Earliest Memories

Sharon and I were just discussing our earliest memories.  Sharon's was viewing a deceased person in a casket at age three.  She described the tearful crowd at the funeral, her concern about the distress of her Mom and relatives, and the utter strangeness of the whole scene.  She had no concept of death prior to that experience, and now she was getting a full exposure.  Her Mom had gone to pains to explain as best she could before the viewing what it was all about, but every adult realizes that it simply cannot be fathomed until the child confronts it for real.

Sharon recalled viewing the dead relative, an elderly aunt, and wasn't frightened at all.  The woman's hands were folded across her stomach, a serene look on her face, but Sharon's most vivid recollection was of the aura - a diffuse light that seemed to emanate from the body and surround the open upper half of the casket.  Years later when she was capable of expressing what she saw, Sharon described the feeling of peace that came from the dear soul, and what a rewarding experience it was.  Her Mom told the same story for years after, including Sharon's description to her of the light.  All in all, the best first exposure you could hope for, and a mystical experience to boot.  What more could you ask for?

My earliest memory was of a jar of strawberry preserves, broken and laying on the floor near the edge of the table I had pulled it from.  I was under the table, scooping up preserves with my fingers.  My Mom was chasing after my sister Sue and brother Tom, ages 4 and 6 respectively.  Seconds prior, they had been in the kitchen with me when the deed was done, Mom had heard the crash and rushed in.  Their mistake was dodging around her and running away, as fatal a mistake for them as for the Hiker who tries to run away from a bear. 

And while the bear isn't attaching any particular significance to the Hiker running away, to Mom's the world over, running equates with guilt.  At three, I knew this, which is why I did not run.  Having bolted, they not only sealed their fate, but delayed indefinitely my day of reckoning.  Working the odds, I peered around the corner with a partial view of the dining room to the left and the living room to the right, anxious to see what my sibs had come to.

I had some hope.  Sister Sue in particular was very slippery, and could typically make either of our parents do three or four laps around the lower floor with the occasional diversion upstairs before they caught her.  I was counting on her to delay my inevitable fate. 

Mindful of the window of opportunity, I doubled down on scooping up the strawberry goodness on the floor, and was proud of my efforts to avoid the glass pieces strewn all around, an accomplishment that I would share with my mother later.  Less than a minute in, from the front room I could hear the unmistakable sounds of my sister brought up with a round turn, followed by "whack, whack, whack", as she got the obligatory three pops from my Mom's open hand.  Tom had apparently upped his game to avoid being caught first, and had taken the opportunity to bolt from behind a living room chair to the endless refuge thought to exist under the dining room table.  I witnessed all of this from my spot on the kitchen floor near the entryway. 

Susan cried very dramatically, although the pops did not seem the type that caused much physical pain.  Anybody who has ever gotten a spanking knows that their parents have certain expectations of them, and that one of those is to cry with flair; that way everybody gets a little something out of the transaction.  Meanwhile, Thomas proved not to be near as crafty as he thought, Mom snagged him by one of his legs in less than one trip around the table and braced herself to haul him upright for the same three pops.  Now, this was all strictly a matter of form, since they had absolutely no effect on my brother who at the young age of was a massive slab of muscle and bone.  To this day he remains the only person I know who actually caused a broken bone for the Spanker.  The broken digit would be my Dad's forefinger on his right hand, his off-balance swat of my still-moving brother catching the finger point on, instead of the broad handed stroke he intended for some long forgotten offense that occurred when he was twelve.

But, I digress.

Mom got a good grasp on Thomas, and hand-curled him into a standing position, no mean feat since at the time he weighed about 45 pounds and had a talent for instantaneously converting that mass into dead weight.  He quickly got his three pops, and I realized the jig was up.  Without losing a lick of momentum Mom stormed into kitchen, and she was not happy.  She knew I was the culprit, because my cowardly siblings had told her so in a craven attempt to avoid punishment.  I was also the only one covered in strawberry preserves.  Patting myself on the back for not running away proved to be premature, and, not having thought this one through, I had absolutely no contingency plans.  Suspended briefly in mid-air, my sticky left arm held by the wrist, my Mom propelled me towards the door and I got the three pops as I moved forward, their effect lessened by my momentum. 

