Happy 2009.

And why is it so happy? It's that much closer to November 2012.

Always look on the bright side, I say.

Calling Rolfe McCollister...

Here's a potential new hire that would most certianlly spice up the 'ol Business Report. And, she's here in Baton Rouge!

As an architect, I really like think this site Colleen runs. Not as interesting to the wife as her other editing efforts, though...

You Can Find Anything On The Internet.

Proof.

Blame Hattip: Baton Rouge is the New Brooklyn via (who else) Billy Ockham.

An Inconvenient Investment.

The Church of England's new financial advisor? Al Gore.

I guess they want their accounts to grow at the same rates as their attendance.

Red Stick Rant? We Thought You Were Dead.

Well, like Snake Plissken of Escape From New York fame, I'm not.

I decided to take a few days off, ignore the world, and spend time with the family doing, well, nothing much. Had a great Christmas with my folks, and a couple days later with my wife's family. In the interim I have been puttering about house, watching some DVD's (Lordy, I LOVE Blu-Ray), getting up way late, and staying up way late playing video games with the kids. Plus, in eight days I'll be 50. So I am trying to make the best of the last few days before, according top my daughter, I become "REALLY OLD!"

WARNING: Those who know my true identity and attempt to send me a box of these on 7 January, know that I got one of these on 22 December and have been spending a lot of my off time practicing with it. You know how grumpy old people get...

Speaking Truth To Newsweek, Or, Whatever Happened To "Separation Of Church And State?"

The Washington Post (yes, really) has this take down of this recent Newsweek cover story pushing the secular pop theology of +Kate Schori and the The Episcopal Church (tm). It wasn't really hard:

In truth, of course, Meacham and Miller actually know what everyone else knows: The Bible offers no support for homosexual marriage. Christianity teaches love, mercy, and forgiveness for those who do bad things, true enough. Look, for example, at the story in the Gospel of John where Jesus offers his divine love, mercy, and forgiveness to a woman guilty of adultery. He shamed those who would stone her. He taught us all that we are sinners and often hypocrites. And then he told her, "Go and sin no more." He did not reinterpret the Old Testament to proclaim adultery another life-style choice.

Read it all.

Why is it that those who most loudly scream "separation!" when Faith intrudes on society, are the same ones most loudly screaming "inclusion!" when society intrudes on Faith?

A Seasonal Illustration of "Living In Tension."

See - naughty, AND nice:



(Image shamelessly ripped off from Theo.)

The Messiah Is Not A Crook.

Think of all the national nightmarish years we could have avoided back in the 1970's if Richard Nixon had only done something like this:

Obama team probe of Obama team finds no Obama team impropriety.

And the Mainstream Media's reaction to this self-exculpation? Well, it ain't exactly Woodward and Bernstein. Notice how this Reuters report tries to imply in the lede that was the Federal prosecutors who cleared Obama by making no mention of who authored the "internal report":

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama and a top aide have been interviewed by prosecutors investigating Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but an internal report released on Tuesday cleared them of any wrongdoing.

And only a passing reference to "incoming White House attorney Greg Craig" later in the piece. You have to read the Reuters article carefully to determine who issued the report clearing Team Obama, because nowhere does it state directly that it was authored by Team Obama.

I strongly suspect we have four more years of this kind of thing ahead of us.

Remember This Day, Dear Readers...

...'Cause I don't think I'll ever say this again. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is right:

The mayor said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is supposed to reimburse the city for the cost of returning public facilities to their pre-disaster level of operation, has provided less than half of what the city thinks is due for work on the city-owned theater.

Such underpayment for recovery projects, which has fueled ire between city and federal officials for more than three years, remains rampant, and the federal agency doesn't seem to care, Nagin said.

"I had FEMA in my office yesterday and almost, kind of, threw them out," the mayor said. "They're just not aggressively helping us."

A FEMA official who attended that meeting, however, told a different story.

As one who has personally sat through more than a few FEMA meetings, I believe Nagin's version. When Ray Nagin and his operation are more credible, reliable, effective than you are, I'd say you have a problem. A big one.

1.5 More Shopping Days Left Distraction.

Yep.

Laurinda Is Running!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2008
CONTACT:
Bob Munson
225-921-9739


Calongne Announces Candidacy For State Senate

BATON ROUGE - Laurinda Calongne today announced her intention to run for the State Senate in District 16.

Calongne will hold a formal announcement January 18, 2009.

“After a great deal of thought and consideration, and the support of countless friends and supporters, I’m excited to announce my candidacy for the State Senate,” said Calongne. “I’m a businesswoman. I see challenges and I respond to them practically and effectively. We have serious challenges ahead. The economy, healthcare and education are three of the biggest. Those happen to be my areas of expertise and I believe I can help our community and our State create practical and effective solutions to these challenges.”

Calongne, a Republican, is the founder and CEO of Robert Rose Consulting in Baton Rouge. The firm has received national recognition for its work in health care, education and business.

Before starting her company, Calongne served on the Council on Graduate Medical Education in the Administration of President George W. Bush. She represented all teaching hospitals in the United States to the Presidential Council and to the United States Congress. In 2002, Governor Mike Foster appointed Calongne to the Louisiana Health Works Commission where she helped identify sources of funding for Healthcare in Louisiana.

In addition to her business accomplishments, Calongne has had over ten years of clinical and management

experience in the healthcare industry, and held an adjunct faculty position at Louisiana State University for five years.

“My experience speaks for itself,” said Calongne. “But I know that politics takes more than just a resume. I’ve got to let the voters know who I am as a real person – a wife, a mom, a businesswoman. Voting for someone takes trust. My job as a candidate is to earn that trust.”

Calongne said she is in the process of putting together her campaign team and a formal announcement will be held January 18 of next year.

Um, OK...

This weekend I got Tagged - not once, but twice - and I'm told I have to reply or body parts start to shrivel and fall off or something. (As a cradle Episcopalian male I can't afford even the slightest, um, well...) So here goes:

The rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. Check.
2. Post the rules on your blog. Here they are. Check.
3. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. Check - see below.
4. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. Check.
5. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. Check.
6. Write six random things about yourself:

1. My iTunes purchases in the last week: Handel's 'Messiah' (London Philharmonic and Choir), and 'Do You Remember Rock N' Roll Radio?' (The Ramones).

2. My wife looks remarkably like my favorite 'Dr. Who' femme.

3. I cried when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004.

4. In the great 7.62mm vs. 5.56mm debate, I'm decidedly in the 7.62mm camp.

5. I think Frank Gehry is overrated.

6. I've eaten, and enjoyed, antelope, ostrich, turtle, emu, bison, rattlesnake, and alligator.

And the RSR victims Tagged are: Matthew, Perpetua, Underground Pewster, CMR, Baby Blue, Ontario Emperor.

'Anonymous' Proves My Point.

