The Cowtown Chronicles

Yep, that’s General David Petraeus (captured via iPhone on my TV) right here in Fort Worth. Sorry you missed the game now?

If there was ever any doubt about Obama being the “change” president, this should erase all of it.

Rick Warren To Give Invocation At The Inauguration; John Williams, Aretha, Yo-Yo MA, I. Perlman, Too - Marc Ambinder.

Semper Fi, everyone! If you’re “over there,” keep your head down and come home safe.

- Sgt. Pete
USMC (Fmr)

My friends know that I’m kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to sports, especially professional sports. There’s really no reason for it besides that I just don’t feel like because someone has the genetic gifts and dedication to eventually get paid outrageous amounts of money to play a game, that they then qualify as a “hero.” I know, it’s petty and sounds bitter, but that’s pretty much it.

Every once in a while, I see something that demonstrates that there’s some truth behind all of the BS that high-school coaches spout about teamwork and sportsmanship. Here’s the latest example. (Why is it that so many of the inspirational sports stories we see these days are coming from college women athletes? More evidence that the men are just in it for the money and glory?)

(Thanks, Victoria!)

First news comes out that Sir Edmund Hillary has died at age 88.

Then I have to put mental effort into trying to determine if Hillary Clinton was genuinely choked up in New Hampshire, or if it was just a political stunt designed to make her look more human.

If she was truly choked up, then WTF is wrong with the media for hyping it to no end and speculating this way and that about what it meant and how it will help or hurt her?

If she wasn’t, and it was an act, then WTF is wrong with our politicians and the public which continues to buy their shit?

Either way, who the hell has the right to make fun of her?

If it was genuine, then I’m glad, and she really does look more human and concerned to me. I’m still not voting for her, but it’s great to know that she’s in it for the right reasons.

If it wasn’t genuine, then she’s a damn good actor and political strategist, and I think she’d do well in our current political climate. (And I’m still not voting for her.)

The actual raid happened in April, and some of these folks are just now going to trial, but take a gander at this and tell me how you feel.

Let’s do a little political math now:

Your “typical” VFW member in Texas is probably middle class, a veteran or veteran’s wife, and pretty conservative. I’m purely assuming here, but I’ll go ahead and say it: I’ll bet over half of the membership and participants in that tournament vote Republican. Yet, by voting Republican, they’re voting for people who want to legislate their morals and shut down these poker tournaments. Tournaments which kept their VFW open, gave them something to do (in addition to raising funds for other charities, including the police department), and a community to participate in.

Fortunately for the folks in power, Republicans in Texas only want to legislate we common folk’s morals. It’s okay for the State to create, promote, and run a gambling operation (which has WAY worse odds than poker, BTW, as well as having a much worse effect on poor people), but they say gambling is immoral and a blight on our society when someone else profits.

Didn’t they used to burn hypocrites or something like that? It’s exactly this kind of hypocrisy that we’ll continue to get if we continue to allow religion of ANY KIND into our political sphere. Keep the church out of the government and the government out of the church, and everyone will be better off.

While surfing around the Fort Worth Cats website looking for next year’s schedule, I discovered that there’s a new baseball team in the area, the Grand Prairie Airhogs. They’re holding open tryouts on December 15th, if you’re interested, be sure to check it out!

Why does this matter to me? It means more opportunities to see the Cats play, both at home and away, without having to fly to Minnesota! 

A money manager in Minneapolis (an immigrant, no less!) has established a fund to provide small grants to Minnesota’s returning troops both to show gratitude for their service and “to provide financial assistance, in small amounts, to everybody from Minnesota who has served in combat since 9/11.”

Is there anyone reading this blog that would be willing to look into setting up something similar in Texas? I’d be willing to help, both financially (as much as I can) and in any other role I can fill. I just don’t have the financial, political, or legal experience needed to set something like this up.

No matter how you feel about the ongoing combat in Iraq, I think we all can agree that our service members pay a HUGE price for their service; one that no amount of pay and benefits can come close to equalling. This would give everyone an opportunity to support our troops in a more concrete way than just putting a magnetic yellow ribbon on our cars.

Technorati Tags: military, texas, veterans, war

So, I’ve been thinking some more about it, and I think it might be fun to go downtown (ride a bike or public transit, PLEASE) and watch some of the craziness. The protests look like they’re shaping up to have some pretty high-powered speakers (high-powered in that area, at least), and the straw poll is looking like it’ll be more of a hay ride than anything else.

It’s always fun to point and laugh at the hard-core GOP faithful. Honestly they’re more weird than the freaks you see at the Arts Festival, and usually more hateful, too!

Where would be a good vantage point to enjoy an adult beverage and get an eyeful of these goings-on?

Technorati Tags: fort worth, protests, republicans, straw poll

Even if I didn’t have a dog, I couldn’t imagine doing the things that Michael Vick has admitted he’s done to them by pleading guilty to the charges against him.

Now this representative of the NAACP wants us to forgive Vick for his behaviour and says that he thinks he’s gotten more negative press than he would have gotten had he murdered a person, and that he should be allowed to go back to the NFL and earn millions as if he hadn’t committed this HENIOUS crime.

Here’s the thing: He’s gotten bad publicity about this not because the whole world is full of “dog lovers” (since Mr. White seems to think that only dog lovers could be upset about Vick’s disgusting behaviour), but because he DELIBERATELY victimized another living thing that is weaker than him FOR FUN!!! FOR THE PURPOSES OF HIS OWN SICK ENTERTAINMENT! Trying to spin Michael Vick as the victim in this situation debases everything the NAACP has stood for over the years, as they’ve always worked to protect people who are in a position of weakness, (do I really have to remind people that for a LONG TIME people of color were considered “animals”?) can’t Mr. White and his associates have some sympathy for the animals who were brutally abused and killed for nothing more than entertainment?

Mr. White, dogfighting is different than deer hunting because it pits two animals which have been abused and traumatized in a fight to the death for nothing more than the entertainment of people. I’m not a hunter, and even I know that most hunters not only use what they kill for food, but they also choose more humane methods of killing their prey than slamming them into a concrete floor, strangling them, hanging them, drowning them, or wetting them down and electrocuting them. Providing even an HINT of defense of this kind of action seriously calls into question your ability to see a difference between right and wrong, Mr. White.

Even more troubling and disgusting about Michael Vick’s behaviour is the fact that he obviously found nothing at all wrong with it until he faced jail time and the loss of his exalted status as a star in the NFL. Now he’s all sorry and contrite and you, Mr. White, expect the rest of the world to forgive him “because he’s redeemable?” Deliberately killing animals because they’re not good enough to participate in bloodsport for entertainment is just about the LEAST forgiveable crime I can think of. The only thing I can think of that would be worse would be if it were people instead of dogs.

Michael Vick should have stayed in college so at least he’d have a degree to fall back on when the NFL (or hopefully, the fans) tell him he’s not welcome back.