Saying its key witnesses gave contradictory accounts that would not hold up at trial, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office announced today that it will drop an armed robbery case in which the suspect wound up on the doorstep of former Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan.
Elton “Toobie” Phillips, 20, was the only person charged in an Oct. 11 incident in which a man reported he was threatened at gunpoint at a gas station on Gen. de Gaulle Drive in Algiers.
But during its investigation and pretrial preparations, the attorney general’s office concluded that the recollections of the only state witnesses to the actual incident, the alleged victim and his girlfriend, are misleading.
I’m really struggling with my attitude about church. I go every Sunday. I attend Sunday School and the worship service. Sunday School is usually very good. The teacher is really knowledgeable and very caring. However, I really dislike the worship service. Well, to be honest, I only really dislike the sermon. It’s usually at least 40 minutes long and the preacher usually keeps us late. I wish there was some way to shorten the sermons. I can’t even listen for the first 20 minutes or so (which is usually not really that bad) anymore.
I actually find myself getting angry. My minister is one of the best ministers I’ve ever had. He’s a really great guy. I like him a lot, but I’ve come to hate his preaching. I taught preachers for years and I was a youth minister under a real jerk. He kept people late every Sunday because they complained. Then he argued that he only listened to the Holy Spirit, not anyone else. I don’t think our minister is like that but many have told me that they constantly complain and he still goes long.
It seems that if you already have a bad attitude, things only start to get worse. I have gotten to the point that when he starts in on the penal substitutionary theory of the atonement, a theory he states every week, I feel myself wanting to scream! I hate that theory, it’s offensive, and it leads to all sorts of other theological problems.
I’m really not sure what to do. My wife and daughter enjoy the other programs in the church. My son plays the drums in worship. We just came back to this church after having been away for about two years. I guess I’ll talk to the pastor. I don’t want to hurt his feelings. What if he keeps on giving long boring sermons? I’m really frustrated.
You can read the speech here. (Unfortunately, when you go to that site you’ll see that the #1 story at CNN is about McCartney’s divorce!) I have to say that my first response is that I hope he’s as good a politician as he is a speech maker!
His speech in New Orleans (shown below) demonstrated that he listened to our concerns and seems to “get it.”
I’ve been monitoring discussions over at the SBC Outpost for a while. Lately it’s just become a b*tch session about Southwestern Baptist Seminary President Paige Patterson’s firing of a woman who taught Old Testament there. Seems Pope Patterson doesn’t think women should teach men. I made several comments at the blog. Most were addressed except this one:
Isn’t it a logical inconsistency to believe that a theology based on authoritarianism, hierarchy, and power would operate any other way?
Someone has to be oppressed, oops, “ruled over.” Why shouldn’t it be Pope Patterson? It makes total sense to me that in a theological system that demands orthodoxy that somebody’s got to be in charge of defining it.
You see, since I left Baptist Seminary life, there has been an increase in the number of Baptist leaders who support the subjugation of women. There’s also been an increase of those who are committed to Calvinism. This theological system emphasizes predestination and the sovereignty of God. I’m so glad that I didn’t have to deal with that crap when I was in seminary!
This whole system emphasizes power. It seems so weird and unscriptural to me. The real problem with the idea that hierarchy is the rule is that it legitimizes oppression, it stifles creativity and inquiry, and more importantly it creates an ideology of exclusion. I’m ok, but you’re not because you are a liberal, a homosexual, a foreigner, a Muslim. Our culture does the same thing by commodifying us. Why do you think Fox News was developed? No, not to create a fair and balanced view, but to market news to a particular segment and make money off of them! But I digress.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who stayed in her boyfriend’s bathroom for two years, spending most of her time on the toilet — so that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the man finally called police.
It appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman’s skin had grown around the seat, said Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple. The woman initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.
“We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital,” Whipple said. “The hospital removed it.”
But the intensity of the critique of the New York governor, tied with the demand that he resign, shows more about American society’s ethical perversity than about Spitzer.
The President of the United States and the Vice President, working in concert with several other high-ranking officers of our government, lied and distorted to get us involved in a war that has led to the death of over a million Iraqis, the displacement of three million more, the death of 4,000 Americans and the wounding of tens of thousands more.
After token opposition in Congress, our elected representatives have overwhelmingly passed budgets funding this war, rather than refuse to fund any military projects until the President stopped the war and withdrew the troops.
Meanwhile, our government has overtly engaged in torture, wiretapping of our phones, and violation of our human rights and the rights of people around the world. Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Charles Schumer voted to confirm as Attorney General a right-wing judge who refused to repudiate these crimes.
The U.S. government has rejected every attempt to implement the Kyoto environmental agreements or to work out new agreements sufficiently strong to reverse environmental destruction that is certain to lead to new levels of flooding particularly in several poor countries around the world. The consequence: tens of millions of deaths.
I guess the old Mary Ann or Ginger debate may have to be reconsidered!
Here’s an old theory about what Gilligan’s Island was really about:
Years ago, CBS had a popular little series called GILLIGAN’S ISLAND. There is, however, a dark secret about this “comedy” you may never have realized.
The island is a direct representation of hell. Nobody on the island wants to be there, yet none are able to leave.
Each one of the characters represents one of the 7 deadly sins:
- Ginger represents LUST - she wears skimpy outfits, is obsessed with her looks, and is a borderline nymphomaniac.
- Mary Ann represents ENVY - she is jealous of Ginger’s beauty.
- The Professor represents PRIDE - he is an annoying know-it-all.
- Mr. Howell represents GREED - no explanation needed.
- Mrs. Howell represents SLOTH - she has never lifted a finger to help on and of their escape plans.
- The Skipper represents two sins: GLUTTONY - again, no explanation needed and ANGER - he violently hits Gilligan on each show.
- This leaves Gilligan. Gilligan is the person who put them there. He prevents them from leaving by foiling all of their escape plots. Also, it is HIS island. Therefore, Gilligan is SATAN.
Sorry, I took a brief break from reality. Hey, what about clients 1-8? Who were they? Were there more than 9 clients?
Bet we won’t hear about them! Where’s Larry Flint when you need him?
