Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Jennie, Jennie, Jennie -- Arkansas

Three Jennies, three stories, and how “several hundred acres of swampland” became McCrory, Arkansas.

“Around 1840, a traveler riding through what is now Woodruff County stopped at a cabin in the woods to ask directions. A woman who gave her name as Jennie came to the door surrounded by children of every size. Later, the traveler jokingly said he had asked his way at Jennie's Colony, referring to the multitude of children. The name stuck and for many years after, the area was known as ‘Jennie's Colony.’

“Or so the story goes. Other sources assure us Jennie's Colony was named for Jennie Edmonds, an early settler of Woodruff County. Still others confidently state that Jennie's Colony got its name from Jennie Barnes, whose husband first settled there. Whatever the true story of Jennie's Colony may be, it is a fact that a part of the Colony later became the site of the town of McCrory.”

http://www.cityofmccrory.com/

By the 2010 census, McCrory’s population was 1,729. The largest population ever was 1,971 in the 1990 census. The 2015 population was estimated at 1,601. So, the town continues losing people.

McCrory is about 79.5% white, 19% black, and less than 1% Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander and whatever other designations the government puts on people or someone puts on himself. The poverty rate is about 16.5% of families, 21% of the whole population, 28% of those under 18 and 19% over 65.

No doubt you have often asked, “How do I know if I am poor?” Well, the U.S. Census Bureau has a whole bunch of relatively well-paid bureaucrats to figure that for you.

“The U.S. Census Bureau determines poverty status by comparing pre-tax cash income against a threshold that is set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963, updated annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI; see the last section of this FAQ for an explanation of the CPI), and adjusted for family size, composition, and age of householder. ‘Family’ is defined by the official poverty measure as persons living together who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption. Thresholds do not vary geographically. The Census Bureau has created an infographic to explain ‘How Census Measures Poverty.’"

http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq2.htm

There is a big, not-so-easy-to-read bar graph. Hey, I didn’t say the figuring-out made any sense, only that the Census Bureau pays a lot of people good money to figure out who is poor and who is not. Note: The bureaucrats are not.

Just a few miles down Highway 64 is Patterson, population 467 by the 2000 census. Demographic breakdown there shows: 90.3% black; 2.2% white; 1.3% native American; 1.7% Hispanic; and 1.7% other.

Patterson’s overall poverty rate is 31%, with 25% of families, 39% of those under 18 and 30% age 65 or older meeting the official Federal line.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

‘The End of the High Church’

“If you are a normal person, the mainline Protestant churches have nothing to offer but endless lectures about the joys of liberalism. It’s a familiar pattern. First the women take over, then the men leave, except for the guys willing to take orders from the gals. Then the normal women bolt. This boiling off of the sensible eventually leaves the crazies in charge of the organization. Before long the freak flag is hoisted and it is the bar in Star Wars. It’s the pattern we saw with Labour in Britain and the Democrats in the US.”

http://thezman.com/wordpress/

“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.” – 1 Corinthians 14.

God gave the land to Abraham’s descendants, through Isaac

“The Jews surely have a special claim on [Palestine]. They are the only people who have made a success of it during the past 3,000 years. They are the only people who have made its name immortal, and as a race, they have no other home. This was their first; this has been their only home; they have no other home. They found no home in Egypt or in Babylon. Since their long exile they have found no home as a people in any other land, and this is the time and opportunity for enabling them once more to recreate their lives as a separate people in their old home and to make their contribution to humanity as a separate people, having a habitation in the land which inspired their forefathers. Later on it might be too late.” – Former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, 1931.

http://www.mideastoutpost.com/archives/balfour-declaration-november-2016-richard-kemp.html

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

Why John is in Florida

After moving John here, Priscilla told John about his new Florida doctor and used the words “your old doctors in Texarkana.” From those words, John deduced:

All doctors in Texarkana are old and no longer doctor.

All hospitals in Texarkana closed because there are no more patients.

All graveyards in Texarkana got filled up with those people who used to be in hospitals, but they died.

Up North needs more Walmarts

Today, Priscilla took John and me to the blood-drawing place, preparatory to doctor appointments next week. For everybody who doesn’t know, John had his 60th birthday 16 days ago, but his mind never progressed past 6 or so.

Taking John anywhere is quite an enterprise. He uses a walker. His pace is near that of Tim Conway’s old man on the Carol Burnette Show – slower than slow.

