Richard Pryor, 1940-2005

by La Shawn on December 10, 2005

in General

richard pryorComedian Richard Pryor died today. He was 65.

Pryor had a storied career and life. A lot of comedians will be paying homage to him for weeks to come. Arguably the first successful mainstream black comedian, Pryor inspired many would-be funny men and women.

Rising in the stand-up circuit dishing out “blue” comedy, Pryor hit the big screen years before anyone had ever heard of Eddie Murphy (who lived in the same Long Island, New York, neighborhood as I did when we were kids).

One of my favorite Pryor movies is likely considered his worst by critics, Moving (see the full list). Unfortunately he’s probably most known for almost burning himself up while freebasing cocaine back in the 80s. After that, he was plagued by multiple sclerosis and confined to a wheelchair. In the end, a heart attack took him out.

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Nothing but Narnia

by Mean Dean on December 9, 2005

in Pop Culture

Considering C.S.Lewis’ authorship of Mere Christianity and the Screwtape Letters, it should come as no suprise that there is no end to the number of God bloggers commenting on the opening of Andrew Adamson’s latest film adaptation of a C.S.Lewis classic.

Over at blogs4God, I list forty (count them, 40!) posts (with excerpts even) from the past ten days of Christians gone wild over the film version of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia.’

When you’re done there, don’t forget to double back to La Shawn’s take on Lewis’ work over on her new blog: Fantasy Fiction for Christians

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Fantasy Fiction for Christians

by La Shawn on December 8, 2005

in Geek Stuff, Pop Culture

wizardJust in time for the U.S. premiere of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I created a new blog called Fantasy Fiction for Christians (FFC).

FFC is a hobby blog and an experiment in search engine optimizing and revenue generating. It’s already pulling in quite a bit of traffic because of the movie hype.

FFC will also function as a forum to discuss Narnia, Harry Potter theories, review fantasy fiction and related books for Christians, and similar topics. Fantasy Fiction for Christians is the first of several blog projects.

The template is a modified version of a WordPress theme called Journalized Sand. I’m partial to a three-column layout and soft earth tones. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Crash Course on Blogging

by La Shawn on December 8, 2005

in TLA

clockAttention bloggers and wanna-be bloggers in the D.C. area!

There are still slots available for a seminar I’m leading with fellow consultant Ken Yarmosh. Crash Course on Blogging is geared toward non-profit organizations but contains useful information for anyone who is blogging or thinking of starting a blog.

I will explain the benefits of blogging, what a blog can do for your organization, and how to build an audience, and Ken will demystify the technical jargon and show you how to set up a blog.

The seminar will be held at the Leadership Institute on 1101 North Highland Street, Arlington, VA 22201, on Monday, December 19, from 7:00-9:30 p.m. The cost is only $35.

For more information, you may contact me or Ken Yarmosh.

Addendum: Thanks for all the guest blogger “applications.” I will be contacting you shortly.

News that parodies itself

by Mean Dean on December 8, 2005

in Bush Bad, Haters, Liberals, Lunacy, Media Bias

As you can tell, I’ve been enjoying my guest stint here at La Shawn’s in part because it has given me a chance to flag some opinions that often lead to copious complaintage over at blogs4God.com. Especially when I poke fun at the hypocrisy of the main stream media. Of course, some times the MSM does the work for me … like today …

In the interest of love and tolerance the University of Connecticut chapter of Students Against Hate, lead by journalism and social welfare major Eric Knudsen, shouted-down Ann Coulter while she gave a speech on the UConn campus.

S, the Saddam MagazineThe WaPo is reporting that Saddam’s trial is proceeding as scheduled after a one day delay due to a Harry Ried-like boycott – because of an unjust trial. Gee, wonder where Hussein got that Ramsey Clark-ish idea? What’s next, a Howard Dean meme that Saddam was just minding his own business, that Bush should be on trial? Please refer to the larger/legible version on the magazine cover to the right for a ‘clearer picture.’

David Broder opines not so poetically about the good old days, like you know, when speaker Tom Foley was in charge during the House post office scandal and the gifts-for-trips improprieties in the early 1990s. Perhaps Mr. Broder is just grumpy because last night’s tax relief legislation didn’t include casinos, country clubs, hot tub facilities, liquor stores, massage parlors, golf courses, racetracks and tanning salons?

