In Texas, "every single Taxpayer Champion is returning to the Legislature"

Locally, our Republican primary was the critical one. We had a stealth Democrat, Jim Langford, trying to unseat our new fantastic State Representative Mike Lang. Voters chose wisely and Lang won all eight of the counties in our District. WoooHOOO!  We are very happy. We had a big 3x5 sign in our yard for him. Our candidate for County Judge also won out over a too-long-term incumbent, so we are looking forward to better management at the County level.

Statewide, most candidates we supported won, too.  We voted Patterson over George P Bush for Land Commissioner - mainly because we do not want to "reimagine" the Alamo. It has not been a contentious race, and we are ok with Bush continuing, so long as he doesn't let Phil Collins' collection of artifacts get away from us.

For what it is worth, we are hearing that Trump's endorsement – and Bush's persistent support of Trump – are the two big factors that motivated people to vote for him.  So that bodes VERY WELL for our President's picks to win as this election season moves along.

The group "Empower Texans" has rapidly become an important source of information for "normal" Texans about the state of politics in our "whole other country".  Here is their take on last night's primary elections:

"Looking at last night’s election results: Wins!

Can we be frustrated by the pace of winning? Yes. But let’s be encouraged by the fact that we aren’t tired of winning yet! Any disappointments from last night should spur us all to work harder and smarter in the months and years ahead. ....

Think about this. The top target of the liberal school administrators was Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Everyone was quaking in their boots about the perceived power of superintendents to re-write Texas politics the way they re-write textbooks.

Voters – including classroom teachers – had none of it. As a result, Dan Patrick earned 75% of the vote.

Despite unprecedented efforts by the Austin lobby to dislodge them, every single Taxpayer Champion is returning to the Legislature. One even got a promotion to the Senate.

Meanwhile, establishment Republicans were defeated outright in one Senate and two House districts. One do-nothing House member is in a run-off, while five House seats formerly held by Austin cronies are headed for a second round.

And yet again, not a single sycophant of the Austin crony class has escaped the House chamber for the Senate or statewide office. (As my friend Jim Graham of Texas Right to Life likes to say, “The RINOs have been kept in the House pen.”)

Make no mistake: the House and Senate have moved right. "

There's more... head over and read it... and bookmark Empower Texans to keep up as we move forward.

17th Amendment: Why State-appointed Senators Were Better For America Than Elected Ones

The Seventeenth Amendment to the US Constitution changed the method by which Senators were selected. Bill Quick provides the simplest, best explanation for why the Founders' original method of populating the Senate was the wisest:

"There is no leash on the Senate.  Originally, it was really supposed to represent the interests of the individual states, but the Wilsonian progressives managed to destroy that aspect of the body so, in fact, it doesn’t represent much of anybody.  Senators serve longer terms than members of any other branch.  Originally, this was intended to make the states, which appointed Senators, the most powerful force in the federal governance.  America, after all, started out to be a union of states, not of people.  And the self-interest of individual states worked to assure that the Senate wouldn’t go too far off the rails, because state pols were much less susceptible to political demagoguery than were individual voters.  Piss off your governor and your statehouse, and you weren’t long for your cushy federal senate sinecure.  All that is gone now.  "

                                                  ~ From his post "History Rhymes".

Bill Quick: Donald Trump Harks Back to JFK's Mainstream America

At his Daily Pundit blog, Bill Quick writes:

"It’s interesting to compare Donald Trump to John F.  Kennedy.  Both JFK and PDT supported civil rights for black Americans, but not for illegal aliens.  JFK’s coalition looked a lot like PDTs does today, as JFK’s Democrat Party still catered to the needs and desires of working class and southern Americans – just as PDT does today.

"JFKs judicial appointments were more liberal that PDTs, because the litmus issue in those times was civil rights.  The Vietnam war arose as a national issue only after the mass drafts of the post JFK years began to bite.  Nor did the Boomers elect JFK.  In 1960, they were still in high school, and more than ten years away from getting the right to vote as 18 year-olds.

"It is popular among today’s pop “historians” to present the years of the 1960s and 1970s as the decades in which America as a whole finally took up the New Left’s philosophy en masse, but that is simply not the case.  The New Left, the hippies, the massive use of drugs, and all the rest of the cultural appurtenances of that time were always a practice of the minority.  More young men went off to serve in Vietnam than rioted in the streets for one cause or another.  With the possible exception of marijuana, drug use was never practiced by any significant majority of Americans (as is still the case). .... "

Do go read the whole post. It is quite heartening.

