Right in Dallas

Golden Boy

2009-07-08T17:33:00.007-05:00

Above is a pic of Golden Boy that I took on Monday. Below is a DMN story about Golden Boy's unveiling at AT&T's HQ in downtown Dallas (where I work).

AT&T unveils gilded statue in headquarters lobby in downtown Dallas
Posted:07/08/2009 10:30 AM
By RUDOLPH BUSH / The Dallas Morning News rbush@dallasnews.com

A historic golden statue that stood atop AT&T's New York offices for much of the 20th century was quietly unveiled in the lobby of the company's refurbished downtown Dallas headquarters earlier this week.

The Spirit of Communication, or "Golden Boy" as the statue is better known, measures 28 feet tall and is gilded in thousands of layers of shining gold leaf.

Standing just inside the glass-enclosed lobby at 208 S. Akard St., the bronze sculpture of a man holding crossed lightning bolts in a raised fist seems certain to become an important attraction for Dallas' downtown.

Completed in 1916 by artist Evelyn Beatrice Longman and originally titled Genius of Electricity, the statue was commissioned by AT&T president Theodore Vail and has belonged to the company ever since.

But until Monday, when the company quietly removed construction barriers that had been built around it, the statue hadn't been on public display for years, said AT&T spokeswoman Sarah Andreani.

For 64 years, it stood atop the AT&T building on Broadway in New York. It was removed from that site and displayed in the lobby of a Madison Avenue building until 1992, Andreani said.

Since then, it has been kept at two AT&T facilities in New Jersey.

Andreani said AT&T wanted the statue to be part of its new Dallas headquarters, dubbed Whitacre Tower for former chairman and chief executive Edward Whitacre Jr.

"It's a symbol of one of the world's largest corporations, so we're really excited to have it here," she said.

The company spent months remodeling the lobby with Golden Boy in mind, opening up the building's white marble front with a wall of glass onto AT&T Plaza, a park that fronts the entrance.

Mayor Tom Leppert, who worked to bring AT&T's corporate offices to Dallas from San Antonio last summer, said that the unveiling of the statue shows the company is committed to downtown.

"The historic move of Golden Boy to Dallas is the strongest signal AT&T could send about its future here. The statue is stunning and something that should be on everyone's list of things to see in Dallas," he said in a prepared statement.

John Crawford, president of DowntownDallas, said the statue provides another attraction for visitors to the city's center.

Crawford, who has been involved in an effort to get retail businesses to return in force to downtown, also said he is pleased that AT&T opened a store next to the statue.

AT&T's lobby is open to the public during normal business hours. The statue faces AT&T plaza and stands just inside the lobby entrance between Commerce and Akard streets.

Busy Day

2009-07-06T19:31:00.001-05:00

Glad this day is over. It was super busy at work today!

Back to Work

2009-07-05T22:01:00.004-05:00

It's been a relaxing week and I enjoyed every minute of it! I'm planning to work downtown tomorrow but we'll see how I feel in the morning. I haven't ruled out working from home.

Michael Williams for U.S. Senate

2009-06-30T13:26:00.008-05:00

I strongly and enthusiastically support Michael Williams for U.S. Senate. Michael is running to fill the soon to be vacated seat held by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who plans to run for Texas Governor in 2010. Below is a five - part series that Michael recently posted on his blog. To learn more about Michael's campaign please go to http://www.williamsfortexas.com/

Part 1 - Cap and Trade Blog Series
by Michael Williams
June 22, 2009

Democrats in Congress, joined with the Obama administration, are proceeding along parallel tracks to impose CO2 regulations so sweeping as to become the most expensive and expansive environmental reach of government into the lives of American families, businesses and consumers in history.

In May, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill that is designed to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming. The full House could complete action on the bill within the next two weeks.

This week, Texas and other states will submit comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its preliminary “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public heath and contribute to climate change.

The prospect for cap and trade is less certain in the Senate and the EPA, while poised to finalize its landmark finding, has not done so, yet. If enough Americans band together, we can still protect the American economy, jobs, and incomes from undue and unnecessary CO2 regulations.

Part 2 - The Endangerment Finding
by Michael Williams
June 23, 2009

Earlier today, Texas submitted comments to EPA’s April 17th “endangerment finding” that six greenhouse gases, including C02, cause or contribute to global warming. EPA’s finding was the first official action taken by the federal government to regulate carbon dioxide and could lead to regulations for almost anything that emits carbon dioxide – power plants, refineries, cars, hospitals, schools, restaurants, churches and farms.

In November 2008 we submitted comments to the EPA concerning the economic impact of having EPA bureaucrats micromanage the economy in the name of combating global warming. (I will discuss this in a later post but needless to say, there is significant evidence from people and entities of diverse political persuasions demonstrating the negative impact on GDP, jobs and income of federal GHG regulations.)

The decision to regulate carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases was supposedly supported by “compelling scientific evidence.” EPA administrator Lisa Jackson referred to the “very large and comprehensive base of scientific information that has developed over the years through a global consensus process involving numerous scientists from many countries and representing many disciplines." One problem:

There is no such consensus.

* The assumptions about impact of increased greenhouse gas concentrations on future climate are based on computer models. These models are important research tools. But they cannot and should not be used to predict future climate.

* In an “Open Letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations” (December 13, 2007) 100 prominent scientists noted, “ In stark contrasts to the often repeated assertion that the science of climate change is “settled,” significant new peer-reviewed research has cast even more doubt on the hypothesis of dangerous human-caused global warming.”

* In a 255-page 2009 U.S. Senate Minority Report, more than 700 international scientists, including some current and former UN IPCC scientists who have now rejected the UN IPCC, expressed their skepticism of man-made global warming. Note 700dissenting scientists is more than 13 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the much ballyhooed and often referred to UN report.

* In the Global Warming Petition Project over 31,000 American scientists (9,000 with PhDs,) stated “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.”

* According to many scientists, and a large body of research, such things as the thawing of ice caps, sea-level and global temperature changes, are better explained by the sun’s influence.

Part 3 - "Cap and Trade" 101
by Michael Williams
June 24, 2009

Recently, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee began debating the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill. The tentacles of the massive 900+ page legislation will reach into every aspect of American life and significantly impact our national economic and energy security.

But according to a recent poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, only 24% of Americans correctly identified that cap and trade has something to do with the environment. A slightly higher number (29%) believed the proposal has something to do with regulating Wall Street while 17% thought the term applied to health care reform. A plurality (30%) had no idea.

So what is cap and trade?

The Goal
The goal of this legislation is to reduce U.S. CO2 and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from 2005 levels by 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050. The U.S. emits about 7 billion metric tons of CO2 annually, which includes the carbon dioxide we emit every time we breathe. If CO2 is reduced 83% by 2050, proponents claim it would reduce the earth’s temperature by 0.07 degrees Celsius by 2050.

The Cap
The federal government will set a limit on the amount of CO2 and GHG that each large-scale emitter, e.g. power plants, refineries, industrial facilities can emit. The firm would be required to get an “emissions permit” for every ton of carbon dioxide it releases into the atmosphere. These permits set an enforceable limit, or cap, on the amount of greenhouse gas pollution that the company is allowed to emit. Over time, the limits get stricter, allowing less and less emissions, until the ultimate reduction goal is reached.

The Trade
Some companies will be unable to meet their emissions limits. They would be allowed to purchase allowances from other companies that have more permits than they need to account for the amount they emit. The cost of these credits would be determined by the marketplace

The "Revenue"
In its budget, the Obama administration said it expects a cap and trade system would raise about $646 billion in the eight years to fiscal year 2019. However, a top White House economic adviser has estimated the revenue to be closer to $1.3 trillion to $1.9 trillion between 2012 and 2019.

The Use
The administration has talked about using the “revenue” for any number of purposes: investing in clean energy technologies; helping some large emitters make the transition; pay for health care reform and paying for the Making Work Pay tax credit.

In short, cap and trade is in upwards of $1.9 trillion put into the hands of government to reduce CO2 emissions; but it won’t accomplish even that. Not with China and India continuing to build more coal-fired power plants. It will raise an average family's annual energy bill by $1,500, and destroy 1-3 million jobs per year, over the next 15 years.

Part 4 - All cap and trade programs are not created equal.
by Michael Williams
June 25, 2009

Proponents of Waxman-Markey argue that the CO2 cap and trade bill is similar to the cap and trade program enacted by the Clean Air Act of 1990 (CAA), which reduced the sulfur emissions that cause acid rain.

Not quite.

The sulfur dioxide program initially targeted only 110 coal-fired power plants. It was eventually expanded to 445 power plants. CO2 and GHG are emitted from power plants. They are also released from refineries, industrial plants, planes, trains, automobiles, ships, home furnaces, fertilizer production, farm animals, and millions of other sources, including humans. Most mosquito and insect traps emit CO2.

Waxman-Markey proposes a comprehensive, economy-wide emission regulatory scheme where millions of different and individual sources of emissions come under its purview. That is a far cry from 445 power plants and is another dangerous power grab by the federal government.

Also, many low-cost sulfur dioxide control options existed when the CAA took effect. This is not the case with carbon dioxide control technologies. There are few, if any, control technologies that are commercially available at commercially competitive prices. For instance, in 1990, power generators could reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by using “low-sulfur coal”. There is no “low-carbon dioxide coal” and clean coal with carbon capture and storage, while promising, has yet to be proven.

Energy conservation and efficiency, wind, solar, biomass and other alternative energy technologies will assume an ever-greater portion of our national electricity portfolio. But in the near future, affordable baseload power will be provided by natural gas, clean coal, nuclear, and where available, hydro because those sources are not dependent on weather conditions to generate power.

Wind, solar and other clean, renewable energy sources simply cannot meet our nation’s energy needs today. But we can get there in time. We cannot get there, however, if we continue putting additional financial strains on those who have the technology and the capital to develop these clean technologies.

Part 5 - Getting more expensive to put lipstick on a pig
by Michael Williams
June 26, 2009

NOTE: The U.S. House passed the cap and trade legislation on Friday. It now goes to the U.S. Senate where it is expected to have a difficult road.

Warren Buffett, when talking about the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill, says simply, “It’s a tax”.

Entities as varied as the National Black Chamber of Commerce, The Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation agree cap and trade will reduce national GDP, eliminate jobs and lighten family wallets.

And Texas Comptroller Susan Combs estimates the typical Texas family (3.4 members) could expect to spend up to an additional $1,136 on medicine, food, clothes and other household goods and services over the next year if cap and trade passes. The price of everything from cell phones, diapers, aspirin and lipstick will rise because of increased production costs. As a regressive tax, this will disproportionately affect single moms, the poor and minorities.

As the second most populous state in the union and because of our high energy-intensity, as the energy capital of the country, the comptroller also concludes, “ the current plan to implement mandatory emissions caps will weigh far more on Texas than other regions of the country”.

Take for instance agriculture. Texas is the number three agricultural exporting state in the nation providing jobs to $1.7 million. In 2007 cash receipts from the Texas agriculture industry totaled $19.9 billion creating an impact of $100 billion for the state’s economy.

As proposed, cap and trade could impact more than 3,800 Texas farms, 28,000 beef cattle operations, and 640 dairies. For Texas cotton gins alone, the estimated cost of permitting is pegged at more than $8.5 million for 248 relatively small facilities. CO2 regulations will also increase outlays for all Texas farms, producers and processors for things like equipment installations, irrigation, fertilizer and electricity. The regulations will also have a negative impact on the rural communities in which many of these businesses operate.

The RINO's Must Go!

2009-06-26T20:45:00.005-05:00

To the eight RINO's who joined with the Dems to support the DISASTROUS job-killing, economy-destroying energy TAX today: You will pay for this at the polls! I hope like heck the party runs someone against you in the '10 GOP primaries. We know who you are and I for one will be sending in my $ to your primary opponents.

Nobody who cares about the future of this country could vote in favor of this monstrosity! We expect reckless votes from Dems but there is no excuse for a Republican to join in this madness! Good riddance RINO's - time for you to go!

Kudos to the 44 Dems who did the right thing today and defied Obama, Pelosi & Gore! It shows there are still a few Dems out there who aren't left - wings loonies. Albeit very few.

Bud Light Time

2009-06-26T20:24:00.002-05:00

Tom & I are taking a few days of vacation and have no plans as of yet. We talked quite a bit about traveling but never got around to booking a trip. It now looks like we'll be staying in Big D, which is fine by me. We've both been extremely busy lately and work is starting to take its toll. I think more than anything we just need some R&R, even if it is just hangin' by the pool at home.

I don't drink much, usually just a beer or two on Friday evening after work. I suspect though that I'll be consuming a few more brews than usual over the next several days. I'm sipping a Bud Light now and it sure tastes good! Cheers!

