I was going to pass on the "Don't get drunk in bars" crackdown here in Tx

But after reading about towns making money on speed traps, I decided to rant.
In case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted in a while. Things aren't going right at the job. Things change without the superintendant (me) being told, the wrong materials orderd and my problem child refuses to listen to me understand what I'm trying to get him to do. I swear, there must be something in the water in Devine- I haven't had one worker from there that was worth a chit.
Anyway, I've been working long hours and basicaly spinning my wheels. I get home tired and don't feel like thinking. I know most of these posts don't have much deep thought showing through, but there is motivation, anyway.

This TABC Barbra Striesand about arresting patrons in bars for Public intoxication just kinda got inder my collar.
Undercover Agents in a bar, giving field sobriety tests there, in public. Seems to be asking for some kind of harrasment, or humiliation lawsuit. I guess It's more lucrative to just stick a net in a stock pen to get your fish than to actually go out fishing to STOP DWI's and staking out convinience stores to catch underage drinkers.

Their excuse is that they're acting "pre-emptively" (which is a bad word if you're a Republican President) to stop "bad" things from happening to people EVEN IF THEY HAVE A DESIGNATED DRIVER because, you know- it's to protect the innocent, like the children, and themselves.

According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Web site, Texas had 1,264 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2004, the most in the nation. But how many were illegals?

"We're trying to reduce that and save lives," Beck said.

B.J. Hassell, manager of victims services with MADD Texas State, which serves a 29-county area in Central Texas, said her organization supports the crackdown.

"Can you imagine if TABC had not stopped those people from leaving the bar, how many more drunk drivers we might have had on the road?" Hassell said. (I lost the WOAI link-and they don't have archive search.)

Ok lady- were ALL of those arrested going to get into a car without a D.D.?
The TABC went into MOTEL bars last week (it was on WOAI radio) and arrested MOTEL GUESTS for being over the Tx prohibitionlike .08%BAC. Yes, you heard right, in a MOTEL. WTF? Is this the newest out of town revenue maker, like the speed trap that my post started with? They're in a MOTEL, if they flew into the DFW Metroplex they probably weren't going to drive home.
Just to be truthfull, I'd rather know I was behind a drunk than some idiot on a cell phone because, at least drunks are somewhat predictable. I'm sure no-one in the MADD organization has endangered anyone with a cell phone in their ear and weaving between two lanes while making erratic 20MPH speed changes when someone passes their inattentive @ss.

What is it about wimmin

and the fact that they just CAN'T squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom?
No matter how much they're asked and asked and asked and told to squeeze it from the bottom.

How long can you go?

I dare you to push the red button!
You just have to wonder how long it took them to think of all the words?

Sorry, nothing today

Unless anyone knows about blackpowder shooting?
Since we're joining the Alamo MUZZLE LOADERS Gun Club, I figgured we should mayby at least own one.
I just don't know if we have to go this rout, or can we go the
High Plains Drifter thang? Chit, all I'd need is a serrapi, and a bull whip

Isn't this why they're supposed t buy insurance?

Part dos of "Why should I vote Republican."

At least 20 Senators from both sides of the aisle have signed-on to the Emergency Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2006. Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota is lead sponsor of the bill, the latest effort to get some kind of disaster assistance for farm losses in 2005. The package includes assistance for crop production loss, livestock assistance, and supplemental nutrition and economic disaster assistance to aid with rapidly escalating production input costs. It also includes a number of provisions to specifically address agricultural recovery in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina.

In introducing the bill, Senator Conrad stated, "This bill wouldn't make any farmer or rancher whole, but it goes a long way to making sure that producers who have seen losses at the hands of Mother Nature have a chance to stay in business."

[...]

The cost of the package is estimated at $3.566 billion.

Texas is in the middle of a drought, but the closest I've heard of a massive taxpayer bailout is (Gov.) Rick Perry declairing a state of emergency for farms and ranches.

It's rained last night, I went home early- can I get some Fed. goodies?

Didn't they try this on Mythbusters?

The one where they sandwiched a car between two head-on speeding semis?
It was supposed to be fused into a solid lump of metal and foil thin.

