PatriotWriter - Inane American Humor & Texas Grit

No Confidence in Eric Holder Except Possibly in a Jail Cell

2012-01-27T22:39:00.010-06:00

January 27, 2012

Federal Affairs
Gun Owners of America
Rep. Gosar Continues to Push “No Confidence” in Holder Resolution

Attorney General Eric Holder -- recently caught lying under oath concerning his knowledge of his department’s Fast and Furious program -- may be moving a step closer to the inside of a jail cell.

On Thursday, February 2nd, Chairman Darrell Issa’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold another hearing on the disastrous Fast and Furious operation.

Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, a member of that committee, is also pushing a resolution of “no confidence” in Holder’s management -- or lack of management -- of the Justice Department.

That resolution, H. Res. 490, provides a course of action for the momentum generated by that hearing.

H. Res. 490 finds that, as a result of “Holder’s failure to properly control, monitor, or establish Operation Fast and Furious, it is likely Mexican nationals were killed or wounded by weapons sold through this scheme” -- and that the victims of Holder’s incompetence included U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

It goes on to resolve that the House has “lost confidence” in Holder, which is, basically, a call for him to resign.

Clearly, the Justice Department believes it can stonewall Issa’s inquiry and bully its way through questions concerning its criminal malfeasance. Adoption of the Gosar resolution would make it much, much more difficult to do so.

ACTION: Contact your Representative and urge him or her to cosponsor H.Res. 490. Click here to send a prewritten message to your Rep.

Mitt Romney's Face Tells All. Is he George H.W. Bush 2.0?

2012-01-09T14:57:00.006-06:00

Does America want what Romney has? What would he be like as President? Who is he, deep down inside? How can one understand where he is coming from? A peek at his face hints at the answers...

Mitt Romney is expressive and mentally quick. He processes information rapidly and has a “get it done now” approach. He is initially optimistic but may become antagonistic if criticized. He is an unconventional thinker whose thoughts range over many areas. He can truly see all sides of an issue. Romney can sense potential problems immediately and is very connected between his inner feelings and outer logic; he is highly intuitive. He has a powerful intellect, thinks constantly, and he easily grasps whole concepts. He has a wide variety of interests. Romney is pragmatic and objective. He is not easily discouraged and possesses resilience under stress, even though he is prone to burnout due to overwork. He truly does have a sense of fairness and justice. He is solid and dependable, has good business sense and is not gullible. He speaks with authority on financial matters and focuses on generating cash flow. Romney maintains a good balance between his public and personal life. He is generally a patient listener. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to respond to issues quickly without making mistakes. My advice is that he ease up a bit on himself; I do see that he is often burnt out.

Mitt Romney hates to be wrong, loves to debate, and holds himself to impossibly high standards. He is brilliant in his field and has worked hard to develop his mental abilities. He has strong perfectionist tendencies and also assigns himself difficult responsibilities. Romney most likely assumes too much responsibility and should learn to relax a little more often. He has a wide variety of interests; I suggest he develop an interest into an enjoyable hobby. (Campaigning should NOT count! PatriotWriter suggests he abandon running for president as a hobby. He should probably join a Harvard crew team instead.)

Interestingly, Romney may have experienced a lack of attention/appreciation in childhood and therefore needs to know that he is desirable. Let his wife take note! Romney probably owes some of his professional successes--and failures--to his obstinate nature. He doesn’t expect life to be gentle or kind and he steels himself to face the world and braces himself for adversity. He possesses natural self-confidence. He takes losses on the chin, so to speak. If Mitt Romney was an animal, he would be a tiger.

Probably one of the most charming things about Romney is his “big picture” outlook. He has a lot of global understanding regarding the relationship of things to each other. He has developed this broader perspective due to his life experience, unlike Santorum whose thoughts are more narrow. He is not easily intimidated and does not back away from a challenge.

Even though he may seem calm and relaxed on the outside, Romney is always constantly evaluating everything--much like George H.W. Bush. He is also reflective, reserved, cautious, and observant. He has a logical work style and is a long-range planner. He differs from Bush, Sr. in that he has a naturally powerful presence. No one wants to argue with his alpha male power jaw and authoritative eyebrows. He is perceived by others as a strong, courageous leader. He is, however, cool and calculating and does hold many secrets. Don’t expect him to open up on some topics. He mistrusts flattery, is reserved, and slow to trust. When he is warmed up, though, he is a good communicator with a wry sense of humor. In conclusion, he has a more powerful presence that Bush, Sr. but is actually quite similar to him in approach. His presidency would probably be similar to #41’s but he would probably have an easier time making allies for his causes than did Bush.

The Real Santorum is Written on His Face

2012-01-08T18:00:00.005-06:00

Who is Rick Santorum? Want to know more about him than what his mouth or record says? Who is this guy, anyway? How does he think, not just what? The answers are literally written all over his face.

In my studied opinion, Rick Santorum thinks in a logical, step-by-step process and has trouble taking in information if it is presented too quickly or out of sequence. He does not think well under pressure--he becomes overwhelmed and shuts down. If he feels forced to rush, he is afraid he will miss something. He genuinely wants to “do it right” and takes his time to get there. When he does learn something, he retains it forever. He may like to make big plans but possibly lacks followthrough. He is not easily discouraged and possesses resilience under stress. In general, he embraces rules and regulations and becomes immobilized if rules are not followed. Santorum prefers to operate within the known systems.

He possesses balance in his personal life in that he appreciates the closeness of his wife and children but also needs his own, independent identity and space. His professional life is a different story, however. He must maintain extreme focus at all times and must not be distracted from the task at hand. His internal agenda is more real to him than anything in the world. This is a very dangerous trait! He sees things as black or white, masculine or feminine. Professionally, he is impatient, overly-critical and extremely sensitive as a result of pushing himself too hard in furthering his career. This tends to make him ill-natured at times. He can become very feisty when he feels he is backed into a corner. He prefers to direct others and delegate work and enjoys seeing his superior plans implemented and appreciated by others. Santorum prefers to work independently and dislikes anyone looking over his shoulder, including reporters and the public.

He may have received little emotional and/or financial support earlier in life and feels he owes his success thus far to pulling himself up by his own bootstraps. Yet, he still feels as if he has not quite found his niche in life. He has a great deal of fear in his personal life which comes from an attitude that he never has enough, financially speaking. He can be emotionally generous with his family but is still very fiscally conservative with them. He has suffered some serious emotional disappointments both personally and professionally. Some of the sad lines on his face were probably the result of the loss of one of his children, and also his lost re-election bid to the Senate.