Sign of the Times: Voice Of The Deplorables

This billboard was paid for by a businessman in Boerne, Texas! It reads "ABC News: I grew up with you. We are through. The Russians didn't elect Donald Trump. I did. Kyle Courtney "

At Accuracy In Media, Don Irvine reports:

 "[Kyle] Courtney released the following statement to News4 in San Antonio:
“ABC News was the only channel I watched as a child growing up in Texas but I think they have lost touch with America and forgotten the working man. They don’t represent our voice anymore. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was funded by the Clinton Foundation in close coordination with the media, and now we’re seeing them try to fix what they couldn’t fix during the election. They are doing everything they can, night after night, to create narratives and sway people’s direction to impeach Donald Trump. Our democracy is at stake when a major political party and the media are in bed together. I’m not asking anyone to boycott the Democratic party. I’m not in the brainwashing business, but the liberal media is.” "

Thank you, and God bless you, Mr. Courtney. Many millions of us share your thinking -and also proudly voted FOR Donald John Trump without apology or equivocation.




*Photo Credit: Wellstar Groundwater Technologies, Mr Courtney's company

No Truce With Quislings: NeverTrump Still Trying To Poison The Truth

The guy who writes at "Posse Incitatus" blog is, for all the rebellious name of his blog, normally level headed - as in "a normal person" along with "usually".

But he has HAD IT with those who've set themselves in opposition to President Trump.

In a post titled "This Stupid Business About Bannon Is Why Never Trump Must Be Destroyed", he writes:

"There is nothing new here, just the usual "people are saying" crap mixed in with the "have you stopped beating your wife?" style questions being thrown at the Trump camp.

"What's new is that Conservatism Inc. has decided to join the witch hunt.

"I'm old enough to remember Jonah Goldberg angrily denouncing this game, but now he's down with it.  The reason is of course that National Review hates Breitbart.

"Breitbart has been an oasis during this election season, a source of constant inspiration and amusement.  Naturally the left wants it dead.

"So does Official Conservatism.  You see, unlike National Review, Breitbart is actually gaining readers rather than losing them.

"This is why Never Trump needs to be disposed of immediately.  They have shown that in addition to being traitors during the election, they are happy to serve as Quislings after it. "

Bingo.  President Trump knows this better than anyone. To accomplish his goals, he will have to use every bit of cunning that God has given him for this job.  Expect him to keep his every plan close to the vest until after the ink has dried on his bold John Henry and the action has already been accomplished. 

And in the mean time, we can't believe a single word written by any person who was not a solid, early champion of President Trump.  Especially the National Review and avowed NeverTrump ilk. If they say the sky is blue, go verify it yourself - and still assume they  have an ulterior motive for telling it. 

The links on my "dynamically updated" sidebar are all to people who supported Trump actively or at least offered truly balanced coverage and can write about him fairly without throwing in lists of perjorative adjectives at the end of every paragraph.   Daily Pundit, The Last Refuge, Don Surber, The Diplomad 2.0,  White House Dossier,  King Jester's Blog,  William M Briggs, Vox Popoli,  Stephan Molyneux, Drudge Report, Sharyl Attkisson,  and Chronicles Magazine are all solid sources of genuine facts and pull-em-up-short rebuttals. The others are reliable as well. 

QOTD for Oct 11, 2016: Keith Koffler, on Selfishness in Politics

QOTD from Keith Koffler, White House Correspondent, on his blog "White House Dossier" in the article "The Selfishness of Republicans Too Good for Trump":

"Our service members in uniform go risk their lives every day for causes and presidents they do not necessarily support. They don’t choose to fight World War II for Roosevelt, or to not to fight at all, if they are assigned to fight in Iraq for Barack Obama. They go all out and fight to win, even if it hurts their feelings. Or worse.

"Is it too much to ask of Republican political and thought leaders that they make a decision about what will benefit the country, instead of what benefits themselves?" 

Photo: Marine Corporal Paul Kozlowski, 3rd LAR Delta Company, Iraq 2006, disarming an IED. Photo taken by Cpl Graham A Cosgrove. Nothing political is implied by my use of this photo: I chose it because it exemplifies the humility and courage each member of our military presents in their service each day. 

