Blogging Archives
This is a very large file. For the full smaller digest version, click here.Kos gets one thing right: the rightwing blogosphere is mostly just inept chatter
There's a first for everything, and subcomandante Markos Moulitsas Zuniga - the Kos in DailyKos - has finally got one thing right. From the article "Right-wing bloggers see their chance" (link):While conservative bloggers talk about making a difference for their party, they have yet to back up their talk with action, said Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the liberal Daily Kos blog. Moulitsas, also a columnist for The Hill, boasts about how the liberal netroots got Howard Dean elected as Democratic Party chairman, raised millions of dollars for victorious candidates and created a "partisan message machine" to push back against conservative media on talk radio and cable television. That made the Democratic Party's establishment take them seriously, Moulitsas said.He's right on target with that, and for a tangible example see the nearly complete lack of response to my highly effective plan to defeat Obama. Rather than helping push that, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit concentrated on sending people to Amazon, and the Pajamas Media with which he's associated concentrated on talking head shows featuring worthless minor pundits.
"The conservative bloggers' efforts might grow into something more meaningful over time, but as of right now, all I see is a lot of chatter," he said. "And if there's one thing the right doesn't lack, it's punditry. They can talk up a storm."
If you want to do something, write to the rightwing bloggers that you read and suggest that they actually do something for a change.
Youtube loves salmon, adds nofollow tags to profile videos
Youtube has made a couple of interesting changes for some reason or other. First, their "sites linking to this video" section is now loaded via Javascript; those links are no longer embedded in the page. Despite the fact that those HTML links had nofollow tags, apparently some people were using them to obtain juice.
And, they've also now added nofollow tags to the videos and favorites on profile pages, as illustrated below. As previously indicated, the salmon-colored links indicate a nofollow tag.
Just keeping you updated on YT's gradual transition from an independent company to a Google playground. Oh, and thanks again to all those bloggers who supported the anti-web nofollow because they thought it was what it was presented as. See also "We're all going to regret giving Youtube so many links".
Stupidity in action, illustrated
I'm not going to go into much detail in this, but a while back I offered a plan about how to deal with the mainstream media, which is somewhat similar to this.
Now, for an example of how many bloggers are like flickering 10W lightbulbs, see these searches for this guy:
peekURL.com/zarldu4
peekURL.com/zl7udo8
Note that the third result at the second search is to his LAT article, and that position was probably obtained by those linking to that article with a regular, non-nofollowed link. Some people probably linked to the article using his name. I saw at least one other person linking his name to his Wikipedia entry.
Considering all the "firepower" in the blogosphere, it shouldn't have been difficult to fill those pages with posts about the tape he refused to release. Unfortunately, the problem isn't with "firepower" so much as brainpower and/or an inability to take advice: peekURL.com/zar993k
On the one hand I don't want the competition, but on the other it would be nice if there were at least a few people out there who could learn how to do something effective.
Walter Olson/Overlawyered DIDN'T delete comment that provided information he did not
[Oops! While it looked like the comment I left had been posted immediately, Olson says that it - and dozens more comments - had been put into a moderation queue, and he then approved all of them including the one I left. So, ignore the following, which is being kept here as an artifact of your blogger jumping the gun. My apologies to Olson.]
Most of the time when bloggers and other sites delete my comments it's because I was pointing out how the site was completely wrong; it's rarely done with only slightly corrective comments.
But, apparently Walter Olson of Overlawyered is really, really scared of his visitors not thinking he's perfect or something because he deleted a comment in the latter category earlier today on this post: overlawyered.com/2008/11/community-service-yep-mandatory
Discussing Obama's mandatory/voluntary community service plan, he offered a post consisting of just two sentences. Here's the first, from Olsen:
Well, that didn’t take long. Coyote spots language on the Obama transition site that seems to make explicit what was left studiously vague during the campaign:
That's followed by one sentence from the first version of BHO's plan (see the link above).
Here's the comment I left:
The language quoted above contradicts something on another page at change.gov as well as his previous materials. Details at my name's link. And, BHO's new Chief of Staff supported mandatory service in a 2006 book.
If Walter Olson would delete a comment like that, what assurance do you have that he hasn't "manicured" all the other comments to delete those that provide other amplifications and corrections? Can you believe anything Walter Olsen says at Over Lawyered, or will you have to double-check every single thing he writes?
Instapundit, or The Strange Case of the GOP Hack Who Didn't Shill During the Election
Four years ago at this time, Instapundit was in full-on GOP shill mode, desperately doing his best to get Bush re-elected, such as by promoting obviously misleading stories.
Now, the magic seems to be gone. Sure, Insty hasn't linked to anything pro-Obama that I've seen, and he's linked to plenty of anti-Obama things, but there's something missing: the fire. He just doesn't seem to be all that concerned about a victory by the furthest left president in U.S. history. In fact, he refuses to push a highly effective plan to prevent that presidency.
Instead, he's certainly noticed a lot of Amazon sales lately, hasn't he? I'm going to guess that only 10 or 20 percent of his readership knows what he's doing: those links to Amazon contain his personal code, and if someone clicks on of the links and buys something he gets a cut. But, he also takes it a step further: sending clicks through an Amazon redirect that isn't necessary but at the same time probably sets their cookie. Nothing wrong with that (more or less), it's just that instead of trying to milk the cow perhaps he should be concentrating on protecting the whole damn farm.
Garrulous Pajamas Media paper tiger warns: mainstream media is biased (or something)
Newspaperman Michael Malone takes to the esteemed web pages of Pajamas Media to offer "Editing Their Way to Oblivion: Journalism Sacrificed For Power and Pensions" (link). Rather than being sarcastic or anything, I'll just point out that it's a worthless and wordy rant against the mainstream media ("MSM"), claiming that the MSM's support for Barack Obama is because they expect him to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and save their jobs.
The problem isn't necessarily in what he writes, but in that the only solution he offers is in the subtext: support Pajamas Media. The article is basically just an ad for a hugely flawed concept that isn't attempting to reform the media but is simply attempting to offer a web-based, highly partisan alternative to the MSM. See this for my alternative solution, and see this for an example why PJM is a false alternative.
My in-depth, completely spurious conversation with Scott from Power Line
Earlier today, I conducted a completely spurious conversation with Scott from PowerLineBlog! (I think there's an exclamation point in their name, but if that's wrong it doesn't hurt). It went like this:
24AHEAD: Thanks for bringing the story about the guy who made bogus donations to the Obama campaign to our attention (link). I previously saw how he put it in comments at minx.cc/?post=276324, but it's good to have a dedicated page for it.
SCOTT FROM POWERLINEBLOG!: It is merely part of the service we provide as part of our in-depth reportage on today's political scene.
24AHEAD: However, there is one thing. You quoted Mark Steyn's sarcastic comment about the MSM's priorities, and how they prefer to concentrate on shoes etc. rather than looking into BHO's donations etc. Then you ended the piece with this: "It is a point that needs making and that could be made every day." You'll never guess what I said to myself when I read that!
SCOTT FROM POWERLINEBLOG!: I would imagine that, like we at PowerLineBlog!, you scratched your chin and thought over our deep thoughts about today's political scene.
24AHEAD: Actually, I said, "and I'm sure you will", as in, I'm sure that between now and doomsday you and your comrades will keep whining about MSM bias instead of actually doing something that would actually have an impact.
24AHEAD: Hello, Scott? Are you there?
Valiant: private blog post about Obama - already cited over 500 times - saved from "memory hole"!
Some only sit on the sidelines in the battle to prevent Barack Obama from becoming president. Others are fully engaged, valiantly and intelligently fighting with all their force, fighting the good fight no matter what happens.
For a perfect example of that, turn to this post: patterico.com/2008/10/20/evidence-of-obama-ayers-tie-sent-down-the-memory-hole-almost (hat tap: pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/026008.php).
That, my friends, is truly brave and highly intelligent keyboard work. It doesn't matter that her quote has been featured on over 500 other pages, including at Politico. What really matters is that her page itself has been preserved for eternity. Because, no one would have thought it existed without that. Simply being cited on 500 other pages isn't enough. And, it doesn't matter that her quote isn't really "proof" so much as her opinion (I suspect she got it right, but it's not "proof").
Pajamaderians, hold your keyboards high! And, don't worry about doing things that actually would work.
Next up: let's freep a poll! Because that's a really good use of your time.
Who's behind the Obama Youth video, and why are they so successful?
Drudge is currently linking to this video of black teenagers at a Kansas City charter school - dressed in fancified paramilitary outfits - pledging allegiance to Barack Obama and describing how he's changed their lives. I linked to that video back on the second in the post about the then-previous example of BHO's personality cult.
Something about the video producer's modus operandi sets off red flags, but it's probably nothing. The owner of that video is listed as 39 years old: youtube.com/user/keepitwildtv. However, at this profile apparently from the same person, he's listed as 16 years old: youtube.com/user/NoObamaCant. It's certainly possible that those are two separate people who are related, but they're clearly either that or the same person since both profiles link to this site: obamaganda.weebly.com. And, the videos on both profiles are very similar. The first profile joined at the end of August, the second joined at the end of September.
And, since that time they've been quite successful. The two videos from NoObamaCant have over 50,000 views, and the two from keepitwildtv have over 500,000 views, with most of the ones for the last coming from Drudge. However, he's also gotten links from a radio station, hotair.com, worldnetdaily.com, powerlineblog.com, instapundit.com, breitbart.tv, etc. And, all his videos and pages use a lot of exclamation points and exhortations to subscribe. And, all are written in English that has a whiff of a foreign accent. But, maybe he's just a master of promotion.
Dave Winer deletes comment, locks thread
Earlier today, Dave Winer of Scripting News offered "I'd like to have a word with Republicans" (scripting.com/stories/2008/10/05/idLikeToHaveAWordWithRepub.html). Clamping his hands down over his ears just as hard as he could, he said:
Barack Obama is an honorable person. You may not agree with him, or like where he would take our country, that's your right of course, but he doesn't "pal around" with terrorists. I think we all know that, right? If you have any doubts, you can skip the rest of this post, and please don't leave any comments.
Ever the maverick, I left the comment in the extended entry (needless to say, I could have said much more).
My comment was deleted and then Winer locked the thread from further replies. I guess finding out the truth about Obama is just too much for some of his lighter-weight supporters to bear.
10/13/08 UPDATE: He's now moderating comments, and another comment I left on scripting.com/stories/2008/10/12/michelleMalkinLikeHerParty.html wasn't approved. That's also below.
-------------- 10/5/08 comment -----------------
DW: "Barack Obama is an honorable person."
BHO is a serial liar whose campaign has engaged in an extremely sleazy, Chicago-style campaign using proxies, including those in the MSM. You probably haven't heard about most of those lies because the MSM refuses to call him on them: http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007954.html
While he might not *now* "pal around with terrorists", he has in the past. The NYT article linked above was simply a whitewash, the NYT attempting to get in front of GOP ads on the issue. For the truth, follow the links here: http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/008087.html
-------------- 10/5/08 comment -----------------
-------------- 10/12/08 comment -----------------
Since a comment I left on another thread was deleted, this might disappear as well. However, the candidates can't be responsible for things they don't hear, nor is it generally a wise idea to draw attention to those causing disturbances (for instance, Vin Scully didn't acknowledge fans who ran onto the field). The majority of the "hate" involved in this case is coming from the MSM. In their attempt to elect BHO, they're attempting to portray those attending those rallies as violent yahoos and even playing the Hitler card (see a recent Frank Rich column referencing Weimar). Rather than playing along with the MSM's attempts, perhaps Winer should consider acknowledging what they're trying to do. See also this from 10/6:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/008098.html
-------------- 10/12/08 comment -----------------
Steve Benen/Washington Monthly gets hat trick: deletes three comments in one day
Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly has scored a hat trick: he or his helpers deleted three comments I left on his entries today. And, the deletions happened very shortly after I left the comments, so obviously they're very worried about their readers learning about the things that Steve Benen isn't willing to tell them. An earlier comment I left was also deleted from one of his entries (see the first link), and during the Kevin Drum era at that site about a dozen comments were deleted or edited without notice.
The three comments are in the extended entry, in reverse chronological order.
-------------------------
washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015030.php
Steve Benen writes: "we already learned". Actually, that's just the NYT's take on it, in their desperate attempt to get out in front of a story and minimize the damage to BHO.
For the truth of the matter, see this and this.
[Note: Washington Monthly/Steve Benen deleted a valid comment I left here recently (including two just today), continuing a long-term habit during Kevin Drum's tenure. Because it contains information you aren't supposed to know about, this comment may disappear or be different from what I posted. Search for "steve benen" or "kevin drum" at my site for examples of comments that were deleted.]
-------------------------
washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015023.php
BHO is a great champion of the press. In fact, he recently encouraged his followers to in effect shut down a couple radio shows that featured people he didn't like. They were saying things BHO didn't like, so it's perfectly valid to try to shut them down. (Note: I'm referring to BHO, not Hugo Chavez just so no one gets confused.)
[Note: Washington Monthly/Steve Benen deleted a valid comment I left here recently, continuing a long-term habit during Kevin Drum's tenure. Because it contains information you aren't supposed to know about, this comment may disappear or be different from what I posted. Search for "steve benen" or "kevin drum" at my site for examples of comments that were deleted.]
-------------------------
washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015024.php
Whew! The NYT says BHO is faultless, and that's all everyone needs to hear!
Of course, if you go here and compare it to the second paragraph on page 2 you might have a sense of deja vu, but just completely ignore that and believe what WaMo wants you to believe.
[Note: Washington Monthly/Steve Benen deleted a valid comment I left here recently, continuing a long-term habit during Kevin Drum's tenure. Because it contains information you aren't supposed to know about, this comment may disappear or be different from what I posted. Search for "steve benen" or "kevin drum" at my site for examples of comments that were deleted.]
