You May All Go To Hell, and I Will Go To Wordpress.

(to paraphrase a dead white male)

Blogger has yanked my chain one time too many.  I hate to change . . . well, anything, really, but this may have been the last straw. 

For the indeterminate future, all activity you would normally find here, will be going on at votefordavid.wordpress.com.  I regret going to a host that gives you ads, but this site isn't for you anyway and I don't want to fight with robots when I should be venting my spleen about the goings-on in the world around me.  So long, Blogger.  Too bad you turned out to be a pain in the ass.

Justifiably Proud

If you earn a Distinguished Flying Cross in an AC-130A, you are officially awesome.  The person driving this van makes it cooler to live here, because they also live here.

Smart Move, Austin!

The City Council in Austin is all about bringing business to downtown.  No, not your business.  They want the business of people who walk and ride bicycles around the city.  You can go [deleted] right off.  Otherwise, how do you explain the unanimous vote to reduce the number of parking spaces in the city?

Yes, reduce.  Because go ride a bike, that's why.  Or their billion dollar train nobody rides.  Or the bus with the bums and freaks.

It's like a reality show you watch to make you feel better, to pay attention to Austin politics.  Except it's real life, and it makes you feel better about your own city.

Keep It To Yourself!

Note to this guy and everybody like him: You don't want your nasty stanky smoke in your car, what makes you think I want it in my air? Roll up your window or stop smoking you nasty [deleted]!




And, to the guy in the nice new Mercedes in front of me on the way home: If you don't want your nasty butts in your ashtray, what makes you think I want them on my Texas?! Don't throw your trash on my ground, just  stop smoking already!

Piss In The Wind, Go Ahead

The system is broken.  Badly broken, and beyond repair.  I repeat my hunch that our society is headed for breakup in a big way.  The news I got today was just another reminder.

There's a video on Youtube showing people voting multiple times.  No, not average citizens casting a half-dozen election year vote-fraud votes.  These were legislators, casting ballots for other legislators who were absent at the time of the vote, making the laws that you and I live by.  In one case, a legislator who was PRESENT had someone else cast a vote for him . . . while he was casting a vote for someone else!

Nota bene: It was against their OWN rules they made for themselves for legislators to vote for each other on the voting machines.  This video shows them doing it.  No, it shows ALL of them doing it.  Either they do it or they let it happen.  The Speaker of the House was supposed to be punishing this sort of thing but it didn't happen.  The Speaker is supposed to make sure the rules are followed, but look how concerned they all are.

An extra kick in the stones is that you didn't hear about a wave of prosecutions after this video came out FOUR YEARS ago.  One more kick for those of us from Texas, because it's happening here.

********

Legislators jogging around to beat each other to empty desks to push buttons.
TWO examples of fat guys pushing their own button, then the button on the desk next door, then the on a desk behind, and then a fourth button on the desk behind/next door!.

Watch.

Then either complain to the Speaker, or shut the hell up and watch our society fall apart.  I'm guessing the result is the same.  This was in 2008.  Who wants to bet there's a rule for ALL the legislatures in Texas forbidding this apparently-very-common multiple fraudulent voting activity?

VFD, First On The Scene!

Apparently I *barely* missed being tied up in traffic stopped for a mile this morning . . . so I went back and spent several minutes looking at the mess and taking pictures.

This was the scene at Braker and Parkfield in Austin earlier today.  Trust me when I tell you that by the time I had arrived (maybe 5 minutes after I decided to turn around) the line of cars was at least over the hill, probably all the way back to Lamar.

A tanker truck driver missed his turn by a foot or two, and damaged his trailer as well as a utility pole.

The pole was well and truly embedded in the side of the tanker trailer

The trailer took heavy damage and appears to have only stopped when it hit the tank-supporting structure near the rear wheels of the trailer.  A hose on the side of the trailer was ripped in pieces, and the ladder was destroyed.  The dank obviously was badly dented/crushed where it touched the pole

This is usually a nice suburban neighborhood street.  Nothing much happens, till all traffic on a the busy thoroughfare is stopped by a random crazy situation.

Braker is full of cars in the morning.  This morning it was full of stopped cars as the Austin Police Department stopped traffic in both directions so AusTex Towing & Recovery could safely get this tanker disentagled from the pole.

The wrecker lifted the rear wheels of the trailer, and pulled the trailer away from the pole as a driver in the blue tractor slowly drove backwards onto Braker

Blue police lights are reflected in the waves of crumpled steel in the side of the trailer. 