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Miami Airport incident

by Hube on December 8, 2005

in Bush Bad, Cultural Decline, Haters, Lunacy

Hube here again. I posted this late yesterday over at my home site, The Colossus of Rhodey with the updates from this morning:

Breaking news: a 44 year old American was shot and killed by air marshals at Miami Airport earlier today:

A passenger who claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday on a jetway connected to an American Airlines plane that had just arrived at Miami International Airport from Colombia, officials said.

Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle said after the plane had parked at the gate, a passenger indicated there was a bomb in the passenger’s carryon bag. The passenger was confronted by air marshals but ran off the plane.

A team of air marshals pursued and ordered the passenger to get on the ground. The passenger did not comply and was shot when apparently reaching into a bag, Doyle said. He said this is the first time an air marshal has shot at a passenger or suspect.

I’m willing to bet one or more of the following will happen shortly:

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Condi vs. Hillary?

by La Shawn on December 7, 2005

in Book Reviews

condi vs. hillaryI don’t think it’ll happen, but Dick Morris has high hopes for Dr. Rice. Would Americans elect a woman for president of the United States? If the two candidates were women, they obviously would. But I doubt Republicans or Democrats would nominate a woman. I think a black man would stand a better chance at gaining the White House than any woman.

What do you think?

A Biased List of Related Sites:

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The attack on Pearl Harbor remembered 64 years later

by Mean Dean on December 7, 2005

in General

A bit more serious today than most, but only because the 64th anniversary of sneak attack on Pearl Harbor deserves said solemnity:

  • Fuzzy and Blue reflects many of my own sentiments regarding the Greatest Generation with the post: 64 Yrs Ago Japan Bombed Pearl Harbor

    "As we remember the 64th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, I want to say thank you to my now deceased paternal & maternal grandfathers."

  • The Tension remembers Pearl Harbor with some very neat links to:
    • U.S. Navy’s overview and special images
    • the National Geographic Multimedia Map and time line
    • the USS Arizona Memorial
    • and a story about how survivors to mark the Pearl Harbor Anniversary.
       
  • Infamy of Praise is having a little to much fun with their Pearl Harbor Day Trivia

    "What is not well-known, however, is that this memorable phrase was not the President’s initial choice. In an earlier draft of his speech, he referred to the day as ‘our generation’s 9/11′ …"

  • Ordinary Everyday Christian lists both the U.S. and British response to this day that will live in infamy.
     
  • Speaking of ordinary Christians, I meta-blog a few other links by some God bloggers over at blogs4God.
     
  • Update … and speaking of metablogging … Michelle Malkin outdoes me with an excellent list of her own

Feel free to leave a comment with your own link and/or tribute.

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Racist cartoon?

by Hube on December 7, 2005

in Censorship, Education, Liberals, Lunacy, Race Preferences

Hube here again!

Via the man whom I consider my “blogfather,” John Rosenberg and his awesome site Discriminations, comes word of a possible NAACP boycott of The Michigan Daily, the University of Michigan’s student newspaper, because of this cartoon it ran on November 28:

NAACP 2nd Vice President Jamila Fair said the cartoon reduced affirmative action to a black-white issue. Affirmative action policies do not only benefit blacks but also groups such as women and other minorities, Fair said.

“It makes it seem like affirmative action is only a black and white issue,” Fair said. “To the NAACP it was a slap in the face. It hurt what we are trying so hard to fight.”

NAACP members said the Daily should not have printed the cartoon because they said it is racist. Members also said that the cartoon stereotypes blacks as a minority group that is both abusing affirmative action policies and underqualified to attend the University.

It comes as little surprise that the NAACP considers the cartoon “racist.” Virtually any form of dissent to what the NAACP desires is considered such. Ironically, Rosenberg received word of the cartoon from Jennifer Gratz, the plaintiff in the landmark US Supreme Court case on affirmative action. The SCOTUS actually decided two cases regarding the University of Michigan, and Gratz is the case in which they ruled harshest on AA. In Gratz, underrepresented minorities were “awarded” extra points (20, to be precise) in the admissions process. (Grutter was the other case in which the SCOTUS ruled that race can be used in admissions, but must be “narrowly tailored.”)

But back to the Michigan Daily. The Daily backs race-based admissions policies in its unsigned editorials, but that isn’t good enough for the NAACP.

Daily Editor in Chief Jason Pesick — who made the ultimate decision to run the cartoon — defended the paper’s handling of the cartoon.