This time it's an Audi and the driver walks away (almost)

Buy a gun for San Francisco

You may notice another .gif on my sidebar, if you can see through the clutter.
It's national "Buy a Gun Day" coming soon to support a Constitutional ammendment under attack from the left.
This is a pretty handy reminder that it's a good time to get my birthday present for my party two days later.

Ok, you don't have to give me one, just go buy one.
At least copy the .gif onto your blog, and go tell Aaron that you did.
How about adding insult to injury, scan the bill of sale and e-mail it to the Board of supervisors in S.F. signed ~with love~

So, does anyone want to 'splaine to me why I should vote Republican?

Rrrucy?
Ethil?
Fred?

The guy in the White House, UvayDoble, who wants a basic illegal amnesty has been using a grain shovel to go through our tax money.
The RINOs in D.C. just decided to add $16 BILLION to Bushes' bloated 2007 budget.

The Republican-led Senate stiff-armed President Bush’s call for belt-tightening yesterday and adopted a $2.8 trillion fiscal 2007 budget resolution, after adding over $16 billion in spending to Bush’s request and rejecting calls to rein in entitlements. The Senate snubbed even modest attempts to slow mandatory spending programs, which Bush had targeted for $65 billion in net savings over five years. Almost all of the proposed amendments sought to increase spending.

Republicans in Congress are riding roughshod, violating all budgetary principles. It’s real simple. The architects are using gimmicks, like Arlen Specter’s “advanced appropriations.” Specter got $7 billion for education and other programs under the jurisdiction of the Labor, Health and Education Appropriations Subcommittee which he chairs, according to Congressional Quarterly.

The Dems, on the other hand -should they become the majority- want to blow $144BILLION in additional spending. I couldn't find a direct link to the figure, but you can see the link trail over at Robs place.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, told me that Democrats are deciding between two ways of laying down their agenda — one comprehensive alternative to the GOP budget proposal or a series of amendments. Either way, the public at long last will have an idea of what Democratic priorities will be if their party manages to take control of Congress in the November elections.

The agenda will include a $25 billion, five-year energy-independence initiative, an extra $8 billion for homeland security, $104 billion to convert veterans benefits from discretionary to mandatory spending, $2 billion to reverse proposed cuts by President Bush in the education budget and a $5 billion, one-year upgrade of avian flu preparations — all paid for, Conrad said, with “offsets” requiring no increase in tax rates.

Yep, they'll do the OFFSET thang- again. Remember the IOU's they tossed into the SSI till when they stole that money?
A $25 BIL energy independence initiative??? WTF? Just let the "evil" Big Oil do what they've been begging to do and it'll go a looong way to our energy independence.
$104 BILLION to change a discretionary program into an entitlement. Does it cost that much to twist some arms and hold a vote? Or is it for bribes persuasion?

$5 BILLION for a one year binge in Avian Flue panic. Hey guys, I remember the Dhimmy Carter Swine Flue fiasco and the lingering legacy of people affraid to get ANY immunizations because of the paralysis that had occured from the Swine Flue injections.

This cr@p is enough to almost make someone give up on Democracy.

It shoots a little low, , ,

But, then again it was windy as hell-too.


My two targets with ten rounds. I was going to enter the e-mail match, but we only shot offhand.

Me loading.

Karens first ever pistol shots, the majority of 20 rounds found the target@ 25'.

The birthday girl and her toy.

Learning about the care and feeding of her new pet.

We ended up at the dry bed of Hondo Creek, because the nearest public range was full- and the number I got for the Alamo Muzzle Loaders club was never answered. We stopped at the Powderhorn gunshop, and Karen got an idea of what I could get to like (a .357 Taurus revolver, or a lever action .22 Henry rifle).

This is what I did on my spring vacation


The big arena we had to rebuild and expand. You can't see too well, but the far end still has the panels up, and we had to back the machinery up- at every pass (took alot of time to do that).

One of the interested obsevers. She's ½ Cleavland Bay.




Warmblood jumpers, the older one is looking for a good home with an experienced rider.
If you want I'll post the polo ponies.

