Blogging Events

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I'm starting to do this...not only with places I visit, but also my own blog.  What is the "mood"?  I'm all for controversey - iron sharpens iron.  But when it's all about that, moods change.

Look at the last 10 20 posts.

Are the posts (okay, take away the "fluff", which definately has its place in the fun) about what that person believes and feels?  Do the posts challenge you, without being insulting (unless you are insulted because people disagree with you )?

Do the posts primarily tell you what's wrong with everybody else?  This person's sin and that person's heresy?  That can get wearying.  I visit a couple of those because they sometimes have news items that are useful, but I can come away with an eye toward the worst of people, not the best.

I have strong opinions and I want to be able to put forth those strongly.  Positively:  This is what I believe.

I have (and will) at times write strongly about somebody I disagree with, but I don't want the message of my blog to be hate.

And I do see that out there.  One blog, in particular..was started as a (frustrated) response to being ignored and simultaneously attacked - and having their denomintion attacked with falsehood.  Their comments were deleted (as were mine, actually) so this blog was started that (in the earlier times) focused a lot on "this is what ___ has wrong".  I watched to see what would happen and over time it became less of that and more of an apologetics blog, "this is what we believe and the basis on which we believe it".  It is a pleasure to read because (even though I disagree with a few points) it is written (primarily) in a positive perspective - although at times it points back to the original reason for the creation of the blog.  Which is fine, since the disagreement is no longer the only focus, the apologetics contribute much.

Another blog I read...there is no such balance.  Nearly every post has invective in it.  It's in my blogfeed so I get new posts when they come out, but I skim and seldom stay long.  The impact on my emotions is not the best.  (If you think it's you, it mostly likely is not...if you're that curious, ask)
So, there it is in a nutshell.  Test the mood...

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At least for the time being...I've got posts on all sorts of topics coming off my keyboard and I tend to enjoy blogs more where I don't have to scroll down a bunch to read all the new posts...so I'm going to try to "schedule" mine a little bit.

I've got a post on the "gift of tongues" in pagan religions (including Mormonism), I've got a post on Christ and church/husbands and wives/Adam and Eve.   I'd like to cover the life and times (and theology) of John Calvin.  And there's a lot of political stuff going on that is interesting (especially since Michigan has the worst single-state economy in the country...what Granholm has done for Michigan, Obama wants to do for the country.

There's also room for "randomosity".   Mostly I know that I can have a tendency to become a "one trick pony" and I'm not that.  A flexible basic outline keeps me from hyperfocusing.
Sunday seems good for Sola (Reformed stuff) - also, randomosity.
Monday (lunes in Spanish) seems to be the day for the links I've collected over the week.  I'm going to start adding links to my other "little" blogspot blogs, which include diet/exercise and what I'm reading.

Tuesday (I don't why) I'll think more philosophically.  Other world religions, deep thoughts about life and living.  Stuff.

Wednesday is a good day for the "gender" topic (and Wordless Wednesday)

Thursday...Thursday photo challenge (my favorite photo scavenger hunt) and politics

Friday, Fit Friday

Saturday:  TN Photo Hunt (my other favorite photo scavenger hunt) and  denominational stuff (although that can overlap with politics...and philosophy.  And gender).

Just so you all know...I'm enjoying blogging, but I love variety...

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(AD HOC) organization of the week:  ConnorWatch.

Connor Williamson: son, brother, nephew, and friend, has been seriously injured while diving at camp.

This is a place for friends and family to communicate their hopes, fears, pain, and thoughts, and to not be alone during this worst of times.

Most of all, this is a place to see the hand of God at work.

Join us as we journey with Connor.

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also from California...
POTTER VALLEY, Calif. —  A Mendocino County woman who was trying to kill mice in her trailer with a gun ended up shooting herself and another person.

The 43-year-old woman pulled out her .44-caliber Magnum revolver after she saw the mice scurrying across the floor of her trailer on Highway 20 in Potter Valley, sheriff's officials said.

But she accidentally dropped the gun, which went off as it struck the floor. The bullet went through the woman's kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man's groin before ending up in his coin pocket.

Authorities did not release the shooting victims' names.

The mice escaped the shooting unharmed.

