless, she is a great compliment to her big sister, just the opposite.

Again, I intended this to be an update for those regular readers of the "A Random Chance" blog. I enjoy reading what is happening with the rest of the family and only wanted to help everyone see where we have been and might be going. I encourage those who have not submitted a post here to bring us up to date with you.

Cripes - another renovation project

2006-01-06T03:53:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun renovating our bathroom that we decided to do another project. This time we're deleting a bedroom. What we're doing is converting our 3 bedroom condo into a 2 bedroom. When we redid the bathroom we accidentially got rid of half of Margie's closet space. Now that is bad because she had to store a lot of her clothes in big plastic tubs.

The 3 bedrooms were fairly small as you may remember if you ever visited. That really didn't matter much since one of the three was used as my office and the other just a junk room. The change we're making combines half of one of the bedrooms with the master bedroom, making it an actual master bedroom. Doing this makes the master bedroom and the rennovated bathroom a master suite. The resulting bedroom is roughly 23 feet by 18 feet, big enough for a party.

The remaining half of the bedroom (the other half is being added to the master) is being converted into a walk-in closet - giving Margie back her lost closet space. I get some too and really need it because in between the two combined rooms was a small closet that was a part of the original master bedroom(on the master bedroom side) and another small closet in the bedroom beng used as an office. The walk-in closet will be 16 feet by 8 feet. We'll outfit it with a closet system, We discovered that you can find some nifty such systems, custom designed, on line.

The other thing we're doing is embedding our large screen TV into the living room wall. The back of the living room is a closet so we'll lose half of that to house the TV. That is okay because, well, we're adding a walk-in as discussed above. The result will be more living room space.

Of course the Christmas Tree is still up and we have "stuff" sitting everywhere and everything is a complete mess at the moment. Once it is complete we'll have a very comfortable home, albeit shy one bedroom.

Christmas

2005-12-30T09:25:00.000-08:00

It is now December 30th and Margie and I are looking forward to New Years Eve at Caesar's.

The year has been interesting and in my view began with our marriage in March, but then I've gotten to be an old softy.

We spent Christmas week at my brother's home, he and his bride (of many, many years) made us feel at home as they always do. Even though we normally only see them once a year our visits are like the resumption of a conversation that was paused for only a few minutes.

Our Christmas celebration there is in two parts, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is wonderfully chaotic. My brother and his wife, Nanette, graciously open their home to their neice and nephew (who happen to be my kids) and their children and grandchild (my grandchildren and great grandchild). That tribe plus their own daughter and her significant other had a blast from noon on through early evening.

Christmas Day was unique for both Margie and I. This is the first year in the 15 or so years we've been together that we've actually exchanged and opened our gifts on Christmas morning. That was way cool. Previously we had a Christmas before leaving for Texas, but not this year. After exchanging gifts we attended a service at Nanette's church, yet another first. We seem to be doing a lot of that this year. Later in the day we visited with my daughter, Tina, and her husband Oz - continuing a long standing tradition.

Speaking of tradition, on Friday of that week we had our traditional Mexican food dinner at a terrific and fashionably grungy local Tex-Mex eatery. Somehow that has become a "must do" event, something I wouldn't miss if I had to be wheeled in.

While we weren't able to see any of Margie's side of the family over the Christmas holiday, we were able to talk to most of them at some point and they were in our hearts and prayers.

I'll post some pictures on New Years Day, I got really ambitous this year and took 70 or so. Okay, I really didn't get ambitous - Margie told me to. She has created a scrapbook of Christmasses past and made sure I knew it was my responsibility to have plenty of pictures for the 2005 addition. Another first, I listened to her (ha ha).

Signing off for now and wishing any reader a happy and prosperous New Year.

all righty then...here i am

2005-12-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

so i come in to see waz up?
i would have expected to see christmas pictures up by now.
i am disappointed in you mikie.
that's all i have to say right now...
nano

Wolf Blitzer hammered by Don King

2005-12-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

A snippet from an interview of the boxing promoter Don King by CNN's Wolf Blitzer

THE SITUATION ROOM December 14, 2005 4:00 PM EST

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Don king is known worldwide as a big-time boxing promoter. But has also taken some new fights on recently...You love George Bush?
DON KING: I love George Walker Bush because I think he's a revolutionary. He's a president that comes in with conclusiveness. What they're doing in tomorrow in Iraq is a demonstration of that for the vote for democracy. The fundamental process of democracy is freedom of speech, law and order, being able to have freedom, working with people and working and governing yourselves. George Bush is that. He included in...
BLITZER: Do you have any regrets supporting him? Take a look at that picture when you and I were there at the diner last year. Do you have any regrets supporting him as enthusiastically as you did?
KING: No, I don't. In fact, I want to support him more now because it seems like everybody is punching him. You know what I mean? But he's fighting back, and he's throwing great combinations. And I think he's the guy that is really a revolutionary president.I think he's a president that cares about the people he represents, but doesn't compromise himself to the extent that he acquiesce and accommodate. He goes out there and says like it is, and tries to make things better. Inclusiveness, education, is fighting for that.These are the things that many guys that don't fight for -- George Walker Bush is a tremendous advocate to America, a great president for the great American people, and he's decisive. He's doesn't equivocate.

War on Christmas

2005-12-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

If you're a FoxNews watcher you'll have seen the hew and cry regarding the war on Christmas, a fact highlighted by: John Gibson, Neil Cavuto and Bill O’Reilly. I happen to agree, there is a conscious effort by local governments, businesses and schools to transform a unique American adaptation of Christmas into some generic winter holiday. Presumably this is to avoid offending anyone who sees a religious (Christian) component to the season. FoxNews has chronicled some truly ridiculous attempts such as the rewording of Silent Night, changing it to an ambiguous secular tune, and the barring of red and green in a Plano, Texas public school because the colors were too “Christmassy”.