Last week, I put up this open letter to Bishop Charles Robinson, in response to his comments about the disputes in The Episcopal Church(tm). My post was not hostile, shrill or impolite, nor did it engage in invective or ad homonym attacks. My questions were specific. I was, if you will, "inviting him into a deeper conversation." (Did I actually expect him to answer? Well no, not really. I'm a nobody to him; I just wanted my two cents in this "dialogue.")

But one "Anonymous," who apparently hails from New Orleans (one can learn all sorts of things from an IP address... - ed.) thought it necessary to post a comment. And suffice it so say that "Anonymous" doesn't seem to do that "living in tension" thing at all well:

Yes, of COURSE there's room Mr. Ranting idiot, BUT not much for the intolerant like yourself. You seem stuck in the Dark Ages with your questions. Grow up and into the 21st Century.....I double-dog dare you. I not only think Robertson's statement was elegant, I'm quite sure he was doing his job. The Episcopal Church - and many others for that matter reflect the greater society on this earth which is changing. This church is progressive, yet in a conservative way, I LOVE it. Good luck getting any comments on "your side" of narrowmindedness....

Thank you, "Anonymous," for that reasoned, learned, and loving example of Episcopal tolerance. I should want to stay in communion because...?

In Teh Beginnin...

Proof that there are people out there with way, way too much time on their hands: the LOLcat Bible Project. To wit:

GENSIS 1
Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs

1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.

2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.

3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1

For those unfamiliar, 'LOLcat' is an Internet phenomenon where a picture, usually of a cat, is paired with a sentence or two in a barely comprehensable lingo (for us old farts, anyway - ed.) combining 'texting' shorthand and urban slang. (More here.)

The Episcopal Church (tm) has something similar. It's the combination of left-wing secular theology and post-modernist slang into a barely comprehensible lingo called 'LOLkate'. Here's a recent example.

The Messiah And The Martyr. (UPDATED)

Barack Obama has picked Rick Warren, the evangelical preacher who supported California's Prop 8 to ban gay marriage, to give the invocation at his Inauguration.

I'll wager somebody in New Hampshire has his mitre in a knot.

UPDATE 22DEC08: Seems I was right:

Bishop Robinson had been an early public endorser of Mr. Obama’s candidacy, and said he had helped serve as a liaison between the campaign and the gay community. He said he had called officials who work for Mr. Obama to share his dismay, and been told that Mr. Obama was trying to reach out to conservatives and give everybody a seat at the table.

“I’m all for Rick Warren being at the table,” Bishop Robinson said, “but we’re not talking about a discussion, we’re talking about putting someone up front and center at what will be the most watched inauguration in history, and asking his blessing on the nation. And the God that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.”

In other words, Rick can sit at the table; just STFU. As a personal aside, Bishop, I do not mind you being at the table, either. But we're not talking about a discussion, we're talking about someone (you) front and center demanding I must endorse a lifestyle contrary to Scripture. And the God you are praying to is not the God I know.

People Unclear On The Innovation.

Some of the disaffected one-half of one percent of The Episcopal Church (tm) - you know, the ignorant clods who cling to bigotry and hate and don't read The New York Times - sent in some letters which Episcopal Life Online printed. For comedy relief, no doubt. First up, one Janine Taylor Bryant of Oklahoma City wants to turn back the clock to the first century:

'DESIGNER CHURCH'
With all the letters on Father [John] Butcher's "speed bump" issue on the creed, here be another.

We are no longer a liturgical church -- we are a designer church. We are a salad-bar church, a build-your-own blend of hymnody, prayer sources and unraveling liturgical core.

That is a recipe for disaster. It was for the followers of Arius, and it will prove to be for us. Even John Wesley, who never intended a Methodist Church, had one start under his ministry, and he insisted on a liturgical rule based on the BCP of his day. The worship tradition of that church (in which I grew up) is a factor that drove me away. I found solidity in the Episcopal Church instead of goofy innovation and very poor liturgics.

That is the future of the Episcopal Church if we don't get back to our roots, and the Nicene Creed is intrinsic to those roots.

And right after that judgmental side-splitter, one John H. Campbell, of Pittsburgh (so we strongly suspect he is currently in a cult), completely misses the point of The Episcopal Church (tm). He thinks it has to do with some kind of salvation:

CREEDS OKAY
In his August 1 letter "Creeds are lacking," the Rev. John Beverly Butcher uses the fact that "… the creeds speak of the birth of Jesus and then of his death. There is no mention of the life ... teachings ... the healing power of Jesus" in order to make his point, "The heart of the gospel is missing."

Conversely, I always have used this same observation -- that the life and works of Jesus are summed up by a comma in the creeds -- specifically to illustrate that Christ's atoning death and his birth (without which there could be no death) are precisely the heart of the gospel. Teachings and healings or not, we are all deserving of hell, and it is only through Christ's death and resurrection that we are saved. I see no defect in the creeds as written.

If these people were smart enough to subscribe to the House of Bishops/Deputies Listserv, they'd learn that the Creeds are sooo yesterday. I mean, they never mention the Baptismal Covenant once!

Bobby Jindal On Why He Is Not An Episcopalian.

From a this Newsweek article about our Governor, his Faith, and his "100 percent" opposition to abortion":

"If I wanted the aesthetics without the inconvenient morality," he wrote in 1998, "I could become Episcopalian."

Ouch.

Hattip: +Jerry.

Fun with Google, Or, This Has Gotta Piss Off Somebody At FEMA.

Google "things to know when dealing with FEMA", and this humble blog comes in at... Number Five!

From this blogger's experience the main thing to know when dealing with FEMA is this: FEMA is so divorced from reality that reality went into hiding and took out a restraining order. Plan accordingly.

On The Road Again....

Been out of town at site meetings today. More bloggy goodness after dinner.

Where I'll Be Tonight At 8:00PM (7:00PM Central).

Watching BBC America, of course:



If you're not a Top Gear regular, something is seriously wrong with you.

Theo Spark links to some great Top Gear bloopers. Watch 'em all.

What Hollywood Won't Tell You About Actor Gary Sinise.

But you should know.

I Need A Bailout.

In eager anticipation of that multi-million dollar bailout I asked for, we've put a DONATE button on the sidebar so Congress can send along the cash with a minimum of fuss. But if you, dear readers, also feel moved to send wads of cash in appreciation, well, who are we to turn it down? We don't want to be impolite.

And so you don't feel like you are completely wasting your hard-earned jack on us, note that we will give 25% of all donations to Saint Luke's, Baton Rouge, Honduras Mission Fund, and 25% to our friend Doug Ritter's Equipped to Survive Foundation, Inc.

UPDATE 14DEC08: It doesn't have to be wads of cash, dear readers; small amounts are equally appreciated.

An Open Letter To The Rev. Charles Robertson.

Dear Rev. Robertson:

In this recent Richmond Times-Dispatch article, you said, "there is room within The Episcopal Church for people with different views and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ."

