At a pinch, there is nothing wrong (copyright not withstanding) with posting some of your other work. I rather enjoyed the "Convention speeches: Obama versus Palin" piece you wrote.

After all, not all of us live in the states, and most of the news we get is coloured by our media (or Rupert's media if you are on Sky, which thankfully I am not).

As to work, I think there is some sort of third-quarter bulge. Everything seems to be hitting my desk at the moment, and while it is fun (and occasionally theraputic), it doesn't leave much time for writing. Let alone talking myself into writing.