Tom to Lead His Company's United Way Campaign

2009-04-29T21:33:00.006-05:00

I'm so proud of Tommy. Today he met with the CEO of his company so that they could get to know each other and to discuss United Way.

Background: The Executive Leadership Team had decided that Tom would be a good person to lead the company's United Way campaign. The company president called Tom into his office on Monday to find out if he'd be interested. He gave Tom the night to think about it.

As always, I couldn't help but put in my two cents - which was that he should do it. Tom also spoke to his dad who told him the same thing. Well, Tuesday morning Tom informed the company president that he was up for the challenge.

That led to the meeting today with the company CEO. Tom says he thinks things went well and I'm sure that they did. I have so much respect for Tom. He is a super talented manager and I'm sure he will do a great job! He has the leadership skills to excel at any opportunity that comes his way.

Notre Dame Scandal - Press Release

2009-04-29T19:09:00.003-05:00

Today the Cardinal Newman Society issued the below statement:

First 300,000 Petition Signatures Delivered to Notre Dame Board Members, Fr. Jenkins
Copies Are Being Rushed to Rome, Papal Nuncio, USCCB and ND Bishop John D’Arcy

Manassas, Va. – Today, April 29, 2009, the first 300,000 names of individuals who signed the petition at NotreDameScandal.com — opposing the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama at commencement — are being delivered to Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the Board of Trustees and the Board of Fellows as they prepare for scheduled meetings on Friday, May 1, at Notre Dame.

As of this morning, more than 344,000 people have signed the petition, but because of the overwhelming numbers it took The Cardinal Newman Society more than 24 hours to prepare the data and print more than 64,000 sheets of paper, double sided, which were then bound in notebooks and sent via FedEx to Father Jenkins and individual members of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees and Board of Fellows.

Copies of the petitions are also being rushed by The Cardinal Newman Society, which sponsored the petition, to Archbishop Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education; Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican ambassador) to the United States; Francis Cardinal George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Bishop John D’Arcy, of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who presides over Notre Dame; and Bishop Robert McManus, Chairman of the USCCB Education Committee.

“Only the Notre Dame Trustees and Fellows have direct authority over Father Jenkins, so their meetings on Friday are our best hope for an end to this scandal,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society.

“It is critical for all of us to pray that the Trustees and Fellows charged with safeguarding Notre Dame’s Catholic identity will heed the 50 bishops and hundreds of thousands of faithful Catholics urging Notre Dame to withdraw its invitation to President Obama.”

The University of Notre Dame is governed by a 12-member Board of Fellows, including six Holy Cross priests, who are charged with ensuring “that the University maintains its essential character as a Catholic institution of higher learning.” The Fellows delegate most of their governing authority to the 38-member Board of Trustees, comprised mostly of lay people.

The university’s charter states: "The essential character of the University as a Catholic institution of higher learning shall at all times be maintained, it being the stated intention and desire of the present Fellows of the University that the University shall retain in perpetuity its identity as such an institution."

Specter's Exit Long Overdue

2009-04-29T19:05:00.009-05:00

I'm pleased to see that PA Senator Arlen Specter has switched parties. He should feel right at home with the Secular/Socialists (the Democrat Party). Sen. Specter was the poster boy of RINO's. I honestly can't think of one single value that Senator Specter holds in common with conservatives.

I've always known he is far left on social issues - that was a given. However I mistakenly thought that Sen. Specter may still possess some remote sense of fiscal conservatism. So much for that! When he supported the fiscally irresponsible porkulus bill that was a new low - even for him. At that point I knew that we could never count on Sen. Specter to vote responsibly on anything.

Amongst all of the chatter in the liberal media about the Tax Day Tea Parties being Obama bashing events (which they were not), they mostly neglected to mention that a lot of Republicans got called out too. In fact, at the Dallas Tea Party the loudest boos of the evening came at the mention of Senator Specter's name.

Senator Specter had to know how disliked he is within the Republican party. The latest Rasmussen poll had former Rep. Pat Toomey with a 21 point lead over Sen. Specter in the 2010 GOP primary race for U.S. Senate. Clearly Sen. Specter could never win again as a Republican. Now let's hope Sen. Specter's desperate attempt to prolong his disgraceful Senate career as a Secular/Socialist (Democrat) comes up short. Go future Senator Toomey and good riddance Senator Specter!

Update on Notre Dame Scandal

2009-04-27T17:00:00.008-05:00

It's very sad that Rev. Jenkins has made a mockery of Catholic values and brought disgrace upon the University of Notre Dame. I'm so glad that Mary Ann Glendon has refused to participate in this travesty. She is to be commended for her integrity. Below is a news release posted today on the Cardinal Newman Society website:

Mary Ann Glendon Declines ND ‘Laetare Medal’ Due to Selection of Obama as Commencement Speaker

At the news of Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon’s decision to decline the University of Notre Dame’s offer of the prestigious Laetare Medal and a speaking platform on account of the selection of President Obama as commencement speaker, Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick J. Reilly issued the following statement:

“Mary Ann Glendon is one of the most accomplished Catholic and pro-life leaders of our time. In heroic fashion, she has willingly sacrificed an award that she richly deserves, as a casualty of Notre Dame's choice to betray its Catholic mission. We urge Catholics nationwide to continue to pray that Notre Dame will end this scandal.”

Below is the text of the Honorable Mary Ann Glendon’s letter to the president of The University of Notre Dame, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

April 27, 2009
The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
President
University of Notre Dame

Dear Father Jenkins,

When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty.

Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you that I would have to rewrite my speech. Over the ensuing weeks, the task that once seemed so delightful has been complicated by a number of factors.

First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops’ express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and that such persons “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution’s freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.

Then I learned that “talking points” issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:

• “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal.”

• “We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about.”

A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.

Finally, with recent news reports that other Catholic schools are similarly choosing to disregard the bishops’ guidelines, I am concerned that Notre Dame’s example could have an unfortunate ripple effect.

It is with great sadness, therefore, that I have concluded that I cannot accept the Laetare Medal or participate in the May 17 graduation ceremony.

In order to avoid the inevitable speculation about the reasons for my decision, I will release this letter to the press, but I do not plan to make any further comment on the matter at this time.

Yours Very Truly,

Mary Ann Glendon

Mary Ann Glendon is Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. A member of the editorial and advisory board of First Things, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican from 2007 to 2009.

Greinke Does it Again!

2009-04-24T21:34:00.007-05:00

Zack Greinke continues to sparkle! Greinke pitched a three hit complete game and would have had a shutout if it wasn't for an unearned run in the 5th. Zack struck out 10. Grienke is now 4-0 and still has an ERA of 0.00.
Royals 6. Tigers 1. KC is now 9-7 and in sole possession of 1st place - assuming the White Sox, who are behind 12-0, lose.

No Excuse for Perez Hilton's Behavior

2009-04-23T18:10:00.011-05:00

Re: The Perez Hilton vs. Carrie Prejean (Miss California) saga

I strongly condemn Perez Hilton's boorish behavior. Believe me Hilton does not speak for all gays and lesbians. Personally I'm embarrassed by him and gays like him. His hateful rantings are despicable and totally out of line. He owes Miss California a GENUINE apology.

Hilton asked Carrie Prejean a question about gay marriage and she gave an honest answer. Well that was just too much for the bigoted Hilton to take. How dare a contestant in the Miss USA pageant answer a question with integrity rather than political correctness! We can't have that!

Hilton's subsequent personal attacks on Prejean reinforce what I have learned through personal experience and that is this: Some of the most intolerant people around are the same gays and lesbians who are always preaching to others about tolerance. As a gay conservative I know firsthand the abuse that gay liberals will heap on anyone who dares to disagree with them about anything.

As far as gay marriage goes I have mixed feelings, but that is a subject for another post. My point here is that people ought to be able to express their opinion on the issue without worrying about coming under attack.

It especially troubles me that Christians are coming under attack more and more often nowadays. Without doubt, Christians are the most persecuted group of people in America today. The hate and bigotry that secularists like Perez Hilton spew forth daily against people of faith sickens me. The sad reality is that there are a lot of Perez Hiltons out there. God help us!

Royals vs. Rangers

2009-04-19T19:10:00.007-05:00

Texas Rangers 6. Kansas City Royals 5.
Tom and I went to the Rangers/Royals game this afternoon. We had a good time despite the Royals losing. At least when we left, after the Royals batted in the top of the 8th, KC was up 5-2. We listened to the rest of the game on the way home and I'm glad we weren't there. The Royals bullpen had a total meltdown. The Rangers scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th to tie it. Then Michael Young hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th to win it for the Rangers.

We had great seats right behind the 3rd base dugout. Tom didn't care that we were in the sun and got up several times during the game to stand in the shade. I enjoyed the sun very much - my only regret is that I didn't wear sun screen and got a little bit burnt.

As usual there were a lot of Royals fans at the game since there are many Kansas City natives living in Dallas. In the top pic above I'm wearing the free Rangers cap they gave me at the gate (it was Cap Day today) - but my heart is still with the Royals. We usually try to go to see the Royals every time they are in town.

Greinke Pitches a Gem

2009-04-18T21:29:00.017-05:00

Royals 2 Rangers 0
Just finished watching the Royals & Rangers game. My favorite pitcher, Zack Greinke, pitched a complete game shutout. Wow! This would be a great start against anyone but considering all of the bats in the Rangers lineup it is extremely impressive! Greinke now owns the team record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched (34) surpassing Kevin Appier. He is 3-0 and has not allowed a run in 20 innings in 2009. Way to go Zack!

Come and Get Me Janet

2009-04-17T07:15:00.020-05:00

Sure signs you are a potentially dangerous right-wing extremist and will be subject to monitoring by Obama's homeland "security" department:

You believe in God and you live your faith.

You believe that "Thou shalt not kill" means exactly what it says.

You believe charity is defined by what you give of yourself - not by how much you demand others to give of themselves.

You believe in American exceptionalism and that the U.S. has been a force for good in the world.

You believe that freedom isn't free and must be constantly safeguarded.

You believe in peace through strength.

You are a veteran and strong supporter of the U.S. military.

You believe liberty is an inalienable right that cannot be conferred or taken away by government.

You don't believe in a "living" Constitution - nor do you believe in judicial activism.

You believe in the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, the right to keep & bear arms and the rest of the Bill Of Rights.

You judge people by the content of their character - not by the color of their skin.

You trust your friends and neighbors more than you trust government.

You believe that capitalism beats all the other "isms".

You believe that we are Taxed Enough Already.

You work and pay your own way in life and expect others to do the same.

You believe in personal responsibility and that rewarding bad behavior just encourages more bad behavior.

You believe it is quite reasonable to question the "science" of global warming.

You believe in protecting our borders.

Dallas Tea Party

2009-04-15T21:10:00.010-05:00

I just arrived home from the Dallas Tea Party and am fired up! Tonight was about sending a message to politicians at every level of government - this reckless spending has got to stop! We are sick and tired of a government which takes us for granted. It is high time that politicians pay attention to the PRODUCERS instead of the parasites who freeload off of us.

A couple of the speakers tonight referenced John Galt. Who is John Galt? He was the hero in Ayn Rand's classic "Atlas Shrugged." I've read this book twice and believe it should be required reading for every high school student. Galt and the other producers withdrew from the world to let the looters fend for themselves. You can probably guess how that turned out.

Conservative radio celebrity Mark Davis emceed the Dallas Tea Party and did a fantastic job. We got a nice surprise when Michelle Malkin called Mark on his wireless. He put Michelle on speakerphone up close to his mike and she spoke to the crowd for a few minutes. I just love Michelle!

My office is just a block away from City Hall where the Tea Party was held so it was very convenient for me to walk over to the event after work. I had only intended to stay for about an hour but once in the company of so many other patriotic God-fearing Americans I didn't want to leave. I ended up staying until 8pm and then walked back to my office building to grab my briefcase before catching the train home.

Thousands show up for Dallas 'tea party'; Texas Gov. Rick Perry riles Austin
06:56 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 15, 2009
By WAYNE SLATER and DAVE LEVINTHAL/ The Dallas Morning News

Police estimated several thousand people attended the Dallas tea party event, which kicked off shortly after 6 p.m. Protesters waved yellow “don’t tread on me” flags and a variety of colorful signs alternately decrying taxes, panning a federal economic stimulus package, chiding President Barack Obama as a socialist/communist and announcing Christ has risen.

Becky Hanshaw, a pink papier machie pig hat atop her head, said she drove 10 hours from McAllen to attend the rally because “it’s time to stop the craziness.” “I work too hard to give my money away,” said Hanshaw, a dental hygienist by trade. “This is a message to both parties, because I don’t believe the Republican party is conservative enough.”

In Austin earlier today, Gov. Rick Perry told an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday the federal government is "rampaging through the halls of Congress" with big-spending programs and only states' rights can stop it. "We will not stand our pockets being picked, our children's future being mortgaged, our rights being taken away," the Republican governor told a cheering crowd of 1,000 people outside Austin City Hall.