Therefore, sir, I ask you the following concerning that diversity:

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that Scripture is the revealed Word of God and that we should live according to His Word?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that Jesus Christ willingly suffered and died for our sins, and was actually raised from the dead?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that the Creeds are still a sufficient and relevant statement of Faith, to be thoroughly believed, and to deny them is to deny the Faith?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that The Great Commission calls us to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to others, and we should not be ashamed or hesitant to share it with them?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is the property of those who have accepted Christ, and none other?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that John Spong's writings are heretical, nihilistic pop-theology?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that the Millennium Development Goals are a trendy, feel-good distraction, and have no bearing on our Faith?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that homosexual practice, and heterosexual practice outside of marriage, are incompatible with Scripture and therefore a sin?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that lifestyles incompatible with Scripture and sinful make one ineligible for ordination?

Is there room in The Episcopal Church for someone who believes that the ordination of women is an innovation at odds with Church tradition?

Your prompt and unequivocating answers would be greatly appreciated.

Hattip: Christopher Johnson at The Midwest Conservative Journal.

Meanwhile, Over At Theo's...

...Some wonderful posts:

The answer, with photographic proof, to an age old question.

A product of the Massachusetts criminal justice system gets a taste of his own medicine.

A Canadian car chase.

If you, my dear male readers, are not stopping by Last Of The Few every day, then your life is just not complete.

Fun With Google, Or, This Has Gotta Piss Off Somebody At 815 Second Avenue.

Type in "episcopal church welcomes you" into Google, dear readers, and lo! Number four on the results list is this post I did back in December 2007, which highlights a dandy example of that 'Piskie new thing idea of "radical welcome." RSR is even listed higher in the results than the Diocese of Olympia's website.

People Fear What They Do Not Know...

...And are prone to paranoid, ignorant, and idiotic overreactions because of it. A classic example from Atlanta:

NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. -- The latest case of zero-tolerance at the public schools has a 10-year-old student sadder and wiser, and facing expulsion and long-term juvenile detention. And it has his mother worried that his punishment has already been harsher than the offense demands.

"I think I shouldn't have brought a gun to school in the first place," said the student, Alandis Ford, sitting at home Thursday night with his mother, Tosha Ford, at his side.

Alandis' gun was a "cap gun," a toy cowboy six-shooter that his mother bought for him.

"We got it from Wal-Mart for $5.96," Tosha Ford said, "in the toy section right next to the cowboy hats. That's what he wanted because it was just like the ones he was studying for the Civil War" in his fifth-grade class at Fairview Elementary School.

"It kind of reminded me of the [soldiers'] guns that I was studying," Alandis said, "because I had brought pictures home of the gun and stuff, and that gun that I had reminded me of the revolver" depicted in his textbook.

Tosha said that Wednesday afternoon, after school, "six police officers actually rushed into the door" of their home. "He [Alandis] opened the door because they're police. And then they just kind of pushed him out of the way, and asked him, 'Well where's the gun, where's the real gun?' And they called him a liar... they booked him, and they fingerprinted him."

(Emphasis added.)

My children have been around firearms all their life, and they've known how to shoot since they were each about 8. They respect "guns;" they don't live in fear of them. While my teen-aged daughter is not particularly interested in shooting sports, she does know the bloody difference between a cap gun and a real revolver. If the Newton County Sheriff's Office or the Newton County School System will drop me an e-mail - I'm sure she'd be willing to give you some pointers. (She needs the community service hours.)

The final line of the article says it all:

Innocence of child's play now lost, she says, no matter what the outcome of the case is.

Indeed.

Hattip: Liberty Girl.

Ski Baton Rouge!

It is snowing here in Baton Rouge this morning. In early December. Not a few flakes in the air, but about an inch accumulation at Villa Red Stick, and it's still coming down hard. Will upload some images later.

You were saying, Mr. Gore??

And yes - I intend to ski Independence Park today.

UPDATE: Wasn't kidding, people:

A friend commented that this week Chicago got our corruption and Baton Rouge got their weather. It's a fair trade.

UPDATE: 2-4 inches on the ground at Villa Red Stick. Lost power about 8:30, but our office still has it so we decamped there as it's right next to Independence Park. Off to ski!

UPDATE: Independence Park. Owned!

Big Brother Never Illsoc Inner Party Meeting. Malreported. Goldstien Oldthinkers Thoughtcrime. Minitrue Recdep Unquotes.

When is 1984 not like 1984? When it's like 2008! Read it all smell and the "Victory Coffee," Comrades!

This is the change we've been waiting for??

Blog Of The Day.

Via Murdoc at GunPundit - Gordon Hutchinson, co-author of The Great New Orleans Gun Grab, has a new blog: The Shootist.

Stop by and look around. If you haven't read The Great New Orleans Gun Grab, I recommend you do. Because this happened here. In America. In 2005.

Thank You, God, For Illinois. (UPDATED)

Because now Louisiana doesn't look so bad.

Plus, Huey Long, Earl Long, and Edwin Edwards had style.

UPDATE: More interesting details over at The Volokh Conspiracy - here, and here. Notice that the President-elect and his cronies gets a mention or three. (I'm shocked! Shocked!)

UPDATE: In a related story, Iowahawk has uncovered some pretty damning evidence against the Illinois governor's attempt to "sell" Obama's vacant Senate seat.

Built Bailout Tough.

This says it all:


Send to your Congressman and Senator.

Via Stephen Green at Vodkapundit.

"Oh My Eyes! My Eyes!!"

Matthew has found this classic example of popular music from - wretch! - the 70's, and I challenge you, dear readers, to watch it in it's entirety without chewing off your own leg, or your head imploding. Putting sharp objects out of easy reach might also be advisable:



I'm surprised Robert Heinlein didn't sue the sequins off these folks, 'cause in this video it looks like the Bugs won.

The Best Jeremy Clarkson Car Test Video. Ever.

Also via Theo Spark. Watch it all. One part Blues Brothers, one part Saving Private Ryan:



If American car makers would do this sort of thing on occasion, I don't think they would be in their current condition. Even your humble blogger would want a Ford Fiesta.

30 Seconds Over A Deprived Childhood.

Back when I was a kid in the 60's, my dad had the opportunity to purchase two B-25 Mitchell bombers and several extra engines that had been abandoned at an airfield in Picayune, Mississippi. $2,500, and they were his. $2,500. But my mom said no. (Actually, I think she said my dad was bloody insane.) So we never got to do, this.

Hattip: Theo Spark.

Um, A Question...

We've been told that the Detroit automakers deserve a bailout from you and me because the high price of oil caught them with all these gas-guzzling pickups and SUV's that nobody wanted.

OK...

But gas prices are now at a five year low - and looking like they'll fall further - so why does Detroit still need a bailout?

Just asking.

UPDATE: With gas so low, I'm now looking at getting either this, or this, when I get a new car next year. Think if it as doing my part for the American economy. Besides, I want to make sure that if I get into a collision with some socially-responsible Lefty in a Toyota Prius... I won't even feel it.

Save Money. Live Better. Respond Faster.

