Classic Rush Vol. 1

What if trees acted like people?

Husky Highlights

It's no secret that I am a diehard Washington Husky football fan. I have been one since the 1970s when Don James took over the program. Although Husky football has a great tradition and had amazing success during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the the last decade (thanks to Ty Willingham) has been tough. Now that Steve Sarkisian (aka Sark) has taken over, the Dawgs are on their way back to the top. In honor of what has been and what will once again be, I will be making a weekly post of Husky Highlights because, well...it's my Blog and I can post what I want!

So sit back and enjoy this highlight from the 1992 Rose Bowl where #2 Washington dismantles #4 Michigan in a quest for the national championship. After the win, the Dawgs would go on to share the 1991 National Championship title with the University of Miami. Sadly, since there was no BCS back then, the college football world was deprived of what would have been a great match-up between the two schools.

Languages of Love

During my separation and divorce I did a great deal of reading. Some of it was to help me heal and some of it was to help me understand what went wrong. One of the best books I read to help with the latter category was a book called the The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

The book had been around for awhile and I was vaguely familiar with the concepts before I started reading it. However, as I worked my way through the book it just made so much sense to me. The basic idea is that individuals have their own unique emotional needs and that they feel loved most when their partner can express their affection for them in a meaningful way (through a specific love language). After decades of marriage counseling, Dr. Chapman was able to to identify 5 key love languages which proved to be universal and comprehensive. Dr. Chapman asserts that everyone has a love language and will primarily identify with one of the five: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. You can read an overview of each of the 5 languages here and this article shows how the concept works in a practical way.

Yosemite Range of Light

This is a very cool time-lapse video of Yosemite National Park taken by Shawn Reeder over a two year period.

You can learn more here.

Les Miserables Pt. 2

In this second video we see that Valjean's life has indeed been changed and he has not wasted the mercy he had been shown. He's now the Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer and the owner of the town factory. We are also introduced to the character of Fantine. Through Fantine we see the harshness of life. She sings about her broken dreams and the struggle she has had in caring for her daughter alone. In fact, she has had to leave her daughter in the care of the conniving Thenardiers (who we will meet later).

Desperate for money, Fantine has to sell her locket, and her hair, before becoming a prostitute. When she fights back against an abusive customer, Javert, now stationed in Montreuil-sur-Mer, arrests her.

The three songs in this video are all wonderfully written and capture the times very well. "At the End of the Day," "I Dreamed a Dream," and "Lovely Ladies" are all memorable both lyrically and musically.

Losing Your Faith

A friend and high school classmate of mine recently posted two articles on his Facebook wall about Christians (and Pastors in particular) "losing their faith." Another one of my friends (and also a high school classmate) commented that she couldn't wait to read my response. Instead of getting into an unproductive back and forth on Facebook I wanted to share my thoughts in a blog post. You can find the first article here and the second here.

First, let me say that this story does not shock or surprise me. I think most people with a Christian background go through a crisis of faith in their life. I actually think it's a part of the process that God uses to prove whether or not we have a real faith. That's what Peter had in mind when he wrote:

⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

Scripture mentions several people who at one point-in-time professed to know and serve God but later left the faith, Hymenaeus and Alexander for example (1 Timothy 1:18-20).  This is nothing new. Not even for "Ministers." It happens.  

Is your Boyfriend A Vampire?

Because I am always trying to help out my lady friends. You just never know.

Les Miserables

One of the things that we tried to develop with our kids when they were growing up was a love for theater and especially musicals. My three younger children all participated in community theater and my second son actually graduated from college with a Bachelor's Degree in Theater Arts. He is currently pursuing a career in that field.

One of the musicals he auditioned for in Bakersfield was a youth version of Les Miserables (sometimes referred to as Les Mis). Until he was cast in the show, I knew virtually nothing about the musical, let alone the book upon which it was based. I'll never forget the first night I saw the show. I was mesmerized by the songs and I particularly appreciated the story arc. I am a sucker for redemption stories and I loved how Jean Valjean, despite his mistreatment at the hands of Javert, would one day be able to show mercy because he had been shown mercy. In fact, the two characters are illustrative of the blessings of mercy and the dangers of legalism.

If you are unfamiliar with the great story by Victor Hugo I would recommend you familiarize yourself with it via this movie which will help you to understand the flow of the musical and the characters much better.

I will be posting videos and making comments about the story over the next few weeks. I hope you will watch each of the video clips and follow along.

In the scene above we are introduced to Jean Valjean and given his back story. We also are shown the act of mercy that would forever change his life.

Romantic Comedy Top-Ten List

I spent the weekend rewatching numerous romantic comedies so that I could compile a list of my favorites. Other than giving me something to write about, I thought it also might help me get into the Valentines Day spirit. WRONG! Mostly what it did is remind my of how pathetic my love life is. Nevertheless, I pushed through the pathetic state of being to create this list of my favorite romantic comedies. As a disclaimer I want to state that this is not a list of my favorite romantic movies, but only of what some call RomComs. For example, not on the list are some of my favorites like the Notebook, Casablanca, Ghost and Dirty Dancing just to name a few. So given that proviso, here is a list of my Top-Ten favorite romantic comedies in reverse order.

#10 - Hitch

Why I love this movie? Because the good guy gets the girl! It doesn't always work this way in real life...most women seem to like the "bad-boys"...but the Kevin James character is not a bad boy...he is a very nice, down to earth guy...and he gets the girl! Plus, where else can you learn about the 90% rule?

I'm still waiting to have that last first kiss!

The Homeless Census

On any given night, America has more than 650,000 homeless people. During the course of a year, 1.6 million Americans will experience at least one episode of homelessness. We know these statistics because every two years the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires communities across the country to set aside a 24-hour period within the last 10 days of January to count the homeless.

