In the News

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

It’s really, really hot here this week.

A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE MID-ATLANTIC TODAY. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE AROUND 100 DEGREES. THE COMBINATION OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY WILL PRODUCE HEAT INDEX VALUES OF AROUND 105 DEGREES DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS.

It’s 0930 and the current temp is already 90F.

Fortunately, our AC is keeping up with the heat. Unfortunately, poor Molly Ann seems to have the hottest room in our house. Our house faces south so she gets all day sunshine and we think that the placement of the desk over her vent is keeping the cool air from moving efficiently in her room. The vent is not obstructed - the desk is open, but the air is not moving despite the vent being open.

We have a box fan and we set it up last night, but it wouldn’t turn on. Would you believe that is our only fan? It’s a good thing our AC works. *knocks wood* Anyway, Beau is heading to Walmart to buy a fan for Molly’s room, if there are any still to be had.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

This is timely for our Independence Day holiday weekend.

“Subjects.”

That’s what Thomas Jefferson first wrote in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence to describe the people of the 13 colonies.

But in a moment when history took a sharp turn, Jefferson sought quite methodically to expunge the word, to wipe it out of existence and write over it. Many words were crossed out and replaced in the draft, but only one was obliterated.

Over the smudge, Jefferson then wrote the word “citizens.”

No longer subjects to the crown, the colonists became something different: a people whose allegiance was to one another, not to a faraway monarch.

The rest of the article is fascinating. Go forth…
[via OTB]

Friday, June 25, 2010

I think this lady flunked Geography 101.

[via Malkin]

Thursday, May 06, 2010

It’s astounding how little news coverage there is about the devastation of the flooding in Nashville. And it’s bad, bad, bad.

I have friends, a young couple with 2 year old triplets, a 5 month old, and a new puppy, who barely escaped their quickly flooding home last weekend. While mom and baby waited in their car down the street, dad managed to haul the triplets and puppy out of the house, where 2 feet of standing water already filled their main floor. The first night they stayed with friends in an unaffected neighborhood. The next few nights they spent at a hotel. For the past couple of days they have stayed with other friends while they attempted to salvage some of their stuff and look for a rental home. They are fortunate to have folks available to help and other resources as well. But so many do not. And they need our help.

Michelle Malkin has a long list of charities who are on the move in Nashville.

In my own small way I would like to help as well. For the month of May I will donate 25% of all sales revenue from my Etsy shop toward Nashville Flood Relief. I’m not sure which charity I’ll donate to, but when I do I will update this post. In order to lend the most direct help, I have chosen to give to The Salvation Army - Nashville.

I will post updates to this post as donations are made. Thanks for your help.

DONATIONS TO DATE

[UPDATE 5/14] -  $33.75
[UPDATE 5/17] -  $  7.50
[UPDATE 5/28] -  $12.50

Friday, March 19, 2010

Peggy Noonan has a column out today about the health reform bill about to be passed (most likely) by the House this weekend. You can read it here.

Robert mentions it in this post. He quotes the following:

And so it ends, with a health-care vote expected this weekend. I wonder at what point the administration will realize it wasn’t worth it—worth the discord, worth the diminution in popularity and prestige, worth the deepening of the great divide. What has been lost is so vivid, what has been gained so amorphous, blurry and likely illusory. Memo to future presidents: Never stake your entire survival on the painful passing of a bad bill. Never take the country down the road to Demon Pass.

Eloquent and right. Right? Maybe not…

Money quote:

Uh, Peggy?  One might also say to certain otherwise responsible members of the press, “Never beer-goggle coyote-ugly presidential candidates.”  I vividly recall you with a funnel in your mouth, dizzily guzzling the hopenchange jagermeister back in the fall of ‘08, while some of us more temperate souls saw something like this coming even then.  I am still waiting for the column in which you say, “What in God’s name was I thinking?” and promise to gnaw off your own arms in order not to do it again.

Yep.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

My church is amazing. Because of our area we have a very connected congregation. We have media people, government people (from the lowest echelon (like me) to more high-falutin’ types, doctors, lawyers, etc. You name the industry and it is probably represented in our church. And we are generous - there are a lot of local missions to which our church supports, not just financially but with volunteers as well. And then there are the global missions that we support, including an orphanage in Haiti.

Since we have a long-standing relationship with them as well as our denomination having missions in Haiti, this is one disaster where we felt we could have both an immediate and long-reaching impact. It has been cool to read the Facebook updates of our global missions pastor in the past couple of weeks as he worked to find out the needs in Haiti and then to put together a response team. That team left today and you can read about it here.

The team is composed of 7 people. Our global missions pastor is leading this team of medical personnel that includes the Chief of Orthopedics from a local hospital, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, the former Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed (he’s in private practice now), a physician’s assistant, an anesthesiologist, and the local hospital’s Disaster Response specialist. From what I’ve heard on the news, medical care is the most urgent need (aside from food/water/shelter, of course). There are people with open compound fractures and other wounds that have not received any treatment because there aren’t enough doctors, not enough equipment/supplies, not enough medicines. I know that these few people will be greatly used, not just to provide the practical care, but also to minister, to share God’s love and grace and mercy. I am excited for how the Lord will use them.

Updates from a couple of the people while they traveled today included:

1. US Airlines waiving fees for extra and heavy bags. Seven people took 16 bags that were overfull with medical and other supplies. Thank you, USAir.

