Gone....

The family will be on a short hiatus over the weekend....gone to Houston. It's young Jack's 11th birthday next week and he wanted to see a Houston Oilers Texans game. So off we go. We'll be visiting with friends of Julies and some of mine. Old friends of Julies from Midland and a fraternity brother or two and my actual brother.

While we're gone catch up on the latest edition of The Coober Pedy News hot off the digital press.

The Grinch steals Christmas....

Last evening I watched a small portion of the ABC news while catching a snack before going to Jack's fifth grade Christmas play. The segment was one of a multi-part series that they are apparently running to explain to us peons the difference between the "Blue" and the "Red" states. Last night's topic was religion in public places and how this affected Christmas. We were told that some people are offended by the mention of God and/or Christ in public displays of the Christmas season. We were shown a high school band in Indiana that could not play standard Christmas carols, even an instrumental version, as part of their holiday concert because Christ or God was mentioned in the songs. Another elementary school choir somewhere in the Northeast had to substitute "Happy Holidays" into each and every song that should have a reference to Merry Christmas. We were taken to malls and other public buildings where heated debate was ongoing concerning the installation of Merry Christmas signs and banners. Peter Jennings was good enough to tell us that many people disagree and think that it's OK to mention Christmas during the Christmas season.

Thanks Peter, but here's the take from Bedford Drive, Midland Texas. Christmas is a Christian holiday, always has been. If you don't like the mention of Christmas or if Christ or God offends you.....we'll then don't celebrate Christmas. Don't put up a Christmas tree which symbolizes the renewal of life and don't give presents which reminds us of the gifts of the Magi. Or better yet, get your own stinkin' holiday to celebrate the way you like. The majority, the vast majority, of Americans are Christians or at least come from the Christian ethic. The majority rules and we celebrate Christmas, not "happy holidays".

And by the way, Jack was stunning in his acting debut starring as the TV anchor who was reporting the story of the birth of Christ. And you know at the St. Ann's School we get to say Merry Christmas, we get to sing the standard carols completely unedited and the play got to actually mention God!

So Merry Christmas....or Happy Kwanza.

An optimist soured....

Concerning my year end leaf cleaning chores yesterday I wrote..."The, hopefully, last cleanup of leafy debris from the yard". What a sucker I am to have had so much hope. At approximately 10 o'clock this morning a thin wisp of a line of thunderstorms accompanied by 45 mph winds rolled through the estate tearing every dangling participle of a remaining leaf and twig loose from it's arboreal connection and depositing them on the lawn. Not to mention the accumulated pile of leaves and pine needles from the roof that was added to the melee.

The situation makes me pine for the good old days of my youth. The days in Missouri when we used to push all the leaves and debris into the street, wait for a damp wet day and just set fire to the whole mess. There was something rather charming about this method of leaf disposal and often times now when I smell fireplace smoke on a cold damp day I remember back to those years when the whole town of Cape Girardeau smelled somewhat like the fragrance of pinon pine smoke. I suppose it's against the law now to burn big piles of flammable organic material in the streets. Sure was fun though.

Leave it at that......

We are blessed here on Bedford Drive, Midland Texas, the desert, to have an overabundance of large trees. If you've ever lived in West Texas you'll know that gratitude. We have 3 large pecan trees, 4 big live oaks and a mimosa tree near the house. Lining the fence in the rear we have a line of tall and stately cypress trees and beneath these on all sides of the yard probably 20 cherry laurels. The centerpiece of the rear fenceline is a 35 foot tall mulberry. The highlight of the grounds is a very large pine tree of a species peculiar to our neighborhood that stands at the corner of the front of the estate. The circumferance of the trunk is probably 9-10 feet around while the tree stands a good 35 feet tall.

I love all these trees but to be honest they are a royal pain in the ass. Except the cherry laurels and perhaps the mulberry. The oaks and the pecans are not happy unless they are dropping some sort of debris 12 months of the year. Green acorns or pecans, ripe acorns or pecans, dead leaves and twigs. The oaks don't shed their leaves in the Fall, but they make up for it in April when I should be relaxing from yard work. About the same time of year, the pecans are dropping "lint"...little green streamers of fluff that disintergrate into green dust when the dogs track them into the house on their fur. Sometimes the pecan tree next to the patio drops it's green fruit unripe in the early summer. Sometimes it waits until fall when the nuts are ripe. All the pecan debris on the patio emits a dark brown stain when it gets wet, the stain readily absorbed by the Mexican tile. The pine tree, God love it, deposits a constant stream of dry needles in the flower beds, the front yard and on the rooftop.