The biennial Homeless Census is a point-in-time count that gives our community a snapshot of homelessness in our area. On January 26th and 27th, the Homeless Collaborative set out to count the homeless in Kern County. Over 180 volunteers from 40 different agencies were dispatched throughout the County's 8200 square miles to accomplish the task. Beginning with the shelter count on Wednesday night, teams of volunteers continued the next morning looking for individuals and families who spent the previous night on the street, or in a car, or in a park, or in an abandoned building or in any other place not meant for human habitation.

So why do we go to all this effort? For a number of reasons.

• It helps us to determine the extent of homelessness in our community
• It helps us to gather important demographic information regarding the homeless (how many women are homeless? Children? How many homeless Veterans do we have? etc.)
• It provides an opportunity for direct contact with this segment of the population
• It helps us to track trends and strategically plan to target specific services and housing opportunities for the homeless
• It positions us to apply for as much as $3.5 million annually in federal funding to provide new transitional and permanent supportive housing projects.

Saving My Life

Growing up I never had an issue with my weight. In fact, I was always on the smallish-side in school. I used to HATE class pictures because I was one of the boys that would get put in the front row. In high school I wrestled at 102 lbs my freshman year, and 115 lbs as a Sophomore. In the summer between my sophomore and junior years I started working at Miner's Drive-In, and over the next few years I did gain about 25 lbs (free Miner Burgers, what can I say?). Still, my weight was normal for my age and height (I am currently 5'7"...and yes I seem to have actually shrunk an inch-and-a-half since high school!). Even when I went off to college, my weight was still where it was supposed to be. So what went wrong? When did the weight gain begin? One word: Marriage!

Now, I am NOT blaming my marriage for my weight gain, I am only saying that it is when my issues and struggles with my weight really began. Due to some very poor choices while at Bible College, of all places, (and that is a whole other blog post), I found myself newly married living in Anaheim, California working a swing shift job at Kwikset Lockset Co., trying to figure out how I was going to support my new bride and a baby on the way!

Social Ministry and the Local Church Pt. 4

Public and Private Partnerships

In my final post on social ministry and the church I want to talk about public private partnerships in social work, specifically faith based agencies working in partnership with the government to help provide the safety net in our Country. For my previous posts on this issue see here, here, and here.

Before the mid 1990’s there was a real hesitancy among both the Christian community and the government to work together to help the poor and needy. Most concerns were over the so called issue of church/state separation. Unfortunately, this led to too many people falling through the cracks in the system. But things began to change, first with passage of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 and then second, with the establishment of the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives early in the Bush Administration. Much of the literature on public/private partnerships focus on these two important events.

Charitable Choice. According to Donaldson and Carlson-Thies, welfare reform did three things. It shifted the focus of administrating welfare monies to state and local authorities. No longer would the Federal Government decide what the local welfare needs of a given area were, instead that would be up to those who were closer to the actual needs. Second, the welfare emphasis changed from writing checks to helping people become more self-supportive. Third, the government was encouraged to form partnerships with private charities and businesses. The section on private public partnerships became known as “Charitable Choice” (Donaldson & Carlson-Thies, 2003, 44-45).

A New Sermon Series

When I renewed my blog I stated that one of the reasons for blogging again was that I wanted a forum to share many of my old sermons to leave as a legacy for my family.

I have a second blog entitled The Approved Workman where many of my sermons have already been posted. I have decided to continue using that blog for all my sermons.

While reviewing that blog, I noticed that I have at least two sermon series that I previously started that I have not yet completed (Philippians and Joshua). As I have time, I will post the remaining sermons I have on those two books along with my new series I want to post on the book of James.

James has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible, especially because of its practical nature. It deals with many of the social issues that are still relevant for today. I realize many of you will not be interested in reading sermons, but I challenge you to do so and then to follow up with your own studies.

I have no claim to any special knowledge or spirituality. However, studying for these sermons was a blessing to me, I hope in turn they will be a blessing to you! I am just one sojourner on the road to understanding, I hope what I have learned will give you some light on your journey to the truth!

My introductory post can be found here.  

A Letter From a Birmingham Jail

In reading more on the "I Have a Dream" speech, I came across this letter from Dr. King written from the city jail in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was confined after being arrested for his part in the Birmingham protest conducted by "the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference against racial segregation by Birmingham's city government and downtown retailers."

The letter was addressed to eight white Alabama clergymen who on April 12, 1963, issued a statement in response to the protest titled "A Call For Unity". The clergymen acknowledged that social injustices existed but they argued in their statement that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts, not in the streets.

God Looks at the Heart!

After to listening to Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech this morning, I thought of this verse. Dr. King had a dream that men and women would be judged by the content of their character not the color of their skin...and God agrees!

"...The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b

The dialogue on the subject of race in this country is still too predictable and overheated. I believe we have made some headway on this issue, but we still have a long way to go. This is true not only of our country as a whole, but also of our churches as well. Sadly, some of the most segregated institutions remaining in our land are our churches. 

There are reasons for this of course, not all relating to prejudice. Most people that worship together do so because of several factors relating to music style, heritage, culture, type of preaching and denominational preferences. Race usually plays a role in where we worship only in the sense that we like to worship in the style, heritage, culture and even language we are familiar with...and there are definitely ethnic and cultural differences in worship. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, I do think however, that we miss out when we fail to stretch ourselves with respect to our worship environment.

I Have a Dream

UPDATE: Here is some interesting background on the development of the speech.

It's Politics

I created this blog back in 2005 so I could talk about things that interested me (i.e. religion, politics, sports and my family). I have always been fascinated by politics and in times past, even considered throwing my hat in the ring for local office. I first became interested in politics back in 1976 with the election of Jimmy Carter. I remember my first political debate was with a friend on the school bus. It was about who should be elected president, Carter or Ford. I also remember my Government class in High School. There I had my introduction to the concepts of left and right in politics (the whole left/right thing did not make sense to me at the time...I mean really, what is the difference between communism [left] and fascism [right]? The end result is the same). I can also remember that we were given an assignment dealing with one of the major public policy issues of the day. The handout had several policy recommendations from various political leaders. The recommendations from Ronald Reagan made the most sense to me. After that, I started becoming more interested in what the politicians were actually saying and what they believed "philosophically".

