People From Texas

"I am deeply engrossed in man's first concerted attempt to penetrate outer space. The compelling motive for the development of space technology is the requirement for national defense."

"Our development philosophy includes two elements: a philosophy of testing and a dual approach. Stated simply, the test philosophy requires a great deal of component reliability testing at the earliest possible test level in order to insure reliability of components before proceeding to subsystem testing, captive system testing, and on to launch."

"Consequently, my prognoses … go from those which are reasonably firm to those which might be considered visionary. Fortunately, there is a considerable overlap between the advances in the state of the art which are required for firm and for visionary military needs."

"Perhaps not only initially but for all time, space technology will include as its most characteristic problem the need for going from the surface of one celestial body to another with successful passage through the atmosphere of each."

"However, before man can be committed to space vehicles, a tremendous amount of human factors research will be necessary."

"But of course, during peacetime you don't have actual wartime data to go by, but we did have the data coming out of Korea and then later out of Vietnam. But analysis during peacetime, particularly with new systems, you have to crank in a hell of a lot of assumptions. And that's why you have to be a little bit skeptical, and look underneath what some of the assumptions are, to be sure that you have a credible conclusion."

"Christian wasn't the first jazz guitarist to use amplification (Eddie Durham, for one, beat him to it), but he brought the electric guitar into focus with his immense talent. Along with making the guitar a viable instrument in Goodman's style of swing, Christian was also a forerunner in the establishment of the musical language of bebop."

"When Charlie Christian got on the bandstand with Benny Goodman in 1939, he single-handedly propelled the electric guitar into the mainstream. Though he wasn’t the first guitarist to plug in and play electrified, Christian’s performances as a soloist on Goodman tracks like “Flying Home” and “Honeysuckle Rose” document the first instances that the electric guitar was used effectively as a lead instrument in a Big Band setting. The increased volume and sustain that amplification offered put the guitar on a level playing field with customary soloing instruments like the trumpet and saxophone, and Christian’s participation in early bebop jam sessions alongside such luminaries as Thelonius Monk and Dizzy Gillespie also makes him one of the founding fathers of the genre. Sadly, Christian died from tuberculosis at 26. HIs body of work inspired a generation of jazz guitar giants, including Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow and Jim Hall."

"For all his renown as the creator of modern-jazz guitar, Charlie Christian was a country boy. Steeped in the rich musical traditions of the American Southwest, he began to play almost as soon as he could walk, guiding his blind, guitarist father around Oklahoma City and entertaining with the family band. In his early teens, an encounter with tenor saxophonist Lester Young inspired him to cultivate single-note lines in the manner of a horn, rather than the guitar’s customary strumming. A crucial technological boost to Christian’s pioneering style was the development of amplification in the 1930s. By 1937, he was using an electric guitar and word of his extraordinary ability began to spread far beyond the local scene, leading to an invitation to audition for the King of Swing, Benny Goodman, in 1939. Despite an unfortunate first impression – Charlie appeared in a bright green suit with a purple shirt, yellow shoes and a ten-gallon hat – the new Benny Goodman Sextet came into being there and then. Jazz guitar would never be the same again."

"In addition to being a legendary bass player, Graham is renowned for his baritone vocals. However, we're all about the bass, and Graham's contributions in that department are undeniably historical. Considered the inventor of the slap technique of bass playing, Graham opened the door to an innovative way of mastering the instrument. From there, the slap became a staple among funk, soul, and R&B bands. Graham was a key member of Sly and the Family Stone and fronted his own Graham Central Station. The Hall of Famer is also the uncle of popular rapper Drake."

"Every solo he plays, however brief, says something, with a captivating mixture of supple technique, bluesy authority and endless invention. You feel that his effortless flow of chromatic sophistication, twangy asides and visceral swing was constantly on tap."

"Love is all around, no need to waste it You can have the town, why don't you take it? You might just make it after all."

"A-breakin' rocks in the hot sun I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won I miss my baby and the good fun I fought the law and the law won I fought the law and the law won."

"One of my philosophies about playing drums is if you really break it down, there's probably only about 10 or 12 percent of the people in this world that are actually musicians that understand what goes into making a song. The other people are just listeners and they feel the groove and they feel the beat and that's what makes them move and that's what makes them go, 'That's a fuckin' kick-ass song.' As a drummer, I always approach things as, 'I want to play just enough to keep other drummers interested, but not enough to go over the average listener's head.' That's where I think a lot of these guys today are just, 'I'm the drummer, man. Check it out. Here's my lick. I just learned this new drum lick. I'm just gonna blast all over the place.' It's like, 'Man, you've got to let the song breathe.'"

"The late, great Vinnie Paul was the man who put the groove in Pantera’s crushing, captivating “power groove” brand of swaggering heavy metal. As hard as the Texan firebrands’ music hits, it always has swing, and Paul’s unique talent behind the kit was one of the group’s great secrets. That he was also a big part of their songwriting and record production only adds to his bona fides."

