Picnic 2006-02-06

Today's picnic basket of items from my blogroll.

• Nathan Tabor (The Conservative Voice) says the ACLU isn't looking out for you
• Riehl World View has a video
• Rev. Billy Gisher (Those Bastards!) looks at role models (with video)
• YouTube has a preview of the new film Brokeback to the Future [via Blogebrity]
• The Jawa Report has a new cartoon by Sam
• Jeremy C. (The Red Voice) reminds al-Qaeda we're listening
• Dagney's Rant looks at toons and looney toons
• Chip Mathis experience looks at someone who just can't cut it
• Clay (Alabama Watch) wants a fatwah
• Partisan Pundit returns ... with a look at free speech
• Jack Army returns ... and you'll hardly recognize him
• Peakah's Provocations looks at the ingredients on a new sandwich
• Elephant In My Coffee says Rush summed up the Cartoon Controversy very well
• More interviews information is available here.

"Grandpa" Al Lewis

Al Lewis (Grandpa from The Munsters) died this weekend. According to most sources, he was 95. Or 82.

I never met him, but I spoke with him once.

On the way back from visiting family in my hometown, I'd listen to the radio late on a Sunday night. And I'd often tune in to the Allan Handleman show. And Al Lewis was a fairly regular guest on the show.

He was a liberal. Extremely liberal. But he struck me as one of those "good" liberals. He believed what he believed, but struck me as honest about it. War, for example. He opposed the War in Iraq. But he also opposed action in Kosovo. So, he wasn't like many liberals who favor war when one of theirs (Clinton) does it and oppose it when a conservative (or moderate, like Bush) does it. He was against it all the time.

Although I don't believe the same way he did, he was honest about it.

I won't go into all the positions he took that I differed (legalization of drugs, for example), but I liked the guy.

Not his position on issues. Him. He seemed to me to be a really nice guy.

And when he was on the Allan Handelman show one night, I called in. And got through. And spoke with him.

I asked him if he had been a liberal his whole life, or if his beliefs had changed over time. He said he felt his attitudes his whole life had been the same.

My question was prompted by my father's drift to the left over the last 20 years. He used to be to the right and me to the left. Now, we're opposites. I'm conservative, and he's a liberal. Go figure.

Anyway, I enjoyed my brief talk with "Grandpa" Al Lewis.

We all lost a good man.

Picnic 2006-02-05

Today's picnic basket of items from my blogroll.

• Macker crashes Code Pink
• Bloggin' Outloud presents the Best Of (So Far) winners
• Jeff Goldstein looks at the Danish cartoon controversy from a wider view
• The Steel Deal is looking to start some trouble
• WitNit looks at the latest tantrum
• Althouse considers what's behind the reaction
• FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog looks at more fun from the Religion of Peace
• Laurence Simon says "More puppies!"
• Nehring watches Grizzly Man
• Lousiana Conservative goes to church with the Dems
• Steve the Pirate is back
• Holly Aho (Soldiers' Angel) says spam is good
• More interviews information is available here.

Basil (and Company) Interview Greta

This weekend, a minor change in the Blog Interviews schedule. Yesterday, we presented Greta's inteview of me. Today, we're repeating our interview of Greta from Hooah Wife...


The questioners are ready...


And so we begin...

Picnic 2006-02-04

Today's picnic basket of items from my blogroll.

• 7 Deadly Sins looks at Code Pink's slogan
• SarahK's trip to Disney World turned out to be exactly that
• SobekPundit compares Mohammed to the Christ
• Hyscience has Mohammed picture Number Two
• Brain Droppings says they are just cartoons
• Common Sense Runs Wild has a redesign
• Xyba (Once More Into the Breach) looks at the latest by Bond. Julian Bond.
• INDC Journal says the NAACP is getting more irrelevant
• WuzzaDem follows Julian Bond into a Starbucks
• Jenks (The MUSC Tiger) goes to jail
• WunderKraut is a year old [via Ace of Spades HQ]
• Tiffany (Blown Fuse) wastes her breath talking to her boss
• Marty (You Know I'm Right) fisks Oliver Willis
• Steve the Pirate is back
• Holly Aho (Soldiers' Angel) reminds us of the Soldiers' Forum [Firefox display alert]
• More interviews information is available here.

Greta Interviews Basil

This weekend, we don't have any new blog interviews. However, for those that may have missed it, recently Greta (Hooah Wife)...

turned the tables on me and had her own interview ... of me! She posted it on her site last month, and has consented to allow its publication in its entirety here.

Headline News 2006-02-03

From ABC News:
Unemployment Lowest Since '01
Bush blamed
Bush credited
2000 killed in Iraq

From ABC News:
Alleged Burglar Gets Stuck in Oven Vent
Hansel arrested, Gretel still at large

From ABC News:
Cargo Worker Sleeps, Wakes Up in Turkey
Felt like a giblet

From ABC News:
Fires Damage Six Alabama Churches
Bush blamed

From ABC News:
Chicago Archdiocese to Remove More Priests
Ratio of priests to unmosted children cited as reason

From ABC News:
Deaths push rare Asia dolphins nearer extinction
Scientists shocked to discover deaths contribut to extenction

From ABC News:
Pregnancy test may lie behind deadly frog fungus
Slutty frogs a larger problem than first realized

Fom ABC News:
Cartoon Controversy: Bomb-Shaped Turbans Upset Muslims
Bomb-toting Muslimis upset rest of world

From ABC News:
Germany appeals to Iraqi kidnappers
Beautiful mountains, Oktoberfest celebrations, hatred of Jews cited as primary reason

From ABC News:
Northwest Flight Attendants Offer Proposal
Girlfriends accept, plan big wedding