MrSpkr's random thoughts . . .
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
"Family Values" is a relative term
You hear a lot from politicians about "family values" during election years. Of course, the meaning of "family values" differs wildly from family to family.
For example, take the Godoy family from Bryan, Texas. Please. The locals will thank you.
Last September, two of the Godoy brothers were victims of a nightclub shooting. They didn't fare too well; Jose Godoy was shot in the shoulder; his brother, Thomas Godoy, in the foot.
Now, it seems that the Godoy brothers are on the other side of the criminal divide:
Two brothers were arrested and another cited after they allegedly watched a pornographic DVD while sitting in . . . line at a McDonald’s this weekend, with the X-rated DVD playing on a ceiling-mounted screen.Wow. I can't fathom what kind of moron would do this. Where has our sense of shame gone? Our sense of propriety? Our sense of common courtesy?
I mean, when I order a Big Mac with special sauce, I don't want to get a display of various genitalia and bodily fluids while I wait in line. Apparently, the folks behind the Godoy brothers didn't want to see those things, either.
The people in the car behind the trio saw what was on the screen, and called to file a complaint with Bryan police.This turned out to be an easy triple play for Bryan police.
[A]uthorities cited the driver, 23-year-old Thomas Nicholas Godoy, for obscene display.I can hear Rito and Jose now:
Police then learned that his sibling Jose Godoy Jr., 24, had three arrest warrants for failing to appear in court. He was taken into custody.
The third brother, 21-year-old Rito James Godoy, was arrested after police found part of a marijuana cigarette in the car’s ashtray.
Man, why can't you get a girlfriend like everyone else, Tommy?
Monday, January 30, 2006
Here we go again -- Kyoto via the back door
The most potent threats to life on earth - global warming, health pandemics, poverty and armed conflict - could be ended by moves that would unlock $7 trillion - $7,000,000,000,000 (£3.9trn) - of previously untapped wealth, the United Nations claims today.Really? What's the catch?
An admission that the nation-state is an old-fashioned concept that has no role to play in a modern globalised world where financial markets have to be harnessed rather than simply condemned.Does this mean that they want to crash the U.S. economy in order to "level the playing field"?
Top of the list is a challenge to the United States to join an international pollution permit trading system which, the UN claims, could deliver $3.64trn of global wealth.Err, yes, it is.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Now I know why politicians smile so much . . .
Sex calms nerves before public speaking - study - Yahoo! News
I wonder if that would work before court hearings?
More importantly, I wonder if I could convince MrsSpkr that it would work . . . .
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena
Ferrari 360 Modena: "
I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!
You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.
Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.
"
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Why we should open military bases on the border
A foreign army crosses the American border and sets up machine gun positions on American soil. I don't blame the border patrol for not wanting to get into a firefight with a Mexican Army unit. I'd love to see a few Bradley fighting vehicles put to good use along the Rio Grande, though.
Maybe we could move the Fort Sill, Oklahoma facility (home of the artillery) and firing range down to the Valley, too . . .
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The Digital Brownshirt reminded me of an old
website that allows viewers to create a map showing all the states to which the visitor has traveled.
I blogged on this once before. Here's my updated map:
As you can see, I haven't travelled anywhere new in the past two years . . .
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
A great cause . . .
Just think of poor Matt Whine-art seeing it every day on his way to school.
Donations can be made here.
Friday, January 13, 2006
How not to collect overdue attorney fees.
Kidnapping your client from his wedding doesn't seem like such a smart idea.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
To all my liberal friends -- a sing-along
To the tune of "Bingo!"
There's a judge who'll be confirmed
Alito is his name-OH!
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
Alito is his name-OH!
The lefties haven't got a prayer
Of stopping Judge Alito!
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
Alito is his name-OH!
He'll be confirmed fair and square
A Justice he will be-OH!
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
Alito is his name-OH!
Schumer cannot quash the Judge
nor Kennedy or Biden
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
A - L - I-T-O!
They cannot stop Ali-tOH!
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
The heart of the enemy. . .
Wow. Democrats drive Alito's wife to tears as she is forced to sit and listen to inferences of racism, sexism, and other hateful bigotries.
