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Michael McCullough

Joined April 24, 2007

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  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Dallas man arrested for stabbing roommate

    CastleHills

    That guy is so full of it! If you read all his posts, he's like Zelig....he was jewish, he's a fundie christian, his wife is hispanic, he's almost a lawyer, he was here, there, everywhere....

    I'm tired of this. Responding to all your crap and the crap from others has been a huge waste of my time.

    I'm unsubscribing from Pegasus as soon as I get to work.

    Good day and good riddance.

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    jtmbls,

    Mike - Just out of curiosity, how did your wife feel about the comparison you made earlier about the difference between the Hispanic and Vietnamese cultures, her being of Hispanic discent and all?

    She is far, far more critical than I am. Her family moved to Farmers Branch around 1960 and were the first Hispanics in their neighborhood. Her parents spoke English fluently yet only spoke Spanish at home.

    My wife did not know a word of English when she started first grade. She had to endure the ridicule of children and teachers alike for not being able to speak English. Her parents wouldn't help her with homework and lied about her age to put her to work in a sewing factory at age 13.

    My wife vowed to be a different kind of parent, and she is. Her daughter refused Hispanic-only scholarships to college because she considers race-based scholarships to be, well, racist. I'm proud of her.

    I fume when those defending illegal immigration say that "illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans don't want to do." It is perilously close to the arguments made for defending slavery.

    I want something better for people who come to the United States. Our current policy of not encouraging them to learn English guarantees that they will be limited to the most menial of jobs.

    Those on the left will say that the comparison I made (and that my wife makes, too) is racist. It's not -- it's reality. There is an SAT-learning center just off of I-75 near Beltline. It's on the northeastern edge of a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood yet the sign is in English -- and Chinese. It makes me sad.

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    Scott,

    Mike, I'm not sure why you addressed me twice - do I win a prize? But I'll play into your shenanigans once more b/c I'm procrastinating from doing something else.

    Thank you for the very nice post, Scott. I'm an expert at procrastinating, too. My wife, stepdaughter, and baby grandson (step-grandson?) are all taking naps right now after we went to see the chick flick "27 Dresses" and a round of shopping.

    I hate to admit this publicly, but I like a lot of chick flicks. I'm an incurable romantic. My wife mentions to me at least once a week about how I cried at our wedding while she didn't.

    I'm not one of those libs...but I gotta say that I can understand how record profits, with gas costs inflating as they have, doesn't sit well with them.

    I understand how you feel about that. I'm not keen at all on government intervention in companies, but I do have a beef with the grossly inflated salaries and golden parachutes of top executives. Companies need to be more equitable in their salaries because current practices are just inviting in more governent regulation.

    I'm so glad to hear that your not a lib. That's because you have a real job and aren't cloistered in some make-believe world. I'm sorry though that I don't empathize with your empathy for the libs. Weird sentence, but you know what I mean. They look at the $40.6 billion profit but have no clue about economics and what it costs to run a company. XOM is one of the biggest companies in the world, it's hugely expensive to run, and it's natural to expect them to have a high profit dollar-wise. Most libs wouldn't believe you if you pointed out to them that XOM has has underperformed both the industry and the S&P 500 over the last 5 years.

    I recall when Sonny Bono became a conservative after opening up a restaurant and dealing with all of the government regulations, taxes, fees, licenses, etc. Like they say: A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged.

    While I certainly appreciate you sharing your investment analysis process with us, if it were that simple the market wouldn't be what it is. You hedge your bets how you'd like.

    Yeah, all I shared was a very basic explanation of the term "net profit margin" and why it's the stat that most investors first look at. As for me, I'm into -- or was until the market went crazy a few months ago -- the options markets so I worry about implied volatility, being delta neutral, and things like that. Some months I make a lot of money, other months I lose everything I had made over the previous 3 or 4 months. It isn't for the faint of heart.

    *Someone's net profit isn't a direct correlation of what stock-holders can expect their returns to look like...and perhaps not every shareholder invests with Exxon-Mobil to make the absolute highest return possible that year. They could prefer stability, market dominance, etc above potential higher returns elsewhere. *

    I agree with you absolutely. One only has to look back as far as the dot-com bust. I sat out on that one entirely though I now regret it. My parents own XOM and like it because of it's stability, good growth rate, and especially the dividends. My brother and I handle their investments because they're getting up in years and we invest according to their wishes. Personally, I'm a little more aggressive investor.

