Nagin's "Chocolate" Comment Spurs T-Shirt Makers

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's "Chocolate City" comments have inspired some t-shirt maker to create "Willy Nagin and the Chocolate Factory" shirts. Priceless...

Biggest Hotel I've Ever Been In

I just returned from a work-related convention in Nashville, where I stayed at the Opryland Hotel and Convention Center. I'm not sure if it's the largest hotel and convention center complex in the U.S., but it's the largest I've ever been in. It's home to some great restaurants, with truly pricey food. Thank heavens for expense accounts!

These Clowns Give Religion An Ugly Face

With so many people in this country (in this world, really) turning away from religion, or rejecting it altogether, it's disconcerting to see two clowns like this making news...

First, a Tulsa, Oklahoma pastor and executive committee member of the Southern Baptist Convention was arrested for propositioning a male undercover police officer for sex. He claims he was in the parking lot at an Oklahoma City hotel "ministering" to the police, and he was "set up." Yeah, right...

Next, comes televangelist and perennial nutcase Pat Robertson. He suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and for "dividing God's land."

I'm not getting into any type of discussion of Christianity, or religion in general. But I will say that Christianity needs better press than what these folks are bringing it.

Just Brilliant

Microsoft unveils its new music download service. One problem: it will not be compatible with the iPod, which is the undisputed king of MP3 players.

Who Says Public Schools Have No Agenda?

The NEA, America's largest teachers union, fought hard to keep from having to disclose where they spend their money. Sorry, the teachers' dues money. Well, the NEA lost. Now their spending is a matter of public record, and it's certainly interesting. The Wall Street Journal provides an eye-opening breakdown of where some of the money is going.

Happy New Year

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas (or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate) and a great beginning to 2006. We're creeping up on the second birthday of this blog, and I want to thank those of you who regularly check in here. Traffic has increased during the past year, and I'm hoping to see more this year. I'm also hoping for more regular posting now that the holiday season has passed.

You Don't Say...

A University of Chicago poll claims to show that Americans are more stressed and depressed as 2005 comes to an end, primarily because of the hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast and higher fuel prices. Makes sense. Here's the "duh!" part, though:

The survey... found that troubles were greatest among those with low income, poor education levels and among unmarried mothers.

Hidden In Plain Sight

A DeKalb County, Georgia woman missing for nearly three months has been found... in the county jail. Seems that the county either mishandled her, or lost track of her altogether. Scary...

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. WIll be out and about for a few days spending time with the people I love. Hope you can do the same. And everyone please remember our men and women in the Armed Forces who are away from home this Christmas defending our rights and freedom.

Response To A Comment Below

A liberal poster named Reilly questioned my values and my support for our military in Iraq below. I was going to respond in the comment section, but a full-blown post just seems more appropriate. You can read the post that brought this on if you'd like. It's from December 19th. In his comments, Reilly states

"Let's say I don't support a war waged by my country. Do I hope that my country wins that war? Of course not."

I responded...

"I can't see a situation where I would ever, EVER, want the U.S. to lose a war. Regardless of whether I supported how or why we went to war, I would always support our troops who are fighting. And to me, to support the troops, you have to want them to be victorious. Plain and simple. These 109 Representatives who voted against this resolution have made it clear that they do not support our soldiers. Period."

His retort...

"Good to know where your values lie. [Reilly mistakenly summarizes my comments] 'I don't care why they're fighting, I just want them to win.' So, you'd rather have troops killed in combat than come home (alive) without winning?"

I couldn't let this moronic comment go. I should be more tactful, I know, but I don't understand this degree of flawed liberal crackpot logic. So here we go...

You want to question my values? It's on.

I value each and every human life. Period.

I believe every single person has the God-given (yep, God) right to determine their own destiny, to live their own life, and to be free from the tyranny and misery brought by people like Saddam Hussein.

I believe in doing what we can to give everyone, everywhere, the best life possible. Part of that is allowing them to determine, for themselves, the course of their own future. The course of their nation's future. The Iraqi people are basking in that ability now, for the first time in most of their lives.

My values tell me that the Iraqi people are worth helping, much like the Germans and Japanese were sixty-five years ago, and the South Koreans a decade later.

My values tell me that it's an abomination to sit back and watch while a despot and his twisted, murderous sons kill thousands of their own people with poison gas (heard of the Kurds?), operate rape and torture rooms, and threaten do de-stabilize their entire region.

