moral rot

MSNBC has an article about conservative-leaning members of the Republican Party who are trying to de-rail what they see as John McCain’s extreme policies regarding immigration, the environment and several other issues. Lots of the Republican “grassroots” don’t want McCain’s views to be implemented in the party’s official platform when they have their upcoming national convention.

But this quote by a McCain spokesperson says it all…

“We are confident that this process will produce a platform that all Republicans will enthusiastically support,” said Joe Pounder, a McCain spokesman. “Our party is united, and will continue to work together to elect John McCain in November.”

This is by and large the line by the Republican National Committee as well.

Once again, as has happened too many times from “the party of principle”, the Republicans are going to throw out all principle just for sake of getting “an electable candidate”.

And you ...

Read more

In case anyone believed that Yours Truly had some kind of obsession about “getting” Ron Price, bear in mind that it has now been well over six months since I’ve posted ANYTHING about him. And if I never did write about him again, I would have been happy. In fact, I’ve rather enjoyed not having anything new to write about the disgraced Rockingham County Board of Education member.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

Here now is another chapter in the bizarre and twisted tale of…

Ron Price

The last time we peered into this sordid drama, Price had dropped his lawsuit against local publisher Richard Moore and his wife for trying to hold Price accountable for all the campaign signs that Price was caught stealing on the night before the 2006 election (which saw Price taking fifth place and getting the last of the new at-large seats ...

Read more

In spite of not having actively posted about it for two weeks, this blog is still getting visits (and the occasional comment) from people who’ve been following what’s been going on between Yours Truly and the local cult calling itself the “Church of Christ”, especially its power-mad leader Johnny Robertson of the Martinsville Church of Christ.

Speaking of which, lately I’m hearing it asked quite a lot: Why won’t these guys, with all their money, buy airtime on any other television station besides WGSR? Especially when there are other stations in the area with both better studio facilities and broadcast reach? The general consensus is that WGSR’s management was the only one desperate enough to sell airtime to the cult, and that every reputable and “real” station in the market wouldn’t touch The Three Stasi (that’s my latest nickname for Robertson, James Oldfield and Norm Fields) of the so-called “Church ...

Read more

Just less than a month ago there was lots of excitement about a tribe of people living deep in the Brazilian jungle that had been photographed from the air. It was claimed at the time that these villagers were just now being discovered for the first time.

In the past few days it’s been determined that this was a lie on the part of the photographer.

José Carlos Meirelles has admitted that authorities have known about the tribe since at least 1910! He took the photos and still claimed that these people had been completely undiscovered until his aerial reconnaissance. Why? Because he wanted it to seem like they were a truly lost tribe so that more attention would be given toward the issue of the impact of logging in the Amazon basin.

In other words: it was a lie driven by a political agenda.

I still harbor some ...

Read more

I don’t mind saying this: I’ve never liked or trusted Mike Easley, before or after he became Governor of North Carolina.

When I was a reporter in Asheville, I saw how Easley, who was then the state’s Attorney General, practically stole land from a private owner. Easley’s claim was that the land needed to be environmentally protected, as if it were pristine wilderness. Then an aerial photograph showed that there were already not only housing developments nearby but a chemical plant also. I saw the plans that the guy had for the land and there’s no question in my mind that he was going to responsibly manage the land and make it into something that everyone could enjoy. He was certainly going to do a much better job at it than the state government ever would.

Easley had the state take it anyway.

So now Mike Easley is on his ...

Read more

I’ve always appreciated Dr. Walter E. Williams’s perspective and candor. There have been times when I didn’t necessarily agree with him, but whenever he writes or speaks it’s apparent that it only comes after investing considerable thought into the matter. For that reason alone, I would recommend Dr. Williams as someone far above and removed from the rest of the “talking heads” out there.

Over at Townhall.com Williams has posed the question: “Are Americans pro-slavery?”. It’s a fairly short but rich piece that should have everyone reading it question whether they are really free or not.

Personally, I don’t believe that the state of condition in America fosters anything but captivity to the current system. That we aren’t “owned” in terms of there existing a title deed with one’s name on it doesn’t change the fact that most of the product of our own labor does go to bigger ...

Read more

WorldNetDaily is reporting that the Bush Administration has stated that if Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean want to go free, they should ask for clemency.

Ramos and Compean are the two former Border Patrol agents who were sent to prison by spineless George W. Bush lackey U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. Their “crime”: opening fire on a Mexican drug lord, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who was later given immunity for prosecution in exchange for testifying against Ramos and Compean. Aldrete-Davila later admitted in court to smuggling marijuana.

The Bush Administration has been a pack of complete bastards in regard to its treatment of Ramos and Compean: two good men who were doing their job, in a time when too many others in this government don’t give a damn. Although the Bush Administration is usually a pack of complete bastards on just about everything else, but on this issue they are particularly vile.

Here ...

Read more

No doubt I’m going to draw flack for suggesting this, but it needs to be said. Yesterday afternoon I bought Grand Theft Auto IV.

And having played it for a few hours, as a follower of Jesus Christ I would like to recommend that my mature brethren in the Christian faith (both spiritually and those who are not teenagers anymore, parse that as you will) play Grand Theft Auto IV as well. And not to gleefully look for reasons to condemn the game either.

Why?

Because I think that a lot of people who play Grand Theft Auto IV are going to end up condemning their own sense of self-righteousness instead. And I can’t say that it would be a bad thing at all if they did.

Grand Theft Auto IV, whether by design or not, might be the closest thing there’s been to an actual “Giant’s Drink”. In ...

Read more

Things have been going so well lately (and Lord willing the trend will continue for awhile) that this afternoon I went out and splurged a bit, and got Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360. I got to play the original Grand Theft Auto for a while in 2001 but this is the first time I’ve bought a Grand Theft Auto game for my own collection.

Initial thoughts?

This is not a game that I would ever let children or even older teenagers play. It’s definitely for a much more mature audience. But if you scratch away the mindless violence and sexual imagery, I’m finding that there’s some powerful commentary about the state of culture in this game… and isn’t it a sad indication that it takes a video game to try to enlighten the masses about such things? The Liberty City of Grand Theft Auto IV is at ...

Read more