In conclusion, Santorum is comfortable with the established norm, the status quo, and he asks others to abide by it while pursuing his own internal agenda based on his view of the world. He is committed to his ideals. He identifies with Mr. Spock of Star Trek in his no-nonsense approach to life, yet his mind is not overly developed. He knows a little bit about very few different subjects. I suggest he quit campaigning for a big new job and start a business in the private sector--like founding a superior sports program for cyberhomeschooled kids. In doing so, he could enhance the standing of his worldview for future generations as well as delegate the implementation of his vision to a likeminded staff. Such a sport league probably needs the skills that this out-of-work lawyer-politician can give.

Shocking Middle East "Occupy" Footage

2011-12-05T17:48:00.004-06:00

Hey FCC: USA Not Yet Ready to be the New F'!#?! USSR

2011-11-09T09:31:00.007-06:00

With a headline like that, you might think that I moonlight as a writer for The Onion. No...not yet anyway. The FCC says they want internet content to remain open but what they mean is that THEY want their fingers on the control button, not the broadband providers under our current free market system. What!?! The last time I checked, this was America.

I think We the People should have our finger on the FCC button to shut their regulating bums down when we feel like it. But then, I am a known anti-federal government extremist with ties to nefarious characters like our founding fathers.

Anyway, I'm with KayBay on this one. Regulating the internet is outside the bounds of common sense, not to mention good old-fashioned American values. Have we really lost both of those? Are we really having this conversation? I suppose we are, for I just received the following press release:

Regulation would only hamper the Web

By Mitch McConnell and Kay Bailey Hutchison

Philadelphia Inquirer

November 9, 2012

The Internet has flourished for two decades without burdensome federal regulations. In its early days, a hands-off approach helped it grow and evolve rapidly. The Federal Communications Commission adopted a sensible noninterference policy in 1998, and hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure followed.

Without broadband, do-it-all smartphones and two-way video calls would still be the stuff of science fiction. Broadband has created nearly a million jobs and become an essential part of daily American life. Broadband networks have powered the information and communications industries, which in 2009 accounted for more than 3.5 million high-salary jobs and about $1 trillion in economic activity.

Despite all this, the FCC is about to reverse course and begin regulating the Internet. Unless the Senate acts on a measure under consideration this week, Internet service providers will be subject to the commission's new "Net neutrality" rules.

Under these mandates, broadband companies would lose control over the traffic and technology flowing through their infrastructure. Government bureaucrats would tell companies what is and is not a "reasonable" way to operate their systems. These regulatory burdens would discourage Internet service providers from innovating and investing, inject uncertainty into a thriving sector of our economy, and jeopardize the information industry's vast potential for growth.

More regulation would diminish broadband providers' expected returns on their capital. Lower returns mean less investment, which means fewer jobs created. Smaller companies would suffer the most, as they operate on thinner margins. With unemployment over 9 percent, do we really need this kind of regulatory overreach?

The government's primary rationale for these new rules is that broadband providers must be prevented from blocking certain online content and services. On the surface, this is an admirable goal. We, too, believe in an open Internet free of unreasonable discrimination. But market forces have and will continue to prevent such discrimination. A company attempting to block certain content would create frustrated customers who would simply switch Internet providers.

Indeed, despite a decade of Net neutrality advocates' doomsday warnings that rampant discrimination is imminent, the Internet remains open. The few instances of bad behavior have been dealt with swiftly by the free market or by the FCC using the tools it already has. In short, Net neutrality is a big-government solution in search of a problem.

Moreover, this FCC power grab is unprecedented and, in our estimation, unlawful. Congress has never given the commission the authority to regulate Internet providers' management of their networks.

Furthermore, the American people have shown their disdain for government interference, particularly when it comes to how private companies manage and maintain their investments.

In 1999, former Democratic FCC Chairman William Kennard said, "The fertile fields of innovation across the communications sector and around the country are blooming because from the get-go, we have taken a deregulatory, competitive approach to our communications structure - especially the Internet." In that spirit, we are urging our fellow senators to vote to repeal the FCC's unwarranted broadband regulations. We must preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation and economic growth.

Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, is the Senate Republican leader. Kay Bailey Hutchison, of Texas, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

California is Crazy. But then, I repeat myself.

2011-11-01T15:16:00.006-05:00

The voter-approved "First 5 LA Program" spends $200 million of taxpayers' money without oversight. I know. Shocking.

It isn't. But it should be.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, a recent independent audit of the First 5 LA Commission revealed massive problems with the agency, including lack of accountability, spending oversight or competitive bidding. Perhaps the members of the Commission should get more than a slap on the wrist. Again, PatriotWriter calls for the return of the public Tar and Feather.

It sounds like an evening news program, but First 5 LA is actually part of a statewide program created in 1998 by Prop 10, a measure which was supposed to use funds from a tobacco tax (boo!) to promote health and education of young children. I was living in California at the time of its passage--Propositions for tax increases always magically pass in California. Please refer to the title of this post to find out why.

According to the independent audit, the Commission is not exactly fulfilling its mission. From the Times: An audit by Harvey M. Rose of San Francisco found First 5 LA's Commission was unable to monitor money that was being spent "since monthly programmatic expenditures are not presented relative to a budget." Try using that kind of fuzzy math in your budget at home.

Auditors also concluded the agency was overstaffed while under-spending on programs for children. Note: if a new tax is sold as "for the children" you can translate that into "employment for adults at the expense of the children" virtually every time. So, First 5 LA is spending too much on public employees and not enough on kids? You don't say. I love the government...it's so consistent.

Furthermore, First 5 LA doles out $200 million without a competitive bidding process and operates with such a lack of oversight that there’s no way to determine if the agency has signed agreements "for inappropriate purposes or with unqualified vendors or grantees”. Cronyism? Probably. Tax fraud? You betcha--taxpayers getting hosed again. Sounds like standard operating procedure in California, which has seen similar accountability and oversight problems with other initiative-created agencies as well. Heck--it sounds like standard operating procedure for the government in general. I agree with Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation, "My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk, and the only thing he's allowed to decide is who to nuke."