While my family mostly identified themselves as democrats, we experienced first hand the negative consequences that the economic policies of the Carter administration brought on our country. As a Contractor, my dad's business suffered greatly because of the high interest rates and the general malaise in the economy at that time. It devastated the housing market. So in 1980, I had the chance to vote in my first election. Based on what I had learned, I registered as a republican and voted for Ronald Reagan. During the 80s my own personal political beliefs solidified into what would be considered a conservative political perspective. Throw in my evangelical college education and my biblical worldview and you can see why I identified with the republican party. It was the only place I felt at home as both an economic and social conservative. While I am still a registered republican, I have always called myself a conservative first and a Republican second.

Texting for Seniors

Someone sent this to me and I thought I would share it with you since more and more seniors have embraced the technology of texting. This is not meant to be disrespectful to senior citizens...I myself will be eligible for AARP next year!

ATD: At The Doctor's
BFF: Best Friend Farted
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CGU: Can't get up
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWBB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing... Can't Get Up
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTP: Where's The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil
GGLKI (Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking In)

Suddenly Single

Life is full of surprises, or so the old saying goes. No one can predict the direction their life might take, given all the twists and turns along that path. Obviously, no one thinks at the start of a marriage that divorce is in their future. Because of that, many people are caught off guard when it happens to them, I know I was!

So how do you respond when a 20 plus year marriage comes to an end? I mean after the crying, and the questioning, and the heartbreak and such...what do you do with your time when you find yourself suddenly single? I realize that the amount of time you have will be largely dependent on your age and the age of your children, your vocation and other factors. For me, I found that I had more time on my hands than I wanted.

Because of my divorce, my career was in flux (realistically you cannot remain the Pastor of Family & Care Ministry while your own marriage has fallen apart), so in the beginning, I had no place to go from 9-5 each day. 

Additionally, three of my four children were out of high school, and my youngest, while living with me was busy being an active high school student. Most of my friends were married and had their own lives. I was not yet ready to start dating and I am not a barfly. So what did I do? I spent a LOT of time by myself.

Think about it, all the things you were used to doing, like watching TV, or going to a movie or going out to dinner, you generally had a built in companion to do it with. Now it is just you. I have often joked with my friends that the loneliest words in the world are "Jim, party of one, Jim, party of one!" Yeah, I eat out too much!

Social Ministry and the Role of the Christian Community

Beyond the local church, what role should the corporate Christian community play in meeting the needs of the poor and helpless? By corporate Christian community I am referring to the various local churches and para-church ministries working together for a common goal. Frankly, this does not happen as often as it should and some might even call the phrase "Christian community" an oxymoron! However, when it does occur, two approaches have been favored.

The first approach is the denominational approach. The Mennonites serve as a good example of this concept. They have developed several service organizations in which the Mennonite churches share in the responsibility of supporting. These organizations include the Mennonite Disaster Service and the Mennonite Central Committee. In addition, the Mennonite churches practice what is commonly called “Mutual Aid.” Mutual aid is seen by many as primarily a ministry to church members only, however, some view it as a ministry to the community in general. Swartley and Kraybill write:

Mennonite mutual aid is a reciprocal responsibility, based on biblical teaching, to provide material aid to other church members who face special economic and physical hardships. Such help involves labor, services, goods, gifts, and payments in both spontaneous and organized forms at local and churchwide levels. (Swartley & Kraybill, 1998, 13)

Winfeld J. Fretz sees mutual aid as Christian love in action. He sees mutual aid as a means to share that love by, “…using the resources God has given us for His glory and the good of ourselves and our fellowmen. It is a way of limiting selfish desires for the good of the larger group or community of which we are members”. For Fretz, this larger group or community could refer to the civic community or even the nation (Swartley & Kraybill, 1998, 16).

Love, Honor and Cherish

In my previous post “A Vow is a Vow is a Vow” I talked about the reason that I believe so many marriages are in trouble and why some have already died! I expected that my rant might elicit some strong responses and it did. Some responses were expressed publicly on Facebook and many more privately via emails and texts. I was accused of “pontificating” and only picking on one side of the relationship equation. While every relationship is dependent on the efforts of two individuals, especially a marriage relationship, I focused my “rant” on the men for two reasons. First, I am speaking from my own experience as a man and a former husband. Second, I have recently witnessed far too many men either intentionally or unintentionally, fail to live up to their end of the marriage covenant and I truly believe that if men committed to love, honor and cherish their wives as they should there would be far fewer divorces in this country.

I know this will sound “old fashioned” and some may even consider it sexist, but I believe that it is the husband’s responsibility to set the tone for a loving, caring marriage. More than one of the females that commented on my post pointed this out. Yes, yes, yes, of course there needs to be a mutuality in the relationship but the man who honors and cherishes his wife, will find that she will gladly love and respect him in return.

Employing the Homeless

Here's an example of why I love working with the homeless service providers in Kern County. They are doing everything they can to help ensure that the homeless are able to be successful once they utilize the programs available to them.




Just a little context. Each year the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires our Continuum of Care (i.e. the Kern County Homeless Collaborative) to track the employment status when a homeless individual exits one of our programs. The national goal is 20%. That may seem low, but considering these folks have been homeless for long periods of time they often have poor employment histories, and many of them lack the proper documentation to be hired. Our service providers work hard to help them obtain, not only the proper documentation (i.e birth certificates, social security cards, driver's licences etc.) but to find employment. Due to programs like the one featured in the video, we were able to increase our employment rate from 12 to 18% in one year.

Congratulations to the Bakersfield Homeless Center for doing a great job and getting the Green Waste contract renewed!

A Word to My Male Friends or A Vow is a Vow is a Vow

When you stood before family and friends and pledged to marry your lovely Bride, the minister probably asked you something like this:

“Your Name Here, do you take this woman to be your wife; to live together in the holy covenant of marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her so long as you both shall live? If so answer I do.”

