And I will always love them.*

From Ace. Kinda made my day, a little bit.

* Despite their past depredations on the Scots. Wacky video produced by what are ostensibly British soldiers in Iraq, using some krazee Tom Jones-sounding tune as background. I mean, who else still listens to over-produced, Vegasy Tom Jones-ish tunes? Besides me, of course.

Give or take a few.

I think the thing to do, if I go, is to stay over till Monday and fly to Chicago from Lost Wages. That means six pairs of clean underwear, a decent set of clothes, extra boots, nice coat, and collateral. And we haven’t even started on the presentation yet. I guess there’s a Kinkos somewhere near the Plaza?

This is why I want to stay home. Why bother leaving town, if work just follows me? I’ve already got con-calls out the ying-yang on Thursday and Friday. It’s a GD guarantee that I’ll be scrounging around for a color printer and a stapler. Whee.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
- George Orwell

This short and simple quote has stuck with me since the day I first read it. Today, we honor the ones who died doing violence on our behalf. Because they are dead, we can only honor them through words & deeds. This is humbling, as there is simply no way to express the depths of my gratitude with mere words. All I can do is say it, and then pray that my deeds make me & mine worthy of their sacrifice.

For the first time in my life, I chose a pig over a beeve this weekend. The result was splendid…nay, orgasmic. Smoked pork shoulder is everything the inbred hillbillies say it is. I got about 3 lbs. of pulled pork out of a 6 lb. butt portion. It’s shockingly easy to smoke one of these things…far, far easier than a full-on brisket. Absolutely anyone can do it.

One question for you Dixies — are pigs always so salty, or did I get something that was partly cured? It doesn’t say so on the label, and one would think it would, if that were so. Regardless, I know why they make such sweet sauce to go with their hogs.

The car carry bill is waiting for Gov. Perry to sign. So is the bill authorizing the collection of biometric data from ALL drivers.

Give and take, I guess. I’d rather carry illegally in Big Red, than have my face and fingerprints* in a state database. But I gots no choice, looks like.

* Actually, they already are. I worked for a company that was regulated by the SEC. That was 20 years ago. I wonder if they’re still clogging up Washington in a file cabinet somewhere.

Insane:

The more I think about it, the more I realize that’s absolutely the kraziest, nuttiest, wackiest, utterly insane I have ever seen in my life. And I want one.

From Spirit Fingers, the best blog on this planet.

I’m just on the verge of cancelling my little Vegas trip. Business is doing what business does and that’s effing with me. I’ve got a deal on tenterhooks right this minute out in Phoenix that’s chewing up gobs of time, and I’ve gotta go to Chicago to kick off another partnership on Monday. And there’s maybe Austin this next week for a tertiary but potentially lucrative side deal, and definitely LA the week after next (more partnerships (and how I’m growing to loathe that word (but not the concept))).

It’s fast and furious, and I’m no longer a fast and furious guy. I’m a knuckle-dragging plodding ape who gets through things using brute force. Apes aren’t much good at keeping the plates spinning on the sticks…one or two is about the extent of it, and I’ve got #4 ready to go, so I’m already a wee bit overextended. Bottom line: taking four days off for Me-Me-Me fun seems utterly decadent and hedonistic at this moment in time.

The fact that it’s bucketing down rain (with continuing forecasts for bigger buckets) and completely slaying my Memorial Day Weekend business has nothing to do with it. But it ain’t helping. Though I must admit, Charlie Robison says it best, “And the rain on the roof sounds so pretty.”

Not a sentence I expected to read today:

Researchers say that’s why the state-run center, about 50 miles south of Anchorage, is the global leader in moose investigations

No reason why there shouldn’t be global leader in moose investigations, though…

Scott asks Where are the small government conservatives?

The Texas Department of Public Safety responds to all criticisms with duplicitous doublespeak that boils down to, “Trust us, we’re the government, we’re only here to help.” Bottom line, DPS wants full access to personal data about all Texans, whether or not they’ve committed a crime, and they don’t want those pesky judges looking over their shoulder anymore.

The chief of the DPS drivers license division told me after this morning’s hearing she thought it was appropriate for law enforcement to have access to a biometric password to a business or personal computer, without a warrant, because “I trust law enforcement” not to abuse the authority. Really? Ever? Do you think it’s okay if police can have your computer password without a warrant, just because it’s a thumbprint or facial recognition biometric instead of letters and numbers? That will be Texas law if HB 2337 is enacted

The answer is “Right here, ready and willing…tell me what to do.”