Naming The Enemy, Naming The Crimes

I've written before about the Left's corruption of our language. As Hillary Clinton takes her lies about the Alt-Right public in her never-ending deception road trip,  The Orthosphere takes this analysis a step further:

"Everyone knows the story of Babel. It’s right up there with the Flood. It doesn’t need explanation.

"Babel connotes a profane and impudent and mighty *tower,* a huge evil edifice, the central project of the civil authorities, engaging the efforts of the whole people, willy nilly, first enslaving and then confusing them. It connotes the catastrophe of unbridled hubris.

And, of course, the Babylonians too, like the Canaanites, practiced human sacrifice (almost everyone did, back then).

The discourse of our adversaries is famously incoherent. It is babble. And it is introducing a babble of diverse languages into our cities, as Babel seeks to reconstitute herself."

Who does the author say we are?

Daniel, who was possibly an intercedent to King Cyrus.



*Art: Daniel in the Lion's Den, painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), American painter

Was It Ben Rhodes or Susan Rice Who Made Up The Lies This Time?

I wonder whether it was Ben Rhodes or Susan Rice who made up the newest fiction to fool Americans and help the Democrats?  As Bill Quick points out, there is not one shred of evidence that Russia is behind the hacks or the email leaks. Not one. 

If it were true, and "the intelligence" really were so classified that the NSA (CIA/FBI/Homeland Security/Barney Fife) knew about it but couldn't tell even Congress, they would not be going public with it now to help the Democrats. 

Everyone who throws a rock and points at Russia yelling "Look over there", is trying to distract us from the hideous truth exposed by these emails.  

 If you are buying what the Democrats, the Republican Elites, the media, the #NeverTruth ers are selling.... you've been had.  

Malcolm Pollack, at waka waka waka, pointed us to a couple of eye openers about the facts. These aren't outliers. Professor Stephen F. Cohen is a mainstream REAL foreign policy expert. Specifically, he is  professor emeritus of Russian studies at Princeton University and New York University.   

A Bible Story For Paul Ryan And Other Insubordinant Republicans

I'm not the only one who believes Mr Trump is a "type" of King Cyrus, chosen by God to restore our nation despite his political outsider status.  In the United States of America, God has often operated via the votes of the legal citizens to put good leaders into office.  Or as Joe Bob Briggs puts it: "I won’t even go into the hundreds of “unfit to be President” screeds, because they all ignore one basic fact of our system: If you receive 270 votes in the electoral college, you are by definition fit to be President. "

Yesterday's verses from 1 Samuel 16 are a reminder to the Republican elitists of how many impressive candidates were rejected in order to choose Mr. Trump from the slate of 17. Reverends Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell Jr have served as Samuels for our time in pointing toward Mr. Trump from very early on:

1 "God addressed Samuel: “So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I’ve rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I’ve spotted the very king I want among his sons.”

2-3 “I can’t do that,” said Samuel. “Saul will hear about it and kill me.” God said, “Take a heifer with you and announce, ‘I’ve come to lead you in worship of God, with this heifer as a sacrifice.’ Make sure Jesse gets invited. I’ll let you know what to do next. I’ll point out the one you are to anoint.”

4 Samuel did what God told him. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the town fathers greeted him, but apprehensively. “Is there something wrong?”

5 “Nothing’s wrong. I’ve come to sacrifice this heifer and lead you in the worship of God. Prepare yourselves, be consecrated, and join me in worship.” He made sure Jesse and his sons were also consecrated and called to worship.

6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Here he is! God’s anointed!”

7 But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”

8 Jesse then called up Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. Samuel said, “This man isn’t God’s choice either.”

9 Next Jesse presented Shammah. Samuel said, “No, this man isn’t either.”

10 Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, “God hasn’t chosen any of these.”

11 Then he asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?”
“Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”
Samuel ordered Jesse, “Go get him. We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.”

12 Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health—bright-eyed, good-looking.
God said, “Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one.”

13 Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life.
Samuel left and went home to Ramah."

God has opened the eyes of the American people in this new era. The tide is turning, the pendulum is swinging back toward rationality, and what is RIGHT and GOOD will prevail. Not the fictional propaganda that Ben Rhodes (Rice University? odd.... ), Hillary Clinton, the erstwhile "Conservative Movement" and media try to sell us, but what is true.  Go home and write your memoires, Paul Ryan. Your eight terms in Congress are over. Stop moping about it. America's future is going to be  written by men like Paul Nehlen and Donald Trump. 

