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2nd Time's the Charm for Obama

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama retook his oath of office Wednesday after Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed while delivering it at Tuesday's inauguration.

President Barack Obama takes the oath of office -- his second in two days -- in the White House on Wednesday.

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The second oath -- also administered by Roberts -- took place at 7:35 p.m. Wednesday in the White House's Map Room. Roberts asked Obama whether he was ready.

"I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied.

The do-over was aimed at dispelling any confusion that might arise from Tuesday's take -- in which "faithfully" was said out of sequence -- and erase any question that Obama is legally the president.

However, per the Constitution, Obama became president at noon Tuesday without taking the oath

You can read the full article here

Papa Rick is sayin' the Prayer

Rick Warren has been asked to give the inaugural prayer for President Elect, Barak Obama. Pretty cool... You can read all about it right here.

Kickin' Cancer's Sorry Ass

Thanks to Presentation Zen, I came across this very effective Lance Armstrong Foundation Video. Take a couple minutes and watch it...

Love ...as told to me by John Mayer

I've tried every approach to living. I've tried it all - I haven't tried every thing, but I've tried every approach... I've tried it all. I bought a bunch of stuff, I went naaww, I don't like that. I kind of came in and out of that a couple times. Thought I would shut myself off. I thought maybe thats cool, maybe thats what you have to do to be a genius is you have to be mad - so if you can get mad before the word genius, then maybe you can make genius appear - right? That didn't work either... And, I'm in a good place. I pace myself pretty well. I'm 30. I've seen some cool stuff, made a lot of stuff happen for myself. I've made a lot of stuff happen for myself, right? That's a really cool sentence when your in your twenties: I've made it happen for myself, right? But all that means is that I've just found some way or another to synthesize love...or synthesize soothing - you can't get that. And what I'm saying is that I've messed with all the approaches except for one, and its gonna sound really corny, but that's just love - thats just love. I've done everything in my life that I want to do except just give and feel love for my living - and I don't mean like a roman-candle, firework, hollywood, hot-pink love... I mean like 'I got your back' love! ...some of the people who will tell you that they love you are the same people who'd be the last to just have your back. So I'm gonna experiment with this love thing - givin' love - feelin' love. I know its corny but that's the last thing I got to check out before I check out. 

from John Mayer, Where the Light Is (live), Bold As Love  

Maybe Coach Mike Leach is on to something?

Everyone knows that Texas Tech's head coach Mike Leach is into Pirates, but who knew it was so profitable!

USA Today is reporting that Somali pirates make $150 million in a year - that's almost what an assistant job for Mack Brown at Texas makes ...aarrgg

Blog Action Day 08 - Who are the poor?

Once a month, our church spends a Friday afternoon downtown serving at the Austin Baptist Chapel, AKA: the Soup Kitchen. I've been going for the last couple of years with our team. On any given Friday we feed from 2-300 people. Last week we fed 313 ...and almost ran out of soup! The Soup Kitchen feeds people 365 days a year and has been doing it for 20+ years. The meal is 100% free and donated by local Austin businesses and people.

Fridays typically starts with fish and bread and fruit and a dessert and soup. The fish usually runs out after 200 or so causing grumbles through the line.... I'm hoping to have some video later today that we shot last week, but for now, a question.

Who are the poor?

At the soup kitchen, I take the tickets from guests and exchange them for a tray of food. I try to smile and be friendly. Most are gracious and thankful. Some are not, but thankfully they are in the minority. This past week as I served I tried to take notice... One of the most difficult things about poverty is invisibility. Pain causes us to look away - not our pain - but their pain.

I saw the addicted. I saw the mentally ill. I saw the (illegal and legal) Mexican day workers. I saw the prostitutes. I saw the elderly. I saw the angry. I saw the abused.

I saw people: People just like me with hopes and dreams and hurts. Somewhere along the way they missed a break and fell through a crack in society. Some of them made a bad choice and repeated it until they had nothing left. Mainly though, I saw people without options and diminished hope. They are skeptical and afraid and jaded. They are living on the edge. One minor injury could prove to be fatal. One more bad storm or bad break and they could be gone...

Who are the poor? They are people just like you and me...

A common sense fix for the Bailout Mess

This comes courtesy of Dave Ramsey. It seems like a reasonable plan to me. But then, how often does reason prevail in American Politics and Government finances...

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

Common Sense Plan.

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

   1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
      a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.
      b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while
working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

   2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.

II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.

III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Paul Newman's Legacy

Like many, I was a fan of Paul Newman. I can't remember the first movie I ever saw that he was in, but rarely was his acting ever a disappointment. By the way, I loved him in Road to Perdition. Because of my age, I never really got to know the "young" Newman, so the news stories of his passing have been somewhat of a learning experience for me. Two amazing things though have astonished me - and I believe far outweigh his acting.

• Philanthropy - It's estimated he gave over $250 million. He not only gave - he created opportunities and companies that gave. Pretty impressive...
• He was married for 50 years to Joanne Woodward. That's something to brag about in Hollywood.

Here's a great eulogy, Paul Newman: More than just a pretty face  

Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton ...together at last!

Looks like IKE is coming to town

Should we board our windows in Austin? I sure hope not...but it does look like Saturday might get interesting. I can't believe we are actually talking about a hurricane in La Grange! That's not very far away. Austin really needs the rain, but I don't think we really wanted to get it this way. Let's all be praying for Cuba, Florida, Galveston and all those folks on the roads evacuating - that would totally stink...