Mark F. Barnes

We are going to have a Los Dias de los Muertos party, we've lost a few friends this year, So a few of us will gather at the house and we will talk about them, a few will drink some margaritas, and maybe do a couple of shots of Patron and eat some jam up mexican food, prepaired by my lovely wife and my sister-in-law.

On another side note, membership doesn't give you Moderation rights, And it wasn't a direct attack, it was pure sarcasm, and Niche is a big boy, he can take it.

Hey read Post #77 again the record has already been straight.

Man we had a meeting on schools last night at Phil's Roadhouse, and the topic of who's fault is was kids are not doing as well as other countries. Someone stood up and blamed the schools, and then two teachers, one being my wife, who were present started to defend that, and one of the local town idiots spouted off at my wife, that it's always easier to blame the parents. Well that's when I took the floor and held a little court. I do find it easy to blame the parents. It's first the responsibility of the parent to instill the basics in their children. And Civic Duty is one of those moral issues, that I feel IMHO that most kids are lacking these days. I raised six kids to know their country, and how it works. To understand right and wrong, accept the fact that there things in life that will always disappoint you, but to never to use that as a crutch or excuse to fail. I allowed them the opportunity to make tough decisions in life, but always provided them a safety net, just in case the made the wrong one, but that safety net always came with stipulations that they fully understand the consequences of their actions. It's not the schools purpose to raise your kids, it's not their purpose to train them, it's their purpose to provide them with the means to get a good education, and it's the responsibility of the child to get one. It's the responsibility of the parent to instill the incentive and willingness to go and get that education, to study hard and achieve. It is the responsibility of the parent to support these kids teachers, and it the responsibility of teachers to inspire the kids to achieve. Not misdirect them with personal opinion and conjecture. There are good teachers, there are bad teachers, and then there are great teachers. Teaching is an art, it's a passion, not everyone is cut out to be one. And there are some that really shouldn't be. I think to be a great teachers, civic mindedness is a must. It works hand in hand with what they are doing to begin with. Man I hate stupid people.....

Facinating. Now if we can somehow figure out how to make this extra traffic pay off a little better, Niche won't feel so damn guilty.

You've been FB blacklisted for content.....