    Scott, I'm sorry because it seems like I caught you on a bad day yesterday, or vice versa, or even both. Today you seem very reasonable and educated. When you wrote yesterday about salaries and expenses not being included in profits, my jaw dropped. Hence the basic accounting lesson. It wasn't shenanigans -- it was something that everyone needs to know. Obviously, the sentence was a typo or was written hurriedly because you've shown your business acument today.

    An operating expense ration (OER) of 30% isn't really out of line. It is reported in financial results, but it's not considered one of the core statistics for a company. I couldn't find the OER for XOM (everyone's waking up now) but the operating expense for XOM is very high. Gotta' go now.

    Best regards,

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Some Methodists rallying to stop proposed SMU Bush library

    CastleHills,

    I've lived in Texas long enough to know that when a "religious" man uses words like "lording it over" followed by "giving her flowers and small gifts," any women within earshot need to run for the hills.

    I am not a religious man. I am a follower of Christ. Those are two very different things.

    The words "lording it over" was a phrase that I said men should never do. The entire point of the article was to treat your wives well, love them, and nurture them.

    By the way, that post came from an e-mail that my wife asked me to write. Some men in our friends and family don't treat their wives with the love and respect that they should. I sent the letter in response to something that she sent to a lot of people. It's an encouragement to husbands we know that they need to love their wives, listen to them, and pay attention to them.

    If you met my wife and me, you would realize that domineering women is not my gig. My wife isn't even capable of being domineered.

    I won't even touch on the mention of Tel Aviv as your first choice for a mushrooom cloud...hopefully someday your religion won't require the extermination of the Jewish people in order to fulfill your hope of your messiah setting foot on earth again...

    I find the prospect of a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv ghastly. However, it is likely the first choice of Ahmadenijad. Look at my blog -- I have a sidebar that gives daily news on Jewish Persecution and have often written about Jewish persecution. If you Google Jewish persecution blog, you'll find that my blog comes up first and second on the list. That's no accident -- I'm an ardent fighter of anti-semitism, as are almost all evangelical Christians.

    If they ever come for the Jews in this country, they will have to step over the bodies of a lot of dead Christians, including me, to get to them.

    I've been to an evangelical/semi-charimatic churches almost every week of my life. I have attended more Bible studies and classes than I can count. I have read hundreds of books by various Christian authors. Not once have I heard or read anything about Christians wanting Jews to die so that Jesus will come again. It's a total fabrication that's popped up in the press over the past few years. Anti-semitism and Christianity are totally incompatible. One cannot mistreat their fellow humans and be a follower of Christ.

    Yeah, it's conceivable that there may be a Pastor Bucky Bob at First Podunk Baptist Church who teaches what you mentioned, but what you say is not only un-Biblical, but is just flat out wrong. Of course, the mainstream media never misses a chance to spread myths and bash Christians and observant Jews.

    From your shalom comment, I see that it's possible that you might be Jewish. My mom served as a Shabbat Goy to the Jewish lady next door when we lived in an Orthodox neigborhood in San Antonio when I was a small boy.

    I also had the pleasure of helping a very Orthodox family that I've known and loved since I was a teenager. Several years ago the father was hospitalized for months and ultimately passed on, which was a very sad experience for me.

    When his family spent the Sabbath at the hospital, I served as their Shabbot Goy. When they stayed at home, I would go to the hospital and read him the Torah and Tanakh.

    Now I'm coming perilously close to getting ejected from these comments by Pegasus. I won't let you force that on me. My wish is that you and your wife experience happiness in THIS life, as I do.

    Hey, I'll stand up for you. You're a good, smart person. We may disagree on a few issues but I have a respect for you that I don't have for many posters.

    Besides, I've already ticked off several reporters for pointing out inaccuracies in their writing. They aren't used to someone who actually confronts them with facts.

    My wife and I do enjoy peace and joy in this life. I wish the same for you and your family.

    Shalom,

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    HC,

    Hell of a job Bush is doing, approving rampant spending from the Republican Congress he had through most of his presidency

    Yep, fully agree with you on that one. I was glad to see the Republicans get doused a couple of years ago. They abandoned their conservative principles. Not only that, but many Republicans, like John McCain, Susan Collins, and Olympia Snowe, don't have a conservative bone in their body.

    waging a silly war at incredible cost to the country

    Have to disagree with you on this one. We have got to fight the Muslim extremists just as we fought the Nazis and the Japanese military complex.