Austin Energy was out in force.  Here their linemen are examining the pole struck by the truck.  It had a significant amount of wood rubbed off by the truck, here seen as long strips of wood laying around the base of the pole.  The pole was shivered all the way through, and will have to be replaced as soon as practicable.

My favorite shot of the morning is the beautiful front-end of the AusTex rig.  I like the way both headlights got stars, and the perspective is really great.  For this shot, I knelt down low on the sidewalk as the truck was stationary.  Don't forget: you can see these images bigger by clicking on them.

Hiring divers?  Looks like maybe one needed a little more training, unfortunately.

Something you don't see every day: The Austin Fire/Rescue Special Operations truck rolled out.

Cleaning this whole mess off of Braker took about 15 minutes after AusTex arrived and pulled out into the street.  Not too shabby, actually.  The driver of the truck

Beware the Student Driver?

They just opened a new State office a few miles from my house.  This place is just for Drivers Licenses, and it's pretty big.  This is to supplement the REALLY big place they have in the Godless City to our immediate South. As we were driving home from church today, I made an amusing/alarming observation about this place.

Scattered around the region of Central Texas are various creeks and drainage ditches.  Where they cross under or pass near a road, there will be a steel roadside barrier, like so:

 These are usually a few dozen feet long, sometimes a hundred or more yards long.

Today, I noticed a damaged guard rail as we were driving along.  Then another one.  Then the drivers license office.  Then we turned the corner and went around a different side of the block where there is this new drivers license office.  And there was another dinged guard rail.

The area in question, thanks to Google Maps.  The red lines are the locations of the rails nearest the DL office.

All three of the guardrails closest to the Drivers License office where they give driving tests, are dented.  My wife and I LOL'd and I advised her to avoid the area during weekdays during normal business hours.

A.Dop.Tion!

A 16 year-old girl in Texas has won her lawsuit.  Against her parents.  

They were pressuring her to have an abortion and she wanted the child to live.  The discussion locally seems to be what responsibility the grandparents-to-be must incur.  My question is, "Why is this a question?"  The parents countersue if necessary, but they should tell the girl, "you put that baby up for adoption and never see it, or you can get a damn job and you and your 17 year-old STUD can support YOUR baby.  If you neglect or can't support it, we'll call CPS and you'll lose it like you should have in the first place."

 

How hard was that?

********

Yes, I am a stone-hearted bastard.  I know.  Cry me a river about familial attachments.  Those parents obviously failed somewhere along the line, but it is not their financial responsibility to support their grandchild.  Their child, yes, for another year or two. 

Children (in America these days) are not emotionally prepared to care for their own children, and the law forbids them from having enough hours at a job to support children financially.  Therefore, children should not be allowed to be "parents" to a baby of their own.  The grandparents have a moral responsibility to care for their own children, and to advise them as to what is the most responsible course of action in any case. 

By far and away it is much, much better for a baby to live with a married couple who are financially able to spare enough money to pay all the birth-mother's medical bills as well as responsible enough to jump through all the hoops required to do a private adoption.  There is exactly NO benefit to the young mother to even so much as see her baby after it is delivered.  Any attachment, any 'open' relationship, is only going to cause hurt and confusion.  A clean break is best.  Cut the cord, mark up the Apgars, and hand the baby off to its new family.  Done and done.

If the child insists on keeping the child and rearing it as her own, it is her own.  She wants to be an adult, she can go out and hustle up enough money to make it happen, and demand her stud do likewise.  That puts THREE young people on a path toward near-certain poverty and an early divorce, with the attendant broken family for a child who did nothing to deserve the suffering in its future.  A truly responsible grandparent will, when they see their baby relative living in sub-standard conditions, keep a sharp eye out for any *legal* excuse to remove the child from the care of its so-called parents.  If they can get a good solid CPS report in when the child is under two years old, the odds for a fast adoption go way, way up, and the baby would never rememeber its birth family at all.

Yes, it means deep emotional suffering for the young mother.  That is to be expected.  Some things can't be fixed - normal emotions included.

What, that's not cold enough?  How about she should have kept 'em crossed and this whole mess wouldn't have ever happened.  How about attaching studboy's wages for the next 18 years, to be paid to the State child support system (because he's probably inclined to disappear as soon as possible).

WHAAAAT?!

So Austin is looking to match San Francisco's increase in emergency hospitalizations for food poisoning by banning single-use bags at all stores.  They clutter up the streets and fill up landfills, you see.  Reusable ones are better for the environment, better for hospitals, and better for wage slaves in China.

So everybody is going to stop using plastic bags then.  Great.