I will refer to also, as I did DJ to my long post above. Personally don't care about anything but the fact he has repeatedly lied. Now people have question my accusation that he lied, referring to half truths, and hear-say. So here is what I am basing my reasoning on. I left out a few other things because the were really not as important to me, but since it seems to be a hair splitting contest now, I will continue. He told everybody in the Democratic Primary debates, he had been a "professor of Constitutional law" when in fact he has never been a professor of Constitutional law. In the next debate, you was careful to say that he "taught a Constitutional Law class" and never mentioned being a "Professor of Constitutional law." As you know you can teach and not be a Professor, however "Professor" sound more important. Maybe it was a slip up, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. But in the same debate, he also said he would meet with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea without 'preparations' at lower levels, he specifically named Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by name. Now there has been hairs split as to who really is the leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Ali Khamenei. Well whatever one wants to think, Obama first said he would meet without preconditions, then turned around in the McCain debate and denied that's what he said, then in the next debate it was not what he meant. So what is a person suppose to believe. People claim all his great results as a community organizer, make him ready to run the country, well if it's results you want to examine, look a little more closely at some of that organizing he was doing. Obama served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002. Now this organization was started by Thomas, John and Bill Ayers, That's the father and two brothers, but Bill Ayers was just some guy in the neighborhood. The CAC spent some $50 million to reform Chicago public schools, with nothing to show for it. According to a 2003 audit by the Illinois Board of Education, there were no statistically significant differences in rates of achievement gain, between schools in the CAC program and schools that weren't in the CAC program. So what in the hell are they doing with all this money, from government grants and public funding? His role as board chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge is the most important "executive experience" Obama has held to date. So where is the positive in this organizer to lead the nation. Oh yeah and why are all the records of this tenure being held, with no access to the public, in the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago? The UIC will let you view every other archive in the library, pay for them to make copies, except those concerning CAC. Check it out for yourself, the phone number is 312-996-2726, (I'll save you some searching) ask for "The Special Collections Archives." And ask for the audits archives and see where it gets you. Folder 945 is not available for viewing. This is suppose to be public information, yet you cannot get to see it. They tell you that the access to the collection is closed for maintenance until further notice. Why all the cloaking? Would these files illuminate the working relationship between Obama and Bill Ayers? Who knows. I mention all of this because the question was raised about what do we really know about this guy. And several have chimed in about the amount of his transparency, when in fact he's not. There are a lot of dead in streets in the map of his life. No paper trail, that you can access. Okay, on to these casual acquaintances. No Barrack is no fool, and I would dare to say, far from naive. He's a very calculated, and organized person. He makes very few wasted moves, I am willing to bet he is a superior chess player, possibly master class. From his book I know he is a master at backgammon, another forward thinking game. Now that I reference his book, of which I have read, let's look at a passage that talks about him chosing his friends carefully. Now he says in his own words how he carefully picked his friends, to fit in or whatever, he carefully picked his friends. Even at that young an age in college, he was wary of who he ran with, so he doesn't appear in any certain or uncertain way, and now as he's running for President, we're suppose to believe that all these casual acquaintances are just random? Give me a break. He lied about everyone of those random acquaintances, period. Barrack has no random acquaintances. Lets look more into that passage, he talks about discussing necolonialism [sic] which I think he meant neocolonialism, which can be a little scary if it's applied the wrong way. It is ruling power that employ financial, and trade policies to dominate less powerful opposition. This is a key component in Marxism and Communism. Now is this just dorm talk while burning a doobie, maybe so, but it's something to wonder about. Now Franz Fanon is another interesting character, Obama's seemed fascination with him all through his book. Perhaps it was just the similarity in background, (mixed race family background), but you tie that to neocolonialism and you get a real rainbow stew cooking. Now Red has just thrown his fit, and that's cool, because all of this is exhausting, and he has to argue for a living, so he needs a break, brother I wish you well. But I put a lot of thought into my vote also, and people insist on calling names, and spewing crap with no basis to is. So that I won't be referred to as a thoughtless cracker, I did some homework. Even though my vote has already been cast, I still feel fine talking about it. So since Red brought it up, let's explore that some, instead of spewing it, without any support and context, and run off. Here is Red's source, the good ole Huffington Hoax, http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/IRIForm9901998.pdf It's a tax return for the IRI, and if you look on page 14, you will see a grant for the CPRS (Center for Palestinian Research and Studies), which is a research group mainly responsible for polling and research on the West Bank. The are contracted to monitor peace talks within the populace of the West Bank, and distribute propaganda. In the 1990s, IRI gave grants to the CPRS for polling in the West Bank/Gaza. The polls measured support for the peace process, for various Palestinian political groups, and for efforts to enhance governance in the West Bank/Gaza. At that time no other organization could credibly conduct polling in the West Bank/Gaza. And I fully understand that Rashid Khalidi was one of the many founders of CPRS, and I understand that he was for a short amount of time a board member. IRI did not in the 1990s conduct background checks of grantees

DJ reread my long post above, that memebag pooh pooh'd for being off topic, I did just as you asked. Everything I questioned was in the present. She was there for two semesters not twenty years, she also attended six other colleges, in a wild attempt to finish her bachelor's degree.

Raked over the coals? By that context, you wouldn't know raked over the coals if they threw you in the Kingsford Plant while it was on fire. Obama has never been raked over the coals by ANYONE. Close as he ever came to it was O'Reilly and Bill was on his best behavior and led an excellent interview. The fact you think he has been raked over the coals is laughable.

As promised Bella, rescued her from Rita in 2005.

