Q & A with U of M basketball coach Josh Pastner : GoMemphisTigers : Your leading source for The University of Memphis Tigers.

GoDaddy.com has put together a moving tribute to the U.S.A. for this year’s July 4th. I didn’t know this until reading Michelle Malkin’s post, but GoDaddy.com was founded by decorated Vietnam veteran Bob Parsons. Apparently, he’s quite the patriotic type. Good for him and his company.

Happy Independence Day!

The Phillies completed their three-game sweep of the hated Mets this afternoon, winning 2-0 against the Mets’ ace Johan Santana, who was denied his tenth win of the season. This is a huge win and a huge sweep for the Phillies for several reasons.

1. After losing 11 out of 13 games, the Phillies have now won 5 of 8, and that includes getting swept by the Braves in Atlanta earlier this week.

2. The Phillies have maintained their hold on 1st place, keeping 1 game ahead of the suddenly-hot Florida Marlins, and opening up a 4-game lead on both the Braves and the hated Mets.

3. Jimmy Rollins, who is having a terrible season at the plate and just went through the worst slump of his career, is hitting the ball again, and led off today’s game with his 7th home run of the season.

4. The Phillies starting pitching has been dismal at times, but Phillies’ starters earned wins in each of the three games against the hated Mets, holding them to a total of 3 runs during the series.

5. Brad Lidge, who has had a rocky season out of the bullpen after being so dependable last year, earned saves both yesterday and today, pitching three-up-three-down 9th innings both games, today striking out the side on 14 pitches.

6. The sweep came at home, where the Phillies have not played well at all, the bulk of their victories this year coming on the road.

Game Wrapup | phillies.com: News.

Right Minded is still on summer vacation today. We went to the mother-in-law’s for barbecue and swimming this morning. It has been so cool at night that the water was chilly, but the little guy and I went on in and got ourselves used to it. The ladies came out a little later. We came home in the afternoon, stopped by Starbucks for a second time in the day, and watched a little baseball and the Steve McNair episode.

We stopped buying fireworks years ago. We live in a subdivision, and have several neighbors who are serious about their fireworks. So we usually just go outside and watch theirs. (I can’t believe some of this stuff is even legal.)

It stormed earlier this evening, but cleared out long enough for our neighbors to start lighting their matches. Our backyard isn’t very large. We have it fenced in, and beyond that is a creek and some woods. On the other side of the woods, a hundred yards or so, is another subdivision with more serious fireworks fanatics.

Just before it became totally dark, the three of us and the dog went out back to watch the show. We turned off all the outside lights. It looked like the firebombing of Dresden out there. Another round of storms was approaching and it began to lightning and thunder and rain lightly. There was also a light fog out back, due in part to all the smoke. It was a perfect moment. The dog was scared, so we couldn’t put him down. But he was content with Mrs. Right Minded holding him.

The rain became a little heavier, so we backed up against the rear wall, where there is a narrow overhang. But then we decided to adjourn to the front porch, which is covered, and sat on our bench. The rain grew steadily heavier, and you could tell that those who were shooting fireworks doubled up their load to get it all done before the storm.

The gust front hit and began to blow the rain inside the porch, so we fetched a blanket and covered up. The wind was rather strong for several seconds, and it was about that time our neighbors reached their grand finale. You couldn’t tell what was lightning and what was fireworks. We continued to sit outside with the dog, our hair and our feet getting wet, wondering how in the world our neighbors were managing to keep the fireworks dry enough to ignite.

Finally, the rain was so heavy that the fireworks ended, and we, too, surrendered to the storm, retreated indoors, and put on a pot of coffee.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone.

After being out for several days, I’m way behind on my Rush Limbaugh podcasts, and am just now listening to last Friday’s show. During the second hour, the Maha Rushie did a fantastic analysis of the job-killing effects of cap-and-tax, which, oddly, the Democrats are pitching as a job-creation bill. Yeah, the same way the economic stimulus package was supposed to create jobs.

“But on second thought, cap and trade is much more than that. It kills jobs.” The Heritage people have analyzed this. “Over the 2012-2035 timeline, job losses average over 1.1 million. By 2035, a projected 2.5 million jobs are lost below the baseline (without a cap and trade bill). Particularly hard-hit are sectors of the economy that are very energy-intensive: Manufacturers, farmers, construction, machinery, electrical equipment and appliances, transportation, textiles, paper products, chemicals, plastics and rubbers and retail trade would face staggering employment losses as a result of Waxman-Markey,” this bill. “It’s worth noting the job losses come after accounting for the green jobs policymakers are so adamant about creating. But don’t worry, because the architects of the bill built in unemployment insurance,” too.

