Dove Award Nominees Announced

You can see them here.

My own quick thoughts:

• "Meant To Live" should be Song of the Year.


• Out of the options, Group of the Year should be Switchfoot.


• Same for Artist of the Year.


• Producer of the Year should be Aaron Sprinkle, but he's not on the list.


• Give "Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year" to "Show You Love" by Jars of Clay. I like "Never Alone" by Barlow Girl, but it's a complete Evanescence ripoff.


• Give Modern Rock Album of the Year to Collide by Skillet.


• Rock Album of the Year should go to "They're Only Chasing Safety" by Underoath, even though I haven't listened to it.


• Hey, this is my blog. I have the right to be arbitrary.


• Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year goes to Third Day's Wire.


• "Light Up Ahead" is a great music video, even if animated, and I wish I could learn to make them like that.

BTW, hat tip Bunnie Diehl.

More American Ingenuity

[0009] This taco holder invention is an example of simplicity at it's best. Not only does this invention hold the taco shell upright for filling the ingredients and for resting a partially-eaten taco between bites--but also clips to the edge of the dinner plate for resistance to tipping-over while carrying the plate between the table and kitchen, buffet lines, or passing back and forth between people. Other holders of this type are bulkier, heavier or free-standing, (able to tip over).

A-?

Thoughts, anyone?

You Have A Type A- Personality

A- You are one of the most balanced people around Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you. When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love! You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

'Group Asks IRS To Check Into Focus On The Family'

Story here, via Christdot.

The watchdog group asked the IRS in a Feb. 1 letter to investigate. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Focus on the Family is forbidden to endorse political candidates or parties.

"Our organization believes that this article may have violated federal tax law with its use of code words such as 'pro-life' and with its implied support of President George W. Bush as a candidate for president," wrote Ellie Collinson, executive director for Citizens Project.

As far as I know, churchs fall under the same requirements. Hmm . . . What's good for the goose is good for the gander, innit?

Cubs sign Burnitz

The Cubs have filled their hole in right field. Jeromy Burnitz is certainly not my favorite player, or even close, but the contract is short and pretty cheap at $5 million / 1 year. And there weren't all that many good options out there -- basically, either get Beltran with an albatross of a contract, or hope that Maggs's knee is healthy even though his agent refuses to let any team check it out.

Feel Free To Play Along At Home

Just received this in the inbox from the Illinois Republican Young Professionals:

President George W. Bush will deliver his State of the Union address this evening at 8:00 PM Central. The White House has provided us with message points in advance of this evening's historic speech. They are copied below. Please feel free to share them.

As the President begins his second term and embarks on pursuing his positive agenda, he's going to face a lot of resistance from the Democrats. Litigation, tax and social security reform are some of the Administration's goals for the next four years. The President is going to need all of us to help communicate his message.

If you are unable to hear the President's speech this evening, a transcript will be available on the White House's website (www.whitehouse.gov) later this evening.

REPUBLICAN YOUNG PROFESSIONALS (RYP)
(visit our website at www.ilryp.org)

====================================
====================================

State of the Union Message Points


The Speech
This is a unique year for the State of the Union address because it comes on the heels of the Inaugural address. The two speeches provide an important opportunity for the President to articulate his domestic and foreign policy goals for the next four years to the American people and to the world.

The Inaugural address laid out the ideal toward which America will strive and the governing principles that will guide us. The State of the Union will lay out specific goals, immediate and long-term, for how and where we'll lead America, and will present a blueprint for a second term.

This is an opportunity for the President to not only educate the American people, but also persuade Congress that the country is going in the right direction, but there is more work to be done.

The President will call on Congress to fulfill its obligation and achieve results for the American people rather than passing problems on to future Congresses and future generations.

The first half of the speech will focus on domestic topics; the second half will focus on foreign policy.


Domestic Policy
The President will speak directly to the American people and to Congress about Social Security and offer more details on how to move the debate forward. He will discuss why we need to permanently fix the Social Security system and why it's necessary that we confront this problem today. He will express his willingness to work in a bipartisan manner and talk about why he believes personal retirement accounts are critical to helping future generations realize a secure retirement.

The President will talk about building on the economic momentum of the last few years, noting that 2.3 million jobs have been created in the last year.