And the Senate has the unmitigated gall to call themselves the "world's greatest deliberative body"?
Disgraceful. But it is an interesting insight into the mind of some in the Democrat Party.
I'm listening over the internet to CSPAN's coverage. During recesses, the network takes calls. The most memorable Democrat call was the most insightful:
I hate Bush. I'm from Texas. I hate Alito, and I hope he never gets confirmed.Stunning logic.
The more I listen to the hearings, the more I fear for our Republic.
How to really screw up your child, part I
Band class, seventh grade. The instructor tells student to play their instruments while sight reading the music (i.e., don't look down at your instrument, look at the music). The instructor then notices one child staring down at his hands while playing. The instructor approaches the student and says "I can teach a monkey to do it that way; I need you to do it this way."
Kid tells parent, who promptly go ballistic and claim it was a racist comment. Parent then drags kid before local television cameras to scream racism. Parent gets upset that he cannot get instructor removed from his position immediately.
"To me, I don't want this guy to be working around kids," [Parent Ray Clark] said. "Comparing a kid to an animal, there's no way to misconstrue that. Right now, my wife and I are discussing what to do next."
Mr. Clark tried to address the school board about the issue at its Monday night meeting but was denied the opportunity.
[Superintendent Al] Frailey said a new board policy requires parents to first take complaints to a campus principal, then the superintendent, and then the school board. He said Mr. Clark did not go through the proper procedure.
"Going through that process could take three months," Mr. Clark said. "This was something of a grave nature. I couldn't wait to talk about it. Kids at school are calling him monkey boy and making sounds at him."
Frailey is black. Clark and his son are black. The teacher is white. The school district is located in a city split nearly evenly between whites and blacks as a portion of the population.
I taught for a year in the Desoto ISD before leaving for the wilds of legal practice. I know of this kid from that time period. He is well known in the area for his recitations of Martin Luther King speeches (apparently, he began doing this at age three).
I don't have a problem with his making speeches; I don't even have a problem with a parent saying "Hey, please don't call my kid a name" (setting aside the question of whether the teacher did, in fact, call the child a name). I do have a problem with a parent who immediately jumps to the conclusion that the teacher is a racist (highly unlikely given the district's racial demography) or that would label this single, isolated incident as "something of a grave nature."
So how does this screw up the child? Simple. It teaches the child (1) to be hyper-sensitive to verbal statements and construe negative comments into something they are not intended to be; (2) it distracts the child from his own failure to follow instructions (i.e., to sight read the music); and (3) it feeds attention to the child by portraying him as a "victim" and parading him in front of local media outlets (I saw the kid interviewed on television last night).
The parents here aren't doing this kid a favor; they are doing him an injustice. When they ultimately lose in their efforts to get the teacher fired, what lesson does that impart? That the system is racist? That the system is unfair? That one must maintain hyper vigilance against any perceived slights to determine whether they are racial in nature?
I'd rather the kid learn these lessons: (1) Follow instructions. (2) Don't look for evil or racism in any criticism others make of you or your behaviour. (3) Let your efforts be focused on building something positive and learning from your experiences.
Maybe I should just retreat to my dream world.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Monday, January 09, 2006
The Four Million Dollar Dance Class
In January 2005, Heisman trophy winner and National Championship QB Matt Lienart decided to forgo the NFL in favor of another year at USC.
His sole class for Fall 2005 was in Ballroom Dancing (why aren't these guys taking a minimum of 12 hours?).
Now, he failed to repeat as a Heisman trophy winner. He failed to win another national championship. And he may well drop from the top pick in the draft to number 2 or three.
That's a difference of $2.2 to $4 million dollars.
Plus, he has the added bonus of earning a new nickname: Matt WHINE-art for his comments after losing the big game.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Poster child for mandatory minimum sentences . . .
There was outrage Wednesday when a Vermont judge handed out a 60-day jail sentence to a man who raped a little girl many,many times over a four-year span starting when she was seven.This is also a strong argument for electing judges -- this idiot should be the subject of a recall petition sooner if not later.
The judge said he no longer believes in punishment and is more concerned about rehabilitation.