Except for the largest retail grocery chain in town.  H.E.B. is exempt.  Them plus Walmart and you're probably at the 80th percentile for all the single-use bags given out by stores in Austin. 

Way to be, Austin.  You suck.  Bonus points if you follow the example set by the Obama administration with obamacare and go around issuing waivers even though there is no provision for them in the law.

I Gotta Say, Today Was A Good Day

If you grew up when/where I did, that line reminds you of a song.

My Darling Wife went grocery shopping and filled the entire floor of Bad Robot with goods, came home, walked out of the freezing and into the heat, and said for me to get the groceries.  Ok, no problemmo!  I stepped outside and could TASTE that it was freezing out there.  As I was gathering the first armload of evil, hateful, landfill-filling single-use bags, I noticed an unhappy phenomenon:

A car was coming up my street, creeping one mile an hour on the far side of the road.  'Who the [deleted] is this, creepin' up?'  I said to myself.  No harm no foul, though, yet, so I kept gathering groceries as the car passed.  Inside to unload, outside to reload the next load of groceries on my arms, and they have stopped two houses down.  Uh-huh.

Inside, outside to get the next load again and they U-turn at the end of  the block.  I thought they were going to pull into a driveway, but they were just sitting there on the street, now on my side, now facing me.  Uh-huh.  I pulled my (concealed) pistol halfway out of its holster, so the grip was entirely exposed and ready to grab.  I prepared myself for a sudden rush of acceleration and a drive-by shooting in my general direction.  The thought of what motion I would need to make to fully draw my gun.  I considered the possibility of a carjacking as I had an obviously-newish car standing open and probably would have the keys handy.

Inside, outside to get the next load again and they are creeping down my side of the street now.  As they passed, I put the Captain's Chair in Bad Robot between my face and their windows, in case they felt like seeing me real up-close like.  They slowed in front of my driveway, then continued creeping.  They stopped in front of the house next door.  No further activity.  Drive-by less likely, jacking more likely.  Make this next trip to unload extra quick.

Inside, outside to get the next and final load.  They started creeping again, and stopped a few houses farther down the street.  Well, no threat to me, probably, anymore.  Aimed rifle fire still possible but seems less likely.  I went inside and grabbed my camera and superduperzoom lens and took up a position behind the truck in my driveway and started watching and shooting.  Blur.  Driver gets out and takes something from the trunk, can't see what. Solid 2.5 second exposure got a license plate and overall car shot, as they close the trunk.  Blur.  They walk to the door.  Thinking now about murder in the night, ears open for a door kicked in, gunshots, screams.  Blur.  Taking pictures in the dark: impossible.  No passing headlights to provide illumination on target.  20-second automatic exposure times, blech.

As I was trying to get another good shot of the car, I heard a woman's voice pleasantly thanking somebody and a man responding, wishing her a good night.

And here I was, ready to have a shootout.

Well, at least I'll be ready . . . God forbid!

Magic Under The Lights

Imagine walking at night in near-total darkness on an abandoned city side-street
Straight into a forest
Where trees are a hundred feet tall
The grass is trimmed neatly
And each tree is covered in points of light right up to the top of the canopy 

That was the perspective from the eyes of #4 last week-end.  If this does not qualify as a magical experience for a child, I don't know what would.

Click the image to see it supersized, hit escape to close the image window.  Better yet, right-click the image and "view image" then click it again to see it full-size (I left it at 1600 pixels wide so it should cover your entire screen)

PEC at Night

The Pedernales Electric Co-op has put up a few lights again this year.  Wandering around under the trees is magical, especially for little children.  For adults, it's pretty sweet too.

Walking up the street to the PEC building: (click the image to see a larger version, hit escape to close the picture)

November 6, 2012 Travis County, Texas Voter's Guide

As this is the Most Important Election of Our Lifetime, is this VoteForDavid’s most important Voter’s Guide EVAR?  Well if so we’re in deep trouble.  Or something.  I compiled this guide, like the others I've posted here before, for my benefit.  For a change, I didn't post it for your benefit.  I hope you managed to muddle through without me.  Without further ado:

These are the notes I made for myself, for the races where I live, plus a couple for Travis County elections I have comments on.  You people are on your own for the rest.  Not that you will voted anyway.  The URLs are where I found the sample ballots.

http://www.traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/content/images/sample_ballots/2012.11.06_G12_General_Bedsheet.pdf

Travis County Clerk Elections Division
November 6, 2012 Joint General and Special Elections

Straight Party  - Only if you are a fool.  I hit the straight party button because it filled in most of my selections for me.