    And now that there are signs of a slow down, what does he do? Spend more.

    I'm not happy with much of the package, such as giving tax rebates to people who didn't pay taxes, but the general idea is sound. Allow people to decide how to spend their money instead of giving it to the government.

    Unlike Greenspan and Clinton, Bush is taking action. Every time a tax cut has been enacted, the economy grows and the government coffers grow. Liberals hate to admit that fact, but I give credit to the Democrats in congress who have worked with Bush on tax cuts.

    John F. Kennedy was an ardent tax cutter. If he suddenly came back to life, he wouldn't recognize the Democrat Party.

    an even more weakened dollar

    I'm not happy with that either. However, a weak dollar encourages exports, which is a good thing. Overall, though, I would rather have a stronger dollar, even if it did increase the the trade deficit.

    By the way, I don't know how the trade deficit got such a bad wrap. We give other countries dollars and we get goods in return. Those goods have value and that value remains in the United States. It's an even trade, especially for durable goods.

    and continued denial about the fundamental unsoundness of how our government is managing its money

    Clinton was in denial and blamed the Republicans for talking down the economy. What a doofus. Greenspan was too little, too late in lowering interest rates.

    Bush is taking action with his tax rebate package and Bernanke has been surprisingly aggressive at cutting interrest rates. Both are good for the economy.

    Bush should have used his veto pen more often on spending bills.

    Recessions and market corrections are a natural part of the economic cycle. I'm not too worried. I give the odds at less than 50% that we slip into an actual recession, and if we do, it will be mild.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    New contest(s): The Romeros

    The Romero are great. I have about 10 of their albums (some with just one or two Romeros) and listen to them at work a lot.

    I had the good fortune to see them in an intimate setting with an audience of about 50 people while back in college. Pepe kept on staring at my date and winking at her while he played. Once the concert ended, Pepe made a beeline to my date, gave her a couple of autographed albums (yes, I know that dates me) and talked to us -- mostly her -- for about 15 minutes. Oh, he gave me an autographed album, too, to placate any perceived jealously.

    It was a very memorable evening in a multitude of ways.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    Scott Doyle,

    Here's a little primer on the importance of net profit margin from Motley Fool UK. And, no, I'm not insulting you -- Motley Fool is an excellent enterprise that teaches people the basics of investment. I still refer to it on occasion.

    By the way, did you notice that Exxon Mobil's stock was down 45 cents for the day? Investors weren't as wowed by the numbers as you were.

    Net profit margin is the first thing that I look at when making a stock investment. I do a lot more investigating as well, but if the net profit margin is low, I don't buy the stock. I don't own Exxon Mobil because they just don't have a stellar rate of return. There are plenty of other companies out there whose net profit margin makes Exxon Mobil look anemic.

    Stocks from developing countries have been very, very good to me over the past few years, though their numbers have slipped recently on fears of the US economy.

    Fortunately, Bush is addressing the economic situation unlike Bill Clinton did when the stock market tanked in 2000. As usual, he blamed Republicans for "talking down the economy." And the press fell for Clinton's nonsense hook, line, and sinker.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    Luniz,

    I'm an investor. I see Exxon made a huge, record profit. I see it's a very, very large number. I don't spend a lot of time reading annual reports and such because I know there are accounting tricks to make them say whatever they want them to say.

    I probably don't count in your world though, since I'm not wealthy.

    I don't know who you were replying to, but if you're an investor and you follow the basics, you'll do well. You'll be surprised at how quickly your money grows.

    I never read annual reports either. I rely on anaylist's reports for my information and websites like msn money.

    I'm certainly not wealthy either but I've planned ahead and will have a comfortable retirement. I don't expect the government to take care of me.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    CastleHills:

    Mike, you've revealed how little you know about Progressive politics.

    Oh, no -- I know about progessive politics all too well. That's why I'm so opposed to it.

    Progressives are very happy that Exxon made $40B, or $46B, or whatever. Because in an ideal (progressive) world, a large chunk of that money would be used for the following:

    A. Research into alternative/green energy sources. B. Paying their fare share of taxes. C. Stop fighting the facts of the Valdez oil spill and just fork over to Alaska to make things right again...finally....

