Monday Update

This is Ballast Point Park along Hillsborough Bay in South Tampa. I drive past it each day but finally took some time Sunday afternoon to take a stroll there. You can see downtown Tampa, the phosphate plants, cruise ships, freighter ships, and MacDill Air Force Base all from the pier at Ballast Point.

Here's me at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, there it is. So what, Timm and Charlie? It's just the Bucs. For any football fans reading, Gruden has gotten all bad press so far. The fans are hungry and the team's PR machine seems to make all the wrong moves.

Greetings. Not much to report other than it's another week closer to coming home. Thanks for those of you sending emails and snail mails. There's nothing like a word from a friend or loved one.

I thought about changing the quote atop my blog recently. Despite its currency, it's been there for two years and other great snippets like "no liquidos caliente" (on my lawn chair) are out there. But then someone like the bishop in the Netherlands comes along last week. In something that could've come out of The Onion, the holy man urged Catholics to refer to God as "Allah" to ease relations with Muslims. Check it out here. Then check 2nd Peter chapter 2 for similarities.

Barack Obama's campaign announced it will cut back on debates and appearances. Bravo, in the sense that all this nonsense starts way too early now. I think the decision reflects that the more Obama talks, the more his numbers sink. He may be on the cover of GQ and appear on Vanity Fair's best dressed list. But it's what falls out of his mouth when he speaks that marks him as a novice who was working in Springfield, Illinois as an ineffectual state senator just three years ago. He recently characterized U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan as nothing more than, "air raiding villages and killing civilians." Each day he proves himself more inaccurate and makes Hillary look more presidential. Think "Nobama '08."

Chevy has this ad running that brags about the new trucks that use "corn-based ethanol" like it's the be-all end-all of the energy crunch. Land sakes folks, ethanol is bad policy and it's showing more and more. We've driven the price of corn through the roof. Corn affects almost every processed food and is the most popular feed for livestock. Have you wondered why almost everything has gone up lately? Am I just cranky? Well, maybe, but read here. And now some experts believe Wisconsin, drunk with an ethanol buzz (soon to be a hangover), may be at the tipping point of too many ethanol plants. Read about that here. It can be boring reading, but this ethanol fad is bad in the strategic sense, to say nothing of the fact that it burns dirtier and reduces your mileage.

And Neenah made the TV news in Green Bay and in Chicago by way of a man who plans to make Elvis the theme at his funeral someday. Never mind focusing on the life of the person and God's presence. I have Elvis on my iPod, but I won't have "Devil in Disguise" playing as a theme at my funeral. And who says Americans aren't cultured? Go Neenah!

And fantastic news: My friend Rob, who I posted about on August 6th, has gone through two cancer removal surgeries and is doing better than expected. He began his new teaching job at Liberty University this week despite having surgery late last week. Thanks for all your prayers.

Have a good evening! HF1