Gitmo Update

After the Bush administration appealed an earlier court ruling to release 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay, a judge upheld the earlier ruling and ordered the 17 men to appear before him in 3 days to be released into the U.S.

This ruling was made possible due to the hard work of a lawyer named Sabin Willett, my godfather. An article about this can be read here.

Hail to the Mayor

The great mayor (insert sarcasm) of Jackson, MS is Frank Melton. In 2006, Mayor Melton went into a poor neighborhood with police officers and his posse of troubled youths. He instructed everyone to take sledgehammers to an old house believed to be a drug house. Melton had no search warrant or any right to do any of this, but he felt it was the right thing to do. Trouble is that it wasn't a house used for dealing drugs and was just some poor peoples' house.

Today, Marcus Wright, a police officer charged in the incident, cut a plea deal with prosecutors to get his charges reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor in exchange for possible testimony against Mayor Melton and others.

When this news broke, WJTV asked viewers for their opinion with this insightful and well-thought question for their poll:

What effect do you think Wright's plea deal will have on Melton's case?

• Help It
• Hurt It
• No Effect

Seriously? That is the question that WJTV wants viewers to really think about and share with their beloved newstation? When I voted so that I could see the results, 78% had voted that it would hurt Melton's case. 5% had voted that it would help it, and I hope those were joke votes.

How dumb is America getting that we have to be subjected to these type of questions that should be reserved for small children with learning disabilities? How ignorant is our nation becoming when people claim that Sarah Palin did well in the Vice Presidential debate? If her performance in the VP debate is considered good, then I fear for the intelligence level of our citizens (Biden didn't do so hot either.)

Demonstrating to me the laughable journalistic skills of our media today, this question is just further evidence that members of the media should be shipped off to North Korea.

7 phrases that I don't want to hear on television

In honor of the late George Carlin, I have modified his "7 words" into "7 phrases" that I personally don't want to hear on television:

1. "Trickle Down" - I think this compares to me telling a homeless man that if he is hungry, he can eat my lunch after I digest it and turn it into shit.
2. "Fundamentals of the Economy" - I don't even know what this means, and it is so broad that I can't believe people are focusing in on it. Leave McCain alone on this one.
3. "Community Organizer" - Seriously, were Republicans really able to turn this into a derogatory term? Amazing.
4. "Executive Experience" - In other words, people question your leadership skills, Obama. Oh yeah, you obviously don't have any since you have put together the most amazing campaign ever witnessed.
5. "Lipstick on a pig" - That wasn't even his point. It's an expression. If Obama said that a collapsing bridge was old as dirt, would the media jump on this as an attack on McCain? Anyway, if I'm in a crowded room and call out "Hey Douchebag", and you turn around...then you're the douchebag who turned around.
6. "Country First" - I'm going to start a slogan: "Oxygen first". Can we stop with the obvious statements? It isn't like Obama is running on a "Germany First, Japan Second, and America Third" ticket.
7. "My Friends" - I've never met you, so please stop referring to me as your friend. It is such a creepy political ploy...like an old man calling the waitress "babydoll" to get extra syrup.

Back again...for now

Okay, haven't written anything in awhile. My neighbor in the apartment above us moved out and moved his internet out as well. Now, I'm not saying that we were stealing his internet, but coincidentally, my internet did stop working the same day he moved out. Luckily, I have found that during certain peak hours, I can get internet if I sit ever so closely to the wall dividing me and my neighbors next to me.

Let's play a little catch up. One of the more fun weekends I've had in the past month or so was when I saw The Molly Ringwalds. They are a very rockin' 80s cover band. The pre-party was at my apartment, since I live downtown (a very good location for meeting up before or after Jackson events). I performed a costume change between the pre-party and going to see the band at the club. At the pre-party, I donned a white button down shirt, white socks, wayferer sunglasses, and underwear. Figuring that the club might not let me in with underwear on, I made a change into general 80s guy. You can't tell in the picture below, but the highlight of my outfit was an actual visor from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles (thank you Hudson's).

I got season tickets to Southern Miss Football this season. The first game was fun, and I'm a big Larry Fedora fan. In the first game with Fedora as coach, USM broke their all time record for total yards on offense with over 600 yards. Granted, we played Ooh-La-La, but we've played other sucky teams in our history and haven't gone off like that. The receivers are incredible to watch. Deandre Brown is a 6'6" 230 lb beast who will one day play on Sundays. Shawn Nelson is our tight end, but Fedora lines him up in the slot. Oh yeah, Nelson is 6'5" and 240 lbs, so it isn't surprising that he had 12 receptions and over 100 yards against Auburn. Should be fun to watch this team grow throughout the season.

