“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’” – Luke 2: 1-12
***

The rain in Southern California has ceased (for now), and I’ve never been so glad to see the sun. Merry Christmas, readers.

Lions:

And cheetahs:

And giraffes, on my:

Strange creatures dressed like old-school prisoners:

This beast is known as a Republican-In-Name-Only. Isn’t he cute, boys and girls?

Antelope – They taste good with honeydew melon and pineapple:

“Git offa my lawn, lady.”

Bull. No, really, it is:

Gorilla in the midst of a dream:

From Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles:

Roscoe’s doesn’t serve pork, so the greens were cooked without it. Still good:

Chicken chili and rice:

A photography course and better camera are indicated, but these will do (Check out my groovy beachwear! It was cold.):

If I hear the theme song to this show one more time:

…I’m going to climb that hill and jump into the fire. AHHHHHHHHHH!

(Nine-year-olds really dig Disney.)

It’s about 50 degrees in DC (former home) right now. Not bad.

But it’s 86 degrees in SoCal (new home). Clear, balmy, and slightly breezy. In the middle of November. I officially don’t know how to act. I like winter: the ice and snow (yeah, I know…strange), frigid, overcast mornings, clothes layering, hats, gloves…

But I’m loving this. Check out my view:

Bye!

Wednesday, November 5: Voters in California (YES!), Arizona, and Florida (overwhelmingly) chose to protect traditional marriage.

Black Californians overwhelmingly supported the measure that defines marriage as between only a man and a woman: 70 percent, while 94 percent voted for Barack Obama. Whites supported Prop 8 49 percent.

Tuesday, November 4: Voting day was uneventful at my Santa Clarita Valley polling place. I did what I could today. Let’s hope McCain pulls it off and Propositions 8 and 4 pass.

No matter who wins, keep smiling, everybody. Take comfort in knowing God’s in control.

By the way, fellow believer Randy Thomas is live-blogging and chatting. Come on over!

Later: Washington Examiner editorial page editor, blogger, and fellow believer Mark Tapscott twitters: “I expect to have more investigative journalism fun in the next four years than sane man should be allowed!”

Don’t despair over President Barack Hussein Obama. Follow Mark’s lead and think of all the blog fodder, investigative pieces, and spirited conversations America’s new socialist regime will generate among us. And I’m convinced this book idea I’m working on will be much more marketable with Democrats running things. A contrarian voice in the wilderness! I am and will remain an outspoken conservative.

And don’t forget about our Christian witness, urgent no matter who’s in the White House. Cry in your beer/wine/coffee/tea/water/whatever tonight, suffer through all the “What an historic moment in the history of historic moments!” “First African-American [cringe] president of the United States!!!” headlines you’ll see tomorrow morning, then get on with things.

Goodnight all, and thanks for reading LBC.

Addendum: State ballot measures still in play.

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I was going to write a long post about how much I’m dreading an Obama presidency.

But I changed my mind. I’m feeling too good right now.

I’m sitting in front of my bedroom window, watching tree branches sway in the wind. Beyond the trees is a hill, the same one I’ve been looking at for weeks. Sometimes it’s obscured by smog. Other days I see it clearly. This view is one of the many reasons I left DC and moved to California.

My sister and I are going to the polls tomorrow, and we’re going to hold our noses and vote for John McCain, who most likely will lose this election. (This will be my first time on the losing side in a presidential election. I voted for Clinton and Bush II twice, and victory was sweet.)

Yes, I dread an Obama presidency, but my faith in God holds steady. He will accomplish his purposes, even if he has to use President Barack Obama to do it. You see, God is already using Obama to accomplish one of his purposes: to light a fire under me. I’ve been holding back on you, God, and you’ve been patient.

Yesterday, I was reading a book that referred to this passage:

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself…”

Christ says he’s preparing a place for me. For me. I talk about my relationship with Christ, but I know I’ve been holding back, afraid to fully trust him and develop the kind of intimacy that will allow God to use me fully to accomplish his purposes. Every Christian has been commissioned to make disciples of all men and all nations, to represent him on earth and advance his kingdom. But this Christian has wasted a lot time, caught up with my own desires.

