Albuquerque Journal, August 16, 2011….Business Section in an Associated Press release…..Mr. Buffet says, “My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.” Buffett noted that the mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most investments income but practically nothing in payroll taxes. The middle class meanwhile, typcally falls into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets and is hit with heavy payroll taxes. He said Washington legislators, “feel compelled to protects us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species.” In this article he recommends that they should immediately raise taxes on those households with a taxable income of one million or more and he would add an additional increase on those making 10 million or more. He also recommends that Congress leave the tax rate unchanged on 99.7 percent of the other taxpayers…..Mr. Buffett, sir, I kinda like the way you talk…..

OK, it is my time of the year again…..The football schedules are out….New Mexico State is crazy. The Scheduler should be fired or promoted, depending on your point of view….They start with, OHIO and then, MINNESOTA, then four of the teams they normally play, then NEVADA, then GEORGIA, FRESNO ST, and BYU and two others conference games….They should have some good paydays, and the AD will be happy, but a terrible record, and the local folks will be sad. To the team I say, “Boys, I know that scheduler was thinking about the money he would bring in, but I hope you will play competitive football and maybe even win one for the old home town folks. Go on and do your best and we will pray for you…We can’t ask for more than that. Now, it could be that the scheduler thinks they are a pretty good ball club, huh? Well, maybe so. New Mexico has a pretty tough schedule also, We start with Colorado State, then ARKANSAS, then Texas Tech, then we play a couple of winners maybe, then Nevada, TCU, a few conference games, then our newest Mountain West member, Boise St. (We got to improve our record, 2 – 22 for the last two years. I was surprised they kept the coach for another year. I will pull for him to do good. He knows the consequences for another losing season.) Go Lobos….Wisconsin should be 4 – 0 through September, but they better watch or they could be 4 – 4 thru October….I think they will probably go at least 8 – 4 on the season….Alabama, well more of the same….winning them all unless the boys lay down on the job. Saban will not stand for that. 12 – 0, but they better watch LSU and Miss St….BYU….left the Mountain West and scheduled, Mississippi, Texas, Utah for the first three games. Let’s hope they are as tough as they think they are….I noticed they left New Mexico off the schedule this year, they probably skeered, you reckon? The other scheduler other than New Mexico States wild man, is Florida Atlantic…Who in the world would schedule, Florida, Mich St and Auburn for the first three games….Talk about crazy..Well, maybe he will prove me wrong…well, it could be a she…probably is a she now that I think about it some…..(jeez, I’m always asking for trouble..)

Years ago we lived in Decatur, TX. My dad and nephew came out from Alabama to see us for a short visit. Dad decided to give the children some money while he was there. My youngest, no. 3 son was about three years old. Dad had quite a bit of money in change to give the children, but when he got down to no. 3 son all he had left was pennies, which he offered to no. 3…… I guess no. 3 already knew the value of money as he politely refused the pennies saying he wanted “white money”. My nephew reminded me about that story when I was in Alabama in July saying that was one of dad’s favorite stories…

I received this e-mail the other day. It is lengthy so I am posting some of the details. If you request the entire e-mail I will send it on to you, leave your e-mail address in the comments. But here is most of what it says:  11 to 22 billion annual cost for welfare for illegal aliens by state governments….22 billion annual cost for food stamps and free lunches…..2.5 billion in medicaid costs….12 billion for education of primary and secondary education of illegals children….17 billion for education of American born children of illegals….3 million per DAY to incarcerate illegal aliens…..In 2006, 45 billion for that year was sent to the home counties of the illegals….We wonder why we have problems….It really chaps me when people come down on social security recipients who have paid all their lives into this plan for their future and to hear that the USA can no longer afford it..Then folks who come into our country from all over the world are taken care of at the cost shown above…Just who is running America anyway? Folks are gonna get mad before too much longer and you folks in your  forties and fifties are just a few years from joining all us old folks…..I hate to keep asking this, but who is tending to the cash register? It is about time for all of us to ask our congressmen and senators what is going on. Do they even know? You remember that congressman a year or so back saying that he did not have time to read those long bill and documents coming up for passage? I think there are a bunch of them just like that….Remember it as your hand is poised over the voting machine….At some point in time we have to take some action….Don’t you think so?….

My garden area in my backyard is about 10 x 10 feet. Some okra, bell peppers, tomatoes, and a couple of potato plants this year. I think I might increase the size of the garden as that may be what feeds us before long. The front garden space is about 3 ft wide x 20 ft long and we do squash, okra, bell peppers and tomatoes there. My backyard is about 2/3 grass and 1/3 rocks. I could use a lot of the rock space as garden and almost feed us, if we can get the water….I think we all need to be thinking about hard times as our government does not seem to be too sound at the present. The other governments of the world are also having their problems…England of all places…What’s up with that? Greece, Italy, France and Spain having problems. China is the only one with money and borrowing may really get expensive…Starvation in the African nations…Weather problems, droughts in Iowa, Nebraska,  Texas and New Mexico and other states, rising prices of all commodities, job availabilities, losing homes and numerous other domestic problems. Corn production going into making ethanol and not food stuff…….One has to wonder where or if it will ever end. Sweetie often says, “This too shall pass”, but I ‘m not to sure this time…. For those of you who have a job, hold on tightly. For those of you who have land, consider what you’ll do with it during tough time…For those of you who have neither I would try very hard to find both….Hold on to your silver and gold…..Paper money may not be worth very much….Man, what a gloom and doom posting, but I am going to leave it up at least for tonight. I may delete it tomorrow…I’ll see how I’m feeling then or if the world looks any brighter….Maybe it will…8/10/11, it don’t….