You may have also been asked to say something like this:

“I, Your Name Here, take you Her Name Here, to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.”

Now I am sure that at the moment you repeated those vows or consented to them by saying “I do” you really meant them. However, over the years the reality of those words has faded, now they are a mere memory tucked away somewhere in the deep recesses of your mind. Oh you still “live together” with her, and you still “love” her but you have slacked off on the “comfort,” “honor” and “keeping” parts…and to “cherish” her…not so much!

Social Ministry and the Local Church Pt. 2

In the twentieth century the evangelical church neglected the area of social ministry. Because of a desire to avoid theological liberalism and the social gospel, because of the prevalent Premillenial eschatology, and because of the growing dominance of the government in this area, the church by and large abdicated its responsibilities toward the poor and the needy.

According to Robert Lewis, Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church of Little Rock, two evangelical church models sprang up during the time of the latter half of the twentieth century. The first type of church he calls a “need-meeting church.” This church is focused on meeting the needs of its members, which in and of itself is not a bad thing. The problem is that this focus of the church can lead to an unhealthy fixation on itself. It, the church is all the matters. In this situation a toxic self-absorption can easily develop where there church exists solely to meet the needs of its own members. There is no thought of having a spiritual impact “beyond the borders of the church property”. This type of church has a social club feel to it where all the programs and activities are designed to meet its own self-serving needs (Lewis & Wilkins, 2001, 57).

The second type of church Pastor Lewis describes is the “success mentality” church. He writes:

Seeking conformity to a culture dominated by commerce, the “success” mentality is simple: the bigger, the better, size matters. Numbers count. More is what is always needed: more people, more facilities, more staff, more money. It is a mostly polite game of Christian Darwinism: the survival of the fittest, or the church with the greatest attendance. The goal is to be in the elite class known as the “biggest church in the city” or “Top10 in the denomination” or “megachurch.”  Such churches often spend increasing amounts of money and energy putting on elaborate events to draw more people in. While correctly pointing out that churches, when healthy, should be dynamically growing, pride often infuses the “success” church with a twisted irony: the church might be recognized nationally, but it often remains a stranger to its very own community (Lewis & Wilkins, 2001, 58-59).

How sad it is for a church, to be so focused on itself, that it has no time to focus on the community in which it lives.

Social Ministry and the Local Church

I will never forget the conversation. We had just finished a week of "revival" meetings at my home church. As good Baptists, we needed to follow up the service with something to eat. Our practice was to go to J.B.'s Big Boy restaurant in downtown Yakima. It was always a treat for us young guys (and future "preacher boys") to go to the restaurant and rub elbows with the Pastor and the visiting "Evangelist." During these after service rituals we would ask questions of these men that we looked up to and held in deep respect. During one of these question and answer sessions, we asked about the ministry of the church to the poor and needy and why we didn't do more to help them in a tangible way.  "That's not our responsibility" was the answer! I remember being shocked by their answer and responding with an incredulous "What?"

Yes it is true, both of these otherwise fine men insisted that it wasn't the responsibility of the local church to help meet the needs of the poor. For these men, the ministry of the church was to evangelize the lost, to get them into heaven, not to make their earthly lives any easier.

Sadly, that philosophy still exists in many churches today. How can otherwise caring and compassionate people be so blind to the needs of others, let alone the clear teaching of scripture? I would like to address those reasons over the next few weeks.

New Year's Resolutions

“A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other."

Resolution (Noun): [res-o-lu-tion]

1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.
2. A course of action determined or decided on.
3. A formal statement of a decision or expression of opinion put before or adopted by an assembly such as the US Congress.  (American Heritage Dictionary)

For most of my life I have been fascinated by word meanings and word origins. I love word game puzzles and etymology has always been interesting to me (etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time). I have even been known to read the dictionary from time to time. I think this goes with the territory when you are a Pastor because any good sermon preparation will involve the study of key words in the text you are expositing.

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

I grew up listening to Country music (or Country & Western as it used to be called). I did so not by choice mind you, but it was the music my parents and grandparents listened to, whether at home or in the car, it was always on. Any time I hear a Conway Twitty or Dolly Parton song today it reminds me of the two week vacation we took my freshman year in High School. On the trip we listened to a couple of Conway and Dolly 8-tracks over and over and over and over again! Growing up I remember listening to other Country greats as well, like Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Tammy Wynette.

Back to Blogging

I originally started this blog back in 2005 as a way to express my views on small town life in Wasco and to share stories and articles that were of interest to me. This of course was BF (Before Facebook). I enjoyed blogging at the time and it was a very therapeutic experience. I eventually quit posting due to various factors in my personal and professional life. I hope to share some of those reasons and talk about my experiences on this blog in the near future.

As I look back to 2005 a lot has changed in my life since then.

My Absence from Blogging

I have been away from blogging for quite some time now and I wanted to start up again. For those who care, there have been two reasons for my absence.

The first reason has to do with my decision to go back to school and finish my degree. I started last August at Fresno Pacific University in the Organizational Leadership program and hope to be finished by this September. In addition to the regular assignments, we have also had to write a thesis, and this has been very time consuming. Instead of taking tests, we write papers at the end of each module and frankly, I have just been tired of writing.

The second reason has to do with things going on in my personal life that I cannot share right now, but hope to be able to down the road.

Posting will be light, but I do hope to contribute some material for this blog each week.

My Absence

It has been three weeks since my last post. I have been busy writing the first part of my Thesis, along with two long papers for other classes. I have come up this week for a breath and I will be out of pocket again (more papers due).

Thanks for being patient with me. In the mean time enjoy the three new posts.

Jim

E-Coli Claims Its First Celebrity

Can Democrats Be Trusted to Govern in Wartime?

The Investor's Business Daily doesn't think so. They give 97 reasons why, here.

The Ant and the Grasshopper - 2006

My liberal mom sent this to me, she thought I would like it...and she was right!