The President will also talk about legal reform, tax reform, passing a comprehensive energy policy, and education and job training initiatives to make sure we have a skilled workforce to compete with anybody in the world. And he will discuss fiscal discipline and the fact that he will be putting forward a budget that reflects our times and meets our goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009.


Foreign Policy
This State of the Union comes during a time of war. The President will pay tribute to the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to secure our freedom. He will speak to the importance of working to advance the spread of freedom and democracy. The President will also speak directly to those individuals who are fighting for freedom around the world; those who wear the uniform of the United States military, and the peoples of many countries that are fighting for their own freedom.

The President will speak specifically about the Middle East peace process and the renewed hope around the world for peace in the Middle East.

The President will reflect upon historic progress made in recent weeks, focusing on the elections in Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

The President will talk about our priorities and our plans moving forward, as well as our aims and goals to help the Iraqi people secure their country and continue on the path to democracy.


After The Speech
The President will embark on a five-state tour, beginning Thursday, to take his case for strengthening Social Security to the American people. He will visit Fargo, North Dakota, Great Falls, Montana, Omaha, Nebraska, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Tampa, Florida.

Mrs. Bush, the Vice President, and other members of the Cabinet and sub-Cabinet including Secretary Snow and Director Bolten will travel educating Americans and highlighting initiatives the President will be talking about in the State of the Union.

A Couple Wild Statements

First, Chief News Executive of CNN Eason Jordan makes some scary accusations:

During one of the discussions about the number of journalists killed in the Iraq War, Eason Jordan asserted that he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by US troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been targeted. He repeated the assertion a few times, which seemed to win favor in parts of the audience (the anti-US crowd) and cause great strain on others.

Due to the nature of the forum, I was able to directly challenge Eason, asking if he had any objective and clear evidence to backup these claims, because if what he said was true, it would make Abu Ghraib look like a walk in the park. David Gergen was also clearly disturbed and shocked by the allegation that the U.S. would target journalists, foreign or U.S. He had always seen the U.S. military as the providers of safety and rescue for all reporters.

Eason seemed to backpedal quickly, but his initial statements were backed by other members of the audience (one in particular who represented a worldwide journalist group). The ensuing debate was (for lack of better words) a real "sh--storm". What intensified the problem was the fact that the session was a public forum being taped on camera, in front of an international crowd. The other looming shadow on what was going on was the presence of a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator in the middle of some very serious accusations about the U.S. military.

To be fair (and balanced), Eason did backpedal and make a number of statements claiming that he really did not know if what he said was true, and that he did not himself believe it. But when pressed by others, he seemed to waver back and forth between what might have been his beliefs and the realization that he had created a kind of public mess. His statements, his reaction, and the reaction of all in attendance left me perplexed and confused. Many in the crowd, especially those from Arab nations, applauded what he said and called him a "very brave man" for speaking up against the U.S. in a public way amongst a crowd ready to hear anti-US sentiments. I am quite sure that somewhere in the Middle East, right now, his remarks are being printed up in Arab language newspapers as proof that the U.S. is an evil and corrupt nation. That is a real nightmare, because the Arab world is taking something said by a credible leader of the media (CNN!) as the gospel, or koranic truth. What is worse is that I am not really sure what Eason really meant to communicate to us, but I do know that he was quite passionate about it. Members of the audience took away what they wanted to hear, and now they will use it in every vile and twisted way imaginable.

Secondly, John Kerry now claims that he performed gun-running for the Communist Khmer Rouge:

MR. RUSSERT: And you have a hat that the CIA agent gave you?

SEN. KERRY: I still have the hat that he gave me, and I hope the guy would come out of the woodwork and say, "I'm the guy who went up with John Kerry. We delivered weapons to the Khmer Rouge on the coastline of Cambodia." We went out of Ha Tien, which is right in Vietnam. We went north up into the border. And I have some photographs of that, and that's what we did. So, you know, the two were jumbled together, but we were on the Cambodian border on Christmas Eve, absolutely.

I don't know what to think about either of these. Well, I don't believe Jordan, but I don't know for sure. And can't accept that the best place for this revelation would be on foreign soil at an economic forum.

BTW, Eason's the guy who had this to say a couple years ago regarding keeping quiet about the Hussein regime's evil for fear of reprisal. And again, I'm not in a very opinionated mood, so read and decide for yourself whether CNN's actions were acceptable.

Iraqi Insurgents Capture Toy Soldier?