The cherry laurels are very considerate trees.... and prolific. They drop virtually nothing on the ground but do have a tendency to be short lived trees, but more arise to replace them so they are considerate trees even in death. The mulberry does it's best to be a good neighbor of a tree. It's very broad leaves provide some great shade, they are beautiful fall color and the tree waits until the first hard freeze when quite amazingly it drops all of it's foliage in almost one day.

Which brings me to my afternoon's work. The, hopefully, last cleanup of leafy debris from the yard. The pecans have been shedding now for a month, slow death cleanup, and now with a hard freeze last week, the mulberry has finally dumped it's full load over the weekend. The first year I lived at the estate I carefully raked all the leaves and pine needles into piles and carted them to the alley. I am a quick learner. Since that first years raking torture I have purchased a lawnmower with mulching abilities. What took me a whole day 4 years ago now takes less than an hour and I'm making a contribution to being an environmentally conscious estate owner. The dead leaves are great fertilizer and help keep moisture in the soil over the winter. The pine needles I mulch separately and they make a great and attractive ground cover in the flower beds.

Additionally I've learned that picking up poop after two dogs is a full time job, one that we had primed young Jack for...but he quit. So now in an eco friendly manner I just get the high pressure hose and simply squirt the poop into the soil....again great fertilizer. I've also learned that, while mulching, dark brown dog poop is awfuly hard to detect when scattered among dark brown dead leaves. I have an environmentally friendly solution for that too. I squirt it off my shoes with the high pressure hose.

Techno Talk....

May I direct your attention to the right column of the page. Perhaps you've noticed that I now have a news feed link in place. I've been meaning to look into this technology for some time now but was slothful in my efforts. The reason that it's there now is that I was shamed into it. Shame ranks right after fear as a very powerful motivator.

Cross town blogger and techno buddy Eric at The FireAnt Gazette had made a complimentary mention of the fact that I had changed my Streams format. He also added a comment about installing an RSS feed. I could tell by the tone of his font exactly what he meant. That without a news feed I was becoming a second rate technorati, a disgrace to Blogging. Everyone who is anyone in the Blog O'Sphere has a news feed. If I wanted to maintain my social position I'd better get with it.

And so the very moment I read his post I did get with it. I enabled my "feed" on Blogger and then started researching the best systems to make it all work. Within an hour I had discovered and installed FeedBurner© an interface which allows browsers to read feeds seamlessly whether they are coming from .rdf or .xml files. Got it hooked up and it ran like a champ right out of the bag. Then to keep track of all my fellow Bloggers I signed up with the newsreader service NewsGator© and I was ready to go. Living in shame no more.

So now hopefully I can look my fellow Bloggers right in the monitor and stand tall and proud. One of the few, the proud, the news readable! Syndicate Me!!

And stop by the bride's site, The Yellow Bug News where we have her news feed hooked up too.

And an update: while working with Gary in the Outback at The Coober Pedy News he decided that as a learning experience he would like to set up his own new blog template for his Coober Pedy News Blog. He's learned quickly and has it up and running. I'm proud to be the subject of his first post, well actually my car is proud to be the subject of his first post. Hope you check in with him at The Coober Pedy Blog

It was a Grand Jury...!

The truth can finally be revealed. For the last six months I have been serving on the Grand Jury of the 142nd District Court of Texas. While actively serving we are sworn to a vow of secrecy to protect the innocent...namely us the jurors. My term expired yesterday with our final meeting so now I am free to speak of my judicial journey. If you ever are nominated to serve on a Grand Jury do so, it's an enlightening experience not to mention pretty damn entertaining at times. The ultimate reality show.

The Grand Jury is an important part of the legal process as it serves as the first buffer between a, possibly, overzealous police force or district attorney and the always pure naive citizenry. Twelve average citizens of good repute [well, eleven in our case] who hear the evidence in all felony cases and decide if there is enough merit to indict the recalcitrants and send them forward to a full blown trial. We saw it all, vehicular manslaughter, child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, retaliation, armed robbery, organized criminal activity, drug possession and the ever popular DWI and "forgery by passing" i.e. hot checks. The last two categories making up the majority of the cases. We saw DWI movies, heard from expert witnesses, questioned suspects and had the power to subpoena anyone we saw fit. That was the best part...."Uncle Festus was there when the crime was allegedly commited? Bring him in we want to talk him.....!!"

