James Raymond Reese

Link: http://www.vimeo.com/9131842

Louis Armstrong once recorded a song titled "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans." Unless you have lived there, and please trust me with this, you cannot even remotely conceive how this city tugs at your very heart and soul.

New Orleans is a city completely without pretense. What you see is what you get. There is none of the haughtiness of the northeast, none of the overly-reserved character of the mid-west, none of the absurd political correctness that is being shoved down the rest of the country's collective throat.

If you have a friend there, he is a friend who will die for you. If you love food, this city is your Mecca. If you allow yourself to absorb the culture, you will realize just how boring the rest of the continent is.

Hurricane Katrina cut this town off at the knees a few years ago. For a long time I was convinced that New Orleans, as I knew it, would never come back.

The last of my many visits was in August and I was surprised at the differences from just a few months earlier. Something in New Orleans had awakened. There were people in the streets again. And they were smiling. Stores and shops were opening back up. Help Wanted signs were everywhere. There was construction going on all over Orleans and the neighboring parishes. The heart of the city I love so much was beating again.

And then a friend passed along a link to a short video. More than anything else I have seen since Katrina, this video shows me that even the horrific forces of Mother Nature have not be able to destroy New Orleans' joie de vivre.

Before clicking on the link to the video, please read the explanation below:

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This is for those of you who don't know the story.

Buddy D was a local sportswriter/broadcaster/radio personality in the New Orleans area for years and, when the Saints went 5-0 in 1993, everyone was calling in to his show saying the Saints were going to the Superbowl.

Buddy said he would wear a dress and parade down Bourbon if they made it and, since he was so-o-o big, he would need a tent maker to make his dress (this is where Abdul D Tentmakur came from).

Well, after Buddy passed away, Bobby Hebert decided to keep the promise and it came to pass that we MADE IT!

So, WWL plans this Buddy D/Bobby Broads Dress Parade and expected about 500-1000 guys to dress up with Bobby and the crew to parade from the Superdome to Bourbon Street. And much like EVERYTHING they do in New Orleans, they did it to excess!

There were over 5000 men (and a LOT of young boys) dressed, and over EIGHTY THOUSAND folks that came out to watch. It was a sight to behold.

Now that you know the background of what you're about to watch, click on the link and Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler!

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(I know. I know. If you speak the 'real" French, the phrase in the last sentence above is sending you up the wall. We all know that no Frenchman would utter that phrase. We know that "bon" should be "bons" but it isn't. No particular reason for that, it just is. Centuries ago, somebody took an English phrase and transliterated into Cajun French. Well, sort of. Just accept that the phrase IS New Orleans, click on the lick and enjoy!

Miami, FL – U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio issued the following statement regarding Monday night’s Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee straw poll victory (106-54):

“I continue to be humbled by the outpouring of support for our campaign. Pinellas County Republicans joined a growing chorus of Floridians voicing their support for our vision built on the timeless conservative principles of limited government, traditional values, free enterprise and individual freedom.

“Like Republicans all over this state who have stepped forward to stand with us, Pinellas Republicans understand that the way to rebuild a united, strong and expanding Republican Party is to stay true to the mainstream values all Republicans and most Americans share. Tonight’s vote reaffirms what I believe to my core: principled conservatism doesn’t just win elections, it provides a proven and successful path for governing and policy-making.”

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Marco's comments are much more restrained than mine. It looks like another RINO is going to bite the dust.

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told by Prime Minister John Howard to get out of Australia as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.'

'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom'

'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!'

'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.'

'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.'

'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.'

'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'

Link: http://bit.ly/5wOS4i

Polling results released over the weekend by Rasmussen show a declining number of Americans who feel good about the long-term effects of the so-called "stimulus" plan. And the slide in support, for the first time, indicates more people feel the "stimulus" plan is hurting the economy more than helping it.

The percentage who believe the "stimulus" plan has hurt the economy stood at 28% in September, went to 31% in October, climbed to 34% in November, before jumping to 38% this month.

Only 30% now say all of that spending has helped any at all.

Click on the link above to go to Rasmussen Reports.

Link: http://bit.ly/6imCMo

Can you actually believe this statement came from a far left professor regarding Obamacare? "I mean, if Democrats were searching for legislation less likely to win them votes, why didn’t they just bring back slavery...?"

That statements came in a scathing article titled "Now I'm Really Getting Pissed Off" by leftie Hofstra University Professor David Green.

It is being spread around the country by the National Black Republican Association.

I have left attached to both the commentary and it's preface the contact links in case you'd like to get in touch with either party.

Click on the link above to acquire a whole new definition of the word "scathing."

Wow!!!

Santa Claus is making steady progress and appears to be on track for a late-night arrival in the United States.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, has tracked Santa's progress every Christmas Eve since 1955. 2009 is no different. By this morning, New York time, the Colorado military installation showed Santa having visited parts of Asia and Australia and moving westward.

As I write this, Santa is in Mina Jabal Ali, United Arab Emirates. His next stop will be Sur, Oman.

NORAD usually monitors threats against the United States and Canada, but turns its radars on Santa each Christmas Eve to follow his trip around the world.

NORAD's tradition started quite accidentally 54 years ago when Sears, Roebuck and Co. ran a newspaper ad telling kids to dial a certain phone number if they wanted to talk to Santa.