If you need help after a disaster who should you call - FEMA, or Wal-Mart? If you said Wal-Mart, you'd be on the road to recovery.

Yet another reason to scrap the Federal Eternal Misery Agency.

The Whatever Creed.

As my Anglican/Episcopal readers know, The Episcopal Church (tm) has it's big General Convention coming up this summer in Anaheim, California, and the leadership of the church is pushing for big changes to make the church more "inclusive and relevant." From a reliable source, here is their proposed re-write of the Apostle's Creed:

More Trust From Smokey The Bear.

Seems like good news - the Department of the Interior appears to be changing it's policy, and will allow people with Concealed Carry Permits to exercise that right in National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. But only if the Park or Refuge is located in a state with CCW, and your permit is recognized by that state. There are other restrictions, so read the full regulation and discussion.

My only recommendation is they should keep the ban in place for NFL players....

Hattip: Volokh Conspiracy.

Friday Afternoon Distraction II.

"Plaxico Burress" On Gun Safety:



Perhaps they should mandate Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Programs at all NFL training camps...

Hattip: LGF.

Friday Afternoon Distraction.

If George Frideric Handel had been a state employee:

Charles Jenkins To Retire.

Bishop Charles Jenkins, the 10th Bishop of Louisiana, has announced his retirement effective December 31, 2009.

The Bottom Line, Indeed.

Read this. Read it all.

This is why terrorism, and the cult of death that it grows from, must be called for what it truly is and must be destroyed. Before it destroys us.

(Christopher, one of the best things you have ever written. - ed.)

The Democrat Economic Policy, Explained.

Fred Thompson makes it understandable, so take a few minutes to watch it all:



Why he got out of the presidential race last year is beyond me. He's only man who could have beaten Obama.

Agent Smith Goes To Washington.

Senator Harry Reid (D-The Matrix), a leader of the (so-called) party of the people, is relieved he doesn't have to actually, well, smell those people anymore:

"My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway," said Reid in his remarks. "In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."

But it's no longer going to be true, noted Reid, thanks to the air conditioned, indoor space.

But even with the air conditioning, Senator, remember the people can still smell you.

Note: for those who don't catch the 'Agent Smith' / 'Matrix' reference, (or didn't watch all of the YouTube clip), it's this:

Agent Smith: "I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I've somehow been infected by it."

Three Points For The Collective Ownership Of The Means Of Production By The Proletariat!

Lenin gets his game on:


Image by gandhiji40.

Tip of the hat to our Blog Of The Day, Village Of Joy.

Tuesday Morning Distraction.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Watch it all here, or download from iTunes. It's from the people who brought you Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so you know it's gonna be good.

Hattip: Eclectic Amateur, via The Midwest Conservative Journal.

Only Narow-Minded Veggiephobes Will See This As A Problem, Vicar...

A vicar in Sheffield, England, gets in touch with his inner Lambeth to explain away a very, um... difficult turn of events:

A vicar attended hospital with a potato stuck up his bottom - and claimed it got there after he fell on to the vegetable while naked.

While hanging curtains. In his kitchen. Riiiight. (Me, I typically hang the curtains before I go clothing-optional; but that's just me.)

Notice, too, that the attending nurse plays her part by dishing up some Spongian moral relativism:

"But it's not for me to question his story..."

Don't worry, sister - some basic physics can do that. I'm not sure which one's worse here - the act that got him into that predicament, or his lame attempt at an explanation.

Hattip: The Fail Blog.

Monday Afternoon Distraction.

Check how good you are with the old Mk. 1 eyeball.

Now you can see why circular rifle scopes are naturally better than square ones for target aquisition.

Monday Morning Distraction, Or Risque Business.

I'm sorry, but I just had to; Risky Business is one of my favorite movies from my favorite decade. A Guitar Hero commercial with Heidi Klum reprising of one of the movie's iconic scenes:



Because we at RSR strive to keep our readers fully informed (in this case particularly our male readers), here is their other version. (Mildly NSFW) For comparison purposes only.

You get one guess which one has been viewed more times.

Your Weekend Distraction.

Comedian Ron White says you "can't fix stupid." True enough. But, you can catalogue it for our amusement: The FAILblog. Enjoy.

They Call Him 'Endive Salad', Or A Belgian Walks Into A Bar...

...and learns the power of the Internet:

Current Belgian Minister of Defense Pieter De Crem apparently stumbled into a Belgian bar in New York City on Monday evening with his entourage. Following his visit, bartender Nathalie Lubbe Bakker blogged about their visit (in Dutch), talking about how disgusted she was of how drunk De Crem was and how embarrassed she was about his behavior. Worst part, she wrote, was the fact that one of the politician’s advisers admitted to her that the meetings they were there for on taxpayer’s money were in fact canceled because the UN was meeting in Geneva (which is about 330 miles from Brussels). He reportedly told her they had decided to come to NY anyway despite being aware of the cancellation because the political situation here was ‘calm’ and that he’d ‘never visited the city anyway’.

Bakker's blog post was apparently noticed in back in Belgum, and the good Minister had some 'splaining to do when he got home - which he was not at all happy about. (It appears he had the blogger sacked from her bar job in New York.)

It seems the Minister De Crem has not denied the event happened, or that his office called the bar's owner after the blog post got some attention. (As an aside, getting drunk in a bar in New York can be a career enhancer if you tell it right.)

The story here, though, is not a drunk Belgian. Or that politicians are pretty much scum the world over. The story here is that today anyone, with a keyboard and an Internet connection, can hold those in power accountable in ways that before were unthinkable. And those in power realize it. But instead of seeing this as an advance of participatory democracy, many politicians see it as something they cannot control and therefore a threat. Minister Pieter De Crem's reaction is fairly typical:

"I want to take this opportunity and use this non-event to signal a dangerous phenomenon in our society. We live in a time where everybody is free to publish whatever he or she wants on blogs at will without taking any responsibility. This exceeds mud-slinging. Together with you, other Parliament members and the government I find that it’s nearly impossible to defend yourself against this. Everyone of you is a potential victim. I would like to ask you to take a moment and think about this."

Yes, Minister De Crem, freedom of speech is a "dangerous phenomenon in our society." It's supposed to be. It's there to keep folks like you scared straight, and always mindful of just who the hell you work for.

Hattip: Instapundit.

A Post-Tryptophan Distraction.

My daughter says this is me. It's a fair cop. Though, in my defense this was my favorite TV theme song (mostly because of these folks work).

The Civics Quiz.

Since this is a pretty political blog, here is a test to see what you really know about our government versus what your think you know. You may be surprised.

And your humble blogger? 31 out of 33 correct (94%).

Hattip: View From The Porch.

The Check Is In The Mail. Promise.

FEMA says they will provide more help to local governments to pay for debris cleanup from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. If their past efforts are any indication, my guess is the local folks will see the cash in about 2018, after FEMA spends a few million coming up with a definition for what exactly constitutes debris.

