Republican presidential candidate John McCain is scheduled to spend time this Memorial Day weekend at his ranch in Sedona, Arizona, with several potential vice-presidential running mates. According to McCain campaign officials, 10 couples have been invited.
“It’s a purely social weekend with friends, something he obviously likes to do from time to time,” said Mark Salter, a senior adviser to McCain.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman and FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Frederick W. Smith are also expected to attend, according to unnamed McCain campaign officials and Republican sources who also asked not to be named when discussing the guest list.
Reports that I have personally read and heard state consistently that the three frontrunners for the VP slot are Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Florida Governor Charlie Christ, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Thus far, no official word has been released if these meetings will mark the beginnings of whittling down the possibilities for vice-president, although conventional wisdom indicates it will.
Jindal press secretary Melissa Sellers didn’t mention the vice presidency in a statement confirming Jindal’s visit.
“The governor looks forward to joining Sen. McCain and his other guests this weekend, and he values this as another opportunity to meet with a national leader and the potential next president of the United States to discuss issues important to the future growth of Louisiana,” Sellers said.
I feel that Jindal, although an obvious up-and-comer in the Republican party and a staunch conservative more in the Ronald Reagan mold, is too necessary for the future of Louisiana. He was only rather recently elected and has not had much of an opportunity to clean up the corruption in Louisiana as he promised in his campaign platform. Furthermore, his inexperience in national politics would be an issue the Democrats would undoubtedly raise since McCain has questioned Obama’s lack of experience several times in recent speeches. If Jindal is successful in his term as Louisiana Governor and is re-elected, then his value as a VP candidate would definitely increase. Plus, it would not be surprising if he entered the Presidential fray at the next available opportunity. On the other hand, if he is even moderately unsuccessful at fulfilling his campaign promises, the odds of a vice-presidental position in his future would be greatly reduced.
Charlie Crist has been frequently mentioned as a potential running mate and as former Attorney General and current Governor of the State of Florida would be a good match for McCain. He would appeal to the southern vote and his experience would be a welcome asset. However, my guess is that the better and most likely position for which Crist would be most suited would be the AG slot in a McCain cabinet.
Which leaves Mitt Romney.
During the Republican primaries, Romney and McCain squared off in debates and speeches on many occasions, sometimes seemingly at each others’ throats. However ever since McCain became the Republican’s nominee, the two have been referring to the other in nothing but glowing terms. Such is politics. Of the three, McCain brings up Romney’s name most often which leads me to believe he is more than likely the actual frontrunner for the VP position.
I don’t doubt the weekend get-together will be mainly a social gathering of prominent politicians, business executives and their wives; however, common sense and political savvy would indicate much more will be discussed than just relaxed small-talk. I believe this gathering is a major step in McCain’s choices for his running mate and cabinet.
This entry was filed
under LinkFests, Politics.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
My wife and I went to the Tri-State Avian Society’s annual exotic bird fair Saturday morning with the intention of purchasing some new toys for our rather spoiled little cockatiel named Cheech. We got him the type of toys he likes best plus some food and a new type of perch to try (he loves the perch). I took a camera along and here are some of the sights:
This entry was filed
under General, LinkFests.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
The latest PhotoHunt category from tnchick.com is “Candy” which can be interpreted as one sees fit. Without further ado, here is my entry for this week’s PhotoHunt:
So what does a picture of a custom, four-wheel drive vehicle from a local car show from a couple of weeks back have to do with candy?.
Look again closely…
It’s CANDY apple red!
Ever since I had my gastric bypass surgery. candy has been something I have avoided. Too much sugar can trigger what is known as “dumping syndrome.” Suffice to say dumping syndrome is no fun so I avoid it as much as I can. So I thought “outside of the box” on this week’s photohunt.
This entry was filed
under General, LinkFests.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
I, for one, am glad the weekend is almost upon us. I need a couple of days off. To kick things off, let’s declare this day Open Trackback Friday! It is your opportunity to share interesting blog entries from your blog by using this blog’s trackback feature. Many people, including myself enjoy reading a variety of material from other people’s blogs, so link your post to this one, send a trackback to it and it’ll appear in the comments section after I manually approve it. I still approve all comments & trackbacks manually due to spam bots so it won’t show up immediately, but I will get to it as soon as I can. I am still using myself as the ultimate spam filter but now have the aid of an excellent trackback filter. To obtain the trackback URL simply rightclick where it says “trackback” below and then click on “copy shortcut” to get it. That’s all there is to it! And thank you in advance for trackbacking to my blog. And while you’re here, please take some time to look at some articles I’ve posted. Maybe you’ll find something interesting. If you do, trackback to it as well.
