Category Archives: Blogosphere

Slime time

The Leftist news media is happily predicting the demise of Herman Cain’s campaign for the Republican nomination. It’s what they do: Collect slime and spread it on and play it up like it was the most important thing. Then sit back and ballpark how effective it’s been.

Not that Cain hasn’t hurt himself. Despite insisting he’s going to hang in there, even as his principal Tea Party backers bail. He should have seen this stuff coming and prepared better. Always amazes me that any Republican candidate—especially a black man who presents an obviously stronger racial challenge to Obamalot than any white man—could imagine the Dem media would treat him/her fairly.

With or without hidden baggage, but especially with. Never has happened. And never will. As a surprised John McCain found out in 2008, objectivity and fairness are not the Fifth Column’s game.

UPDATE: Ann Coulter has a good take on this: [T]his is how liberals dirty you up when they’ve got nothing…”

And then, a day after I posted the above, Cain bailed out of the race.

Thanks to all my ebook readers

I happily ended November with six more ebook sales for Alamo and Knoxville—including twice as many of the latter. Which brings that one to a total of 91 since its first month in April, 2010—finally edging in on breaking even for the cost of ebook formatting.

Hardly bestseller material here, these single-digit sales months. Haven’t had a double-digit month since 15 sold back in April. Record still 27 for Knoxville alone in August 2010, thanks to a plug from power-blogger Instapundit. It’s a nice lunch-money hobby, however.

Thanks to all my loyal readers, including those who promised reviews at Amazon but haven’t gotten around to it. Several have good excuses, including one in San Antonio who’s seriously ill. Best wishes to him, of course, for a recovery soon.

Still in the works: polishing a Vietnam War novel which loyal-reader Snoopy was kind enough to read and criticize, finishing a Civil War digital regimental still in blog form, and writing a memoir about growing up in the Cold War.

War-Is-Us, obviously. One of these days I may do something different. Meanwhile, coupled with new violin lessons and full-time parenting, I’m busier than before I retired.

South Texas oil boom

Unemployment in the San  Antonio metro area already is down to 7.5 percent, compared to the official 9 percent of the rest of the country—thanks to a South Texas boomlet in the oil and gas industry.

This one also is bringing prosperity to the small towns of a 400-mile area that geologists call the Eagle Ford Shale, which is part of the Austin Chalk. Drilling companies are hiring truck drivers to computer techs, as well as the usual roughnecks and tool pushers for the oil and gas drilling rigs servicing a new pipeline in Hobson, southeast of San Antonio.

It’s part of a national boom in shale oil and gas recovery in North Dakota and Pennsylvania and, if the drillers get their way, even in upstate New York. And they might, if Obamalot and its anti-fossil fuel Green cronies can’t find a way to kill the whole thing. If they’re smarter than they’ve acted so far, they’ll back off and lay low until the 2012 election is over.

Thanksgiving, indeed

Texas beats A&M in possibly their last meeting by a field goal: 27-25.

Wouldn’t have been possible without good defensive play, special teams play, a trick play and two interceptions. Then QB Case McCoy (his white uniform grass-stained green from so many downings) burst for 25 yards to put them within FG range with two seconds to go. Nice work, JV offense. Heh.

Now the Ags will go on to bcome the doormat of the SEC. Good luck with Vanderbilt.

Thanksgiving

It was originally an American tradition, observed in some parts of the country but not in others, until 1863 when President Lincoln made it an official holiday at the end of November.

“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they [our blessings] should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

“And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.”

Via Lint In My Pocket – Artillery On The Ridge

Cardinal at the rancho

Snoop’s shot of one of our backyard buddies. It’s been long enough since the Rangers lost the series that it’s safe for the bird to show his face again.

The badge gang in the air

Much as I dislike the new militarization of the police, with their black SS uniforms and automatic rifles and flash-bang grenades, especially when their SWAT teams charge through some ordinary person’s front door without so much as a by-your-leave, I have to applaud this idea.

It’s got the stupid armored personnel carriers beat. It might even be useful for stealthy following of fleeing suspects in their cars, cutting down on the number of bystanders killed in high-speed chases by the Houston badge gang without flashing lights or sirens.

There is the reasonable worry, however, that the gang will escalate and arm these things.