I am not an Idiot

According to what I read on the subject, near as I can tell, I'm not an idiot.

Historically "idiot" originally referred to a person lacking professional skill, a person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning. "Idiots" were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters. Over time, the term "idiot" shifted away from its original connotation of selfishness and came to refer to individuals with overall bad judgment. In modern English usage, the terms "idiot" and "idiocy" describe an extreme folly or stupidity, and its symptoms (foolish or stupid utterance or deed).

Which, I guess, sort of explains why George W. is sometimes described by rudely inappropriate, disrespectful sorts, as an idiot.

According to Wikipedia, in several states idiots do not have the right to vote. Wikipedia does not say how the states decide someone is an idiot.

Did the word "idiot" derive from the word "id"?

According to Freud, "the id is the dark, inaccessible part of our personality, what little we know of it we have learnt from our study of the dream-work and of the construction of neurotic symptoms, and most of this is of a negative character and can be described only as a contrast to the ego. We approach the id with analogies: we call it a chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations ... It is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle."

The mind of a newborn child is regarded as completely "id-ridden", in the sense that it is a mass of instinctive drives and impulses, and demands immediate satisfaction. This view equates a newborn child with an id-ridden individual—often humorously—with this analogy: an alimentary tract with no sense of responsibility at either end.

I have known people like that.

Village Creek Natural Area's Sad History of Eminent Domain Abuse

There is a park in west Arlington that I frequent that's only about 3 miles from my abode. The park is called Village Creek Natural Area, despite what you see on the entry sign.

Actually it would make more sense to call this an historical area rather than a natural area. It's not all that natural. But it's loaded with history.

The Village Creek valley was the home of one of the largest groups of Native Americans in Texas. Indians had farmed this area for 1000s of years. The tribes that lived here were the Anadarko, Bidais, Caddo, Keechi, Tawakoni, Waco, Waxahachie and Wichita. The tribes were all part of what was known as the Caddo Confederacy.

When the Republic of Texas came into being the Village Creek Indians were soon to lose their villages. By 1830 the United States had removed all Indians living east of the Mississippi. Many of the natives did not like the new Indian Territory, now known as Oklahoma. Tribes like the Cherokee, Biloxi, Ioni, Delaware and Chickasaw headed south to Texas, joining the Caddo Confederacy in signing a peace treaty with the Republic of Texas.

I don't know what the Caddo Confederacy got out of a peace treaty. Likely more misery.

By the time of the signing of a peace treaty the Caddos had been pretty much run out of Village Creek by repeated expeditions (battles) with the Texas militia who were clearing the area of Indians to make way for settlers who by 1841 were eager to get a piece of land grants.

Before being destroyed in the Battle of Village Creek, in 1841, a whole series of villages lay on either side of the creek for about 5 miles. 300 acres of corn grew near the villages. These were peaceful natives who's villages and homes the Texans destroyed. Shameful.

I hadn't realized til I connected the dots that Arlington has such a long long sad history of cowboys destroying native's homes.

The photos were taken this afternoon. There are huge oak trees and a lot of shade. You can stay comfortable under those trees even when it is real hot. Paved trails run through the 'natural' area. There are a lot of picnic tables, that I've seldom seen used. Like the ones in the last photo.

Time For Some Campaignin'

A Very Angry Woman

Something about this video reminded me way too much of my month up in Washington.

Redneck Tanktop

Tootsie Tonasket sent me the above. According to Tootsie, the woman was going to a Flea Market in front of the Gardendale, Alabama Wal-Mart. Tootsie says you can get a 3 pack of men's briefs at Wal-Mart for $6. So, this makes for a very good bargain priced tanktop. Seems like you'd have to be a very small woman or find some really big briefs to make this work. Tootsie is heading to the Omak Wal-Mart this afternoon to get her some tanktop fixin's.

Going to a Funeral

This morning I was floating in water, contemplating my present moment. As I pondered, I realized I'd been relieved of a tiresome burden of late that I had not realized was so tiresome til I was relieved of it.

It's like I've gotten an extra 30 minutes or more a day due to not being stuck on the phone with what I now realize was a noxious pest.

I was channel chasing last night and at one point on some channel I heard the cliche, "you're dead to me."

That made me think that there are points in ones life when you know there is no way you'll ever see some individual again, that they are basically dead to you. So, I'm thinking in such a case one should hold ones own little private funeral and sort of mentally bury the person, mourn the loss and move on.

R.I.P.

UFO Over Fort Worth

I was over at Miss Puerto Rico's last night. Sitting outside on her balcony watching the world pass by. On the ground and in the sky.

