In Memory Of Lisa Hays

Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:5

Lisa Hays, of Oswego,Kansas, went home this evening after a long fight with lung cancer. It’s not every day you try to write something in memory of a woman you’ve never met, but I’ve been praying for Lisa for over a year, now, and there’s nothing that can make you feel closer to a person than lifting them up in prayer.

Every thing I know about Lisa Hays I’ve learned from knowing her son, Caleb. Through him, I know that she was hard working and compassionate and passionate; these are qualities she instilled in her son. I know she was a good mother. I know she loved Jesus.

Lisa was a young woman and had never been a smoker, so when she was diagnosed with lung cancer, it must have seemed especially hard and unfair, but I know she faced her illness with a great, unshakable faith and courage because I saw Caleb face it that way.

There’s a Lisa-shaped hole in the hearts of her family and friends right now, but they can find comfort knowing the world is a richer place because she was in it. It was a privilege to be able to pray for her and her family and awe-inspiring to watch strangers from all over the world come together in agreement before the Lord as they lifted her up in prayer.

Good-bye, Lisa. I never had the pleasure of meeting you in this life, but it’s something I look forward to in the next.

Congratulations, Illinois!

The State of Illinois has unveiled a new commemorative license plate, honoring past governors.

Maybe they should change their nickname from “The Prairie State” to “The Prayin’ State” as in maybe their governors should be prayin’ they don’t get caught.

Yet Another Woman Comes Forward to Accuse Herman Cain

Oh, wait…it was a TSA agent. Sorry; it’s hard to tell the difference between what happened to Tabitha Hale yesterday at the Houston airport and what Herman Cain’s been accused of.

She started by asking me to take my cardigan off. I said I’d rather not. She seemed put out, but didn’t make me remove it and began the pat down from behind. She made me lift up my cardigan to check my back, went into my sleeves, and touched every inch of my hair.

Then she got to my waist band. I had on black tights under my dress, which I’m certain is not uncommon. She asked me to lift my dress so she could check the waistband of my tights.

I felt my stomach drop. I said “I’m not lifting my dress for you. No way.” She was obviously irritated with me now and said that she would take me to the private screening area if I would like.

I said “No, absolutely not. If you can’t do this in front of everyone, you should not be doing this to me.”

She then called a manager over. The manager approached me and explained what they were going to do and that if I failed to comply, they would escort me from the airport. I told her I saw no reason that they should have to lift my dress to clear me to get on a plane. I would have, however, allowed them to escort me out of the airport before they got me to lift my skirt and stick their hands down my tights. I was bracing myself to spend another night in Texas.

She sensed the rebellion in me, and it was almost like they were punishing me for not just lifting my dress and making their lives easier. She checked every inch of my neckline, sticking her fingers between my breasts because she needed to “clear” the (very slight) ruffle.

They cleared the waistband of my tights through my dress, then made me put one leg forward at a time so they could get better “definition of my thigh.” She then proceded to pat down every inch of me, all the way up to my crotch. And yes, she used that word. Twice.

You  have to wonder about the thought process of the TSA agent. Why did she find the waistband of a pair of tights so problematic? Seriously, what could you conceal under this waistband?

It’s not as though the waistband is bulky; on the contrary, it’s comparable to the waistband on a pair of panty hose and much less so than that of a pair of granny panties. Are TSA agents reaching down inside the pants of elderly women to check those out? I doubt it; I mean, where’s the fun in accosting old people unless you can leave someone soaked in urine?

Moving on from that, did she really expect that Tabitha would lift her dress in public? Have other women done so when requested?

Speaking as the mother of a (dare I say it?) beautiful and shapely young woman who flies across the country several times a year, I find this very disturbing. I fail to see any pressing security concerns centered around the almost non-existant waistband of a pair of tights. TSA refuses to take steps that would actually improve airline safety, such as skipping over toddlers of the WASP persuasion to focus on people who might actually be terrorists.

Instead, U.S. citizens are being systematically desensitized to clear violations of their 4th Amendment rights and told it’s for their own good. Personally, I don’t see what good can come of it.

If Cats And Dogs Could Blog

Also funny…

Now Playing: 1965

I turned 10 years old in August of 1965*. I wasn’t much into popular music yet. I was far too busy with my books, but my sister turned 16 that year. Accordingly the radio was often tuned to one of Seattle’s two two most popular radio stations – KJR or KOL – so  while I may not have been actively listening, I did come to love many of the songs simply through osmosis.

King of the Road – Roger Miller

Seventh Son – Johnny Rivers

Eight Days a Week – The Beatles

Same Old Song – The Four Tops

For Your Love – The Yardbirds

I’ll Never Find Another You – The Seekers

California Girls – The Beach Boys

I Know a Place – Petula Clark

Ticket to Ride – The Beatles

Baby, I’m Yours – Barbara Lewis

Yesterday – The Beatles

Baby, Don’t Go – Sonny and Cher

Eve of Destruction – Barry McGuire

Ferry Cross the Mersey – Gerry and the Pacemakers

Can’t You Hear my Heartbeat – Herman’s Hermits (Side note: My first vinyl album purchase was Herman’s Hermits on Tour)

Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers

Stop! In the Name of Love – The Supremes

Tracks of My Tears – The Miracles

Keep Searchin’ (We’ll Follow the Sun) – Del Shannon

We Gotta Get Out of This Place – The Animals

*Spotify required to listen to the playlist.