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For those who like to compare complementarianism to Islam:

“Honor killings” are distressingly common throughout the Muslim world. Phyllis Chesler reports that “in 1997, in Cairo Egypt, twenty-five-year-old Nora Marzouk Ahmed’s honeymoon ended when her father chopped off her head and carried it down the street. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘the family has regained its honor.’ Nora’s crime? She had eloped.” And “in 2002, in Tehran, an Iranian man cut off his seven-year-old daughter’s head after suspecting she had been raped by her uncle. ‘The motive behind the killing was to defend my honor, fame, and dignity.’ Some people called for this man’s death under Islamic law, but ironically, only the father of the victim can demand the death sentence.” (...)

“Last I checked my history books common Europeans didn’t go around killing their daughters for marrying ‘wrong’ and neither did their ages old Monarchs.”

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Gay man sues Bible publishers:

A homosexual man who has a blog on Sen. Barack Obama's campaign website is suing two major Christian publishers for violating his constitutional rights and causing emotional pain, because the Bible versions they publish refer to homosexuality as a sin.

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On the political scene...from the Michigan Republican blog comes this blurb:

OBAMA OFFERS MORE OF THE SAME...GRANHOLM-OMICS...which put Michigan in a single state recession for the last 6 years. Obama's economic policies are almost identical to those that Granholm has implemented here in Michigan.  America can't afford the risk!

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(OFF COLOR ALERT) From Jamaica:

Tesha Miller, the reputed leader of the Clansman gang, could be charged with possession of contraband after the police took a cellphone from his butt yesterday.

THE STAR was told that a search of the accused man's cell was organised after police believed he had a cellphone in his possession. The police theorised that he had been using the device to contact his cronies.

An initial search of his cell found one cellphone; however, as the police were about to leave, another device rang.

Gloves used

This led to a further search and after combing the cell thoroughly again, it was discovered that the device was inside the accused man's body. Gloves were said to have been requested, and the phone retrieved from the man's body.

In a release last night, the Constabulary Communication Network said the phone was was found in Miller's rectum.

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I'm actually thinking about these (because they look cool)

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The "Big Mac"..."Mighty Mac"...the Mackinac Bridge.

The Mackinac Bridge is currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world. In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan became the longest with a total suspension of 12,826 feet. The Great Belt Bridge in Halsskov-Sprogoe, Denmark, which also opened in 1998, is the second longest suspension bridge in the world with a total suspension of 8,921 feet. The Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. The total length of the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet. The length of the suspension bridge (including anchorages) is 8,614 feet. The length from cable bent pier to cable bent pier is 7,400 feet. Length of main span (between towers) is 3,800 feet. (...)

The height of the roadway at mid-span is approximately 200 feet above water level. The vertical clearance at normal temperature is 155 feet at the center of the main suspension span and 135 feet at the boundaries of the 3,000 ft. navigation channel.

All suspension bridges are designed to move to accommodate wind, change in temperature, and weight. It is possible that the deck at center span could move as much as 35 feet (east or west) due to high winds. This would only happen under severe wind conditions. The deck would not swing or "sway" but rather move slowly in one direction based on the force and direction of the wind. After the wind subsides, the weight of the vehicles crossing would slowly move it back into center position.

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Man injured after run-in with a bear.

literally.

Tim Egan, 53, was riding on Old Stage Road Tuesday afternoon when suddenly a bear appeared in front of him. Egan hit the bear and ended up skidding across the road.

"This bear looked at me with a look of terror on his face and sort of made a noise," said Egan. "I looked at him with a look of terror and we went, 'aaaahhhhh.'"

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Jail visits lead to more time locked up

AUGUSTA -- As soon as an inmate from Vassalboro had a visitor at the Kennebec County jail in Augusta, he was violating a court order.

Marshall Crandall IV, of Vassalboro, was sentenced to serve nine months in jail Tuesday at a Kennebec County Superior Court hearing after he pleaded guilty to three counts of violating conditions of release for having contact with the visitor...the same woman who visited him at the jail.

The violations occurred April 5, 10 and 15, when the woman named as the assault victim visited Crandall, according to jail records.

The woman told the judge on Tuesday the domestic assault was mutual, and that she could have been charged with the same offense in the incident.

"I picked him up three or four times and slammed him on the ground," she said.

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An official week of Weight Watchers has gone by.

1.2 pounds lost.

This week:

I bought a bike.  Then a padded seat. I think the odometer on the bike is set wrong, since mapmyrun.com says I rode 3.1 miles and the odometer says 4.9.

Tuesday:  I started a "no-poo" experiment (went shampoo free to see how it goes).

Started reading "Thin Within".  So far the only thing new to me is the concept of not "losing" weight (the idea being that if you "lose" something you hope to find it again).  They refer to "releasing" weight. I think I like that.

1.2 pounds "released".