Added to the enterprise, I have a right leg brace to make me take normal steps. My pace is faster than John’s, but not in the speedster range.

Added to that addition, Priscilla recently did something that caused pain in a foot, similar to a broken toe. Her pace has slowed somewhat during convalescence.

So … We park at the blood-drawing place, get John’s walker in position near the car door, get John standing and holding onto the walker. We move out – Priscila, followed by John doing the Tim Conway imitation, followed by me, with my cane providing balance.

We have to cross a parking lot street. And that is where I figured out that many people in Florida come from places that do not have a Walmart. At least the drivers never learned parking lot manners at a Walmart in Texas or Arkansas, where pedestrians have right of way over cars and trucks. Doesn’t matter if pedestrians stay in the marked walkways or not, everybody in a car at a Walmart in Texas and Arkansas knows people walking have right of way.

Here, not so much. Oh, you can step out in front of a slow moving car, but the likelihood of the car stopping is 60-40. The driver will go around you, or, seeing your intent, will speed up and get there first, in which case you will stop, rather than deliver a knee to a car door.

My assumption is, those drivers are from Northern climes, where reaching a point is more important than what happens between start place and the point.

What needs to happen is, Walmart should open more stores Up North and include experienced Texas and Arkansas drivers in the opening. We need to learn those people some manners.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Sitting on my desk …

… is about an inch of water in a plastic bottle labeled “Fiji” and the notation: “Natural artesian water.”

The label says the water was bottled at Yaqara, Vita Lavu, Fiji Islands.

If anyone wondered about the early 21st Century wealth of the world, the plastic bottle with an inch of water is proof. That is, a company can fill 500 ml bottles with water, ship the filled bottles to the U.S. and make money.

A note: Someone else bought the Fiji water and left it on my desk.

Of course, nothing is as it seems.

“Obama sips it. Paris Hilton loves it. Mary J. Blige won't sing without it. How did a plastic water bottle, imported from a military dictatorship thousands of miles away, become the epitome of cool?”

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/fiji-spin-bottle


A reason Trump won the election

Old-fashioned mainstream Republican party leaders and news points of view failed to realize their irrelevance, and by opposing Trump actually convinced people to vote for him. Here is an example:

http://www.redstate.com/

Includes a piece on “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” It is easy to see how an irrelevant news opinion site thinks an immaterial TV program matters.

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Wiseman, Arkansas

Wiseman is on the Strawberry River in Izard County.

Here is a satellite photograph: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.23497,-91.817087,695m/data=!3m1!1e3

There are some farm houses and outbuildings.

http://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org/72587/ sums up a lot of areas of North Arkansas: “The people living in ZIP code 72587 are primarily white. The number of middle aged adults is extremely large while the number of seniors is extremely large. There are also a large number of single adults and a small number of single parents. The percentage of children under 18 living in the 72587 ZIP code is small compared to other areas of the country.”

Population of the Zip Code is 134, with a median household income of $36,618 and median home value of $86,500. Of those 134 residents, 70 are male and 64 are women. One is “Black or African American,” but the gender is not identified.

Forty-two percent of the homes are paid for; 32% are still under mortgage. Forty-one percent of the residents do not have a high school diploma; 59% are high school graduates.

https://www.zip-codes.com/zip-code/72587/zip-code-72587.asp is at odds with the other link, stating the current population is 54, and the 2010 population was 134. If that’s the case, you wonder where the 80 people went. That’s the thing with government numbers – you never know which ones are correct. If any.

There is a cemetery: http://arkansasgravestones.org/cemetery.php?cemID=4009
There are veterans from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam as well as those who served in peacetime.

Lawrence W. Moser is buried there. He was awarded the Silver Star while with the 6th Armored Division in World War II. Also, Staff Sgt. Boyd G. Smith, World War II, Korea and Vietnam with the Army Air Force and Air Force.



Burglar bites off homeowner’s ear, loses to knife

“Jimmy Nguyen broke into James Wiedman’s Lubbock, Texas home through a back window. During the resulting altercation, Nguyen bit off part of Wiedman’s ear in the struggle. Wiedman retaliated with a knife. When the police arrived, Nguyen was DRT (dead right there). Wiedman has been treated for his injuries.”