I did my part and cried heartily, then did my best to avoid the others, both stoked by the moral certainty that my misdeed had caused their punishment.  Once Mom had cleaned up the mess, the whole thing would be forgotten.

Years later when we would reminisce about the event, Mom would explain that my particular offense was to break a jar of strawberry preserves instead of the standard grape jelly.  Preserves apparently cost about five times more, which explains why we kids never got any.  And once as a young adult I made the mistake of telling her that I couldn't help but feel that this whole situation could have been avoided, had she simply put the jar out of reach, and oh by the way, how come you didn't get me out of the glass-filled goop before you handed out spankings?

Mom simply laughed at me.

So, there you have it: one three year old's earliest memory is an existential and spiritual experience; another's is the tale of a petty toddler misdemeanor. 

The mind is a funny thing.

Planned Parenthood Gets Hit In The Pocketbook

Regarding "Perry takes the fight directly to Davis" (Friday City & State), in the dispute between Gov Perry and State Senator Wendy Davis over her filibuster of the various bills restricting abortion, there was an interesting paragraph involving the words and actions of Planned Parenthood Action Fund president Cecile Richards.

Not only was she "part of the crowd" that disrupted our legislature during their deliberation of the bill, she also delivered a lengthy statement saying "Rick Perry’s remarks are incredibly condescending and insulting to women".  Ironically, she went on to say "This is exactly why the vast majority of Texans believe that politicians shouldn’t be involved in a woman’s personal health care decisions. Women are perfectly capable of deciding whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child, and they don’t need Rick Perry’s help making that decision." 

 

The problem is, Planned Parenthood is not only a tax exempt organization, but has been granted a virtually unrestricted franchise by the federal government to offer abortion services for a fee nationwide.  On top of that, they are the largest abortion provider in Texas, and receive hundreds of millions every year in tax dollars to subsidize their operations.

 

It's clear that the bills before our legislature hit Planned Parenthood right in the pocketbook.  It's also clear that Planned Parenthood is a liberal interest group that - despite being  granted tax exempt status - engages in the most blatant politicking without repercussion.  You don't need to take my word for it: just read the website of their Texas affiliate: Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast*.  Not only does their FAQ give you the breakdown showing that 85% of their funding comes from fees and taxpayer dollars, but - referring to Texas - it also answers questions like: "What is it like to operate such a progressive organization in such a conservative environment?

 

With organizations like this running amok, I'd say the IRS has larger priorities than sticking it to Tea Party groups.

 

Pete Smith

Cypress, TX  

 

*http://www.plannedparenthood.org/gulf-coast/faq-36655.htm

 

P.S. - Interesting to note that Cecile Richards is also a reliable partisan for Democrats in demonizing the Tea Parties.  According to Richards as quoted in the link below, Tea Parties are part of the conspiracy to deprive women of health care services.  Who knew? 

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/08/planned-parenthood-receives-record-amount-taxpayer-support/

Hungry Republican Found Wanting

Regarding "Dewhurst’s debate absence fuel for foes" (Monday City & State, B1), Peggy Fikac takes Lt Governor David Dewhurst to task for stepping out of a late night debate and - going to dinner.  And while she didn't outright say that eating a meal was ethically wrong, she did provide his Democrat opponents the opportunity to flog the "Appearances Of Impropriety" mule.  Particularly amusing - and confusing - was the tweet by a Democrat consultant putting words into the mouth of Republican Dan Patrick that suggested that he was criticizing Dewhurst as well, a propaganda two-fer for Democrat partisans.  

 

Why was his absence an issue?  Anybody who has spent time observing the legislative drill knows that ALL politicians devote precisely as much time to being on the floor as they need to, and not one minute more.  And the only thing more regular than legislators noisily rushing out of the chamber en masse is their equally thunderous return, generally with just seconds to spare when it is time to cast a vote that actually means something.

