Recently in Blogging Category

I've only been following this from a distance, but apparently Associated Press has a problem with bloggers quoting its articles. They sent nasty letters to Drudge Retort demanding they take down quotes, and the reaction in the blogosphere has been, well, predictable.

The latest round? After appearing to back off, AP set up a tollbooth for quoting as few as 5 words. At $2.50 per word, no less.

I wonder how that affects me. I'm not a non-profit organization, so I wouldn't qualify for their discount. But I don't have ads, so can't be classified as a commercial activity, either.

Fortunately, there may be some relief coming later this week. As a hobbyist, I can't afford the consequences of quoting the article directly, since it was written by an AP reporter. Instead, I'll quote random words and phrases from numerous other AP articles:

New York - The Associated Press, following criticism from bloggers over an AP assertion of copyright, plans to meet this week with a bloggers' group to help form guidelines under which AP news stories could be quoted online.

If you want to read the article I didn't quote, try here.

I hope that AP comes to it's senses soon - this is hard!

Update: Ace counter-offers.

Was to blame for those of you that could not get here over the last day and a half.

Apparently, cPanel mangled one of the server alias lines in the apache configuration during an update. I could see the blog's files through an FTP program, but going to the blog or Movable Type through a browser got a post-installation screen for cPanel.

Once I alerted Hosting Matters, they got right on it and fixed it yesterday evening. Thanks to Annette, who has fixed a couple of glitches for me in the past.

After months of complaining (and getting nowhere), I've noticed that Blogrolling is finally working again. Every ping this week has gotten through with no errors.

To whoever fixed it, thank you.

I mentioned Friday that I had an early work day - well, I wound up staying late, and spent most of the weekend working as well. There are some short notice requirements from a customer driving the workload, and I'll be putting in long days all this week.

Being busier than normal at work is never really a bad thing, because it means job security and an opportunity to pit myself against a few extra challenges. But a byproduct is that my free time is diminished, so I must prioritize what I have a little more carefully. Unfortunately, this means little or no time for blogging.

So, there will be little or no posting here at Don't Go Into The Light until this coming weekend at the earliest. I hope you will all understand and come back once I'm able to resume regular posting.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

LB

Why? Because I have to leave early for work this morning, and today's activities will be keeping me away from a computer for most of the day. That means no posting until this evening - *sigh*.

In the meantime, hope your Friday goes well - here's an albino alligator for inspiration:

Some blogging notes:

It's been a busy time for my family and I lately.

In case any of you wondered where I was in January and February, much of that time was spent on business trips. Thanks to a few readers and fellow bloggers who emailed to ask if I was OK, and thanks to Hube and Elbert for the kind emails welcoming me back. I'll try to be better about updating folks when I'm down for an extended period of time.

Short term, there may be an occasional day or two that goes by with little or no posting. It may be that there's little I feel inspired to comment about on a given day, or maybe real life has thrown me a curveball or two. I do this as a hobby, so I'm not obligated to write a minimum number of daily posts in order to keep advertisers happy.

On the subject of blogging as a hobby... this is all out of my pocket. I've considered putting up advertisements and tip jars, but so far I've resisted. If there comes a time when the hosting fees become burdensome, I may reconsider. Until then, I'm happy with things as they are.

A friend noticed that I was linking to fewer blogs lately. That goes back to being busy - I'm actually reading fewer blogs. Also, I've learned that my trackbacks are being blocked on a couple of sites (and no, I don't know why - my emails go unanswered), so I'm less inclined to do so anyway.

I don't treat my blogroll as a quid pro quo vehicle as some bloggers do. Each are blogs I both read and recommend. So give those folks a visit, OK?

Lastly, March was my best month ever for readership. I'd like to thank everyone for stopping by, you've made my virtual soapbox worth the effort.

Regards,

LB

Got a full schedule, so may not post until this evening.

In the meantime, why not visit a few of the blogs listed on my blogroll?

My ISP (a famous cable company who I shall not name) has been having trouble in my neighborhood, service has been so spotty that I haven't been able to post lately. Sorry.

That aside, with Christmas approaching, posting will still be light, as this is a very busy time for TB and I.

We hope that all of our readers have a wonderful holiday season.

Cheers,

LB & TB

Had some internet trouble this morning, couldn't get to the blog! By the time it cleared up, I had to leave for a doctor's appointment.

Now, TB and I are going to the store with the kids. Hopefully I'll get a post or two in before bedtime. If not, Hope you all had a great day!

LB

Recently, I got my own email as well:

Sent: Tue 11/13/2007 11:39 PM
From: Jonathan Clarke [brsupport@tucows.com]
To: lb@dontgointothelight.com
CC:
Subject: [#AFM-230578]: Blogrolling Support Request

Hello LB,

If you could provide the username and password for your account we could certainly escalate this situation for you so we can see what is going on with the server.

Jon C.

Domain Direct/Netidentity Customer Service http://www.domaindirect.com/supportform.html
http://www.netidentity.com/Support/SupportMain.aspx
Toll-Free: 1-866-337-8633 (North America Only)
Local: 416-531-2084
Fax: 416.352.0113

Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: AFM-230578
Department: Blogrolling Support

Password? Their manual ping form doesn't work and they think my password is going to help? And lets not forget that most reputable web companies, including Mr. Clarke's, tell folks not to give out passwords to anyone.

My reply (Sent: Thu 11/15/2007 5:07 PM):

Jon,

While I appreciate the offer for help, I'm confused about the request for a username and password. It's the inclusion of my blog in other folks' lists that's a problem, and one that existed long before I aquired an account.

LB

Nine days later, still waiting for a reply.

If you didn't know, Blogrolling wasn't invented by Tucows. No, that distinction goes to Jason DeFillippo, who sold Blogrolling to Tucows in 2004. From the Jason's announcement on the Blogrolling website:

The decision to sell the company was a very difficult one for me and after talking to several companies who were interested, I decided on Tucows because they are an extremely upstanding group of guys (they're Canadian, after all!) who will treat all of you with care and respect.

Sure wish Jason could have seen the future...

Still haven't found a new plugin for the blog roll that's compatible with MT4. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. Yes, I know I could use Blogrolling, but I'm having trouble with them right now and would rather wait until they answer my support request before risking its use. Maybe I'll just hand-jam it into the template...

I added Snap Shots - I've seen it on several blogs and thought I'd try it. if I get enough complaints I'll turn it off.

If you have any trouble registering to post comments, please let me know. It worked okay in testing, though.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

The conversion to MT4 is nearly complete. While the blog is once more functional, I still have a long list of things to tweak. The blog roll plugin I used before doesn't work with MT4, so I'm looking for a replacement. Anyone know of one?

Also, commenters need to register in order to post. This will hopefully keep the spam comments down to a minimum. Registering is quick and painless, and I promise your info will not be shared with anyone. I'm working on a comment policy, so use common sense in the meantime.

If anyone runs into a glitch, please leave a comment or send me an email with the word "bug" as the first word in the subject line.

Thanks for stopping by!

Well, soon, anyway. It's been a long break, and we're playing around with updating the site and doing some housekeeping. Upgraded to Movable Type 4.01 - what a pain that's turning out to be, but it should be to the good after it's finished.

In the next week or two we'll be making regular posts again.

I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I took time off to spend with TB and the kids. I think it was one of the most enjoyable Thanksgivings we've ever had.

I've stayed at arms' length from the news and blogs for several days. Did a little catching up this morning, it seems I've missed a little, although no more than I expected.

The previous week wasn't without local glitches, though. The weather on Thursday was awful, the stores were a trial on Friday, and our 5-year old Braun coffee pot died last wednesday.

The coffee pot was clearly the biggest disaster, as Braun stopped making the model we had, and their newer models aren't getting rave reviews. Most of the major retailers in my area have ceased carrying them as well. Wonder why?

After a couple hours' careful research, I settled on this model from Cuisinart. It rates well with Consumer Reports, has a small footprint, and I don't mind that it beeps.

Picked it up from Linens & Things in brushed stainless for 79.99 and they gave me a free pair of 1-liter carafes as a bonus. My only complaints are that the opening to pour water into is smaller than I would like, requiring more accuracy than I can usually muster at 4 A.M. - but it's a complaint I would make about several other models I saw at Linens & Things as well. And condensation collects on the underside of the lid, when opened, it drips down the back side of the unit.

On the plus side, it makes terrific coffee - every bit as good as the retired Braun. It seems quieter than other coffee makers I've owned, too. And best of all, the carafe doesn't dribble - a marked improvement over the Braun.