UCLA professor Stephen Bainbridge deletes comments showing how he was wrong
UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge recently tried to debunk illegal immigration's role in the mortgage crisis. Along with issuing smears, his only data points in support of his position came from data that was over a decade old. Not only didn't he tell his readers that the data was incredibly out of date, but he deleted two comments pointing out that the data he was using was woefully out of date.
One of the comments he deleted was from me:
Bainbridge should be embarrassed: for relying on data that's over a decade old (h/t a previous comment). And, all to support illegal activity, to show that he's one of the "good conservatives", and in order to avoid pointing out the truth and then having the left call him names.
The previous comment referenced above was also deleted; it wasn't adversarial, simply stating that the data was out of date and suggesting that that made it worthless in this case. There was no link and I forget the person's name, but their email address was at watson.ibm.com.
The bottom line here is that you can't trust anything you read at Bainbridge's site, because he's willing to try to silence those who fact-check him. If you're a UCLA student in one of his classes, make sure and double-check every assignment he gives you for anything he left out.
Stephen Bainbridge, Matt Yglesias embarrass themselves in support of illegal immigration (minorities, bailout)
A few days ago, Michelle Malkin offered "Illegal immigration and the mortgage mess" (link).
Now, if there's one thing that the corrupt on both the right and the left can agree on it's that illegal immigration is the best thing since 8ulova watches.
Thus it is that UCLA Professor Stephen Bainbridge [1] offers "They Make You Embarrassed to be a Conservative" in which he ironically embarrasses himself (link):
...the raving of people like Malkin and Krikorian [2] should be taking place in a padded room in Arkham Asylum not in the public discourse... Put simply, the freezing up of the credit markets doesn’t have anything to do with either affirmative action or illegal immigration, and people who believe it does are on a par with the conspiracy theorists who think fluoridation is a Chicom plot... When you look at the data, it’s true that minorities are slightly over-represented in the sub-prime mortgage market...
In the above, the word "data" is linked to this PDF file, and that's the only data he provides. That PDF says:
Our sample was drawn from a population of borrowers originating mortgages between January 1996 and June 1997
In other words, Bainbridge is basing his smears on data that's over a decade old.
Needless to say, simply relying on someone else who relied on faulty data wasn't enough for Matt Yglesias, he needed to race bait and smear those who, unlike him, support our laws [3]:
This is one of these wingnut talking points that I can't even begin to unpack in a coherent argument, but white supremacist sentiment has always been an important element of the modern conservative movement so it's not surprising to see it rear its head even in odd contexts.
While I haven't looked into illegal immigration's links to the mortgage bailout, I will point out that many banks are eager to lend to illegal aliens. In fact, the FDIC was working with the Mexican consulate to give home loans to illegal aliens. See also this, this, this, this, and this. The issue of the "unbanked" - including dissembling by Bill Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger - is related.
UPDATE: Steven Bainbridge deleted two comments pointing out how he was misleading.
[1] Bainbridge is such an idiot, he said "I like it, let's do it" about Bush's original "guest" worker scam.
[2] Bainbridge is misunderstanding a Corner post from Mark Krikorian, and probably doing so intentionally. I saw the update where Krikorian explained what he (pretty obviously) meant but can't locate it presently.
[2] yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/
did_minority_homeowners_cause_the_financial_crisis.php
How the Democrats rule online, Part #94295931
Yesterday I posted to FreeRepublic exhorting people to visit Time's Swampland and discredit house hacks Joe Klein, Karen Tumulty, and Ana Marie Cox, saying in part (link):
...almost all of the posts read like something from DailyKos, and almost all of the comments do as well... But, there's something you can do about it: sign up to post comments (it's free and easy) and then when they post something that's in error, point it out. The goal is to discredit Time's "reporters", so the comments have to show how those "reporters" are wrong...
A few people were interested in the idea. However, others said variants on the following:
I pushed back long ago by cancelling a subscription that had run for mre than 20 years... Vote with your dollars, people.
That itself is a variant on the old, "if you don't like the show, change the channel" argument. It ignores the fact that millions of people are not changing the "channel", and thus the "channel" has a great deal of influence. Simply turning off the "TV" won't lessen the impact on others. That's especially important to note in cases like this when the "channel" isn't telling the whole truth.
Related:
If only Ron Paul supporters had a brain
Digg Katie Couric Digging the Conventions
More proof of GOP stupidity (Digg division)
Steve Benen/Washington Monthly continues proud tradition of deleting comments
During the Kevin Drum years at Washington Monthly, several of my on-topic, non-abusive comments were deleted. As pointed out here a few times, that means you can't trust anything you read there: everything has to be double-checked because they're willing to delete fact-checking by their readers. (I also noted that many of their old pages are full of spam, and if you link to those pages it might harm your search engine ranking.)Now, Steve Benen continues that fine WM tradition. The following comment I left on washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014836.php is no longer there. Here it is, as posted:
The latest BHO lie appears to be that McCain only supports "reform" for the Irish, when - just like Bush, the MexicanGovernment, and BHO - he wants it for almost everyone.That's a reference to this sentence from the roundup at that WM page:
You can't trust those like Benen who try to mislead you about issues like this.
McCain wants a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants ... from Ireland.It also references Benen's habit of trying to pretend that McCain has flip-flopped on amnesty.
Blogwar undeclared against Naomi Wolf; psychiatrist called instead
Back in October, I declared Blogwar against Naomi Wolf because she didn't approve a comment or two I left on the HuffPost.
Now, I am rescinding that call, and instead am considering calling in a psychiatrist for her:
Almost everyone I work with on projects related to this campaign for liberty has been experiencing computer harassment: emails are stripped, messages disappear. That's not all: people's bank accounts are being tampered with: wire transfers to banks vanish in midair. I personally keep opening bank accounts that are quickly corrupted by fraud. Money vanishes. Coworkers of mine have to keep opening new email accounts as old ones become infected. And most disturbingly to me personally is the mail tampering I have both heard of and experienced firsthand. My tax returns vanished from my mailbox. All my larger envelopes arrive ripped straight open apparently by hand. When I show the postman, he says "That's impossible." Horrifyingly to me is the impact on my family. My childrens' report cards are returned again and again though perfectly addressed; their invitations are turned back; and my daughters many letters from camp? Vanished. All of them. Not one arrived. Try explaining that to a smart thirteen year old. Try explaining it in a way that still makes her feel secure and comfortable.
What she's saying is certainly possible, and I'm not putting it above some forces in the government to do some of those things. And, if they were doing that, they might intentionally be sloppy a) in order to make her paranoid, and b) in order to make her appear paranoid when she retells the tale. But, things like the above happen to people all the time, and certain people may bring some things like that on themselves through things like not having a secure mailbox.
However, in the case of someone who's mostly famous for encouraging Al Gore to go alpha, I don't think anyone in the government would bother.
Washington Post: America's finest source for bad reporting (Palin "slashed" funds story)
The Washington Post recently published a blog post about Sarah Palin (in their words) "slash[ing]" funds to a non-profit group. Except, what they got from the state of Alaska alone was over three times what they got from all government sources combined in 2006. Let's take a look at the WaPo's "downstream", the three-eyed fish who gobble up what the WaPo sludges out.
First, there are several digg posts on the story. These link to the WaPo article; looking at the histories of who posted them is left as an exercise:
digg.com/political_opinion/Palin_Slashed_Funding_for_Teen_Moms (UPDATE: now has 1771 diggs, but is also marked as "May be Inaccurate")
digg.com/2008_us_elections/Palin_Slashed_Funding_for_Teen_Moms_That_s_gotta_hurt
digg.com/2008_us_elections/Palin_Slashed_Funding_for_Teen_Moms_2
Oddly enough, the last two were submitted in the same minute. These posts link to other sites:
digg.com/2008_us_elections/Palin_Slashed_Funding_to_Help_Teen_Moms
digg.com/2008_us_elections/Palin_cut_1_1_million_in_assistance_for_teen_moms_in_need
digg.com/politics/Palin_personally_cut_funding_that_gave_unwed_mothers_a_place
digg.com/political_opinion/The_Issue_IS_Sarah_Palin_She_Cut_Support_for_Pregnant_Girls
digg.com/2008_us_elections/Palin_Opposes_Funding_for_Teen_Moms_ToTheCenter
Those last five link to:
dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/19220/39740/973/583820 (typical airhead DK "reporting" that puts an even more partisan spin on the WaPo's spin)
rawstory.com/news/2008/Palin_cut_1.1_million_from_funding_0902.html (a bare rewrite of the WaPo story from Nick Langewis)
americablog.com/2008/09/palin-personally-cut-funding-that-gave.html (Joe Sudbay simply wraps the WaPo story with his brief commnets, such as "Sarah Palin apparently wants those unwed mothers out on the street.")
allspinzone.com/wp/2008/09/02/heres-where-the-issue-is-sarah-palin-cuts-support-for-pregnant-girls/ (braindead attempt at breezy commentary that discusses the WaPo story in a couple paragraphs but takes the WaPo's word for it)
tothecenter.com/news.php?readmore=6991 (just a sploggish rewrite of the WaPo story)
Others discussing this include:
mahablog.com/2008/09/02/what-did-i-miss (mentions it in passing but completely takes WaPo's word for it)
slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/palin_to_teen_moms_drop_dead
(Dan Savage simply intros a WaPo excerpt with his own vile spin; post is titled "Palin to Teen Moms: Drop Dead")
UPDATE: These others are just as bad or worse than the ones above and all, of course, simply take the WaPo's word and none do any thinking or reporting:
salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/09/03/palin_slashed_teen_mom_funding (from Lynn Harris)
blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/03/palin-s-handling-of-other-people-s-pregnant-teens.aspx (from Michelle Cottle)
thinkprogress.org/2008/09/03/palin-mccain-mothers (from "Amanda")
truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080902_palin_cut_funds_for_teen_moms
washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014534.php (Steve Benen; links to Cottle instead of the WaPo)
jezebel.com/5044818/
ask-not-what-bristol-palin-can-do-for-you-ask-what-sarah-palin-can-do-for-your-pregnant-daughter (from "Jessica")
motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9554_palin_veto_teen_moms.html (from Jonathan Stein)
UPDATE 2: Isaac Fitzgerald and Tana Ganeva from AlterNet offer "8 More Shocking Revelations About Sarah Palin" (alternet.org/election08/97350). One of those "shocking" items is as bad as the posts above. It's got over 2600 diggs here, but it's also marked as "May be Inaccurate":
digg.com/politics/8_More_Shocking_Revelations_About_Sarah_Palin_2
UPDATE 3: As anyone familiar with his blogging could have been expecting, Matt Yglesias fell for the WaPo's tale too:
yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/life_begins_at_conception_and_ends_at_death.php
(The link here before was to another post where MattY got things wrong:
yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/palin_and_special_needs_children.php
UPDATE 4: NPR also fell for the WaPo's tale, but at least they printed a correction: npr.org/blogs/politics/2008/09/lineitem_irony.html
UPDATE 5: Somewhat surprisingly, ThinkProgress offered somewhat of a correction, noting in an update to their post that the executive director of the non-profit disagreed with the WaPo's assessment. This is similiar to past TP "corrections" in which they just slip something in at the end without making a big deal about it. But, it's at least better than most of the others above.
Erin Carlyle/OC Register's Issue Blog: why wasn't my comment approved?
The Orange County Register operates an "Issue Blog", and yesterday Erin Carlyle offered 'WSJ editorial writer attacks illegal immigration "myths"' (peekURL.com/z6xhh1s) all about the thoughts of open borders (literally) advocate Jason Riley. I left the comment that's in the extended entry; it hasn't appeared but four others have. I sent an email asking why it wasn't approved and I haven't heard back. I also tried to submit it again and Wordpress told me that a duplicate comment had been detected. Now, I know as well as anyone else that technical issues can arise, and due to the link in the comment (left without the http part however) it might have been put into their spam folder, but hopefully my follow-up email could have caused them to root around in that folder and approve it. I also don't think it's that groundbreaking a comment, but I'm just wondering.
UPDATE: It took a few days, but eventually they approved the comment.
Riley falsely analogizes between past conditions and the present. It's false because the current conditions are far different: immref.com/spin/immigration-of-yesteryear/
I'm also not aware of him discussing this from a political POV. The current situation gives a tremendous amount of power to the far-left, racial power groups, the Mexican government, and others. No one who isn't far-left should support giving more power to the first group. No one who believes in American ideals should support giving more power to the second group. And, no patriotic American should support giving more power inside the U.S. to a foreign government.
The bottom line for the WSJ is the bottom line: they're willing to sell out the U.S. if some very small segment of supposed Americans can make money on the deal.
"You aren't Lonewacko!"
"Yes, Guillaume, I am Lonewacko," I informed the key member of Team Lonewacko, now known as Team 24Ahead, who had rushed into my office in a tizzy. "I am simply in a new guise."
"Bbbbut... the sign on our building has been changed! I thought that you had 'flown the coop' as they say! What has happened? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It was a surprise. The 'lacrosse practice' I told you about does not exist. I knew you would drive past our building, see that the signage had changed, and do what you're doing now. I planned all this, as a surprise."
"But, '24ahead'? What does that mean, in English?"
"Yes, I imagine many people - not just speakers of foreign languages - will wonder about that. Then, they'll realize this is a news and politics site. Then - in a flash - they'll realize it means we're at least 24 hours ahead of other sites in reporting on things. And - due to that flash - this site will be seared in their memory forever. It is psychology, mon ami. Also, everyone thinks about time zones when traveling or contacting persons in other states, and they know that, for instance, the East Coast is three hours ahead. Every time they think of such things, the neurons in their brains will associate those thoughts with this site and they will come back to check on what's new!"