No, this isn't a joke. An Iraqi militant website posted this picture of their latest hostage:



He looks a little stiff or drugged up or something, doesn't he? And notice how the M-16 pointed at his head isn't being held by the grip? It must be that the insurgent holding it is grabbing it by the end of the stock -- an awkward grip at best.

Well, somebody did some quick investigation, and now Drudge has these pics on his front page:



Hmm . . .

e2 Ministries Update

A forum has been added to the website. Woo-hoo!

Mahna Mahna (Do doo be-do-do)

Dude!

Some of my friends (who happen to be regular readers here) pointed me to this a few weeks ago. I thought it was cool, but SYNCHRONICITY IS COOLER!

Today, I flip on the TV in order to play Halo 2, and there's a Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper commercial. With THE MAHNA MAHNA SONG! I think it was just released today, because I haven't found any mention of it on the Net yet. As soon as I see the commercial online, you will be the first to know.

UPDATE 2/15/05: Fresh off the presses! The Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper Mahna Mahna commercial is available at ifilm!

CPAC Blogger List Released

The list is available here. I didn't make it, and looking at the list, it probably would've taken me about 10,000 more hits a day that I get (meaning maybe 10,050 total per day). Oh well. There's always next year.

Likelihood Of Confusion

Ron Coleman just IM'ed to let me know about his new blog, Likelihood of Confusion. Coleman is a Jewish lawyer, and it looks like his blog is going to cover issues related to both of these from a conservative perspective.

Coleman is best known, at least by me, for having witty advertisements on Instapundit's sidebar (Mental Note: Get a screenshot one of these days, so people will know what the heck I'm talking about). And longtime readers may remember that he was quoted in my Most Famous Post Ever.

Welcome, Ron! You should be added to my Blogroll by the time anyone reads this.

UPDATE: Ron has sent me this screenshot from Instapundit's sidebar:

e2 Ministries

Prime Minister of Toast and myself have been working on a new ministry idea for a few months now. It's called e2 Ministries, and you can read about what we're trying to do at the About page here.

Today, we took an important step forward. We are actively soliciting bands to join with us in our mission. A few local bands have already received emails. If you haven't, it's either because I don't have an email address for you, or maybe I just haven't heard of you ;). Anyways, IF you are a Christian band that's located in the Chicagoland area, AND you're willing to join with us in our mission as outlined on the website, then PLEASE contact us at info@e2-music.com.

PS: Venues are the next step. We've already mentioned our idea to one or two, but we haven't canvassed yet. If you represent a venue, though, feel free to contact us!

XBOX LIVE

Yes, I finally have it. My gamertag is jpers36 , since Death Star was taken.

Look for me playing Halo 2!

PERSONS 2008 UPDATE

Hmm. Maybe I won't be facing Jesse Jackson, Jr. in '08 after all. Check out this article -- Jackson is taking Mayor Daley and the Chicago City Council to task for corruption related to a minority set-aside program. Some aldermen are striking back, accusing Jackson of tarnishing the Mayor's reputation in order to set up his own run for mayor in 2007.

Instead of sitting in judgment of the City Council, [Police Committee Chairman Isaac] Carothers advised Jackson to pay attention to the chronic flooding in his own district, including recent problems in Ford Heights.

Asked if he believes Jackson's strident attacks against Daley are a prelude to a 2007 campaign for mayor, Carothers said, "It's a precursor. He wants to be king of the world."

Christian Music Makeover?

This is silly to me. What need is there for a Christian band to get a 'makeover'?

The band will undergo a physical, musical and spiritual makeover, bringing about both personal and professional transformations. The physical makeover will include a MAC Cosmetics session for lead singer Heather King, weight loss programs for two of the band members courtesy of Jenny Craig, and individual fitness training with Natural Physiques personal trainer and author Jeremy Likness.

The musical makeover will include performance coaching with Tom Jackson, and new guitars for the entire band courtesy of Daisy Rock Guitars. Lead singer Heather King will have to learn how to play her guitar (yes, they're providing guitar lessons too), with a goal of playing live at a Daniel’s Window concert by the end of the campaign.

The spiritual makeover includes an interactive online devotional with the band and a pending partnership with a major Bible publisher. Fans will also be invited to participate in a soon-to-be-announced service project coordinated by international relief organization Food For the Hungry.

