Your Vote Counts....Sort Of

“The United States is the only country that elects a politically powerful president via an electoral college and the only one in which a candidate can become president without having obtained the highest number of votes in the sole or final round of popular voting.”
—George C. Edwards

I’ve already voted. Last week. Not sure what difference it makes, since my state is always a lock for the Republicans. All I can hope for is that if the nationwide popular vote result differs from the Electoral College result, we might once again consider doing away with the Electoral College or, at least, modifying it in some way.

I understand the arguments for the electoral approach and it probably made a lot of sense back in the day. And when you read your history you will note that slavery and women’s voting rights, or lack thereof, played a major part in the agreement to use “electors” to pick the President and Vice-President. There is also a deep conversation about Federalism and states rights woven into the fabric of the electoral debate.

But it’s time to move on. We are living in different times. The electoral system has created a situation where the race for the most powerful office on the planet is determined by a few states. More specifically, by a few key counties within a few key states. I don’t think this was what the founding fathers had in mind when they came up with the electoral concept. (What they really had in mind was for the Congress to elect the President and Vice President. They weren’t real keen on giving too much power to the masses either.)

One can argue the merits of different voting systems and fairness to small states or rural population vs. urban population. But, when it comes down to it, the best approach is one person-one vote. Most votes wins.

Howdy Folks

DALLAS (AP) - Big Tex - the 52-foot-tall metal-and-fabric cowboy that is an icon of the State Fair of Texas - has been destroyed in a fire.
Television footage showed firefighters around the structure Friday morning. Mostly all that remained of the figure was the metal structure. The fabric that made up the structure's hands and sleeves could still be seen.
A Dallas fire spokesman didn't immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.
The fair has been celebrating Big Tex's 60th birthday this year.
With a 75-gallon hat, 50-pound belt buckle and folksy, slow drawl to greet visitors - "Howdy, folks!" - Big Tex has been the star of the fair since 1952.



This is a sad day for Texans. Especially those of us who were born here in the 1950’s, just like Big Tex. I’m not sure what caused the fire. But after the last two OU beat downs on the Texas Longhorns, I just don’t think Big Tex could take it any more. He had probably never heard of “self immolation”. But Big Tex decided to do just that and burned himself up rather than watch another OU-Texas game. Rumor has it that Longhorn fans have delivered matches and a can of gasoline to Mack Brown’s office with a note urging him “to do the right thing”.

I think it’s best that we close with some Steve Earle lyrics (And if you don’t know who Steve Earle is, then I just feel sorry for you.)

Now, nobody lives forever
Nothin' stands the test of time
Oh, you heard 'em say "never say never"
But it's always best to keep it in mind
That every tower ever built tumbles
No matter how strong, no matter how tall
Someday even great walls will crumble
And every idol ever raised falls
And someday even man's best laid plans
Will lie twisted and covered in rust
When we've done all that we can but it slipped through our hands
And it's ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Leaving Las Vegas

“What is the feeling when you're driving away from people, and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -it's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” – Jack Kerouac


This week I attended the American Trucking Association (ATA) Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas. It seems like I end up in Vegas at some convention every other year. My first visit to Vegas was back in the late 70’s. So I’ve watched Vegas evolve (or perhaps dissolve) for over 30 years.

Back in the day it was hardcore. Serious gamblers, street whores, drugs and really cheap meals. It was like this giant peep-show for tourists from Middle America. It looked and smelled nasty and dangerous. It felt like the last place on earth you wanted Jesus to find you when He returns. In other words, it was outrageous and naughty fun.

Also, back in the day, amateurs were not welcome at the tables. Dealers were downright rude if you did not know table etiquette, the rules, the words and the gestures. Go play the slots, Opie. The tables were for Wise Guys and WWII vets who knew how to gamble. And if you loved to gamble, Vegas was THE place to go.

Nowadays Vegas is the adult entertainment capital of the world with kiddie rides. It’s the people of Wal-Mart, Godzilla movies and the French Foreign Legion all wearing the same tank tops, stumbling along in the same flip flops, taking the same stupid photos with the same i-phones. There are still a few gamblers, mostly in the poker rooms and sports books. But essentially it’s Branson Missouri and Disney World with shorter lines and more expensive food. If you love to gamble, it is no longer THE place to go.

Fortunately, I was never really that much into gambling. I consider myself a disciplined loser. I take x-amount of money and lose it at a pace commensurate with the length of my stay in Vegas. As I’ve gotten older, I take less money and don’t stay very long. Besides, if I really wanted to gamble I’ve got a couple of ginormous Indian casinos just across the Red River. I can lose just as much money there and keep it in the local economy. The fact that I’ve never set foot in one of those casinos tells you how excited I am about gambling.

