Last Weekend!!!

Last weekend was superb, to say the least.
Memphis in May and the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BARBECUE COOKING CONTEST.

I had the pleasure of being one of the numerous judges that had the honor of eating some of the most succulent 'cue in the entire country.

I was honored to judge four different categories: Mustard Sauce, Exotic Meat (Friday), and Shoulder and Patio Porker (Saturday). Patio Porkers are amateurs that have won contest and are now attempting to step up to a higher level of competition. They all have to cook ribs to compete.

I ate more Barbecue than I've ever consumed in a week and enjoyed every bite.

I have changed the name of this blog....

The meaning of the following story is lost on most Christians: It regards Naaman being commanded to do a specific task by Elisha's messenger and not Elisha, himself. Naaman already believed that God could heal him, yet was baffled by the small task called for by the messenger of the Messenger of God. But when he allowed himself to be humbled, he was healed. How are we like this proud man when we do not allow God to rule even our "small tasks" each day.

Elisha's messenger said, "wash in the Jordan 7 times, your flesh will be restored & clean." Angry, he went away. "I thought he would come out, call on the LORD, wave his hand, and cure the leper. Aren't the rivers of Damascus, better than Israel?" He turned & went in a rage. Servants said, "If he commanded you to do some great thing you would have done it. How much, then, when he says to you 'Wash and be clean'?" He dipped 7 times in the Jordan, and was restored and he was clean.

The Lathe cuts a clean, sharp, straight line unless altered by an outside force. These outside forces nick away imperfections and leave behind a beautiful turned piece of metal or wood. So are our lives placed in the Lathe of Life to be subjected to numerous outside forces. If we endure the constant pressure with assistance of the Master Craftsman, we become a better person to society and ourselves. If we do not endure, it shows in our daily life through the trials and tribulations each of us is subjected to along the way.

We must become involved to grow, to flourish, to find the pathway. Allow the Master Craftman to exert his pressure to shape you into the art you were meant to be.

I love college football.....

I preface that remark, in that, I am overly fond of Auburn Tiger Football, then second comes Virginia Tech Hokie Football, if I have to pick a second choice. I prefer the football played in the SEC to most played elsewhere. The traditions of SEC football are too numerous to mention here, although I could. Yet this past weekend the UAT, did SEC and college football in general a disservice. The crimson and white faithful have yet to fathom the impact what they have done!

Besides the fact that they set a "glorious" new attendance record for a spring game.* *(FREE ADMISSION - with donation to the Enterprise Tornado Relief Fund) Sadly the 'Bama faithful only contributed in the neighborhood of $39,000.00 for Tornado Relief and with a new high attendance of over 92,000 plus that comes to around thirty cents a head. I thought the "'Bama Nation" loved their football. If they had just donated fifty cents from every soft drink sold it would have come to more than that.

They can glory in their "attendance figure" all they want, but in terms of compassion and lending a "helping hand to their fellow Alabamian" they fell way short. Sort of "in the RED...."

Have an ORANGE and BLUE day....

Fish Frys and Barbecues....

Events both inherent to American culture, especially the South. If the fish is Catfish and the 'cue is Pork, you are somewhere below the Mason-Dixon. If the food is good, you are definitely below the M-D line. But if the Catfish is better than the 'cue, then you are probably in Mississippi.

I've learned a few things over the past many years, one being that never underestimate a Mississippi cook when it comes to Catfish. I've also learned that not everyone knows how to properly cook whole Catfish to the desired done-ness without burning some portion of the fish.
I'm still looking for the "best Catfish cafe" in the Greater Memphis Area. I've yet to find a soul that can serve it up as well as my wife or a number of my friends in a restaurant.

Maybe its the smell of the fish cooking in the house or the taste of "sample" hush puppies as they come out of the hot oil. Or could it be that no one can touch the coleslaw recipe that my wife uses? What ever it is, God certainly provided us with a great bounty in the Catfish and Pork Industry.

They have helped the South rise, again?

Now if we could just deal with that poverty thing. And the lack of support of education by our elected officials. We listen to them at Fish Frys and Barbecues tell us that they have our interests in mind, if we will just elect them. However, once in office, they forget about priorities and pander to money men.