How are we going to make over this Christian band? By throwing brand names at it! JENNY CRAIG! DAISY ROCK! NATURAL PHYSIQUES!

Jesus Christ? Naw, he's prehistoric.

I'm not criticizing the band so much as the industry and whoever thought up this crazy idea. Sounds like Daniel's Window is getting tons of free merch out of this, and of course a lot of recognition, and although I don't like their choice, it's their decision to make. But what industry exec made this boneheaded decision, and what's it got to do with Jesus?

"The ‘reality’ phenomenon has taking America by storm, and we figured why leave out the Christian music industry,” says Cross Driven Records president Ryan Howard. “Daniel's Window is a fantastic band and has the real potential to be one the industry's best. Especially with the help of the great sponsors already involved, and the many more to come. Christian music fans - get ready for a transformation!"

AAAAAARGGHH! CCM is becoming my kryptonite. And speaking of CCM, I've bought this, which will be an interesting and hopefully enlightening read.

'Peace' Protestors Attack Protest Warriors

This story is making the rounds of the blogosphere (scroll ahead a few pages and down to the 12:12pm entry):

12:12 p.m. ET
Not So Peaceful Peace Rally
Hundreds of people gathered at both ends of Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington for a peace rally sponsored by the D.C Antiwar Network.

But there were interlopers: Thirteen members of ProtestWarror, supporting the Bush administration and its policies in Iraq. When the Bush supporters arrived, about 20 black-clad, self-described anarchists emerged from the crowd, shouting profanity and epithets and demanding that they leave the peace rally.

When the Bush supporters refused to leave, the anarchists tore the signs out of the Bush supporters' hands and stomped on them. When ProtestWarrior leader Gil Kobrin objected, several male anarchists knocked him to the ground, kicking him in the back and punching him. Other anarchists punched and shoved Kobrin's 12 colleagues.

After D.C. Antiwar Network members broke up the fight, the Bush supporters heeded their order to leave the park. Kobrin then called D.C. police, who are now guarding them at the entrance of the park as they hold up their pro-war signs. "We're going to hang tight," Kobrin said. "We're expressing our freedom of speech just as they are expressing theirs." --Robert MacMillan

If I were still stationed in DC, I'd have been with the Protest Warriors, perhaps at this incident . . .

UPDATE: Gil Kobrin has a group blog, We Won't Get Fooled Again. Their post on the attack is here.

UPDATE 2: Gil posts on the ProtestWarrior thread dedicated to this event (edited for profanity):

I haven't read all the posts, but I'll shoot off a quick reply.

First off - I'm ok. We're ok. My back is killing me (they kicked me in the spine and kidneys), but I'll live.

We were not shouting or chanting when the anarchists attack; we weren't even talking with anyone at the time. We were simply holding signs.

As for all you liberal *******s who are calling us Protest******s etc, let me make one thing clear: I gave the order not to punch back. I will not endanger the lives of ProtestWarriors by starting a riot, against anarchists armed with steel pipes and knives. You have a problem with that, than you have a problem with me.

More later.

UPDATE AGAIN: The Washington Post has a story on it here titled "Protesting the Protestors". It raises some interesting questions regarding ProtestWarrior, and I may address them in the near future.

Sites picking up the story:
ProtestWarrior Forums
Instapundit
Kerry Spot
Say Anything
Heroes from the Past ;)
Raje's Rants
GregNews
The Sundries Shack
Red State
NIF
Mark Atwood
This Untamed Fire Of Freedom
USS Neverdock
Destinedfornothing
The Global Awakening
Pass The Ammo
The Lumber Of The World
Blogs for Bush
Double Toothpicks
TBogg
Free Republic
The Center For Advanced Studies In Right Wing Conspiracies
The SHEEP'S CRIB
Top Dead Center
Precinct 333
Flopping Aces
Ninme
View Of The Republic
LGF
The Underscore
RobBernard.com
News O Rama
More Eclipse Ramblings
ipse dixit
Chrenkoff
In The Right
Trials and Tribulations
Semper Cogitans; Numquam Laborans
Caliber50
Citizen Smash

Mortor

Well, speaking of Lord of the Rings parody, check out this really simple, really funny riff on Lord of the Rings.

"That Was Me You Hired"

This is what I do when I'm bored. We'll see whether it becomes a regular thing. If so, LotR will probably be up next.

Jesus is Lord

Read this. Via Thinklings.