This week we lost a cousin, and for me, a fellow classmate….Tis sad, I’m sad and I will miss him…He is the reason I got my first spanking in grade school. He was a impish little rascal I’ll tell you…He was eating Crackerjack in class, he was not sharing them either, and he dropped them under his desk or really since he sat right in front of me, it was under my desk. The teacher came by and accused me of eating Crackerjacks in class…No mam, says I….Well, she gave me a spanking for eating Crackerjacks and for lying about it. Do you think Willard would ‘fess up about it?…..Nooooo, he just laughed while I got the spanking…I drove the school bus on the route Willard lived on..Once he was up and moving around and would not sit down. I stopped the bus and threatened to toss him off if he did not sat down. Well, he did sit down and I continued on the route. All was well until he getting off the bus, then he hit me a mighty blow in the shoulder with his fist. I chased him for a few yards, but the guy could really run fast..And he was laughing with every step….Once I used him for a spotter for me to back up the school bus and try to turn around in close quarters. He was yelling for me to come on back, come on back, wham was the sound as I hit a mail box, then he yelled, whoa!!!!…He had a good laugh about that….The boy had a good time in school, I can tell you that….But you know what, after leaving Alabama I tried to come home at least once a year to see my folks and Willard always made an effort to come see me and catch up on my life and catch me up on his life….He cared about me and he cared about my folks..He often brought his tractor over and bush hogged their property and as far as I know, never charged them a penny….So, today I’m melancholy…Remembering Willard  brings to mind one verse of a Stephen Foster song, Why do I weep, when my heart should feel no pain, Why do I sigh that my friends come not again, grieving for forms now departed long ago, I hear their gentle voices calling Old Black Joe…… I suppose its the “that my friends come not again” part and yet I know full well Willard and I will see each other again in heaven, yet my old heart grieves for our loss……Later, Willard, old buddy, later……Pete Hester

Hey, I joined the Coal Fire Alabama facebook page as a former resident of that er, city, er, town, er, community…community is a good name for a good place that rasied some good people….I was in the military, stationed at Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, NM around 1955 or 1956. I took a seat in the ready room awaiting work orders to go back out on the flight line and took a seat next to a nice looking black fellow who was also awaiting work instructions. He says to me, “Where you from?” And I said, “I’m from Alabama.” He said, “I’m from Alabama too. What part you from?” Well, since I was sure he would not know Reform or Coal Fire I said “a little town not to far from Tuscaloosa.” He said, “I live near Tuscaloosa also.” Well, I said, “I live near Reform.” He said, “Really, I live near Reform”. Now we are looking each other over pretty closely. So I said, “Well, I really live in Coal Fire.”… “I live near Coal Fire, myself, I’m from over in Sanderstown.” Expletives deleted. He was Doc Sanders grandson and I can no longer remember his name. But we had lots of good visits after that. Sometimes this old world just ain’t as large as we think it is…..

No. 2 granddaughter wrote the following post after returning from our Coal Fire, AL reunion. I think she did a good job and I am very pleased with her writings. I hope all of you enjoy what she has to say about our trip. Please click on the blue print. (Due to technical difficulties the attachments did not come through, er, pictures of the world coldest water of Coal Fire Creek. She repeated what I told her so we can’t say for certain that it is the World’s coldest water…..but it is dang close.)

Reflections KJH Aug 2011

I have a cousin serving time in Alabama State Prison System and I asked that he write a guest posting for me. I asked him to write whatever message he would like to get out to my readers of this blog. The following is what he had to say:

Hi! I’m Alan writing to you from the Alabama Department of Corrections, my home for the past five years. Cousin Pete asked me to write a couple of paragraphs about prison life, so here goes. (Para) Living in prison is like eating from a box of chocolates, one never knows what is going to happen from one minute to the next. (para) The food is bland and proportions are small most of the time. The good meals that we get are full of fat, cholesterol and sodium. As a matter of fact most all the meals are that way. (para) The day starts at 2:30 am and ends at 10:30 pm. Breakfast is at 3;30 am, lunch at around 11:00 am and dinner at around 4:00 pm. There are scheduled times, however, nothing happens on schedule in prison. As you can see, everyday is a long one. (para) We sleep and live in dormitories. We sleep on bunks or racks, as they are more often called. The mattress is 2 1/2 inches thick and as hard as a rock. The racks are 6′ 2″ long by 2 1/2 ft wide, made of angle iron and flat iron. (para) There is no such thing as privacy in prison. You will never find yourself alone, anywhere, at anytime. Everyone eats together, showers together, uses the bathroom together and we sleep about 3 feet apart to each side and head to head down the aisles. (para) There is much more I could say, but space is limited. I have written a book on this very subject. (para) To close, I want to warn you all out there who might not take breaking the law seriously. If you break the law long enough, you will get caught, and easily, easier than you think and find yourself in your respective state’s department of correction. Believe me, you DO NOT WANT to go there.

I would like to thank Alan for contributing to this website. The message was very interesting and informative. And you are right Alan, none of us want to go there.

Albuquerque Journal, Aug 2, 2011…dateline Mexico City, Mexico….Mexico’s central bank says remittances sent to the country rose nearly 5 % during the first half of 2011 compared to the same period last year. …..A total of 11.2 billion was sent between JANUARY and JUNE 2011……Nearly all the money comes from the nearly 12 MILLION MEXICANS who live in the United States……Folks, don’t read that too fast,…. 12 million sent 11.2 billion cash in six months….Money earned in the US and will be spent in Mexico. The paper stated that this is Mexico’s SECOND LARGEST SOURCE OF FOREIGN INCOME  after petroleum exports……No wonder the Mexican government does not try to aid the United States in the flow of illegals northbound across the southern border, they are looking for a southbound flow of cash…. plus they do not have to take care of their citizens….Good old Gringos, Si, Bueno, Si…..