My Piece
Matt
LeBlanc (7-21-02)
Well everyone, our summer road trip was going to take us up I-35 to San Antonio
next, but due to the flooding I don't think it would be appropriate right
now to recommend travel there. So I will take us around loop 410 and re-connect
with I-35 north of the city and move us up to our final destination, the greatest
city in Texas and one of the greatest cities in the United States, Ft. Worth.
No summer is complete without a trip to CowTown. Ft. Worth does what no other
city in the United States can do. It mixes the old west with the modernity
of a large urban city. Now granted, not all 536,000 people in Ft. Worth are
Cowboys, but you are sure to see many people in boots and cowboy hats. The
Stockyards are a must visit. This is still a working live stock exchange,
but is also filled with much history. You can tour the rodeo arena, the indoor
stock exchange, and take a walk on the cat walk over the pens were all the
animals are kept. The stores in the stockyard district afford you the opportunity
to buy an authentic piece of the old west. You can see the herd of cattle
owned by the City. The Cattleman's Steakhouse will offer you the best piece
of meat you will ever have. Then for a little fun cowboy style visit Billy
Bob's, the largest Honk Tonk in the world. With live indoor bull riding and
great country western dancing you are sure to have a great time. And if you
wear your cowboy hat you bought earlier in the day you will fit right in.
And when it's time to retire head on over to the Stockyard Hotel for some
old fashion lodging. And if you are really adventures, take a ride on the
old fashioned Tarantulla train and experience rural North Texas. Now obviously,
Ft. Worth has much more to offer than The Stockyards though clearly they are
more than enough. The Fort Worth Zoo is one of the top ten in North America,
the Museum of Science and History is excellent, the Amon Carter Museum of
Art and the Museum of Modern Art are also top rate, and the National Cowgirl
Hall of Fame and Museum and the Cowboy Hall of Fame are recommended stops.
Also worth your time is Sundance Square. Famous for the converging of Cattle
Trails that met there, the square now features restaurants, shops, clubs,
and theatres, including the Bass Performing Arts Center, one of most recognized
and highly regarded theatres in the world. And if you take your trip in the
middle of October and find yourself in Billy Bob's on October 18th, be sure
and say hi. I'll be hanging out.
So Maine is taking a new approach to combatting dead-beats and quite frankly
I think some other states should follow their lead. Maine has decided that
they will take away hunting licenses for deadbeats.
The biggest threat of course comes for someone attempting to bag the coveted
Moose. And the law is already paying off. A kid who deserved a lot of money
a long time ago from his father has now received 32 thousand dollars in overdue
child support. It's good to have your priorities in order.
And moving international- a rail company in Japan is now running woman only
trains in the morning commute. And the reason these trains are being provided
is not some kind of sexist segregation, rather it is because to many woman have
been groped during their morning commute. That's correct, these commuter trains
are so packed in the morning that instead of filling their early morning needs
with a doughnut or coffee, some Japanese men are copping a cheap feel. I don't
know how these men can have any self dignity if they have reduced their lives
to turning commuter trains into middle aged frat houses.
I am quite disturbed that it is the policy of the United States of America to
bomb Afghan Wedding Parties. And what was cute was that the United States flat
out denied it immediately after it happened. This is supposed to be the best
day of these people's lives, they get bombed, and the people responsible flat
out deny it. The evidence was there, they had been bombed, is our military so
stupid that they deny something that is undeniable due to the destruction and
death? My intelligence has been highly offended. I am not stupid and neither
are most other people in the United States and it makes me very angry that the
government of this Union thinks we are so unintelligent we will ignore hard
evidence and believe their lies. Why can't they just admit they screwed up bad
rather than looking like fools denying it? And furthermore it should not have
happened in the first place. Our military should be smart enough to distinguish
between a hostile situation and a wedding. How much of my tax money is going
to this military that has declared itself the world's police force and they're
not careful enough to not bomb wedding parties? Or maybe we bombed this wedding
on purpose. Because the people of Afghanistan tend to be religious, which means
not having sex before marriage. So if we keep bombing wedding parties there,
that means no new children will be born, and eventually, after a generation,
there will be no more people in Afghanistan, therefore no more terrorists in
Afghanistan. The Afghan problem is solved. Then we can use the barren land as
a Asian substation for our world police force. That Don Rumsfeld is brilliant.
And while we're on the topic of the US being a self proclaimed world police
force, our fearless leader George W. Bush has decided that the world is not
safe with Saddam Hussein as president of Iraq. I was unaware that George W.
Bush was in any position to make this kind of determination. Now I am as big
an advocate of democracy as anyone, but I don't think if Saddam Hussein feels
George W. Bush is not good for the world he has any right to remove George W.
Bush, and that feeling goes both ways. But even more disturbing is the fact
that since the end of the Persian Gulf War the United States has killed more
Iraqi citizens than Saddam has. The sanctions we have placed on the state have
killed over a million people there and have not affected Saddam in the least.
So before we go making outlandish claims that make us an aggressor union preparing
to storm Baghdad and forcefully remove the leader of a sovereign state not in
our union, we should examine our own policy of sanctions against that state.
One innocent death is too many, and we have already killed over a million in
Iraq. The United States should not be more of a threat to Iraqis than their
own tyrannical dictator is.
States in Africa have decide to form the African Union. This could possibly
be the best thing to ever occur on a continent that has an unfortunate history
of atrocities. And by forming their union when they have they have the mistakes
of the United States and the European Union in front of them, they can form
a more perfect union. If federalism is enacted correctly in Africa, democracy
can reign there (democracy is a requirement for member states), their economy
will steadily rise and a common currency will be at the level of the US Dollar
or the Euro, and a united military can provide yet another force along with
the militaries of Europe to keep the United States in check. If this Union works,
times are changing for the better in Africa.
So I have been watching the re-runs of The Adventures of Pete and Pete on the
Noggin Network and it has left me with one question. What happened to Alison
Fanelli? This extremely talented actress played the role of Ellen, older Pete's
friend. I did some research and this is the only acting I can find Ms. Fanelli
ever did. So I am very curious what happened to Alison Fanelli. Here is my request.
Ms. Fanelli, if you read this column, and you don't mind, would you drop me
an e-mail just letting me know why you did no more acting? You were, and more
than likely still are, very talented. And if you read this column and you know
Alison could you e-mail me and let me know why she is no longer acting? Thanks
- the more I watch the show the more curious I get.
Mike Beeman is truly a New Hampshire hero and should be an
inspiration to all of us. The Pinkerton Academy teacher and coach is embarking
on his second run of the state to raise money to pay for the wishes of terminally
ill children. Beeman began his run from the Canadian Border in Pittsburg on
July 7 and will end on the 14th as he rounds the basis at the Nashua Pride
baseball game. Beeman did this run four years ago while he pushed his daughter
Melanie in a stroller. This time he will be pushing his son Jarod. I was fortunate
to have Mr. Beeman as my teacher for speedwriting in high school, and he is
a true class act. The Beemans hope to surpass $23,000; what they raised in
1998. If you would like to donate money to the
Make a Wish Foundation, you can mail donations to
240 Miles of Smiles
P.O. Box 189
E. Derry, NH 03041
For comments on Matt LeBlan77c's
MyPiece, you can E-Mail him at
mypiece1@mailcity.com
