I Love . . Little Baby Ducks . . .

***UPDATED***

There used to be this weird little country song by the great Tom T. Hall in the late 1970's that went like this:

I . . . love . . . little baby ducks,
old pick-up trucks,
slow movin' trains, and rain.

I love little country streams,
sleep without dreams,
Sunday school in May, and hay.

And I love you too.

One of my friends from my first posting in the Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky adulterated the lyrics, like so:

I . . . love . . . little baby ducks,
kids that screw on rocks,
monkeys in the air . . . , and shit.

Well, as of right now, My son the world traveler is one of those things; and fortunately it's not "kids that screw on rocks." He is officially a "monkey in the air" somewhere between Hawaii and the Phillipines as I write this, on his way to a month as an exchange student in China.

Freaking China!

That's him to the right, being interrogated by the TSA as we put him on the plane this morning before church. Fortunately, I refrained from the near-overwhelming urge to yell out "Strip Search Him! as he passed Security, and he called from San Francisco to say he'd make the connection and was fine, and excited.

I'll try to post some more pictures from the trip as they occur. Not bad for the kid who took this course to impress a girl only a year ago.

UPDATE: Talked to him this morning; apparently they are 13 hours ahead of us in Beijing. It was 6:30am our time; he hadn't slept on the plane at all during the flight (sounds like me at 17, too) -- and the phone rang while he was in the introduction class in Beijing. (Apparently you can call straight through to Beijing from San Antone -- my bad!)

He's having a blast. Through the exhaustion you could hear how excited he was. More as we know it.

~~JD~~

There's Still Plenty of Time for Obama to Blow It

Today is Monday, June 23rd; 113 Days to the General Election, as we watch the Wheels come off the Obama Bus; and, alternately, who's been thrown under the wheels of that bus today.


One of the things I remember vividly about my father is that he was a Cubs fan. Many a day I'd come home from work and he'd be parked in front of the TV tuned to WGN in Chicago, watching his beloved Cubbies play.

On one of those rare days the Cubs were ahead and I expressed any optimism, he'd quickly chime in, "Don't worry. There's plenty of time for them to lose it." Invariably, being the Chicago Cubs, they would, indeed, lose it. And, of course, Barack Obama's home is in Chicago as well.

Coincidence?

REDSTATE has this wonderful little summation that comes to the same conclusion I did a few weeks ago: (a) Obama's not that bright, and (b) he's beginning to believe his own PR.

I'm sure this will be pretty spectacular when he really well and truly blows this thing.

Obama Might Just Blow It
This is Not the Moderate You are Looking For
By Mark I

The biggest danger to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign comes not from his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, nor from his former rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, but from Barack Obama himself. Obama has sold himself as a new kind of politician, even an anti-politician, a practitioner of a new kind of politics. The Achilles heel of this strategy is that Obama is not really that different from other politicians; and if he can be shown to be just like every other candidate, save for his eloquence, voters who invested in him on a personal level may begin to feel like they have been had.

The past week provided Obama with a few opportunities to show that he really is a different kind of candidate, indeed a different kind of Democrat, than the standard variety. But in each instance, he espoused the typical liberal position.

The Supreme Court's wrongheaded decision in Boumediene, for the first time granting habeas corpus rights to terrorist detainees, was embraced by the "different" Obama as an important step in preserving civil liberties for American citizens. But the decision has nothing to do with Americans. It grants the rights of Americans to non-Americans who want to harm American citizens, but it does not one thing to advance any American's civil liberties.

Obama then compounded his error by holding out the example of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as a model for how an Obama Administration would deal with terrorists and terrorist acts. He assessed the trial and conviction of the terrorists in that first Islamic terrorist attack on American shores as having been a success. "They are in U.S. prisons, incapacitated," he boasted of the terrorists responsible. He did not address how, if the trial and conviction of those terrorists was so successful, the September 11th attacks took place. Clearly, the trial did nothing to prevent further acts of terrorism on America at home or abroad. Obama missed a chance to take a post-September 11th position on terrorists, a more robust one than federal prosecutors can implement, in favor of a tired old liberal worldview.

