by La Shawn on April 29, 2005
in General
I’m checking in from Atlanta. (Why is La Shawn in Atlanta?) I was on my wireless PDA earlier this morning and deleted several comments caught in the spam filter by mistake. Sorry, kids. If you don’t see your comment, feel free to resubmit.
The hotel where I’m staying is supposed to have wireless access, but as soon as I get into town, it crashes! So I’m sitting outside a nearby coffee shop hitching a ride on their free wireless. The temperature is just right. It’s about 70 degrees and breezy. Feels good to get out of DC for a couple of days. The guest speakers are meeting for dinner tonight, and I’m looking forward to it. If I get a chance tonight, I’ll tell you who I met.
My speech is tomorrow afternoon. They’re making me wait all day. 
Oh, well. I’ve been up since 4:00 a.m., so I’m going to take a nap. Thanks for stopping by.
by La Shawn on April 28, 2005
in General
Why live-commenting instead of live-blogging? Too much work!
As usual, I won’t watch the president’s speech. I may listen to it on the radio. If you’re watching it and/or would like to provide running commentary, I will open this thread around 8:20 p.m. EST, 10 minutes before the speech begins…wait a second. Will his speech pre-empt “CSI”? Man!
Previous live-commenting posts:
Update (8:20 p.m.): Live-comment the speech, if you dare.
James at Outside the Beltway is live-blogging.
by La Shawn on April 28, 2005
in Bloggers
So much is happening in the blogosphere, I can’t keep up. New blogs are created every day and veteran bloggers are writing about interesting topics. I have time to keep up with only a few Christian and political blogs, and that’s not even the tip of the iceberg.
This is a group of new blogs I’ve discovered via e-mail, my referrers log or links left in the comment section: Matthew Sheffield (whom I met at a DC blogger meet-up) of Ratherbiased.com has started a personal blog, Virtual Scratchpad; others are Capitalism’s Truths, Calebs Giants, Texas Republicans Against Bush, Lexical Light, Sepia’s Sanctuary, The Night Writer, Euphoric Reality, .357 Mangum, Grab the Glory (Robert asked me to tell you he’s a “fallen-away” blogger) and Homeschool Mom Tips.
Have I missed anybody? If you’re a new blogger, trackback to this post and let us know who you are.
Here’s something else new (to me), BloggersMarket.com. Interesting concept. Also visit this self-published writer at thathero.com. If you have some time to spare, check out the Carnival of the Vanities, Carnival of Education and Christian Carnival.
Jimmie Bise (whom I met at a DC bloggers meet-up) has a post I can relate to. He blogs about a phenomenon I’ve also noticed but haven’t blogged about lately.
Update: How could I have forgotten Miss O’Hara?
Update II: BLOGNASHVILLE! There’s still time (and space) to sign up.
More new bloggers: The View From My Chair, Point Five, Sarah’s Scribblings, Marathon Pundit, A Clear Voice…
And more: Three Bad Fingers, The Unalienable Right, LightFrog Blog, Random Ruminations…
Update III: This BlogNashville conference is getting interesting. Each session leader will “host” dinner at a local restaurant, and Bob Cox is asking folks to sign up with the restaurant and leader of your choice. It looks like my crew and I will dine at the Midtown Cafe.
And even more bloggers: reelcobra, Quotidian Grace , The Marshian Chronicles, Redeem America, Don Singleton…
This one sounds different: A Republic, Madam, If You Can Keep It
by La Shawn on April 28, 2005
in Justice
April 15, 2006: Welcome to my blog! You’ve landed on this page through a Google search on “Alicia Hardin.” I’ve provided a brief update of the case in this post.
Update II: Alicia Hardin is going to have a hard time in life if she doesn’t learn to accept responsibility for her actions. She now claims she didn’t send the letters, and the cops “forced” her to say she did.
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By now most of you’ve heard about the black student at Trinity International University whose fake-hating caused the evacuation of minority students to a local hotel. We finally have a name to go with this treachery. Alicia Hardin has been charged with a hate crime for mailing “racist” threats to fellow students at the school. Why? Because she wanted to go home. She figure this stunt would convince her mother that the Christian college was “dangerous.”
The letters, filled with threats and racial slurs, were sent to two black students and a Hispanic student over the past three weeks. The third letter contained a threat to use a weapon against a black female student.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who met with students and parents after the letters were made public, said last week, “It was painful to talk with the students. They feel there are targets on their back because they are black, because they are involved in interracial dating relationships.”
However, the president of the university, Gregory Waybright, said Friday that there was no mention of interracial dating in the letters. (Source)
Whatever, Jesse.
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Update: December 6, 2005: Many of you are landing here from searches on “Faith Shawn.” Who is Faith Shawn? 
Oh, well. While you’re here, check out this blog and a new one I just started called Fantasy Fiction for Christians.
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I am an evangelical Christian who’ll lead a discussion on “faith-based blogging” at BlogNashville next week with people who probably won’t be evangelical Christians. In fact, I suspect I’ll be only one of two evangelicals there, so I have to figure out how to discuss this topic with a diverse audience.
