Recently, there were reports that the gay mayor of Houston issued subpoenae to local pastors seeking copies of sermons given in which homosexuality or the mayor was mentioned. Putting aside for a moment the obvious First Amendment issues in play -- that the city attorneys would even agree to issue a subpoena for this is astounding -- there are open questions as to the motivation of a public official who wants copies of sermons given in church by ministers.
The inference that can be drawn is that the mayor objects to anything that opposes the homosexual lifestyle and is looking for ways to withdraw the not-for-profit standing the churches enjoy so as to be able to tax them. The chilling effect of such a move is obvious, as is the constitutional violation.
But it's perhaps the most visible of a string of belligerent moves made by gays in the name of equality that is upsetting to me. For the record, I am fully in favor of equal rights for gays, although I'm ambivalent on the issue of gay marriage. As an attorney, I have to support the legality of gay marriage, but I'm not necessarily in favor of it personally. That being said, I would never condemn a gay couple for being married and would show them the same respect as I would a heterosexual couple. Otherwise, I have no truck with equality for gays in our society.
But that's just the point: Movements across the country have endowed gays with superior rights to other citizens. In New Mexico, Washington and other states, legislation exists that penalizes businesses that choose not to provide services to gays. It has forced some businesses, after litigation resulted in adverse decisions against them, to close. The purpose of the laws is to prevent discrimination, with which I fully agree, but the laws are overbroad and infringe upon another First Amendment guarantee.
Some businesses refuse to contract business with gay couples due to their religious beliefs. The laws are written in such a way that the shop owners are compelled to do business with gay couples who approach them; failure to take business from gay couples results in the severe penalties we've seen in New Mexico and Washington, where the mere refusal to take business from gay couples subjected the business owners to penalties in the thousands of dollars. This isn't right.
As an attorney, occasionally clients want to retain me whom I know are going to be nothing but trouble. I should have the right not to engage them if I so choose. If they're gay and I were in one of these states, I could be subject to fines and penalties simply because the potential clients are gay. That other business people choose not to be retained because of their religious beliefs should be respected. That gays may not get a particular baker or a photographer doesn't mean they won't get a baker or photographer doesn't mean they won't get any bakers or photographers, just not that one. I find it hard to believe in this day and age there is such anti-gay bias that collusion will prevent gays from finding the professionals they need or want to have something done. Subjecting people to penalties for their religious beliefs is simply wrong.
As if that weren't bad enough, we now have a politician who wants to vet sermons from local ministers. If a straight politician were to do something similar with a pastor known to have gay community ties, there would be an uproar, and rightly so. Yet this news has barely been noticed.
Frankly, the mayor should be fined and penalized for trying to curtail the pastors' speech. There is absolutely no reason why a mayor should subpoena the sermons of local pastors unless there is some attempt at suppressing those sermons planned. If the mayor is truly interested in what the pastors have to say, she can get her butt to church every weekend to hear for herself what the pastors are preaching. But to demand copies of the sermons for what can only be called a nefarious reason is unpardonable.
That the mayor even thinks she has the right to demand the sermons speaks volumes about just how much power gays think they have. By all means they should be treated equally. They should not be made to feel like second-class citizens. But equality and superiority are two different things. No one, be he gay or straight, has the right to prevent the free exercise of speech or religion, unless the speech or sermons fall within reasonable time, place and manner restrictions or a seditious in nature. That the speech or sermons may offend people is of no consequence.
Ironically, gays use this tactic all the time themselves, referring to themselves in terms that, were a straight person to utter the words, would cause a backlash. But this falls under the liberal mantra of do as they say not as they do.
That is not equality.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
Canada Attacked
Last week, our friends north of the border suffered an assault on their liberty and way of life when as-yet unknown gunmen killed a Canadian soldier and attacked the Parliament building in Ottawa. I had to leave right after the preliminary reports were coming out so I'm not sure if any more is known about the attack. For my purposes, it's enough to know that Canada was attacked.
