Take It From Me: You Can’t Run From Static Electricity
When I was a kid I had a book called Mysteries of the Unexplained that contained AMAZING BUT TRUE! stories aimed at stirring the imagination, eliciting a sense of wonder, and prolonging the bed-wetting experience by at least three years. I’d huddle beneath the covers with my flashlight and read about strange psychic phenomena documented by real scientists, physicists, private investigators, and the occasional freaked-out paranormal expert who, at the end of the story, usually abandoned his profession to become a plumber:
When I was a kid I had a book called Mysteries of the Unexplained that contained AMAZING BUT TRUE! stories aimed at stirring the imagination, eliciting a sense of wonder, and prolonging the bed-wetting experience by at least three years. I’d huddle beneath the covers with my flashlight and read about strange psychic phenomena documented by real scientists, physicists, private investigators, and the occasional freaked-out paranormal expert who, at the end of the story, usually abandoned his profession to become a plumber:
“Even now, after all these years, I can still feel those icy fingers whenever a cold breeze blows across my butt crack…”
Though the book was mostly about ghosts, aliens, strange disappearances and creepy folklore (…so stand alone in the dark, if you dare. Hold a mirror and repeat the words “Sassafras Sally.” And prepare to be slapped by a pair of wet tea bags), it was spontaneous human combustion that really got to me. I think it’s because, in my mind, ghosts, aliens, strange disappearance and folklore could all be avoided by exercising a little caution.
Spot an alien spaceship? Run.
Worried about Sassafras Sally? Introduce her to Chi tea.
Concerned about taking a cruise through the Bermuda Triangle? Go to Disneyland and settle for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” instead.
But burst into flames in the middle of Mrs. Frump’s sixth-grade classroom, and chances are you’d be reduced to a pair of smoking sneakers long before you could acquire a hall pass and make it to a water source. Because of this fear, I mapped out the location of every fire extinguisher and water fountain at Jane Adams Elementary, and remained within eight feet of something to douse myself with throughout much of the sixth grade. Suffice it to say, except for visiting the public pool and local fire station, I missed most of my class field trips.
I’m 43 now, and, aside from “All-You-Can-Eat Frijole Night” at Juan’s Cantina, I’ve overcome my fear of spontaneously combusting.
At least until yesterday.
That’s when “Peggy” from our composition department handed me a news article about a man in Warrnambool, Australia whose clothes spontaneously built up 40,000 volts of static electricity. According to Frank Clewers, he was unaware of being a human power grid until a secretary noticed his shoes were burning a hole in the office carpet. After several awkward minutes of misinterpreting his secretary’s warnings of “You’re sizzling!” and “You’re making my hair stand up!” as sexual innuendo, Frank realized what was happening and contacted the fire department. Fire official Henry Barton believes it was the combination of Franks’ woolen shirt and synthetic nylon jacket rubbing together that created a charge “just shy of spontaneous combustion.”
I’m no electrician, but had shag carpet been involved, I doubt Frank would still be alive.
After reading about this incident, I thanked “Peggy” (whom I used to like), then slowly removed my nylon coat and wool sweater, trying to generate as little friction as possible, by cutting them from my body with a pair of scissors. That’s because I’m one of those people who’s constantly building up small amounts of static electricity. Our cat became aware of this phenomenon after rubbing on my leg once. This was followed by a loud “pop,” a blue flash, and our cat performing a hissing cartwheel.
Needless to say, thanks to “Peggy,” my condition has now escalated from minor annoyance to full-blown phobia. I no longer leave the house without a copper wire running from my undershorts to the ground, and I go through at least four cans of “Cling Free” a day.
I’m sure I’ll eventually overcome my fear again. In the meantime, I really need to finish mapping out the extinguishers and water sources in our office.
(You can write to Ned Hickson at the Siuslaw News at P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR. 97439, or nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com.)
Tweaking The Health Care Plan
We all know that getting the Health Care Bill passed by the House of Representatives was not easy. However, it was a good civics lesson for children. They learned that if the minority is unhappy with what the majority decides, those who support the minority call the people in the majority offensive names and spit at them. Some make threatening phone calls.
We all know that getting the Health Care Bill passed by the House of Representatives was not easy. However, it was a good civics lesson for children. They learned that if the minority is unhappy with what the majority decides, those who support the minority call the people in the majority offensive names and spit at them. Some make threatening phone calls.
This spitting is might be the oddest reaction. As we learned during the swine flu panic, we should always cover our mouths when sneezing or coughing. Certainly, spitting directly at someone can be equally unsanitary. And to do it when the conversation involves health undermines the spitter’s political position.
Some people feel the Health Bill went too far, and others feel it didn’t go far enough. Therefore, it seems appropriate for me to discuss some of the things it does and does not cover as well as some of the ramifications of the bill.
Millions of parents were probably thrilled to learn that from now on, their children will be allowed to be covered by the family’s insurance plan until the kids are 26. As Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, because of this bill, college graduates would be able to pursue their dreams instead of worrying about getting their own health insurance right away. They won’t have to find jobs they have no interest in just to get health insurance. On the other hand, some parents might be less than thrilled about their kids not having to find jobs for a few more years.
The new bill will insure 32 million Americans who don’t have insurance now. This might be the most significant and positive part of the Health Care bill. And to each of you who was opposed to insuring these people: “No, all 32 million people will not be in your doctor’s waiting room at the same time, fighting over that three-year-old copy of “People.”
Let’s talk about a few important things the Health Care Bill doesn’t cover. Currently, if you’re five minutes late for a doctor’s appointment, he or she gets angry with you. But if the doctor makes you wait for an hour, you don’t even get an apology. I hope the Senate will be wise enough to address this in a Being Late In A Doctor’s Office Bill. Here’s my suggestion to them: If you’re more than 15 minutes late for your appointment, you pay double. If the doctor’s more than 15 minutes late, your visit is free. I guarantee this problem will go away.
Funds should be set aside for some necessary research. For example, it’s about time medical science figured out why we get the sickest on weekends when our doctors aren’t in their offices. And you know that pain that is so bad that we insist on seeing the doctor right away? Well, someone should discover why it disappears right when we walk into the doctor’s office. And don’t you think they can come up with something better than the paper we have to lie down on when we’re being examined? Doctors used that same kind of paper when they used to bleed people.
What about those gowns? Put this arm in this hole, don’t put that arm in that hole, wrap it around you, then tie it in the back. What are we, escape artists? I’m sure medical researchers can come up with a better robe. After all, these are the same people who found a solution for “restless leg syndrome.”
One of the most frustrating things about being a patient is getting conflicting opinions from different doctors. I understand that sometimes professionals have different views about things, but there should be some consensus on the questions that trouble us the most. Let’s invest some of that Health Care money to get a definitive answer to one of the oldest and most important questions in Health Care: Heat or ice?
Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from “Sesame Street” to “Family Ties” to “Home Improvement” to “Frasier.” He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He can be reached at lloydgarver@gmail.com. Check out his website at lloydgarver.com and his podcasts on iTunes.
Dozens Die In 1912 Locomotive Boiler Explosion
Federal investigators and a blue-ribbon committee pressed ahead on March. 24, 1912 with probes of the worst man-made calamity in San Antonio since the fall of the Alamo.
Federal investigators and a blue-ribbon committee pressed ahead on March. 24, 1912 with probes of the worst man-made calamity in San Antonio since the fall of the Alamo.
(Credit for bringing this long forgotten tragedy to light must go to Mike Cox. A short chapter in his 2006 book Texas Disasters and contemporary newspaper accounts were the basis for this column.)
Following a Christmas week wreck near Seguin, Number 704 had been undergoing repairs in the Southern Pacific roundhouse on the eastern edge of downtown San Antonio. After three months in the shop, the 200,000-pound, ten-wheel steam locomotive was ready for the mandatory test run and, if all went well, return to service.
No one was better qualified than senior engineer Walter Jourdan to put Number 704 through its paces. At 63 he had more years with his hand on the throttle than anybody else in the entire Southern Division of SP.
Jourdan was in no hurry on the morning of March 18, 1912. Mindful of the fact that most of the repairs had been performed by “replacement” workers, he took more time than usual checking for damage the “scabs,” as the union called them, might have missed.
Only when Number 704 passed his personal inspection, did Jourdan give the order to fire up the boiler. While he waited for the locomotive to build up a head of steam, the experienced engineer walked around the iron horse with a wrench and oil can.
At precisely 8:55 a.m., the boiler exploded. Cox described what happened next: “…launching the huge cylinder through the roundhouse roof like a rocket lying on its side, breaking the big wheels from their hubs, and sending assorted pieces of iron, levers, pipes, rods, and other shrapnel-like hunks of metal in every direction at a deadly velocity.”
Engineer Jourdan and as many as three dozen other workers in the huge brick building never knew what happened. They were killed instantly, their bodies torn apart by the fantastic force of the blast.
The explosion shook the city of 100,000 to its roots. Residents rushed outdoors in the mistaken but understandable belief that San Antonio had been hit by an earthquake.
Neighborhoods within a half-mile radius of the roundhouse suddenly became ground zero. First was the shock wave, which “pulled trees from the ground, blew out windows, and rammed debris through the walls of houses….” Then came the iron rain as fragments of the shattered locomotive fell back to earth.
A massive chunk of the boiler landed between two homes gouging out a four-foot deep crater. A group of children had been playing on that very spot just minutes earlier and surely would have been crushed to death had they not gone inside for breakfast.
The front end of the locomotive reduced a frame house to kindling and badly injured the elderly resident. A woman in her front yard barely missed being struck an air tank and a human torso that fell out of the sky only seconds apart.
Human remains were scattered over a wide area. “Parts of jackets and coats and trousers containing portions of mangled limbs were found hundreds of yards from the immediate scene of the explosion,” read a report in the Dallas Morning News. “Here and there heaps of blood-covered human flesh were located and covered with tarpaulins.”
The first firemen and police officers to reach what was left of the roundhouse did not expect to find any survivors. But P.J. Stoudt, who had the presence of mind to dive under a bench, was alive and remarkably well in the rubble as was Robert Lipscomb, who was blown 30 feet by the blast and awoke with a dead co-worker’s hat in his hand.