If you live in the Philly area and haven't taken the kids to see Santa yet, consider going to the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester next Saturday (We went yesterday, next weekend they'll repeat). Santa arrives in a helicopter, it's all very well organized, and not crowded at all. If you have the time and means for it ($35/person), you can also get your kids a ride in a helicopter as well - mine loved it, and so did TB. Note - the Museum's web page is currrently down, not a bad link. Just keep trying. Here's a cached version.

Although not well-rested. Yesterday was my youngest daughter's birthday - 5 years old. As you might expect, it was a big night in our home - decorations, presents, balloons, movies, Barbie dolls, cake, ice cream, and sodas well into the night. It was worth it, though. I'll accept tired - before I left for work, I noticed she was smiling in her sleep.

As some of you know, I try to keep the blogroll short. Over the past few days, I've dropped several, and added several others. There are lots of good blogs out there, the changes are due to changing tastes and discovery of new places to hang out. And it's not an echo chamber exercise - I often disagree with the views on listed blogs, but find them worthwhile nonetheless.

These are blogs and sites I recommend, and I encourage you all to check them out.

LB

Sorry for being down - the hosting service needed to do some maintenance on the server and took a little longer than anticipated.

If anyone emailed in the last three hours, chances are I didn't get it. Please resend!

LB

That's according to an Associated Press-AOL News poll:

WASHINGTON - Increasing numbers of people looking for political news are going online — with more than a third now saying they check the Internet for such information.

That group is more likely to be younger, better educated and male than the population in general, an Associated Press-AOL News poll found.

Hey, that's me! Well, except for the younger part. Sigh.

I found this part interesting considering that both the left and right blogosphere spend a considerable amount of time and energy poking well-deserved holes in mainstream news coverage:

While the online browsers go to a wide variety of sites, they overwhelmingly trust what they see on the news sites.

That's 70% who trust news sites, according to the poll. Of course, they don't specify what defines "political web sites" that the news sites are compared with. I think it's a given that blogs are included, but there are other political web sites as well.

Still, I see this as a plus for the blogosphere. Although some days it doesn't seem that way, the news sites by and large are doing a better job than they were a few years ago because they know how much more closely they're being watched. Eo ipso, the blogs are having a larger effect than the surface numbers suggest.

That's a good thing, folks.

It also underlines the need for bloggers to continue watching and correcting. Even with their frequent errors and proclivity toward bias, the MSM will always score high on this type of poll. No group of bloggers is likely to replace AP or Reuters anytime soon.

For the vast majority of political bloggers, that translates into a hobby with job security. What color lining this gives your clouds is up to you.

Or maybe not. Seems like it was less than first reported.

I don't listen to Rush very often, but what I've heard didn't resemble this.

I largely agreed with Glenn's "premortem", and also with his sentiment from today regarding being taken for granted. I expect my elected officials to spend the time between elections earning my next vote. This Republican Congress has has fallen short in that area. Spending and immigration are the two biggest bumbles in my view.

Nonetheless, I am prepared to pull the handle for them once again. Considering that even two years in charge (in the most rosy scenario) gives the left lots of time to dismantle the things that Republicans did right, and it's simply not worth the risk of sitting it out.

Sometime last night BlogRolling got back up and running. Whatever the problem was, thanks guys, for getting it fixed.

I guess, though, as soon as folks notice then the ping abuse will start again. I know of one blog that rarely makes more than one post a day, usually in the early morning. But you can find it at the top of the 101st list at right repeatedly throughout the day. Wish BlogRolling would find a fix for that...

Has anyone else noticed that Blogrolling isn't updating the group lists? At first, I thought it was just my blog. Checking others, however, tells me this isn't the case.

The blogrolling website has no news about an outage, and their forum is clogged with spam.

Anyone know what's up?

Update: I guess a few folks have noticed, but no answers....

It's become clear to me of late that I simply don't have enough hours in the day to do all the things I'd like to do. Between work, TB, and the kids, I have a full plate - at the moment, hobbies are a luxury I don't have time for.

So I'm going to trim away a few activities I enjoy, and the blog is unfortunately on the list.

I'm not going away entirely - I may post occasionally about items I feel strongly about, and I may yet get TB to post - so for now, I'm leaving the blog up and running. There's just going to be much less activity for a while.

Perhaps as the mid-term elections heat up I'll try to find more time for posting.

In the meantime, I'd like to say thanks to my regular readers for their patronage, especially those who have taken the time to email.

LB

I'm going on the road for a few days (short family vacation), so blogging will be light.

I hope you all have a terrific weekend!

LB

N.Z. Bear is trying to get some ideas moving to mitigate DDOS attacks such as the one that kept Protein Wisdom down recently.

Conversation seems to have died down, though. I hope it picks up again, as it seems to me a worthwhile effort.

But I've been caught up in a few priorities at both work and home.

I should be posting a few items this evening...

There's a new conservative talk radio network that started today - Wide Awakes Radio.

I've been listening for the last 2 hours - it's been interesting. They're having an abundance of first day glitches fueling some added spontaneity. While some might find it somewhat embarrassing, I think it's a fascinating view into just how difficult it is to put together a seamless live broadcast.

Over the coming days, I'm sure the glitches will fade. I'm looking forward to listening in on all of the hosts (schedule here), but particularly the Kit And Heidi show (Euphoric Reality) and Ric Ottiano (Release the Hounds!), representing two of the blogs featured on my incredibly short and highly selective blogroll.

Best of luck, folks, on the new venture!

Update: Apparently they have a limited amount of bandwidth available and they're swamped. So if you're having problems getting to their blog or the live stream, keep trying!

Friday. And a big holiday weekend on the horizon, too.

Yeah, and good morning to you, too.

But at least my internet problems are fixed.

For the curious - it's not a photoshop. That's really my coffee cup.

Here in northern Delaware, there's some sort of wide-spread problem with Comcast's cable internet service.

I'm able to get to a few web sites, but not many.

Since most of my posting depends on being able to link sources, this keeps me from posting much until it's fixed.

Thanks for your patience.

I've pretty much ignored the ministorm between Glenn Greenwald and a number of prominent bloggers on the right (Tom Maguire, Jeff Goldstein, The Commissar, and Glenn Reynolds. There's plenty of painfully wrong things said by Greenwald and his robotic minions at Unclaimed Territory, and harping on minutia only serves to distract from larger issues, like the star author of left blogosphere's disturbing views on the constitution and crime and punishment.

Well, apparently he was right about this one. I'll skip the obligatory colloquial adage about blind squirrels and suggest that he's entitled to bask a little.

But one really has to wonder if the fame is going to his head. After all, nothing says "I am going to do my best to avoid flamboyant displays of celebratory vindication and instead focus on what I think are the substantive issues illustrated by this episode" like a 2,319 word post including phrases like "they wallowed in an orgy of incestuous links to one another" and streching a disagreement about whether an email was fake into a wider rant about Bush:

It is that corrupt dynamic that explains how things are going really well in Iraq; how Saddam really did have WMDs when we invaded; how the chaos and anarchy in Iraq is the fault (and invention) of the news media; how Saddam personally participated in the 9/11 attacks; how terrorists did not know before the New York Times story in December, 2005 that we were trying to eavesdrop on their telephone calls; how terrorists did not know before this weekend that we were trying to monitor their bank transactions; how Bush is really popular and most of the country agrees with him and that data to the contrary is due to flawed and biased polls, etc.

And he manages to put in plugs for a book appearance and a book review for good measure. Classy.

...get the message to a French publisher that stealing photos is unacceptable. It had appeared that they were going to do the right thing by Michael, but apparently they've crawfished on him.

Read this. Then follow the link at the bottom of the post to a page that lets you know how you can help.

I'll be there as well.

H/T InstaPundit.

I deleted a trackback today. No, not a trackback from Viagra or Free Porn, but one from a real blog.

I found it in the junk trackback tab a few days ago - but it was still fairly new. So I rescued it, and and checked the site it came from. Oddly, there was no corresponding link there. So I zipped off a polite email to the proprietor asking if the trackback was in error. No answer. I sent again. Still no answer.

So today I deleted it. Shame, too, as it looked like a good blog.

By the way, is it just me or are more folks just not using trackbacks anymore? I find more links to me from my stats page than from trackbacks lately. Are trackbacks becoming a dying fad?

