this story is not surprising at all, but people are acting like it's demonstrating that Gov. Perry spoke out of turn. i LOVE the USA and, like Perry, think "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."
the point is not "Peace out, America - we're ready to leave!" - it never was. the point is "If things pass the point of no return, we can secede. And we very well may."
but we aren't there yet, and hopefully we never will be. i really do love this great country of ours, and one of my favorite things about us is that we are a nation that holds the federal government at bay to some degree simply because we CAN object to the point of pulling out - hello, American Revolution! but our union is great, and while there is much that needs to be redeemed and set right and redirected, i'm proud to be an American.
We had a tea party here in the Queen City today. 
This was my favorite sign.
Everybody loves Ben Franklin. Lots of other founding fathers made "appearances" as well.
And we had some wonderful veterans show up.
And a few cute shout-outs to Sarah Palin.
"Don't tread on me" was a common theme.
I think the best estimate we had was about 3000 people turning out. It was so peaceful and fun and happy - we sang America the Beautiful and O Say Can You See, said the pledge a couple of times, and laughed a lot. 
I mean, yeah, we're clearly peeved about the stimulus package and the exponentially increasing size of the government, which is trying to do all kinds of stuff the Constitution left to the states.
And about the fact that our babies and their babies will be paying for this bailout stuff.
And about the rise of Socialist policies.
But we love this country. And we love that we can gather peacefully here and say, "Hey, Raleigh! Hey, Washington! This is not ok!"
and this video reminded me of one of the many reasons why.
big props to democracy and intelligent conversation/debate.
turns out that if the Iraqis could vote for our next President, they'd vote McCain.
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 'Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." ~ Jeremiah 29:4-7
if you're bill gates, "spread the wealth" is generous.
if you're wanting to be the president, "spread the wealth" is communist.
when i run, i usually listen to music, and the other day after palin was chosen to be mccain's running mate, "you give love a bad name" came on my ipod shuffle. i was struck by its appropriateness. if they have a presidential race 2008 karaoke night, obama should so sing it to palin.
i'm particularly thinking of lines like "you're a loaded gun, there's nowhere to run, no one can save me, the damage is done."
obama is going down - taken out by a mom with a sharp tongue and a sharper mind.
When I heard McCain introducing Sarah Palin on the radio today, I cried. I had no idea that it would be such a big deal to me to have a woman chosen by my beloved GOP, but apparently it was. I am so proud of women like Palin and Condoleeza Rice - women who have pulled off femininity and feminism at the same time.
I know I will think of more reasons later, but this is a good start. And there's no particular order to these.
1. Sarah Palin didn't wind up in politics because of a carefully-lived resume. She makes me think of Esther and all that "for such a time as this" language. Not that it's bad to wind up in politics on purpose from the getgo, but that it means she doesn't think like Washington-fashioned politicians.
2. Palin comes to us from a working class background, and was a hockey mom and basketball coach before she was in politics at all. She understands firsthand the interests and concerns of many, many Americans.
3. Palin is spunky, bold, and eloquent - if you haven't heard/seen her acceptance speech from this morning, GO DO IT.
4. Palin knows the oil business and the people in it. She's dedicated to American energy independence.
5. Palin is young, smart, and ready for a challenge - which I'm sure is much of the reason that McCain has chosen her to run with him. He wants to nurture his successor, and I think he couldn't have chosen better.
6. Palin is a mother.
6a. She is the mother of a soldier. Talk about someone who will have our troops in mind when she makes decisions!
6b. She is the mother of a child with Down Syndrome. I personally feel that a person like her has a lot of valuable, weighty things to say about abortion, embryonic stem cell research, etc.
6c. She is the mother of five, which usually seems to mean a person is hopeful about the world.
7. Palin is a woman, and she's not afraid of it. She wore a skirt today. She's proud of and respectful toward her husband. She brags about being a "hockey mom." I'm a big fan of politicians being comfortable with who they are and acting from that, instead of constantly attempting to compensate for what they are not.
8. Palin roots out bad stuff where she finds it, despite party politics or other such things. We need people of notable integrity in public office, and she's got it.
9. Palin is prolife, progun, profamily, protroops, and proAmerica. And she's anti gay marriage. To name a few notable issues.
10. Palin is a hunter, a fisher, and an athelete. She seems like a real person. Rather shockingly real.
...but sometimes she's dead on.
this is one of those times.
long live ann coulter!
item #1: despite my love for bush, i think this is hilarious - "Donald Rumsfeld briefed the President this morning. He told Bush that three Brazilian soliders were killed in Iraq today. To everyone's amazement, all the color ran from Bush's face, then he collapsed on his desk, head in his hands, visibly shaken, almost whimpering. Then he composed himself and asked Rumsfeld, 'Just exactly how many is a brazillion?'" (thank you, funny2).
item #2: how worried should i be about this mold growing above my roommate's door? like, should i be calling daily to try to get them to come fix it?
i have decided to stop titling things unless i have a really rocking title in mind. i cannot count the number of times i have not posted because i couldn't come up with a decent title. i have since decided that this is stupid.
i think a part of my brain is dead. i haven't had a good joke on here of my own invention in soooooo long i'm starting to worry me. "like the cheese." - do they get any better than that? i miss the days when my wit was keen and my fingers quick, like butter on a bald monkey.
that one was for rex and ruth ann, neither of whom read this blog as far as i know.
it's weird living in charlotte. people talk about different things. maybe it's because i'm now an "adult" who listens to local talk radio as she runs errands, but it seems like the local news is more dramatic here. jim black, who apparently was the speaker of the nc house, was sentenced to like 63 months in federal prison for a weird, chiropractic, civil version of simony. (63 months? how random is that!?!) i mean, this stuff doesn't happen in texas... probably because if it did, someone would pull out a shotgun and the federal prison would have an extra slot for international drug cartel lads.
has anyone noticed the plethora of fantastic movies out this summer? who wants to buy me movie tickets??
i joined the folks over at rocksmyfaceoff.net. yay.
sandra and derek's baby was born july 4, and his name is rhodes. you can see a pic on sandra's peg board page at rmfo.
this is a hymn that dr. francis collins, head of the human genome project and keynote speaker at the national prayer breakfast (which i attended this year), led us in singing. it was pretty sweet.
brave guy. last year, bono spoke - and didn't sing. but dr. collins did. he was a fantastic speaker, by the way.
Praise the Source of Faith and Learning
praise the Source of faith and learning Who has sparked and stoked the mind
with a passion for discerning how the world has been designed.
let the sense of wonder flowing from the wonders we survey
keep our faith forever growing and renew our need to pray.
God of wisdom, we acknowledge that our science and our art
and the breadth of human knowledge only partial truth impart.
far beyond our calculation lies a depth we cannot sound
where Your purpose for creation and the pulse of life are found.
as two currents in a river fight each other's undertow,
till, converging, they deliver one coherent steady flow,
may we blend our faith and learning till they carve a single course
and our seeking and our yearning join in praising You their source.