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Website of the Week
For those who are gluttons for listening punishment, here is my official myspace musician page.
Local Pump Price of Unleaded Gasoline:
$3.52/gallon
Price Per Barrel of Oil:
$125.96 (previously $107.90)
last modified May 11, 2008 at 18:16
Just for today in this small moment of time, Sean Penn is my hero.
Being the Neko Case junkie that I am, I was YouTubing some of her songs and found this girl covering a few of her songs and putting a nice touch on them. Her name is Molly Trull and I'm betting will be seen on American Idol in the next year or two.
Here's a scoop on some news breaking in Greenwood, Mississippi. This morning, local hazmat, police, and medical personnel were called in to an American General Insurance location in the city. Apparently, they reportedly received some white powder in an envelope and everyone in the office started feeling nauseous and sick. I can confirm that the hazmat and emergency personnel were dispatched into the area, took some people to the hospital, and were showering others that they thought could be potentially contaminated. Local and state radio has picked up on the story but I have yet to see it in the national news.
Folks, this may be a false alarm, such as an angry customer or employee wanting to scare these folks (this is Mississippi, after all)... or it could be legit. I just wanted to pass along to my readers to keep you informed of a potentially scary situation.
UPDATE: Apparently, anthrax and other poisonous substances have been ruled out, but what the substance was or why the employees reacted once exposed to it, are currently unknown. Here's the Greenwood Commonwealth's report.
Last weekend, my brother Michael and I traveled down to the farm in Louisiana to do a little fence-work. We took our oldest boys, our juniors, with us to help out with the "manly" work. Here's a few pics:
Mike Jr. and Joseph Jr. on the 4-wheeler.
The Mississippi River keeps on rising on the levee. This is a picture of the river from the top of the primary levee.
Dad and son in the Father of Rivers.
Mike driving the old red Toyota filled with barbed wire and stakes.
Here's a pic of a huge group of pelicans that had lighted in the "borrow" pit next to the levee. Truly cool sight.
Rick Warren, noted author of The Purpose-Driven Life, gave an interview with Owen-Bennett Jones on BBC Radio's The Interview this week.
For the most part, Rick gave theologically sound answers to Mr. Jones questions, which considering Mr. Jones obviously secular bent, was very refreshing to hear over the airwaves.
That's why I found it particularly baffling that Dr. Warren avoided directly answering Mr. Jones question "Do you believe that people who are not Christians will go to Hell?" Instead of answering the question, Dr. Warren said that Jesus said of Himself that He is "the way, the truth, and the life." Pressed further, still Dr. Warren would not directly say yes or no, but repeated that Jesus is the only way to God.
I don't understand why Dr. Warren did not want to answer this question. Isn't the news of God's salvation to be preceded and contrasted with the news of our hopelessness in sin's bondage and our personal inability to save ourselves from sin and it's wages of death?
This was a great interview and it's frustrating that Dr. Warren could not unashamedly state the consequence of sin and unbelief. To hear the BBC interview, click here.
Victor Davis Hanson is one of those conservative minds who one prefers to have on his side in any political skirmish. In National Review today, VDH has written what Obama should have said in his "great" racial speech/apologia last week and highlights how Obama missed an opportunity that might have made the Jeremiah Wright situation disappear:
Had Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) said the following words in his speech last week on race in America, his problems with his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, would probably now be over:
“You have all heard the racist and anti-American outbursts of my pastor Rev. Wright. They are all inexcusable. His speeches have forced me to reexamine my long association with Trinity United Church of Christ. And so it is with regret that I must now leave that church.
“I had heard similar extremist language of Rev. Wright in the past, and now apologize that I did not earlier end my attendance and contributions. Had I long ago expressed my strong objections to Rev. Wright’s views, such opposition might have suggested to him a more moderate path.
“But any good that now might come by remaining steadfast to Rev. Wright in consideration of our long past friendship is outweighed by the damage that would accrue from the sanction of his extremism that my continued attendance at his church might convey.
“I have loyalty aplenty, but it is to the truth, my country, and universal tolerance, not to any one friend — however long and close our association.
Read the whole thing...