And yet Don Perata, a career politician, is pushing another measure – the so-called California Cancer Research Act – to create yet another unaccountable bureaucracy with six political appointees that can spend nearly a billion each year, including millions on staff salaries and pensions and overhead. With huge budget problems and public pension costs spiraling out of control, the last thing California needs is another big-spending bureaucracy with no oversight or accountability. The measure is slated for the June 2012 ballot in California.

You can stop government waste on the local level if you are doggedly persistent, on the state level if you pull the gloves off, and on the federal level if you protest and riot long enough. But then, perhaps I am overly optimistic. I am not entirely sure how any government waste, fraud and abuse has been stopped in the history of time. All I can say is, "Hey California--stop voting YES on every proposed tax on the ballot. You're never going to get what you pay for if you trust Gubmint to do it for you."

I am so glad I evacuated California six years ago. It's enough to make me go postal. Oh wait--they're bankrupt due to mismanagement and fuzzy accounting, too.

Partial commentary provided by Stephen Kruiser.

Hello to my International Readers + Cuba

2011-07-27T10:30:00.021-05:00

Hello, Russia

As this is the sixth year I've published my quirky perspective on life via this blog, I thought I would check my readership statistics. I am amazed and humbled to see that I have readers all over the world--in places I have never been and may never see.

The Great Spike of July 2011

Web traffic reached an all-time six-year high this week when I published my TxDot Grant Rant. Oddly, no one has commented publicly thus far but I have gotten lots of feedback in private. (What are y'all afraid of? The Boogeyman is only really after me, you see. And if you believe that, you've learned nothing from reading my taxpayer advocacy diatribes.)

To Cuba and Beyond!

I'd like to say guten tag and willkommen to the folks in Germany. Either I have one crazed reader in Germany who views my blog a lot, or Germans really like my brand of humor. Either way, I am not complaining. Danke!

Also well-represented are the Netherlands, Canada (which makes me feel a tad bit guilty because I do poke so much fun at our Northern neighbor), Ukraine, Brazil (may I come visit!?!), Japan and France (Qui vous aime, bébé!?!). Not sure if that translates. I'd like to do a shout-out to Hungary who just destroyed all of the GMO corn growing there. Nice work! At least their people and livestock will not be sick and hungry in Hungary.

My personal goal is to get a reader in Cuba before Thanksgiving. Anything you can do, dear international reader, to help would be marvelous. I know some of the taxi drivers and hotel workers there pirate internet in their homes at great personal risk, depending on their personal connections. Do you know anyone in Cuba? Referrals are coveted.

The only openly Communist country in the Western Hemisphere is a constant source of fascination for me. Her food, music and people are so amazing. The culture itself seems quite lovely and vibrant.

But did you know that 1/3 of Cuban residents are incarcerated as political prisoners? That should give us all pause. Look at the "justice" system in your country. Is it equally broken? I'd love to hear from you.

O, Canada

A final thought...I vacationed in Calgary and Banff last December. Would you like to know what greeted me as I switched on the TV in my hotel room that first night? A Cuban Department of Tourism ad...Come Visit Cuba!

I was stunned. Suddenly, the Customs form I'd just filled out made a bit more sense. You can bring to Canada, duty-free, ONE bottle of wine and FIFTY cigars. I don't know about you, but it would take me one dinner to drink a bottle of wine and 25-50 years to smoke 50 cigars, and that is if I tried really hard to break my mother's heart.

The moral of the story is that perhaps Canada is quietly trying to offset the financial punch the U.S. has delivered to Cuba for the past five decades.

Our policy is inconsistent, at best. Look at the reasons for the Cuban embargo and then examine our policies with China. We are a two-faced country. While digging around on this issue, I found the following quote. I officially agree with this Democrat, George McGovern.

In June 2011, former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern spoke out against the travel ban before visiting Cuba, remarking: "It's a stupid policy. There's no reason why we can't be friends with the Cubans, and vice versa. A lot of them have relatives in the United States, and some Americans have relatives in Cuba, so we should have freedom of travel ... We seem to think it's safe to open the door to a billion communists in China but for some reason, we're scared to death of the Cubans."

In closing, if you are ever in Dallas, Texas, please visit the Havana Social Club in the American Airlines Center's Victory Plaza. It's a swingin' joint with incredible rum drinks, a state-of-the-art air purifier, and some fine tobacco products. Tell Carlos I sent you.

Now if I could just find a friend from Brazil...

Texas "Click-It-or-Ticket" Weeks are Shameful Scams

2011-07-25T19:14:00.016-05:00

Eight Laws
Texas law says to stop at stop signs; when a yield sign is present, drivers must slow to a speed that is reasonable under the existing conditions and yield to any vehicle with the right-of-way. Texas law says to wear seatbelts while the vehicle is in motion and to observe posted speed limits. Texas law says drivers must be licensed and cars must registered, inspected and insured at all times. Texas law says to not operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Within minutes, it would be possible to break all eight of the aforementioned laws and yet hurt no one. These are what are known as victimless crimes. When a vehicle hits another vehicle or person, then there is a victim. There is damage. Someone must pay. Restitution must be made. When no victim exists, has a crime really been committed? Should your car insurance rate hike because you didn't hit anything or hurt anyone? Think about it. It's all about money, not safety.

Seatbelts Save Lives!
The Texas Department of Transportation admits that 92% of Texans properly follow seatbelt laws. Yet, for two weeks a year Texas drivers must endure the annoying Click-it-or-Ticket radio jingles targeting the noncompliant 8% of the population. The campaign's marketing firm said it's the time of year when “state troopers, police officers and sheriff’s deputies statewide will be stepping up enforcement of the state’s safety belt laws.”

Or not. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security just because you are one of the 92% who use seatbelts. One aggressive little department in Travis County logged in about 100 hours of overtime in the most recent campaign and in that time wrote only five seatbelt tickets. They wrote 190 other moving violation citations, however. This tiny town is riddled with drug dealers and stolen property. How many of those criminals were busted during the 100 hours of overtime? That's right. A big fat goose egg. Zero. But "Officer Maria Overtime" camped out in a sleepy little neighborhood and cranked out hazardous moving violations to every car that failed to sit at her pet stop sign for 3 full seconds in the middle of the night. Then when she pulled them over she would lie and say that she had "no choice" but to write a citation during Click it or Ticket week. Blatant lies. Shoddy police work. Overzealous taxation-by-badge. But why?