Others not killed by the explosion suffered an even more terrible fate. Oil from a ruptured fuel car caught fire and burned them alive before the blaze could be put out.
Relatives beat the authorities to the hellish site. According to a heart-rending report, “Women came upon the bodies of their husbands and children upon those of their fathers. There were scenes of horror, bitter weeping and fainting women on all sides.”
Fort Sam Houston responded quickly to the emergency sending members of the Third Cavalry on horseback to aid overwhelmed local authorities. The army also provided medical personnel and horse-drawn ambulances.
Although 26 bodies were positively identified, bits and pieces were no help in the days before DNA and forensic science. The best guess was that another 10 or 15 perished with approximately 50 more sustaining injuries from which they recovered.
In the anguished days following the disaster, public opinion blamed union saboteurs. But this theory was ruled out early in the parallel investigations by the Interstate Commerce Commission and a citizens committee.
The final report of the ICC was released on May 17. It said in part: “It is our conclusion that this explosion was due to excessive steam pressure which was caused by an employee (of the railroad) tightening the adjusting screw of the safety valves, resulting in an accumulation of steam pressure beyond the endurance of the boiler.”
In other words, human error was responsible for the horror of 1912.
Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at haile@pdq.net or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549. And come on by www.twith.com for a visit!
Public Education: The Real Fix
I have a simpler solution. It will save a ton of tax dollars and achieve better learning outcomes. Teach children the basic needs in learning and life: reading, writing, math along with some basic science and core history. Then give them one elective period where they can pursue whatever topic they, their parents and/or educators want.
I have a simpler solution. It will save a ton of tax dollars and achieve better learning outcomes.
Teach children the basic needs in learning and life: reading, writing, math along with some basic science and core history.
Then give them one elective period where they can pursue whatever topic they, their parents and/or educators want.
Teach them better communication and life training skills that actually are important in daily life, e.g., like maintaining a checking account, writing a business letter and resume.
There is no need to teach religious thought, political philosophy or any of that other tripe that has little to do with REAL learning in public education.
Teach kids to learn for learning’s sake, how to research any topic and to enjoy the learning process.
Our schools have become another business and political football field. Our classrooms are labs for babysitting our children until 3 PM.
If we do the above our kids will get much more out of education and of life and we can stop trying to run public education like an industrial assembly-line plant. We have to modify education to fit our children, not force our children to fit into education.
“I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” — Mark Twain
Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.
The Politics Of Dilatoriousness
Damn it, Congress! Do something, already, you stagnating assemblage of self-interested fools! We finally have a President who wants to move our Nation forward, and all (most of) you nabobs do is sit around and bluster nonsense. The credit card companies, having discovered all the loopholes in your consumer protection initiatives, continue to violate the folks for whom you claim to be looking out.
Damn it, Congress!
Do something, already, you stagnating assemblage of self-interested fools!
We finally have a President who wants to move our Nation forward, and all (most of) you nabobs do is sit around and bluster nonsense.
The credit card companies, having discovered all the loopholes in your consumer protection initiatives, continue to violate the folks for whom you claim to be looking out.
Meanwhile, executives at the big banks you bailed out have pocketed all the tax revenue you handed over to them to stay in business – more moneys that came from the same taxpayers whom they’d been raping all along.
Because 30% of the aging white people in America are regurgitating talking point chunks spewed forth by a handful of grossly overpaid ultraconservatives – they who control the radio and cable airwaves, leaving no room for open and fair discussion with any semblance of balance – you run and hide from comprehensive, universal real health care reform.
Everyone knows that the alleged “health care insurance providers” are nothing of the sort; they are conduits for huge paychecks and bonuses that go directly from the contributors’ paychecks into the executives’ bank accounts.
Not one of these companies gives anything close to a shit about the human beings they claim to cover. It’s all about profit, as proven by their sickeningly obscene profits.
It’s not about, as you insist, the cost to taxpayers – anyone with half a brain can figure that out. What it’s really about are the vulgar contributions delivered by truckloads to your campaign war chests.
While people are scraping by, either underemployed or unable to find employment at all, you sit on your privileged asses and osmose money by the barrel for allowing the annihilation of Middle America to happen.
When it comes to throwing indeterminate sums of taxpayer money at wars with no reason to be waged whatsoever, replete with loss of life and untold human suffering, you can’t piss it away fast enough.
But when it comes to actually returning tax moneys to the people in the form of infrastructure improvement or, gawd forbid, health care for everyone, your argument is “it’s socialism” that will “cost too much.”
Not providing health care to everyone is costing all of us far too much!
And it’s been going on far too long.
Like anything else, universal health care is not the perfect solution; yet, we remain the only industrialized country that refuses to care for our own.
For every Canadian citizen who seeks specialized treatment in the U.S. (typically of the privileged class), I’m certain there are thousands who are generally satisfied with their overall care.
Like Canadians, folks in the United Kingdom tend to live to a ripe old age, and more often than not they’re hearty and hale. I read the daily news from England; there’s no endemic of Brits dying because they’ve been failed by a tax-funded health care system.
During three years spent living in Germany, not once did I see any citizen of that country sickly or in dire trauma because they lacked access to health care – and it was the U.S. government that restructured and set up their system.
Germans, too, tend to be active well into ripe old age.
The people of Hawaii swear by their “socialized” universal health care, where all medical expenses are fully covered by the state.
Contrary to what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) recently spouted on ABC-TV, the “crap” Americans are fed up with is that which comes from the House and Senate (yes, members of both parties are guilty) to serve only the interests of the ersatz lawmakers and their corporate sponsors.
Be careful about taking a stand, however. The reaction by the media to Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s (D-RI) fiery address on the House floor provided their own self-impeachment.
Across the board, “news” organizations labeled Kennedy’s indictment of their complicity in misdirecting attention away from the national debate by repeatedly focusing on salacious side issues (most recently the tale of fallen NY Rep. Eric Massa; several years ago Kennedy’s own substance abuse problem), rather than the important business at hand, as a “blow-up” and a “rant.”
Their self-serving reaction only succeeded in proving his point.
Thus, until the monopoly of corporate-friendly information dissemination is broken, all we’ll get is tripe masquerading as filet – democracy in action be damned.
Shalom.
(Jerry Tenuto is an erstwhile Philosopher and sometime Educator. A veteran with seven years of service in the U.S. Army, he holds a BS and MA in Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Depending upon your taste in political stew, you can either blame or thank Jerry for his weekly “Out Of The Blue” feature in The Lone Star Iconoclast. Visit his blog Blue State View at illinoiscentral.blogspot.com)
Hypnosis Can Make You A Better Golfer — Unless You Think You’re A Chicken
Our universe is full of mysteries. Easter Island. The Bermuda Triangle. California. And perhaps the biggest mystery: Why I am allowed to golf.Our universe is full of mysteries.
Easter Island.
The Bermuda Triangle.
California.
And perhaps the biggest mystery:
Why I am allowed to golf.
Afew years ago, I participated in the Florence Chamber Golf Tournamanet. At the time, no one — including myself — realized how bad a golfer I really am. Though none of the injuries sustained during that year’s tournament were life threatening, having six golfers (two of whom were playing the hole behind me) knocked unconscious by balls with my initials on them — I thought — would become my golfing swan song.
(Speaking of which, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize once again for the tragic death of that swan near the putting green. Had I known the difference between a putter and a pitching wedge, things might’ve turned out differently for that majestic creature.)
Because of this, I fully expected a letter from the American Golf Association (and PETA) denying me access to any course that doesn’t include a windmill and tokens for a free hot dog.
Needless to say, when I was asked back for a second year, I naturally assumed that, at some point, hard liquor had become available in the clubhouse.
As it turns out, being the worst golfer in Ocean Dunes Golf Links history actually makes me a hot commodity! That’s right! With my handicap, the only way a team I’m on can lose is if, over the course of 18 holes, I accidentally knock each of my teammates unconscious with my backswing.
Which is why I’m determined to make my next golfing experience different.
How?
By hypnotizing myself into believing I’m a good golfer.
That’s right. Thanks to golf hypnotherapist Dr. Kenneth Grossman, I will utilize the power of my subconscious to golf in a manner that is, quote:
Relaxed, self-confident and — unless I purchase both CDs — amazingly like that of a chicken.
The program, called Hypnosis for Golf (available at www.hypnosis4golf.com) comes with a no-risk guarantee that if I’m not completely satisfied, my money will be refunded “… within a period of time considered reasonable by many third-world countries.”
Like many of you, I was a little skeptical about the idea of hypnotizing myself because I figured it meant standing in front of a mirror with a shiny object and repeating:
You’re getting very sleepy.
Very sleeeee-peee
Very s-l-e-e-e-e-p—
THUD.
That was silly, of course.
Dr. Grossman is a man of science, and his method is scientifically proven to induce the trance-like state necessary for self-hypnosis. This is achieved by having the subject go to a quiet room and, for 15 to 20 minutes, watch golf on television. If you happen to be among those who are more resistant to hypnosis, then switch to bowling. However, Dr. Grossman warns that prolonged exposure can send subjects into a catatonic state similar to a coma. If that happens, change to something more stimulating, such as the blue screen on your auxiliary channel.
I plan to practice Dr. Grossman’s technique each day until I can approach the fairway with complete (entirely unfounded) confidence.
I’d also like to say to my golfing friend Randy, if for some reason I don’t show up, I’d appreciate it you would come over and change the channel.
(You can write to Ned Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com, or at the Siuslaw News at P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR. 97439)
The Lunar Math Of The Moon’s Phases
Only in the night sky does a quarter equal a half and a half is full. It’s not new math — it’s lunar math. When we see a first quarter Moon, it looks like a half moon, so perhaps you’ve wondered why it’s called quarter. Like planets, the Moon emits no light but rather reflects sunlight as it orbits Earth every four weeks (more precisely, 29.53 days). When it’s between Earth and Sun at new Moon, we don’t see it as the Sun illuminates the side facing away from us.
Only in the night sky does a quarter equal a half and a half is full. It’s not new math — it’s lunar math. When we see a first quarter Moon, it looks like a half moon, so perhaps you’ve wondered why it’s called quarter.