My brother James is providing the best Fox and Friends coverage in the blogosphere and has the folks at mediabistro (and apparently Fox and Friends, too) all riled up. James published a couple of emails from F&F's Ainsley Earhardt in relation to the constant host lineup changes on the show and has landed her in a little hot water. She'll no doubt survive given that the notes were benign enough but, on the blogger's side, it's a little fun to get the suits in a tizzy while getting a little blog publicity at the same time.
Kudos, James!
If you listen to talk radio much or watch the political talk-shows, you might have observed the host say something like, "Well, as much as I hate his (or her) political views, he (or she) is a really nice guy in person." The point seems to be that,yes, he has some pretty egregiously awful political views that would make your hair stand on end, but the man behind all that talk is really a pretty nice guy that you could go have a beer with after the rally.
Something has always bothered me about this. For one thing, it seems that it legitimizes a certain kind of duplicity in life, i.e. you can be one way in public and another way in private.
The second is, I think, the more important question: which represents the real person? Are we all just good people with different ways of seeing things, but sit us all down round the table, and we'll all see eye to eye or is the political view a manifestation of who we really are?
I acknowledge that this phenomenon of ostensibly different public versus private lives does exist, but I think the view that it's the private views that represent a person's essence is absolutely false. Why? Because the political view represents what a person wishes would happen if he or she had the power to implement it. And, I think, that is the true revelation of who a person is. And that's what counts.
The CW of today's report in the NYTimes is that the "paper of record" has plumbed new depths in the vein of the journalistic integrity of the National Enquirer. The allegations? In the late 90s, McCain spent time with a somewhat attractive Washington lobbyist and tried to pull some strings on her behalf. McCain aides, according to the story, got nervous about the perception of impropriety their time together created and expressed these concerns to McCain. The story does not come right out and say McCain had an affair, but suggests the possibility. Why else would a older white Republican do a favor for a woman 30 years his junior?
I have a theory about this, but let me pose a question: What is the one period of a Presidential campaign that causes the most anxiety for the Presidential candidates? Answer: October and the October Surprise. What if McCain decided to pre-emptively leak this story? Why would he do this? Consider...
* By the time October comes around, everyone will have forgotten this.
* By leaking the story now, McCain's team is able to aggressively respond and characterize the charges.
* If McCain secures the nomination at the RNC convention, he can argue that his base has moved past this.
* What advantage does the NYTimes have in releasing the story now as opposed to right before the election?
* Clinton, Bill Clinton, used to do this all the time with bad news and would typically come out on top.
* Lastly, getting attacked by the NYTimes gives him instant conservative street cred and immediately rallies conservatives to his defense.
So, I guess you're thinking, "Well, Joseph started with Fred Thompson, but when he left the race, moved to Mitt Romney. Now that Romney has stepped down out of the Presidential field, the next logical choice is Senator John McCain. Right?"
Whoa, not so fast, my friends. "Let's not be hasty!" as Treebeard was apt to tell Merry and Pippin. While there is a small give and take necessary to move from supporting Fred to Mitt, there is a huge political desert of disgust that spans the gulf from Mitt to Saint John. I won't bore you with a long political discourse on why I'd rather have my fingernails stripped one by one from my fingers than support John McCain, I'll just give you...
The Top Ten Reasons I Won't Vote for John McCain
10. The 'Lesser of Two Evils' choice between Hillary and McCain yields a tie.
9. For the price of my vote, Sen. McCain can hire 10 Mexican illegals to do the same thing in half the time.
8. Because I don't want to be the only conservative who has not been personally attacked by McCain.
7. It would be sheer torture.
6. Two words: convention chaos.
5. I'm holding out for Armageddon.
4. To protect the innocent from the risk of Sen. McCain's exploding ego.
3. Because I don't vote drunk!
2. I'm still waiting for Rush Limbaugh to jump in the race.
1. Because I'm a "maverick voter"!
Okay, okay, Keifer busted out of prison. Well, okay, he was "released" from prison, but he didn't cooperate with the suits. Well, maybe, he was a model prisoner, but he didn't break under the pressure... dammit!
The 41-year-old actor left the Glendale City Jail shortly after midnight and was a model inmate, Glendale Police Officer John Balian said.
"He never gave us any problems, never complained about anything," Balian said, adding that Sutherland spent most of his time on laundry duty.