Perry dismissed characterizations that those attending Wednesday's "tea party" rallies in Texas and around the country are "a bunch of right-wing extremists." "But if you are, I'm with you," he said.

During the speech, people waved "Don't Tread on Me" flags and signs lampooning the Obama administration's economic stimulus efforts. Some shouted, "Secede!"

Among the signs: "Obama. Liar in Chief" and "I'll Keep My Guns and Money. You Can Keep the Change."

Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Party Day

2009-04-15T06:56:00.000-05:00

Today Americans all over the country will be attending tea parties as a peaceful show of protest at all of the socialist spending taking place in Washington DC. Hopefully this signals the resurgence of the conservative movement to take back America from the radicals.

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!

2009-04-15T06:47:00.005-05:00

Lead Story on Drudge Report

WAKE UP CALL: TEXAS GOV. BACKS RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY
Tue Apr 14 2009 08:44:54 ET

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Perry continued: "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas."

A number of recent federal proposals are not within the scope of the federal government’s constitutionally designated powers and impede the states’ right to govern themselves. HCR 50 affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.

It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

Developing...

A Look Back at the Past Week

2009-04-12T20:24:00.005-05:00

Highlights and lowlights:
- Great news! Daddy's surgery on Tuesday was successful - they were able to remove the rest of the tumor.
- My sister Lori was hospitalized on Tuesday with an infection in her leg. She was released from the hospital on Friday but will need to remain on antibiotics for awhile longer.
- Mother hasn't had any headaches in the past week. She had banged her head pretty bad about three weeks ago. The doctor did a brain scan and all looked fine. The doctor had told mother the headaches would probably last about two weeks. Thankfully it looks like they have gone away.
- I had a follow up doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Doctor says the tendinitis in my right arm is much better. I was given the OK to resume light upper body workouts! I worked my triceps tonight for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks. Although I used light weight I did a lot more reps. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow!
- AT&T and CWA still haven't reached agreement on a new labor contract but the union is continuing to work under the old contract.
- Tommy had the day off on Good Friday. I was supposed to have a full day of vacation but had a lot of work that I had to get done so I ended up working Friday morning and taking 1/2 day vacation. It was another very busy week for me at work.
- We spent the weekend in Goldthwaite. Left Dallas at 1pm on Friday and got back home at about 1:30 this afternoon. Last night we went to Jessica's (Tom's niece) birthday party at Kay and Mark's house. We had a nice visit to G'waite - it was great spending time with Tom's family.
- The Kansas City Royals are 3-3 after the first week of the season. We lost our season opener on Tuesday in Chicago but came back and beat the White Sox on Wednesday and Thursday to take the series. We then hosted the Yankees for a weekend series. New York won the first two games but the Royals avoided the sweep by winning today. Not a bad first week. I'm predicting that the Royals will win 85 games this season. The Royals have some great young arms so I'm confident we can do it!

Start of Baseball Season

2009-04-05T21:21:00.006-05:00

The beginning of baseball season is one of my favorite times of year. Maybe it's the feeling that spring really is here. Or maybe its the anticipation of what the new season will bring for my favorite team - the Kansas City Royals. I don't know but I always get jazzed.

The Royals were supposed to open their season in Chicago tomorrow against the White Sox; however I just found out that the opener was postponed until Tuesday due to weather. Bummer.

As I say every year - THIS could be the season the Royals win it all. You never know. That is what is so exciting about it.

AT&T Bargaining Update

2009-04-05T21:10:00.003-05:00

Below is a public statement released today by AT&T. Going into the new week, I'm just going to focus on doing my job and try not to let the ongoing negotiations be a distraction.

Negotiations continue, AT&T announces highlights of proposals to CWA
April 5 – Today AT&T Inc. and Communications Workers of America (CWA) continued to meet and negotiate toward new agreements for 80,500 Core wireline employees. The current agreements expired at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, April 4.

In the Southeast, where the contract does not expire until August 8, both parties have agreed to stop negotiations and reconvene this summer – as they would have under normal circumstances. These 32,000 union-represented employees are no longer part of the current negotiations.

AT&T’s wireline business is declining (20 percent of consumer access lines lost in the past 3 years), yet it is the part of the business where union employees have the richest health care benefits. Union-represented Core wireline employees pay similar amounts for their health care as union workers at the Big 3 automakers pay – and it’s clear what those sorts of unsustainable costs have done to America’s auto industry. These employees also pay significantly lower than what other AT&T employees pay, including those covered by other CWA contracts.

In a time when other employers are totally abandoning health care benefits – as well as pensions and wage increases – AT&T takes pride in being able to continue to provide good jobs with good wages and benefits that among the best in the nation to all of its employees. To that end, here is a general summary of the present proposals made by AT&T:

• Health care plans that keep Core wireline bargained-for employees with lower health care costs than AT&T management, other recently negotiated CWA agreements, competitors and well below the national average – remaining one the of most robust health care plans in the nation. Some elements of the plans include:
o Employee heath care costs pegged to wages, so that those who earn less, pay less for deductibles
o Full company-funded coverage of all preventative care, including annual physicals, mammograms, well-baby care, and immunizations
• Wage increases for all years of the agreement, through a combination of wage progression, raises and lump sum payments – at a time when many U.S. employers are either asking for wage concessions or freezing wages
• Upgrades for premises technicians – including additional wage increases beyond those outlined above and, where needed, conversion of employees from temporary to regular status
• Increase in pension contributions every year of the agreement and continuation of the 401k plan with generous company match, even as employers are decreasing or eliminating this benefit

It is important to note that the highlights above are what the company has proposed and is not an all-inclusive list. All items are still on the table and pending negotiation by the Company and the union.

The Company stands ready to negotiate with the CWA at any time in a continuing effort to reach an agreement.

2009-04-05T08:55:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was another busy day.

Tom and I had breakfast at Kel's and then ran errands. Among our many stops: Target, Tiffany's at the Galleria (to pick up my necklace that was being repaired), car wash, SuperCuts & the dry cleaners. By the time we got home, Casey (our housekeeper) was there getting things back to normal.

UPDATE: Rob finished painting on Friday, except for the inside front door and some minor touch-up. The new paint job looks fantastic! I must say that Tom did a great job picking out the colors! He truly is VERY good at that kind of thing, although he doesn't think so.

We then took an afternoon drive to locate the call center that I would have to work in should there be a work stoppage at my company. Since I'm not very good at directions (even with my navigator) I wanted to make a test run.

It was a beautiful 80 degree day in Dallas so when we got home from our drive I sat by the pool (in a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts) to read, relax and soak up some rays! I needed some downtime after the extremely busy week I had at work.

After a late afternoon nap, it was time to go to a spring party at Ranil & Craig's house. Ranil and Craig are good friends that we met through LCR. They had Uncle Julio's cater the food (fajitas) which was a nice treat since that is one of our favorite places to eat! We had fun and saw a lot of friends, but left the party early (around 9:30pm).

With a potential work stoppage looming I didn't want to stay out too late - this worked out fine since Tom really doesn't likes to stay out past 9:30pm anyway! As each time zone reached the 11:59pm expiration of the company/union contract I received text updates. Good news on that front: although a settlement has not been reached, talks are continuing WITHOUT a work stoppage - see below AP article for the latest.

AT&T and union talks continue past deadline
By JOSHUA FREED

AT&T and unions for its landline workers were working past a strike deadline Sunday to try to reach agreement on a new contract.

Core wireline contracts across the country expired at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, but union-represented employees covered by those contracts continued to work under the old agreements, according to a statement issued by AT&T.

Issues such as employment security and health care have yet to be resolved, but union members will report to work, "although that can change at any time," the Communications Workers of America said on its Web site Sunday.

The union said several of its districts have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing AT&T of refusing to provide information necessary to resolve outstanding issues.

"The CWA bargaining teams are very frustrated by AT&T's slow pace in negotiations," union spokeswoman Candice Johnson said late Saturday.

AT&T spokesman Walt Sharp said the NLRB charges are "very common" during negotiations and that AT&T stands ready to negotiate at any time to reach an agreement.

AT&T is the most heavily unionized company in the U.S., with either 112,500 CWA workers (according to the company) or 125,000 (according to the union).

The company has said a strike won't disrupt phone service because managers and contractors can keep the operation running. When this batch of contracts expired five years ago, workers struck for four days before reaching an agreement.

One key issue is the Dallas-based company's attempt to have workers and retirees pay more of the costs of their health care. The company has said it spends $5.5 billion per year to subsidize health care for 1.2 million people, including workers, retirees, and dependents.

The company said other remaining issues include wages, pensions, and work rules.

Contracts for workers in five units were each expiring at 11:59 p.m. local time in their region. Each region was bargaining separately. That means some could make a deal while others strike, Johnson said.

The units include a national group as well as workers in the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West. The talks were taking place in New Haven, Conn.; Oakton, Va.; the Chicago area; Austin, Texas; and San Francisco.

An update posted Saturday by the unit that covers Midwestern workers said the company was offering "modest wage increases that would likely have our standard of living move backward over the life of the contract." AT&T also wants to reduce the value of lump-sum pension payments and eliminate the pension for new workers, the union said.

AT&T "told us that the benefits/pension proposal was a 'final offer.' They are either not serious about the word 'final' or not serious about getting a contract," the union wrote.

Workers in the Southeast, who were bargaining in Atlanta, agreed to stop negotiations and reconvene this summer. Their contract doesn't expire until August so they can't strike at midnight, the company said.

The employees covered by the expiring contracts work for the part of the company that is shrinking. AT&T's traditional wired phone business fell 3.3 percent to $17.1 billion last year, while wireless revenue grew 13 percent to $12.9 billion as customers continued to defect to cable phone services or dropped their landlines in favor of mobile phones.

AT&T earned a $12.9 billion profit for the year, up from $12 billion in 2007. Its fourth-quarter profit fell 24 percent from the prior year, though, paradoxically because of its success in selling more of Apple's iPhones than expected. AT&T subsidizes the upfront expense of the iPhone, aiming to make the money back over the two-year service contract.

Iowa and gay marriage

2009-04-05T08:40:00.006-05:00

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday paved the way for gay marriage in that state. I have very mixed feelings about this decision. On the one hand I'm glad that gays have scored a victory in our fight for equality. With Iowa being a neighbor to my home state (Missouri) this really hits close to home. I never thought that this day would come in the heartland of America. Perhaps Tom and I will plan a trip to IA???

On the other hand I truly wish this victory would have come at the ballot box instead of the courts. Fundamentally I have genuine concerns about judges making law whether I agree with their decision or not. The biggest part of me just thinks that it is not their proper constitutional role.

Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman
By JEFF ECKHOFF and GRANT SCHULTE • gschulte@dmreg.com • April 3, 2009

Basic fairness and constitutional equal protection were the linchpins of Friday’s historic Iowa Supreme Court ruling that overturned a 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage and puts Iowa squarely in the center of the nation’s debate over gay rights.

The unanimous, 69-page decision maintains a church’s right to decide who can be married under its roof, but it runs counter to the expressed opinion of a majority of Iowans who believe marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman.

The landmark ruling is guaranteed to send shock waves through politics in Iowa and beyond. With no appeal as an option, opponents say their only hope to overturn Friday’s decision is an almost-certain bid to amend the state constitution. But that path, which would eventually require a public vote, would not yield results until 2012 at the earliest.

Enactment of an amendment requires approval by consecutive General Assemblies of the Legislature — a General Assembly lasts two years — and a vote of the people.

In the meantime, Iowa remains one of three states in the nation, and the only state in the Midwest, where gays and lesbians can legally marry. The ruling takes effect April 24. Iowa has no residency requirement for marriage licenses, which virtually assures a rush of applications from out-of-state visitors. The ruling opens the marital door to an estimated 5,800 gay couples in Iowa.

The Rev. Mark Stringer said he cried when he learned of Friday’s decision. Stringer performed the only legal same-sex marriage in Iowa when he officiated a 2007 ceremony in the brief window between a Polk County judge’s ruling and the subsequent court-ordered delay so the Supreme Court could weigh in.

“It’s really an astounding moment under our history,” Stringer said. “What really excites me is that Iowa is the first in our area of the country. We are being a leader in civil rights, which will be part of our state’s history.”

Friday’s decision stemmed from a 2005 lawsuit filed by six gay and lesbian couples who were denied marriage licenses by the Polk County recorder’s office. The seven justices affirmed Polk County Judge Robert Hanson’s ruling that Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriages treated gay and lesbian couples unequally under the law.

“We are firmly convinced that the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective,” the court said in an opinion written by Justice Mark Cady. “The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification.”

