Thomas Jefferson Bell

Still helping First Baptist Church of Pine Castle to compile their history, and ran across these two old photos of the founding pastor.

Thought I'd share them with ye socks.

One is a standard portrait.

The other is a bit more interesting, in that it shows the good parson standing outside a recently erected temporary church structure composed of palm fronds . . . now that's old Florida!

If any of you out there in the blogosphere have similar images or additional info on the early Baptist ministers from this little corner of heaven, it would be greatly appreciated!

While you were sleeping . . .

Sneaker . . . er Speaker . . . of the House Nancy Pelosi pulled a fast one on you, America.

Borrowing a page out of the Mussolini and Hitler play book on national socialism, she rammed an unconstitutional piece of tripe disguised as healthcare reform legislation through Congress in the middle of the night.

You know, if it won't bear the light of day, then vote on it when the public is fast asleep.

And, I suppose that's the problem, isn't it? We all need to wake up and stop the madness.

Pelosi and her goose-stepping goon squad, with a FIVE VOTE MARGIN, rushed-thru roughly 2,000 pages of incomprehensible gobbledy-gook with a price tage of $1.2 trillion.

Mark my words, ye socks, unless cooler heads prevail in the Senate, this assault on America's fragile economy will:

1. sink small business

2. cause our already astronomical deficit to soar to dizzying new heights

3. force us all to buy insurance policies from Washington

4. cut Medicare spending by $400 billion.

Hope and change = dope and deranged.

Gators (9-0) school Vandy, 27-3

Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite the Romp in the Swamp that a lot of the Orange and Blue faithful were expecting out of this match-up.

But, at least it was a welcome distraction from all the disturbing news headlines.

The biggest news in Gator Nation occurred hundreds of miles away from Gainesville, though.

Alabama defeated LSU to clinch the SEC's western division.

That's right, Gator fans, we're gonna have to face The Tide in Atlanta once again.

The prospect has me shuddering . . . just a little.

And, that's probably because today's play at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium seemed so uninspired.

Steve Addazio's offense allowed Tim Tebow to get sacked no fewer than four times. Meanwhile, Charlie Strong's defense managed exactly ZERO in that category. Let's hope Urban Meyer can get them to flip those stats when we go up against The Evil Genius next week . . .

Sidebar: congrats to ye Northwestern, Navy, and Clemson fans out there in the blogosphere. You know who you are. I'll bet you all wished you had the same things to fret about at 9-0! XP

Orange and Blue!

When crazy strikes too close to home . . . and work

Friday is always the best day of the work week. But, this particular Friday held particular promise in this little corner of heaven. Mostly because the weather was cooperating with astonishingly low humidity and mild temperatures.

But, then all hell broke loose at lunchtime in this office building at 1000 Legion Place on the northern edge of downtown.

I'm not going to regurgitate all the facts surrounding this senseless act of violence. If you want all those details, check out www.orlandosentinel.com.

What I will say here is that this particular bit of madness hit WAY too close for comfort.

I mean you see stuff reported in the news like Fort Hood, Virginia Tech, etc., but you never expect it to happen in your back yard.

And, I'm not speaking entirely figuratively when I say that.

The building in question is pretty much across the street from where yours truly sampled the apple pannini featured in a post earlier this week.

It's also less than two miles from my humble abode, just the other side of Lake Ivanhoe really.

Then, when the SWAT team finally apprehended the nutcase responsible for this nightmare of a Friday, it turns out it was at his mom's apartment . . . just two miles away . . . a straight shot down Curry Ford Road from ye olde workplace.

Frightening.

One day of blog silence

For the victims at Fort Hood, Texas.

A grim anniversary

Yes, ye socks, it has now been one year since our great experiment in democracy was hijacked.

Hope and change, indeed.

More like "dope and deranged."

One year and trillions of dollars in spending later, GM now stands for Government Motors.

Unemployment tops 10%.

And, The ObamaNation's minions in Congress are poised to socialize another 1/6th of the US economy.

:(

As American as Apple Pannini . . . er . . . Pie

The lunch hour found yours truly at Citrus Restaurant on North Orange Ave.

A little ritzier than my typical lunchtime haunts, to be sure.

One of the specials was a pannini whose innards included slices of the proverbial forbidden fruit . . . about as close as I was likely to get to apple pie on this Election Day 2009.

Of course, the politics of the day was covered in the lunchtime conversation.

I believe the general consensus is that Virginia and New Jersey will switch back to the GOP column, at least as far as their governors' mansions are concerned.

But, that's about where the consensus ends.

Whether or not one chooses to read anything more into this off-off-year election results is none of my business.

If you really want a tough choice, try to figure out what more peculiar pannini ingredient the folks over at Citrus might try to inject into the lunchtime menu . . .