Odds & Ends

by La Shawn on February 28, 2006

Update (3/1): There’s a new Christian ezine on the web. Visit and read Christian Women Online!
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It’s funny, in a way, that I have less time to blog now that I’m working from home than when I was working eight hours, five days a week at the day job.

I’m laboring under a couple of deadlines, so I won’t do much blogging today. Tomorrow…we’ll see.

As an aside, my new friend from the endangered species is a fan of Harry Potter. One more thing in common. I love discussing Book 7 theories. (Only die-hard HP fans will understand.)

If you’re bored with the posts at LBC, visit Fantasy Fiction for Christians and The Language Artist. If you’re bored with those, peruse my very long blogroll.

Consider this post “open” to anything you want to discuss (within reason). Announcements? Breaking news? A new blog? New job? New toy? An outstanding post?

{ 25 comments }

Karen of Scottsdale 02.28.06 at 12:29 pm: Working for yourself is the hardest work of all! It’s also the most rewarding!

I’d like to discuss the Conservative Brotherhood. I notice you’re no longer a member. Any reason you care to discuss publicly? Just curious.

Not publicly, though not a big deal. – Admin
Angie 02.28.06 at 12:44 pm: She’s been working hard all right…and I recently benefited from it! La Shawn’s business, The Language Artist, includes blog creation/consulting for business and personal bloggers. Yesterday I received the assessment she did for mine–it was packed full of great practical advice. I’ll be working on implementing it in the near future. I’d recommend her for you business or personal bloggers who need some help with improving design, layout, content, and search engine placement of your blog.
La Shawn 02.28.06 at 12:48 pm: Thanks, Angie!
SCSIwuzzy 02.28.06 at 12:57 pm: http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/28/D8G26MTG0.html

The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to abortion clinics in a two-decade-old legal fight over abortion protests, ruling that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations.

Anti-abortion groups brought the appeal after the 7th Circuit had asked a trial judge to determine whether a nationwide injunction could be supported by charges that protesters had made threats of violence absent a connection with robbery or extortion

The 8-0 decision ends a case that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had kept alive despite a 2003 decision by the high court that lifted a nationwide injunction on anti-abortion groups led by Joseph Scheidler and others.

Writing for the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer said Congress did not intend to create “a freestanding physical violence offense” in the federal extortion law known as the Hobbs Act.

Social activists and the AFL-CIO had sided with anti-abortion groups in arguing that similar lawsuits and injunctions could be used to thwart their efforts to change public policy or agitate for better wages and working conditions.
Mark La Roi 02.28.06 at 1:08 pm: Good job Supreme Court on finally deciding what seemed to many of us to be common sense!
Aaron 02.28.06 at 1:16 pm: La Shawn, I know you have been covering The Da Vinci Code. Have you seen that the publisher is being sued by two writers who claim Dan Brown’s book uses all of their ideas?

What interests me is that this whole lawsuit is a only a few months before the release of the movie, giving free consistent national exposure for the film and its release date until the lawsuit is settled.

I am very suspcious about the suit. I think it is far more likely that Sony Pictures is behind this lawsuit than it is for any thing in Brown’s book to be based on actual facts.

http://www.twoorthree.net/2006/02/collusion_with_.html
dianne 02.28.06 at 2:36 pm: Look what just popped up on AOL’s home page celebrating Black History month. Note what it says about modern day “Uncle Toms”.
http://blackvoices.aol.com/black_news/black_history_month/articlecanvas?id=20060217101009990001
spunkyhomeschool 02.28.06 at 2:50 pm: Since this is open blog day here. I just want to let anyone reading know about the President’s commission on higher education. We are fast moving toward testing of COLLEGE graduates. Texas is already in a pilot program for this. The leader of the commission is Charles Miller who headed up the Texas reform. If you think the government screwed up K-12 just wait till they get done with higher education. It isn’t going to be pretty. Here’s the details on my blog

http://spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2006/02/new-c-in-nclb.html
spunkyhomeschool 02.28.06 at 2:52 pm: Also not to be missed is Linda Hirshman’s tirade against the stay at home mom she said,

“I would like to see a description of their daily lives that substantiates that position,” Hirshman said. “One of the things I’ve done working on my book is to read a lot of the diaries online, and their description of their lives does not sound particularly interesting or fulfilling for a complicated person, for a complicated, educated person.”

I pity the poor gal. She sounds so miserable.

Here’s the link
http://spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2006/02/unfulfilled-lawyer.html
Terry Dillard 02.28.06 at 3:53 pm: La Shawn, thanks for the open comments!

I’m a co-sponsor of a brand new blogburst advocating the FairTax. I invite everyone to visit The Right Track Blog on Wednesday (or possibly later Tuesday night) for our second weekly installment, and for an opportunity to join us.