The ruling appeared to dismiss the option of civil unions as a marriage alternative, finding that “a new distinction based on sexual orientation would be equally suspect and difficult to square with the fundamental principles of equal protection embodied in our constitution.”

Friday’s decision also addressed what it called the “religious undercurrent propelling the same-sex marriage debate” and said judges must remain outside the fray.

“Our constitution does not permit any branch of government to resolve these types of religious debates and entrusts to courts the task of ensuring that government avoids them,” Cady wrote.

“This approach does not disrespect or denigrate the religious views of many Iowans who may strongly believe in marriage as a dual-gender union, but considers, as we must, only the constitutional rights of all people, as expressed by the promise of equal protection for all.”

The Polk County lawsuit, Varnum vs. Brien, was financed by Lambda Legal, a gay-rights group that has fought similar battles across the country.

“We won! It is unanimous!” Lambda attorney Camilla Taylor exclaimed when the decision was announced. “Today the dream becomes reality … and the Iowa Constitution’s promise of equality is fulfilled. Iowans have never waited for others to do the right thing. ”

Lambda chose Iowa because of the fair-mindedness of residents and the courts, leaders of the group have said.

But Iowa also offered several strategic advantages, according to Drake University law professor Mark Kende, who described the ruling as “very well reasoned” and predicted it will have national, possibly international, influence.

“There’s a perception of Iowa as a fair, reasonable and decent place,” Kende said. “We’re not perceived as being overly Republican or overly Democrat.”

The decision could create new, interstate legal battles, he said, when couples who flock to Iowa to marry might not have their vows recognized in other states that prohibit same-sex marriage.

Opponents, some of whom showed up outside the judicial building early Friday to await the ruling, hung their hopes on a constitutional challenge that legislative leaders said earlier this week was a long shot.

Lawyers said Lambda’s decision to sue based solely on state constitutional claims means the case was guaranteed to end in Iowa, away from a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

Polk County authorities acknowledged Friday that they have no plans to ask for a review by the state high court. An appeal to federal court is not an option, since the Iowa Supreme Court is the final word on matters of Iowa law.

Public opinion is a different matter. A February 2008 Iowa Poll conducted by The Des Moines Register showed that most Iowans believed marriage involves one man and one woman. However, the poll also showed that a majority of Iowa adults supported civil unions that would grant benefits to gay couples similar to those offered to married heterosexuals.

For several Iowa couples, Friday’s victory sparked movement on long-held plans. Kate and Trish Varnum, two of the lawsuit plaintiffs, announced their engagement at a news conference.

“Good morning,” Kate Varnum said. “I’d like to introduce you to my fiancee. Today, I am proud to be a lifelong Iowan.”

Several blocks away, Diane Thacker’s eyes filled with tears when the ruling was read to a crowd that had gathered outside the Iowa Judicial Building.

“Sadness,” she whispered. “But I’m prayerful and hope that God’s word will stand.”
Thacker said she joined a group of gay-marriage opponents “because I believe in the marriage vow. I can’t see it any other way.”

Friday’s decision is expected to take formal effect when the Supreme Court issues a legal order to carry out the ruling in three weeks.

National interest in the decision is believed to be at least partly responsible for the 1.5 million people who deluged the Iowa Supreme Court’s Web site before 11 a.m. Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton on gay civil rights, said that the ruling could mean as much to gay couples outside Iowa as in.

“I think it’s significant, because Iowa is considered a Midwest state in the mainstream of American thought,” Socarides said . “Unlike states on the coasts, there’s nothing more American than Iowa. As they say during the presidential caucuses, 'As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.’”

Others saw it differently.

• Doug Napier, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund in Arizona, said the Iowa Supreme Court “stepped out of its proper role in interpreting the law.”
The 1998 Defense of Marriage Act “was simple, it was settled, and overwhelmingly supported by Iowans,” Napier said. “There was simply no legitimate reason for the court to redefine marriage.”

• Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, a New Jersey group, said, “Once again, the most undemocratic branch of government is being used to advance an agenda the majority of Americans reject.”

• Bishop Richard Pates of the Des Moines Diocese urged “the voice of the Iowa people to rise in support of a constitutional amendment which clearly upholds the definition of marriage. We will then join the deafening chorus of citizens in every state, 30 to date, who have voted to preserve civil marriage as it has been recognized and defined since the beginning of recorded history for the benefit of marriage, families, children and the common good.”

Obama at Notre Dame

2009-04-05T07:54:00.014-05:00

When I first heard that Notre Dame had invited BHO to be its commencement speaker and that they planned to confer on him an honorary law degree I thought it was a cruel joke. Certainly the premier Catholic university in America would do no such thing. BHO has been nothing less than hostile to the Catholic faith (really to believers of all faiths). I soon learned that sadly this was no joke - ND really did do the unthinkable!

I sent an email to "Reverend" Jenkins, the President of Notre Dame, expressing my strong disapproval and signed the petition at http://notredamescandal.com/ which has over 240,000 signatures and counting! I also joined the "Notre Dame Scandal" FaceBook group.

We have got to stop this mockery of the Catholic faith! Ken Connor's article today helps explain: http://townhall.com/columnists/KenConnor/2009/04/05/obamamania_infects_notre_dame

2009-04-02T20:59:00.005-05:00

Not much to write about tonight. I caught the 8:08am train which got me into the office at 8:45am.

There were very strong winds downtown this afternoon - over 50mph. My friend Greg and I took a break and walked down the street to 7-11. On our way we got caught in a wind tunnel and just about got blown over! It was difficult to stay standing!

As usual we left the office just after 4:30pm to catch the train. I got home at around 5:20pm and worked until 9pm (except for a 1/2 hour dinner break when Tom and I went to Taco Cabana). I'm now thoroughly exhausted and ready to just veg until bedtime.

Good news on the home paint job! It looks great and Rob plans to be mostly done tomorrow except for a bit of trim - which he'll finish up on Monday.

2009-04-01T20:20:00.004-05:00

Another 12 hour work day. I was supposed to have an LCR board meeting tonight but unfortunately I had to miss it because I was working late - again! I'm finally relaxing in front of the TV watching the American Idol results show.

The front of the home looks like a tornado blew threw - everything is stacked up in the center of the living room. It looks like Rob is doing a very nice job painting but man, I sure will be glad when he is finished so we can get our home back to normal.

That's it for tonight. I'm going to do a bit of exercise and then ice my arm. Oh yea, I have bad tendinitis in both arms (especially the right one). I went to the doctor a week ago today. Doctor's orders: no upper-body workouts for at least the next two weeks. Pills. Ice arm for 20 minutes every evening.

On a final note: today was April Fools Day. As I was working in the study this evening Tom came running in from outside hollering that there was a dead dog floating in our pool. Fool that I am, I jumped up and followed him outside - only to be told "April's Fools". I admit, Tom did get me!

A Bird Without Wings - Celtic Thunder

2009-03-31T21:11:00.000-05:00

My favorite song - this kid is incredible!

2009-03-31T19:22:00.005-05:00

Another busy day! I worked from home again today so that I could get an extra two hours of work in (my commute downtown is one hour each way). Work done, I've now settled in to watch American Idol.

For the next two weeks we'll be having some inside painting done (mainly in the color Golden Biscuit). The painters, a gay couple we know, started this morning. Tim and Rob will be painting the living room, kitchen and den.

Needless to say the front of the house is more or less off-limits right now as everything is in boxes. Fortunately Casey, our housekeeper, came over on Sunday evening and packed everything up for us! Thank goodness for Casey - neither Tom nor I wanted to mess with it! I tried to stay in the study (out of the way) as much as possible today but I did go outside with Rusty a few times to get some fresh air.

Tom has a list of home projects that he has been wanting to get done but I've been resistant until recently. I had a change of heart and have let Tom know that I'm OK with one home project per quarter. The painting will count as a 1Q project (barely). Now we just have to decide what is next on the list for 2Q. Decisions,decisions!

2009-03-30T20:56:00.003-05:00

Update on Daddy. He had a consultation with the doctor today in Temple. The doctor gave Daddy two options: a) begin chemotherapy immediately or b) schedule surgery to try to remove remainder of tumor. Daddy opted for the surgery, which will be 4/7. Due to the tumor's proximity to the brain and spinal cord, it's very serious. We're praying for you Daddy.

Today was a very long day. I worked VO (from home) and began around 8am. It is now 9pm and I just wrapped up work for the day. We are facing a potential work stoppage on Sunday evening (4/4/09) when the company/union contract expires. This is the main reason I had to work late. I've received a barrage of work requests recently as everyone is trying to get as much done as possible this week - just in case. I expect to continue to be extremely busy all week.

BTW, as a management employee I would be expected to report to work in one of our call centers - in the event of a work stoppage.

2009-03-29T18:53:00.009-05:00

Tom and I slept in until after 7 this morning. I think we both needed the extra sleep. Yesterday we drove to Goldthwaite (G'waite) to see Tom's family. We had a nice visit but I think it wore us out. We refer to some of our trips to G'waite as the 3-3-3 (3 hours down, 3 hours there, 3 hours back). This was a 3-3-3 trip.

I wish we would have been able to spend more time in G'waite yesterday, especially after the news we got on Thursday evening. Daddy, Tom's dad, was supposed to have "routine" surgery on Thursday to remove a tumor on the back of his neck, near the top of the spine. The tumor however turned out to be much larger than the doctor anticipated. Not only that but it was cancerous and the doctor was only able to remove part of it. Daddy will have to go to the hospital in Temple this week to have the rest of it removed.

At first Tom and I took the news hard on Thursday evening but then we both decided to remain upbeat and try not to worry too much unnecessarily - especially since there is still much we don't know. We called and spoke to Daddy Thursday evening and he seemed in good spirits, which was comforting.

A bit about "Daddy" (as he is affectionately known by everyone in the family): Daddy is truly one of the kindest and most caring men I have ever known.

I'll never forgot how nervous I was 11 years when I was on my way to G'waite for the first time. Golthwaite is a small town of about 2,000 people located three hours SW of Dallas. Although Tom and I had shared quite a bit about our families, and he had described his hometown, I still had no idea what to expect. All my nervousness though was gone in the first minute upon meeting his family. They all, especially his dad, made me feel so welcome! Daddy is so down to earth and has such a pleasant disposition that one can't help but feel relaxed around him.

Fast forward nine years to the death of my father. In the days and weeks after my father's death, Daddy, being the compassionate man he is, called me frequently to see how I was doing. That is just the way he is. I'll always be grateful for the care he showed me in what was the most difficult time of my life.

While we are optimistic that his surgery will go well, Daddy is top of mind in our thoughts and prayers right now.

NOW I'll turn the lights out

2009-03-28T21:38:00.007-05:00

It is 9:38pm CT and the lights at our home are just now going out.

In response to the silly "Earth Hour" nonsense, I made my own statement tonight. During the 8:30-9:30pm time frame, we had most every light in the house on, as well as the washer and dryer, pool light, TVs, computers, cell phone charger, etc.

Take that you America hating socialists with your diabolical "climate change" plan to take down America!

My Apologies in Advance to PA

2009-01-18T14:03:00.006-06:00

Update: It is now halftime and the Arizona Cardinals are leading 24-6. However as the 1st half went along I found myself starting to switch sides. Now with the game about to enter the third quarter I'm actually pulling for the Cardinals to hang on and win. Go figure.

The NFL conference championship games are getting ready to kick off. First up is the NFC championship between the Eagles and Cardinals. I'm pulling for the Eagles. Then comes the AFC game featuring the Steelers and Ravens. I'm pulling for the Steelers.

Since most big games lately have turned out the opposite of the way I wanted, my apologies in advance to the Eagles and Steelers. Hopefully you will win today in spite of me!

Trying to recover from flu

2009-01-18T13:49:00.007-06:00

Man I hope that I'm not having a relapse!

Yesterday I felt pretty good for the first time since Monday. I thought that the misery I'd experienced over the past week was behind me. I seemed to be getting my strength back. Fever had broken. Nose had stop running. Cough had subsided. No more aches and pains. All was retuning to normal.

Then today - bam! Back to not feeling good.

Times like this make me really appreciate good health. It reminds me how we should never take our health for granted.

Happy New Years 2009

2009-01-01T08:03:00.002-06:00

Happy New Years!

Tom and I stayed in last night. We were invited to a New Years Eve party in Richardson (suburb north of Dallas) but declined, choosing to spend the evening at home instead. Tom prepared a nice dinner and mixed us a couple of cocktails. It was a low key but pleasant evening.

As usual I fell asleep well before midnight. Tom woke me up at 11pm Dallas time so that I could see NY kick in the New Year. He might have woke me again at midnight Dallas time. I honestly don't remember.

Tom is still in bed. He is suffering another one of his migraines this morning - and no, not from drinking! I feel so sorry for him and wish there was something that I could do for him. He says all he needs is peace and quiet so I've just left him alone and tried to be as silent as possible.