First, my condolences go out to the family of the serviceman killed today, the other serviceman killed earlier in the week and his companion who was injured, their families and the nation of Canada. This is intolerable and must be avenged.
Second, I call on my country to stand up and defend Canada, not only our best neighbor but also one of our closest allies. Canada has always been there for us, so now it's our turn.
Third, the United States better see this for what it is.
This is an attack on a soft target. Canada, based on some of the reports by Canadian news outlets that I was able to hear today, called the country complacent. Given how easily the armed intruder was able to gain access to the Parliament building today, I'd have to agree. It would seem that Canada thought that nothing of the sort of thing that happened to us on 9/11 would ever happen to it. Unfortunately, for them and for us, they were wrong.
Reports have now surfaced that the murderer was a radicalized Muslim, native of Canada. This seems to be what we can expect in the near future, sort of a welcoming committee for extremists from the Middle East who eventually will arrive here. We've seen the same in our own country, with attacks in New York City, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas already. Eventually, however, we'll see foreigners attempting more attacks here.
More troubling for me is the nature of the threat on the northern border. For obvious and compelling reasons, our focus has been on the porous southern border. It's been the scene of infiltrations and attempted infiltrations over the years -- let's not forget the infamous Zimmerman telegram that encouraged an invasion there during World War I -- with the active and violent participation of the drug cartels. Islamofascist terrorists can easily blend in with Latins seeking a better life within our borders. Yet the northern border presents a different kind of threat.
Longer and more porous than the southern border, terrorist elements can cross the border in hundreds of unpopulated and undefended locations. To be sure, Islamofascists don't blend in as well with the local population as they could on the southern border, but especially in Minnesota, there is a population that would aid them to covertly infiltrate the country and hide them as they plot and carry out their missions. With most of our attention diverted to airports and the southern border, the increased activity along the northern frontier is worrisome.
I mourn the losses Canada suffered last week and hope that for both their and our benefit they'll be more vigilant now. But the attacks should serve as a wake-up call to us to focus more attention along what was once the longest undefended border on earth, not because of the threat from Canadians, but because of the threat that the porous border presents to those who would all too readily utilize it.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
First, my condolences go out to the family of the serviceman killed today, the other serviceman killed earlier in the week and his companion who was injured, their families and the nation of Canada. This is intolerable and must be avenged.
Second, I call on my country to stand up and defend Canada, not only our best neighbor but also one of our closest allies. Canada has always been there for us, so now it's our turn.
Third, the United States better see this for what it is.
This is an attack on a soft target. Canada, based on some of the reports by Canadian news outlets that I was able to hear today, called the country complacent. Given how easily the armed intruder was able to gain access to the Parliament building today, I'd have to agree. It would seem that Canada thought that nothing of the sort of thing that happened to us on 9/11 would ever happen to it. Unfortunately, for them and for us, they were wrong.
Reports have now surfaced that the murderer was a radicalized Muslim, native of Canada. This seems to be what we can expect in the near future, sort of a welcoming committee for extremists from the Middle East who eventually will arrive here. We've seen the same in our own country, with attacks in New York City, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas already. Eventually, however, we'll see foreigners attempting more attacks here.
More troubling for me is the nature of the threat on the northern border. For obvious and compelling reasons, our focus has been on the porous southern border. It's been the scene of infiltrations and attempted infiltrations over the years -- let's not forget the infamous Zimmerman telegram that encouraged an invasion there during World War I -- with the active and violent participation of the drug cartels. Islamofascist terrorists can easily blend in with Latins seeking a better life within our borders. Yet the northern border presents a different kind of threat.
Longer and more porous than the southern border, terrorist elements can cross the border in hundreds of unpopulated and undefended locations. To be sure, Islamofascists don't blend in as well with the local population as they could on the southern border, but especially in Minnesota, there is a population that would aid them to covertly infiltrate the country and hide them as they plot and carry out their missions. With most of our attention diverted to airports and the southern border, the increased activity along the northern frontier is worrisome.
