Blogburst Announcement

Thanks for the Memory to Hyscience at Blogfather Rusty's Jawa Report.



Freedom's Zone has called for and I am participating in a blogburst regarding Christopher Hitchens' call for a demonstration in support of Denmark in front of the Danish Embassy in New York this Friday:

Please be outside the Embassy of Denmark, 3200 Whitehaven Street (off Massachusetts Avenue) between noon and 1 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 24. Quietness and calm are the necessities, plus cheerful conversation. Danish flags are good, or posters reading "Stand By Denmark" and any variation on this theme (such as "Buy Carlsberg/ Havarti/ Lego") The response has been astonishing and I know that the Danes are appreciative. But they are an embassy and thus do not of course endorse or comment on any demonstration. Let us hope, however, to set a precedent for other cities and countries. Please pass on this message to friends and colleagues.

Please also post that for those who cannot attend the demonstration, they are encouraged to call and email the Danish embassy, and offer their support and appreciation for their standing up to freedom and the right of free speech that is so much a part of our Western culture:

Embassy of Denmark
3200 Whitehaven St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: +1 (202) 234-4300
Fax: +1 (202) 328-1470

Email: wasamb@um.dk

After the date of the event, bloggers are encouraged to post on at least 3 "free speech" issues a week, and also encourage their readers to continue voicing their concern and support for free speech by emailing their friends to help keep the emails of support (to the Danish embassy) going for the Dane's stand on freedom over sharia.

Go thou and do likewise.

Breaking News: School Shooting

There's been a school shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, the town where I was born. Local news stations are reporting it, but no details yet and no national coverage I can find. I'll link to more news when it's available.

UPDATE:

It looks like no one was killed, thank God.

Small Victories

Got a cool phone call night before last.

As most of you know, my son, The Lad, was born about 5 weeks premature. This isn't too bad these days, but it still means he had a little growing to do. The doctors and nurses told us that he would probably be a little behind the curve developmentally until around his second birthday.

Well, during his visit to the doctor for his first year Well Baby checkup, the doctor gave The Feared Redhead a screening questionnaire to fill out. It's for a program through the University of Oregon that assesses your babvy's development.

Based on the results of the survey, The Lad is up to speed for his age in all areas except Gross Motor Skills (Crawling, Standing, Walking), and there he's just barely behind.

Normally, the words "Barely Behind" aren't cause for bragging, but when you have a preemie, you take what you can get. This kid is frighteningly smart for his age.

Ch Ch Ch Changes....

I work in a tech support call center for a software company. Yesterday at 2:30 PM (just before my shift ends anyway), they shut down our phone queues and called an impromptu meeting to let us all know we're being laid off. Our jobs are being outsourced to India (except for the Customer Service jobs, they're being consolidated in Atlanta). For some of us our last day will be May 1, for others, July 1. I haven't been told which group I'm in, but I'm betting on the May group based on my position.

This was not a complete surprise -- we've been suspecting it was in the works for some time -- but the timing is a bit sooner that expected.

In a way, it's a blessing in disguise for me, though for others this is far more stress-inducing. I had been wanting to apply for the culinary program at the local community college (it has a good reputation, and I want to be a chef), but was worried that the classes would conflict with work. Now I can start looking for a job, even a part-time one, that will fit around my school schedule. TFR already brings home more than I do, even though I work 40 hours and she only works 26 at the spa. She plans to talk to the psa and add some hours, so financially, the hit shouldn't be too hard, and it may actually make for saner schedules.

There's only one catch. While TFR may be the chief provider of disposable income, my job provides the health insurance. We can't afford COBRA, and we sure as hell can't afford to go without insurance, not with a baby in the house.

So keep me in prayer or good thoughts or whatever positive regard my readers of different world views ascribe to. I'll be needing it over the next few months.