DISCLAIMER, CORRECTION, AND APPOLOGY

That last entry was supposed to be the 20th Anniversary of David Letterman appearing on CBS.

If you recall in 1993, Johnny Carson retired from NBC's The Tonight Show. It was assumed that David Letterman was going to move from his Late Night program to that spot as Carson's heir apparent. The hosting duties went to another comedian: Jay Leno.

Letterman felt that he was screwed over and jumped to CBS where he became the host of the newly created Late Show at the same time as Leno's Tonight Show. A former Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons writer by the name of Conan O'Brien took over NBC's Late Night program. A similar episode repeated itself in 2009 when Conan O'Brien moved to The Tonight Show while Jay Leno was given a 9:00 PM (CT) weeknight talk show. That bombed horribly and was causing NBC's ratings to head further into the dumpster. Long story short, Leno returned to The Tonight Show and Conan O'Brien is hosting his own program on TBS. It is hard to believe, but the relationship between Letterman and Leno has thawed over the years. They appeared in a Super Bowl commercial together a few years ago.

So, why aren't you able to watch Letterman's first CBS program via the player I provided?

Apparently there is a copyright claim and the original holder has scrubbed YouTube of that episode EVER existing.

Bastards!

I'm sure if you go through some of my old posts you'll see some videos have been removed due to copyright claims or the YouTube accounts associated with those videos have been canceled.

The only thing I can say is....

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THE CLAY POT

This is the picture of a clay pot I made when I was in elementary school. We had an arts and crafts fair one day and I got to use the spinning wheel to make a clay pot. I use to it put lose change and other coins in it.

Long story short: I have decided to follow Ms. Roberts's example and install a donation button up in the corner.

This was a difficult decision for me to make. In the three-plus years that I have been at this blogging experiment, the question of should I put a donation button has always come up. I have wrestled with this idea of including a donation button on my page, but after much thought I have decided that this is the right time to make this decision.

Any amount is greatly welcomed and appreciated.

Rest assured, there will be no change in the content and quality of what I produce in this blog.

I want to thank my readers in supporting my writings.

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IT HAS BEEN A LONG STRANGE JOURNEY

Let's go back to five years ago.

At this time I was approaching my discharge date from active duty as a member of the United States Navy. It was a difficult decision to make, but I decided that I wanted to do something different with my life. I had my education benefits through the GI Bill and Hazelwood exemption so I wanted to go to school.

I also knew that I was getting out as the Presidential election was ramping up. I knew this was going to be a big deal because whoever was elected was going to be the next President of the United States because the then-incumbent President, George W. Bush, was term limited.

There was a lot of attention with the upcoming presidential election. President Bush's popularity dropped like a rock during his second term due to his proposals for immigration reform was hijacked by the far-right members of his party, the backlash by seniors in his efforts to privatize Social Security, the discovery of warrantless wiretaps by his NSA, support for the Iraq War was dwindling, and the big one that turned off voters: the mishandling of the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina.

In November 2006, voters gave the Democrats control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in 12 years. I knew this was a big deal because of what happened in the Virginia race for US Senate. Though I admit I was not paying attention to politics as much as I do now because at the time I was paying attention to this undrafted quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys who was elevated to starter during the midpoint of the season and took the team to its second playoff appearance since the departure of The Triplets after the 2002 season.

We know how THAT season ended...

So... 2008... I am counting down to the days to my freedom date discharge date from active duty and I become a civilian.

In late April/early May 2008, I come across this documentary that aired on the local PBS station in Hampton Roads, VA. It was titled Carrierand followed the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on their 2005 deployment to the Persian Gulf. I had those similar experiences shown in the documentary as a member of the Carl Vinson's deployment to the Persian Gulf as part of her World Cruise in 2005.

Most of the series concentrated on what happens among the air wing and the pilots and the action that happens on the flight deck. Not surprising; that's how life is on a carrier. Everyone pays attention to what is going on the flight deck and topside; there is a lot of action that goes on below decks, especially down in the engine room and power plant spaces.