Prosecutors argued that confessed child-rapist Mark Hulett, 34, of Williston deserved at least eight years behind bars for repeatedly raping a little girl countless times starting when she was seven.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Arrogance defined.
Hey Matt Lienart: you just lost your shot at a third consecutive national championship! You threw an interception in the end zone and couldn't march your team down the field in the end to win the game! What do you have to say about ending your college career by losing the national championship?
"I still think we're a better football team, they just made the plays in the end."I see.
It is no secret that I hate the Longhorns. Matt Lienart makes it easier to hate USC just a little bit more.
Arrogant prig. A few years in the NFL playing for a 2-14 team in Houston or Cincinnati will do wonders for his ego.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The plot thickens.
Yesterday, I blogged about a state lawmaker who was facing a primary challenge from his estranged wife. I said I thought it would be fun to watch, in that "trainwreck" sort of way.
Well, hold on tight, because the trainwreck has begun:
The clash between state Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez and his estranged wife, Jessica Reyes-Martinez, goes beyond politics.Wow.
Court records indicate that, since September, the pair has been caught up in a heated divorce and custody battle for their 1-year-old son in the 139th state District Court.
In the case file, Reyes-Martinez alleged the state representative physically and mentally abused her, while he claims that his soon-to-be ex-wife has a history of mental illness.
Stay tuned.
Frankly, this legislatore might have made a good long-shot Dead Pool pick. I could easily see this escalating into violence.
In the words of Rep. Martinez, "It’s open season."
Quote of the day
Attorney Jim Maxwell's client, Raymond Hugh McNealy, behaved in a "disgusting" and "demeaning" manner.
How?
McNealy mooned a neighbor and the neighbor's eight year old daughter following a series of nasty arguments in their neighborhood's homeowner's association. McNealy was tried last September for indecent exposure (a felony), and convicted in the district court. The circuit court reversed the conviction, holding that exposure of one's buttocks, while distasteful, is not illegal under Maryland law.
And the money line comes from James Maxwell after successfully appealing his client's conviction:
Today's ruling should bring comfort to all beachgoers and plumbers in Maryland.Nice.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Southern Appeal sure is been quiet . . .
I'm sure Feddie's silence has nothing to do with this or this.
Heh.
Imagine going through a divorce.
Now imagine doing it very publicly.
Now imagine doing it in the course of a political campaign in which the spouses are running against one another.
The wife of a state representative filed Monday to run against her husband in a South Texas race that both candidates said coincides with an impending divorce.This should be fairly fun to watch in that "trainwreck" sort of way.
Hat tip, Drudge.
UPDATE: Here's the story from the local (McAllen) paper.
The feuding spouses/candidates:
State Representative Armando "Mando" Martinez
His soon-to-be ex-wife, Jessica Reyes-Martinez.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Great analysis at the Sundries Shack
regarding the MSM's apparent unwillingness to take anything about this president at face value.
The newest complaint? That Bush's willingness to do hard work on the ranch must be mere showing off. It can't have anything to do with Bush's work ethic -- that's not in the MSM's storyline.
Read the whole thing.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Deadpool 2006 is underway . . .
Last year, I picked
This year's victims are:
George "Chicken" Boswell, a contestant on the first Big Brother.
Casey Coleman, the Voice of the Cleveland Browns
Tyrone Jones, a long-time CFL standout with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Chuck Strahl, a Canadian MP.
Jörg Immendorff, a controversial German artist.
Oriana Fallaci, a noted Italian journalist.
Max Teitelbaum, a Canadian judge.
June Callwood, a Canadian journalist.
Paul Hunter, a world champion snooker player.
Earl Woods, father of golfing legend Tiger Woods.
Grete Waitz, 9 time NY marathon winner
Harold Pinter, English playwright and Nobel laureat.
Charles Haughey, Irish politician.
Billy Graham, American evangelist.
Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Two years ago, I placed 29th and only had one score. This past year, I placed eighth and had six scores.
I'm shooting for a top three finish with this group. Most of them have some form of virulent cancer (pancreatic leads the bunch) or have other verifiable health problems. Time will tell.