 

And try as I did, I could find no similar moralizing about the serial offences of Democrat truants such as "The Texas Eleven", that notorious group of legislators who abandoned not just the state house but the State of Texas back in 2003 so as to prevent the democratically elected majority from debating redistricting legislation.  Compared to Dewhurst taking "less than an hour"  for dinner, their 46 day vacation in New Mexico might have been a more appropriate example of legislative malpractice, not to mention a target for Ms. Fikac's ire.

 

Still, this article at least serves as a benchmark for the future, when a drove of Democrat legislators next subverts the legislative process by refusing to show up - as they have three other times since 1979 - I expect Ms. Fikac should take them to task as well.

 

Pete Smith

Cypress

The Best Justice System In The World?

Regarding "Cases, delays grow in criminal courts" (Monday Front Page), compliments to Brian Rogers on a fine article about an important issue.  Most compelling to me was the huge number of suspects who remain in jail until their trial.  Based on the information in the article, it suggests that over 40% of the 44,000 felony suspects in Harris County this next year will be "lingering in jail and......may wait years for the case to go to trial, plead out or get dismissed."

 

A little research shows that if Harris County's historical conviction rate of just over 50% applies, that roughly 8,000 suspects who will be judged innocent in the next year will nonetheless be imprisoned for long periods of time.  Extrapolate that nationwide, and the number grows to the hundreds of thousands every year.  For a justice system that proclaims itself the fairest in the world, this is an outrage, yet nobody does anything about it. 

 

Ironically, the article suggests that defense attorneys are as responsible for trial delays as the prosecution and our courts.  Since all these parties are gainfully employed in the criminal prosecution business, they are the beneficiaries of the snail's pace of our courts.  Could that explain why little is done to fix the problem?

 

Pete Smith

Cypress

Terry Grier Does His Best Marie Antoinette

Regarding "HISD debates raising tax rate" (Tuesday City & State), we could not be provided with a clearer example of the myopia of our school system bureaucrats.  The proposed new spending is for tutors at struggling schools, extra money for all campuses, possible employee pay raises, and HISD Superintendent Terry Grier's Apollo school reform program.  In other words: yet more money to fix the failures of HISD.  Ironically, Grier justifies the increases by saying "I don’t mind paying more taxes", and Teachers' union president Gayle Fallon demands tax increases and pay raises for all employees, stating “I’m saying this as a taxpayer.”
 

I wonder if the irony of these statements is lost on Mr. Grier or Ms. Fallon?  First off, 100% of their salaries and the taxes they pay come from the already over-burdened taxpayers of Houston.  Second, they apparently expect failure to always be rewarded with more dollars, as if their performance had nothing to do with the failures.  Finally, it's easy to advocate for property tax increases given the huge salaries they draw, but are they blind to the fact that their demands represent an ever-increasing percentage of the household income of ordinary citizens?   Or do they think that money just grows on trees? 

 

If they themselves are a product of our public school system, they just might.  Otherwise, their demands are just plain irresponsible.

Pete Smith
Cypress

Catholic Gay Mafia

So, OffHisMeds read in the paper today: "Pope quoted as acknowledging a ‘gay lobby’" (Thursday World Pg. A14), I believe Pope Francis is misquoted as confirming that a gay lobby "was operating inside the Vatican".  This is not to say that there is not an influential group of gay priests in the Vatican. 

 

In fact, the gay lobby was spread throughout the worldwide priesthood, and was known within the Catholic Church as "the Pink Mafia", a term of common parlance amongst Catholics going back to at least the 60's.

 

 It is to say that endemic homosexuality in the priesthood has been an open secret amongst the Catholic laity - and its clergy - for a long, long time.

Institutionalized Lying

Regarding "General disputes ex-diplomat’s claim" (Thursday Nation), Army Gen. Martin Dempsey supposedly refutes the claim of a diplomat that a military unit in Tripoli, Libya was ordered not to go to Benghazi to rescue our diplomats, who were eventually murdered by terrorists.  His narrative, though, is notable more for what it does not say than what it does.