The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER - OLD VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible

MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, ABC & CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green." Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Ted Kennedy & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Dan Rather that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act," retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Vote Republican

He's Wagging His Finger Again - Watchout

Does this seem familiar to you? When he starts wagging that finger you better start checking his facts. Check out Michelle Malkin on the topic. Allahpundit at hotair has a great round up. Here is my favorite exerpt,

5.Despite the fact that it’s central to a debate that’s been raging for weeks, Wallace’s question about whether he did enough to eliminate Bin Laden is a “conservative hit job” designed to appease Fox’s right-wing viewers, who’ll all be very, very sore when they find out Rupert Murdoch is working with Clinton on climate change. Presumably Wallace should have stuck to the script followed by Meredith “Giggles” Vieira, CNN schlockmeister Larry King, who bombarded Clinton with tough questions like “How’s your health?” and “Have you seen Gore’s movie?”, and of course Keith Olbermann, who played his part perfectly except for the lack of a blue dress.

It always amuses me when liberals get mad because of the questions they are asked when they go on Fox News. They are so use to getting fawned over and asked softball questions by the MSM that they become undone and lose their composure. Instead of answering the questions they attack Fox as being "right wing." Well guess what, at least half of the country want those questions asked, and answered. Since no one from CNN or MSNBC is going to ask those questions, somebody has to. Conservatives are much better at this than liberals because they are used to tough interviews.

Mr Pot, Meet Mr. Kettle

HT realclearpolitics

How Nerdy Are You

A Smack Down GW Bush Style

This is the George W Bush I want to see more of, I love the finger in the chest. Matt Lauer is a joke. The day after we were reminded about what kind of enemy we are facing he is worried about waterboarding Al Queda members. It makes me ill.

Been Busy

Posting has been light over the last week because we have been very busy. This was Rose Festival week in Wasco and we had a lot going on. First, my daughter was a contestant in the Rose Queen pageant. It has been a great experience for Alysse, but it has taken up a lot of our time and energy (especially my wife and daughter's). Then we had the Rose Parade along with the Arts and Crafts Fair in the park, which took up Friday evening and the entire day yesterday. In addition, my son Aaron came home from college for the weekend with four of his new friends!

In one of my first posts on this blog, I wrote about why I love the Rose Festival weekend, and you can read the original post here. This year of course was special because of Alysse's participation in the pageant. The parade was great, it really is Americana. I took pictures of the parade so that I could share them with you. I hope you enjoy them.

The Crowd gets ready for the parade.

The parade always begins with this large American Flag.

The Color Guard

You won't see this kind of float in the other Rose Parade!

More Parade Pics

The Grand Marshall

Some lovely parade watchers (that is my wife in the middle and my youngest daughter next to her).

During the parade we congregate in front of our church which just happens to be right on the parade route.

Aaron's friends aren't sure what to think about small town U.S.A.!

Mr. Reding has been riding a scooter in the parade for over twenty years. It is his job to keep the parade entries moving along at the right pace.

Parade Pics Continued

Last year's Rose Queen

This year's Queen

Rose Queen and some of her Court

My Rose Queen

She definitely favors her mother!

Even More Pics

The Shriners are always a hit.

The Wasco High School Band

The Thomas Jefferson Junior High band

The Wasco City Council

Yes, There is More

It must be an election year!

The Last of the Pics

Every parade needs a pooper scooper!

Bachman Turner Overdrive

In previous posts (see here, here, here and here) I discussed why Rush is my favorite band. Now I want to talk about my second favorite band, Bachman Turner Overdrive or as they are affectionately known as BTO. Whereas Rush is known more as a "progressive rock" band, BTO is a more straight up "hard rock" band, although several of their songs have a jazz flavor to them.

As I began my High School years I became fascinated with BTO largely through my neighbor and classmate Bill Fisher . Bill had an LP (remember those?) by BTO called "Four Wheel Drive" and because I had just been given an old record player and needed something to play on it, he graciously let me borrow the album.

Given that it was going to take some time for me to earn the money to buy new albums I literally played "Four Wheel Drive" day and night. Every song on the album became my favorite as I listened to each one until the words and music were etched in my memory. Even today, I can still hear the music in my mind.

In any event, this led to the purchase of my second BTO album, "Not Fragile." Arguably their best album, there is no debate that it was their most successful, reaching number 1 on the pop album charts in 1974. It also included two number one hits, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and the instrumental "Free Wheelin." This album also included several of their best known songs, like "Roll on Down the Highway," "Not Fragile," and "Sledgehammer." Over the next few weeks I will be posting more on my favorite BTO albums and songs, but for now I want to post a couple of BTO videos from youtube.

One thing I want to add is that you shouldn't judge the band by their looks or by the quality of these videos. Randy Bachman and especially C.F. Turner do not look like your usual rock band members, but that doesn't mean they can't produce some very good tunes. So enjoy.

Bachman Turner Overdrive - Roll On Down The Highway

Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Bachman Turner Overdrive - Let It Ride

Bachman Turner Overdrive - Hey You

Game Week - San Jose State

Well, game week has finally arrived. This week the Washington Huskies prepare for their first game of the season, against San Jose State. It has been a tough couple of years for this Washington transplant living in Southern California. Most of the people here are either UCLA or USC fans. Since it is just up the freeway, there are some Fresno State fans here as well.

Quite a few people here root for UC Berkley, mainly because one of Wasco's own has played and started there over the last few years (by the way, his name is Aaron Merz and he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, go Aaron). Aaron started playing for Cal, the year they broke the losing streak to UW. Mostly people here have been gracious about the condition of my Huskies, but it has been humbling to see how far this once mighty program has fallen.

I was excited when they hired Rick Neuheisel, but he was a big disappointment. He and Barbara Hedges helped take Washington from the best and most consistent program in the PAC-10 to where it is today. Our record for the last two years? 3-19, it even pains me to write that. Keith Gilbertson (the most recent coach) probably should also get some credit or rather blame for our sad state of affairs, but he was put in a no win situation.

