UPDATE -- 8/19/2007: Current projections show Hurricane Dean heading well to the south -- but I'm not canceling those reservations yet.

BUMPED DAILY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE -- SCROLL DOWN FOR NEW POSTS

8/18/2007 -- Tropical Storm Erin was just a bunch of heavy rain around here -- but Hurricane Dean may not be.

My darling bride and I are making preparations -- we have two different hotel reservations in two different cities, depending on what the forecasts tell us.

Please offer up some prayers that we don't need to evacuate -- after all, who can forget the fiasco two years ago!

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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The MuNuvians are in the middle of a change of servers at this time, which may be contributing to some bugs and glitches as things get tweaked. Please forgive the technical issues that may arise -- and don't give up on me if the blog is temporarily unavailable.

In addition, in the near future I will be making some changes around here as the MuNuvians migrate to a new blogging platform. I hope you will approve.

Posted by: Greg at 04:25 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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You may notice that I've added a new blogroll on my site -- one devoted to fighting cancer. That issue is a very important one to me right now, given that my uncle will undergo cancer surgery beginning at 7:30 this morning, the time I've set for this post to appear on my site.

The originator of the blogroll, G.M. Roper (a fellow Munuvian) explains the goal this way.

Cancer is no respecter of race, religion, social status, income or profession. It is an insidious disease that robs people of a quality of life and too often, of life itself. This blog has one purpose, and one purpose only, to enroll as many bloggers in An Army Of Bloggers as possible and to encourage them to make an annual contribution to fighting cancer. The Rules for membership are simple, put the logo and blogroll on your blog, send a donation to a cancer program of any kind and post about it. It would be helpful if you write in the "memo field" of your check the following "Donated By The Army Of Bloggers." Help spread the word, help beat this s.o.b. into the ground. If you are a blogger, join the blogroll and make a donation. Leave a comment too if you would be so kind as to whom you donated to. Please leave the address and name of the charity in your comment (you don't need to name the amount). Please, if everyone helps this disease can eventually be whipped.

This Blog and accompanying Blogroll is dedicated Pamela Roper Clark, my beloved sister who passed away in 1990 from ovarian cancer. By putting the power of the blogosphere to work, we hope to make a citizens push to conquer this dread disease.

Who do I plan on supporting? The Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, which is a research partnership between Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. It is where my uncle is being treated, and where, with the help of the dedicated medical team and the grace of God, he will beat this disease.

To join, please information, please visit this link. Also contact G.M. Roper for inclusion.

Posted by: Greg at 01:30 AM | Comments (25) | Add Comment
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Hey, libertarian buddies (and anyone else, for that matter).

Vin Suprynowicz has this in his column today -- an opportunity to help someone outand get a good book in the process. It involves a gift he gave to author Claire Wolfe, and how it ended up on E-Bay.

Like a small stone starting a landslide, you never know where some small act of generosity may lead.

A couple of weeks back, I sent an autographed copy of the leatherbound collector's edition of "The Black Arrow" to Claire Wolfe, a fellow author whose contributions to the freedom movement include "Don't Shoot the Bastards (Yet)" and most recently (with Aaron Zelman of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership) the young people's novel "Rebelfire: Out of the Gray Zone."
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It's Christmas time. I wanted to acknowledge Claire's help and support. As an act of generosity, sending off a book that retails at $48.95 was not exactly something to write home about.

As it turns out, Walter Bark, the founding webmaster and guiding spirit of The Claire Files discussion forums has cancer, and is not expected to be with us much longer. Claire reports that, up Montana way, his friends Elias Alias, Basil Fishbone, and Iloilo Jones have been bearing the entire cost of the herbal (and other) medicines that are making Bark's final days tolerable.

Claire e-mailed to ask if I would object to her putting her autographed book up for auction on e-Bay, with the proceeds going to cover some of the costs of Walter's care.

I said fine -- it's her book now, after all. Hers, as well, is all the credit for this generous gesture. I did joke that I'd try to resist the Philistine urge to someday declare that a copy of one of my books had "sold for hundreds of dollars on e-Bay."

We both laughed at that "hundreds of dollars" part. The book went up for bids Wednesday, with an account of the charitable use to which the proceeds would be put, at a starting bid of $19.95, and a reserve of $39.95.

Claire was very pleased when the reserve was reached within hours. She offered to take back her expression of amusement about my "hundreds of dollars" comment when, by suppertime, it hit $305. She proceeded to declare herself "speechless" at around $400, I believe. As I sit down to write this at lunchtime Thursday, bidding has reached $615.