 

Dempsey's explanation for not activating the unit was that the event was over, the casualties were coming in, and they were needed for first aid.  What he does not address is what these troops were told in the eight hours that went by from the start until the end of the attack, nor the disposition of numerous other units in the area. 

 

This is a masterpiece of obfuscation.  What Dempsey said was probably completely true, but only for this single unit, and only for the period of time after all the casualties had been incurred.  His non-response is part of a disturbing trend amongst administration officials to answer straightforward questions with evasive gobbledygook that has little to do with the question at hand.  Recent practitioners include Attorney Gen Eric Holder, former Sec State Hillary Clinton, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. 

 

We expect this kind of "lawyerly evasion" out of political appointees like the three mentioned above; but as a member of the military, General Dempsey ought to be ashamed for adopting the same tactics. 

 

Pete Smith

Cypress

LTE: Obama partisan

Regarding "Top Democrat: White House cleared in IRS case" (Monday Nation),  Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md claims that " A self-described conservative Republican who is a manager in the (Cincinnati) IRS office that targeted tea party groups told investigators that he, not the White House, set the review in motion."

 

Yet another classic example of the Straw Man arguments put forth by President Obama's supporters.  Not only does this directly conflict with the testimony from numerous other employees in the Cincinnati IRS office, it contradicts Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, who proudly admitted that he sicced the IRS on conservative groups.  It also doesn't explain the vile interrogations that followed the decision to pursue conservative groups, the release of confidential IRS information to Democrat interest groups, or the years-long delays in approving Tea Party groups as tax exempt.

 

Finally, finding a Republican to pin for this scandal is yet another laughable instance of the tendency of Obama partisans to blame Republicans for everything. I wait with bated breath for them to next discover that the culprit behind the whole thing was not only a "conservative Republican", but himself a member of the Tea Party.  Or failing that, perhaps they will simply blame George W Bush.

 

Stay tuned.

 

Pete Smith
Cypress
------------------------------------------------
Obama partisan

Regarding "Top Democrat: White House cleared in IRS case" (Page A3, Monday), Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., claims: A self-described conservative Republican who is a manager in the Cincinnati IRS office that targeted tea party groups told investigators that he, not the White House, set the review in motion.

Yet another classic example of the straw man arguments put forth by President Obama's supporters. Not only does this directly conflict with the testimony from numerous other employees in the Cincinnati IRS office, it contradicts Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who proudly admitted that he sicced the IRS on conservative groups.

It also doesn't explain the vile interrogations that followed the decision to pursue conservative groups, the release of confidential IRS information to Democrat interest groups or the years-long delays in approving tea party groups as tax exempt.

Finally, finding a Republican to pin for this scandal is yet another laughable instance of the tendency of Obama partisans to blame Republicans for everything.

Pete Smith, Cypress

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/letters/article/Wednesday-letters-Taking-notice-of-IRS-liberties-4594666.php

Michelle Obama Snubs Chinese

So the Chinese and various American pundits are upset at Michelle Obama for not making herself available to Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan during her husband President Xi Jinping’s meetings with President Obama this past week. 

With dreary predictability, they criticized the so-called snub and reminded us – as they never tire of doing – that American actions will cause them to lose face.  This accusation is normally enough to cause America’s Sinophiles to go into a knee-jerk tizzy, and this instance was no different, with various of them clucking their tongues at her no-show.

Ironically, the “pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao” exposed the phoniness of the claims of hurt feelings when they referred to Mrs. Obama’s decision to tend to her children during the last week of school as a “family trifle”.  Yet another Chinese commentator was quoted as writing "The decadent American imperialists don’t give us 'face.' Who is more important, children or creditors?”  The gross chauvinism of such remarks reveals all too plainly that the Chinese expect Americans to “kow-tow” to them, and substitute Chinese values for our own.  They also aren’t very good at practicing what they preach, since for decades now, Chinese descriptions of the motives of Americans start out with insults, and then just get worse.   Given their relentless consistency in such matters, it is not a stretch to say that they don’t believe Michelle Obama deserves the same respect when it comes to face-saving as Peng Liyuan, or for that matter the Chinese government. 
 