The second part of the series was titled "Super Secrets" where they took a look at what happens in other parts of the ship. The documentary (VERY) briefly showed what I did in the Navy as a nuclear propulsion plant operator (12:06-15:40). I suspect the reasons why they couldn't go down to the propulsion plant spaces because, first, it's confidential material. Second, the film crew would have needed radiation monitoring devices, a thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD, there was ANOTHER name for it...). They aren't that big. When I was in it was as big as a thumb and you clipped on your belt (in the video clip you can see the Reactor Officer wearing one on the left side of his coverall uniform). Before I got out, I heard they were replacing it with something that looked like a pager. And third.... it gets hot down there. The best way I can describe the heat down in the propulsion plant is this: July-August time frame in Texas when you first get into your car before starting it. And that is in the ventilation.

They interviewed some sailors about life aboard a carrier. Everything they mentioned... you develop some form of interpersonal relationship with the people you serve with.

Then came the portion where they interviewed a few gay and lesbian sailors.

They had to hide their faces because prior to the official repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in September 2011 because those sailors would face discharge from the armed forces for openly disclosing their sexual orientation.

In that montage leading up to those interviews... Yes, I did utter the phrase: "Man, this is so goddamned gay."I can provide the excuse that I was young (less than 25) and didn't know any better, but it doesn't change the fact that it was the wrong thing to say back them. I apologize for it. Let my actions speak for itself when it comes to correcting that wrong.

I was touched by their interviews. Some of them wore the same uniform that I did underway (most of the times coveralls, but sometimes utilities). Maybe there was a M Division Nuke in that interview.

Fast forward from there to a couple of months later, it is now late July 2008. I am packing my things into my car to head back to Texas to start a new chapter in my life. I come across this episode of The Daily Show during its daytime replay while I am moving stuff into my car. Here is Jon Stewart's take on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hearings in the US House and the ridiculousness of the opposition.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

I found some more videos to watch of that hearing. The person who was asking the questions and tearing Elaine Donnely a new one was Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy. He was the first Iraq Veteran elected to Congress in 2007 and he did not hold back.

Then there was there were these two testimonies:

Again, I was touched by the fact that these two individuals were brave enough to share their stories. Again, they wore the uniform a lot longer than I did. I felt I had a duty to do what I could to repeal this policy.

Most importantly, I owed it to my family members who are gay. In a letterI authored to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News, and Who's Playing blog, I mentioned that I have one on my father's side and one on my mother's side. They stood by me while I was in the military. Now it was my turn to pay it back.

Fast forward once again to Election Night 2008: Obama had won the election by a convincing electoral margin. When I got home from a watch party, I checked the polling results from the Proposition 8 vote in California. I saw that Prop 8 passed by a slim margin. Honestly, I was shocked. If you told me in 2008 to pick five states that would affirm same-sex marriages, California would occupy slots 1-4. I know a lot of people were mad and screaming, but my reaction was.... "You know, I DID not see that coming."

Later I found out the reason why it passed was because of a lot of backing by the Mormon church in the documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition.

Since then I have seen this country progress very rapidly on LGBT Issues. Prop 8 faced a legal challenge and began its process through the courts. The two attorneys arguing for the petitioners were on the opposite sides of Bush v. Gore (2000). This country repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." I remember watching the repeal ceremony on televisionfeeling a sense of accomplishment. I also knew there were many other fights to take on and it was going to be a lot more difficult given what was going to be the makeup of the next Congress. Then came Election Night 2012 when there were ballot measures in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington on the topic of same-sex marriage. Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to affirm same-sex marriage at the ballot which broke a 0-31 streak in the states. Minnesota rejected a measure that would super-secret ban same-sex marriage in their state. Six months later, Minnesota became the most recent state to legalize marriage equality.

When I heard that the Supreme Court was going to take on Prop 8, I knew this was going to be a good chance that MAYBE we can end this debate and proceed towards other pressing matters. There was also the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA) case which has a good shot at the federal government recognizing same-sex marriage when it comes to purposes of government employee benefits.