Like planets, the Moon emits no light but rather reflects sunlight as it orbits Earth every four weeks (more precisely, 29.53 days). When it’s between Earth and Sun at new Moon, we don’t see it as the Sun illuminates the side facing away from us.
A day or so after new Moon, we begin seeing a slight sliver soon after sunset, called a waxing crescent — waxing because it gets more illuminated each night and crescent because of its appearance from our perspective.
In a week, when it has traveled a quarter of the way around Earth, its 1st quarter phase looks half-lighted to us.
Then for the next week as the Moon continues to wax, it appears more than half illuminated, but less than full — a phase called gibbous (Latin for hump).
After two weeks, the Moon has completed half its journey and is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun which illuminates the entire half of the Moon facing us — called a full Moon.
Then for the next two weeks, the Moon become less illuminated each night, called a waning Moon. During the third week it is in its waning gibbous phase on its way to 3rd quarter (sometimes called last quarter) when it again appears half illuminated.
And during the last week of it sojourn, it is in its waning crescent phase (seen in the morning sky) until it again reaches new Moon and starts its next monthly cycle.
Regardless of how much of its surface we happen to be seeing on any given night (or day), half of the Moon, just like half of the Earth, is always illuminated — whichever half is facing the Sun.
• Sky Calendar.
* Mar. 21 Sun.: Saturn is at opposition — on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun — when it rises at sunset, is up all night, and sets at sunrise.
* 23 Tue.: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
* 24 Wed. evening: The Moon is to the lower right of Mars, and then to the planet’s lower left the next night.
* 28 Sun. all night: The Moon accompanies Saturn across the sky.
* 29 Mon. morning: The full Moon is called Lenten Moon, Sap Moon, Crow Moon, and Worm Moon.
* Apr. 3 Sat. morning: The gibbous Moon is less than two moonwidths above the star Antares in the south.
* 6 Tue.: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
* 8 Thu. evening: Mercury, at its best for this appearance, is to the lower right of Venus low in the west at dusk.
• Naked-eye Planets. (The Sun, Moon, and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth’s west-to-east rotation on its axis.) Evening: Saturn is low in the east with Mars high overhead; Venus is very low in the west after sunset. Morning: Saturn, low in the west, is now the only morning planet.
Stargazer appears every other week. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact him at 918 N. 30th, Waco, 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com
3/24 – 3/31 False Flag Alert: Mossad/AIPAC
The Obama administration has scored its second great legislative coup with the 3/22 House passage of its much-desired Health Care Bill, which Obama signed into law yesterday. While the mainstream media will focus on the partisan punches thrown from left and right, intelligence insiders note with interest and anxiety that the critical 3/22 date is also a powerful and sinister signal number to secret societies that control the Western world. To achieve its 3/22 date indicator, the House had to come into a special Sunday session.
Lone Star Iconoclast Special Bulletin
The Present Peril
TEXAS, 3/24/2010 – The Obama administration has scored its second great legislative coup with the 3/22 House passage of its much-desired Health Care Bill, which Obama signed into law yesterday. While the mainstream media will focus on the partisan punches thrown from left and right, intelligence insiders note with interest and anxiety that the critical 3/22 date is also a powerful and sinister signal number to secret societies that control the Western world. To achieve its 3/22 date indicator, the House had to come into a special Sunday session.
The Skull and Bones Order at Yale displays “322” on their coat of arms. This same Skull and Bones produced two Bush presidents and the Kerry contender who anointed Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Obama sent occult messages while signing the bill into law by having an 11-year-old boy help handle the 22 different pens that he used in the process. As the FBI has conceded, terrorists seem to be fascinated with permutations of the number 11, as with 9/11, 3/11, 7/7 and 7/11 – the dates of “terror” attacks against New York, Madrid, London, and Mumbai:
“New York, 9/ll; Madrid, 3/11; Mumbai, 7/ll,” ABC News, 7/11/2006, http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/07/new_york_9ll_ma.html
The observant reader might wonder why ABC and the FBI sabotaged their own headline by using 9 with a double “L” and 7 with a double “L” instead of “11” with the New York and Mumbai dates, but used the correct “11” in the Madrid date. Note that the URL is similarly sabotaged, with “9ll” instead of either “911” or “9/11.” This is either an egregious error or a deliberate attempt to keep the American people from understanding terror date codes. It is another link in a long chain of coincidences that has more and more of us believing that the same “terrorists” who carried out terror attacks connected with “magic number” days might just be preparing to carry out another.
Below we examine the last major Obama administration legislative coup – set up on a magic numbered “Friday the 13th” in February, 2009, a date exactly 322 days from the end of the year. We show how close the Stimulus Bill came to signaling a false flag terror attack. If you agree with us after reading the rest of our alarming analysis, then you will also agree with us that the Health Care and Stimulus Bills are disturbingly similar.
Past as Future
Less than a month after the Obama inauguration the 9/11 Truth and Patriot movements were hoping that under a new administration there finally would be free speech about the abuses of King George and his Bush League, beginning with the truth about Sept. 11, 2001.
On Feb. 6, 2009 the newly installed president held a much-publicized meeting with 9/11 widow and “Jersey Girl” Beverly Eckert, along with dozens of USS Cole and 9/11 family members. All had lost a spouse or parent to “terrorism.” They asked many incisive questions, to which Obama provided few decisive answers.
In the next six days, American glasnost became a short-lived reality. Senator Patrick Leahy demanded a “Truth Commission.” As if to accentuate the fact that kerosene won’t melt or demolish steel, the Mandarin Orange Hotel in downtown Beijing burned from top to bottom for 24 hours without falling, let alone collapsing neatly into its own footprint as did the Twin Towers and WTC-7. The gatekeeper Huffington Post, which had previously banned 9/11 “conspiracy theories,” published a two-part op-ed demanding a genuine investigation of the attacks.
At 11:00, p.m. on Feb. 12 a highly supicious aviation disaster over New York State killed the same Beverly Eckert who had a week earlier threatened the American elite with the one thing they can never allow: the truth. An hour later Obama’s Congress posted his Stimulus Bill online.
The next day – Friday the 13th – a horrified House of Representatives voted in favor of legislation it did not have time to read. Many believed what Eckert and 48 other passengers had discovered the hard way: Obama could be as murderous as his tyrannical predecessor.
“Huff-Po” and the rest of the limp Leftists immediately resumed their head-in-their-hole posture about the attacks of 2001. The more militant wing of the 9/11 Truth Movement mobilized in outraged alarm that the next false flag – 9/11-2B — might be close. It might even show that a “Nuclear Obama” could one-up a “King George” in mass murder.
Concurrent and credible chatter from alarmed officials in the Chicago area convinced the writers of this alert that the new president and his Israeli chief of staff “Rahmbo” Emanuel might intend to nuke Sears Tower in the next few days. Accordingly, we hurriedly published a weekend bombshell:
“Chicago False Flag?,” America First Books, 2-16-2009, www.tinyurl.com/cugj8n
When Obama signed the Stimulus Bill into law the next day, on Feb. 17, it was supposed to be the highlight of his first year. The way we read it, though, he was already an abject failure: He had failed to carry out high treason against the Windy City.
Just hours later, Yahoo! delivered a powerful kick in the pants to Barack with its obvious attack against his name:
“`Obama bin Laden’ Error Hits Yahoo’s Homepage,” Valleywag, 2/17/2009, http://valleywag.gawker.com/5155229/obama-bin-laden-error-hits-yahoos-homepage
Worse came the next morning with a bizarre NY Post editorial cartoon of Feb. 18 linking the Stimulus Bill to a dead chimp, whom some wits began to refer to as “Obonzo”:
We challenge any media critics to give a more plausible explanation of this none-too-subtle racist threat by a Ruppert Murdoch paper against a powerful new savior president in his early honeymoon phase with the media. Factor in the Osama/Obama glitch and it is clear that the mainstream media, mouthpiece for the establishment, was linking terror with Stimulus and Al Qaeda with the Obama administration.
Prophetic Professionals
We highly recommend three current essays by three experts well-versed in realpolitik that will inform the patriot who wishes to be free of the mainstream media paradigm, which is nothing more or less than establishment propaganda:
ONE: “Expect a False Flag to Precede the Invasion of Iran,” The Truth Seeker (UK), 3/18/2010, http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=12360
Paul Craig Roberts, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during Reagan’s first term, offers compelling insider insights about what Israel must do before attacking Iran: namely, attack America! Given that Israel-first AIPAC has been conducting its annual U.S. arm-twisting to push us into another proxy war for them, their next attack will like come sooner rather than later.
TWO: “Zionism and Jewish Nationalism,” Khaleej Times Online, 3/13/2010, http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=/data/opinion/2010/March/opinion_March77.xml§ion=opinion
Alan Sabrosky (PhD, University of
Michigan) is a ten-year US Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the US Army War College. His Jewish heritage has given him the authority to accuse a substantial part of U.S. Jewry of a “dual-loyalty” that is nothing more than a euphemism for Israel-first espionage and outright treason. Such, he contends, was the case on 9/11, carried out by Mossad and their innumerable U.S. Jewish sayanim. He believes that more and more senior U.S. military officers have become aware that 9/11 was a Mossad attack on America, similar to the Israeli Air Force and Navy attacks against the USS Liberty in 1967.
THREE: “Baghdad’s Neutron Bomb and America’s Nuclear Obama,” The Lone Star Iconoclast, 3/8/2010, http://iconoclastnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=521:baghdads-neutron-bomb-and-americas-nuclear-obama&catid=35:worldwide&Itemid=69
Captain Eric H. May, the Lone Star Iconoclast intelligence editor, has developed an international readership for his false flag analysis. This, his latest interview, is an amazing adventure down the deadly rabbit hole of PSYOPs and assassination.