FEMA. Not something to be thankful for.

Hattip: Dead Pelican.

Don't Forget...

...why this is the greatest country in the world, and why we should be thankful for it:



Watch it all. Though, if you voted for Barack Obama you'll likely find this Thanksgiving prayer more to your liking. (WARNING: harsh language is used.)

UPDATE: Jules Crittenden offers up a Thanksgiving history and morality lesson well worth reading.

Monday Afternoon Wicked Cool.

Tens of millions of dollars could not solve what one man's desire for a cup of Joe could - a useable drinking cup in space:

NASA astronaut Don Pettit loves his coffee. So it comes as no surprise that he found a way to drink coffee from a cup, instead of the traditional straw, on his day off Sunday aboard the International Space Station.

Drinking any liquid in the weightless environment of space could be a messy affair. With hot coffee, it could be a potentially scalding affair. So astronauts use silver pouches and plastic straws to sip anything from water to orange juice to Pettit's beloved space java.

OK, an acute understanding of zero-gravity fluid dynamics helped. Here's a video:

A Link? Who Knew?

Murdoc examines a map of current gasoline prices and a map of gasoline taxes by state, and finds something stunning - areas with lower gas taxes tend to have lower per gallon prices.

Why can't Congress, State Legislatures, and the Blue Media figure out this kind of thing?

Well, At Least We're Tops In Something. (Updated)

Four Louisiana cities considered some of the most dangerous in America.

And New Orleans is, of course, Number One, due to "semi-organized, drug-dealing kids with low moral IQs and guns." Well, Duh. And instead of obsessing about guns in this equation, what about putting some emphasis on raising moral IQs??

UPDATE 26NOV08: A friend suggested a quick way for New Orleans to put a dent in it's crime rate - convince Rep. William Jefferson to move. Good point. I'm sure they have some real estate available here)

And Now, An Amazing Musical Interlude.

Hattip: Theo Spark.

Dogs And Cats, Living Together; Or, Another Sign Of The Apocalypse?

I am the first to admit that I am not a big football fan. But last night I had the oportunity to take my son down to New Orleans to see the Saints lose to the Green Bay Packers, and damn... a real football game broke out. And the Saints were in it. The Saints won (really) by a score of 51-29 (yes, really). Think about that - The New Orleans Saints scored 51 points - not in a season, or two seasons combined, but in a single game. The Saints played so well that even your humble blogger was cheering them on by the end of the third quarter.

I swear, as we were walking to the car we saw these four guys on horseback, checking their watches...

Monday Morning Distraction.

A bit of architectural weirdness: 50 Strange Buildings of the World.

As an architect, I can assure you that's just the tip of the weirdness iceberg. Trust me.

Hattip: Samizdata.

The Energizer Church.

THIS is how you make an Anglican church relevant in the community. Read it all.

I'm glad Father Jerry Kramer and his intrepid band are getting some recognition for their efforts, as it is justly deserved.

What? Did you expect these people would ever notice...

Your Weekend Graffiti.

From Argentina. This, is wicked cool:



Hattip: Charles Johnson at LGF.

Emily Litella Meets Global Warming.

"Um, never mind...".

An Episcopal Church (tm) Prophet Surfaces.

In Sweden:

“The orgasm is God, the orgasm should be worshiped,” Bebeacua told the Kvällsposten newspaper.

“The orgasm is the ultimate feeling of lust, it shouldn’t be limited to ejaculation. You can reach it through art or by looking at a landscape and thinking ‘Wow!’”

According to Bebeacua, the church has a few hundred followers, and he hopes that registering the Madonna of Orgasm Church will get more people to consider the orgasm as God.

The church only has priestesses and its scriptures are called the Catechism of the Orgasm. The only gospel peached is the gospel of sex.

Private prayer must take on a whole new dimension in that church, if you know what I mean. And what's this about "the church only has priestesses" - doesn't sound very inclusive now, does it?

Don't You People Have A Life?

Sometime this weekend this humble blog had it's 25,000th unique visitor since I started keeping stats. Don't know who is was exactly, (I'm too cheap to pay for advanced Sitemeter), but to each and every one of you who stops by - and especially to those who keep coming back - I thank you. (And his ego thanks you, too - ed.)

An Army Of Yats.

I think this is what Glenn Reynolds (a.k.a., Instapundit) had in mind when he penned An Army of Davids: A New Orleans blogger is able to provide what the New Orleans Police Department and lots of money apparently can not - useable, up-to-date crime maps. Like this.

If the City of New Orleans maintains similar stats at their homepage as the article above notes, they're not very easily found.

And Now For Something Completely...... Wonderful.

There is a God. Here's proof.

Hattip: Matthew at Billy Ockham.

Todays Required Viewing.

Questions asked of Obama voters. Watch it all:



This is not so much an indictment of these voters, but of the mainstream media that (very selectively) informed them and played to their biases.

For ALGAE.

High School Musical meets South Park:



Hattip: Ontario Emperor.

Obama's Economic Shot In The, Um... X-Ring.

There has been much talk about the surge in gun sales since Obama was elected (yet another story here), but to actually see it in person was quite another thing. Your humble blogger went to a gun show yesterday in Gonzales, Louisiana, and was amazed at the amount of people in attendance - especially on a Sunday morning in church-going Louisiana. It was the first time ever to stand in a long line to get into a gun show there, and I have never seen business so brisk. (I went to the show looking for this Springfield Armory .45, which there are usually 5-10 at most gun shows, but they were sold out.) Several exhibitors said that it was be busiest show in memory.

Obama would do well to not go after guns. Firstly, there is no crisis right now - the Assault Weapons Ban faded away four years ago with no negative effect - and second, agitating the pro-Second Amendment crowd hurt Clinton in 1994, Gore in 2000, and could split Obama's fragile coalition (more than a few Democrats are pro-gun). A savvy politician would ignore the urge to "do something," and make all of us recent buyers look like fools. But then again, when have you ever known a Lefty Democrat to resist the urge to "do something"?

FEMA Tries It's Hand At Comedy.

More like comedy of errors, but hey - that's FEMA.

It seems the Federal Eternal Misery Agency has spent a bunch of taxpayer dollars and rolled out a website to show how much they are doing for Katrina/Rita recovery. Two small problems - first, according to The New Orleans Times-Picayune it's not the most accurate site (the project I'm involved with is indeed not listed correctly); and second, the City of New Orleans already has a website doing much the same thing, but it appears more complete and accurate.

I mean, what does that say about your organization when Ray Nagin's city government is a more reliable information source??...

Send In The Clowns.

How bad is it on the NYSE these days? This bad. For a second there, I thought they'd asked Trinity Church, Wall Street, for a blessing.

Friday Afternoon Weird, Explained.

It seems one Jess Loquist got in touch with his inner Mulder recently, and claims to have seen a UFO here in Baton Rouge. The truth is indeed out there, Jess, but in this case it's not likely not little green men, but this:


A CH-47 Chinook. They fly over here quite often.