Wait wait Sarahiki What if Cindy McCain wrote her college thesis on segregation of the white race from the lesser races in the world? What if John and Cindy attended the Church of the Aryan Nation in Hayden Lake, Idaho, and set there while the pastor screamed out about White Power, and Damn the Niggas and Kikes. God Bless a White America? What if John McCain and his wife hung around with Theodore Kaczynski. Attended meeting at Berkley with him, and attended a party over at his house? What if John McCain went to a going away party for August Kreis III? Or as far as that goes Rashid Khalidi? What if John McCain had decades of his life that was unaccoutable for, no paper trail what so ever? Just bits in pieces mentioned here and there, mostly in his own memoirs. What if what if what if? If you are going to try and reverse this thing, don't leave out stuff. Best thing is just to stick to the way it is, it's bad enough trying to keep all the bulls_ _ _ straight as it is.

Well my main problem with him is not whether or not he is Muslim, I feel certain he's not a practicing Muslim. Is he sympathetic to Muslims at one level or another, sure he has to be, yet that does not make him sympathetic to terrorists, main reason being, not all Muslims are Terrorists. There are Christian Terrorists as well as Buddhist's that could possibly qualify as terrorists, does that condemn the entire Christian and Buddhists, no not at all. My problem is this. He looked right into the camera and lied through his teeth about Reverend Wright, about Bill Ayers, and about this latest idiot Rashid Khalidi. He's lied about the level of his relationship with them, I feel that certain in my heart. Now if he had been a so so member of Wright's church, just showing up on big holidays like some people tend to do. No he sat right there in an interview, looked into the camera and said he attended that church for twice a month on average sometimes more, for twenty years, and he never heard any of these things that have been played over and over again. That's two thousand eighty (2080) times he sat in that church and never heard any of this crap! Am I suppose to buy that, and swallow it like tripe? Do a quick study of this guy Wright, he is a showman, and a preacher, and loves to spew the things everyone has seen over and over again. You mean to tell me he only did this when Obama wasn't in the house? I'm just not buying it. Now if he would have said that he had heard some of this, and didn't condone it, I could give him the benefit of the doubt. But he and his wife were there regularly, with their children, and this went on in a fairly regular basis, it's Wright's way of preaching. Obama is lying, I know he's lying, and nothing is going to change my mind. Anyone who believes him when he says he never heard anything controversial out of Wright in twenty years and two thousand eighty sermons minimum, is a fool in my honest opinion, or just doesn't care that he's lying. Fine that's your choice, so be it. Obama lied about his relationship with Bill Ayers period. Was Bill Ayers a terrorist at one time, sure he was. Did he get away with bad things, sure he did. Was his wife the same, sure she was. Are they terrorists now, not really, pretty harmless I think. They are way to under the microscope to try to do anything stupid. Should he be teaching in a University, well that's up to that school. I wouldn't let my kids take his classes. But my problem with this entire deal is Obama lied again, about the level of the relationship he has with this man and woman. If he had said, yes I know Bill Ayers, I've known him well for a number of years. I know what he supposedly did, and I know his views, but I don't condone what he's done, and I have told him to his face those very words. No Barrack Obama has consistently lied about knowing him and his relationship with him. And that is the issue UI have with that. It's the fact that he lied, not whether or not Bill Ayers and his wife are terrorists. I know they are, or at least were. But Obama lied period. That I have an issue with. Rashid Khalidi, has been accused of having ties to the PLO, something about the work he did in the 80"s with Wafa. Wafa is a news source for the terrorists, mainly the PLO. It's published in Palestine, and distributed throughout the region. Sad to my the public stump for the PLO. In 1991 Khalidi was an advisor to the Palestinian Chief Idiot Yasser Arafat. Is Rashid Khalidi a terrorist? Borderline, guilty by association, did he actually blow anybody up, or order it done, doubtful. Does he have controversial views on Israel and Zionism, yes he does. But I don't have and issue with him, he's not running for President. Do I have and issue with him being a professor at a University, sure I do, same as Ayers, but it has not direct effect on me or my family. However, Barrack Obama again is lying about the level of his relationship with this man. He said, he knew him, but just because his kids went to school with Khalidi's kids. You don't let your children have weekend sleep-overs and vise versa, with someone's kids you barely know. He is lying. And if he's not I also question Michelle's ability to insure the safety of her children. Everyone made such a big deal over Palin's mothering abilities, and questioned her judgment in motherhood, when she was taking here own children on tour with her, yet not one question on Michelle's judgment if she's actually sending her children over to spend the weekend with a people she barely knows! Please give some people more credit for having a little sense. Bottom line Obama is again lying through his teeth. He lies consistently about his level of relationship with ACORN. He said he represented them once in a legal issue, and that's it. When in fact he was senior legal council for ACORN for eight years, and worked