The idea is being tossed around. Al Gore for President 2008. A few environmental watch dog groups are pushing for the former Vice President to throw his name in the hat again for the top office. Senior official democrats are offering his candidacy as an alternative to the bitter and divisive fight currently happening between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. With, one of them taking second chair to Al Gore. What do you think? Is that a feasible solution? Is it an attempt to give him the presidency that he deserved to win in 2000? Or would you argue that it’s a conspiracy to keep the first woman or minority out of the oval office. Personally, unless he officially announces he is running and wins the nomination, I think it would be gutter politics. That’s just my two cents.

Okay, we all know that the world we live in is filled with all sorts of lames, jackasses, jive turkeys, and insecure, no business born, rat soup eatin’ Mf’s! So, what we want to do, is honor some of the most prominent jackasses in pop culture, the news, or even in our private lives. Every Friday, we will crown the “Natural Ass of The Week” after reviewing local and national news stories, or even posts on the blog which indicate some of us could know someone who would make a good candidate…Maybe some of us will be so honored one week? Well….Let’s see how this goes. I have a few in mind already…..

JACKSON, Missouri (CNN) — Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she’s told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq.  Debbie Shank, 52, has severe brain damage after a traffic accident in May 2000.  The 52-year-old mother of three attended her son’s funeral, but she continues to ask how he’s doing. When her family reminds her that he’s dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.  Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.  It was the beginning of a series of battles — both personal and legal — that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart’s health plan.  

 I found a couple websites: Blog Wake Up Wal-Mart

 http://blog.wakeupwalmart.com/ 

one of her son’s personally posted a response on their blog. 

Wal-Mart Watch:

http://walmartwatch.com/ 

there’s a online petition you can sign: http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/s/debbieshank 

Complete with an online downloadable flyer that you can post and distribute.  

I thought about our boycott, should we do it for a specific day? A week? A month? After reading the articles on these two sites, I am ready to boycott Wal-Mart INDEFINITELY. I know we are going through rough times and Wal-Mart is very economical but there comes a time when we have to stand-up and give a voice to the voiceless.  

So I pray for the Shank Family and I encourage everyone to boycott Wal-Mart in support of our fellow Americans. In support of the loved ones of a fallen soldier.

How do you feel about this situation? Do you have any ideas on what we should do? Please weigh in.   

Fill up your water bottle and let’s chat about the weekend and what’s going on this week.

Happy Monday everyone. Please pass the caffeine.

Give me that old time religion…it’s good enough for me. Really? I was sitting in church this morning. Service was good. Praise and Worship was inspiring. The message delivered by the Pastor was relevant, thought provoking, and exactly what I needed today. I walked out the doors feeling both empowered and ready for the next battle to be thrown my way. It’s been a battle lately. I’m not ashamed to admit it. In my daily walk, it’s gotten a bit more trying. In the midst of life’s situations, mindless church gossip, and religious hypocrites it became difficult to maintain my focus. I found myself in a slump. Still willing to encourage and uplift others, but I had a problem pulling myself out of the same traps. For everytime, I told someone not to focus on the people in the pews, the lady in the nice hat, or the mother in the church who is constantly tearing down others with their words. I had the same down to me and others who are important in my life. When that battle comes to your doorstep it needs a little more attention than just a tried and true cliche. I found myself distancing myself from my current church of attendance and it created a slight issue in my own personal relationship with God. I began to depend a little too much on my personal needs and wants and stopped looking inward to spirit man that walks with me for additional guidance. I found myself in a valley and I wasn’t really ready to climb out of it.

Now, I said all of that to say this, as I was loosening up and releasing some thoughts and feelings that had me bound this morning in service, I thought about religion as a whole. I thought about that woman across the aisle who was running her mouth about my personal business based on a discussion that she had with my ex. How she ran around the church and spread a whole bunch of old past lies and I laughed. It was funny because as she sat there in her high heels and pretty dress, I could see her black heart and how sad she truly was. She couldn’t relax in praise and worship. She couldn’t jump up when a word from the message touched her, because she was bound by her own idea of what it means to serve God. I looked at the man in the back of the church who thinks it doesn’t take all that. We can just sing a hymn or two. Read a scripture. Say Jesus loves you and go home so he can catch the Texas vs. Memphis game. Still, he couldn’t relax. Couldn’t relate to what the song says, Oh How I Love Jesus, and the personal meaning that phrase has when you’ve really been through something and you understand what it means to really say you love Jesus because of everything he’s continuously brought you through.