Also, any other Movable Type 3.2 users out there think that trackbacks in MT don't work very well? Auto discover misses most links, way too many get rejected for timeout, method not allowed, throttled, etc.? And I almost always have success using the Wizbang standalone trackback pinger, even after multiple tries with MT failing...

Just askin'.

today for my 2nd grader. She was almost in tears this morning over the prospect - she really loves her teacher and will miss seeing her friends on a daily basis.

I saw her to the bus a little while ago - she decided to give up her usual jeans and t-shirt for a dress to look her best for her classmates.

They're letting school out early today - 11:30 instead of the usual 3:30. I took today off from work so TB, our 4 yr old, and I can meet her at the bus stop and take her out to lunch at her favorite restaurant (Olive Garden).

So I hope you'll understand if I post a little less today.

Update (7:23 PM EST): She cried for 20 minutes after she got off the bus - worried that her teacher will forget her. She cheered up after learning where we were going for lunch, and I put her on the phone with Grandma for good measure. TB just took the kids up the street to play with neighboring kids, and all is normal again.

And the best part of all, it's BBQ night!

Captain Ed reports good news on the First Mate. In case you weren't aware, she's back in the hospital.

TB and I are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers.

If you stop by, please leave a comment wishing them well.

Somehow his trackback hit the bit bucket, so I didn't know DragonFlyEye had responded to my last post on VNRs until yesterday. Which is a shame, because although this isn't really a burning-bush issue requiring great speed, I really don't want multiple days passing between posts as it makes the debate more difficult both to write and to follow. Oh, well. You blog with the internet you have, as it were...

Please do visit DragonFlyEye's response to my last post here. I'll quote a few things, but I encourage my readers to follow the links to insure nothing is out of context. It also gets me a few emails taking me to the woodshed if I misquote, thus keeping me straight.

One of the subjects I touched on was my bewilderment about the Bush administration's poor handling of the media. DragonFly made an astute observation:

Now, here’s the thing: I’ve heard nothing from Conservatives for years except how the media is the quote “Liberal Media,” and since Bush has come to the presidency, I’ve heard nothing from Liberals but that the media is quote the “Conservative Media,” and I think they’re both basically nuts. I am guessing LB would be inclined to agree with me on this point.

Good guess - to a point. We on the right spend an enormous amount of time whining about the media, and it surprises and amuses many of us when we see the left doing the reverse. I think the media is a lot more complicated than any of us give it credit for, it isn't like a school of fish that changes directions simultaneously without rhyme or reason. While I feel there's evidence that the media leans left overall, some of the negative reporting I see is less about ideology and more about business. If it bleeds, it leads is a very real maxim invented long before Bush took the oath of office, and while it's easy (and perhaps a bit lazy) to automatically assign the dearth of good news coming out of Iraq to ideology, the difficult truth is that opening schools and setting up governments are nowhere near as gripping as blown up bodies, mayhem, and controversy.

Ideology does rear its ugly head too frequently and there are lots of good examples. For instance, who on either side could argue that Mary Mapes or Helen Thomas are objective? And many have noticed the rush to judgement on the Haditha incident. I'll leave it to DragonFly to provide examples from the leftward point of view, I can think of a couple but they may not be as meaningful.

I've also noticed a tendency for us as bloggers to selectively switch hit out of convenience. The New York Times gets skinned alive on a weekly basis by the right, we rip apart every story we don't like - then turn around and use them as a trusted source when something they publish shores up a point we're making (you'll see me do it later in this post!). I see the same trend on the left as well - again I'll leave it to DragonFly to show the best examples, as he's far better equipped than I.

On the meat of the issue - the VNRs themselves, we have a little less agreement. But there is still some common ground here:

I agree with the first portion of this paragraph, along with the tacit acknowlegment in the next para, that this is certainly grey area where legality comes to mind and definitely sneaky. It might be hard to pin the Administration down on this one for illegalty, but of course this has been the Administration’s modus operandi throughout its history.

Sneaky I said, and sneaky I meant. The Clinton administration (calm down, it's not what you think) spent as much as $125 million on VNRs. I don't watch much television nowadays, but I did during the 1990s. I can't recall ever seeing something during a newscast that I labeled as government made. Even if a notice had been given in the segue or in the lower right corner of the screen identified it (and they all could have) I don't remember it. Chances are, most of you don't either. When an effort is made to have a government message seamlessly blend in with the trappings of a professional newscast, it's not unreasonable to assume that the video didn't self identify in an obvious fashion for a reason.

Motive, however, is the proverbial fried rat in the bucket of chicken. I speculated in my previous post that the administration was determined to get their message out in spite of a hostile media. DragonFly agrees in part, but wonders why the stations are so willing to air VNRs without disclosure (emphasis mine):

Follow me through this, if you could. . . The State Department releases a tape that says “Produced by the US Department of State,” right on the box, which has a title in the movie that says “Iraqi’s Really Dig Us. Produced by the US Department of State” and then Joe Smith, Program Director for the Podunk Awake and Semi-Alert at Five televison news broadcast just. . . strips all that information? For what? Esthetic quality?

That’s the dot no one is connecting right now. The Bush Administration department or corporation that put out these VNRs properly identified them, but for some reason, theres a rash of journalists going out of thier way not to let anyone know? And of thier own accord? That doesn’t come close to passing the smell test; indeed, I would go one step further and say that the rot has a specific stench of government/corporatists collusion.

It's good that he mentions the corporations here, as they put out the vast majority of VNRs. Unlike the government, their motivations are simple - they just want to get free/cheap advertising, sell more product, and improve their bottom line. For a business, these are actually virtuous desires, and we're only questioning the methodology. The normal method of achieving this goal involves marketing through paid advertising. Open-air networks - those that don't depend on subscription revenue - make their entire living from it. So why, then do the stations air VNRs - in effect, free advertising? And can we extend that reasoning to government VNRs, which are somewhat more diverse in purpose?

I'm not willing to throw away all of DragonFly's reasoning quoted above. There may very well be some pressure involved - but I'm Missouran about such things - I'd need more than speculation. At least a partial answer that can be sourced comes from this NYT article by David Barstow and Robin Stein - probably the most complete on the subject (side note - the anti-drug example came from here as well):

WCIA is a small station with a big job in central Illinois.

Each weekday, WCIA's news department produces a three-hour morning program, a noon broadcast and three evening programs. There are plans to add a 9 p.m. broadcast. The staff, though, has been cut to 37 from 39. "We are doing more with the same," said Jim P. Gee, the news director.

Farming is crucial in Mr. Gee's market, yet with so many demands, he said, "it is hard for us to justify having a reporter just focusing on agriculture."

To fill the gap, WCIA turned to the Agriculture Department, which has assembled one of the most effective public relations operations inside the federal government. The department has a Broadcast Media and Technology Center with an annual budget of $3.2 million that each year produces some 90 "mission messages" for local stations - mostly feature segments about the good works of the Agriculture Department.

"I don't want to use the word 'filler,' per se, but they meet a need we have," Mr. Gee said.

In this example, the station used the VNRs as a "cheat" to get free programming and avoid full staffing. I suspect that's the case at many other stations as well.

Incidently, I thought the article was a little unfair to the USDA - they make it seem as if the segments exist just to blow Secretary Mike Johanns' horn. However, the USDA is probably the most helpful government agency, with many important and beneficial programs under its control. When Congress passes a relief bill, for example, this is one of the ways the USDA gets word of its availabilty out. That's why it's difficult to take an absolutist view of the subject. Fact is, most of the government VNRs are beneficial. The exclusion of criticism is not necessarily the devil you may think - once a citrus canker compensation program has been passed and funded by Congress, the arguments used against it in debate are moot, and the priority rightly becomes public awareness to notify affected growers. It's not a matter of pushing an agenda, but enacting public policy.

Even with that recognition in mind, I still remain an absolutist as to the ethics of VNRs. Even the beneficial topics can be disseminated adequately via other means. And some agencies have shifted away from the practice since the original flap occurred, which is good news:

At the State Department, Mr. Tappan said the broadcasting office is moving away from producing narrated feature segments. Instead, the department is increasingly supplying only the ingredients for reports - sound bites and raw video. Since the shift, he said, even more State Department material is making its way into news broadcasts.

Providing sound bites and raw video completely avoids the ethical problems of VNRs, and the stations are free to balance them as they choose. All in all, a much healthier approach that I'd like to see the other agencies adopt.

