Mr. Garner Goes To Washington

Since it's Halloween, I'm sharing with you a creepy piece of paranormal evidence. Around April 2001, I began researching for a local broadcast news investigative series to be titled "Unexplained" which would air on News Channel 12, the CBS affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi. Reporter Darren Dedo , Photojournalist Rob Ruffin , Production Manager Ed Mazzone and I had produced the previous year a 4-part series called "Ghost Hunt" where we explored several local properties rumored to be haunted. The series was a blast to produce and we received an Associated Press award. When we decided to do the series on a monthly basis, my first stop was the Civil War battlefield of Raymond, MS. It was a warm April evening and dusk had set in. I brought along a tape recorder and my digital camera. While recording, I began asking questions and snapping digital pics of my surroundings after each question: "Is anyone here?" "What's your name?" "How d...

It's a phrase you've either heard before but never experienced, you've been there/done that, or you're there now: living paycheck to paycheck. It's not something many talk about...whether out of pride or just that they know the season will pass. For us, the financial squeeze came into play in August when we had to pay for both Georgia's then daycare at USDA and start paying tuition for her school at First Baptist School of Laurel. To add to the equation, I took a pay cut to work at AOL with the knowledge that at bonus and raise was in the future. However, instead of end of year, the bonus isn't coming until late February. God always provides for your needs and even some of your wants. In our 11 years of marriage, Kim and I have never gone without. Maybe we've had to delay paying a bill, stop eating out, "brown bagging" lunch, or holding off on trips...but we've never gone without. We make sacrifices for our families. For us, sacrificing a c...

One of the highest compliments a dad can be paid is having their daughter to want them to be their prince at the ball. Ever since Georgia grew beyond Veggie Tales (she still enjoys Bob & Larry), she's had a fascination with the Disney Princesses. Cinderella remains her favorite but she must compete with Sleepy Beauty, Ariel, and Belle. Coupled with her love to dance and the splendor of a ball, Georgia loves to put one of her "dress-up gowns" and go to the Ball. It's here, dads, that we can be amerce ourselves in the roll or skim through it. I've been there...you want to be a good dad and show her attention...you want to play the roll one more time. Maybe you even want to avoid the drama, so you half-heartily perform your duties and breathe a sigh of satisfaction when you can return to your agenda. There's no doubt you'll be in that place, again. But I pray it's not too often. I've learned to cherish that request to dance with her. To realiz...

In an earlier post, my words reflected my disinterest with politics. This is a rather intriguing stance being as we're at the political hub of America. However, with the Presidential election looming closer and closer my interests have intensified. With this election, we as a nation are at a crossroads. Never before has our country seen its morals so decomposed. After all, our focus today is completely on satisfying our selfish needs while never offending anyone. Women should have the right to terminate their pregnancy whenever they want. After all, Senator Obama thinks that when life begins is "above his pay grade" and House of Rep. Speaker Pelosi thinks this debate has been going on for years in the Catholic church. Life begins at conception. Period. On the same course, let's advance stem-cell research. Never mind that adult stem-cells are fine and don't end life. No, let's push for embryonic stem-cell research and continue to kill human life in the ...