Revenue Generation Machines...in Uniforms
TxDOT's Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (STEPs) target any violation within the predetermined timeframe and supply tax dollars to pay for officer overtime. TxDOT tracks the number of tickets a department writes during the designated weeks for subjective things such as HMV (Hazardous Moving Vehicle), ITC (Intersection Traffic Control Safety), OA (Other Arrests), OC (Other Citations), and UN (Uninsured Motorists). Departments that churn out the most tickets per hour are rewarded with more grant money.

TxDOT gave out more than $1.1 million in grants last year to 102 police agencies. The department I just mentioned got one of these "STEP Incentive" grants for their aggressive revenue generation.

I think the scam should be exposed. It's burdensome harassment of the taxpaying public and does not protect anyone.

According to Paul Perry, the STEP program's revenue scheme can be understood in three easy steps:

1.TxDOT gives your tax dollars to the local police.
2. Your tax dollars pay for more traffic writing ticket hours.
3. TxDOT takes $100 "off the top" of each ticket written.

Put another way, TxDOT hands out our scarce tax dollars to local law enforcement agencies across Texas to pay overtime to officers, so they can write more traffic tickets, so TxDOT can profit.

Show Me the Money
TxDOT doesn't judge the success of STEP programs by noting a reduction in traffic accidents. What the state agency seems to be primarily concerned with is how many more tickets are being written. Section 8 of its grant application indicates that a city’s or county’s past "performance" on enforcement will be considered in future grant requests. Basically, the man with the highest numbers of trivial tickets wins. Throw discretion and common sense to the wind, police people, just keep your citation numbers high and you'll get paid more overtime.

To Protect and to Serve
The two reasons police officers were installed into our society were to protect citizens by deterring crime and catching criminals and to help the normal citizen. There is nothing helpful about TxDOT's Click-it-or-Ticket scam weeks. I wish they'd be content to scrape up off the highway the small fraction of the 8% of drivers who operate sans seatbelt and end up as Texas roadkill and just mount them in courthouse hallways. Paying a good taxidermist to prepare those few violators would be a tremendous savings over the millions of dollars used against us each year in this scam operation.

Fight the Ticket Tax
I'm not advocating trying to break existing traffic laws on purpose. But if you get a bogus STEP citation, fight it. Take it all the way to a trial by jury. It's annoying and expensive to do so, but then again the system was being annoying and expensive to you first. Be brave. It's the only way to win. Don't let them talk you into a trial with just the judge and the officer. (The judge looks a lot like that guy pictured above in the leather jacket. They are on the same team, folks. Team Revenue.) Take it to a jury of your peers. They have probably been similarly harassed. Besides it feels SO good to beat them at their game, on principle. I did it myself just today. Officer Maria Overtime should be ashamed of herself.

I hear TxDOT may be hiring...

Don't Grope With Texas: FED UPdate

2011-06-21T17:24:00.007-05:00

Yesterday evening, Governor Rick Perry added the TSA anti-groping legislation to the special session call, and the Texas Legislature will again take up this topic for consideration as early as Friday, June 24th. If passed, this bill will mark the first legislation in the country with "teeth" to combat the TSA "enhanced pat-downs" and protect dignity and liberty among our state's airport travelers.

During the regular session, this legislation was known as House Bill 1937 and was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives. However, the bill was halted in the Senate after the U.S. Department of Justice delivered a factually inaccurate letter concerning the bill, threatening immediate injunctions against the state.

Texans have not stood idly by at this level of intimidation from the federal bureaucracy. Outraged Texan travelers have contacted their legislators to ask them to urge the Governor to add the bill to the call.

The author of the legislation is freshman Republican Representative David Simpson, who has become a national champion of putting an end to the TSA's use of "enhanced pat-downs" without probable cause, since filing the bill in March. Representative Simpson laid out the case and need for this legislation, his voice and hands shaking with passion at the anti-TSA rally on the Capitol steps. His efforts have drawn national attention to the overreach of the Transportation Safety Administration and their attempt to establish the supremacy of this bureaucracy's policies over the U.S. Constitution.

In the Texas Senate, Senator Dan Patrick has also made this legislation a priority item and announced last week that he had secured enough support in the Texas Senate to win passage in that chamber. The Senate version of the bill is Senate Bill 29, and was filed by Senator Patrick last week. The House version, House Bill 41, has garnered broad bi-partisan support of 114 co-sponsors in the Texas House and is poised for easy passage.

Both of these bills have been crafted with input and specific language from Attorney General Greg Abbott, who requested the authors to draft the legislation with certain wording to ensure it will be upheld in the face of any potential court challenges.

Please contact your State Representative and State Senator to urge their support and vote in favor of passage as the bill is considered over the next several days.

To read the House version of the TSA Anti-Groping Bill, House Bill 41, click here.
To read the Senate version of the TSA Anti-Groping Bill, Senate Bill 29, click here.

Thanks to Chris Elam from the RPT for providing content for this post. However, this is not a Republican issue but a non-partisan one. This is a freedom issue. This is an American issue. Liberty is popular! Let's kick the TSA's roving hands and eyes out of Texas in time for Independence Day!

FED Up? I'll buy Perry's book if he stops the TSA's wandering hands (and eyes) in Texas

2011-06-14T13:15:00.002-05:00

Great news, fellow Texans! Pick up your phones.

We have the votes in the legislature! We just need Governor Perry to add the Anti-TSA Groping Bill to the Special Session! Rep. David Simpson, author of the original bill, has 102 co-sponsors for the Special Session bill HB 41. The TSA Tyranny group has confirmed that 18 Texas Senators support Sen. Dan Patrick's Senate version of the bill, SB 29.

Now more than a simple majority of our Texas Representatives and Senators support the Anti-TSA Groping legislation, which means that HB 41 and SB 29 will pass if these bills are brought before the Special Session by Governor Rick Perry. But we must act quickly to tell the Governor the support he has been waiting for is now there—before the Special Session ends. Perry has said that he won't add the bill unless the support is clear. Now we can see there is no excuse, no reason to delay any longer!

Let's keep the pressure on Governor Perry!

