Category: Orphans

Earlier I received multiple posts from my friend, Paul, in Tokyo. We were, not really discussing, but giving sort of a stream-of-consciousness communication concerning all that has taken place in the U.S. during the past 48 hours.

These are the police shooting of Alton Sterling, three hours east of me, in Baton Rouge; the Minnesota shooting by police of Philando Castile and the sniper shootings of police officers in Downtown Dallas that left five officers dead and more than a half-dozen wounded.

Sterling and Castile were both black and were killed by white officers. The five officers killed in Dallas were white. The suspect in the mass shooting, who was killed by a robot-delivered bomb blast, was black. Police said the shooter wanted to kill whites.

I haven’t seen all that took place in the encounters in which the two separate victims were killed by police. I wasn’t able to make out much of the Baton Rouge killing. Hopefully, the place where Sterling was outside of and was killed will have surveillance cameras.

The fallout from these killings led to a number of peaceful protests around the country, including one in Dallas that was ending and was interrupted by the sniper.

Only a bit ago I talked by a video message with Paul, some 6,700 miles across the globe. We spoke of how this bloodshed seems to be intersecting at many different lines. These lines are black and white, police, guns, terrorism. Perhaps even religion may be thrown into these intersections: Christians, Muslims or rather in some minds, Christian versus Muslims and Muslim versus Christian. Such a wide net is,  of course stupidity.

The question, the billion-dollar one, is that where do we go from here? The same questions were asked nearly 45 years ago as the Vietnam War was on the downward slide. Listen to the link, sung and written by Peter Cetera, bass player for the venerable band Chicago on its second LP.

The National Rifle Association, the organization that wants even terrorists to purchase weapons in the U.S. did its usual bullshit.

Some organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Nation of Islam are asking for a boycott of a Baton Rouge mall and local Wal-Marts to pressure business leaders to charge the two officers who were involved in the Alton Sterling killing:

“Until we get justice, we’re going to call on all of the people … any person who loves justice to stand with us in this selective buying campaign and hurt them where it hurts the most, get their attention where it gets their attention the most,” The Rev. Reginald Pitcher, leader of the SCLC, said.

 “And I declare that if we do that, the Chamber of Commerce will say this, ‘If we got to sacrifice those two to keep the peace, then so be it.’”

Of course, Donald Trump will make his hard line with little knowledge of people who either are police officers or the black people of America.

By the way, I have owned and shot guns since an early age. Two of my late brothers were cops. One retired after more than 35 years as a police officer. My nephew is a police officer. One niece is a police dispatcher. That same niece and her sister are both officers in their local volunteer fire department. I was a firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician and had many friends, some of whom I still communicate, who are or were law enforcement officers. Several of my police friends are black. I have had white friends who were outlaws.

I say that because I am not trying to take any particular side. I don’t know what it is like being black and being stopped by police for no reason other than their skin color. I know some of the stories my black friends told me about being stopped by white police officers in East Texas. One black friend talked about this former local cop, known as a hard ass and more, who would stop my friend’s car and he would take a micrometer and see how much tread was on my friend’s tires. Interestingly enough, a guy I knew who owned a gun store told me this cop had been discovered by hunters, as this policeman was seen wearing full Nazi SS regalia. At one point, this cop even had a life-sized replica of a Nazi tank.

Yes, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain, to be metaphorical. Are we going back to the 60s? Might as well break out the reefer if we have to put up with such crap. I have no idea where do we go from here. I hope someone does know. If so, will you let us know?

 

Happy Birthday, America! Eat hotdogs, ribs, goat, or some fajitas. Whatever you want to eat. Raise a toast. Drink but don’t drive. Watch some fireworks. Don’t blow off your hand.

Above all, remember what this day is for and why it is so celebrated:

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.

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!

 

What time is it, boys and girls? How the hell should I know. Shut up you old fart! Well, I don’t know if my topic will get any interest. If I were to form a club right now it might be the Pessimists Club. But I would be worried that no one would show up. Same thing with an Apathy Club. I don’t know if anyone would care to join.

To answer my own question, it’s hurricane season. Now the hurricane season officially starts on June 1. But it would be quite a chore trying to explain that to a hurricane breathing down your neck on Memorial Day. The National Hurricane Center is looking at system in the Atlantic that could form into something tropical or sub-tropical during the next few days to northeast of the Bahamas. If something did form it could be carried by steering winds toward areas in northern Florida to the Carolinas.

The chance of development into a tropical or sub-tropical system is about 30 percent, says the NHC. That isn’t a really huge chance. Although having slept through Hurricane Humberto, the Category 1 storm that intensified faster than any other tropical system on record, I found that betting on hurricanes are a losing proposition. I was really kind of bummed I slept through that 2007 storm. Though I am fortunate the storm was much less worse that Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008.

I pay much more attention these days when hurricane season comes around, or before if there is a developing storm out there. I’m not paranoid. Rather, as folks who are concerned of  mugging or other violent acts, I am aware of my surroundings. Anyone in the path of a hurricane needs to take heed. Sure, one might not get strong winds and certainly those far from the coast need not worry about storm surge.  But there are more problems. These tropical systems can cause extreme flooding for anyone in the path of the storm remnants. Depending on the climate, a concern of tropical and post-tropical systems can be tornadoes.

I suppose if you live in areas where it seldom rains, hurricanes should not be a worry. But these storms, whether called tornado or cyclone or typhoon or whatever, these are forces of nature. And until man learns to completely control the weather — and let’s hope like hell  that doesn’t happen — tropical systems will always remain something to reckon with and respect.