Ten Years Ago, Four American Heroes Gave Their All

My son Ethan Arguello posted this on July 29th, the 10th Anniversary of the deaths of four of his fellow Marines who gave their lives for American liberty. I've posted about these heroes before - part of their story is here. Their mothers, widows, sisters still grieve, and so do their brothers in arms:

"To the ones who gave it all.

"10 years ago....
Ten years ago today something happened that would have a greater impact on my life than I could ever imagine.

"While in Iraq, our platoon and company were split up into three neighboring towns. We were comfortable working here. We knew there were terrorists all around us and from what I remember, moral was high. Exercising, patrolling and sleeping had become a way of life. We relieved an army striker unit that had been in that area of operation for at least several months and reported no U.S. casualties but a known presence of terrorists. On a regular quiet day, we got a call of an attack on one of our positions, QRF was sent out. What seemed like an eternity of time to pass before their return, they returned with bad news. Jose Mata put his arm over my shoulder and told me the news, the news that we could never change. It was news that we couldn't share with anyone else until their families were notified. Together we sat that evening mostly in silence around the rest of the platoon who was not completely aware of what had just happened. A long last couple months we would spend in that country, without four of our brothers. The next day, in tremendous mental pain,HNFMF Chadwick Kenyon told me that he had spent the last minutes with Christian Williams partiality conscious in the back of the MedEvac vehicle. Sgt. Williams, Cpl. Baucus, LCpl. Butterfield and LCpl. Hanson, would have never chosen anyone else to go before them. They were men of honor, loyalty, respect and dignity, who any of us would have done the same for them. With nothing negative to say about these men by anybody, it makes us wonder, why them? I've attempted to understand why they were called before me and our other Marines and never have an answer just a thought that, they wouldn't have wanted it to be us.

"Only the good die young" is a saying that has held strong in my mind every time I think of them. Our Marines stood up to the evil group of terrorists that killed our citizens on September 11, 2001. They did this without the concern of their own safety. They did this for me and you. I and the other Marines of 3rd LAR Delta Company witnessed these Heroes, on many occasions, both in training and in combat give their unselfish 100% at everything they did.

"A big thank you to the families who raised these young warriors to be our protectors. Their character and discipline exemplified the ethics and values that I want my children to one day carry.

"To the Marines who gave it all, that we now call our heroes. We love you, we remember you, we mourn for you and will always honor you.

"Godspeed, USMC"

        ~ Ethan Arguello

Clarifying Data Reports: Police Deaths Have Fallen As Citizen Gun Ownership Increased

In 2012, welder Vic Stacy used his weapon to save the life of police Sgt Steven Means, by shooting a murderer who had Means pinned down in his sights.  Governor Perry gave him an AR-15 as a token of appreciation.

Guns in the hands - or openly on the backs - of private citizens are not a danger to the police, but an asset.  The same people who are dangerous to cops are also dangerous to other citizens.  The Dallas Shootings were horrific, as terrible as Orlando, San Bernadino, the Luby's Cafeteria Massacre, and the Ft Hood Terror Attack.

All of these attacks showed the terrible carnage that can occur when Americans of all walks of life are not armed to defend themselves.  It is dangerous to be an American these days - but it is more dangerous not to be. And it is especially dangerous for unarmed or disarmed people.

The truth is that increasing prevalence of armed citizens - even minors - are an important arm of law enforcement in the United States, preventing tens of thousands of crimes every year, and protecting others from being victimized by criminals.  And in the mass shootings that have become more frequent, FBI data shows that the random armed citizen may be the most effective response to prevent deaths and stop the killer.

We need our police to perform their work of keeping the peace. And we respect and admire LEOs for their dedication. But it is essential that our police not feel the need to make us less safe in a misguided urge for their own safety, or in misunderstanding the risks they face or where those risks come from.

 In fact, firearms deaths of police have fallen every decade for the past forty years, right along with the drop in all gun deaths that sharply mirrors the climb in citizen gun ownership.

It is a lot less dangerous to be a police officer now than it was in 1973, when firearms-related fatalities peaked - 156 officers were killed that year.  Only 42 officers were killed by gun in 2015 - and three of those were accidents.   According to NLEOMF:

 " Firearms-related fatalities peaked in 1973, when 156 officers were shot and killed. Since then, the average number of officers killed has decreased from 127 per year in the 1970s to 57 per year in the 2000s.

"The 42 firearms-related fatalities in 2015 are 26 percent lower than the average of 57 per year for the decade spanning 2000-2009."