So for me, Vegas was never about gambling. It was about the “experience”. It was about watching people roll around in the belly of the beast. It was a human train wreck and you could not take your eyes off of it. There were characters and stories and vows that you would never go back there again. What used to happen in Vegas did NOT stay in Vegas. It stayed with you. Once upon a time Vegas was memorable. Now it’s just an over-priced, premium channel on the big screen that used to be America.

Help Wanted…What Your Government Could Do, But Won’t.

"Politicians like to tell people what they want to hear - and what they want to hear is what won't happen."
-Paul Samuelson


How is it that with so many unemployed and under-employed Americans, we still have over 3 million unfilled jobs? Many economists (and politicians) point to “structural” issues or a significant “skills gap”. People just don’t have the right training for the jobs that are available. I would agree that this is a major factor. I would also suggest that it’s not going to be solved overnight. It’s taken us 40+ years to dig this “structural unemployment” hole and it will take a while to get out of it.

But, there are three other factors which impact the unfilled jobs situation and they could be addressed immediately. These three factors are: Location…Location….Location. In many cases, the people are simply not where the jobs are. It’s that basic. You may say, “Well, it’s a free country. Why don’t they just relocate to the work?”

The truth is that many of them have and many will. But there are still thousands of families that are trapped. It can be a house they can’t sell. Or the spouse has a job that doesn’t pay much but at least they have insurance. Or the kids have been in this school district all of their lives. Or we’ve got “a support system” here (family, church, etc). Or maybe they are just scraping by and literally cannot afford any disruption to whatever income and public/private assistance they are receiving.

But with all of the millions of dollars our state and federal government spends on programs to help people in need, you would think there would be some way to help folks get to where the jobs are. Wouldn’t it be better to have them as productive, tax paying citizens? Well, that depends on how you look at it. They say all politics is local and that is never truer than when you look at how politicians view economic development.

Let’s say I am a Congressman who represents a district that is suffering from high unemployment. I work hard to “take care of my people” with government programs, grants and such. They vote for me. I am on their side fighting against “the powerful forces” that have put them in this predicament. The people keep voting for me. Someday they may figure out that I’m not doing them much good and vote for someone else. But, for the time being they vote for me and one thing I know for sure: if they don’t live in my district, they can’t vote for me. So why would I push for any type of program that creates mobility for my constituents? It is not in my best interest to see these people move to other places even if it means they would be better off there. I am better off with them here, in my district. So I do what I can to keep them pacified and give them a little bit of hope.

If we want to fix this problem (along with many others) we need term limits. Otherwise, we will continue to see tax dollars thrown away just keeping people alive in places where they have little chance of ever making a decent living.

An Old Testament Story

If you think the Bible is just myth and fairytale, this story is pointless. But if you believe it to be “The Word”, then this story is worthy of consideration…

Genesis 16: 1-12

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.” 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”

Genesis 17: 15-22

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Genesis 21: 8-20
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer…

The story of Ishmael has been analyzed and interpreted in many ways by people of all faiths and persuasions. For the most part, over-analyzed and often misinterpreted. My own personal take on it is that an omnipotent God, unbound by the constraints of time and space, knew that there would be conflict between the descendents of Ishmael and the descendents of Isaac. That the conflict would include those adopted into the families of faith that trace their origins back to these two individuals whom God chose for his own purpose and design.

People of different faiths will never agree on matters of faith. And there will always be tension between people who disagree on such things. But, it doesn’t have to be the way it is. If we continue to hate each other, we will ultimately destroy each other. Hatred in the name of religion is still hatred and there is way too much of it. And it’s on all sides and in all religions. Unfortunately, it probably won’t change and it’s only likely to get worse. At least until we get to the final story at the end of The Book.

Eastwooding or The Invisible Bluetooth?

“A man can be himself only so long as he is alone”
- Arthur Schopenhauer


Clint Eastwood’s dialogue with the invisible “Mr. Obama” sitting in the empty chair at the RNC has quickly become known as “Eastwooding”. I for one am glad that I now have another option for talking to myself. As an only child and one who really enjoys time alone, I have always been a “self-talker”. There are worse things one can do to one self. So I’ve never thought much about it. But occasionally, someone (usually my wife) will catch me talking to myself. (Again there are worse things she could catch me doing to myself, but that’s another subject).