""Autistic is different, not bad. It is not wrong to be different. Sometimes it is hard, but it is not wrong." (p319)"

"(What is your proudest achievement as a writer?) That the books have touched lives in a way that made a difference."

""...One thing nobody can do better than you is be you." (p164)"

"whether you consider a past maximal temperature to be "normal" or not, the fact is that the earth's maximal temperature did not sustain what we now wish to sustain. Whether the temperatures we're headed toward can sustain a large human population is...going to be an interesting discovery. Not something to be shrugged off with "It's been there before." The earth has. We haven't."

"(You’ve read SF/Fantasy since you were young, I believe. What do you think is the power of the genre? What attracts you now, still?) EM: Traditional storytelling values: interesting characters doing interesting things in a plot that satisfies the itch for Story. Beyond that, science fiction can present intriguing “what if?” scenarios, and fantasy can present “how did we get here?” scenarios."

"Questions, always questions. They didn't wait for the answers, either. They rushed on, piling questions on questions, covering every moment with questions, blocking off every sensation but the thorn stab of questions. And orders. If it wasn't, "Lou, what is this?" it was, "Tell me what this is." A bowl. The same bowl, time after time. It is a bowl and it is an ugly bowl, a boring bowl, a bowl of total and complete boring blandness, uninteresting. I am uninterested in that uninteresting bowl. If they aren't going to listen, why should I talk? I know better than to say that out loud. Everything in my life that I value has been gained at the cost of not saying what I really think and saying what they want me to say. In this office, where I am evaluated and advised four times a year the psychiatrist is no less certain of the line between us than all the others have been. Her certainty is painful to see, so I try not to look at her more than I have to. That has its own dangers; like the others, she thinks I should make more eye contact than I do. I glance at her now. Dr. Fornum, crisp and professional, raises an eyebrow and shakes her head not quite imperceptibly. Autistic persons do not understand these signals; the book says so. I have read the book, so I know what it is I do not understand. What I haven't figured out yet is the range of things they don't understand. The normals. The reals. The ones who have the degrees and sit behind the desks in comfortable chairs. (beginning of Chapter One)"

"I like it that order exists somewhere even if it shatters near me. (p242)"

"It is harder to imagine a different self now that I am an adult. As a child, I did imagine myself into other roles. I thought I would become normal, that someday I would be able to do what everyone else did so easily. In time, that fantasy faded. My limitations were real, immutable, thick black lines around the outline of my life. The only role I play is normal. (p165)"

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp5c. Sasser distinguished himself while assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion. He was serving as a medical aidman with Company A, 3d Battalion, on a reconnaissance-in-force operation. His company was making an air assault when suddenly it was taken under heavy small-arms, recoilless-rifle, machine-gun, and rocket fire from well-fortified enemy positions on three sides of the landing zone. During the first few minutes, over 30 casualties were sustained. Without hesitation, Sp5c. Sasser ran across an open rice paddy through a hail of fire to assist the wounded. After helping one man to safety, he was painfully wounded in the left shoulder by fragments of an exploding rocket. Refusing medical attention, he ran through a barrage of rocket and automatic-weapons fire to aid casualties of the initial attack and, after giving them urgently needed treatment, continued to search for other wounded. Despite two additional wounds immobilizing his legs, he dragged himself through the mud toward another soldier 100 meters away. Although in agonizing pain and faint from loss of blood, Sp5c. Sasser reached the man, treated him, and proceeded on to encourage another group of soldiers to crawl 200 meters to relative safety. There he attended their wounds for five hours until they were evacuated. Sp5c. Sasser's extraordinary heroism is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army."

"I make appearances, and I select what I do very carefully. I usually do active-duty situations, speaking at military reservations, posts or bases, and at high schools. I like to tell the schoolkids that the actions they take should be directed toward their benefit, meaning: Don't go out there and do something wrong. That's not to your benefit. Have goals, be disciplined, follow that discipline to that goal."

"I don't think they have much in common, other than the medal. They're all from diverse backgrounds, and they had diverse services and jobs in the military. What they do have in common I would say is, they take charge in situations. They are people that felt something needed doing at a particular time and somebody had to do it. Words like bravery and courage are words that come after the fact; they're retroactive, retrospective type words. I think probably the biggest thing you find, particularly if you read the citations, is that there was a feeling that somebody had to do something."

"I think considerable progress has been made from the time of Mr. Truman's order to integrate the services in nineteen forty-seven. I think the color of your skin has very very little effect in the military today. The military usually lags behind society, but on this issue I think the military has transcended society. Now it's the best place to be, as evidenced by the number of black guys who rank in the upper echelons. Not only Colin Powell, who was head of the Joint Chiefs, but also J. Paul Reason, who is commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet."