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=69118

Friday, November 25, 2016

'Sweet Home Alabama' shocks Brooklyn shoppers

“I suppose there had been music playing in the store, but I hadn’t noticed until a familiar guitar lick pierced the air and a soft voice said, ‘Turn it up.’

“… By the time Ronnie Van Zant’s drawl started in with ‘Big wheels keep on turnin’,’ everyone in the store was standing in shock. Brows were furrowed, people mumbled to each other. The song seemed to get louder as one of those New York moments happened, when everyone was thinking the exact the same thing.

“A woman in her fifties, wearing a Love Trump Hates button, turned to her Brooklyn-bearded husband and said loudly, ‘This is unbelievable!’ She found the nearest store clerk, a young woman in a green apron who was staring up at the ceiling, looking for the invisible speakers blaring this message from the other America. ‘This is so inappropriate,’ the woman said. ‘Can we turn this off?’”

http://thefederalist.com/2016/11/23/brooklyn-grocery-store-played-sweet-home-alabama-everyone-lost-minds/

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

(It’s easy to kick back, read stuff, and say, “Yeah, you people voted for Lefty Hillary, believed she was the Second Coming of Obama, maybe Husband Bill, whose portraits float above the Encyclopedia of Progressivism, thinking there would be a centerfold photo of The Great Progressive Prophets – Bill & Hillary, Barry & Michelle, with 8X10 color photographs of former President Kennedy and The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the paneled walls. And now you have met defeat, maybe even learned the way us Flyovers got educated in the School of Everyday Life, that Reality Sucks. Well, live with it.”)

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Photographs from Stalingrad in 1942 with Volgograd today

In early November 1942, invading Germans launched their final attack at Stalingrad. Seventy-four years and two days ago, the Red Army began its encirclement of the German Sixth Army.

http://mondbasis.com/stalingrad.html

Dobbin, Texas -- pop. 170 … or maybe 300

Dobbin is down by Houston and Sugar Land, not too far from Cut and Shoot. The town used to be known as Bobbin, but the name was changed in 1909.

“In 1965 Dobbin had a post-peeling plant. … In 2000 the town had seven businesses, including Mock's Feed Store and Grocery and Hoffart's Store; a post office; the Dobbin station of the Montgomery Fire Department; two churches; and a collection of dwellings. The population was still estimated at 170.”

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hld27

But -- “(S)ome estimates place that (population) figure at close to 300.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbin,_Texas

(The “some estimates” are not identified. Just like a few censuses ago, Paris, Texas, didn’t like the official figure of a few short of 30,000, so the city conducted its own count. Lo and behold! A miracle! Local counters must have been more accurate, because the population now exceeded 30,000. Which, officially, the city has not yet reached.)

Pictures of buildings old and not so old:

http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Dobbin-Texas.htm">http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Dobbin-Texas.htm

Dobbin has a saloon and a barbecue joint. Of course it does; it’s in Texas.

Area-codes.com says Dobbin shares the same area code (936) as Bobbville. Google does not recognize Bobbville. For whatever that is worth. Julian Assange says Google has assets and freedom to spy that the CIA only dreams about, so maybe there isn’t a Bobbville.



Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Sgt. Andrey Timoshenkov saves Syrian civilians

“On June 19, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that on June 15, ‘Sergeant Andrey Leonidovich Timoshenkov stopped a car rigged with explosives by opening fire at it with small arms.’

“According to the Ministry, ‘Andrey was mortally wounded in the explosion of the vehicle driven by a suicide bomber.’"

http://russia-insider.com/en/russian-soldier-who-died-saving-syrians-car-bomb-honored-video/ri17688

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUhLL0XawRw

I’m not going to mention ***** ******

Other than “Organization says Trump racist, xenophobic, misogynistic,” stories about ***** ****** are about all you will see on TV news entertainment disguised as news.

All TV, print and internet news organizations sometime ago signed a secret agreement with advertisers, promising to run stories claiming ***** ****** is the “biggest shopping day of the year.” The first stories ran without fact checking by reporters. The press release arrived at the newsroom, the TV station/newspaper had already signed an agreement, so the story went on the air/into print.

As for me and my house, we refuse to buy from any business or listen to any stories about ***** ****** sales.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

F***heads

“If Trump wins, I’m going (somewhere).”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVNLH2Q8kMw

You’re not gone yet? Why are you not getting off an airplane in (somewhere)?

