Author Archives: Red from Texas

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About Red from Texas

I'm proud to be Red. I have lived most of my life in Texas and I love this place. Here are a few things you should know about me. 1. I am happily married and intend to stay so. 2. I live in a house that is older than you, unless you are really old. 3. I own 2 rifles and a shotgun. I think handguns are just trouble. 4. I have never killed a man, but have taken out some deer and hogs. 5. I was a good student, but never close to being valedictorian. 6. In no particular order I like the Houston Texans, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Astros, FC Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, Texas Longhorns and Houston Dynamo. 7. I hate Dallas but always have a good time when I go there. 8. I was a Dallas Cowboys fan for 26 years but declared that I was no longer a fan during the 1987 strike. 9. I don't own any pets. I like cats, and a good dog and I have met at least 3 of them in my lifetime. 10. I think the best part of Texas is west of I-35. 11. I own two pairs of cowboy boots, but don't wear them very often. 12. I don't have a pronounced Texas accent, but can affect one when needed. 13. My last meal would be fried shrimp with tartar sauce, a baked potato with all the fixins', a dinner salad with 1000 Island dressing, yeast rolls and chocolate fudge pie for dessert. 14. I'm an old Dad, but my children are none of your business. 15. I have two degrees from UT-Austin and somehow managed to fall in love with and marry an Aggie. 16. Most of my family are right-wing nut jobs but I love them anyway. 17. When I get to play golf on a regular basis, I shoot in the low 80's. 18. I don't get to play golf on a regular basis. 19. I think Fort Worth is the best town in Texas by a long shot. 20. I have a mean herb garden. Regards, Red P.S. Remember it's not a color, it's a state of mind.

Today in Texas History – December 13

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72466: Cabinet Card of Commodore Edwin Ward Moore : Lot 72466

From the Annals of “Gunboat” Diplomacy –   In 1841, a flotilla of three ships from the Navy of the Republic of Texas left Galveston  to provide support for the province of Yucatán in its rebellion against Mexico. Edwin Ward Moore was the commander-in-chief of the Texas Navy.  Moore had earlier sailed along the Mexican coast in a failed attempt to speed up peace negotiations between the Republic of Texas and  Mexico.  Moore returned to Texas and President Mirabeau B. Lamar signed a treaty with the Mexican state of  Yucatan to lease of the Texas navy for $8,000 per month and to protect their ports from being a Mexican Navy blockade.  Moore’s ships joined the small fleet of the State of Yucatan under the command of former Texas Navy officer Captain James D. Boylan.

The Yucatan rebellion (also known as the Caste War of Yucatan) itself is an interesting and rarely mentioned part of Mexican history.  The indigenous Mayans more or less held control of large parts of the Yucatan peninsula for more than 50 years despite numerous efforts by Mexico to assert control.  

Today in Texas History – December 12

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From the Annals of the Supreme Court –   In 2000, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Bush v. Gore, holding that the use of different standards of counting in different counties violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and that no alternative method could be established within the time limit under federal law to determine controversies as to appointment of electors – which was the same day. The Court voted 7-2 on the violation of the Equal Protection Clause with a proviso that it was more or less a one-time only decision.  However, the Court was split 5–4 as to whether an alternate recount method was feasible. The widely-criticized decision had the effect of awarding all of Florida’s electoral college votes to Texas Gov. George W. Bush which gave him a total of 271 or one more than needed.  U.S. Vice President Al Gore conceded the election the next day.

Bush’s presidency proved disastrous on several counts with Bush leading the U.S. into the war in Iraq on spurious grounds, the inability to conclude the war in Afghanistan, and the near complete financial collapse of 2008.

Red’s NFL Picks 2018 – Week 15

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Red can’t seem to correctly pick either the Texans to win or the Cowboys to lose which led to another 3-3 week and a season total of 32-37 for Red.  But there are no excuses in this game – only results.

Your Game of the Week Game of the Week – Chiefs over Chargers.  There really isn’t much question about the game to watch this week if you are only going to watch one game.  The 11-2 Chiefs and 10-3 Chargers square off to see who will have the inside track on the AFC West Title on Thursday night.  The Chiefs have already secured a playoff berth and the Chargers would grab one with a win.  By all rights, we should see about 90 points and 900 yards of total offense – which of course can mean a tight defensive struggle – something the Chiefs are ill-equipped to win with their sad sack defense.  Red just can’t see that happening.  Mahomes continues his MVP quest while the trusty veteran P. Rivers may have his last best shot at a division title and home field advantage and who wouldn’t want to see the Patriots playing on the west coast in a crackerbox stadium in an AFC Championship game.  Well, Red for one.  Red is sticking with his preseason pick to win it all.  Kansas City 45 Los Angeles 38. 

Your National TV Game of the Week – Stealers over Patriots.  Speaking of last best chances – the Stealers are still in the driver’s seat in the AFC North, but the check engine light is on and Steelwagon is running on fumes right now.  How does a legitimate NFL team actually lose to the Raiders?  Answer:  a time zone hex that Red missed out on – perhaps the time zone hex of the season.  And why is it that the Stealers never seem to beat the Patriots when real money is on the table?  Answer:  the Pats are just better in the clutch.  This week the Pats could use a win after the humiliating last-second loss to the Dolphins, but the Stealers really need a win as they are feeling the hot breath of the putrid Ravens franchise breathing down their sweaty necks.  A coin toss here and it comes up for the Stealers.  Pittsburgh 20 New England 19. 

