Today's Cultural Warfare Update

EDIT: Texas house passes law banning GBLT foster parenting, authorises investigations into sexual orientations of current foster parents, requires potential new foster parents to disclose their sexual orientation;

Focus on the Family news article (with action item) on the filibuster rules change;

FotF news article (with action item) on filibuster rules change - the first two of the Big Ten are coming back up tomorrow;

FotF article (with action item) on the big churchcast this Sunday;

Today's Family News in Focus;

Concerned Women for America rails against women in forward positions in the military (with action item);

Traditional Values Coalition rant on the judicial issue, demands confirmation of all Bush nominees (action item);

TVC-linked "Our Battle Plan," a TVC-sponsoured web site on "taking back the courts" (mostly asking for money, but is, of course, one big action item);

Washington Evangelicals for Responsible Government article on their big anti-marriage rally. (Includes action item which succeeded - helping derail HB 1515.)

( Excerpts and transcriptions )

Today's Recreational Warfare Update

A Battle Outside the Box
Tim Chitwood

The idea's so outside the box it's hard to believe anyone thought of it.

But thinking "outside the box" is what the local civic club "Outside The Box" does, and that's what members did when they thought about this weekend's re-enactments of the 1865 Battle of Columbus at the Port Columbus National Civil War Naval Museum, online at www.portcolumbus.org.

"We thought about how meticulous those Civil War re-enactors are about having historically accurate uniforms and equipment," says OTB President Hugh Lessjo. "Then we thought, 'Who else is so obsessive about having the right props and costumes?' "

The answer: Star Trek fans.

"We have Star Trek fan clubs in our area, and Sunday's battle re-enactment already includes a 'what-if' scenario featuring a Confederate counterattack," says Lessjo. "So we started thinking outside the box, and we thought, 'Why not have Trekkies join the battle?' They already have the equipment."

Go. Read. It's funny.

Biking to Rivendell

I've just about decided that I'm going to annathepiper's Walking to Rivendell thing, only instead of walking it, I'm mostly biking it. But I'll include walking too - it's less efficient than biking. I won't include busses and stuff, of course. This'll go wildly up and down depending upon how the weather is, I think. I bus more in the rain. ^_^

Anyway, here's this week so far:

Monday, biking: 16 miles
Monday, walking: 1.5 miles
Tuesday, biking: 2 miles
Tuesday, walking: .1 miles
Wednesday, biking: 16 miles. Black Rider scary, but v. slow. Go me!

Miles out of Hobbiton: 35.6
Miles to Rivendell: 422.4