This is political correctness run amuck and we need to push back. I’ve seen other news shows where the contention was that the war on Christmas is a contrivance by FoxNews to sell books and build audience / market share. The truth is, the war exists. You can see it in the stores (try to find a nativity scene or the words, “Merry Christmas”), in advertisements (try to find anything other than “happy holidays”) and in the banishment of Salvation Army bell ringers from Target Store entrances.

If you don’t believe it and you’re anywhere from 35 years or older, pay attention and check the differences between what you remember as a child or young adult and what you see today.

What I find extremely interesting, on a different level, is that the current war on Christmas has a parallel to a previous one. You may need to be older than 35 to remember this one. The battle the last time was against the commercialization of Christmas – taking Christ out of the holiday. That means in the last 50 years or so we’ve seen Christmas evolve from primarily a religious celebration into a highly commercialized event, albeit still with a religious connotation, and now we’re seeing the next step where anything that ties the holiday to Christianity is being blurred, erased or trivialized.

If we let this happen, we’re a collection of fools because we’ll lose the heart of what is not only a religious celebration, the birth of Christ, but one of the most important family holidays on the calendar.

Christmas, at least for me, is a time when the importance of family is paramount. Both my wife and I look forward to our annual trek to Dallas to be with my brother and his wife, my kids and their children. We spend a considerable amount of time in preparation for the trip, like a couple of kids we start weeks prior, shopping (that danged commercialization) for gifts to take as well as to ship to other family scattered all over the country, and Margie (bless her heart) spends weeks baking cookies to share with all.

This year the holiday is even more special since it is our first as husband and wife and the first in decades for us both as active / practicing Catholics.

War on Christmas? Not in this home.

Friendly neighborhood Spiderman

2005-12-09T10:46:00.000-08:00

Yes it's a month since Halloween....but I still couldn't resist showing off our little Spider Man....

Check out the muscles on this guy....

As Peter Parker or his alter ego, Spiderman, he always has a smile on his face!

He is always ready to save the day!!

He won one of the costume contests at his Halloween carnival......Thanks to Papa and his face painting!! He wants Batman on his Birthday cake, can't wait to see it! (good luck papa)

Just look at those muscles !!

Keeping the neighborhood safe for everyone.....

New Marine

2005-11-29T16:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a young man that would make any parent proud.

His name is Justin, he is one of my grandkids and he just graduated from Marine bootcamp. He came home one day and announced to his parents that he had enlisted, it was a done deed. He had taken a look at his future and decided he could make it much better by serving his country then taking advantage of the benefits that derived from that service.

My hat is off to Justin, a fine young man and one that would make any parent proud. The country needs many more like him, young men that take control of their lives and attempt to make something of themselves.

He'll soon be in traing for his speciality as a combat engineer. I wish him well and admire his courage. God bless.

Thanksgiving

2005-11-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Thanksgiving was last week and I am just now posting on the subject.

Margie and I had a simply wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, it was the perfect family day. Even though we're hundreds of miles from the rest of our family, we were in touch with nearly everyone. I swear we spent most of the day (that didn't involve eating) talking to family, thank God for the telephone. The meal was great, as usual, sharing it even better.

The day after, that would be Friday, we woke up reasonably early and headed out for Christmas (NOT WINTER HOLIDAY!!!) shopping. We did our shopping at a high-end outlet mall that had a huge array of shops, terific prices and a good selection. The bottom line is that we did all our shopping in 8 hours flat. Good thing we have an SUV sorta vehicle.

Islamic link

2005-11-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

This is a URL that I came across. It is a link to an Islamic scientific site[^] - I offer it with little comment. Oh crap, I am actually posting it because a Muslim posted a link to an article that "proved" the Quran supposedly posited an important bit of scientific information some 1,400 years ago. You have to dig around for that particular article since I have posted the link to the home page. If you dig around you'll find some interesting Islamic views. No, no one there is calling for your death (or mine for that matter), but it is interesting.

A Marine's report from Iraq

2005-11-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

Iraq report from a Marine home on leave. Really interesting.

This came to me via email from a friend in Dallas. It is a father's debriefing of his son.

A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son, who was on his first leave since returning from Iraq. He is well (a little thin), and already bored. He will be returning to Iraq for a second tour in early '06 and has already re-enlisted early for 4 more years. He loves the Marine Corps and is actually looking forward to returning to Iraq.

He spent 7 months at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi. Aka: Fort Apache. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he had to say about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info which may be of interest to you. Nothing is by any means classified. No politics here, just a Marine with a bird's eye view.

Opinions:
1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Kid says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it is lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.

2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. (that's fun in the middle of a firefight).

3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight.

4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for clearing houses to good effect.

5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun, developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!). Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts â€˜em down. Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there.

6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. Ma deuce is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper, puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.

7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45's are being re-issued en masse.

8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.

9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy. Definitely here to stay.

10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.

11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs. and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit about the old body armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most cases.

12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the videos.

13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights are Surefires, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban operations. He carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it.

I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology, it's the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.

Bad guy weapons:
1) Mostly AK47's . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire. However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran, again)

Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.

2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dogshit. The enemy responded to our up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.

3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in his area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated shaped charges (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor.

Fact: Most of the ready made IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.

4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets (with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of his NCO's lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage inside the wire. His base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul ass in a matter of seconds.

5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld GPS units for navigation and Google earth for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.

Who are the bad guys?:
Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly foreigners, non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.), and then travel down the trail of towns along the Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end up as suicide bombers or in sacrifice squads. Most, however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.).