I learned several things from my time on the Grand Jury. First, even in a mild mannered medium sized town such as ours, there is a lot of stuff going down, stuff that never makes the papers or is known by the average citizen. Secondly a large portion of the petty criminal activity is perpetrated by morons. We heard it all but here are some highlights.

The Case of the Pizza Pirate, a young man who while at a friend's party stole his VisaCard. Having gotten away with the act and gone unnoticed the Perp decided to start using his newly borrowed card. What does any good criminal do with a stolen card.....we'll he starts ordering pizza every night from the same Pizza Hut and having it delivered to his home. Not once, but at least 12 times. When the charges hit, the local sleuths had very little trouble tracking this criminal mastermind down.

The Case of The Discount Daddy, another young man who took a purse and it's contents from a parked car owned by an elderly woman, "Mrs. Smith". Within 20 minutes this Perp was on a shopping spree at one of the trendy hipster clothing stores at The Mall. The young criminal buys several hundred dollars worth of 20-ish style clothing with "Mrs. Smiths" MasterCard. In fact the clerk thinks that he's such a good customer she asks him if he wants to join their "Preferred Shopper" program to receive a bonus discount. Only a heartbeat from walking out the door scott free, The Perp can't miss a bargain so he signs up.....using his real name and address. The alert clerk notices that his name is not related to "Mrs. Smith" and calls the cops, who are at the Perps address before he gets home.

The Case of the Range Rustlers, two young men who broke into a local OffRoad Vehicle dealer on the edge of town late one night and stole two rather expensive Honda ATV's. Instead of driving down the asphalt road to freedom, they thought they would deter detection by going out the back through the adjoining ranchland. As you might know, the range land here is generally rather sandy. The cops had no problem at all when they brought their own ATV out and simply followed the trail several miles to the young criminals luxurious mobile home with two brand new ATV's out back.

I could could go on about the folks who steal checks and then write them to themselves using their real names and showing their real drivers licenses with addresses but you get my drift.

Mission Accomplished.....

I received an email and some great photos today from Major Gabriella Pasek at the 1st Cavalry Division's forward base in Taji, Iraq. As you recall I sent some of Joe Galloway's We Were Soldiers images to Major Pasek who wanted to use them as a backdrop for their Thanksgiving Day celebration. The theme was the 1st Cav's history in combat and the Ia Drang campaign was highlighted for the Vietnam segment of the display.

What they did using one of the photos is truly remarkable. A living history diorama, that as you'll see in the photos, is almost museum quality. Major Pasek has also promised to name a local military landmark for me, as is my usual qratuity for photographic assistance. She warns me though that there are very few permanent structures at their base so I may have to settle for the "Captain Wallace H. Craig Porta-Potty". Good enough.

Take a look at the photos: 1st Cav Thanksgiving

AWOL.......

I'm beginning to wonder if there wasn't some terminal turkey consumption on Thanksgiving three days ago. Many of my usual reading suspects seemed to have not made it through the feast. Crosstown blogger Eric at The Fireant Gazette has not reported in. Nor has Todd at The Steiner Aid up in Michigan. The usually punctual and prolific sage The Discerning Texan is MIA also. And that downunder wit and bon vivante Professor Bunyip has gone missing since the last days of October.

We miss you....if you need assistance please fire up one [1] green star cluster.

Update 10 P.M.: The Discerning Texan has come back to life, probably just out celebrating another shallow victory by the U.of Texas. And a miracle has occured in Australia....Professor Bunyip has reemerged, apparently after been being held captive by the Women's Studies Dept. at Sydney Orr University for over one month.

Coober Pedy Update.....

How long has it been since you've heard the latest news from Coober Pedy? Well pardner, that's to long.

Coober Pedy, Australia is my official sister city so I keep up with their goings on, but perhaps you haven't. Big things are brewing in CP. Gary has just posted the current edition of The Coober Pedy News where you can peruse the latest. But the big issue facing the citizens there is the referendum to ban "pokies" from the city. Pokies are the government registered poker gambling machines. Gary has outlined how the local folks have always had a game of chance going somewhere but it was usually a friendly poker game at some local gathering spot such as the Italian Club. But now, it seems, the federal government has taken over the action with the pokies. In other words most of the gambling money is now leaving town. The Coober Pedians would rather their gambling money recirculate within the community so a movement has formed to ban the pokies. Stay tuned!

