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One day after Orlando. Release the sanctimonious hounds.

It is most likely that police and other authorities hadn’t cleared the Pulse nightclub of the remaining 40-something bodies before the two presumptive presidential nominees were clearly “making hay while the sun shined.”

Donald Trump, the likely GOP nominee, reiterated his call for excluding Muslims from entering the United States. Meanwhile, his counterpart Hillary rolled on an old familiar theme — gun control — while digging into a glimpse of her strategy to combat our terrorist foes such as ISIL.

Somehow the death toll from the early Sunday-morning shooting spree and hostage crisis in the Orlando gay club fell from 50 to 49. I have yet to hear how that happened, although it matters to history and in the hearts and minds of those who lost loved ones.

Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton talked on the increasing need for an assault weapon ban, a proposition that prompts the presumptive GOP presidential nominee to cackle Henny-Pennie-like that such measures will lead to the end of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. That is utter horse pucky. But the lies Trump is floating around seemingly know no boundaries.  Trump is even insinuating that Obama either  is incompetent or he is somehow involved. Perhaps Trump is re-living his glory days, when Trump was convinced the President was from the Muslim World. Yes, Barry Obama, Secret Asian Man, or African, or Hawaiian, I mean, it’s all the same to The Donald.

The president has been beaten up by the Republicans for not using the words “Radical Islamic terrorists.”

“Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism?” Trump tweeted as the president was speaking. “If he doesn’t he should immediately resign in disgrace.”

WTF? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! I mean I have seen some silly politicians with equally ludicrous ideas, but I mean this whole thing over Obama not calling the terrorists with the “radical Islamic” prelude. That right there sums up the silliness of the Republicans and that silly son-of-a-bitch  Donald Trump.

Politicians like Trump, Clinton and that idiot-assed Lt. Governor of Texas Dan Patrick all are  to blame for starting up the Circus, well, starting it up even more. I know that politicians in general, but Republicans specifically, have well-honed hypocrisy to a calling. People like Patrick saying on Twitter the gays brought this violence on themselves, then he states he had meant that Bible quote for several days prior.

So on this day, when so many parents and siblings are grieving for their losses while other pray for other relatives to pull through from horrible injuries, we are left with the sanctimonious perhaps Muslims shooting it out with gays as sort of a win-win.

Let the pious be pious. Just leave me the f**k alone if you are plan to side with the Donald Trumps and the Dan Patricks of the world.

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Home, home on the range

How would you like to own 10 acres in West Texas for only $2,000? Does such an offer sound fishy to you?

Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.

I have been searching high (prices) and low (parcels) everywhere around Texas over the last month. I am trying to find a place to call my own. I am not looking for a piece of land and a house with great financing and reasonable city taxes. I am searching for just a relatively small parcel of land where people won’t tell me that I need to build a certain style of home in so many weeks that must conform with the home owners association standards for which I must pay  $3,000 per year.

The last picture show. Well, I don't guess any area landowner near Sierra Blanca, Texas, will watch a cowboy movie with a big bag of popcorn. Library of Congress. Carol Highsmith photo
The last picture show. Well, I don’t guess any area landowner near Sierra Blanca, Texas, will watch a cowboy movie here with a big bag of popcorn. Library of Congress. Carol Highsmith photo

The truth is my friends, I don’t have much money stashed away and I won’t be making much money in the future because I face disability down the line. Unless I write a hell of a money-making best seller at some to be determined time, I will see a life full of macaroni and cheese, maybe with a bit of Spam. I actually looked at a can of Spam today in the grocery store. It wasn’t that intended to buy the mystery meat. Rather, an old college friend — a Filipina-American — was on vacation in Hawaii with her boyfriends and they showed pictures of Spam and eggs, both a traditional breakfast in Hawaii and the Philippines. When in Rome …

Getting back to West Texas. The particular property I have just discovered on a particular website is 10 acres and only a few miles from the largest city in that area, Sierra Blanca. The city is actually the unincorporated county seat of Hudspeth County. The place, with a population of 553, although that population reportedly fluctuates during certain times due to the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint a few miles west on Interstate 10. The stop has become a notorious location in which people with drugs are sniffed out by police dogs resulted in arrests for the “snifees.” Famous folks from Snoop Dog and Fiona Apple to Willie Nelson have been busted there at one time or the other. Those arrested had been taken to Sierra Blanca on county changes. Although, the outcomes have been different in recent times.

The Sierra Blanca area features mountain ranges surrounding the property. Sierra Blanca is one such mountain range. The realty website says that electric and  phone lines run along the state ranch road that borders the property, though there is no mention of water and sewer. Perhaps one could dig a well with an old-fashioned windmill to power it. And there is plenty of room to build a constructed wetlands for sewerage, providing such a contraption would work at that particular property.

I have seen other ads while searching for my own little piece of heaven that offer 5-to-10 acres of desert land in West Texas that offer great stargazing plus the “kick” of one owning a few acres.

If I could make such a place work for me, I would look closer. The problem is I am 60 years old, I have a few health issues. El Paso is the nearest place with a VA hospital. A cursory look shows a medical center about 40 miles away.

Other than the difficulties of building some sort of place out in West Texas is that most of my friends live hundreds of miles away to the east. I do have a close friend who lives in El Paso who I seldom get to visit due to the miles.

I will look back one day and I doubt I will be looking at this blog post while sitting under the shade of, whatever one can find for shade, in Sierra Blanca. But one never knows. Some day I could have 10 acres of home, home on the range.