 

Jay Inslee: Not Even Empty Promises

Jay Inslee announced his 2012 gubernatorial bid on June 27th, 2011. By my calculations, that was four months ago, yet a quick visit to his website turns up a short announcement video, a placeholder for a graphic with a broken link and buttons to click if you want to follow him on Facebook or Twitter. You can also make a donation, but even that’s not easy; you have to click on the Al Gore event button.

Yes, this is the sum total of Jay Inslee's campaign website.

In contrast, Rob McKenna’s website is bursting with information.

Even Shahram Hadian, a long shot, first time candidate has a better website than Inslee.

You have to wonder, does Inslee have any vision at all for Washington, other than it would be really cool to be governor? Does he have an in-depth understanding of the issues facing our state? Does he have any ideas for solving them? Does he even care?  Heck, at this point, I’d almost be willing to settle for knowing he has a vague idea of what some of the issues are.

Inslee is running his campaign like (a) a rank amateur or (b) he believes he’s so sure to be elected that he doesn’t need to try very hard. Inslee is nothing if not a shrewd politician so I’m going with (b); it dovetails nicely with his arrogant, condescending demeanor.

Five Albums For The Ages (1970s Edition)

Every so often an album comes along that’s pure magic…you instantly love every song. These albums fit that bill for me.

Listed in Chronological order.

Deja Vu: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970)

Side one

1. “Carry On” (Stephen Stills) – 4:26
2. “Teach Your Children” (Nash) – 2:53
3. “Almost Cut My Hair” (Crosby) – 4:31
4. “Helpless” (Young) – 3:33
5. “Woodstock” (Joni Mitchell) – 3:54

Side two

1. “Déjà Vu” (Crosby) – 4:12
2. “Our House” (Nash) – 2:59
3. “4 + 20″ (Stills) – 2:04
4. “Country Girl” (Young) – 5:11
5. “Everybody I Love You” (Stills, Young) – 2:21

Tapestry: Carole King (1971)

Original vinyl

1. “I Feel the Earth Move” – 2:58
2. “So Far Away” – 3:55
3. “It’s Too Late” (lyrics by Toni Stern) – 3:53
4. “Home Again” – 2:29
5. “Beautiful” – 3:08
6. “Way Over Yonder” – 4:44
7. “You’ve Got a Friend” – 5:09
8. “Where You Lead” (lyrics by Toni Stern) – 3:20
9. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” (Gerry Goffin, King) – 4:12
10. “Smackwater Jack” (Goffin, King) – 3:41
11. “Tapestry” – 3:13
12. “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Goffin, King, Jerry Wexler) – 3:49

Dreamboat Annie: Fleetwood Mac (1976)

All songs written by Ann & Nancy Wilson except where noted.

Side one

1. “Magic Man” – 5:28
2. “Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)” – 1:10
3. “Crazy on You” – 4:53
4. “Soul of the Sea” – 6:33
5. “Dreamboat Annie” – 2:02

Side two

1. “White Lightning and Wine” – 3:53
2. “(Love Me Like Music) I’ll Be Your Song” – 3:20
3. “Sing Child” (A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Steve Fossen, Roger Fisher) – 4:55
4. “How Deep it Goes” (A. Wilson) – 3:49
5. “Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)” – 3:50

Silk Degrees: Boz Scaggs (1976)

All tracks composed by Boz Scaggs; except where indicated

1. “What Can I Say” (Scaggs, David Paich) – 3:01
2. “Georgia” – 3:57
3. “Jump Street” (Scaggs, Paich) – 5:14
4. “What Do You Want the Girl to Do” (Allen Toussaint) – 3:53
5. “Harbor Lights” – 5:58
6. “Lowdown” (Scaggs, Paich) – 5:18
7. “It’s Over” (Paich, Scaggs) – 2:52
8. “Love Me Tomorrow” (Paich) – 3:17
9. “Lido Shuffle” (Scaggs, Paich) – 3:44
10. “We’re All Alone” – 4:14

Rumors: Fleetwood Mac (1977)

Side 1

1. Second Hand News (Lindsey Buckingham) – 2:43

2. Dreams (Stevie Nicks) – 4:14

3. Never Going Back Again (Buckingham) – 2:02

4. Don’t Stop (Christine McVie) – 3:11

5. Go Your Own Way (Buckingham) 3:38

6. Songbird (C. McVie) 3:20

Side 2

7. The Chain (Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, C. McVie, John McVie, Nicks) – 4:28

8. You Make Loving Fun (C. McVie) – 3:31

9. I Don’t Want to Know (Nicks) – 3:11

10. Oh Daddy (C. McVie) – 3:54

11. Gold Dust Woman (Nicks) – 4:51

A Loving Marriage

From the religion of peace. And love. And child rape.

A 12-year-old Christian girl was kidnapped and repeatedly raped for eight months in Pakistan by a man who then falsified marriage documents with her, it was claimed today.

Her justice?

It claims the police have refused to order a medical check-up on the girl, and have warned her parents that it would be better for them to hand over the girl to her ‘legal’ husband or a criminal case would be filed against them.

“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” saith the Lord, and payday can’t come soon enough in this case.

 

 

 

Andrew Klavan Interviews Jay Inslee…

…Er, I mean, the Green Jobs Answer Man. LOLZ ensue.

 

Californians [SMH]

What is wrong with Californians?

In California, a 12-year-old girl can’t take an aspirin from a school nurse, participate in a school  field trip or utilize a tanning bed without the consent of her parents, but that same girl can consent to a vaccination (HPV) or abortion with her parents none the wiser.

That is seriously twisted.