Coldwater Jane and Brandon Green, of the duo JB Rocket of “Can You Duet?” fame, will be performing at the George County Fairgrounds Friday night at 7:00 P.M. for Yulanda Cooley.  Mrs. Cooley was diagnosed recently with bone cancer and is receiving care at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

From the Mississippi Press:

For sisters Brandon Jane and Leah Crutchfield, who make up Coldwater Jane, their participation in the concert is a family matter. Both grew up in Lucedale and Cooley is their aunt.

“She is a wonderful, wonderful lady,” Jane said during a phone interview on Wednesday. “She is such a blessing to our family, and she means so much to us.”

Coldwater Jane has just released their first single, “Bring on the Love”, which they are promoting through their label, Mercury Records.  Brandon Green was awarded a contract with Big Machine Records.

So if you want to heard some good country music and help a family in need, come to Lucedale on Friday night.  Tickets are only $5.00 at the door and all proceeds will be going to the Cooley family’s medical expenses.Related Posts:

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The fringe left, demonstrated on sites like Daily Kos (read the article and comments!) and the Huffington Post, would have you believe that since Joseph Andrew Stack III – the software engineer from Austin, Texas, who flew his private plane into an IRS office building yesterday – ranted against the tax code and the government, he was a “tea bagger”.  This is disingenuous and libelous.  (Michelle Malkin also has a “nice” list of the “kind” words from our lefty friends.)

First, you must understand their terminology.  “Tea Bagger” refers to one who espouses the “Tea Party Movement“, and is meant to be derogatory and condescending.  The term was ascribed to those by none other than David Shuster on MSNBC.  It also has a rather hideous sexual connotation, which I will not repeat here.  (Go here if you want to read about it.)

The passage they want to point to is from Stack’s suicide note that he posted on his website:

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer… and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

Earlier in his letter, he admitted that he engaged in an exercise to practice “what the big boys were doing”:  i.e., cheating on their taxes.  He said in his note, “The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living”.  Apparently it didn’t work, because in a couple of sentences down he says, “That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0″.

Stack railed against pretty much everyone in his letter, against those he perceived were “cheating” him.  The list includes, but not limited to, the federal government, George W. Bush, the Catholic church, and even his wife.  Business after business he started, failed, and he kept moving around the country until he settled in Austin.

No, Joe Stack wasn’t a member of the Tea Party movement.  He was just an angry, little old man who failed at trying to cheat the system.  And in that realization, he took a cowardly way out by trying to kill those who he perceived wronged him.  No one wronged Joe Stack but himself.

And for those on the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post, take a look in the mirror.  Some of the things Stack said in his letter are exactly what some of your members believe.  Be careful when you try to pigeon-hole someone – it may come back to bite you.

(To read Joe Stack’s screed, go here.)Related Posts:

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Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans were indicted on charges, thrown off the lacrosse team and wrongly convicted in the court of public opinion.  Now it appears that she is getting her comeuppance:

Durham police arrested Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Gale Mangum, 33, late Wednesday after she allegedly assaulted her boyfriend, set his clothes on fire in a bathtub and threatened to stab him.

Authorities charged her with attempted first-degree murder, five counts of arson, assault and battery, communicating threats, three counts of misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property, identity theft and resisting a public officer.

Lock her up and throw away the key.  “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”Related Posts:

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XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
`
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
`
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
`
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
`
LXVI
`
I do not love you – except because I love you;
I go from loving to not loving you,
from waiting to not waiting for you
my heart moves from the cold into
`
the fire. I love you only because it’s you
I love; I hate you no end, and hating you
bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
is that I do not see you but love you
`
blindly. Maybe the January light will consume
my heart with its cruel
ray, stealing my key to true
`
calm. In this part of the story I am the one who
dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,
because I love you, Love, in fire and in blood.
`
LXXIII
`
Maybe you’ll remember that razor-faced man
who slipped out from the dark like a blade
and – before we realized – knew what was there:
he saw the smoke and concluded fire.
`
The pallid woman with black hair
rose like a fish from the abyss,
and the two of them built up a contraption,
armed to the teeth, against love.
`
Man and woman, they felled mountains and gardens,
then went down to the river, they scaled the walls,
they hoisted their atrocious artillery up the hill.
`
Then love knew it was called love.
And when I lifted my eyes to your name,
suddenly your heart showed me my way.

Just putting this out there in the abyss.Related Posts:

None Found

After reading Michelle Malkin’s piece this morning, I just had to go to the original site and look at the photos.  By permission of the original owner, I’m posting the photo here.  I must say – I sure do:

Why yes, yes I do. (Photoshop by: W.E. Messamore)

Sometimes I love Photoshoppers.Related Posts:

None Found

Facebook games – like Mafia Wars, Farmville, Farkle, and such – are a big reason a lot of people are on there.  I simply don’t like them.  I am further annoyed by all the “requests” that are sent to me by my contacts – even though I don’t play the games.  I’ve had enough of it.

From now on, if you send me a game request in Facebook, it’s getting ignored.  I don’t play Mafia Wars.  I don’t play Farmville.  I don’t play Yoville.  I don’t play Farkle (anymore).  The only reason I’m on Facebook is so I can communicate with those I don’t see day to day.  If you don’t want to do that, that’s fine.  Just leave me alone with the game requests, please, and thank you!