My values tell me that it's absurd and insulting to politicize a war because of blind hatred of a President.

My values tell me that it's wrong to hate, as so many on the Left seem to hate President Bush.

My values tell me that we must be intellectually honest in our beliefs. Blind allegiance is never good.

My values tell me that it's hypocritical and negligent to vote to send our troops into battle, then deny the need for the war they are involved in, deny financial and moral support for those troops, and then lie and distort the reality of the situation they find themselves in.

I find it morally reprehensible for congressmen and a former president to spend years making claims about Saddam Hussein, but suddenly change their tune when a president from the other party actually does something about those claims.

My values (both human and professionally as a journalist) tell me that it's morally wrong for the media to present blatantly biased coverage of such important goings-on. Journalism has a high calling, and equally high moral standards to which it is bound to adhere. Yet so many mainstream news outlets allow person bias and hatred slant their coverage. Remember, journalism is the only profession specifically mentioned and protected in the Bill of Rights. (For you Lefties, it's in the First Amendment)

As for our troops...

Certainly, I would rather our troops not have to fight. Only an idiot would feel otherwise. But if they must fight, I absolutely do want them to be victorious.

Let me educate you on what I mean by "victorious". To be victorious in battle meant to defeat the enemy, to kill more of them that they kill of us. Yeah, I'm sure that sounds horrible to a bleeding-heart liberal, but in the real world that's what war is about. In war people die, and better it be the enemy than our own soldiers. That's what it means to support our troops, and that's what it means to want victory.

Sure, I'd rather have our soldiers come home alive than killed in battle. Anyone would. But I also want the world to recognize how honorable and brave and heroic our military men and women are. I also want the world to look at the U.S. and see us as a strong, powerful nation. A nation that stands behind our soldiers, sailors and airmen. A nation that stands behind, and defends, our friends.

Inmate King of Frivolous Lawsuits

A man with a history of filing frivolous lawsuits claims that flaws in a greeting card caused him "mental, physical and psychological suffering." The man, serving a life sentence in a Washington State prison, has filed more than 500 federal lawsuits, including one against Kelloggs Cereal for supposedly selling stale cereal.

109 Democrats (and one Independent) Who Want Us To Lose In Iraq

The House of Representatives on Friday passed a resolution "expressing the commitment of the House of Representatives to achieving victory in Iraq." This simple resolution, HR 612, did not pass unanimously. It wasn't even nearly unanimous. The final vote was 279 to 109, with 34 voting Present and 11 not voting or absent. All 109 voting No were Democrats (with one Independent).

More than 100 Democrats, for all intent and purpose, have declared that they are not committed to a U.S. victory in Iraq. Any victory in Iraq is a victory for President Bush, and the liberal Left hates Bush so much that they would prefer to see us defeated and humiliated in Iraq rather than support anything which might be seen as a victory for the President.

For the votes on this resolution, and the names of those who do not want our work in Iraq to be successful, click here. And pass it around, too.

More Info On Katrina Deaths

We're learning more about where the Hurricane Katrina death in New Orleans took place, and again the information contradicts what many would like to see. Unlike what was reported early on, deaths were just as likely to have occurred in the middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods as the poorer areas. Aside from the bodies recovered in hospitals and medical facilities, almost half of all victims were found in neighborhoods with average incomes over the New Orleans median income.

As for the idea that the poorest areas were the most damaged, try this on for size...

Many of the city's wealthier neighborhoods sit on Lake Pontchartrain in the lowest-lying sector of town, Campanella said. For example, Lakeview, a predominately white neighborhood that contains mansions valued at more than $1 million in addition to crowded streets studded with modest bungalows, fronts the lake and is adjacent to the 17th Street Canal. When the levee collapsed, the neighborhood was destroyed. The only neighborhood with comparable destruction, the Lower 9th Ward, sits on higher ground but was unluckily flanked by two broken levees.

Many people would have you believe otherwise, but the deaths and destruction knew no bounds.

Facts About Race In Katrina Deaths

The facts are coming about concerning just who died in New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina, and contrary to the race baiters and liberal lefties, caucasians died at a higher rate than anyone else. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals indicates that caucasians constitute 36.6 percent of the storm's fatalities in the city, yet make up only 28 percent of the city's population. African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased. Other minorities constitute approximately 5 percent of the population and represented 4.3 percent of the storm's fatalities.