President
This is a wasted vote, no matter how you cast it.  If you are a Christian you have nobody to vote for.  If you are an American and not a Christian, vote for Romney.  All the others are destined to lose or are evil, or both.  I voted for the Losertarian on the off chance they might get 5% of the total, and so we could theoretically have a third party with public funding . . . next time.

United States Senator
 Ted Cruz - REP - This is a no-brainer.

District 17, United States Representative
Bill Flores - REP – vote for Bill Flores.  His website is full of stuff that reads like election year soundbytes, but at least I agree with most of them.
Ben Easton – LIB – like most libertarians, goes too far toward the “Liberty” side of the equation.  Vote for him if you like this sort of thing.  Note: he will lose, because he is running a campaign on principles instead of money.  Sad but true.

Railroad Commissioner
Christi Craddick - REP – by process of elimination my vote goes to Christi Craddick.  Not a bad candidate, but this isn’t exactly a vote FOR.
Dale Henry - DEM – Old, too old.  Sorry old people.  He’s going to be 80-dead by the time the next election rolls around.
Vivekananda “Vik” Wall - LIB – a believer in glowbull warmening has no place on my Railroad Commission!
Chris Kennedy - GRN – it looks like the Green party is about as sophisticated at getting candidates to have campaign websites as the Libertarians were a few years ago (hint: not at all)

Railroad Commissioner, Unexpired Term
Barry Smitherman - REP – As I recommended in my previous voters guides, please keep Commissioner Smitherman in his position.
Jaime O. Perez - LIB – For a huge change, a Libertarian with a website!  Not a CAMPAIGN website, more of a blog/screed site where he denounces the evils of modern fiscal policy.
Josh Wendel – GRN – on the ballot, but apparently not running a campaign?  If you want to WIN, you have to RUN!

Place 2, Justice, Supreme Court
Don Willett - REP – please keep Justice Willett in his position on the court.
RS Roberto Koelsch – LIB – another Libertarian not taking campaign contributions is another libertarian who will lose.

Place 4, Justice, Supreme Court
John Devine - REP – the candidate who has been a judge.  Everybody else is a n00b.  This guy.
Tom Oxford - LIB
Charles E. Waterbury - GRN

Place 6, Justice, Supreme Court
Nathan Hecht - REP – Please keep Justice Hecht on the court
Michele Petty - DEM – says she likes to do what she thinks is right, regardless of precedent.  Not good.
Mark Ash - LIB
Jim Chisholm - GRN

Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals
Sharon Keller - REP - She's there, let's keep her.  She made a single controversial call and that's about all the opposition has to say against her.
Keith Hampton - DEM
Lance Stott - LIB

Place 7, Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals
Barbara Parker Hervey - REP – Please vote for Judge Hervey
Mark W. Bennett – LIB – Spouts off personal opinions on matters about which he might have to issue court opinions.  Horrible judgement for a JUDGE candidate.

Place 8, Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals
Elsa Alcala - REP – I’ll be voting for her this time.
William Bryan Strange, III - LIB

This is one of the few times I will put my check in the “R” box and move on.  Both seem to be decent candidates, with Judge Alcala having the slight advantage of currently BEING a judge.

District 10, Member, State Board of  Education
Tom Maynard - REP – I was for him during the primary, and I am still for him.  See my first 2012 voter’s guide for the reasoning.
Judy Jennings – DEM

District 14, State Senator
Kirk Watson - DEM – not the worst Democrat out there, but still somewhat typical.  I’m not a Democrat
Ryan M. Dixon – LIB – I’m voting FOR Ryan Dixon for District 14.  I’m also not a Libertarian, but I agree with a lot of what he has to say.

District 46, State Representative
Dawnna Dukes - DEM – not the worst Democrat out there but still a Democrat.  As long as Democrat = “social justice” and leftist policies in general, we need fewer of these.
Andy Fernandez – LIB – seriously?  He looks to be about 12 years old and is (surprise) a Libertarian without a website. 

For a change, I will NOT be casting a ballot for State Representative.  This is a shameful place for our State to be but here we are: a child vs. a democrat.

Place 2, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District
Jeff Rose - REP – is in the job and I haven’t heard anything bad about him.  Let’s keep him.
J. Andrew Hathcock – DEM

Place 3, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District
Scott Field - REP – His website reads like a judge’s should.  Bonus points for intentionally taking cases from civil litigation and appellate fields, and serving as a lawyer for defense and prosecution. 
Diane Henson – DEM – listening to her makes me a little sick to my stomach.  Looking at her doesn’t make it any better.  Video at HIS website.

