Caridee Update

I just got a call from Brandi. Originally Heather and Chris were heading home tonight w/o Caridee, but a room has become available that will allow them to stay. It appears that Caridee is responding to antibiotics. Also she was previously not urinating or even producing much urine despite a lot of liquids, that has increased as well, which is a GREAT sign.

B mentioned that there was some talk of a possible horseshoe kidney but they haven't said decisively that this is the case.

Nursing is going well and it seems that Heather and Chris are doing better and feel like they are getting more optimism from the doctors.

Long story short. There are still a lot of questions, but things seem to be headed in the right direction. Thank you for your prayers, please keep them coming.

Caridee Sage

Our little niece Caridee was born yesterday (Friday) and everything appeared to be perfect. The last several months have been an exhausting string of doctor visits and ultrasounds for Heather and Chris, after Caridee was diagnosed with Turner's Syndrome.

So far all of the tests look really good but she is experiencing some renal issues that they can't explain. Please pray that everything clears up quickly and for peace for Heather and Chris. Being a new parent is tough enough and things like this are really overwhelming.

Thanks and God bless.

Fey/Palin ?

I'm sorry I have to ask, does Sarah Palin look like Tina Fey?

No more waiting

So, Sarah Palin is the VP choice and the other event that I was waiting for... just happened!

Caridee Sage was just born. Mother and baby are doing well. I don't have the stats yet, but I'll be sure to update when I get them.

Congrats to Heather and Chris and God bless this little family!

UPDATE***** She is 7 lbs and 1 ounce, 19 inches long!

Watching the speech

Just a side note, whoever is controlling the audio for the event is either an Obama supporter or needs to find a different line of work. Constant feedback from the podium mic, you could over hear talking between McCain and Palin before she spoke, and instead of gently bringing down the music they just cut it off cold.

- Palin is talking now.

- I hope they get some good speech writers for her. This one seems very informational and not real smooth.

- She's very personable. Nice looking family. She needs to not clap in front of the mic... of course if you had some competent audio people, that might not be a problem.

- Instead of a soccer mom, she was a hockey mom... she's from Alaska, what can you say.

- Sounds like she's done more in two years as governor of Alaska than Obama has done in the IL house or in the US Senate. She even killed the "bridge to nowhere" project. Not a polished speaker, but the substance is good. She needs a little coaching. "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship was built". Nice quote. This lady seems like a younger, female McCain. Shake things up. Rock the boat. Hopefully more conservative.

- Quite the rowdy crowd.

- She's got a little bit of an accent. I don't know, I'm not really up on my Alaskan accents. It sounds a little Minnesota-ish.

- Just gave credit for Hillary's '18 million cracks' to every woman in America.

- She needs to work on presentation before the debates.

I don't know. The substance was great, the presentation was a little off. Needs more practice. Kind of funny these are just huge contrasts. With Obama/Biden you have expert presentation with moronic ideas. With McCain/Palin you have mediocre presentation with proven ideas.

This is going to be interesting.

I think this is going to prove either genius or idiocy.

Am I forgetting something?

I keep feeling like there is something I've forgotten, or overlooked... like maybe something that happened last night.

I think for sure that the McCain camp accomplished mission number one for this morning. They kicked Obama's speech OFF the top of EVERY major news site.

Well done.

Here comes the VP and...

well, she's pretty. Never thought I would say that about McCain's VP choice, but... she is.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

I have to say I really don't know much about the governor. I've heard some things about her over the last year, mostly positive, with a definite conservative slant to her. She's young, she's attractive (former runner up for Ms. Alaska). She's the mother of five children, three girls and two boys. The oldest boy goes off to Iraq in September and the youngest was just born in April.

Wow.

I'm really not sure how this is going to go over. It was pretty widely hoped by the pundits that he would choose someone who was "safe". Palin doesn't really qualify on that one. It will be very interesting to see if this is seen as a stunt, an act of desperation, or recognizing a competent, qualified, and talented woman.

Man, this election is tiring.

