Fleshing it Out

A while ago I wrote about Shirley Sherrod. A few things have happened since then to flesh out the matter. I wrote about how she had been treated unfairly in the way that her speech had been cut up and posted, and then in the response by the media and White House.

Some more has emerged since then that is unflattering about Sherrod, but this time of her own doing:

• She has stated her intent to sue Andrew Breitbart over his role in posting the video. I'm not sure if he edited the clips or if he passed them along. The latter seems to be the case. Still, no one has contended that he altered her words in any material way. She claims racism. I think that is absurd. It was politically, but not racially motivated. I don't think she has a case.
• Sherrod's story may not be as rosy as it seemed. This is an article, also detailing events well in the past, that may indicate whether initial impressions had some validity.

Happy 5th Birthday Joseph!

Joseph actually turned 5 on Tuesday, and I wanted to pay a little tribute to him here. These are a few photos that help mark his life at various points.

He had to spend a little time in the hospital when he was born. He had a serious congenital defect that was corrected shortly after birth. It was a period of great growth and faith for our family, and I am grateful for his living reminder of how precious life is.

Lacy is holding him here, but this photo was snapped on my 26th birthday (I believe), the first day that I was able to hold him.

We got him home, not knowing that sleeping was not among the things Joseph would do well.

But smiling definitely was (and is). The below pictures can demonstrate that.

(Almost) without trying I have been able to inculcate Joseph with a love of 2 teams- BYU and the University of Miami. You have to start young.

What a smile.

I am named after my dad, and Joseph is the third Lowry to bear the name. Here he is around his 2nd birthday with his Papa Joe.

Joseph was almost two when Millie was born. He is a good and loving big brother.

And he loves his mommy (holding his hand here).

He decided he was going to the office. I thought my tie looked even better on him.

This was taken on Father's Day this year. I am truly a blessed man to have this family, and a little boy like Joseph.

I thought this was great. After a while of being neglected, the kids decided to use the sandbox. A toad had made his home there, and with not an ounce of fear, Joseph picked him up. He is such a great kid, and makes our lives more interesting and fulfilling, every single day. Often that means trying to explain to him why, despite how cool it would be, we can't build a rocketship in the backyard and why he can't learn to drive a motorcycle.

Happy birthday little buddy!

Inception

I wrote this over a week ago but never published it.

I saw Inception last night (Wednesday the 21st). I'm glad I went. It was a supremely engrossing movie. I'm left with a lot of questions about the film's resolution, which in turn have led to other questions about events preceding that.

I have not seen every film made by Christopher Nolan, but he is responsible for one of my all-time favorites, The Dark Knight. Despite the heavy nature of the film's subject matter, and the fact that its relentless pace is characterized by tragedy and setback, I always find a moving positive message in it. I think I have rewatched it 7 or 8 times. This is a piece from Film.com that talks about why Inception has ideas worth discussing (SPOILERS). My feeling of Christopher Nolan's work is summarized nicely by this quote from the article:

Again and again people choose humanity over certainty. It may not be the
right choice ... but it's the only choice we've got.

I would change it a bit. It may not be the easy choice.

The Whole Truth

I hadn't paid much attention to the story of Shirley Sherrod. She is the USDA official who was forced out of her job for making allegedly racist comments in a speech to the NAACP. According to this piece from Peggy Noonan, she was treated unfairly by many commentators AND the Obama Administration.

It is a lesson in the importance of learning the truth about a person and their actions. We are all potential victims of a 24/7 news cycle and instant-publish news and commentary.

Awesome Video Saturday CXXXVIII

I grew up loving the original TRON movie, so I have been looking forward to the sequel. Here is the latest trailer. Looks great.

A Fascinating Life

A local photographer, filmmaker, and explorer passed away Wednesday while diving. By any definition, Wes Skiles was a cool guy. He had done things that most of us would never even attempt, such as mapping underground waterways and exploring uncharted caves. He directed films, worked in TV, and has the cover photo in this month's National Geographic.

I was able to get to know Wes a little bit over the past 6 years or so. As someone who wanted to be a filmmaker at one time, I was fascinated by his work. He was a big idea guy and was able to see some of those ideas come to fruition. I know he had a lot more that he hoped to accomplish as well.

He recently had a photo selected for the cover of National Geographic Magazine. You can see some of his work here.