Only one problem. The number printed was one digit off and the kids were calling NORAD's predecessor organization during the height of the cold war.

The very first Santa Tracking occurred that day when a military colonel told an eager child on the phone Santa hadn't arrived yet but he would check the radar units to see where Santa and his sleigh were.

A very big tip of Big Jim's red and green Christmas hat to the fellows in Colorado Springs who have kept this tradition alive for so long.

Checkout www.noradsanta.org

Link: http://bit.ly/6zyQHR

If you ever questioned if that dangerous clown in the White House is a communist, this should settle it for you. That inappropriate bastard actually has a tree ornament featuring a picture of Chairman Mao on the White House Christmas tree.

Click on the link about to see a picture of the ornament.

How much longer are we going to put up with this un-American, totalitarian asshole before someone gets smart and charges him with treason. He took an oath to protect and uphold the Constitution. Instead, he and his whack job lefties are tearing it apart, article by article.

Merry Christmas, America. How's this change working out for you?

Link: http://bit.ly/6hBGik

Many of us have been too busy with our normal lives to comment on the bizarre events in Copenhagen this week. But just look at it: Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the freezing cold to protest that it’s too hot. How bizarre is that?

The UN and the EU, originally conceived to represent a spirit of fairness, openly demonstrating that in reality they are the most one-sided and corrupt of the lot; Politicians from all sides competing to see who can have the most devastating effect on the world by pledging to give their people’s money away and voluntarily run down their own economies; and the world’s media whipping up the greatest propaganda froth we have ever known based on a scrap of unproven scientific theory which has been seen to be backed up by systematically, deliberately, massaged data.

In other words a complete crock. What a totally bizarre story.

Gerald Warner has a great column in the Telegraph (London) about what has happened this week in Copenhagen. (I wonder if Shakespeare was foreseeing this when he made his "rotten in Denmark" comment.)

Click on the link to read it. Typically great British humor and vision.

Link: http://bit.ly/6NlvNY

Democratic congressmen from what have become known as "purple" districts are beginning to make their retirement announcements. At least four have already said publicly they are not interested in running for re-election next November in the face of the hostility of American voters toward government increasing on a daily basis.

Republicans will need to pick up 41 seats in the lower chamber in November to take control of the House. That's fewer than the Republican increase which gave them the House in 1994.

Click on the link above for an excellent column from Michael Barone.

Link: http://bit.ly/5DnpiV

Florida Republican governor Charlie Crist's polling numbers are dropping like a rock in his bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Crist is one of those "Republicans" that core GOP supporters feel would be better suited in the Democratic party.

Core Republicans are beginning to let their feelings be known about those "Republicans in Name Only" (RINOs) they feel are all too prominent in the party. Party leaders thought Crist would be a shoo-in for the senate seat. Voters, however, see him as a RINO poster boy.

According to a new Rasmussen poll, Crist is now no better than tied with strong conservative Marco Rubio in the Republican senatorial primary.

U.S. News & World Report has the numbers for you when you click on the link above.

Link: http://bit.ly/8evOqr

Harry Reid, at this stage in the next election, is running behind every Republican who has thrown their hat into the ring. Considering the relatively unknown status of the Republicans, 2010 is looking like an "Anybody But Harry" year in Nevada.

Click on the link above the get the figures straight from Rasmussen.

Link: http://bit.ly/60IPV2

This time it's the Australians who caught him in another series of lies. And, after you've read the back-and-forth banter, don't miss the comment at the end from a reader named Barry. It fits in with other recent speculation that no hacker managed to grab these Climategate emails and publish them on a Russian web site. It's beginning to look more like a whistle-blower is involved.

Click on the link above to read the short expose in the Herald-Sun.

I have actually seen some ill-informed posters try to link this iceberg to Global Warming.

The iceberg getting a lot of coverage this week actually broke loose from the Ross Ice Shelf about ten years ago. This is common. There are several ice shelves, very large ones, that spread out over the ocean from the actual coastline of the southern polar continent. At some point, the actions of the underlying ocean currents are too much for the ice to withstand and chunks break off. Scientists call this "calving."

(Another aside here. Antarctic ice has been increasing at a rate of about one percent per year since scientists began making measurements.)

Usually, this calving results in a few larger bergs and hundreds of smaller ones as the ice breaks from the shelf. And, occasionally, there is a real whopper of an ice chunk that fails to further break up.

That is what happened to the once-again-famous iceberg B17B. (There were also smaller bergs from this chunk: B17A and B17C.) B17B is now about 12 miles long as it floats to the north.

This is nothing compared to its original size. When B17B started on its voyage, it was 190 miles long and 30 miles wide. For a better comparison, that's roughly the size of Connecticut!

So, now you know...and won't allow the scare-mongers to influence your thinking.

By the way, the picture attached to this article is NOT B171B. This one is floating off Macquarie Island, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica and is believed to be a smaller chuck of the same breakaway ice that formed B17B.

The iceberg pictured is "only" a mile long.

Link: http://bit.ly/4Ww7Bn

Workshop leaders led a “youth only, ages 14-21″ session that offered lessons in “fisting” a dangerous sexual practice. During another workshop an activist asked 14 year-old students, “Spit or swallow?… Is it rude?”

Click on the link above to read the full report.