You want to hear how that works? They know that the bill is going to cream you! Listen to this. Section 432, Energy Refund Program For Low Income Consumers: “(1) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, or the agency designated by the Administrator shall formulate and administer the ‘Energy Refund Program’. (2) At the request of the State agency, eligible low-income households within the State shall receive a monthly cash energy refund equal to the estimated loss in purchasing power resulting from this Act.” Now, this is just for the poor. Pay attention. This is a part where the poor get direct deposit transfers of your money. They know your “purchasing power” will be lost resulting from this act! I’m reading from the act.

Waxman-Markey-Madoff Directly Redistributes Wealth to the “Poor”

ESPN and MLB are giving heavy coverage today, the 70th anniversary of the retirement of Lou Gehrig and his famous “luckiest man” speech.

I just heard on the radio a few minutes ago that former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was found shot dead in his Nashville home earlier today. Shocking.

Report: Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair found dead of gunshot wound – ESPN.

John Griffing writing at American Thinker, exposes cap-and-tax for what it is: a con job. I’ve always said, and will continue to assert, that global warming is nothing more than a vehicle employed by the left to grow government and raise taxes. Human beings haven’t warmed the planet, and passing legislation won’t cool it back off. Liberals exist to take away our freedoms and limit our economic choices. Global warming is simply the vehicle they have chosen to take them to that destination.

But global warming is finally coming under the scrutiny it deserves. Not only are NASA satellites showing a cooling trend, but 700 scientists-to the UN’s 50-have come out in opposition to the patently false claims of the global warming lobby.

Most damning, Harvard meteorologists have been unable to replicate the findings of the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) without the use of a technique called “data-padding.” The IPCC actually admitted to engaging in this deceptive practice. Without this padding, the infamous warming trend falls by several degrees. In essence, the IPCC and its primary source manipulated data (dare we say “lied”?) to produce a desired result.

If global warming is a scientific hoax, a fact that now seems incontrovertible, then why have President Obama and Congress advanced such drastic and costly legislation to address this nonexistent crisis? One might conclude that HR 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act, exists for no other purpose than to destroy the American economy as we know it and bring it all under government control.

American Thinker: Cap and Trade: The Big Con.

Colin Powell, a Republican-in-name-only who endorsed Barack Obama last fall, is now “concerned” over President Obama’s explosive growth of government. Gee, Mr. Powell, what did you expect when you endorsed this guy, Ronald Reagan? Might want to put a little more thought into those endorsements next time.

Colin Powell, one of President Obama’s most prominent Republican supporters, expressed concern Friday that the president’s ambitious blitz of costly initiatives may be enlarging the size of government and the federal debt too much.

“I’m concerned at the number of programs that are being presented, the bills associated with these programs and the additional government that will be needed to execute them,” Mr. Powell said in an excerpt of an interview with CNN’s John King, released by the network Friday morning.

Powell airs doubts on Obama agenda – Washington Times.

When I saw the headline below, I thought that maybe an honest story lay on the other side, you know, blaming liberal social programs and irresponsible growth of government for the budget deficit facing the California government. But no. This is the mainstream press. Even thought taxpayers spend untold fortunes paying the heavy price of fiscal recklessness engaged by the imbeciles they elect, the fault, you see, is squarely on the shoulders of the taxpayers for the sin of wanting to keep their own money.

They begin with the 1978 property tax revolt and the victory of Proposition 13. As California experienced a dramatic escalation in home values, property tax assessments skyrocketed. Especially vulnerable were seniors on fixed incomes. When then Gov. Jerry Brown and the legislature dithered, conservative activists led by Howard Jarvis put a seductively simple sounding proposition on the ballot. Under Proposition 13, the annual real estate tax on a parcel of property would be limited to 1% of its assessed value and this assessed value would only increase by a maximum of 2% per year, until a change in ownership. Voters responded and Proposition 13 scored a dramatic victory with 65% of the vote. Property tax rates dropped an average of 57%.

While homeowners celebrated, city, county and school district officials sat in stunned disbelief. There were predictions of drastic cuts to education and social services. But the ax did not fall as Sacramento, flush with a multibillion-dollar surplus, bailed out local governments and the schools. But the state rescue was accompanied by a loss of local control. As a result of Proposition 13, school districts, county governments and cities were forced to compete with state priorities for a slice of the state budget.

How California’s Fiscal Woes Began: A Crisis 30 Years in the Making – Yahoo! News.