This entry was filed
under General, LinkFests.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
This entry was filed
under LinkFests, Music, Video.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
This is DR. (and I use that title quite loosely) James David Manning, Ph.D. (and I also use Ph.D. loosely as well) of Atlah (which apparently stands for “All The Land Anointed Holy”) World Ministries (”World” if Harlem in NYC is now considered the world). His website is comical in places and would be hilarious but Manning takes it all seriously. However Manning comes off more as a clown than a man of God. In fact, his background is suspect. For example, this so-called “Ph.D” (in philosophy) was received (nowhere does it say it was earned) from…get this, folks…
Atlah Theological Seminary!!!
Who founded Atlah Theological Seminary?
Why, James David Manning, of course.
Who currently runs Atlah Theological Seminary?
Why, James David Manning, of course.
So in essence, the clown James David Manning gave himself a Ph.D.!
I mentioned that areas of the ATLAH website are comical. An example is what is referred to as The Witch Doctor Project which states as some of its purposes:
We will seek to examine and expose the role of the witch doctors on the west coast of Africa in the selling of slaves to America. These representatives will be called to a state of repentance for the lies they have committed that have weakened the Black race. Unless this is done, the curse will remain on the African population.
The nation of Africa is facing tremendous obstacles that cannot be solved with money. We must remove the false leaders of the day like “The Magnificent Seven” - Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Bill Clinton, T.D. Jakes, Louis Farrakan, Don King, and Cornell West - and replace them with men and women who will repent, and preach righteousness, and truth.
Witch doctors selling slaves? And what the heck does that got anything to do with Jackson, Al Sharpton, Bill Clinton, T.D. Jakes, Louis Farrakan, Don King, and Cornell West? And how the heck did Don King get on the list? His hair? I don’t think any rational person thinks of Don King as a “leader” of any sort except perhaps Don King leading Don King (and many not-so-intelligent boxers) to line Don King’s pockets with money.
Fortunately, not many people take Manning seriously. Some even take the time to make light of the clown.
Why anyone would give this clown any credibility by having them on radio or television talk shows is beyond me. Frankly, Manning’s scriptural exegesis is atrocious at best and frankly I’d like to know if even his alledged Master of Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary is legit and what specifically his alledged BA Degree from the College of New Rochelle was actually in. It’s not specified anywhere on the Atlah website. Was it in a challenging field such as…Phys. Ed.? I don’t think any intelligent, rational people would be impressed by his self-serving, yet woefully vague bio on the Atlah website. Most recently, Manning called Oprah Winfrey, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Barack ******* Obama “the Trinity of Hell.” Oprah and Wright, maybe…but Barry? No way! He’s the liberal’s golden child. An angel to save the country. A messiah to bring faith…change…hope…er…well…socialism. To me, James David Manning is about as legitimate as Fred Phelps in regards to being a man of God. Hmmm…steel cage match between Westboro Church and Atlah Ministry? Now there’s a Pay-Per-View!
Maybe it should be the Atlah World Circus ’cause James David Manning is definitely a clown.
[I formally apologize to professional and amateur clowns all over the world for unintentionally besmirshing the time-honored tradition of clowning by equating James David Manning with being a clown.]
This entry was filed
under Humor, LinkFests, Politics, Video.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
This entry was filed
under LinkFests, Politics.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
I’ve received several comments on the blog as well as many emails from readers requesting I share the results of my thyroid gland needle biopsy whether they are good or bad.
With great thanks to God, the results were given to me Monday afternoon and the doctor says that it is benign. He also says they cannot be 100% sure it’s completely benign but they are almost 100% sure. He wants to keep an eye on it so I’m scheduled to have ultrasounds done on a regular 4-6 month basis. If it changes in any way he will schedule an operation to remove that portion of my thyroid. However he is optimistic that I won’t have any problems with it in the future but he can’t guarantee it.
I thank all of you for your comments and emails. I appreciate it very much.