Today. it is twice as dangerous to be a roofer or to collect garbage for a living as it is to be a police officer.

When reading reports of  Law Enforcement deaths, such as this one from USA Today, "Officer Deaths In Dallas Add To A Growing Tally",  keep in mind that this does not mean they were all violent deaths.  Of the  53 police officer deaths so far in 2016 reported, 19 were from accident, illness, or natural causes such as heart attacks. One was an accidental shooting.  One was a plane crash.

"In The Line Of Duty", for purposes of factual reporting on memorial websites such as the Officer Down Memorial Page and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, does not even mean the death happened on duty. It means simply that the person who died was employed as a law enforcement officer.

124 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2015. 73 of those were not caused by crime, but were accident or illness. This is out of 929,000 full or part-time law enforcement officers in the US.

Here are the actual numbers from the 2015 Fatality Report, as reported by the NLEOMF:

"Traffic-related incidents were the leading cause of officer deaths in 2015, killing 52.  ...
"Firearms-related incidents decreased in 2015. These fatalities accounted for 42 deaths, dropping 14 percent from 2014 when 49 officers were shot and killed. [ NOTE: three of these 2015 deaths were listed as "inadvertently shot and killed", which I assume means they were accidents.]

"Thirty officers died from other causes in 2015...[Of these thirty,] "Twenty-four officers died from job-related illnesses this year, mostly heart attacks—compared to 18 in 2014. Also included among those 24 are four officers who died of illnesses they contracted as a result of their rescue and recovery work following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "

"Fifty-two officers were killed in felonious incidents, a 16 percent decrease from 61 in 2014, and 73 officers died as a result of non-felonious incidents, increasing 20 percent over 58 in 2014."

"Felonious and Non-Felonious Fatalities :
Fifty-two officers were killed feloniously in 2015, a 15 percent decrease from 2014 when 61 officers died as a result of a criminal act. Of the 52 officers feloniously killed this year, 39 were shot and killed; 11 officers were killed in traffic-related incidents and two officers were killed in incidents unrelated to traffic or firearms. Of the 11 officers feloniously killed in traffic-related incidents, seven were struck, and four were killed in automobile crashes. One officer died as a result of a physical altercation with a suspect,  and one officer was beaten to death.

"Seventy-two officers died in non-felonious incidents in 2015, a 24 percent increase from 58 in 2014. Automobile crashes were the leading cause of non-felonious deaths in 2015 with  31 fatalities, followed by job-related illnesses, which accounted for 23 officer deaths. Six officers died in motorcycle crashes and four officers were struck and killed by a vehicle. Three officers were inadvertently shot and killed, two fell to their death, one was electrocuted, one was killed in an aircraft crash, and one drowned." 

We don't know for certain how many citizens die in the presence or custody of law enforcement each year.  The FBI reported on "Justifiable Homicides" by both police and citizens through 2008, but these numbers do not include all shootings by police, and only include  numbers reported to them voluntarily. Despite laws passed by Congress, and Executive Orders from the President, the FBI does not collect or report reliable data.   The Guardian newspaper has begun tracking shootings by US law enforcement. This is reported in Wikipedia as 1140 persons killed by police in 2015, of which 224 of those shot were unarmed. 

It takes a lot to be a good police officer. Willing assumption of risk is only part of it. It requires self control, maturity, confidence in self and team, and most of all, dedication to the equal application of the rule of law,and to the ideals of the job.

What it does not require is "closed ranks"or an exaggerated sense of separation from the public to which all members of law enforcement belong.  We're all in this together.

The Orlando Terrorist Attack, Self Defense, And A Sobering Reality Check

For your own sakes, people, either walk armed or else refuse to go places that do not allow ordinary people to defend themselves. Gay or straight, black or white, Christian or Jew, children or adults, we have all suffered from the murders of people trapped in those despicable "Gun Free Zones".

The tragedies have become numbing. It was only by the grace of God that Anti-American Anti-Trump rioters in San Jose did not kill some innocent citizen under the very eyes of the police, who watched unmoving as many were traumatized. Last week, nine American soldiers drowned in one of the flash floods that every year kill more people than any other weather event. This weekend, scores of people were gunned down in yet another act of war against our civilization. May our Father God bring comfort to the those whose loved ones were killed, and healing to those who were injured.