I was not very thrilled when they hired Ty Willingham as head coach because I considered him to be a retread, and what we needed was fresh ideas and new blood. However, Ty is a quality individual and a great man of character. He has put together a good staff and there is some talent on this squad...we are going to find out very soon if this staff can get the job done, let's hope so. Here is this year's schedule and it looks pretty tough.

Sept. 2 San Jose State
Sept. 9 at Oklahoma
Sept. 16 Fresno State
Sept. 23 UCLA
Sept. 30 at Arizona
Oct. 7 at USC
Oct. 14 OREGON STATE
Oct. 21 at California
Oct. 28 ARIZONA STATE
Nov. 4 at Oregon
Nov. 11 STANFORD
Nov. 18 at Washington State

GO DAWGS!!!!!!

The 527 Media

Jed Babbin has an excellent letter to Ken Mehlman of the RNC. Nothing drives conservatives like me crazier than the Bush bashing, Republican hating MSM. It is time for the Republicans to fight back and to tell the truth to the country. In his article, he quotes Washington Post editor Marie Arana who confirms what we all know to be true.

"The elephant in the newsroom is our narrowness ... If you work here, you must be one of us. You must be liberal, progressive, a Democrat. I've been in communal gatherings at the Post, watching election returns, and have been flabbergasted to see my colleagues cheer unabashedly for the Democratic candidates."

Babbin's advice, "Tell America that it's a media culture, not a conspiracy."

In one of my favorite movies "You've Got Mail," Meg Ryan's boyfriend (played by Greg Kinnear) tells her as they are breaking up that he has fallen for a Conservative T.V. Talkshow Host. Since his character is a left wing columnist, Ryan's character is shocked. Kinnear's answer is, "I just can't help myself." That is the problem with the 527 media, they just can't help themselves. The only people they are around, the only people they listen to and read are fellow liberals. They really don't know anyone who lives in "fly over country" (i.e. middle America). They live and work in an echo chamber and they are narrow in their worldview.

But what can conservatives and republicans do to counteract the 527 liberal media culture? Or, as Babbin asks, how can republicans find "the pony in this pile of macaca?" Babbin offers some interesting ideas.

· Renounce any idea of using the power of the government against the press. The New York Times should be publicly ridiculed, not prosecuted. Remember the best lesson we can learn from Rush Limbaugh: You can do much more political damage with humor than with insults.

· Produce a series of television ads going after the "527 Media." Expose who they are and show how the typical newsroom is more like a dysfunctional, liberal family than a business run by adults.

· It's time for the Vice President to give a speech taking the press to task. He should name names. If Pinch Sulzberger wants to be a political activist instead of a publisher, why not call him on it?

· Organize a group called the Swift Veteran Reporters for the Truth. Every time one of those contrived stories comes out, make sure your team, experienced reporters all, can access the facts and get them out -- fast -- on blogs, talk radio and everywhere else.

· Get Republican congressmen and senators to write letters to their local papers and local network TV affiliates. Ask how they can pretend to be fair if they have nothing but liberals in the newsroom? Why did Clinton crony George Stephanopoulos get a big show on ABC? Culture, not conspiracy.

· Establish a media hotline for disgruntled reporters to call in about the contrived stories, connivance with the Dems and the bias they face in their newsrooms. Hire a couple of old-time conservative journalists to run it, guarantee anonymity, and then publish what the whistleblowers say.

· Get your best joke writers to study everything they can about the worst of the 527 Media and let 'em rip. I can just hear Mr. Cheney tut-tutting about the New York Times' stock collapse and comparing it to the dividends of, say, Halliburton.

The article is a whole lot of fun. HT NRO Media Blog

Now That I am Praising Bill Clinton

Nothing makes me more angry than the whole "Bush Lied" meme. It is dishonest and flies in the face of all the facts. Austin Bay has posted a column by Tom Nichols that makes this quite clear.

The article quotes none other than my new favorite person to praise,
Bill Clinton. Here is what Clinton had to say...

“It is obvious that there is an attempt here, based on the whole history of this operation since 1991, to protect whatever remains of [Saddam’s] capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction, the missiles to deliver them, and the feed stocks necessary to produce them. The UNSCOM inspectors believe that Iraq still
has stockpiles of chemical and biological munitions, a small force of Scud-type missiles, and the capacity to restart quickly its production program and build many, many more weapons.”

Clinton then added:

“Now, let’s imagine the future. What if [Saddam] fails to comply, and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction and continue to press for the release of the sanctions and continue to ignore the
solemn commitments that he made? Well, he will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction. And some day, some
way, I guarantee you, he’ll use the arsenal. And I think every one
of you who’s really worked on this for any length of time believes that, too. [emphasis added] If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with
impunity, even in the face of a clear message from the United
Nations Security Council and clear evidence of a weapons of mass destruction program.”

That was Bill Clinton in 1998. Here he is on Larry King in 2003...

“People can quarrel with whether we should have more troops in Afghanistan or internationalize Iraq or whatever, but it is incontestable that on the day I left office, there were unaccounted for stocks of biological and chemical weapons.And then we bombed with the British for four days in 1998. We might have gotten it all; we might have gotten half of it; we might have gotten none of it. But we didn’t know. So I thought it was prudent for [President Bush] to go to the U.N. and for the U.N. to say you got to let these inspectors in, and this time if you don’t cooperate the penalty could be regime change, not just continued sanctions.”

Read the whole article, I think it is very convincing and a sharp rebuke to those who want to continue to scream, Bush lied.

Who Should We Believe - The New York Times or the Facts?

Check out this post at Gateway Pundit. Once again the blogs are doing the work that the MSM won't do (I will leave it to you decide why).
HT Instapundit

My favorite for 2006 Rose Queen

If you want to see who I am rooting for in this year's Wasco Rose Queen Pageant click on this link and then click on the bottom far right contestant. It is a good thing she takes after her mother.