But fun. :)

She might now have to wait

Strong indications now that Palin might now have to wait for the VP slot. She might get it now.

McCain goes on in 1 hour and 45 minutes. Will the secret stay hidden for that long?

A thought while I wait

Waiting for two things. The first is for my wife to call and say that our niece has been born. Her sister and husband have been at the hospital since yesterday afternoon. Very exciting. I'm betting on around 8 am.

The second thing is McCain's VP choice. But as I sit here and read all of the latest 'guesses' or 'near leaks', BTW it doesn't look like Romney or Pawlenty, I am seeing stuff about Sarah Palin, another young conservative governor who has been very popular. I am very hopeful for the future of the Reps, but more importantly the future of conservatism. There are some very good, very principled leaders out there. Maybe in 2012 or 2016 I could imagine a Jindal/Palin ticket. Wouldn't that be something?

Is this the time?

Russia just announced that they tested a new nuke.

Can we afford to have Obama?

A replay, just in case you missed it.

Funnies

These are just for fun.

The Obama hit squad is out

I've been reading all kinds of things on blogs about the back door things that Team Obama/Biden is doing to try and silence critics. They believe that John Kerry didn't do enough, soon enough, to fight the allegations from the Swift Boat Vets for Truth during the 2004 election and now are working over time to fight ads from legitimate 501c's and 527's (after all didn't he work with McCain on the campaign finance reform laws that helped bring these groups into existence?)

Doesn't anybody get it? The only reason these ads stick is because they are TRUE. If they didn't have an element of truth to them and weren't backed up by the facts then they would be shot down through research and common sense. For instance, the false accusations about Obama being Muslim and being some kind of Manchurian Candidate for Islamo-fascists. Besides being just out there, it didn't hold up to the facts.

Now the latest one that Team Obama is putting all of its force into stopping concerns Bill Ayers. Really there isn't much new here, in fact I first blogged about Ayers back here in February. People are just now digging into the files of the boards that they served on together and exploring the relationship. Obama claimed that he was just some guy from his neighborhood and wasn't someone that he exchanged ideas with. It appears from the evidence, that this is completely false. Obama also claims that Ayers did something bad 40 years ago when Obama was a kid. Unfortunately he fails to point out that Ayers has no regrets about what he did back then, in fact the only thing that he is upset about is that he and the Weathermen Underground didn't do ENOUGH.

If someone puts an ad out against you that is false, normal political maneuvering would say that you put out a converse ad disproving the false one. Well, the problem is that Obama can't. All of the ads that he has put out so far are just condemning the group that produced the ad because they can't refute the MESSAGE. They have even resorted to filing papers with the Department of Justice, asking that the group and its contributors be investigated.

Why go through all of the effort? Unless there is real substance there.

Hmmm... a line about protesting too much is going through my head right about now...

The ad war

I know that Obama has raised money like no one else in US politics has ever been able to.

But when it comes to actually using that money on effective ads... the McCain team for the last month has been kicking their tails. The speed that they are coming out and the hard hitting nature of them has the Obama camp reeling.

I like this new one.



HT: Powerlineblog

After day 3 of the DNC

Well day 3 of the DNC saw John McCain on a skewer, although a very polite skewer. Both Bill Clinton and Joe Biden expressed their respect for McCain, the work that he has done in the past by reaching across the aisle and his heroic military record. Then they began to berate him on a whole host of issues. I liked it. Not from the perspective that they wanted me to like it… but I liked it. They drew a clear contrast. They were dishonest at times and lacked several little things like evidence and facts, and willfully ignoring important issues, but they definitely drew a contrast.

Bill Clinton was quite his old self last night. He had the same old hand gestures, he was composed and collected. I did notice that biting his lip had been replaced by a tongue roll in the cheek. Not sure what that’s about. But he was smooth, polished, and put on a truly Clintonesque performance. A much better show than he had been putting on for the last year campaigning for his wife. In the end though it was all about Bill and he was loving every minute of it. He constantly made references back to his own administration and how great things were in the 90s. The funny thing is, this speech was suppose to be about national security, but it included easily as much or more about the economy as it did national security. Unlike Hillary, Bill’s speech was clear, easy to listen to and although it contained copious references back to his administration, he very definitely endorsed Obama… on stage. His comments off stage were a little different. One MSNBC commentator was subjected to a deafening round of boos along with a hostile Chris Matthews for stating that the Clinton’s might have endorsed Obama, but they would be voting for McCain. It was pretty classic.

