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Bush announced recently that he was rescinding the executive order prohibiting oil drilling on the continental shelf. An idiot reporter wanted to know why he didn’t tell people to quit driving so much and set their thermostat set points higher to reduce energy consumption, to which Bush says he’s not there to tell people what to do and thinks they’re sharp enough to figure it out for themselves. Bravo, Mr. Bush!

But I hear tonight that Bill O’Reilly thinks that Bush should have taken occasion to push conservation, that “leaders must lead.”

If Bush had done such a thing, I’d have responded in the same way as I’m about to respond to Mr. O’Reilly:

Most of my driving is to-and-from work and to-and-from church. I don’t go on vacations. I rarely just go to go somewhere, and when I do I usually go with a group.  I don’t need political hacks or guys who ride on the public ticket to tell me how to mind my business.

So all you pinko social engineers can drive on down here to Podunk and suck my butt.  I’ll buy gas as I need it, just like I always have, and I’ll keep my thermostat on 74.  Mississippi is hot as torment in July, and I’ll be dogged before some buttwipe making millions of bucks a year tells me I have to sweat it out so they can feel better about the planet.

A big win for our Republic today, as the Supreme Court narrowly affirmed the right of Americans to keep and bear arms in their decision on District of Columbia V Heller today. This won’t result in a nationwide Castle Doctrine, though it would be nice, but at least the right is affirmed. What it will result in will be ludicrously byzantine and laser-focused gun laws, but at least a Constitutional right wasn’t declared unconstitutional. Not that it would make sense, but it’s what the four black-robed popinjays who voted against the second amendment were trying to do.

The problem, as I see it, is that it has nothing to do with hunters and hunting, as the moronic left (as if there were any other variety) apparently likes to think. The second amendment outlines the core American right; the one that guarantees all the others outlined in the Bill of Rights. The fact that this right was nearly stripped away is both frightening and instructive.

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I’ve been with DirecTV since they started the small satellite revolution around 1994…one of their first subscribers. However, I’ve been trying to figure out for nearly two years whether I want to stay with them or go with Dish Network.

I prefer DTV over Dish…they have some channels the other doesn’t, I prefer the hardware, and I’ve been with them so long. But the fact that Dish is cheaper and offers local channels (and has for over two years) keeps me conflicted. And every time one or the other has a special, it sends me into overdrive: either the desire to move to Dish increases, or my anger against DirecTV does. You see, all their little deals apply to new customers only, and us old customers can just go fly a kite…they already have us.

Not much longer.

Having been a customer in good standing for nearly fifteen years, I’m going to call these goons, and I’m going to lay down a set of demands. First, I want the new customer pricing. Second, I want all my broadcast networks for free for as long as I continue service. Third, I want the free three months of premium movie channels. If they can’t meet this, I’m going to drop service and go over to Dish and get what I want. I’ll lose a few channels I want to keep, but I’ll get local channels and a year of preferred pricing.

Gospel music has lost yet another of its all-time greats…Dottie Rambo died Sunday when her bus ran off the road while traveling from Missouri to a concert in Texas during inclement weather. She was 74.

A legend in both southern gospel and country Christian music, she wrote or co-wrote something in the neighborhood of 2,500 songs. These include well-known number such as “I Go to the Rock”, “Sheltered in the Arms of God”, “If That Isn’t Love”, “I’ve Never Been This Homesick Before”, “Tears Will Never Stain the Streets”, and “Build My Mansion (Next Door to Jesus)”.  She toured many years as a performance artist, both as a soloist and with her family group, the Singing Rambos.  On top of all this, she was an all-around classy lady.

Congratulations, Mrs. Dottie…you’ve made it to your mansion, and it’s just as you ordered it…next door to Jesus.

If I could count all the tears that have fallen,
They would seem like an ocean to me;
And if my heart were a window that you could look through,
Oh, the pain and scars you would see.

Tears will never stain the streets of that city;
No wreaths of death on my mansion door!
Teardrops aren’t welcome beyond the gates of glory,
‘Cause the heart will never break anymore.

First of all, according to WordWeb:

Noun: Reverend

1. A title of respect for a clergyman.

Noun: reverend

1. A member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church

This should explain the term in quotations in the article title. It is a title of respect and reverence for the position of a reverend, none of which are merited by this particular subject.

Now, on with the show.

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I’m a volunteer music director at my church, and, as such, I’ve gone through a number of accompaniment tracks over the years. During that time, I have acquired many tracks that were simply out of my vocal range or were too uncomfortable to deal with. Some time back, though, I found a largely successful workaround that allows me to alter the key of a track, and I wrote a how-to guide for some of my fellow music directors. And I now post it publically in the hopes that it’ll be of help to someone out there, in the online ether.

Programs Used For This Project: Audiograbber, Audacity

Make sure to install Audiograbber and Audacity before you start. They won’t try to take over your computer, so don’t feel hesitant in putting them on there. If you follow along with this guide exactly as it is written, you shouldn’t have a problem at all. These programs are pretty straightforward with screenshots throughout, and the guide was written as I worked on a track of my own.

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One of my more foolish habits is watching political television…and, again, the latest thing to irritate my sensibilities was the Hannity & Colmes program. As usual, they’re haranging over Barack Obama and his perceived foibles…of particular note to this writing, his relationship with his pastor, who gave an award to Louis Farrakhan, who has endorsed Obama.

Here, Hannity states that Obama should condemn his pastor and leave his church over it. This is wrong on at least two counts.

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I’ve nearly had enough of this pathetic excuse for a presidential campaign. Last week, I was fully planning on not voting at all. I know some people belly-ache about that, citing some version of “too many good men died to secure my right to vote!” Yeah, whatever…they died to secure our right not to vote at the same time. Sometimes a non-vote speaks louder than a meaningless “lesser of two evils” vote. Our forebears didn’t fight to free us from king George III just to put us under the subjection of political parties in our own country. I will NOT vote for a Republican just to keep a Democrat from office if said Republican doesn’t represent my principles and values.

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Often times, in discussions online and off, our stated principles, beliefs, and opinions earn us labels. Of course, labeling is a convenient means of categorizing a person and their beliefs in a set group that is easily identifiable, if not very accurate.  More often than not is used as a filter…one that is often put to use as a means of just ignoring what people have to say and thereby transform the debate floor to nothing more than a soapbox.

We see the terms “conservative”, “moderate”, and “liberal” applied quite often…particularly in politics and religion. You can probably think of many more. The one I’ve chosen for myself is “fundamentalist”.

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