Maybe if we cooked them some bad fish or bad barbecue, they would listen? It seems to work elsewhere, huh.

What to Say......

It is with difficulty that I address the shootings at Virginia Tech. I lived less than 10 miles from Blacksburg for a few years and have many friends and acquaintances still in the area, many of whom are students and have students at VT.

I read as many of you did in horror the accounts of witnesses on campus and the officials trying to get a grasp of the situation.

Now is not the time to blame the University for their response...

Now is not the time to blame the police for not locking down the campus...

Now is only a time for dealing with the pain and suffering. Asking God to forgive the individual that perpetrated these heinous acts on innocent victims.

God Bless, Virginia.

God Bless, Blacksburg.

God Bless, Virginia Tech.

God Save us all.....

I have this friend....

My the years have gone by all too quickly. I have lost some enthusiasm and some of my stamina from my youth, but my ideals have not changed.
Neither have most of my friends. I have this friend...from GA that is probably the most polar opposite from me politically as any one on the big blue marble, save a few neo-nazis and skinheads and a few so-called islamo-facisists (that is the term "W" used isn't it?). But normally if I'm for something, he's against it. If I'm against an issue, he's dead set for it. Do you see the pattern established there?

Well up until the president's popularity went into the tanker, I had been receiving almost daily updates from such brain trusts as Neil Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, David Limbaugh, Townhall.com, Newsmax.com, Pat Buchannan and all manner of Neo-conartist propagation. I'm surprised that the GOP did not have me on their mailing list. Suddenly if not sooner the daily deluge ceased. As the farcical operatives of this administration committed blunder after blunder and the democrats took back the House and Senate, his daily barrage of bile ended. Public opinion had blown the other way, and was now blowing the winds of change and aroma of stench of the most corrupt administration back toward him. I had long since stopped sending him my opinion regarding any political or environmental issue, knowing that it would only upset him and stir the pot. I had discussed these tirades with a mutual friend and we both came to the conclusion that any political discussions with him would be off-limits, due to his volatility.

I had mentioned to him the week after GWB's first election, that I would predict that his administration would be the worst in US history, I glad to see that he fulfilled one promise...
Told YA!

If it takes a Village to raise a child...

surely it will not take the entire country to raze the idiots!

While there still seems to be a fairly permanent 27-29% support for the powers that be; they seem to be made up of idealistic Reganites, extreme Neo-conservatives, or left-over Nixonion dreamers. If take a microscopic examination of the perpetrators of this fiasco in the Middle East, most are former Regan and Nixon staffers, with their dream of elimination of government. If you ask most neophytes to politics why they like RR, the only response they come up with is, "he brought pride back to America".

Most of us were always proud to be Americans. We were just not proud of what our government was telling us here and doing there. When Americans traveled beyond our shores they were treated as intruders, not because we were conquers, but because we were bullies. Our covert operations teams were performing unspeakable things in the name of freedom, "to keep us safe from Communism". Communism was a defunct, derelict, corrupt system of payoffs and bribes. Communism was not unlike some of our larger cities in the states. Grease a palm here, pat a back there, leave an envelope on a table in a corner....well you get the picture.

What is so ironic about all of them, the conservatives, is that they would never had a JOB without the government they espouse to hate!

They forget the barest essentials of road maintenance, water supply, first response, police and fire departments are all government agencies. Not to even mention the bane of all conservatives, EDUCATION.

Why do they despise education of the masses? Why do they only want an educated elite?

Questions that bear an answer......................

Welcome Back

Its spring break in the South and I am not at work! I am trying to relax at home, yet I am not getting much done in that respect. With my father in law moved in, it has become a constant drain on the patience that I already lacked. I need more every day. As he ages, so do I. I see my frailties in his own slow progression toward old age. We never can cheat time. Just live one short day at a time. Look for the happy moments among the minor setbacks and slowdowns.

He has nervous ticks and habits just like the rest of us, yet they just appear more pronounced because of his advanced age and practice at them. I imagine over time our habitual activities will become ticks and aggravations.

