LorieByrd.com

Sitemeter Problem

Somehow my sitemeter disappeared on 8/17.  I didn't notice it right away, and then when I did, I just thought that it was still there, but that the icon (or button or whatever you call it) was just not appearing, so I didn't even attempt to do anything about it until tonight.  Unfortunately, it really was gone and was registering 0 traffic for every day since the 17th.  That includes the 925 "hits" my Typepad stat counter registered over the past 24 hours thanks to a link from Michelle Malkin and a link from my article at Townhall.com.  I am sharing my stupidity with other bloggers out there who are techno-challenged like I am so that they will not experience the same problem.  Ugh.

Somebody Had To Say It

Ann Althouse delivers the hard truth to Bill Maher and Jon Stewart.

Flashback -- Hurricane Floyd 1999

"Struggling to stay alive, hogs from a farm approximately 10 miles south of Trenton, N.C., wait for rescue in the loading chute of the swine barn as flood waters from the Neuse River surround them Saturday, Sept. 18, 1999. State officials called for reinforcements Sunday as they battled to save farm animals across eastern North Carolina from the floodwaters of Hurricane Floyd, the worst agricultural disaster in the state's history." AP Photo/The News & Observer, Mel Nathanson

The image above is one that immediately came to mind while watching the pictures coming in from the Hurricane Katrina damage. Hurricane Floyd, which hit North Carolina in 1999 was not nearly as strong as Katrina, but caused incredible damage and loss of life, both human and animal. The deaths were a result of the floods which followed the hurricane. The water is still rising in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

I fear that what the floods following Hurricane Floyd did in relatively sparsely populated Eastern North Carolina, will be multiplied many times in the urban areas of New Orleans, Biloxi and surrounding areas. I pray that the people there are aware that in many areas the worst is yet to come as the flood waters continue to rise, and that they take all necessary precautions to keep their loved ones safe. As we see the situation get worse and worse over the next few days, what is really frustrating is that due to lack of electricity, it is very difficult to get the word out to those in danger.  (Additional pictures of the flooding from Hurricane Floyd can be found here -- click on "More Photos").

UPDATE: Laura Lee Donoho shares some memories from Hurricane Andrew and explains how the National Guard responds to these emergencies.

On MSNBC, Tucker Carlson interviewed Sidney Smith of Haunted History Tours in New Orleans, by phone.  Mr. Sidney is stranded in his home with two feet of water on the first floor and rising.  He gave an incredibly vivid description of the miserable situation he is in and very much regrets that he did not leave town.  I predict there will be many more like Mr. Sidney, including some that don't even yet realize how much they will regret staying.

NC Senate Passes Lottery

Reports from WRAL in Raleigh here and Raleigh N&O here.

Commentary from Peer Review here.

In unrelated NC news, former Senator Jesse Helms' book, "Here's Where I Stand, A Memoir," goes on sale today. I have not yet read the book, but those familiar with NC politics will recognize the reference to the legendary 1980 Hunt-Helms Senate race in which Helms' question to Hunt, "Where do you stand, Jim" became the signature line of the campaign

UPDATE:  Jay Nordlinger has an interview with Helms posted at NRO.

Sheehan and the Rev.

Picture via Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE -- Picture below: (also via Michelle Malkin -- follow the link to this Malkin post containing captions and other Sheehan related links)

Schedule

Sorry for the light blogging. I am still recovering from doing Texas/Oklahoma, Charlotte, and then the hospital stay, all in a span of under three weeks.  I have several things almost ready to go and should have them up before the end of the weekend.

Lucianne ran the picture above with the following caption:

George and Laura Bush honor military families while 'on vacation'

Please Say A Little Prayer For My Little Girl

My daughter is undergoing her third surgery to treat cholesteatoma in her ear (and hopefully to replace a hearing bone, if all goes well) this morning at 7:15. This is actually her fourth surgery in 13 months (three for cholesteatoma and one for ear tubes) and is her ninth in her five-year-old life. We will need to leave the house at 5:30 to get to the hospital on time, so this will be the last post from me for a while. I should be home Thursday, but probably won’t be blogging again until Friday morning.

I am writing this not only to explain my absence, but to ask for your prayers and well wishes. I cannot tell you how much it has meant to me to know that so many of you were praying for my family over the past 13 months when this latest ordeal began. You would think that after so many times, this would get easier, but trust me, it doesn’t. Thank you for the support you have provided through your prayers and kind comments and emails.

UPDATE:  I have posted an update at Polipundit.  It is very good news.

Check This Out

I attended the 50th annual Dover-Thornburg Family Reunion today in Charlotte (I'll post more about that later) and I met a cousin that I hadn't met before.  Actually I met more than one that I hadn't met before, but this one has a really cool website.  Her name is Gigi Dover and she performed for the event.  Check out her music (including downloads) at GigiDover.com.  The stuff she performed today was incredibly beautiful, and had what I would describe as a country, folksy, gospel sound.  I was not able to find any of the songs performed today on her site, though.  The stuff on her site is better described as soulful rock.  It reminded me somewhat of one of my favorites, Chris Isaak.  Check it out and if you like what you hear, order some music.

Serving Sizes

John Stossel picks up on one of those things that I have noticed before, but never put much thought into -- misleading serving sizes on food labels.  He found some surprising, and sometimes amusing, things.