These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters. (they have been fighting the Russians for years). In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt's, the police forces and the Army. The have had a massive spy and agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80's. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.

Bad Guy Tactics:
When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing Aka's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time. ( see the M2 and M240 above).

His base was hit like this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeos (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast movers, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all.

Fun fact: The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why we're seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber shit. The new strategy is simple: attrition.

The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt. Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common to influence people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such as local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).

The first thing our guys are told is "don't get captured". They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet.

Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American serviceman. This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a shit about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.

The Iraqis are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a shit. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqis were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up, along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intel because the Iraqis are sick of the insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters.

According to him, morale among our guys is very high. They not only believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted.

They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see shit like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print media. For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say this, there are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just cant stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).

Anyway, that's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.

Memory deficit Democrats - Iraq

2005-11-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

The drum beat of left-wing Democrats and a handful of weak kneed Republicans has built to a crescendo over the last month or so, and finally President Bush is calling their hand. The Kerry, Durbin, Kennedy, Boxer (too many list so I kept the list of mouths short) have been going on and on repeating the "Bush lied" mantra at every opportunity.

These and others should be brought up on charges for treason or a lesser charge of aiding and abetting an enemy during a time of war.

The favorite theme is, "no weapons of mass destruction" - so President Bush must have lied. They all forget they were on board while it was popular to be on board but once the press (aka, 5th column) decided to try to weaken the spines of our citizens, aligning with the cowards in Europe, the left could no longer contain themselves. After all, the press is against the war and the press and mass media now attempts to form public opinion instead of reporting news - so it is convenient for the Democrats to forget they once took a principled position. That is rare so it is easy to see why they forgot.

By the way, the commentary above does not include Senator Liebermann. Now that Zell Miller has left the Senate, Liebermann is the one remaining Kennedy Democrat (Ted is no doubt an embarrassment to his two brother's memories).

With all the harping, pissing and moaning do you think any of these Democrats remember the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 - U.S. House of Representatives Joint Resolution 114[^] or even better, the The Iraq Liberation Act - enacted under President Clinton[^]. I bet not because it wouldn't be convenient and political convenience is a way of life for these professional whiners and liars.

Giving back

2005-11-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

In March of this year ( 3-2005 ) Margie and I turned our 15 year long love affair into something more officially sanctioned by the world at large. In short, we were married. The decision was a derivative of many things not the least of which being that after 15 years it was obvious we had something long lasting. Other contributibing factors were no doubt the attacks of 9-11 that caused most right thinking folk to reinspect their lives to determine what is really important and what is not. We had also gone through a personal struggle that lasted around two years or so, the result had brough us even closer than we had been.

The effect formalizing our relationship has been profound and not limited to day to day living.

Shortly after we were married the Pope passed on and that drew us back to our common roots, we were both "cradle Catholics" - born and rasied as Roman Catholics, although we hadn't been to church in years (20 plus for me) the death of the Pope and the dignity of his final days drew us back. It wasn't long after we started attending mass again (and it felt good, like coming home) that we felt drawn to do more.

So now Margie is a member of the Woman's Club and We're both involved with the Society of St. Vincent DePaul[^]. We contribute a couple of hours each week and work in a food pantry. Margie bags groceries for the folks who make use of the pantry and I help them load their vehicles, then run the carts back into the building. I also contribute time every 6th Saturday at the local distribution center where the needy can pick up donated furniture, clothing and other houshold goods.

So in the course of the last 9 months have been a sea change for the two of us: marriage, a calling back to the Roman Catholic Church and an active participation in some of the works of the faith.

Hillary gets one right!

2005-11-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

Geez does this ever cause me pain. Here I am just waiting for the 2008 campaign to start, just frothing at the mouth to see the debates, surely Hillary will get mashed because of her well known (socialist) liberal tendencies. I have heard for some time now about how she's going to move to the right, landing in the middle, so she'll be acceptable to folks outside of the Socialist Republic of New York. Like most conservatives, I am skeptical that she can pull it off. Wasn't I amazed when she landed on the correct side of a controversy involving South Korea.[^]

Bathroom is finally complete - pretty much, anyway

2005-10-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

The new bathroom is now complete or as complete as it will be for now. Pretty much a luxury.

There are a couple of features that I haven't shown in the earlier posts that are interesting.

The first is the little burled wood box that you see on the end of the counter. That is something that is designed for someone who if any lazier would suffocate because they would be so lazy their lungs wouldn't work. This box is an automatic winder for automatic watches. Yep, I have a watch that doesn't have a winder nor does it take batteries. It is a self winder that relies on a minimum of physical activity to stay wound. Since I don't walk around a lot, working from home and all, I had to get a winder to keep my watch wound. Something wrong with that picture, but I won't dwell on it.

Then you'll notice the towel rack on the end of the linen cabinets. That towel rack is also a towel warmer. It is filled with oil (I believe) and that oil is heated so the rack throws off radiant heat, warming towels as well as the bathroom.

We also added a corner cabinet. The countertop in a "perfume" bar for a spoiled rotten wife. The good part of the cabinet is underneath. That is where we store the toilet paper. The end result is that if you're sitting and ........ and find out you've run out of paper, you can simply reach out and open the door and wallah!

Islam - the religion of peace

2005-10-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

What a joke. You simply have to despise a group who in the name of their god is willing to slaughter young Christian girls[^] and blow up Hindus[^] on the advent of one of their most significant holidays, Diwali[^]. As far as I am concerned this is a mindless cult, premised on the rantings of an animal they revere as a prophet. The world would be a much better place if we would simply nuke both Mecca[^] and Medina[^] which are central to their bastardized cult called a religion. These people are evil to the core, a fact explified by their desire to eliminate a people and a country[^]

Christmas List

2005-10-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Suicide

2005-10-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

The early posts on this blog track the renovation of our master bath. There was a primary contractor and two subs. One of the subs did the lion's share of the work and the other was a drywall / paint subcontractor. He did fantastic work but the job required some touch up work. He had promised to come back and finish up but never made it. I just got a call the other subcontractor that the drywall / paint sub wouldn't be able to finish the job because he had committed suicide.

