Have you seen the new show “Huckabee” on the Fox News Channel? Tonight at 7:00 central it will air for the second week. It wasn’t bad last week but it did seem a little “forced.” However, I fully expect this to become a great show. Mike Huckabee has a different way of looking at the world than your average talking head and I find that refreshing. Tonight he is going to be discussing the congressional bailout of Wall Street.

Here is a clip from a recent Huckabee letter which will give you a little foretaste of what to expect;

I wanted to write you to convey my disgust with the passing of this 451 page bailout bill. Wall Street has gone trick-or-treating in Washington a little bit early this October. Wall Street is getting the treats and America is getting tricked. The “Axis of Arrogance” has tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the Main Streeters and in doing so hid a sty full of pork in a bill whose constitutionality is questionable at best. Friends, the folks in Washington continue to treat your wallet as their tip jar and this has to stop.

Just check out a few provisions in this bill:

Sec. 211. Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters

Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.

Sec. 312. Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico.

Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for a motorsports racing track facility.

Sec. 322. Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.

Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds.

At a time when we are at “ground zero” and on the verge of an all out financial collapse, I am disgusted that these provisions were made.

At a time when Congress had the opportunity to do something to help the American economy, they lived up to their low approval rating. The only thing we can thank Congress for right now is that they are consistent. They are consistently spending money that doesn’t belong to them, consistently expanding pork projects, consistently doing nothing to help rebuild the American economy and consistently hurting the future of our country. Ultimately, they are consistently ignoring their own values, principles and beliefs and as a result, the American People are going to have to suffer.

Without the bailout there might have been some temporary hurt, but the long term effect will be far worse because of the precedent this bill has set and the “Bail-Aholics” it will create. Within minutes of the bill passing the state of California was already in line asking to be the next recipient of a Government hand out. We are creating an economy where you cannot fail and by doing so disabling our ability to ever truly succeed.

I am afraid this is just the beginning of the bailouts. We must not go silent into the night, we have to continue to fight and stand up against these legislators.

Set your recorder so you don’t miss out on what is sure to be an interesting show.

Tow Mater Backwards

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There is a great line in the movie Cars, where Mater the tow truck is showing the rookie race car Lightning McQueen how to drive backwards.  McQueen is impressed and asks, “How do you do it?”  Mater responds, “I don’t have to know where I’m going I just have to know where I’ve been, I use my rear view mirrors.”

I know there has to be a great life illustration in there somewhere.  Ideas?

http://www.foxnews.com/foxfan/images/8x10_tony_snow_fix.jpg

As we all grieve the loss of Tony Snow I thought it would be good to revisit an article that Snow wrote for Christianity Today one year ago this week; Cancer’s Unexpected Blessings. Here is an excerpt:

* * *

Blessings arrive in unexpected packages—in my case, cancer.

Those of us with potentially fatal diseases—and there are millions in America today—find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God’s will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence What It All Means, Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.

The first is that we shouldn’t spend too much time trying to answer Read more

Reading and WritingDo you need a particular environment to be able to write.  Personally, I have the same simple need for both reading and writing.  I need a quiet space free from distractions (i.e., no people).

The Guardian has posted pictures of the Writing Rooms of some authors.  The picture above is that of  Eric Hobsbawm.  Go on over to The Guardian to check out the rest.  You will need to click on the authors’ names to reveal the picture of their writing rooms.

World Naked Bike Ride

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I have been reading about the World Naked Bike Ride that went on this week. On June 14, bicyclists paraded through the streets in many cities throughout the world to protest their indecent exposure to vehicle emissions. The website of the group sponsoring the event explains the reasoning for such tactics;

“We face automobile traffic with our naked bodies as the best way of defending our dignity and exposing the unique dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians as well as the negative consequences we all face due to dependence on oil, and other forms of non-renewable energy.” [italics added]

I am curious, if they want to defend their dignity, is it really the best plan to do so by sitting naked on a skinny little bicycle seat. It just doesn’t sound like that has been ergonomically thought through.

One British rider claimed that this is an effective way to demand respect for bike riders and to show that cycling is a sport for the whole family. Yeah, sure…those are the obvious messages.

Well, I have decided to protest their nude protests. And, desiring to protest in a way that defends my dignity, perhaps I should use their reasoning and do so in the nude. The problem is that I am so inhibited that I don’t even get undressed to take a shower. So what’s a guy to do?

Another current event may hold the answer. The Transportation Security Administration has installed here in the DFW Airport new two millimeter wave whole body imaging machines that reveal what is underneath a traveler’s clothes. This may be just the thing to help me solve my dilemma. By marching through these virtual strip search machines I can protest au naturale without ever having to take off my clothes. And, the best part about it is that I don’t have to worry about the best way to strategically position myself on a bike seat.

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NUDIST TRIVIA

America’s first nudist organization was founded in 1929, by 3 men. (No surprise there.)

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Book Cover

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My grandfather was a Socialist back in 1920s and 1930s. He believed that the government could do a better job of running important industries than the private sector. In recent years there have been growing numbers of Americans who are calling for not just government intrusion into the private sector but for “taking it over.” Until recently socialized medicine was at the forefront of what appears to be a growing national zeitgeist. However, it is now most visible in the calls for the nationalizing of the oil industry. First, it was Hillary Clinton saying that she would “take the profits” of the oil companies, and now Maxine Waters wants to “take over” the oil companies.

Picher TornadoPlease pray for my friends in Picher, Oklahoma. It is my understanding that there are now nine confirmed fatalities in Picher and at least a dozen more in the surrounding areas.

My family was able to watch the tornado as it passed them by.

A state trooper working the scene says that the “the fire station is about the only thing left standing.” Read more

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“We need to return to pure Barry Goldwater conservatism.” That is what one radio talk-show host had to say this week. To most of the listeners that probably sounded pretty innocuous. However, it speaks volumes to the struggle that has taken place in the Republican primary this election cycle. Read more