Karen got a gun

Dum, dum, dum, honey what have I done
Dum, dum, dum, it's the sound of her own gun
Dum, dum, dum, honey what have you done
Dum, dum, dum, it's the sound, it's the sound...
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah....

Karen's got a gun
Karen's got a gun
Her whole world's come well done
From popin' with that gun
What did her daddy do?
What did he get you true?

I got off late because I broke a water line to the barn. We had to stay late and get water to the horses, we found where the guy who called himself an operator pulled it apart the other day when we had to bypass that section. (I sent him home for refusing to pick up shovel today.)

Anyway, Karen didn't get to blow off a box of shells today, we'll wait till Sat. 2 or 3 shots a nigh will keep her happy (and the neighbor from calling the sheriff). She likes her new toy and was able to hit one of the raised garden beds at about 50', I hit a Gal. jug about where I was aiming. It seems like a good pistol.

Sorry, limited posting for the indeterminate future

Maybe I'll make up for it on the weekends.
These 10½ hr days are wearing.

BUT, the time I would normally be driving is overtime, which is a good thing!

Well, I was the entertainment for today

We had our Monday meeting at 8AM, so was late getting to the jobsite, and worked till 6:30 so to keep up appearances.

I was watched all day long.

Intently.

By the ones who were going to use what we're building.
The ones in the corner office were keeping an eagle eye on how I was grading the base of the arena. The other ones were interested, but didn't have the view.

But, then again anything interesting is worth watching when you're a bored horse who's paddock is being rebuilt into a show arena.

There's a saying in Texas that when the Mesquite trees make leaves, the cold weather is over for the year

You can see what the cold weather did to our Lemon tree at the middle bottom right, the other one survived quite well.



We enjoyed the 90º afternoon.

The old Mazda will never be the same again

The 15 yr-old (codename Danica) is learning to drive. She's not bad with moms '04 Montero, but she's not going to be driving that anytime soon. We took the disposable truck to an isolated calichi road and let her practice using both feet to get the truck moving (it's a 5 speed standard). She's getting ok on level starts, and is getting better at shifting. We still need to work on the thing going straight when shifting thing, though.
Things were going fine untill she stalled out on an upward incline.

She,,,,um,,, needs practice on starting uphill.

Really.

Alot of practice.

The dogs wanted no part of the ride after that. We went to change positions for the drive back, and the dogs decided that they'd really rather walk home, too.

As far as the work update, I'm about 15 min from work, but doing 10+ hour days. I'm gone about the same amount of time, just shifted an hour later. I get in, and don't really feel like posting. Blogtharthy, I guess?

I'm still waiting on the NRA to send me my card so we can go to the local range and legally shoot loud weapons, but we can always head to the dry creekbed and practice with Karen's birthday present (don't look hunny). I wonder if it's still legal to do that?

That's the wrap-up of the week that was.

Just how big does Google have to get before it's too late?

They're buying up anything they can get their greedy fingers on, including online word processing companies.
It's supposed to rival MS Word when it's ready. Except that MS Word doesn't keep everything you write in their massive (and leakable) central data base. MS Word keeps things in your hard drive unless you decide to send it somewhere.
I just KNOW that people who shouldn't be using it will. How long do you think it'll take before some Republicans files get "accidentally" dumped into the NY Times inbox?

"Writely is now part of Google," wrote Upstartle co-founder Claudia Carpenter on the Upstartle blog. She said the two companies matched in their culture and goals, and said the switch to Google's software architecture would allow Writely to scale to millions of users.

In the mean time, Upstartle cut off new registrations following the announcement, saying it wants to avoid overloading its infrastructure; those interested can sign up on a waiting list.

The move could also assuage the privacy fears users might have about putting their personal documents online, Carpenter said. "Some people didn't feel comfortable trusting a tiny startup with their documents... and we're no longer a tiny startup," she wrote.

However, that may be wishful thinking - Google has had to contend with plenty of alarm over the privacy implications of its own products. Analysts recently warned that enteprises should steer clear of the "search across desktops" feature in the latest edition of Google Desktop.