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“We’re building a wall — we’re building a wall!”

That ol’ Donal’ TRUMP! That’s how the good ol’ boys pronounce Donald Trump. They leave off the last “d” in his first name and YELL, when they say Trump.

What do you want to bet a lot of them ol’ good ol’ boys have enjoyed how Trump has been dumping on that “Mes-can” judge?

At least these folks aren’t wallowing in their hypocrisy like the GOP elite have done all day.

“Yes, Donald Trump is definitely talking like a racist. But I will still vote for him.” You can assign such talk to practically every Republican poo-bahs today.

Donald Trump has talked non-stop for a week about that judge, who we think is a Mexican but that’s okay (But there’s nothing wrong with that, as was repeated in the hilarious Seinfeld episode titled “The Outing.”) You can read the entire script here.

Now Trump says the whole subject was “misconstrued.” What does that mean? He missed the con screwed? Oh well.

This f**k-wad has done nothing other than talking all week about his civil lawsuit over Trump U., where he was allegedly screwing students (or maybe some cons, but cons don’t let other cons screw cons.) Or not.

“He’s Mexican. We’re building a wall!” “He’s Mexican. We’re building a wall.”

Build this asshole!

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Casa Tapatia: !Muy caliente camarones!

It is very curious to me how Casa Tapatia Mexican Restaurant and Bar on I-10 in Beaumont never has a busy lunch hour. That is a plus for me. Whenever I pine for  Mexican food I appreciate not having to wait for long line. The double-edge sword is, of course, a place that doesn’t have a good lunch or dinner crowd may be a precursor of a spot that might someday disappear.

The I-10 service road just south of Laurel Avenue could be tricky for those not familiar with the Beaumont landscape. There are a few really good restaurants to the South of Laurel, Frankie’s Italian Grill, Chili’s and in between is the Mexican restaurant, Casa Tapatia, that once was Willie Ray’s Bar-B-Que.

Barbecue royalty once resided at 145 IH-10 North, the freeway service road to the south of Laurel Avenue. The road also goes by the aforementioned restaurants, a medical complex with my Beaumont VA Outpatient Center at the very back, and a couple of storage places before one has to make a “U-ey” under the freeway. If you want to go north, you take the U-ey. If you want to  take the freeway south. you can drive around the connecting roads from Chili’s to 10 Medical Plaza, and take a tricky entrance to Interstate 10 toward Houston or U.S. 69/96/287 to Port Arthur.

It is a definite and difficult maneuver to get to those locations on that particular freeway service road. But when Willie Ray’s was once the barbecue superstar at that address, folks from all around seemed to find it.

Willie Ray’s was named one of “The top 50 BBQ joints,” noted in 2008 by Texas Monthly. A high write-up also appeared the year before in The New York Times “The Quad,” a blog on college sports. One may find many others web stories galore singing praises of Willie Ray’s.

I liked Willie Ray’s. The restaurant made a killer hamburger besides the great barbecue turned out there. I have no idea what prompted the owner’s to leave the I-10 spot for a former 50-year-old steakhouse on Eastex Freeway. I never went to their spot just north — and on the same side — of Parkdale Mall. I am sure my presence had nothing to do with Willie Ray’s shutting down. I am not certain why it shut down. But it did. At least the folks of Willie Ray’s are serving the white flight to the north in Lumberton.

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Back to Casa Tapatia. This is such an excellent Mexican restaurant. I have no idea why Beaumont seems to have not caught the buzz for it.

It has a bar! I’ve not checked it out. I will when I feel a margarita is needed. But I have eaten there several times. They have an extensive fajitas choice. The menu even notes the “best seller” for those who might be overwhelmed by the big menu.

One gets the serving of  chips and two types of salsa. One is an enjoyable red and the other, a verde salsa, is the best.

The menu features 10 different categories including fajitas, Tex-Mex, chicken favorites, burritos, seafood special, enchildadas, tipico Mexicano as well as a big lunch special with great combos for a base price of $8.99 + drink + tax (and hopefully a nice tip for the very attentive and friendly wait staff.

Today I chose from the seafood menu. The Camarones a la Diabla or devlish shrimp was indeed devilish. The waitress came out within 10 minutes with my order. The plate includes 12 butterflied shrimp cooked in what appeared to be a chipolte sauce with several of the hot peppers floating around among the shrimp. With the shrimp came a Spanish rice, charro beans, a lettuce leaf with a tasty side of guacamole — which I normally don’t  eat but the green dish here is excellent — along with pico de gallo and a choice of corn or flour tortillas.

All of the staff are very nice and one nice lady didn’t laugh at my attempt at telling her while checking out that the camerones were “muy caliente.” The atmosphere is a traditional Mexican fare for this part of the county, along with the wonderful music that takes one for at least maybe an hour takes you to a smaall dusty Chihuahuan town where one might sit and drink Tecate with lime, and perhaps a shot of Sauza every now and then.

Beaumont has a number of Mexican restaurants. If you straight up Tex-Mex, then visit Monterrey House on South 11th. That has to be the best Tex-Mex. But for a great variety for choosing, excellente atmosphere, wonderful service, and a very great selection of typical Mexican or Tex-Mex, visit mi amigos (who probably would recognize me by face, or not,) at Casa Tapatia.

What: Casa Tapatia Mexican Resturant and Bar

Where: 145 Interstate 1o North, Beaumont, Texas 77707

Phone: (409)832-0848

http://www.eatmexicanfood.net/

Beer and liquor served

Here is love to my friends at Casa Tapatia!