Joe Biden is not the public speaker that Bill Clinton is. His speech was painful. He tripped over his words several times. His statements were aimed at getting the crowd riled up without regard to legitimacy or truth. I’ve listened to several of these speeches now and I got more irritated with Biden’s speech than I have any of them.

But, the big show is tonight. Invesco Field is decorated up like the Parthenon from the pictures. I have no idea how that plays into this whole shindig, but I guess we’ll see tonight. I’m sure it will be very well delivered and very well received by the crowd. I’m sure it will be very touchy-feely and very sentimental. I’m not sure about any kind of substance, but we’ll see.

Will it be enough to stop the trend to McCain?

Will the Dems get any kind of bump from their convention?

Will McCain’s VP announcement(Friday or maybe even tonight) steal the thunder?

Are the Reps in a better position with their convention being one week after the Dems?

We shall see.

More MesSNBC

You couldn't get two more liberal partisans than Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews.

Unfortunately that doesn't mean that they get along.

Must be some bitter coffee in the break room at MesSNBC. Nobody seems to be getting along.

MesSNBC

I guess not everyone at MSNBC is real happy with the liberal slant that they are taking. Morning Joe seems to be the lone voice crying out for some return to independence against the amazingly partizan Olbermann, Matthews, and Schuster.

This is what I call a melt down.

It isn't pretty. In fact I bet it was incredibly uncomfortable for all involved.

But it sure is entertaining to watch. :)






HT: Newsbusters

After day 2 of the DNC

Well, I did not catch the speech last night as it was in action, but I caught the late version, or what I could of it. I finally dozed off about 11 and couldn’t take anymore. I have to say that I appreciate the fact that Obama beat Hillary in the primaries simply because she is a difficult speaker to listen to. She is loud and tends to get stuck in an obnoxious, almost shout that gets very old after a very short period of time. In any case, the speeches from Michelle Obama and from Hillary could not have been more different. Michelle was poised and her speech flowed, it made sense, it was easy to listen to and it was even easy to read. Hillary’s was one tag line after another, some biting at Bush, others at McCain, but most of them patting herself on the back.

The stated purpose of the speech, from several Dem strategists was for Hillary to help unify the party and repair the rift that was created through a long and bitter primary. I think she could have done that, or at least made a lot of progress in that direction, but I don’t think she wanted to, and I don’t think the Obama’s really thought she would.

To me the story of the night, as I watched Hillary speak, was the look on Michelle Obama’s face. It was a mixture of angst, fear, bitterness, and if looks could kill, then at some point during the speech last night I think Hillary would have been burned by the fire coming out of her eyes.

Wow. It was not pretty.

I didn’t get to hear what any of the pundits were saying about the speech, hopefully I will catch some of that today. I would have to say that my impression is that it was a failure. The whole thing sounded more like a rallying cry to Clinton and what she had done than a moving speech to try and restore the party. Of course, I really don’t know if Hillary could deliver that speech. I think Pres Clinton could, if he wanted to, but from all of the reports that have been coming out, I don’t think that’s the foremost thing on his mind.

It was a very interesting development for Obama to let the Clinton’s have two nights at the convention. I’m not sure what he was thinking here. He would have had a better chance at unity if he would have made Hillary is VP choice. Of course, then he would be watching his back and hesitantly sipping his coffee for the next four years, but he would have had a better shot at the election. Either that or he is thinking that his speech at Invesco Field is going to be SO moving and SO inspiring that the rest of the convention will be forgotten and everyone will look back on all of the other pathetic speeches and be glad that they have elected this eloquent speaker, their nominee for president.