with them closely for several other years in training and outside activities. Is ACORN a bad organization, certain parts of it are, but not in it's entirety. Is ACORN doing some controversial things in this election, yes they are. Did Barrack Obama give ACORN $800,000.00 for vote registering assistance, yes he did. Should have he done that, well I leave that for everyone to decide for themselves. His supporters are going to say yes, his opposers are going to say no. But did Obama lie consistently about the level of his relationship with ACORN? Yes he has, and still does. That I have an issue with. Notice I have said nothing to do with the economic crisis, I did that on purpose, because there are so many guilty parties involved in that deal, the indictment would look like the Houston Phone Book. It's stretches from the Fannie and Freddie CEO's to the consumer that signed for that loan that they knew good and well they cannot afford, and in some instances, falsified documentation to push the loan through. Guilt is so widespread, it's cannot be fully described in words. Bottom line I do not trust Obama. He's lied way too many times for me to even try. First time I heard him speak at the DNC in 2004, I was impressed, and said so in another thread here. And honestly thought that he may be a possibility some day. But since then he has lied over and over again. I've listed them above. And In my mind those accusations are beyond reproach. They are plain as the day is long. I'm not questioning his Christianity, not his involvement in the Fannie and Freddie ordeal, not questioning whether or not he's a terrorist, I feel comfortably he's not. But I do question his ability to tell the truth. And I do fear the fact that he thinks he can stand up there, lie through his teeth, and real think I am suppose to believe it. I find it insulting, and I also find it alarming. He is so candid in his book about his drug use and his escapades in High School and College. But in present time he consistently lies. He lied about all of the above, he's lied about his dealing with Tony Rezko. I just do not trust a thing he says anymore. This latest deal with the LA Times seems to have moved some leaners away from him. If there's nothing bad in that video, then Obama would insist it be released, to clear up any question to it's content. Problem is, he knows things were said at that party that will kill his Jewish Vote, and ultimately lose Florida, and don't forget the Jewish following in New York, it's huge up there. You mention the PLO and the West Bank and the Jews get on the edge of their chairs and pay attention. If Rabis come forward and condemn him, he's toast, and he knows it. I also stated in another thread, that I had an issue with McCain, and his turning down VP under Bush in 2000. I though that he wasn't being a team player, and whether or not he saw eye to eye with Bush was fine and dandy, not many people did. But he could have been in the position to be that Maverick he claims to be, and refused to play second fiddle, whether it was pride or whatever, he turned it down. McCain has made quite a few mistakes along his way, but he has owned up to them. I read the testimony on the Savings and Loan ordeal, he confessed to everything, and admitted he made a mistake. He's admitted about his personal life as well, from the failure of his first marriage and his moral failures there, as well as his moral failures in Vietnam. He admitted he signed the confession/propaganda letter to get out of being tortured to death. I cannot hold that against him. And no matter how tired you are of hearing about his 7 years in the Hanoi Hilton, myself included, you cannot question his Patriotism, and Loyalty to his fellow captors, when he refused to be released before those that were there before them. I am not so sure I cold have done that, and if you are totally honest with yourself, you would question yourself too. Does that make him Presidential? Well only when it comes to patriotism, it does, but in any other form or fashion, that's arguable. Does he have the courage to be President, I don't question that either. How will he react under pressure, well if he's the same man he was in Hanoi, I think he'll be okay. I can only hope he gets the right people around him to advise him. I'm not worried about Phil Graham being on his staff, it's not going to happen. And I am not worried about Him dropping dead. Frankly I think Obama's mortality odds are far more in jeopardy than McCain's, there are some real racist nuts in this world, and the majority of them have guns and the ability to use them. And they are just as fanatical as any terrorist in the world, it's sad, but it's true. And people have made an issue with McCain's VP pick, well I damn sure have an issue with Joe Biden, he is a snake in the grass. He so reminds me of LBJ, and I honestly think if there's a way he'd get away with it, he'd push Obama in front of a moving car, to get at the top spot. I certainly do not trust Joe Biden, none what so ever. PERIOD! I'd much rather Palin have the Nuclear codes than that idiot, that's for certain. Whether she has a clue or not, I know he does, but his version of a clue is scary. People need to understand that this position in this day and time is such a crucial thing, in such a volatile word. We have the ability to end life on this earth as we speak. One wrong move and boom see you later, nuclear holocaust. If you don't think McCain isn't fully aware of that, you are sadly mistaken. He fully understands war, and destruction. It's something you can't experience any more clearly, than being in actual combat. To pull that trigger and end a life. Until you've actually done it, you don't have a clear view of it, you only have the concept of it. Until you've been there done that, all you've done is talk about it.