Based on what I have been reading and listening to the oral arguments, we're probably heading towards a split decision meaning the Court will rule in favor of overturning DOMA, but probably issue a narrow ruling in Prop 8 that is limited to California. Lambda Legal has this infographic showing the possible outcomes of the two cases. I'd like to believe that this court is aware of public opinion on this issue. More than 55% of Americans believe that it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married. 54 Senators (a super majority of the Senate Democrats and 3 Republicans) have expressed support for equal marriage.

Honestly I don't know how this court will rule on the people that I care about and the countless number of friends I have made in this process. As former NFL head coach Jim Mora once said: "You think you know, but you don't know."

But I think retired Navy Commander and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" advocate Zoe Dunning put it best in her column for the San Francisco Bay Times: "Maybe good, maybe bad."

All I know is this: This part of the journey will conclude.

Whatever happens with the Supreme Court tomorrow, we will begin a new journey.

I am looking forward to it.

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OUTBREAK

The Great Plains recently experienced an outbreak of tornadoes stretching from as far south as Texas to as far north as Missouri. This is not uncommon for this time of year as you have cold dry air from the Rockies combine with warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico followed by warm dry air from the southwest that create strong thunderstorms that produce heavy rains, large hail, high winds, and if the weather conditions are ripe enough they spawn tornadoes.

Even though tornadoes have been recorded in all 50 states at various times of the year, this region of the country sees a higher number of these types of storms due to the weather conditions during the spring months that it earned the name Tornado Alley. It stretches from as far north as South Dakota to as far south as Central Texas and encompasses such metropolitan areas as Kansas City, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Wichita Falls, Waco, and the largest one: the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Yes, I live in this region. I cannot count how many times regularly scheduled evening programming was preempted with a breaking news bulletin as the local weather person shows on the Doppler radar where the severe weather is and the affected counties scroll at the bottom of the screen.

In April 1994 a tornado tore through the south Dallas suburbs of DeSoto and Lancaster destroying over 500 homes and killing 4 people. The storm happened at night and the tornado was difficult to spot. When daylight broke, you saw the damage and the path the tornado took. I still remember the destruction that the local news showed from the air.

Mayfest in Fort Worth is an annual event, but the 1995 edition is remembered for the super cell thunderstorm that appeared without warning that produced hail as large as 4 inches in diameter. What was to be the Fort Worth community celebrating the onset of the warmer months, it turned into a nightmare. People were leaving the event crying and bloodied. 90 people were treated for injuries ranging from broken bones, lacerations, and deep bruises. As the storm headed east from Fort Worth, drivers on I-30 did their best to seek shelter under bridges but those that couldn't unfortunately had their windows smashed by hail stones.

I remember my then-72 year old grandfather standing outside in the torrential rain as the storm crossed into Irving. He was a Navy man who survived World War II, Korea, and Vietnam so that storm was probably nothing to him.

The 1995 Mayfest storm claimed 13 lives due to flooding and cost $1 billion in damages. For the longest time it was the costliest hailstorm in US history.

Then there was the 2000 tornado that cut through downtown Fort Worth...

In this recent outbreak, there was a tornado that struck southwest of Fort Worth in Granbury that killed 6 people and injured a dozen last week. On Monday an EF-5 tornado tore through Moore, OK located halfway between Oklahoma City and Norman on I-35. Recovery efforts are currently underway. Already the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the 24 people were killed; 9 of them children as two elementary schools were in the path in the tornado's 1.3 mile-wide path that traveled 17 miles in 50 minutes.

Part of the reason why surviving tornadoes has improved in my lifetime is because we have invested into research programs into how to improve tornado survival. In her interview segment of her show on Tuesday Night, Rachel Maddow interviewedresearch professor Larry Tanner of the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. These people find ways to make buildings more structurally sound through studies in mathematics, science, and material design properties. They test their ideas by shooting two-by-fours and other projectiles to simulate debris flying through a tornado, record the results, and find ways to their results better.