For his sake I hope there aren’t any teleprompter issues. It could bring the whole thing down in flames. Hmmm… that could be very interesting. :)

Nancy and our energy crisis

First of all, let me say that while I respect the right of people to protest… I’m not a big fan of the concept. To me it’s just kind of an annoying spectacle, but that’s beside the point.

Nancy Pelosi decided to take the conversation down a notch. Low class. But since she wants to give people a hard time about energy policy and she seems to be the main road block in the way of actually getting a vote on drilling, let’s take a look at her thoughts on energy.

It’s important to know that she opposes fossil fuels. She believes that we need to use natural gas. This is a brilliant idea. Do you think somebody should mention to her that natural gas IS a fossil fuel? Yes, someone who clearly doesn’t know WHAT she is talking about it stopping us from drilling by preventing a vote on a bill that would open up the outer continental shelf, ANWR, and shale oil reserves. Classic.

Also the whole concept of two cents in 10 years is absolutely ridiculous and an out right lie. The fact is that it will make a huge difference RIGHT NOW.

Two things are going to bring down the price at the pump: a strong dollar, which the administration has finally shown some interest in, and increasing supply. Even saying that you plan on drilling will bring the price down well more than 2 cents. The price is partly based on speculation and how much supply traders believe will be available in the future.

Now this talk about the US only having 1-2% of the oil reserves in the world is also an out right lie. We haven’t been allowed to explore the outer continental shelf to really figure out how much is there. The latest estimates were revised upwards fairly dramatically. Add in the amount of oil that can be achieved through shale exploration and the US could be the most oil rich nation in the world.
















So on that note, I echo the protestors. Drill here, drill now! Maybe not in Denver, but definitely in the oil shale regions of Colorado.

After day 1 of the DNC

Mondays are my days off and Brandi had already put the baby down and headed off to the gym, so I sat down on the couch and watch the Dem Convention last night. Unfortunately I only caught the last half of Michelle Obama’s speech, along with the analysis by the various talking heads. I like to switch between networks to see how different anchors react to different things. If you pay attention and see how different people do it, you can definitely see the slant that some networks or reporters take.

Some observations here.

If you are watching Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews on MSNBC, then you are definitely seeing the most liberally biased presentation of the convention. Which is fine, if that’s your preference. At the end of the speech when the Obama girls came on stage and Barrack came up on the screen, it almost sounded like Olbermann was getting choked up and of course just fawning all over the whole scene. Quite a contrast to the comments from the Ragin’ Cajun James Carville on CNN who had some blistering statements about the convention so far.

Over on Fox news you definitely got the other side. They had Juan Williams saying some positive things about the speech and Britt Hume seemed fairly impartial (always a class act in my opinion). Chris Wallace said that the whole day was a missed opportunity and a waste, which was backed up by several panel members. Fred Barnes gave a good sense commentary on the evening and made some kind remarks even though he is clearly more conservative in his views. Karl Rove was unusually non-sensical and went on for a couple of minutes ragging on M.O. for making points and statements that could have been made by other people. Britt tried to bring him back, but I think at that point it was a lost cause.

Personally, having seen what I saw and read through the transcripts, I think Michelle did what she needed to do. She is obviously a very intelligent and articulate lady who loves her husband and her kids. The whole point of her giving the speech was to make sure that she looked like a normal patriotic American from humble beginnings (after some revealing comments earlier in the primaries). She also wanted to make sure that Barrack came across as a normal father/husband/brother-in-law who believes in this country and in the American dream; obviously an effort to confront the “celebrity” commercials from the McCain camp (which are GENIUS, politically speaking). In the meantime she threw in several references to her faith, some positive statements about military families, and a brief overview of her husband’s agenda concerning Iraq, the economy, and healthcare. The first night was an important night to try and rally the liberal troops and try and gently recreate Obama’s image. Mission accomplished.

I don’t think that we are going to see more of the same tonight. In fact, I am counting on a lot of interesting statements tonight. Hillary Clinton is speaking. Don’t tune into MSNBC if you want to see the rabid Hillary fans that will be drug out of the arena foaming at the mouth. Go to FNC for that. :)

Biden on Obama

What an election season this has been. But just to recap, let's go back to the primaries, when the new Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden was a candidate for president.