46 years old. Survived by his mother and his daughter. Unbelievable. When he was here working he was a hard worker, energetic and very competent. Why would anyone take their own life?

So sad.

Letter to the editor - Islam

2005-10-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

Muslims around the world are missing an important point.

That point being that there is a tremendous amount of murder and mayhem taking place around the world in the name of Islam. If Muslims believe, as I've been told, or want to contend that Islam is a peaceful religion then, they could quickly put a stop to the hateful commentary by condeming the evil done in the name of Islam. If they would I would warrant that the hateful posts and snide remarks would cease world wide.

No one gives a flying fuck who someone prays to, who someone worships, how someone prays, how someone worships, etc. but they do care that there are murderers, spinless fucking creatures of the shadows who intentionally, not accidently, but purposefully, kill and maim innocents - all in the name of Allah and in the name of Islam. No Muslim I've seen posting on bulletin boards, writing articles for newspapers, sitting for interviews on the cable news shows and no mainstream or well known Islamic spokesman speaks up to condem it.

And by the way, saying Bush is a Christian and look what he does doesn't mean shit. Yes he prosecuted a war in Afganistan and we killed God only knows how many, yes he prosecuted a war in Iraq but he did so neither in the name of a religion nor did he do it in the name of God. Folks may not agree with either war but both were prosecuted because of his belief it was necessary to live up to his obligations as the elected president of the United States and not because he's attempting to convert the world to his religous beliefs.

So until you Muslims speak up against what is being done in the name of Islam, ya'll can all fuck off. A prime example of the peaceful religion of Islam[^] just took place in Egypt. The crowd, no doubt, was urged on by some jackass in the Mosque.

Letter to the editor - the ICC

2005-10-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

Remember a few years back when we (the US) pointedly stated that we would not sign on to the concept of the Internation Criminal Court? A spot on (as the Brits say) decision. If we had signed on to the ICC we would have to turn over 3 soldiers for doing what they are paid to do[^] in the course of prosecuting a war.

Letter to the editor - exit strategy

2005-10-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here is something that might make you ponder for awhile. Some 40 years ago LBJ announced a war on poverty[^]. Some 10 years later we announced a war on Drugs[^]. Hold these thoughts for just a minute and read on.

We recently went to war with the Saddam regime in Iraq. There were any number of reasons and you may not agree with any one of them. You may even be one of those demanding an Exit Strategy[^] after only a couple of years of engagement.

Now all Iraq related arguments aside, don't you think it is time for an exit strategy from a 40 year war on poverty or a 30 year war on drugs - neither of which have any hope of success, both of which are huge drains on the economy, both of which intrude on the so called right to privacy[^] that was the basis for the Roe v. Wade decision that: 1) legalized abortion, but by some twist of logic 2) doesn't apply in either of the two long term wars?

Disco may not be dead after all

2005-10-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I sometimes enjoy listening to disco. Even though I never disco'd because, well I just have no rythem. It seems there's a revival of sorts in Europe, at least in two different countries. Giev the choice, I much prefer the way the Brits do it[^] over the way they do it in the Netherlands[^] but just think how much fun it would be to watch a Netherland's version done in a London club. Makes you go, hmmmm.

Your kid's teacher

2005-10-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to know how good you kid's teacher is? Well, not so much how good he or she is but what other students thought about the teacher. I didn't realize that the site existed but there is a place where teachers from all over the country are rated by students. Even my little bro' has a rating. If you want to, Rate em here[^]. My bro' has an interesting rating, students enjoy him but he's tough. Have fun checking on your kid's teachers.

Letter to the editor - Bush + Harriet Miers

2005-10-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

Way back in 2000 conservatives threw their support behind George Bush. It isn't that any conservative would have considered Gore, that would have been an abomination of the first order, but it was a choice between McCain and Bush. Those of us who supported Mr. Bush did so largely because of the pending Supreme Court vacancies and his promise to nominate strict constructionists to those seats once they became available.

The seats remained filled through out his first term but 2 opened this year. The first nomination, Roberts, met the expectations of Mr. Bush's promise although that fact was difficult to discern it does appear to be true.

The second nomination falls well short of his promise in that Ms. Miers, while no doubt an intelligent lawyer, is not a schooled constitutional attorney nor can we discern whether or not she is a strict constructionist.

The country is in the midst of a cultural tug of war. One side in this tug of war is exemplified by the ACLU, and organization that believes anything goes in a public forum including desecration the flag and public sex acts but not prayer or religious figures. On the other side are traditional Americans who believe sex should be a private matter between consenting adults in the privacy of their homes and that the flag should be held high and honored.

With a Supreme Court that is populated by judges who believe they can look to European legal trends for insight instead of reading what the constitution says it is imperative that we be sure that this one remaining open seat, that of Justice O'Connor, be filled by a strict constructionist someone who understands that the founding fathers meant what they said and didn't intend that the constitution be bent to satisfy a trendy urge.

For that reason I strongly believe that Harriet Miers be denied a seat on the Supreme Court, even if that means a set back for the President that I otherwise support - well, mostly.

Our new addition

2005-10-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've added a picture of Sassy, the newest member of our household, with Tyler. She's "his doggy", she's already 15# and still going... and a pic or two of the kiddo...

He's growing up so fast! I thought I would share.

