Warrior

He has averaged an assist a game. He's become the best dribbler on the team. This was his breakout season. Four seasons just running around. Fifth season he becomes a player. Even picked up his first ever foul for pushing back the other team's biggest player and bully. Rarely have I been so proud than when he committed that foul. 

We Build Tomorrow

I was stunned when I first saw the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona on a college band trip in 1995. I had never seen a building like it. When I returned to Barcelona to live for a year in 1996-97 I often visited the cathedral because it was a never ending source of inspiration. I found myself becoming more creative just by being in proximity to Antoni Gaudi's famous work.

They have been working on the cathedral since 1883 and it is still not finished. But real progress is being made and some project that construction will be completed by 2026. It almost makes me sad to think that someday the whole thing will be finished. The never-ending work was part of it's mystique.

The firm that is overseeing construction has released this amazing video of what the finished project will look like upon completion. I love this building and have a poster of it hanging in my home. I would love to visit it when it is finally finished.

HERE is an excellent article about this miraculous church that appeared in Slate recently.

I miss Netscape

A few months ago I finally ditched Internet Explorer. IE would not open a lot of my favorite websites at my workstation. At home IE caused problems with YouTube and Adobe Flash. Although I felt like a tech adulterer, I began to mess around with Chrome and Firefox. Both browsers are so much more superior in so many ways. They're faster, less buggy, and much more secure against viruses. Personally I'm diggin' Firefox the most. But whenever I'm using Google products like Google Drive, Search, YouTube, etc I use Chrome. 

By habit I still find my mouse hovering over the e at the beginning of a browsing session but quickly head over to the fox that looks like he's on fire. 

Here's an article that gives even more reasons why you should ditch Explorer.

Bey Blade Madness!

BeyBlade Madness at the Morgan's. 

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

I can't believe I just discovered this amazing song from 1998. I can't stop listening to it. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel.

DIY

We were bored with The Moms out of the house for the afternoon. So we made a DIY pencil holder in the form of an upright piano. Look at all the things created out of boredom: Buddhism, Islam and DIY piano pencil holders made out of an Apple Jack cereal box. 

Malala

Malala Yousafzai is one of my heroes. Malala is the young Pakistani girl who as a fourteen-year old girl was shot by the Taliban on her school bus simply because she is an outspoken proponent of girls having the right to an education. She miraculously survived. She has a wisdom and courage beyond her years. She should be given the Nobel Peace Prize, there is no one more deserving. This short video clip of her interview with Jon Stewart will leave you speechless. Gives me chills.

 

No Privacy

No privacy. I lay on the floor for like 10 seconds and I'm already being judged. 

Fair Day

Life's not fair, except for one day a year: Fair Day. This year was cool and rainy. But we were prepared and the rain kept the crowds low. No lines and cool weather made for a perfect day at the Texas State Fair. The new Big Tex looked great. 

Serious Affairs

Weddings are serious affairs. We really should be paying attention. 

Ted Hearts Miley

Has Ted Cruz become the Miley Cyrus of the United States Senate. This article makes a convincing case. Please Ted, no twerking.

Cultural and Intellectual History

On the menu: Mozart, Beethoven, Darwin, Flaubert, Dostoevsky with a little Comte thrown in just to spice things up. 

Class Heathens

Me listening to my SMU prof discuss Marx, Darwin and Hegel. How dare they discuss such heathens at a Methodist institution!

Back on The Hilltop

Yep. Another semester, another go around on The Hilltop. Two classes this semester one of which is in Dallas Hall (pictured). After this I will have only four classes left in the program. Of course, that might take two years because of my busy schedule. But I'm in no hurry because I have enjoyed every moment at SMU. 