Yesterday was a turning point for me, though. Jesus’ words — his preparing a place for me in his Father’s house — resonated in a way they hadn’t before. I was moved, deeply touched by his love for me. It is a privilege to serve him, and my heart goes out to people who stubbornly reject him.

We’ve got a lot of work to do, Christians.

Update: As a reader reminded me:

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD,
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes. – Proverbs 21:1

Californians, vote YES on 8!

Caught…

…wearing the same shirt in two posts. Couldn’t you just die?

“Girl, is that a hickey on your arm?”

“I don’t think so. (I don’t think so. Nice answer!) It’s bruise.” From packing and/or bumping into moving boxes, probably.

“They” say Jazz is an acquired taste. Trying to acquire a taste for it.

#115 on the to-do list: take a course or read a book on how to take decent photos.

Barack Obama-love at the festival:

Quite a statement, eh? An American flag noose…hanging The Black Man. I get it! Very tedious clever:

Nice voice:

What is it about drummers?

Digging the view:

Tired nephew:

Update (9/11): Some readers are under the mistaken impression that I attended the HBCU conference. I didn’t.

The photo below of me and Justice Thomas was taken last October at the Heritage Foundation. Thomas spoke about his experiences and signed copies of his memoir, My Grandfather’s Son.
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At the recent Annual Conference of the White House Initiative on National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was “not acceptable” that there aren’t more black people in her meetings at the State Department. (Source)

Based on the context of the entire speech, which I read, she wasn’t insinuating “racism” had anything to do with it. It sounded like she was encouraging blacks to become involved in Foreign Service.

There’s nothing wrong with encouraging blacks to consider certain careers, but it sounds too much like pandering to me. If I were giving a speech in front of a black audience (which I hope to do on my book tour), I wouldn’t complain about the paucity of blacks at blog conferences. Who cares?

No matter what the topic, I’d take time to address substantive issues that blacks, not the government, need to fix, like the outrageous levels of illegitimacy and crime among blacks. That is not acceptable. There are more pressing concerns than not seeing other blacks at a conference or in meetings. I wouldn’t waste time, not one second, “lamenting” that there aren’t more people “who look like me.”

Rice believes it’s OK for colleges to consider race when admitting an applicant (I’m wondering if she thinks it’s OK for colleges to also admit white students based on race), so I hope she isn’t advocating using race preferences to recruit more blacks to the State Department. With her level of education and experience, she should be more circumspect.

Contrast Rice’s remarks with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s to the same group. He “benefited” from race preferences, as I have, and we both bear the stigma of and aversion to this odious practice. An excerpt:

A longtime opponent of race-based preferences in hiring and school admissions, Thomas said, “Just from a constitutional standpoint, I think we’re going to run into problems if we say the Constitution says we can consider race sometimes.”

Thomas, 60, has voted on the court to outlaw the use of race in college admissions and in determining which public schools students will attend. He wrote with evident resentment in his autobiography “My Grandfather’s Son” that he felt he was allowed to attend Yale Law School in the 1970s because of his race and took a tough course load to prove he was as able as his white classmates.

“My suggestion would be to stop the buzz words and to focus more on the practical effect of what we’re doing,” he said Tuesday.

“What we’re doing” when we allow the government to prefer one person over another based on race, practically speaking, is giving government the power to discriminate based on race, the battle cry of the entire civil rights movement! You see, people don’t want to know the truth. They get it twisted in their minds, deluding themselves into believing lowering the bar for blacks is a good thing or that race preferences have nothing to do with lesser qualifications. (See The True Meaning of “Black Pride”)

Not being good enough to get accepted to a school or hired for a job is one thing. I can study more and get better grades or acquire the necessary skills and experience, or move on to a school or job for which I’m qualified. But when someone implies that I should receive some unearned benefit because I can’t do any better on account of my race, well, those are fighting words.

