Updates

Blog changes. In the left column (fitting placement) note “Quotes From The Left”. Little reminders of who the left really are and who they want us to believe they are.

Dictrict 22 Special Election set for November 7

Today, Governor Perry officially set a special election to fill the vacant district 22 seat (story at chron.com). The special election will coincide with the general election on November 7. What does this mean? I guess it means there will be a spelling guide on the ballot for Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. She is sure to run in the special election along with democrat Lampson. She will most likely win too, and that means with proper education of the electorate, they should go-on to write her in for the next term as well. This is good news for the Republicans and bad news for Nick Lampson.

Come on Texas GOP… Start the education campaign on the write-in.

Related Web Sites:
Gov. Perry Press Release

Shelley Sekula-Gibbs Campaign
Texas GOP
Fort Bend GOP

Quote of the day

Sen. Joseph Biden, Democrat, Delaware:

Quote - My state was a slave state. My state is a border state... My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state.

and Clinton was the first Black President Mr. Binden.

Now here's on from James Carville: Quote - If we can't win in this environment, we have to question the whole premise of the party.

I certainly hope you do that Mr. Carville.

Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter's latest column pretty much sums up my attitude toward the democratic pary.

Her column starts off:

Quote
This year's Democratic plan for the future is another inane sound bite designed to trick American voters into trusting them with national security.

To wit, they're claiming there is no connection between the war on terror and the war in Iraq, and while they're all for the war against terror — absolutely in favor of that war — they are adamantly opposed to the Iraq war. You know, the war where the U.S. military is killing thousands upon thousands of terrorists (described in the media as "Iraqi civilians," even if they are from Jordan, like the now-dead leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi). That war.
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As Howard Dean put it this week, "The occupation in Iraq is costing American lives and hampering our ability to fight the real global war on terror."
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Maybe Dean is referring to a different globe, like Mars or Saturn, or one of those new planets they haven't named yet.

She's right! Here's the column.

Perpetual Motion

Perpetual Motion

In high school, I took an Electronics class and became fascinated with motors and generators. I came up with a design to make a DC generator using permanent magnets to avoid the use of brushes and my instructor look at it and laughed. “You can’t make perpetual motion machine”, he said. Well… I’ll be watching this story. It looks very interesting, but could be a hoax.

There is a test rig with wheels and cogs and four magnets meticulously aligned so as to create the maximum tension between their fields and one other magnet fixed to a point opposite. A motor rotates the wheel bearing the magnets and a computer takes 28,000 measurements a second. The magnets, naturally, act upon one another. And when it is all over, the computer tells us that almost three times the amount of energy has come out of the system as went in. In fact, this piece of equipment is 285% efficient.

That's a lot of "free energy" and, supposedly, a slap in the face for one of physics' most basic laws, the principle of conservation of energy: in an isolated system (the planet, say), energy can be neither created nor destroyed; it can only be converted from one form into another.

Credit goes to Geeks with Guns for pointing out this story.

The Cryptic Subterranean on the left side bar is from Ireland (location of this company), maybe Jay can shed some light on these fellows. Also they have a web site at http://www.steorn.net

A tale of two cities or Marble Ice Cream

I haven’t done the research yet, but we know that Texas still has roughly 200,000 Katrina Victims from the New Orleans area and specifically, Houston still has about 100,000. On April 22, 2006, many of these were bused back to New Orleans to vote in the Mayoral election to insure Nagin’s dream of a chocolate city. But wait, they came back to Houston after voting and are still here. Will these Katrina victims be the largest group yet, to vote in two Mayoral elections in two cities in two states in the same year?

I heard this bantered about last week on the radio and have been pondering the thought for a few days. It is an interesting concept and would be very easy for them to do. I believe that if you can show 90 days residence, you can vote. Anyone want to bet whether there are members of the donkeys out there right now helping Katrina Victims meet the registration requirements for voting in Houston in November?

Texas Voter Registration Requirements
You must:
• Be a citizen of the United States
• Be a resident of the county in which the application for registration is made
• Be at least 17 year and 10 months old (you must be 18 to vote)
• Not be finally convicted of a felony. (Felons regain the right to register when pardoned, two years after receiving a certificate of discharge from the appropriate correction institution, or two years after completing a period of probation.)
• Have not been declared mentally incompetent by final judgment of a court of law

David Wallace drops write-in candidacy for Texas CD 22

Well, now that the democrats no longer have a reason to egg him on, they are claiming he (and others) has broken the law. It is a ridiculous claim of bribery. Obviously the democrats are seeing their chances this November as being greatly diminished. It is very sad to see how low these people will go. If Sekula-Gibbs wins in November, we can expect to see a recount and arguments about whether to count votes with SKG, Gibbs, Shelley written in. Never mind the “intent” of the voter. It’s going to be ugly.

Nevertheless, I still like Wallace and fully expect him to run in the primary in 2008. He’ll get my vote and support. Sounds like he will not run as Mayor of Sugar Land again, and he will be missed. The City of Sugar Land has prospered under his leadership.