The Sked

Summer Reading

	I was sitting in my wife's grandmother's house in Indiana wondering what to read next. I had just finished the amazing Catch 22 by Joseph Heller but I was already looking forward to the next read. I had read Catch 22 in an actual book format but now that I was out of town I didn't have any other books with me. But I had my Kindle. On my trusty Kindle were dozens of classic works that I had downloaded for free but never read. These classic titles are free because their copyright has expired and many of them were on my elusive list of "books I must read before I die in order to be considered well read."   Moby Dick by Herman Melville has been on that list for some time. Believe it or not I never had gotten around to reading The White Whale. Somehow it never showed up on any of my high school or college syllabi. But it was on my Kindle so I gave it a go. After all, Moby Dick is considered one of the great American novels.   Immediately I was entranced. The narrative sparked my interest from the first page. The writing was poetical and ethereal. The storyline was hypnotizing, a real page turner (or Kindle click). The metaphors were evident but not simplistic. The allegory powerful but not cliché. The descriptions of Ahab's monomania are some of the best detailing of neurotic obsession ever put on paper.   However.   I was forgiving the first time Melville left the linear narrative in order to go on a lengthy discussion on the different species of whales. I was skeptical when he left the narrative again for a long tangent about how different tools, sails and ropes are used on a whaling vessel. I became weary when Melville elaborated on the different paintings of whales and how these paintings are almost completely inaccurate. I was chagrined when I realized that the narrative was taking less and less space and the book was becoming more of a historical treatise about 19th century whaling. Soon I got bogged down.   I read through these tangents not wanting to miss something essential. I didn't want to miss an important metaphorical literary device. Soon I found myself skimming through these tedious passages. They ruined the book in my opinion. These tangents take away from a fantastic narrative and don't really add much heft to the reader's understanding of the context. Most of these meanderings could have been included in the narrative and severely edited without harming any part of the literary experience.   For example, Patrick O'Brian writes about 18th/19th century British naval experiences and never explains what a jib or mizzen sail is. You learn to either figure out the terminology or bypass them for the narrative. O'Brian's narratives are exceptional and never shut down in order to explain what a monkey rope is used for.   I also became weary of the pervasive racism in Moby Dick. I ignored it at first as a cultural relic and an unfortunate world view of the time period. In fact, to leave the racism out may have made the book less realistic. But it kept pounding away at me. Pounding away. And it wasn't written as any type of indictment of racism. It was simply the author's and the character's world view. As historically accurate as it may have been I just got tired of hearing other races so utterly demeaned all the time.   I realize that the modern reader should not necessarily force their modern conceptions of the world on to novels centuries old. But I find whaling barbaric and cruel as most 21st century readers probably do. Moby Dick is not merely a description of events on a whaling ship or a story about a particular journey while whaling. This book is a full on propaganda tract about the wonders and greatness of the whaling enterprise.   Maybe I missed Melville's tone. Maybe I missed the subtext. Maybe he was damning whaling and racism the entire time. Taking an author at face value can be dangerous. But I'm not so sure that I have missed Melville's point. I understand the story of monomania. But the constant going down unnecessary rabbit holes, glorification of a disgusting enterprise and the pervasive racism really took it's toll on my experience.

World of Soccer

Got tix for this weekend's match between FC Dallas and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Looking forward to seeing US International Landon Donovan even though we'll be rooting against him once the clock starts. To get in the right frame of mind we made a visit to the legendary World of Soccer just to look at all the jerseys. Dallas 'Till I Die!

Pinterestmadness

My wife re-did our laundry room inspired by Pinterest. She makes recipes inspired from Pinterest. She organically cleans carpet stains and kills weeds inspired by Pinterest. Yesterday she said she would like to get married again so she could plan it all on Pinterest. 

Just because

Found another Royals shirt at the Old Navy in east Dallas. There was only one left so I decided to dress a mannequin with it. Just because. Oh, and the Royals have the best record in baseball since the All-Star Game.

Drive Ins

It's August 1st and I've been on an unplanned blog sabbatical. Honestly I've just been too busy. I was away from home for 30 out of 36 days due to work, vacation and family reunions. Then I got busy with home projects like refurbishing a patio and painting a storage building among other things. 

It's already August. Unreal. We celebrated the last night of July at the Galaxy Drive In Theatre.  Beautiful night under the stars in the back of the truck watching movies. 