I mourn the losses Canada suffered last week and hope that for both their and our benefit they'll be more vigilant now. But the attacks should serve as a wake-up call to us to focus more attention along what was once the longest undefended border on earth, not because of the threat from Canadians, but because of the threat that the porous border presents to those who would all too readily utilize it.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Monday, October 20, 2014
A Day in the Woods
When Karen and I moved into our new house, one of the things we needed to get done was to lay in a supply of firewood. Unlike other houses all over the area, we have no deadfall on the property, so getting firewood was going to be an issue unless we were willing to pay for it, which we weren't. So through a series of coincidences, we were able to locate a site where there was a sufficient amount of fallen trees that the owners graciously agreed to allow me to cut up and bring home for firewood for our fireplace this fall and winter.
Getting to the deadfall was the easiest part. The site was only a few miles from our house, the wood plentiful and readily accessible. About the only hiccup in the process was the chainsaw that had sat largely unused for over a year while we lived in an apartment. It wouldn't start up right away, and after a trip to Home Depot it worked well enough. But after I stopped to load the cut wood, it wouldn't start up again. But it didn't diminish the fun.
I guess I'm a firewood hunter. I combed over the area for the best pieces of downfall I could find and then cut them in appropriate lengths for later splitting. The autumnal weather was magnificent: Not too cold, no rain, sunny with a gentle breeze rustling the colorful leaves still on the branches. Underneath, a blanket of gold, orange, red and green crunched with every footstep. The high-pitched whine of the chainsaw engine was the only disturbance of the quiet in the woods, but somehow it belonged there, as sawdust flew back at me as I knelt down to evaluate the progress of my cut. As the whine grew more quiet, the log turned into firewood dropped to the ground and rolled to its rest in the fallen leaves as the engine puttered.
For me, cutting up firewood is relaxing. For Karen, cleaning is relaxing. I could have cut up half the deadfall in the woods where I was and been exultant, albeit tired. Sweat poured off me despite the cool weather, and I was sticky and smelly. But to see all those logs collecting at the bottom of the hill made me smile in anticipation of the fires that would be in our fireplace over the holidays.
Loading the cut logs into my car, I smelled the freshly-cut wood and wondered how long that smell would linger in my vehicle. Between that and the gas for my chainsaw, it would be awhile before Karen deigned to ride with me. I got the wood home and unloaded it into a neat stack in the driveway. We hadn't decided exactly where to put the woodpile yet, so there was no point in having to move it twice more.
The next trip to the woods joined me with my friend Hampton, with whom I would share collection of the firewood. We surveyed the woods for the best spots to collect the logs and then discussed other projects we'd carry out together. Hampton asked me if I had a wood splitter and I told him he was looking at it -- meaning myself -- which prompted Hampton to offer generously to lend us his wood splitter. We drove to his house, hooked up the splitter to his pick-up truck and brought it to our house. Within two hours Karen and I were splitting the cut up logs and beginning the woodpile stack. It took a very short time to get through those logs that had taken me a few hours to cut and haul. As much as I like splitting logs with a maul, a sledgehammer and wedges, I have to admit that splitter works almost effortlessly. It also puts a lot less wear and tear on my body. Karen and I worked quickly and efficiently, trading off on either splitting the wood or stacking it in a four-foot high pile, about eight feet long. The neatly split wood fit together like a Tetris puzzle. Soon enough, we had roughly two-thirds of a cord of wood, with more smaller branches to be sawed up to add to the pile.
When we finished, tired but smiling, we looked with satisfaction on the new woodpile. We knew we'd have enough wood for more than a few fires, especially since I'd be gathering more wood next weekend. Aided by Hampton's splitter, we'd make quick work of the logs I'd get and start another row for our woodpile. Just thinking about a roaring fire in the fireplace, with Custer splayed in front of the fireplace, made us content. It would be a good fall and winter with fires going every weekend, at least.
There is nothing like gathering firewood to calm my soul. There's just something primal about it that appeals to my basic instincts. The thought of Karen warmed by the fires makes me smile even more.