The next is Tyler with his friend Christina, she lives across the street from where we got our new puppy.

I caught this one from a distance when no one thought I was looking.....sly dog!

Kids are so cute, I guess they got tired of us and decided to go for a ride....

Just a couple of Tyler, I couldn't resist...

He's posing for this one...

This was too cute, we were going to the Dallas World Aquarium, and he was ready. Nana just had to take a picture first!

Letter to the editor - more on Minutemen

2005-10-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

My previous comments on closing off the southern border focused on illegal immigrants. That is incredibly important but as important if not more so is keeping the borders closed to the enemy. We cannot be a soverign nation if we don't protect that soverignity and that starts at the border, both North and South. Thanks to MG for correcting my original post.

Letter to the editor - Will Bush grow balls?

2005-10-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

There has been a McCain added rider to a Department of Defense appropriations bill that is an idiotic idea[^] and president Bush may just, as he damn well should, veto the bill if it reaches his desk. The idea that we should pass legislation that interferes with the Department of Defense' ability to prosecute a war against animals using Marquess of Queensberry rules is ludicrous. Does that mean a G'tmo interrogator should be able to peel the skin off a detainees back just for the hell of it? No but it does mean that congress should worry about their personal pork barrel projects and stick to the things they do best and let the military do the same.

Point in fact if it came to it and torture was the tipping event that could save an American city from annihilation, I don't want congressional interference standing in the way. McCain suffers from the years he spent in captivity and his opinion has some legitimacy but he is further off base on this piece of legislation than he was on campaign finance.

Rumor has it thatpresident Bush will veto this, and he should.

Letter to the editor - Dumb and dumber

2005-10-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

I typically hold these two[^] in high esteem. They are often hard hitting and (almost, but not quite) conservative. Their latest piece of team work though is laughable and dangerous. McCain should certainly know better but for some reason seems determined to under cut the war on terrorism, at least in this instance.

Instead of defining treatment for these "detainees" we should close our eyes, and say a silent prayer that the guys in uniform (and the spooks who aren't) are doing anything and everything to squeeze intelligience out of the "detainees".

Letter to the editor - I will not watch

2005-10-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Sean Penn - in anything.
Barbara Striesand - in anything. Too bad, "What's up Doc?", great.
Donald Southerland - in anything because of his BBC interview.
George Clooney - in anything.
Robin Williams - in anything.
Chevy Chase - in anything.
Dixie Chicks - okay, I won't listen.

Letter to the editor - White Caucus

2005-10-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Can I join it? Well no I can't because it doesn't exist and if I tried to create it I am certain that I would be in deep legal trouble. I have wondered about this for years, it is one of those things that sort of tickle the back of your mind. There is even a Hispanic Caucus[^].

Now the way I remember these sorts of things, this shouldn't be allowed. Try to form a club and exclude women. If you get tired of that, try forming a club and exclude gays. You'll get spanked again.

Seems the law of the land has somehow decided that the traditional white middle class should not exist.

A young Tennessee representative has decided to take an unusual approach to the same conceptual problem, he is trying to join the Black Caucus[^] but he is having a bit of a problem. Now that he is attempting to join it looks like mainstream media is digging a bit deeper[^].

Letter to the editor - the New York Times

2005-10-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

For years I bought the Sunday New York Times at the grocery store because I enjoyed much of the content and especially the crossword puzzle. Then we decided to get home delivery for that same Sunday edition because we sometimes were unable to get a copy from the grocery store. About a year ago, maybe two, I came to the realization that this venerable instituition had been taken over by political hacks - publishing to an agenda with a vengence. Their agenda was obviously not mine. So I cancelled my subscription. That was interesting because I did it by stopping the process whereby I told my MasterCard bank that I no longer would accept a charge for the Times.

The way this worked was that MasterCard then had to call the New York Times department that issues these charges to tell them that I was cancelling. When the MasterCard agent called them they put up a stink and MasterCard had to call me for a 3-way chat. When MasterCard called me to include me in the conversation the agent was thrilled, because she agreed with me (re: the Times agenda).

I am more than glad I cancelled. Since the NYT is bent on a leftist agenda and is also the prime feed for local papers, their leftist agenda is stuffed down the throat of damn near anyone who reads a newspaper. We already have to endure distortion from Reuters who refuses to call a terrorist a terrorist so why would anyone support the Times when their version of the truth[^] is anything that can smear a conservative or other media that permits conservative opinions to see the light of day?

Letter to the editor - Minutemen

2005-10-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry President Bush, but here is one thing we certainly disagree on - the Minutemen[^]. These guys are doing what the federal government should be doing. We're literally being invaded and overrun and neither political party has the balls to do anything about it. With the Minutemen we have private citizens doing what should be done, something in keeping with our history and heritage.

Minutemen - my thanks. Generally people believe there is no harm: cheap labor, the American dream, they're only interested in providing for their families. Horseshit. These illegals cost us dearly. Increased taxes to pay for court (can you believe these are American courts?) mandated social services, increased taxes to pay for jail and prison staff, increased taxes for schools (why would we educate illegals?), the loss of entry level jobs.

You hear the old saw, "they're only taking jobs we won't do", but that is crap. If illegals weren't here filling these jobs the wages for the jobs would go high enough to attract entry level workers. Failing that, and this is one of our big losses, American engenuity would be applied to somehow fill the void.

Again, Minutemen - my thanks.

Letter to the editor - Louisiana

2005-09-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

I can't take credit for it but I certainly agree with it, especially when idiotic Lousiana state leaders are asking me to fund corruption well into the future. We had 2 natural disasters, separated by two weeks time. One hit a state led by Democrats, the other by Rebublicans. Bug diffeence, read on: (excerpted from a site the Techniguy)

2 States, 22 Observations

1. Texas: Productive industrious state run by Republicans.
Louisiana: Government dependent welfare state run by Democrats.

