Georgia Aquarium 2

These are the last of the pictures I am posting of the Georiga Aquarium. If you are ever in the area, it is well worth the visit.Next door is the Coke museum, both could easily be visited in 4-5 hours. A short walk away is the CNN center.

Georgia Aquarium

Below are three more pictures taken the other night ahead of dinner at the Georgia Aquarium.

Dinner With a View

This evening I had dinner with a view of a lifetime. I am attending a conference in Atlanta sponsored by Grizzard, one of The Salvation Army’s direct mail partners. Tonight’s dinner was held at the Georgia Aquarium. The tank before which we enjoyed our meal is the world’s largest indoor tank. Below are pictures taken of the view.

Other pictures taken at the Aquarium will be posted in the coming days.

Mike Huckabee

Lest anyone think otherwise, Mike Huckabee will be running for President in 2012. He has his own show on Fox News that will expose him to the general population who are open to voting for a Republican candidate. In three years his campaign staff will be using the demographics of the show and its appeal to substantiate their argument that Huckabee will win over the middle undecided voter. Of course once he announces that he is a candidate he will have to give up the show, but it will have served his purpose of keeping him highly visible and broadening his appeal.

On Friday I received a taped telephone call from Huckabee. It was a robo survey on abortion. Each question was carefully crafted to elicit a “yes” response. If you tried to respond with a response other than “yes” or “no” the recording informed you to answer yes or no to the question. The results of the survey will be used to identify four groups of people: a) those who are clearly on their side, b) those that are open to their message that through future surveys could readily become Huckabee supporters, c) those that will need cultivation but still could become Huckabee supporters and d) those that are not worth their marketing efforts.

Though many things bother me about the survey, one of the main things that bothers me is the simplistic thinking that stands behind a yes and no only option. Such thinking is dangerous as it ends up distorting complicated issues, misrepresents issues and vilifies opponents….which is the mindset of George W Bush, Chaney and Rove, and what the Republican party and the nation does not need in a candidate.

True Southerners - Part Two

This is a continuation from the prior post that answers "How do you know a true southerner?"

Josh no doubt can attest to many items on the list.


No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.

A true Southerner knows that "fixin'" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.

Only true Southerners make friends while standing in lines. We don't do "queues," we do "lines"; and when we're "in line," we talk to everybody!

Put 100 true Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they are related, even if only by marriage.

True Southerners never refer to one person as "y'all."

True Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.

Every true Southerner knows that eating tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee is perfectly wonderful; that redeye gravy is also a breakfast food and that fried green tomatoes are not.

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'... ," you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the addition of sugar and lots of it - they do not like their tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.

Only true Southerners ask for "light bread." That means you don't want cornbread or biscuits.

And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say, "Bless her heart" and go your own way!