Make no mistake: no one thinks a single copy of this book is worth $615. What's happening is a spontaneous outpouring of generosity, without compulsion, without publicity (well, till now), without any firm guiding hand of government telling anyone how much it's his or her "duty to share."

It's tempting to say we don't know the ending, since the auction doesn't wrap up till Monday.

But in fact, we already know this story has a happy ending. Don't we?

Merry Christmas.

You stil have time to get the book and make a dying man's last days comfortable, so bid NOW.

God bless you Vin. God bless you, Clair. And most especially, God bless you Walter, whose writings i've never read -- may your days, be they many or few, be filled with comfort, joy, and love.

Posted by: Greg at 02:39 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I’ve spoken elsewhere about the heartbreak Paula and I went through early in our marriage when we were unable to have children, and the frustrations of being unable to adopt – and the health situations that prevent either today. I will not recount them again today.

I will encourage people to note that Saturday, November 19 is National Adoption Day.

If there is room in your heart and home, consider adding one or more of the children seeking “forever families” into yours.

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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This Post Will Bump Up For The Foreseeable Future -- New Posts Below!

_

ORIGINAL POST DATE -- AUGUST 31, 2005

Like most of America, I've been watching the saga of Hurricane Katrina unfold over the course of several days. Now the levees have broken, leaving massive flooding on top of that directly caused by the storm. I've been really quite stunned and horrified by what I've seen and heard. Such devastation and destruction have left me at a loss for words to effectively express my thoughts on this disaster.

We need relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. There is a need for much flood aid.
What I can do is urge every reader to help. Give what you can to the charity of your choice. I'm recommending Samraitan's Purse and the Humane Society to offer relief to both man and beast.

On a personal note, I suspect that I'm going to be working directly with refugees from Katrina very soon. Many of the children displaced by the hurricane are now here in Texas -- and they will be appearing in Texas classrooms soon. I am sure that some of them will be entering my classroom, as I teach only half-a-mile from I-10 on the east side of Houston

(PART OF THE INSTAPUNDIT CARNIVAL OF HURRICANE RELIEF)

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I'll be having a guest blogger joining me for a time. His name is Rhodey, and he is a great guy. He is a long-time blogger, but in need of a temprary home. He is one of the folks whose blogging I have truly admired since I entered the blogosphere, and was the first blogger I would go to when I fired up Netscape each day when I got home from work.

I'll let him decide what else to say about himself.

Posted by: Greg at 02:39 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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You sort of get to know folks over time around the blogosphere. One of the folks I first met was a guy who went by the handle Bunker Mulligan. I liked him, liked his site, and enjoyed his insights on the world. Later on, I joined up over at Texas Blogs, which was one of his projects. From what i could tell, he was a great guy.

Perusing the blogosphere this evening, I was shocked to read the following.

It is with a very heavy heart that we tell you that on the morning of 3 June 2005 Mike passed away from a heart attack. Obviously, this sudden, unexpected event has had a tremendously tragic effect on all of us. But being the kind of selfless man that dad was, he would probably tell us not to make too much of an issue about it.

Damn.

Knock me over with a feather.

I encourage folks to look at the links above to see how this man is remembered by his family. May we all be spoken of so highly -- and be worthy of it.

Mike will be laid to rest on Friday, 10 June, at the San Antonio National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, we request any memorials for him be made to Homes For Our Troops. Further information can be found at www.homesforourtroops.org.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And may perpetual light shine upon him.
May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Amen.

Posted by: Greg at 04:23 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Posted by: Greg at 07:40 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Posted by: Greg at 07:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Posted by: Greg at 11:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Also, there is a spot open on the Watcher's Council -- see this link for details.

Posted by: Greg at 12:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Well, this isn't exactly the first post. Ans many of you know, I've been posting as "The Precinct Chair" over at Precinct 333. I've moved over here and made some changes because I feel the need to get away from Blogger, and also because I've grown and changed since I began blogging last June.

My old blog began as an impulsive act. I wanted to put my tribute to Ronald Reagan out to the world, and so I wrote. I also wanted a place to express myself on issues of the day, since I was resolved to quit arguing over them with my wife, who is the very light of my life. And so I continued writing.

Blogging has expanded my horizons, made me thing about my views, and even changed my mind more than once. I'll avoid the cliche that "I've grown." I'll just say I've lived and thought, and experienced. I've made friends, made enemies, and had interesting conversations.. I'm glad that has happened.

Let's see how this site, now rather bare, evolves. let's see how this writer evolves, too. But expect to read more of the types of things you saw on the old site. Just expect to find them here instead.

Posted by: Greg at 06:06 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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