2. A cab driver in Ft. Lauderdale (where they flew to today before leaving for Port-au-Prince on a chartered flight) was Haitian and had family in Port-au-Prince. He wouldn’t let them pay the fare and took them wherever they needed to go (I think they were getting more supplies).

They have already taken off and should land in Port-au-Prince sometime around 10pm. Will you join me in praying for them? Pray for the logistics of the rest of their travels tonight. Pray that they are able to get some good rest tonight so that when they hit the ground running in the morning they are rested and ready for the things they will face. Pray that they won’t lose any of their equipment and supplies and that they will have enough for the week that they will be there.

And pray for the teams even now being assembled for future trips. Our church is committed for the long haul in Haiti. I know there are already plans to send more medical teams as long as they are needed and then we will send teams to help rebuild.

I will post updates as I get them, if you’re interested…

Thursday, January 21, 2010

So Our Esteemed Leader did an interview with ABC News in which he explained that his low approval ratings are because he didn’t spend enough time communicating the core values of the American people to the American people.

In his first full year in office, OEL gave over 900 speeches and had almost 60 press conferences. Seems like he did a little too much talking and not nearly enough listening.

He needs to take some Q-Tips to his tin ears, methinks.

I don’t need OEL and his team to tell me what my core values are, thanks.

The American people have been trying to remind you, OEL! You’re ignoring us. That is your problem.

Oh, and stop blaming the previous administration for all of your problems. You’ve been in the job long enough that it doesn’t hold up any longer and it’s just rude.

Friday, November 13, 2009

There were 14 murdered, not 13. Are they forgetting Laci & Conner’s Law?

So the Prez thinks it’s time to hold a summit to discuss the economy/jobs. Really? A forum? Yeah, that’s helpful.

And he ignores his War Council. I don’t know why he even has one if he’s going to ignore them. He’s not dithering. I think he’s being very deliberate on this issue.

On a lighter note, last night’s Survivor was awesome. I love the sneak attacks.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Who knew that McDonalds uses so many varieties of potato for their fries or that they had so much influence over the industry?

Monday, September 14, 2009

They covered the rally live w/out comnmentary. You can watch here.

But not in the American media.

The pictures are awesome!

[UPDATE]: I should clarify - the Obama = Hitler signs I don’t agree with. I didn’t like them when Bush was President, I don’t like them now. However, the one picture of Obama’s Teleprompter is my favorite - we saw them all over the place and I regret not taking my own pictures of them.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

We went to the 9/12 March on Washington yesterday. It was the first time that Beau or I had ever attended any kind of political rally or protest in our lives. Seems that was true for most people out there yesterday.

It was an adventure hauling two little kids, but they were troopers and both did really well with the crowds, no naps, and general chaos through out the day. Jesse enjoyed the ride in on the Metro, although not so much the ride home. Molly Ann hung out with me most of the day, although if you look closely at about 25-27 seconds in the video, you’ll see me sitting in a chair eating a bag of chips with MA on the blanket on the ground at my feet. There are two handmade signs stuck in the ground near me, too, that we made the night before.

We weren’t planning to march at all, but to get right to the rally point at the Capitol. But when we got to street level at the Metro station, we saw the marchers just down the block. We figured that was simply the easiest way to get to the rally area and so we headed that way and just blended into the crowds walking down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Since it was wall-to-wall people (TV outlets are reporting crowds in the 10’s of thousands. There was one person from the podium who announced some official count closer to 1.5 million people. Beau was at the Promise Keepers thing in DC years ago where there were actually 1.5 million people on the Mall and he said yesterday felt similar in terms of bodies, if not in spirit. So, it was crowded), we opted to stop trying to work the stroller through the lawns once we hit the back of the Reflecting Pool area. We found a small patch of clear grass and settled in. It turns out the area wasn’t the best for being able to hear any of the speeches, but we had a good time interacting with our fellow protesters and looking at all of the signs being walked past. At separate times, Beau and I each took one child for a walk closer, but we really didn’t get too far since the crowds got fuller the closer we moved up.

We stayed for a couple of hours then packed up and headed back to the Metro station when we knew both kids had had about enough of the day. As we got closer to the Metro station, we realized had been in a terrible location for being able to listen. The speakers got louder and more clear as we crossed the Mall area - if we had headed to our right about 200 yards we would have had a perfect spot for listening. Oh well, it was fun in any case.

All in all it was a positive experience and we think we may do it again since we know the kids will tolerate it well. I have a bunch of pictures. Those will get posted in a bit.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Choosing Thomas - A family’s decision to let their son live, if only for a brief time.

Have a box of tissues handy.

Monday, August 10, 2009

So Speaker Pelosi and Majority Whip Hoyer think that those of us who disagree with Obamacare and speak out about it are “un-American?”

I seem to recall that during the previous administration, those who spoke their dissent of Bush policies were the ultimate patriots.

You can’t have it both ways, folks. Speaking dissent is either patriotic or un-American. Since the Constitution backs up free speech of every kind, I’m going to go with patriotic.

* You get the satisfaction of being pop culturally literate to those who know the post title reference. Make your guess in the comments.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

I didn’t even know this was the trial going on upstairs for the past several weeks. I noticed cameras out front yesterday and asked who was in court. For some reason it didn’t occur to me that he would go on trial in Virginia since I thought it would be in DC. But of course, his home is in Northern Virginia, so our courthouse makes sense.

I’m glad for the conviction.