It looks like Fred, for once, listened to the conventional wisdom. Not like Fred at all, but he's had a rough going ever since he started considering entering the Presidential fray. Fred is too genuine, too earthy, too candid, and too smart for politics.
Now, it looks like we're stuck with the dregs. Huckabee claims to be a Christian and I won't argue with that, but he sure as hell is not a conservative. He's got conservative leanings, to be sure, but he's also got liberal leanings as well. He did not take the lead for conservative principles in a red state. He won't take the lead as President, Christian or no.
Giuliani is very attractive, but he's adopted conservative positions out of expediency to his Presidential run. They are not out of conviction. As Rush said today, if you change your position, then you must renounce your previous position.
McCain. Ugh. In the past eight years, McCain has done everything he could to undermine the Bush administration and set himself up as the 'Maverick'. Campaign finance reform (yes, Fred was wrong here, too). Opposed Bush's tax cuts. Embraced global warming. Pushed and pushed and pushed for amnesty for illegal aliens.
Ron Paul. Come on, let's get serious. He's got some great libertarian beliefs, but he's got some whacky beliefs, too. He's like Ross Perot and Ralph Nader combined into one.
That leaves us with Mitt Romney. Yes, yes, he's a Mormon. Yes, he's come to his positions rather recently. However, he also is clearly and unambiguously supporting conservative principles. If we're looking for a pastor, then his Mormonness might matter, but we're not. We're looking for a President and Romney may be the best choice we have.
If you read this news piece by Bill Theobold and Jill Lawrence in USA Today, you might get the impression that Fred lacks the desire to become President of the United States. They have since backtracked considerable on the tone of the piece.
If one takes the time to read Fred's remarks in context, you will find someone refreshingly disaffected with the notion of Presidential ambition. Jim Geraghty, of NRO, says "Fred Thompson, Knifed By Half-Quotes Again".
Fred has posted a response here at RedState. I expect Fred to pull a strong performance in Iowa, but we'll just have to wait and see.
A pic of my children and some of their relatives as they celebrate Christmas Eve to Daddy Earl's music and, of course, opening presents!
Separated at birth? We report, you decide.
 
After you get married and have children, it sometimes seems that the most public dancing you and your sweetheart do together are at other people's weddings. Not a bad thing, though, just different.
Here are some great wedding dance vids making their rounds on the internet. The first completely and brilliantly draws you in and, well, I won't give away the best part. The second shows a newly-married couple cutting some serious rug...
In the case of the British schoolteacher in Sudan who is being tried for allowing a student to name his teddy bear "Mohammed", it seems the Sudanese muslims are not too happy with the guilty conviction and subsequent 15 day jail sentence. From the Daily Mail:
"Spitting hatred, thousands of hardline Islamists called for British teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot yesterday. They streamed out of mosques in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, shouting: "Kill her, kill her, kill her by firing squad." One man brandished a giant sword, others carried axes, clubs, ceremonial swords and knives."
The Brits have taken, of course, the diplomatic course to seek a peaceful resolution of this whole affair. This, of course, means that the Brits have chosen impotency and weakness as their bargaining tools. Don't doubt for a minute that the Sudanese don't realize that the British have no will or stomach to do anything more aggressive.
Wouldn't it be nice to hear the government of Britain declare to the Sudanese government that an attack on a British citizen would be regarded as an attack on Great Britain? If, for example. the Sudanese officials found her guilty and had her punished by flogging, then the Brits should promise that the response would be severe by ten to a hundred times. Then, we'll see how many times this type of thing happens in the future...
George P. Bush, that is.
From my inbox:
Welcome to Young Professionals for Fred ("YP4Fred") and thank you for signing up to support Senator Thompson's bid for the White House. We are building a proven coalition of young professionals and I am thrilled that you are joining us in this effort.
...[yada yada yada -Ed.]...
In the near term, please join us at one of our upcoming November 28th YP4Fred Debate Watching Parties (see below). We will make sure to keep you posted of numerous opportunities where you can get involved with the campaign. Finally, please share your success stories with us so we can publicize your stellar work to your colleagues and with the campaign. In order to share your progress or provide comments and questions, please do not hesitate to contact our YP Executive Director Nicolee Ambrose at YP4Fred@Fred08.com. Once again, thank you for your commitment to Senator Thompson's campaign and I look forward to our work together!