“We give cartoonists and columnists on the edit page a great deal of latitude,” he said. “Their views don’t necessarily reflect the views of the editorial page or the paper as a whole.”

[Cartoonist Michelle] Bien said she wanted to portray a variety of races in the cartoon but did not know how to draw certain other ethnic groups. She said children in the cartoon with dark faces were meant to represent many minority groups and not just blacks.

Well, why not? Doesn’t the NAACP consider Hispanics, Native Americans and/or Asian Indians “people of color”? Why did the organization automatically assume all the dark faces in the cartoon were African-American students? (Were they stereotyping?) In addition, Bien indeed could have made the subject of the professor’s explanation Asian, since it is they who are, as Abigail Thernstrom argues, most negatively affected by affirmative action (or affirmative discrimination, if you prefer).

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Gender-Based Violence Still Rampant in Darfur

by Independent Conservative on December 6, 2005

in War - Islamofascism

The Independent Conservative here, just keeping you aware of what continues to be a very sad situation.

Sudan: Gender-Based Violence Still Rampant in Darfur, Say Aid Agencies

Humanitarian agencies have called for increased efforts to prevent sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) in war-torn western Sudan, saying such acts against women violate their human rights.
…
“The impact of the conflict is very clear in all aspects of life. But it’s more clear on women, children, and the elderly because they are most fragile,” noted Elhaj Atalmnan Idris, the deputy governor of South Darfur.
…
GBV, particularly the rape of women and girls by armed groups, has been widely reported throughout Darfur. According to state records, however, only five cases of rape have been prosecuted, resulting in three convictions so far.
…
An earlier report released by UNFPA and the UN Children’s Fund said a study had shown that sexual violence was consistently reported during attacks on villages – especially when women and girls left the camps.
…
“Unmarried girls were the most affected, and some did not seek health care in clinics due to stigma and shame,” the report said. Women in the focus groups cited “physical injuries due to beatings, rape, miscarriages, excessive bleeding or injuries sustained during flight from the enemies” as some of the health problems they had suffered.

Sexually transmitted diseases, malnutrition, irregular menstrual cycles and psychological disturbances such as nightmares were also frequently mentioned by the women.
…

I just ask that you pray and continue to support efforts to help these people.

Keep in mind that Bin Laden used to hang out in the Sudan and if left unchecked, this area will continue to breed new enemies for the United States. Nations like China have been working to impede some efforts to bring pressure on the ruling government of Sudan. China has been busy trying to cut business deals with them for their own benefit. This situation of radicals in parts of Africa is a matter we cannot ignore. I realize areas like Iran are probably more pressing at the moment, but Islamic Radicals operate on multiple fronts. So the allies of freedom must do the same!

Update 12/7/2005 12:12AM: I just remembered, that one woman from the Sudan that was forced to “be with” Bin Laden has written a book about her story. For that a fatwa has been issued for her death. Check out this transcript of the interview with Kola Boof.

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Snarkasm – cheap shots for the rest of us

by Mean Dean on December 6, 2005

in Bush Good, Conservatives, Liberals, Media Bias

Snarkasm – ’snär-"ka-z&m – noun – a disdainful and often cheap shot designed at pointing out painfully obvious and/or stupid stuff.

Today’s target, some headlines and/or bylines in the Washington Post that in my humble opinion, could use some improvement, disclaimers and/or clarifications:

  • DeLay’s Felony Charge Is Upheld – I love this. All over the news list night, the general story was ‘some charges dropped.’ But the WaPo, wanting to be more and more like the NYTimes each day, has to accentuate the negative. File under the category of ‘never headline a nice thing about a republican.’
  • Looks like ‘objective’ opinion writer Richard Cohen has received the latest talking points from ‘Chucky’ Schumer, et.al. in the rant ‘Let Rumsfeld Go.’ Apparently this meme has been recycled – with consequences that might make lefties think 2x.
  • E. J. Dionne Jr. seems to think there IS an abortion litmus test as he accuses conservatives of ‘Dodging Debate On Alito.’ Or what I’d like to byline as ‘please help those of us on the left move this fight to terms favorable to us.‘
  • Three times being the charm, the WaPo accuses Condi of offering ‘A Weak Defense‘ as she tried to assuage countries capable of containing their terrorism, like France, that the U.S. does not authorize or condone torture of detainees. This is because she didn’t qualify her definition of torture to include a number of psyop techniques. Perhaps we should coddle the terrorists like say Tookie? Hmmm… better yet, perhaps next time Dr.Rice can lead off with "the U.S. does not authorize or condone the cruel beheading of captives."
  • Filed under the category of ‘international espionage is a dirty game,’ it looks like the Italians are mad because a ‘CIA Ruse Is Said to Have Damaged Probe in Milan‘ – anyone who’s watched at least one James Bond movie knows that getting info out of bad buys is a messy business where often the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. What amuses me most about this post is that in setting up the human rights argument against the U.S., the writer unintentionally paints a picture of some internal Italian infighting by some miffed that they’re not as deep in Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s inner circle as they once thought.
  • ‘U.S. Is Given Failing Grades By 9/11 Panel‘ – apparently the panel also issued two "incompletes" in categories including airline passenger screening and improving first responders’ communication system. I suspect this will remain so long as we continue to pull 70 year old women out of line for screenings and place the entire weight of local contingency planning on the White House.