Google keeps expanding, and buying into anything that ostensibly increases their "online presence" and profit margin (eventually), and keeps promising to respect privacy.

I'm sorry that I can't take that promise with more than a gain of salt. They do fall on the left side alot. What can they do to convince me that they won't "accidently" send everything a "deserving" person has ever done on AlGores internet to their socialistic enforcers to use in destroying the opposition?
I don't trust a Conservative with that much blackmail ability, why should I trust a company run by a bunch of leftists Liberals?

Something to remember for all of you that hate Bush and what he's "done to the country". Sooner or later the bottom dog is gonna be on top- and the same thing is gonna be happening to those out of power, or the wrong side of the political argument. You liberals have alot to look forward to, because if you're not in lock-step with the marching orders, you are considered some kind of traitor, and need to be handled as such. I know from watching how you eat your own.
Us conservatives bite and kick, but still eat from the same table, instead of being the untouchable of the party for the week.

Oh my-frigging-gawd, the end is near!!!!!!!!!

Yep, the end of the world as we know it is approaching.
We're all going to DIE!!

Because a pipeline developed an internal corrosion leak.

In Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

The spill covers a whopping 2 acres.
Environmentalists from Alaska Wilderness League said the spill was "a catastrophe for the environment". They said it was "a painful reminder of the reality of unchecked oil and gas development across Alaska's North Slope". They also urged lawmakers to shelve a Republican-led project to allow drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

That's it, pull the pipes, seal the wells and we'll all go back to the dark ages .
We'll live without "evil" mass transit, plastic, computers, modern medicine, clean burning fuel, potable running water, public sewers, TV, refrigerators, safe food, etc.
All made possible because of "evil" oil. Oil DOES make the world go around, it's relatively clean burning, easilt tranportable and relatively inexpensive. That's why it's so widely used, you frigging eviro-Nazis.

Mother nature does have a way of handling things like this, She's been around alot longer than we have. It won't be gone in days or weeks, but it will be naturally cleansed.
We won't wait that long because it kills birds and bears and fluffy little ducklings.

P.S.
Oh, did I tell you that Weds nite, someone went to the new subdivision we're building and stole the exhaust manifold off the rocksaw? It's halfway between Hondo and Bandera on HWY 173, nice and quiet- pretty views. With the cost of gas, I don't think even a cheap 11 acre lot will get many commuters from San Antonio.

( UPDATE 3:0PM)
That two acres that were devistated by the spill, remember?
That's twice as much land as I own. I know how small it is, I can mow it with a push mower in about an hour.

I stole this link from Denny

My first thought was,"Hey great idea, maybe they'd be more wary about jumping in with anyone who showed up."
Then I said, "Nawwww, they'll just come and get on the Gov't gravy train."

See how xenophobic some WHITE RACISTS can be.


BWWWAAAHHHAAAAHHHAAAAAA

SIGGghhhhhhh, one more post about the media whore grieving mother St. Cindy

I followed this link back to here and can't remember who all I went through to get here.

I just want to know, Cindy Sheehan, when will you authorize a headstone for your son?

You remember him, don't you?
He's the name you keep bringing up everytime your camera-time starts to slip.
He's the one you cloak your anti-semitism in.
His name is always in the same sentence as the idea to impeach George Bush.

Cindy, are all these Anti-American celebrities more important than your son?
Is your brand-new paid-for-by-SGLI-VW bug more important than signing your name to a headstone authorization?


I guess so.
Cindy, I'm glad I'm not you. I have more love for my family.

A step-by step primer on how to defeat America

From the mailbox.
I don't know how true it is (since I think they got Victor Davis Hanson's name wrong), but it sounds about right.


We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of American's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal - was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.

Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.'"

Here is how they do it," Lamm said:

"First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country." History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy." Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.".

Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

Third, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together." Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."

"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high. school."

"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."

"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus'. instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."

"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."

In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said,. "Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America. deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book.".

There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in. America - take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength.".

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.

I'm not sure, but it certainly seems like the Balkinization of America is already happening.

The San Antonio Marlins?

Our County Judge, Nelson Wolff, after being swatted on the nose by the NFL is now currying favor with the Florida Marlins baseball team.