This entry was filed
under General, LinkFests.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
This entry was filed
under Humor, LinkFests, Politics.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
It’s been a week since the thyroid gland biopsy and I’m still awaiting results. I was told it would take 2-3 days but apparently that translates into over a week in normal time. However, today is once again Open Trackback Friday! It is your opportunity to share interesting blog entries from your blog by using this blog’s trackback feature. Many people, including myself enjoy reading a variety of material from other people’s blogs, so link your post to this one, send a trackback to it and it’ll appear in the comments section after I manually approve it. I still approve all comments & trackbacks manually due to spam bots so it won’t show up immediately, but I will get to it as soon as I can. I am still using myself as the ultimate spam filter but now have the aid of an excellent trackback filter. To obtain the trackback URL simply rightclick where it says “trackback” below and then click on “copy shortcut” to get it. That’s all there is to it! And thank you in advance for trackbacking to my blog. And while you’re here, please take some time to look at some articles I’ve posted. Maybe you’ll find something interesting. If you do, trackback to it as well.
This entry was filed
under General, LinkFests.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
This entry was filed
under Humor.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
I am saddened to report that a decades old landmark along U.S. Highway 90 in Gulfport, Mississippi, the S.S. Hurricane Camille which was damaged by Hurricane Katrina has been demolished and the debris hauled off. According to Steve Phillips of WLOX-TV:
“We’re getting ready to move it. Tear it down. Time for it to go,” said owner Lucille Moody, as demolition crews prepared to tear down the S.S. Hurricane Camille tugboat.
Moody is bittersweet about losing the 72 foot long landmark.
Long a popular tourist attraction, in recent years the landmark deteriorated into more of an eyesore.
“It’s rusty. It’s been sitting there for 35 years. And it was built in 1943. So, it’s time for it to go,” said Moody.
As friends joined her in a champagne toast, a growing crowd gathered to watch or photograph this bit of coast history.
The trackhoe made quick work of the structure atop the steel hull. Badly rusting metal was no match for the heavy duty steel teeth which slowly tore it to pieces. The tug that survived two of the fiercest hurricanes ever, offered little resistance.
“It’s been a landmark. I don’t know if people are going to know where they are on this stretch of beach anymore without the boat being here. We’re going to miss it for sure,” said Chris Fore, whose company donated the demolition services.
Vanessa Clarke worked in the souvenir shop for years. The crowd reminded her of days gone by.
“I don’t know how many times I came out of the shop to get pictures of people in front of the boat. A lot of times,” she recalled.
For local residents, this familiar tugboat became a symbol of strength against the storms. For visitors, it was a favorite landmark and photo opportunity.
Katherine Trimnal is a frequent visitor from Columbia, South Carolina. She called the demolition a “sad day.”
“This is a landmark that I’ve always enjoyed seeing. Because I remember Hurricane Camille, and I just think it’s a shame. I don’t understand the need to destroy a piece of history like this,” she said.
The owner says it’s time to move forward.
“Hurricane put me in business and a hurricane took me out of business,” she said.
This entry was filed
under General, LinkFests, Video.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
This entry was filed
under General, LinkFests.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.
The scheduled biopsy went ahead as scheduled Friday. I was planning on giving an update Friday afternoon or early evening but something happened to my blog (it was an issue on the webhost’s end and has now been fixed). Now that my blog is back here’s what happened. I woke up early Friday morning and took the first dosage of the sedatives prescribed for me due to my major needle phobia. An hour later I took the second dose and approximately 30 minutes later I took a third dose. Then about thirty minutes before the biopsy, I took the final dose of sedatives as prescribed by the eyes, ears, nose and throat doctor. Although I was unable to walk a straight line, I was pretty alert. My wife drove me to the facility where the procedure was to take place and once we arrived, we were quickly taken to the room where the biopsy was to take place.
At this point, I normally would be completely freaking out, whimpering and shaking like a leaf. Probably turning green, too.
The funny thing though is I didn’t do any of that.
The sedatives did their job. Granted I was very tense and I had a white-knuckled grip on the bed railing. As soon as it was to begin I closed my eyes tightly and a cloth was placed over my face. Now whether this was for sanitary reasons or to keep me from seeing what was happening or both, I don’t know. However, someone sprayed a freezing solution onto my neck and almost immediately followed up with a shot of something to numb the area. And I never panicked. That alone was probably the most remarkable thing. They took two samples in rapid succession and those whole procedure probably took no more than 60 seconds. Nowhere near the 3 minutes they thought. However, from now on, if I ever have to undergo some procedure involving needles, I’m requesting this form of sedation. It works for me.