The New York Times published an article called Faithful Track Questions, Answers and Minutiae on Blogs (reg. req.), featuring blogs like Evangelical Outpost, AidelMaidel (Jewish) and Feminist Mormon Housewives. I doubt the range of people will be as broad at BlogNashville, but I need to come up with a series of general questions to get the ball rolling and avoid questions about theological differences.
My perspective: I blog mostly about politics, although I’m quite open about my faith. I am a faith-blogger, and I assume bloggers of other religious faiths would say the same about themselves. Or would they?
I solicit your help in formulating questions for discussion. A few I have in mind:
- What is a faith-based blogger? How is the term defined?
- Is faith-blogging a phenomenon of Christian bloggers?
- Discuss the GodBlogCon in October. Is it too exclusive? What do you think it will accomplish?
That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I’m working on my presentation for a different conference this week, so I’ll have more to say about this one next week. In the meantime, I look forward to your ideas.
Addendum: In response to a commenter, I posted this: “I want the discussion to be audience-driven rather than La Shawn-driven. I’ve never led a discussion before, so I’m trying to come up with thought-provoking questions that will get people talking.”
I’ve read helpful suggestions so far. Keep ‘em coming!
I usually take a hard line on retribution and punishment for wrongdoing, and I rarely make excuses for people. But arresting and handcuffing a five-year-old child is beyond belief.
I tried to avoid this story, but it’s popping up everywhere now. I’m angry about it and hate what happened to this girl. I’ll admit my bias. I have a six-year-old niece, and the child in the video reminded me of her (the girl’s facial features, not her behavior). I almost started bawling when I saw her screaming and crying, “No!” as they pinned her arms behind her back. I blame her parents, overzealous lawyers, and our own unwillingness to say what is and isn’t acceptable behavior.
It’s almost sacrilegious to blame parents for their children’s behavior these days, but it’s the truth. The child’s father is likely absentee, and her mother probably works all day and rarely disciplines her, which is much more than whacking her on the behind. Discipline is also teaching, and it requires time and effort that many parents don’t bother to put in.
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by La Shawn on April 26, 2005
in Justice
A couple of weeks ago I told you about a hideous crime that occurred in Brooklyn. A large group of black, future penitentiary inmates beat up a small group of white girls while shouting “black power” and “white crackers.” For insane reasons, I’m sure, the cops decided not to charge the thugs-in-training with a “bias” crime.
The title of the post, Sorry, Whites Not Protected Under ‘Hate’ Crime Law, was intentionally provocative. I wanted to provoke your anger toward the blatant bias in the reporting of so-called hate crimes. I think the very concept “hate crime” is absurd, but since these ridiculous laws are on the books, they must be applied fairly. City prosecutors in Brooklyn agreed:
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Last month I applied for a Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellowship. I was fed up with the 9-5, so I figured I’d take a chance and compete with professionals for a career-making fellowship that would support me while I wrote a book and added credibility to my role as a blogger aspiring to be a full time writer.
I was confident but realistic. When the rejection letter came, it wasn’t a big disappointment. I was a semifinalist, which is some consolation, considering I was up against actual journalists with years of professional experience.
I haven’t had time to dwell on it because for the next two-and-a-half weeks, my schedule is full. This week I’m working on a presentation for the World Journalism Institute conference in Atlanta this weekend. I’ll be speaking to a group of college students and journalists about Christians, journalism and blogging. Most of the other speakers are professional journalists, so I was honored to be invited.
The following weekend I’ll be in Nashville leading a faith-blogging session at BlogNashville, which is modeled after BloggerCon. I’m still thinking about the set-up, but I anticipate that it will be a roundtable discussion. Two days after that, I’m speaking at a blog consulting workshop about…you guessed it: blogging! At the same time, I’m running my editing business. Without advertising I managed to snag a client (who’s keeping me busy). Later this month I’ll work on the web site and start advertising for more clients.
I’m self-employed now. 
by La Shawn on April 25, 2005
in General
Remember the Berkeley professor who warned his laptop thief about classifed data and federal agents? Well, he made it up, as many of you suspected. It sounded good, though. For background, see Berkeley Laptop Thief.
(Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)
Update: Joshua says you’re all wrong about Professor Rine’s “the facts just aren’t that important” remark.
by La Shawn on April 25, 2005
in Liberals
Click on the graphic to view the Web of Hypocrisy at GOP Bloggers. Matt Margolis writes:
The Democrats’ smear campaign against Tom DeLay shows no signs of stopping. The Democrats, unable to win elections on ideas, have resorted to partisan attacks in order to oust Republican Party Leadership. It’s not going to work. They are accusing him of ethics violations for doing things that are common among congressmen.
With all the so-called scandals, liberals are just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. It’s comedy.
Meanwhile, in their own backyards…
Also see David Limbaugh’s column on filibusters and sore losers.
