Shaine Mata Blog

I was just visiting Hannity.com and saw this quote: "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it." --Ronald Reagan It's so funny. He's right, which is what make it so hilarious.

I can't believe the Dems are crying about the President's recess appointment of John Bolton as the UN Ambassador. They want to play dirty, but when the prez has a card up his sleeve they cry foul. From the sounds of it, they like the status quo with the UN and don't want to change anything. Nevermind the Oil for Food scandal that resulted on a couple slaps on the wrists. We need somebody who can kick some ass and not even bother to take names at the UN to clean up the place. It's well known that the UN is a conglomerate of US-hating diplomats that want to stick it to us every chance they get. We need to send somebody who will stick it back to them with gusto.

It just occurred to me a while ago that the price of oil, and therefore gasoline, is higher as a result of the devaluation of the dollar on top of higher demand. I need to look for information to support this idea.

The Minutemen have a setback in the effort to guard the border here in the Rio Grande Valley. According to Cari Hammerstrom , and other writers, there is a divide amongst the members who were forming the Minuteman group here in Texas. Apparently, there are some interested in simply protecting the border for the security of our country and there are those motivated by racist tendencies. Chris Simcox, the national organizer of the Minutemen has been VERY careful not to allow gun crazy wackos and racists into the organization. He knows that such members can be counterproductive to gaining acceptance by the rest of the country. In this article, there is the following section: Hidalgo County Democratic Party chairman Juan Maldonado said the party does not condone the actions of the Brown Berets; however, because the group asked him for a platform, he agreed to let them speak at the press conference. Riiigght. Saddam Hussein didn't tell terrorists to attack the U.S., but he did provide t...

I rode from Mayberry Road in Mission to Confetti and China Wok in McAllen and back, today. I departed at 4:16 and made it to Confetti for some papers and then dropped them off at China Wok by 5:50. It took so long because I chose to ride cross country through abandoned roads and fields. I was also riding into the wind. That was tough. I almost gave up on Nolana halfway between Ware and 29th St in McAllen. Then, I got a taste of riding on the pavement. That just lifted my spirits and I hauled butt to Confetti, where I refilled my camelback with water. I got ice at the restaurant. I left China Wok at 5:50 and arrived at my apartment at 6:45. On the way back, I stuck to the pavement. That made all the difference. It also helped to have the wind to my back. Next trip, I will be headed from Mayberry to the Mission bike trail on Conway. I will see if anybody wants to tag along.

So, I've started another blog. Now what? I was thinking about doing something like a web directory, but there aren't enough Mission sites to make it useful. I thought about writing news, but I'm not really a journalist in any shape or form. I suppose I could write reviews or highlights about businesses and attractions in Mission. That seems like a useful thing to do. I could be a one-man Mission promoter. I think that's what I'll do.

I added an RSS calendar to the reunion sites. It will keep track of events in the Valley. This should keep members visiting for information. It will also keep me informed of dates.

I have decided to switch from T-Mobile prepaid phone service to Virgin Mobile . I use about 300 minutes per month on personal calls. I have a work phone that gets free pcs to pcs. I try not to use it for personal calls because I don't like to have personal numbers on the bill, which my boss sees and because we have a combined minute pool. T-Mobile To Go Prepaid Rates $10 card @ 50 minutes = 20 cents/minute $25 card @ 150 minutes = 17 cents/minute $50 card @ 460 minutes = 11 cents/minute $100 card @ 1000 minutes = 10 cents/minute At 300 minutes, I am spending about $51/month using $25 refills. At 300 minutes, I would spend about $33/month using the $50 refills. Virgin Mobile Rates Plan 1: 25 cents/minute for first 10 minutes each day. 10 cents/minute after that. Plan 2: 35 cents/day and 10 cents/minute. Plan 3: $29.99 for 150 anytime/150 nights and weekends (nw). Add $10 for 100 more anytime/350 nw. Add $10 for 100 more anytime/500 nw. At 300 minutes, I would spend about $30/month...