A find

A rare find: A Kansas City Royals shirt at an Old Navy in Dallas. And only one left in my size. Must have been shipped to the wrong region by accident. Of course I snatched it up. Bonus: it was on sale! 30% off! Ten bucks!

Baseball

Well the Royals lost. No surprise there. But a beautiful day at the Ballpark nonetheless. Concert afterwards followed by Taco Cabana. The best part? Knowing the next day is summer and we can sleep in. 

KC v TEX

Tomorrow we go see The Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers decide the series in Arlington. 

Last Day of School

The Temple of Doom is closed for the summer

Band of the Week - The Walkmen

The Walkmen have been around since 2000. They are a straight up New York City rock and roll band. They don't put on airs. They don't glam things up. They play guitar driven songs with interesting lyrics. This song, Heartbreaker, is one of my favorite songs of the past ten years...comes off their newest release Heaven.

Trekkin'

My local PBS affiliate a few weeks ago finally brought back one of my favorite shows...Globetrekker. I started watching this show in the early aughts and have been hooked ever since. Produced by Pilot Guides in the UK the show features young backpackers trekking around the world. The difference between this show and most other travel shows is that the hosts get off the beaten path. Although they hit some famous tourist spots they do their best to interact with the locals.

Their travels seem more authentic. I'm not a fan of rigidly scheduled tours. I enjoy the process of discovery. I also don't like rushing around to check off things on some list. My goal is to enjoy the experience and allow the process of discovery to develop somewhat organically. Globetrekker does a great job of portraying that type of travel experience.

The show will sometimes disappear for months and even a year at a time on my local television schedule depending on the caprices of the PBS programmer. So it's always a nice surprise to see it back on the air.

Band of the Week - Local Natives

Having XM Sirius Satellite Radio has been great. Admittedly I spend most of my time bouncing between two stations: AltNation and XMU. Both stations play indie music. Listening to these channels has exposed me to some great bands. Some I had heard of but never given a serious listen. A few of the bands that have caught my attention and I really dig are: Japandroids, Tame Impala, Grouplove, Alt J, The Lumineers, The Walkmen, Best Coast, Dirty Projectors, Milo Greene and more.

But the band I'm digging this week is Local Natives. Yes, all you early adopting hipsters, I know they're not a brand new deal. They've been around a couple of years now and I had heard a few of their songs on KXT in Dallas. But Relevant Magazine gave them a big spread in a recent issue and both Alt Nation and XMU give them serious playtime. They recently released a new album, their sophomore effort, called Hummingbird.

Very syncopated rhythms and intricate vocal harmonies. Sometimes their music is hypnotic. Other times it rocks pretty hard.

Just Keep Quiet

The night of the Oklahoma tornadoes noted pastor John Piper sent out this tweet:

The tweet was met immediately with negative responses and Piper took the tweet down. The 140 character limit often makes it difficult to express complex thoughts. Not quite sure what Piper was trying to communicate that night. Here was his follow up tweet:

My hope and prayer for Oklahoma is that the raw realism of Job’s losses will point us all to his God “compassionate and merciful.” Jam.5:11

Okay, so whatever Piper meant to say he missed an important lesson from the book of Job about dealing with tragedy.

We often breeze right past Job 2:13. Job's friends come into the story and see Job in great misery and distress. What they did next was an admirable display of friendship and understanding in the midst of tragedy:

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. Job 2:13 ESV

A whole week! They sat on the ground and didn't say a word for a week. They just sat there and let their presence be felt.

Unfortunately they couldn't keep their silence up. As soon as they open up their big mouths they quickly show what kind of lousy friends they are. They offer advice. They offer explanations. They offer guidance. They offer condemnation. And they are completely off-base in just about everything they say. God later excoriates them for their asinine speeches.

They were doing so well...until they started talking. This is a great lesson for us. In times of tragedy it's often best to simply keep our mouths shut and simply offer our support. Be there for those suffering and show God's love through our actions. In the midst of tragedy most aren't interested in theological explanations or questions of why.