His wife, 2 children, and other family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Bias

Fred Barnes is a well-known conservative commentator. He wrote a great piece in yesterday's WSJ about something called Journolist. Journolist was a network of liberal reporters and journalists, and Barnes explains the unique historical context of the network, and their apparent collusion, at least intellectually, in support of liberal causes.

Independence & the Court

This is a great article about the political ramifications of recent Supreme Court decisions. In particular it looks at how the Obama administration will likely face more push back from a conservative-leaning Court.
Obama has demonstrated petulance in response to some of these issues, as in his State of the Union address. I like the following quote from the article.

McConnell, the law professor, said the administration's broad set of regulatory moves made a clash almost inevitable. "It does not mean the courts are being 'political,' " he said. "It is the way the institutions are designed, to create checks and balances."

I think it will be too much to imagine that Obama will take this view.

Happy Independence Day!

Reasons to love the Cup

I enjoyed this column about the World Cup from ESPN's Bill Simmons.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100701

Living Hero

I enjoy reading the stories of people who do remarkable things to protect others. Many of these seem to come from the experience of men and women in the armed forces. A soldier is being considered for the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan, and if awarded, it will be the first such Medal given to a living recipient since the Vietnam War.

You can read a little about it here.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/01/2010-07-01_pentagon_nominates_medal_of_honor_for_living_soldier_to_white_house_first_since_.html

Raise it!

By this I mean the Social Security retirement age. It won't "cost" us a single dime and would put the system on much sounder footing.

Awesome Video Saturday CXXXVII

A pretty cool video, put together the old-fashioned way, with no computer trickery.

Second Lives

Sometimes I think I would like to be a butcher whenever I quit doing what I am doing. I just love cutting meat.

I've never dismembered a whole animal before, but this post from Popular Mechanics gives some of the basics.

You think there is a market for specialty meats in Gainesville?

Our Leaders

No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we
believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a
crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done.

Those words were said by Senator Dodd this morning. Forgive me if I am unimpressed. How does Dodd know that they got the job done if they don't know exactly how it will work? They mislead the public if they think they have solved the problem of bank failures and financial crises. We probably won't see a repeat of 2008, but problems will emerge again in some form.

And there will be, as always, unintended consequences of additional regulation. The costs of reform always flown down to the rank-and-file employee and the common investor and customer.

Toy Story 3

It was a fantastic movie. Period.

It was completely engaging, often exciting, and consistently funny. The voice acting is fantastic, as always, and several times I was impressed at the emotion conveyed by the performers.

The ending is emotionally satisfying and I don't want to spoil it. Just go see the movie and consider your money and time well-spent. And you don't need kids to enjoy it.

If you've seen it (and don't read this unless you have), are male, and got a little choked up, just know that it is okay. It seems a common occurrence.

iPadding it Up

I was away from home this week on a beach trip with my wife and kids. The ONLY bad thing (and it was a very small one) was that I was away from the office when my new iPad arrived. I love new gadgets, but I wouldn't really call myself an early adopter. The iPod was out for years before I bought one. I resisted blogging until it was thoroughly mainstream.

Buying an iPad just a few months after introduction has me about as trendy as it gets, and as I write this first post on my new device I have to say that in just a few short hours of playing with it I am very pleased. I would like for it to be useful, as well as fun, so I plan to test it out in that way pretty thoroughly over the next month or so.

There are some things it can't do, like type this post in the "compose" view (I'm using the "edit html" side), and I am such an avid user of tabbed web browsing that I feel some lack there, but all in all I am pleased with my choice.

Awesome Video Saturday CXXXVI

This is a few weeks old, from the finale of 30 Rock. Hilarious.

Better to be Lucky

This is a good piece from Peggy Noonan on the President Obama's string of bad luck (and bad choices). A favorite part:

No reason to join the pile on, but some small points. Two growing weaknesses showed up in small phrases. The president said he had consulted among others "experts in academia" on what to do about the calamity. This while noting, again, that his energy secretary has a Nobel Prize. There is a growing meme that Mr. Obama is too impressed by credentialism, by the meritocracy, by those who hold forth in the faculty lounge, and too strongly identifies with them. He should be more impressed by those with real-world experience. It was the "small people" in the shrimp boats who laid the boom.
And when speaking of why proper precautions and safety measures were not in place, the president sternly declared, "I want to know why." But two months in he should know. And he should be telling us. Such empty sternness is . . . empty.

Looking Forward

Toy Story 3 premieres tomorrow. We'll be there.

This is a great review from the WSJ's Joe Morgenstern. I'm trying not to be OVERestimate how good it is.