Our new house will be warm this winter.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Getting to the deadfall was the easiest part. The site was only a few miles from our house, the wood plentiful and readily accessible. About the only hiccup in the process was the chainsaw that had sat largely unused for over a year while we lived in an apartment. It wouldn't start up right away, and after a trip to Home Depot it worked well enough. But after I stopped to load the cut wood, it wouldn't start up again. But it didn't diminish the fun.
I guess I'm a firewood hunter. I combed over the area for the best pieces of downfall I could find and then cut them in appropriate lengths for later splitting. The autumnal weather was magnificent: Not too cold, no rain, sunny with a gentle breeze rustling the colorful leaves still on the branches. Underneath, a blanket of gold, orange, red and green crunched with every footstep. The high-pitched whine of the chainsaw engine was the only disturbance of the quiet in the woods, but somehow it belonged there, as sawdust flew back at me as I knelt down to evaluate the progress of my cut. As the whine grew more quiet, the log turned into firewood dropped to the ground and rolled to its rest in the fallen leaves as the engine puttered.
For me, cutting up firewood is relaxing. For Karen, cleaning is relaxing. I could have cut up half the deadfall in the woods where I was and been exultant, albeit tired. Sweat poured off me despite the cool weather, and I was sticky and smelly. But to see all those logs collecting at the bottom of the hill made me smile in anticipation of the fires that would be in our fireplace over the holidays.
Loading the cut logs into my car, I smelled the freshly-cut wood and wondered how long that smell would linger in my vehicle. Between that and the gas for my chainsaw, it would be awhile before Karen deigned to ride with me. I got the wood home and unloaded it into a neat stack in the driveway. We hadn't decided exactly where to put the woodpile yet, so there was no point in having to move it twice more.
The next trip to the woods joined me with my friend Hampton, with whom I would share collection of the firewood. We surveyed the woods for the best spots to collect the logs and then discussed other projects we'd carry out together. Hampton asked me if I had a wood splitter and I told him he was looking at it -- meaning myself -- which prompted Hampton to offer generously to lend us his wood splitter. We drove to his house, hooked up the splitter to his pick-up truck and brought it to our house. Within two hours Karen and I were splitting the cut up logs and beginning the woodpile stack. It took a very short time to get through those logs that had taken me a few hours to cut and haul. As much as I like splitting logs with a maul, a sledgehammer and wedges, I have to admit that splitter works almost effortlessly. It also puts a lot less wear and tear on my body. Karen and I worked quickly and efficiently, trading off on either splitting the wood or stacking it in a four-foot high pile, about eight feet long. The neatly split wood fit together like a Tetris puzzle. Soon enough, we had roughly two-thirds of a cord of wood, with more smaller branches to be sawed up to add to the pile.
When we finished, tired but smiling, we looked with satisfaction on the new woodpile. We knew we'd have enough wood for more than a few fires, especially since I'd be gathering more wood next weekend. Aided by Hampton's splitter, we'd make quick work of the logs I'd get and start another row for our woodpile. Just thinking about a roaring fire in the fireplace, with Custer splayed in front of the fireplace, made us content. It would be a good fall and winter with fires going every weekend, at least.
There is nothing like gathering firewood to calm my soul. There's just something primal about it that appeals to my basic instincts. The thought of Karen warmed by the fires makes me smile even more.
Our new house will be warm this winter.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
WMD's
I wonder how aggressively the MSM is going to report this story:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?_r=0
Yes, Virginia, there were WMD's in Iraq.
For more than a decade now, the Left has railed against former President Bush, alleging that he used the search for non-existent WMD's as a pretext for finishing the war his father didn't. Stories of a lack of WMD findings, flawed intelligence, even an abortive attempt to have President Bush impeached for manipulating the facts, were used to smear the Mr. Bush. Now, stories are being leaked thanks to a FOIA request that there were plenty of WMD's found in Iraq.
Surprise, surprise.
I, for one, always believed that WMD's existed, but that they were spirited away to Syria, a Sunni nation, to help out the late Saddam Hussein. Given that Bashir Al-Assad used chemical weapons against his opponents last year, my speculation was reasonable. But now, thanks to the FOIA request, we're learning that the Pentagon concealed the truth from Congress and, by extension, the American public.