The Drudge Report has been around for 10 years, but it was relatively obscure until Matt Drudge broke the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in 1998. Howard Kurtz wrote about it today in the Washington Post:
Starting with an e-mailed newsletter in 1995, when he lived in a one-bedroom Hollywood apartment, Drudge rode his Monica-induced fame to a Fox News Channel show (which he later quit) and a weekly radio show (still on nearly 300 stations). And while his lifestyle has changed (he lives in what he calls a Miami Beach “mansion”), his loner status has not.
“I’m in my own little world,” Drudge says. He doesn’t own a cell phone [?], doing his reporting by e-mail and instant messaging. And he deflects questions about his personal life, though he told London’s Sunday Times he’s not gay and once almost got married. “I don’t feel like volunteering anything,” he says. (Question mark added)
Drudge says he doesn’t read blogs, which I find hard to believe. But OK. While he’s not a blogger, his site was definitely a forerunner to the new medium. During Rathergate, I wrote a long post about Drudge. I don’t feel like re-inventing the microchip, so check out Blogging Matt Drudge.
He doesn’t read blogs, but just in case: Happy anniversary, Matt.
Update: Arianna Huffington has put together a group of 250 “bloggers” (reg. req) to compete with the Drudge Report. One man.
From time to time I write about my embarrassment of black liberal politicians. Whether we like it or not, race is a sore subject that we can’t get away from, and what blacks do bothers me more than what others do because I’m black.
Take Chris Rock’s performance at the Oscars. I was angry about it and said so. I got a few equally angry e-mails from blacks who didn’t like my critique, but they had nothing to say about Rock’s clownish and stereotypical behavior.
Those feelings surfaced again when I read this cringe-worthy article (reg. req.). A little national security background first.
In the age of Islamic terrorism, we need to do everything we can, within reason, to protect ourselves. People who want to blow us up enter the country through porous borders or legally, but overstay their visas. Some of the Muslim thugs who attacked us on 911 had aroused suspicion before the attacks, but not wanting to hurt their feelings and/or get sued, government officials and others said and did nothing. Never again, they said. The gigantic Department of Homeland Security was tasked to secure the homeland. Frisking old ladies at airports is one of their bold new “security” initiatives.
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by La Shawn on April 24, 2005
in Faith
Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
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by La Shawn on April 23, 2005
in General
Who could forget the picture of little Elian Gonzalez, that gun pointed in his direction, and the fear on his face? It’s ugly. I remember the day federal agents stormed the house of Elian’s relatives in Miami. April 22 was the fifth anniversary.
I was a brand new conservative at that time, but I parted ways with other conservatives on this issue. They believed the child should remain in the United States and receive an asylum hearing. I believed the boy’s relatives had no right to make decisions for him and should return him to his father immediately. If a father wants to raise his child in Castro’s Cuba, neither the United States nor the child’s distant relatives had any say in the matter.
I was firmly behind the Clinton adminstration on this one.
I strongly support parental rights, and unless there’s evidence that a child is being abused or some other criminal act has occured, the parents’ rights trump concerns about communism. When O.J. Simpson was found “Not Guilty” in his double murder trial, Nicole Brown’s parents properly, although begrudgingly, relinquished his children, even though they and I knew he killed their mother.
There was a lot of discussion about Elian’s mother. She clearly took the boy without his father’s consent, following her boyfriend on the dangerous journey. Whatever her motives were, they died with her. Out of a group of 14 people fleeing Cuba on a makeshift boat, only Elian and three others survived. For seven months, Elian’s relatives in Miami refused to return him to his father, acting as de facto guardians. Read about the legal battle at U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services and Online NewsHour.
I grew weary of the whole thing, and my frustration mounted each day as I watched Elian’s relatives milk the publicity for all it was worth, especially his cousin, Marisleysis and her fainting spells. After the mess was over, the Miami relatives slipped back into the obscurity from which they’d emerged. Thank goodness.
by La Shawn on April 23, 2005
in Justice
Yesterday my last-day-on-the-job giddiness was dampened by some disturbing news. The pervert who raped and murdered nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford buried her alive. This apparently isn’t news. I don’t know how I missed it all this time.
I had the most un-Christian thoughts, and praying for this animal was the furthest thing from my mind. I hope he’s treated to a hot seat with plenty of amps.
Lawmakers are finally getting serious about stopping perverts from defiling and killing children. They realize that the sex offender registry system is a lethal joke. The Florida legislature is currently working on a law called The Jessica Lunsford Act, which would require child sex offenders to wear an electronic tracking device. Law enforcement should know where these fools are at all times. If it’s good enough for Martha Stewart, it’s good enough for your local neighborhood freak.
It took the rape and murder of a seven-year-old child named Megan Kanka for lawmakers to come up the sex offender registry in the first place. Under Megan’s Law, child sex attackers are required to register as sex offenders. Megan’s killer got the death penalty.
Many states have enacted similar laws, but how effective are they? Child molesters must register once they get out of prison, if they go to prison, that is. Do cops really keep up with these creeps? Hindsight is 20-20, but somthing similar to “Jessica’s Law” should have been enacted long ago. Why in the world would anybody trust predatory perverts to become law-abiding citizens and make their presence known, warning parents that they might be lusting after their children? Registering shouldn’t be up to these madmen in the first place.
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