United States

Church adopts local public elementary school for Jesus

This is going to end well: LAKELAND, Fla.—When his budget for pencils, paper, and other essential supplies was cut by a third this school year, the principal of Combee Elementary School worried children would suffer. Then, a local church stepped in and “adopted” the school. The First Baptist Church at the Mall stocked a resource room with $5,000 worth of supplies. It now caters spaghetti dinners at evening school events, buys sneakers for poor students, and sends in math and English tutors. The principal is delighted. So are church pastors. “We have inroads into public schools that...

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New York Times Columnist Line of the Day

If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left...

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Is Nikki Haley racist enough to be governor of South Carolina?

People want to know: Mrs. Haley chose her words carefully in talking about the causes of the Civil War. “You had one side of the Civil War that was fighting for tradition, and I think you had another side of the Civil War that was fighting for change,” she said. She did not use the word “slavery” but hinted at it, saying that “everyone is supposed to be free.” Well, I think it’s fair to say she’s at least hit the “McDonnell Standard.” But, is South Carolina too racist for Nikki Haley? When Mrs. Haley first ran...

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New York Time Columnist Line of the Day

If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from David \”Yawny-Pants\” Brooks, who in his column \”Fastus...

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New York Times Columnist Line of the Day

If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Ross \”Do That Thing\” Douthat, who in his...

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Poem of the Week

You Reading This, Be Ready Starting here, what do you want to remember? How sunlight creeps along a shining floor? What scent of old wood hovers, what softened sound from outside fills the air? Will you ever bring a better gift for the world than the breathing respect that you carry wherever you go right now? Are you waiting for time to show you some better thoughts? When you turn around, starting here, lift this new glimpse that you found; carry into evening all that you want from this day. This interval you spent reading this or...

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Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs

If you’ve got some SpaghettiOs in your pantry, you may want to take a look at this: Campbell Soup Co. is recalling nearly 15 million pounds of canned SpaghettiOs with meatballs because of possible under-processing, the U.S. agriculture department said. The recall includes 14.75-ounce cans with a use-by date between June 2010 and December 2011 of three varieties of the product: “SpaghettiOs with Meatballs,” “SpaghettiOs A to Z with Meatballs” and “SpaghettiOs Fun Shapes with Meatballs (Cars).” Consumers who have purchased those products with a plant code of “EST4K” should not eat them and should return them...

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New York Times Columnist Line of the Day

If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Roger \”Life of the Party\” Cohen, who in...

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More transparency… unless you like guns.

Today in hypocrisy: finally, a cause liberal and conservative interest groups can rally together in opposition to. I’m no expert by any means on campaign finance, but here’s how I understand the story thus far:  Supreme Court issues ruling lifting restrictions on campaign funding by corporations.  General outcry ensues.  Congress resolves to Do Something.  Something takes the form of the DISCLOSE Act, which would require corporations, unions, and non-profits to report their top donors (defined as anyone who gives them $1,000).  It also would require organizations to identify themselves in ads, and the orgs’ top donors to...

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Dale Peterson wants you to vote for somebody else

Dale Peterson, who we mentioned earlier during his race for Alabama Agriculture Commissioner, may not have won the primary, but he is not going gentle into that good night. Nay, he’s got somebody he wants the fine folk of Alabama to vote for: John McMillan. As long as it\’s not dummy Dorman Grace. And he really “blasts” the point home. Don’t you wish you had Dale Peterson watching your back?

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