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Website of the Week
Another great movie from the BBC.
Local Pump Price of Unleaded Gasoline:
$3.89/gallon
Price Per Barrel of Oil:
$136.04 (previously $125.96)
last modified Jul 8, 2008 at 22:33
This is a really sad day for many people who loved Tony and his faith, his optimism, his honesty, his presence. However, I have no doubt, that as a man who loved the Lord, that this is a really, really good day for Tony.
Rest in Peace.
For those who are gluttons for listening punishment, here is my official myspace musician page.
Spotted this sign east of Brandon just off of I-20. On the first pass, I thought surely I had misread it, but when I came back to it, my suspicions were, unfortunately, verified.
R, our oldest daughter, wishes to be a cartoonist. Let me clarify a bit: she does not wish to be a cartoonist when she grows up; no, she wants to be one now. I think this strip entitled 'Oriantal' is hilarious and shows, if I say so myself, a flash of brilliance...
I took this picture the other day of our youngest trying to get her mother's attention. It's a true microcosm of daily life at our house... 
Help me identify this bug. It looks like something in the dragonfly family but I haven't found anything to confirm this. Any ideas?
Side profile:
There is always an exceptional occasion for every occasional exception.
Thanks to my generous neighbor (and my gracious wife) I got the chance to go see B.B. King perform twice in Indianola: briefly in the park and for about three hours at Club Ebony. Here's a few pics that I took of the legend:
Click here for the rest of blog entry...
I took this picture in south Greenwood. Juanita's Beauty Salon/Bail Bonding/Bridal Boutique. Some people will do anything for alliteration.
Speaking of Rush, this is from a note that I sent him about this subject in early May. I think we are seeing the tip of this right now, so I think it's appropriate.
____________
Rush, The conventional wisdom is that oil exploration is a long-term answer, but we won't see many benefits until it's brought out of the ground (or ocean). If we move forward with drilling in ANWR, the Gulf of Mexico, and other oil-rich reserves, I think that we would see results a lot sooner. Why? The price of oil is predicated on many things and most people think of existing supply, however, a part of the price is based on the availability of the future supply of oil. Let's think through this scenario. Suppose we move forward with drilling in ANWR and the Gulf. OPEC now knows that eventually, supply will go up and the price will go down. OPEC and other oil suppliers will want to maximize their profits before price comes down, so they increase their production in anticipation of increased supply (and lower prices) in the future. As a consequence, supply goes up in the short-term and prices come down sooner rather than later. We have nothing to lose by proceeding with our own domestic drilling and everything to gain, both now and long-term.
And, I don't think anyone can reasonably object, but Rush Limbaugh is the de facto leader of American Conservatism.
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...
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