"Again, there was no reviewing of anything before tracking the DVD, so on that filmed take, I'm actually surprised that this tune is not ending like, two bars after where the album's fade happens. Hence, me going way off the riff, 'cause with no click, there's really nothing to follow except for Chuck's random two-note progression. Ah well, warts and all is how I likes to brings it to ya. And don't forget, with zero prep either. Jeez Hoglan, get it together next time, will ya?""

"The neato thing about this version is that I didn't even know that there was an extra two minutes of jam at the end until I'm getting filmed playing it! Apparently we played it that long on the original, but I definitely don't remember it. Hell, I'm too busy remembering Overactive Vaginas, Donald Tardy's and hi-hat chokings to remember long extendo-jams."

"Gene Hoglan’s resume is that of an ever evolving, world class, prime mover of the heavy metal genre. Talk to most of the top metal drummers today, and the large percentage will cite Gene Hoglan as a major influence in their development."

"Hey, remember when I said that I'm up for challenges? Apparently that runs to the 'self-inflicted' as well."

"I remember on the 'adorable little riff tape' that Chuck (Schuldiner) sent me, this tune was pretty much ready to go. It didn't require any transposing on my part to make it any heavier."

"Now, this instance is possibly captured on the DVD, but as you may notice in the verses, I don't catch the hi-hat conventionally with my foot, I use my hands to catch it. I wanted to have the kick land under the snare yet still have the choked hi-hat on the same beat, and at that time, that kick drum would have been my left, which would obviously be my hi-hat choking foot. So, my only alternative was to do a hi-hat choke manually with my left hand. And you know what? In the long run, it probably didn't make a damn bit of difference. The hand chokes are not all that 'chokey', and the kick under the whole shebang doesn't really make it any more powerful."

"When it was observed that men were dying, Japanese non-commissioned officers entered the compound and ordered the Americans to drag out the bodies and bury them. We were told to put the delirious ones into a thatched shed a few hundred feet away. When this had been done the grave digging began. We thought we had seen every atrocity the Japs could offer, but we were wrong. The shallow trenches had been completed. The dead were being rolled into them. Just then an American soldier and two Filipinos were carried out of the compound. They had been delirious. Now they were in a coma. A Jap noncom stopped the bearers and tipped the unconscious men into the trench. The Japs then ordered the burial detail to fill it up. The Filipinos lay lifelessly in the hole. As the earth began falling about the American, he revived and tried to climb out. His fingers gripped the edge of the grave. He hoisted himself to a standing position. Two Jap guards placed bayonets at the throat of a Filipino on the burial detail. They gave him an order. When he hesitated they pressed the bayonet points hard against his neck. The Filipino raised a stricken face to the sky. Then he brought his shovel down upon the head of his American comrade, who fell backward to the bottom of the grave. The burial detail filled it up."

"The most practical solution we see is the adoption of an immigration reform; this country has need of many workers in the countryside, in hotels and restaurants, in the building construction and these people just want to work."

"Catholic theologians write and reflect on the "victims of history" and the importance of "remembering" their history and "giving voice" to even the dead who are victims of injustice, and their narrative. We do so precisely through the lens of the memory of Jesus and his suffering and death. The theological reflections of our Church motivate us to work for human dignity, justice and charity for all peoples today – especially the victimized and marginalized."

"A right to do something evil simply cannot be a right all. Never! That simply defies logic."

"It should give special emphasis to the border where two worlds meet, two worlds that only the Church can make one by leading them both to experience a true encounter with the living Jesus Christ, the way to conversion, communion and solidarity in America."

"All I can really tell you after walking this particular path is that I'm proud to have served my country. I know that part of me will always bleed with the teams, and that my time in uniform, which at the moment seems so long, has been just a short chapter in a far longer book, and brief preparation for what the future holds. Thank you, God, for all these days."

"Military life and culture seem to be foreign territory for many of the people who write for national magazines and newspapers today. Every time they refer to Navy SEALs and other SOF as "Special Forces," they reveal themselves to be as ignorant as someone who doesn't know, say, a Shia Muslim from a Sunni. Recently, in a well-attended forum at a public university, a prominent journalist referred to the Joint Special Operations Command, an elite command that carried out the bin Laden operation, as "an executive assassination ring, essentially," for Vice President Dick Cheney. The fact that the guy who said this has a Pulitzer Prize might confirm your worst fears about those who write "news" for a living. (Naturally, in the same presentation, he also referred to special operations units as "Special Forces.")"

