The Atheist Holy Land

Since freedom OF religion forms the basis of our nation, I think atheists should colonize their own land if they want freedom FROM religion. I've got just the spot. A God forsaken land if I ever saw one. They should love it.

UPDATE: Hurry! Get your land here!

Hunting Report

In my lifetime, the rice fields of Southwest Louisiana have never been so devoid of waterfowl. I saw only a handful of ducks yesterday. We shot a couple of geese but that was it. Even in the eighties when we could only shoot 4 ducks we at least had ducks to shoot. This is the worst I've seen it. I keep wating for the opening days of the 90's when the question wasn't whether we would have ducks, but how many minutes it would take to limit out. I can remember several trips in 2000 when we would pass up easy shots on teal and grey ducks because we knew we would limit out on mallards and pintail. Those days have been gone for a while now. I am confident they will return. But not this year. At any rate, I still enjoy it, and I'm going back tomorrow. After all, the surest way to kill no ducks is to not go hunting at all.

If there are any duck/goose hunters reading this, let me know how you're doing, what kind of shotgun you shoot (this is mine), where you hunt, etc.

UPDATE: Finally saw a few ducks this morning (11/27/04). Got a greenhead and a wood duck. Should have had a couple of teal. Oh well, doin' it all again tomorrow.

Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology

This looks like a fascinating book. I've often wondered about the pro's and con's of technology and it's influence on society (an ironic statement to be posting on a blog, to be sure). I have also been curious for some time about daily life in America before the "modern" era. I'll try to tear myself away from the computer and the "secular monstrance" to make time to read this.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted take some time to thank God for my family (population: 3 this year) and the many blessings He has bestowed upon us all. If anyone would like to give thanks for anything, please feel free to leave a comment. I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving!

Terrorism Signpost

Humorous interpretations of some generic illustrations.

Dan Rather Leaving CBS News

I guess Dan found out just how far you can push the envelope of yellow journalism. Maybe Dan's picture will appear here.

Lead Story Before 9/11/04

Does anyone remember? Take a guess. I remember exactly what the lead story was on every network leading up to 9/11. Just for kicks, I looked to see how many stories CNN had published on this topic from 9/1/01 to 9/10/01. In those 10 days there were at least 11 stories about this. My only point here is that the media too often focuses on irrelevant tabloid stories for the sake of ratings. Significant events that affect the course of history (such as those leading up to 9/11) are not as tantilizing as sex, murder, Hollywood, and apparently sharks. But can we really blame the media? After all, they're only supplying what is in demand. Am I being pessimistic, or do the American people no longer wish to be informed, only entertained?

George Weigel to Speak Locally

St. Pius X Parish Is Proud to Welcome
Renowned Author and Scholar
George Weigel

Who Will be Speaking on: "The Achievement of John Paul II"

George Weigel is a Roman Catholic theologian and one of America's leading commentators on issues of religion and public life. He is most known for being the author of Witness to Hope, the definitive biography of Pope John Paul II. Some of his other books include The Truth of Catholicism, The Courage to Be Catholic and Letters to a Young Catholic. In addition to his books, Weigel has contributed essays, op-ed columns, and reviews to the major opinion journals and newspapers in the United States. He has appeared on numerous network television, cable television, and radio discussion programs, and is a consultant on Vatican affairs for NBC News. His weekly column, "The Catholic Difference," is syndicated to sixty newspapers around the United States. Both his scholarly work and his journalism have been translated into a variety of western languages.

Date and Time: Friday, January 14, 2005 at 7:00 p.m.
Place: St. Pius Elementary School Auditorium
205 East Bayou Parkway
Lafayette, LA 70508

Scott Peterson: Amateur Abortionist

I believe I made this point in one of my first posts. Mine wasn't as funny as this one though.

Internet Hunting

That's right. Actual deer and hog hunting over the internet. I'm not talking X-box live here. I'm talking about a real deer rifle and camera connected to a robotic platform that can be controlled (i.e. aimed and fired) via the internet. Think of the possibilities.

I've been hearing that the North East is overrun with deer. What a perfect solution. Instead of the stupid birth control injections they are using, just set up a bunch of these robot deer stands and advertise during a NASCAR race. You'll have that deer population under control in no time.

Spurrier's Back!

Now how tough is the SEC? Steve Spurrier has agreed in principle to coach at South Carolina next year. Do you think the AD at Florida is second guessing himself right about now? "Uh... maybe I should have offered the job a little quicker. That display case full of SEC championship trophies and that '96 national championship was probably a good enough resume." This season is not nearly over and already I can't wait for next season. Mark your calendars because Florida is playing at South Carolina on November 12, 2005.

Iran Wants Sanctions Too

This was too funny.

Arafat: A Palistinian Role Model

Now that Yasir Arafat has assumed room temperature, I feel compelled to praise at least one of his accomplishments. I thought about it for a while and I've decided that Arafat was actually a good role model for the various Palestinian militia groups who looked up to him for so long. If they would only follow his example of daily living. Arafat ate well, got his rest, and from what I've seen, he never strapped explosives to his chest and he certainly never blew himself up in the middle of an Israeli marketplace. I think that was the key to his longevity.

Mozilla Firefox

Twice this past week I've read about Mozilla's Firefox web browser being the greatest thing since sliced bread. I downloaded and installed it about 20 minutes ago and I can already see a big difference. It's much faster than IE. So far, it's also killed the annoying pop ups that I couldn't kill with the Google toolbar or Ad-Aware, or Spy-bot, or Window Washer or anything else. I'm not one of these anti-Bill-Gates techno junkies, but the early exit polls I've conducted on myself show a landslide in favor of the "Firefox rules & IE is junk" ticket. I'll be using Firefox exclusively from now on and I'll let you know if I change my mind.

UPDATE: I've just discovered live bookmarks and RSS feeds. This is probably old news to many of you but I'm no web geek. Using these live bookmarks, I can quickly browse all blogspot sites (and you can browse mine) for new posts. A sidebar lists all recent posts by title. It also works for news stories and other stuff. Firefox gets better and better.

Auburn #1

Why is Auburn ranked third? Why are the sports pundits talking about how Auburn should probably be ranked second? Why are the AP voters still pimping USC? The Auburn Tigers should be first in my book, and since the BCS is more subjective these days, my book is as good or better than any other, and at least as good as the BCS.

I'm looking at the schedules of USC, Auburn and Oklahoma. If you'll notice, USC has played two top 25 teams this year (Virginia Tech & California), while Oklahoma has played 3 (Texas, Texas A&M, & Oklahoma State), and Auburn has played 3 (Georgia, Tennessee, & LSU) and will play a fourth in the SEC championship game. If you consider these teams strength of schedule, I think the rankings are backwards. Auburn is #1, Oklahoma is #2, and USC is #3. For those of you who would point to USC's domination of most of it's opponents, I'd say that beating teams like Stanford (4-6) by 3 points does not impress me.

However, Auburn's domination of Georgia today is impressive. If Auburn can finish undefeated (and they can) they are certainly deserving of a title shot.

...and if you're interested, there's a great article on Auburn and the bunk BCS system here.

Monsieur Moore is Not Dead

Michael Moore has returned from the edge of oblivion and found a reason to live. Seventeen reasons to be exact.