Call Governor Rick Perry's office — (512) 463-2000 or (512) 463-1782 — and let him know we have confirmation that 18 Senators now support the Anti-TSA Groping Bill, SB 29. Tell him we have the simple majority that is required to pass the legislation during the Special Session. Ask what we can do to help ensure that HB 41 (formerly HB 1937) and SB 29 make it to the Special Session.

Perry claims he's FED UP. Well, so are we. Let him know we expect him to follow through and put his money where his mouth is!

When you call, tell him you'll buy his book FED Up if he slates the Anti-Groping Bill for a vote. Bribing makes good politics.

URGENT: Tell Perry & Dewhurst You Don't Want Grope-downs in Texas

2011-05-30T16:42:00.004-05:00

Without any mainstream media coverage, the public outburst over the Texas Senate's killing of "restrain-the-TSA" bill has prompted Governor Rick Perry's office to open phone line (512) 463-2000 to allow the public call to call in and express their opinion.

A special legislative session is now being planned for SB 8, SB 23, SB 1811 and HB 6. Your action NOW can get HB 1937 added to the list.

Call (512) 463-2000 and demand HB 1937 be considered in the upcoming special legislative session.

You can also send emails to the Senate and Lt. Governor imploring them to pass HB 1937 in special session at: http://stopaustinscanners.org/come-and-take-it/

You can learn more about this issue at: http://stopaustinscanners.org/2011/05/the-people-speak-perry-starts-listening/

Facebook and Twitter this information and forward this email throughout your personal network.

T.J. Has the Answer - An American Remedy in Tax Season

2011-04-06T21:40:00.005-05:00

"The Government is shutting down."

It really depends on your perspective as to how you feel about the above statement. If you are serving in our military and need to take care of your family, getting a paycheck is kind of a big deal. If your work is private sector, perhaps you feel the gubmint has it coming after more than a century of waste, fraud and abuse. Regardless, you should be concerned.

There are a lot of issues swirling around the USA's financial disarray. I'm no economist. But is it really that complicated to fix?

"Riots, revolutions and anarchy plague the nations of the world."

Is that really anything new?

I turn to Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address for comfort and direction.

March 4, 1801, Washington, D.C.

Global Perspective

"During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle."

All Things to All People?

On limited government vs. spreading ourself too thin and taking on too much: Some men fear "that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may possibly want the energy to preserve itself?"

What is "American"?

"Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachments to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensation proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his great happiness hereafter--with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a free and prosperous people?"

Making a Free and Prosperous People

"Still one thing more, fellow-citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities."

General Principles to Follow

1. Equal and exact justice to all men
2. Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none
3. The support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns
4. The preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad
5. A jealous care of the right of election by the people
6. A well disciplined militia
7. The supremacy of the civil over the military authority
8. Economize public expenses, so that labor is only lightly burdened
9. Honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith
10. Encouragement of agriculture and commerce
11. Diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason
12. Freedom of religion
13. Freedom of the press
14. Freedom of person under the protection of habeas corpus, trial by impartial juries

What Now? Thomas Jefferson Has the Answer

"These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of the political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which we try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

April 6, 2011, Washington, D.C.

The Government is shutting down. Riots, revolutions and anarchy plague the nations of the world.

Let us HASTEN to retrace our steps, unentangled.

Happy St. David's Day!

2011-03-01T11:31:00.006-06:00

To be born Welsh
is to be born privileged,
not with a silver spoon
in your mouth
but music in your blood
and poetry in your soul

-Anonymous

That Welsh proverb sums up the Welsh mentality. Wales is a rough but poetic land of seashore and ancient mountains. These mountains are of granite, slate and coal. The land is bounded on three sides (north, west and south) by the sea. No one in Wales lives very far from the sea... I lived at sea level in Bangor and it snowed on my birthday...in May. I could see the highest mountain in Wales, much higher than any in England, Mt. Snowdon, from my room. Bliss.

You probably don't know that the leek and the daffodil are the national symbols of Wales. On this day, traditional Welsh folks pin one or the other on their coats. When I lived in Wales, I did not fully understand the meaning behind the custom but I embraced its charming effect and gladly pinned one on. I left a piece of my heart in that land and miss it greatly this time of year. Please enjoy these Welsh St. David's Day musings. (They would be as popular as the Irish St. Patrick's Day, but the Welsh, unlike the Irish, are not shameless self promoters. They prefer to humbly keep a low profile and continue their lives in freedom and peace. Historically, the English and other warring tribes have attempted to interfere but even the most brutal assaults have not succeeded in stamping out the Welsh spirit and their lilting, sing-song native tongue.)

That the daffodil is a genuine golden yellow is a tribute to its lack of relationship with suffering. The daffodil doesn't care about complaints. On St. David's Day, the Welsh wear their daffodils in their lapels or put them in vases in their front room windows.

St. David was, according to legend, born in a field in the southwest corner of Wales some 1600 years ago. It was said to be during a thunderstorm. St. David's Cathedral stands on the spot, not proudly on a hill, but discreetly in a hollow and therefore safe from ancient enemies. Daffodil means "Peter's Leek" in Welsh (Cenhinen Bedr).

An ancient legend says the Welsh once fought a battle against the Saxons in a field of leeks. My mind puts the two Welsh symbols together, as the bulb of the daffodil looks very similar to the bulb of the leek--except it's poisonous.

"Today there will be harmonious singing of traditional songs like Sosban Fach (Little Saucepan), perhaps a game of rugby and some supping of good Welsh beer to keep the songsters' throats well oiled.

"On this Welsh National Day, and it is not even an official holiday mark you, there will be no parading of the military, no tanks rumbling down the main streets, no guided missiles on the backs of lorries. Wales is a proud land with a history that will stand up to any close scrutiny. The land may be small and have more sheep than people, but it is not and never will be some kind of jumped-up banana republic. In that way, the sons of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (the last indigenous prince of Wales defeated in 1277) are most astute." - Gwilym Williams

I will be cooking ham & leek pasta tonight in honor of the first leek dish I ever tasted (cooked by an Englishman!) and will think about my hardy Welsh ancestors and all they endured to keep their little corner of heaven.

Thank you to the Poet-in-Residence Gwilym Williams for providing research for this post.

Deride Those Shams and Their Kindred Swindles!

2011-02-27T21:26:00.005-06:00

On writers...