Not mine but way too cool not to post Guess that would be a true "Jack" o lantern

Whether or not we can go back to the days of old, may or may not be by choice, the way we are going. If we don't get things back on track, we may be forced to by necessity of survival. Which makes me wonder, would people be able to survive going backward. Ike gave us a brief glimpse of the way it use to be, no air conditioning, no television, very limited luxuries available, even running water for some. Makes you think a little bit, how things have really changed. But then think about all those days, where you had to find other ways to entertain yourself, or come up with ways to make things more comfortable. Your mind was actually functioning at a higher level, your senses were at red alert levels. You were actually living life, instead of life living you. Having to sit and think for a change, instead of vegetating in from of a television. Speaking in regards to television, the television, in my opinion, has bastardized generations good people into blindered zombies. Their everyday way of think is shape and manipulated by the media and context has been so blurred and distorted by television, and I'm not saying news media, just television in general. Look at the onslaught of so called "reality shows" that are anything but reality. People buy into this manufactured "reality", and soon become crippled mentally and are unable to differentiate between truth and non-truth. We've been fitted for blinders from reality, by the distraction of distorted context, of everyday life. I know this sounds hypocritical coming from a full blown news junkie, that has a multi-screen media center in his office, so I can monitor all the different channels at once, but I think television has become more harmful than helpful. It's a crutch for some of us to get away from what's really bothering us in the world, but the irony of it all, as in my case, television being the bane source of the issue, and yet monitoring the distorted reality of the world, through the news, somehow gives me a false sense of peace. Sometimes I think I should have volunteered for some of Timothy Leary's isolation tank experiments. It's a tangled web we weave.

"Elitist" Now there is a word that is like some-one's nails being dragged across a chalkboard, to me. Because someone want to better themselves through education, and hard work, instead of just hard work, that term gets tossed around loosely, when in reality it should be stricken from the English language. It's nothing more than a negative insult, thrown about by those too lazy to come up with a way to express how they really feel. Which is if the truth be known, those that use the term, are nothing more than jealous of the person, to which it is hurled, and is a camouflage of sort, to hide the disappointment of the hurler, of their shortcomings. Whether it's hurled at education or intellect, or social status and wealth, it's cheap shot at trying to be insulting, and only reflect the hurlers own lack on content. And blogging and forums, (oh yes even HAIF), and texting, is killing the English language. LOL, IMHO, BFF, all this crap is taking over basic expression, and I can be as guilty as anyone. We are always in such a rush to get it done and move on to the next subject, that we have lost all ability to generate a common thought through the written word. Even the books that you see now days are just a tidbit anymore. Where did all the Mark Twain's and Jack London's of our time go to. All these Barnes and Noble literary waste generators, are just filling the shelves with crap, to rot your brain. Growing up without a television in your face all the time, reading was all we had as kids, to stimulate the imagination. Even the cheesy westerns of Louis L'Amour, open your mind to thought and dreaming. Someone used the term "Dumbing Down America", I think that pretty much sums it up. We have got to get our younger people back on track, with expressing the common thought through the written word. Life has got to be slowed down just enough, to be able to think things through, and catch all these issues in mid-stream, instead of letting them all pile up, and then come down on us all at once. Pretty soon there will nobody left to have a decent conversation with, much less an intelligent discussion. Jesus, I have hi-jacked my own thread. But none the less it's all interactive when it comes to education, or rather the lack of in some instances.