"You are clever... like a fiend! But, if I may, the name it is five syllables!"
"It's also only seven letters. Plus, it passes my Hillary Test."
"Oh, you and your Hillary Test. You will never..."
"Yes, I will. One day, I will get to ask Hillary Clinton a question. If I said I was from 'lonewacko.com', the best that would happen is I'd get laughs from the audience and a nervous twitter from Hillary. With this new name, Hillary would assuredly pretend she's been to the site. Her reaction matters to me."
"But, the Team! What will become of the Team?"
We're still Team!" I assured him, "Dale is still Research Director. Gwendolynne Fritz-Ruffalla is still our intern. The Team is still strong. It is just Team 24Ahead now."
"But, will there be changes?"
"Nothing major. Over time, certain things such as the tagline will change. But, we'll still be covering immigration and politics, plus occasional forays into sports, celebrities, and music."
"That's it?"
"Well, eventually there are going to be blocks."
"Blocks?"
"Yes, Guillaume, blocks! Sidebar blocks. Drupal blocks, made with PHP so they're dynamic!"
"Oh!!!"
"And, that's not all! Eventually," I painted the picture for him, "perhaps tomorrow but more likely months from now, there will be effects!"
"You mean, Javascript effects?" Guillaume was hooked.
"Yes, that's what I mean! In fact, I might make things fly across the screen at some point in time! Now," I joked, "get out of here and get back to work!"
Instapundit still confused over that whole "nature" thing
Perennial idiot Instapundit (aka "Glenn Reynolds", "Seasonal GOP Hack", "Insty") says (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/022837.php):DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE (CONT'D): Black bear attacks boy in Smokies; father also hurt. "A black bear repeatedly mauled an 8-year-old boy Monday evening near a popular motor trail on the outskirts of Gatlinburg, and an animal matching its description was later killed by park rangers."1. The incident is certainly unfortunate and it's good that those involved made it out without serious injuries.
Plus, this commentary: "Parks were designed so people could experience nature in a positive way. Not be eaten by it."
2. Just because Insty links to something doesn't mean he agrees with it, but I strongly suspect that Insty does in fact agree with that "commentary" (from lastcar.blogspot.com).
3. The incident occured in a National Park (specifically here: nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/roaringfork.htm), which is quite a bit different an environment from a "park" in the sense of a suburban park or similar. It's not like the victim was playing on a swing in Central Park. The victim was in the bear's habitat in a location that has a fair number of bears. If you go into such an environment, you have to be prepared for an encounter; there aren't packs of rangers whose job it is to clear them out of the way for your convenience.
4. The lesson to be learned here is that those who aren't prepared to enter bear country should be either kept out of bear country or should be made aware, not that people should just start blowing away bears.
5. There is no #5, because I think the foregoing is evident enough.
Kevin Drum/Washington Monthly deletes yet another comment (Obama's Global Poverty Act)
Kevin Drum obviously doesn't want his readers to know how much of a hack he is, since either he or someone else at Washington Monthly keep deleting comments from me and apparently from others as well.
The latest in this long line was left earlier today on a post about Barack Obama's Global Poverty Act. It was left on washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_08/014237.php, which links to blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/08/05/this-just-in-obama-is-a-secret-agent-from-the-u-n.aspx from Jonathan Cohn.
Here's the comment, as posted:
------
Let me get this straight: Jonathan Cohn admits he knows nothing about this, but he's basing his mockery on a "quick Google search" and he admits he might be missing something. And, since all the complaints about this are coming from rightwing sites, well, then it's not really necessary to look into the claims, right?
And, then Kevin Drum does an even more hacky job than usual by simply linking to someone else's hackwork.
If there are any intellectually honest BHO supporters, start here and then tell us why the figure quoted is wrong.
Remember: the key part of that is to be intellectually honest, that is unlike Kevin Drum and Jonathan Cohn.
[Note: WM and/or KD have a habit of deleting or editing comments without notice, so this comment may disappear or be different from what I posted. Search for "kevin drum" at my site for examples of comments that were deleted.]
------
UPDATE: I left another comment saying the following:
------
Here's the comment that was just deleted from this thread. Needless to say, this comment will probably be deleted too.
------
Guess what: I was right. At the WM link, out of 22 comments there are only two that have any value whatsoever: one links to the votegopher link (also left in comments here), and another that says "Just read the bill. It's typical Obama. All rhetoric and no substance. Probably unconstitutional as it violates the separation of powers." None of the others address the bill but are simply attempted "jokes", rants about how the GOP is evil, and so on.
The bottom line is that nothing Kevin Drum says can be trusted. By deleting comments from those who disagree, they're removing any fact-checking from their site. Kevin Drum could lie about something obscure and then simply delete all the comments that point out the lie. Anyone who took Drum at his word would have been misled.
Regarding the votegopher comment in comments here, I left this comment there (whew!):
------
It would be fair to state that this bill could start a process that would result in the U.S. spending the amount claimed; see for instance this estimate from the WorldBank: peekURL.com/z1doski
Note also this from the bill: "The year 2007 marks the mid-point to the Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015." That implies that the bill wants us to continue on the path to meeting that deadline, and doing that is going to require us to spend a lot of money, in addition to doing a lot of other things covered by the MDG.
Maybe next time we can look forward to this site discussing those other MDGs and admitting that BHO obviously wants us to meet all of them.
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Doesn't the left realize how embarrassing Max Blumenthal is? (Toby Keith, lynching)
The latest example of Max Blumenthal's abject stupidity is called "Toby Keith's Pro-Lynching Publicity Tour Hits Colbert, CBS and More" (huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/toby-keiths-pro-lynching_b_115526.html) and concerns the song "Beer For My Horses" which is apparently also a movie. Discussing all the ways it's wrong is left as an exercise (actually, don't bother), but:
The terrifying spectacle outside the courtroom prompted Jewish families to flee Atlanta in droves. Two years later, after the governor commuted Frank's sentence, a lynch mob spirited Frank from his prison cell, dragged him into the woods and lynched him -- from "a tall oak tree," as Toby Keith sang.
The quote leads to a presumed picture of the lynching showing a tree. Usually when someone puts something in quotes it involves someone else saying something, but the tree is not identified and could be anything. The only hits for "leo frank" "tall oak tree" are from Blumenthal's article; when the "tall" is removed it gets more hits and apparently the tree was in fact an oak. None of that has anything to do with the song since there's nothing in the song even implying a connection to Leo Frank. To Blumenthal, however, that doesn't matter.
Further, the song may be referring to unlawful lynchings, or it may be referring to hangings as ordered by a court; perhaps Max should see some Westerns. The song also references "the long arm of the law", so presumably Keith is promoting lawful executions rather than lynchings.
I'm as sorry to have to put anyone through that as I am at wasting my time discussing this.
Banned by Alternet!
A couple weeks back Alternet deleted a comment I left. Now, after having successfully left another comment, I've been banned. The comment that drove them over the edge is below.Alternet frequently posts articles supporting illegal immigration, and until the last two incidents I've been able to post a dozen or two comments pointing out issues with those posts without a problem. Due to the non-abusive nature of my comments, the issue is that Alternet is afraid of an open debate and only wants an echo chamber.
Here's the email they sent me:
AlterNet commenting privileges suspendedAs previously discussed, I can't find those "community policies" and they didn't respond to the email I sent after the earlier comment was removed.
Grounds: Violations of AlterNet's community policies and/or complaints from other readers.
Here's the comment that apparently caused the ban, which still appears at post time on alternet.org/blogs/peek/93035:
The people being discussed are IllegalAliens, i.e., citizens of another country who are here illegally. Needless to say, giving them discounted educations would encourage even more people to come here illegally with their children. In other words, it would be horrible public policy. Not only that, but every college spot or discount given to an IllegalAlien is one that's taken away from our own fellow citizens. That's even worse public policy.
(Note: the last time I posted a comment here, Alternet deleted it. Hopefully that won't happen again.)
Is my.barackobama.com trollproof? No, you just need to work at it
Back on the 22nd, "Bill Hawkins" started a blog at Barack Obama's site and posted an entry (my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/billhawkins) entitled "Which hate sites should be banned?" The post suggested that BHO take his push to drive hate off the airwaves to the Internet as well, and solicited BHO fans to list some sites that should be banned. Perhaps as a coincidence, I saw this post immediately and watched it over the next several days. Unfortunately, I was shocked to learn that the post only received one comment, and that was generally supporting free speech.
Now, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever who "Bill Hawkins" is, but just in case "Bill Hawkins" is a made-up name and this was a troll, I want to assure others that the weak response doesn't necessarily indicate that trolling BHO's site isn't going to be fruitful. What "Bill Hawkins" should have done is promoted it in some way or some. I'll be sure to recommend that to "Bill Hawkins" if I ever meet him.
The original post is still on BHO's site and is in the extended entry.
"Bill Hawkins'" post follows:
Recently, Obama spoke out forcefully against hate on our airwaves, and promised to do something about it:
The 12 million people in the shadows, the communities taking immigration enforcement into their own hands, the neighborhoods seeing rising tensions as citizens are pitted against new immigrants... they're counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric filling our airwaves – rhetoric that poisons our political discourse, degrades our democracy, and has no place in this great nation.
I trust Obama, and I know that as president he's going to work with the FCC to make sure that hate is driven off our airwaves. However, that's only part of the problem. There are plenty of websites that spread hate as well.
For instance, as I read this story about a college professor tracing smear emails back to freerepublic.com and other sites, I became more and more outraged. How could a site like that be allowed to even exist? All they do is spread lies.
I feel that Obama must do more. In addition to speaking out - and supporting action - against those who spread hate on the airwaves, he also has to speak out against those who spread hate on the Internet.
I encourage my fellow Obama supporters to offer detailed proposals on what actions President Obama should take against these hate sites. I also suggest we start a list of the most noxious hate sites for future reference.
Together, we can stop the hate!
New DailyKos slogan: Liar, liar, pants on fire, you f#$%ing liar
Presented for your amusement is the diary entry from one "clammyc" called "John McCain, f#$%ing liar" (dailykos.com/story/2008/7/28/165138/698/993/558351):
It's long past time for people to not only give McCain a total pass on his outright lies, smears, "McCain moments" and other absolute nonsense that comes from his mouth. And if he isn't lying, then he is goddamn near senile and shouldn't be President for that reason alone, notwithstanding all of the other very valid reasons that he shouldn't be President... So let's start calling him what he is. A full on liar. Not only "forgetful", not only "misinterpreted", not only "misquoted", not only mean-spirited and stretching the truth... A liar. As in "pants on fire"...
Now you know why I run sites, not "blogs".
More proof of GOP stupidity (Digg division)
I'll leave it to political scientists, political analysts, and psychologists to try to figure out why the Republican Party (GOP) is unable to use the internet to their advantage and I'll just point out one example of how the Democrats and Barack Obama are eating John McCain's lunch.
In the US Elections 2008 subsection on Digg right now, almost all of the popular and "hot" (upcoming) stories are anti-McCain, a couple are anti-GOP in general, and almost all the rest are pro-Obama. Not a single pro-McCain story makes either list. And, several are from the Huffington Post. The only one that doesn't fit that pattern and that saves it from being a complete rout is a mostly impartial joke posting from the lightweight site Gawker.
The titles of both sets are in the extended entry; note that the last "hot" story is the HuffPost entry described here.
Part of the reason why the GOP can't break into either list is partly because many of their leaders probably wouldn't even have a clue what this post is about. Part of the reason is lack of enthusiasm. Part is lack of organization. And, another issue might be that the Democrats are working the system in some way. Since Obama supporters frequently infest blog comments with a swarm of sockpuppets, it's not too difficult to imagine them using multiple Digg accounts to bump up some of those stories. No doubt a large number of the Diggs of those articles are legitimate and obtained through networking on Facebook or similar, but it's inconceivable that all of them are legitimate. And, some might even involve payments to those who supposedly do such sockpuppeting as a sideline.
** Here are the titles of the popular stories **
McCain On The Run: Cancels Press Availability
McCain Attacks Obama's Holocaust Museum Statement
Why McCain's Iraq "Surge" Success Story Is A Lie
Devastating New YouTube Video: John McCain's Neverending War watch!
John McCain's Never-Ending War In Iraq
McCain Gets History Of The Surge Wrong, CBS edits out gaffe
3,000 GIs Mob Barack in Baghdad (Video and Goodies)
McCain Makes False Claims On Iraq Timeline (VIDEO)
McCain Adviser Points to 2020 Iraq Withdrawal Date
McCain is Getting Desperate, As the World Embraces Obama
McCain Camp "Frustrated" With Obama's Trip
Sen. Ted Stevens Falling Down Series Of Tubes In Latest Poll
Obama Far More Popular Among Jews Than Lieberman
S.C. State Senator Posts Osama-Obama Photo On His Website
What Will Our President of Tomorrow Look Like in the Future? [joke story]
** Here's the "hot" list **
The Greatest Threat America Has Ever Faced: the GOP?
Seth Colter Walls: Wexler: McCain Attack On Obama's Holocaus
McCain cancels press avail in light of his Iraq deception
Laugh, clown, laugh [note: anti-McCain, anti-GOP editorial]
Seth Colter Walls: McCain Tries To Cover Surge Mistake With
Clueless McCain Suggests Rationing Vets Health Care
McCain Implies That Oil Prices are Psychological
John McCain says "F**K You!" during Interview
CBS Busted Violating its own Standards to Help McCain
Spreading Lies About Obama's Health Care Plan
DailyKos' Netroots Nation has Mexican government-linked group
All rightthinking comrades will be in Austin, Texas this weekend for DailyKos' Netroots Nation, a convention formerly known as YearlyKos.