He's been talking to them, and is ready to offer a $300 million stadium if they move to san Antonio. But don't worry taxpayers, this will be funded by increasing the 'Hotel-motel tax'.
This will be on top of the SBC AT&T center that tourists are already paying for.
What the hey, the Spurs want to spread the sports benevolent foundation as far as they can. Because they're not paying for the upkeep and maintenance of it, they just use it and pocket the gate receipts- what a sweet deal- lets get more million dollar jocks to suck on the Alamo teat.

The NFL knows this city looking for "world class" status by luring a sports team is like a whore trying to buy respectability. The only reason S.A. sold out for the Saints was that big money bought the tickets to ensure a full crowd.
I know San Antonio wants some kind of respectability so badly it can taste it, but until they get away from their third world roots (to the south) they'll continue to be a corrupt, nepotistic, good ol' boy (and girl) club who wants both sides of the cake, but ruins it by being too greedy.


Oh, Rhianna- try these
Panchos.

Hey, didn't they hold the primaries today?

Don't know for sure, have to withhold my vote for the Kinky petition.
I probably won't vote for him in the election, I just hope that it sends a message to BOTH parties that there are other kids to pick for our teams. They need to start playing right.

I just wonder, is there going to be any wailing about voter being "disenfranchised" by the same requirements as the last election, and the one in November? You know- bad voting machines, dishonest election officials, "stealing" the election (from your opponent of the same party).

How many stories are you going to read tomorrow about the "inequality" of polling places? Ballots that were "too hard to follow" between the to primary pols of the same ticket?
It's a good thing there's no hanging chads to decipher anymore.

I started the new job yesterday

We started at 7AM dropped off an asphalt spreader E-side San, and headed to the jobsite.
We ended up in Dilley, TX.

We worked all day until we couldn't see anymore, because he's losing money on the job.
I got home at almost 9PM.

Sorry, long day- no posting tonight

Remember the Alamo!



I know y'all are getting tire of this state pride thang,,, but humor me.