When my wife was having emergency surgery and was near death our pastor came and sat next to me in the hospital waiting room. He didn't say anything for a long time. He just put his hand on my shoulder and sat silently. A little later he prayed with me and offered to get me anything I needed. But for the most part he sat there silently. His quiet presence was a great comfort to me.

A little later a layperson came who fancied themselves an unofficial pastor came and sat next to me. They yapped the entire time about God's goodness and quoted scripture and so on and on. They meant well but I found their words distasteful at the time. I was thinking: I am a follower of Christ, I know the scriptures, I know the theology but right now my wife is near death and I wish you would just shut up.

At that time in my life I didn't need a theological discourse. I just needed someone to sit with me in the hospital waiting room.

The two pastoral approaches were striking. They reminded me of Job's friends who did so well while sitting quietly but went completely wheels off when they started talking. If you don't know what to say don't say anything. In fact, even if you think you know what to say...don't say anything. You say a lot more with your presence and your actions.

home

My heart and prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones on May 20th.

I haven't lived in Oklahoma in sixteen years. But I was born there and spent a total of eleven years of my life there. That doesn't include the numerous visits to the state each year visiting my Grandparents and relatives. There will always be a part of me that considers Oklahoma home. It breaks my heart to see the suffering and devastation caused by this storm. God bless you all.

Summer Movies!

Summer movie season has begun! Here are three quick mini-reviews:

Iron Man 3: Good movie. Nice way to wrap up the trilogy...if this is truly the end of the series. Hopefully Robert Downey, Jr. will be back for Avengers 2. IM3 is full of surprises and lots of action. Still not as good as the first Iron Man...but very good nonetheless.

The Great Gatsby: A near masterpiece. Not sure what the negative critics are harping about. Virtually every line comes directly from the book. Only one or two minor scenes are left out. The visuals are stunning. This movie captures the feel of the book perfectly. I'm not sure how it could have been done better. My only gripe is Tobey Maguire. I don't like him in any movie. He was okay in Gatsby but he's such a doofus it's hard to take him seriously...which may be why he made an okay Nick Carraway. I wish they had included his story with Jordan Baker from the book. Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton who played Tom Buchanan were  perfect. Absolutely perfect. Great movie.

Star Trek: Into Darkness: Another great movie. I know some nerds out there wish it wasn't so action packed. I know some wish it was more cerebral. But this movie is great fun. The characters are explored with more detail. The casting is perfect. The way they played with the Trek mythology was brilliant. I'm very glad I didn't read any spoilers coming into this movie. The villain is one of the all time greats in the series if not in any series.

Whew! More to come I'm sure.

Fred White, Rest in Peace

I was sad to hear about the passing of Fred White this week. White was the long-time radio broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals. Fred White and his broadcast partner Denny Matthews were part of the soundtrack of my childhood. Long before the ubiquity of cable, satellite and online streaming, radio broadcasts were often the only way to keep up with the Royals. I would listen to the broadcasts in the car with my Dad or on a cheap little transistor radio in my bedroom in the summer evenings of Kansas City.

Fred White's voice was evocative of the sounds of summer: locusts and the leaves gently rustling in the summer breeze as I lay on my bed looking out the window at the backyard every summer evening while listening to Royals games. White and Denny Matthews didn't spend a lot of time in conversation with one another. Often they traded off innings while the other worked the television broadcast. As a result they were often criticized for the long gaps of silence during the game. But I enjoyed those moments where all you could hear was the crowd. White and Matthews didn't believe in filling in space with nonsensical talking. That approach would probably not be well received in today's ADD world.

Fred White had a reputation of being a great guy who was always willing to help people out. He was an indelible part of my childhood. May he rest in peace.

What to Do When You Grow Up...

A lot of students spend years fretting about what they should do when they "grow up." How does one find their calling in life. Relevant Magazine posted ten ideas I think are pretty useful. Here are just a few...you can find the rest on Relevant's website HERE.


- Fill in the blank to the phrase "If I had a million dollars I would..."
- When are you happiest?