"Those who serve in the military are the best of us. They're capable, honorable, and less likely to be hung up on material belongings or themselves. An Iraqi military officer doing training at a U.S. base was asked by a journalist recently what he thought about Americans nine years after Saddam was taken down. "You are a better people than your movies say," he said. Yet for all the interest in the stories of our heroes at war, as reflected in Hollywood grosses and the bestseller lists, the military still seems to be more isolated from most Americans than ever before. The Army was basically a citizens' militia when our nation broke free of England's tyranny. Today we have a thoroughly professional volunteer force. It's also a caste that stands mostly apart from civilian life. I've heard it said that the members of our military are like sheepdogs in a world full of wolves. If that's the case, not enough people have direct experience in the pasture. Most people don't pay much attention to the sheepdogs until the wolves come calling."

"No matter how good a SEAL might become, there's always someone with more seniority, experience, or skill nearby to bring him back to earth. At the SEAL reunions I go to, the World War II UDT swimmers will tell the Korean War veterans, "Hey, new guy, go get me a beer." The Korean War guys say the same to the Vietnam guys, all the way down the line. Once I was pushing through a crowded hospitality room when I bumped into a frog who was a lot shorter than me- because he was seated in a wheelchair. The first two syllables of an apology weren't out of my mouth before he was laying into me with You mother this and I'll whip your sorry that. I noticed he was wearing a T-shirt printed with the words BUD/S CLASS 1. This man was nobody's pushover. He was having a load of fun with me. Everyone around him was howling with appreciation. In the teams, you're always a new guy to somebody. That's how we keep each other honest. And if you stick around the teams long enough, well, you're asking for a lesson in humility, because at some point, in some school, or a new command you're going to be a nobody all over again."

"It's funny how serving your nation makes you part of something larger than yourself but also sets you apart. You realize this when you come home and find so many people who know what you've done but can't personally relate to any of it. The military now stands apart from average Americans' lives as it never has before. About 1.4 million people are on active duty in our armed forces today- about half the number that were on active duty fifty years ago. About 2.4 million have served in the Global War on Terror, as it's known. That last number sounds pretty big but it's just 0.77 percent of America's population of 313 million- a truly shocking instance of the "1 percent versus 99 percent" problem. In Congress, where our political decisions are made (or not), only 21.8 percent of our representatives have served in the military. That's down from 74 percent in 1971, when the numbers were pushed up by the draft. That was also a time when you didn't need to be wealthy to run for elected office and most congressmen understood that the term "enemy" referred to someone with a gun on the other side of a demilitarized zone, not someone in the opposing political party."

"At West Point, the Army is doing it right."

"But you don't have to be a Christian, or even particularly religious, to serve. You just have to be willing to understand your place and put yourself at the end of the line. Still, my faith has helped me toward a deeper understanding of what service really means. You do what's expected of you, and more. You look after others, and put their welfare ahead of your own. You don't worry about the big purpose of it all- it's beyond your pay grade. But if you do the small things right long enough, you might find yourself coming out the other side having done something important. It's an evolution you follow, a tour on the great Ferris wheel, which doesn't have to burn. It never stops turning until the day you take your last breath. And you hope that by the time you leave this earth it will be a better place than it was when you got here. The causes you've served in your life will have meant something. Someone will have picked up your work, run with a legacy you left behind, and used it to put his or her own stamp on the world."

"The urge to serve something larger than myself drew me into the military, and serving for nine years has taught me a few things. But service in the military isn't the only way to go. Now that I'm out of uniform, I see that my deployments were only the beginning, a workup for whatever the rest of my years call me to do. You can serve your family, and put their needs in front of yours. You can do the same thing in your community, your town, and your city. I think all of us who serve- in any type of uniform- can arrive at this broader view of service faster than most other people, because of what we go through. Service is selflessness- the opposite of the lifestyle that we see so much of in America today. The things that entertain us don't often lift us up, or show us as the people we can rise up to become. The people who appear in this book- and others who did things I can't talk about- are my role models. They quietly live out the idea expressed in the Bible (John 15:13): "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.""

"Parting ways in the plaza, Solitario sat tall in his saddle surveying the changing cityscape. A ball of tumbleweeds rolled aimlessly across the deserted plaza, drifts of dead leaves chasing after it, rustling in the incessant wind. He squinted at the cathedral from beneath his broad sombrero. He saw cracks growing in it with every passing moment. Yes, we will build wells, he thought in response to Elias’ question. The water may keep us alive, but it will no longer protect us from our neighbor to the north. Nobody had mentioned it openly yet, but surely others were thinking about it just as he was. With the river rerouted south, they were no longer in Mexico. Their fate rested not on La Virgen’s apparition, but in America’s hands."

"“You don’t do the right thing because it’s easy. You do it because it is right.”"

"“Justice is not for sale.”"

"“There’s so much competition out there for people’s time, and attention, and dollars. So whether it’s as a business, or whether it’s as a writer who writes a book, if what you’re offering is unique, it’s going to eventually stand out to people who are looking for that and you’re going to connect with your audience.”"