Overheard...

...just a few moments ago, as I was wrapped in Sabra's embrace:

"Your ex-husband said you weren't any good...well, he was a fucking idiot! It was like putting a chimp in the pilot seat of an F-16, he doesn't have the slightest fucking clue as to what to do! But you put ME in that seat and I'm like Eddie Rickenbacker!"

Sabra, laughing: "Yes, honey, yes you are!"

...you don't LET her?

That was my response upon reading this:

One local police chief went against the grain of his fellow panel members and said

"you have to remember that this is a law enforcement matter and it is for the Police to respond to. I know you all want to carry a gun, but let me say this as a Chief of Police I don't even let my wife carry pepper spray nor do my teenage children..."

Doesn't LET his wife? Oh, no. No, no, no. Goodness, how could any woman put up with such lilliputian control-freakery? I shudder to see what else he doesn't LET her do. I told Sabra upon reading that, that there was nothing I would ever not LET her do. In fact, even though I would always ultimately leave the decision up to her, if it came down to it I would almost insist that she carry to protect herself. I honestly thought we had moved beyond the relationship in which the man was the boss of the woman. How disgusting to find out that we haven't -- and that there are women out there who will still put up with that.

(h/t Firehand)

Looks like another righteous shoot to me...

...right here:

A homeowner shot and killed a man and then wounded a woman who were reportedly trying to steal tools from his pickup early this morning at a home in northwest Houston, police said.

There were some interesting comments in the comments section of that story, though. "Oh teh noes!!! He killed a man over property! Killing over property is bad, hmmkay?"

There was one that read, "You don't know that man or woman: you don't know the circumstances that drove them to commit what seems at best some petty theft, and to express pleasure at the death of a complete stranger says a lot about your own moral code."

Could be, but I for one don't give a damn about these people's circumstances. If they didn't want to get their asses shot they shouldn't have been stealing from hard-working, law-abiding people. And that's all I have to say about that.

It won't work on a micro level...

...what the hell makes our Glorious Leader think disarmament is going to work on a macro level?

Obama laid out his vision of a nuclear-free world in a speech in Prague in April, vowing the U.S. would take dramatic steps to lead the way. Eight months later, the administration is locked in internal debate over a top-secret policy blueprint for shrinking the U.S. nuclear arsenal and reducing the role of such weapons in America's military strategy and foreign policy.

One wonders if he really trusts the Chinese, the Russians or the others to get rid of their nukes too. I know I sure as hell wouldn't. These damned liberal idealists are going to be the death of us all.

Chronsters turning into libertarians?

I doubt it, but it was really nice to see this:

...Starting Jan. 1, county prosecutors are instructed not to file felony charges for drug amounts under a hundredth of a gram.
How much is that? Barely a speck: A McDonald's sugar packet contains 400 times more powder. But a hundredth of a gram is the absolute minimum necessary to conduct two lab tests: one for the prosecution, one for the defense. In other words, it's the absolute minimum necessary for a fair trial.
The change is good for justice — but also good for our justice system, which has focused too much of its scarce resources on prosecuting low-level addicts instead of more dangerous criminals. Of the 46,000 drug-possession felony cases the county filed last year, a third involved less than a gram of a controlled substance. Many of those cases involved crack pipes, which almost always carry traces of cocaine residue. (Very likely the bills in your wallet do, too. Those molecules get around.)

Once again, I find myself agreeing with pretty much every single word they write here. I know well the deleterious effects of crack on its users, and (to a lesser extent) cocaine. But sooner or later we're going to have to take a look at the insane drug policies we have in place and all the deleterious effects of said policies on the Bill of Rights -- to say nothing of the effects on the justice system, which were mentioned later in the piece. I realize that we're not going to get all of it at once, just like we're not going to get all the liberty-infringing gun laws struck down -- but we have to start somewhere, and this is at least as good of a start as any. It'll be fun to see how far it is from this to not prosecuting those with certain meaningful amounts of currently illegal drugs...

Would that Maureen Dowd's brother...

...had the plush New York Times gig:

The Republicans, of course, got exactly what they deserved in 2006 and 2008 mainly because they acted like Democrats. Deficit spending and sex scandals are not a good recipe for success.
But by forcing through a government takeover of health care, the auto industry and the banks, the president and his congressional henchmen have brought us in a time machine to Russia 1917. These massive changes have been done in secret and along bullying, straight party-line votes.

Blogging might be sporadic this week. Sabra's here. :-)

From your lips to God's ears, buddy...

...or, I think this guy, notwithstanding his disparagement of our state's fine cuisine and the propagation of that secession urban legend, is my new hero:

Dear big beautiful Texas with all your gorgeous pageant women and crappy food: you are the only state that joined our Union with a treaty allowing for legal secession.