Sincerely,
George P. Bush
Chairman
Young Professionals for Fred
My oldest presented this wishlist to us last night, but we didn't get around to reading it until tonight. Reprinted with her permission.
Wishlist for R-
1. Puppy or Kitten
2. One Webkinz
3. The Corpse Bride Movie
4. [scratched out]
5. Birthstone Beauty Barbie
6. Girl Crush Hair Streaker
7. ^Please get it for me?
8. BBB or Holiday Barbie
9. ^If you don't want to, you don't have to.
10. Baby Annabelle
11. ^PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE?
12. A Makeup Set
13. ^Can I have it. Please?
14. Girl Tech Camera
15. ^Pretty please?
- Part 2 -
16. a kiss
17. ^even if you don't get this for me, I'll get you presents.
18. a hug
19. I love you soooo much!
-Note-
Do not get me everything I have said. Because if you do, it'l spoil me. And I do not want to be spoiled.
Love, R-
Amazon.com has introduced the next phase of digital technology, Kindle, the new digital wireless reading device. From Amazon's front page:
"Today, we at Amazon are excited to announce Kindle, a wireless, portable reading device with instant access to more than 90,000 books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers.
We've been working on Kindle for more than three years. Our top design objective was for Kindle to disappear in your hands - to get out of the way - so you can enjoy your reading. We also wanted to go beyond the physical book. Kindle is wireless, so whether you're lying in bed or riding a train, you can think of a book, and have it in less than 60 seconds. No computer is needed - you do your shopping directly from the device."
I think this may change things a bit.
I think many are making the same mistake with Giuliani as was made with George W. Bush. Obviously, social conservatism and fiscal conservatism comprise the two central prongs of the conservative movement in America. George Bush, in his election bid, touted his socially conservative beliefs and his "compassionate conservative" fiscal beliefs.
Conservatives hoped that Bush was playing a clever semantic game to woo the moderates and reassure his conservative base that a traditionally understood fiscal conservatism would define his term. Sure, we got tax cuts, however, we also got the Medicare prescription bill. We ended up with tax cuts but bigger government. Bush didn't deceive conservatives, we deceived ourselves.
Some conservatives are looking to Giuliani with the same naivete. Giuliani is touting his fiscally conservative beliefs and his "mixed conservative" social beliefs. Conservatives are hoping that Giuliani is playing a clever semantic game to woo the blue-state moderates but reassure the social conservatives that he will abide by some pro-life parameters in his treatment of abortion legislation and selection of Supreme Court judges.
The question that we must ask ourselves is this: Are we falling prey to the same wishful thinking with Giuliani as we did with Bush, hoping that the ambiguities of what is promised will fall on our side of the fence?
That's LA as in Louisiana... who the heck did you think I was talking about?
Yesterday, Bobby Jindal, born in 1971 in Baton Rouge, LA, to Indian immigrants, was elected to the governorship of the state of Louisiana.
Whereas Al Gore is the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 2007;
Whereas Al Gore has done little in the way of making the world more peaceful for mankind;
Whereas previous winners have included former President Jimmy Carter and Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat;
Whereas these two individuals have (and had, in regard to the late Mr. Arafat) undermined the peace of Israelis and Americans in the middle East;
Whereas many individuals and groups have taken sacrificial stands on the behalf of peace and democracy (with examples provided here);
Whereas these individuals and groups were ignored by the Norwegian Nobel Committee;
I propose the establishment of a Webloggers Peace Award. Nominees would be selected by webloggers who contribute a minimum amount (say $100) toward the prize's award bankroll and from the list of nominees, the group of webloggers would select it's final winner.
What say ye?
Reviews of Fred's debate performance last night are mixed. Some folks were disappointed by what they label his "senior moment", that is, on one of his first questions, he paused for a few seconds while searching for an answer. Personally, if we're going to point out senior moments, we might as well talk about McCain's constant straining to hear Ms. Bartiromo's questions, too.
I thought Fred did wonderful. He answered questions directly by actually answering the questions. And he didn't do the repeat the question at the beginning of your answer thing. That's what Miss America contestants do, but not particularly endearing to my presidential candidates.