After San Jose, we looked for ways to protect oneself against mobs. In the tragic deaths of strong people against rushing water, we saw the need for more urgent flood safety education. And now, looking once again at a group of defenseless people shot down without mercy, we see that self-reliance and self-defense and self-preservation are the only means by which we can assure our own safety and that of our neighbors.

Because nothing any government official or agency or law or employee does is going to save our lives from people bent on killing us. We MUST take charge of our own safety and demand the mealy-mouthed elite stop hiding behind their PAID ARMED GUARDS, stop using us as their shields, and stop gambling with our lives when they won't take an unprotected step with their own.

No one can vote away my right to defend myself - or yours. The ancient, indigenous American culture of gun use and carry - not just for adults or "non-convicted" - that was a part of life in these United States from 1492 until the 1980s, has been eroded by people who HIRE THEIR GUNS while trying to eliminate ours.

Paul and I made a decision several months ago that we will not go into buildings that do not allow the public to bring their guns. Places we can't avoid, such as the doctor's office and Courthouse, we will respectfully make known our opinion. Otherwise, we have choices (such as shopping at Kroger and not at HEB), and we make them.

While we always have to be aware and willing to protect and defend ourselves and our neighbors, there is an additional element when the danger comes from foreign elements - whether or not the "actor" is a US citizen or not. The word for terrorists who happen to hold US citizenship is: Traitors. Traitors are citizens who commit acts on behalf of foreign elements.

Terrorists are people who commit acts on behalf of foreign interests: they are, by definition, "enemies foreign and domestic", and it is the job of our governments to protect us from them. In fact, that is the PRIMARY (and some say ONLY) job of government: to protect citizens and our lands from damage or injury or incursion by foreign interests.

When it comes to terrorists and traitors, Stefan Molyneux has a reality check, and a history lesson for people who really care about saving lives of Americans who believe in liberty. It's long, but you don't want to miss the last part either, because we have hard choices to make. He says it all far better than I can:

Daily Pundit: "If You Can Vote For Trump This Week, Go Vote For Trump This Week"

Bill Quick reminds everyone in places with primaries or caucuses how important your vote STILL IS:

"For those of you who would actually like to stop Crooked Hillary’s headlong attempt to win the White House by armed robbery and corruption, and who would like to see a President who intends to end and reverse a significant part of the damage the Obama administration has done, you really have only one choice, and that choice is now Donald Trump.  

"We need to see as many votes for him this coming Tuesday as possible.  Let’s break all the records.  Let there be no more doubt in anybody’s mind who will be the GOP nominee and our next President."

Bill points out that in politics, momentum counts, and that is something we can still affect as individuals with our votes. This means you California, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Go vote for Mr Trump!

THIS is what Hispanic America looks like!!!!! #LatinosForTrump

Thank you, Mark F, Angelo Gomez, and everyone in this video for showing the world the kind of good people, dear friends, beloved family, and patriotic neighbors we in Texas see every day!

"The most patriotic Americans are immigrants who came here, not for what they could get here, but for who they could BE here."

(Be sure and watch all the way through. The compilation of voices starts about 1:40 in)

@Immigrant4trump #LatinosForTrump

Flint Michigan, and the Realities of Water Supplies: DIY Solutions Texans Have Used For Decades

I was glad to see the indictments come down against the local officials who hid problems with Flint Michigan's water quality.  Just as East Orange, New Jersey, faced up to dereliction of duty by employees and local politicians in its water management, so must Flint,

There are health issues that now must be addressed, caused by the unknowns in the past. The website "FlintWaterStudy.org" has good information on what is known so far, and what is being done. They also have factual info about how residents themselves can improve water quality in their homes - in some instances by simply using more water:

"The very low water use rates in some Flint homes, hinders recovery of the system due to the improved corrosion control. Less water use means that the orthophosphate and chlorine added to help improve the water quality and reduce lead and bacteria, are not flowing through the homes as much as is desired. Regular water use is needed to help clean out loose lead deposits and control biofilms within the pipes.  Moreover, occasionally drawing water at a high rate from a tap with unrestricted flow such as a roman bath spout, hose bib or mud sink, will help to achieve velocities inside pipes that are needed to scour deposits that contain lead and iron rust."

It was the city government's responsibility to notify the residents about the acidic water, but at this point, the people - the residents and citizens - of Flint Michigan are now solely responsible for the safety of their future drinking water. No one else. Whatever or whoever caused it, now the people know about it and they need to come together to fix it, just as they would take action to repair their car or their roof or their church.

Waiting on government will just make them feel more helpless.