Hattip: The Dead Pelican.

The Second Amendment, Proper Use Of.

In New Orleans. The hero is not your stereotypical gun-owner:

Brian Berthiaume, a guitarist with the local band Bad Off, foiled a burglary at a home in lower Broadmoor and held the suspect at gunpoint until police arrived. He discovered the crime in progress while walking his dog Buckley.

Though, the alleged perp is pretty stereotypical:

...who police say had a bag of marijuana on him and was on probation for simple burglary...

Are You Now, Or Have You Ever Been, A Member Of The Mormon Religion?

Respect for diverse values and opinions? Nah. It's blacklist time:

The artistic director of the California Musical Theater, a major nonprofit producing company here in the state’s capital, resigned on Wednesday in the face of growing outrage over his support for a ballot measure this month that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.

Today's Required Reading.

Via Matthew, a French soldier's take on his American colleagues in Afghanistan. Read it all. And thank goodness for the 'Net, as you sure don't find things like that in our Blue Media.

All The Bias That Fits, We Print.

Remember that "Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country, not a continent" story that made the rounds a few days ago? Well, it turns out it was a lie. A purposely made up lie by some filmmakers:

MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday.

David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a Fox News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent.

Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax dreamed up by a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish, the New York Times reported Wednesday

The Blue Media, who has already deemed Gov. Palin little smarter than a caribou, ran with it because.....

Gaines told the Times that someone in the network's newsroom had presumed the information solid because it was passed along in an e-mail from a colleague.

It must be true because it was in an email??? Boy, THAT'S professional. Let's hope these morons don't know any "colleagues" in Nigeria needing to move some money...

Completely Unclear On The Concept.

Pirate survival rule number one: never open fire on someone way better armed than you. Like, say, the Royal Navy:

Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.

I hope more pirates make that mistake.

Yes, He Will Be My President, Too.

It’s been a week since we woke up to the results of the presidential election, and I have been letting the notion of a President Obama sink in for the past seven days before I commented. I know that there have been megabytes already posted by conservative/libertarian bloggers and pundits about what happened, why it happened, what will happen, and what we should do next. Here's the beginnings of my $0.02:

First, let’s face some facts.

Fact Number One - we lost. And quite honestly, we deserved to loose. We sent up the wrong people who tried to run on the wrong message. While honorable and selfless, John McCain is no Ronald Reagan or Newt Gingrich – and we needed both to win. Obama’s message was simply “Change.” As empty as that may turn out to be, it was powerful and positive. And our message was…. Anyone?… Anyone?… That’s right – it was basically, “not Obama.” We offered nothing really powerful or positive that folks could latch onto. And Americans love positive.

Fact Number Two – because we lost, Barack Obama will be our President. On 20 January he will be your President. He will be my President. We must be as gracious in defeat as we should be in victory - congratulate him on his win, recognize him as our leader, and pray he does well for our nation. It is the Office we respect. (If you have ever served in the military you understand what I am talking about. If you don’t, watch this.) When our country is threatened from abroad, we must practice what we preach (“Country First”) and be ready and willing to unite behind the President.

Fact Number Three – every leader needs a loyal opposition, and we need to be just that –as tenacious and as partisan as they will be, so must we be. We must define ourselves by a consistent message - one that is positive and unites people behind it - and we must find new leadership to carry this message. The GOP currently in Washington sold the Reagan Revolution for a pittance of perks and earmarks; they are our sorry past – not our future.

More on Fact Number Three, later. But for now, RSR extends it congratulations to Senator Obama and his family.

Rights Vs. Privileges. (UPDATED Again)

With all of the Prop 8 protests going on, the Anglican Curmudgeon lays out a very strong, rational argument against gay marriage that is worth your reading.

While I agree with Anglican Curmudgeon that marriage is a privilege, not a right, I also think that the promotion of monogamy has a direct positive benefit to society, just as the promotion of having both the father and the mother directly involved in raising of children as a direct societal benefit.

Speaking as matter of civil law (and not theology or Scripture) I think that an equally rational argument can be built for gay marriage based on the notion that the promotion of monogamy, and the limiting of sexual expression to it, has a direct positive benefit for society. I could be persuaded by such an argument, as could many, but I have not seen one from the pro-gay marriage side. Nor do I think they will make it, as I agree with Anglican Curmudgeon that there is a much larger agenda at work here and gay marriage is a menas - not an end.

And the other sticky point is, if you accept the notion that the society grant the privilege of unions between more than a man and a woman, then on what rational basis does one draw the line in limiting what unions will be recognized? Will multiple partners be allowed to marry? Immediate family members?

Having said all of that I still believe, Scripturally, that homosexual practice is a sin - just like heterosexual practice outside of marriage - and the Church should not be compelled to recognize it, solemnize it, or bless it just because society does. (But I also I think that a person should never be turned away from Christ or the Church because of their sexuality.)

UPDATE 12NOV08: As I said yesterday, the Prop 8 protests seem to have less to do with gays wanting into the mainstream (marriage) - and more to do with radicals finding an excuse to bash the mainstream. Coupling the gay marriage issue with violence isn't going to win anyone over (intimidate, yes; but not change minds), and gay Americans who truly want to be included in the mainstream of American society need to condemn these bigots before they end up controlling the debate.

UPDATE 13NOV08: Gay Patriot agrees that this kind of thing is little more than a juvenile temper tantrum (I'd call it a hate crime), and asks where are the grownups. Good point. Grownups understand that sometimes you loose, and grownups try to learn from that to win in the future. Again, the opponents are not winning any friends over to their side with this kind of thing.

Sidebar - Do you think this fellow will get at all upset about a Cross being angrily trampled in this situation? Me, either.

Even More Required Reading.

In the Army we had something called an 'AAR', or "after action report," where a mission was reviewed after-the-fact to see what worked, what didn't, and what to do to improve. P. J. O'Rourke has drafted (as only he can) the GOP's 'AAR' concerning the most recent election.

Read it. Learn it. Live it. Unless you want 2010 and 2012 to look just like 2008.

UPDATE: Via Instapundit, Christopher Hitchens provides a dose of reality for the Left:

Those who think that they have just voted to legalize Utopia (and I hardly exaggerate when I say this; have you been reading the moist and trusting comments of our commentariat?) are preparing for a disillusionment that I very much doubt they will blame on themselves.

Today, Take The Time To Thank A Veteran.

You owe them your very freedom.



My thanks to John, Morgan, Keith, Earl, Garland, Lloyd, Darren, Toby, Darby, Danny, Jack, David, Rick, Fritz, Bruce, Jason, Michael, and Scott. (And a special thanks to my lovely bride who supported me while serving.)

(Image from here.)

UPDATE: Interesting personal statistic - my father was a Marine, and nearly all of the men from his generation I know are veterans. But of all the people my age I knew from my youth - high school, church, Scouts, college - only four of us ever served. And we're supposed to be the Reagan Generation.