On the topic of propaganda, I'll stick by my guns - the formal definition is entirely inadequate and would include the examples I gave. The inclusion of Harry Reid wasn't intended as a "inflexive jab". Regular readers know that when I'm of a mood to take a cheap shot at Harry Reid, I tend to be far less nuanced.

The word "propaganda", as I hinted in my previous post, has evolved so that it almost always means something negative. Under the classic definition, the Easter Egg Roll (be sure to view the webcast by White House Curator Bill Allman) fits quite well.

With the exception of a cleanup post or two, I suspect that DragonFly and I have debated this issue as far as possible. I'm surprised and pleased that we were able to find more to agree on that I would have predicted - enough so that should this issue become active again (on the government front, that is) we could comfortably collaborate on it. It's interesting to note that some some of that agreement is borne of differing rationales - an indication to me that this type of exercise probably wouldn't succeed for some topics.

It was fun - I hope we get a chance to do it again.

I've been editing the blogroll, adding and correcting a few - some deletions from sites that haven't posted recently or in my opinion are no longer worthy to recommend to my readers. And that's what it's about, really. I have a bookmark list for me, the blogroll is for you.

I've also added a category on the blogroll for liberal blogs. I quote frequently from the left, you may as well know where I browse most frequently.

Regardless of which list a blog is on, inclusion isn't an endorsement of that blog's view. It's there because I feel it's worth reading.

Added: This will be ongoing for a few days. Don't read too much into the changes, please.

There's a bit of controversy about whether P.T. Barnum really said "There's a sucker born every minute". No matter - whoever said it was right.

Andrew Buncombe of the Independent knows it. And he artfully used that principle to stir up the left by livening up this Bloomberg story about corporate video news releases (subscription required, full text quoted here) with some old news, fake news, and innuendo.

Here's the thrust of the original Bloomberg article:

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin ordered a probe of dozens of television stations after a report found they aired advertisements as if they were news reports, people familiar with the inquiry said.

The April report by the non-profit Center for Media and Democracy found at least 77 stations, including 23 affiliates of Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network and seven Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. stations, ignored an FCC warning to disclose sponsors. The maximum fine for each violation is $32,500, rising to $325,000 for multiple infractions, said FCC spokesman Clyde Ensslin.

Got that? It's about TV stations and corporate-made Video News Releases (VNR). Nothing else. But as we've seen so often in the media, anything can and will become a Bush-bashing story.

The Independent's headline:

Bush 'planted fake news stories on American TV'

Federal authorities are actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq, or promoted the companies' products.

Investigators from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are seeking information about stations across the country after a report produced by a campaign group detailed the extraordinary extent of the use of such items.

Buncombe provides a reference to an administration-produced VNR and infers that it's part of the investigation:

The range of VNR is wide. Among items provided by the Bush administration to news stations was one in which an Iraqi-American in Kansas City was seen saying "Thank you Bush. Thank you USA" in response to the 2003 fall of Baghdad. The footage was actually produced by the State Department, one of 20 federal agencies that have produced and distributed such items.

This particular example occurred prior to the FCC issuing it's warning on the use of VNRs last year, and was not part of the report that prompted the FCC investigation. The report can be found here, and here's an interesting snippet from a NYT writer on its contents:

Three of the 88 releases in the report were done for government agencies but were not broadcast, the report said.

Of course, we've seen this kind of thing before, so there's nothing really unique about this story. I'm documenting it mostly because of the effect this kind of dishonest reporting has. A small but growing amount of buzz has been generated on the left side of the blogosphere, and all of it based on the parts of Buncombe's article that are fake. And while it appears that few bloggers bothered to read the report referenced in the article, a surprising number apparently passed on reading the article they cut and pasted into their own posts. For example, Jason at My Observations quotes most of the Independent article and adds the headline:

Democracy At Work? - Bush Investigated For Propaganda

Which is a claim that Buncombe, even as distorted as his article was, didn't make. And had Jason actually read the very first sentence of the article, he'd know that.

Sean (he's a Libra) introduces the quoted article with:

In the following case, the "corporation" in question is the Bush Administration... and apparently our trusted media outlets didn't feel obliged to make clear that distinction for their viewers.

Sean should worry less about his teeth and more about shaken Libra syndrome when he sees that b-ball coming for him. Another breathless and uninformed headline:

More Media Whores for Bushitler

Barkeep, I'll have some of what he's having... There's also the occasional embellishment - most on the left seem to dislike Fox News, so this seems to be a natural for the dragonflyeye.net blog:

But back to these so-called VNR’s (Video News Releases). That the Administration and Corporate America seem to be engaged in exactly the same types of deception ~ and by all accounts, primarily through the collusion of Fox media outlets ~ is the kind of thing that should give even those cynical of media independence reason to pause.

Never mind that the report's top offenders were ABC affiliates - it's so much fun to bust on Fox, right?

Here's one that obviously had time to get creative with font sizes and animations, but no time to read the article.

I know, the above examples are not the larger mainstream lefty blogs. Okay, How 'bout Digby?

And about that disinformation and propaganda, I think we have a little hint about where that's going in this era as well...

Hook, line, and sinker - if it's anti-Bush, it must be gospel, right, Digby?

When I want the rabid anti-constitutionalist view from the left, I always trot over to Glenn Greenwald's blog. And there's no disappointment here, as Glenn is out on his book tour and Hume's Ghost fills in with a magnificent BDS inspired rant:

Allthough it hasn't managed to garner much attention, the FCC is currently investigating one of the most significant (at least to me) scandals of the Bush administration.

What's stunning is that he links several of the same sources that I use above, and still manages to conclude that the FCC is investigating an administration scandal. And on the left, this is apparently what passes for an influential blog - another blog called Outside the Spectrum links the post and comments:

More news today about the administration’s continued efforts to subvert the media from Glenn Greenwald’s blog. Apparently 77 different broadcast stations have used pre-packaged “news” items without identifying them as such, concerning subjects like how well the Iraq War is really going.

Um, barkeep? Maybe I should pass after all. Blindness and delusions aren't desirable side-effects.

What's sad is that in another month this will be likely become established "conventional wisdom" among the left, taking its place among such intellectually bereft gems as "Bush Lied", and "Domestic wiretapping". No critical thought applied. No research. As ubiquitous as it is dishonest.

Hume's Ghost closes his post with a question - "...why are we still even discussing this?". Because, Ghost, you and all the others want to believe. You went into the light - and ignored the signs that said "Bug Zapper". On one point I do agree with Hume's Ghost, though. No one could possibly mistake him for a pedant.

P. T. Barnum would have loved the modern left.

Update: If you really want to see fake news, try this instead. Michelle has a roundup with lots of real examples.

My schedule is finally starting to lighten up a little. So I'm gonna start posting again.

Thanks to my regulars for visiting often (according to my stats) and being patient.

LB

But it was one of "those" days at work, and I just didn't get a break. We're up against several deadlines, there's a full load of students in house, and stress levels are high. Except for me, of course. I try to keep smiling no matter what.

Lorie Byrd has joined Kevin and the gang over at Wizbang. If you haven't been paying attention, she used to post over at PoliPundit before a recent parting of ways between Poli and his guest bloggers.

I wish her well in her new digs.

At 3:59 PM today, Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) posts:

HP UPDATE: Well, I finally got to someone at HP last night (my slowness, not theirs) and the computer is on its way back for repairs. They were quite nice. Am I getting special blogger-treatment? Possibly, but I've gotten several emails like this one from Gary Wishon: "My HP laptop was picked up FedEx on Tuesday and I was using it again on Thursday PM. With a follow-up call 2hrs after arrival. I'd buy HP again anytime--and have." And I didn't get any horror stories like I keep hearing about Dell...

At 7:30 PM, AP headline:

HP Gains on Dell in Tough Computer Market

We all knew he was influential, but who knew just how much? And should we be afraid?

Update: Welcome Instapundit readers! Thanks for the "Heh", Glenn!

Lorie Byrd:

The fact is that I believe this is the last time I will be blogging at Polipundit.

In my opinion, PoliPundit is one of the best group blogs around, so this news really saddens me.

I hope that there's a chance that PoliPundit reconsider, and I sent him an email saying so. That said, I fear that there has been some gratuitous bridge-burning behind the scenes that may prevent that from happening.

I look forward to seeing PoliPundit's next post - I imagine it will be interesting.

Update: It looks like they're still talking to each other - always a good sign.

Good luck guys. I hope you get it worked out.

Anchoress had decided to swear off of politics for a while:

"I’ve decided that if I’m going to keep blogging, I’m going to have to leave off writing or reading about politics for a little while, because it’s all making me sick."

