Jonathan's blog

The Kickin' Chickens got their fourth straight win today, 5-4, with Elliot scoring a couple goals. I think he was dragging a little bit because he had the test for his Taekwon-Do yellow belt this morning. Lisa says he did a great job with that too...nailing his poomse, breaking a board on his first try, etc.

Last night I added several more books that I'm trying to give away via Bookmooch. Here is a list of a few of them:

• Gregory A. Boyd: Letters From a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father's Questions about Christianity
• Clayton M. Christensen: The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
• Randy Frazee: The Connecting Church
• Eric Schlosser: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
• Philip Yancey: Reaching for the Invisible God
• Gary Chapman: The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

My full Bookmooch inventory is here.

Via boingboing, from an article of the same title by Geoff Boucher in the LA Times:

Surveys show that born-again Christian teens are just as active in stealing and swapping music as their secular peers… "We are all conflicted, it's true," said John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Trade Assn. "This is not a business first, but it still must be a business at some point to keep going." Styll's association was behind a campaign called "Millions of Wrongs Don't Make a Right," which used well-known Christian artists as spokespeople against piracy, but Styll said the perception lingers that all music stars are fabulously wealthy, and he wonders how effective they are as voices in the debate anyway… Christian music sales, both on CD and via paid download, over the first six months of 2006 were 11% higher than during the same period in 2005. That double-digit surge stands in stark contrast to the rest of the music industry, which experienced a 4% decline during the same time period. And no other genre has a 2006 sales jump anywhere near the level of the Christian sector… Take singer-songwriter Derek Webb, an up-and-coming Christian recording artist who has not only received good reviews for his tour but also a flurry of coverage in industry outlets such as Billboard magazine. The reason? He's opted to give away a full download of his new album for three months on the Internet. He had sold 17,000 copies (both as CDs and downloads) since its December release and has given away 50,000 more since the download offer began in September. In exchange for the free music, he asks only that fans give him the names of five more people to e-mail about his music. The idea came to him after he sold enough copies to break even financially on the project. The free-music period will pay off in the long run, he says, by building his career and also spreading the spiritual message of his music. His concerts have, in recent weeks, jumped from audiences of about 100 to crowds of 500 and more, he said.

Spanking. Though we'd certainly rather not, we resort to it from time to time because sometimes nothing else works. It's not because we want to raise a CEO. Via Slate.com's Today's Papers column, from an article of the same title by Del Jones in USA Today:

The debate over whether CEOs are born or made remains unresolved, but there is one thing they overwhelmingly have in common. As children, they were paddled, belted, switched or swatted. Child psychologists wince at such a finding. They warn that spanking slows mental development and hinders achievement. They say the last thing parents need in the back of their minds is a suggestion or justification that the rod is the road to vision, ruthless drive and other leadership traits common to CEOs. But USA TODAY interviewed about 20 CEOs over three months and, while none said they were abused, neither were any spared… University of New Hampshire sociology professor Murray Straus, author of Beating the Devil Out of Them, has been studying corporal punishment since 1969 and says it comes as no surprise that almost every CEO was spanked. They mostly grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. Although the systematic use of corporal punishment has declined steadily, 90% of toddlers are still spanked at least once, he says, and a 1998 Gallup Poll found that 55% of parents agreed with the statement "A good hard spanking is sometimes necessary." But Straus says evidence points to corporal punishment as detrimental. If some spanked children grow up to be successful, even billionaires, it's like saying, go ahead and smoke because two-thirds of smokers don't get lung cancer, he said. "We don't allow any other humans to be legally hit," says Nadine Block, executive director of the Center for Effective Discipline.

"Son, if you don't do what I say, I'm going to make you a CEO."

Via Slate.com's Today's Papers column, from an article of the same title by Emily Bazar in USA Today:

Churches are being turned away by cities and towns that hope to enliven a fading downtown or boost their tax base… The Liberty Legal Institute, which represents churches in religious-freedom disputes, says more communities are tightening zoning codes or considering other ways to restrict church locations… The communities with restrictions say they're not against churches, they just want a variety of services for their residents and businesses that attract customers seven days a week.