I Guess Islam Supports Same-Sex Marriage. Yeah, That's The Ticket...

Via Instapundit, someone points out an interesting anomaly in all of the California Prop 8 protests.

UPDATE 11NOV08: LGBT intimidation 'dialogue' efforts aren't limited to post-Prop 8 California.

More Required Reading...

Brad Drell posts an easily understood (beer is used) lesson on taxes, with the best post title of the day: Atlas Walked Into A Bar And Shrugged.

Tonight's Required Reading.

Sometimes I wonder why I do this when people like Bill Whittle are out there: A Flag, On a Hill.

Read it all. My main question - can Bobby Jindal ride a horse?

I'll Take Mine With A Twist, If You Please.

Another milestone birthday: The official Red Stick Rant mixed drink, The Gin and Tonic, turns 150 today. Stephen Green, the Vodkapundit, is recommending Bombay Sapphire to celebrate. Couldn't agree more; so drink up, Ranters!

Who Cares.

An old Commie windbag (birthmark edition), shouting from from the ash-heap of history, has some advice for the President-elect:

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said that the Obama administration in the United States needs far-reaching 'perestroika' reforms to overcome the financial crisis and restore balance in the world.

I mean, look at how well it worked for him...

Semper Fi, Mac.

The United States Marine Corps is 233 years old today. If you know a Marine - serving or veteran - thank them today for their service.
(Note: Image author unknown.)

Change We Can Believe In??

The recent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disasters cost you, the taxpayer, a cool 700 billion dollars. You would think that those who helped run those organizations would be called to justice.

But President-Elect Barack Obama wants to call one of them, not to justice, but to head the Justice Department. More on this Democrat stalwart here.

In the private sector, the executives who bankrupt a business, cook the books and cost people millions, go to jail. Do the same thing in government, and you get a promotion. Oh, and keep your insider mortgage, too.

Hattip: Instapundit.

I'd Have Gotten Higher, But I Missed My Landing On The Triple Lutz...

The nice people at Blogged.com, who must be really, really bored this time of year, stopped by and rated this humble blog a 7.2, or "Very Good." (Blogger sprains arm patting himself on the back -ed.) They implied in their e-mail (very, very vaguely) that if I posted my Blogged rating in my sidebar I'd get some cookies, or a naked picture of a girl named Amy. I'm a whore for cookies; it's posted.

A "Hot Steamy Night Of Scripture"...

...Is promoted at The Episcopal Church's Diocese of California website. And we're not talking temprature or humidity here:

On the night before the big election, I was done with campaigning and the last thing I wanted to see was another political commercial. My pre-election tension was high, as a Facebook friend wrote in her status that she felt “the same anxiety as on Christmas Eve when I was six-years-old and I had asked Santa for a bicycle.” I completely understood the sentiment and I needed relief. What better than a night out for trashy tales of sex and smut? And in the fullness of pre-election ambiguity, where better to go for bawdy fare than St. Mary the Virgin, San Francisco?

Advertised as “For Mature Audiences Only,” Pulp Scripture by SMV-resident playwright William Bivins, was billed as “Bible stories they didn’t teach you in Sunday School.” The seven one-act plays were performed as dramatic readings by four actors who showed remarkable breadth of character and range of emotion.

If they had taught me this kind of thing in Sunday School, our family would have been at the Roman Catholic church the next weekend. But the rector of St. Mary the Virgin is thrilled:

With a show that opens with feigned sex, the series of short plays were at once brow-raising, funny and reverent – Pulp Scripture illustrated how encounters with holy history are best revealed as equally sacred and profane. “Bivins has made scripture more accessible and immediate,” the Rev. Jason Parkin, Rector of SMV told me after the play, “and he has shown that engaging the divine story can be happy, joyous, and fun.”

It's a free country - they can do as they please. But I'm sorry; I can't "live in tension" with this kind of pop twaddle masquerading as theology. The new North American Anglican province can't come soon enough.

Throw Pillow Fight.

Sometimes, I just can't help stepping in it. (Scroll down for the comments, including mine.

UPDATE 10NOV08: I've tried to post several comments in the thread above since last night, but it will not take them. Hmmm. Have I been banned from Reason Online??

Clinging Check.

Not even a week after the election and....

Clinging to guns. Check.

Clinging to religion. Check.

Clinging to antipathy toward people who aren't like them. Check. No, wait...

More Clinging? Well, Duh.

The New York Times paid a visit to flyover country and noticed that gun sales are way up in the past week. Gee, I wonder why....

My local gun shop says sales have surged, especially semi-autos and pistols. Other shooters in the area say the same thing. Many have purchased something in the last two weeks, or are going to purchase in the near future. I know of several people who are buying a gun for the first time, and one local firm whose employees are getting together for a group buy of AR-15 type rifles.

Is this reactionary? Sort of. While no ban is imminent in the next few weeks, the Democrats generally, and northern Democrats in particular, have not shown themselves to be friends of the Second Amendment. They often see gun control as a quick "we're doing something" that makes their base happy. If Obama does try to ban handguns or semi-autos, or force states to strip concealed carry, he needs to remember one thing: the 1994 Congressional elections.

All that being said, I'm ordering one of these tomorrow.

My Next Four Years.

I was feeling pretty down about yesterday, and wondering this morning where we go from here. Then, this came on the XM:



And you say there is no God.

One Man, One Vote. No, Wait...

Barring some stunner from the West Coast, it now seems that the Hard Left's "long march through the institutions" is complete - The Messiah will be elected President. And the ACORN strategy... worked:



You can bet your bottom dollar (the one Mr. Obama leaves you with) that the conscientious Mr. Ron Jones will not be prosecuted for voting "couple times." Neither will anyone else for that matter.

Martin Luther King, quite rightly, struggled for "one man, one vote." But not this. This makes a mockery of everything Dr. King worked for.

Life, Is Choices. As Are Economic Opportunity, Your Wealth, A Strong Defense, And Your Second Amendment Rights...

Tomorrow is the day we decide our future for the next four years. Here is a reminder - as if you need another one - of the magnitude of that choice:



Vote, dear readers. Vote.

Hattip: Vodkapundit.

UPDATE: Matthew over at Billy Ockham has made his choice - McCain/MILF. It's mine, too.

Profile In Character.

Instapundit links to this Slate article about John McCain, friendship, and loyalty:

A nurse entered and seemed surprised to find anyone there, and it wasn't long before I found out why: Almost no one visits anymore. In his time, which was not very long ago, Mo Udall was one of the most-sought-after men in the Democratic Party. Yet as he dies in a veterans hospital a few miles from the Capitol, he is visited regularly only by a single old political friend, John McCain. "He's not going to wake up this time," McCain said.

Read it all. Is this kind of deep, ingrained character and honor what you want in the White House for the next four years, or do you want "change" so bad that you don't really care what that change is?

A Sword And Shield We Can Believe In.

