Entries from February 2009 ↓

Nested among the hundreds of emails in my inbox today was a LinkedIn update from my ALLTEL Connections group. Today’s update caught my eye because it included a link to a new website After Alltel located at http://www.afteralltel.com. The site aims to provide assistance to those leaving the company due to the acquistion by Verizon. Spread the word.

The bill to allow those with concealed carry permits to can concealed handguns into houses of worship was rejected Wednesday by the Arkansas Senate panel reviewing the issue reports the Associated Press

The measure would have removed churches and other houses of worship from the list of places where concealed handguns are banned in Arkansas. Only churches and bars are on that list.

The House approved the measure earlier this month. The Senate Judiciary Committee stalled the bill on a voice vote Wednesday.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, told the panel after the vote that she may try again with the proposal.

“This is not a gun question, it is a question of religious freedom,” Pyle said.

Gov. Mike Beebe has said he’d sign the bill if it made it to his desk.

I believe that churches concerned about having armed protection should consider using law enforcement or other trained protective services. As I mentioned in a conversation earlier, this legislation appears to be a knee jerk reaction to a number of church shootings last year. I have more to say on the subject and will probably add those thoughts to the comments.

From the Police Beat section in Log Cabin Democrat (Conway, AR) for February 25, 2009:

Monkey ownership dispute at 612 Chestnut St. (Chestnut Small Animal Clinic). Police were called to a dispute Friday morning as to the ownership of a capuchin monkey, with the monkey buyer saying it was monkey theft and the monkey seller saying, according to the report, that it was “a repossession of the monkey” for non-payment.

And with that, I’m at a loss for words…

Capuchin monkey image from ScienceBlogs.com

In this tough economic climate, even the Girls Scouts are feeling the pitch of Americans spending less money on non-essentials. 

According to Mollie Palmer of the Girl Scouts in Little Rock, “Sales aren’t quite equal to last year at this point. From our final numbers of 2008, we stand about nine-percent down right now which is something I think everyone’s seeing.”

Because of scheduling conflicts with the mandatory meetings required to sell Girl Scout cookies, my girls were not eligible to participate in the sales this year.  In the past, they have sold a few hundred boxes to loyal GS cookie fans that our family knows. 

For us, there is always next year. 

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, the legendary jazz musician born in the District of Columbia, is being honored by the District as the first African-American to appear on a U.S. coin.

This quarter is the first of the U.S. Mint’s 2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program.  The Mint will issue other coins for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.   According to the U.S. Mint, “The image of George Washington as seen on the obverse of the 50 State Quarters® coins will remain unchanged. The reverse of each quarter will be distinctly different with images emblematic of the District of Columbia and each of the territories.”

The residents of the District of Columbia chose the Ellington design from more than 300 others.  The District of Columbia Quarter Design Advisory Committee select three concepts for the quarter and allowed the public to select their favorite between Duke Ellington; Benjamin Banneker, the astronomer, mathematician, and surveyor; and Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist.

For more information, see CNN’s coverage or the U.S. Mint.

On Monday, February 23, 2009, EURWeb.com published this tidbit of information regarding the future of Gospel Today magazine’s print edition.

Gospel Today (GT) magazine founder, Dr. Teresa Hairston has announced that it is now going “digital.” The enhanced magazine will suspend printing immediately and will offer online content and subscriptions only.

The article continues

Gospel Today plans an increased website, to include subscriptions to GospelToday.com e-mag that will replace the print component

Dr. Hairston stated, “This step represents the future of our community. It’s a global connection … because we will now be able to reach the world!”

The new editor for the new e-mag is Bishop Andy C. Lewter, a pastor and early proponent of online strategies for the faith community. Hairston is working in conjunction with KMS Web Designers to make the site extremely user-friendly.

Bishop Andy C. Lewter is the pastor of the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral in Amityville, NY.

I’m a former subscriber to BLOCKBUSTER Total Access and the company emailed update (see below) to me today detailing an impending service change for Total Access.   While I lived near a BLOCKBUSTER retail store, I was drawn to this service for the convenience of dropping the mailed DVDs at the store and picking up a “free” in-store retail.  When executed with precision, especially over a weekend, I could effectively “overclock” my three-at-a-time subscription to six-at-a-time.  Maybe others like me were able to use the system to their advantage and persuade the software to send Tuesday’s new releases out on Monday by returning a DVD in the store on Saturday. Most of the time, I had the new release on new release day which was awesome!

Well, sorry, folks, no more “overclocking” for BLOCKBUSTER Total Access.  Maybe the new release trick still works, though. Try it and see, your mileage may vary.

And here’s the email notification from BLOCKBUSTER:

As of March 2, 2009, there will be no more due dates for your free in-store movie exchanges!

In other words, as long as you are an active BLOCKBUSTER Total Access subscriber, you can keep your free in-store exchanges as long as you like from participating BLOCKBUSTER® stores.

 In order to eliminate due dates, the free in-store exchange will now count towards the number of DVDs you may have out at a time under your BLOCKBUSTER Total Access plan. Once you’ve returned your in-store exchange, we’ll then ship you the next available movie in your queue.

Your free in-store exchanges will now show up on your Queue page and in your Rental History, making it easy to keep track of the movies you’ve rented.

As always, you can continue to return your online rentals through the mail or drop them off at the counter of a participating BLOCKBUSTER store to have your next online DVD shipped. 

BLOCKBUSTER Total Access is the ONLY service that offers online DVD rentals plus the convenience of free in-store exchanges.

Here it is all in one place.

I wonder if the sidewalk is closed.