A National Shame

Stories like this just make me shake my head in shame. What has our country come to? In the name of "choice" and "reproductive rights" a worker at an abortion clinic can deliver a baby, "alive, moving and trying to breathe," cut the umbilicial cord and then stuff "the wriggling, gasping baby into a biohazard bag" and seal the bag shut. According to the article this is not the first time something like this has happened.

The Hialeah City Council on Aug. 10 stripped A Gyn of its local license. Clinic owner Siomara Senises voluntarily surrendered her operating license to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. In 2004, Senises turned in her license to operate another clinic in Miramar, Fla., after authorities discovered she had allowed unlicensed workers, including a medical student and a janitor, to perform abortions. The Hialeah incident marks the third time in two years that Florida abortionists have had to surrender their licenses for endangering women's safety, and the second time in just over one year that a born-alive baby has died in a Florida clinic.

God help us!

HT Stand to Reason

Democrats and the Fertility Gap

Arthur C. Brooks has authored the feature article at Opinion Journal. In it, he explains why the liberals may have a larger political problem in the future because they are not multiplying, there is a "fertility gap" that they may not be able to overcome.

Simply put, liberals have a big baby problem: They're not having enough of them, they haven't for a long time, and their pool of potential new voters is suffering as a result. According to the 2004 General Social Survey, if you picked 100 unrelated politically liberal adults at random, you would find that they had, between them, 147 children. If you picked 100 conservatives, you would find 208 kids. That's a "fertility gap" of 41%. Given that about 80% of people with an identifiable party preference grow up to vote the same way as their parents, this gap translates into lots more little Republicans than little
Democrats to vote in future elections. Over the past 30 years this gap has not been below 20%--explaining, to a large extent, the current ineffectiveness of liberal youth voter campaigns today.

Of course not every child grows up to have the same political views as his parents (see the 60's), but more often than not they do. Brooks doesn't see this fertility gap changing anytime soon, even when "we correct for factors like age, income, education, sex, race--or even religion."

He quotes one liberal columnist who insists that the gap is a real reflection of the cultural differences between the left and the right in the country today. As the aforementioned columnist wrote,

"Maybe the scales are tipping to the neoconservative, homogenous right in our culture simply because they tend not to give much of a damn for the ramifications of wanton breeding and environmental destruction and pious sanctimony, whereas those on the left actually seem to give a whit for the health of the planet and the dire effects of overpopulation."

While I think the columnist's explanation is over the top, I do agree that there is a fundamental difference in how the left and the right look at the value of children. Call it "family values" or whatever you want, but conservatives generally think having a family i.e. lots of kids is not a bad thing.

I do think there is another factor that Brooks did not address that helps to explain the fertility gap. James Taranto at Best of the Web calls it the Roe Effect. In a nut shell the theory goes that...

"since those who favor legal abortion are much more likely to get one than those who oppose it, and since children often follow their parents' political leanings, support for legal abortions will decline over time, simply because pro-choice parents will have fewer children than they might otherwise have had. Since people frequently associate their views with political parties, those parties that oppose abortion, such as conservative parties, including the Republican Party, could gain power over time" (source wikipedia.org).

The fertility gap helps to explain why the democrats are working so hard to court favor with immigrants because that seems to be the one area where they might experience actual growth.

What Bill Clinton Has Wrought

This is a first at accordingtothisjim, but I am going to say something positive about Bill Clinton. For all the issues I have with his presidency he did do some things right. One thing he did right was sign the welfare reform bill in 1996. This may be the greatest legacy of his presidency. Rich Lowry of NRO has an interesting article about the effects of that bill. Among other things Lowry writes,

Welfare caseloads have dropped 60 percent since the passage of welfare reform. Was that just the result of a strong economy? No. Caseloads didn’t decline significantly in any of the eight periods of economic expansion from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. From 1953 to 1994, the number of families on welfare dropped in only five of those years, and dropped two years in a row only once. By 2005, welfare caseloads had been declining for a stunning 11 straight years.

HT Justin Taylor

My Tax Problem is Nobody else's Business

I am generally for privatizing as much of the government as possible except when it involves sensitive information. This is a perfect example. It is a very bad idea. I can see the possibility for all kinds of abuses.

Although I guard my credit religiously and I haven't had much experience with collection agencies (medical bills I thought the insurance had taken care of), I know how they can be and I am sure that people will be intimidated into paying more than they owe.

Like with the bankruptcy bill (I have never declared bankruptcy) that was passed last year, I really believe that some in Congress have no clue what it is like to live in the real world.

Mexicans in America

Richard Rodriguez a CATO Institute (a Libertarian Think Tank) contributer, has written an interesting essay on Mexicans in America. For those of us who think that strong immigration reform is badly needed, it will not be an easy read. However, Rodriguez makes some very valid points.

Americans have tended to abrogate to economists the question of the costs and the benefits of illegal immigration. But, surely, beyond how much Betsy Ross is willing to pay for a head of lettuce, there is the question of morality, there is the question of Mexico. How much of Mexico are we willing to take within our borders? I believe the question might better be asked of a theologian, than an economist.

Rodriguez is a big believer in assimilation so he is not calling for a reconquista, only that we as Americans have a better understanding of Mexican immigrants and their values and how we should see them.

In response to Rodriguez, another CATO contributer, Victor Davis Hanson has written a reaction essay. He writes,

First, I share Rodriquez’s worry that migrant workers are sometimes being demonized. But aside from necessary censure against bigots, it is all the more urgent to ensure that Mexican immigrants arrive in the United States legally, and in reasonable numbers that ensure that they can assimilate and find opportunities in education and employment as quickly as possible.

Yet we too often forget that much of the unfortunate animus toward illegal aliens is most often predicated on class considerations, more than race or religion. Americans of the lower middle classes of all races—who do not have nannies or gardeners, who rarely eat out or stay at a hotel, but who do
compete for wages in construction and service industries with illegal aliens, and have their children in overcrowded inner-city or rural schools that are struggling with immigrants without English—are far more likely to demand reform than is our elite. The latter appreciates good cheap service while traveling and
dining out, or industrious day-laborers for remodeling and landscaping—and, of course, has little worry about rival illegal-alien film producers, professors, writers, lawyers, or doctors undercutting their own salaries or unions.