I would guess that most people don’t care about race preferences. This demeaning policy likely does not affect their daily lives, so it’s low on the priority list. We all should care about it. Think about that grainy black and white film footage you’ve seen from the 1960s: cops turning hoses and dogs on black protesters, Democrats standing in school doors to prevent black kids from entering, whites shouting at black students as they walked to school, etc. To get the government out of the skin color business, this country engaged in a tense struggle for equal treatment. Race preferences make a mockery of that struggle.

It’s 2008, and the government is still in the skin color business. Blacks are “benefiting” from it these days, and that’s why they support it. But one day, the government might revert to its former practice. When that happens, what legal and moral leg will blacks have to stand on?

None.

How have you been helped or harmed by preferences?

Tuesday, May 6 @ 6:42 a.m. PT: Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone!

I met country singer Rissi Palmer last Friday at the Stagecoach Festival. The photo of us isn’t the best quality, but there it is. As people I meet often tell me about my photos, Rissi’s photos don’t do her justice. She’s downright radiant. I reviewed the show for Blog Critics. I’ll link when it’s up.

Later…Check out the review.

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5:38 p.m. PT: Just to see if I have the discipline, I’m going completely offline Friday. No e-mail, no Twitter, no Facebook, no MySpace, no blogs, no news sites. (And no Treo-surfing, either.) Nada. If you e-mailed me this week, I’ll reply next week.

The work week is done, and I’m Stagecoach Festival-bound. Yee-haw! And I’ll be 41 on Monday, May 5. Woo-hoo! I think I’ll take that day off, too.

“‘Scuse me, while I kiss this guy!”

But before I go, a word about independent music blogs and news sites selling out to The Man.

You like money, right? Who doesn’t? Money makes the world go ’round, as they say. Money’s quite useful for paying bills, obtaining clothes and shoes, food, a new computer, a birthday cake and 41 candles, digital music, etc.

While the RIAA sues music fans and lobbies Congress for tougher copyright infringement laws (to the tune of $2.1 million last year), at least one major label is climbing into bed with the revolutionaries. Music blog and social networking site Buzznet acquired music blogs Idolator (formerly Gawker Media property) and Stereogum. Fine. Nothing wrong with that. But Buzznet also received $25 million from Universal Music Group (UMG) as an “investment.” UMG is one of the notorious Big Four major record labels.

Desperate to gain a foothold in the aftermath of a digital seismic shift that’s shaken the music industry’s foundation, UMG is licensing its catalog for streaming music and videos and also will provide “editorial content” from artists. In other words, UMG’s artists/clients will guest blog at Buzznet. Smell a potential conflict of interest?

Listening Post blogger Eliot Van Buskirk does. UMG’s investment and content could taint Buzznet’s independence, or at least its perceived independence. Will users rebel against UMG’s artists, embrace them, or fall somewhere in between? And aren’t music blogs’ independence part of their allure? They are havens for independent musicians, advocates of the obscure. What kind of blog-press will they get once major record labels buy up popular music blogs? Accepting ads for revenue is one thing; accepting multiple millions from a major record label is quite another.

This morning I read that the corporation Viacom may have bought a music blog post aggregator called Hype Machine, which I browse occasionally, for $10 million. (Source) Viacom, as you may know, is a “media conglomerate” that owns MTV, VH1, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, TV Land, Nickelodeon – in other words, everything. Will Hype Machine become a tool of the corporation and promote Viacom’s properties at the expense of what it does best: help people discover music?

Who among us would have the will to resist a deep-pocketed mogul waving money in our faces? Mama does need a new pair of shoes.

The Man just can’t keep his hands off the latest, hot new (and profitable) thing, can he?

Bruce Houghton of Hypebot asks, Will Indies Be Left Out Of Music 2.0?