About the Co-Authors
Captain May, a former Army intelligence officer, is the commander of Ghost Troop cyber militia. LT Woodard is the unit executive officer, while CSM Neadow is the unit’s senior enlisted member. Major Fox, a former Marine Corps officer, is the publisher of America First Books and author of the Mission of Conscience Trilogy about Ghost Troop’s counter terror operations. Dr. Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer, is the founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth. To learn more about their efforts against 9/11-2B (the next 9/11), refer to:
Captain Eric H. May Archive, America First Books, www.tinyurl.com/5f931b
Bee-coming Apiarists
Well, it’s official. We’re going to be apiarists. No, it isn’t illegal. Not even immoral. It means we’re going to keep bees. This has been percolating for a very long time, and it was one of those things I rather hoped Zack would talk about forever and never actually do (like getting horses). But if Zack says he will do a thing, he most often follows through, which is usually wonderful but sometimes a little scary. There’s always another project around here. No wonder I never catch up.
Well, it’s official. We’re going to be apiarists. No, it isn’t illegal. Not even immoral. It means we’re going to keep bees. This has been percolating for a very long time, and it was one of those things I rather hoped Zack would talk about forever and never actually do (like getting horses). But if Zack says he will do a thing, he most often follows through, which is usually wonderful but sometimes a little scary. There’s always another project around here. No wonder I never catch up.
Zack’s grandfather kept bees, and he has wonderful childhood memories of robbing the hives in the heat of the summer, covered with protective gear from head to toe, the smell of the warm honey, insects lighting all over him. (YIKES!) Somehow this was never my idea of heaven. I can’t imagine why. If I had tried with all my might, I don’t think I could ever have conjured up a vision of myself willingly surrounded by hundreds of bees. Well, life is full of surprises.
So I’m nothing if not interested in new experiences. Count me in (as if I had a vote. In my new, unexpected position as Zack’s trusty assistant, helping him with things he still cannot do, I often have little choice in these matters. Besides, I firmly believe that his enthusiastic interest in new things and willingness to try almost anything —even if I have to finish it— are aiding in his recovery). Usually I prefer my new experiences to be exceedingly safe, timid person that I am. But Zack assures me I probably won’t get stung. Gee, that’s reassuring. For years Zack has talked of having bees. If he hadn’t fallen ill a couple of years ago, I’m certain we would have done this already. More than a few best laid plans were delayed. That happens when one wakes up paralyzed and spends six months in hospitals— and the next year or two relearning how to move.
Zack’s been poring over catalogues of bee keeping supplies. Dwayne, the UPS guy has been wearing a path to our door for the last few weeks with a box of this or that. It’s gotten to the point that if we see him in town, we ask if we can save him a trip. At the moment, there reside in the center of our small living room a bee hive, a super (part of the whole queen/workers/drones system, the trays for the honeycombs, hats, nets, smokers, and gloves. It’s all pretty interesting. (There are special entry and exit parts for the Queen, workers or drones. Sort of like the Hotel California; some of them can check out any time they like — but they can never leave). One of the hats with veil belonged to Zack’s grandfather —pretty special. Zack says he probably wore it as a youngster. Two of the smokers are antiques. Zack’s father brought the old honey extractor from his barn to ours a few months ago, and a couple of old hives.
One of our veterinarians keeps bees, so Zack consulted with him about various resources. He generously offered to pick up our bees when he drives out of town to pick up some additional bees for himself. After all, this probably isn’t something we can bid for on eBay and have Dwayne deliver in his UPS truck —although I didn’t check. Perhaps it’s possible!
There’ve been bees on this ranch all my life, but they were wild and free, lived where they chose, and didn’t share their honey. They visit my flowers regularly, most noticeably our Texas sage plants. These burst into fragrant, lavender blooms a week or so after a heavy rain. Then they attract so many bees that their combined musical buzzing mimics a small helicopter. During those times, the sage seems alive with bees. There have been various “bee trees” here over the years, sometimes occupied and sometimes not. The last bee domicile of long standing was vacated a couple of years ago for unknown reasons and hit by lightning last year. (It seems to have survived). So far, no occupants have returned. One of the many signs I routered several years ago for placement throughout the ranch reads “Bee Hive Drive” for obvious reasons, and is nailed to that tree.
We expect our new additions next month, and Zack is like a little kid anticipating the holidays. We must clean and paint the old hives (if they’re worth saving), paint the new one that arrived unfinished, and put everything in place. We donned our gloves and hats —for a trial run of sorts; we wore the stuff to a masquerade party last week. In one of those rare, unexpected, serendipitous coincidences, two other people came dressed as bees. She was the Queen Bee, of course, with crown, and he was the Worker Bee, with hard hat and tool belt. Funny stuff. This Bee/Bee Keeper combo was completely unplanned. So we took a picture to commemorate the occasion. I guarantee you our new bee keeping attire will never look as clean as it does right now. The hat and veil Zack wore were those belonging to his grandfather.
Gene Ellis, Ed.D is a Bosque County resident who returned to the family farm after years of living in New Orleans, New York, and Florida. She’s an artist who holds a doctoral degree from New York University and is writing a book about the minor catastrophes of life. Check out Genie’s blog at http://rusticramblings.wordpress.com/
Mexicans Risk Own Lives To Save Texans At Goliad
Santa Anna overruled his general on the ground on Mach. 23, 1836 and gave the infamous order for the mass execution of all the Goliad prisoners. The Tampico captives served as guinea pigs for the dictator’s get-tough policy toward meddlesome foreigners. A number of Americans were among the 28 followers of Gen. Jose Antonio Mexia tried for piracy and put to death in December 1835. Encouraged by the “so what?” reaction in the United States, Santa Anna issued the infamous no-quarter decree that his puppet congress made the law of the land on Dec. 30. Santa Anna overruled his general on the ground on Mach. 23, 1836 and gave the infamous order for the mass execution of all the Goliad prisoners.
The Tampico captives served as guinea pigs for the dictator’s get-tough policy toward meddlesome foreigners. A number of Americans were among the 28 followers of Gen. Jose Antonio Mexia tried for piracy and put to death in December 1835. Encouraged by the “so what?” reaction in the United States, Santa Anna issued the infamous no-quarter decree that his puppet congress made the law of the land on Dec. 30.
Gen. Jose de Urrea, commander of the eastern army sweeping north up the Texas coast, believed the summary slaughter of prisoners was unconscionable overkill. But he had to do something with the Texans taken at San Patricio on Feb. 27, 1836, and Santa Anna demanded their immediate annihilation. A last-minute plea from an Irish priest gave him a good excuse for letting the rebels live, and he shipped them off Matamaros.
Urrea faced an identical dilemma two weeks later at Refugio, where 33 armed insurrectionists raised the white flag. He saved the problem this time by shooting the half that hailed from Kentucky and Tennessee and turning loose those claiming colonial residency and Mexican citizenship.
Later in the week, Urrea fought a bloody two-day battle with Col. James W. Fannin, which was interrupted by the Georgian’s sudden and unexpected offer to surrender. Since the Mexican had already lost 250 soldiers and feared more fatalities if the fighting continued, he was willing to promise his opponent the moon.
Negotiations hit a serious snag, however, when rebel representatives insisted upon humane treatment as POW’s and prompt parole to the U.S. Urrea took Fannin aside for a confidential chat and privately pledged complete compliance with the unacceptable terms, if only he would lay down his arms.
Fannin should have known better than to strike the fatal bargain. He was well aware of Santa Anna’s standing order, which had been so mercilessly carried out at the Alamo. What on earth made him think Urrea had the power to keep such a pie-in-the-sky promise?
Reporting to his superior by messenger, Urrea recommended clemency for the captives. Santa Anna answered with a direct order for the execution of every last one of the “perfidious foreigners” and, just to be on the safe side, sent the same instructions to the colonel in charge of the Goliad garrison.
By the time Jose Nicolas de la Portilla received his orders on March 26, Urrea was long gone. Resigned to the inevitability of the massacre, he preferred to be someplace else when the killing commenced.
The prisoners were in unusually high spirits that dreadful night following word from Fannin, whose gullibility knew no bounds, that the Mexicans were busy making the necessary preparations for their safe departure. The unsuspecting souls sang themselves to sleep with a few choruses of “Home Sweet Home.”
Haunted by a hellish vision of what the morning would bring, the brave wife of a Mexican officer could not close her eyes. The kind heart of Francita Alavez already had gone out to the prisoners at Capano Bay, where she coaxed the guards into loosening the ropes cutting off the circulation in their arms, but that act of compassion paled in comparison to her current mission of mercy.
Senora Laves had a kindred spirit in a colonel named Francisco Garay, who was willing to risk his life to save as many prisoners as possible from the firing squads. At first light he led a score or so of confused captives to his tent in a peach orchard and told them not to budge until he returned.
As the condemned filed past, Senora Alavez spotted a young boy in the doomed ranks. She pleaded with a high-ranking German mercenary to leave the lad with her, and without a word or change in expression the request was miraculously granted.
Minutes later, the sound of musket fire and the screams of the dying shattered the Palm Sunday silence. “Curse you, Santa Anna!” Francita Alavez shouted. “What a disgrace you have brought to this country!”
From his sanctuary in the orchard, Dr. J.H. Barnard heard the murderous madness. “I saw through the trees several of the prisoners running with their utmost speed and directly after some Mexican soldiers in pursuit of them.
“Colonel Garay now appeared and said to us, ‘Keep still, gentlemen. You are safe. This is not from my orders, nor do I execute the.’”
Three hundred and forty-two died that day shot down like rabid dogs. Of the estimated 65 survivors, no fewer than 37 owed their lives to the “Angel of Goliad,” as Francita Alavez always would be known, and the courageous colonel who refused to obey an immoral order.
“Secession & Civil War” – latest “Best of This Week in Texas History” collection available for $10.95 plus $3.25 postage and handling from Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or order on-line at twith.com.
Have Gun, Will Latte
I’ve always been confused by Starbucks, the great American Institution and symbol of yuppies and carefree consumerism. This is the place where the smallest cup of coffee is called a “Tall.” Depending on what you order, you can easily spend two or three dollars for a cup. They offer cappuccinos, tea, and scones. In other words, it’s the sort of place with the kinds of products mocked by right wing opponents of vegetarians, elitism, and free-range chicken pot pies. That’s why I was surprised to learn that some gun-toting, 2nd Amendment-loving customers were sitting in Starbucks, sipping green tea. So much for stereotypes.