On December 5, 200 Texan volunteers commanded by Ben Milam attacked Cos' troops in San Antonio de Bexar, which was about 400 yards from the Alamo compound. The fighting in Bexar raged with a house-to-house assault unlike anything the Mexican army had ever before experienced. Cos finally flew the white flag of surrender from the Alamo on December 9. More than 200 of his men lay dead, and as many more were wounded. He signed papers of capitulation, giving the Texans all public property, money, arms and ammunition in San Antonio, and by Christmas Day, the Mexican army was back across the Rio Grande.
To the Texans, who lost about 20 men, including Ben Milam, the victory seemed cheap and easy.
The siege of Bexar and Cos' surrender brought immediate retaliation from Santa Anna. He whipped together a force of 8,000 men, many of them foreign adventurers from Europe and America. One of his deadliest snipers was an Illinois man named Johnson! Santa Anna, the self-styled "Napoleon of the West," marched at the head of the massive army; he was determined to stamp out all opposition and teach the Texans a lesson. The word went out to his generals: "In this war, you understand, there are no prisoners." Although it was midwinter, Santa Anna pushed his army mercilessly toward Texas. The frigid, wind-battered deserts of northern Mexico took their toll. Men and animals died by the hundreds and were left on the trail, and the brigades strung out for uncounted miles. When the big siege guns bogged down in one of the many quagmires, Santa Anna pushed on without them. Nothing would stop him.
Meanwhile, after the defeated Mexican force under General Cos had left San Antonio, Colonel James C. Neill had assumed command of the Alamo garrison, which consisted of about 80 poorly equipped men in several small companies, including the volunteers. The rest of the soldiers had returned home to their families and farm chores. In this command were an artillery company under Captain William R. Carey known as the Invincibles, two small infantry companies known as the New Orleans Greys under Captain William Blazeby, and the Bexar Guards under Captain Robert White. On January 17, 1836, Sam Houston, the commander of the revolutionary troops, sent Colonel Jim Bowie and 25 men to San Antonio with orders to destroy the Alamo fortifications and retire eastward with the artillery. But Bowie and Neill agreed that it would be impossible to remove the 24 captured cannons without oxen, mules or horses. And they deemed it foolhardy to abandon that much firepower--by far the most concentrated at any location during the Texas Revolution. Bowie also had a keen eye for logistics, terrain, and avenues of assault.
Knowing that General Houston needed time to raise a sizable army to repel Santa Anna, Bowie set about reinforcing the Alamo after Neill was forced to leave because of sickness in his family. Colonel William Travis arrived in San Antonio on February 2 with a small cavalry company, bringing the total number of Alamo defenders to about 130. Although spies told him that Santa Anna had crossed the Rio Grande, Travis did not expect the dictator before early spring. He sent letter after letter, pleading for supplies and more men. He and Bowie also competed for command of the garrison before it was decided that Bowie would command the volunteers and Travis the regular army. On February 9, David Crockett and the 14 other Tennessee Mounted Volunteers (only three were actually from Tennessee) rode into San Antonio. Alarmed by the Mexican army on the outskirts of town, Travis vigorously renewed his pleas for help. His February 24 letter, "To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World....I shall never surrender or retreat....Victory or Death!" is considered one of the most heart-wrenching pleas ever written. Travis sent the message out with Captain Albert Martin. The day before, February 23, Santa Anna had reclaimed San Antonio. To the triumphant music of a military band, he took possession of the town, set up headquarters on the main plaza, and began the siege. He had his standard-bearers climb to the top of the bell tower of San Fernando Church and unfurl the scarlet flag of "no quarter." Inside the Alamo, Travis and the Texans fired their message to Santa Anna with a blast from their 18-pounder. They had their music, too, with Davy Crockett's fiddle and John McGregor's bagpipes. In fact, Davy's fiddle-playing and outlandish storytelling kept up the spirits of the besieged defenders. Santa Anna ordered his men to pound the fortifications with cannon and rifle fire for 12 days and nights. His idea was to wear out the defenders inside, giving them no chance for rest or sleep. He reasoned that a weary army would be an easy one to defeat. But the noise worked on his own army, too. Unable to hear clearly through the din, they allowed courier after courier to escape from the Alamo. On March 2, racing through the enemy's lines, the last group to reinforce the Alamo arrived. These men were the relief force from Gonzales, the only town to answer Travis' pleas to send help. The total number of Alamo defenders now stood at between 180 and 190.
At 4 o'clock on the morning of March 6, 1836, Santa Anna advanced his men to within 200 yards of the Alamo's walls. Just as dawn was breaking, the Mexican bloodcurdling bugle call of the Deguello echoed the meaning of the scarlet flag above San Fernando: no quarter. It was Captain Juan Seguin's Tejanos, the native-born Mexicans fighting in the Texan army, who interpreted the chilling music for the other defenders. Santa Anna's first charge was repulsed, as was the second, by the deadly fire of Travis' artillery. At the third charge, one Mexican column attacked near a breach in the north wall, another in the area of the chapel, and a third, the Toluca Battalion, commenced to scale the walls. All suffered severely. Out of 800 men in the Toluca Battalion, only 130 were left alive. Fighting was hand to hand with knives, pistols, clubbed rifles, lances, pikes, knees and fists. The dead lay everywhere. Blood spilled in the convent, the barracks, the entrance to the church, and finally in the rubble-strewn church interior itself.
Ninety minutes after it began, it was over. All the Texans died. Santa Anna's loss was 1,544 men. More than 500 Mexicans lay wounded, their groans mingling with the haunting strains of the distant bugle calls. Santa Anna airily dismissed the Alamo conquest as "a small affair," but one of his officers commented, "Another such victory will ruin us." As many of the Mexican dead as possible were given the rites of the church and buried, but there were so many that there was not sufficient room in the cemetery. Santa Anna ordered all the bodies of the Texans to be contemptuously stacked like cord wood in three heaps, mixed with fuel, wood and dry branches from the neighboring forest, and set on fire--except one. Jose Gregorio Esparza was given a Christian burial because his brother Francisco was a member of General Cos' presidio guards.
Six weeks after the Alamo, while the Mexican wounded still languished in San Antonio, Santa Anna met his Waterloo at San Jacinto. The men who died inside the walls of the Alamo had bought with their lives the time needed for General Sam Houston to weld a force that won Texas its independence. The great sacrifice would not be forgotten by history, nor would the Alamo's many legends and stories, most of which can never be proved or disproved because all the defenders died.
One of the most enduring questions is whether Travis really did draw a line in the earth, the "grand canyon of Texas," and ask all to step over who were willing to die for the cause. It is probably based on fact. Travis anticipated a battle to the death. Since he was also one for fairness, it's logical to believe that he would give the men an opportunity to leave the ill-fated garrison. It is a fact that one man did leave. Louis Rose was from France, and he had already served in one bloody war as a noncommissioned officer in Napoleon Bonaparte's army. Before the final assault on the Alamo he left, sustaining many leg wounds from cactuses and thorns during his escape that plagued him the remainder of his life. Asked why he chose not to stay with the rest, he replied, "By God, I wasn't ready to die." It is Rose's tale of the line in the dust that has become legend.
-snip-
Juan Seguin was on a courier mission for Travis when the Alamo fell, but he vowed to one day honor the Alamo dead in a church ceremony, a ceremony that had been denied by Santa Anna. Legend claims that Seguin collected the ashes and placed them in a casket covered with black. Inside the lid, he had the names of Travis, Bowie and Crockett engraved. He then buried the casket. Where? No one knows. Shortly before his death, when he was in his 80s, Juan Seguin stated that he had buried the casket outside the sanctuary railing, near the steps in the old San Fernando Church. In 1936, repair work on the altar railing of the cathedral led to the unearthing of a box containing charred bones, rusty nails, shreds of uniforms and buttons, particles of coal, and crushed skulls.