As always, your mileage will vary. Feel free to add your own contributions.

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from Bubba to Blanco : Effective use of victim card

by Mean Dean on December 5, 2005

in Bush Bad, Liberals, Lunacy, Media Bias

Like many of you, I’ve been sitting around waiting for someone else to interpret the 100,000 page snow-storm the launched by the office of Kathleen Babineaux Blanco late last week. Fortunately, our man in the field, completely rested from her behind-the-scenes work at the GodBlogCon was able to intercept an incoming email from Blanco’s man behind the curtain:

Received: from alpha.bubbabill.org (alpha.bubbabill.org [127.0.0.1])
by mail.bubbabill.org (8.8.5) id 004A21; Sun, Nov 04 2005 04:36:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Big Kahna <bigkahuna@bubbabill.org>
To: Kathleen Babineaux Blanco <lagov@linknet.net>
Date: Sun, Nov 04 2005 04:36:14 PST
Message-Id: <bigkahuna031897143614-00000298@mail.bubbabill.org>
X-Mailer: Agripak AG-26
Subject: Effective use of victim card – part deux

Way to go Babs!

Even if your latest ‘Blame Bush’ salvo doesn’t rehab your sagging poll numbers, I’ve mentioned to Hillary that it may be ‘diplomatic’ to have a French-speaking Creole team player ’ in 09, if you know what I mean.

I see you took my advice to launch an avalanche of white stuff on the eve of a weekend. Not only did it have the desired effect of keeping the pajama-bloggers and Limbaugh offline, but looks like the WaPo in hopes of beating the NYTimes to the punch just parroted your cover sheet. Cool beans!

That said, now you need to prep for the counter-punch. At some point, someone is going to read all 100,000 pages and realize that you only selected transmissions occurring after the hurricane hit. Let’s hope no one puts together stuff such as your request for your non-Nagin busses occurring after the streets were flooded.

The way to do this is to keep the focus on Bush. Even though it’s not his job to micromanage the details of individual state emergency planning, my eight years in office has trained the public well in thinking the Potus as their ‘Sugar Daddy.’

But enough about me, here are the type of things those knuckle-dragging red-staters might bring up, and here is how you respond:

When they mention mismanagement of the levee funds, ignore indiscretions such as diverting 2.5 million to various Mardi Gras concerns, instead, focus on Bush’s cuts to the Lake Pontchartrain project. Link it all to Iraq if you can … just hope no one realizes that this project, though 90% done since 1965, wasn’t slated for completion until 2010 … and of that, most for a Cat 3 hurricane … But I digress …

BTW, get back to me next week if I don’t offer you some spin for the millions donated – and the millions more in pork headed your way.

Speaking of gimmee, gimmee, gimmee – if and when someone understands your request “to send us everything you’ve got” as a request for Federal resources without Federal oversight, just make an emotional appeal like “while they’re lawyers were busy playing with posse comitatus as a means of making GW look like the hero, we were hard at work emailing requests …” Hopefully the mention of lawyers and legal gibberish will enrage the public and get them to ignore the fact that you could have picked-up the phone anytime – provided GW hadn’t called first.

If blaming GW doesn’t get it done, or if people demand pre-hurricane documents, I suggest placing the blame on that republican-loving ninny Nagin. This tactic is especially important if and when people make the argument that Louisiana was already broken.

