4th of July

Happy Fourth. Let us hope that the powers that be can be persuaded to quit fucking us up. Doubt that will happen.

I hate to be so pessimistic about the direction we are heading. So it goes.........

Too Much TV

I think that lately I have been watching a bit too much television. For some reason or other I found myself watching some fools chasing "BigFoot" around in the jungles of Washington State; and very serious about the matter they were too. Now I don't know if there is a such thing as BigFoot. Weird photos and impressions in the mud are not quite enough to convince me. Now I know there is a such thing as haints, but that is a different matter entirely. The evidence on that is pretty convincing.  Haints? Yes. BigFoot? Don't know. UFO's? Probably. That is about how I sum up the paranormal.
Now I forget the name of this particular BigFoot program or even what channel it aired on, but I can tell you these folk meant business. One guy tried his hand at "calling" a creature and it was a pretty hair raising sound. Of course something answered in the distance that sounded quite similar. BigFoot? Perhaps.

I think it was more likely another group of weirdos running around the forest chasing the same elusive being.

Dr. Paul and Good Hair

In the Lone Star State we certainly have our fair share of loons, bozos, liars, and dumbasses among the political class. Hell, Dumbass Sheila Jackson Lee is enough for any state by herself. We also have Good Hair, who is perhaps the biggest bullshitter to sit on the throne in quite a while. A chameleon in cowboy boots this one. I would not put it past him to bullshit his way onto the national stage; as in the presidential nominee type setting. Don't think so but I bet it won't be from lack of trying.

Now that there is some serious discussion about Good Hair making a run for the highest office it seems that he is trying to pander to the "conservatives" in the country by becoming rather bold in a conservative "leadership" role. He backs, as I do, a "sanctuary city bill" which would hold municipalities somewhat accountable for their role in harboring illegal aliens. He has recently made noise about putting a stop to the TSA gropers; threatening them with prosecution and such. I'm not really convinced that this is a real problem or more of a bandwagon issue. I don't fly though so I have no experience with the problem. Don't like airplanes and don't like officious, badge heavy incompetents. Experienced that enough in the taxi business. But I digress.
For those of us in Texas, we know (or should know) who this Good Hair really is. He is soft on the illegal immigration issue. For an anti-Washington type; he sure is quick to point out that safeguarding the border is a "federal" responsibility. True enough, but when the fedgov does not really defend the border, then it falls to the state to take up the slack. Costly? Sure. Imperative? You bet. This Good Hair is frankly a coward on the issue.
On the same issue; Good Hair is a proponent of NAFTA and the "NAFTA Highway." Just that alone shows that he ain't "got his mind right" on what is best for Texans (or America). Just the imminent domain issue alone shows that he is not the "real deal." Why further entwine our economy with a third world, war riddled (sort of) cat box? Would we do so if Afghanistan was next door? That would be almost, (but admittedly not quite), the same thing.
Nope this Good Hair is certainly no answer to any problem that ills this great nation. Except perhaps male pattern baldness. There must be some secret behind that pretty mop he sports.

Now we come to Dr. Paul. He reps the district in which I live, and nobody will be able to ever unseat him. The job is his until he has had enough. I like Dr. Paul. He is no bullshitter for sure. He says what he means and means what he says. Unfortunately some of the things he espouses are in the realm of fantasy. Many of the beliefs that Ron Paul has are not grounded in reality. They just would not work in our diverse and complicated nation. Sure, he has some great ideas and a few may be just the ticket, but overall I am afraid that Paul's ideas would lead to chaos and weakness

One thing though about Ron Paul; he is no wishy washy pansy. He scares the Republican establishment, (and a whole lot of others), and that has to be a good thing. They sure try to destroy his credibility at every opportunity and of course that means they fear him and more importantly; his ideas.

Why There is A Texas Based Reality Show. Who Knew?

