It appears that a denial of service attack has been launched against JMBzine.com, so for now my webhost has taken my website down.

I'll post updates at JMBzine Temporary Blog until this mess gets straighted out.

- posted by JM @ 3:21 AM (0) comments

 
[Update by Rena, jmbzine.com tech assistant.] The site's down due to a fire in Houston, where the server is. The machines are fine, but the power's out at that location. Hopefully service will be restored later today. In the meantime, you can follow James via his Twitter feed (@jmbzinedotcom) or his Facebook account.
- posted by Rena @ 3:30 PM (0) comments

 
All is well JMBzine.com should be back in all its infamous glory: Here's the full story.
- posted by JM @ 1:32 AM (0) comments

 
Website frustrations

Well I'm not going into detail here, but I have decided to make a change on my blog's hosting/program situation.

It will be a few days before everything is ready and live at JMBzine.com, but for now here are a few links...

The new JMBzine - using Wordpress as the machinery behind the curtain (lots to do here)

The old JMBzine as of yesterday - this is an archive I created using a program called WinHTTtrack. The archive is not d-base driven (rather an html-ized version of the old website created by this program), so many of the features of the old website won't work - search, comments, etc. However it is a good way to access the old content for the time being until such time as I can get the old d-base converted to wordpress or some other format.

As far as my old host goes, I have no hard feelings towards them. They are a good company that treats folks well. In my case though (probably atypical due to the number of websites I host these days), I wasn't getting what I needed so that's why I made the change to nearlyfreespeech.net (which will work well as long as my bandwidth stays like it is now---around 2 GB per month)
- posted by JM @ 4:09 PM (1) comments

 
News from Crawford

I talke to Serena Blaiz this morning who is working at the Crawford Peace House and she reports that things are continuing to grow in intensity on the scene there and there is quite a bit of concern for the right-wing caravan that is making its way to Crawford this weekend.

But based on the looks of it (their website is at MoveAmericanForward.org, these folks look to be few in number and primarily a cheap publicity stunt by conservative AM-talk radio stations in California. Who knows though, maybe there will be more of them by the time they get to Crawford but right now it looks like their movement is not exactly taking off.
- posted by JM @ 2:28 PM (0) comments

 
Well it looks like my webhosting is down at JMBzine.com, so I'm posting over here again.
- posted by JM @ 7:57 PM (0) comments

 
What I'm thankful for this year

Since it's Thanksgiving (ok, a day late but my family is celebrating it a day later this year), here's my short list...

I'm thankful that I have so many long-time friends who stay in touch. (I think I am really fortunate in this regard compared to so many folks I know.)

I am thankful that I have a church home that has been so loving to me and such an encouragement and a challenge to.

I am thankful that I now live where I do in Northeast OKC, and that I have space to garden where I now live.

I am thankful for my many intelligent and thoughtful conservative and moderate friends. They keep me humble (well at least they try, I have a long ways to go in embracing humility) and remind me to never assumeyou have all the answers.

I am thankful that in these dark, dark, dark times, that there are so many good folks out there who are working for an end to war and other kinds of needless killing, and that there are folks out there who really do care for the poor and oppressed.

I am thankful for the many spiritual guides in my life, both in the past and present: for my many past church homes (in both the Churches of Christ, charismatic and Mennonite traditions), for those who have been a spiritual mentor to me and also to the many authors of spiritual books that have challenged me; I am particularly grateful to Quaker author Richard Foster who first challenged me with the idea of simplicity as a spiritual virtue, for zen buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh for teaching me that responding to the Buddha's teachings does not make me disloyal to Christ, Wendell Berry for showing me that gardening is a spiritual act of love for God, and to the ancient Jewish prophet Amos for showing me that one of the best ways to spend your life is in fighting for poor who are oppressed by the rich (and that God cares when folks are mistreated).

I am thankful to my readers. Knowing that my typings are read has been such a source of sanity over the last year or so (because things never seem so bad if you can talk about it and actually be heard)
- posted by JM @ 9:42 AM (0) comments

 
Why do Ukranians stand up against rigged elections while Americans take it sitting down?

MSNBC: European envoys arrive in Ukraine ---Envoys attempt to defuse election standoff as protests intensify

To me it is encouraging to see the Ukranian people stand up in opposition to rigged elections, but I'm puzzled why Americans are responding the same way? The evidence seems stronger and stronger each day that substantial election fraud happened in key swing states yet no one seems to care (except for Green party nominee David Cobb and Libertarian party nominee Michael Badnarik who have led the charge on demanding a recount in Ohio, and the tens of thousands of small donors who gave to the recount effort).

Most of all I don't understand why Kerry threw in the towel so quickly. I wonder if either he was bribed by someone in the administration to concede early or if he was threatened in some way. I can't help but wonder since all of the votes weren't even counted when he gave up.
- posted by JM @ 9:11 AM (0) comments

 
Supreme Court to hear Medical Marijuana case

AP/MSNBC: Supreme Court to weigh medical marijuana ---Case to determine whether states have right to adopt such laws

Here's one part of the story that was particularly interesting...

Even some states without medical marijuana laws have criticized the federal government’s position. Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi told the court they “support their neighbors’ prerogative in our federalist system to serve as laboratories for experimentation.”

I'm not too surprised to see these southern states stand up for states' rights, but I am suprised to see them be consistent about it in light of medical marijuana case. So many conservatives are so selective on whether they believe in federalism or not (I.e. gay marriage). I'm glad to see these AG's are consistent at least in this case.

(On a sidenote, the lawyer arguing for the plaintiff in this case spoke at OCU lately. I didn't get to attend unfortunately but the reports I heard on it were that he was very solid.
- posted by JM @ 9:03 AM (0) comments