There is a real world, and then there is Sweden

‘A Swedish Woman Explains Why Sweden Has Virtually No Crime’

“In Sweden, it is forbidden by law to be a criminal.”

https://onsizzle.com/t/sweden

Meanwhile:

“Sweden let in a ton of migrants. Sweden let in migrants who commit crimes against the native people. Sweden won’t do anything out of fear of being labeled racist and xenophobic. Sweden has seen a drastic rise in the number of sexual assaults in the last year. Sweden has no backbone. Sweden is cucked. Don’t be like Sweden.”

Same link.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

What is going to happen

The people and networks that present their own decisions on what is news will not stop accusations of race, sexism and xenophobia.

No matter what President-Elect Donald Trump does or does not do, he will be wrong. People he appoints to head governmental agencies will be labeled racist, sexist and Islamaphobic.

Trump’s economic attempts will be protectionist and will lead to mass unemployment and monetary inflation.

Trump’s foreign policy attempts will lead the world to greater competition, which will lead to war with Some Other Country.

The news people will not STFU.

Our only choice is to stop listening. We get too much information, and our minds will go into overload, especially us of Les Deplorable class.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Obama passing torch to Merkel

“US President Barack Obama pays a farewell visit Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, widely seen as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump.”

http://www.thelocal.de/20161117/obama-to-pass-torch-to-merkel-on-farewell-visit

(What possibly could go wrong with that?)

And, Merkel announced that “US free trade deal is now dead,” given Trump’s opposition.

Trump isn’t the only one opposed to the deal.

“Exporters have been in favour of the deal as it promised lower tariffs, less red tape and a wider base of consumers for their goods. But in Europe, consumers feared it would ride roughshod over the EU's labour market and environmental standards, and would bring about more outsourcing which would lead to job losses.”

http://www.thelocal.de/20161117/merkel-admits-us-free-trade-deal-is-now-dead

‘Donald Trump will never be president’

A video of notable people proved wrong. Obama, Clinton, Clooney, late-night TV types ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT0Rjc6jKCg

Link at http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/he-will-never-be-president-video-compilation-top-liberals-and-msm/ri17589

“Russian Insider” has a great deal of propaganda, but wading through stuff sometimes exposes some pearls. Also, the number of stories saying John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani should not be in the Trump administration – Consider the source.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Guess who’s been with Lenin for 92 years

‘Portrait of Tsar Nicholas II found behind portrait of Lenin’

(Actually, Lenin was found behind the tsar, but why quibble?)

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Man’s gotta feed his chickens

But stealing is not the way.

‘Marielets kidnapped five sacks of wheat to feed chickens’

“Yesterday, on 8 November, the police received a report of theft in one of the villages in the Volga region - five sacks of wheat it had been stolen from a local warehouse. Loss discovered the organization of workers who belonged to the warehouse, they noticed that the window knocked plywood and identified shortage after scaling content. Damage was estimated at 1 000 125 rubles, the press service of the Mari police.

“In the course of investigative actions, it was found that during the theft is a 37-year-old unemployed villagers. He explained that he had committed the crime in order to feed the chickens.

“As a result, it brought a criminal case, and seized stolen wheat.”

http://yopress.ru/news/32278/marielets_poxitil_pyat_meshkov_pshenits_chtob_nako.html

(Here's an idea: Sell a couple of chickens and buy feed.)

Maybe those smart people in Clinton’s campaign made the ad

On TV a couple of days ago was an ad for American leadership or some such, but the ad stopped making sense when a Mini Cooper popped up as the focus. The narrator kept talking about American something and extolling the Mini, and then at the bottom of the ad was this: “European Model Shown.”

Podesta Group lobbied for Azerbaijan in U.S.

More of that stuff that should go away.

“For the past seven years, the Podesta Group, a high-powered Washington lobbying firm, has handled networking and image-building for Azerbaijan’s embassy in the United States. Azerbaijan ranks alongside Tajikistan as the third worst rights abuser in the former Soviet Union, behind Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, according to the watchdog group Freedom House.

“The Podesta Group’s chief executive officer is 73-year-old Tony Podesta, who has acted as a major fundraiser for the Clinton campaign. In addition, Podesta’s 67-year-old brother, John, serves as Clinton’s campaign chairman, and previously served as former president Bill Clinton’s chief of staff.”