- What bugs you? (enough to spur you to positive action)

- What do personality and strengths inventories say about you?

- What do your friends think you should do?

- What would you like someone to notice about you?

- What kind of jobs match up with what you learned about yourself?

For Beginners

A few days ago I blogged about M Ward without providing any music. Well, here is his track For Beginners from the album Hold Time. One of my favorites.

Trudat Einstein

Vining

So Vine is the latest social media trend hit the digital multiverse. Released in January the app, created by Twitter, allows users to create six second looping videos. These videos allow for quick edits and short bursts of creativity although most of the vids I've seen feature shots of people's meals.

Students are quickly jumping into the trend. I saw some that showed videos of students in teacher's classrooms while the teacher was in the hallway. So I made my first Vine video as a warning not to make Vines in The Temple of Doom.

Click HERE for my first Vine clip or direct your browser to this link:

https://vine.co/v/bxuKru3gUuU/embed

M Ward

Perhaps my greatest musical discovery of the past year has been M Ward. I stumbled on Ward three years ago via his side project with Zooey Dechanel, She & Him. As much as I liked She & Him it took me a long time to give Ward's solo albums a listen. I regret waiting so long.

Ward's been releasing albums since the early aughts. I finally gave his solo work a listen when he released his most recent effort A Wasteland Companion. The music blew me away and I immediately took to YouTube and iTunes to give his earlier works a spin (figuratively, in these days of digital music).

Listen, She & Him are amazing and I can't wait for their newest release coming out in the next few days. But M Ward has been a true revelation. Some classify him as folk but his work is much more far-ranging that the designation implies. If I could pick someone to sound like on guitar it would be Ward. His vocals are understated but full of power. His subtleties are welcome in an age of bombast and simple-mindedness.

I have listened to all his records now several times and am just shocked that it took me almost ten years to find his music. I've always thought I was plugged into good music but man I sure whiffed on this one. He's been on Letterman, Conan, etc and I missed every performance.

I like all his stuff but if I had to choose a starting point I would go with his 2006 effort Hold Time. Every time I hear this record I want to stop what I'm doing and pick up a guitar and play. His music inspires me to greater levels of creativity. That is about the best compliment I can give a musician.

He'll be coming to DFW on tour soon with She & Him. Unfortunately I'll be out of pocket and won't be able to attend. Truly bad timing. I'm sure I'll see him around the bend sometime. He likes to play Austin quite a bit. He's worth the trip down I-35.

The Sched

So these are the two courses I'll be taking at SMU this next fall (2013) in my graduate program. The Euro class is the second part of a History of Europe course. I took part one last fall and enjoyed the class immensely. Went right along with what I teach yet went so much deeper (as expected). The course added new dimensions to my understanding and really adds to my teaching. Dr. Mears is a legend and he is hinting this may be his last year before retirement. I'm lucky to have had at least two courses with him.

The Creating the Novel course is my attempt to finally produce a novel. Writing a novel has been a dream of mine since college. This course will hopefully serve as a motivation and a guide to actually getting the thing done. This will be my third class with Dr. Swaim and every time I leave his classroom I leave inspired. He is amazing and an encouragement to my amateur endeavors.

The Intellectual and Cultural History of Europe: Romanticism to the Present


Explores major trends in the development of European literature, philosophy, art, and music in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Primary attention is devoted to the role of arts and ideas in the shaping of our contemporary world. Part II of a two-part series; Part I is not a prerequisite.

Instructor: John Mears


Creating the Novel


This seminar focuses on learning the craft of writing a novel. Workshops will focus on writing exercises and analysis of novels (relative to structure, characterization, theme, plotline and its development). The primary intentions for this seminar involve writing in the direction of the completion of a novel. Work will involve the writing of some 45-60 pages as a ground beginning to a novel. Significant reading and writing will be essential to successful achievement in this seminar. This course may be applied to the following curricular field concentrations: Humanities and Creative Writing.

Instructor: Gary Swaim

Please No

There is seriously something wrong with this country if we even come close to electing this man to the White House.