In my lifetime it is amazing how weather forecasting has improved. It used to be that storm warnings were issued for an entire county but now we have pinpoint accuracy on when the storm will reach your home at street level. The persons affected by the Moore, OK tornado had 16 minutes to get to shelter. That amount of warning time saved several lives to allow people time to get into shelters.

Weather forecasting and construction research takes money and most importantly people who are willing to study these topics.

Recently the federal government administered a self-inflicted wound called the sequesterwhich was across the board budget cuts. One of those agencies that suffered these cuts was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which oversees the National Weather Service (NWS). The sequester lopped off 8.2% from NOAA's budget, instituted an across-the-board hiring freeze, and four days of mandatory furloughs are up ahead for this agency.

There is a debate over whether climate change played a role in this tornado. Over the last decade there have been six least active tornado seasons and four most active tornado seasons. Is this a sign of changing weather patterns where there are strong push and pulls? Perhaps but it appears that the climate change label is being applied to a totally different phenomena. It's one thing to apply it to hurricanes, droughts, and blizzards, but tornadoes are their own phenomena.

Again, I cite my own experience having lived in Texas for most of my life. We've had all kinds of storms; some produced tornadoes, others just a lot of rain and wind.

Harold Brooks, a top researcher at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK, was quoted in a 15 March 2013 USA Today article that: "It's hard to predict future tornado seasons when we don't understand current tornado seasons. We're not sure what's going to happen with the tornado numbers."

I note the large metropolitan areas that are in Tornado Alley. Again, the largest one out of those areas is the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with (according to 2012 estimates) 6.7 million people. We saw a jump in our population between the Census counts of 2000 and 2010 that the area gained an extra representative in the US House. It was one of the four additional congressional districts that Texas got after the 2010 Census.

People are moving to this area for a lot of reasons. We need to ensure that we are funding research and drawing people in who have an interest in this field to improve our weather forecasting techniques along with designing and constructing buildings that are resistant to these types of tornadoes.

Lives are at stake.

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#TWEET10K

This post is my 10,000th Tweet on Twitter.

It's like watching the odometer on my car reach 100,000 miles.

Kinda hard to describe this occasion in under 140 characters. I'd say most of the tweets are from me linking my Facebook with my Twitter account and vice versa and posting that information.

I post a wide variety of information. Mostly news, political commentary, sports, favorite youtube videos, stuff I write.... well, you know.... Y'all follow me on this blog and the various outlets that the Watts News Network has in communicating the message.

What is the message you ask?

We live in a very unique time where social media has earned a place with conventional forms of media: television, radio, and print. Despite the centralization of media sources by a small number of persons with various interests, there is still a Balkanization of our media. I believe that Chris Hayes's book "Twilight of The Elites" points out this very idea. A lot of the media I get is from opening up my Facebook page and seeing what my friends are posting, sharing, and commenting on. Twitter is good about showing what stories are trending and categorizing them.

This idea of a new media outlet infiltrating traditional media is nothing new in the short time humans occupied the planet. Drawing and written words revolutionized record keeping in early human history as they formed communities. Moveable type expanded access to information, decreased the amount of time to produce, and thus increasing the amount of information readily available. Newspapers fueled the American Revolution, Civil War, and Spanish-American War. Lincoln learned election results via the telegraph. Coolidge was the first to give a State of the Union over the radio. In 1947, Truman did it over television. Fifty years later, Clinton was the first to deliver a State of the Union over the internet. Today President Obama's weekly address is offered over an iTunes podcast and YouTube posting.

I still watch the television news though I am disappointed in the decline of quality in local news broadcast in my lifetime and only rely on it for local weather.

We still have newspapers though due to the changing business dynamic of the industry many have gone to online subscriptions and have hired bloggers to cover various issues. Someone shared with me a story about Veterans Issues and what the Texas Legislature (or "The Lege" as we call it in Texas) is doing to help my community out but because I don't have a subscription I can't read it.