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/81186

So the Podesta Group got a deal with the Azeri embassy around the time President Obama named Hillary Clinton secretary of state.

And those pesky emails just won’t go away.

“Emails allegedly hacked from John Podesta’s account and published by WikiLeaks show that the Clinton campaign debated the propriety of accepting donations raised by lobbyists, like the Podesta Group, which do work for foreign countries. The campaign ultimately decided to accept the donations.”

Saturday, November 12, 2016

EU types get knickers a’twist over Trump

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen: The election is a “huge shock” and might be the end of “Pax Americana.”

Sweden’s foreign minister: First Brexit and now Trump, “Looks like this will be the year of the double disaster of the West.”

French Ambassador to the United States Geraud Araud: “After Brexit and this election, everything from now on is possible. A world is collapsing before our eyes. Vertigo.”

A Finnish diplomat: “The West is no longer. The times of darkness have dawned.” (A bit mixing of metaphors there, but maybe it makes sense in Finnish.)

“Fierce Putin critic Garry Kasparov, meanwhile, is despondent. He wrote a book a while back called Winter is Coming, and last night he tweeted ‘Winter is here.’”

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/michael-j-totten/american-brexit?utm_source=World+Affairs+Newsletter&utm_campaign=016ee308f2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_11_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f83b38c5c7-016ee308f2-294583209

Those quoted are the same people who practically swooned, ladylike, at the name Barrack Obama, who scurried for photographs with PBUH, and who applauded his Nobel Peace Prize. Not mentioned are Serbs, Hungarians, Poles, Greeks and Montenegrins who every day face more “refugees” from Obama’s Syrian war.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Obama has done all the terrible things Democrats accuse Trump of planning

The best column so far from the election.

“…Obama has just about destroyed the Democratic Party. And most of the destruction predated Trump.”

http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/

On Wednesday I said to my wife: “Democrats should congratulate Trump because now they have an opportunity to put their party back together.”

Today, a loser on TV got it all wrong

(Loser: Somebody who backed Clinton, or an establishment Republican of the Jeb Bush type.)

The loser, whose identity I missed because I clicked over from MLB channel, was talking about how Trump now would have his people contact the People Who Get Things Done in Washington.** The PWGTDiW are not members of Congress, not even appointed bureaucrats or heads of agencies, but persons of influence who work for big time CEOs. The loser indicated Trump’s people will work with the PWGTD people, and the transition from Obama’s regime to Trumps will be in the right hands.

The loser kind of missed the outcome of the election.

**Those are the loser’s words – The People Who Get Things Done in Washington.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Florida Highway Patrol cars …

… are black and tan. Is the force completely lacking of Irish?

Sage, Arkansas

Sage is in Izard County, southeast of Calico Rock and due south of Violet Hill. Bluegrass music-sounding names.

In the 2010 census, Izard County’s population was 13,696. The 2000 census population was 13,249. Of those, 96.4% were white. Poverty-wise, 13.6% of families and 17.2% of the total population lived below the official poverty line, including 22.4% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those older than 65.

Townships in Izard County include: Barren Fork, Big Spring, Drytown, Gid, Mill Creek, Mount Olive, New Hope, Pleasant Hill, Strawberry and Union. Wikipedia says: “Gid is the name of Gid Bruce. The community received its name in 1888 when promoters of a post office couldn't agree on a name, and so decided to name it for whomever walked in next.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gid,_Arkansas

Not far northeast of Sage is Melbourne Municipal-John E. Miller Field. Across LaCrosse Road from the airport is Coopers Hawk Golf Club. Zion is a few miles northwest of Sage.

zipcodedownload.com has Sage’s population at 278. Arkansas.hometownlocater says the population is 401. That site also says the town has 31 vacant housing units. Local.niche.com gives Sage an overall grade of C+, with C in nightlife and C- in “diversity.” Niche says the “Most Represented Ethnicity” is 100%. That means “White.” Nightlife? C+ on “Access to Bars”; C- on “Access to Restaurants”; and 0.0% “Millennial Newcomers.”

Small town, close to the Ozarks. Lots of pasture, woods, creeks and hills.

‘NeverTrump’ does not matter

And, except as narcissism, never did.

RedState, which once had some influence, but now does not see past a mirror: “Thus, Donald Trump must fail. He does not share my values. I want him to fail to achieve the things he supports, and those things he has said he wants to accomplish as President. I will not support him, I will not cooperate with him, and I will not submit to him.”