Yes, that's right, Ted "The New Joseph McCarthy" Cruz is considering a run for the presidency.

Post-May Day

Happy May Day!

Yeah...if you don't give them what they want.

Visca Catalunya!

Red Storm Rising

I feel good about the Kansas City Chiefs. I think Andy Reid is a great coach. I think they've got a great GM in Dorsey. Despite their awful year last year I think the Chiefs are poised for a quick turnaround. I'm a homer and I may be naive, but I believe last year was an anomaly. They had a terrible season yet still sent five guys to the ProBowl. Five Guys! The talent is there. Romeo Crennel is a good guy and a great defensive coach but he's in over his head as a head coach.

Now they've got a proven coach. They've traded for a very good quarterback. Even with a rough start to his career Alex Smith has been great the past few years. KC has an elite running back in Jamaal Charles. They have an elite WR in Bowe. They have a very good defense and their line is developing. I think the Chiefs will make a remarkable turnaround and contend for the West Division Title. They just have to get past Peyton Manning.

But still. This draft was depressing. Maybe it will turn out great. But you know it's a weak draft when the top two picks are offensive tackles. I'm just glad the Chiefs passed on the aggie. Eric Fisher looks like a monster on the line. He looks like the best guy in this draft. But to think that if Kansas City had picked first last year they would have had their choice of Andrew Luck or RGIII. It's depressing to think about.

Even more depressing was the ESPN 30 for 30 special that reminded everyone about the QB class of 1983. Oh, you know the one, the one where Kansas City picked QB Todd Blackledge seventh while Dan Marino went 27th. TWENTY-SEVENTH!

Well the future looks bright nonetheless in Kansas City. Hopefully Alex Smith will be decent. Hopefully he'll shake off the ghosts of Len Dawson. Since I've been a Chiefs fan the best QB Kansas City has had was Joe Montana...and he was only around for two years. After him, I'm not so sure. DeBerg? Grbac? Trent Green? Bono? Bill Kenney? Chiefs fans deserve some silver linings!

Secrets to Success

Well success can be hard to achieve. And there's a lot of books on how to achieve it. But the reality is that if you do the four things on my chalkboard...you'll be on your way.

Fab Five

Yeah A&M you may have Johnny Football on campus (although we're not so sure since he's taking all his classes online this semester). Tech, yeah you have Kliff Kingbury. Baylor? Kind of quiet since RGIII left town for the NFL. UT? Mack Brown? That's the best you got?

Well today, my school has all five living Presidents of the United States on campus. At the same time.

Hey Mr. Obama/Bush/Clinton/Bush/Carter...my tuition paid for your parking spot.

SMU > than all other Texas schools

Pony Up!

Soccertalk

Updates on my three favorite soccer teams:

The Forney Dynamo: played a cold one last night as DFW once again broke records for low temps in April. But the U6 lads showed strength and courage and played on. Scores are not kept at this level and there are no goal keepers but the scoring seemed fairly even. A 6'8 friend of mine who was a fellow grad student at SMU has a son on the other team. His boy is six inches taller than JDW and last year they banged heads on a nasty collison sending both boys to the sidelines. No such crash last night. Just two more games this season.

FC Barcelona: An end of an era may be at hand. LaBlauGrana was outclassed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League Tournament. 4-0. Worst Barca loss in 16 years. But Barca still dominates La Liga and will easily win the Spanish Championship. They'll still be a force as long as they have Messi running around. But the days where they were the favorite in every single match may be in the past.

FC Dallas: Biggest surprise of all. The Stripes are off to their best start in franchise history. They have lost only once and have only allowed seven goals in seven games. They lead both the conference and league standings.

Just thought you wanna know.

photo: me working my other gig as the voice of Kaufman High School Soccer.

Earth Day 2013

Imagine if someone gave you a great house to live in. The house had everything you could ever want. It had a great yard and beautiful furniture. Let's say you were given the house for free as long as you took care of it.

