Created Friday, 03 June 2011 19:17

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Federal Judge Banning Prayer at Texas High School Graduation

Friday, June 03, 2011 • Austin, Texas • Press Release

"This reprehensible action taken by a federal judge underscores the increasingly inappropriate federal encroachment into the lives of Americans by unconstitutionally banning prayer at a Texas high school graduation. The First Amendment prohibits governments from interfering with Americans' rights to freely express their religious beliefs, and accordingly the U.S. Supreme Court has maintained that Congress may convene every day with a prayer. I fully support Attorney General Abbott's efforts to defend the right to pray, and Texas will continue to stand behind all those

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Created Sunday, 15 May 2011 15:15

The Cowboy Way

For all your San Antonio Real Estate Needs
Call Randy Watson, 210-744-4514
Texas Real Estate Agent
Mission Realty, Inc.

I never quite understood the appeal of the cowboy, when it came to the whole western-frontier-nostalgia-gestalt, even after coming to live in Texas and write whole books about the frontier, and Texas. How did that frontier archetype manage to sweep all others before it, in dime novels, movies and television shows... given that the classic "cowboy" functioned only in a very specific time period - for about twenty-five years after the Civil War. Even though the Western cattle industry seemed to be co-located with spectacular scenery, and the frontier as it was offered all kinds of

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Created Sunday, 15 May 2011 15:11

Cityscapes

Through the good offices of one of our Red Hat friends, my daughter has been working as a back-up delivery driver for Edible Arrangements on Blancofor the last couple of years, on those holiday periods when the rush of orders for arrangements of fruit cunningly cut up to resemble leaves and flowers in a suitable container overwhelms the regular delivery drivers. Mothers' Day, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are peak times for this kind of thing, for which the main requirement seems to be a well-developed sense of responsibility, possession of a driver's license and a vehicle with a well-functioning air conditioning system. A good GPS unit helps also. Blondie has had a great deal of

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Created Sunday, 15 May 2011 15:07

HEB-domain

For all your San Antonio Real Estate Needs
Call Randy Watson, 210-744-4514
Texas Real Estate Agent
Mission Realty, Inc.

Pretty generally and for as long as I have been paying attention - and it first came up in the 6th grade when Mr. Terrenova was explaining about company stores, and went all the way through my military service overseas with the Commissary and BX - everyone generally agrees that a monopoly of any market is a bad thing when it comes to consumer goods. Essentially, you are stuck with whatever the establishment chooses to offer; if they choose not to offer it, or are unable to offer it, you have no place else to shop. While not absolutely true in the case of the Commissary/BX - as there

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Created Sunday, 15 May 2011 14:58

Blackberries and Yogurt Cream

So, last week when we hiked the Salado Greenway Trail along the stretch between Tobin Park and Rittiman road, we noticed that there were a great many thickets of berry brambles, especially in the sunny stretch along Holbrook Road. We had seen a man standing out in the middle of the thickest patch of brush, and asked what he was doing - ‘blackberries' he answered, and held up a plastic Tupperware container nearly full of them. So, this week, I was prepared; Tupperware, and plastic bags, gardening gloves, long-sleeved shirt, long pants - banded at the bottom with rubber bands, and a tube of ointment for treating a close encounter with poison ivy, just in case.

I waded into the tangle of

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Created Monday, 02 May 2011 13:03

Usama Bin Laden is DEAD

Navy Seals followed the code of honor, courage, and commitment. Thank you Navy Seals!

Hours after President Obama announced that Usama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan, the Al Qaeda leader's body is buried at sea, prompting Americans to celebrate the good news a block from Ground Zero

FBI updates its Most Wanted list by stamping 'deceased' over bin Laden picture.

Created Sunday, 01 May 2011 00:27

A Wedding in the Old Country

No, of course I did not get up hours before the crack of dawn on Friday to watch the royal wedding. I wouldn't get up at four o'clock in the morning for my own wedding. But we did watch the highlights Friday evening when the BBC news wrapped up with the highlights. Just as a personal observation, it all seemed rather nice and tasteful, modest, even . . . with the exception of whichever one of Fergie's daughters was wearing the a hat with a two-foot tall bow on it, towering over her head, and half an inch of black eye-shadow around her eyes.

I guess no one had the nerve to say, "Young lady, take off that ridiculous hat, and here's some cold cream and a wash-cloth - you are not going out

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Created Monday, 25 April 2011 14:39

Moo the Closet Cat

  For all your San Antonio Real Estate Needs Call Randy Watson, 210-744-4514 Texas Real Estate Agent Mission Realty, Inc.

When my younger sister's parakeet, known as Bird - my sister did not have much of an imagination when it came to naming her pets - was accidentally killed, my father immediately took Pip to the pet store to find a replacement parakeet. My sister, sniffling slightly, returned from the pet store, having selected from their parakeet stock the plainest, gawkiest, motley-ist parakeet in the lot. He was so ugly and awkward, my sister explained, that no one would ever pick him out and take it home, and so she felt sorry for him. She named him BT, which stood for

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Created Thursday, 21 April 2011 21:45

San Antonio Water System (SAWS) Reports: Stage One Water Restrictions? No problem.

By Juan Soulas

As you've likely heard by now, Stage One watering rules are in effect. While some may consider drought restrictions to be a bad thing, you – our loyal subscribers – know it simply means making a few adjustments to your watering schedule.

The advice in this newsletter is designed to help you maintain a landscape that weathers dry conditions and restrictions, so there's no need to despair.

During Stage One restrictions:

• Watering your lawn with an irrigation system or hose-end sprinkler is allowed once a week on your assigned day, before 10 a.m. or after 8 p.m. (No drastic change here since our watering

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Created Thursday, 21 April 2011 01:32

The Black Swan Inn and the Battle of Salado

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So, this was a place that we found by accident, on our last weekend walk, doing another leg of the Salado Creek Greenway- the portion from Tobin Park south, following the line of the nearly-dry creek south from 410, past the Oakwell stables, through a light forest of oak trees, interspersed here and there with pecan trees. There are - as in some of the other legs of the Salad Greenway - a very few places where one can actually see buildings or rooftops through the trees, but those places are rare. If it wasn't for the hum of traffic, now and again, or an airplane flying over from the airport, you could think you were…