Your Texas Game of the Week – Texans over Jets.  If the Texans cannot beat the Jets they deserve to be sitting at home in January licking their self-inflicted wounds and weeping over what could have been.  What has become clear is that Deshaun Watson cannot do it alone and on a day where the offensive line regresses to form and he is under pressure and having to throw passes to the third string quarterback (Joe Webb), things are probably not going to turn out well – especially against the historical franchise nemesis Colts.  The running game must get going.  But a rainy cold forecast for Saturday does not bode well.  Nevertheless, Red is going down with the Texans ship.  Houston 17 New Jersey 12.

Your Disappointing  Game of the Week – Bears over Packers.  This one seemed important at the beginning of the season.  Now – not so much.  Bears were channeling Refrigerator Perry in mowing down the Rams last week.  Who holds the Rams to 6 points?  The Pack is playing out the skein for new interim head coach – Joe “The Guy You’ve Never Heard Of” Philbin.  Hey Joe, where you going with that playbook in your hand?  Joe’s going to Soldier Field to get whipped like a lazy mule.  The Bears really just don’t have to score very many points to win anymore.  Chicago 19 Green Bay 6.  

Your Time Zone Hex Game of the Week – Rams over Eagles.  Rams don’t need any help in dispatching a quickly fading memory of a championship team – but they’ll take it anyway.  Triple reverse time zone hex is superfluous.   Los Angeles 44 Philadelphia 10.

This Week’s Shit Bowl – Bengals over Raiders.  Red can smell the stench from high atop Red Plaza.  Raiders pulled one out of their ass last week.  But that trick only works once or maybe twice a season.   The Bengals aren’t bad – they aren’t good either, but the Raiders are clearly butt ugly awful except on rare occasions when you swear that there is a professional football team wearing the Silver and Black.  If you watch this beastly bowel battle without taking the customary precautions, Red feels no pity for you.  Cincinnati 29 Oakland 13.  

Your Bonus Hoping to Pull Red’s Ass out of the Fire Game of the Week –  Cowboys over Colts.  Just because. Arlington 23 Indianapolis 20.

Quote for the Day

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“I got cussed out by my mom this morning because she’s been dying to meet Pop. She told me today that I better make sure that she gets to meet him.”

Demar DeRozan – San Antonio Spurs guard on his mother wanting to meet legendary Spurs Coach Greg Popovich.

Today in Texas History – December 11

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From the Annals of the Warrior Chiefs – In 1737,  Spanish military forces captured Cabellos Colorados (Red Hair).   CC was a Lipan Apache chief who had staged repeated raids on the Spanish outpost at San Antonio de Bexar.  The historical record on Cabellos Colorados is scant but his name appears in Spanish colonial records as figuring prominently in a number of raids.  There was a raid in 1731 and again in 1734 when his band seized two Spaniards. He was also reported as having stolen horses from San Francisco de la Espada Mission and killed Indians from the missions of San Juan Capistrano and Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña. After more raids in 1736 and 1737, he was captured and imprisoned at Bexar until October 1738, when he was sent as a prisoner to Mexico City.

Quote for the Day

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“Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!”

Trumph – the Insult Comic President™ on his first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

Red has to agree that RT must have been dumb as a rock if agreed to work in this Reality TV Show Joke of an Administration.  Anyone who does gets exactly what they deserve – a heaping helping of abuse and scorn.  As for laziness, apparently Trumph is an expert practitioner of that art – so again Red will have to defer.  As for Pompeo, Red is betting that when his time is inevitably up, he will turn out to have been a Satan-worshipping child molester.

Today in Texas History – December 7

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From the Annals of the Death House –   In 1982, Texas became the first state to use lethal injection to execute prisoners. The lethal dose was an intravenous injection of sodium pentathol – a barbiturate that is known as a “truth serum” when administered in lesser doses. Texas adopted the lethal injection procedure as a supposedly more humane method of executing those convicted of capital crimes.  Over the next few years, 32 other states, the federal government, and the U.S. military all began using various forms of lethal injection to execute prisoners.

Charlie Brooks Jr., convicted for the murder of David Gregory, was the first prisoner in the U.S. to be executed by injection at the Walls Unit in Huntsville.  Gregory, an auto mechanic at a used car lot, accompanied Brooks on a supposed test drive of a car.  However, Brooks took Gregory back to a motel where he was hanging out and shooting heroin with Woody Lourdes and his girlfriend Marlene Smith after engaging in a shoplifting spree.  Brooks shot and killed Gregory in an almost absurdly amateurish manner.  Lourdes had informed the hotel manager that they had a man in the room who was bound and gagged and that they were going to have to kill him while pointing a revolver at the manager and telling her that he would kill her too if she talked.  As such, the crime was easily discovered and solved.  Brooks was sentenced to death.  Lourdes was also sentenced to death but his conviction was reversed and he reached a plea deal to serve 40 years.   David Gregory left behind a wife and young son.

Today in Texas History – December 6

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From the Annals of the Coast – In 1851, the United States approved a contract to construct a lighthouse on South Padre Island.  Known as the Port Isabel Lighthouse, construction was completed in 1852.  It was one of 16 lighthouses constructed on the Texas coast and the only one open to the public at the Port Isabel State Historical Site.  The PIL served as a beacon for more than 60 years but became obsolete and was extinguished in 1905.  The lighthouse fell into neglect until the Texas State Parks Board provided funds for restoration in 1947.  The historic landmark has become a popular tourist attraction for visitors to South Texas The PIL was restored in 2000 and returned to the appearance it had following its last major operational renovation in 1880.