“Ours is a useful trade, a worthy calling. With all its lightness and frivolity, it has one serious purpose, one aim, one specialty--and it is constant to it: the deriding of shams, the exposure of pretentious falsities, the laughing of stupid superstitions out of existence. And that whoso is by instinct engaged in this sort of warfare is the natural enemy of royalties, nobilities, privileges and all kindred swindles, and the natural friend of human rights and human liberties.” - Mark Twain

Thank you, Mr. Clemens, for my marching orders.

The rest of you please read his subtext and derive your own marching orders. May they be along the lines of "End the Fed" or some other scam group with governmental bedfellows. If you are successful, let me know and I will gladly write about it. I am targeting a specific Agency at the moment. If I am met with success, another illegitimate Agency is also in my sights.

Comment Season is now open for your amusement. There is no limit and you do not need a permit. Carry on.

Beans Can Teach Us A Lot About National Security

2011-02-24T13:10:00.012-06:00

Today I as much as committed a Texas crime. I microwaved beans. Oh, the horror! I probably will never do it again, and I am sorry, but I did learn something important.

At the end of the first minute, the bean sauce was simmering so I assumed they were all sufficiently heated. Not so. The beans in the middle were still refrigerator cold. I stirred the pot and returned it to the nuker for the remaining 45 seconds, turning my attention to the raisin muffin in the toaster. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by an explosion. Pop! Bang! Boom! My catlike reflexes sprang for the OFF button with a mere seven seconds left on the nuked bean countdown.

Fortunately I intervened before any more beans lost their lives. Then, I surveyed the damage. The remains of one bean sprawled on top of the others. It was more like bean skin, to be honest. The rest of him was splattered all over the microwave.

"Isn't that funny," I thought, "One rogue bean just went and ruined it for the rest of them--" but I cut myself off midstream. "No. Strike that. The existence of one rogue suicide bean does not mean the other thousands of beans in the pot can't fulfill their purposes in life. I will not institute mental wellness checks on future beans. I won't inspect them before they jump into my pan. They should be free to do what it is that beans do and if another bean blows his top, I'll just clean him up, too. One crazy brown bean should not change the way all other beans live their lives."

Point to Ponder:

Don't you wish that instead of subjecting our nation's children to enhanced patdowns by creeps in smurf outfits who touch their victims' private parts and teach them about guilty-until-proven-innocent compliance to anyone wearing a uniform, we were all free to move about the country armed with the knowledge (and whatever else we want to carry in our defense) that there is a better chance of us being struck by lightning than having to clean up a mess caused by one rogue brown bean? Or that there is a much better chance of getting cancer from the naked radiation scanners than dying in a plane crash? Don't you wish that Someone would stop Them from doing all of this to Us? ...But Who?

Joke of the Day:

What's the difference between The Smurfs and TSA Agents?

Answer: The Smurfs had a boss who wore red pants. The TSA has a boss that wears no pants.

The Emperor has no clothes, y'all, and neither do you.

(But that's okay. I hear that armor fits better when you're not wearing much underneath. ...YOU that's Who! Stop Them!)

Skating into Canada by the skin o' my teeth.

2010-12-22T21:41:00.004-06:00

"So you had a bit of fun in Customs on your way into Canada, aye?"

Oui, the bottomless champagne in seat 4F disabled my frontal lobe enough to allow me the slight pleasure of messing with a self-important federal agent. Yes, I filled out the French side of my form and then "accidentally" approached the agent assigned to process diplomats and crew members. For the record, the airport was completely empty and our flight was the only one coming through Customs. He asked me, "Are you a diplomat?" I responded, "Should I be?" I think I saw him roll his eyes before motioning me to the female agent in the booth next to him.

Female federal agents are notoriously more difficult to joke around with; I shall not venture to guess why. I dutifully handed her my form. She glanced at it for a microsecond before asking me in a slightly annoyed tone, "Parlez vous anglais?" I smiled wide and pronounced slowly and confidently, "Yes!"

Not amused, she proceeded to grill me about various personal matters like where my family lives, do I have friends in Canada, what is the nature of my stay, do I have any (more) alcohol to declare, where am I going after Calgary, have I been to Banff before... (This was my favorite thing to answer, "Why yes! I have been to Banff before, but at that time I was way too short to drive.") Unmoved, she asked me what was in the Neiman Marcus box. "Christmas ornaments" was my reply. She countered, "I thought you said you had no friends or family in Canada." Suddenly, I found myself handcuffed to a chair.

What will it take to get a little diplomatic immunity around here?

O, Canada:
Land of a thousand comedians,
A hundred hot mineral springs,
And one photogenic squirrel,
May your funnymen moonlight in Customs,
Your natural pools forever reject municipal water,
And your small fuzzy rodents toast to thee.

O Canada...

2010-12-22T08:28:00.005-06:00

...why does everything have to be so expensive? And so beautiful? Maybe I should try to see a free doctor while I'm up here, just to feel like the sales tax I've spent is going somewhere.

Or not. The hospitals I've seen look like morgues. Maybe they should save a few steps and just have cemeteries on hospital grounds. That goes for most modern Western medicine, in my opinion, not just socialized Canada.

I'm just grateful for my own personal Health Ranger (he can be yours, too!) at www.naturalnews.com

Take a few vitamins, reduce your environmental toxins, eat unprocessed nutrient-rich food, drink pure water balanced with minerals and free of chemicals and poisons, smile, stretch, get your heart rate up doing something you love, and breathe deeply. That's what I am going to do today in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. Lake Louise is calling my name.

So is a nap, as I woke up at 4:47 a.m. wired for the day...

Pics to come!

Breaking the Silence: Veterans Day 2010

2010-11-11T13:29:00.022-06:00

Bless me, readers, for I have sinned. It's been 407 days since my last post. I break my silence now to honor the tens of thousands of American servicemen who've made unquantifiable personal sacrifices.

For the past year, this writer's been quiet. 407 days of reflection, observation, listening, and learning have resulted in a new perspective devoid of slant, propaganda, party mantra, jingoism, ethnocentrism, selfishness. I renounce concepts, theories, speeches, monologues, and arguments I offered so passionately in years past while afflicted by (mis)understanding of the big picture. Clarity is sweet.

Want proof that there are no accidents? This morning as I wept for our veterans, I stumbled upon a traveling exhibit by the Veterans Memorial Fund. It was in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot in Grapevine, TX. Naturally. There are only five other traveling walls like it nationally, so I feel very fortunate to have discovered it.