A search of the site shows just one session relating to immigration, called nutrootsily enough "How to Win the Immigration Debate and Beat Back ICE's Emerging Police State" (netrootsnation.org/node/864). Put on your diving cap and try to follow their logic:
With Congress held hostage to a vocal minority of hard-line immigration restrictionists stirred up by right-wing websites and talk-radio, the Bush administration has launched a series of showy "crack-downs" that have divided working families and transferred billions into the hands of well-connected DHS contractors, but done nothing to reform a deeply dysfunctional immigration system. We can do better.
Actually, the ones holding Congress at bay are the citizens; left to their own devices Congress would have easily passed amnesty. The contractors bit makes some partial sense, even if I imagine their numbers are off a bit. However, the people who've played a major role in the Bush administration putting on a show are those who support illegal immigration, including DailyKos and others on their side. If they would simply support the enforcement of our laws then there'd be no need for things such as the fence. Likewise, it's those who promote disorder - such as DailyKos and other "liberals" - who make it easy for those whose goal is power over others to push "police state"-style proposals.
As for the presenters at that session:
* Marisa Trevino of the blog Latina Lista
* Joshua Holland of Alternet
* "Duke 1676" of the blog Migra Matters
* Jackie Mahendra of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
The last group is headed by someone linked to the Mexican government. What's a Kos convention without a little collaboration?
On a general note, they also have "identity" caucusi (netrootsnation.org/agenda-2008?topic=identity), including those for African Americans, Asian American Pacific Islanders, Latinos, and Women. Oddly enough, there aren't ones for Whites or Men, for some strange reason. All have the same generic description:
Connect with like-minded folks and talk with others from your community in our identity, issue and regional caucuses.
And, what would the Nutroots Nation be without those who are only known to bloggers, with book signings by notables such as Cliff Schecter, Matt Yglesias, and Amanda Marcotte.
If you register now, you can save 10% if you use the special code GUSHALL at checkout.
Alternet deletes comment (Kyle de Beausset, NCLR)
I've left several comments on Alternet's immigration entries, and as far as I know none had been deleted until the last. That last comment was left on the entry "Minutemen Scream "F@$k You Brown Boy!" at Latinos Attending Obama Talk" by Kyle de Beausset (alternet.org/blogs/peek/91440). That post is just the latest in that leftwing site's long line of far-left articles supporting illegal immigration; note that in contrast to some other leftwing sites, left-leaning commenters occasionally call Alternet on their biases.
The comment is included below; how exactly it violates their "community policies" isn't clear since I've been unable to find out what those are. It doesn't seem to violate the rules of other sites, and I'm going to ask Alternet to explain exactly what the problem is.
De Beausset (aka "kyledeb") operates the site Citizen Orange (citizenorange.com) and contributes to The Sanctuary (thesanctuary.soapblox.net) and he starts the post with the following:
I'm here in San Diego where Barack Obama just spoke at the annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) conference. NCLR flew me out here and provided with me accommodations at the luxurious San Diego Marriot Hotel Marina. I was given the opportunity after I helped publicize NCLR's latest We Can Stop the Hate video using Digg and StumbleUpon, among other new media tools.
The comment that was deleted follows; unfortunately, I forgot to call them on their false headline in that there was just one supposed "Minuteman":
Thank you, Alternet!
Whenever someone's confused over the meaning of the word "irony", I'll send them to this post. It's truly ironic that the only incident of racism at a La Raza convention Alternet can find is an alleged incident from one loon. "Brown boy" isn't exactly a common slur, and it's quite likely that it was said in response to him being called "white boy". There are also plenty of goons on Alternet's side. Oops: I didn't mean to reduce myself to the NCLR-funded kyledeb's side by engaging in guilt by association.
If Alternet is going to continue publishing open borders articles, let me suggest at the least getting better writers.
Netroots, mondegreen added to dictionary!
America's perkiest newsbabe, Katie Couric, informs us that the words "netroots" and "mondegreen" have been added to the dictionary.
The second word is derived from a song lyric "laid him on the green"; in reference to Katie I'd prefer rondegreen (phwoar), but that's just me.
And, of course, we know about the word "netroots" because it's related to the word "nutroots", the blogging term for FireDogLake, DailyKos, and other sites. Maybe if we write enough letters to whichever company is responsible for the dictionary we can get a montage of their logos added next to that word when it's eventually added.
Youtube's Citizentube blog doesn't want to hear from citizens, deletes all comments
Youtube's "Citizentube" (citizentube.com) apparently doesn't want to hear from citizens, because that blog where they post promos for Youtube's political ventures has stopped allowing comments on their entries. They used to allow comments, but they've even gone as far as deleting all comments which were left on their past entries.
I blame myself, since I pestered Youtube's Steve Grove by leaving the three comments in the extended entry, none of which are there anymore.
1. From citizentube.com/2008/04/announcement-general-election.html
Have you ever heard hype about a new band, and when you listen to them it's just elevator music?
Youtube's "debates" are like that. The "debate" will be like the CNN/Youtube "debate", featuring puffball after puffball which the candidates will simply answer with their stock speeches. And, whoever the moderators are won't call them on their lies or press for a followup.
Youtube is already telegraphing what they're going to do by featuring the superlightweight James Kotecki, someone who wouldn't know a tough question if it fell on his head.
Not only that, but their example of a user-generated question is someone asking "do you think your personal qualities will allow you to be an effective president"?
What does anyone expect the answer to be, "no"?
If I were Youtube, I'd watch out: the questions they're going to allow to be asked might give Sergey Brin Soviet Union flashbacks.
2. From citizentube.com/2008/04/announcement-general-election.html
Let me light a candle by offering this proposal. The only way to avoid a repeat of the CNN disasters is to have bloggers and the like vote on the questions. They'll be charged with selecting the *toughest* questions, not the ones they want answered or anything else. And, their votes for each video will be public. So, if they vote up weak videos or vote down tough videos then they can be held accountable by their readers. And, the votes could be sliced and diced by who voted in which categories, a specific blogger's votes, etc.
On the plus side for Google, this would also cause more people to visit whatever site they host that at because the bloggers could link to a list of their votes.
And, this would also give Google plausible deniability when those tough questions get asked and the candidates get angry: it was the bloggers that selected the questions, not Google.
3. From citizentube.com/2008/04/welcome-to-new-citizentube.html
If Youtube wanted to do a public service they'd encourage people to go to campaign events and ask the questions that the MSM is too corrupt to ask. The MSM includes CNN and CSPAN, two Youtube partners that ran contests and then selected the wimpiest questions of the bunch. Regarding the CNN debacle, see these:
youtube.com/watch?v=nIbDAVQMKGM
youtube.com/watch?v=wm0uWz2BS9M
If someone who's familiar with the issue and who isn't afraid to ask real questions ever engages one of the top three candidates on immigration, the candidate is going to end up looking very bad since all three of them have offered unworkable proposals and have frequently lied or made misleading or incomplete statements. Perhaps Youtube is afraid of encouraging people to ask real questions lest they lose their access. Or, maybe it's something else.
NewsHounds edits comments without notice
NewsHounds is a bargain-basement "liberal" site whose tagline is "We watch FOX so you don't have to": their contributors watch that network and then write up reports. No less than two comments I left on the thread "Ingraham criticizes Washington Post for report, but fails to disprove it" by contributor "Chrish" [1] were edited without notice. Which is pretty rich coming from a site that in the past has offered posts like "Bill O'Reilly cuts mic of US Colonel Ann Wright as she defends her service and stance" and "Jane Hall Gets Mic Cut For Exposing BOR's Hypocrisy" [2]. I guess cutting someone off is OK if News Hounds does it.
The first comment I left was this:
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Obviously, Ingraham doesn't read my blog!
Because, if she did, she would have been able to point out how the WaPo author is lying.
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The change they made was to remove the link. My name's link was left in place, but by removing the link in the text, they reduced my comment to a statement that could be construed as just a simply reflexive disagreement instead of someone offering proof of the author lying. Note also that their commenting system is Javascript, meaning there's no search engine benefit to leaving links there.
After noticing that they'd edited my comment without notice, I left the original comment with a preface:
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Apparently there was some sort of odd technical problem, because the link to my proof that the author is lying is now missing from my earlier comment.
Here's the comment as it was before:
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The original comment followed the above. NewsHounds edited the last comment to be just the single sentence "Apparently there was some sort of odd technical problem".
For more fun, I'm going to leave another comment with a link to this post.
The depths some bloggers are willing to go to prevent their readers from being exposed to the truth would be funny, except little Stalinists aren't really that funny at all.
[1] newshounds.us/2008/06/30/
ingraham_criticizes_washington_post_for_report_but_fails_to_disprove_it.php
[2] site:newshounds.us cut off microphone
PBS "Engage" deletes comment critical of Gwen Ifill
[PBS re-posted my comment; see the update.]
The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) has a relatively new effort called "Engage" [1] in which they solicit feedback from their viewers. However, they only want the "right kind" of feedback and are willing to delete or ignore comments that are critical of their (public) network. In this particular case, a comment I left that was critical of Gwen Ifill appeared and then was later deleted. The whole sequence of events - and the comments in question - are included below. If the reader thinks the comment shouldn't have been deleted, please contact PBS and let them know what you think:
pbs.org/engage/contact
pbs.org/ombudsman/feedback.html
I'm also considering filing a FOIA request related to this issue; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has claimed that they're exempt but has also admitted that they'd comply with FOIA. Yes, I realize that in the greater scheme of things a deleted comment isn't that big a deal. However, PBS is a publicly-funded entity that's supposedly impartial, so such a reaction is justified.
Here's the sequence of events:
1. I tried to leave a comment on the post pbs.org/engage/blog/folks-back-home-are-talking-about-obama-mccain on June 9. It was put into a moderation queue, but never appeared. Now, certainly, some bloggers might not even be aware that they have a moderation queue or it might be so clogged that they ignore it. You can see that as the first comment in the extended entry [2].
2. I tried again with a different comment on a different post (pbs.org/engage/blog/five-good-questions-gwen-ifill) on June 25. That also was put into the moderation queue, and it also never appeared.
3. I tried to leave the last message again on June 26, and this time I used a different user name (NoMoreBlatherDotCom instead of LonewackoDotCom), and I also removed the 'http://' which was in front of one of the links. That's the second comment in the extended entry. [3]
Success! The comment appeared.
However, when I checked back the next day, the comment was gone. PBS had deleted the comment, despite it not violating any of their listed rules: it was on-topic, it didn't contain profanity, and it wasn't a personal attack but simply a discussion of PBS' and Ifill's low journalistic standards.
Note that at the Gwen Ifill link, almost all the comments are supportive, with some even gushingly so: inquiring about who does her lighting, suggestions that she take Tim Russert's place, and so on. Also, a comment containing a link in the body has been there since I left the second comment. If their rule is that comments containing links are moderated, that means that that comment was approved by a moderator and thus they do pay attention to that queue. And, if PBS objects to me including links, then they're playing favorites, saying that a link to metagovernment.org is OK but not a link to my site. Note that for the final comment both links were in bare format, which the user would have to copy and paste into their browser. Note also that there are about 35 comments at the Ifill link, yet there are 63 anchors (the part after '#' in a comment's individual URL) used. That implies that several comments were deleted. What did they say?
UPDATE: PBS sent this response to my email:
Thank you for bringing your comment to our attention. We've taken a look at your post in light of our terms of service, and we've concluded that we should have allowed it on the site. We reposted your comment yesterday afternoon... As the Engage initiative grows and more people participate in our discussions, we're continuing to evaluate our moderation policies. Feedback like yours helps us clarify our thinking about these issues, and we appreciate it.
[1] Their "Engage" site started in October but I found out about it due to a BlogAds campaign they're running. The reader might want to send this URL to sites that are running their BlogAd.
[2] HERE'S THE FIRST COMMENT I TRIED TO LEAVE; THIS WAS MODERATED BUT NEVER APPEARED:
PBS and NPR are just leftier versions of the MSM, and neither do any real reporting and instead just push their agendas.
Examples I can provide come from the topic I cover: immigration.
1. The NPR debate was a sham:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007291.html
2. NewsHour segments on the topic almost always feature "debates" with two people on the same basic side:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007264.html
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/006003.html
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/005823.html
3. Instead of following the money, NPR offered a tear-jerker designed to make illegal immigration acceptable:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007616.html
[3] HERE'S THE SECOND COMMENT I TRIED TO LEAVE; THE FIRST VERSION WAS MODERATED BUT NEVER APPEARED, THE SECOND VERSION OF THIS COMMENT APPEARED AND WAS THEN DELETED:
1. Back in 2006, you offered two guests discussing an issue, and they turned out to be on basically the same side. Have you considered that debates between two people who basically agree is how things were done in the Soviet Union and how things should not be done in the U.S.?
Details:
lonewacko.com/blog/archives/006003.html
2. At a "average voter" panel you moderated, a supposed "regular voter" (who turned out to be a wonk) made various inflammatory claims, none of which you called him on. Why didn't you do that? Was he a "plant", similar to what CNN did with audience members with their debates? And, why couldn't you find a regular voter who supports our laws?
Details:
lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005823.html
Questions for Matt Yglesias
Recently, Matt Yglesias of The Atlantic (matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com) has been posting a daily thread soliciting questions that he'll answer from his visitors ("requests"). I've posted a few comments to those threads without an answer, but that just means I'll keep trying. To be frank, the reason I do that is in the hope that one of these days Matthew Yglesias will let someone at the higher levels of the DNC know that the old lies aren't working any more. Specifically, if one of these days MattY would say to someone at the DNC, "my reputation is being harmed by trying to push your support for illegal immigration, and I fear that if someone who's familiar with this issue is able to interrogate Obama on the topic of immigration it's going to have a very negative impact on his chances", that might cause the DNC to change their policies to be more supportive of our laws. One can always hope.