Economy Keeps Right On Chugging

Boosted by the falling price of gasoline, consumer prices fell by 0.6 percent during November, the biggest drop since July 1949. That's just more of the excellent news about the American economy. It's not getting as much news play as it should, but it can't be avoided much longer. The economy is booming.

Along with the drop in the Consumer Price Index, the Federal Reserve said output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose a solid 0.7 percent last month following a 1.3 percent rise in October.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports national unemployment remained steady at a relatively low 5%, with 215,000 new nonfarm jobs created across the country.

The stock market is riding a very high wave, with the Dow flirting with the magic 11,000 mark.

Despite the devestating Gulf Coast hurricanes, the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by a robust 4.3 percent during the July-to-September period. The GDP is the best measure of economic standing, measuring the value of all goods and services produced within the U.S.

Sales of new homes jumped to an all-time record in October, up 13 percent from the previous month, the largest increase in 12 years.

No Good Deed #2

A Wichita, Kansas high school freshman faces suspension for removing a hidden spy cam from the ceiling of a boys bathroom. The kid thought the camera was inappropriate, placed by some "perverted janitor". What else would one think about a tiny hidden camera in a boys room? Turns out the school placed that camera, and another, in the bathrooms without the school district's knowledge. A school district spokesperson acknowledges that the cameras should have never been placed, but the student still faces suspension.

96 Year Old LaGrange, Georgia Man Finally Gets His Diploma

His senior year in high school was 1926, but thanks to a failed Latin class and a cancelled summer school class, Thurman Barnes never graduated from high school. Now, after seventy-nine years, he's apparently the oldest person ever to earn their GED.

Thank A Soldier Week

American soldiers are risking their lives all over the globe defending America's interests and defending the freedoms that many of us take for granted. During Thank a Soldier Week (December 19-25), Townhall.com is encouraging Americans to stop for a moment and give thanks to the men and women risking everything for us.

Not Completely Gone

I haven't disappeared for good, just for a few days thanks to a work trip. The last six days have been completely consumed with work, so everything else had to go on the backburner. I'm catching up on all that's been going on since last Thursday, and will post again later today or tomorrow. Also gotta Christmas shop.... urgh!

Who Should Be Remembered?

North Carolina death row inmate Kenneth Lee Boyd is scheduled to be executed in about 15 hours for two murders he committed in 1988. He would become the 1,000th prisoner executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. The AP story by reporter Estes Thompson contains the following quote from Boyd, about being the thousandth execution:

"I'd hate to be remembered as that," Boyd told The Associated Press in a prison interview Wednesday. "I don't like the idea of being picked as a number."

He's worried about being remembered in such an infamous way. Apparently he isn't worried about being a killer, just being a noted execution number. He shouldn't be remembered at all. Still, the article, and the killer himself, focus on the sad notoriety of his time of execution.

What bothers me about all this, especially the AP article, is the idea of remembrance. There is no single mention, no remembrance, of Boyd's victims. They are the names people should remember. Not only does Estes not mention them, the crime itself is barely referenced.

"Unless they intervene, 57-year-old Kenneth Lee Boyd will be put to death by injection at 2 a.m. Friday, earning a man who shot and killed his estranged wife and her father an infamous place in American history."

That's it, the only reference to the man's evil. Here is what Estes Thompson felt wasn't germane to the story, courtesy ProDeathPenalty.com...

On March 4, 1988 Boyd entered the home of his estranged wife's father, Thomas Dillard Curry, where his wife and children were then living, and shot and killed both his wife, Julie Curry Boyd, and her father with a .357 Magnum pistol. The shootings were committed in the presence of his own children--13, 12 and 10.

In Boyd's own words, he described what happened:

"I walked to the back door and opened it. It was unlocked. As I walked in, I saw a silhouette that I believe was Dillard... I pulled the gun out and started shooting. I think I shot Dillard one time and he fell. Then I walked past him and into the kitchen and living room area. The whole time I was pointing and shooting. Then I saw another silhouette that I believe was Julie come out of the bedroom. I shot again, probably several times. Then I reloaded my gun. I dropped the empty shell casings onto the floor. As I reloaded, I heard someone groan, Julie I guess. I turned and aimed, shooting again... I kept pointing and shooting at anything that moved."

AP writer Thompson might not see fit to mention the victims, but they are the ones who should be remembered. Their story should be told, not their killer's.