The images speak for themselves. Our war veterans' words stand alone. Let them haunt you.

Until recently, I didn't truly understand what we fight for--what we all toil over and chase after. The complexities of our modern engagements fell beyond my scope of comprehension and, as a result, my interest level.

My newfound understanding is refreshing, liberating, and even joyous. To put it simply, I no longer believe that the issues worth fighting for concern liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, Aggies or Longhorns, Muslim or Christian, USA and (insert country of choice), Baptist or Catholic...you get the idea. These are constructs, distractions that carry manipulative spin.

At the center of EVERY issue worth fighting for is the struggle between FREE or NOT FREE. (I credit Benito Segovia III for that concise theory, revealed in a German press interview, August 2008.) To understand our world, we must ask who is trying to profit financially, gain control, and/or subjugate the other person/country/group. Then we must ask if they (the "who") are operating for or against us. Free? Or Not Free? That is the question.

Today I pondered the significance of Veterans Day in light of our current endless war(s). Not only are we repeating historic military failures, we have forgotten our own war history from just three decades ago. I wept for the boys drafted to Vietnam that never returned home to meet their families for the first time as men.

I wept for the boys we are sending to foreign deserts to serve as moving targets, mission obscured. Of course, more of them are physically returning home than did from Vietnam. However, so often their minds and spirits are shattered, traumatized, numbed. Are you concerned about the longterm ramifications of endless foreign war on our society? Our finest, strongest, bravest warriors are reintroduced to us at home scarred, conflicted, confused.

We are sending our country's strongest masculine potential overseas, only to bring it back broken, damaged. Do you wonder why? Do you wonder who is profiting? Where the control is shifting? Who the subjects/slaves really are?

What if the only men who can stop the insidious blight of endless war are the very ones being broken by it?

May God Heal our Land.

UT Austin Senior Brianna Becker Aces Ultimate Test

2009-10-01T11:11:00.000-05:00

Brianna Becker's genuine spirit and loving smile captured my heart instantly when we met on UT's West Mall nearly four years ago. She was passionate about making this darkening world brighter. She championed justice for the innocent. From our very first conversation, we shared a deep understanding of purpose as well as a few tears of conviction. She shared her sparkling faith with me that first day.

Since then, I've had the pleasure and honor of joining her at various events spanning the breadth of the conservative and liberty-loving political spectrum.

It was shocking to hear on Saturday morning, September 26, that she'd been struck and killed while jogging the afternoon before.

This UT senior was unlike any young Longhorn I'd ever met. Her courage to publicly stand for her beliefs, for what was right and true, set her apart from the burnt orange masses. Her grace and optimistic realism was a breath of fresh air in the Texas political scene. Her poise, stage presence and messaging pointed to a true statesman in the making. To me, Brianna, with her unforgettable red-lipped smile, embodied Philippians 2:14-16. "Do everything without arguing or complaining, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people, so that you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of Life..."

Brianna Nichole Becker leaves us a multi-faceted legacy of incredible depth. I am most thankful for her legacy of encouragement -- she continually spoke positive words into my life. I cherish that my last words to her on this earth were ones of encouragement. (She taught me well!)

It seems to our earthbound sensibilities that the best people -- the "salt of the earth" -- are often swept up to heaven "far too soon." Perhaps this is because, spiritually speaking, they are the best runners. Brianna finished the course set before her well in advance of any of us. She passed a test she didn't know was scheduled so soon for her -- the biggest test of all -- one whose score has eternal impact. Brianna Becker aced the "well done, good and faithful servant" test. (I'd say that beats taking the LSAT any day!)

Brianna WAS the real deal. Now this amazing friend and daughter is wrapped tightly in her Heavenly Father's arms. I wish I could see the smile that's on her face now!

PatriotWriter "Attacks" The Beast (John Avlon)

2009-07-13T12:37:00.006-05:00

The following comment is one I made in response to "The GOP Votes for Hate and Suicide" http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-13/the-gops-vote-for-hatemdashand-suicide/?cid=bsa:moreauthor1 but has yet to be approved by the blog's moderator. I'd like to know what you think. Please comment here.

Mr. Avlon:

While I agree with your concluding paragraph, your supporting arguments were primarily rubbish. For the record, I had a vote in the Shay vs. Hoff election and Ms. McCain did not. If she was so passionate about one ticket, she should have joined the Arizona delegation and cast her vote.

If the GOP is to rediscover the values of individual freedom, it must reject the liberal trap of identity politics that elects someone based on the color of their skin, gender, or sexual orientation (none of anyone's business!) We are all individuals, not "groups". Lumping people together by skin color is the ultimate racism! It is my hope that Michael Steele was elected Chairman of the RNC because he was viewed as the best man for the job, not merely the darkest skin we could find in a nice suit. How base is that notion!?!

We are poised on the brink of having one of the most idiotic, unAmerican Supreme Court justices of all time confirmed, despite a clear record of the majority of this judge's past decisions being both overturned and unConstitutional. Why will this judge most likely sail straight onto the highest court? Because SHE is a woman (hear me roar!) and because she was born with an attractive tan that screams, "I'm a misunderstood minority!" Nonsense! RACISM at its finest!

I conclude by challenging your journalistic integrity. I clicked on your blog post to find a quote from the Facebook exchange from whence you generated your sensational headline. Finding none, I ask that you withdraw your charge that Ms. Shay is a KKK-style racist. You have offered no proof, unless you also subscribe to the School of Thought Police. "We think she thinks X so it must be true. Hang her!"

I was not satified with either candidate at the top of the YRNF ticket, nor do I place as much importance on the position as you seem to do, so I abstained on that one vote this weekend.

Republicans must reject identity politics and affirmative action racism. Going forward, may the best, most qualified individual always win. That concept is at the heart of Goldwater Republicanism to which the GOP must return to save its neck. Any other interpretation is misinformed.

Truly,

K. Priscilla Jones
www.twitter.com/patriotwriter

The New Texas Declaration of Independence?

2009-05-12T10:42:00.008-05:00

"When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression.

"When the Constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central federal government, in which every interest is disregarded but that of the President and the special interest groups, both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the ever-ready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants.

"When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution discontinued, and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded, the citizens who bear them are ignored or ridiculed, and agents of the government are sent forth to force new government systems upon them using either the newest technologies available or via gunpoint.

