EVENING RAMBLINGS FROM LAKELAND

--- More evidence that the Republican leadership does not care about simple ethics: The House Republican Conference took a secret ballot today and approved a proposal which would allow Majority Leader Tom Delay to keep his position, even if he is indicted by a grand jury in Travis County, Texas on state political corruption charges. Delay has already been rebuked by a House ethics committee for the appearance of linking contributions to political favours and improperly persuading aviation officials to intervene during the Texas congressional redistricting dispute, when Democratic legislators fled the state to delay a vote on a plan --- which eventually passed --- giving Republicans a huge advantage in several districts.

--- The Lakeland Ledger ran a story about a protest that took place Sunday across from the First Baptist Church at the Mall. Between 15 and 20 activists gathered to show their feelings about the Florida Baptist Convention's resolution to support a state constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage, which was written by the church's senior paster, Dr. Jay Dennis. What was really surprising is that the only media mention of this event was that it was the lead story on Sunday evening's WTTA-TV 38 News Central...surprising because WTTA is owned by the strongly conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group. That's the same company that was going to run the Anti-John Kerry documentary. They actually led their newscast with a pro-equal rights story against the largest religious demonination in Florida??? And what took the Ledger so long???

BTW: More protests are planned for subsequrint Sunday mornings starting at 9:30 AM. The group gathers across Memorial Boulevard (U.S. Highway 92) from the church (the former Lakeland Mall) in the old Searstown Shopping Centre (Checker's).

--- Finally, I've never been a big fan of Eminem, mainly because he has a tendency to act like a common punk occasionally. But his latest single release has a powerful message. As my son mentioned, you may not like him as a person, but you've gotta appreciate the message. Check out the lyrics to "Mosh" to see what I mean.