Here are some of the questions. New ones will be added to the top of the list:
12. Discuss this recent GOP loss. Extra credit: contact those who used his previous wins to push their agenda, and see what they say now: Barone, Barnes, etc.
11. Find a public figure who opposes immigration enforcement, and then follow the money. For instance, this shill who I mentioned on this thread from today: matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/06/exurbs_aint_what_they_used_to.php
10. On this recent post, you came out for "comprehensive immigration reform". I pointed out that "reform" would give even more power inside the U.S. to racial power groups as well as the Mexican government. Should we worry about a neighboring government having political power inside the U.S.? If so, what should we do about it? How specifically will that power be reduced should what you support be enacted?
9. What are your thoughts on Barack Obama's latest NAFTA flap? Do you agree he admitted to being deceptive?
8. Will you be condemning New Haven's support for illegal activity?
7. When the Federal Reserve explicitly sets out to profit from money that was earned illegally, isn't that an example of political corruption at the highest levels of our political system?
6. Since you say you aren't part of the establishment, tell us how close you've come to doing some like this.
5. Last year, you told us the NAFTASuperhighway was just a myth (matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/08/the_highway_that_wasnt_there.php). This year, BHO said more than his handlers would want him to: "there's this highway being built in Texas that will facilitate more transportation and travel between Mexico and the intercontinental United States, on up to Canada". Please explain that for us.
4. Please tell us the differences between this Barack Obama proposal on global warming and how things would have been done in the Soviet Union.
3. Please list all the costs of the Katrina scandal, including those which aren't immediately obvious.
2. Why didn't your colleague Marc Ambinder push what should be a big story, the one about McCain and Juan Hernandez?
1. Have you considered asking people outside the cocoon for their take on the issues you discuss, and then a) accurately representing their concerns and b) offering a valid counterargument (if possible)? For instance, take one of the points from my first comment here, and see if you can come up with a valid counterargument.
It it The Onion, or Reason Magazine?
Notice anything interesting about this libertarian-themed "American Voices" feature from The Onion?
Yes, that's right: by an odd coincidence, those last names are the same as the last names of several cherished staffers from Reason Magazine: reason.com/staff
As pointed out here many times, it's often difficult to tell the difference between satire and libertarian ideology, but at least they're entertaining.
Related:
A challenge for Drew Carey/Reason Magazine (and other open borders hacks)
Is Bryan Caplan the world's looniest libertarian? (give every Haitian a green card)
Free the Jefferson 1! (loony libertarians)
An Ayn Rand Institute flashback: "U.S. Should Not Help Tsunami Victims"
Instapundit offers Katrina update, fails to note impact of illegal alien labor on issue
Glenn Reynolds (aka "Instapundit", "Insty", "seasonal GOP hack", etc.) sandwiches (pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/020261.php) an excerpt to this article about Katrina victims still living in hotels between "KATRINA UPDATE: Some receiving FEMA assistance unwilling to help themselves:" and "Read the whole thing."
Unfortunately, Insty doesn't appear to have covered the massive Katrina scandal foisted on the nation by both the GOP and Democratic leaderships, under which illegal aliens were allowed to move into the Gulf Coast and work for connected contractors. Absent such competition, those Insty is obviously complaining about would have more motivation to find work, and after all is said and done the influx of illegal labor will end up costing us far more than anything that crooked companies made on the deal.
Certainly, due to Insty's linking style he might have linked to something covering that issue with little more than a "heh" or a "huh", but I doubt it.
UPDATE: While I'm on the general Insty-bashing topic, could someone sic PETA on him?
pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/020283.php
Washington Monthly deletes yet another comment, again
Washington Monthly has a habit of deleting comments I (and apparently others) leave there. Kevin Drum is apparently on vacation so I don't know whether he popped in just to delete the comment I left earlier today on this thread:
washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013790.php.
The author is "Hilzoy" of the blog "Obsidian Wings" who cross-posted it here:
obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/05/taking-tough-ac.html I left the comment there as a test.
The comment that Washington Monthly and/or Kevin Drum and/or Hilzoy don't want you to see is in the extended entry.
---COMMENT BEGINS---
Del Capslock writes: Sure looks to me like Obama's "weakness" is his strength. McCain's experience has allowed him to be corrupted by the Washington machine, whereas Obama brings a fresh and intelligent outlook.
What city is Obama from again? I seem to recall them having some kind of machine there or something, with BHO being linked right into it:
tinyurl.com/4rlhgj
BHO also served foreign interests, and there's a highly questionable McCain staff member that neither the MSM nor mainstream bloggers will discuss. I guess some questionable foreign links are more equally bad than others.
[Note: WM and/or KD have a habit of deleting or editing comments without notice, so this comment may disappear or be different from what I posted.]
Correction: "The Anchoress" is not Ken Mehlmann
Over thousands of posts, this site has had to make very few corrections, probably at most the same number as the NYT makes in a day. However, in the past some unnamed members of the team whose content appears here advanced the belief that "The Anchoress" (theanchoressonline.com, "TA") is actually former RNC hack Ken Mehlmann. It has recently come to our attention that that is false, and TA is actually one Elizabeth Scalia (theanchoressonline.com/about-the-anchoress-online). She is presumably not the UK professional biker by the same name and she presumably previously desired anonymity in order to shield herself from abhorrent reactions relating to rampant BushBotism. This site apologizes for any confusion.
Nico Pitney helps Huffington Post descend to ThinkProgress level
Nico Pitney is the Huffington Post's "National Editor". Until around August of last year he was Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and the Managing Editor of ThinkProgress. And, yes, those are very strong warning signs considering that CAP seems to screen its hires for childishness and stupidity. Nowadays he's helping drive the HuffPost even further down, and, yes, unbelievable as it might seem, it's possible for them to be even lower than they are now. He's made just 15 posts since December (huffingtonpost.com/the-news/reporting/nico-pitney), with the latest being called "Anti-Immigration Protester Needs A Spell-Check" (huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/04/whoops-anti-immigration-p_n_100043.html). A May Day 2008 anti-illegal immigration protester in Houston held up a sign saying "Make English America's offical Language", with "official" being spelled wrong. It was taken by Johnny Hanson of the Houston Chronicle and considering that it's available in that incorrect form on their site I'm going to assume that it wasn't photoshopped.
The sign is certainly ironic, but the point being made is extremely minor. And, Pitney incorrectly states that the protester is "Anti-Immigration", when in fact she's at a protest for illegal immigration and the sign's directive wouldn't impact those immigrants who learn English. I'll leave it up to someone else to figure out whether "spell-check" is the correct form in this context.
I left the comment in the extended entry, which hasn't been approved and probably won't be considering that comments left after it were approved. However, plenty of other ThinkProgress-style comments have been approved: "All graduates from the Dan Quayle School for Spelling!", "It was good of her to highlight the word with 2 underscores too. Love the busy shirt as well.", "makes one proud to bea an Amerikan ;-)", etc. The jokes just keep coming, but only a couple make - or are allowed to make by the moderator - the point I made.
Arianna has been embarrassed by comments left on her site's posts before, and she might want to reconsider whether having lightweights like Nico Pitney throw out red meat is the direction she wants to go in. It might be good for the traffic, but it's not so good for the reputation.
Here's the comment which wasn't approved:
---------
Here are some fun pictures from the other side:
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/03/my-immigrant-vagina-is-angry-and-other-militant-may-day-moments/
And, here's a fun question: whose interests do HuffPost posts like this serve? Certainly not the interests of the vast majority of Americans. In fact, those who get a boost from posts like this include the Mexican government, crooked businesses, crooked banks, crooked politicians, racial power groups, and on down the line. Whenever someone tells you something, asking "cui bono?" is a good idea.
Xeni Jardin/BoingBoing deletes comments
Xeni Jardin is a lightweight supporter of illegal immigration and pseudo-hipster (tech division) who blogs at BoingBoing. She offers "Online game teaches immigrant kids about rights of due process" (boingboing.net/2008/05/01/online-game-teaches.html) about a video game which portrays a superhuman ICE agent oppressing people of color (and one young lady from Poland) over legal immigration edge cases (icedgame.com).
A couple of on-topic, non-abusive comments I left on the entry were deleted almost immediately after I left them. And, a follow-up comment combining the two received a moderated message and will probably never appear. In the past BoingBoing has had a forum, then they went to technorati only, now they have comments. So, always willing to inform, I signed up and left the two comments in the extended entry.
Boing Boing readers who drop by might want to consider what else Xeni and/or Boing Boing don't want them to see, and whether they should trust anything they read from her or that site.
Related:
Kevin Drum/Washington Monthly deletes yet another comment
Banned by Crooks and Liars
ABC News' Political Radar edits comments without notice
Comment #1:
#12 is suggesting following the money. Who profits from massive and/or illegal immigration? When (just as an example) a certain blogger from a certain site smears those who support our laws, whose ends does that serve? For those who don't know, Mexico receives around $24 billion per year that their people send home from the U.S., and plenty of companies - and even the Federal Reserve - want a slice of that money, much of which was earned illegally.
In the case of this game it doesn't apply that much since based on a quick glance it seems to involve legal edge cases rather than illegal immigration, but OTOH it doesn't show much respect for - and racializes and demonizes - law enforcement.
For more on the elites, see this
Comment #2:
#22: You might want to reconsider offering an argument for importing a third-world serf class to do our dirty jobs for several reasons, the primary reason being that we've already gone down that road a while back, albeit with some significant differences. Yet, the mindset - and that which supported child labor - is remarkably similar.
The second reason is that "economic" arguments frequently ignore all the costs, both financial and non-financial.
Some changes ahead
In the near future, the following changes will be made in this general order:
1. I'm going to change this domain name to something that isn't stupid. I think I'm going to just redirect every current page to counterparts at the new site, so none of the URLs would 404, they'd just be automatically redirected to the corresponding pages at the new site. I may redirect the non-politics pages to hotsop.com or another site, but those URLs wouldn't 404 either. Needless to say, this is a bit risky vis-a-vis traffic from search engines, but the long-term benefits of a better name are worth it. The problem now is to find that name; even interminable names like "opensourcereporting.com" are taken.
2. More punditry, with attempts to write content for display on other sites.
3. I'm going to attempt to hit the campaign trail and ask the candidates the questions that the MSM refuses to ask. Then, I'll be uploading the answers to video sharing sites. It'd be just great if I could get some form of sponsorship for that. One possibility is a tip jar of some kind. Another is sponsorship by some form of media organization. What makes that very difficult is the general non-partisan nature of the questions, the fact that almost everyone in the political establishment does not want tough questions to be asked lest similar questions are asked of their side, and the fact that the questions would probably be about immigration, a topic that many don't want to discuss at all. And, no one in the MSM would be interested since it would reveal them to be the complete hacks they are.
How to make Amanda Marcotte forget all about the Patriarchy's hegemonical control
The answer is somewhere in this picture:
Unfortunately, it looks like a mole or other cylindrical beast from The Vast Patriarchical Conspiracy snuck into Amanda Marcotte's publishing house and caused them to insert (as into a book) highly questionable images: link. This has caused her to issue a completely voluntary apology: pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/04/25/im-sorry
For an unknown reason I don't want to know about, there are other Amanda Marcotte pictures at these links from her book readings, ordered by how hard I laughed:
majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2008/04/amanda-reading.html
majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2008/04/amanda-marcotte.html
majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2008/04/tonight-amanda.html
majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2008/04/amanda-at-blues.html
UPDATE: Fellow former John Edwards intern/blogger Melissa McEwan responds to the Seal Press Scandal as follows, referring to their press release about the questionable images in the book:
Part of their apology is a promise to participate in some diversity training. It might be beneficial for them to go back and take a Feminism 101 course, too, since they've evidently not learned that dismissing concerns on the basis of humorlessness is about the oldest silencing trope in the patriarchy's book, so ubiquitous as to be positively quaint (in that Alberto Gonzales kinda way).
Another round, anyone?
Righteous panel accuses Amanda Marcotte of misappropriating, not honoring work of feminist blogger of color! Or, something.
I have no idea what the heck is happening here because I'm laughing so hard. Apparently running joke in these parts Amanda Marcotte based in some way or other one of her screeds on a series of others' works. One of those affected has gone as far as shutting down her blog! I have not researched the matter because, once again, I'm laughing too hard.
There's a pledge you can sign here (..."We will not appropriate their work, but amplify their work and integrate their ideas with attribution"...).
There's a hyperlinked copy of the disputed work here:
problemchylde.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/dont-hate-appropriate
Marcotte defends herself here, making a rarely somewhat coherent case that the others are just making it all up in order to play a mean game.
I link, you laugh and decide.
Let's blame John McCain on Ann Althouse (bloggers helped McCain?)
Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times offers "Blogger outreach boosts McCain" (link), an uncharacteristic attempt to blame the resurgence of John McCain on bloggers rather than where it mostly belongs: on constant MSM puffery:Even as talk radio was brutalizing Sen. John McCain in the Republican presidential primaries, conservative bloggers reached a respectful truce with the Arizona senator over touchy issues and gave him what the campaign called a "tremendous positive psychological" boost.McCain's resurgence was more likely due to the MSM, which did things like smear his opponents and those who support our laws (for instance, from Joel Achenbach) or which lied about his immigration stance (examples from Bennett Roth, Elisabeth Bumiller and John Broder, and Ron Claiborne and Peter Canellos).
The main reason: Mr. McCain's blogger outreach, the most extensive of any presidential campaign in either party, helped keep him afloat in the dark days last summer when the major press was sizing up his campaign grave. During those times, Mr. McCain got attention and digital ink from the bloggers he invited to biweekly conference calls, and got a chance to talk policy.