Dude. You don’t matter. You lost, just as surely as did Hillary Clinton. You lost. Get over yourself.

http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2016/11/09/america-needs-now-donald-trump-fail/

For bitter crow, see also: http://neveryetmelted.com/

http://moonbattery.com/

And another NeverTrump magnificently wrong:

“President. Hillary Clinton, who would have lost to almost any other Republican, will likely win the Presidency 333 to 205.*

“I will go out on a limb and predict that this Hispanic turn-out coupled with the Trump Effect will give Hillary a narrow win in Arizona—the second time out of three that a Clinton wins Arizona. Virginia has become a long-shot for Republicans, and Pennsylvania effectively forfeited, and as goes Pennsylvania, goes the election. The Trump Effect may extend to North Carolina and Florida, which would result in Hillary gaining their 44 electoral votes. Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida are the most marginal states, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Republicans keep them; however, even with all three states, Trump will come up short. I am giving Ohio to Trump because his appeal to blue collar working class Whites without a higher education degree is real. It’ll be enough in Ohio, but not enough for Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan due to his disappeal amongst other groups needed to win. I’m also going to go out on a limb and give Trump Maine-2 for the same reason I am giving him Ohio.”

http://politicalhat.com/

Yeah, it was all those “blue collar working class Whites without a higher education degree” who gave Trump the win.

I am laughing. I am laughing and I am saying, “Told you so.”




Monday, November 7, 2016

Optimizing confusion

Purdue makes argument for majoring in sociology or communications or comparative world religions.

“EffiCuts: Optimizing Packet Classification for Memory and Throughput.”

In course description: “Packet Classification: find the highest priority rule that matches a network packet.”

http://www.slideserve.com/pomona/efficuts-optimizing-packet-classification-for-memory-and-throughput-1329367


Sunday, November 6, 2016

When horse meat is all you have …

In the late 1820s, Texas settler Noah Smithwick and three friends set out from Bell’s Landing with 1,000 pounds of illegal tobacco in 10 bales, planning on selling the contraband farther south. The government in Mexico City had declared coffee and tobacco contraband, with the government itself the only legal seller of both. The non-governmental market, therefore, was quite lucrative.

“The first town we struck on the Rio Grande was Laredo. Finding that some other trader had got in ahead of us and stocked the market, we proceeded on up the river to find fresh territory. On the way up one of those interminable Texas rains set in, and we were compelled to strike camp and cover up our tobacco. We ran out of food, and, there being no settlements near and no game but wild horses, the very thought of eating which sickened me, there was prospective famine, at least for me. The other boys had been in Texas long enough to get rid of any fastidious notions about clean and unclean beasts, so when provisions ran out they killed a mustang and were provisioned for a siege.” -- The Evolution of a State, Noah Smithwick.

On the third day of his self-imposed famine, Smithwick tried a bite of horse and decided survival overrode his, as he put it, “fastidious notions.”



High school and college women carrying guns in D.C.

‘Refining respectable feminine qualities’

Or, women’s rifle teams in D.C. high schools and George Washington University.

GWU’s women’s team took five national championships in the 1920s.

http://gwuarchives.tumblr.com/post/76646884811/the-unbeatable-team-gwu-womens-rifle-in-the

Photo of the 1925 women’s team:

http://www.shorpy.com/node/20597?size=_original#caption

I wonder what those high school and college girls would say if one of today's anti-Second Amendment types announced: "You don't need a gun. Guns kill people. Guns are dangerous. Only police and the military should carry guns."

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Meanwhile, at the Alamo

At some point, Davey Crockett and his buds from Tennessee realized they could not kill all the Mexican soldiers advancing toward the Alamo. They knew the end was near. Bravely, they loaded their muskets one more time and prepared to give their lives for the noble cause for which they had volunteered. As the Mexicans were steps away from consuming the faithful Tennessee Volunteers, one of Crockett's crew wisely opined...

"At least we won't have to go back through Arkansas to get home."


Another Texas joke

Saw a dog chasing a jackrabbit out in West Texas one day and it was so hot they both were walking.

Not a Texas joke

Headline I’ve never seen: Psychic wins lottery.

A Texan’s five major food groups

Steak, chicken fried steak, Mexican food, barbecue, tacos.