Hurricanes - Reconciling the experts

WeatherStreet.com shows us in a normal to below normal hurricane season. This article states: 2006 Tropical Storm Season Now Below Normal

Part of the reason for the slow season is that tropical western Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are running about normal, if not slightly below normal (see graphic below, which shows SST departures from normal).

In contrast, at the same time last year SSTs in the same region were running well above normal. Part of the reason for the slow season is that tropical western Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are running about normal, if not slightly below normal (see graphic below, which shows SST departures from normal).

Now cut to a Reuters article on the same subject: Atlantic hurricanes could rev up any time They have a different take:

Last year's wildly busy Atlantic hurricane season changed many people's expectations, but it is perfectly normal for the first two or three months of a season to be fairly quiet.

And

So far this year, only three tropical storms have formed -- Alberto, Beryl and Chris. Strong wind shear -- the difference in wind speed and direction at different levels of the atmosphere -- has disrupted some of the tropical weather systems that eventually become cyclones.

And

Max Mayfield, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, said there are signs of increased activity near the west coast of Africa, source of the troublesome "Cape Verde" hurricanes that grow powerful on their long trip across the Atlantic.

If you read the two articles, one says simply that the oceans are cooler and thus fewer storms. The other never mentions this fact, but says it is wind shear that is clipping the storms before they get started. Of course, the implication is that global warming should be causing more storms, like we told you would happen, but other forces are preventing the storms from forming. But wait… they’re coming… be afraid, be very afraid.

Anyway, how can you reconcile the two articles, and because of the recent Reuters fauxtography scandels, which article do you trust as truth?

Humor

While looking at posts on "The Texas Connection" links on the left sidebar. I found "Sue's Views" and this joke. -Enjoy

State GOP Blesses Sekula-Gibbs for TX CD 22 write-in

The Republican Party of Texas meeting last night ended in an endorsement of Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. Fort Bend Now has an article on the story. I feel like this whole ordeal was poorly handled and I am more disappointed in the process than the outcome. If Mayor Wallace stays in the race, it will be a tough decision in November. If he drops out, I hope he runs in the primary for the next election. He is a good conservative Republican and I wish him the best of luck.

As to the trashing he took from the Sekula-Gibbs camp, thanks to Rhymes With Right I can say that, he did fail to mention that Wallace was buying failing companies to restructure them. When this is what you do, some are going to fail.

What amazes me is that a supposed precinct Chairman (see comments section #7-9 in this article) of Harris county could trash Wallace so badly, show support for the libertarian candidate (see comment 5 in the comments on this article), and now say he has been working on the Sekula-Gibbs campaign. I guess he figures the end justifies the means. I have his web site linked on the left column under “Local Politics and News” and will leave it there as a reminder. Sometimes politics can be very political.

Harris County P.O.'d or How to hand an election to the Democrats

I’m starting to understand the issues of CD22. Texas Safety Forum has published a confidential email from Gary Gillen, GOP Fort Bend County Chairman, dated August 7 and addressed to “Dear Candidate, Party Officer or Club President”. Evidently he was planning a “Candidate Workshop” for August 17 (this Thursday).

This week (edited) the republican party of Texas chairman called a meeting in Pearland inviting the same people, basically telling Fort Bend County to pound sand.

So now Gillen sends a letter to the candidates asking them to not attend the meeting in Pearland. I can't fault him for that. Basically it sounds like everyone else, Harris County in particular, is P.O.’d at Fort Bend county for stepping up to the bar.

Begining the research of TX CD 22, I liked the idea of my representative being David Wallace, I still do.

David Wallace's web site is http://www.davidwallaceforcongress.com

TX CD 22 Update

Here is an article from the New York Times relating to the situation on TX CD 22 election. Not that I am a faithful reader of the NY Times..., but I am still very interested in the outcome of the GOP meeting Thursday.

NY Times requires a registration so go here for a username and password: http://www.bugmenot.com/

Gold Penny or Conterfeit?

A Gold Penny? 2001D 

I found this in my change today. Possible wrong planchet? Counterfeit? Coated? It looks like one of those golden dollars.

Update... A quick search and found the following: Silver (Zinc) and Brass Pennies Someone turned my penny to brass. And I thought it was valuable. Oh well, guess I'll just have to keep working.

Direction Defined

I started researching TX CD 22 looking for direction on the upcoming election. I still have not found that direction, but it sounds like the local GOP is starting to become organized and is having a meeting on Thursday night. What do I mean by direction?

1. A consensus endorsement from the local GOP.
2. A clearly defined campaign on what to expect at the polls. Will the write-in candidates be listed somewhere? Instructions on how to wrtie-in a name. Is the GOP telling people how to write-in a vote? (this is direction).

What have I found? The local GOP is meeting Thursday night to, hopefully, endorse someone. This process has evidently and understandably been a rough endeavor. I anxiously await the results from the meeting on Thursday. I am a voter and a republican; so understandably, I am interested in what the party has to say.