Anchoress writes on a variety of topics, so this isn't going to stop her blogging. But her political posts were what attracted me to her blog in the first place. She rarely follows the crowd, adding a unique voice to the right side of the blogosphere. And when she's of a mind to rant, nobody rants better. Even when I disagree with her opinion, she challenges me to think from different perspectives - something I feel contributes to the health of the blogosphere and in sore need from more bloggers.

This particular rant is no exception, as she spares neither side of the debate:

"There is a terrible toxicity to our political and social exchanges - there is little real thought and lots of shrieking going on, lots of noise, little real discourse and precious little honesty. There is no way to debate because - no matter which side tries to get serious - a well-thought-out discourse is immediately shot down by the other side with a one-line-sneer, usually a specious one, that distorts or misdirects and never allows a thought to go forward. The disrespect between “sides” is staggering, and completely unproductive."

While I would wish for her to reconsider, I understand and sympathise with her distaste with the nastiness that passes for politics nowadays.

Anchoress, I'd like you to know that your political commentary will be missed around here. If it's just for the summer, please make it a short one.

Back in February, I snuck a pop-up photoshop I made of Nancy Pelosi as the wicked witch into this post. I dusted it off and reused it here. Just to save your clicky finger:

Obviously, I'm not the only one who views Nancy that way. Meet Blue Crab Boulevard. And he used a better picture than I did, too.

Of course, to stay bleeding edge, I now have to come up with something new for the evil of the eighth. But what? Vampire? Too sexy. Zombie? Ewwww - too gross. This is gonna keep me awake tonight....

Oh well. At least I still have the franchise sewn up for the Reiddler:

I decided to take last weekend off. Monday was due to work issues.

Thanks for your patience!

Wow! This has certainly been a busy day for the hackers!

Sorry I was down, but this kind of thing happens to nearly everyone eventually. No word on where the attack came from this time. If I find out I'll pass it on.

I would like to say thanks to the Hosting Matters staff - two attacks in one day, I'm sure they were working their backsides off. But I should expect no less. Every time I've had a problem or a question they're been fast and courteous in addressing it.

If you're looking for a host, I recommend them strongly. They're pleasant to work with, and they understand blogs.

Again, thanks to Hosting Matters!

Sorry the site's been off line - Hosting Matters had a denial of service attack today. According to Charles at LGF, it apparently originated in Saudi Arabia.

Michelle has a very short list of blogs affected - Hosting Matters has a lot of blogs. They should all be back up now.

Via InstaPundit, I checked out Michelle Malkin's new venture, Hot Air. What a terrific idea - looks like something I'll be visiting regularly. Looks like others think so, too.

Deciding to show my enthusiasm for the new site (with its dynamite logo), I slip over to their CafePress portal for official Hot Air gear. Summer's coming, I thought. Another t-shirt for the collection... But alas, I won't be adding to my closet today.

Why not, you ask?

Because they only sell women's t-shirts!

Oh, the humanity! All the women will soon be adorned with the hip new gear of the summer, and the men get left out in the cold. Darn it, I can't go to the park wearing a refrigerator magnet!

So c'mon, Michelle - give the guys a break, OK?

Update (1:46 PM EST 24APR06): Of course I emailed Michelle Malkin and Bryan Preston within minutes after posting this. After all, it could have been an oversight that excluded much of Hot Air's demographic from the opportunity to conduct meaningful commerce at their gear site.

After 3 hours, unfortunately no answer from either. And worse, it looks like my trackback was denied! Here
is a screenshot showing the successful trackback to one of Hot Air's posts. But go to that post, and it's not there (Here's a screenshot just in case). Note that the last three trackbacks shown were made after mine!

Lord knows I'm not one to foster conspiracy theories, but it's starting to look a little suspicious. Could it be that this is a coverup of Hot Air's anti-male merchandising policies? And what about Bryan Preston? Why would he go along with it? You'd think he would address this egregious injustice. Hmmm?

Update 2 (3:00 PM EST 24APR06): My Trackback now appears. But there's STILL NO MEN'S T-SHIRTS! C'mon, Hot Air staff, help conservative men everywhere! Think about it - lots of us are old and overweight. Do you really want to see us at the beach wearing nothing but a Hot Air Bumper Sticker (even though it is UV resistant)?

To DJ Drummond for the loss of his father.

Does a profile on Maryscott O'Connor (pictured below) of the lefty blog My Left Wing.

It's a fascinating yet disturbing view into the rage-filled, spittle-infused, foul, and profane left side of the blogosphere. While the piece appears largely sympathetic, it is nonetheless frightening:

...she picks up the album about her father, where there's a letter from him to his wife, written three days before he died, that ends, "I love you and the baby more than I ever knew a person could love."

The baby.

He never knew her name, or that she was a girl, or that his wife weighed less on the day their daughter was born than when she was conceived. "Catatonic" is how O'Connor describes what her mother became for a while, and then the mother got better, and then the daughter got worse, and then the daughter got better by becoming angry rather than silent about a new war, so angry she began wishing her president would go to hell.

"In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes..."

The front door opens and in comes her 6-year-old son, Terry, home from school, who starts batting around a blue balloon at the other end of the living room, batting it closer to her, closer, closer. She searches through her iTunes library until she finds one of her favorite downloads -- not music, but a speech by a character named Howard Beale in the movie "Network." She presses "play" and turns up the volume. "I want you to get mad!" Beale shouts at one point. "I want you to get mad!" she shouts along, startling Terry. "What?" he says, backing away with his balloon.

Read the whole thing.

H/T Little Green Footballs

Update: Photo added.
Update 2: Kim Priestap at WizBang: "It's quite the irony, isn't it, how they allow the man they hate with every fiber of their bodies complete control over their lives."

Update 3: Captain Ed: "If I were a liberal blogger, I would cringe with embarrassment after reading this article."

Update 4: My friend Bob thinks the Post cherry-picked the worst of the left for the story. He's got a point that there are leftist blogs that don't spew vile. Unfortunately, the most popular ones do.

Update 5: Eventually someone else will post a "separated at birth" picture pair, so I may as well be first:

To Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters for his selection as Blogger of the Year by The Week magazine.

Of course, I read his blog back when it was merely cool to do so.

From Captain Ed, on the news that Andrew Card is resigning and the MSM's reaction:

"I find it amusing that the press corps can't fathom why Bush would want stability in his senior staff, and at the same time provide shelter for Helen Thomas, who has been around the White House so long she can remember when the British burnt it."

Priceless.

I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on the Ben Domenech story. I won't rehash the particulars of his resignation from the Post, they're covered in great detail elsewhere.

But the story does raise a concern about the level of responsibility that our information-driven world requires. There's no question that Ben was aggresively attacked by a sizable crowd on the left, and on topics that fell far out of bounds for civil debate. I didn't have to follow very many links to see for myself that the attacks were vicious, personal, and intended to harm someone for the sole reason that the attackers disliked his message. That they found something in Ben's past that appears to be wrong in no way excuses the methods and motivations that led to their discovery. The finding of wrongdoing in Ben's past wasn't their goal - tearing down an individual out of fear and hatred for his beliefs was.

Again, I'm offering no excuse for Ben's actions. But no one can offer one for those folks that tore him down, either.

I wish Ben the best of luck in the future - and I'm glad he's continuing to post at RedState.

In addition to everything else I've had on my plate, my 7 year-old has been sick this week. I'm looking forward to the weekend, when I usually get a little time to post.

My schedule is light today as well, so I intend to catch up on some of the week's events

Cheers!.

Apparently bloggers are now a large enough demographic that Boca Java is reaching out to us.

I don't know about other bloggers, but at 12-13 bucks a pound (plus shipping), they're assuming a whole lot about my finances.

Via Instapundit, there's this jewel on Marquette Warrior about a NYT reporter looking into connections between bloggers and Wal-Mart:

We got an e-mail from Barbaro this past Thursday evening, saying he is working on a story and that several of the postings on the Marquette Warrior are relevant to it.

At least two other bloggers on the Wal-Mart mailing list have been similarly contacted.

Barbaro has apparently noticed that similar stories concerning Wal-Mart have appeared roughly simultaneously in recent months. In some cases, bloggers on the list simply cut and pasted information in the e-mails into their blog posts.

