Author: Dick

The U.S. Naval Reserve Center in Orange, Texas, will close in September 2008 as part of the most recent Base Realignment and Closure rounds. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, Texas, said he wished the center could be closed sooner to expedite transfer of the property for economic development in the Southeast Texas city bordering Louisiana.

“We would like to see the transfer of Orange Navy Reserve Center property occur tomorrow, but considering that some bases are still waiting for transfers a decade after they were officially closed, this is a pretty speedy timetable,” Brady said in a press release.

While you will get no argument from me that Orange needs some development, it is kind of sad to sounds taps for a facility with such a long history.

The Navy first established an Orange facility in 1940, according to the “Handbook of Texas Online.” A Navy base was set up there to oversee ship construction. Shipbuilding firms in Orange eventually turned out more than 300 ships during World War II. The first ship launched there was the destroyer U.S.S. Aulick (shown above), according to the Texas handbook.

After the war, the base on the Texas side of the Sabine River, became home to one of the Navy’s inactive ship facilities or so-called “mothball fleet.” Almost 200 ships over time at the Orange base were scrapped, turned into razor blades, or sold to foreign nations such as Turkey and Mexico.

The first Navy vessels I remember seeing were at the Orange base. That may have even, at least subconsciously, led to my enlisting in the Navy. Growing up in the sticks to the north of Orange, I recall riding by the Navy facility with my dad in the late 1960s and seeing genuine pieces of naval history including old four-stacker destroyers (destroyers with four smokestacks for non-squids.) When I used to sneak in underage at the clubs across the river in Vinton, La., such as the Texas Pelican Club, I would see Mexican sailors in their white uniforms enjoying liberty from what would be their ships being readied at the base.

Once a friend and I were about to drive home from the Pelican and this friend offered a couple of Mexican sailors a ride back to Orange. They spoke little English and we spoke no Espanol, but we managed to communicate. They seemed to be having a great time on the ride back, singing songs like “Cielito Lindo.” (“Ay, ay, ay, ay,/
Canta y no llores?/Porque cantando se alegran,/Cielito lindo, los corazones.”)

Eventually the ships were all gone but the base remained as a naval reserve facility. Some Mexican Navy ships were still making port calls in the late 1990s there when I worked for awhile in Orange.

These days, the concept of a Navy reserve station serving only local reservists is long past. Some reservists may fly from across the country for their weekend duties (if they aren’t on active duty because of the war). So no reason really exists for the military to maintain a Navy base in Orange. I only hope that the folks in Orange will do something meaningful to acknowledge and honor the Navy’s presence and one-time prominence there such as getting the Orange-manufactured tin can the U.S.S. Orleck back into ship shape. Call me a sentimental fool, or call me to dinner.

Katie Couric sitting down, thankfully, in a helicopter. (Photo: CBS/Nicolla Hewitt)

Katie Couric continues to tweak her evening newscast at CBS. Yesterday, she sat on the edge of her desk while introducing a concluding light piece on longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno.

Now I have to admit that I rather like Katie sitting on the edge of her desk although I wish she had been wearing a skirt rather than pants. Sorry, she does have some pretty awesome legs.

But I am just a bit concerned as to how this pose challenges the seriousness that an anchor has to convey. As I have written before I am a bit hopeful that Katie will grow into the necessary gravitas for the job. Since her desk-sitting was for a final, light-hearted story for the day, perhaps it was appropriate. I don’t know. I’m not a TV critic, nor do I play one on TV. I guess if the majority of the viewers think it is good for Katie to sit on the edge of her desk, then I say by all means she should go for it.

Jeez, it really sucks getting old.

The big news across Texas today is the death of former Gov. Ann Richards at the age of 73. It could be said that she was the first woman governor of Texas to be elected without having to share what little power a Texas governor has with her husband. I refer not to Ann being a divorcee but rather than the “two-for-the-price-of-one” governance by Ma and Pa Ferguson who ruled the state during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Ann was one of those characters who could not have been invented if she didn’t exist. Her folksy Texas twang was unique among all of us Texans who, outsiders claim, speak funny. Her voice and persona could not have been cloned, just as there will never be another from-the-heavens voice as that of another Texas woman who was a political trailblazer — Barbara Jordan. Ann was like your mother if your mom had been a rock star.

Only once did I interview Ann. It was during her re-election campaign and she had stopped on a bus tour of East Texas to tour our local jail. I was invited to finish the bus tour which would go on to a neighboring city but for some reason I had to decline. That is a pity because one does not often have the opportunity to share space for a little while with such an extraordinary figure.

Thanks for everything Ann. Rock on.

Let me see a show of hands out there of those who thinks all, some or any hookers resemble Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman?” Now I know a few may think Julia Roberts isn’t the best example for this topic. But after all, the movie was named “Pretty Woman” and one supposes the filmmaker meant the title to reflect how Julia Roberts looks. Plus, the movie people were in this era where they were too lazy to think up an imaginative movie title so we were fed titles from the names of popular songs like Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.”

But your average run-of-the mill, garden variety crack whore usually bears little resemblance to Julia Roberts on an exceptional day (an exceptional day for Julia Roberts and the hooker.)

The Smoking Gun brilliantly illustrates that, while you may find a streetwalker with a heart of gold, her lifestyle can wear her her down so much that she looks like this. Or even like this. Or even like this poor lady who had the mother of all bad hair days.

These are mugshots of some hard-working girls scooped up by police in Bensalem, Penn., after they allegedly advertised their wares in the “Casual Encounter” section of Philidelphia Craigslist, according to TSG.

I guess for some, at least, it really doesn’t pay to advertise.

“I’m often asked why we’re in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat.” — Gee Dubya Bush, el presidente.

Many of us have asked that question. Now we know. Saddam was a “clear threat.” He didn’t have weapons of mass destruction like Kim Jong-il. I don’t recall that Saddam was threatening the West with a nuclear program like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But he was a clear threat. Thanks for clearing that up Gee Dubya.