Selah~

Rollin Along

So we want leave Iraq until "W" is no longer in office, well didn't we all ready know that one? The master of the oblivious still somehow understates the obvious with more deft understanding than his Defense Secretary.

Why must any more soldiers die in a war with a phony enemy built up just to justify attacking Saadam for the threat on Bush "41", years ago.

"Once upon a time a man whose ax was missing suspected his neighbor's son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But the man found his ax while digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor's son, the boy walked, looked and spoke like any other child." ~ Lao-tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE)

Maybe it is best summed up by this quote: "Man's obsession to add to his wealth and honor is the chief source of his misery." ~ Moses Maimonides

Bye for now! See you in the funny pages!

New Job....No Time

I've taken a new down sized position, yet a position none the less. With the economy in "Good Shape" according to the president and Jack Welch, I've taken a job making about 40 grand less than I am accustomed to making. There may be more jobs, but they are jobs for a lot less money with no benefits.

Hide the women and children, boys; the conservative are still in control for a few more years. They have utterly failed since taking over congress in 1994 and the presidency with Bush and his recklessness.

"Ink is handicapped, in a way, because you can blow up a man with gunpowder in half a second, while it may take twenty years to blow him up with a book. But the gunpowder destroys itself along with its victim, while a book can keep on exploding for centuries." ~ Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957)

"A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., jurist (1841-1935)

What is worse Anne Coulter or a Harpy?

No contest! The lengths this imitation of a woman has to go to pandering to her base to sell books is amazing. Sadly the Faux News bunch eats up her rhetoric and nonsense. I heard Ken Melhman on Hardball today calling the Repugs a "big tent" party, who is he trying to fool with that comment? The ropes are straining on every side of their dining canopy with the groups they have camping under their "big tent". What's really amazing is how they managed to hold it together as long as they did.

As soon as "Christians" realize that the morals and values of "cultural republicans" are not the same as the morals and values of "social republicans". If marriage is so important to these "conservatives", why don't they outlaw DIVORCE TOO!

It's because most of them are DIVORCED, the "cultural, social and religious" "conservatives". OR they can have GAY people in their family, like the Vice President, but not recognize them.

"When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere." ~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Well, even Pat Buchanan wasn't fooled...

GWB came out pushing the marriage amendment this week, pandering to the remnant of his base. But Pat Buchanan wasn't fooled, I'll bet Rush Limbaugh was falling all over himself. I love my marriage, but ITS MY BUSINESS AND ONLY MY BUSINESS. NOT THE REPUBLICANS, BAPTISTS, PENECOSTALS, MORMANS, AND OTHER EVANGELICALS THAN WOULD RATHER SPEND TIME KEEPING APART HOMOSEXUALS THAN SPREADING THE WORD OF GOD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

I would love for one of these over zealous wing nuts to show me in the HOLY BIBLE where it says, "God bless America". They seem to think that it is ordained in scripture to do whatever they see fit to do to accomplish "their" goals; instead of "His" goals. When it comes down to it we are not citizens of this world, but of the kingdom of God. He doesn't specify which nation is the "most" blessed. Most Americans just assume that its America, and we all know what assuming does for us.

"The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool all of the people all of the time." ~ Franklin P. Adams, columnist (1881-1960)

"Were we to choose our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth. I believe ... that for someone who has read a lot of Dickens to shoot his like in the name of an idea is harder than for someone who has read no Dickens." ~ Joseph Brodsky, writer (1940-1996)

Strangebedfellows; so to speak!

"Once upon a time a man whose ax was missing suspected his neighbor's son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But the man found his ax while digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor's son, the boy walked, looked and spoke like any other child." ~ Lao-tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE)

This week Barney Frank (D) came out on the same side of the FBI investigation fracas at the Capitol of Representative William Jefferson of Louisiana as Bill Frist (R). Strange bedfellows, indeed!!!! These two guys could not be any more different than Mickey Mouse and Bart Simpson. But in this respect, they are correct. NO MAN, especially a member of Congress is above the law.