This is what infuriates me about government. I spend a week out of town trying to make a living, a weekend catching up on freaking Canada (and trying to make a living), two days watching Big Washington Government do a job on America while working on my regular job (never mind, you don’t care), and here comes this baloney down the pike. Even someone who givs a flying eff is absolutely under siege from all the politicos trying to screw me. Yet all these “engaged” people (getting a damn paycheck for being engaged) wonder why the average schmuck like me retreats. So please, Lobbyist Boy, tell me what I can do, instead of chastising me for not freaking caring.

And just to piss everybody else off — I blame the GD idiotic local media for talking about “Black Girl” in Waxahachie. But asking a journalist to objectively cover an issue of this import is quite apparently purely unthinkable. So I have to get it from a lobbyist from the ACLU, and thank God that at least I have a place to find this shit out, so don’t take it the wrong way, Scotty boy…just tell me what I need to do.

Long day, long night, long tomorrow…welcome to middle-age, dude.

The Claremonsters: Will some elected official please defend the Constitution?

Mac Owen, quoting Aaron Tippin: “you’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.”

No Left Turns: Their principal goal all along has been simply obstructionist, not a matter of principle. Since their charges of extremism were in this case so lightly abandoned, no one ought to take them seriously again.

Reid Stott, Photodude: But at the very least, this should be a “shot across the bow” for partisans that there is a “sensible center” you ignore at your own peril, many of whom are very much turned off by the current partisan warfare.

Final word for now from Francis Poretto:

But of course, the main event still looms in our future: the need to replace between two and four Supreme Court Justices over the next three years. Anyone who thinks the Democrats will permit a Republican president and his Senate backers to select those justices without the bloodiest and most vicious struggle in the history of parliamentary politics simply hasn’t been paying attention. Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas were warm-up frames for what the Left will do at the next Supreme Court nomination.

Bottom line here is that this is not about party, it’s about American principle. We have, in essence, allowed a Star Chamber to form and to wield power, to the point of informing the President that he really needs to swing by and discuss any future nominations, if he knows what’s good for him, wink wink. Perhaps I’m seeing things that aren’t there, but that, all by itself, just really bugs the hell out of me.

From the “You Gotta Be S–itting Me” Department:

We believe that under Article II, Section 2 the word “Advice” speaks to consultation between the Senate and the President with regard to the use of the President’s power to make nominations. We encourage the Executive branch of government to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a nomination to the Senate for consideration.

Why don’t I like compromise, Otis? Because we now have 14 Senators re-interpreting the Constitution and granting themselves powers unspeakable. Reckon that’s a good idea? Not me. That’s the job of, oddly enough in this case, judges.

Thank the Creator that this is nothing but a memo with no, zip, zero, nada, force of law. I’m fairly sure of that piece of reasoning, but who knows? Maybe McCain made himself king last night when no one was looking. Better make sure there’s no Appendix to that Memo.

I bet the YGBSM Dept. is going to get pretty busy over the next few days…

This is a funny picture:

Our long national nightmare is over — the Good Old Boys Club will remain the Good Old Boys Club. And none of the august body will have to pee in a coffee can this time around.

You can bet there will be bazillions of photons and pixels and ink and trees wasted on this, but it boils down to this: enough Republican Senators preferred not to kick over the anthill and embroil themselves in something that might actually mean something. They caved…buckled like a wet cardboard box. Now they can ALL go back to finding ways of assuring the inexorable creep of governmental power over the lives of those whom they deign to govern. Wanna take a guess what will come next? The Drumettes have an answer: HEALTHCARE….I believe that national healthcare in the United States is inevitable. Of course they believe that — they’re socialists, that’s what we expect from them. And they just got a leg up on achieving that.

Boy, you know…I really had some hope there for a couple of days. Shoulda known better.

Check this one out - This is Texas Music. Not what you’d call prolific (hint, hint), but he’s got a good post about Guy Clark, who really needs no defense, particularly from a snot-nose punk at the Austin fishwrap. Guy Clark, besides being a Legend, is the dude doing those Taco Cabana commercials. The voice in them always had a ring of familiarity, but dang if I could place it, much less recognize his face.*

Via The Little Lady…

* I really need to retire soon, before I start walking past customers to look at pretty pictures, or pooping in my pants during meetings.