Both are career lawyers, and she has been on this bench for a term.  I’m pulling out my “R” and “Y” cards and he gets my vote.  “Y” card: that chromosome, he has it.  Yes it’s sexist.  Deal with it.  He was my pick in the primary election too ;)

Place 5, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District
David Puryear - REP – keep Justice Puryear on the job for six muryear.  Bad pun intended.
Karen L. Watkins - DEM

Place 6, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District
Bob Pemberton - REP – Keep Justice Pemberton on the court also!
Bryan Case - DEM

Sheriff
Raymond Frank - REP –seems like a solid candidate, if rather VERY old for taking on a new job
Greg Hamilton - DEM – I will be voting for Greg Hamilton AGAIN.  Yes, a Democrat, yes again.  He is in the office and seems to be doing a decent job, plus he has big ideas for the next four years.
Jaclyn L. Finkel – LIB – wow another Libertarian without so much as a website.  Way to get on the ballot, guys!

County Tax Assessor-Collector
Vik Vad - REP – I like all his talk about making this slice of the government more efficient.  Let’s let him try.
Bruce Elfant - DEM – If Vad were not running, I could vote for him with reservations.  Let’s be honest, it says something about your personality if you physically resemble a pig.
Mike Burris – LIB – a Libertarian with a website!  Oh wait, that’s the website for his 2010 run for Treasurer.  No, back to ‘another Libertarian without a campaign website’

Precinct 2, Constable
Toby J. Miller - REP – I would have been happy with either of the Republican candidates and will happily vote for Miller this November.
Adan Ballesteros - DEM – Almost anyone would be a better candidate than this guy.
Raul “Roy” Camacho – LIB – If there were no Republican in this race I would be all about voting for Camacho, but there IS a Republican in this race.  Here’s hoping Camacho doesn’t turn out to be a spoiler and give us Ballesteros again!

The Democrats have done quite a job of being the only ones running for various judgeships.  This sucks, but where were YOU when the primary season came and went?

http://www.traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/content/images/sample_ballots/2012.11.06_G12_Other_Bedsheet.pdf

Travis County Clerk Elections Division
November 6, 2012 Joint General and Special Elections
For Austin Community College, Austin I.S.D., Round Rock I.S.D., Travis County M.U.D. No. 18, North Austin M.U.D. No. 1, Wells Branch M.U.D., Lakeside M.U.D. No. 3, Williamson-Travis Counties M.U.D. No. 1, Southeast Travis County M.U.D. No. 1 & No. 2, Tanglewood Forest Limited District, Travis County WCID- Point Venture, Westbank Community Library District, Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District

Remember as you read these proposed proposals, $1.50 per $100 of assessed property value is about $250 a year out of your pocket for EACH measure.  Do you really have that to spare?   If you can think of another way to accomplish the purpose for which they propose the tax, vote AGAINST it and let them try again the more-efficient way next year.

SOUTHEAST TRAVIS COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 1, CONFIRMATION ELECTION, SYSTEM FACILITIES BOND ELECTION, MAINTENANCE TAX ELECTION, PARK AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES BOND ELECTION, ROAD BOND ELECTION AND PERMANENT DIRECTORS ELECTION

This election is to decide whether the voters of Precinct 402 would like to have TWO new taxing bodies to take their money, and then they will all be voting themselves $31,106,650 worth of community indebtedness as well as an annual NEW tax of about $500/year for each family.  Level-headed individuals will vote AGAINST all these proposals.  They will probably all pass with a handy majority.

SOUTHEAST TRAVIS COUNTY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 2 CONFIRMATION ELECTION, SYSTEM FACILITIES BOND ELECTION, MAINTENANCE TAX ELECTION, PARK AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES BOND ELECTION, ROAD BOND ELECTION AND A PERMANENT DIRECTORS
ELECTION

This election is to decide whether the voters of Precinct 401 would like to have TWO new taxing bodies to take their money, and then they will all be voting themselves $46,522,233 worth of community indebtedness as well as an annual NEW tax of about $500/year for each family.  You may guess my opinion on this subject.


http://www.traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/content/images/sample_ballots/2012.11.06_G12_Cities_Bedsheet.pdf