Just the other day I made mention that a Texas based reality show would have to have guys featured with redneck/racecar names and of course they all would be goat roping and driving huge pick ups. Now of course I must add that driving a huge pick up can be a necessity in some parts of Texas and only if employed in some type work where some such monstrosity has a work advantage. Many in Texas, and perhaps other places, drive these things as some sort of gas guzzling status symbol. OK if you can afford it I suppose, just not my cup of tea. Sorry to get sidetracked right off the bat. It happens.

Now the Texas based reality show I just watched was called, I think, Rattlesnake Republic. It was pretty interesting. It was a good deal like the Swamp People show and in fact I believe it has the same narrator. These guys pretty much just run around in the arid regions of Texas catching rattlers. There are some real crazy characters and while I am not sure it will reach the popularity of the aforementioned Louisiana based show, it might. Some fool keeps a cobra as a pet and actually kissed the thing on top of the head.

 That kind of thing draws a crowd.

Guess What Has Begun?

The CFL season has started. It is a pretty interesting league and fun to watch. You might keep this in mind with the dildos of the NFL being in such a state. Of course I will be watching college ball. Don't care much if the NFL folds frankly. Unless of course the Saints are going to do well. That goes without saying.

It would be interesting if the owners just told the players that they all were fired but could come back at a reduced salary. I would wager that most would come crawling and begging. What else could many of them do?

Now This Is A Waste

In Texas we have something called the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) which is the agency tasked with "overseeing" liquor sales, distribution, enforcement, and God knows what else. For the most part it seems a monumental waste of money. Texas is feeling the pinch of the economy now and state coffers are running low and one would think it would be time to think about some trimming. The TABC is an agency that should certainly be looked at.
Now there are those employed by this agency who believe themselves to be police officers and technically; legally, this is so. However their main job is to try to entrap store clerks into selling liquor to underage drinkers. Also they keep "tabs" on bartenders. We all know there are bad apples who will intentionally serve or sale to anyone but for the most part people in the business obey the law. To have an entire "police force" running around investigating such nonsense is just going a bit far. The local PD or Sheriff can handle this with ease.

I would be embarrassed to be a TABC investigator. I certainly would not think myself a real cop. Not really even on the level of the local rent a cop.  I would submit that these folk need to "get a job."

Is The War On Drugs a Waste of Money?

Is the "war" on drugs a waste of money and time? It appears that it is. Just the salaries alone of the people who specialise in drug enforcement has to amount to a pretty penny. I'm talking about DEA agents all the way down to the local "narc." Has to be a huge expenditure. It does not seem that drugs are in any danger of leaving the streets though. In fact, judging by the stoned kids at my school, it seems that they are readily available anytime/anywhere. It really does seem that the "war" is lost.
There are those that bleat that MJ should be legalized. A point they do have. Taxable revenue to all levels of government and taking the power from the "drug cartels" are the prevailing arguments. Seems reasonable to some extent. There is a problem with this though.

Drug enforcement is fun.

Years back, while serving in the Coast Guard, most of my career was as a crew member on a medium endurance cutter out of Port Canaveral, Fl. For the most part, our "work" consisted of tooling along in the Caribbean, Gulf and Coastal Atlantic looking for the elusive mother ship. Back in the early 80's a large amount of MJ (and other stuff) was smuggled up this way. I remember cruising right in the middle of the Yucatan Pass or the Windward Pass on the hunt. Sometimes we made the trek down Jamaica way and the pickings were usually pretty good. Unfortunately we spent too much time in GTMO processing drug busts however. If you don't have to go to GTMO stay away. Some folk disagree there, but I digress. I can tell you one thing. When you have a big one on the line and you are "racing" darken ship for an intercept it is a very interesting feeling. Like a big fish on the line or like closing the deal with a "hoor" in the bar. Not that I would know anything about that.

 It was certainly an adrenaline rush when we came alongside brandishing Uncle Sam's weaponry at a loaded down coastal freighter crewed by disco dud wearing scumbags. No kidding. A lot of those guys seemed to always be dressed like they were in an episode of Saturday Night Fever. Those were interesting and fun days.

Is the war on drugs a waste of resources? Probably.

 But why spoil all the fun for the current crop of enforcement types?