Check this out:
“Facebook Revokes Ban on Beheading videos”
Do you think THAT is a bit over the top?
Nothing is ever as it seems. But mull this over.
Chop chop!
Paying tribute to a couple of Cowboys, one well known and another …
We lost a couple of much admired cowboys from our Southeast Texas area over the weekend.
O.A. “Bum” Phillips, best known as Houston Oilers head coach during it’s “Luv Ya Blue era,” died Friday. He was 90.
John Garner, 82, a Southeast Texas TV icon who played “Cowboy John” on the local “Circle 4 Club” from the late 1950s to 1972, died Sunday evening.
Phillips died on his ranch near Gonzales, Texas. He was probably was as well known for his cowboy hat and his homespun sayings as a grid iron genius. But many who loved the Oilers of the “Luv Ya Blue” era loved Phillips as well. The love for the ball club came to a screeching half when, Bum having been fired and hired by New Orleans, would soon see the Oilers moved by owner Bud Adams to Nashville. Adams, who coincidentally died today, was not as beloved by Houston fans as Phillips, to say the least
Certainly, not as many folks knew John Garner as Bum Phillips. But thousands from back in those days knew Cowboy John as well as John Garner the Channel 4 weatherman.
Perhaps Cowboy John indeed has a place in national TV lore. Although, if that is so, it is likely to be verified only by friends and relatives of the real John Garner. But it matters not from where the laughs and smiles we remember came from. In any event, goodnight Cowboy John, wherever you are.
Happy Weekend
It has been a long week even though I only worked yesterday for the first time in 17 days. Today I was off and I slept in until 11:30 a.m. I stayed up watching TV late. I think watching Craig Ferguson kind of perked me up to where I didn’t want to sleep. Ferguson and his show is fantastic. I can’t tell whether his guests are prepped for the show or not. Even so, having a “skeleton robot” and a “two-person” horse in a horse costume as his sidekicks should tip you off that the “Late, Late Show” on CBS is gold. You really need to watch.
I have to work a short time tomorrow so I will make this short.
Happy weekend, everyone!
A man can only stand a mule’s kick so many times.
Our great national nightmare is over — for now at least.
Some confusion surrounded the question of whether I should go to work this morning or tomorrow morning. It’s one of those bureaucratic things. I ended up going this morning although I had little sleep. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the culmination of ending this whole shutdown. And perhaps we will turn around and have to do this again in January. President Obama said “No.” Republican Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also said that it wouldn’t happen again.
“One of my favorite old Kentucky sayings is there’s no education in the second kick of a mule. The first kick of a mule was when we shut the government down in the mid 1990s and the second kick was over the last 16 days,” McConnell told The Hill. “There is no education in the second kick of a mule. There will not be a government shutdown.”
But Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said don’t be so sure.
Cruz was the one who got us there in the first place. It makes one think, if just one senator can pull some type of procedural shenanigan along with a few of his Senate cronies, then doesn’t this seem more like a fascist state than a democracy?
Many people and a number of institutions were hurt during these last 16 days, not the least of which were people like myself. My financial situation was no good to start with, only to have a personal foul committed by piling on upon my economic life. This makes me wonder what I am going to do to survive during the rest of my life.
Yes, you are quite right Sen. McConnell, the first kick of a mule is quite enough. We have all been educated quite enough.
The government goes back to work. Or not.
Well, it’s nearly over.
I speak of the government shutdown that this part-time government employee has struggled through and will continue to do so until my finances and my expenses match each other. The Senate passed the law to re-open government, pay the employees back pay and extend the debt ceiling. The funding for keeping the government open and the debt ceiling extension are, of course, temporary. These will be revisited at the first of next year.
The House still has to pass the bill and it requires the President’s signature. Something could put a monkey wrench into it all but hopefully it will happen soon. My question is when?
When these measures take place, the government should open the next day. Since the House won’t look at the bill until tonight it is unknown whether the “can” will be officially kicked once again. It matters because if it happens before midnight we go to work tomorrow, at least I do. If it happens after midnight, then one would think this means the government would re-open on Friday. With the congressional propensity for stepping up to the plate at the last minute, the House may wait until 11:59 p.m. Our elected officials don’t give a rat’s ass for their employees. I’ve known this now you know for sure.
While emphasizing my part-time status that doesn’t mean it is an insignificant part of my life. I live off my part-time salary. It would be a pretty fair salary, $40,000-something a year, if I worked 40 hours a week. But I don’t. The most I can work is 32 hours per week. So you do the math, minus the deducts. Often the job seems like it is more full-time than part-time. Add my voluntary union duties and I stay fairly busy. I need to do more freelancing but my part-time job plus a few health problems all conspire to limiting the time I have to write (for money.)
So there you have it. If we go back to work, then yaaaaa. But I am still struggling to survive and will remain that way for some time. But, I am ready to go back to work, so bring it on Congress and President Obama! We may now plan for the next shutdown showdown in February.