There are several sites to which I belong where you can meet people and network. I am adding the links to all of them here. These sites are important for me to be "findable" so that I can get info for the reunion sites, MissionHSReunion and RGVReunions . shainemata.multiply.com Hi5.com Yahoo 360 myspace.com/slmtek Friendzy.com shaine.friendcircles.com

I went bike riding today. We went from Nikki Rowe to the City of Mission water reservoir on the North side and back. Both Amanda and I haven't biked in a while, so we took it easy. We will probably feel sore tomorrow. I will take a ride from home to Confetti tomorrow to see how long the ride takes. Perhaps I can bike to work daily. The path we took from McAllen to Mission was along a canal. The double track is lined by trees on both sides, so you can sort of make the illusion of being on a country dirt road. The whole time, we were running parallel to FM 495 by about a quarter mile. There are no mountains in the RGV, but we do have dirt roads where cars hardly travel. This makes for good biking trails.

Here is a list of the legislation that passed and failed during the first Texas Legislature special session. The governor immediately called a second special session in hopes that the legislature would finish the work that was in progress.

This was recorded on the way home prior to the arrival of Emily.

Report right after Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince goes on sale. We did not leave the store until 1:24 AM. We had a fun time. Tomorrow, Tien will not be visible all day. Alma already started reading. She was complaining earlier about being awake since 6 AM.

A quick report half an hour before midnight while standing in line at McAllen Barnes and Noble's Starbucks.

After doing the rounds, I arrive at Barnes and Noble to meet Alma, Tien, and Magnus at the Harry Potter Midnight release celebration.

Tonight, I saw something I'd never seen before while doing the rounds. We finally got some good rain.

I was just testing out the audioblogger and have made my first audioblog. Sounds clearer than I thought it would.

You Are a Pundit Blogger! Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read. Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few . What kind of blogger are you?

The Texas State Capitol has a website that can tell you who your representatives in Congress are. Simply click on the link that says "Whow represents me?" In the next page, enter your physical address. Then, the next page will give you a list of your reps. Here is who represents me: Hidalgo County-Precinct 0101 Texas U.S. Representative CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 25 CONGRESSMAN LLOYD DOGGETT Address: 201 CANNON HOUSE OFFICE BUIDLING WASHINGTON, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4865 State District Offices Texas State Senator SENATE DISTRICT 20 SENATOR JUAN "CHUY" HINOJOSA Capitol Office: CAP 3S.3 Capitol Address: P.O. Box 12068 Austin, Texas 78711 Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0120 District Address: 612 Nolana, Suite 410 B McAllen, TX 78504 District Phone: (956) 972-1841 State District Offices Texas State Representative HOUSE DISTRICT 41 REPRESENTATIVE VERONICA GONZALES Capitol Office: EXT E2.302 Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910 Austin, TX...

It seems odd that the legislature wants to ban a candy. How about banning non-alcoholic beer. Obviously, drinking a non-alcoholic beverage is a gateway to abusing the real thing at a later age. While they are at it, playing with dolls leads to teenage pregnancy. I bet that a large number of teenage girls who played with dolls went and had children. We should get rid of Barbie and all her kind.

I've done a study of all the prepaid phones out there. I have discovered that the two best prepaid phone deals available are the T-Mobile prepaid and the Virgin Mobile services. At first they were tied. Alma, my wife, and I are currently using the T-mobile prepaid service. Recently, however, Virgin has moved ahead as far as the prepaid services go. Whereas T-Mobile To Go has a single prepaid plan, Virgin Mobile has 3 different plans to fit your needs. I think that we will be switching to Virgin soon unless T-mobile comes up with better rates.

I did some work on my social security article tonight. I've been meaning to put some work into it but put it off. I've got the basic structure and arguments, just need to flesh it out and add references. The basic idea is to convince people my age to support the president's social security reform initiative. Older people are a lost cause. No way in hell they are going to give up their "entitlement" for us. They bore the cost of raising us, so we need to foot the bill for their retirement. Screw that. It's not comparable. They raised us for 20 years and we have to pay for 30 or 40 years? Nevermind that they have had 40+ years to make non-social security preparations.

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to allow eminent domain to separate land owners from their property for private commercial use to increase a city's tax revenue will be counterbalanced by the Texas legislature's recent special session. Gov. Rick "Goodhair" Perry has made this issue a part of the "call". This should be a slam-dunk law for the Texas legislature to pass. The reason that this law is required is because government has always had the right to take your property for public use when they need to build a road or other public work. It was never technically possible for a private citizen or commercial entity to strong-arm another owner who would not otherwise sell, to give up their land. Of course, with good connections and other tactics, it could and probably did happen in the past. The Supreme Court ruling gave such tactics the green light. At first, it seems like this was a bad ruling. However, this is a great thing to have happened for ...

