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If you’re feeling sufficiently nostalgic, you can play it here.

The worst part of undergoing construction is the covetousness. When I saw this in the bathroom fixtures store… oh my.

What’s an evangelical Christian doing, wishing you a happy Mardi Gras? In New Orleans, the way Carnival season (the lead up to Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which is the day before the Catholic holiday of Ash Wednesday) is celebrated has about as much to do with pagan tradition as your average trick or treater has to do with traditional pagan celebrations of Samhain.

When I say “Happy Mardi Gras!” I’m celebrating capitalism, baby. This is a HUGE event that brings in millions of honestly earned dollars. And boy, do we need it, given how Obama has brutally attacked the Gulf Coast economy with his permitorium. I also enjoy the fact that Mardi Gras is steeped in the history and tradition of the most fascinating city in America. The music is fabulous, especially the marching bands. Nobody beats St. Augustine – those kids work hard and they are incredible.

Does the behavior of many participants glorify God? Of course not. Since when does a lost world glorify God? Does it celebrate sin? As part of a lost world which celebrates sin all day, every day, yes it does. But for a lot of participants, Mardi Gras is about taking the kids out to a parade with pretty floats, great music, and a fun atmosphere. We all have to make choices every day about how we spend our time and what kind of entertainment we partake.  Mardi Gras is not only what happens in the French Quarter; for much of the city it is very much a family event.

You know what also doesn’t glorify Him? The street preachers who march around telling people they’re going to hell.

Speaking of those street preachers, I would also like to note that Grant Storms, one of the prime instigators of the local street “preaching” on Mardi Gras and Southern Decadence, was arrested this week on an obscenity charge. He was parked in a van near a playground, facing the children, and seen by the two women who reported him to have his hands in his pants – apparently masturbating.  He denies masturbating, claiming that he was urinating in a bottle. (Police report here.) I know that park – and Storms lives a couple of blocks from it and it’s a safe bet he knows it too. There is a public restroom about 30 seconds away from where he was parked.

Back to the topic of street preaching – of course they have the right to do it, and I support that right. But does that work, ever? Do signs like this ever lead to anyone becoming a committed disciple of Christ?

And for those who insist on carrying signs like this – for pity’s sake, check your spelling! Femanists? Jehova? Glutons? That’s just sad.

In any event, it’s still a free country and I support the Mardi Gras street preachers’ right to be idiots just like the idiots who are out there drinking themselves senseless and fighting over some cheap plastic beads – to say nothing of the families who are out there having picnics on the neutral grounds of New Orleans and just enjoying the music and pageantry.

Happy Mardi Gras!

I’m incredibly late to this story, and other under circumstances, I’d ignore it completely because I’m pretty sure everything that can be said, has been said.  And it’s all very predictable.  The left, typically, is playing politics and using it as an excuse to try to control speech and guns. The right, typically, is fighting an uphill and mostly unenthusiastic battle against the left’s efforts.  (<– Look, the word “battle” – violent metaphor, oh noes!)  Bloggers and blogger favorites like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are out in front, but you’d think there would be a much more unified pushback, especially from conservative politicians whose liberal colleagues are speaking out in favor of gun and speech control.  Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose, right?

But in light of something I wrote several days ago, I want to acknowledge the story.  I spent the weekend moving my office, and didn’t even hear about the shooting until late Saturday night.  Sunday we worked on getting the new office set up but once I had my computer back I caught up on the story via a few blogs, especially Patterico, Ace, and Hot Air.  Just a few days ago, I railed against the GOP spinelessness in cutting the budget in response to a Patterico post which expressed his frustration – which led to his thoughts of an armed insurrection as being “something understandable, rather than something we should calmly denounce.”  I wrote – feeling the same frustration – [Read more...]