I may as well 'fess up - I'm part of this great conspiratorial network as well. Marshall Manson contacted me after I posted a view of the players in a scuffle at a Wal-Mart in North Lauderdale between union protesters and store personnel. Here's the email I received:

LB:

I hope you’re well. I just wanted to drop you a line and introduce myself. I’m a blogger myself (I contribute to Confirm Them and Human Events’ Right Angle among others), but for my day job - I do online public affairs for Wal-Mart, working with Mike Krempasky who runs Redstate.org.

Just wanted you to know that your post (http://dontgointothelight.com/2005/12/union_vs_walmart_a_scuffle_dur_1.php) on the anti-Wal-Mart groups incursion into Wal-Mart's Lauderdale store is making the rounds here and at heaquarters in Bentonville.

It’s always a challenge when opponents organize to attack corporations. The companies always seems to have one arm tied behind their backs when they try to respond, so it’s nice to see folks like you defending them when it’s the right thing to do .

If you're interested, I'd like to drop you the occasional update with some newsworthy info about the company. Let me know.

Sincerely,

Marshall

Marshall Manson

Edelman

Prior to this, I had already posted several stories about the left's war against Wal-Mart, so there was no sword taken up based on Marshall's offer. Since then, I've received occasional emails, many of them were mostly links to editorials and news articles - some I had already found on my own (I know how to use Google and Yahoo).

Not that I'm saying there was no value in Marshall's emails - he's saved me hours of searching, and provided me with several story ideas (some not even related to Wal-Mart). And I've passed up most of what Marshall has sent. Indeed, it's been a two-way street, as I sent him a link to my post about Hillary Clinton's involvement with Wal-Mart:

http://dontgointothelight.com/2006/02/more_walmart_fun.php

Marshall,

In case you missed this. I thought it was pretty funny.

Regards,

LB

And his reply?

That's awesome. Thanks for sending. I'm LMAO. The whole team will see this one.

M

I didn't credit Marshall in any of my posts because the opinions given were my own. That my opinions dove-tailed with others doesn't make them any less my opinion. I had specifically asked Marshall for groundrules to follow in using whatever he sent, and he provided me with none. Since I've seen several news articles parroting WakeUpWalMart's talking points without crediting the source, I believe I've conformed to the norm in posting on these topics. Indeed, John at Marquette Warrior notes:

In fact, journalists are always dependent on various sources to supply leads and information. Barbaro's article on Scott's communications with his employees was based on material leaked by Wal-Mart Watch, an anti-Wal Mart group backed by unions and leftist foundations.

I think it would be delicious to learn whether Barbaro simply "discovered" the blogging connection with Marshall as he claims, or was led to it by the same folks who had already been sourcing his stories. Of course, it was out there to find - even though Marquette Warrior and I didn't credit Marshall, others did:

"It took a while, but Lee Scott came out swinging. And of all the newspapers, the Washington Post published his piece. It's not one of my regular reads, but our friend Marshall Manson (who does PR for Wal-Mart) alerted me:"

Incidentally, I didn't post on the same story - one of many that I passed up. I would have preferred that Wal-Mart had taken a different track after the Wal-Mart bill was passed - capitulating simply encourages bad behaviour in other states.

But back to sourcing from PR folks - should I have credited Marshall for leads I received? Possibly. Although it would have been more in the form of a hat tip, as I didn't engage in the wholesale cutting and pasting of Marshall's material - instead, I used the leads to news articles to assist in researching for posts that were about my opinion. But I think Glenn Reynolds has a point in his post on the subject:

I talked to a reporter about blogs and PR -- I won't spoil the story, but the gist is that some PR people have been sending stuff to bloggers, and some bloggers have apparently reprinted some of it without attribution.

I think that's bad, but as I stressed in our interview, it's not as if this supports a "bloggers lack the standards of mainstream journalism" conclusion.

I think I'll start giving hat tips in the future for this kind of thing just to be complete. And I hope that Marshall doesn't stop sending his emails as a result of all this. I've enjoyed corresponding with him, and his leads have proven to be useful on occasion. It would be tragic if Barbaro's efforts (and by proxy those that feed him with material) silenced him.

Update: A clarification, actually. I was not contacted by any reporters regarding Marshall's emails. Apologies for any misunderstandings.

Just to let folks know, I haven't gone away. I've been quite busy with items closer to home.

I've noticed that hits have stayed stable during my recess, and I thank you all for continuing to check this blog - it appears you haven't forgotten about me, and I promise not to forget about you.

Also, thanks for for the several emails expressing concern and wishing well. I haven't elaborated on the family health issues I mentioned previously on purpose, it's not my way. Suffice it to say that it's upended the usual roles and routines in our home. A pleasant side effect is that our family has grown closer than ever.

Much of interest has happened in the last couple of weeks that I normally would have commented on. I hope it doesn't bore any of you if I weigh in on some of the items that interested me from the prior week...

Regards to you all,

LB

At least temporarily... Been dealing with some family health issues, and it's not over yet. So posting will be sporadic for the near future.

Cheers,

LB

To Bob at Crazy Politico's Rantings for getting honorable mention in the Best So Far Awards at Blogging Out Loud.

Way to go! Hopefully you'll win next time!

I don't really take advantage of all the information that can be gleaned from the reporting that comes with my hosting account. I do occasionally look at visitor stats, but for the most part I don't care.

Awstats is one of the programs that comes with my account, and my preferred one for at-a-glance stats. I rarely scroll down to all the details, but today I did, and I find that my blog got five hits from search engines on the phrase:

"jack abramoff shirtless"

and one hit from:

"abramoff shirtless"

I'm glad to say they didn't find what they were looking for here.

[Scroll down for update...]

Via InstaPundit:

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Here's a joint statement by a number of bloggers on the House leadership election:

We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.

We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.

But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.

As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.

Signed,

N.Z. Bear, The Truth Laid Bear

Hugh Hewitt, HughHewitt.com

Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit.com

Kevin Aylward, Wizbang!

La Shawn Barber, La Shawn Barber's Corner

Lorie Byrd, Polipundit

Jeff Goldstein, Protein Wisdom

John Hawkins, Right Wing News

John Hinderaker, Power Line

Jon Henke / McQ / Dale Franks, QandO

James Joyner, Outside The Beltway

Mike Krempasky, Redstate.org

Michelle Malkin, MichelleMalkin.com

Ed Morrissey, Captain's Quarters

Scott Ott, Scrappleface

John Donovan / Bill Tuttle, Castle Argghhh!!!

The fiscal irresponsibility of our current congress really irks me, so naturally I signed up as soon as I heard. You can go and sign up here.

One thing I noticed that I hope gets corrected - NZ Bear appears to be soliciting cosigners to this statement, but not a single one of the 160+ signers in the comments have been elevated to the list of supporters in the article. It kinda makes it look like the statement is a vehicle to get attention for a select few bloggers and anyone else who may feel strongly about the PorkBusters cause is relegated to a background cheerleading post for those who are the real supporters - i.e., the names that don't show up in the comments. Don't misunderstand - I don't care about getting a mention in the article, as it's not about getting links for me. But maybe a few of the commenters won't see it the way I do and be terribly disappointed.

However, maybe NZ doesn't want to add any signers-on. If that's the case, fine, but he needs to clarify the the statement

"If you would like to be known as also supporting this statement, please include a comment below, or Trackback to this post on your blog."

to something sounding a little less inclusive.

Either way, I still support the cause, and will continue to in the future.

Update (22 Jan 06 1:18 PM EST): James Joyner of Outside The Beltway points out in a comment that I misread the intent of NZ Bear's statement:

LB,

I'm not sure how one would interpret "If you would like to be known as also supporting this statement" as "If you would like me to edit this statement to include your name."

Those who fought in the War for Independence thereby signaled their support for the Declaration of Independence. They were not, however, asked to sign the document post hoc.

Upon taking a second look, I realize he's right. My humble apologies for the error - I misread this one - badly, I'm afraid. Thank you to James for setting me straight.

to one and all. Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, but I've been spending my holiday down time with TB and the kids - as much as I enjoy blogging, time with my family is precious and I'm determined to soak up every second until I return to work Tuesday. Today I'm making cookies with the kids. Maybe a movie tomorrow, or the park if it's nice out.

Many blogs are making year end posts. Being a very new blog, you won't find one here. But I'll give you my pledge that I'll be posting with the year-enders on Dec 31, 2006. I hope that you find what I do here interesting and entertaining, and I'll be listening if you tell me you don't.

Expect the blog to evolve - I hope to tackle a wider variety of topics in the coming months. And slowly, the look of DGITL may change as well, as I get better at manipulating Movable Type.