In other news of the week worth reading school board elections were held, not without some voter irregularity and distraction by cell phones [happens even in the Outback], and the dog population of the city is being reined in. In a private converstion, Gary tells me that besides his opal mining operation he has also started a freight handling business. I questioned him about how freight comes to Coober Pedy and he tells me that it is all by truck....about 8 semi loads a week. Seems the new Australian Trans-Continental Railroad bypasses Coober by about 20 miles and a decent siding was not located there.

For those of us that can't wait the week or two between Gary's online edition of the Coober Pedy News, I have set up The Coober Pedy Blog for Gary and he tells me that he'll give it a go shortly. Can't wait!

Another year gone by....

Today was my birthday, my xxth. I'm not ashamed of my age, but it rather scares me to know that all of a sudden I'm xx. As one gets older, it takes more time for the actual number of the years of your existance to sink in. I will tell you that I graduated from High School in 1967....and I was one of the youngest in my graduating class.

You take it from there. But I'm told that I look younger than I am and I feel that way, though maybe I'm just deluding myself. I suppose that I would not be totally responsible for that delusion, however, because I live in somewhat of a time warp.

We live about 5 blocks from the house I grew up in and some of the same folks I knew in the 1960's still live in the neighborhood and I see them constantly. I drive by my elementary school and my junior and senior high schools almost daily and run into old High School classmates quite regularly. I had a nice chat with my sixth grade music teacher last year.....she said she remembered me as quite talented. She lied, but how kind and how nice to see someone that knew me as a young lad. Though Midland has in many ways certainly grown and changed in the five decades my family has called it home, in more ways it is still the same. And now though physically I'm xx years old, it's not hard to imagine myself cruising the streets as a teenager. I sometimes get that feeling quite literally when a Beach Boys tune airs in the car.

But tonight I was officially xx years old. It was a great way to spend one's xxth birthday, with only close family nearby. Julie and Jack, my older brother his wife and their two young girls [girls 5 and 8 years old, and he's older than me....but that's another story] and my folks. A combination birthday celebration for me, one of my niece's whose birthday is Friday and Thanksgiving since my brothers family departs for home tomorrow. A fine turkey dinner and entertaining conversation chiefly provided by three young kids. And then there was my surprise present....a complete Sporting Kilt Set provided by my trend setting bride. As reported previously, the Craig family has a strong Scottish heritage which she wishes to accentuate. And lest you think that she sees me as a new metrosexual go to the previous link and notice who is wearing this latest fashion statement.

And here's a hint that comes with the experience that being xx years old brings. Under no circumstances do you ever want to get a birthday cake with large amounts of blue icing involved. Don't ever do this. Kids and adults alike dove into the delicious cake that had large amounts of dark blue ornamental frosting. Then we all nearly choked with laughter when we looked at each other with blue stained lips and tongues. Semi permanently stained I might add. This frosting had all the best properties of India Ink.....I still have some on my hands as I type. Jack's tongue above doesn't do the totality of the blue frosting episode justice.

Remember election night? Remember several of the major television networks refusing to give President Bush a win in Ohio? Remember the Democratic pundits smuggly telling the major television networks that when the final tally of all the votes came in John Kerry would win in Ohio? Remember the "provisional votes" that these folks were hanging their hats on?

Well it seems these provisional votes are about all counted. And remember this...the President did even better in these votes than he did from the polling places.

Bush, George W. Republican 76,631 55.92%
Kerry, John F. Democratic 59,710 43.57%

NBA Brawl...

I've never been much interested in professional basketball so I haven't been glued to my nearest media outlet concerning the Detroit Brawl. I did, however, catch a story on the subject via FoxNews on their wrap-up show this evening. The commentator was shocked by the brawl. The coaches were shocked. The NBA commissioner was shocked. Were You?

I wasn't. What do you expect from players whose alternate career choice is "criminal" and when half the fans make pro sports their reason for living. I also won't be shocked when the NBA spins a story about an indepth investigation, "changes to be made" and then the players involved receive a short suspension and a fine amounting to about 1% of their annual income. What would really shock me is if the NBA would make a short inspection of the situation and tell the players involved that their services are no longer required and that they should plan on using their sub par high school skills in another career field.

Global Warming: Fact or Fiction....