He had some things to say about Obama and McCain for that matter.



Youtube is a beautiful thing.

HT: Powerlineblog

A little paranoid about this one... but way cool.

I'm not big on magnetic or electrical fields of significant magnitudes running through my body on a regular basis. I try not to think about all of the stuff around me that is putting off all kinds of things from radiation to elec and mag fields.

But all of that aside.

This is a pretty cool deal if they can keep the efficiency of the system up. I imagine that would be the biggest difficulty. This wouldn't do much for our energy crunch if you were losing 40-50% of your power by going wireless.

But...

No power cords. How crazy is that?

A great message from a great leader

I caught this one on Youtube while I was looking for something else.

Yeah, it's been kind of a slow day.

The Polls

I don't put too much credit in any one poll. What I like to do is actually look at each organization and how their current poll compared to their last poll. Then look at all of the polls together and see what they are saying. Websites like realclearpolitics make that very simple.

When it comes to presidential races, it is also important to not only look at the overall numbers, but the numbers by state. There are few pages that do this.

The following map was taken from Electoral-vote.com who has the current totals at Obama 264 and McCain 261 with 13 ties. This is a big swing in the last couple of weeks and even a significant shift in the last week. The ones that are dark are very heavy in the candidates direction (of course blue is Dem and red is Rep). There are some interesting things to note. First of all Minnesota is barely for Obama. This is a state that hasn't voted for a Republican since Nixon in 1972. Hmmm... very interesting.

This map was taken from electionprojection.com and they are currently predicting McCain 274 and Obama 264. Also a dramatic reversal as of recent.

Real Clear Politics (couldn't grab their maps as pictures) also shows a dramatic trend from Obama to undecided or from undecided to McCain. They also have a feature that forces the undecided states to be either red or blue based on current polls. When you do that, they have the race McCain 274 to Obama 264.

Combine that with the fact that Obama spent more money in July on Ads than McCain has spent on the whole election.

Basically what I am saying is that the news is very positive for McCain. I read through the transcripts of the Saddleback forum and even on paper McCain was great and Obama tanked. The news reports have all reflected the same sentiment, even in far left liberal circles.

I am really looking forward to the debates. I think that McCain will come across as experienced and decisive and Obama will have a very difficult time without completely scripted answers. It will definitely be interesting.

In the meantime, I think the tide has turned.

Please pray for Paula

I just read the update from Scott Hodge's blog. Evidently Todd passed away last night with his family and friends by his side.

Please continue to keep Paula and her three little boys in your prayers. This is something that's going to be hard on all of them.

If you would please visit one of the blogs below and comment on the updates to let Paula and the family know that you are praying for them.

Scott Hodge (lead pastor at the Orchard)
Mike Jones (worship pastor at the Orchard)
The Orchard Blog

Thanks.

Now they're catching on

I'm glad that someone finally picked up on the fact that when Obama is off the prompter he is not nearly as eloquent as when he is scripted.

And a late night talk show host found something funny in that.

Who would have thunk it?

Love your family

It's just kind of a sad day today. My mind constantly wonders back to Todd and his family. I've been praying for them a lot. I can't imagine the difficult position that Paula and the kids are in right now. Mentally I just don't know if I could handle something like that. My heart just hurts for them.

But at the same time, I know that the God we serve is a God of power and deliverance.

If you haven't been, please pray for God's mighty hand to fall on this family, especially on Todd, in a way that is amazing and obvious; a way that can't be described or explained, but is apparent to all.

Illegal Immigration

My friend Nick recently had a blog post commenting on this story about an Iowa town that was recently raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rather than write my usual ‘blog entry for a comment’, I decided to go ahead and write a blog entry about it.