About 11 of us got tickets together around the 50 yard line in the upper deck on the east side. I purchased a Sony radio, so I can listen to John Cox call the games. I caught some flack for that, but I don't care...I always have the answer when someone inevitably asks, "who just caught that?" No avoiding it...let's discuss this past weekend. On Saturday, I had a wedding to attend in Hattiesburg at 6:00 PM. I also had a bachelor party for one of my good friends to get to in Destin. After the Hattiesburg wedding, I headed to Destin. Off of 10 East, I took Exit 22 to get to 98 East. I didn't know that there was a toll, which we Mississippians do not anticipate or plan for. It was 11:00 PM when I got to the toll booth and I had no cash, so I asked the lady if I could pay with a card. She said no, but they took checks. Not having a check either, I asked her what my options were. She informed me that she could issue me an "IOU", so I now have to mail the State of Florida $3.50. This might be the smallest debt I've ever created for myself.

I finally met up with my friends at Rum Runners in Destin at about 12:15 AM. Rum Runners had dueling pianos and a decent number of good looking girls. One group of girls were there for a bachelorette party, so our group got along well with them. In my efforts to impress some of them with my dancing skills, one of the other guys and I decided to flip in the air. Instead of landing on my feet and wowing the crowd, I broke an otherwise nasty fall with my face and knees. My left knee started gushing with blood and my nose was slightly scraped up. Surprising to most, I was sober for this exhibition. Later, at Waffle House, one of the other guys decided that it would be funny to stick his finger inside of my wound (thanks Krebs).

When we got back to the condo, I realized that 7 guys in a one bedroom condo wouldn't fair well for my knee or sleep, so I took off for Jackson at 4:00 AM (4 whole hours in Destin!). I returned to Jackson at about 9:00 AM and my knees were so swollen and sore that I couldn't walk. I went to the doctor on Monday for X-rays and a tetnis shot (thanks Krebs). Turns out that I'm okay...my knees were just so swollen that I couldn't move them. The anti-inflammatory pills that the doc gave have helped tremendously.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that nothing good happens after 2 AM.

Obama vs. McCain: Who Loves Jesus the Mostathon '08

Is anyone else as excited as I am about the McCain/Obama "I'm more Christian than you" faceoff? Actually, I really am very interested in seeing this. My interest in the presidents extends to their faiths. The faiths of our presidents intrigues me greatly, but it has absolutely no bearing in my decision on which candidate I will vote to elect as our Commander-in-Chief.

When a very popular email was circulating that purported that Obama was secretly a Muslim who may be the anti-Christ, I realized two things:

1. Our Nation is full of idiots who have somehow figured out how to hit the "forward" button.
2. Religion really is the main criteria to become President of the United States.
   

My roommate Eric was the first person to bring this email to my attention. He had forwarded it to me at work, so that we may share in laughing at its absurdity. Eric had received it from someone he knew. When Eric replied to the sender with the comment, "this is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever read," the sender fired back with "What is so ridiculous about it?"

The most ridiculous thing that I found in the email was that it claimed that every piece of information in the email was fact and could be verified at http://www.snopes.com/. It even went as far as to give the link. I clicked on the link and snopes.com actually rebutted the email almost entirely.

I brought up the absurdity of the email to other people and was not met with the same agreement that I found with my roommate. Many people believed that Obama is Muslim. In fact, the Pew Research Center recently found that 12% of people polled thought that Obama is Muslim.

When the Muslim claim rears its ugly head, I always start by making the same two points:

1. Obama is not Muslim.
2. Even if he was Muslim, who cares?

Point #2 is always met with a disagreement. I really would not care if Obama was Muslim. I don't know why anyone would, except for insecurity or ignorance. Insecurity would cause someone to think that his religion is somehow diminished if someone of a different religion makes it to the White House. Ignorance would take care of the other 999 reasons someone would have a problem with a non-Christian being President (Note: non-Christian does not = evil).

The President is not preaching to us on Sunday in our church, and he isn't giving last rites - so, why does it matter what religion he is? Seriously, if anyone has a logical answer to this question, I would love to hear it in the comments section.

