There is one Blogosphere application that we love, treasure, cherish, value, and appreciate more than all others — far and away more. And that is WordPress. As most of our readers know, each page of our online news magazine is powered by a separate WordPress installation. The versatility and functionality of WordPress exceeded those of all the other content management schemes that we previewed when we made our selection a few years ago. Moreover, the WordPress team has constantly added to and upgraded the product, so that it is the best choice on a continuing basis.

Even beyond our delight and fascination with the product, we admire the technical skills, creative ingenuity, and entrepreneurial enthusiasm of the young professionals who build and maintain the software. We began our involvement with computers when the hardware filled a large room, the input was on punch cards, and the output, if you were very lucky, was printed on large sheets of paper. We definitely have the background and experience to recognize talent when we see it.

WordPress has made it easy for us to share our conversation with thousands of people all over the world. Now we have a chance to say thank you.

One of the computer industry’s leading magazines, C/NET, sponsors Webware, a review of software written expressly for the new online world of the Internet. Voting has just begun in Webware’s annual awards program to determine which applications are the favorites of users around the world.

We urge all of our readers to visit the Webware website and vote for WordPress.

GO HERE

Scroll to the bottom of the page until you see the WordPress listing, and click the VOTE button on the right hand side. You will notice that you have the option of voting for three candidates. But if you just vote for WordPress, it will help them more.

The British writer George McDonald Fraser has left us at the age of 82. He leaves behind a last testament titled How Britain has destroyed itself, and the flamboyant fictional character Flashman.

Visit Intergalactic Source of Truth and read Colonel B. Bunny’s post George McDonald Fraser (April 2, 1925 – January 2, 2008).

The good colonel also recommends these articles in the British press detailing Fraser’s time with us:

George MacDonald Fraser

George MacDonald Fraser was no Flashman

The last testament of Flashman’s creator: How Britain has destroyed itself.

As our faithful regular readers know, we use this section of American Daughter to call their attention to other weblogs that we believe enrich the global conversation in the Blogosphere. The many different voices and viewpoints augment our experience and give us a better understanding of the world we live in. (In the face of massive failure in the mainstream media, we need a collection of weblogs to visit to learn what is going on!)

Please add this one to your travels — Some Have Hats. Blogger Karen Hall is a television writer/producer who shares an insider’s view of that segment of the entertainment industry. As a member of the Writer’s Guild of America she has posted some very interesting material about the on-going strike that has forced television into using reruns. That sort of honest and relevant detail is not available from the public media outlets, and it is about a subject that affects most of us.

She is also a values-driven wife and mother, and you will enjoy reading about her lovely family and their various escapades. Check out her snowy cabin in the woods and her young son’s first sledding expedition.

Her blog is well-written (naturally) and she uses lots of pictures, so you will get that you-are-there feeling. It is almost as good as having that fine family move in next door!

…about the unusual wording in the traditional Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas. A Lady’s Ruminations has a post that explains all.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember….

Pay the ladies a visit and read Hey, Henry VIII & Elizabeth I! to learn the secrets of the unusual phrses.

The very ladylike Lady Jane from A Lady’s Diversions has nominated American Daughter for a Nice Matters Blog Award. The compliment is very much appreciated, Lady Jane!

The Nice Matters Blog Award is for ladies who have not only great blogs, but also who have more to them, there is caring ,friendship and inspiration too:

This award will be awarded to those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!

And nice people are very good at finding other nice people. So the recipients of the award are invited to nominate up to seven other Blogosphere friends deserving of this recognition. Our nominations, in alphabetical order:

Suzy at BIRD

Norma at Collecting My Thoughts

Christi at Common Sense America

Pat at Dr. Sanity

Neddy at Kerfuffles

Sunnye at The Sunnye Side of the Web

Flora at United Conservatives of Virginia

These ladies have all given us support and encouragement as we developed our presence in the Blogosphere.

Two new bloggers have entered the global conversation. Both have adopted the names of Revolutionary war patriots for their Blogosphere personae. And their new blog is called, appropriately enough, Boston’s Patriots.

We like this article, Let’s Call Them What They Are. Here’s an excerpt:

Dictionary.com’s definition of “Jihad” contains numerous meanings of the word including … An individual’s striving for spiritual self-perfection….

Essentially the enemy has altered the definition of this word to suit their agenda. If the idea of jihad as a quest for spiritual perfection is reshaped over time to be viewed in conjunction with the enemies’ use of the same word to justify their acts of evil, then the acceptance of the terminology helps to lay the groundwork for the acceptance of the acts themselves (specifically within their targeted Muslim community).

…In the case of the misuse of the word “jihad”, there is instead an ideal word within the Arabic language to describe the heinous acts falsely committed by the enemy in the name of Allah. That word is: Hirabah.

As defined by Answers.com, “Hirabah is an Arabic word for “piracy”, or “unlawful warfare”. Hirabah comes from the root hariba, which means ’to become angry and enraged’.”
The act of Hirabah calls for strict punishment in the Qur’an.

We encourage our readers to visit this new weblog.