However, that doesn't leave hack bloggers who participated in those conference calls off the hook, who completely failed to ask McCain anything approaching a real question. Those bloggers include Ann Althouse, someone who's constantly promoted by Instapundit despite having little to say. After a couple of her reports of conference calls I left comments with suggested questions and instead, if she asked a question at all it was extremely lightweight. I continue to be amazed that she's an actual law professor.
Others include "Captain Ed" Morrissey. Despite asking a better question recently, every other question that I'm aware of him having asked politicians in the past is something that even Politburo hacks would consider too obsequious. Others apparently taking part in the conference calls were Jim Geraghty from the National Review, PowerLine, one or more people from Townhall, one or more from race42008.com, and Robert Bluey of the Heritage Foundation and affiliated in some way with RedState.
Kevin Drum/Washington Monthly deletes yet another comment
Kevin Drum and/or the Washington Monthly have a habit of deleting perfectly reasonable comments; because of that you can't trust anything you read there. Comments sections serve as a form of check on the blogger or reporter; if they make a mistake someone will probably come along to point it out. If - like Kevin Drum and/or WM - they start deleting comments you never know what's missing, and it might be a comment offering a correction. So, every single thing he writes has to be double-checked before relying on it.
The latest example of a deleted comment is presented in the extended entry, as left on the thread washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_03/013403.php
As for why I'm forced to say "Kevin Drum and/or the Washington Monthly", I don't know whether it's Drum himself or someone else who does this. I asked him about it, but he was too cowardly to admit to doing it himself.
And, even as Drum/WM delete legitimate comments, they continue to have very major spam problem; see, for instance, the toxic stew at the end of washingtonmonthly.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=10203. If you link directly to WM, search engines might consider you part of those spammers' extended networks and that might have a negative impact on your site. I suggest dropping all your links to WM, using the plain text version as I used above if you still need to link to them
I'm not surprised to see Kevin Drum admit that he supports corruption and wants the U.S. to make money off illegal activity.
Nor am I surprised that he can't figure out what that implies: massive PublicCorruption as federal agencies turn a blind eye to lawbreaking.
What would surprise me is if Kevin Drum knew about all the actions the Bush admin has taken in this regard, such as strongarming a change that let banks profit from money that was earned illegally. And, how the FDIC is working with the MexicanConsulate to give home loans to IllegalAliens.
What would even surprise me more is if Kevin Drum could figure out all the costs associated with IllegalImmigration, including long-term costs and/or those without a direct financial impact.
Those Democrats with integrity and who put what's best for the U.S. ahead of the corrupt interests of the Democratic Party should reject attempts to profit from illegal activity and oppose PublicCorruption.
[Note: WM and/or KD have a habit of deleting and editing comments without notice, so this comment might disappear or be edited.]
Sleazy Jason Linkins smears Sean Hannity (Max Blumenthal)
How sleazy is Jason Linkins of the Huffington Post? Sleazy enough to post this smear of Sean Hannity, linking him to white supremacist radio host Hal Turner. The latter apparently used to call in to Hannity's radio program; he claims he and Hannity were friends until Hannity's Program Director told him no more call-ins. Yet, if you do a find for the comment from PhilBoyceWABC on the HuffPost link you'll see that Turner's account of their friendship is more than a bit questionable. Not only that, but Linkins' post relies on the Newshounds blog, not exactly a source of intellectual analysis. And, even worse, it relies on a Nation article from known liar Max Blumenthal which only includes one example of statements made by Turner when calling in and which includes a Turner quote from 2003 in which he said, "I had never judged people on their race, not prior to that point" (thenation.com/doc/20050620/blumenthal). Perhaps the Huffington Post should consider the impact that smear attempts from Linkins have on whatever reputation they currently have.
Flickr now using nofollow tags
About a year ago, Youtube - apparently prompted by Google - added the anti-web nofollow tag to an increasing variety of their outbound links (except for some links, such as those which were on content provided by videomaker.com, something that would seem to violate Google's own rules). You can see the salmon-colored excess here and here.
Now, visiting my barely-used Flickr site (flickr.com/photos/lonewackodotcom), I see that they're using that tag too, for instance on this: flickr.com/photos/lonewackodotcom/265708046 (see the link in the caption). I'm almost positive there was no such tag there before, but I don't know exactly when they added those or if those who buy a subscription or who have some sort of business deal with Yahoo don't have the tags on their links.
Donate a penny for RedState! (needs $25,000 to move from Drupal to Django)
Our friends at RedState have issued an urgent plea [1] for $25,000 so they can upgrade their site from Drupal to Django. In the spirit of helpfulness, I urge everyone reading this to donate a penny if PayPal allows it. But, only if the transactions costs exceed the amount you donate.In the plea, Erick Erickson implies some sort of liberal conspiracy that's prevented them from getting help or something; at least one person calls him on it in comments, and Kos says he offered to conduct a "technology swap" when they had previously used the Scoop system:
...they could have all of our improvements if their developer helped with some patches and whanot. I saw this as a way to spread out the costs of improving the platform amongst various sites.(Other "liberals" weigh in here and here). I'll also add that Drupal is an open source system, and it has a very active user community. In the Drupal forums, no one knows you're a dog, a liberal, or a GOP hack. If they needed help, there was nothing preventing them from asking questions in those forums, and I don't think they'd find too many people who'd turn down money as long as it was coming from at least a semi-reputable source.
But that doesn't fit their narrative of being "censored" by those crazy liberals.
So in other words, as ludicrous as their charge was -- that they were being censored because no liberals offered to help them -- IT'S NOT EVEN TRUE!
Furthermore, Drupal is written in PHP, a very widely used language. And, it's infinitely extensible. It's very easy to completely change everything Drupal looks and acts like simply by writing add-on modules and themes. And, while it would be almost never needed, the core code can be modified at will since it's open source. Any server issues can be handled as discussed at the RedState thread, and Erickson admits that that wasn't even the issue. While Drupal isn't by any stretch of the imagination as well-designed (in an object-oriented fashion) as other APIs (such as as some of the Java APIs), much of that can be mitigated by writing your add-on code in an OO fashion. (If you're reading this as an individual post, some of the sites to the left are Drupal together with custom modules I developed.)
In other words, there's no reason I can see for them to switch from Drupal. While Python is an attractive language, and Yahoo has used it for years, and Django may be less kludgy than Drupal, switching over rather than simply writing a few add-on modules doesn't seem all that necessary.
But, don't let that stop you from sending a penny, just as long as it costs them money.
[1] redstate.com/stories/miscellanea/redstate_has_a_real_need_for_your_help
About the Thomas Crown/Redstate smear
Thomas H. Crown [1] of RedState offers a roundup of the year's events [2] that mentions me:
Second, Lonewacko Blog, if you're reading this -- and based on your obsessively repeated tirade across half the blogosphere and Wikipedia, you are: I banned you, you dirty little racist. I banned you for being a racist, and for showing us that you are a racist. I did not ban you for criticizing George W. Bush, in no small part because where you disagreed with him, I have publicly disagreed with him, you diseased piece of rhinoceros pizzle; I banned you because you decided to share your problems with brown people on this site.
As yet another example of why you can't trust what RedState says, see the archives at this site, or for a quicker read see my last post at RedState, the one that caused me to be banned by Red State.
The last post at RS was simply a quote from an article by Dan Stein of FAIR, in which he used temporally ambiguous language, referring to "illegal aliens" instead of "former illegal aliens who had been converted into legal workers." However, depending on one's temporal reference, Stein's language could have been correct: they were illegal aliens at the time of his writing and would only become legal workers should the "Gold Card" discussed in his post have been enacted. A quick glance shows that FAIR has been mentioned and linked to by RS contributors several times since then.
And, the last time I checked, RedState still has my content on their site, despite my express request that they stop displaying it (and displaying ads next to it). I was unable to find a legal right that RS has to continue displaying my content, yet they've refused my requests to delete it.
And, one wonders why they continue to display my content when Crown suggests it's offensive.
As for Wikipedia, I inserted note of my banning there, but it was deleted in October by someone using the IP address 208.34.234.180, which resolves to a Wilkesboro, NC company called Product Management Inc. with a contact person of Jim Byrd. Whether he has any link to RS is not known.
[1] t-crown.blogspot.com (whether Thomas Crown is his real name or not is unknown; I don't think I've run across him before)
[2] redstate.com/blogs/thomas/2007/dec/31/just_a_drop_of_water_in_an_endless_sea
Alan Colmes has a blog
Radio host and co-star of the Hannity & Colmes show Alan Colmes has a blog here. Please go destroy his arguments.
UPDATE: I thank Alan Colmes for sending some traffic my way. I note also that I learned about his site a few days ago and even started pointing out how he's wrong.
HuffPost breaking news alert: Laurie David stranded at Mojave desert Motel 6!
Before the advent of the Huffington Post, the only way that Laurie David could get the word out about her adventures was through things like typing out articles for the monthly Brentwood Intelligencer. Nowadays, sharing her life with the world is just a click away, as she offers "Dispatch From A Mojave Desert Motel 6" (link):If there is anyone out there wondering if I made it out of Iceland a couple weeks ago, the answer is yes. The freakish high winds finally calmed down long enough to fly home. But if you're wondering where I am right this minute you can find me in the Mojave desert at the Motel 6 in the middle of a freak wind storm!! Believe me I wouldn't make this up...I left the following comment; it hasn't been approved and it might not be. We could debate all day about the correct strategy to use in such cases. Should there just be one hidden zinger? Or, should I go whole hog and include mention of private jets? Should I include conspiracy information about powerful interests blocking Mojave wind farms? In any case, feel free to do better:
Just two hours in (two rest stops and one DVD later) the wind kicks up just past Lancaster and with it a full scale brown out sand storm! Traffic slowed to a crawl, white knuckles gripped the steering wheel and we inched forward. Then a police car blocked the way and said all roads leading to Mammoth are closed till the winds die down.
In an emergency, you have to do what you have to do! We were in a similar situation once, although the motel was a bit more quaint than those garish Motel 6es. I had my PA approach the manager and set things up, and we "bought out" those who were staying in the adjoining rooms so we could get some privacy. There were no other rooms available, and at first most of them didn't like the idea of sleeping in their cars, but as they say "money talks".UPDATE: Still no sign of my comment. Maybe we'll have to wait until she comes back from lunch at the IHOP before she approves or denies it. I note also that she's put this in their "Politics" section with the following tags: Extreme Weather, Malibu Fires, Mammoth Ski Resort, Santa Ana Winds, Weather, Breaking Politics News
UPDATE 2: I changed the title to be more dramatic, but despite that my comment looks like it's been denied. However, I did leave a new comment. At first glance this might appear too over the top. But, it is the HuffPost so this is normal:
I've been driving up 395 for years, and I've never seen the dust storms as bad as they've been during the Bush administration. I think it's even worse than we fear. Not only are they ignoring Global Warming, I think they must be engaging in some form of weather modification or something.UPDATE 3: The second comment was approved. I have nothing more to add.
Banned by Crooks and Liars
The site Crooks and Liars (Crooks & Liars, crooksandliars.com) has banned me from posting comments there. I've twice tried to comment on a recent entry, only to be confronted by a popup saying that I've been banned. I haven't left too many comments there, and a couple have been deleted in the past. Commenting there is usually pretty useless because of all the noise, but, I have lots of domain names and I don't have to provide a domain name, so...
The last comment I left remains ("TLB") in place, so perhaps they've just been too busy to do a full airbrushing:
crooksandliars.com/2007/11/12/
tancredos-psychotic-ad-shuler-should-be-ashamed-to-align-himself-with-him
Note: C&L has an indirect link to the Mexican government through the Blue America PAC.
The growing list of sites which can't handle the heat starts in this post about Kevin Tracy deleting a comment. Other sites engaging in that activity include "Sister Toldjah", New Haven Independent, Think Progress, Kevin Drum and/or Washington Monthly, and many others. And, of course, I was banned by RedState.
Instapundit highlights my comment!
This is truly a watershed mark in my blogging commentary career. Instapundit points to this Howard Kurtz entry and says (instapundit.com/archives2/012323.php):
Using Google for plane tickets is okay. But next time, try using them for . . . Googling. As a commenter at Kurtz's observes: "What should be noted about this issue is that CNN probably has a whole army of interns and low-level producers who could vet the possible questioners. They 'could spend hours Googling everybody', while the top level hacks concentrated on choosing the 'best' questions."
Well, hold on to your hats, everybody!
I am that "commenter"!
And, all those who then visit the Howie Kurtz link, provided that they remember what Insty just said, will perhaps match up my comment at the link with my name at the link ("LonewackoDotCom") and then, through the miracle of deductive reasoning, visit this site.
I would like to welcome that person, and I would like to thank Glenn "Insty" Reynolds for his shout-out.
It's been a long time, since the last "Instalanche" this site received was way back in August, 2003. That was shortly before, visiting Knoxville, I requested an audience. Insty complained of being busy, then didn't reply to my follow-up requests. That resulted in this. Since then, I occasionally sent him tips just to annoy him keep him apprised of my progress, but I stopped after no one still cared what he thinks.
Related:
Eugene Volokh referenced me once.
ABC News' Political Radar edits comments without notice
Earlier today I left a comment on this post (blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/11/huckabees-first.html) from ABC News' Political Radar:If I didn't know better, I'd say the ad was great. And, if I were promoting Huck for some reason, I'd say it was great too!If that doesn't sound like me or make much sense, it's because ABC News edited my comment without notice. Here's the version that I left; this is how it appeared on the site before the edit:
If I didn't know better, I'd say the ad was great. And, if I were promoting Huck for some reason, I'd say it was great too! Thankfully, I'm actually familiar with Huck's record:This isn't the first time they've done something like this, and it's not too difficult to imagine them getting into legal hot water should they edit comments in the wrong way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Dp7FaKIJo
Maybe ABC could decide to do some real reporting about his record. (Or, perhaps they're waiting until after they've built him up.)