The reason Speaker Hasert was so opposed to the investigation was revealed over the weekend, when ABC news revealed that the speaker, himself might be under the microscope. He was laying ground work to try to keep the "fibbies" out of his offices in the near future, he doesn't give a tinkers about a democrat from Louisiana.

This is not about the buddy system. This is about survival. Planning for the future. He just looks stupid, he did not convince the right that he was the correct guy for the job because he was big fat and stupid, like Mike Moore, its because he's crafty. He is thinking about the indictment of Tom Delay, Bob Ney, "Scooter" Libby, "Duke" Cunningham, possibly Karl Rove, maybe Richard Cheney et al. So can you blame him if he starts early covering his bases?

"…when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

America's Job Bank to Shut Down

From Human Resource Online
America's Job Bank -- used by federal contractors who are required to post job openings and by recruiters looking for candidates -- will be closed down as of June 30, 2007.
Scott Kaplan makes it a daily habit to check job postings at America's Job Bank, the Internet's first national job board sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor since 1995.
Later: Despite its benefits, AJB's days are numbered. After evaluating the viability of maintaining the free site, the DOL's Employment and Training Administration decided to phase it out over the next year, closing it down on June 30, 2007, according to a statement released by the DOL.
And then: Meanwhile, Michael Prencipe, principal at HR Staffing Solutions in Springfield, Va., says his regional company has been using AJB since it was launched to find mostly techies and HR professionals.
He believes the site's real value is that many talented military and government employees post their resumes on AJB who otherwise might be invisible to recruiters. On the downside, he recalls how he was inundated with responses from unqualified job seekers every time he posted a position on the site.
Left to its own devices, the Republicans will even destroy their jobs, but still figure out a way to get paid for it. Or pay Haliburton to build a new pump system to get their drinks delivered to them.
Copyright 2006© LRP Publications
"The United States has to move very fast to even stand still." ~ John F. Kennedy

T-minus two days until I go back to work....

"It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision." ~ Helen Keller

I will start a new job Thursday, so posts maybe limited, yet they become contagious. So I will probably post after work. Work begins at 6 AM, ends at 2:30 PM each day, off weekends. I'll be working across the street from my wife, so expenses won't go up, nowdays that is a great big deal. Insurance will actually go down since mine will now be paid for and my wife can discontinue me from her policy, a savings of over $4oo per month. Welcome to the Bush Health care plan.

State retirement, insurance and holidays will take some time to get accustomed to, but change is good. The government keeps producing lower unemployment figures each month, yet I kept seeing more and more unemployed persons at the employment office each month. The reason the rate goes down is because once the benefits run out a person is taken off of the unemployed role since they no longer file for unemployment, they are considered "NO LONGER UNEMPLOYED, BUT NO LONGER SEEKING WORK". There is a big difference in those terms. Once your benefits run out it is pointless to keep filing unless you have a political agenda. Because you don't file, your not considered unemployed and not "IN THE NUMBERS".

"Doubt is not below knowledge, but above it." ~ Emile-Auguste Chartier, "nom de plume" Alain

How was your MEMORIAL DAY?

Ours was spent preparing for the yearly garage sale. No I didn't watch the hypocrisy of the President "laying" or was it "lying" a wreath on the tomb of the unknowns at Arlington yesterday. The only reason it still remains unknown to him is that he still follows a tradition of "great republican hawkish" officials that neither served in a war zone yet seem to "know" best for veterans and the military doing their dirty work.
Many questions still remain regarding "his" service in the Alabama Air National Guard, that service entailed the election campaign of one, Winton Blount, a republican running for Senator of Alabama. Who was later appointed to the Postmaster General position under Nixon, then just happened to buy out the US Postal service went it went from a government agency to a private business. Most Americans still don't know this piece of history regarding their postage prices, and postal delivery. They still get Government benefits, still have to have civil service appointments, but it is privately owned. Funny, huh?
I'm just too old for my own good, yet competition has been good for FedEx and UPS in the meantime. But whatever happened to the 9cent postage stamp? Why as citizens do we subsidize a private company's retirement program?