"When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abdication on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements. In such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their future welfare and happiness.

"Nations, as well as individuals, are amenable for their acts to the public opinion of mankind. A statement of a part of our grievances is therefore submitted to an impartial world, in justification of the hazardous but unavoidable step now taken, of severing our political connection with a globalizing American people, and assuming an independent attitude among the nations of the earth.

“The U.S. government, by its overreaching federal laws, subjugated the population of Texas to its will under the pledged faith of a written constitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth.

"In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the United States has acquiesced in the late changes made in the government by President Barack Obama, who having overturned the constitution of this country, now offers us the cruel alternative, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny, the combined despotism of forced compliance and special interests' agendas.

"It has sacrificed our welfare to Washington, D.C., by which our interests have been continually depressed through a jealous and partial course of legislation, carried on at a far distant seat of government, by a hostile majority, with unclear allegiances, and this too, notwithstanding we petition in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate state government.

"It has failed and refused to secure, on a firm basis, the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen.

"It has systematically weakened our once-competitive public system of education, although still possessed of almost boundless resources, (the public domain,) and although it is an axiom in political science, that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty, or the capacity for self government.

"It has encouraged the taxing entities, stationed among us, to exercise arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny, thus trampling upon the most sacred rights of the citizens, and rendering their power superior to the civil power.

"It has dissolved the true sovereignty of Texas, so that states' rights is merely something to which lip service is given, thus depriving us of the fundamental political right of self-government.

"It has demanded the surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered federal agents to seize them, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in defiance of the laws and the constitution.

"It has made piratical attacks upon our livelihoods, by sending our productive jobs offshore to be held by residents of foreign countries, and meddling in the affairs of private business operations.

"It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national non-religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.

"It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defense, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.

"It hath increasingly been, during the time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and victim of successive revolutions, and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of a weak, corrupt, and tyrannical government.

"These, and other grievances, were patiently borne by the people of Texas, until they reached that point at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. We shall take up arms in defense of our constitution. We appeal to our American brethren for assistance. We may be forced to the melancholy conclusion that the American people have acquiesced in the destruction of their liberty, and the substitution therefore of an all-powerful federal government; that they are unfit to be free, and incapable of self government.

"The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation.

"We, therefore, the delegates with plenary powers of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with a globalizing American nation, a pawn of the United Nations, has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations."

2009-04-16T01:03:00.001-05:00

Afternoon Austin Tea Party Draws 5,000+

2009-04-15T21:42:00.007-05:00

With my horse whip and a sign that read "TAX Slave" on the front and "The IRS Owns ME" on the back, I hit the main Austin Tea Party (late afternoon) and walked from the Capitol to the body of water formerly known as Town Lake. 5,000+ folks attended. (Congressman McCaul who spoke introduced me to his staffer as his gun nut gal. Ha. I'm impressed he remembered me from the flight we were on together in August. Or maybe he got a copy of the RPT blacklist with my photo on it. I digress.)

My Bastrop County pals and I were among the last to leave the Capitol and could see the crowd marching down Congress. The throng of angry Americans stretched from the Capitol gates to the bridge! Very impressive.

I saw a little boy sitting on a rock looking glum. His homemade sign read, "Thanks for my bleak future." Broke my heart!

A boatload of patriots threw crates of tea in the lake, albeit after much of the crowd had dissipated. Wild Indians in canoes retrieved them. I wished they'd used bullhorns! The spirit of the event was very inspiring, overall. My feet are in a good deal of pain due to my poor footwear choice, but I'm just a taxpaying slave like the rest of us, so what do I know?

I do know this: the leaders in the GOP had better take a crash course in limited government concepts or be replaced. And the Republican Party had better shift back to the right or be left out in the cold. Americans have spoken! And Texans are ready to break their federal chains.

I'm ready. Are you?

President Lincoln would have given our Congress a stern speech

2009-02-13T22:41:00.003-06:00

--before recommending them to be hanged for treason. Happy 200th Birthday, Honest Abe. We've derailed an amazing nation in record time, haven't we?

"Freedom isn't an ideology; it's the only thing that's ever worked." -as tweeted today by Sen. Jim DeMint

"Never before have so few people spent so much money in so little time with so much secrecy and done so much damage to the next generation." -as tweeted by Cong. John Culberson

Sex, political scandal, and delicious martinis.

2009-02-06T10:56:00.006-06:00

And it's only Month 2 of the Obamistration. Sure, the title is a shameless cry for some shallow new readers. Don't forget, I threatened to start blogging about designer purses and mixed drinks in 2009. While I'll have to read up on those things before I post, check this list out. It's off the cuff. Yeah, I know. There's nothing else to do it Alaska at the moment, except get pregnant.

EIGHT STATES NOW DECLARING SOVEREIGNTY!!

Several states have recently appealed to the 10th and/or the 9th Amendments to assert their state rights over federal government.

These amendments state:

Amendment 9 - Construction of Constitution. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Washington
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2009&bill=4009

New Hampshire
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/HCR0006.html

Arizona
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/1r/bills/hcr2024p.htm

Montana
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/billhtml/HB0246.htm

Michigan
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(sjgu5xbql1n5xf45imuuysrm))/documents/2009-2010/Journal/House/htm/2009-HJ-01-22-002.htm

Missouri
http://www.house.mo.gov/content.aspx?info=/bills091/bills/HR212.HTM

Oklahoma
http://axiomamuse.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/state-legislator-charles-key-wants-to-limit-federal-power/

Hawaii
http://www.hawaii-nation.org/

Are we seeing a trend?

I'd like to see Texas and Idaho on this list. Whatchyougot?

Thanks to George Dewey for compiling this info.

Unrelated hysteria: last night I dreamed I was on a crippled Navy boat with an Air Force sergeant and some friendly ghosts. We came under attack by a Chinese submarine launching torpedos at us. Miraculously, the ghosts saved us by helping the boat drift to shore while we were busy trying to inflate our lifevests by mouth. I think this dream has something to do with the stimulus bill being volleyed in the Senate.

In a previous nightmare, I had the sense I was being followed. Every time I turned around, there was Barack Obama not more than three feet away with his hands in his pockets, smiling. He followed me everywhere. I suspect this dream has something to do with our nation's impending fall into Communism. Barry was my "big brother" in this nightmare...always looking out for me--I mean, always watching my every move.