Before cell phones and bluetooths, I used to tell her that I was practicing a speech or a sales presentation or trying to get rid of my thick Texas drawl. Another one that sometimes works is to say that you are singing. When the other person says, “Well it sounded like you were talking to yourself”, you can respond with something like, “I’m a terrible singer. That’s why I only sing when no one else is around”. If you have pets, you can always say that you were talking to them. That can work even if the dog or cat is nowhere near you. “Gee Honey, I thought Fluffy was over there on the couch.”

But the ultimate cover up for talking to oneself is the Bluetooth. As long as you have one of those in your ear, you can get away with talking to yourself or no one at all. You will not be questioned as long as you have that little gadget hooked on your ear. (Now the truth is that your wife will begin to get suspicious or perhaps jealous if you wear it 24/7.)

And then there is the Invisible Bluetooth. A term that some smart ass came up with when he saw a homeless person wondering down a city street talking to himself. Invisible Bluetooth has caught on and now when you see someone talking to themselves or you get caught talking to yourself, just say Invisible Bluetooth and everyone has a good laugh. As I have gotten older, I find that I am very comfortable wearing the Invisible Bluetooth. Everyone except my wife seems to understand. So my advice to all of you aging baby boomers like me is just go with it. Talk to yourself and if anyone gives you a funny look, point to your ear and say the two magic words: “Invisible Bluetooth”. Besides it’s much easier than carrying a chair around all of the time.

Get Drunk and Be Somebody

“Here’s to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.” – Homer Simpson


Disturbing headline of the week:

College Students Who Binge Drink Say They're Happier.

This was one of several conclusions from a study conducted at Colgate University. The press release goes on to say:

So-called "high-status" and socially powerful college kids are more likely to engage in binge drinking than their less-wealthy, less-connected, lower-status peers, new research reveals. But lower-status students who do binge on alcohol say they are more "socially satisfied" with their college experience than their non-binge-drinking peers.
What this means, say investigators, is that on campuses where binge drinking is a problem, those students who are white, wealthy, straight, male, or fraternity-initiated are much more prone to drink in excess of four to five drinks at a pop than those who are poorer, non-white, female, gay, or unconnected to the frat system.
Higher-status students were also found to be consistently happier with their college social life than lower-status students.
"The study reveals that if you want to understand college binge drinking, you need to understand that college students are reacting to the local campus social situation," said study lead author Carolyn Hsu, an associate professor of sociology and chair in the department of sociology and anthropology at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. "[And] on campuses with a persistently high level of binge drinking, students engage in binge drinking because binge drinking is associated with high status and with social satisfaction."


My take on this is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Young folks have been getting drunk since the discovery of the fermentation process. Today more women are drinking to excess and overall there does seem to be more open admission of excess drinking. But the social pressure to drink up and have a good time has always been there.

The part of the study that I find interesting is the implication that binge drinking = happiness. First of all, what is binge drinking? In this study binge drinking was defined as:

“Drinking four drinks (for women) or five drinks (for men) during a single session at least once within a two-week period. Sixty-four percent of study participants qualified as binge drinkers.”

I’m not sure what the real definition of binge drinking should be, but this one is questionable. Increase the volume by 50% and make it at least a once a week event and you get to belly up to the bar of true binge drinking. Spend some time there and you will find that happiness begins to fade away very quickly.

As for happiness, if being part of the “right crowd” and having the “right friends” makes one happy, then I would agree that many of those who like to party are happy at this point in their lives. There are probably a lot of other factors involved such as money and good looks. But, any way you slice it, this is happiness at its most shallow and superficial level. And it also fades away very quickly.

The real tragedy of the headline: “College Students Who Binge Drink Say They're Happier” is the message that if you want to be happier, just drink a lot of alcohol. Nothing could be farther from the truth. For the record, I am not a teetotaler by any stretch of the imagination. I enjoy a few beers or a couple of cocktails and indulge accordingly on a regular basis. But, in my younger days, I did my share of binge drinking; major league, all-star binge drinking. And it wasn’t good and it did not make me or anyone around me happy. Physically, mentally, spiritually...too much alcohol is not good for anyone and it’s deadly for some.

Thankfully, I am one of the lucky ones who learned when to say when. I am also one of the lucky ones who never got a DUI or thrown in jail, although I could have been and probably should have been. But I did say and do a lot of things that wrecked more than a few relationships. In the end, nothing good comes from drinking too much. It’s a shame that one of the headlines of the week suggest otherwise.