For example, if some blogger mentions that LA was 2nd worst in crime, blame it on the murder rate in New Orleans. For good measure, go ahead and throw in the New Orlean’s residency requirement for police officers – the public is usually too dumb to realize the impact of trying to obtain officers from the most crime-ridden neighborhoods.

Likewise, if someone mentions that the LA economy was 2nd to last in GDP, blame the loss of 22,000 residents since 2000 – blame it on Katrina. Seriously! I mean who other than wonks care about growth rates? Even if they do, just deflect their attention to the New Orleans unemployment rate and that meme about people waiting for their welfare checks.

I know it sounds like a lot of blame-shifting, but take it from someone who’s been there and done that, the only way you’re going to shake that the Nation’s worst governors label is to pass the buck, pass the buck, pass the buck.

Oh, while it’s on my mind, make sure you get your employees chargeable hours in order – Hillary can give you more details on how all this works.

One other thing to avoid, next time you do that inauguration thing? Avoid the French speaking thing, at least until we can figure out what to do with the Kerry problem.

xx00
Bubba 1

p.s. – when you get a chance, could you drop in a kind word about me to Mary Landrieu? There’s something so Monica about her that I find irresistible!

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Boycott the Marriott

by Pamela on December 5, 2005

in Bloggers

I am calling on the blogosphere to BOYCOTT MARRIOTT HOTELS.

Brigitte Gabriel was good enough to share the latest act of dhimmitude by an American company by capitulating  and accommodating CAIR but refusing to serve those of us fighting for America. If the Marriott Corporation wants  to operate in America, make money in America, be free to pursue their profits in America, enjoy the freedom of America – then don’t stand in the way of the very people putting their asses on the line to makethat happen.

Buttkissing, terror loving, America hating Marriott – banish them to France! Brigitte is one of the Keynote speakers at People’s Truth Forum anti terrorism conference along with her colleagues Dr. Harvey Kushner, Robert Spencer and Laura Mansfield. Sleeping with the enemy at the Marriott, Worldnetdaily.com   

The Georgetown Marriott Conference Center rejected a "terrorism" symposium onMarriott2the grounds that the sponsoring organization was too controversial and the venue inappropriate for this type of forum. Concurrently, another Marriott Hotel in the Washington area is hosting the Council on American- Islamic Relations’ annual conference and participating as a panelist at the gala will be an alleged co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
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A Few Good Guest Bloggers

by La Shawn on December 4, 2005

in Bloggers

Update (12/5): Don’t forget about the 2006 Evangelical Blog Awards. Nominations close on January 5th, voting begins on January 6th, and winners will be announced on January 16th.

Sunday, December 4: Last week I intended to take a blogging break to attend to other matters, and I asked a few bloggers to fill in. I like the guest blogging dynamic so far, and although I published a post or two last week, I’m officially “on hiatus” this week.

I’m carefully considering the future of this blog, and I’ve decided to develop a stable of excellent, conservative Christian guest bloggers who share my faith and political ideology. My intent in the short run is to have several guest bloggers through mid-2006, at which time I may turn LBC into an official group blog.

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Girl expelled for same-sex kiss sues school

by Independent Conservative on December 3, 2005

in Education, Faith

This is a prime example of why tort reform is needed for lawsuits against schools both public and private.

Down here in Georgia, like in other parts of the country, parents attempt to have their kids in a better environment by sending them to Christian private schools. Well what happens when some of the kids stop acting like Christians and someone is removed from the school, to try and preserve an environment with high morals? You guessed it, the sinful kid’s father sues the school!

LOGANVILLE — A former Covenant Christian Academy student who was expelled for kissing another girl filed suit Friday against the school.
Jessica Bradley, who now resides in Pennsylvania, was expelled in April 2005 for kissing one Covenant student at an off-campus sleepover and having a relationship with another female student. She and her father, Ron, are suing the school for $1 million, alleging invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract.
…
Principal Emmaline McKinnon disciplined Bradley for allegedly violating the school’s code of conduct by having “an inappropriate relationship with another student,” according to the discipline record. Bradley denied that her actions violated school rules.
…
David Clark, the Lawrenceville attorney representing the family, criticized the code of conduct for being unclear as to what constitutes inappropriate sexual behavior.
“It’s too vague and it’s unfair to the students because they don’t know what they can do to get themselves expelled,” Clark said
…
(source)

HELLO!!! This is a Christian school. If Lesbian activity is not “an inappropriate relationship”, then nothing is.

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