Here's the "long story short," your favorite phrase, Dear Texas:

You can get out now and no one will stop you.

Do I even need to say it?

h/t Cold Fury

How many mothers' sons will they send to die...

doing the bidding of assclowns like this? From the comments to this story:

It makes no difference if guns kill people or people kill people -- they are still dead or severly injured. Get rid of guns.

Ultimately there's only one thing to say to pronouncements like this: "You can try, I suppose, but you can't have mine. What're you gonna do now, Sparky?"

I mean, I hate it as much as anyone that this little girl was injured due to her daddy's negligence, but telling 80 million gun owners to turn 'em in for the mistakes of a few, well, that's only gonna end in tears. Do people like the above commenter know this? Do they even care?

Dear God, but I do love this song.

Now playing at The Roadhouse, Sirius Ch. 62: "Two young soldiers from Fort Campbell, told me how they hate that war in Vietnam....sirens echo through an alley, and some woman said some fellow, stabbed a man..."

Man, but that's a lost classic if ever there was one, John Wesley Ryles' "Kay" from 1968. He recorded that song when he was still a teenager, believe it or not. As far as I know that was his only hit, but what a great, GREAT song. That was another one of those songs I first heard on the radio in College Station, and as far as I remember I had not heard it since I left that town.

I hope all of you got what you wanted for Christmas. All I asked for was a renewal of my Sirius subscription, and I got it. :-)

Eye-rolling amusement...

...at David Broder's column in the Chron this morning...

Six decades after his death, one of FDR's Four Freedoms will, at long last, be guaranteed to almost all Americans. And the shame of this affluent society tolerating the denial of health care to its own citizens will be largely lifted.
But Lord, what a load of embarrassment accompanies this sense of satisfaction! What should have been a moment of proud accomplishment for the United States Senate, right up there with the passage of Social Security and the first civil rights bills, was instead a travesty of low-grade political theater — angry rhetoric and backroom deals.

I really don't understand why he would have expected it to be any other way. Did Broder actually think the Democrats were really going to be any less prone to craven deal-making than the Republicans were? What a stunning display of naivete on his part. At least now I know where Broder was coming from with his classification of health care as a "right," with his citation of Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. I am not sure if I'd ever read about this before, but it does look to be the very root of the decline of American liberalism. Freedom from want and freedom from fear?
Goodness. I shudder to think of how many laws and policies antithetical to liberty have been passed since FDR's time with the aims of expanding those last two "freedoms."

On gift giving.

How much of this could be avoided by better communication on the part of the woman and better paying of attention on the part of the man? And why don't the people who write this editorial every year ever talk about that?

You know those television ads where a ruggedly handsome guy springs a diamond ring on his gorgeous wife? And her face crumples with joy? Pure fantasy. Most males are hopelessly, appallingly, terrifyingly clueless when it comes to finding an acceptable gift. Just ask any woman.

Yawn. I guess I'm lucky that way, because I didn't have to guess what Sabra wanted. I knew what she liked, because, well...she told me. And I paid attention and kept all of it in mind when I went shopping for her gifts. And guess what? She loved everything I got for her. Funny how that works, isn't it?

A scene from Sabra's

Scene: The living room of Sabra's house, discussing Bobbie's homework with her, she says:

"Why can't I make up my own basic facts?"

As I burst out laughing, I say, "Oh, honey, she's gonna be a Democrat!"

Sabra: "I TOLD you she was gonna have a future in Congress!"

She had to have gotten that mentality from her daddy. In fairness, though, she's still young and impressionable yet, and a very bright and articulate child to boot. She gets THAT from her mama. We still have plenty of time to put her on the right path. And trust me -- we will be taking full advantage of that!

Oooh, I bet Lisa Falkenberg won't like this.

These comments to this story, that is:

To steal from anyone is absolutely deplorable, but to steal from people who are trying to make ends meet at this time of year is beyond sorry, it's a buckshot to somebody's backside.
...
I have a CHL and I'm a damn good aim from that distance. Go ahead...... I dare you.

As for me, though, I can't really say I have a problem with them. I know there are those who will say that using deadly force to protect property is extreme, but I don't agree with that. What I find myself agreeing with is the opinion that someone who would steal somebody's Christmas in broad daylight probably wouldn't have any compunction about escalating his (or her) crimes to the next level. And even in the cases of the ones who keep their crimes to theft, it doesn't really matter, because they're stealing from hard-working, law-abiding people and they deserve anything that comes to them because of that. If some of said law-abiding people deem that theft worthy of high-velocity lead injection, well, as far as I'm concerned that's just the hazard the criminals face. Sonsofbitches should have gotten their own Christmas presents.

I have a hard time disagreeing with this...