But Obama was not finished. He capped off the week by suggesting that if Osama bin Laden himself were captured alive during an Obama Administration, the mastermind of the murder of more Americans than any other person in history would not be subjected to the death penalty. Obama said that the U.S. should deal with a captured bin Laden in a way that does, "not make him a martyr." That may be a popular position in the liberal salons of Cambridge and New Haven, but it is not one that will resonate with an overwhelming majority of Americans. Even those personally opposed to capital punishment will have a hard time finding any sympathy for bin Laden's soul. Obama could have easily said that bin Laden deserved "ultimate justice" for his crimes, or some other suitable euphemism for execution, and he would have been praised as a "new" kind of Democrat, tough on terrorism. But instead he went out of his way to take the liberal position, even for the worst of America's enemies.

Since securing the nomination, Obama has been trying to tack back to the center, walking back pledges to meet personally and unconditionally with the leaders of Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. But there's nothing new about that strategy either. Presidential candidates since time immemorial have campaigned to the fringes in the primary and to the center in the general election. What is new about Obama, however, is the length to which he has gone to convince voters that his greasy fast food served on fine china is really nouveau cuisine. It's not. If Obama doesn't start to come up with some genuinely new positions and fresh ideas, he will lose in November, and become just another bitter liberal former nominee.

And THERE'S something to look forward to!

Happy, Happy Monday everybody!

~~JD~~

Happy Juneteenth!

I can't believe I've never blogged about this before! It's so uniquely Texan.

From Wikipedia:

Though the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, it had little immediate effect on most slaves’ day-to-day lives, particularly in Texas, which was almost entirely under Confederate control. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. Legend has it while standing on the balcony of Galveston’s Ashton Villa, Granger read the contents of “General Order No. 3”:

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.^[8]

That day has since become known as Juneteenth, a name derived from a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth.

Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets with jubilant celebrations. Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas the following year.^[8] Across many parts of Texas, freed people pooled their funds to purchase land specifically for their communities’ increasingly large Juneteenth gatherings — including Houston’s Emancipation Park, Mexia’s Booker T. Washington Park, and Emancipation Park in Austin.^[8] Juneteenth celebrations include a wide range of festivities, such as parades, street fairs, cookouts, or park parties and include such things as music and dancing or even contests of physical strength and intellect. Baseball and other popular American games may also be played.

In literature

Ralph Ellison's second novel Juneteenth deals with this holiday and its traditions. Juneteenth was published posthumously.

Carolyn Meyer's novel Jubilee Journey is the story of one young biracial girl celebrating Juneteenth with her relatives in Texas, while also learning to be proud of her African American heritage.

Ann Rinaldi's historical novel Come Juneteenth is the story of how Juneteenth came to be, and follows the life of the daughter of a young white plantation-owner's daughter in Texas during the Civil War whose family faces tragedy after their mulatto half-sister runs away when learning they lied to her about being free.

Traditions

Juneteenth is traditionally celebrated with a large feast served as an all day meal in a park or outdoor space. The traditional dishes of Juneteenth are served pot luck and usually include portions of barbecue, cakes, fresh fruit and vegetables, and pies.

Now from today's San Antonio Express-News:

Juneteenth sparks memories of celebrations long ago
Web Posted: 06/19/2008 01:51 AM; By Jeorge Zarazua

One of Jerelyne Castleberry Williams' earliest memories of celebrating Juneteenth in San Antonio is being able to, as a teenager, get into Playland Park, an old amusement park on North Alamo Street that shut down in 1980. “Playland

Park was closed to African Americans all year long,” said Williams, now 73. “One day we could go, and that was the 19th of June. I remember getting off from the little job I had and taking my little money to spend. That was the day when the park was open to blacks.”

Williams recounted the story to illustrate not only how much progress has been made, but to show how far back she recalls celebrating Juneteenth in San Antonio.

Juneteenth — an official state holiday since 1980 — commemorates June 19, 1865, the date Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger landed in Galveston to impose an order freeing more than 200,000 slaves in Texas. The order came two months after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union forces and more than two years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. A second order instructed the remaining rogue Confederate troops in Texas to surrender to Union troops in the state's larger cities, including San Antonio. As a result, celebrations marking the freedom of slaves have been held in the Alamo City as far back as 1866, the year after Granger's arrival in Galveston.