    Exxon Mobil is an oil company. They drill for oil. It's not their job to find alternative sources of energy. There are plenty of other companies and institutes where green energy is being researched. That's their job. I wouldn't expect them to drill for oil.

    I was in the environmental field for 15 years -- I'm all for green, though 90% of the blather the environmental wackos talk about really aren't green at all.

    Say, why don't you urge Pegasus to research green fuel resources? It makes about as much sense as forcing Exxon Mobil to do the same.

    If Exxon-Mobil payed higher taxes, where do you think those higher taxes will show up? At the gas pump, of course. Taxing any company is a cost of business which is passed on to the consumer. Corporations should not pay any taxes at all. When they pay taxes, you'll have to spend more for their products.

    Mercy, does anyone at Pegasus understand even the basic rudiments of economics? Am I the only one here who has ever run a company?

    When you tax people enough to where they have no incentive to invest, the economy stops. If you tax the heck out of Exxon Mobil, do you think that investors will be willing to put their money into the company? The economy will tank and there won't be any money to do the pie-in-the-sky politics that you're advocating.

    If you want to see what happens when a country adopts progressive poliics, look no further than Europe. They're finally realizing that progressive politics is actually regressive and they simply cannot afford it.

    Why do you want to control how companies and individuals spend their money? Yes, I know that you did not mention individuals in your post, but instituting progressive politics would hurt individuals.

    You want totalitarionism. I want freedom.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    CastleHills

    Wow. Michael, I'm feel so bad for you and the world you live in, where non-English=bad=illegal.

    I never said that not speaking English should be illegal. However, I don't see how you can possibly argue the point that refusing to learn English when you come to America won't keep people from reaching their full potential.

    I taught ESL classes for years -- mostly to illegal aliens. It wasn't always easy for them, but they knew that if they wanted a better life, they would have to learn English. Strangely enough, the classes were about 75% female. The women recognized that learning English would benefit them. The husbands didn't want to be bothered.

    I got hammered on this last week, but when my company sent me to live in the Laurentian mountains north of Montreal for about half a year, I took the effort to learn Quebecois? Why? Because I knew that I would be hindered in a French-speaking (if you can call Quebecois French) if I couldn't converse with the the people that I needed to talk to.

    My wife is of Hispanic descent, and though the most recent immigrant in her family tree was a grandfather who came here as a baby, she did not learn to speak English until she started school. She was lost and humiliated. Is that what you want for immigrant children to feel when they're thrust into an English-speaking society?

    Liberals like to position themselves as standing up for the oppressed. However, telling Hispanics that they don't have to learn English is very, very cruel.

    It's probably a lot like being a woman in your household.

    My wife would find your statement very, very funny.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Some Methodists rallying to stop proposed SMU Bush library

    CastleHills,

    Michael, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt...until I got to your website and read this:

    "It makes her entire week when I take her to church....Taking Eva to church - even at times when she would rather watch TV - always blesses both of us."

    And what exactly is wrong with that? She encourages me to go church when I would rather sit in the recliner, too.

    If Eva saw this, she would laugh at your implication that I boss her around and lord it over her. She's the one in the family with the strong personality. I'm bookish, quiet, and slightly introverted. When Eva walks in the room she is immediately the center of attention. Our personalities are a good match.

    Did you find fault with the other things that I talked about, too? Like giving her flowers or a small gift for no special reason? Ooh, how evil.

    Did you read the second sentence where I said that "leadership is not, of course, dominating the woman; it is the “follow me” kind of leadership?

    It apparently is not familiar to you, but Christians who read the post will recognize that it expounds on the Apostle Paul's remarks that men should love thier wives as Christ loved the church. Jesus was a humble man who gave his life for the church. If the occasion ever arises, I am supposed to lay down my life for my wife. I hardly call that anti-female.

    Read my post on Bearing Fruit (http://www.mcculloughsite.net/stingra... ). Here's a quote:

    We have to be willing to lay down our lives for our friends — and our friends include a lot more than your best buddy, your children, or your spouse. Jesus laid down his life for us while we were still sinners. He commands us to do the same. Would you give your life to save your crabby next-door neighbor or your cruel and inept boss? Laying down my life for someone that I didn’t even like would be difficult.