And last, thank you for visiting here. I have enjoyed the feedback, and have made quite a few new friends over the last three months. It's been a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to more of the same in 2006.

God Bless and Happy New Year!

yet again today. Sorry folks, but Real Life^TM has been keeping me busier than usual. Shame, too - Lots of stuff happening in the news.

I'll try to sneak some catch-up posts in this evening if possible. In the meantime, hope you all enjoy your Friday!

I have enabled TypeKey for commenting. The reason is an excess of ad hominem attacks in comments, and authentication allows me a little more control in moderating comments.

I want DGITL to be open for folks to discuss, argue, agree, disagree, whatever. But personal attacks I won't tolerate. Authentification allows me to ban those who won't be civil. I'm not trying to suppress anyone's views, just trying to keep an environment where views can be expressed without infantile mud-slinging and personal attacks.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

By the way - I'd like your comments on whether I should keep the offending posts or delete them. I lean toward delete, but I know what kind of accusations that brings. So give me your advice, please.

The Anchoress is seeking votes for the Weblog Awards, and she's pulling out all the stops:

"How about if I tell you a funny story about my birth parents, as it was relayed to me?"

Anchoress, as you once told me - "relax". I haven't voted yet today.

How 'bout the rest of you voting for the Anchoress for best conservative blog? Please?

Also, DIGTL recommends All Things Beautiful for Best New Blog.

Oops, almost forgot the disclaimer:
This ad was paid for by the DGITL Weblog Award PAC. DGITL Weblog Award PAC is not afilliated with any candidate.

Had some minor server issues this morning. The good folks at Hosting Matters have it fixed now. Thanks guys!

*** Originally posted 2005-12-01 14:44:20, Updated and Bumped 2005-12-02 08:32:00 - see the bottom of the post for details. ***

Sorry about the bloggic vacuum today. My cable modem went down.

Hopefully I'll back up tonight.

In the meantime, why not pay a visit to one of the following fine, non-affiliated blogs? They're each full of bloggy goodness in their own way and well worth a visit - besides, by kissing up to them, maybe they'll occasionally link a post of mine!

Anchoress
Don Surber
Release the Hounds
All Things Beautiful
Below The Beltway

Naturally, anything from the blogrolls on the right would be terrific as well.

Cheers!

Update (02 Dec 05, 8:32 A.M.): My modem problem is fixed - Yay!

Also, the above remark about links was intended as levity, and not a fishing expedition for links. I would like to humbly apologize for my poor choice of words.

The above blogs were recommended because I enjoy visiting them, and I sincerely wished to share that sentiment with you. Any other message caused by my keyboardal diarrheicism was as regrettable as it was unintentional. I will try to do better in the future.

Thanks, Alexandra. If I made a similar list, you would definitely be included.

My Mom would appreciate your remark on manners. I'm going to forward the link to her.

Happy Thanksgiving!

has been under the weather the last couple of days. If you get a chance, why not pop on over to wish her well?

And I can't say I blame her. Go and read her post from late last night, "Just a yellow woman doing a white man's job".

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths the folks on the left will go when challenged by minorities who don't agree with the liberal message.

While the tone of her post is set by her (obviously justified) frustration, it also gives a glimpse into Michelle's private life - something I wish she had shared in a happier post, because I think there's a terrific story there. Framing issues aside, though, I'm still glad she shared it. Michelle, is there any chance we'll get to see more?

Anyway, this is a must-read for today.

To Michelle, a quote from Samuel Johnson (English author, 1709–1784):

"Attack is the reaction. I never think I have hit hard unless it rebounds."

Keep hitting 'em hard, Michelle.

A couple of folks inquired about the picture of my daughters posted a couple of days ago. It was taken at Winterthur in north Delaware. Winterthur, once a mansion belonging to the DuPont family, is a museum and garden about 7 miles north of Wilmington.

Here's a couple more of the pictures we took last Sunday:

As you can imagine, it's pretty during other seasons as well. If you're in the area, we recommend a visit. Here's their website with directions and admission info.

I've been having trouble logging in to Movable Type. It took nearly 8 minutes to get in this time after several dozen timeouts. Hosting Matters says the servers are good, but they're looking in to it anyway. I can't say enough nice things about Hosting Matters! To still help even though it's not their problem is amazing in this day and age.

I did try to put in a ticket at Six Apart, but their website is apparently down. Bummer.

Might be a light blogging day, folks. Sorry.

It was definitely nice to get all the new visitors today, courtesy of the kind mentions from Lorie Byrd (who's guest blogging at Michelle Malkin's blog), Gary at the Ex-Donkey Blog, and Eric at Myopic Zeal.

I suppose some folks would take advantage of getting the extra traffic to rush out several rapid fire examples of pithy and biting political commentary in hopes of keeping some of the traffic as regular readers. I'm not going to do that, as this is a hobby, and I post when only when I'm inspired. I do hope you all come back for at least an occasional visit, and maybe post a comment or two.

Instead of politics, I'm going to take advantage of the increased audience to show off something that's very important to me:

Those two are my daughters, age 4 and 7. Along with TB, they form my world.

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by. You're welcome anytime.

LB

The House GOP scuttles a vote on reducing spending after ripping out the ANWR and coastal drilling provisions.

Extending tax cuts gets no debate for now due to not enough GOP support.

And some in the Blogosphere are livid, including me.

Michelle Malkin has loads of angry letters here.

Here's a short roundup of Blogger reax:

Bulldog Pundit at Ankle Biting Pundits: "I swear to God, I'm going to go postal. I just can't take the stupidity of alleged Republican members of the US Senate. The frustration with this bunch is almost equal to the hopelessness and despair I feel as a Philadelphia sports fan."

Michelle Malkin: "Ugh. Just ugh."

Jayson at Polipundit: "I just want whatever they’re smoking over there."

Blanton at Red State: "This is a fight that the moderates cannot be allowed to win."

The Anchoress: "I can’t think of a single reason to vote to re-elect any one of you."

Neal Boortz: "Sounds like somebody faxed Howard Dean's talking points to Representative Bass' office by mistake."

Jeff Goldstein: "Today’s GOP: Just because we control Congress and the presidency doesn’t mean we’re too afraid to surrender!"

John Hawkins at Right Wing News: "Voting to allow drilling in ANWR should be the easiest decision the clowns up in Congress ever had to make -- and they still can't get it right. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic..."

Mark Tapscott: "This one is going to spark more conservatives to throw up their hands and say "that's it, how do I change my registration to the Libertarian or Constitution party?""

Kevin Aylward of Wizbang: "The Republicans have only been in the majority 11 years, but in that time they've become every bit the disassociated fat cats that Tip O'Neil and his crew were."

Kate O'Beirne at The Corner: "Another Revolution Betrayed"

Robert Bidinotto: "Not a damned thing distinguishes the Republicans from the Democrats anymore...not a damned thing."

And I agree with all of them. I'll try and add some more later.

Update: Here's a couple more:

RightWingSparkle: "Why are Republicans such wimps and compromisers when they are in power?"

Aaron at Lifelike Pundits: "I smell another crackdown coming."

I'd like to say congrats to Michelle Malkin on the release of her new book, "Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild". This promises to be very entertaining, and I'm going to pick up my copy this weekend, if TB will give me a break from unpacking...

We're big fans of Michelle around here. TB and I read her blog daily, and we always try to catch her on TV when we can. Even my 7 year old daughter knows who she is from having seen the picture on Michelle's blog so many times. We wish her success with "Unhinged", and continued success in the future!

Sorry for being down much longer than I had hoped. The move has been a little more challenging than past moves.

I do have internet hooked up at the new place now, so I should be able to start posting more regularly. But not today. TB and I are gonna be unpacking boxes...

Have a terrific day!

on and off for a couple or three days. We're in the process of moving to a new house, and since we have way too much stuff I expect that I won't have much time for blogging.

Sincerest thanks to everyone for stopping by. I'll be back as soon as I can!

LB

The Anchoress.

but I had lots to do at work today. Several posts coming up before bedtime, though.

Sorry. I had a glitch with the database, and all my tags got dumped. I had to re-attach them all, and rebuild all the entries.

Also, had decided to abandon the replacement template for now. Maybe when I get more time. I went ahead and started started tweaking this one, so if you see extra columns or everything shows up screwy, you'll know I'm yelling at the computer again.

Naturally, posting will be light until I fix all the problems I've created.

Or maybe none at all. I will be taking TB and my 2 lovely daughter B's out to a merry joust.