Texas jokes

Q: Why do University of Houston grads keep their diplomas on their dashboards? A: So they can park in handicap spaces.

Q: What do you call a good looking girl on the University of Houston campus? A: A visitor

Q: What does the average Texas Tech University student get on his SAT? A: Drool.

Q: Why did UT Austin disband its water polo team? A: All the horses drowned.

Q: Why did the UTEP grad cross the road? A: Better question: Why is he out of jail?

Q: What separates a good team from a great team? A: The Oklahoma-Texas border.

(That joke goes both ways … Like a lot of Sooners.)

Q: What do tornadoes and graduates from the University of Texas have in common? A: They both end up in trailer parks.

Friday, November 4, 2016

A couple of jokes

I have no home. I haven’t got control. I can’t see any escape.

I really need to get a new keyboard.

*************

I asked my North Korean friend what it’s like, living in Pyongyang. She said, “I can’t complain.”

Missed land deal

In Armstrong County, Texas, about 25 miles southeast of Amarillo. My wife grew up in the Panhandle, east of Amarillo. The land out there is great – rolling hills, grass in springtime, lots of red dirt, Palo Duro Canyon.

The land I missed out on is a bit more than 12,000 acres. Deer, stock tanks, fences, windmills. And a big thing – three miles of Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River runs through the center of the place.

Yep. Missed out.

The place sold for $8.2 million. I would have been a little more than short on available cash, and I’m not sure how much a bank would loan on income derived from Army retirement and Social Security.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Couldn't get a job with that art history degree? Sue the university

One of the better pieces of writing on college ridiculousness and Obama regime heavy-handedness.

http://takimag.com/article/why_im_suing_vanderbilt_university_joe_bob_briggs/print#axzz4OqVPRO3S

Comments section introduces “intellectual lesbians: they don’t know dick” and “homolectuals.”

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

A dumb quote from somebody who had a job when he wrote:

“To look for a job before looking deeply inward is likely to short-circuit the process of finding your calling.” – Somebody named Dan Miller.

When there was definite need for food, electricity, water, rent, college costs, and etc., “finding my calling” did not keep me from digging ditches and running a jack hammer. Whoever that Miller is, when was he looking at overdue bills?

A caller not paying attention

Almost all calls on the landline phone are telemarketers or of the related ilk. Rather than allow six or eight ringy dingies, I answer with either “Thank you for calling the Red Pony. How may I help you on this glorious (morning or afternoon)?” or “Socialist Workers Party. How may I direct your call?”

A few minutes ago I answered a call with “Socialist Workers Party.” In the background were noises from a dozen or more telephone workers. My caller said, “Hello, my name is Raymond. I am calling on behalf of the Republican Party. Have you and Priscilla taken the opportunity to vote?”

My thought: Dude, pay attention. I answered “Socialist Workers Party.” Did you not hear? Maybe he did, and maybe his West Indian background (evident from his accent) did not allow an unusual statement to interfere with his programmed spiel.

I replied, “No, we have not, but we will.”

“Thank you very much,” Raymond said, “and have a blessed day.”

Hey, it was a lot better than somebody trying to sell insurance.

Life as an elephant

Why not? Leaving baby status, graze on grass or leaves, drink water and take a shower, spray other elephants, roll in mud, look at lions and do a “Say what?” demeanor, eat more grass. Do it over and over again. Becoming top bull – Doesn’t get any better. Eventually, go off somewhere, lie down and say, “It’s been an OK life.”

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

If Dilbert says so, you can take it to the bank

“Russian hackers are better than we thought. They stole Clinton's emails from the NSA, put them on Huma's laptop, and pinned it on Weiner.” – Scott Adams.

http://ace.mu.nu/#366613

Why is he publisher of anything?

Rolling Stone boss: “We were the victim of one of these rare, once-in-a-lifetime things that nobody in journalism can protect themselves from.”

Your writers and editors could have ******* checked, *******!

Self-described “journalists” who cut corners and ignore basics just to get a hot story really piss me off.

http://nypost.com/2016/10/28/rolling-stone-publisher-apologizes-to-embattled-uva-dean/

And: “I’m very, very sorry. It was never meant to ever happen this way to you,” Wenner informed University of Virginia dean Nicole Eramo. Well, what *** **** did you think would happen when you published a made-up story?