When an unidentified flying object came into view, hovering in a static position and sending what appeared to be a beam of light towards the ground.

Was this over one of the ubiquitous natural gas drilling sites, we wondered?

We did not wonder long as our attention was diverted by police cars and fire trucks attending to some event on the ground unrelated to the object in the sky.

Jessica Simpson Pregnant With Tony Romo's Baby

Tony Romo is the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. That's a football team. Jessica Simpson is a cutie pie from Dallas. She sings. She was married to a guy named Drew, or Nick. They came to fame on an MTV reality show called, I think, The Newlyweds. By the end of season 2 they were heading towards splitsville.

Last year during a short break before a playoff game, Tony Romo took off with Jessica Simpson to a Mexican resort. This seemingly harmless trip erupted into a scandal here in the Dallas zone.

And now the rumors are flying that Jessica Simpson is knocked up. She was spotted sporting what appeared to be a baby hump under a baby hump disguising outfit. Since Jessica's been seen a lot with Tony Romo, it's assumed that he would be the Baby Daddy.

I like Tony Romo. I'm not a big fan of sports jocks, mostly I think they are very stupid and it's appalling they get paid so much for playing games. But I saw Tony Romo at an event in Dallas and he seemed real smart to me. And real likeable. And I really like Jessica Simpson, she's both cute and funny. Not all that smart though.

Last year Tony and Jessica showed up at a Dallas rock concert thing. A band I'd not heard of, Metal Skool, was playing. Somehow Tony and Jessica ended up on the stage with Metal Skool. Singing. You can hear Tony Romo singing in the below YouTube video.

I hope these kids get married soon if Jessica is in the family way. Her dad's an ex-preacher and would seem to be a stickler for such things.

September Swimming

I see it's in the 50s in Western Washington this morning. And in the 40s on the east side of the mountains.

East side of the mountains, or east of the mountains, is Washington-speak for east of the Cascade Mountains. Washington is pretty much divided in half by the Cascade Mountain range with several mountain passes connecting the two sides of the state.

Here in Texas we don't have many mountains requiring passes to get over them.

It was a chilly 79 when I went swimming this morning. Heading to the 90s again by this afternoon.

Charter Dis-Communications

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I returned from Tacoma to find I could no long find Turner Classic Movies or Bravo on my TV. I called Charter Communication and got some foreigner speaking gibberish from an off-shore, non-U.S. customer support center that provided no customer support, just the aforementioned gibberish.

So, yesterday I saw one of my favorite movies, The Night of the Hunter, was on TCM. So, I decided to go to the Charter Communications website and see if I could find any info or an email customer support address.

I found several customer support options, including email. I took the email route. The first reply came today. And it was gibberish. It's obvious that Charter also has non-Americans doing their email support. What is the point of them spending money on this type of customer service?

What follows is the email exchanges, 2 of them, first my question, then Charter's answer, then my follow up question with Charter's next answer.

I came home from a trip to find I no longer get TCM or Bravo. I then learned TCM has been moved from 49 to something like 78. However, when I tune to 78 I get a blue screen. What gives? And how do I get the missing channels, that I thought I was paying for, back?

Thank for contacting Charter Communications. My name is Susan. I'll be walking through your concern today regarding your favorite channels.

First of all, thank you for your e-mail submission. I understand, how frustrating it could be that we can't view our favorite channel. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. In line with the 2009 cable digitalization of service, your favorite channel is no longer available in Basic and Expanded cable sesrvice. It was transferred to digital service. I am very sorry for this short notice.

You may check our website at www.charter.com for all channel changes. Click on the ; ; . TV Guide Channel, Guide button on remote control. If you have additional concern please have a live chat with us. You can also call 1-888-438-2427 if this is more convenient for you. If there is anything further I can assist you with please let me know.

So how do I view the channels that have been moved to digital service? And why am I being charged the same amount if my service has been reduced?

Dear Mr./Ms. Durango:
Thank you for contacting Charter Communications. My name is Mae. It's my pleasure to reply to your email.

To see the channel lineup in your address, please access this link: http://***charter.com/Visitors/Channels.aspx. In addition, if you want to know what programs will be aired in your favorite channels, please go to http://***charter.net and click on the "Tv" tab on the upper right side of the main window; then, you'll be routed to another window wherein you'll be prompted to enter your Charter Account user name and password or, if you're not yet registered, you can just enter the ZIP code in your area.

If you have any additional questions and needs further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again through chat at www.charter.com for further assistance. You may also contact us by phone at 1-888-438-2427.

Thank you and Godspeed.

Mae

My favorite part of the second reply is the "Godspeed" part.