The question of immigration is not easy. It is a very complex issue. Not because the idea itself is that difficult, but because the laws have been mishandled and randomly enforced for so long. The process of immigrating to the US has gone from a rapid process at ports of entry, like Elis Island, to a mountain of paperwork and legal fees. The system is broken. Legal immigration to the United States needs to be cheaper, easier and faster.

But there still needs to be a process.

For the longest time I have been arguing for a multilayered fence to block the border; something that would be a physical barrier to cars, trucks, and pedestrians. I have had conversations with a variety of people that disagree with this idea, even quoting the late great President Reagan and his comments about the Berlin Wall. However the evidence that supports the need for this barrier is just too overwhelming, but it includes the following:

- Sophisticated, brutal, and lethal human smuggling cartels that routinely move innocent people from Central and South America across the border and hold them for ransoms. This is quite seriously a daily occurrence as people are put in ‘drop houses on the American side and put under armed guard until their families can pay to have them released. These are nothing less than modern day slave traders and they must be stopped. I included links to three different stories, but the police find a new drop house almost every day in the Phoenix area. Google “drop house in Phoenix” and read all you want.
- Gangs from south of the border, such as the now infamous MS-13, among a host of others, terrorize whole portions of cities until police are afraid to patrol areas. The hardest hit in are the illegal aliens who are trying to work and earn a living for their families because gang members know that they are the least likely to report crime.
- Having a physical border would finally have a line that the Mexican Army would know that they are crossing. I know this sounds strange, but the Mexican Army crosses the border on a regular basis. This really wouldn’t bother me, accept that they apprehend and detain US Border Agents. This is just a disaster waiting to happen. How are US Border Agents suppose to tell the difference between the Mexican Army and gang members who have recently been recruiting new and more sophisticated members to protect drug shipments and enforce gang rule inside US cities.

Once there is a firm barrier on the border we can begin discussing the status of those that are in this country illegally. The fact is that they knowingly broke the law by entering this country and obtaining false documentation. This was not an accident. It was an intentional act and needs to be dealt with appropriately. Does that mean that we need to deport everyone? No. The fact is that by having a virtual ‘open border’ we have created a whole host of problems for ourselves including children of illegal immigrants who were born in this country and people that have lived and worked here peacefully for decades.

Once the border is secured there needs to be a system set up to deal with those who crossed the border illegally. It is absolutely essential that they learn English and establish better relationships with law enforcement. The article about the town in Iowa could have just as easily been written in a way that condemned Agriprocessors for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, paying them lower wages, giving them insufficient break and meal times, not paying overtime, putting them in unsafe working conditions, and employing children. Businesses should be punished for hiring illegal aliens and they should be required to treat all of their employees humanly and comply with all employment laws.

A real physical border and a massive overhaul of the legal immigration process is a first step. Dealing with those who violated the old law is the second step. But first things first.

Prayer Request

My brother Mike and his wife Kristen are best friends with a couple named Todd and Paula. Todd travels frequently for business and was recently in Mexico. Unfortunately he became ill and after a short stint in a Mexican hospital, returned to Chicago and went to the ER there. His condition appears to have been misdiagnosed and he was sent home. Early the next morning he suffered a heart attack and severe edema. Todd is in the hospital and is on a ventilator in a drug induced coma. You can follow his progress on Mike's blog in the Twitter section. Over the next couple of days they are hoping that the fluid levels in his brain decrease as they allow him to regain consciousness.

Please pray that all of the conditions subside, that God just heals this young father and critical part of this young family. Pray that as the sedation runs out that he regains complete consciousness and motor skills. This is a critical couple of days and absolutely necessary that God hears a thundering of prayers from his people on behalf of Todd, his wife Paula and their young children.

Thanks and God bless.

***Update: It appears that brain function is limited. Please pray very hard that this condition reverses. God can heal!

Big Oil and Big Government... who makes more off the deal?

The next time you hear someone in the media condemning “Big Oil” and the “obscene profits” that they are making, just think of these numbers that came up during Charlie Gibson’s interview with the CEO of ExxonMobil.