I would suspect that a person might argue that he wants the President to have the same morals as he has. Well, a Muslim can have the exact same morals that a Christian has.

The person then might say that he wants the President to have the same beliefs as him. Well, I can understand the desire for the President to have the same political beliefs because that effects legislation, but why is it necessary to line up religiously? It isn't necessary.

Going back to my assertion that being a Christian is the #1 criteria for becoming President, I truly believe that a reformed bank robber who had been released from prison 12 years ago would have a better chance of being President than a Muslim (Actually, I don't think that the Constitution allows for ex-cons to be President, but I'm just giving an example...get off my balls).

Recently, I read a book, The Faiths of Our Fathers by Alf J. Mapp, Jr. In the book, Mapp delves into what many of our founding fathers did, said, or thought regarding their own spirituality. I got the book in the bargain bin at Barnes & Noble, and it was just a mediocre read. I suspect that there has to be a better book written on the subject and would take any recommendations. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the beliefs of many of our founders.

George Washington was quiet about his personal religious beliefs and was never seen taking communion. Benjamin Franklin kind of made up his own religion. He believed in a Supreme Being with subordinate gods in some strange hierarchy of solar system gods. Franklin was also believed to be a Deist at certain stages of his life, believing that a Creator made the universe and hadn't interfered with man since.

Thomas Jefferson is a very interesting character as well, but his religious beliefs changed at different stages of his life. He dabbled in Deism and was a big proponent of reason. He also enjoyed Christian teachings but disregarded the mystical components. Whatever he believed at whatever stage of his life, Jefferson always seemed to portray a strong affinity for religious freedom.

In the chapter on John Adams, Mapp uses a quote that I love from Rt. Rev. William A. Brown, an Episcopal Bishop in Southern Virginia. A Calvinist clergyman was chiding Brown about some foibles of the old gentleman's flock, and Brown replied, "A Presbyterian will do anything an Episcopalian would. He just won't enjoy it."

I guess tomorrow night will give us an interesting glance into the beliefs of our presidential candidates, but it shouldn't be used in making a decision on how you will vote. We shouldn't pass judgement on one man's beliefs or the other's because as John Locke said, "The care of every man's soul belongs to himself."

Kermit for Dinner

I've decided to cook more this week. I found some wild-caught jumbo shrimp for half off at Kroger, so I made shrimp grits yesterday. It was pretty good, but I'll know next time to make the grits a little creamier.

Searching for some new flavors in the seasonings aisle at Kroger, I ended up spending about 20% of my grocery bill on seasonings. One good find was Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic. I used it with the shrimp and it was dee-lish.

Today, I decided to fry up some frog legs and squash. Surprisingly, Kroger sells frog legs, at least in Mississippi. I used a wet mix first by combining Tony Cachere's, Louisiana Hot Sauce, half & half, lemon juice and Mrs. Dash's Garlic and Herbs spice. Marinating the frog legs in the wet mix, I then dredged them in my dry mix made up of soy flour and Famous Dave's Country Roast Chicken Seasoning. I didn't see a Country Roast Frog Seasoning, so I guess Ol' Dave is ignoring that demographic.

I used the same method for frying the squash, and it didn't work quite as well; nevertheless, the squash ended up tasty all the same.

The frog legs turned out quite well, as you can see from the pic above. If you haven't ever had fried frog legs, they really are very tasty. Everyone uses the chicken comparison for every other meat, so I guess I'll use it as a jumping off point. The frog legs are white like chicken, but a little chewier in texture and less greasy. My roommate describes them as somewhere between chicken and duck, but I don't know if I would use that as my ultimate description.

All in all, I was simply pleased that I didn't screw it up. The last time I fried anything was three years ago and I caught my mom's kitchen on fire and came away with 2nd degree burns. Just fyi...if you fry anything, do it on a low heat. Don't get frustrated if the oil isn't heating up fast enough and turn up the heat to the highest level. I've found that the oil can suddenly burst into flames and spread very quickly. No fun. Luckily, I have a mom that was just happy I wasn't more injured than I was and didn't care about her kitchen. My sister, on the other hand, chose to laugh at my predicament.

Moral of today's post: Kermit tastes good.

Bernie Mac Died

Bernie Mac died on Saturday. I'm sadder than a mother fucker. Think of all of the white people who will now have to find a new black comic to not understand.