This is huge especially the red part, and dead on the money. Growing up and still living in a small town I have taken a lot of this for granted. Us as parents, have dropped the ball on a lot of this, because we can't lay all of this off on the schools. Believe me, my wife being an educator, had plenty to say about this last night at 2 a.m. However she agrees the district could do more, but are too interested in Sports and some things are being shelved for ESL and other things. But parents can start the education at home, and put the damn Wii's and PS2's away, or better yet, don't buy them, get your kid a damn Library card instead.

Something I have noticed in traveling around, you sit next to people on long flights and try to talk about something. Well here lately it seems the more younger people I talk to, the more I find out out how little they really know about the general workings of our government, and how things actually work. Perhaps this election has stimulated the younger interest in voting, but do they really have a clue about what is really going on. It seems to me Civics and Government use to be taught in school. How the government worked, your civic rights and responsibilities etc. It was mandatory to take to graduate. Is it not this way anymore? Is it that it's being taught but being taught poorly? Or has it been dropped from the curriculum in lew of other things? This boggles me if it's true because, we are setting ourselves up for losing the the very values, that this country was built on. When was the last time you heard the term, "Civic Duty"? It use to be our civic duty to help support the system by serving on juries, by supporting your local food bank, my donating blood, and so on and so forth. What is the state of the civic duties, in today's world? Houston use to have one of the greatest "Civic Duty" infrastructures in the world. There were people that had the means, to make serving their civic duties as a full time job so to speak. The huge socialite groups back in the 60's and 70's, were so active in fund raising for charities, and local needs. Take the River Oaks Theater for instance, 40 years ago if there was a need to restore and save this historic structure, a group of local Socialites and Debutantes, would have gotten together, thrown some get together, and Bingo, the money would be raised, and issue resolved. Nowadays everybody is looking out for number one and that's it. Also it seems that lost in the current generation is the power you have to make the government work for you. In just basic conversation with the younger people these days, it appears that the schools must be putting less attention to preparing students for competent citizenship. Why is this happening? Am I missing something here? I mean I can see that this lack of civics in education serves a useful purpose, however, if people do not know what is going on or don't know what to do about something they don't like in government, those in power will find it much easier to stay in power. The more confused and ignorant your constituents are, the easier it is to feed them a line of BS and get yourself re-elected. What brought all this on was two conversations I had on planes, while I was traveling home. As you can imagine the election is the hottest topic going, and that's about all anybody is talking about. On the flight from Heathrow to JFK I sat next to young man from Abu Dhabi, that was returning to NYC where he works. And we talked for several hours, and he actually addressed this subject in our conversation. He said it amazed him on how little students in the US knew so very little about their own government and how it functioned. I found this very curious, and asked him to explain further. He attended NYU and now worked in the city, but he almost went on a rant, on how little the kids he attended NYU with, actually had a clue to the basic structure and workings of the government. I guess it kind of blew my hair back, and maybe I just haven't been paying attention. I had another conversation with three people on my flight to IAH and all of a sudden it was more prevalent as to what he was talking about. These kids didn't have a clue. Now I fully understand that civic courses usually don't teach you about the sleaziness of politics, particularly what the relationship of lobbyists to legislators are often like, nor do they tell you about FBI wiretapping, the CIA's role in overthrowing democratically elected governments, etc... However they should understand the balance of the House and Senate, and how it effects basic government function. Have I now all of a sudden become hyper-sensitive to this and am I making a mountain out of a mole hill? Chime in and give me some more insight to this scary subject, because I am starting to lose sleep over it, because all of a sudden this is bothering me. I've already been calling my kids and quizzing them, and I feel better about them, of course I raised them to fully understand what's going on, and one of my daughters is a PS major and can talk a blue streak on the subject. But did I just get caught on a plane with some that slipped through the cracks? This is very alarming. I mean we owe it to these kids and our next generation to provide them the civic education they deserve. Not only do we owe it to them, we owe it to our country to educate our kids so that we don't lose what has taken over 200 years to build. Are the districts giving lip service to the importance of civic education, but in reality blowing it off, and not stressing the real importance of it? This really befuddles me. How can we be expected to maintain a society, generation after generation, that is totally based on theory and ideas, if we are not teaching it to every person involved in that society. I mean our society is a very new one, when you put it up against other countries internationally. And our government is totally based on an idea, and this idea was recorded on parchment and is on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. We have a society that is multi-cultural, and is made up of people from all over the world, only people from Native American heritage, can be considered local. I mean think about it. Just pick a country in Europe and think about it. The Italians have been there for thousands of years, the Greeks, the Spanish, and so on. They have a deeper Heritage that we as Americans do not. Our society is something that has to be taught, it's not an ancient heritage. And Civics is the way we instill this in our kids. This election has had me distracted I guess from a lot of things, but I feel in a way it has got me questioning this, and this is something that I think is being taken for granted. We have got to right this ship, and it's going to start right in your home. I don't care who you are voting for, that's your right, and Civic Duty to do so, as a matter of fact I'm fixing to go do mine at the Annex in a few minutes. But this is a topic I think really needs to be explored, just to see where we really stand on it. Civic ignorance will be the downfall of the entire system, if we don't really do something about it and not just talk the talk.