I woke up at my usual time this morning (5:15am) and have gone through my normal morning ritual. Today however is a holy day of obligation so I need to be hitting the shower. Mass starts at 9am.

When I get home from mass, we'll be taking down the Christmas tree and putting away all of the decorations. Tom wants to get this over with so that we can enjoy the next few days (both of us are off work until Monday) without this project hanging over our heads. Makes sense to me!

KC Chiefs - A Fresh Start in '09

2008-12-31T20:13:00.008-06:00

On Sept 14th, I posted the following:

"It's long past time that the Kansas City Chiefs bring the long nightmare of the Carl Peterson era to a close. The Chiefs suffered an embarrassing 23-8 butt-kicking against a sub-par Raiders team today. This should be the final nail in Carl's coffin. What was once a proud franchise is now a complete joke. Change is way past due. Fire Carl and do it now!"

On Dec 15th, I finally got my wish. Carl is gone! Yeah!

I'm excited that the Chiefs will have a new GM in 2009. Here is hoping that our long playoff drought will soon end. Go Chiefs!

I'm back

2008-12-31T18:47:00.005-06:00

I'm back. Except for a short post last week, I have been silent on this blog for the past two months. So why did I go dark? Let me explain:

About two weeks before the November elections, I stopped following the news. The liberal bias was just more than I could handle. In fact, it was darn right nauseating.

I had a bad feeling that the election would turn out the way it did and therefore occupied my mind with other things. That is my way of coping. It has taken me two months and quite frankly I'm still not over it. I just can't believe my fellow Americans elected such an evil man. Obama's election as president is truly a low point for America.

Life goes on though.

Tom, my partner, recently started his own blog (see "Tom's blog" under my Favorite Links) and he has been encouraging me to begin posting again on mine. With Tom's prodding, I'm back.

That said, I've decided to take this blog in a new direction. I plan to post less about politics and more on other interests. Stay tuned.

Madoff - another crooked DEMOCRAT

2008-12-22T10:20:00.004-06:00

Well what do you know? Turns out that Bernard Madoff, one of the biggest crooks of all time, contributes mostly to liberal Democrats. He has given three separate $25K contributions to the DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE since 2006. It kills me that this isn't being reported by the MSM. How can anyone deny that the media has a liberal bias? If Madoff were a Republican donor the MSM would make this their top story.
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=10022&last=MADOFF&first=BERNARD

Of course, Fox News is on top of it - as always: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/15/madoff-hefty-political-contributions-politicians/

Photos from Lubbock, TX

2008-10-13T20:45:00.004-05:00

NRCC video "What Just Happened?"

2008-10-04T21:56:00.002-05:00

Another must see video

2008-09-30T19:13:00.001-05:00

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

2008-09-28T16:09:00.000-05:00

Fannie & Freddie

2008-09-22T12:40:00.002-05:00

Great article that appeared on bloomberg.com today.
To read "How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis" by Kevin Hassett go to
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

Another good column

2008-09-19T15:48:00.003-05:00

Michael Reagan's column also correctly assigns the blame for the mortgage mess where it belongs - with liberal Democrats.

http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan/2008/09/18/pinning_the_tail_on_the_donkey

Neal Boortz column

2008-09-19T15:48:00.001-05:00

Neal Boortz has a great column today on Townhall.com.
http://townhall.com/columnists/NealBoortz/2008/09/19/the_rest_of_the_meltdown_story

Fire Carl

2008-09-14T15:08:00.003-05:00

It's long past time that the Kansas City Chiefs bring the long nightmare of the Carl Peterson era to a close. The Chiefs suffered an embarrassing 23-8 butt-kicking against a sub-par Raiders team today. This should be the final nail in Carl's coffin. What was once a proud franchise is now a complete joke. Change is way past due. Fire Carl and do it now!

The Difference a Day Makes

2008-09-14T14:55:00.007-05:00

Today is a beautiful day in Dallas - mostly sunny, few clouds, temps in the upper 80's. What a difference a day makes!

Notre Dame 35 Michigan 17

2008-09-13T17:53:00.003-05:00

Now this is more like it! The 2-0 Fighting Irish looked like their old selves today with a nice win over Michigan. Is this the start of an Irish resurgence?

Dear Mr. Obama

2008-09-13T17:44:00.003-05:00

This is a must-see video. I heard the audio yesterday on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Hats off to this young man - a true American hero!

Mizzou rules!

2008-09-13T16:35:00.003-05:00

The Missouri Tigers rolled past Nevada today 69-17. I don't get to watch too many Mizzou games here in Dallas but luckily this one was televised and I saw most of it. The Tigers were very impressive once again! Go Mizzou!

Winds picking up

2008-09-13T14:41:00.009-05:00

Fortunately it appears that Dallas will be spared from the heavy winds and rain caused by Hurricane Ike. The winds have picked up here with gusts at 33 mph, but that is nothing like the 60mph wind gusts in Tyler, which is just east of Dallas. It's been raining fairly steady in Dallas for most of the day. Ugh!

Ike's rain reaches Dallas

2008-09-13T11:03:00.006-05:00

Hurricane Ike's rains have reached Dallas. I just shot this video of our backyard/pool area. Observations at this point: Sky is very cloudy. Rain is moderate to heavy. Not much wind - yet. Hint: Pause the music playing on my site before playing video - then you can hear the rain!

Dems running scared

2008-09-12T16:40:00.011-05:00

Now that the wheels are coming off of the Obama campaign, other Dems are running scared.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c2f69ce-8031-11dd-99a9-000077b07658.html

Happy Birthday Tommy

2008-09-12T09:38:00.007-05:00

Pic of Tom taken recently in San Francisco

Happy Birthday to my L-P-B-S!
I had made plans for us to celebrate Tom's birthday in Austin or Houston this weekend. We scrapped those plans though due to hurricane Ike, which is expected to hit southeast Texas later tonight. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who are in the path of Ike. Anyway it looks like we'll be spending Tom's birthday weekend in Big D - away from the storm.

Flashback: Seven years ago we spent Tom's birthday in St. Louis, where I was living at the time. Tom had a ticket to fly to St. Louis on 9/12/01 but his flight, along with all others, was cancelled due to the savage terrorist attacks the day before. Instead, he got in his car and made the ten hour drive from Dallas to St. Louis, arriving into town that evening. I can't remember much of what we did during Tom's stay other than watch TV coverage of 9/11. That was all most everyone, including us, could think about.

McCain Now in the Lead!

2008-09-08T07:34:00.004-05:00

The latest Gallup daily tracking poll shows that John McCain now leads Barack Obama 48 percent to 45 percent among registered voters. Now, this is more like it! America is finally waking up!

McCain's mother

2008-09-05T08:10:00.005-05:00

I don't know about you but I couldn't get over how great John McCain's mother Roberta looks for her age. Mrs. McCain looks better at the age of 96 than most 80 year olds do.

This should help John McCain with the so called age issue in his campaign. Last night millions of Americans got to see firsthand how strong and clear-headed Roberta McCain is. Hell, John is still a baby compared to her.

If longeivity is mostly genetic, then John McCain inherited a great set of genes - and at 72 he is still a spring chicken!

Strong Women

2008-09-05T08:05:00.004-05:00

For the past several years, liberals have falsely claimed that the real reason why men don't like Hillary Clinton is that we are intimidated by a strong woman. This of course is nonsense.

As I have stated repeatedly, most men have no general problem with strong women. We just have problems with this particular women, Hillary Clinton. It's Hillary's lack of ethics and her socialist tendencies that we deplore. We would feel the exact same about her if she were a man.

Furthermore, one of my favorite world leaders was Margaret Thatcher. Was not "Iron Lady" Thatcher the epitome of a strong woman?

Now along comes Sarah Palin. Who can deny that she too is one strong woman? Yet, surprise, surprise! I, along with millions of other men, have total respect and admiration for Gov. Palin.

So much for being afraid of a strong woman!

Barack who?

2008-09-04T08:10:00.020-05:00

GO SARAH! WOW! That was one heck of an acceptance speech that Sarah Palin delivered last night. She hit it out of the park! Our soon to be VP dazzled me with her strength and poise. Sarah Palin represents the future of our grand old party. When it comes to hope and change, Barack Obama & his same ol' same 'ol Chicago - style machine politics can't hold a candle to Sarah!

A few of the highlights of her speech:

First - her joke: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

Gov. Palin commenting on her family: "...And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.

That's how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

And children with special needs inspire a special love."

Gov. Palin comparing her experience as mayor with Obama's experience as a community organizer: "Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."

Gov. Palin taking Obama to task over his derisive comments about small town Americans: "I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

Gov. Palin assailing the Washington elites: "And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion -- I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people."

Gov. Palin discussing her record of fiscal responsibility: "While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef -- although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending -- by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest -- and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.

Our state budget is under control.

We have a surplus.

And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes."

Gov. Palin demonstrating that she gets it when discussing energy: "When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil.

With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.

And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that already.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all."

Gov. Palin uncloaking the real Obama: "This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot -- what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit."

Gov. Palin talking about change: "In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

Gov. Palin closing the sale: "If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.

Thank you all, and may God bless America."

Rudy's speech

2008-09-04T07:56:00.016-05:00

I thoroughly enjoyed Rudy Giuliani's speech at the Republican National Convention! A few of the highlights:

Rudy taking a jab at the media and Hollywood: "We, the people, the citizens of the United States, get to decide our next president, not the left-wing media, not Hollywood celebrities, not anyone else but the people of America."

Rudy, after going through John McCain's impressive resume, compares it to Obama's: "...then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn't make a decision. He couldn't figure out whether to vote “yes” or “no.” It was too tough. He voted — he voted “present.”

I didn’t know about this vote “present” when I was mayor of New York City. Sarah Palin didn’t have this vote “present” when she was mayor or governor. You don’t get “present.” It doesn’t work in an executive job. For president of the United States, it’s not good enough to be present.

You have to make a decision."

Rudy making the point that Obama is not ready to be Commander-in-Chief, while John McCain is: "And, yes, being president means being able to answer that call at 3:00 in the morning. And that’s the one time we agree with Hillary.

But I bet you never thought Hillary would get applause at this convention. She can be right. Well, no one can look at John McCain and say that he’s not ready to be commander-in-chief. He is. He’s ready."

Rudy, after stating that John McCain favors the "All of Above" energy strategy, responds to the crowd: "Drill, baby, drill? Drill, baby, drill."

Rudy comparing how John McCain and Barack Obama responded to the Georgia crisis: "When Russia rolled over Georgia, John McCain immediately established a very strong, informed position that let the world know how he’ll respond as president at exactly the right time. Remember his words? Remember what John McCain said? “We are all Georgians.”

Obama’s — talk about judgment. Let’s look at what Obama did. Obama’s first instinct was to create a moral equivalency, suggesting that both sides were equally responsible, the same moral equivalency that he’s displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel.

Later — later, after discussing this with his 300 foreign policy advisers, he changed his position, and he suggested the United Nations Security Council could find a solution.

Apparently, none of his 300 foreign policy security advisers told him that Russia has a veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

By the way, this was about three days later. So — so he changed his position again, and he put out a statement exactly like the statement of John McCain’s three days earlier.

I have some advice for Senator Obama: Next time, call John McCain."

Rudy highlighting Obama's antipathy for small town America: "I’m sorry — I’m sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn’t cosmopolitan enough.

I’m sorry, Barack, that it’s not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there."

Rudy on Sarah Palin's experience: "Well — well, the first day — as far as I’m concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than — than Obama and Biden combined."

Rudy chastising the left-wing media for their blatant sexism: "And how — how dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president. How dare they do that.

When do they ever ask a man that question? When?"

The Fairmont San Francisco

2008-09-04T07:47:00.029-05:00

Top pic - outside of hotel showing our corner suite
Second pic - the bedroom in our suite
Third pic - outside entrance at night
Bottom pic - me in the hotel lobby

I must say, Tom sure does know how to spoil me! We were quite impressed with the Fairmont San Francisco during our recent stay. The Fairmont is in a fanstastic location atop Knob Hill. Both the living room and bedroom were huge. The best part about the suite was that, with two full bathrooms, we each got one of our own! This old hotel has quite a history. Here are a few tidbits from the Fairmont website at http://www.fairmont.com/sanfrancisco:

...Kings, Queens, Presidents and all who visited were entranced by their surroundings.

...and The Fairmont was once again the place to see and be seen. Meanwhile, The Fairmont had made news with its role as the venue for the meetings of the United Nations. Once again, history was being made in a big way. To this day, the plaque commemorating the drafting of the Charter for the United Nations can be seen outside the Garden Room on the lobby level while the country flags of the original signatories fly proudly above the porte cochere

...As the San Francisco residence for every U.S. president since William Howard Taft, The Fairmont garnered a reputation for world-class hospitality.