Previous coverage of comments being deleted, bannings, etc. begins in this entry about Kevin Tracy.
Naomi Wolf: prepare for war
I am hereby declaring Blog War on Naomi Wolf.
As discussed at that link, I left a comment on one of her Huffington Post entries. It should have been approved, but it was not.
Now, it has happened again on this post; comment below. This time the address that visited the linked page was from a South Bay Area SBC address; whether it was Wolf herself or one of Arianna Huffington's minions isn't clear.
In any case, I am urging all my minions, retainers, followers, and various hangers-on to visit Wolf's future entries and post comments pointing out flaws in what little argument she can provide. Give her forces no quarter!
--- COMMENT ----
I somewhat trust Ron Paul, but based on their history I'm not so trusting of the far-left/Democrats. For all I know this bill has something supporting Lynne Stewart or the Cuban Five hidden within it. Unfortunately, the credibility of the far-left/Democrats on this issue is below zero. Let me know when someone a bit more mainstream than RP gets behind it.
P.S. I discuss here the comment that you or a HuffPost helper didn't post to an earlier thread:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007067.html
Why wasn't that posted?
Down the Memory Hole with the Los Angeles Times (censors own blogger)
From this:
On Thursday night, L.A. Times political blogger Andrew Malcolm wrote a post about John Edwards's denial of an extramarital affair. When some commenters complained that the story was unsupported tabloid trash, Malcolm replied in parenthetical remarks appended to the comments, saying that it was a legitimate topic because of Edwards's denial.
If I have the sequence of events right, the L.A. Times first deleted the whole post. Then, when Patterico inquired about it they put it back, minus three final paragraphs. They also deleted the parenthetical remarks from their own bloggers. Tidy, no muss no fuss!
It was five years and a week ago today
The 22nd of this month marked the fifth anniversary of this site in its current form; everyone is invited to raise a styrofoam cup of Diet Shasta in commemoration of that momentous event. In early 2004 I listed some of this site's accomplishments and noteworthy achievements. I haven't really done anything since then, but I did change the format of the site since that time so at least I've got that going for me.
Didn't Naomi Wolf like my Huffington Post comment? (Florida taser incident)
Naomi Wolf - who you may remember from the Al "Alpha Male" Gore episode - offers "A Shocking Moment for Society: Tasering at University of Florida" [1]. I left a comment which appears to have been disapproved, thus once again proving false the HuffPost claim that they don't disapprove comments simply because they disagree with the poster [2].Shortly after posting it, someone using the nyu.edu network followed the link in the comment; this was the referer:
http://editorial.huffingtonpost.com/modsuite/?tool=approve&filter_entry_id=&pending=1Since my comment hasn't appeared, I can only assume that it was disapproved. (Of course, perhaps there could be a two-level approval process or something, but I doubt it). While I haven't been able to determine a link between Naomi Wolf and New York University, perhaps she's been given access through their network or something. Or perhaps it's one of Arianna Huffington's web minions, but one wonders whether a
Herewith the comment:
I haven't watched any of the videos, but it certainly seems like there's much more to this than Wolf lets on:[1] There are only so many videos I can watch so I haven't delved into this issue, although (just as a general rule) I tend to oppose tasering people who try to ask questions.
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/09/17/student-tasered-at-john-kerry-forum/
I note also that I was the only person that I know of who spoke out when the S.F. Supes falsely accused someone of committing a crime:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/003184.html
Perhaps if Wolf and other "liberals" would pay attention to things like that their words wouldn't ring so hollow.
[2] This has happened many times: my comments on Marty Kaplan's entries have never been approved, and while Earl Ofari Hutchinson might have approved one, most have not made it through the filter. Likewise with Hilda Solis. Oddly, two very negative comments I left on entries from Anthony Romero of the ACLU were approved.
[3] Per the second comment, NYU is actually not public. I note also that one of Arianna's upper-level minions, Jay Rosen, works there (journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink), so perhaps it's one of his students learning to be a good "journalist" or something.
HuffPost blogger telepathically steals my idea, re: Bush in bubble
One of Arianna Huffington's minions offers "Bush Pays Surprise Visit to Reality":
President George W. Bush departed from his planned itinerary on Labor Day to make a surprise visit to reality, later calling the two-hour stop in the real world "informative." ...For Mr. Bush, the visit to reality, while brief, was still significant because it represented his first visit to the real world since being elected President in 2000...
For a few days now, I've been thinking of writing a similar, Onion-style post called "Bush Finally Told Truth". In my post, Bush would have been kept completely in the dark about everything bad that's happened during his presidency, and on some certain day he was finally going to be told the truth about his low approval ratings, the state of Iraq, what happened during Katrina, the various resignations, etc. I was actually quite close to writing that over the past couple days. Odd.
Ana Marie Cox: Mitt Romney not a Christian
Ana Marie Cox (aka Wonkette) can be seen on the Keith Olbermann Show here saying the following:
"I know Mitt Romney is not himself Christian.... or, that's a point of debate..."
Huffington Post prints GOP recruitment post (Eric Stoner, Bryan Farrell)
Eric Stoner ("a writer based in New York, whose writings have appeared in many publications, including The Nation") and Bryan Farrell ("a researcher for Rolling Stone and an independent journalist in New York") offer "Fear and Loathing on the Jersey Shore". The (presumed) couple went abroad (i.e., left Manhattan) and spent a weekend in in the sticks:
Down on the boardwalk we observed a scene that would be recognizable to most Americans: teenagers, junk food, and trinket shops selling an assortment of "ironic" t-shirts. It's not unlike a shopping mall or arcade, pandering to a gluttonous consumerism that is all too distinctly American.
It goes on like that. And, I don't think it's a satire, nor do I think it was intentionally meant as a GOP recruiting tool. It just reads like it. I congratulate Arianna on returning to her roots.
DailyKos delenda est! Bill O'Reilly highlights Hunter Lieberman pic
Unlike Bill O'Reilly, I don't want to see DailyKos destroyed. It would be nice, however, to see them twisting uncomfortably in a strong, very cold wind.
O'Reilly's weapon of Kos destruction is the Photoshop of Joe Liberman and George Bush attached right. The URL of this photo is:
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/lieberman.jpg
A visit then to dailykos.com/user/uid:1054 takes us to the diary of one "Hunter" (hunter.dailykos.com), who appears to be a prominent Kossack. Peeling back the first URL takes us to a few dozen other images and reveals someone with a particular obsession with ABC:
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/DisneyPathTo911.jpg
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/GOP_TV.jpg
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/MickeyBush.jpg
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/goofyabcrx6.jpg
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/wd_abc911.jpg
As well as with General Wesley Clark:
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/uc_clark.jpg
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/YK_diary10.jpg
And, in addition to some Iraq war images, inside baseball:
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/YKCONF2006HEADER.jpg
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/YK_diary11.jpg
images.dailykos.com/images/user/1054/uc_cover.jpg
UPDATE: Now, Mike Stark offers "I just returned from Falafel Bill's house" (dailykos.com/story/2007/7/31/9920/91146). He visited Bill O'Reilly's house, spoke with him in his driveway, and planted a few signs regarding the "falafel" incident outside. While some commenters decry his actions, much other moral relativism ensues.
LHF: DUmmies on John Roberts' seizure
Earlier today, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts had a seizure followed by a fall. He's been hospitalized, but apparently only for observation.
For some very low-hanging fruit, here are some words of hope from Democratic Underground posters. Bear in mind that aside from "la la" (530 posts) all are from "Donating Members" with over 1000 posts:
---------------
aquart: Unless he fell on his head, it ain't nuttin'. He can break pretty much anything and still go back to work. Look at Corzine.
ThomCat: I hate to wish anyone ill, but I hope his tenure on the supreme court is a short one.
kaygore: If there is a God, then he is not too young to become the right-hand maiden to Satan in the inner reaches of Hell.
antifaschits: [responding to a request for prayers] why? karma, if it exists, will probably kick this SOB in the teeth. Except, unlike 40,000,000 americans, he has access to the best of the best health care plans in the world. If, unexpectedly, he sees his own frail human life, his ability to suffer and die, his future pass before his eyes, like it does to hundreds of thousands each day in this country, if it educates him about the harm he inflicts on others, then, yeah, I can see hoping for him. But more likely than not, he won't. He will not recognize life as most of us see it. He will continue in his neocon way of viewing things, and simply add fat to the fire when he recovers and returns to the bench.
aquart: Was there lightning?
aquart: [responding to the request for prayers] Okay: Dear Lord, May the evil John Roberts does come back to him and only him, from every place it has gone, from everyone it has harmed.
kaygore: Better prayer. Dear God, Please release Satan's hand-maiden, John Roberts, from his worldly cares and allow him to join once again with the Prince of Darkness in the lowest reaches of Hell. We pray this in the name of your son, our lord, Jesus. Amen.
Bornaginhooligan: I prayed. But it didn't come true.
NoodleyAppendage: See. That's what happens when you attempt to goose step down the stairs. Neocon, pro-fascist horseplay is inherently dangerous.
GoddessOfGuinness: After a fall...He must have tripped on his preconceived notions... ...the ones he didn't bring with him to the job.
Onlooker: I think the hatred is tongue in cheek, but .... How can he be decent when he uses his power to infringe on women's rights, civil rights, and worker's rights? He's a person whose decisions can affect the well-being of millions, and he has done far more harm than good. He may be a decent man in his private life, but he's a dangerous man on the SC.
youngdem: Just because he looks like a decent man doesn't mean he is..He is an evil, UNAMERICAN man... Ted Bundy also looked like a decent man. This one is just a serial killer of fundamental rights.
mitchum: Fuck that noise; he's a goddamn lowlife fascist
la la: was a pretzel involved? n/t
Massachusetts: May Roberts and every other Bu$hco appointed treasonous Bastard rot in hell for their interpretive abuse and misuse of OUR (WE THE PEOPLES), Constitution and Rights! NO SYMPATHY HERE! MAYBE EXXON OR ONE OF THE BIG CORPS WHO CARE LESS ABOUT OUR COUNTRY AND PEOPLE WILL SEND HIM SOME LILIES.
eppur_se_muova: Great, just don't bring him back. nt
mitchum: Fuck him; it wouldn't bother me if that was a one way trip
MovableType wouldn't load, and what I did
I hate Perl. Hate, hate, hate. Absolutely hate it. Did I mention how much I hate it? Unfortunately, Moveable Type is written in Perl, although later versions also have some PHP. Also unfortunately, this site uses MT. So, when I was recently unable to login to my site, I ran through a checklist of things that could be the matter and I eventually assumed that it had something to do with Movable Type trying to reach some URL that was down, and I assumed that URL was one of the ones affected by today's outage at (I guess) Mae West in San Jose (UPDATE: it was at a company called 365 Main, link). Despite hating Perl, I searched through the source and found what I thought was the culprit, and it appears that I was right: MT was trying to access this address: http://www.movabletype.org/news/newsbox.html which, at present, doesn't load.
Bottom line: to stop this behavior (at least on 3.14 or whatever I'm using), add the following line to mt.cfg:
NewsboxURL disable
That goes to this chunk of code:
my $newsbox_url = $app->{cfg}->NewsboxURL;
if ($newsbox_url && $newsbox_url ne 'disable') {
...
We're all going to regret giving Youtube so many links
I like Youtube, but I feel a bit perturbed every time I link to or embed one of the videos from that site. I'd prefer not to give them any links at all, and I may at some future date convert the current links to them to bare links or add nofollow tags.
1. I use a Firefox CSS one-liner that shows whether links have nofollow tags on them in the salmon color. When I visit a YT page, it's like looking at a Washington river in spawning season. Here's part of a screengrab and here's another; note that since that time they've added a nofollow tag to links in descriptions (the only link shown without the coloration at the second link), and they also forbid even bare links in comments: you have to write things like example dot com. However, here's the kicker: some pages don't have those tags on outbound links, like this one: youtube.com/t/studio_article_05 Gosh, I wonder why that would be like that. In brief, YT is - like Wikipedia - a massive link funneling machine, with a ton of links coming in and very few going out.
2. YT is now owned by Google and is prominently featured in search results. While they certainly might take those results at the top from a database not related to their normal index, I'd imagine that YT videos getting links - especially with relevant anchor text - doesn't hurt and may enable some videos to get the top position over others. Combined with Wikipedia being put so high in search results, this increases the change of mischief and manipulation. That would usually work best for those of a more activist - and thus leftwing - bent. Note also that Google has pretty much invaded every aspect of our online lives, or at least is trying to. They also are making some moves of a political nature. I don't trust Google in the least, and I suspect that sooner or later even more people are going to share that view.
3. I use Firefox's FlashBlock plugin, which requires me to click a button graphic before I even see the preview of a Flash movie. Otherwise, it's just a big "F" graphical button. I worry about the impacts that including even just one YT video has on those who use other setups; even on Firefox when I play a Flash movie it usually messes up the keyboard commands, requiring me to click the page before I can use control-tab to move to another tab.
4. The upcoming Youtube/CNN debate will perhaps be an even worse disaster - and even worse for democracy - than the previous debates. First, it's hosted by Anderson Cooper, someone who's perhaps even more of a puffball reporter than his co-hort Larry King. Second, questions like the one I submitted, if asked, could both damage political careers and show just how corrupt the MSM is. So, don't expect questions like that to be asked. Instead, Cooper gives a preview of the types of videos that are going to be selected here.