Pace Rodriguez, we need not ask either a theologian or an economist about how much of Mexico we are willing to take in. We already have a good guess that one out of every ten Mexican citizens currently resides in the United States, most of them under illegal auspices.

This influx is largely due to the cynical policies of American
business that wants robust Mexican youth to work cheaply at wages Americans apparently will not. When the worker’s vigor and health are exhausted, the employer expects to find a younger replacement from Mexico—with the added expectation that the government entitlement industry will provide for his former employee’s health and retirement needs.

But you can't lay all of the blame at the feet of American businesses.

Then there is the Mexican City government that counts on $15 billion in remittances to prop up a near-failed state, without much care how minimum-wage workers abroad survive after sending so much of their wages home. Illegal immigration for Mexico is a safety valve that ensures dissidents migrate rather than agitate. And Mexico also nurses ethnic chauvinism and old grievances, delighted to discover that its expatriate community grows fonder of Mexico the longer and further it is free from it. Rodriquez thinks it is “curious” that “Indians” are coming north from Mexico. Perhaps, but instead of condemning the “cold heart” of America, he should ask why they apparently find“white” or “Anglo” culture more tolerant than the “Spanish” establishment of Mexico that is apparently relieved to see its own mestizos leave.

This is a healthy discussion that I would like to see more of.

Finally, Some People in Hollywood Get It!

Just when I think I can't be surprised by Hollywood, I am! Duane at Radioblogger has posted the following on his website. Notice who they are blaming for the civilian casualties....those who are really responsible for them!

15 Websites that Changed the World

I have used most of these websites, although I have not heard of two of them (friendsreunited.com; easyjet.com). This is an informative read. I love wikipedia and youtube. HT evangelicaloutpost

Also see 25 Greatest PCs of all Time and 50 Coolest Websites

The 25 Most Important Questions in the History of the Universe

Can a pregnant woman drive in the carpool lane? How can a person win at that ultra-important-corporate-decision-making-process, rock-paper-scissor? Was turkey a country or a bird first?

These pressing questions and 22 others have been answered for us and can be found here. HT The Corner

OK GO Treadmill Dance

These guys have way too much time on their hands!

How to Become a Notre Dame Fan

Click to Enlarge
Football season is just around the corner and the message board is burning at dawgman.com. Someone there named nukemdawg posted this chart. I don't know if he made it up or he copied it from someone else. I would be glad to credit it to the person who developed it if they step forward. As you will see, I am not much of a Notre Dame fan, in fact I can't ever remember rooting for them, ever in any game! I think they get special treatment and don't deserve it.

The Media's Warped Sense of Perspective

This article by Jeff Jacoby is excellent. While I was very angry that Mel Gibson said what he did (not only was it wrong, but it played into the hands of those who cried anti-semitism against "The Passion of the Christ"). However, lets keep some perspective about the degree of offenses, especially given the difference in the contrition between the two men (one was very contrite, one wasn't). HT Hugh Hewitt

Lebanon

In the midst of all the turmoil and strife in the Middle East we forget how beautiful that area can be. Also, it is amazing how small an area it really is. Michael J. Totten who lived in Lebanon, has posted some great photos of Southern Lebanon near the Israeli border (make sure you keep scrolling down). In addition, check out the links he provides to more photos of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon.

A Good Day To Be A Washington Husky

Husky Stadium - Seattle Washington

Warren Moon got the Huskies started on their roll back in the seventies (and sadly ended in 2003). I have always been a big fan of his. Congratulations go to Warren on being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Ann Coulter

My mom over at leezy's slice of life blog has commented on the recent Ann Coulter interview at beliefnet.com.

Rather than go through the interview question by question and respond to Ann Coulter's comments, I am just going to link to the interview and then a discussion that followed over at the thinklings blog. The Redeemer Church referenced in that discussion is Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC.

Why does Ann Coulter elicit the kind of response she gets, like the one from my mom? I have said before that most liberals are not used to having conservatives speak the harsh realities of truth to them, as Ann Coulter does. I have to admit that I usually cringe when I hear her speak, but I secretly admire they way that she can "tell it like it is."

Unfortunately, because of her style and because she has become the issue, her effectiveness has been diminished. Anything she says is really just preaching to the choir. I think that is sad because as an intelligent and articulate woman, she has some very important things to say.

Scary

What is so frightening about this clip is that this man is one of the highest ranking dems in congress. Do we really want to put him in a position of power? This is why the elections in November are so important.

Ned Lamont vs Joe Lieberman

I think what is happening to Joe Lieberman in Connecticut is outrageous. Six years ago the Dems loved him enough to make him the Vice-President. Now, they are ready and willing to throw him under the bus.

I disagree with Lieberman on almost everything, but I do believe he is one of the most consistently principled Democrats in Government.

Ned Lamont's campaign should remember that those who live by the left-wing blogosphere shall die by the left-wing blogosphere.

Michael Gerson

This is an interesting interview of one of the great speechwriters of the last several decades. Looking back on some of President Bush's best speeches you can see Gerson's influence.

1,000th Visit

Sometime today we went over 1,000 on our visit count! Thanks mom for visiting so often (she gets credit for about 500 of those visits). Here's to 100,000 more.

Ole Anthony

I love this kind of ministry. Frankly, more leaders in the evangelical church should be speaking out in support of his work. Some, like Benny Hinn, are false prophets. Others, like Paul Crouch and Robert Tilton are simply hucksters. Men like TD Jakes and Joel Osteen don't fit into either of those categories, but they are severely misguided.

Robert Tilton is the worst of the worst. This is such a serious subject but, if you want a good laugh, check out this and this (warning crude alert).

HT SmartChristian