I wonder when the MSM is going to apologize for lambasting Mr. Bush. I doubt that will happen. If anything, it will complain that Mr. Bush was in charge when his Pentagon withheld this information. The MSM will not use the same logic in addressing Mr. Obama's shortcomings, of course, because that, after all, would only be fair. Instead, it will use this to pillory Mr. Bush as being incompetent, detached, unaware and just plain stupid that he didn't know -- even by osmosis -- that WMD's were found and that the discoveries were to be kept silent. That Mr. Obama didn't know about the NSA spying, the IRS misdeeds, the Benghazi terrorist attacks, the Obamacare failure, the AP meddling, the James Rosen flap, the Secret Service reports or any of the other myriad scandals that have plagued his administration will be excused or ignored. No, Mr. Bush will not receive an apology but will be blamed for this as well.
Even so, for a fair-minded person, shouldn't there be an acknowledgement that Mr. Bush got it right and that the handwringing was all wrong?
Eventually, the history of this era will be written with the benefit of released documents, the perspective that time provides and perhaps a change in attitudes brought about by developments that we can't foresee today. In the meantime, we're left with this mess. All I want is fairness.
On a personal note, I've had a chance, recently, to talk with a former soldier who was in Iraq ten years ago. He told me unequivocally that they found WMD's there but never knew what happened after he told his superiors about them.
Perhaps now we know.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?_r=0
Yes, Virginia, there were WMD's in Iraq.
For more than a decade now, the Left has railed against former President Bush, alleging that he used the search for non-existent WMD's as a pretext for finishing the war his father didn't. Stories of a lack of WMD findings, flawed intelligence, even an abortive attempt to have President Bush impeached for manipulating the facts, were used to smear the Mr. Bush. Now, stories are being leaked thanks to a FOIA request that there were plenty of WMD's found in Iraq.
Surprise, surprise.
I, for one, always believed that WMD's existed, but that they were spirited away to Syria, a Sunni nation, to help out the late Saddam Hussein. Given that Bashir Al-Assad used chemical weapons against his opponents last year, my speculation was reasonable. But now, thanks to the FOIA request, we're learning that the Pentagon concealed the truth from Congress and, by extension, the American public.
I wonder when the MSM is going to apologize for lambasting Mr. Bush. I doubt that will happen. If anything, it will complain that Mr. Bush was in charge when his Pentagon withheld this information. The MSM will not use the same logic in addressing Mr. Obama's shortcomings, of course, because that, after all, would only be fair. Instead, it will use this to pillory Mr. Bush as being incompetent, detached, unaware and just plain stupid that he didn't know -- even by osmosis -- that WMD's were found and that the discoveries were to be kept silent. That Mr. Obama didn't know about the NSA spying, the IRS misdeeds, the Benghazi terrorist attacks, the Obamacare failure, the AP meddling, the James Rosen flap, the Secret Service reports or any of the other myriad scandals that have plagued his administration will be excused or ignored. No, Mr. Bush will not receive an apology but will be blamed for this as well.
Even so, for a fair-minded person, shouldn't there be an acknowledgement that Mr. Bush got it right and that the handwringing was all wrong?
Eventually, the history of this era will be written with the benefit of released documents, the perspective that time provides and perhaps a change in attitudes brought about by developments that we can't foresee today. In the meantime, we're left with this mess. All I want is fairness.
On a personal note, I've had a chance, recently, to talk with a former soldier who was in Iraq ten years ago. He told me unequivocally that they found WMD's there but never knew what happened after he told his superiors about them.
Perhaps now we know.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Friday, October 10, 2014
Reality Show Misfires
In the interest of full disclosure, I admit to being a loyal fan of three reality shows: The Amazing Race, Yukon Men and Top Chef. The first affords me the opportunity to see places I'll never visit and the second amazes me with the skills these people have for cooking. The third is simply amazing. Beyond that, I may peek from time to time at a reality show , but that's only because Karen watches far more of them than I do.