2. Texas: Residents take responsibility to protect and evacuate themselves.
Louisiana: Residents wait for government to protect and evacuate them.

3. Texas: Local and state officials take responsibility for protecting their
citizens and property.
Louisiana: Local and state officials blame federal government for not protecting their citizens and property.

4. Texas: Command and control remains in place to preserve order.
Louisiana: Command and control collapses allowing lawlessness.

5. Texas: Law enforcement officers remain on duty to protect city.
Louisiana: Law enforcement officers desert their posts to protect themselves.

6. Texas: Local police watch for looting.
Louisiana: Local police participate in looting.

7. Texas: Law and order remains in control, 8 looters tried it, 8 looters arrested.
Louisiana: Anarchy and lawlessness breaks out, looters take over city, no
arrests, criminals with guns have to be shot by federal troops.

8. Texas: Considerable damage caused by hurricane.
Louisiana: Considerable damage caused by looters.

9. Texas: Flood barriers hold preventing cities from flooding.
Louisiana: Flood barriers fail due to lack of maintenance allowing city to flood.

10. Texas: Orderly evacuation away from threatened areas, few remain.
Louisiana: 25,000 fail to evacuate, are relocated to another flooded area.

11. Texas: Citizens evacuate with personal 3 day supply of food and water.
Louisiana: Citizens fail to evacuate with 3 day supply of food and water, do without it for the next 4 days.

12. Texas: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials provide accessible distribution points.
Louisiana: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials prevent citizens from reaching distribution points and vice versa.

13. Louisiana: Media focuses on poor blacks in need of assistance, blames Bush.
Texas: Media can't find poor blacks in need of assistance, looking for something else to blame on Bush.

14. Texas: Coastal cities suffer some infrastructure damage, Mayors tell residents to stay away until ready for repopulation, no interference from federal officials.
Louisiana: New Orleans is destroyed, Mayor asks residents to return home as another hurricane approaches, has to be overruled by federal officials.

15. Louisiana: Over 400 killed by storm, flooding and crime.
Texas: 24 killed in bus accident on highway during evacuation, no storm related deaths.

16. Texas: Jailed prisoners are relocated to other detention facilities outside the storm area.
Louisiana: Jailed prisoners are set free to prey on city shops, residents, and homes.

17. Texas: Local and state officials work with FEMA and Red Cross in recovery operations.
Louisiana: Local and state officials obstruct FEMA and Red Cross from aiding in recovery operations.

18. Texas: Local and state officials demonstrate leadership in managing disaster areas.
Louisiana: Local and state officials fail to demonstrate leadership, require federal government to manage disaster areas.

19. Texas: Fuel deliveries can't keep up with demand, some run out of gas on highway, need help from fuel tankers before storm arrives.
Louisiana: Motorists wait till storm hits and electrical power fails. Cars run out of gas at gas stations that can't pump gas. Gas in underground tanks mixes with flood waters.

20. Texas: Mayors move citizens out of danger.
Louisiana: Mayor moves himself and family to Dallas.

21. Texas: Mayors continue public service announcements and updates on television with Governor's backing and support.
Louisiana: Mayor cusses, governor cries, senator threatens president with violence on television, none of them have a clue what went wrong or who is responsible.

22. Louisiana: Democratic Senator says FEMA was slow in responding to 911 calls from Louisiana citizens.
Texas: Republican Senator says "when you call 911, the phone doesn't ring in Washington, it rings here at the local responders".

What if state and local elected officials were forced to depend on themselves and their own resources instead of calling for help from the federal government? Texas cities would be back up and running in a few days. Louisiana cities would still be under water next month. Republicans call for action, Democrats call for help. What party will you be voting for in the next election?

Letter to the editor - Gutless Republicans

2005-09-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

So after a Republican (because the dimocrats didn't show up) hammer the living sh*t out of FEMA head Brown for problems during Katrina, problems that to even the casual viewer were largely because of Lousianna Governor and New Orleans Mayor ineptitute, the following day that same inept, criminally inept, governor appears before a Senate committee and no one asks:

Why didn't you order a mandatory evacuation?
Why didn't you mobilize the New Orleans school buses so those poor folk could leave the city?

Hmmm. The Republicans have no spine.

Day 13 - We're done

2005-09-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

Except for the addition of towel racks and a toilet paper holder, the bathroom is complete. I've got to give some credit here:

Updike Bathhroom Remodeling of Indianapolis - the primary contractor, upscale and worth the price.
Bradley "Brad" Ford owner of Built to Last Construction - the subcontractor, absolutely super guy.
Brad's assistant, "Spud" - hard working youngster.
Sanijet of Coppell Texas - the manufacturer of the tub, can only buy from them over the internet, and I highly recommend it.
Berch Cabinets - manfacturer of the cabinetry, including the mirrored medicine cabinets - good products and high quality.

Notice the "cute" corner toilet?

Back to the tub. We tracked this down because we live in a high rise condominium and the tub had to be virtually silent, and it more than lives up to Sanijet's claim.

Day 12 - Almost done

2005-09-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Well I tried a couple of times, but I couldn't find a way to rotate the pictures so if you're looking, just cock your head to the side.

What I am trying to show is that the tile now has grout. We chose a blue grout instead of what we originally wanted (white) and I'm glad we changed our minds, looks cool. Margie's extension mirror (I spent a ton of time trying to find this for a Christmas present last year) is now mounted on here side of the sink.

The pull knobs on the cabinets are a goofy brass or bronze colored. I talked to the contractor and he'll swap out what was delivered for Chrome.