...or, I know this is a couple of days late, but this item in the San Antonio Express-News caught my eye:

About 50 supporters of Republican Debra Medina's unlikely run for the Texas governorship showed up Saturday at Silo's restaurant on Austin Highway to cheer her on.
...
Medina may be a “David against two Goliaths,” as she put it, competing against Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, but she claims to have the stuff that voters will go for.

“I'm the only one in this race who is really fighting for Texans,” she said. “The other two are fighting for their political careers, for more feathers in their caps, rather than the average Texan.”

Based on what I've seen of this race so far, with KBH and Rick Perry slinging mud at each other constantly, I really can't disagree with that. What really caught my attention was this quote:

“I love private-property ownership and gun ownership,” she said. “Those things are bundled together in my mind and are essentially elements of freedom."

Sounds like my kind of candidate, from this and other things I've heard about her. Pro-gun minarchist, advocate for private property rights, she sounds almost like Texas' very own Sarah Palin. Small-government libertarian-leaning conservatives might actually have someone to vote for instead of against. Wonder how she feels about gay marriage and casino gambling...

Back in Southeast Texas...

...familiar territory, but it doesn't really feel so much like home anymore...Lord, but I miss that woman. She's coming HERE in a week, though! Which provides me with a sizable amount of consolation...

Just an update...

I am not dead. In fact, I am far from it. I am in San Antonio with Sabra for the week. Back soon... ;-)

More irony for your Monday morning...

...vis-a-vis Houston mayor-elect Annise Parker (emphasis mine -- ed.):

Her sexual orientation did not become an issue in the mayor's race until after the Nov. 3 election produced no clear winner. Two anti-gay activists mailed fliers calling attention to her support from gay groups and to her relationship with her partner of 19 years, Kathy Hubbard. In addition, a group of black pastors spoke out against Parker for her so-called “gay agenda.”

Black pastors persecuting her? Wow. It reminds me of the results of the vote for Proposition 8 in California last November, which was to ban gay marriage in that state. As I recall, the black vote for Prop 8 was very high. I remember thinking then, as I think here, that it's really sad that a group that has been the victim of so much bigotry would exhibit it toward another group. No doubt the pastors would say that Parker chose to be lesbian, but I find that argument to be absurd in the extreme. Honestly, with anti-gay sentiments as widespread as they still are, why would anyone make the conscious choice to be such a social outcast? (Remember this conversation, Sabra?) Annise Parker didn't choose to be gay any more than those pastors chose to be black. And when one looks at it that way, the pastors' carping about Parker's "so-called'gay agenda'" look REALLY bigoted.

As for Parker's almost two-decade-long relationship with her partner -- we all know there are all too many heterosexual marriages that don't even last that long. If those black pastors pulled their heads out of their asses they might even see that Parker and her partner might have something to teach them.

To the irony...

...of blacks supporting gun control, you can add the irony of the fans of a football team in a predominantly black city having a chant which is believed to have its roots in minstrel shows making fun of black people. No doubt every Klan member who hears that chant smiles a snaggle-tooth grin as big as Lake Ponchartrain every time he hears it, too.

Sure looks like a good takedown...

...to me:

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the stabbing death of his mother's boyfriend on Saturday morning, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
The teen's mother and her boyfriend, Juan Contreras, 33, argued at a party, authorities said. Contreras allegedly assaulted and threatened the woman before heading to their far east Houston apartment in the 13900 block of Alderson to collect his belongings.

Now, I'll admit the as-yet-undetermined facts of this case might show the boy's actions weren't justified; as this reads now, though, I can't help but agree with one of the commenters: "Taken into custody...? He should be given the keys to the city. Any low life who threatens and beats a woman deserves a knife in the gut."

I would substitute "a magazine full of .45ACP hollow-points" in place of "a knife in the gut," but hey, the kid did the best he could with what he had to work with. At any rate, his mother's gonna have one hell of a cautionary tale to tell future boyfriends: "It's in your best interests not to hit me. My son killed the last man who did that."

And another one bites the dust...

Another lefty meme, that is:

Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming both the first contender in a generation to defeat the hand-picked candidate of Houston's business establishment and the first openly gay person to lead a major U.S. city.

Which meme is that? You know, the one that says Texans and Southerners are bigoted hicks who'd string homosexuals up if they could get away with it. That was a particularly ugly race, too. I am glad to see that Houston voters weren't swayed by the efforts to paint the race as a referendum on gay rights. At least I would hope they voted for Parker on her merits and not just because of her sexual orientation. Harris County may be a bit more liberal than the rest of the state, as Obama did win the county in the '08 presidential election. I think this is still noteworthy despite that, though, especially considering these are the same folks who put Chuck Rosenthal and John B. Holmes in the county DA's chair.