Travis County Clerk Elections Division
November 6, 2012 Joint General and Special Elections
For Central Health, Cities of Austin, Lakeway, Lago Vista, Jonestown, Pflugerville, Village of Point Venture, Village of Spicewood Canyon
 CENTRAL HEALTH TAX RATIFICATION ELECTION
All precincts
PROP. 1, CENTRAL HEALTH
Approving the ad valorem tax rate of $0.129 per $100 valuation in Central Health, also known as the Travis County Healthcare District, for the 2013 tax year, a rate that exceeds the district’s rollback tax rate. The
proposed ad valorem tax rate exceeds the ad valorem tax rate most recently adopted by the district by $0.05 per $100 valuation; funds will be used for improved healthcare in Travis County, including support for a new medical school consistent with the mission of Central Health, a site for a new teaching hospital, trauma
services, specialty medicine such as cancer care, community-wide health clinics, training for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, primary care, behavioral and mental healthcare, prevention and
wellness programs, and/or to obtain federal matching funds for healthcare services.

Please vote AGAINST Proposition 1.  The University has a billion dollars in the bank.  If they want a few hundred million dollars to build a hospital, let them write a check!  This will be, to put it bluntly, a combination of a hospital to serve homeless people and illegal aliens, and a research facility that the University could pay for out of pocket.  The SECOND largest hospital group in the city has come out against this.  Guess which hospital group benefits from it?  Hint: it rhymes with “diggest”

PROP. 3, CITY OF AUSTIN
Shall the city charter be amended to provide for the election of council members from 10 geographical
single-member districts, with the mayor to be elected from the city at large, and to provide for an independent citizens redistricting commission?

Vote YES on Proposition 3 if you like the idea of representative government.  If you like the bicycle lobby and the rich folks in Terrytown to continue to run your city into the ground, then vote No.

PROP. 4, CITY OF AUSTIN
Shall the city charter be amended to provide for the election of council members from eight geographical single-member districts, with the mayor and two additional council members to be elected from the city at large?

Vote NO on Proposition 4.  This is a head-fake by the people currently running the city to distract you from the better proposal in Proposition 3. 

PROP. 10, CITY OF AUSTIN
Shall the city charter be amended to provide a civil service system for most city employees who are not already covered by a state civil service statute?
PROP. 11, CITY OF AUSTIN
Adoption of the emergency medical services personnel civil service law.

Vote AGAINST Propositions 10 and 11.  Civil service laws = government employee unions.  If you think your city services suck now, just wait.  You haven’t SEEN inefficiency and poor treatment of the Citizen until you’ve seen the government employee figure out they can’t be fired thanks to a fat union deal on their behalf.

The next section (Propositions 12 through 18) is nearly guaranteed to all pass, because bond measures in Austin ALWAYS pass. This is a series of elections for Austinites to add $385 MILLION to their community indebtedness.   Most of it SHOULD fail, and the City should be made to do what it can with LESS money, not more. Buuuut that’s not who Austinites are, so:

LOL it’s all monopoly money anyway and it doesn’t come out of MY paycheck!  APPROVE ALL THE BONDS!!!!!


CITY OF PFLUGERVILLE GENERAL ELECTION
COUNCIL MEMBER, PLACE 3, CITY OF PFLUGERVILLE
Vote for one
Omar Peña - I almost didn't take the time to read the other candidates' websites to see what they had to say.  This guy, and this guy by a mile!

Don't Tell ME What To Compound, Sister.

Every once in a while I rub up against the government in a way that makes me want to scream and commit acts of violence against people just trying to do their jobs. I went with #2 and #3 to get my usual "your largest quantity generic 30mg pseudoephedrine tablet" at the local pharmacy counter and the girl asked me who it was for, as I was paying. I indicated it was for #2 and #3, and she was thrown totally off her game. She asked how old #2 is and I told her.

She came back with a timid " . . . well, you know he has to be at least 12 years of age . . . "

I told her " . . . or I could give him the liquid preparation (that they carry on the shelf above the box of pills I'm buying) or I could grind it up and give it to him in something else like y'all would do."*

she continues to ring me up as I am pretty obviously not having any of her jive and very obviously over 12 years of age, but she says " . . . but . . . he has to be at least 12 . . . "

After we exited the store, I did a little brainwashing against unreasoning government that started with "that lady said she wants you to suffer with allergies for four more years . . . "