But piggybacking on her viewing, I've gotten to see some shows that are, shall we say, questionable. Because they're on particular channels, we also get to see the promos for other reality shows. It seems as if more and more, there are wacky concepts that provide people with reasons to appear on television. I don't understand the attraction for most of them, to be honest, but then again, there are probably people who question my choices, which is only fair.
Here then are some reality shows that cause me to scratch my head:
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo: How on God's green earth is it necessary for a television show made in America regarding Americans to have subtitles? That alone makes this lunacy. Then there's the obnoxious quality of the people in the show. Nevermind what's happened to them recently; this show is a train wreck.
My Crazy Obsession: All I needed to see to know that this show wasn't for me was the promo for the guy who was kissing and fondling his car. It's the functional equivalent of filming inside an insane asylum.
Hoarders: Karen thinks I'm a hoarder; I'm not. I have a lot of books, sure, but I have nothing on an order with the people in this show. I don't like filth (although my girl regards anything that's not hospital-level antiseptic as filth) and these people, besides keeping junk, are just filthy.
Naked and Afraid: Let me see if I get this straight: We put a man and a woman in the jungle, naked, and task them with toughing it out for twenty-one days. They get a machete and a bag and nothing else? And then we blur out the private parts after we put that name on the show? What's the point? And what compels a person to be on such a show in the first place?
Moonshiners: Another absolute headscratcher. So someone's engaged in a criminal enterprise and he decided to go on television showing him committing the crime? How is this even allowed? And why isn't the guy in jail?
Half Pint Brawlers: Little people wrestlers? Seriously?
Pit Bulls and Parolees: Pit bulls and matched with parolees for what reason, exactly? And why isn't Michael Vick on this show?
Hillbilly Handfishin': Yahoos stick their hands under water and pull out catfish that are bigger than their arms. And they get bitten. How long can and audience's attention be held for that?
Any Housewives show: I admit I watched a season or two because I was mesmerized by rich people acting like they had their arses on their shoulders to the point the police were called in. But the fake drama, the out-of-touch-with-reality members of the shows, and all the stinking spinoffs...ugh. It's a narcissist's wet dream.
Hard Knocks: I'm a sports nut, but I'm not a big pro football fan and I've never seen this show. I can't imagine anything more boring that watching a football team practice.
Dancing With the Stars: I'm not sure this qualifies. Technically, it's a game show. But it's about celebrities as themselves trying to do something that's not their forte, which is otherwise fine. Where I part company with it is when the supposed ballroom dancing veers into Broadway spectacles or, worse, stripper club routines that are more suited to a Vegas show. Even Karen thinks it's jumped the shark.
There are more that I can't remember at the moment. But these suffice to show just how absurd reality TV can be.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
But piggybacking on her viewing, I've gotten to see some shows that are, shall we say, questionable. Because they're on particular channels, we also get to see the promos for other reality shows. It seems as if more and more, there are wacky concepts that provide people with reasons to appear on television. I don't understand the attraction for most of them, to be honest, but then again, there are probably people who question my choices, which is only fair.
Here then are some reality shows that cause me to scratch my head:
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo: How on God's green earth is it necessary for a television show made in America regarding Americans to have subtitles? That alone makes this lunacy. Then there's the obnoxious quality of the people in the show. Nevermind what's happened to them recently; this show is a train wreck.
My Crazy Obsession: All I needed to see to know that this show wasn't for me was the promo for the guy who was kissing and fondling his car. It's the functional equivalent of filming inside an insane asylum.
Hoarders: Karen thinks I'm a hoarder; I'm not. I have a lot of books, sure, but I have nothing on an order with the people in this show. I don't like filth (although my girl regards anything that's not hospital-level antiseptic as filth) and these people, besides keeping junk, are just filthy.
Naked and Afraid: Let me see if I get this straight: We put a man and a woman in the jungle, naked, and task them with toughing it out for twenty-one days. They get a machete and a bag and nothing else? And then we blur out the private parts after we put that name on the show? What's the point? And what compels a person to be on such a show in the first place?