Today, the Juneteenth celebrations enjoy resurgence across the state, and specifically in San Antonio, where various groups have been able to put together more events in observance of the date than in recent memory.

Highlights include today's Juneteenth Parade, which kicks off at the base of the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on the corner of East Houston and South New Braunfels and ends up at the Freeman Coliseum. Additional festivities will follow there with speeches, re-enactments and music. Celebrations will culminate Saturday with the 13th annual Juneteenth Festival and Family Reunion Picnic at Comanche Park No. 2.

Byron Miller, a member of the Texas Emancipation Juneteenth Cultural and Historical Commission, has been putting together the event, modeled on traditional Juneteenth picnics, since former Gov. Bush appointed him to the commission. “I've seen it grow by the fact that people are a lot more educated by the significance of the holiday,” Miller said. “The major thing that we want folks to understand about Juneteenth is that it not only marked the last day of slavery but it also marked the first day of freedom.”

Williams, as president of the African American Genealogical and Historical Society, said she's excited to see more people celebrating Juneteenth because of its importance to the African American community. “I firmly believe, if you don't know where you've been, you don't know where you're going,” she said.

EN Video: There's also a video repeort on "Juneteenth on the River Walk" HERE.

Juneteenth is significant to me personally because in June 2002 I traveled to San Antonio from the Chicagoland area prior to our move in August of that year. I drove straight through (26 hour drive!), slept the next day, then went out the third day to interview for jobs. That day was June 19th, 2002, and everywhere I went they had a barbecue going and people were wishing me a "Happy Juneteenth." It was a great way to get introduced to South Texas culture.

Being a Yankee most of my life, I didn't have a clue. But I love the tradition and the celebrations today.

Happy Juneteenth!

~~JD~~

San Antonio Sunrise

~~JD~~

Democratic Delegate Stuns Party, Shuns Obama; Gets Boot in Butt

Today is Sunday, June 15th; 121 Days to the General Election, as we watch the Wheels come off the Obama Bus; and, alternately, who's been thrown under the wheels of that bus today.

Little Green Footballs has a story of a Democratic Party delegate who's made her decision -- she'd rather vote for McCain than Obama. And, my, aren't the wheels on the bus pretty from underneath!!!

Democratic Delegate Stuns Party, Shuns Obama

Sun, Jun 15, 2008 at 2:34:01 pm PST

A Democratic delegate from Wisconsin is about to find out what happens to apostates from the party.

Washington - As an avid supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Debra Bartoshevich is not alone in her frustration over Clinton’s defeat. And she’s not entirely alone in saying she’ll vote this fall for Republican John McCain instead.

But what makes her unusual is that she holds these views as an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

“I’m sure people are going to be upset with me,” said Bartoshevich, a 41-year-old emergency room nurse from Waterford in Racine County, and convention delegate pledged to Clinton.

Joe Wineke, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, reacted with disbelief when first told Friday afternoon that one of his state party delegates is now a McCain supporter. “Not a delegate? To the national convention?” said Wineke, who was getting ready for the start of the Wisconsin state party convention Friday in Stevens Point.

“We have a Clinton national (convention) delegate who says she’s voting for John McCain?” Wineke repeated, for clarification. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Wineke said “almost everybody I know who was for Hillary” is solidly behind Obama now. As for Bartoshevich, he said, “my suspicion is she doesn’t know what she’s getting into” because “the delegates to this convention will be very upset.”

UPDATE at 6/15/08 2:39:21 pm:

Well, she was right -- they certainly were upset. Delegate Stripped of Position After Pledging to Vote Republican.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party has stripped a woman of her position as delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Last night in Stevens Point, state party members held a unanimous vote to strip Debra Bartoshevich of her delegate status and appoint an alternate for the Denver Convention.

Yeah, yeah -- that's the ticket boys! We don't wanna have no dissent in the Democrat Party. How can we have Diversity with all this damned dissent in the ranks?!?!?

Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs

~~JD~~

Lessons Unlearned from the 1970's -- Why We Have an Energy Crisis

GATEWAY PUNDIT has this perfect article about why we're having an Energy Crisi today.

Again.

Welcome to the 1970's.

Republicans Launch Effort To Force Pelosi Congress To Address Energy Crisis

Good News!...
Republicans act to address America's energy crisis.