The FairTax is a grass roots movement to completely gut the current income tax system and replace it with something that would be more fair and stimulate our economy immensely. Tomorrow’s post will be a basic explanation of the FairTax, so if you’re unfamiliar with the concept, drop by and find out more.

Thanks again, La Shawn!
Christine 02.28.06 at 5:15 pm: Readers here may want to check out my latest blog post called The Vibrant, Evangelical Counterculture

It begins with an interesting article that recently appeared in U.S.A. Today. How rare that a newspaper that usually doesn’t present Christian-friendly articles, suddenly allows conservative Michael Medved to have his say.

My friend Rocky (who sent a copy of the article to me via email) mentioned that perhaps it is a sign that “they are starting to take notice and wonder what it is we’ve got going for us!”
ljbgranny 02.28.06 at 6:28 pm: This is a very interesting link:
http://ktcatspost.blogspot.com/2006/02/really-controversial-film-for-spike.html
Adam Graham 02.28.06 at 8:53 pm: The one story I have that is of some importance:

http://www.adamsweb.us/blog/index.php/a/2006/02/27/the_national_church_burning_crisis

I found some pretty shocking news on the number of church burnings in this country.
Christine Inauen 02.28.06 at 9:22 pm: Well, since we are on the topic of randomness…

I will be eating dinner at the same table with former Governor Ann Richards (”George Bush was born with a silver foot in his mouth!”) on Friday night.

Yawn.

I’ll be sure to take pictures and blog about the experience. I’ll try not to shove my mashed potatoes in her face.

In the meantime, check out my article on Newt.
Garrett O'Hara 02.28.06 at 11:12 pm: I’ve been blogging a lot lately on the student government elections at my university. Even at this level, things have been getting dirty.
Dell 03.01.06 at 1:27 am: I plan to take a little time to further explore the links. Especially the Fantasy Fiction for Christians. I’ve linked you in my blog’s sidebar so that I can check in often, and have the treat of reading your entries.
John Anderson 03.01.06 at 2:57 am: I just wanted to say that I enjoy reading your blog and I read it everyday. Keep up the good work.

John Anderson
DL Foster 03.01.06 at 11:57 am: I think all the female contestants on AI this year are exceptionally boring. Though I had some hope for Ann Nesby’s granddaughter, she too is pitchy, and just aw-ite for me.

The guys are blazing. Particularly Jose Penala, Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry. Im also liking in an underdog kinda way lil Kevin Coviais.

Thanks LBC for letting me have this shallow moment lol.
ElCee 03.01.06 at 12:45 pm: DL, I kind of like Mandisa right now, but we’ll see. She has some good things to say:
http://www.idolonfox.com/contestants/mandisa/
DL Foster 03.01.06 at 1:10 pm: Yeah ElCee,
I think she’s a real nice girl and she is one of several who say they have a personal relationship with Jesus.
But there is no ooomph, no woo-wee to any of these women on the stage. As the judges say, they are playing safe I guess so as to avoid getting voted off by not doing anything crazy.
No Kelly.
No Fantasia.
No excitement.

Well we’ll see.
ElCee 03.01.06 at 1:35 pm: I’m with you on that DL. And I’ll stop watching if it gets as boring as it did last year.
Tony from Boulder 03.01.06 at 1:42 pm: Is exclusion lying??? Let’s say you were fired at a particular job and in the future you leave that experience off your resume.

I can certainly see why someone might, especially if the person’s manager involved in the firing had it in for the employee which is the case for some. The last thing you would want is a new employer having to deal with talking to a ‘reference’ from this type of job experience.
Doug 03.01.06 at 1:43 pm: As La Shawn is encouraging an open thread, I just watched “To Kill a Mockingbird” the other night, and I encourage everyone to look for it-one of those classics mentioned more than watched.
Heather I. 03.01.06 at 2:48 pm: OK, here’s a question for all of you who work at home. Do you wear shoes while you work? I’ve had a bit of a shoe controversy going on over at my site. People are PASSIONATE about “The Shoe Thing.” I’d love to get more input because I find all this intriguing. I’ve started to wear my running shoes while I’m working at home — either at the computer or doing housework. I’m finding myself more productive. But this could just be me. Here’s my post:
http://mom2momconnection.com/2006/02/24/flylady-friday-the-shoe-thing/
Agent Tim 03.01.06 at 3:28 pm: Hello La Shawn,
I know I talked to you a little bit about this awhile ago, but today was the lauch of a fantastic organization called Regenerate Our Culture (www.regenerateourculture.com). I’d really encourage everyone to take a look at this website, which will feature a magazine, a “blog network,” and a podcast. The magazine will have some fantastic talent writing for it. Don’t miss it!