Apology for the rant. Back to Memorial day. On May 29, 1932 Walter Waters and a group of veterans arrived in Washington, DC demanding their WW I bonuses; over the next few months about 25,000 other veterans and their familes joined them.

After the group had been camped in DC for approximately one month the bill finally came to the floor, passed by the House, but rejected by the Senate. Many of the group went home except the original veterans, vowing to remain until they received justice.

President Hoover ordered the Army to drive them out of Washington. Several battalions of cavalry and tanks advanced on the shantytown of veterans tossing tear gas and setting fire to the makeshift village the veterans had established.

Over the next weeks newsreel footage of the attacks on veterans and their families by the Army, as ordered by the Hoover Administration were seen all over the nation. Resulting in a public relations disaster for the beleaguered administration. FDR reading a newspaper report about the eviction commented that this would elect him and it did.

Another example of "Compassionate Conservatism" by a Republican President. Hoover supported big bid'ness, supported tax cuts for the wealthy, despised the immigrants, hated progressives . . . . . it is starting to sound very familiar.

"It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision." ~ Helen Keller

Cheney, Rove, Lay, Skilling; Oh My!!

"Every absurdity has a champion to defend it." ~ Oliver Goldsmith, Irish born British essayist, poet, novelist and dramatist (1730-1774)

One of these days all of the truth will be out about all of these guys. Jack Abramoff with all of his inter-connection with Ney and Cunningham and now, DENNY. Will it ever end?

Six years ago, just after the planting of new SHRUBBERY at the White House I said, "This new group and President will go down in history as the most crooked and corrupt administration ever." Some of my friends laughed at me, Well who's chuckling now? Well, besides Letterman, Leno, Colbert, and Stewart?

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

Look for the Paws...

Make your way off of the exits of I-85 in to the land of dreams, the home of the Plainsmen. Where once stood the Sani-Freeze, the Kopper Kettle and lives have changed forever.

"Sweet Auburn! Loveliest village of the plain." ~ Oliver Goldsmith, Irish born British essayist, poet, novelist and dramatist (1730-1774)

"The company of fools may first make us smile, but in the end we always feel melancholy." ~ Oliver Goldsmith, Irish born British essayist, poet, novelist and dramatist (1730-1774)

Poster from MIM 2006

This year's Poster from MIM is a great take on an old Woodstock image. I love it!

Like Woodstock, except

SMOKE PORK INSTEAD

3 Days of PEACE, LOVE, & PORK

When in Texas, Enron is not a running play for the Longhorns...

"Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence." ~ Morris Kline

Today, Skilling and Lay were convicted of numerous counts of fraud and other misgivings to the stockholders and taxpayers of the Great State of Texas. Hey, Mama said, "When you play with crooked boards, you get crooked houses." I just wonder how long it will take the GS of Tejas(whoops, that's the original Spainish spelling) to tie these crooks to the Shrub in charge of the mess we now have in DC.

Didn't Deadeye Dick serve in some capacity on "Enron's Board" at some time? Or did he just get lucrative contracts from the Enronites.

Hey, not only are the "Eyes of Texas are upon You", so are the rest of America's.

Ironic isn't it that the Enron scandal started before Martha Stewart got her "insider info" about just buying stock at a good price, she has gone to trial, been convicted, served her time and now is back baking cookies and decorating her house in CT. But these guys bilked millions of American citizens in the Western States by artificially inflating the prices in the power grid and shutting down several power plants to inflate that price. Oh, but that is just "business". Business unless you are the one getting diddled.

"Man's obsession to add to his wealth and honor is the chief source of his misery." ~ Moses Maimonides (born Moses ben Maimon)

"The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers." ~ Carl Jung

On a side note, does the new English Only Law forbid singing Irish Pub songs in Irish or German Beer Drinking Song in Deutsch? Can I still go to Olive Garden or Pete and Sam's, you know they play that Italian (eye-talian, for Bill O'reilly) music? I really like the Fettucinne Alfredo. And does this new law outlaw ethnic festivals in the inner cities of our great country? I really like them too!

Did they really think about it??