You can read the whole story here at historynet.com. I think it is the most (least PC anyway) accurate description that I've read today.

I've been to the Alamo, the low barracks is long, narrow and would have been dark and choked with black powder smoke. There is/was little or no natural ventilation (windows or doors).
Imagine 3 motor homes backed in line with each other.
THAT was the final space that the Battle of the Alamo took place in.
A desperate, dark, choking confusing fight to the death.

Nothing like the John Wayne gallant death in the sunshine movies.

If you didn't like it, wouldn't a slap be appropriate?

Remember when Scarlet Johannson got herself felt-up by the gay guy at the Golden Globe Awards?

She's telling the L.A. Times that she didn't like it. Funny, in this backwards, unhip red state if someone would have tried feeling a country girl up (without her consent) he would have been wearing a handprint across his face all night.

Mizrahi, who was doing pre-show interviews for the E! cable channel, created a flap when he groped Johansson's breast, asked Eva Longoria about her pubic hair and peeked down Teri Hatcher's dress.


"Mostly, I was thinking, 'Oh, my God. This is happening on live TV,'" Johansson recalled, adding she didn't buy the openly gay designer's explanation that he was trying to determine how her dress was put together.

And I just thought he was trying to see if they were real- because he's gay and all- he wouldn't be interested in anything else, would he? Not-that-it's-bad-that-he's-gay, or anything.

Johansson, who doesn't plan to attend the Oscar show, said she won't go out of her way to avoid him at future red carpet events. "I can take care of myself," she said. "I'm from New York."

And a nice fast full face slap would go a long way to stop it in the future- but then that's being "mean" by forcing your morals onto some-one who wants to take advantage of you, , , or something like that.

Has anyone else been the least bit curious about why the hype of
'Brokeback Mtn'?

I really haven't because I'm not "all about" glorifying homosexuality. I'm also not "all about" spending my hard earned cash on people who want to trash and stomp my beliefs into the mud.

I admit I'm wondering about the storyline, though- just a passing thought, kinda like you wonder what happened to that cute girl in the 4th grade you had a crush on (when you were in 4th grade, too- you perve).

I found out in a FREE 30 seconds. As you know, you get what you pay for so with out further ado (or "all abouts"), I send you to the Brokeback Bunnies movie.

Go get your dose of Hollywood 'culture', and wouldn't you know it- it's "all about" shoving liberal ideas down our throats.