The following are stats for ExxonMobil broken out on a per SECOND basis.
- $1400 per second in Profit (not bad, eh?)
- $4000 per second in TAXES (why isn’t this all over the media?)
- $15000 per second in cost

Basically they spend $19000 a second to run their business and pay their taxes and make $1400. Kind of puts it in perspective. Although I think it’s ridiculous that you have this kind of outrageous taxation going on throughout the process to get gas from oil and the government (Fed) still takes an additional 12% at the pump.

Now THAT is obscene!

Now how fair does a ‘Windfall Profit Tax’ sound now?

Prayers for Brandi

My sweet wife starts another round of back shots today. These are non-epidural shots, so we are hoping for a faster recovery. Please keep her in your prayers. If these are effective for her then there is hope of another proceedure where they actually burn some of the nerves for longer term relief.

*** Update : Initial reports are that the shots (six of them) went very well. B said that she definitely noticed an improvement when she picked up the baby this morning. This is really good news. Please pray for complete healing. :)

Hmmm... could it be?

The body of an elusive big foot has been found and recovered. Or so they say.

Stay tuned.

Free tickets! *

Do you ever pay attention to those little * that appear on all kinds of "free" things. It's kind of like the old saying, "there is no such thing as a free lunch." Very true.

Well, it turns out there is no such thing as a free ticket to the Obama acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver. After being told that they would receive the free tickets, they were told that they would only receive them after they volunteered for the campaign.

Normally in business we call this the Bait and Switch technique.

Of course, maybe B.O. just 'moderated his position' on the word 'free'.

It's a good thing B.O. is a 'different' kind of politician, otherwise this would seem like a cheesy political trick.

So... is the campaign calling up Berliners and asking them to come in and volunteer? After all, they already had their 'free' speech.

Evidently we have Obama to thank for the Georgia cease fire

Well, it isn't much of a cease fire when the armies keep fighting. The humorous thing is that Tim Kaine, who is rumored to be on the Obama short list for his VP slot, made a statement that the Russian government agreed to the cease fire at Obama's request.




This is called hubris wrapped up in a cult of personality. I like to simplify it slightly and just call it stupidity.

Having learned a little of Vladimir Putin over the last few years, there are a few things that seem to be abundantly clear. The first is that he is a man bent on keeping power. Not elected power necessarily, but definitely complete power. He is ex-KGB who REALLY misses the glory days of the USSR. He is very cold and very intelligent. This calculated assault combined with his apparent absolute control over Pravda (the former USSR media outlet) should send chills up the backs of every one of the former Solviet satellite nations... which is most likely one of the goals of the attack in the first place.

Sometimes you just don't want to know...

I worked in restaurants for years during high school and college. I've seen a LOT of bad behaviour and strange things.

This one is right up there. Kind of reminds me of Kramer on Seinfeld. "I prepared this entire meal while I bathed." Nice.

John Edwards

I've heard quite a bit of coverage the last couple of days on three things. Number one is the Olympics, which I probably won't watch much of because of time. Number two is the Russian invasion of one of our friends and allies, and the least consequential thing is the fact that John Edwards had an affair and possibly fathered a child with a woman while his wife is suffering from most probably fatal cancer.

I'm not linking to any of the articles about Edwards. I think what was a pathetic political career is now over and he needs to realize what his actions have done, accept responsibility and he himself needs to just shut up about the whole thing. Go into a hole and just focus on helping his poor wife. It is for her sake that I am not going to mention it any more and personally I am going to turn the radio or T.V. station if I see any coverage on it. I encourage everyone to do the same. There is no reason to drag this whole thing out and the only person who really suffers is Elizabeth Edwards. While you are at it, say a prayer for her that she can be strong through this whole ordeal and that God will get her through an unbelievably difficult physical and now emotional situation.

EXPLODING!!! But in a good way :)

1044 people baptized at Elevation in the last TWO WEEKS!!! Is that just crazy or what?

The spirit is blazing and people are being moved. Things are happening.