Here is a link to KRGV's story on the Sharyland High School field house explostion. http://krgv.com/2005/7/11/3516/Explosion-rocks-Sharyland-High-School

I drove by Sharyland High School this morning. There were a few fire trucks around. The roof on the south side of the field house was blown off early this morning before students arrived. The field house roof had a gaping hole with twisted sheet metal and insulation around the edges. Luckily nobody was hurt. No cause is known yet, but in a field house in the Rio Grande Valley, the only possible cause would be a gas leak of some sort for the 2 or 3 days of cold weather we get per year.

I listed a couple items on ebay today. Tweaked some RSS settings for my and Alma's blogs through Feedburner.com . Joined up at Hi5.com . Also worked at a free wiki I found at Schtuff.com . It's the easiest, simplest wiki I have found so far. I also installed a wiki at wiki.rgvreunions.com and added some info. Took a looong nap this afternoon with Magnus. He's gonna be awake for a long time tonight. He's full of energy right now. Tomorrow, I work 10 to 3.

The Amdro did not seem to be working. I know it is, but I'm impatient. We still had some ants the night after the Amdro, they came out in full force. It's disturbing to see them crawling around the kitchen counter, but it is a necessary inconvenience. They will be dead next week. ALL OF THEM! I'm tempted to spread the Amdro outside the apartment complex to prevent another colony from moving in.

Our apartment at Pueblo de Paz has ants. We complained last year and nothing happened. The manager told us that we needed to keep the kitchen clean. Nevermind that we were not home often enough to cook. Winter came and the ants went dormant. This summer they are back. We had the small brown ants last year. Now we have the black ants that sting pretty bad. They are crawling out of a light switch by the kitchen sink. Alma had enough of it and asked me to get some bait. We've used Amdro in the past to get rid of ant mounds. So, I've put some Amdro on the counter near the light switch. The ants are all over it, they came out in droves. Little do they know that they will all be dead in a few days. I feel so evil. :D

It was sad to find out today that London was hit by 4 bombs. As is all over the news, there were about 40 known casualties and about 700 injured. The bombs were placed in 3 trains and 1 bus. It appears that the bombs were set with timers so that the explosions would coincide. So far, Al Quaeda, or a european version, seems to be the responsible party for the destruction. I am glad that British PM Tony Blair is determined even more to root out this evil breed of people. There are leaders such as Tony Blair, G. W. Bush, and Spain's Jose Maria Aznar . It is encouraging to see the unity that the British are showing. Ken Livingston, Mayor of the City of London has said: Nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our cities where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail. It is encouraging to see the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity. The English know adversi...

It really bothers me that I want to be left alone most of the time. At the same time, I like doing stuff for people. I like doing stuff for people without being asked, just for the sake of helping. I don't mind giving of my time, energy, and talent to get things done. Once it becomes a demand, as in it being required of me, I don't want to do it. I begin to despise the work and don't want to waste the time, energy, or talent to get it done. This is something I have to fight daily. I would enjoy working if it was volunteer work. The problem is that I need to make money to pay the bills. It's the obligation that is bothersome. This attitude does not fit into a leadership position. If I am obligated to work, I prefer a position of leadership. The problem is that the leadership job requires constant demands all the time. Everybody wants your opinion, or wants you to make a decision. You can't let it get to you. Yet it does get to me at times. I recently told Alma that ...

I found out today that police can't arrest somebody, for their own protection, for wanting to kill themselves. The person has to specifically state that he or she wants to kill him or herself. If the person alludes to the act, it is not sufficient. I think I helped somebody tonight. I may, however, have lost a friend. Screw it, I wasn't about to go around thinking that maybe I could have done something. I did something.

I just found out that Yahoo! has just started a Myspace knockoff at 360.yahoo.com  for all users. I've checked it out, pretty smooth. I had been using blogger.com to post my perspective  and RGV Life . Now, I have a Yahoo blog at http://360.yahoo.com/shainelee . My goal has always been to promote my reunion sites. Now I have another tool at my disposal.

I've been playing around with one of those online networking sites, Myspace.com . It's a great way to find people and hook keep in touch with friends and then find friends of friends. It's cool how you can network. It's a real example of six degrees of separation. You can visit my profile at http://www.myspace.com/slmtek to find my friends and go from there. My co-worker, Krystal, just got on and is enjoying it. She already has more friends than I do. I am sad.