Media bias

2008-09-03T07:19:00.008-05:00

It's a given that the mainstream media has a liberal bias but this is getting ridiculous. The way the New York Trash & the rest of the left - wing media is attacking Sarah Palin says more about them than it does her. Sarah Palin is the kooky left's worst nightmare and they will stoop at nothing to destroy her.

While there has been a media feeding frenzy attacking Governor Palin, the media remains silent about Barak Obama's close relations with domestic terrorist William Ayers. More tough questions have been asked of Governer Palin in the last week than have been asked of Obama in the 1 1/2 years that he has been running for president.

Fred Rocks!

2008-09-03T07:10:00.009-05:00

Fred Thompson delivered a passionate speech last night at the Republican convention. I supported Fred during the GOP primary and was disappointed that his campaign never really took off. During the primary Fred just didn't seem to show much passion...but he sure did last night!

Fred was right on target when he described the kind of character needed in our leaders, "This is the kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of history have sought in their leaders. Strength. Courage. Humility. Wisdom. Duty. Honor." John McCain possesses all of these traits to a much greater extent than Obama.

Fred, referring to John McCain, noted, "It's pretty clear there are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, "Who is this man?" and "Can we trust this man with the presidency?" Since Obama has been given a complete pass by the media, we still don't know who he is after 19 months of campaigning!

Another money quote was when Fred discussed the historic nature of the Obama campaign, "History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history." The Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid led Congress has the lowest approval rating ever - so I'm glad that Fred alluded to this fact!

Finally, Fred was right on the money when describing the Dem's tax plan, "Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they are not going to tax your family. No, they're just going to tax "businesses!" So unless you buy something from "business," like groceries or clothes or gasoline ... or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small "business," don't worry ... it's not going to affect you. They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the "other" side of the bucket! That's their idea of tax reform."

Tonight should be another great night of speeches!

San Francisco - Sat 8/30/08

2008-08-31T09:27:00.013-05:00

On Saturday, Ed, a hometown friend of Tom's, took the train into SF from his home near Lake Tahoe. Ed met us at our hotel and came upstairs to our room for a nice visit.

Then the three of us caught a cab to North Beach, aka "Little Italy" and had lunch at one of the many Italian cafes. After lunch we walked through Chinatown, which is adjacent to North Beach. From there we took a cab to Union Square because Ed wanted to pick something up at Gump's. What a kewl store!

We then took yet another taxi - this one to Haight Ashbury. The Haight district is a counter-cultural wasteland populated mostly by hippies and punks. It was quite a shock to my conservative sensibilities! We popped in and out of several shops. I didn't make any purchases but Tom and Ed both did. From the Haight we headed back to the hotel where we said goodbye to Ed.

On Thursday I had spotted an In-N-Out Burger along Fisherman's Wharf and had been craving an In-N-Out burger ever since. I had eaten at In-N-Out many times before on previous vists to California. As luck would have it, Tom and I wanted to have a low key dinner on Saturday night so we took a cab to Fisherman's Wharf where I got my In-N-Out fix! Yeah! Fisherman's Wharf was super crowded. I couldn't believe how many people were out walking around.

Top pic is Tom and Ed in the Haight-Ashbury district.
Middle pic is me, Tom and Ed in cab on way back to hotel.
Bottom pic is me - taken on roof garden of our hotel after we returned from dinner.

Tribute to Del Martin

2008-08-30T07:54:00.008-05:00

The GLBT community lost a pioneer on Wednesday with the death of lesbian activist Del Martin. I'm sure my politics are quite different than hers; nonetheless, the fact that Del & wife Phyllis Lyon, were together for nearly 60 years is an accomplishment worthy of respect. The top pic is a rainbow flag flying in the Castro district - note it is flying at half mast. The bottom pic is a makeshift memorial set up for her in the heart of the Castro.

San Francisco - Fri 8/29/08

2008-08-29T23:10:00.030-05:00

Today we took the muni (light rail) to the Castro, which is the largest gay district in San Francisco. The Castro spans for several blocks and has both a commercial district and residential area. We enjoyed strolling through the Castro and browsing in the shops. The place we ate at for lunch was great for people watching since it was on a bustling corner, but the food was rather forgettable.

On our way back from the Castro, we accidentally got off the muni at Civic Center which meant we had to walk an extra six blocks to the hotel - gee thanks Tom! LOL. Pic one was taken on Market St. between Civic Center and Union Square. Before heading to the hotel we hung out for a while in Union Square & took some pics.

For dinner we took a cab to the ocean and ate at Sutro's at the Cliff House, which is another of the restaurants that my boss recommended. Sutro's has floor to ceiling windows facing the ocean, offering spectacular views! Unfortunately it was a foggy evening which reduced the visibility. Delicious food combined with the perfect ambiance made for a memorable evening nonetheless! The bottom pic is at the Cliff House.

Pics from SF - Thurs 8/28/08

2008-08-29T10:18:00.022-05:00

Top pic is at Twin Peaks. Bottom two pics are at the Golden Gate Bridge. More San Fransicso pics on Flickr.com.

Well, wouldn't ya know? Tom & I almost always fly either American Airlines or Southwest Airlines, but since it seems like AA is always running late we decided to give another airline a chance. We chose to fly United Airlines to San Francisco. I guess we should have stuck with AA - our United flight was delayed 3 hours on Wednesday night. We finally got into SF at 1am SF time (3am Dallas time).

By the time we arrived at our hotel (the Fairmont on Knob Hill) they didn't have any more rooms available in the tower. The hotel clerk apologized and upgraded us to a super large suite (the Danzig Suite) so everything worked out fine.

Thursday morning we walked down to Union Square for a little shopping/browsing. Of course, Tom felt right at home amongst Neiman Marcus, Saks & Brooks Brothers. Then we spent most of the afternoon on a tourist bus, which took us all over the city. It was fun and informative.

For dinner, we took a taxi to Absinthe, a restaurant that my boss had recommended. It's located in the Civic Center area. The food was superb - and the cocktails were darn good too!

It's Palin!

2008-08-29T09:53:00.012-05:00

Two thumbs up on John McCain's choice of running mate. Sarah Palin solidifies the Republican ticket & will make a great VP!

Barack the Barbarian - Killer Issue Not Going Away

2008-08-19T21:05:00.002-05:00

It should now be obvious to all that Barak Obama is a heartless barbarian. His support of infanticide is going to be the KILLER issue in this campaign - and it should be. Obama's campaign is toast. No moral person is going to vote for a man who thinks killing live babies is a-ok.

Here are three more articles that discuss Obama's extremist support of infanticide and how he continues to LIE through his teeth about it.

1. http://townhall.com/columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2008/08/18/obama_calls_pro-lifers_liars

2. http://townhall.com/columnists/RichLowry/2008/08/18/barack_obama_-_abortion_extremist

3. http://townhall.com/columnists/KathrynJeanLopez/2008/08/18/dems_will_never_abort_pro-choice_mission

Barack the Barbarian - More

2008-08-17T18:37:00.001-05:00

http://townhall.com/columnists/GuyBenson/2008/08/17/obamas_infanticide_disgrace

Happy 10th Birthday Rusty!

2008-08-16T10:56:00.012-05:00

Happy Birthday to my itty bitty baby kitty who turned ten on Friday 8/15/08. It's hard to believe that Rusty is already ten years old. He was just six weeks old when I got him. I can still remember the day as if it was yesterday.

I had been wanting a kitten for some time so one Saturday afternoon my friends Mike & Karen took me to look around for one. Rusty was the first kitten that we saw that day. He was the last of six in his litter to be adopted and I could immediately see why - the little dummy was asleep in his litter box! I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and think that nobody is going to want such a dumb kitten.

When I held him though I felt an immediate bond. He was very affectionate and was starving for attention. We left the store without him however because I wanted to look at other kittens before making up my mind. We went on to three more places and saw several other kittens. The whole while though I couldn't get Rusty out of my mind. I knew I had to go back for him.

My baby has been with me ever since and we have lived in three different cities together. Rusty truly turned out to be a diamond in the rough. The people who passed over him have no idea what they missed out on!

Pics taken 8/17/08.

More on Barack the Barbarian's Strong Support of Infanticide

2008-08-12T21:37:00.006-05:00

Here are two more articles about Obama's enthusiastic support of infanticide.

http://townhall.com/columnists/PatrickJBuchanan/2008/08/12/a_catholic_case_against_barack

http://townhall.com/columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2008/08/12/obama_lied_about_abortion_record

Dallas Heat Wave

2008-08-04T06:54:00.009-05:00

Update 3: Finally - relief! Wednesday's (8/6/08) high temp was just 95 degrees. We even got a touch of rain which provided much needed relief!

Update 2: Tuesday's high temp was 102 - the 12th consecutive day over 100 and 26th of the year.

Update: The high temp on Monday was 105 degrees, the 11th consecutive day over 100 and 25th of 2008.

The temperature reached 107 degrees in Dallas on Sunday. This marked the 10th consecutive day & the 24th day in 2008 that the mercury has reached 100 degrees. The forecast calls for a high of 107 again today. I love hot weather but this is even too hot for me. Not only is it scorching hot but we have had very little rain - just 1.65 inches in the June/July timeframe.

Barack the Barbarian

2008-08-03T19:19:00.045-05:00

It bewilders me that so many people can't see Obama for the cruel and heartless barbarian that he is. Obama's opposition to the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act should horrify anyone who possesses a sense of decency. Certainly nobody with a conscience can vote for Barack Obama. I realize that most of Obama's supporters are non-Christians but come on now.

Even the overwhelming majority of pro-abortionists draw the line at killing a LIVE baby - but not Obama. Seriously, how much more wicked can a person be than to favor murdering innocent LIVE babies? I don't know what is more frightening - that Obama thinks it is ok to kill LIVE babies or that millions of Americans don't seem to care.

Read Jill Stanek's article titled "Why Jesus would not vote for Barack Obama" which can be found at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51121

McCain's "Celeb" ad

2008-08-03T16:02:00.009-05:00

John McCain's "Celeb" ad is spot on. Obama may be a celebrity but if that is the only qualification to be leader of the free world, we may as well elect Paris Hilton as she would be just as qualified as Obama.

Sadly, one of the worst traits of young people today is their narcissism. McCain can actually benefit from the desperate need that the younger generation has to feel respected. Here's how:

McCain (without saying so) has cleverly exposed Obama's supporters as the mindless groupies that they are...and nobody wants to be thought the fool. It is a fact though that most young Obamaniacs cannot articulate an intelligent response when questioned about why they support Obama for President of the United States.

This ad forces them to do that. As they struggle to come up with an answer, young people may finally start to learn about the real Obama. That will be Obama's undoing. It's just not possible that normal young people will support Obama once they truly get to know him. Of course, Obama will still have the support of the kooky left fringe but thankfully that is a small number of voters.

Vote Republican & Stop Paying the The Pelosi Premium! PLAY VIDEO

2008-08-01T21:19:00.007-05:00

Happy Independence Day

2008-07-04T08:48:00.009-05:00

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The Pelosi Premium

2008-07-04T08:43:00.038-05:00

Americans are paying the price for electing Democrats in 2006. Here is what the Pelosi Premium is costing us at the pump:

National Average Gasoline prices*
11/7/06 Election day 2006: $2.19
1/4/07 Nancy Pelosi sworn in as speaker: $2.30
7/4/08 Today: $4.10

*Energy Information Administration estimates

4/18/06. Nancy Pelosi commenting on $70 oil: "...The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has passed two energy bills, costing taxpayers $12 billion for giveaways to big oil companies. But the Republican bills clearly have done nothing to lower gas prices, as the price of a barrel of oil has settled above $70 a barrel – the highest price in our history. Even the Chairman of the Federal Reserve agrees that gas prices are decreasing the purchasing power of American families and depressing the U.S. economy.

“Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices, taking America in a new direction that works for everyone, not just the few. Our plan would empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gouging to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices, increase production of alternative fuels, and rescind the billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, tax breaks, and royalty relief given to big oil and gas companies.”

1/4/07. Nancy Pelosi sworn in as speaker - oil at $58.35.

7/4/08. After 1 1/2 years of Nancy Pelosi leading House - oil at $145.29.

The price of gas at the pump & the cost of a barrel of oil have both skyrocketed on Madame Pelosi's watch. The Democrats' lack of a practical energy policy has had disastrous consequences for America. Republicans need to pound this message home every single day between now and November. This is a winning issue for us!

Tired of Paying the Pelosi Premium?

Vote Republican!

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. Sign the petition at: http://www.americansolutions.com/actioncenter/petitions/?Guid=54ec6e43-75a8-445b-aa7b-346a1e096659

iPhone 3G

2008-07-02T21:32:00.004-05:00

9 days until the iPhone 3G goes on sale. Let the countdown begin!