For 30 years Democrats have blocked domestic energy development.

Why is America NOT energy independent?
Because, over the past 30 years:

Democrats have blocked the development of new sources of petroleum.
Democrats have blocked drilling in ANWR.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the coast of Florida.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the east coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the west coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the Alaskan coast.
Democrats have blocked building oil refineries.
Democrats have blocked clean nuclear energy production.
Democrats have blocked clean coal production.

And, what is the democratic solution to the current energy crisis?
--Democrats want to tax oil companies and sue OPEC!

Democrats like to attack evil American oil companies and block them from drilling for energy off our coasts. It doesn't seem to bother Democrats that China and Cuba are drilling for oil in these same areas 50 miles from Key West.

Unlike Democrats, Republicans vow to bring American Energy Online.
Today, House Republicans vowed to push the do-nothing Pelosi Congress on responsible energy plan for America.
Michelle Malkin posted Minority Leader John Boehner's memo to democrats:

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement on a discharge petition filed by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) to force Democratic leaders to schedule a vote on the No More Excuses Energy Act (H.R. 3089), legislation authored by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) to increase U.S. energy production and invest in alternative sources of energy:

“The Democratic Majority’s callous indifference as American families and small businesses struggle with $4 per gallon gasoline is both inexcusable and irresponsible. By flatly refusing to schedule votes on the House GOP plan to help reduce fuel costs and achieve energy independence, the Democrats in control of Congress are proving themselves complicit in our nation’s energy crisis, which is growing worse by the day on their watch.

“Where Democrats refuse to lead, Republicans will. Beginning today, House Republicans will offer a series of discharge petitions aimed at forcing the Democratic leadership to schedule several GOP-sponsored bills to increase production of American-made energy, reduce America’s costly dependence on foreign sources of energy, harness new alternative energy technologies, and lower gas prices. I thank Rep. Tim Walberg for offering the first discharge petition in this effort – one that seeks to force Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer to schedule Rep. Mac Thornberry’s No More Excuses Energy Act. The Thornberry bill will open new American oil refineries, invest in alternative energy sources, and increase environmentally-safe exploration of untapped oil resources in the United States.

** Senate Republicans blocked the Democratic plan to tax US corporations out of the current American energy crisis.

House Republicans are working for the American People...
Repubican Representatives Unveiled a Plan to Bring Down Energy Prices:

There is much more on the Republican plan at Real Energy Solutions.

One more thing...
You can sign a petition (it takes about 15 seconds) to demand Congress remove government obstacles to increasing our energy supplies.
Newt Gingrich started this movement a couple of weeks ago and already there are more than 500,000 who have signed the petition.

Power Line has a great chart from Mel Blunt's office showing the practical effects of Democratic vs. Republican policies on the price of gasoline at the pump; click to enlarge:

(Click to Enlarge)
This is great!

Dog Survives Toto Impression During Tornado

CBS-2 in Chicago has this neat story (yes, I said "neat -- get over it) about a happy ending for a dog after the recent tornado activity there ove the weekend.

If you love dogs, you'll like this story.

Dog Survives Toto Impression During Tornado
RICHTON PARK, Ill. (CBS) ― Chase certainly doesn't look like Toto from "The Wizard of Oz." He's a big rottweiler, not a little cairn terrier. But he certainly does a wonderful impression.

On Saturday, when a tornado swept through Richton Park, Chase was hanging out the backyard of Sandra Holmes' house. That is, until the tornado picked him up and took him on the ride of his life.

"People started coming up and saying 'we saw your dog in flight,'" said Holmes, Chase's owner. Neighbor Tatyiana Smith saw it. "The dog was in the air, he was going around like he was pulled out of the ground," Smith said.

Luckily, Chase didn't get whisked away to the magical land of Oz. Instead, residents found him more than a block away in the woods, dazed and shocked, but alive.

"It's a miracle," Holmes said. "It's a blessing from God."

CBS 2's Dana Kozlov contributed to this report.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Hat Tip: The Drudge Report

~~JD~~

Monday Morning North Central Baptist

Yes, that **IS** a Starbucks at the back of the atrium.







See why I love working here?


~~JD~~