Related posts:

• Warner Music Sues to Squash The Search
• RIAA’s “Make Available” Claim Smacked Down Again
• Glimpses of God: Rissi Palmer

10:38 a.m. PT: LBC’s source code disappeared for a while. My host restored backup from the wee hours of Thursday morning, which means all the cool comments from Thursday morning through Friday are gone.

I’ve reposted the California pictures. Nice comments about those. Gone. Oh, well.

Hanging out in Hollywood today. Have a good one!

Sunday, November 25: I snapped a couple of photos of the billowing smoke from the Malibu fire, but you can’t see it very well:

All clear:

On the pier:

Friday, November 23 (reposted 11/24): The best part of California is the Pacific:

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7:26 a.m. PT: I’m thankful for:

• A loving God whose grace is abundant. He is exceedingly merciful, and I’ll be eternally grateful;
• My loving family, without whom I’d be lost in this indifferent world;
• Having been born in America, land of the free, home of the brave.

Let’s gather together and ask the Lord’s blessing…

Update: I try not to be “star struck,” but sometimes, I can’t help it. I’m a big fan of Dr. James White, Reformed Christian pastor, apologist, debater, writer, and blogger. I’ve been listening to his debates and webcasts and reading his blog and articles for…three years now? I’ve learned a lot from that man.

He reads my blog. I’m blown away.

Happy Thanksgiving, readers.

***Live-blogging at Boundless Line and below***

***For earlier live-blogging, see Part II***

This photo was taken yesterday by Jim of Gateway Pundit. More photos here. Pictured: Matt Sheffield of NewsBusters.org, me, and Soren Dayton of RedState.org.

10:05 a.m. PT: It’s Day Two of the Blog World Expo/GodBlogCon Convention. Biola University professor Paul Spears will discuss “Trafficking in Substance: A Blogging Dilemma: The Case for Blog Euthanasia.” Christians interested in God blogging need to be representatives of a “bigger thing.” What does it mean to have “substance” on your blog?

Paul says Christians have a responsibility to enable our audience to come to an understanding of larger things. It takes work, but there’s no other way around it. This assumes you want your blog to be significant, to come from a place of substance and help other Christians in their walk toward Christ. Paul showed a series of famous paintings. These artists created the kind of beauty that lasts. Lofty idea for mere bloggers, but we should strive to create something meaningful that endures.

What’s the story we’re telling? For me, I want to share the story of how Christ affects lives, my own and other people’s. There’s more than enough blogging out there about the latest trends and hottest politic topics. What we need is transcendence.

11:06 a.m.: Dustin Steeve of Biola University is discussing the basics of blogging and finding the platform to meet your needs. Pros and cons of free services like Blogger.com, WordPress.com, etc.

I’m up next. Break a leg!

2:53 p.m.: If I do say so myself, my presentation went well. Didn’t talk about my testimony (as I did here), and I hit most of my points on “writing well in the new media.” I was nervous this morning and right before I went on. Took a few deep breaths, stepped outside myself, took the focus off myself, and shared with the audience what I know about writing on the web. Writing online is somewhat different than writing for print publications. I encouraged bloggers in the audience to be bold for Christ on the web and not to worry about offending people. Our very existence offends people. The exclusive claims of our faith offend people. Don’t hesitate to take a strong stand on controversial issues.

Right after the talk, I was asked if I wanted to speak at next year’s GodBlogCon. A resounding “Yes, I do.” I may create a post based on my presentation.

GodBlogCon sessions are still going on, but I decided to walk around and try to meet other bloggers. Met Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House, Dean Barnett of Townhall (what a nice guy, man!), did a Blog Talk Radio interview with Captain Ed and Duane Patterson and an XM radio interview for Pajamas Media with Ed Driscoll. I chatted with Vodkapundit’s Stephen Green, whom I met in NYC at the Pajamas Media launch.

Yesterday, I met cool coder Mark Jaquith, who recognized me and introduced himself (he’s cute!). I hired Mark to do some coding for me couple years ago. Since then, he’s become hot property, slinging code all over the blogosphere.