The Messiah calls for an American Cheka. No, really:



A "Civilian National Security Force"?? What exactly would they be securing? Has the man never heard of the Posse Comitatus Act, or is he trying to deliberately get around it?

Intimidation We Can Believe In.

If you support a Republican in Seattle, you must live in a "hell house" - so it's OK to publish pictures of your house and your address.

I expect we'll see more things like this around the country if The Messiah wins.

Hattip: LGF.

Heaven's Streets Have Another Guard.

I was saddened to learn that General Robert Barrow died today. A native of Louisiana, he was a decorated Marine officer in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and was later Commandant of the Marine Corps. General Barrow was a cousin on my father's side; I remember him well from my childhood, and later when we attended Grace Church, Saint Francisville, for a while in the mid-90's.

At 86, he lived a full life and served his country well. Semper Fi, sir.

That's Because FEMA Has No Imagination.

Via Dead Pelican, this interesting article: Artists create what FEMA can't even imagine.

It seems FEMA is at it again, proving once more than there is no amount of common sense they can't tie up in regulations and red tape:

“We have made a series of urgent requests to FEMA, but they simply are not moving quickly enough to help our people. In south Louisiana, families must live in coastal parishes because of their important jobs with the oil and gas and seafood industries, which are critical to both our state and national economies. FEMA will not offer them temporary housing to do so because of its obstinate adherence to guidelines it could waive,” Rainwater says. “When people are living in tents to be close to their jobs, does it really matter if they live in an ‘A’ flood zone or a ‘V’ flood zone? What matters is that they need housing. FEMA is clinging to a rule that doesn’t make sense in a critical disaster situation. The policy written in Washington D.C. doesn’t match the need on the ground,” Rainwater says. (Emphasis mine)

FEMA could waive these rules and - oh, I don't know - help people, but no. Sadly, it doesn't surprise me. Trust me, dear readers (I have painful first-hand experience dealing with FEMA), you will not find a more unimaginative, rigid, bureaucratic, illogical, inflexible, unresponsive and unrealistic bunch. If you have a choice to rely on FEMA for help, or a warm bucket of spit - go with the latter. It has much greater utility a disaster situation.

UPDATE 01NOV08: Someone today reminded me that all we have to do is look at FEMA if we want to see what government-run health care will look like. Good point.

Citizen, or Subject?

Which one are you?

Read. It. All. In fact, read it twice.

What, Me Worry?

Via Instapundit, this gem shows Obama has the Alfred E. Newman vote sewn up:



So after 20 January gas and housing will be, what? Free? The Messiah be praised! Sing along, everyone:

A Campaign Really, Really Unclear On The Concept.

Seen today in Baton Rouge. Yes, in 2008:



No comment - I think this speaks for itself.

Is Ray Nagin Warning Of Voter Fraud In Louisiana?

Why else would he think this is a possibility:

The Mayor of New Orleans says Louisiana has the potential to become a "blue" state next Tuesday.

"I know people are not looking at those polls and recognizing that, but I think it could be a surprising result on Tuesday," Ray Nagin said Thursday in a regularly scheduled appearance on Fox 8 television.

Hattip: Dead Pelican.

Fun With Opensecrets.org

Some of my Episcopal/Anglican readers might find this interesting:

Bishop V. Gene Robinson has given $1,500 to Barack Obama.

Yes, it's legal. He has every right to make such a donation. But is it moral and proper for a bishop, even a simple country one, to get involved in politics like that? (I think he crossed the line when he publicly endorsed Obama earlier this year - ed.) You know if Bishop Duncan or Bishop Iker had done the same for McCain, or the Prop 8 campaign, I bet there'd be lots of "separation of church and state" panic posts over at the HOB/D Listserv. And they would be right. So, what's the difference?

UPDATE: Thanks for stopping by this afternoon, Bishop.

Nothing To See Here. Running Background Checks On Citizens Who Question THE ONE Is Just Doing Our Job. Move Along. (UPDATED)

Making Barack Obama look bad is reasonable grounds for a search these days. Really:

A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for potential information on "Joe the Plumber" were more extensive than it first acknowledged.

Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, (and just coincidentally, a big Obama supporter -.ed), disclosed today that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system.

The agency also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes, she wrote.

UPDATE 01NOV08: And now, it appears, there may well be a cover-up about who ordered the inquiries, and why. This reeks. I mean, Watergate reeks. But, no one is going to get a Pulitzer for going after The Messiah.

Best Political Video. (UPDATED)

The BBC (yes, that BBC - ed.) says the YouTube video below is the most watched political video of the season. I've posted it before, but I think it needs to be seen again:



So watch it all, again. What this veteran says is the main reason I can not vote for Barack Obama. And note, too, at the end of the video, that this young man knows something about the sacrifice of which he speaks.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds says McCain should have bought air time last night after Obama's infomercial and run this video. A neat idea in the abstract, as it's a pretty accurate description of Obama and his followers. But in reality I'm not sure if the group would have allowed it.

A Redistributive Halloween.

This Halloween, try dressing up as "Obamanomics" - a.k.a., socialism the exciting new Obama economic policy. When kids come to the door don't give them them candy. Instead, look into their bags, smile, and take candy from those who have more and spread it around to those who have less.

For bonus points, register the little pikers to vote while you're at it.

Justice Bill Ayers?

It could happen:

Speaking in July 2007 at a conference of Planned Parenthood, he (Obama) said: "[W]e need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."

Since I am none of the above, I guess I don't count. So much for "justice for all."

A Song About Change.

If the polls are right about next Tuesday, we'd better start learning this little ditty by heart:

Nothing To See Here. Just Some Art Showing A Noose Around Sarah Palin's Neck. Move Along...

Hang a noose in Jena, Louisiana, and Jesse Jackson, Al Shaprton and the Mainstream Media show up and declare it bigotry and hate. Put a noose around an effigy of Sarah Palin and actually hang it up, and it's..... seasonal art. First Amendment and all that.

Bias? What Bias?

UPDATE: This guy shoudda put a picture of Palin or McCain in his noose. Then it wouldn't be a felony; it'd be art.

Man Sues God.

Really:

Nebraska Democratic State Senator Ernie Chambers has decided to go straight to the top in an effort to stop natural disasters from befalling the world.

Chambers filed a lawsuit against God in Douglas County Court Friday afternoon, KPTM Fox 42 reported.

I bet our Presiding Bishop is kicking herself (and her legal staff) for not thinking of that one first. And Chambers' suit must have merit - in the photo he's wearing a purple shirt...

UPDATE: D'OH!! I should have checked the date on the story - it's from last year. Maybe Kate and the boys are already looking at this angle. Makes about as much legal sense as some other things they've done recently.

Saint Crispin's Day.

Saturday was the 593rd anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. Why is that important? Well this, for one:



And from the same film, one of my favorite pieces of music:

Monday Noonday Distraction.

If you're a U2 fan, here's a cool video I hadn't seen before - 'Vertigo' on banjo:



Hattip: Baby Blue.