I follow what "The Lege" has been doing to help us out because I follow State Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D, SD-26) on twitterand her legislative Facebook page. She's serves as Chair of the Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee in the State Senate. Maybe that story has something that I missed in the time period that I am not on social media (like the times that I am in class, reading a book, driving and running errands, sleeping, taking a break from the internet, or like right now... doing some writing). I have my limits after all I am human. Sometimes things fall through the cracks and I do what I can to better educate myself on that topic and item I did not catch.

Speaking of newspapers, even though their dynamic is different than what I grew up with as a child, they still publish letters. I read the letters in the Star-Telegram and Dallas Morning News (and I've been published in those papers). If I need a chuckle, I'll read what's in the Denton Record Chronicle.

All and all, I feel that my contribution on twitter (though small in the grand scope of humanity) is part of documenting history.

Think about it? Someone might study my tweets and Facebook posts a century, maybe two centuries from now as part of a study of Early Social Media Studies.*

(* Provided that we don't destroy ourselves due to global climate change, submitting to our new space ant overlords, or we send astronauts to that HORRIBLE Planet of The Apes.... wait a second)

Again, I thank my small cult band of followers and I look forward to another 10,000 tweets.

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LETTER REGARDING MARRIAGE EQUALITY (by Michael Watts)

This letter, authored by Michael Watts, is in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News, and Lewisville Texan Journal.

Mr. Watts served in the United States Navy from 2002 to 2008 as a nuclear propulsion mechanical operator. He is currently a student at the University of North Texas pursuing a degrees in Mathematics and Political Science.

The Supreme Court is currently deciding the issue of same-sex marriage.

I am a terminally heterosexual Navy veteran and I support same-sex marriage.

I know several gay and lesbian veterans. We wore our country's uniform and took the same oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

In 2008 I watched Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Alva's testimony to the House Armed Services Committee regarding "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a policy that banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military until it was repealed in 2011. Sergeant Alva was the first Marine wounded in Iraq and received a Purple Heart.

He is also openly gay.

If gays and lesbians can serve in our armed forces and if necessary make the ultimate sacrifice, then surely we can allow them to marry the person they love.

In addition, I have gay family members; one on my mother's side and one on my father's side. I strongly believe in their equal rights because they are people that I deeply care about.

I am standing on the right side of history, and I encourage my fellow Texans to join me.

Michael Watts

Veteran, US Navy 2002-08

Denton, TX

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PI DAY 2013

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THE WHITE BOARD APPEARS IN AUSTIN

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LETTERMAN: TOP 10 SIGNS YOUR CAT IS UP TO NO GOOD

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WHAT IS GOING ON?

It has been a while since I written anything. Most of that was because of school. The spring semester was tough and right now, the summer term is going no better.

First, I have decided that I am going to double major with degrees in mathematics and political science.

What do I plan to do with all that education?

Good question. I’ll get back to you on that when I figure that out.

From here on forward, I am taking no more than four classes a term. As badly as I want to graduate as soon as possible, it is probably best for both my physical and mental wellbeing that I go with four classes a semester. Unfortunately I learned that the hard way where I took six classes in one term. The result of that (disastrous) experiment was dropping two classes because they were classes that I had no business taking and failing the other classes because of the stress which led to a mental breakdown towards the end of the semester.

The writings will continue on. Maybe not as frequently as I want to or in length, but I will persevere in this endeavor.

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LONG TIME, NO TALK

Hey, it’s me.

Been awhile since we’ve talked. Most of my postings have been videos, pictures, and the occasional posting.

Part of the reason why I haven’t posting as much as I wanted: school and the Writer’s Block. OK… mainly school.

I had to write two term papers. Actually not as bad as I expected; I do enjoy writing. I feel that when I write I feel inspired…

I will post the papers soon so that you can get my thoughts on stuff that I learned about in school. There might be some minor corrections so what I plan to do is post the original in a PDF/Word format and then the updated in a blog.

As for the upcoming Election Season and other issues going on, stay calm, I am working on them. I plan on having more videos up. I got a tad side tracked with the whole school thing. I am sure I can’t be faulted for it since everyone has other stuff going on.

Well, anyways, looking forward to continuing this conversation with my loyal followers and I thank you for being patient with this process.

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