If you've never been to one of these things I highly recommend it. Just ignore all of the historical inaccuracies and have a good time.

A question for the blogospere: Why no effort to help the earthquake victims?

Being a very new (3 weeks) blog, I didn't participate in the charitable efforts after the tsunami or hurricane(s). But being a long time reader of the larger blogs, I watched as those blogs generously donated time and pixels to encouraging donations to help the victims from those disasters. TB and I gave through my employer (who matched donations), and I gave much more than I would have in no small part due to the encouragement of the blogs I read daily.

The earthquake death toll is now estimated to be near 40,000, and as many as 2 million lack shelter.

But this time I see damned little effort on the part of the blogosphere to help. Sure, some smaller blogs have some links to charities, but among the larger blogs, nothing that even comes close to this.

Or this.

Or this.

Or this.

Or this.

I would like to note here that this is not an attack on the above blogs. Indeed, their previous efforts were exceedingly generous and deserve praise. In the interest of fairness, the right side of the web wasn't alone. Here's some examples from the liberal side of the web of attempts to coax donations from their readers:

Example here.

And here.

And to reiterate, I know that many smaller blogs have been involved in earthquake charity efforts.

What about me? I gave $100 through my employer (although they are not matching donations this time), and if I challenge my readers to match me (which I guess I'm doing right now), well, that's, um, $200 to $300 if I get 100% participation. A little nudging from the above heavyweights could raise many thousands more.

So is everyone just overloaded on disasters? Is there a feeling that governments and charities have this one under control and no further help is needed? Has it just washed right on by with all of the rapidly changing fall news cycle? I really want to know. If you think I'm off-base by asking in the first place, please let me know why.

In the event that any of the above bloggers take offence at this post, my apologies in advance. No offence is intended. You are all certainly entitled to use your blogs however you see fit. It's just that I thought I saw a trend among political bloggers to do a little more than just chew the fat about the latest beltway antics, and saw it as a good thing. I wonder now if I was mistaken.

Update (10/22/2005): Someone else noticed. (hat tip Instapundit)

Friday I noticed this post at Little Green Footballs:

Daily Kos: We Rock, You Suck:

Markos “Screw Them” Moulitsas Zuniga says conservative bloggers suck. Progressive blogs like his and the foul-mouthed Atrios’ (Duncan Black), on the other hand, are really cool.

The Daily Kos post Charles refers to took my interest due to its view on the purpose of political blogs, and I felt it deserved a wider discussion. I didn't have time over the weekend to write about it (playing with the kids instead), sorry it's not timely:

Kevin Drum and Atrios talk about angst within the conservative blogging world over being ignored, while liberal bloggers are embraced by the establishment.

That's sort of true and not true. As for conservatives being ignored, as Atrios notes, yeah, that part is true. Not only are conservative blogs redundant in the conservative media pantheon, but they have not proven adept at raising money. And in politics, raising money is the first, second, and third most important thing. And in any case, they have plenty of party operatives, like Red State's Mike Krempasky, doing the blogging thing, as well as existing members of their Right Wing Noise machine, like Hugh Hewitt and Malkin. They don't need the citizen riff raff. (emphasis mine)

As for Democrats, conservatives like to think that sites like Daily Kos meet weekly with Howard Dean and Harry Reid, as though we're an integral part of some well-oiled machine. And that's also not true. We get their press releases. The same press releases all other media outlets get. And, as far as Reid's office is concerned, they answer any questions I send their way, just like any other media outlet. It's helpful, but hardly earth shattering.

When they do pay attention, most of the time it's naked attempts to score cash from the community, as though we're some kind of ATM. And when they don't ask for money, and try to tackle an issue, parts of the blogosphere erupt in hysterics. You'd think Obama killed everyone's first born to hear some of you wail about his diary. There's a fine line between reasoned discussion and attacks, so if you're a Democratic politician, you sort of have to be a masochist to try and engage the netroots in discussion.

On the other hand, liberal bloggers are definitely getting attention from the folks wiring the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy. No money yet, but there's hope to start building some blog-supporting infrastructure. A think tank, maybe some fellowships, book deals, cross-media promotions (like my weekly spot on Majority Report Radio), those sorts of thing. Just like the conservative movement has worked to support its best writers and build a wide-reaching media machine, so too is the progressive movement seeking to mimic that. And while the conservative movement was built in the 70s and 80s for a different generation, ours is being built on a digital foundation.

So liberal bloggers are currently more salient to the future of the progressive movement than is the case in the conservative side. Conservative bloggers on the other hand, especially those not already plugged into their media machine, are simple redundant. There are other media outlets that promote their message better (like Drudge on the internet), and there are other mechanisms that organize better (like the religious right). So what exactly do they bring to the table not already covered by someone else? Not much. (emphasis mine)

If Markos feels that conservative blogs are irrelevant, he seems to make a further distinction between the larger blogs like Power Line, InstaPundit, Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, and the scores of smaller blogs (as both of my readers will attest, my blog fits in the latter category). Even as conservative blogs in general are irrelevant to the Republican party, us smaller blogs are more so because we are so disconnected from the party we allegedly serve. On the other hand, liberal blogs raise money for their party. Since the fundraising has garnered at least a superficial recognition, relevance and meaning must surely follow. And as they seek a place at the table in return, they believe that we already have one - yet that somehow makes us redundant.

Although those on the left occasionally characterize us as a monolithic "top down" mouthpiece for our leader's views, we are actually much closer to the grass "roots type" of community they see themselves to be. While Markos and others would like validation and funding from the Democratic Party, there's little evidence that this desire exists among their right wing counterparts. Even among the more successful rightwing blogs, I see no concerted effort to become sanctioned wings of the Republican Party.

Why not? In general, conservatives so value individual freedom that the very idea is incongruous to our beliefs. We like independence and individual accomplishment, and we don't do "group think" or anything resembling "collective". "Group mind" is a Stalinist concept we find unembraceable.

No, by and large conservative folks tend to actively assist the party during elections or during crisis, then disengage when the job is done. Our passion for monitoring and discussing the antics of our government shouldn't be confused for a desire to become a larger part of the established political machine. Of course we want to be heard - but as citizens, not members.

The Democratic party differs in that it really is a "big tent" party. Hot button issues like abortion aside, the modern left exists to band together thousands of single topic special interest groups into a single voting block. These groups must be competitive to survive. A party can't push a platform that has thousands of planks; conflict and confusion would result. The interest groups have to be activists or risk going unnoticed when the platform is built. And so the drive to become insiders - it's a way for a relatively small voice can be heard above the din. And it's also why some on the left espouse the "group-think" and "collective" memes, hoping for a resulting environment similar to T-ball, where every child gets a turn at bat whether they can hit the ball or not.

Not too many years ago, the very same "citizen riff raff' that Markos so handily dismisses wrote letters to the editors, made calls to politicians, etc. and we still do, but the internet has added to the available outlets to express our views. In this light, our relevance as citizens has grown and will continue to do so. Not because we are part of the "machine", but because we're not. How much more "grass roots" can you get?

With few exceptions, we're gadflies, we know it, and we're satisfied with that role. A good example of how that works to our advantage is the PorkBusters project started by InstaPundit and Truth Laid Bear. This kind of grass roots activity never would have been possible if these blogs were sanctioned and funded by the Republican party. True insiders who continuously buck the system quickly lose their group's seal of approval. That, along with the markedly anarchistic and profane nature of their comment areas, form the reasons why the liberal blogs are kept at arms length by their party in spite of their fund raising ability. Of course they'll take your money - they'll take it from anyone. And with noses firmly held, they'll continue to do so.

As for me, I enjoy and even revel in my independence from the "machine". This is my hobby and passion. I don't desire for this blog to become a vocation. I don't see myself as redundant because I don't exist for the Republican Party’s benefit. I agree and disagree with them and the rest of my government as I see fit. And it seems to work that way across the rest of the right wing blogosphere as well. Just look at the reaction to the Miers nomination if you need proof.

It's ironic that liberal blogs like Daily Kos so desperately covets the validation, sanction, and funding of their party when success in this endeavor would surely turn them into the caricatural image they paint us with. Personally I think that if they succeed, that would be a shame. The world will become a much less interesting place once Kos becomes assimilated by his beloved machine.

Rodney Dangerfield used to joke that his parents had to tie a pork chop around his neck to get the dog to play with him. Has Markos become the Rodney Dangerfield of the blogospere?

and haven't been able to post the last couple of days. Sorry. I'm back now.