I’ve always been confused by Starbucks, the great American Institution and symbol of yuppies and carefree consumerism. This is the place where the smallest cup of coffee is called a “Tall.” Depending on what you order, you can easily spend two or three dollars for a cup. They offer cappuccinos, tea, and scones. In other words, it’s the sort of place with the kinds of products mocked by right wing opponents of vegetarians, elitism, and free-range chicken pot pies. That’s why I was surprised to learn that some gun-toting, 2nd Amendment-loving customers were sitting in Starbucks, sipping green tea. So much for stereotypes.
At least 38 states allow people to walk around with unconcealed weapons. For the most part, those people I’m talking about have not qualified to get licenses to carry concealed weapons. These are people who actually have their guns visible in their holsters at some Starbucks, reminiscent of cowboys in Western movies sashaying into the town saloon.
Stop right there. Gun lovers don’t need to send me angry emails. I’m not suggesting that those who walk into Starbucks or other places of business with their weapons in view don’t have a right to do so. As I have asked in other similar instances, I’m just wondering why anyone would want to do so. It’s hard for me to imagine a conversation between two friends like this: “Hey, Joe, you want to go to Starbucks and grab a cup of coffee?” “Sounds good, Mike. Just let me grab my gun.”
There’s a bit of a riff between those gun advocates who want to walk around with their firearms visible, and the more traditional NRA-ers who feel weapons can be carried more discreetly. The latter fear that if many people walk around with their guns so everyone can see them, people might get frightened. Uh, yeah. I don’t even feel safe being next to someone who has had a triple espresso and is unarmed.
In many states, people who carry their guns openly don’t need a permit or any sort of training. That’s right. No gun safety training at all. In other words, if you happen to be sitting next to someone who is wearing a gun while he spoons the whipped cream from his drink, you might want to move to another table.
So why does Starbucks allow customers to come in armed? Starbucks has said that they aren’t going to get involved in the politics of guns, and they will comply with the local laws. In other words, they don’t want to turn away any customers as long as they’re carrying cash as well as their weapons. Other restaurants and coffee places have simply banned guns. But not Starbucks.
Why have those who like to have a gun in their belts chosen Starbucks as a place to hang out? It could just be that after a hard day of target practice, they have a hankerin’ for decaf venti lattes. Or maybe the idea is to wear their guns in a place they know is filled with anti-gun people. That way, they can show that life coach and her yoga teacher who are stopping off for cappuccinos that it’s not really dangerous to be in the same room with someone carrying a weapon that could blow a hole in your chest.
Some of these gun-carrying people say they hope what they’re doing will put pressure on the states to make it easier for a person to get a license to carry a concealed weapon. In other words, “the only reason we’re carrying our guns in public like this is because you make it so hard for us to walk around, hiding our guns.”
It just seems weird to think of Starbucks being a hangout for urban cowboys and cowgirls. You’ve got to admit that it’s odd to think of someone who spent the last few hours cleaning his gun standing in line patiently so he can say, “I’d like a decaf grande’ cappuccino, with a biscotti on the side.” Being a fan of legend, I hope he’ll add something from the tough cowboys of the Old West like, “And barista, you make that soy instead of milk… or else.”
Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from “Sesame Street” to “Family Ties” to “Home Improvement” to “Frasier.” He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He can be reached at lloydgarver@gmail.com. Check out his website at lloydgarver.com and his podcasts on iTunes.
Another Gubernatorial Election Year Of Eminent Domain Issues
Hey buddy! You got rocks in your head? Anyone voting to re-elect Rick Perry as governor of Texas this November seriously needs a trip to the psychiatrist’s couch. Why would ANYONE want the guy who plans to toll all our roadways for at least the next 100 years and who will take away our private property to do so without reimbursing real value to property owners?
Gov. Rick Perry: proponent of endless toll roads, stealing eminent domain and “flim-flamming” Texans
Hey buddy! You got rocks in your head?
Anyone voting to re-elect Rick Perry as governor of Texas this November seriously needs a trip to the psychiatrist’s couch.
Why would ANYONE want the guy who plans to toll all our roadways for at least the next 100 years and who will take away our private property to do so without reimbursing real value to property owners?
That’s right. Now turn to your neighbors and ask, “Re-elect Perry? Are you nuts, man?”
While it may be a new year, it is an old Gov. Rick Perry still using his old tricks in the new legislative session to address old business — toll roads and eminent domain.
Brief history of eminent domain in Texas
In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court haphazardly voted to permit government to acquisition private property for development and many rightfully concerned legislators around the nation began actions to protect their property owning constituents.
On Nov. 25, 2005, Gov. Perry signed Senate Bill 7 that protected Texans from takeover of private property for development (but it did not really protect property owners or provide appropriate and reasonable reimbursement for land taken).
In 2007, Gov. Perry vetoed House Bill 2006 offering additional compensation requiring eminent domain commissioners to consider “loss of access” when determining dollar amounts. The bill also provided for recovery of damages, e.g., changes to traffic patterns and visibility of remaining property from the road.
HB 2006 was supported by many prominent individuals and organizations, including, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, The Texas Farm Bureau, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association — to name a few.
The reason Gov. Perry said he refused to sign the 2007 bill is because he was pressured by cities, counties and the Texas Department of Transportation to veto it because it increases cost of eminent domain for roads and highway construction. Don’t you believe it.
Perry does NOT want to reimburse property owners proportionately per the value of the land government will take from you to build his beloved Trans-Texas Corridor and dozens of other toll roads proposed throughout Texas. Huge campaign contributions from wealthy toll road enthusiasts ensure that Perry remains more concerned about assuring the mega future profits of these entities than protecting most Texas landowners.
Perry does NOT give a hoot about the property rights of Texans. Perry constantly tells us “No New Taxes” but what are these significant tolls if not new and extreme taxation?
However, the reality is if government forcibly takes someone’s property, it had better pay property owners fair-market value.
The truth is that Gov. Perry is not attempting to provide more protection for Texas property owners. Rather, he is “stacking the deck” for government and special interest toll road entrepreneurs to pay land owners as little as possible when taking private property to build and maintain the TTC and other toll roads.
Throughout history Texans have fought too hard and too long to let a parasitic governor shoot through legislation that will eliminate significant property protection and honest reimbursement for property taken.
In addition, if the voters let Perry win this epic battle simply by reelecting him, we will pay infinite and ongoing increases in toll taxes for generations to come. Is that the legacy we want to leave our children’s children?
Vote for Bill White. He believes in Texas and Texans. He would never permit government or land developers to steal your land from you.
Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.
Alamo Reprieve Lasts Only Five Years For Dimmitt
On March 12, 1836, six days after the fall of the Alamo, Gen. Sam Houston sent an urgent message to Goliad ordering Philip Dimmit to meet him at Gonzales. Few Anglo-Americans came to Texas sooner than the young Kentuckian, who arrived at San Antonio in 1823, the same year Stephen F. Austin got the final go-ahead to populate the Mexican province. Dimmitt learned Spanish, married a local girl and became a successful and popular trader with posts at Victoria, Goliad and Lavaca Bay. On March 12, 1836, six days after the fall of the Alamo, Gen. Sam Houston sent an urgent message to Goliad ordering Philip Dimmit to meet him at Gonzales.
Few Anglo-Americans came to Texas sooner than the young Kentuckian, who arrived at San Antonio in 1823, the same year Stephen F. Austin got the final go-ahead to populate the Mexican province. Dimmitt learned Spanish, married a local girl and became a successful and popular trader with posts at Victoria, Goliad and Lavaca Bay.
When discontent flared into defiance of the central government in the summer of 1835, planters and merchants almost to a man denounced the hotheads that dared to rock the boat. They had a good thing going and were not about to risk it all in a reckless confrontation with their Mexican hosts.
Dimmitt was the exception. As soon as he learned Santa Anna was sending his brother-in-law to put the upstarts in their place, he suggested kidnapping Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos the moment he set foot in Texas. But Cos and his 400 troops landed without incident at Copano Bay and reached Goliad on Oct. 2, the day the first shots of the rebellion were fired at Gonzales.
Deciding Dimmitt’s abduction plan was a mighty fine idea, George Collinsworth made a beeline for Goliad with the Matagorda militia. When the would-be kidnappers passed through Victoria, Dimmitt and 30 rancheros joined up and informed Collinsworth that Cos had gone to San Antonio leaving only a token contingent to defend Goliad.
The Texans caught the rearguard by surprise and after a half-hour battle accepted the surrender of Presidio La Bahia. Attracted by the quick and easy victory, colonists streamed into Goliad and on or about Oct. 14 elected Dimmitt commander.
Dimmitt stayed busy in Goliad, to say the least. In a single week, he issued an “Appeal to the Inhabitants of Texas Residing East of the Guadalupe” to drum up public support and designed the first flag of the Revolution.
“I have had a flag made,” he wrote to Austin in a letter dated Oct. 27, 1835, “the colours, and their arrangement the same as the old one (with) ‘Constitution of 1824’ displayed on the white, in the centre.” The banner, believed to have flown over the Alamo, was a symbolic pledge of allegiance to the constitution Santa Anna had scrapped.
But Dimmitt’s commitment to Mexican rule of any kind soon came into question. Gov. Agustin Viesca, who had escaped from one of Santa Anna’s dungeons after being jailed for criticizing his dictatorship, sought sanctuary in rebel-held Goliad. Dimmitt gave Viesca shelter but refused to recognize his authority as governor, a clear sign he was leaning toward revolution rather than reform.
Under pressure from leading colonists hostile to any loose talk about independence, Austin officially relieved Dimmitt of his command on Nov. 18. However, the Goliad garrison not only refused to remove him but gave him a unanimous vote of confidence.
Three weeks later, Dimmitt went to San Antonio with a small portion of his detachment for the climax with Cos. Dimmitt then hurried back to Goliad, where he encouraged Ira Ingram to draft the first declaration of independence and to create a new flag for the occasion – a severed, bloody arm holding a sword against a white background.
