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August 6, 2014 – What date is this the anniversary of?

What irony that today, August 6, I am going to talk about rockets,but first sing along with the great Tom Leherer, from 1966, regarding the original rocket man, long before Elton John, Dr. Wernher von Braun.

“And what is it that put America in the forefront of the nuclear nations? And what is it that will make it possible to spend 20 billion dollars of your money to put some clown on the moon? Well, it is good old American know-how, that’s what. As provided by good old Americans like Dr. Wernher von Braun.

Gather round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun,
A man whose allegiance
Is ruled by expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won’t even frown.
“Ha, nazi schmazi,” says Wernher von Braun.

Don’t say that he’s hypocritical,
Say rather that he’s apolitical.

“Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That’s not my department,” says Wernher von Braun.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you’ve learned to count backwards to zero.
“in German or English I know how to count down,
Und I’m learning Chinese,” says Wernher von Braun”

How about learning to count backwards in Spanish, Dr. von Braun? I see where Texas is getting another rocket launching site. Captain Hairspray’s office contributed $2.4 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund (once known as funding source for DrD’s salary.) The state of Texas chipped in $15.3 million and the City of Brownsville contributed $5 million. The company SpaceX selected Brownsville as their location for rocket launching. The specific location, as stated in the press release, is Boca China Beach, “a short walk from the Gulf of Mexico and just a couple miles north of the US/Mexico border.” I thought the short walk to get north of the US/Mexico border was the problem. But the SpaceX company plans to launch their first rockets in 2016. Plans call for twelve launches per year.” Here’s what I’m thinking…. Captain Hairspray is going to solve the immigration crisis by launching the illegal aliens into space.” Today, August 6, marks the 59th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it
I’m about to lose control and I think I like it
I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it
And I know, I know, I know, I know,

Sung by whom?

God’s in His Heaven and all it right with the world.It was announced over the weekend that my carrier will carry the SEC network.Let me hear you say a big Gig ‘Em Aggies. I mean, Hallelujah! On Thursday, August 28 from Columbia, SC, the Fightin’ Texas Aggies and the South Carolina Gamecocks will christen the Southeast Conference Network at 6:00 Eastern Standard Time. That is 5:00 here in the beautiful Brazos Valley. And all of my television sets will be tuned to it. Yes, I do stand for much of the game, but I like to pace around like the coaches do. Now I can walk from room to room and not miss a moment. I must be careful when viewing from the screened in porch. There are neighbors close by within ear shot who may not understand a woman screaming a stream of profanities from her back yard. All cussing must be done indoors or in unison at local bars. So the countdown begins. I’m so excited. Sung by The Pointer Sisters.

August 4, 2014

Floating down a lazy river on a just right summer day is about as close to heaven as there is in the present. For a moment you are suspended in time as you are gently carried down the river. It is truly an experience everyone, and especially every Texan, should have before they die. I am glad I have been tubing many times and I look forward to many more. It is truly one of the great equalizers of society. Everyone looks the same with your butt in an inner tube and your legs hanging over the sides as though you are about to receive a pelvic examination. UGLY! Now this is before water ugly. The Griswalds put in at The Rocking River ready for a three hour float with the exit at the dock of the place where we were staying. It is very expensive to get in the water. Granted your wristband is good for all day getting in the water, but tube rentals are expensive especially when there are many people. But just standing in line to get a tube is ugly. We are talking like God has whipped up a big plague of super ugly and it has covered Gruene. I mean there are some bodies, mine included, are just not supposed to reveal that much skin to family, let alone people you do not know and especially those with a smart phone. But once in the water you are just a floater and nobody cares.Laid back in your tube and letting the water carry you downstream. I am happy to say the Griswalds all arrived home safely. I did not have to ride on the roof. Not this time. And it was truly one of those summer weekends to remember for years to come.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

The Griswalds leave on the family vacation today. In fact they should be picking up Aunt Edna around 10:30 this morning. There will be seven of us in the vehicle. I hope I am in the vehicle and not tied to the roof as poor Aunt Edna was in the movie. But please alert the Hill Country. We are headed to beautiful downtown Gruene, Texas. What happens in Gruene, stays in Gruene. Talk to you Monday.

Tuesday – July 29, 2014

IT IS LESS THAN ONE MONTH AWAY! Yesterday marked exactly one month until The Fighting Texas Aggies play the South Carolina Gamecocks to christen and open the SEC Network. Unlike other schools, that have a network, the SEC Network lets everybody watch and share in the revenue. But then again when you are a part of the best athletic conference in the nation, everybody wants to watch games of any sport. But when you are picked Number 4 in your conference behind your archrivals OU and BU and OSU, I suppose it makes it hard to watch your network. Factor in dismissals of rule breakers and it could be a long hard year on your network at least for your revenue generating sport. But stay strong, Strong, and bring the boys back to prominence. BTW who do you play on Thanksgiving Day now? Oh yes, TCU. The Aggies play LSU in the enlarged Kyle Field. Amazing what a Heisman trophy will do for your school. Right, Baylor?

July 28, 2014

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.If you recall, it was the war to end all wars. Well, that certainly did not work out, did it? One month prior to this day a group of anarchists decided to shoot the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand. As the open car travelled the streets, each assassination attempt was foiled. The assassination attempt was so botched that Gavrilo Princip decided to blow off the whole thing and go home. As he began his walk home, the open car with the Archduke drove right past him. He opened fire and killed the Archduke and his wife Sophia. That assassination plunged the world into a time that many historians now are calling the Dark Ages of recent time. Because of all of the alliances that were made between and among countries in Europe, once one country declared war, other countries joined in the fracas. Even though the shooting began in Austria-Hungary, Germany invaded France.The invasion of the wrong country would be repeated under the W Bush administration. But back to the story, the Germans implemented the Schlieffen Plan, so named after the General of the same name. This plan meant the German army would march through Belgium into France. This was not the first time the Germans used this plan. The Germans first went through Belgium on the way to France during the Franco-Prussian War in 1878. They did again in 1914 and they did it again in 1940. The last time they actually made it to Paris. One would think the French would have learned after three times. By September of 1914, both the Allies (England, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary and Germany), were at a standstill and had dug up most of France with miles of trenches. This gave the world terms such as “no man’s land,” “trench warfare,” and the phrase “All quiet on the Western Front.” It also gave the world a new weapon called the machine gun. Even when a “neutral” British ocean liner called the Lusitania carrying American passengers was sunk by a German submarine, the United States refused to enter the war. History has since shown that the Lusitania was carrying bombs. But then came the Zimmermann Telegram. Germany sent Mexico a coded message saying if you join us, we will return all the land you lost. This really pissed the United States off because what would it do without Texas? So On April 6, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Germany. By 1917 both sides were running low on soldiers. Russia decided to pull out and start its own revolution bringing the world an economic system called Communism. So with Black Jack Pershing leading the way, the U.S. sailed over and whipped Germany and Austria-Hungary’s butts. However, the winners screwed up the peace agreements and after a tentative peace, twenty-one years later on September 1, 1939, the whole thing started all over again. But this time it was called World War II. The carnage left behind by the end of World War I was staggering. By the end of the war, an estimated 10 million soldiers were killed. That averages to about 6,500 deaths a day, every day. That number does not count civilian casualties. So as you watch the news this evening and see all of the conflicts still ranging throughout the world, remember today was the day it all began in World War I.