That was the topic of a fascinating lecture I attended last night. The speaker was Dr. David Dallmeyer, geologist and climatologist, from the University of Georgia. David started off his hour and a half talk with the statement, "There is global warming, fact. We are polluting the atmosphere, fact." This had the mostly conservative oil business crowd nervous about the remainder of the talk, until Dr. Dallmeyer continued, "these are facts, but we still have no real idea whether or how much the two are related".

David has studied the global warming trend with the eye of a geologist's big picture ...long term. He had some fascinating data that put earth's climatological history in perspective. The amount of data put together over the last decade is staggering and largely glossed over by the more rabid of environmental movement whose view is that man alone is causing negative climate change.

As most people realize the earth's climate has seen drastic changes before man appeared on the scene. These wanderings of the climate are caused by such things as continental drift, the wobbling of the earth, sunspots and the earth's varying orbital path around the sun. They have profound implications for our climate. What David brought home to me however was that, except probably for continental drift, the other major variables are well documented and fairly predictable.

The data that has been gleaned from deep well ice cores in Greenland and the Antarctic, which are based on carbon dioxide, methane and heat values, are remarkably similar in showing that for at least the last half million years a cycle of cooling and warming has occured regularly on about a 140,000 year time period. Based on this data we are approaching the warmest period of that cycle. So, indeed, there is global warming, but given the record David suggests that perhaps we should be more concerned about global cooling.

I was somewhat disappointed that David did not delve into data on how man's recent [geologically speaking] activities will affect the natural cycle. However I don't fault him for this, he's a scientist and this speculation would be out of the scope of his expertise. He did comment though that carbon dioxide levels are currently higher than at any period he had studied and this concerned him. I enjoyed hearing from an impartial scientist and being updated on the facts some of which are summarized here.

What the.....?

Your eyes are not out of adjustment [as far as I know]. I made a few changes to Streams. Been meaning to for a long time primarily to make it more readable and to organize the links. I have some more to do and like most artistes I reserve the right to change much more. I'll have to let the new scheme sink in. Or perhaps I'll scrap the whole thing and concentrate on non-digital reality.

And over at Powerline you'll find pictures of some of my best friends at the Ia Drang Survivors Reunion held last weekend in D.C. Joe Galloway, Bruce Crandall, Chip and Vicki Parker. Wish we could have been there, but business and home life kept us away this year.

My Fitting Tribute....

As I mention here from time to time, and not to long ago in fact, I do a lot of digital imaging work using Joe Galloway's Vietnam photographs. Many months ago I supplied images per the request of SFC Morton a senior drill sergeant at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He was in the process of decorating his barracks with historical photos of the infantry in action and wanted to portray the events in the Ia Drang for his section on the Vietnam War. Having almost forgotten this, I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to receive an email from SFC Morton containing his thanks and pictures of the project which turned out very nicely. But to my delight he also took the time to honor me, and my service, by dedicating a portion of the barracks to me personally. Read his note below to see if you agree that his gesture was a fitting tribute!

"Sir, SFC Michael Morton here, Senior Drill SGT. Aco 30th AG, Ft. Benning, Ga. I just wanted to again thank you for all of your help in reguards to my barracks project "LZ XRAY". The barracks is now finished and I thought I would show you some of the results. I wish I could do more but I am limited on the amount of things they (command) will let me do. We dedicated the barracks yesterday on the anniversary of the battle. All of the soldiers who stay there and took part in the construction are overjoyed in the results. Everyone around the area loves the barracks and the soldiers can't stop talking about it. I believe the end result was met, teach the soldiers about our Army's history, and instill pride in our veterns efforts in Vietnam. I again thank you very much for all of your help, If your ever in Ft. Benning, please stop by and check out the barracks, I know the soldiers who stay there would love to meet you. After all, the CPT. Wallace Craig Latrine needs an offical dedication (I took your picture and made a tribute at the entrance way of the latrine like suggested) All of the soldiers ask who you are? The dedication reads: This Latrine is dedicated to CPT. Wallace Craig, US Army, 25th Infantry Division, Vietnam. For his service and dedication while gallantly fighting in the worst Latrine in history!
Thanks again, SFC Michael Morton"

It brings a tear to my eyes.....

Gonzo Weather....