I've never gotten excited over a phone before but this one is going to be incredible. I can't wait until 7/11/08!

Check it out at: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iPhone.jsp?rel=nofollow&wtSlotClick=1-0014ZE-1-1

A Poem from my Mother

2008-07-01T18:59:00.005-05:00

My mother recently shared a poem that she wrote for me when I was a little boy. I'll always cherish it. With her permission, here it is:

My Little Man

When God gave you to us, my little man, our hearts were full of joy.
We felt so lucky to have such a wonderful baby boy.

First you started to walk, then to talk, and soon before we knew,
our little man was counting to ten, so many things you could do.

For Christmas you got a wooden board with pegs of red and yellow.
You sat patiently filling every hole, such a determined little fellow.

I remember the day you sat on the bed with me as I mended clothes.
You took a button out of my my sewing box and stuck it up your nose.

There are so many memories of you that cause your Daddy & me to smile.
But to list every one of them would certainly take awhile.

Time has a way of flying by so I'll cherish each day that I can.
For no matter how old you grow up to be, you will always be my little man.

Obama, Typical Politician - only worse!

2008-06-28T18:37:00.024-05:00

Barak Obama is looking more and more like the typical politician in that "Mr. Change You Can Believe In" has broken yet another campaign pledge. Obama's latest is his recent decision to forgo public financing.

It should now be obvious that Obama is not who he claims to be. Uniter - get out of here. Above politics - no way. Barak Obama will say or do whatever is necessary to advance his extremist agenda - even going so far as to throw grandma under the bus!

Obama is actually worse than the typical politician. He is by far the most extreme major party candidate in my lifetime. Obama's uber-liberal voting record should speak for itself. However since the media is in the tank for him, Obama's extremism has yet to become much of a campaign issue.

It is also fair to say - based upon the company he keeps - that Obama is one of the most divisive candidates to ever seek the Oval Office. Obama's close company has included two anti-American racist pastors as well as several known terrorists. It's comical that the left thinks that someone like this is going to unite America. Not gonna happen.

The real Obama: 1) breaks promises 2) is an extremist 3) is divisive. Let's pray that between now and November Americans wake up and see this guy for who he really is.

AT&T HQ Moving to Dallas

2008-06-28T17:05:00.008-05:00

AT&T announced yesterday that it's moving corporate headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas. The move has apparently been in the works for a number of months but was kept under close wraps.

There are four AT&T skyscrapers adjacent to one another in downtown Dallas. I'm located in One AT&T Plaza which is the largest of the four. Soon the CEO & many of AT&T's other top executives will be moving into my building. This is rather exciting!

It's been quite a ride throughout my 21 years with AT&T. I'm proud to work for such a legendary company and am thrilled that AT&T is as strong as ever. AT&T faces a bright future and now I'll get to experience it up close!

Press release:

AT&T corporate headquarters to move to Dallas
We're announcing this afternoon the move of AT&T's corporate headquarters to Dallas to gain better access to our customers and operations throughout the world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources we'll need as we continue to grow, domestically and internationally.

The move will begin in the coming weeks and is expected to be complete by around year end. It will involve about 700 of our nearly 6,000 San Antonio-based employees. The company's Telecom Operations group will remain in San Antonio.

"We're a growing global company with customers and operations around the world," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. "After much study and consideration, we determined the benefits of being headquartered in Dallas are significant for our long-term growth prospects and human resources needs, and our ability to operate more efficiently, better serve customers and expand the business in the future. It's a decision we believe will benefit AT&T employees, customers and shareowners for years to come."

The vast majority of employees will be notified no later than July 3 if their job is moving to Dallas. Soon after that, affected employees will be provided with more information about when their group will move, relocation assistance, job search assistance for spouses, a special relocation website, and other details to help you and your family move.

"I know from experience that moving is never easy, but we're committed to make it as smooth as possible for employees and their families," said Stephenson. Plans are to locate corporate headquarters' employees in our existing One AT&T Plaza (208 S. Akard) in downtown Dallas, though we will continue to evaluate our long-term real estate needs in the Dallas area.

Moving to Dallas puts our corporate headquarters near many of our key technology suppliers and other telecom companies who have major operations in Dallas, such as Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Nokia, Nortel, RIM and Samsung. The Dallas area is home to one of the country's largest communities of telecom companies, nearly 1,300 strong with 45,000 employees.

Air travel to and from Dallas will be more convenient, time efficient and cost effective. The DFW airport is the 3rd largest in the U.S. and one of the top six in the world, offering daily non-stop service to 35 international and 133 U.S. destinations. Additionally, Dallas enjoys a second major airport; Love Field — the 50th largest U.S. airport (San Antonio ranks 47th) — offers more than 160 non-stop flights daily.

Being headquartered near leading air transportation facilities is critical to global companies like AT&T as the airline industry continues to consolidate and reduce hubs and flights amid higher fuel prices and industry economic pressures. With better access to significantly more commercial flights — both domestically and internationally — the company will be able to sell some of its corporate aircraft, the proceeds of which are expected to more than pay for the move.

AT&T — recently ranked 10th among Fortune 500 companies — is a dramatically different company today than when it relocated corporate headquarters from St. Louis to San Antonio in 1992. At that time, the former Southwestern Bell had 60,000 employees, 11 million customers, $9.3 billion in revenues and operated primarily in five states. Today, AT&T has nearly 310,000 employees worldwide, more than 100 million customers, $119 billion in annual revenues and operates in all 50 U.S. states and 160 countries.

Good Larry Elder column

2008-06-27T15:28:00.017-05:00

Larry Elder makes some great points in his column today at:
http://townhall.com/Columnists/LarryElder/2008/06/26/how_can_a_fellow_black_republican_oppose_obama

Money quote: "Compassion is not about making people dependent on government. Compassion is about encouraging personal responsibility, and getting people to understand that life is about making choices."

2nd Amendment Rights Preserved - barely

2008-06-27T15:28:00.015-05:00

Yesterday the Supreme Court affirmed by a 5-4 margin that Americans have an individual 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Duh!

This SCOTUS case is a prime example of why elections matter. The four liberals on the court naturally voted to take our 2nd Amendment right away from us. One more liberal on the court would have tipped the vote in their favor. Had either Al Gore or John Kerry been elected president in '00 or '04 respectively, we no doubt would have lost one of the rights guaranteed us in the Bill of Rights.

This is precisely why we must elect John McCain. True, John McCain is not an ideal candidate. However we must be pragmatic and consider the alternative. Does anyone really think that Barak Obama's Supreme Court Justice nominees will be any less extreme than he is? Keep in mind that despite what he is saying now, Obama supported the D.C. gun ban - the most draconian anti-constitutional ban in the country.

This should be a wake up call to America of just how perilous our rights really are. Our fundamental 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms rested in the hands of Anthony Kennedy for goodness sake. If that isn't enough to frighten all moderates and conservatives into rallying around John McCain, then we are in deep trouble.

Texas GOP Convention - Day Three (6/14/08)

2008-06-22T17:43:00.008-05:00

CD Caucus meetings reconvened at 8am. Many thanks to District 32 U.S. Rep Pete Sessions & his staff for providing us with coffee and breakfast tacos! The business of today's caucus was electing:

2 Delegates to the Republican National Convention
2 Alternates
1 Presidential Elector
RNC National Committeeman
RNC National Committeewoman

The surprise (a pleasant one) was that in the vote for RNC National Committeewoman, Bora Van Dormolen edged Cathie Adams 66-64. Although Ms. Adams would go on to win the state-wide election later in the day, it is telling that we (her home district) voted against her. It's just too bad that the rest of the state doesn't yet know how divisive Ms. Adams is. Unfortunately Ms. Adams promised that if elected she'd work to shape the National Republican platform after the Texas one. That's a scary thought!

The caucus meetings adjourned at about noon, which gave me just enough time to rush over to the hotel and (barely) meet their strict 12:30pm check out time. Because I was anxious to get home, I skipped the afternoon General Session and hit the road to Big D.

Texas GOP Convention - Day Two (6/13/08)

2008-06-22T14:18:00.036-05:00

The first order of business today was Senate District Caucus meetings, scheduled from 9am - 11am. Unfortunately I had some work to do from my hotel room so missed the SD16 Caucus meeting. I showed up at the LCR hotel suite at about 11:30am and ran into my friends Ranil & Craig. We were all hungry so decided to go grab a bite.

On our way out, we noticed that Newt Gingrich had just arrived at the convention center and was walking our way. We decided to stick around for a few minutes to see if we could get closer to him. Newt proceeded to take a seat behind a table that had been set up for him & he began to sign copies of his latest book - see top pic above. It was amazing the crowd that swarmed around him. Newt still has rock star appeal among the party faithful - including me! We took a few pics of Newt but it was hard to get too close because it was an absolute mob scene!

Craig drove us to a Greek restaurant where we enjoyed a nice lunch. We got back to the convention center just in time for the start of the Second General Session at 1pm. The speakers today were fantastic! Newt kicked things off with a great speech focused on how we need to DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS! An aside: if you haven't already signed his petition please do so right away. Other speakers were:

- Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Senator
- Hon. John Cornyn, U.S. Senator
- Hon. Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas
- Hon. Jerry Patterson, TX Land Commissioner

We then got down to business with the reports of the permanent committees (Credentials, Organization, Nominating, Rules, & Platform). This part of the afternoon seemed to drag on. The platform changes were approved all at once without much drama. I cast a symbolic "Nay" vote since LCR's resolution to remove anti-gay language from the platform wasn't even considered by the state platform committee.

Immediately after the General Session, we proceeded to CD Caucus meetings. Our CD32 meeting of ~ 150 people seemed quite cozy compared to the General Sessions of ~ 10,000. The CD Caucus meetings were the last "official" business of the day. Then it was off to dinner.

The GOP Dinner was supposed to start at 7pm but was delayed to 7:30pm since the General Session ran longer than scheduled. However, this still didn't give us enough time to go back to our rooms to change clothes so we went as is - much more casual than planned. The keynote dinner speaker was the Honorable Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts & former presidential candidate. Mitt gave an inspiring speech & encouraged everyone to support our nominee - John McCain.

After dinner, it was time to party! Rob, David, Ranil, Craig and I stopped into Borah Van Dormolen's party. Borah was one of the two candidates running for Republican National Committee (RNC) National Committeewoman. Most everyone I know was supporting Borah since she is conservative yet appears to be much more inclusive than her opponent.

Ranil, Craig and I then headed down the hall to the Lone Star Salute Party honoring the Republican State Senators - see bottom pic above. This party was a blast! They had an open bar so we consumed a few adult beverages. They also had a live band. It was an honor to meet Lt. Governor David Dewhurst at the party and get my picture taken with him - see middle pic above.

Thus concluded a VERY long day! Day Three to follow.

Father's Day 2008

2008-06-15T21:03:00.009-05:00

This is the second Father's Day since my dad's death. I think about my dad every single day and know that I always will. As I was thinking about Dad today I wanted to write something about him on my blog but just couldn't find the right words to express what I'm feeling. So instead, I'm posting the eulogy that I gave at Dad's funeral. Happy Father's Day Dad. I love you.

Eulogy
I'd like to share a few things about my father but first please allow me to read a short poem that my father's sister Betty shared with me. The poem was written in 1996 by Dad's cousin Peggy Nash Galbreath and is titled “We'll meet tomorrow”

Although it isn't easy to release our loved ones to eternal peace
We trust their soul to the Father's care and know that eternity one day we'll share.
A good-bye kiss when they depart, memories are left within our heart.
Their spirit released. free as a dove; in perfect bliss, now one with love.
The ending of pain - fear, grief and sorrow, in that better place where we'll meet . . .
tomorrow.

My father was a family man and my mother, Pat, was his first and only love. He was a faithful and devoted husband to her. Dad had unconditional love for each of his children and grand-children and wanted nothing more than to see to it that we were happy. He celebrated our successes but even more important he always seemed to know exactly when we needed an encouraging word.

My father never gave up on any of us no matter how many times we erred. He believed in each us – even when we had doubts about ourselves. He wanted each of his children and grandchildren to meet their full potential and was always there to help us through any challenges we faced along the way.

My father was man of deep faith. He was active here at St. Ann's and truly loved being an usher. He was very passionate about his Catholic faith and was never shy about sharing it with others – but always in a non-threatening way. My father considered himself a behind a scenes kind of guy. He was never one who liked to be in the limelight. He just looked around for things that needed to be done and did them without seeking credit.

My father had a BIG BIG heart. He was the most caring and compassionate man I've even known. He did many kinds deeds, often for strangers - and usually always with little or no fanfare.

My parents both grew up going to Saint Ann's. Mother shared with me that her and Dad saw each other for the first time right here in this church. Mother and Dad were married at St Ann's 49 years ago. In fact, they would have been married 50 years this September. Although they moved around a lot throughout the years and attended many different parishes they came back home to Saint Ann's about fifteen years ago.