********

*What I also could have said was: "Excuse me but I can't help noticing you are rather young. Perhaps it has escaped your notice, but current recommendations and guidelines for administration of pseudoephedrine to children are based on questionable science and unquestionably bad legislation, due to kneejerk politics instead of logic. When you were still in high school, I would come into this very store and purchase -(turn around and point) right off that shelf over there- a tiny bottle called Infants' Tylenol Cold that was magic when used as directed on THIS boy (point at #2) when he was a few MONTHS old. I know that people are stupid and can't think, but I am not people I am a Person and a Man besides, and I know how to calculate doses based on weight just fine, and I read my labels to make sure I don't give anyone a fatal dose of anything. Which would be a neat trick with sudafed, now that this blessed wonderful drug is behind the counter and that crap phenylephrine which does nothing is on the shelf and the kids of America can't breathe. I happen to know for a fact that dosed by weight THIS kid (point at #2) takes one red pill and gets better. THIS kid (point at #3) takes half that much from (point at shelf behind counter) that bottle and gets better. Look at my face. See how the beard is cut, note the shape of the glasses. Remember this face and do yourself a favor. Never talk to me again about how old my boy should be before I give him the thing that makes him able to breathe.

But I didn't. One would hate to be escorted from the store for being mad at our Elected Heroes to the pharmacy clerk.

Austin Teachers 2013 Pay Raise

It must be nice to have a job in a labor pool with such low demand and high supply that there are 50 applicants for every job opening, and they still talk about pay rises in a down economy. Excuse me for noticing that the pay increase going to teachers who have sweet, sweet union contracts come straight out of the pay checks of NON government employees.

Austin is stupid.

FIVE Beetles

Nextdoorneighbordude took his kids swimming a while back. Next morning, his son had a sore ear. Swimmers ear, they thought, no worries. A bit of witch hazel and rinse it out and . . . there's an antenna in the kid's ear. The emergency room people said a) that'll be $500 to remove your free bug, and b) don't feel bad it's the FIFTH one this week. The drought drove this one kind of beetle to seek wet places where they could find it, to include the sleeping childrens' ears full of water apparently. Eww.

Because We Can TELL You Are Cheating Us

Well isn't that neat. The Travis County Commissioner's Court just voted itself and a few other elected County officials a pay rise. Judge Biscoe said it would be "unreasonable" for us to expect him and a couple dozen other elected County officials to not get a cost-of-living adjustment type pay rise, in light of the bad economy. The one (of five) Commissioner who voted against the raise, said it was the economy that made the raise a bad idea.

Look Judge, I know your part-time $110k/year job is a real pain in the [deleted] but spare us, okay? You voted yourself a pay rise, and then voted to increase our taxes all in the same week. You know what? You sir are an [deleted]. If you were a value-add to the tax base, then maybe it would be justified. My boss is a value-add to the company and he hasn't given HIMself a pay rise in the last 8 years or so. You know what you are? You're a leech. You think it's all well and good to give yourself more money due to the hard times we're all in, but you are neglecting to think of the source of the funds. That "more" for you is our "less." Every family in the County now has LESS money in these hard times because YOU and your BFFs have a little MORE. You see how that works? It's almost a zero-sum game . . .

Hold on there.

Something just occurred to me. This is one of the reasons why leftists hate profit and well-paid executive positions. They can't see past the end of their noses. They wish all things to stream from government. Government employees can't increase their pay without literally taking from someone else's wallet. Therefore, making more money than you "need" is wickedness. The other side of the story is, wealth can be created. They don't get the true concept of wealth (or value, or wages, or capital risk) so they don't get why it is okay with the Greedy Republicans for rich people to be rich.

Yes?

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I was going to go off on a rant about how we don't want an increase in the gasoline tax in Texas because the politicians keep diverting the gas tax we already pay. Some idiot in government was on the radio sounding mystified as to why the stupid voters keep hatin' on a gas tax increase. You know why we hate it? Because we can see all the waste and crap our money gets spent on, instead of roads and bridges it is supposed to go to. Jerks. What a bunch of jerks are running the show these days. Don't MAKE me run for office, people!

Well, unless I run for the Commissioner's Court. I hear that's a pretty good paycheck for a part-time gig.

Now THAT's A Squeaker

The results are in. For once, everybody in Travis County agrees with me. And by "everybody" I mean "a fraction of a percentage point over 50%" which is just enough to tip the scale. According to the Unofficial Results officially published in a .pdf at the County website, my picks all won in this runoff election:

• Ted Cruz by 0.84%
• Warren Chisum by 0.02%*
• Barry Smitherman by a landslide
• Justice Medina by a solid majority
• Tom Maynard by a suspiciously-repetitive 0.84% but with 1/3 the number of ballots cast for the Senate race

Just under 9,000 of us bothered to vote in my County.

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* 0.02% in this case was exactly TWO VOTES. That, for the record, was my Darling Wife and me. So do you still think your measly one vote does not count? It won't make a difference if you show up at the polls or not?