The radical document as well as the provocative flag with the unmistakable meaning renewed calls for Dimmitt’s removal. This time he obliged his detractors by resigning and returned to San Antonio with 30 followers to reinforce the Alamo.
Although most of his men chose not to stay, Dimmitt stuck around and surely would have died had fate not intervened. He happened to be away from the Alamo on a scouting mission, when Santa Anna showed up ahead of schedule on Feb. 23, 1836.
Caught outside the walls, Dimmitt spent several days waiting for the opportunity to slip back inside. But to his disappointment the chance never came, and he reluctantly rode to Victoria to raise a relief column for his doomed comrades.
Dimmitt dutifully answered Houston’s summons of March 12, but by the time he made it to Gonzales the town was crawling with Mexican soldiers and the Texas Army was in full retreat. Delayed by the evacuation of civilians, Dimmitt did not catch up with Houston until April 22, the day after the Battle of San Jacinto.
Philip Dimmit probably knew that it was just a matter of time until his enemies took their revenge. High-ranking Mexicans, who had once considered him one of them, now regarded him a despicable traitor.
Mexican troops raided Dimmitt’s trading post near present-day Corpus Christi on July 4, 1841, took the owner and everybody else on the premises captive and spirited them back across the border.
Facing execution or indefinite detention, Dimmitt committed suicide with a deadly drug overdose. These were his last words: “I do not fear death but dread the idea of ending my life in a loathsome dungeon. Tell them I prefer a Roman’s death to the ignominy of perpetual imprisonment, and that my last wish is for my country’s welfare.”
Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at haile@pdq.net or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549. And come on by www.twith.com for a visit!
Building Border Walls
Maybe it is worth building border walls simply to create jobs for unemployed Americans. Even if the walls fail to keep out the “evil ones,” at least we can knock-off some folks waiting on the unemployment lines around the nation. It is estimated that the U.S. has an illegal immigrant population near 20 million. A large portion of that number is from Mexico. Most illegal Mexican immigrants come to find a better life, jobs and human rights. A small amount is said to perpetrate illegal activities. Consequently, we may consider that there would be no need for illegal Mexican immigrants to come to the U.S. if their needs were fulfilled in Mexico.
Is it to keep people out, or to keep them in?
Maybe it is worth building border walls simply to create jobs for unemployed Americans. Even if the walls fail to keep out the “evil ones,” at least we can knock-off some folks waiting on the unemployment lines around the nation.
It is estimated that the U.S. has an illegal immigrant population near 20 million. A large portion of that number is from Mexico. Most illegal Mexican immigrants come to find a better life, jobs and human rights. A small amount is said to perpetrate illegal activities. Consequently, we may consider that there would be no need for illegal Mexican immigrants to come to the U.S. if their needs were fulfilled in Mexico.
As the Mexican government tries to get us to take care of the needs of those illegals while they are here, the U.S. could try to encourage the Mexican Government to provide its citizens with a better way of life before they try to enter the U.S., e.g., create better paying jobs and encourage human rights.
It seems our own government does so haphazardly in places overseas, e.g., Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc., but never that much in Mexico. In fact, during the past decade our own rights as citizens of the U.S. have been manipulated and jeopardized by profiteers who seem to hold our lawmakers in their pockets.
It also seems that we are focused more on our southern borders with Mexico rather than on our northern borders with Canada. Perhaps it doesn’t seem likely that any Canadians would consider leaving their nation to come into the U.S. where they would have to stand on endless unemployment lines and pay for their own health care. Canadians as a whole seem to be taken care of better by their government than ours. So, why leave Canada? No need to build fences there. In fact, Canadians don’t want Americans to come into Canada to live and work there. So, the Canadian government may soon opt to build its own border wall to keep us out.
In reality and historically, border walls do not work, at least for the long term. For many years the Berlin Wall created a division of East and West Germany; finally it was torn down. Not even The Great Wall of China (parts of which are 25 feet high) could keep out invaders indefinitely and within many parts of the Great Wall are the buried remains — the hearts and souls — of millions of workers who died building it. However, we are told that the Great Wall failed, especially in 1644, when the gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the activities of rulers of the Shun Dynasty. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and defeated the newly founded Shun Dynasty and remaining Ming resistance to establish the Qing Dynasty. It also took millions of guards to monitor the Great Wall. So, these days some in the U.S. may say the only positive aspect of building border walls is to create new jobs, but even more jobs may not be a good enough reason to build border walls.
Do we have the tax dollars needed to build the walls and will Americans apply for and be given those jobs, or should we have lower wage earners from Mexico build the walls and leave themselves on the Mexican side when they are finished?
In truth, border walls send out a terrible message. It is received by humans and animals, who are forced to accept them as a new part of life, which then creates many other difficult issues. Walls create unnatural prisons that force different patterns of living and create additional “walls” of hate and fear. The world does not need more “walls” along various borders. Along the border, walls between the U.S. and Mexico, depriving access to the Rio Grande River for humans (farmers, ranchers, residents) and animals is another difficult issue.
However, even if the American people managed to persuade Washington officials to approach the Mexican government to provide its citizens with jobs, human rights and a better standard of living, will that government move to do so? It’s doubtful.
And what if we persuade our Congress to remove all border walls along our two nations? Would that benefit both nations significantly? That’s doubtful too.
So, we have 20 million immigrants who have arrived in the U.S. illegally. They have all committed a crime: they are here illegally. To do nothing about this illegal population is to permit the crime. What do we do about this illegal population? Permit them to remain? Encourage more illegal movement? Why then do we have immigration laws and regulations? With millions of unemployed U.S. citizens, do we continue to permit illegals to accept jobs first? Or do we mandate that only Americans be employed first? And then how do we enforce these actions? These are tough questions to answer.
While most of the Mexicans who come into the U.S. illegally arrive at great risk seeking jobs, better living conditions and better lives for themselves and their families, there also is a small percentage of that population who arrives with criminal records and adds to the criminal population, who then work in the shadows of freedom as parasites within our society. While certainly not the majority nor even a large number who come, they do become part of an unaccountable negative infringement on our daily lives.
However, contrary to popular belief, many illegal immigrants working here are paying U.S. taxes. How many pay and how much they are paying is not clear. In reality, the illegal population in this nation pays a large chunk of social security taxes. In fact, for this and other reasons our government may secretly want more illegals. If so, why then build and maintain those border walls?
In addition, it is obvious that as long as businesses hire illegals for a fraction of what is paid to U.S. citizens for the same job, why not hire illegals? After all, this is a capitalistic society out to make large profits. In addition, another perk for businesses is that illegals do not get health care and other benefits. Since they are illegally in this nation, there are no laws to protect them.
Bottom-line: How do we handle the 20 million illegals in this nation? Why build border walls and how do we get the Mexican government to provide its citizens with a better life so that the ever-increasing population does not continue to enter the U.S. illegally? Should we aggressively enforce our current immigration laws? If so, how do we do it?
The direction is not clear. We can communicate to our lawmakers that they should contact the Mexican government to initiate positive change, pushing for human rights; however, the history of that nation highlights that the Mexican government owns production and reaps vast fortunes at a large cost to its people. How do we force change that certainly will impede the future fortunes of the Mexican government and wealthy private citizens, change that will cut its enormous profiteering?
Furthermore, how do we encourage our government to enforce our current immigration laws? We can’t even get our own government to enforce punishment (already provided for in our immigration laws) on American companies who hire illegal immigrants and who force that population to work in hostile conditions, with no benefits and at cheaper wages then are offered to U.S. citizens? Now that there are 20 million illegal immigrants living and working in the U.S. is it practical, and would we be able to enforce our immigration laws, to extradite that huge number? And at what price (dollars, self sense of worth and world image) to do so?
One of the largest activities of the Mexican illegals is to send a large part of their earnings to their families still in Mexico. This becomes one of the largest exports we provide to Mexico — our U.S. dollars.
We can also question our success in pushing for democracy and human rights in Iraq, Afghanistan and in other areas of the world (Africa, Far East). After we leave that region will the governments we have helped support provide their respective populations with long-needed human rights and jobs with reasonable wages? It is doubtful.
Until we consider appropriately how to engage the Mexican government and other governments around the globe to change historical and abusive political, social and economic ways, the population of those nations will continue to be undermined and treated poorly by their own governments. They will continue to do anything and risk everything to leave their land of poverty and enslavement to search out better lives, under the dark of night, to live and work illegally here in the U.S. It is a vicious cycle that must be stopped, but how to do so intelligently and successfully remains a question.
So, what is the real purpose for building border walls? Do border walls serve a legitimate, positive purpose? Or do they send out a signal of hate and desperation?
Do border walls really work? No. They work only for the companies and people that build them, via earning money to do the job. Otherwise, “Walls are for climbing over, digging under, or going through.”
While we are on the topic of building walls, perhaps we should build a wall around our nation’s Capitol to protect U.S. citizens from their leaders.
Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.
The Good Ol’ Days?
People – let’s call them “friends” and “relatives” – are always forwarding useless tidbits of trivial data, ersatz humor, and rose-colored reflections on life, circa 1955, to me via e-mail over the Interweb. The unifying premise among most of these communiqués is the lament, “Why can’t things be like they were in the good ol’ days?” Because, that which people remember after they reach middle age and beyond (okay, elderly status) as “better” or “simpler” times occurred while they were children.People – let’s call them “friends” and “relatives” – are always forwarding useless tidbits of trivial data, ersatz humor, and rose-colored reflections on life, circa 1955, to me via e-mail over the Interweb.
The unifying premise among most of these communiqués is the lament, “Why can’t things be like they were in the good ol’ days?”
Because, that which people remember after they reach middle age and beyond (okay, elderly status) as “better” or “simpler” times occurred while they were children.
And, in most cases, childhood is a simpler time. At least, it’s supposed to be.
During childhood, we generally choose to not concern ourselves with politics or world events. Even when we are aware of such adult concerns, we tend to let them roll off our shoulders and accept the life that’s playing itself out in our own environment.
About the only things youngsters really care about are the end of the school day, playing baseball or whatever, and avoiding anything remotely resembling responsibility.
People who were in their youth during the Great Depression might talk about how hard life was, yet they always seem to reflect upon that period as “the good old days.”