Day 11 - Paint

2005-09-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

It is probably hard to tell, but yes I have a shirt on (wife beater t-shirt) and the bathroom has been painted. Tile work is also complete but you can't see it from the pictures I've posted here.

The painter wasn't part of the deal from the contractor so we had to find our own. We found a really good guy who fit this in between other bigger jobs. The color really doesn't come through, but it is a pretty bold blue.

tinaoz

2005-09-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

We have a new addition to our family....her name is Sassy. When we brought her home she weighed in at 10 almost 11#. She's nine weeks old now. She is a Chocolate Lab...such a sweet puppy. You know Tyler's just romping all over the place with her. Oz is just beside himself with joy....we have a "real dog".

Democrats - dumb, dumber and dumber still

2005-09-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

Judge Roberts, nominated by President Bush for the Supreme Court, has now been voted out of the Judical Committee confirmation hearings for a vote by the full senate. Key Democrats, especially those with an eye on the 2008 elections, have decided to ignore the Constituition and to ignore their responsibilities simply to cater to the left-wing of their party.

Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, Biden, Reid, Shumer, Kennedy, Feinstein, Boxer among others haev announced they'll vote no. They'll vote NO because Roberts has not said that he'll vote to protect women's right to kill (ie., did not say he wouldn't over turn Roe v. Wade) and didn't say he believed in the right to privacy, the basic rationale that supports the Roe v. Wade decision.

None of these full blown fools considered what his responsibilities are on the court, interpreting laws in the context of the Constituition.

Apparently the Democrats believe that laws should be interpreted, not in the context of the Constituition but whether or not the laws protect some presumed right.

Weather or war?

2005-09-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Very interesting reading regardless of whether or not you believe this guy. His contention is that the dramatic weather events were seeing, events that could include:

the heat wave in Europe last year that killed some 30,000
possibly the tsunami
Katrina
Rita
Southern India storm that just killed 800 plus
and.....

were all unnatural events caused by weather weapons of war. If have teh bandwidth, dig around and check some of the videos. If nohting else, interesting http://weatherwars.info/index.html reading.

Day 10 - A lot of progress

2005-09-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

This was a busy day. It is amazing how fast the room is taking shape, but I guess that is a function of the time the contractor spent on what I would call the infrastructure.

Note the virtual wall of medicine cabinets and mirrors. The lights are on a dimmer switch although in the picture the lights are on full force.

More cabinetry is in place but it is only standing there and not firmly attached. The wall on the left isn't plumb so the'll gouge a little bit out and inset the vanities by about a half an inch.

A lot of fun with electricity today. We had rewired the condo a year ago in preparation for this work becaus the tub needed juice that wasn't available otherwise. As luck would have it the electrical contractor we used last year didn't wire the feed to the breaker. Continuing with that luck, we had subsequently had a finish carpenter box in the control panel. When the contractor wired up the tub, we found out the good news and they then had to undo the work of the finish carpenter to get to and correct the connection. Luckily everything on the tub work after that bit of rewiring.

Also had another bit if fun with the electricity. When Spud (the young helper) wired up the medicine cabinet lights he wanted me to see how it looked. I noticed that one of teh bulbs wasn't lit up and he tightened it. When he did, the wall switch blew. The problem was with the light system, one of the contacts was off, which made it connect to the brass threads on the bulb. Easy to fix fo Brad, the senior of the two - he's got enough experience to have seen this sort of thing more than once.

They also prepped the walls and ceiling for painting. They'll all be in tomorrow (Saturday) and I expect to see even more progress by the end of the day.

Day 9 - Floor is tiled & cabinets start to appear

2005-09-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today the contractor finished laying the tile and moved in two linen cabinets that will back up to the tub area. We were going to use white grout but after seeing the look with the quickset epoxy bondong material showing throough we've decided to use a blue grout. Note that the little diamond tiles you see are in fact royal blue. The bathroom colors are blue and white so it should all hold together as a color scheme.

Today's hero

2005-09-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

I can't really saythat I have any heros but in the last couple of days there has been a guy who stands heads and shoulders above anyone I have seen in quite a while. I'm talking about the badass Lt. General Russel Honore to whom I'll forever be grateful for coining the phrase, "We ain't stuck on stupid". If he wants to run for office, he gets my vote.

Day 8 - Shaping up

2005-09-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

The walls are now all up and they have started the tape and bed process to get it ready for painting. The contractors have also started laying the tile. We're going with white tile and a small dark blue inset, but you can see that. Still to be decided is the color of the grout. We had originally thought we'd use white grout but may decide on a dark, blue or black, color toset off the white. Two or three more days and it'll be readyto go.

Day 7 - tub hooked up

2005-09-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

The tub is now hooked up to the plumbing. The contractor had to over come a really awkward problem. It is difficult to tell from the pictures but the front of the tub is designed in such a way that it is difficult to attach the overflow mechanism to the p-trap/drain. The drain pipe is below the floor (d'oh) and if this were a normal house it wouldn't be a problem. This is, however, a condominium on the 6th for and the drain pipe is reach through a small cut out in the concrete floor - a very small space. A normal tub is slanted from the top / front back towards the bottom / front. That gives the installer a way to reach down under the tub and into the sub-flooring. Not so here. So they had to widen the cut out on the concrete (real fun) then devise a unique connection to the drain, which they actually reached through another hole in the concrete that is open for the airshaft that you see (the sheet metal shaft).

We almost had to get permission from the guy who lives on the floor below to let the contractor cut through his ceiling to get to our plumbing. Would have been fun.

The drain in the tub is sort of interesting, especially made for this particular tub. Instead of a lever to raise or a chain to lift the plug, the overflow outlet turns and lifts a wire that is integrated with the overflow tubing on the front of the tub (which isn't visible).