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And if that was an impressive argument in favor of you going to vote next time, let's just not look at the statewide results, shall we?

Voter's Guide for Travis County * July 31, 2012 Republican Primary Election Runoff

Once again not enough people agreed with me to make it an open-and-shut case. We didn't all pick the winner during the primary, so here are the winners for the runoff election.

United States Senator

David Dewhurst - 90% of the time I like him, but he's let the True Conservative banner down enough to let it drag underfoot. Over any Democrat, he is probably a better candidate.

Ted Cruz - Please vote for Ted Cruz on May 29th. To save myself lots of typing I will direct you to this endorsement of Ted Cruz by Lawrence Person's Battleswarm blog. I agree with most of it in regards to not only Cruze but also Dewhurst, Leppert and Addison.

Railroad Commissioner - neither of these were my preference, but it was a field of good candidates. I think I am for Chisum now.

Warren Chisum has been in government for perhaps too long, but he is effective.

Christi Craddick is YOUNG to be holding power, and she has a hint of the crazyeyes.

Railroad Commissioner, Unexpired Term

Barry Smitherman - Please keep Commissioner Smitherman in his position. He was on the Public Utilities Commission and the Governor thought enough of him to put him on the Railroad Commission. He is in, and knows, the job. The experienced commissioners are leaving so there will be enough lack of experience running this show without losing someone who has been doing the job for part of a term already.

Greg Parker - I like him. I want him in public office, which he is. It seems like he wants to be in HIGHER public office, and as he is into energy issues to the RRC is a natural choice. Maybe his campaign is aimed at just being in higher office? He wants it, but does he want this, specifically?

Place 4, Justice, Supreme Court

David Medina - I like him. He's a good conservative, and his pursuits (hunting, fishing, champion martial artist, etc) speak well of him. It's already his seat. Keep Justice Medina in Place 4.

John Devine - Right there on his campaign website he has posted publicly opinions on a whole BUNCH of issues that are certain to come before the Court on which he wants to sit. Unless he's just angling for a bunch of recusals on related cases, this is a huge error of judgement . . . which, for a judge, strikes me as a problem.

District 10, Member, State Board of Education

Tom Maynard - Please vote for Tom Maynard for SBOE District 10. He puts time, time, and time into children to train them in more than just the core subjects. A country boy with good sense who made it big in the national FFA leadership, he has a breadth of experience that goes beyond the classroom. A teacher AND a leader and then some is the impression I get.

Rebecca Osborne - She has a doctoral degree in education administration. You can look for yourself and see where we have gotten with other people "educated" in education. She wants to make a difference and that's great. Let's allow her to continue making a difference in her current classroom. I endorsed her last time (2010) but this time Maynard is my top pick by a slim margin.

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These notes are mostly the same as my Primary Election voter's guide. As before, these notes are for me. I did a LOT of research to get these opinions, I figured I might as well make them available in case they are some use to someone else.

Thanks for Scaring Me

A month ago I was in El Paso with family, and there was a sandstorm. Not much of a one as sandstorms go, but it was the first one our children had ever seen. Brown sky, low visibility, bit of thunder. I went out to close the windows on our Bad Robot, brought down some tipsy-looking flower pots from on top of a low wall, and went into the house and had an idea. I took #2 out into the enclosed front porch to see the sandstorm up close.

He has a hangup about bad weather. He was scared for the first half-minute or so we were out there. His mommy sensed terror and tried to recall the child inside during my lecture explaining what was happening outside. I think she was scared of the storm also, and it didn't help that she said in front of the boy that they were not allowed onto the porch when there was lightning/thunder (when she was a child). I finally managed through sheer obduracy to shoo her back inside and keep #2 out on the porch with me. He was as freaky as ever about the dusty wind and thunder, but I kept explaining to him what was going on, and ended up telling him that, after the sand there would likely be at least a light rain and then everything would be covered in mud.

#2 went in. #1 came out and was almost entirely uninterested and unperturbed. She likely just wanted to see what all the fuss had been about with Mommy. She went back in, and after a moment or two I went back in. I went in to the room where #2 was watching a movie and right out of left field he thanked me for explaining to him what was going on. He said he felt much more relaxed. I about did a back flip and told him to go tell his mother what he'd just told me. He did, as my mind tried to recover from the shock of such immediate and obvious results.

Later, we had a sprinkling of rain, just enough to cover everything in muddy water spots.

Hatred and Fear have the same mother: Ignorance.