My family has lived in these here parts since 19 and 60 and we don't think that we've ever seen it rain like it has in the last four days. It's been non-stop. Sure we've had spells over the years where rain falls over a long period, but it stops occasionally and then restarts. This has been one long constant rainfall since late Friday night. Drizzle and mist Saturday turning Sunday to periodic half inch toad floaters morning, noon and night. I'm closing in on 5 inches in our tasteful asiatic fish rain gauge. Two years ago we were in the midst of probably the worst drought on record.

In Midland during the last 10 years we have had the hottest summer temperature ever recorded at 119° [August 1994] and the coolest high on record for a mid summer day, 65­° [July 2004]. Weather patterns are cyclical and influenced by a staggering number of variables, but I do have my thoughts about what part man's influence on the atmosphere might be. I don't like the term "global warming", I think it has taken on to much political meaning and I think that much of the science behind it's Ultra Eco backers has been lacking. But...it does seem to me that the premise behind the theories may have some merit.

So, this Wednesday I'm going to hear Dr. David Dallmeyer from the University of Georgia department of ecology who'll be in town to address the subject. His topic will be Global Warming: Fact or Fiction. Should be interesting, if I can get there through the flooded desert.

By the way, if you haven't visited my highly acclaimed international weather website WeatherTalk© do so now and tell us how the weather is where you be's stayin'.

There is no bond so great as that between Veteran's who have served their country in the cause of freedom. To Veterans everywhere....
Thanks for your service!

The Author, 1971-72

No Fake Turkey Here....

I've talked before about some of the interesting people I've met and worked with through my association with author Joe Galloway and because I keep his Vietnam digital image files for distribution to different veterans, media and scholarly organizations. Thought you'd like to see a request I'm working on now.....perhaps one of the most important uses of Joe's photos that I've handled.

"My name is MAJ Gabriella Pasek. I am assigned as the Executive Officer of the 27th Main Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division currently deployed to Taji, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.

I am writing to you today to request your assistance. My unit has very recently been tasked to put together a living history display for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We have started putting together several vignettes and historical scenes starting with the 1st Thanksgiving and then moving into "The Evolution of the Cavalry through History." For this latter piece, we will be depicting a Civil War scene (horse cav), Vietnam scene (air cav), and modern conflict with a static display of one of our M1114s and gun crew in full battle rattle.

As part of our living history, we are creating backdrops to set the mood for our stages. I found Mr. Galloway's photograph "Resupply at LZ X-ray" on your website and it would be the perfect backdrop for our Air Cav display - it is particularly suitable for us, as mine is the primary logistics support unit for the division.

Because the photograph has been copyrighted, we are requesting your gallery's and Mr. Galloway's permission to have this photograph enlarged by the Kellog Brown & Root Sign Shop onto an 8' X 12' metal display sign to be hung on a frame behind our soldiers (in period uniform) and stage scene, complete with sandbagged fighting position and ammunition crates......

If needed, I would be more than happy to send you a photograph of our display once it is set up to show you that we have done justice and honor to the soldiers that served before us in "The Cav."

This holiday display will be seen by the over 6000 soldiers serving here on Camp Cooke in Taji, Iraq as well as several dignitaries and senior officers that have committed to attending our Thanksgiving meal - and will be an immense morale boost for everyone in addition to reminding everyone of the Division's illustrious beginnings.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Request a response as early as possible to facilitate our backdrop construction prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Respectfully,

MAJ Gabriella Pasek"

We are, of course, honored to be able to help the 1st Cav in Iraq.

Victory.....!

It was a great victory, for GW Bush and our country. Democrats would disagree, but they should be used to being wrong. I am not, however, going to gloat. The President is not gloating, he and I are just glad that the elections are over. And before I move on I do have to thank John Kerry and/or those at the Democratic Party who had the sound thinking to not protest the results in several close states. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is the turning point in becoming a more civilized nation as pertains to our politics. I can only hope, and ask that the Republican Party try to answer in kind. This election is over.

I saw the USA Today map above referenced at Bunker Mulligan's Place and it really gave me pause. I'm interested in maps anyway and this one really caught my attention. It's a county-by-county breakdown of the voting, showing counties where the lead was more than 5% for Bush [Red] and Kerry [Blue] and illustrates graphically the divide, great and small, that we have geopolitically in this country. Looking at the MSM TV maps where the states are either Red or Blue in totality doesn't give the same effect, no sense of how much power the relatively small urban areas wield.