I was reading about new inventions over at wired.com

and wondered, how many of you remember back about 6 or so years ago- the morning "news" shows were hyping a 'new and revolutionary' transportation invention that would make everything we now know 'obsolete'.
It was a platform with two wheels that was supposed to take the place everyting from walking to medium distance commutes. The reason it was supposed to be big news was that it was being pattented by some big money name inventor.

Why do I get the idea that it wasn't "news" so much as an ad campaign camouflaged as news.
Not that the Legacy Media would try to pull a fast one, or anything questionably ethical like that.

Where is the thing? I know they're making it because I saw John Ratzenberger (Cliffy from 'Cheers') working on one on "Made in America"

What reminded me of this wonderful new must-have invention is a new ABC show
about Garage geeks who are looking for their big break.
After looking at some of the highlighted ones- I hope nobody's gonna get sued for patent infringement by the companies already making several of the products.

Who has the "Moral Authority" now, muthah sheehan?

I hope you and the rest of your anti-American leftist are proud of this:

3/1/2006 11pm report
By Kyle Meenan
First Coast News

BRUNSWICK, GA -- The reward is growing in a community manhunt for those who vandalized a local war hero's grave last month.

"It was as if they slapped us in the face. Spit on my son's grave. That they would desecrate or even vandalize a hero," said Crystal Merillat.

When Crystal Merillat buried her son, Marine Sniper John Stalvey in October, he was hailed a hero. Stalvey had gone into the Marines after 911 and was protecting U.S. troops in Iraq when he was killed by a roadside bomb.

Hundreds of people, many waving American flags lined the procession route through Brunswick to Stalvey's final resting place. He was buried with full military honors.

Crystal Merillat wanted a tribute to her hero son. Something that would stand as a proud reminder and tribute to all who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

She ordered a very detailed grave marker for her son's burial place, along with a special bronze sculpture of a life-sized pair of boots, M-16 rifle and helmet.

"It's just unbelievable that somebody would stoop to something so low -- to do something this low," said Billy Stalvey, John's father.

What somebody did was pull up to John's grave a pickup truck. They proceed to rip the sculpture out of the ground -- tossing it less than a mile away like garbage into a roadside ditch.

Crystal Merillat got the call from her son and raced to the cemetery.

"When I pulled up, it was like they killed my son again."

It has taken weeks to repair and re-install the bronze sculpture, but now it is the vandal or vandals that are the hunted.

"People are just outraged," said Billy Stalvey, talking about the community response.

The community reward for an arrest is increasing with local police going door-to-door -- committed to finding those who defaced a local hero's grave.

"For something like this to happen is just beyond words," said Billy Stalvey.

The question on everyone's mind... Who would do such a thing?

"We thought of maybe, teenagers. Could have been an anti-war protester, we don't know," said Merillat.

"Somebody that was awful. Cruel. Evil. To even think of doing something like that."

If you have any information about the vandalism to John Stalvey's grave you're urged to call the Glynn County Police Department, or First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.

That's right, I'm calling you, and all the rest of your hate America first komrads on this. If it weren't for your vilification of everyone involved in the mid-east democratization attempt, I really doubt that this would have happened.
You used your hero son to badmouth everything he stood for- just to get facetime with your hero's, the communist Chavez, the Racist Jackson, and anyone you thought could extend your 15 minutes of fame.

The only "Moral authority" you had came from your fellow bigoted anti-Semite Socialists.
No-one in the real world of gave you more credit than as a grieving mother. You lost any call of superior morals when you advocate things like this to "teach a lesson" to us mouth-breathing cretins who actually think we can do some good over there.

We'll keep up the good fight while you goad your morally superior followers to keep disrupting funerals, and tearing up private memorials to your sons' fellow heroes.

(UPDATE MAR 5, 7:55AM) I forgot about your famous tagline- is this how you "Support our troops"?

I have to appologise for not seeing it at Rednecks revenge when it was posted.

Who are you, Lan Whu?

Lan is a new blogger over at Reproduction studio that Guy, over at Just Charming let me onto. He just started, but can use all the support he can get- since he's a conservative canadian.