    Get that? I'm supposed to be willing to die for someone even if they don't like me. Hard stuff.

    Does that explain things a bit more?

    This is the first post that I've read from Texas Toad. He's just repeating the standard talking points of the left that you hear a thousand times a day. I'm not impressed though I do agree with him on Darfur.

    You guys on the far, far, far right are going to have to get used to being in the very small minority over the next decade.

    Far, far, far right? Actually I'm a center-conservative with a bit of a libertarian bent. And there a lot more of us than you think.

    And when you see nuclear mushroom clouds over Tel Aviv, Paris, and maybe even American cities, you'll come running to us for help. Then you'll blame Bush for not recognizing Iran's threat.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Some Methodists rallying to stop proposed SMU Bush library

    Opus,

    Mass graves that were never found? Dude what have you been smoking? They found so many mass graves that it became a "non-story". I remember reading about one that had over a thousand bodies in it, and it wasn't even the biggest.

    According to a 2007 UPI story, the largest mass grave found contained 600 bodies. (See http://100years.upi.com/sta_2003-10-0... )

    The number of people reported kept on being revised downwards after the war. For example, a report from 2007 ( http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.c... ) says that "Bosnian Serb forces killed about 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in the Srebrenica genocide...." That's a far cry from what the Clinton administration was telling us.

    Don't get me wrong. The slaughter in Bosnia was a terrible thing. My blog is heavy on human rights. Clinton was probably right to have intervened, though there were worse atrocities where he did not intervene. I'm just pointing out that the same people who claim that the war in Iraq is illegal conveniently ignore Clinton's war.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    Scott,

    I didn't see a hint of any implication that it's wrong to make that much money. Methinks you're making presumptions from the context of 'the most'...or from the site overall.

    I have already apologized to Catherine privately. And by the way, I didn't lynch her -- merely voiced a suspicion based on a previous article that she had written. And, yes, the overall tone of the site has a little bit to do with it as well.

    You know as well as I do that the left and their buddies in the media will be screaming over the next week that a company should not be allowed to make so much money. They count on people not being able to understand fancy cypherin' like net profit margin.

    From my perspective, it's outlandish that gas prices have increased the way they have and these guys come out with record profits. ... Even if there was a negative tone perceived, I don't disagree.

    Wow, color me surprised. The main number that investors will be looking at is the 9.2% net profit, though other numbers matter, too, such as the rate of return on investment. If you don't like it, then I'm sorry.

    Considering advertising, overhead costs, people's salaries, etc. are included in expenses and not the profit reported...

    Oh, my goodness. You really don't understand. Of course salaries are counted as an expense, not as profit. Step down the hall and have a chat with the person who does the bookkeeping at Pegasus. Scott, I'm not being sarcastic -- I'm being serious.

    Either way, you're baiting people. Plain and simple.

    Nope, merely pointing out truths that you find inconvenient. You would rather not be confronted with the fact that Exxon Mobil makes profits in the single digits.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    Alex:

    Okay, I'll take Catherine's word on this one. However, pay attention to all of the politicians and pundits over the next week who most definitely will be painting Exxon Mobil's profits as obscene. The left will be in a frenzy calling for windfall profit taxes and nary a word will be mentioned about the fairly measly 9.2% net profit margin. We go through this every quarter, with the left paying the class envy card.

    Catherine, I'll ask you: Do you think that it's okay for a company to post a $46 billion profit? Since it's you that we're talking about, it makes sense to ask your opinion, which you are, of course, entitled to.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    Mike Orren:

    It was actually this story:

    http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/...

    Catherine was not being dishonest in her reporting but she did not exactly report the whole story. It's a long, involved process before a lessor would be fined $500.

    The link to the ordinance is here:

    http://www.supportfarmersbranch.com/O...

    Links are good.

    I agree that controlling illegal immigration -- "undocumented citizens" per Minnie -- should not be a function of a local government except to the extent required by federal law as I noted (and, ahem, linked to) in another post. However, the federal government is failing to do its job of controlling the borders. If the feds don't do their job, then local government sometimes has to step in and carry the burden.

    In fact, according to the Founding Fathers, protecting our borders is one of the few jobs that the federal government is supposed to do. Now they're in our faces about everything but enforcing the borders.

    By the way, I was in a class at a church in Farmers Branch last Sunday afternoon because my wife is godmother to her nephew who is taking CCD there. The class is 75% non-English speaking and I would bet my next paycheck that most of them are illegal.