I've pondered awhile about the people, thinking and culture in the Blue areas. Some are obvious. On the West Coast you have the actors, "wing nuts", ex-hippies and new age practitioners i.e. California and the people who have moved to Oregon because California is to crowded. In the Seattle Bay area, it rains constantly and so people are depressed, perfect fodder for the Democrats. Anarchists are from here also.

On the North East Coast reside our betters, the cultural elite, Ivy League scholars, the old families, old money. i.e. those who think that we who live west of Pennsylvania are the great mass of unwashed peasants and farm hands. It's the other assorted Blue's that make me wonder what is going on in these scattered and diverse areas that would cause them to vote for John Kerry.

Except for the upper MidWest, which is an anomoly, I have to conclude that the driving force behind most of the "Blue" counties is economics. Wealth or mainly the lack of it. Wealth on the far East and West Coasts.....lack of it in between. Take a look starting in the east. You'll notice areas in Virginia, North and South Carolina ....the tidelands and Appalachia. Some of the worst poverty in the country and I'm sorry to say a population still waiting for government to bail them out of their misery. A little further Northwest you'll find blue areas in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. Coal mining country, a depressed area for decades. In conjunction with Appalachia you'll see blue stretching into Northern Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The dead remnants of the Old South that have never really caught up. Further west, running north and south, you can outline the lower Mississippi River and the poverty that follows that waterway. I honestly don't know what is the matter there....it's just poor. Finally, one last look in the Eastern U.S. around the Great Lakes and you'll notice the outline that was once, and probably still is, known as the "Rust Belt". No wonder they'd be bitter about jobs going overseas.

As stated above, the upper Mid West is hard to understand. A bundle of blue that is not, I think, related to poor economic standing. I know many people from this area, and most are hard working patriotic Americans. Why they continue to vote with a liberal bent I think is more related to their heritage. Germanic and Scandanavian stock who somehow, I'll wager, have a touch of socialism programed in. My Grandmother's father came from Germany, she went to the University of Wisconsin. The one time she worked in her life, she was a social aide worker. She was a liberal.

In my home state of Texas there are five blue zones. No questions about those. Three along the Rio Grande River are El Paso, Presidio and the lower Rio Grande Valley. Hispanic and dirt poor. A fourth is around the Beaumont/Port Arthur area. Sorry that I'm not versed enough to know exactly why with a fairly vibrant Texas economy that these folks are not doing well, but they never seem to. To close to Louisiana I suppose. The fifth small blue outpost towards the center of the state is Austin, which has always been a magnet for.....well see California above.

The Blue tracts in the vast majority of the great West are large but spread thinly. One has to ponder a little more deeply to concieve of the answer for their existance. Pardner that's Indian country. Many of the large Democratic areas are Indian reservations particularly in Northern New Mexico and Arizona. I have great admiration and sympathy for American Indians, their poverty is by and large a product of Government ineptidude and failure. To bad they vote Democratic, perhaps they don't connect the two.

Lastly, the remaining areas in the West are not born of poverty but of the Democrats new found friend, wealth. Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Aspen and Whitefish Lake Montana.....blue all. But of course these too are inhabited by ordinary common folk. Common millionaires.

Hope you enjoyed the tour, please leave any observations that you might have. And rest easy tonight, the country is in good hands for four more years.

Twick or Tweat.....!

Truco O Convite! We're right in the middle of Halloween as I write. Don't know about your neighborhood, but we get very few "local" kids. We mainly have kids from more disadvantaged neighborhoods whose parents truck them over [literally] for their trick or treat goodies. Some of our neighbors leave their lights off and don't participate....and I have to say that occasionally I think that it's a tad to much when 6 or 8 kids get out of the back of a pickup and show up at the door.

But Julie always buys lot's of goodies for these folks who have less than we do. And I'll have to brag, that these kids who show up at our door in Midland Texas are supremely well behaved, are generally cute as a bug and always say "thank you". If they don't, their Mom or Dad who is standing behind them reminds them, sometimes in broken English, to do so.

The only problem we had was a cute little companêro who showed up sporting a Kerry/Edwards button. I told him that he was an evil little boy and would get no candy. And I also took his picture and said that I was sending it to Santa Claus so he would also get no Christmas presents.

OK, he got candy too, but hope he remembered what we were wearing [above]. By the way the picture will stay at the masthead until Tuesday. It's a busy week for us and don't know if I'll have time to post any passing thoughts, so just want visitors to be reminded of the right thinking way to vote.