Now lets say you went around destroying all the furniture and neglecting the yard. You allow mold to rot the walls. You allow the fence to fall over and the roof to collapse. After a few years the house is a wreck.

That would be an utter insult to the people who gave you the house.

That's the type of insult you give God everytime you disregard His creation. God gave us this earth. It's His creation. When you litter or refuse to acknowledge your destructive ways you insult God.

Like all creative endeavors, the Earth bears the traces of the creator's personality. Christians should be on the vanguard of creation care. Sure, you may not care for secular hippies and their "mother earth" mentality. You don't take care of the environment for them. You take care of God's earth because the earth is His creation which he freely gave to us. You also disrespect your children and grandchildren and so on because they will be the ones left to clean up your mess. By the way, when this "house" is wrecked there is no other house to move into. This is it and it's more than enough.

Are you truly pro-life?

If you are pro-life then I urge you to read this article by author Donald Miller. The article is excellent and long overdue. One of the statements that resonates with me is Miller's contention that if your church is not consistently discussing adoption then your church is not truly "wholistically pro-life."

I am so sick of self-righteous prigs pontificating about pro-life issues without any word about adoption or the support of adoption agencies or agencies that provide support for women in difficult situations involving unwanted pregancies. The Church should be on the frontlines in supporting adoption initiatives not only because it reflects the compassion of Jesus Christ but also because adoption mirrors the spiritual adoption we experience once we are saved by the grace of God.

Personally I am a believer in a total pro-life ethic. I'm against capital punishment for the same reason I'm against abortion, guns and war. You cannot convince me that Christ would ever support anything that would end the life of one His creations.

If the link above does not work, direct your brower to:  http://storylineblog.com/2013/04/22/talking-points-for-the-pro-life-movement/

West

Yesterday evening around 8 pm I heard thunder. I remarked to my wife that I thought the thunderstorms weren't supposed to roll through until much later. We were expecting them around 3 am.

It wasn't thunder that we heard. It was a horrifying explosion in the tiny community of West, Texas. The pictures on the news leave me speechless. The loss of brave firefighters and first responders. The destruction of nearby neighborhoods and schools. Speechless.

I, like many Dallasites, have stopped in West many times on our way to Austin. The town is famous for the Czech Stop and amazing kolaches. It's a lovely little community.

My heart breaks for those who have lost loved ones. The destruction is staggering.

Been a very strange week. The DA murderers have been captured. A teacher friend of mine was running his second Boston Marathon along with his wife on Monday. They had passed the finish line two hours before the explosion and had actually made it Logan Airport when the bombs exploded. I was relieved when I got word they were okay. The loss of innocents in Boston is so incredibly tragic.

Tough and surreal week. God bless West, Boston and Kaufman.

Strange Days

Weird stuff has been happening in the quiet County of Kaufman the past two months.

On January 31st an Assistant District Attorney, Mark Hasse was murdered in broad daylight across the street from the county courthouse. Schools were put in lockdown for the day. Many in Kaufman were shocked at this brazen attack on our judicial system. National news media swarmed the area. Texas Rangers, FBI, US Marshalls, Sheriffs and a host of agencies descended on Kaufman to find who was responsible.

Two months later on March 31st, the night before Easter Sunday, our District Attorney and wife were shot and killed in their home near Forney. I, like everyone else in the area, was stunned. Our homes seemed more vunerable than ever. These type of events are what you read about in Mexico in the cartel wars, not in sleepy Kaufman County. I couldn't sleep that night.

This was an assassination pure and simple. Regardless of the killer's motives, anytime someone murders an elected official they are committing an act of revolution against the will of the people. Once again law enforcement poured into the area. People were and are afraid. Most spoke about the tragic events in hushed tones as if expecting further retribution from the unknown assailants.

The media immediately focused on the Aryan Brotherhood. I found this ridiculous at the time because I've lived in Kaufman County for 16 years. I know a lot of people. No one I know had ever heard of any Aryan Brotherhood operations in the county. Sure, there may have been a lone member out there in rural areas. But they usually keep low profiles. We have our serious issues in Kaufman County but I resented the untrue and unfair depiction of Kaufman County as a "hotbed for Aryan Brotherhood" as stated in The Daily Beast.