Also note there are multiple shower heads. Two small ones about halfway up the piping that leads to the top shower head hook up. These are body sprays. When everything is ready to go there will be small spray nozzles that can be directed to hit different body parts while you're showering. Hmmmm.

They also set the wall behind the tub. Ultimately this wall will be the separation between the tub area and two side by side linen closets.

Day 6 - More ceiling / walls

2005-09-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, this was Monday 09-19-2005 and the contractor came back from the weekend ready to roll. Ceiling is up as are most of the walls. The tub is now in the location where it will be installed. The bulk of the wiring has also been installed.

Day 5 - Ceiling is up

2005-09-17T05:33:00.000-07:00

The ceiling has been framed in and is now installed. It is 4.5 inches higher than before, for some reason, when this place was originally constructed the builder had the bathroom ceilings much lower than needed for electrical runs.

The walls are nearly complete and the tub is sitting where it will be installed.

Day 4 - Bathroom Rennovation

2005-09-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Day 4 and now the de-construction is complete and they're starting to rebuild. Some walls are on teh way back up and they have started reframing the cwiling. They have also moved the plumbing for the vanity sinks. Since we took out the closet we'll now have two more feet of vanity space to collect junk on, which means that the sinks will be in a different spot, necessitating moving the plumbing.

Day 3 - Ceiling volunteers to come down

2005-09-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Holy moley, the toilet is now gone. The rest of the ceiling volunteered to come down so the bathroom building contractor will have to replace the entire ceiling. This is a good thing though since we'll have a ceiling that is 4 inches higher than it was before. For some reason the way this place was originally constructed they built the ceiling much lower than it needed to be to run electrical and water runs.

The tub (that wonderful swirly tub) was delivered and it will be set by tomorrow night. I included a hallway shot to show the wall that will be coming down, probably tomorrow as well. The result is going to be very open bathroom, opened into the master bedroom (which frankly is too small for the word, "master").

Ultimately we'll reconfigure our master bedroom and middle bedroom into something quite different, but that will not be until we finish the bath.

Day 2 - More de-construction

2005-09-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

Even more de-construction, ain't it grand? Really sort of amazing, when you look at a wall in your home, it seems substantial. It really isn't or at least not as substantial as it seems - sure are easy to take down.

Learned something pretty interesting regarding tile. Since we're going to retile the bathroom floor, the crew had to take out the old. Now when I did that my self back when I felt competent in a construction sort of way, it took me forever using a hammer and chisel. The crew who're doing the rennovation had a hammer-drill with a chisle bit. Did the entire floor in 45 minutes.

We also discovered that the tile around the tub (it used to be in the empty space above) had needed the grout sealed for a looooooooong time. The wallboard behind the tub was completely rotten and the metal studs in the wall had started to rust out. We would have have some real problems later had we not done this now.

We're also going to get to raise the ceiling. Seems the original wasn't fastened correctly and when the crews started taking down the wall, the ceiling volunteered to go away as well. We'll be able to raise it a good 4 to 6 inches. Luckily, this (I pray) is a fixed price project so we come out ahead.

The new swirly tub was delivered today. Product from Sanijet in Dallas (well, Coppell). I can't waait for that. Not only is it top of the line but it even has, get this, mood lights. I think I'll spend my retirement in the tub.

Day 1 - Bathroom de-construction

2005-09-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - Bathroom de-construction.

Here's a couple of pictures of the bathroom as it looks now that the crew has started tearing stuff down.

They would have made greater progress but we live in a high-rise condo complex that has some rules. The crew couldn't start until 9:00 am and have to quit at 6:00 pm. They also have to put the "stuff" into the dumpsters out back and those were full from the weekend so they were limited at to how much they could do.

Frankly I suspect they didn't want to do too much on a Monday and sort of dragged their feet.

2005-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Day 0 - The Bathroom Rennovation

We decided to rennovate (well, have it rennovated) our "master" bathroom. Since we're pack rats we had everything stuffed to the gills and had to spend the better part of Sunday the 11th clearing stuff out and making it ready for the start of the rennovation project. This series of pictures show the result of removing everything.

The spare room is now a huge closet, with Margie's clothes and all the bathroom toiletries, towels, toilet paper, vitamins, tooth brushes and assorted car cleaning stuff (which had been in the closet). Actually a lot of the towels and toiletries went into the extra (Moose's) bathroom. The vitamins went on my bedroom chest of drawers and Margie's clothes are onteh spare room.

It sure looked different, empty. Moose really didn't appreciate our taking over her bathroom, but she'll have to live with it for about 3 weeks as teh rennovation takes place.

2005-09-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day in court!! Hooray!

The saga of the custody battle may now be over an the youngster you see here, my great grandson, has a shot at a decent life.

Quiana, his mother, did not show, so she was in default. She was aware of the court date, and even told Randall (my grandson, the father) that she knew of the date and what it was about, "finalizing the custody agreement". Randall now has "superior rights of custody," and Quiana will retain her 1st and 3rd weekends visitation at her mother's apt. If her mother moves out of Dallas County, Quiana will have her visitation in Tina's home. Tina is my daughter, Randall's mother. Quiana also gets the privilege of paying child support and has 30 days to protest. That would involve retaining an attorney, filing a motion, etc - since she didn't see fit to make the court date we'll assume she'll not protest.

Randall, Tina and Oz are so happy they can't see straight and want thank everyone for their support and prayers while they have gone through all of this!! It has definitely been a trying time but they couldn't have gotten through it without the prayers and good wishes of all.

2005-09-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Here is Moose, number 2 in command of the household. Believe it or not, she's smiling because she is close to her two favorite things: a glas of water and bed.