Once this is done, the second item above should fall inline. Why is the second item a concern? If people are not educated on the process, it will not work. What I have read to date suggests that there will be a list of write-ins in the polls (list of those who filed as write-ins). This is good. I have also read that we have new electronic voting machines. I honestly do not know if that is the case. Fort Bend is a very conservative county and I have no idea how many people just vote the republican ticket, but if they vote the straight ticket on Election Day, evidently, they will not be voting for a congressperson. Everyone needs to be aware of this.

Have I enjoyed researching this subject over the past few days? Kind of. It seems like democrat blogs on the subject are running about 5 to 1 over republican blogs (in number of sites covering the subject). I wish to thank the democrats for reaffirming my belief that the left are a viscous, hateful lot.

Local Politics at its Best?

See this article: DeLay Reaction: Republican Wildcard In The Race For Congressional District 22

It looks like there is a lot of politics going on in the political world. Who’d of thought it.

I see three possible scenarios:

1. Wallace + Another write in = Democrats win (this is a given – everyone knows it)
2. Wallace Drops when the GOP backs another write in = Toss up (has to be a candidate for which conservative republicans will vote)
3. Other write ins withdraw their names now that Wallace has filed = Toss up (this is sort of where we are today, Wallace is only one who has filled)

It doesn’t’ appear that Wallace had the support of the local GOP when he filled for the write-in ticket in the election, but at least he did something when the others were bickering over who to back. The GOP needs to realize that the 2006 primary is long gone and put events in motion to win this election. We cannot do it with two write-in candidates. The GOP needs to make sure that when they throw their support behind someone (if anyone), that it is either Wallace or that Wallace has committed to backing out if they choose Paul Bettencourt or Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. Bettencourt and Sekula-Gibbs have already stated that they will not run without GOP backing.

He/She would have to be as much of a conservative as Wallace to get my vote. Unbelievably, many republicans in the blogosphere are saying they will vote libertarian and even are even encouraging the GOP to support the libertarian candidate. If Wallace stays in, he gets my vote, but he needs to consider the political ramifications of staying in.

Here is another interesting web site with opinions on the subject: Texas Safety Forum

The articles are good, but it’s the comments below each article that are really telling of the bickering among the local GOP.

Mayor Wallace has campaign website: David Wallace for Congress/ Take a look at the Issues tab on his site. There are a couple of points that are low on my priorities, but he does hit the big ones. A representative is supposed to represent the views of his district and I think Mayor Wallace does just that.

Paul Bettencourt has a web site, but it doesn’t appear to be a campaign site : Paul Bettencourt

Shelley Sekula-Gibbs does have a campaign web site: Shelley Sekula-Gibbs for Congress
Her stance on issues falls more inline with mine than I thought, but not as much so as Wallace.

It will be interesting to see what transpires this week.

Texas Congressional District 22

I haven't been blogging for quite some time. I was getting pretty fed up with the comments area being used for purposes of spam and I have been pretty busy at work. Well, I now have set the comment to be moderated and users must be registered to comment. Hopefully this will cut down on the spam issue.

Now on to the subject of insterest (to me anyway).

I live in Fort Bend County, Congressional District 22, and went to the Texas GOP website seeking an update on Tom Delay’s vacated seat. My current understanding is that Delay has officially requested that his name be removed from the ballot, so there will be no Republican on the ballot, but one can write in any name. I was extremely disappointed to see that all I can find on the Texas GOP web site is negative campaigning against democrats. Not a thing there about what District 22 voters can expect in November.

Hopefully they will start gearing up to actively campaign for a write in candidate, but whom? As far as I know, there are two people plying for a write in candidacy, Mayor of Sugar Land, David G. Wallace and Houston City Council Woman, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.

I started researching the potential write in candidates and found this page on David Wallace, Mayor of Sugar Land: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_G._Wallace

I like what I am reading about him:

Social issues
A conservative Republican, Wallace is pro-life on the issue of abortion. He is opposed to gun control, and has also shown opposition to same-sex marriage.

Fiscal issues
Wallace is a fiscal conservative who pledges to use his experience in financial services to fight for lower taxes, as well as a plan to curb the growing national deficit.

Immigration Reform
Wallace has also pledged to use his experience in shaping legislation to secure the nation's borders through the U.S. Conference of Mayors to push for a plan aimed at securing borders, strengthening immigration laws, and stopping illegal immigrants.

Foreign policy
Wallace has pledged to support President George W. Bush on the ongoing War on Terror, and guarantees a strong military that has the necessary strength for success.

Sugar Land is a pretty conservative area and this all sounds good, but they are just bits of information for now. More research is needed.


The same Wikipedia did not have a page on Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, but she has a web site at: http://www.sekula-gibbs.com/index.php

I really am just starting to research this, but she sounds like a fiscal conservative with a liberal lean on social issues.

I plan to keep researching this subject, but hopefully the Texas GOP will start providing some direction soon.