If we take the Chinese accusations at face value, though, I’d like to propose an alternative explanation to Mrs. Obama’s decision: perhaps she snubbed Peng Liyuan because she is a Major General in the army of  a brutal dictatorship that enslaves millions, murders dissenters at will, kidnaps Americans, steals hundreds of billions of our intellectual property every year, sabotages the geo-political agenda of Western democracies at every turn, manipulates their currency to destroy our manufacturing base and pollutes the planet without a twinge of conscience.  And let us not forget that they aid and abet the nuclear terrorism of North Korea. Could be she feels that such people are not deserving of her undivided attention.
 

Hey, it’s something to think about.

Pete Smith

Cypress

http://www.chron.com/news/articleComments/Disappointment-in-China-over-Mrs-Obama-s-absence-4582771.php?plckItemsPerPage=10&plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:f1eee7a7-304d-44d4-8fce-eaa32046a3e5

Hostage Taking As A Tool Of Diplomacy

Regarding "Release a gesture to heal ties" (Thursday Page A13), in an effort to "improve their tattered relationship with the United States", Venezuela released US film maker Tim Tracy after holding him for a month as a spy.

 

What is up with taking US citizens as hostages anyway?  Two weeks ago, the Chronicle reported that Mexico tried to frame an Arizona mother of seven for drug smuggling and threw her in prison.  In recent months, there have been similar stories of Americans kidnapped by North Korea, China and Iran on trumped up charges.  It's one thing for Al Qaeda or Somali pirates to kidnap American innocents for ransom; it's something else entirely when sovereign states - including major trade partners like Venezuela and China - do the same thing.

 

The fact that Venezuela was allowed to portray the release of Tracy as some kind of magnanimous gesture on their part speaks worlds about the universal disrespect of the US amongst nations.  Teddy Roosevelt famously advised that in matters of foreign policy, America should "speak softly, and carry a big stick."  Methinks it's time for less talk, and more Stick.

 

Pete Smith

Cypress

LTE: Correctness run amok

Regarding "Hasan to be own attorney in killing spree case" (Page B1, Tuesday), this story is yet another example of how political correctness is ruining not just our military but our judicial system. The first example was when the Obama administration repeatedly portrayed the slaughter by Maj. Nidal Hasan of his fellow soldiers as workplace violence, instead of the jihadist-inspired murder that it clearly was.

Hasan will be allowed to serve as his own attorney, allowing him to make a mockery of America's system of justice and providing a worldwide forum for his jihadi beliefs.

He's even given us a preview by stating that he will pursue a "defense of others" strategy, which claims that in making an attack, he sought to save others from the immediate threat of death. In other words, Hasan is going to put America's military, American soldiers and America on trial.

It's hard to imagine how the proceedings could have been better rigged to ensure a prolonged trial and even a succession of mistrials. That inevitable outcome will allow one man to paralyze our system of justice, the single thing that would most please al-Qaida. And all in the name of political correctness.

Pete Smith, Cypress

http://www.chron.com/opinion/letters/article/Friday-letters-Private-Treason-Nidal-Hasan-4584826.php

IRS Orgies Yes, White House Tours No

Regarding "IRS spent $50 million on staff conferences" (Monday Nation), it's ironic that this orgy of party planning for IRS employees from 2010 to 2012 should come to light just two months after President Obama announced that White House tours for average citizens had to be cancelled because of the budget sequester. 

 

Various reports put the weekly expenditure for White House tours at $74,000 per week.  In other words, the money blown on faux conferences for IRS employees could have covered 13 years of White House tours; and that is but one example of inappropriate government expenditures. 

 

These two events perfectly describe President Obama's priorities in the past five years.  High Priority: shower perks on overpaid government workers.  Low Priority: any gesture of good will towards the taxpayers who cover those salaries and perks.  That's why it's all the more an outrage that President Obama continues to spend taxpayer funds hosting and entertaining all of his fat cat political contributors - in the White House.

 

Pete Smith

Cypress