So I thought about my childhood. Growing up in a Baptist church. Singing a hymn on Sunday. Getting a Bible lesson during the text of the message but no personal application to carry in life. How the men stood on the church steps lighting up cigarrettes and talking about Saturday afternoons at the liquor house. Old Time Religion…is it good enough for me. In our generation what are we looking for? What do we need from our experiences with God. We’ve always been taught that each generation will get wickeder and wiser. We can see evidence of that daily on television. I always heard my grandmother say that what it took to save her wouldn’t necessarily save me. Have we become more enlightened with religion in our generation?

The videos I have posted above are Gospel artist that I listen to regularly. One Old School and the other New School. I remember getting ready for church on Sunday mornings and my mom would throw on a Walter Hawkins, Love Alive album. I always thought she favored Tramaine Hawkins and sounded like her too. Holy One, was one of my all time favorite songs done by Tramaine. Then the second video is for Tye Tribbett and Greater Anointing doing Victory. It amazes me to watch Tye on TBN or one of his videos. Or even when our worship team does one of their songs at church. The kids jump up like Soulja Boy just walked in the room. I love it. Things are changing. What it took to save our grandparents. To keep them involved in the church and walking with God, is not going to work for us. At the same time, we want more answers. We want to get more understanding from what we read in the word. More than just do it, because the Bible said so.

Just my rantings and ravings on a Sunday evening. Old Time Religion…is it good enough for you?

http://www.theroot.com/id/45469

Alice Walker has written an excellent piece on race and the current race for the democratic nomination. Her writing really takes you somewhere and this opinion piece is not different. I’ve never looked at it the way she describes it, but I see it now. It’s a long read, but definitely worth a browse. The Root is an excellent site as well. It was co-founded by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who most recently produced African American Lives 2 for PBS. So take a while to check the site out.  

Is Davidson going all the way on the back of Stephen Curry. Right now, with 3:49 to go, the number 10 seed, Davidson, leads the number 3 seed, Wisconsin by 18 points. By the time I finish this post they will advance to the Elite 8 on a quest for the Final Four and the championship. Curry, is a sophomore from Charlotte, NC. He’s basically carried this team throughout the tournament. On his own, he has 31 points at this time. Teams have attempted to shut this young man down and they can’t. If his jumper is blocked he’ll pass and set up on the other side. Or he’ll drive it inside. He’s an expert three point shooter. Is it possible that they can upset Tarheels in the end. I doubt it. Yes, Curry is an amazing player, but unfortunately Davidson has no depth. They have not built a team that they can depend on two to three players to generate points on the scoreboard. They look to Curry for each and every play. If he fouls out. If he is injured. Where will Davidson go, home. So, as much as I like to pull for the underdog, I just don’t think Davidson can pull it out in the end. According to my board mates here, they were supposed to go this game. You out there Snazzy? We’ll see who they’re up against next.

Why can’t Elisabeth Hasselbeck be quiet?

Saturday at 8:00pm  GMT, twenty six major cities around the globe will cut the power to major landmarks and attractions in honor of Earth hour. A total of 371 cities, towns, local governments are also going to participate in the hour of darkness to call attention to global warning. Throughout the week there have been announcements during television broadcasts, ads on popular networking sites, and new stories across the web urging individuals to participate in the hour of darkness as well. It’s funny the attitude that some take towards the issue of global warming. I read an article earlier this week where an evangelical christian made the statement, that the second coming is near and we don’t need to concern ourselves with the environment. Seriously, is that attitude that Jesus would take.

We’ve been a wasteful society for so many years, that it’s hard to change. In the US we have a dependency on oil and traditional gasoline that is not only crippling our economy it is killing our environment. The tragedy of the Exxon Valdez should have been more than enough to wake us up nearly twenty years ago, but it didn’t. We continued our wasteful and harmful ways. Not to mention our current administration has not been environmentally friendly. I often wonder what would have happened if Al Gore, would have taken his rightful place in the White House. Would every American be driving a hybrid? Would everyone be living a green way of life?

This is the second year of Earth Hour.  I don’t remember hearing about it last year. I believe it was primarily held in Australia. This year a few and I do mean few US cities have also signed on to be a part:

Atlanta

Chicago

Phoenix

San Francisco

So participate in Earth Hour this year. Even if your city is not listed. For more information about formulating a plan to reduce your CO2 emissions and help repair the damage that we do daily to the environment, check out : http://green.yahoo.com/calculator/.

Enjoy your weekend and find something fun to do in the dark for an hour