Many of you here know that my dad was a huge Notre Dame football fan. On Saturday afternoons during football season Dad would start getting himself ready for the game about an hour before kickoff. He had to have his chair positioned just right, his cup filled up and there on the table in front of him, the ringer on the phone turned down so it wouldn't ring during the game, but most important he had to get into the right mental frame of mind. Dad was convinced that we could affect the outcome of the game if we all channeled positive thoughts – which he referred to as cosmic rays. We learned at a young age not to talk about other things or say anything negative about the Irish during the game. My brother Steve and I have always been avid Notre Dame fans. We kid with each other that there was no way you could grow up in our father's household and not be an Irish fan.

Baseball was another of my father's passions. He enjoyed listening to the Royals every evening on his transistor radio. He played baseball throughout his younger years. He also played for the Knights of Columbus fast pitch softball team and was quite a third baseman.

My father had a great sense of humor. He always tried to make people laugh. My sister Lori shared with me that no matter how down she felt Dad always had the ability to cheer her up and make her laugh. My sister Suzy shared with me that the week before he passed away - when he saw her sad - he cracked a joke to cheer her up.

Dad liked to play around and sing in a Tiny Tim voice just to be funny. One day a friend was over at the house and Dad started singing in that awful falsetto voice. I was outside and didn't even realize what Dad was doing. About a week later, my friend asked me if my Dad sang out loud at mass. I said why do you ask? He said “well no offense but while you were outside the other day your Dad started singing and I have to say he has the worst singing voice I ever heard.” I immediately burst out laughing and explained that that wasn't his real singing voice. I still chuckle when I think of how my friend thought that he really sang that bad. Dad got a kick out of it too.

Dad was known for being quite a talker. He could go on for hours about any subject if given a chance. He found it difficult to answer a yes or no question without going into great detail. He was also very outgoing and had the ability to engage total strangers in conversation. He had a number of friends and he valued each of one of them in his own special way.

My father was always thinking of others and their well being. My Uncle Augie would usually drive my father out to the cancer center and sit with him while he received his chemotherapy. Dad noticed that a lot of the patients that would sit alongside him receiving treatment looked unhappy. One day in the car on the way to the treatment center, Dad told Augie “Our mission is to cheer the patients and nurses up.” And they proceeded to do just that.

I can honestly say that my father was my hero. He has always been an inspiration to me - but especially towards the end of his life when he faced tough challenges yet kept up his cheerfulness and positive attitude.

My father was also my best friend and confidant. If I ever had a problem or needed advice I knew that I could talk to him and he would understand. Although sometimes he would tell me something I didn't want to hear, I trusted his judgment and knew that he always had my best interest at heart.

Dad taught me many valuable life lessons and I'd like to mention just a few. One, he demonstrated by example to give of yourself freely without expecting to receive anything in return. Second, he used to always remind me not to take things too seriously – he believed that if you always try to do the right thing, things would have a way of working themselves out. Third, he taught me that the best things in life really are free. Although he didn't have a lot of material possessions, I believe that my father considered himself truly blessed since he was filled with faith and was surrounded by family and friends who loved him.

In closing - Dad - I just want to say thanks for always loving me, believing in me and being the best Dad a son could ever have. I love you very much and am proud to be your son. I'll miss our nightly chats but I know that you will always be with me in spirit. May you rest in peace with God.

My father's grandson, Thomas, would now like to say a few words about his grandfather.

Texas GOP convention - Day One (6/12/08)

2008-06-15T18:33:00.013-05:00

As previously mentioned on this blog, I attended the Texas GOP state convention Thurs (6/12/08) - Sat (6/14/08). I drove from Dallas to Houston on Wednesday night & arrived at my hotel just after midnight. Needless to say, by the time I unpacked, I was exhausted & ready for bed!

The first General Session session didn't get under way until noon on Thursday but Log Cabin Republicans had work to do before then. We arrived at the convention center at 9am to distribute invitational fliers to the Big Tent Pizza Party we hosted that evening. We placed fliers on over 7,000 seats out on the convention floor! Our task completed, we sat back and enjoyed the first day of speeches. The speakers list was mainly comprised of our statewide office-holders including:

- Hon. Rick Perry, Governor
- Hon. Susan Combs, Commissioner of Agriculture
- Hon. Michael Williams, Chairman, Railroad Commission
- Hon. Greg Abbott, Attorney General
- Hon. David Dewhurst, Lieutenant Governor
- Hon. Tom Craddick, Speaker of the House

I enjoyed all of the speakers, especially Governor Perry and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams.

The highlight of the day though was our Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) Big Tent Pizza Party! Over 500 fellow Republicans visited us in our suite Thursday evening. We served our guests pizza & drinks while educating them about LCR. A local pizza joint delivered pizzas for us as fast as they could make them. Still, the line to get into our suite snaked all the way down a very long haul and around the corner. Someone commented that this was likely the most Republicans who have ever attended a gay-hosted party. I don't doubt that it was!

Despite the wait (as much as 45 minutes) to get in, most everyone was grateful for our hospitality. A countless number expressed support for LCR, which was a real boost for the club! It's humbling to know that so many people - straight and gay - stand with us & I never take that support for granted!

Summary of Day Two to follow.

DAVID COOK ROCKS!

2008-05-21T21:52:00.003-05:00

Congratulations David Cook! I'm pleasantly surprised that David Cook is the new American Idol. He's been my favorite for most of this season! GO DAVID COOK! YOU ROCK KANSAS CITY!

Media double standard

2008-05-21T21:44:00.003-05:00

You can bet that if Obama was a Republican, the "mainstream" media would be having a field day with some of the doozies that Michelle Malkin lists in her column today on Townhall.com.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2008/05/21/barack_obama_gaffe_machine

Busy Time

2008-05-18T20:11:00.003-05:00

I've been extremely busy over the past couple of weeks so haven't had much chance lately to post. Hopefully things settle down to normal soon!

Work commute time quadruples!

2008-05-18T19:19:00.013-05:00

On 5/9/08 I moved out of the AT&T office building in North Dallas of which I had worked for the most of the past six years. As of 5/12/08 I'm now located on the 31st floor of AT&T's largest office building in downtown Dallas. Thus began a whole new experience for me!

For the past 18 years, I've lived within 15 minutes of where I worked. Now however it takes me 15 minutes just to get to the train station. I then board the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) light rail for my ride into downtown. The next leg of my trip involves walking two blocks from where I de-board the train to the AT&T office complex. It then concludes with a long ride up the elevator! My total commute time is now one hour each way, which is definitely going to take some getting used to. :(

It's pool season!

2008-05-18T19:05:00.002-05:00

I took advantage of the nice weather in Dallas this weekend by spending a lot time laying out in the sun. Yesterday I got in the pool for the first time this year. The water temp was just 76 degrees but it felt great! Tom and I both got into the pool today - athough it took a bit of a push from me to get Tom into the water!

Chiefs draft DT Glenn Dorsey

2008-04-26T22:42:00.005-05:00

The Kansas City Chiefs selected DT Glenn Dorsey (LSU) as the #5 pick in the first round of the NFL draft today. Chief's other picks today included T/G Branden Albert (Virginia) and CB Brandon Flowers (Virginia Tech). Overall, it was a solid first day for KC.

Thanks, but no thanks

2008-04-23T20:06:00.012-05:00

Ashley Herzog's column today provides yet another example of the disastrous and often fatal consequences of allowing liberals too much authority. To read it go to: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AshleyHerzog/2008/04/22/an_environmental_failure_restrictions_on_ddt
I was just recalling this very example with friends over the past weekend, so her column was very timely for me.

Liberals never seem to care about the potential harm that may result from their "do-gooder" schemes. Once they've made up their collective minds that something is good (or bad) for us libs shut off all debate and force their "prescription" down our throats. Pity anyone who dares to question them, as most liberals have absolutely no tolerance for opposing views - despite their claims to the contrary.

Nor do liberals take accountability for their failures. If liberals acknowledge their failures at all, which is quite rare, they do so only to shift the blame. You see it's never their fault things didn't work out as they had planned. Their failure is usually the result of mean and uncompassionate Republicans sabotaging their noble efforts.

A classic example is the explosion in the poverty rate after LBJ's "War on Poverty." How often have you heard liberals admit that LBJ's programs did far more harm than good? How often do they admit that government "assistance" programs often trap people in poverty? Rather than acknowledging the obvious and learning from their mistakes, liberals continue to call for more government handouts.

Liberals wonder why more people don't trust them when they offer assistance. Do they not realize that many of us have longer memories than they give us credit for? They must think we've forgotten all about the victims of their DDT ban, the lives destroyed by their "War on Poverty" and the many other times their "help" has ended up hurting people. That is all the reason we need to say "No thanks"!

Political Spin

2008-04-15T21:37:00.009-05:00

Bill Clinton said he was going to run the most ethical administration ever. Then President Clinton, after committing perjury and obstructing justice, became only the second president to ever be impeached.

Barack Obama claims he is a uniter. It has now become painfully clear to all but those on the far left that Mr. Obama is in fact a very divisive politician.

It seems anytime a politician has a glaring weakness (e.g. Clinton's lack of ethics, Obama's divisiveness, etc.) the way he deals with it is to continually claim the opposite virtue. By repeating the falsehood often enough he is able to deceive many people into thinking he is who he claims to be...which is the opposite of who he really is.

The sad reality is that the spin often works. As difficult as it is to believe, there are actually Americans who - despite the HUGE mountain of evidence to the contrary - to this day still think Bill Clinton is an ethical person. Go figure.

So what will Obama do now and how will people react? No doubt he will continue to claim he is a uniter and a fair percentage of Americans will believe him. After all, if he says he is a uniter he must be, right?

Obama the Extremist

2008-04-06T21:03:00.005-05:00

Cartoon is by Glenn McCoy.

Does anyone doubt that if a Republican's voting record was as conservative as Obama's is liberal, the media would be calling the Republican an "extremist" and a "right-wing zealot"? Obama is one of the most EXTREME (liberal or conservative) candidates EVER to run for president yet the media is fawning all over him and calling him a "uniter" who "transcends politics". Go figure.

Abortion is just one of the many issues in which Obama has an EXTREMIST voting record.

KC Royals Lose 4-3

2008-04-04T21:56:00.002-05:00

The Royals just lost 4-3 to the Twins. Fall to 3-1.

Favorite Columns

2008-04-04T21:11:00.003-05:00

Check out my Favorite Columns and let me know what you think. All of my posted favorites and many other great columns are archived at Townhall.com.

The 2-0 Royals. UPDATE - ROYALS NOW 3-0!

2008-04-02T21:13:00.005-05:00

UPDATE - KC Royals are now 3-0. Royals are only remaining undefeated team in baseball - ya gotta love it!

As of right now, the Kansas City Royals have the best record in the American League at 2-0!

So what if the 2008 season is still in its infancy. Long suffering Royals fans like myself have waited what seems like an eternity for this. One of the great things about baseball is that no matter how bad your team team did the year(s) before, once the new season arrives your past failures no longer matter. You are filled with hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be THE season we turn things around.

BTW, yes I do realize that I typed "As of right now, the Kansas City Royals have the best record in the American League at 2-0!" twice. It felt so good typing it the first time, I couldn't help myself.

GO ROYALS! http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=kc

The Start of Baseball Season

2008-03-30T16:32:00.004-05:00

My dad always loved this time of year. Beginning with the first nice weather day of the year, Dad would count down the days until the start of baseball season. I'm a lot like my dad in that way. Dad would have enjoyed George Will's article today and he probably would've gotten the quiz right. He always impressed me with his knowledge of baseball trivia!
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2008/03/30/springtime_means_baseball

Our "Gay Lifestyle"

2008-03-30T15:08:00.007-05:00

Tom and I spent last evening at the home of our friends, Brian & Andrew. We always have a nice time at their parties and last night was no exception. Towards the end of the evening Tom and I were were gathered in the kitchen with two other gay couple friends who have been together a long time. Let it be noted that all six of us are solid Republicans!

Anyway, somehow we got to chattting about which partner does various household chores and things like that. One of our friends then said something that got me thinking. I know, I know that is dangerous! Anyway, he said something like this: "it's funny listening to each other talk about our partners, our different personalities, and the roles each partner plays in the relationship. There really aren't any set rules for gay couples so we all just kind of go with what works best."

There is some truth to that but what got me thinking was actually how similar our lives seemed to be. More importantly, our lives all seem to bear little resemblance to this "gay lifestyle" that we hear so much about. Not that I needed any reassurance, but it confirmed for me once again that Tom and I aren't the only gay couple in America whose "gay lifestyle" looks an awful lot like our parents' lifestyles and that of our straight relatives and friends.