Let’s see…I met D.C. Thornton, a guy who’s been on my blogroll for years. Got to chat with Pam Spaulding again. For those who don’t know her, Pam and I are political and social opposites. She’s a homosexual “marriage”-supporting liberal lesbian. And she’s cool. We didn’t get a chance to do the photo thing this time, though.

I met others, but I’ll have to remember who they were later.

Anyway, check back for more GodBlogCon updates.

To Professor John Mark Reynolds and Biola University student volunteers: Thank you so much for inviting me to speak. It’s a privilege to know such mature, godly young people. You are kind, thoughtful, and extremely generous. Your energy and dedication astounds me. I wish I’d been only half as hardworking and focused when I was your age.

There’s nothing quite as inspiring as a drive through downtown in the nation’s capital on an Indian Summer’s night…

Update (9:46 p.m.): This blog has opened a lot of doors for me.

Not only have I met terrific people, but this tiny small space has given me the courage to boldly say what I believe needs to be said.

Not only that, but it’s given me the confidence to speak to large groups of people in person, on the radio, and on TV. I’ve never been what you’d call a wallflower, but I never imagined I’d be called upon to talk to people about what I believe, and defend it without shame or fear. I’m not the most articulate or the best looking or the smartest, but I’m here, willing to take risks.

I know some readers miss what this blog used to be. At the peak of this site’s popularity, I used to blog several times a day at least six days a week. In fact, I think I blogged more when I had a day job. Some posts produced 100+ comments. I craved the interaction, loved the civility, hated the trolls, and never thought I’d slow down or close commenting.

But all that changed a few months ago. I wanted this blog to be something else. I’d been running it one way for over three years, and I was ready for a radical change, just short of shutting it down. So I slowed down the posting and closed commenting.

For the first time since I started this blog, I’m blogging exactly the way I want, what I want, and as frequently (or infrequently, as the case may be) as I want. Hate the Hanson blogging? Not my problem. I like the Hanson blogging. Miss commenting? Hey, that’s the way it is now. I may open comments sometime in the future. For now, I’m loving the “echo chamber” that is lashawnbarber.com.

My traffic is not as high as it once was, and that’s OK. It really is. Actually, to see it drop and to not care is quite liberating. Woo hoo!

For the first time since I started this blog, I’m taking the time to enjoy the open doors. After fours years of blogging (November 5 will be my fourth blogiversary), I’m ready to slow down, take advantage of the networks I’ve built, and do things I enjoy, whether or not related to politics.

These changes have displeased some readers. While your readership has meant a lot to me, go if you feel you must go. No hard feelings. There are literally millions of blogs about there, a few hundred of them actually worth reading. Peruse my blogroll before you leave and bookmark new favorites. For new readers who found my blog through CNN or the Washington Examiner or BlogCritics, welcome to LBC. Perhaps you’ll find something else you like. If not, browse the blogroll. You just might find a gem.

That was a long intro to this: Tonight, I met a man I admire very much. I was invited to join a group of conservative bloggers and columnists (like Kate O’Beirne, Bill Kristol, and James Taranto) for dinner with Justice Clarence Thomas. This humble, personable man said that despite what some black liberal types say about him in the press and on blogs, he’s never had a bad experience with one. They may call him an “Uncle Tom” behind his back, but never to his face.

Justice Thomas told us a couple of anecdotes about how two black men at different events “confronted” him, asked him questions, listened civilly to the answers, and concluded: “Why are they lying about you? What can we do about it?”

Justice Thomas talked about his experiences speaking at certain events, where all the other speakers were allowed to have opinions, and no one mentioned their race. He, on the other hand, has to deal with the consequences of having certain opinions as a black man.