Those (on the North American continent) too young to be drafted while World War II was wreaking hell on Earth, reducing South Pacific paradises, Europe and, eventually, Japan to massive infernos and incalculable devastation, generally accepted rationing and the extended absences of fathers and brothers (in far many instances permanent) as “the way things are.”
Despite being inundated throughout the 1950s with bullshit like “duck and cover” (as if that would save your ass when the missiles came), the sight of Civil Defense shields on public buildings did not freak us out. No one much fretted over the end of the world.
Actually, we learned to freak out all by ourselves as the 1960s rolled along its own hallucinogenic course.
It’s rather curious, and certainly no coincidence, that the carnage in Vietnam, an upswing in marijuana usage, and a broader experimentation with psychedelic substances began in earnest after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Nor is it coincidence that the open and often turbulent protestations against America’s governmental policies, especially with regard to war against non-aggressor peoples, escalated after Robert f. Kennedy was assassinated.
As much as I enjoy watching classic 1950s television such as “Superman,” “Have Gun-Will Travel,” “Cheyenne,” “Leave It To Beaver,” “Dragnet,” “M Squad,” et al., I take them for what they are – good storytelling (okay, so “Superman” is often just silly, but it’s early-50s silly).
The production values may not hold a candle to today’s television fare (after all, early television producers were still fumbling around in the dark), the stories these shows tell, the values presented therein, remain – more than 50 years after their initial presentations – as apropos in the 21st Century as they did back then.
Any way one looks at it, life was complex “back in the day.”
As it always was, and always shall be.
Thus is the inescapable nature of man.
It was 50 years ago that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us of the great evil growing like a cancer in our midst, the “military-industrial complex” to which we have become subservient.
Three years later, his successor — our President — was murdered in a coup to advance the madness of power that has wrought myriad wars and global unrest; this act and its official overlay of veneer deposited the seat of power to a self-selected few that has made them wealthy beyond all conceivable acuity while strangling Americans with the demolition of our tenuous economic system.
Driven to distraction by a woefully underreporting corporate media, wherein opinion and insinuation masquerade as “news,” which is conspicuously abetted by five extreme Right-wing activist Supreme Court justices, the American public, undereducated for generations, is just sucker enough to accept such forced feeding.
Even though he was born after this shitstorm began, those who fear our “negro president” – for no reason other than he’s not of the white privileged class – blame Mr. Obama for everything that’s wrong with the United States of America.
Why? Because, instead of educating the unwashed masses, the aforementioned media focuses only on the negative, and provides no support whatsoever for movement in a forward direction.
Where we once had reason to “hope,” even that has been turned into a four-letter word.
So, please don’t tell me about how wonderful life was back “in the good ol’ days,” because keeping the blinders on is what got us here.
Shalom.
(Jerry Tenuto is an erstwhile Philosopher and sometime Educator. A veteran with seven years of service in the U.S. Army, he holds a BS and MA in Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Depending upon your taste in political stew, you can either blame or thank Jerry for his weekly “Out Of The Blue” feature in The Lone Star Iconoclast. Visit his blog Blue State View at illinoiscentral.blogspot.com)
The Texas Perimeter Hike — Caprock Canyons State Park
I wake up around dawn, and I know something has changed. My nose feels it, then my hands as I unzip my sleeping bag. The air is crisp as I twist around and look outside my tarp. Then I see it coming down, slow and unhurried, falling silently and muffling the sounds of the world. It’s my first Texas snow.“I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures and where everything drew a free breath.” — Ten Bears of the Yamparika Comanches
I wake up around dawn, and I know something has changed. My nose feels it, then my hands as I unzip my sleeping bag. The air is crisp as I twist around and look outside my tarp. Then I see it coming down, slow and unhurried, falling silently and muffling the sounds of the world. It’s my first Texas snow.
I’m volunteering at the magical Caprock Canyons State Park, where in one week it has snowed, rained, and been sunny about evenly. After hiking so much road it is a gentle relief to be in a natural area. I’ve been here almost a month now, though most of the last week I’ve been sick. I came wanting to explore the canyons, learn about the plains and its history, and perhaps give my feet a break. I haven’t been disappointed.
To get here, I hiked south along the Caprock Canyons Trailway, a separate 64-mile stretch of park property running from Estelline to South Plains. I ran into a lot of wild pigs, several deer, and one armadillo. One evening I heard strange noises nearby, like dumping water from a small-lipped container. In the morning I woke up to the same noise, accompanied by the flapping of dozens of wings. I looked up and saw over 100 wild turkeys just a few yards away.
Winter is the slow season at Caprock Canyons, slow for volunteers at any rate. Because of the weather, it’s hard to plan on anything other than the day at hand. I found myself doing odd tasks, running a children’s discovery center, helping to take out nails from an old fence, assembling some armoires. The most official task I had was to give a few Saturday talks about my hiking trips to visitors.
The people that work at Caprock are a family unto themselves. The guys harass one another, and the women ask how everyone is doing. The rangers usually have enough computer work to keep them busy all day, but they are more than happy to answer questions and help someone out. Many times, that has been me.
One day in the park office, I told the staff that I heard an unusual noise the night before. Sort of like a horse whinnying but not quite, I said. It was hard for me to be more precise. A ranger and a volunteer both gave me their best guesses, but neither was certain. Then Park Manager Donald Beard said from his office, “Did it sound like this?” I heard the noise again, a little high-pitched and shaky, almost eerie. That’s it, I said. “Screech owl,” he added simply, returning to his work.
I explored the park during other days. A friend visited, and we found our way to the top of Haynes Ridge Trail. The weather was cloudy and subdued, but we had a great time swapping stories and eating dinner. In the morning, we hiked to the overlook and spent an hour and a half admiring the canyon views while eating breakfast. We sat on top of the world.
One hundred thirty-five years ago, the last of the free Comanches roamed these plains and wintered in these panhandle canyons. You don’t have to look hard to find what they were fighting for. Their reasons are still here. They are in the water, animals, and open air; they are in the very dirt.
Smatt is the penname of S.Matt Read. A writer, inventor, baker, and hiker, he is currently hiking the entire outline of the state. Follow his adventure here and at www.texasperimeterhike.blogspot.com and www.twitter.com/perimeterhiker.
Eagle Point, a well-known Caprock Canyons land formation. The author hiked the Eagle Point Trail multiple times.
The Texas Textbook Massacre
Texas is in the national news again. Unfortunately, it is not on ‘America’s Dumbest’ television program. I mean no blatant disrespect to anyone in particular, but I am going to be brutally honest in my comments. There is a strong movement in Texas and throughout the nation by individuals and groups who seem to be committed to push through religious and/or ultra conservative thinking into our public education process. It is occurring with a focus on curriculum, teaching views and textbooks modification and procurement.
The ‘De-evolution’ Of Public Education —An Oligarchy Of Historical Manipulation
Texas is in the national news again. Unfortunately, it is not on ‘America’s Dumbest’ television program. I mean no blatant disrespect to anyone in particular, but I am going to be brutally honest in my comments.
There is a strong movement in Texas and throughout the nation by individuals and groups who seem to be committed to push through religious and/or ultra conservative thinking into our public education process. It is occurring with a focus on curriculum, teaching views and textbooks modification and procurement.
There is an additional determination to promote Republican ideology, ideas and direction in the classrooms and textbooks. We are being told that Republicanism was more prevalent throughout American history and textbooks should pursue that direction.
Literally, the founding fathers were NOT yet Republicans, as this party was created long after the writing and signing of Declaration of Independence. The Republican Party initialized long after the American Revolution. The same is true of the Democrats.
In fact, according to Wikipedia:
“The Republican Party was first organized in 1854, growing out of a coalition of anti-slavery Whigs and Free Soil Democrats who mobilized in opposition to Stephen Douglas’s January 1854 introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Act into Congress, a bill which repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise prohibition on slavery north of latitude 36° 30′ in the old Louisiana purchase territories, and so was viewed as an aggressive expansionist pro-slavery maneuver by many. Besides opposition to slavery, the new party put forward a radical vision of modernizing the United States—emphasizing higher education, banking, railroads, industry and cities, while promising free homesteads to farmers. They vigorously argued that free-market labor was superior to slavery and the very foundation of civic virtue and true American values—this is the “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men” ideology explored by historian Eric Foner.[1] The Republicans absorbed the previous traditions of its members, most of whom had been Whigs, such as Alvan E. Bovay and Horace Greeley; others had been Democrats or members of third parties (especially the Free Soil Party and the American Party or Know Nothings). Many Democrats who joined up were rewarded with governorships: (Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts, Kinsley Bingham of Michigan, William H. Bissell of Illinois, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, Samuel J. Kirkwood of Iowa, Ralph Metcalf of New Hampshire, Lot Morrill of Maine, and Alexander Randall of Wisconsin) or seats in the U.S. Senate (Bingham and Hamlin, as well as James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin, John P. Hale of New Hampshire, Preston King of New York, Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, and David Wilmot of Pennsylvania.) Since its inception, its chief opposition has been the Democratic Party, but the amount of flow back and forth of prominent politicians between the two parties was quite high from 1854 to 1896.”
It is concerning that a small group of non-historians and questionable thinkers on the [Texas] State Board of Education (SBOE), centers around the whims and questionable perspectives of the Governor Rick Perry’s appointed chairperson who is “a longtime classroom volunteer” with a Science degree and publisher of a small town newspaper, Gail Lowe; one self-proclaimed power-hungry, religious-directed Dentist, Don McElroy; a lawyer with an undergraduate degree in Biology/Psychology with some more than curious ideas, Cynthia Noland Dunbar; a businessman and former House Rep., Ken Mercer with some questionable priorities; just to name a few.
Another reality is that there is no shortage of attorneys or business people on the SBOE. During the past decade the governor has appointed many such professionals on various committees on public education, which resulted in few — if any — positive modifications for an ailing education system. Yet, more of the same people continue to be the “Czars” of public education, the ones who dictate and control its direction.
However, a disturbing highlight is that there appears to be only one Board member with any sort of background of history and that person is Ms. Patricia Hardy, who earned a degree in Social Studies, was a Fulbright Scholar and taught Social Studies in public education.
