Pastor Rick Warren, the phenomenon of modern Christianity that projects a sense of reasonableness, is hosting an interview with both Barack Obama and John McCain. This is an exciting time because a presumably reasonable man - thick with faith - is going to challenge Obama and McCain on a variety of issues.

Thefiresidepost.com will be posting with live updates through the evening.

It begins in a moment.

Warren starts with noting the separation of church and state - but not the separation between faith and politics.

Obama will go first on one hour interviews - separate from the other candidate.

Marinade, butter and baste, and rub it in - barbecuing is raised to the level of fine dining. Smoking ribs, turkey, chicken, and pork shoulder or butt has become one of my favorite cooking methods this summer. Today I am trying my own recipe for a rub. The test subject on my smoker is a five pound chicken.

Let’s get right to it - here is my new recipe:

2 Ounces of Paprika

2 Tbls of Brown Sugar

2 Tbls Granulated Sugar

3 Tsp salt

1 Tsp ground black pepper

1 Tsp Garlic powder

The world is in grave trouble, potentially on the brink of World War Three. The hard liners in Russia are giving an ultimatum to America - that means they are giving an ultimatum to the Cowboy in Chief, George W. Bush. CNN is reporting that Russia has demanded that America choose between continued relations with Moscow or support of the country of Georgia.

Do the Russians realize who our President is? Do they understand his capacity for deep thought, for mature action, for valuing the power at his disposal? Worse yet, the Republican candidate for President is playing with emotional appeals to the American people in order to bolster public support.

Ben Stiller has a new comedy movie being unveiled this week. The movie is called “Tropic Thunder.” But it is being trumpeted as some sort of evil incarnation of ancient bigotry against mental illness or the mentally impaired, or something like that. Apparently the movie uses the term ‘retard’ multiple times. The movie has an all star cast of Toby McGuire, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, and Ben Stiller.

I am one who is occasionally accused of being politically correct - and I admit that occasionally I find benefit in being careful not to hurt others. But I recognize that the world is what it is, and we have to live with it.