He described the hostility of some blacks toward him as “intellectual segregation.” Legal segregation is over, but some people have “White Only” and “Colored” sections in their minds. Blacks aren’t supposed to stray from what the party line says is good for black folks. What’s good for black folks, to liberals I know, is the perpetuation of victimology. Teach the black man that he cannot help himself and encourage him to rely on his “betters” to guide him. The whole world is against him. He needs our help. He can depend on us. We’ll fight the “racists” on his behalf. We’ll take from the racists and give to him. Then he will love us.

Well, that’s the way I see it.

I’m done rambling for tonight. Welcome, new readers, and thanks for stopping by, regular readers. Buy Justice Thomas’s memoir, My Grandfather’s Son.

Good night to you all…

(Thanks, Michelle!)

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Pick up a copy of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s memoir, My Grandfather’s Son, released today. Check for updates to this post. I’ll have a personal story to share later.

In the meantime, watch/listen to Thomas’s interviews with:

• 60 Minutes (broadcast last night)
• ABC News (published yesterday)
• Rush Limbaugh today beginning in the second hour at 1 p.m. EDT. Not a member of Rush 24/7? Listen online at WBAL WMAL.

Related column and posts:

• Black Pride, White Paternalism
• The True Meaning of “Black Pride”
• Black Conservatives and Black Liberals: What’s the Difference?

Sunday, September 30: Click the photo for more debate photos.

Friday, September 28: I’ll post pics here later, hopefully today. MBA’s Bob Cox took all the good ones. (Hint, hint, Bob) Eric at Classical Values has posted pics. I got a few of myself (well, Bob did) with the Man of Steele himself. Nice guy. This blog is somewhat high profile in conservative circles, but I’m always surprised when I meet people like Michael Steele who “know” me.
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See MBA’s live-blogging feed.

Live-blogging from Ian Schwartz, Matt Sheffield, Casey Lartigue, and Eric Scheie.

Juan Williams is asking: name one reform you would endorse that would ensure that young blacks and hispanics would have equal justice in America’s courts. Brownback said something about the Second Chance Act. Tancredo says federal government should not mandate drug penalties. Should go to the states. A states’ rights man. Tancredo also mentioned the breakdown of the family. Keep hammering it home. People want to talk about race, but only about what the government can give people. What will the people do? Where does their responsibility lie?

Ron Paul wants to repeal war on drugs. It’s not working! Big applause.

Cynthia Tucker asks: she calls showing voter ID RIGID. Is she crazy? GEORGIA’S DARKIES REDUX. She asked about DC being recognized as a state. Tancredo says DC is not a state, so no. And he says it’s not asking too much of people to prove who they are before they do something as important as voting. Gee whiz! Hunter says he’d support DC statehood if DC would REPEAL THE GUN BAN. My hands are sore from clapping.

Huckabee believes in DC statehood. So does Brownback. Got to amend the Constitution. The only proper way to do it. It would never pass.

I gotta tell you, this race-related crap is making my stomach feel funny. I might throw up. Right here on my laptop. Pictures later. I’m going to Liza Sabater’s chatroom.

Juan Williams: Acknowledged black military woman. First black woman combat pilot in US history. Served two tours. Williams mentioned low enlistment for blacks and hispanics. Is that because of the Iraq war? How do we raise enlistment? Believe me, it’s not worth live-blogging.

Ron Paul wants us out of Iraq. Had nothing to do with 9/11.

10:14 p.m.: Tucker asks if US has role in ending genocide in Darfur and what would it be? Huckabee says yes we should be involved, but we need to deal with millions of babies killed in the US through abortion. Here, here! Brownback says as powerful nation, we need to be involved. Divest, provide food and medicine, etc. Tancredo says yes, we should be involved. Hunter says ditto. Keyes says we are in touch with every person in the world, and we can’t turn on our backs on suffering.

10:23 p.m.: Juan Williams asked if school integration is still necessary. In other words, do black kids need to sit next to white kids to learn. A couple of clowns said yes, in so many words. Tancredo said it’s racist to believe that. What we need is not forced integration but SCHOOL CHOICE. Vouchers.