    I was thinking about the flurry of posting this time last week and still stand by my opinion on how to address the problem: (1) close the borders; (2) once the borders are closed, provide a reasonable path to citizenship.

    The nun, who was born in Mexico, told our class before Christmas that, if they want to live in America, they need to learn English and integrate with other Americans. I've never heard so much groaning in my life. I compared their response with that of the Vietnamese refugees who flooded my high school in the late 70s and the two who became the valedictorian and salutatorian of our graduating class despite not knowing a word of English when they stepped off the boat a few years earlier. Different cultures.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Exxon Mobil earns $40.6B -- the biggest annual profits of any U.S. company ever

    Catherine, are you subtly implying that is somehow wrong for Exxon-Mobil to earn so much money? Their net profit margin is only 9.2% (see http://finance.google.com/finance?cli...), which isn't exactly a stellar performance.

    Many, many companies exhibit much higher net profit margins. Just run a query on net profit margin on the MSN Money Stock Screener (see http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/... ). Exxon Mobil doesn't even rank.

    It's all about statistics, not the absolute numbers. Exxon Mobil is a big company. Big companies can earn a lot of money but still not perform well statistically.

    Conversely, small companies don't necessarily make a lot of money, but can have an incredibly high net profit margin. If just the two of us set up a widget company with an initial investment of $10,000 and earned $2 million in the first year, it wouldn't be a lot of money by Exxon Mobil standards, but it would a fantastic return on investment.

    Sorry, but after your performance in reporting on illegal immigration in Farmers Branch last week, I'm just a little bit suspicious.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Some Methodists rallying to stop proposed SMU Bush library

    Neff Conner:

    Like Waco.

    Wait, wasn't it just outside of Waco where Bill Clinton's government killed a bunch of people, including 21 children, ran over them with tanks, and used pyrotechnic tear gas? The FBI initially denied using the devices but later admitted it when the evidence to the contrary became overwhelming. See http://www.rickross.com/reference/wac... from the Dallas Morning News.

    And what about the war in the former Yugoslavia? Congress never declared war and Clinton's actions were never authorized by the United Nations. What about those mass graves that were never found?

    Oh, I forgot. Clinton cared. He was loving and compassionate.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Some Methodists rallying to stop proposed SMU Bush library

    Texas Toad:

    Personally, I think the idea of Bush and his cronies coming home to roost makes perfect sense. It started with a little seed of corruption that just kept expanding until it took over the state of Texas, then the U.S. and finally the world.

    Yeah, and then Chimpy McBushHitler will corrupt the moon, then Mars, then the solar system, then the galaxy, and then the universe. Next, he'll use wormholes to corrupt alternate universes. And then Dick Cheney will be revealed as a Sith Lord and kill Luke Skywalker.

    Toad, if you used a little less hyperbole, you might be taken more seriously by people other than Neff Conner.

    What are the standards for being a "content partner" for Pegasus? Just a wild guess, but I'm thinking that they're not very high.

    Maybe you should consider taking away the phrase "open-minded" from your blog header. Tell me, are you a "Truther" by any chance?

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    Scott Doyle:

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in North Texas will no longer detain most illegal immigrants arrested for Class C misdemeanors, citing a dramatic increase in referrals and limited resources.

    Is it any wonder that the activists want to leave enforcement of "undocumented citizens" to the feds?

    Thank you, Minnie, for introducing me to the phrase "undocumented citizens." That's the funniest thing I've heard in months.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    Blair Lovern:

    Illegal entry into the U.S. is a misdemeanor.

    You are correct, and a first-time offense is punishable by a fine ranging from $50 to $250 and up to 6 months in jail. However, the crime is little-enforced and in sanctuary cities like Dallas city employees are not allowed to report illegal aliens -- er, "undocumented citizens" if you're Minnie -- to the federal government. See http://www.ojjpac.org/sanctuary.asp for an informal list of sanctuary cities.

    It is illegal for cities to do this because it is in direct violation of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) passed in 1996 that requires that requires local governments to cooperate with federal official regarding illegal immigration. See http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP... to view the 1996 act.

    Of course, you won't see any activists complaining about sanctuary cities and asking that they enforce federal law.

