I guess I knew that he would probably die from this, but I was not expecting this this soon or this suddenly. He even beat my stepfather’s record of just 4 months from initial cancer diagnosis to passing away. It’s just crazy.

Cy’s family is welcoming donations to the Cy Rawls Benevolence Fund in his honor, and as you can see the ChipIn donations have really jumped this week.

There’s will be more details at cyrawls.blogspot.com about a memorial service soon.

Why did I say yes? Three reasons:

1. I was invited by Tish Grier. Tish and Lisa Williams of PlaceBlogging are working to support and connect local bloggers and bring more attention to the good work folks are doing around the country.
2. I saw the names of some fantastic women bloggers on the speakers list, like Pam Spaulding, Cheryl Contee, Elisa Camahort, and Erin Kotecki Vest. Plus my old friend, Doc Searls (old in time, not in age ;-)). Their presence legitimizes the conference for me, plus I hope I’ll run into them there.
3. The conference is paying for all of my travel costs, and it’s on a weekend so I don’t have to miss work to go.

There are a few related events going on at the expo including GodBlogCon, MilBlogging, and a citizen journalism training. That should be… interesting. I’ll find out next month whether I made the right choice about attending the Blog World Expo.

Is there anything I should make sure to do (or not do) in my 48 hours in Las Vegas?

Tags: LasVegas, BlogWorldExpo, blogging, bloggers

Please send all listings in calendar format (10 pt. Arial font, black ink — NO color or other formatting) to ******@aol.com: Day of the week (abbr.), Date (abbr.), Time, Name of Event (IN ALL CAPS), BRIEF description. Sponsoring group, Location, Contact person, Phone (specify area code), Email, URL, Cost. No more than 3 lines, or 50 words, TOTAL.

The formatting requests are burdensome but fair, but FONT? Really?

I’ve set up an online donation tool so people can fundraise all over the internet. Here it is, I hope you will give and pass it on:

Update: Added link to Cy’s blog per Susan’s suggestion.

The repercussions of last week’s shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville are echoing around the country. Is this the inevitable conclusion of decades of intolerance preached from conservative pulpits (both literal and figurative)? And do open-minded people of faith now need to live in fear - as many abortion providers already do - of the one unbalanced so-called Christian seeking vengeance for our sins?

Upon hearing the news, I immediately became concerned for my mother’s UU congregation. They are located in a small beach town on the coast of North Carolina, surrounded by rural communities in Down East NC - not especially known for modern social ideas, but quite likely to have access to hunting rifles. As we observe Americans trending toward living more in safe, homogeneous communities, we can see both the cause and effect of this increased ideological segregation.

My friend James Protzman blogged about his daughter’s reaction to the shooting. She had met several teenagers from the Tennessee Valley congregation at a UU retreat and was grief-stricken at the irony of a house of peace being attacked so violently. "She wonders about all the other deaths that can be laid at the feet of right-wing political hate. Abraham Lincoln. Martin Luther King. John Kennedy. Robert Kennedy. Will it ever stop? she asks."

James came away from this experience feeling pretty cynical about the threat of further violence against progressive Christians. But the Reverend Bill Sinkford, head of the Universalist Unitarian Association, responded to this tragedy with the open-hearted love and understanding for which UUs are known:

The gunman’s letter stated that he was targeting liberals, and acquaintances have said he dislikes gays, minorities and anyone different from him.

The Unitarian Universalist movement is based on the belief that men and women are inherently good, said Sinkford, adding that faith won’t be shaken but rather will be strengthened by the violence.

"There’s a longing in this nation to move beyond divisiveness and stand on the side of love," added Sinkford.

Sinkford predicted that the international publicity resulting from Sunday’s shootings will draw more people to the movement, which he said happens "whenever people get to know us and know the reason for the stands we take."

Unitarian Universalists were the first mainline denomination to ordain gay and lesbian clergy, Sinkford said, and welcome members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, which some have speculated was a factor in Sunday’s attacks.

- knoxnews.com: Faith communities respond, near and far, 7/30/08

Tags: Universalist+Unitarian, UU, hate, bigotry, intolerance, tolerance, Christofascism, WWJD, Christian, terrorism

Um, yeah.

Hillary Clinton suggested Wednesday that “White Americans” are increasingly turning away from Barack Obama’s candidacy.
[...]
Clinton cited an Associated Press poll “that found how Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

“There’s a pattern emerging here,” she said.
- CNN.com: Clinton touts support from ‘white Americans’, 5/8/08

Not only is the implication quite racist (that white people won’t vote for a black guy), it’s also wrong (millions of us have). Since I don’t think she’s stupid enough to not understand the facts of this, I can only conclude that she’s lying. Yet another reason that she can’t be trusted and shouldn’t be supported.

Here’s a great comment that was posted on their final blog entry:

‘We would like to apologize for the way in which politicians are represented in this programme. it was never our intention to imply that politicians are weak-kneed, political time-servers who are concerned more with their personal vendettas and private power struggles than the problems of government, nor to suggest at any point that they sacrifice their credibility by denying free debate on vital matters in the mistaken impression that party unity comes before the well-being of the people they supposedly represent nor to imply at any stage that they are squabbling little toadies without an ounce of concern for the vital social problems of today. Nor indeed do we intend that viewers should consider them as crabby ulcerous little self-seeking vermin with furry legs and an excessive addiction to alcohol and certain explicit sexual practices which some people might find offensive.

“We are sorry if this impression has come across.”

-Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Video below…

Update: Greg Greene points me to this story in the Washinton Post: NPR Leader Out After Board Clash - Ken Stern’s New Media Forays Rankled Public Radio Affiliates. Which is especially stunning because during the last full week before the N.C. Primary, I have been getting more news from that little blog than from my local NPR affiliate, who amazingly chose that critical week for a pledge drive. This is bad, bad, news for NPR.