So now everything has gotten weirder. Arrests have been made of a former Justice of the Peace and his wife in connection to the murders. Details are still forthcoming but it seems Law Enforcement has evidence of terroristic threats made by the former JP. Not sure what the wife's connection is yet. Everything is still hazy and I'm sure a clearer story will emerge in the next few days.

Apparently this all stems from a case that happened two years ago when the JP was convicted and removed from office for stealing computer monitors from the county courthouse. It was a strange case then and seems even stranger now. The DA and the ADA prosecuted the case vigorously. From the stories being told it seems that losing his job, law license and healthcare was enough to trigger a murderous response from the former Justice of the Peace.

Strange days in Kaufman County. Seeing CNN and local media trucks is surreal. Seeing a small of law enforcement officers everywhere is both comforting and unsettling for communities used to peace and tranquility. Hopefully they got the right guy and that Kaufman County is safe again.

UPDATE: The wife has confessed. She has confessed that her husband killed all three victims and she also was involved. Story gets weirder by the minute. Stay tuned.

Pics

More pics uploaded today at...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcarltonwhite/

Sorry, the blogger iPhone app doesn't support hypertext linking yet.

Bluebonnets

That time of year. Allergy season. So you take your kid and sit him in wildflowers by the side of the road. Texas.

Flickr Update

Blogging this using my new iPhone 5. Our phones died last week so we decided to finally get smartphones. So if this post looks weird you'll understand. It would be nice to blog on the go. Anyway...I updated Flickr after months...check out the scene at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcarltonwhite/ Because apparently I can't insert links into text on this platform.

trintas

In one hour I will no longer be in my thirties.

Just thought you should know.

filiwhat?

Okay, so here's the thing...I actually kind of share Rand Paul's concerns about drones. However, he's no hero for taking thirteen hours to ask a question. His filibuster was a political stunt. He was simply trying to put himself out there in the public arena and make a name for himself. None of my poor deluded libertarian friends believed me when I told them he's just another blowhard politician just grandstanding for attention. (Kinda like Ron Paul still accepting social security checks despite the good doctor saying they're illegal and unconstitutional.)

And then of course two days after his filabuster Rand announces he's considering a presidential run in 2016. SHOCKING!

His filabuster was meant to do the following...

1.) Get him name recognition to the public at large on a slow news day.
2.) Position himself as the leader of the Tea Party/Libertarian wing of the G.O.P..
3.) Make Obama look bad which always plays well with the wingnuts.
4.) Stir up paranoia about government overreach which always does well with the Tea Party nuts.

You see, drones are scary. Even the name sounds scary. Say it out loud...drones. Death robots raining fire from the sky. However, technically drones are just another weapon. The same legal principles apply to drones that apply to tanks or fighter jets or even CIA assassins. Drones are just extremely effective and limit American loss of life in top secret operations.

But if you question their morality then you have to question the whole national security apparatus. What's really the difference between a CIA hitman pulling the trigger and a drone operated by a man in a room pushing the button?

And Rand Paul even admitted he never had any intention of not voting for Brennan's confirmation. He just wanted to bring attention to an important question.

Whatevs!

He wanted to bring attention to himself. He already knew the answer to the question.

I'm not big fan of Holder but he totally pwned (google it if you don't know what it means) Paul. Paul took 13 hours to ask a question. Holder took one sentence to answer.

Here's how it went down.

Rand Paul: "Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?" blah blah blah blah (repeat for 13 hours)

Eric Holder: "The answer to that question is no."

Rand Paul: "I'm quite happy with the answer."

Next Day: In an interview with Politico Rand Paul says he is "seriously" considering a 2016 presidential run.

2016!!! Dude! By then it will be too late. Obama will have turned 'Merica into a socialistcommunistfascistislamicblackpanther regime run by drones programmed to mimic Van Jones's brain pattern! Dude!