Server must be bogged down, it's a slow loader. Glad to be back home. Made it in last night. Nice weather for our area.

I like the keyboard, that's cool not having to switch back and forth between numbers and letters.

I know Paul personally and he is a very professional and dedicated public servant. I see him several times a week regularly. I also know many Magnolia PD Officers and All of the Montgomery PD Officers, since they interface often. Where I live could be considered either place. I live right on the line. The ones I know are very cautious. Those Waller rent-a-cops are contract reserve officers. No telling what you get with them. Several rural counties operate like that. If you ever have an issue in Magnolia, you can contact Paul and get it addressed post haste, same thing with Montgomery you can contact Kenneth Hudgens, and it will be taken care of. They have a zero tolerance on misconduct. We like living in a town where everybody knows everybody and we can talk to each other and wave when we drive by. It just makes life so much easier IMHO.

???????????? They just have one real test left. The the other three should be no issue. It looks like Missouri for the Big 12 playoff unless they stumble, which is doubtful. Texas just passed a huge test with OSU, if they can clear Tech, I don't see the Bears or Aggies giving them any trouble and the Jayhawks just got blistered by Tech 63-21, and it wasn't really even that close. Harrell was 34 of 42 for 386 yds. 5 TD' and 0 INT's. and set out the forth quarter, and even the BU QB Pots threw a TD pass. Tech will be their toughest game. They are playing in Lubbuck and TT plays UT like it's the last game of their lives everytime. If the Horns beat the Red Raiders, they are in, tune in next week............

If they were to build what you talk about here, it would save 53 miles from the route that's already in place. That hardly able to justify the Billions it would take to see scenic Tulsa OK!!!! And if you have a hankering to see Scenic Tulsa OK, you can jump off on I-44, it's only 21.5 miles difference than using the interstate you suggested built. Still don't see it ever happening. Now I use to drive the Houston to Denver route, twice a month for a couple of years. There could be some improvement there. It's about 147 mile further going through Salina KS than through Raton, but it's two and a half hours quicker. If 287 didn't have so many slowdowns on it and could take it non-stop to Limon Co, that would be huge, but there are way too many small town slowdowns to make that efficient, but it's okay to break up the drive repetition. If you can manage to hookup with a couple of cattle trucks cutting through that way, you can hall the mail, but they are usually in the middle of the night and under the radar, strolling in three digits.

WHY is it women always seem to be able to combine vasectomy and a good laugh in a sentence so easily?????

One size fits all!!!!!!