But they also need to know they are not alone with these problems. Despite the fact that the media pretends this is some new crisis, in reality people all over America have been solving this kind of water problem for themselves, as individuals and as communities, for decades.

When I was growing up in Oklahoma, we knew never to drink water from the hot water tap, and to let the water run for a minute before filling a jug or pot. That advice has been around for as long as indoor plumbing. The folks in Flint (and elsewhere) must not have been taught that, but now they know these measures are essential, just as they were 60 years ago.  People living in other communities need to take note, and apply these safety precautions as well.

I raised my children in West Texas, where we have been buying our drinking/cooking water in gallon jugs or refilling milk jugs at "Water Stores" (seriously) or via under-sink Reverse Osmosis Filtering machines, since the 1970s, due to the high level of salts and minerals in local water supplies. It is the normal way of life for most people in the western half of Texas.

In old houses today, it is easy to run new flexible lines to faucets because the new lines can remain above ground, they don't have to be buried. Neighborhoods can get together and pool their resources and labor to do this work.

When it comes to the original problem that Flint faced, the need for a pipeline to a new city water supply, there is a precedent for that too.

Olney Texas has twice faced the need for new water pipelines that they could not afford.. so they took responsibility and laid those lines themselves.

It was supposed to cost a million dollars and take a year. It took the townspeople 25 hours and cost $350.

ALL the citizens turned out and labored for free, under direction, to solve their problem. Here are the stories, from 1978, and again in 1984. There's no hype, this is what really happened:
  http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20071429,00.html

"A firm of consulting engineers told Mayor Alan Myers Jr. of Olney, Texas that the town's rapidly diminishing water supply would evaporate altogether within 120 days unless a highly unlikely deluge of rains came. In the best of times Olney, a community of some 5,000 in the arid cactus-and-mesquite country west of Dallas, gets no more than 24 inches of rain a year, and for the past four years of drought less than half that amount has fallen. The shortage was compounded by a heat wave that parched Texas with searing temperatures of over 100° every day for 35 days. "It scared me to death," said Mayor Myers. "It looked like we didn't have much farther to go." 

The solution—to pipe in water from lakes out of the drought zone—would cost a million dollars (the entire town budget), the engineers said, and take a year. "The town would have died before we could finish," says Myers, "even if we could afford it." He and Acting City Manager Jack Northrup set out to find an alternate plan. If a pipeline could somehow be built from Olney's cracked and drying Lake Cooper to Lake Kickapoo, part of the Wichita Falls reservoir system 14 miles away, the crisis might be averted. 

The Wichita Falls city council agreed to sell a million gallons a day, but the problem remained of finding pipe and laying it down fast. A friend of the mayor's remembered "invasion pipe," which Army engineers had installed aboveground in combat zones during World War II. "He said there might be some in storage somewhere, so I started calling around to see." 

Meanwhile word of the daring project filtered through the churches, Rotary and Lions clubs and Rodge's, the town's only cafe. "Jack Northrup told me the people were saying they could lay the pipe themselves if I could get it," says Myers. Within a few days he located a supply of 1940 invasion pipe in Texas state warehouses. 

Olney rose instantly to the occasion in the spirit of the town motto: "Lead, follow—or get out of the way." On July 14 some 230 unlikely pipeliners—merchants, lawyers, executives, ranchers, Mayor Myers and the one-armed Northrup—put signs on their homes, offices and shops: "Closed. Gone for water."   Click through to read the rest...

Then, six years later, they had to extend the pipeline (click through to read the newspaper scan:  https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2519&dat=19840703&id=-otiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sHcNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2230,210509&hl=en 

Oh and the latest drought brought the problem back, so this time they are taking a new approach, they are going to reuse their treated sewer water: http://www.newschannel6now.com/story/29173726/olney-takes-final-step-before-water-reuse-construction-phase

Never feel helpless against the problems you face. God created us to be problem solvers for ourselves. Take a new look at whatever challenges your family, your home, your community, and talk to others. Fnd out what YOU can do. We CAN help ourselves and our neighbors, and will have better results and happier lives because of it.

5/11/2016:  Thanks to Bill Quick over at Daily Pundit for the link! 

Renowned Christian Leader Dr Ben Carson Endorses Mr Donald Trump

Thank you, Dr Carson, for running for President, and for endorsing Mr Trump now that your own candidacy has ended. We are more grateful than you can know for your dedication to America and for your powerful leadership, especially in these recent years. Your courage at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013 set a flag in the ground for Christian America's future as a Godly nation.