At SSCC this weekend we kicked off the Jesus for President series and talked about the Empire of God moving forward and taking over the world, one heart and mind at a time. Powerful stuff. It was a highly touted deal and delivered. Attendance was up about 20% (400). I can't wait to hear the rest of the series. It has caused a lot of personal thought and consideration. Very good things. Check it out. We also kicked off the season of Kidstuf with my good friend Thomas blasting out some soulful vocals and I got to have my debut at storytelling for the Word. Not my first time being up there, but definitely the biggest crowd I've seen. From my perspective it looked around 350.

In the windy city, a good portion of my family got together to watch my brother and his wife baptize their oldest son (and third child), Seth. I haven't seen the video yet, but I am eagerly anticipating it and will link when it's available. Last count I heard from Pastor Scott's blog was 138 people.

Powerful.

Feeling the burn?

The presidential candidate formerly known as Obama, now named...

Well, okay, this is not coming out of him or his campaign. It is actually coming from an LA advertising agency.

Personally it sounds like the agency needs to go into a different business.

I think the symbol fits though. A BIG ZERO! As in nothing. As in, what your pay check will look like after Obama’s new economic plan kicks in (what’s left is the ‘change’ you can believe in ;)

Nice. I like it.

Don’t people do sanity checks on things like this?

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!

If you never call your elected representatives about anything, call them about this one.

Yesterday a good man went to jail for fulfilling a contract to clear drainage bed that protects a neighborhood from flooding for two months out of the year.

The judge in the case expressly forbid the jury to consider the more than 20 years of evidence when considering the case. This whole thing just boggles the mind. He was actually found guilty of releasing pollutants into waters of the United States. The 'releasing' was actually just the fact that he would pull dead trees, built up sand and rocks out of the dry riverbed (only flooded 2 months out of the year) and they 'suppose' that some of that debris may trickle back into the stream bed. Huh? That's right. He was also found guilty of polluting a spawning ground for trout. Of course, there are no fish in THIS DRY RIVER accept for two months out of the year and only for seasonal flooding.

This is the craziest thing EVER! The man's name is Lynn Moses. Read the story and please, call your elected officials and ask them to look into this.

His wife died of a heart attack over a year ago(stress from this case no doubt contributed). His daughter is 17. He has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Worst Mayor in the US Got Put in the Slammer... Finally!

Up on no less than 8 felony charges, the mayor of Detroit FINALLY got put in jail after he violated a court order not to leave the state.

How has this guy NOT been impeached/recalled/removed from office yet? Is this just some kind of weird and twisted social experiment to see what exactly an elected official can blatantly get away with?

I'm glad that the judge finally put his foot down.

Check out this previous post for more info on America's WORST Mayor.


Here is a nice one of Obama endorsing the worst mayor in America.

Elevation still blazing

I haven't mentioned Elevation Church in a while. If you get a chance check them out, there is some great stuff going on there. Careful though, the Holy Spirit has set that place ON FIRE!

Check this out, they had some baptisms last weekend... LIKE 600 OF THEM!! That's just crazy awesome, and all from a group of a few families who quit their jobs and moved to Charlotte, NC to start a church. They are only a couple years old! God moving on the hearts of his people.

Wow!

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

If you have graduated high school, then hopefully at some point you have read at least one of his books. Alexander Solzhenitsyn passed away at the age of 89. A bold writer, Solzhenitsyn spoke out against the brutal and destructive communist regime under Stalin. A prisoner in the Gulag, his story is one of determination and perseverance.

If his books aren't required reading any more, they should be.

I love this quote: "He was not just a writer, he was more," said Valery Tarasov, a villager who lives near the house. "He was the conscience of Russia."

Obama on your shoulder :)

Sorry this was just kind of funny. :)

HT: Powerlineblog

Swollen head has a nice place to rest

There was an cbs piece on O-Force One. Nice gig. I like the line about him possibly feeling claustrophobic on Air Force One, should he get the privilege to ride in it.

The classic part to me though was the monogram on the chair.

Presumptuous... nah.

In case it is hard to read it has "Obama '08" with "President" underneath.

I wonder if they have the option to enlarge it as needed? Maybe an additional spot for "of the world"

Classic.