So, an intelligent question is:
“How is it that a small group taken from 15 individuals on the Texas SBOE with a majority of NON-historians, all but one, is given the almost omnipotent power to determine changes to history textbooks for public education throughout the state and which also influences the modifications to history textbooks throughout the entire U.S.?
The reality is that most people would not go to an accountant to have an important medical surgery done and in parallel reasoning, HISTORY TEXTBOOKS SHOULD NOT BE AMENDED OR MODIFIED BY NON-HISTORIANS.
It should have little or nothing to do with religious backgrounds.
It should have little or nothing to do with Republican vs. Democrat or conservatives vs. liberals.
What is highly significant is that the wrong people are determining THE direction for an entire state’s public education curriculum, instruction and textbooks who should NOT have the power to do so.
Most of the members on the SBOE do NOT have the qualifications, background and common-sense to perform the jobs they were appointed and/or elected to do. In fact, if these positions were offered in the private sector the odds highlight that most of the people now serving on the SBOE may not have been hired.
Consequently, for the immediate future, a gloomy dark and threatening cloud hovers over the direction of public education and all thinking people should be significantly concerned.
Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.
Architects, Engineers Call For New 9/11 Investigation
AUSTIN — Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth.org) are calling for a new independent investigation nito the demolition of the Twin Towers and Building 7 at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. At a seminar and press conference slated for Saturday, March 20, from 1-9 p.m., they plan to reveal the conclusions of architects and engineers who have studied the destruction of these buildings that includes unreported evidence at the World Trade Center.
The seminar will be held at Doubletree Hotel at 6505 IH-35 North 78753 in Austin (IH-35 & 290). Here, it will be announced that 1,114 architects and engineers have signed a petition calling for a new independent investigation into 9/11.
All news reporters are welcome to attend and ask questions of the presenters. This event is sponsored by petition signing architect Ronald F. Avery and his meetup group, and both “We are Change” meetup groups in San Antonio and Austin.
Signers of the Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth Petition will discuss the organization’s findings, based on examinationof the forensic evidence, videos and eye witness testimony omitted from official reports, such as the free-fall collapse of the 47-story WTC building 7 into its own footprint and the discovery of advanced explosive nano-thermitic material found in the WTC dust samples. The focus of this press conference will be to detail the scientific questions and answers of these building and technical professionals whose findings determine that all three skyscrapers were destroyed by explosive controlled demolition rather than the impact and fires from 767 collisions.
AE911Truth is also calling for a grand jury investigation of Shyam Sunder, Lead Investigator, and John Gross, Co-Project Leader both of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).
Alex Jones, International journalist and producer of PrisonPlanet.com & InfoWars.com, will address the importance of the truth about 911; Dr. Bob Bowman, retired Air Force Colonel and head of Star Wars under Reagan, will address the 911 Commission “Omission” Report; Ron Avery, architect, will describe the structural system of WTC Twin Towers; Dr. Al Hays, environmental engineer, will present the evidence of Nano-thermite found in all dust samples at the WTC; Derek Johnson, E.I.T. with foundry experience, will review the partial “free fall” collapse of the 47 story WTC Building 7 and the NIST report.
Writer’s Diet Update
Since it seems that many women I know (and some men) are watching their weight or actually losing some, I feel obligated to follow up on my newest diet plan. I wrote a while ago that I was inspired by the weight loss of various friends. One in particular (the Weight Watcher’s gal) is definitely keeping it off. Boy does she look great! Not completely sure about how the others have fared or will fare over time. The votes are still out.Since it seems that many women I know (and some men) are watching their weight or actually losing some, I feel obligated to follow up on my newest diet plan. I wrote a while ago that I was inspired by the weight loss of various friends. One in particular (the Weight Watcher’s gal) is definitely keeping it off. Boy does she look great! Not completely sure about how the others have fared or will fare over time. The votes are still out.
I was lucky and so spoiled most of my life. I ate anything within reason and never worried about my weight when I was young. Over the last ten years or so, I’ve had to be more careful. It was only a few pounds, I told myself. I’d gone from skinny to average in a world of people who seem daily to become increasingly larger. Guess I sort of accepted it. I never truly committed to any diet, because I didn’t think it was crucial. Until recently. I calculated where “only a pound or two per year” might land me later, and it was a sobering thought.
While Zack was in the hospital, one of his occupational therapists suggested a book called “Eat Right for Your Type”. It’s all about different diets for different blood types, and is aimed at encouraging good health and avoiding food reactions— as well as maintaining a healthy weight. I ordered the book over the Internet (where I’ve done most of my shopping since Zack fell ill). Zack, the kids and I read through it, and as much as I do NOT believe in fad diets of any kind, this plan, based on a doctor’s experience with thousands of patients over many years made some sense. Mostly it just seemed to be solid advice about eating well. But it was tailored to specific bodies. When I first glanced at the book, I was still taking care of a very sick man 24/7. Any plan to add any new challenges seemed destined to fail.
In January, when I knew better than to make resolutions, I did decide to develop even better eating habits (although I thought we were doing pretty well in that department already). Coincidentally I ran into a friend who had lost twenty pounds over several months and looked and felt great. She hadn’t been heavy to begin with. She’s a few years older than I am and does NOT look it or act it. Turns out she was following the blood type diet, along with a few variations. That caught my interest. But what really hooked me was that she and I share the same blood type. So she could guide me on specifics. And when she told me that a little dark chocolate was OK, that was it for me.
For some unknown reason, I had finally reached the point where I could get serious about eating healthier. “It isn’t easy”, my friend warned me. But I felt if she could do it, I could do it. It made more sense to me (and was a lot cheaper) than a doctor’s weight loss program and more convenient than Weight Watchers (which is such a good program, I hear). The diets that work aren’t really diets at all, but sensible eating habits, lifestyle changes.
Zack and I are different blood types. According to this book, he can eat things I cannot. My kids are the same type as each other, but different from Zack or me. And of the four of us, I was the only one who wanted to drop a few pounds. The funny thing was that, with few exceptions, Zack’s food preferences closely followed his diet recommendations. It was as if, all during his lifetime, his body instinctively knew the best fuel. And while I had more exceptions, my food INCLINATIONS, likes and dislikes closely followed the book’s recommendations. My kids were already eating mainly good things, and exercising like it was their job. I still need to work on that exercise thing.
So what did I give up? When I tell you (part of it, because within categories, there are also “no-no’s”), you won’t believe it, because it sounds so limiting. But it honestly hasn’t been bad. And it works (slowly. So far about four or five pounds a month). No red meat, wheat, or Dairy. The ideal diet for my blood type would be vegetarian, but that isn’t going to happen. Even the author of the book recognized Americans’ dependence on animal protein. So eggs, chicken, turkey, and fish are allowed. Obviously no processed foods or many sweets, no soft drinks. Within each category of foods, there are things that are not beneficial to my system. I don’t eat certain grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, fish, beans, legumes, breads, grains pasta, spices and condiments. I eat no mayonnaise or ketchup, and strangely, no pepper of any kind. Some foods are supposed to be particularly beneficial, for instance, pineapple. Go fig. Lemons and grapefruit are allowed, but not oranges or tangerines. (Different effect on stomach acid).
I won’t bore you with more details. I’ve eaten chocolate only a very few times in the last two months. I can’t believe it myself. I don’t even want it most of the time. I eat less and am rarely hungry, but sometimes I do feel “empty”. I find the foods I’m eating are interesting, because I didn’t eat them so much before. . I eat tofu for additional protein.
Two of my new snacks are corn cakes (similar to rice cakes but better and harder to find) with avocado, apples with peanut butter, dried pineapple or rice cakes with honey for a sweet. In my previous life, I avoided peanut butter like the plague and shied away from apples.
I’m not saying I’ll be able to do this for the rest of my life, but I’d sure like to lose another ten pounds or so —and keep it off. I can’t really see where the first eight or so pounds came from, but the scale doesn’t lie. I’d like to claim I feel better now, but the truth is that I felt just fine before. And so far, the blood type diet hasn’t removed my aches and pains / wear and tear. I suppose one cannot expect miracles!
Gene Ellis, Ed.D is a Bosque County resident who returned to the family farm after years of living in New Orleans, New York, and Florida. She’s an artist who holds a doctoral degree from New York University and is writing a book about the minor catastrophes of life. Check out Genie’s blog at http://rusticramblings.wordpress.com/
Credit Bureaus Playing God At Our Expense
Why does the government permit credit bureaus such lax oversight? Where is consumer protection? During the past several decades in the U.S., three credit bureaus have become so powerful that they can make or break American lives. They are Equifax (a.k.a., CSC), Experian and Trans Union. Any one of them has the capability of causing many sleepless nights of worry for American citizens. On many levels they rival the power and control efforts of the dreaded IRS.
Time To Quell Excessive Power Of Credit Bureaus
Why does the government permit credit bureaus such lax oversight? Where is consumer protection?
During the past several decades in the U.S., three credit bureaus have become so powerful that they can make or break American lives.
They are Equifax (a.k.a., CSC), Experian and Trans Union. Any one of them has the capability of causing many sleepless nights of worry for American citizens. On many levels they rival the power and control efforts of the dreaded IRS.
While within minutes any credit company may provide the bureaus with negative financial information or comments on a person that can stay on an individual’s credit report for up to 10 years, it may take years for an individual to get an incorrect negative documentation corrected and/or removed.
The God-like power wielded by “the big three” recently caused a woman to be determined unacceptable for a residential mortgage because the bureaus recognized her as being dead. Based on the misinformation provided by the credit bureaus, she was refused a mortgage.
The credit bureaus also may even determine whether a prospective employer will hire you, based on your financial credit report. Why should a person’s financial status determine whether he or she is eligible to be hired for a job? Financial hardship should not be the reason NOT to hire a prospective employee.
It is absurd and unconscionable that financial entities with so little oversight have such immense power and influence over the lives of American citizens. It is time to diminish the extent of that power in the best interests of, and in furtherance of the personal rights of, American citizens.
Contact your representatives and demand an end to credit bureaucratic control over our lives.
(Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.)