I also think that he handled Chris Matthews pretty well, too. Chris tried a gotcha question on Thompson (Who is the prime minister of Canada?) was quickly and correctly answered. Sorry! No, George Bush deer in the headlights look here!
Lastly, if I were advising Thompson, I would have encouraged him to do well, but save the fireworks for the primetime debate. I think he wisely did this.
Go Fred!
Excellent work, Wayne and Kelley!
"you drive me to drinkin'" by Wayne Irby
(You may have to type Mississippi Disclaimers into search button. Myspace doesn't allow direct links, unfortunately...)
UPDATE:Links are FIXED!!
...And that problem is called "making interesting movies that I (and a lot of people) actually want to watch". I mean, what's the deal? Is it that hard to find an original idea or storyline? Also, what's up with all the Saw spinoffs and knockoffs? Blech.
Consider, for Exhibit A, the movies coming to DVD in October (from Movies.com):
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Oct. 2
Civic Duty
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Jindabyne
Oct. 9
28 Weeks Later
Evan Almighty
Reign Over Me
Rise: Blood Hunter
Surf's Up
You Kill Me
Oct. 16
Crazy Love
The Hoax
The Invisible
A Mighty Heart
The Reaping
ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway
Transformers
Oct. 23
Fido
Hostel: Part II
Into Great Silence
Meet the Robinsons
Mr. Brooks
The Tripper
Oct. 30
Captivity
Day Watch
El Cantante
Journey From the Fall
No End in Sight
Spider-Man 3
Talk to Me
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Okay, two, maybe three movies I'll consider watching... Evan Almighty, Transformers, and Spiderman 3 and actually 2 out of these 3 movies got pretty rough reviews.
Do things improve in November? Let's see Exhibit B of movies coming to DVD:
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Nov. 6
Deck the Halls
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Ratatouille
Sicko
Nov. 13
Amazing Grace
La Vie En Rose
Paris, Je T'Aime
Shrek the Third
Nov. 20
Colma: The Musical
Hairspray
Live Free or Die Hard
Rescue Dawn
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Nov. 27
Bratz: The Movie
First Snow
I Know Who Killed Me
Innocent Voices
The Namesake
Skinwalkers
Vitus
Waitress
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Out of this list, I may see Ratatouille (Pixar) and Amazing Grace.
So, what's the problem with Hollywood? Some thoughts and suggestions:
* No more sequels to Saw, Hostel, or The Hills Have Eyes. Do we need to continuously probe the depths of depraved torture any further?
* Consider the value of sexual tension between the movie's protagonist and his/her love interest. Having them jump in the sack in the first 15 minutes (or anytime) in a movie is a mistake because then the viewer is left wondering "so where the heck does this relationship go from here?"
* Cast Steve Martin in a comedy where he is the star and has intelligent writing. Same thing goes for Jim Carrey. Eddie Murphy needs to stay away from anymore Nutty Professor/Norbit sequels. It just ain't funny anymore.
* Do not cast Harrison Ford in any role in which he does not possess either a gun, bullwhip, fedora, Millenium Falcon, or a combination of all four.
* This is a really whacky idea: why not have an action movie in which terrorists are of middle-eastern descent and America is the good guy. I know, I know. Crazy.
My lovely bride of these past 10 years bought me an Ipod Shuffle for my 32nd birthday last week. (By the way, note that 32 is 23 backwards. Also, my birthday is 9/12/75. Broken down, that is 3*3/3*2*2/(2+3)* (3*(2+3)). Creepy, huh?) Where were we? Oh yes, the Ipod. Well, the Ipod rocks, and I've already started compiling songs.
Here are my five favorites as of now:
5. "Southern Anthem" ~Iron & Wine
4. "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" ~Postal Service
3. "A Movie Script Ending" ~Death Cab for Cutie
2. "The Man of Metropolis Steals our Hearts" ~Sufjan Stevens
1. "Star Witness" ~Neko Case
And, what is even cooler, is that if you click on the links above, it will take you to each artist's page at Download.com, where you can download these MP3's for free.
I'd love to hear your recommendations for your own slammin' tracks! Go ahead, pour some sugar on me!
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