Upcoming Posts

I have decided to fold other topics into this blog besides politics.  Frankly, I’m sick of politics and all the goings on in our nation’s capital.  I still try to keep up with the latest news, but it just continues to sicken me how corrupt our whole system is.  The bureaucrats on both sides just make my blood boil.  As each day passes, I wish we could just fire them all and start fresh.  After all, they do work for us, right?

If you’ve visited in the last couple of days, you’ll see that I added a “widget” to my sidebar, showing my character armory from World of Warcraft.  Now, that game is my addiction.  It’s pretty much what I do when I get home from work (if “Lost” or “24″ is not on, that is).  I guess that’s what I do instead of playing those annoying Facebook games.  And that is one topic I plan on blogging more about here.

Why do I play?

You’re probably wondering why on Earth I would play such a game.  What makes it so addictive and fun?  Well, I think for me it’s the “solving puzzles” aspect of the game.  There are quests you can do in the game, as well as what’s called “instances” or “dungeons”, where you and four other people go in and defeat “bosses” (just think Mario or Zelda here).  There’s also larger dungeons, called “raids”, where you can get with nine or twenty-four other people and go in to defeat even more difficult “bosses”.

In order to beat these bosses, you have to follow a certain strategy or solve a certain puzzle.  It takes coordination, planning, and teamwork.  And it’s fun!  I think that is the biggest draw for me to the game.

The big “raid” right now is called Icecrown Citadel, which is the home of the Lich King.  For all you “Lord of the Rings” fans out there, think Sauron and Mordor and you pretty much have what the citadel looks like.  I’m also a big computer graphics nerd, so going in and seeing the architecture of this place is just amazing.  The onyx-looking stone that comprises the floor and walls, the gothic design of the archways and walkways in the citadel, and the airship battle midway through the Lower Spire are just some of the awe-inspiring sights of this game.  I guess I also love the lore and story behind it:  I’m a HUGE Tolkien fan and this is pretty much like marching to the Black Gate to face Sauron and his orcs.

Only in WoW, you’re facing the Lich King and his Scourge – the undead minions.  Instead of watching it unfold on the big screen or seeing it unfold in your mind, you’re helping things along and interacting with some of the major characters in the story.  It’s you and your friends who are the heroes in this epic battle.

So that’s why I play.Related Posts:

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Found this on the ‘net…I think it’s been widely shared by now! Related Posts:

None Found

The reason for the strike?  According to the union, unfair labor practices and pay.  But, according to the Red Cross, there have been no unsafe labor practice complaints by the Teamsters Union. The court that awarded the injunction agreed with the Red Cross. 

The Red Cross is struggling, like other organizatios, through the economic slump.  As a result,  non-union workers are under a pay freeze until June 30, 2010.  This has been a major contention during the contract negotiation, and the union refuses to agree to a pay freeze.

“We are simply asking union employees to make the same sacrifices that their non-union colleagues have already made,” said Anthony Tornetta, Communications Manager for the Red Cross Penn-Jersey Blood Region. “Their refusal to do so remains a significant issue in these negotiations.”

The union workers are covered both by the International Brotherhood of  Teamsters and the SEIU, and being encouraged to strike by the organization Change to Win.  Their mantra?  They will not stop “until every man, woman and child has quality, affordable care they can count on“.

Change you can believe in.Related Posts:

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In the defense of our nation, a president must be a clear-eyed realist. There are limits to the smiles and scowls of diplomacy. Armies and missiles are not stopped by stiff notes of condemnation. They are held in check by strength and purpose and the promise of swift punishment.

George W. Bush

Unfortunately, I don’t think our current president realizes this.  He is neither clear-eyed, nor a realist.  He continues to use diplomacy as though it’s the be-all, end-all of all arguments.  He wants to reduce our nuclear deterrent, while other nations strive to increase theirs.  He wants to essentially cut our defense appropriations.  He is consistently weakening us, and he has obfuscated our purpose as a nation – not only in foreign policy, but in domestic issues as well.

We The People need to wake up and realize what is happening to our country.  Every day we see the vitriol and hatred increase, not only from the left, but from the fringes of the political right also.   And now it seems as though the fringe left and fringe right are turning on themselves as well.  What will it take for this country to come together, as we did after 9/11?  Will it take another terrorist attack, or will it take something worse (i.e., revolution)?  I pray to God not.

I just continue to see the moral decline of this country, and it saddens me.  This is not the country I remember from my childhood, and it’s certainly not the one from September 2001.  We were united.  We all suffered – even those of us who didn’t have any immediate family or friends to die in the terrible attacks of that day.  I saw a patriotism and a love for God and country like I had never seen before.  What happened?

If things do not improve soon, I truly see a revolution or civil outburst happening soon – certainly not as widespread and devastating as our Civil War, but still dramatic in its own right.  We’ve already seen what happens when people are upset with tuition increases.  What do you think will happen when the people of this country finally get tired of the continuous “tax and spend” coming from Washington?  I foresee it being far, far worse.Related Posts:

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Negotiations at the UN climate summit have been suspended after developing countries withdrew their co-operation.

Delegations were angry at what they saw as moves by the Danish host government to sideline talks on more emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.

While it’s not exactly what I was hoping would de-rail the summit, at least something is stopping – at least temporarily – the insanity that is global warming talks.  Apparently the Danish government drafted some papers that are actually benefiting the developed countries over the developing.

I hope the disagreements and dysfunction at the “summit” continue.  We do not need to enter into a meaningless agreement that will end up taking more of our sovereignty away and giving it to the U.N.  If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, go watch this.Related Posts:

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