Moonshiners: Another absolute headscratcher. So someone's engaged in a criminal enterprise and he decided to go on television showing him committing the crime? How is this even allowed? And why isn't the guy in jail?
Half Pint Brawlers: Little people wrestlers? Seriously?
Pit Bulls and Parolees: Pit bulls and matched with parolees for what reason, exactly? And why isn't Michael Vick on this show?
Hillbilly Handfishin': Yahoos stick their hands under water and pull out catfish that are bigger than their arms. And they get bitten. How long can and audience's attention be held for that?
Any Housewives show: I admit I watched a season or two because I was mesmerized by rich people acting like they had their arses on their shoulders to the point the police were called in. But the fake drama, the out-of-touch-with-reality members of the shows, and all the stinking spinoffs...ugh. It's a narcissist's wet dream.
Hard Knocks: I'm a sports nut, but I'm not a big pro football fan and I've never seen this show. I can't imagine anything more boring that watching a football team practice.
Dancing With the Stars: I'm not sure this qualifies. Technically, it's a game show. But it's about celebrities as themselves trying to do something that's not their forte, which is otherwise fine. Where I part company with it is when the supposed ballroom dancing veers into Broadway spectacles or, worse, stripper club routines that are more suited to a Vegas show. Even Karen thinks it's jumped the shark.
There are more that I can't remember at the moment. But these suffice to show just how absurd reality TV can be.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
Monday, October 6, 2014
Monday Musings Again
Ansel Adams weeps.
Quietly, without any notice, the federal government has decided that our basic cultural patrimony -- our beautiful country -- will now be subject to further taxation as a means for paying for the entitlement programs a spendthrift Congress has enacted. Not being satisfied with the user fees that any visitor to a state park must pay -- fair or not, they are, at least, arguably necessary for the maintenance and preservation of the parks -- the government is now levying at $1,500.00 fee for anyone wishing to take pictures in a state park. This is for anyone, amateur or professional, who wants to take a picture with a camera, Ipad, Tablet or other device. Failure to pay the fee and subsequently being caught taking photographs results in a $1,000.00 fine.
Yes, the fine is less than the fee. We could spend all day discussing that one. But let's not.
It is absolute insanity to require citizens to pay a fee to take pictures of the natural beauty that is, by all rights, theirs. The government no more owns that land than do Martians. That land pertains to the citizenry of the United States. For the government to try to tax personal photographs is abominable. That the MSM isn't screaming from the rooftops on this one astounds me.
Is there any more evidence needed that this administration is one of the worst in the history of this country?
--------------------------------------------------
The growing chorus of doubters that no ground troops will be needed to clear ISIS out of its lairs in Syria and Iraq has reached a crescendo.
Quietly, without any notice, the federal government has decided that our basic cultural patrimony -- our beautiful country -- will now be subject to further taxation as a means for paying for the entitlement programs a spendthrift Congress has enacted. Not being satisfied with the user fees that any visitor to a state park must pay -- fair or not, they are, at least, arguably necessary for the maintenance and preservation of the parks -- the government is now levying at $1,500.00 fee for anyone wishing to take pictures in a state park. This is for anyone, amateur or professional, who wants to take a picture with a camera, Ipad, Tablet or other device. Failure to pay the fee and subsequently being caught taking photographs results in a $1,000.00 fine.
Yes, the fine is less than the fee. We could spend all day discussing that one. But let's not.
It is absolute insanity to require citizens to pay a fee to take pictures of the natural beauty that is, by all rights, theirs. The government no more owns that land than do Martians. That land pertains to the citizenry of the United States. For the government to try to tax personal photographs is abominable. That the MSM isn't screaming from the rooftops on this one astounds me.
Is there any more evidence needed that this administration is one of the worst in the history of this country?
--------------------------------------------------
The growing chorus of doubters that no ground troops will be needed to clear ISIS out of its lairs in Syria and Iraq has reached a crescendo.
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