    However, it is a felony for someone to re-enter the US after being deported. See http://immigration.findlaw.com/immigr... . Do you care to guess how often that law is enforced?

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    Scott Doyle:

    I'm wondering why this bounced straight from municipal to federal?

    Because the activists know that the federal government is doing little or nothing to combat illegal immigration -- or "undocumented citizens" if you happen to be Minnie.

    If the next administration and congress get tough on illegal immigration, then you can bet that the same activists will whine that the feds should butt out and leave it to the states and municipalities to handle "undocumented citizens."

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Dallas police surveillance cameras may not reduce crime

    Ed Wierdness:

    Has anyone considered the fact that many types of crimes have declined every year since Texas approved the CHL?

    I'm not aware of that statistic but I'll take you at your word.

    Crime also dropped after the conceal and carry laws were passed while crime rose in Britain, Canada, and Australia after most guns were banned (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1440764... , for example).

    We need to drop the provisions of the conceal and carry law that allow business and other organizations to ban guns on their premises. Does anybody really think that criminals aren't going to take weapons to places where guns are banned.

    Oh, yeah -- I forgot. A lot of people really do think that.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Dallas police surveillance cameras may not reduce crime

    If we're serious about reducing crime in Dallas, we need to do what Giulani did in New York City. Yeah, the DMN and Pegasus will whine, but it will save lives and get the criminals off the street.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    fakelord:

    [EdWeirdness] uses facts, I do to but am much angrier at the problems unfairly imposed on all legal citizens of my country. The greatest that has ever existed in the history of this planet.

    Oh, good grief. Your forgot to say that Amerika is stoopid and that George McChimpyBushburton is Hitler.

    Have you read what life was like for Jews and many other under Hitler? Do you know that Stalin intentionally starved or otherwise killed millions? Do you know what it's like to be Christian -- or even a regular citizen -- in China? Do you know what life is like for non-Muslims in Muslim countries? Heck, do you know what it's like to be a woman in a Muslim country or a Christian in Sudan? Do you realize that anti-semitism are on the rise everywhere, especially in Europe. Take a trip to Mexico and see what real poverty is.

    Yeah, it really is a lot worse here in Amerika than in those places.

    Your post is a perfect example of why conservatives consider liberals to be whiny and out of touch with reality.

    Life is really good here in the United States. If you lived in China and had made a post critical of the Chinese government, you would be in jail right now.

    -Mike

  • 1 year, 9 months ago
    Michael McCullough's comment on:

    Immigration issues should be left to the feds, say activists

    Minnie,

    ...council member Tim O’Hare attributed all the problems of the City of Farmers Branch to undocumented citizens.

    O'Hare attributed all of the problems of Farmers Branch to "undocumented citizens?"

    Citation, please.

    Also, where did you come with the phrase undocumented citizens." They are not citizens, for Pete's sake! They are here illegally.

    *Uniting Farmers Branch is a non-partisan, multiethnic group of residents...."

    The organization’s mission includes ... seeking to unite, rather than divide.

    ...

    “We worked with LULAC, ACLU and MELDEF who brought the three lawsuits against the City of Farmers Branch."

    1. If they're seeking to unite, why did they bring 3 lawsuits?

    2. They're "non-partisan" but they've worked with LULAC, ACLU, and MELDEF? I've got some sad news for you, Minnie: those organizations range from left-wing to downright seditionist.

    Here's a quote from the founder of MALDEF. It's all over the internet (see http://boards.brownpride.com/showthre... , for example).

    Mario Obledo(1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and former head of Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund—MALDEF) “California is going to be a Mexican state, we are going to control all the institutions. If people don’t like it they should leave.”

    Yeah, that's pretty non-partisan, isn't it?

    MALDEF and LULAC are both associated with the movement to create a new Mexican state called Aztlan that will consist of every American state from Texas to California (see http://www.sonorannews.com/aztlan.html , for example).

    Minnie, I appreciate the fact that Pegasus news is open about the bias of their reporters. However, that doesn't relieve you of the burden to actually report the facts. Part of my duties at work include technical research and writing. If I conveniently left out facts or manipulated the facts like you guys do, I would be out of a job.

    Minnie, do your research and report the news. Being a reporter means more than subject-verb agreement. It's fine to say in your article that you disagree with what certain groups or individuals are doing, but it's not okay to leave out things that don't support your spin or to manipulate facts.

    -Mike

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