Dr Carson, you have been standing stalwart with that flag all this time. I look forward eagerly to your future work and endeavors. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and yours always.

Donald Trump and Christians and Religion

Mr Trump is Presbyterian, and the pastor he sat under  for much of his life was the inspirational Guideposts magazine founder, Normal Vincent Peale.  Dr Peale was a good friend of his father, and one of the most important influences in young Donald's life. You can still hear Dr Peale's philosophy in Mr Trump's approach to business and to his own life and his thoughts about America's future.  Dr Peale presided over the marriage of Mr Trump and Melania.  In September 2015, Mr Trump met privately with a large group of religious leaders to seek their perspective on the spiritual issues facing our nation. During the meeting, many of the pastors laid hands on Mr Trump and prayed over him. Several of those have since endorsed Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has never in his whole life drank alcohol or smoked a cigarette or used drugs and he raised his children to live clean as well. He is a passionate advocate for clean living. Mr Trump is pro-life, and opposes funding Planned Parenthood's abortion business.

He went on record multiple times opposing same-sex marriage and same-sex partner benefits. He stood up for Miss California Carrie Prejean when she was under attack for her belief in traditional marriage.  For all his seeming extravagance, he is sensible in spending and generous in his giving and in how he pays his staff.

His adult children are emotionally healthy, mature, and have powerful leadership roles in the company. An involved father, he took them to work with him, and required them to work for minimum wage to earn spending money as youngsters and in college. His son Eric's charity foundation exists exclusively to raise money for St Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

He has spoken four times at CPAC between 2011 and 2015, twice at Liberty University, and recently promised - as no other candidate has done - to protect Christians here and around the world.

Jerry Falwell Jr had this to say: "Trump is not a Sunday school candidate, admitted Falwell. Then again, he said, "for decades, conservatives and evangelicals have chosen the political candidates who have told us what we wanted to hear on social, religious and political issues only to be betrayed by those same candidates after they were elected." If you want the truth, here is a good place to start fact-checking the claims or attacks made against him.

Mr Trump not only supports the Second Amendment, he has unveiled a plan for nationwide concealed carry.   Mr Trump is a lifelong supporter of our men and women in law enforcement,  of State's Rights, and donated a million dollars toward NYC's Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

When you do your Christian Due  Dilligence, look at the fruit. Jimmy Carter is a born again Southern Baptist who taught Sunday School. But did he have the Lord's blessing to lead our nation? I was a young adult during that time, and I voted for him. Instead of Christian renewal, we got Billy Beer, the Arab Oil Embargo, the abandonment of our allies, the Iran Hostage crisis - which was solved by paying off Iran with money and weapons.

Reagan is touted by many Christians for his staunch support of traditional Christian values. But he & Nancy (his second wife, he divorced his first wife) regularly consulted astrologers while in the White House, and used astrology to plan everything from his schedule to having him sworn in as Governor of California in the middle of the night on the advice of an Astologer because of  good 'omens'. Reagan signed the Abortion on Demand bill that made California the first state in the nation to offer legal widespread abortion.

As governor of California, Reagan supported and signed several gun control laws, including the 1967 the Mulford Act, banning Californians from the right to carry a loaded firearm. Reagan also implemented the 14 day "waiting period" (which Donald Trump OPPOSED at the time), and the first "automatic firearms ban" in 1986. Further, Reagan actively campaigned for the "assault weapons ban" in 1994.

ALL of our Republican candidates are Christians, every one of them. Ask yourself -and God in prayer - who is the most likely to be the most effective leader of a Christian nation at this time in history? Remember Cyrus.

We have candidates who have served and are currently serving in elected office. Two have been busy praying in public, out in front of the cameras for everyone to see.

Here is a quote from Mr Trump that, in the 25 years since he said it, he has consistently lived up to:
"I have a reputation for being tough, and I’d like to think it’s justified. Toughness, as I see it, is a quality made up of equal parts of strength, intelligence, and self-respect.
The opposite of toughness-weakness-makes me mad and sometimes turns my stomach. I’m not referring here to the kind of weakness that comes from being poor, sick, or disadvantaged. I’m talking about those people who can take a strong stand but just don’t.
Toughness is pride, drive, commitment, and the courage to follow through on things you believe in, even when they are under attack. It is solving problems instead of letting them fester. It is being who you really are, even when society wants you to be somebody else."