No Blogging Today

I must go to church this morning, and this afternoon, my nephew and his wife are in from Missouri to spend a night after whooping it up in New Orleans for a few days. I will be très occupée today and tomorrow morning. Au revoir, mes amis, until then.

Crawfish Capers

From the Daily Comet:

A News Analysis by JEREMY ALFORD, Correspondent

BATON ROUGE -- If a crawfish you personally raised escapes from your pond and decides to set up shop in your neighbor’s ditch and is consequently consumed by that neighbor with a side of corn and potato, is the mudbug still yours?

While perhaps not a question for the ages, it’s among the many crawfish-related topics state lawmakers will be debating during the ongoing regular session.

What do you mean, Jeremy, that this is not a question for the ages? This is crawfish we're talking here. It's a question for the ages here in south Louisiana.

As for that crawfish on the lam, a lawmaker from Lake Charles takes the question quite seriously.

Rep. Brett F. Geymann, a Republican crustacean crusader, has filed House Resolution 7 to request that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries study the issue of "escaped farm-raised crawfish."

Didn't I tell you that our Louisiana legislators take their work seriously? Well, no, I did not.

When this happens, the "crawfish can escape their impoundments into neighboring ditches and other waterways, in much the same manner as livestock at-large," the legislation states.

"Many times, these escaped crawfish are harvested from those neighboring ditches and waterways by people other than the people who had been cultivating the crawfish for commercial purposes in private ponds," the resolution continues, "thereby depriving the farmer of his livestock and the commercial gain from that livestock."

Branding the crawfish is one solution that pops into my mind. What do you think, Rep. Geymann? Or you could order construction of more jail space and lock up the wayward critters.

Good job, Jeremy.

Watch This Wonderful Video

What we all knew instinctively as kids.
These 2 guys reared this lion from a baby in England but the authorities would not allow them to keep it once it reached maturity so they were forced to give it up. They took it back to Africa and placed it in a wildlife sanctuary. A year later they went to see it and were told it would not remember them. Check out the attached video for the lion's reaction when it saw them for the first time...

From Doug.

"Who Is The Real Patriot?"

From the web edition of the Chicago Tribune:

In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines.

In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)
....

While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate student and one for being a prospective father. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty through family connections.

Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?
....

This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, who has been in the news for comments he made over the last three decades.
....

How many of Wright's detractors, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly to name but a few, volunteered for service, and did so under the often tumultuous circumstances of a newly integrated armed forces and a society in the midst of a civil rights struggle? Not many.

While words do count, so do actions.

Can I get an amen here?

Thanks to Doug for the link. You see, my friends, the mysterious Doug has a serious side, too.

Feast Day Of Martin Luther King

From The Reverend King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech on April 3, 1968:

It's all right to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's all right to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preachers must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.
....

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

King was assassinated the following day. The speech in its entirety is here.

PRAYER:

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings:

Psalm 77:11-20 or 98:1-4
Exodus 3:7-12
Luke 6:27-36

Uh-uh-uh Uh Uh! Uh-uh-uh Uh Uh!

From my faithful stringer, Lapin.

Sazerac State Cocktail Of Louisiana?

From the Times-Picayune:

BATON ROUGE -- The world-famous Sazerac, a cocktail conceived in 19th century New Orleans, picked up its first round of legislative support Wednesday as the state's official cocktail.

Without objection, the Senate Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs toasted Senate Bill 6 by Sen. Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans, sending it to the full Senate for debate.

Murray added a provision that the bill would go into effect when Gov. Bobby Jindal signs it. Murray said he does not foresee any opposition to the measure.

What a relief to know that the Louisiana legislators are up in Baton Rouge doing serious business and not wasting time and money or anything. In truth, the citizens of Louisiana are probably better off with the legislators focused on this sort of thing, rather than making mischief in ways that could actually affect our lives.

The ingredients in the cocktail were not spelled out in the bill. Some contend the drink should be made with rye and others say it must be made from bourbon.

Murray said the drink is one of the oldest in the nation and the oldest created in New Orleans.

The drink was concocted in the 1830s by Antoine Amedee Peychaud, a pharmacist who fled from Haiti to New Orleans.

He used bitters he created as part of the drink and mixed it with Louisiana cane sugar and imported French brandy.

Peychaud's bitters is still a key component of the drink.

There you have it. Go make yourself a Sazerac, put on some good music, sit back, relax, and let your imagination rove where it will.

UPDATE: For a taste of the mischief cooked up by the Louisiana legislature in its last session, see Jim at JindalWatch. Of course, they were stirred up to do this bit of mischief by Governor Clean, who chooses as his example the Bush maladministration, the masters at doling out money to their cronies.

Stormy Is Home

My son's cat, Stormy, is much better and back home. He will be eating special food with the proper pH balance, and that should prevent crystallization of the urine. Thanks for your prayers and your concern.

That is not Stormy up there, but a picture of a Russian Blue that looks very like him.

UPDATE: Below is a picture of the real Stormy.

A Picture, A Symphonic Poem, And A Sermon

Tobias posted at his blog, In A Godward Direction, a beautiful picture, a symphonic poem of his own composition, and his sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter.

I won't try to quote excerpts, and I won't say more, except to suggest that you may want to go over and play the music and read the sermon. It's a lovely experience.

Bishop Charles Jenkins Gets It Right

From The Bishop's Blog:

Should you depart your faith community when you disagree with the spiritual leader? In this second week after the headlines broke regarding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s comments, that question looms large. Senator Clinton has implied that she would know what to do in such a situation. She said we cannot pick our family but we can pick our pastor. Senator Clinton says she would leave the Church in the face of such disagreement. Perhaps I am incorrect, but I think I hear her saying that if you do not like the preacher, go find one you like. If you do not like what the minister is saying (or doing) go find one that fits you. I imagine that many in this country agree with Senator Clinton. I think she is devilishly wrong and her advice gives power to spiritual and emotional immaturity rather than challenging people to grow in maturity.

That's exactly right. I agree with Bishop Jenkins that Senator Clinton is wrong. In fact, I was amazed at the whole news frenzy about the Reverend Wright's sermon. Unfortunately, the frenzy is probably not over. I was not offended at all by the sermon, but that's not the subject of this post.

Senator Obama has made clear his disagreement with certain of the words of the Reverend Wright, but that's not enough. He is now asked by Senator Clinton to break with his long-term pastor, because he doesn't agree with everything he says. How many of us would keep a long-term association with a pastor, if we thought it necessary to agree with everything our pastor says? We'd be wandering around ceaselessly, looking for a pastor whose views exactly match ours. As soon as we discovered a point of disagreement, we'd have to move along to search for a perfect match.

I thought the best thing to come out of that overblown event around Pastor Wright was the fact that Senator Obama could disagree with Pastor Wright and yet remain in relationship, fellowship and communion with him. This action spoke loudly of good news to me. I was elated when Senator Obama did not choose to walk apart from a man who has been an important part of his life. Senator Obama’s decision not to separate from Pastor Wright spoke to me of a maturity in which disagreement need not lead to leave-taking. The fragility of people that requires a high degree of satisfaction and agreement in order to sustain a relationship was challenged by Senator Obama’s decision. I think Senator Obama demonstrated to the world a high degree of tolerance for his own discomfort and that of others. Such tolerance of discomfort and even pain is necessary in a great leader.

"Overblown event" says it all. I'd have thought a lot less of Senator Obama had he severed his ties with the Reverend Wright.

I urge you to read the rest of Bishop Jenkins blog post.