First, all of the videos shown appear to be asking for what the candidates will do in the future; questions like that will simply send the candidates into replay mode. Does anyone think any candidate (except perhaps Ron Paul) is going to not make happy noises signifying nothing when asked how they're going to prevent a future Katrina-style response? So, why ask that question at all? Why not ask a question about something that the candidates have already done? For instance, did any of them support Bush's plan to move illegal aliens in to the affected areas?
Second, there are at least three joke entries, one with Kermit and two of people in masks. These will be shown in order to provide a laugh break, but with a more sinister purpose: to try to portray those on the internet as kooks, in contrast to respectable "journalists" like Cooper.
5. For something else I've been working with ffmpeg (converts mpegs etc. to Flash movies), and I've installed that locally. It wouldn't take much to host videos here, although getting the player issues right might be a bit tricky. For most of my videos that don't get that many views that would work out OK, but my Teddy Kennedy video got 15,000 views over three weeks which, assuming it's 1Meg, works out to 15 gigs of traffic, something which would cost some money: I think around $2 at Amazon's S3, and even more if I went over my limit at my current hosting company. And, of course, a very significant portion of that 15,000 found out about the video through YT; I probably would have only seen a few thousand if the video were only hosted here. On the other hand, a few thousand coming here would be better than several times that amount going to some other site.
Cindy Sheehan: welcome to my world
St. Cyndi Sheehan - America's favorite drama queen - has been ex-communicated (i.e., booted off DailyKos; I have been "warned"; dailykos.com/story/2007/7/12/91014/1295) due to apostasy: she's apparently going to run against Nancy Pelosi... and as an independent! See, DailyKos is a site for Democrats and designed to elect Democrats. Of course, all of this might not matter if we get those staged attacks she warns us of.
Of course, always the trendsetter, I was banned from DailyKos over four years ago, simply for leaving a comment pointing out how Kos was wrong. Welcome to my club, Sindy.
Sister Toldjah edits, deletes comments
Reaching very, very low into the barrel, one of the comments I left on a post [1] by "Sister Toldjah" was edited, and another was deleted. Almost all comments forms have a box where you enter your URL, and I entered this site's URL in that field; she edited the first message to delete that URL (there were no URLs in the comment body itself). Since I used the name "TLB" as I am wont to do, that URL helps people understand who's responsible for the comment. Note also that, like most other clueless bloggers, she has nofollow tags on those links so there's no real benefit to me from such a link. She also inserted her own comments in my comment; since it was clearly delineated, I'm not objecting to that.
The second comment I left under the name "LonewackoDotCom" and it didn't contain any links in the comment body, only that provided by her form. It was deleted entirely.
Both comments in the extended entry.
Previously in this long series of bloggers not being able to face the Lonewacko heat:
Washington Monthly desperate enough to edit comments without noting they were edited
Should you drop your links to Washington Monthly and Calpundit? (the answer is: yes)
[1] sistertoldjah.com/archives/2007/06/08/
the-immigration-debate-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-and-suggestions/
FIRST COMMENT:
I stopped reading shortly after you falsely stated that Tancredo is "against legal immigration as well". He wants a timeout with very limited immigration, which is not the same as being opposed to immigration in toto.
I note also that George Bush pledged to work for immigration "reform" to both the Mexican people and the Mexican government, so if people have been saying bad things about you due to your support for him, perhaps they were right.
SECOND COMMENT:
That's odd: I left the first comment ("TLB"), and I included a link to my site in the "Website" field on the comments form. Now, the link is not there. I guess some people are afraid of providing access to the other side of the argument.
And, of course, we've had long periods in our history with little immigration, and I doubt whether the Founding Fathers ever envisioned that we'd absorb 14% of Mexico's workforce, so the reply doesn't square with the facts.
Amanda Marcotte: "Break something. Set something on fire."
I think I was the first to point out that John Edwards hiring Amanda Marcotte as his Head Blogger showed how clueless he was. As Exhibit #84214592A-39124, I present to you her new post [1] called "If Paris Hilton makes you mad...". It links to a music video by some nobody, and says:Ignore the sexist origins of the word. "Cunts"=assholes.The first comment on the post is today at 1:22am, leading me to suspect that this was posted very early this morning... Perhaps I could write a Wordpress plugin that would prevent such "early morning blogging".
Break something. Set something on fire. Tonight you can find a way to resist. That asshole with a Bush bumper sticker? It can be removed.
Once again I ask: what was John Edwards thinking when someone there surely must have known that she posts things like this. Should he undergo an MRI to make sure his hair hasn't grown into and taken over his brain?
[1] http://pandagon.net/2007/06/09/if-paris-hilton-makes-you-mad/
UPDATE: It was all just a dream! She's added this update at the top of the post:
To all the people linking to this post, if you gave half as much a shit about the lives of our troops as about the fate of a hypothetical bumper sticker in a very silly joke, then this war would already be over. How hard your life must be if the very idea of finding that someone has vandalized a bumper sticker that proclaims your asshole status would make you freak out. Having imagined a bumper sticker removal, perhaps you can imagine rebuying the “I’m An Asshole” bumper sticker.
Ezra Klein, useful idiot
Pictured right is a blogad currently running on the site (ezraklein.typepad.com) of Ezra Klein of TAPPED (The American Prospect). The ad is for cirnow.org, the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
I'm not going to hold someone responsible for the ads on their site... except blogads have to be approved by the blog owner and, more importantly, the ad includes a quote from Klein himself, which links to a piece he wrote at TAPPED. So, one might assume that he doesn't have any problems with the ad's extremely over-the-top emotionalistic support for illegal immigration.
And, one can assume that he doesn't have a problem with CCIR, which, as detailed at the link consists of various far-left groups including:
* One member that has allegedly collaborated with the Mexican government (CHIRLA)
* Another that's headed by someone who serves on a Mexican government advisory council (Juan Salgado of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; see the letter he wrote to Vicente Fox)
* Another that funds extremists (National Council of La Raza)
* Another that's partly funded by the Irish government (Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform)
From that I assume that Klein either supports those groups and their goals, or he's just a useful idiot who isn't capable of doing research.
Previously:
Think Progress, Ezra Klein, AP downplay organizers of illegal immigration marches
Amanda Marcotte can't even get smears straight (Lou Dobbs, SPLC)
John Edwards' former blogging star, Amanda Marcotte, offers [1] "Lou Dobbs really, really hates Mexicans":David Neiwert has a follow-up on the issue of Lou Dobbs trotting out numbers on national TV about Mexican nationals spreading leprosy that he got from a white supremacist group that pulled the numbers out of their asses. It's fucking disturbed that this man has a national microphone to promote racism like this. And his nastiness is getting nastier.Actually, there are two smears involved here, and she's confusing them. The "white supremacist group" is the CCC, and Dobbs did use a graphic of Aztlan they supplied during his show. That was certainly a mistake, and they should have made one of their own or found it from another source. The leprosy issue is another matter entirely, and Dobbs has since issued a retraction.
I left a comment yesterday and it was moderated despite the only links it contained being in bare tinyurl format. Oddly enough - just like the last comment I left at Pandagon - it didn't show up. So, I'll post a belinked version here and send a trackback:
Meanwhile:UPDATE: The trackback didn't work since my IP address is blocked by Pandagon's servers. Gotta keep that message control in control.
1. Dobbs wife is Mexican and she not only supports his reports she thinks he doesn't go far enough.
2. The SPLC is indirectly linked to the Mexican Government.
3. The DN claim that "the whole Aztlan thing is basically something concocted by Glenn Spencer" is pretty funny. I wasn't aware the Spencer started MEChA.
4. Is that Spencer on the right, with the Aztlan map? (Make sure and check that one out).
5. Who ultimately benefits from such smears of Dobbs? (Hint: crooks who employ illegal aliens and the Mexican Government, among others).
[1] pandagon.net/2007/05/22/lou-dobbs-really-really-hates-mexicans/
Popular Mechanics names favorite tool
Here he is:
In previous tool news:
Fred Thompson: illegal alien amnesty supporter?
Instapundit makes a shocking confession
Tancredo may run for president; Chris Cannon begins smears?
Sleazy Glenn Reynolds, John Podhoretz smear Pat Buchanan
Swampland, but without Wonkette (Ana Marie Cox)?
I continue to be amazed that Time Magazine has stooped to the National Inquirer level of employing Ana Marie Cox - formerly with Wonkette - as their Washington Editor and a contributor to their blog Swampland.
Now, there's something you can do about it!
Simply use Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension, together with this handy-dandy script that will remove all posts by Wonkette from Swampland. This is unsupported and barely tested, but it seems to work. Simply copy it into a file named something like 'wonkette.user.js', and drag that file into a Firefox window and choose to install it. Of course, you need to install GM first. Then, when you visit the site her posts will magically disappear.
Don't worry, you won't be missing anything.
// Remove Wonkette posts from Swampland
// Version 0.0.1
//
// Copyright (c) 2007 LonewackoDotCom
// Released under the GPL License
//
// Removes posts from Time's Swampland blog that are
// written by Wonkette (Ana Marie Cox)
//
// ==UserScript==
// @name Wonkette Bye Bye
// @namespace http://24ahead.com/
// @description Remove Wonketteishness from Swampland
// @include http://time-blog.com/swampland/*
// @include http://*.time-blog.com/swampland/*
// ==/UserScript==
var spans = document.getElementsByTagName( "span" );
for ( i = 0; i < spans.length; i++ ) {
span = spans[ i ];
if ( span.className == "postedby" &&
span.innerHTML.match( "Ana Marie Cox" ) ) {
span.parentNode.parentNode.style.display = "none";
}
}
Comments too hot for ShopFloor.org (National Association of Manufacturers)
Yesterday, Carter Wood of the ShopFloor.org blog (run by the National Association of Manufacturers) posted a content-free anti-Lou Dobbs post entitled "Running for President on the Fist-Pounding Ticket". I left a couple comments which were moderated and which have not been approved, and I doubt whether they will be. First, the post:Lou Dobbs for president, eh? Well, there's always room for an angry populist to stoke the fires of protectionism and the class struggle... True, most of the celebrities like Dobbs who talk about running for office are more interested in gratifying huge egos and boosting sales of whatever they're selling at the moment... At least a Dobbs' candidacy would invite some scrutiny, accountability, for the contradictions and economic illiteracy [links to this post] he spouts. And surely it would pose at least a minor political conundrum to Democrats who share his views, folks like Senators Byron Dorgan or Sherrod Brown, for example: Support the cause or the party?My comments weren't the best, but it is interesting that they don't want to approve them:
The Drezner link is certainly interesting, since no examples of "contradictions and economic illiteracy" are presented, only a locution nit. Other than a bad link and a smear attempt (the implication he's trying to sell books) do you have any sort of counter-argument to his positions?And:
More on tonight's 60Minutes smear at the link; I found the medical journal article LesleyStahl's crack producers couldn't find.
My earlier comment didn't go through, but let's try again.
You imply that Dobbs has a financial interest in running: self-promotion.
What financial interest does NAM or its members have in opposing Dobbs? How many of your members have a, er, "immigrant" work force?
Could Matt Yglesias be any more of a dude?
As in "dude ranch":
Caption:
Brooks Brothers suit jacket turns out not to go so well with hiking.
Leaving the Great Liberal Northeast for seemingly the first time, pundit Matt Yglesias recently traveled to Taos, New Mexico. I spent a fair amount of time typing out an unheeded comment suggesting that he travel further south and visit Las Cruces, El Paso, and Carlsbad and also that he take a hike at the White Sands National Monument. It's a good thing he didn't take my advice: he probably would have done it in a tuxedo.
In a show of solidarity with, you know, everyone else, he says "Middle America goes on vacation". And, he titles a picture of someone with a baby carrier "Ambitious" ("This woman was actually carrying her daughter on her back throughout a mile-long trail.") First, a mile is nothing, especially since it appears to have been a ranger-led nature trail for tourists and thus probably wasn't in the least bit difficult. On a serious note, one wonders how someone who's such a dude could comment on matters affecting the Southwest such as massive immigration.
The Blogger's Code of Conduct revisited
The proposed "Blogger's Code of Conduct" [1] was once a simple affair, consisting of a few fairly broad provisions. Now, it's mushroomed into a multi-page, a al carte affair where you can "[c]reate your own code by selecting the modules you want". There are 10 modules, as well as a list of variants, discussions of the various variants and modules, and so on. Pretty soon Jimbo Wales might have to ask for more money to hire a Blogger's Code of Conduct administrator.I note also they have a "Criticisms" page [2], containing a highly questionable contribution called "Excessive quarreling in order to cause strife":
Many blogging discussions become heated because of excessive quarreling. Obviously, some people enjoy this, and enjoy "winding up" others. Many of the other issues could be rectified if blog commenters would stop this unwholesome activity.I have absolutely no idea who added that, and I have a bit of trouble figuring it out. Could they be serious? Could it be deep, extremely funny satire? If the latter, the author - someone who I have no idea they could be - is clearly a comedic genius. No, really: whoever wrote that is a true genius of satire. If only I knew who it was.
Since they will not, it's up to we bloggers to do it. I tried to add this to The Code, but it was stripped out after a few days. I'm afraid I cannot and will not support The Code until it is added back in. I will also be telling my thousands of daily visitors not to support the The Code.
We must have the ability to remove comments that are simply designed to get into an argument. If someone disagrees with something someone says, they can go say it on their own site. They have no right to expect me to print it for them, and I will refuse to do that and I will not only remove their comments I will ban them from commenting ever again.
[1] blogging.wikia.com/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct
[2] blogging.wikia.com/wiki/Criticisms
What exactly is Harper's Magazine thinking?
Good ol' Andrew Sullivan links to the short article "Of Republicans and Banana-Republicans" [1] which is somewhat similar to what I was saying in September 2005's "Are we headed towards a Banana Republic?"
I might link directly to the article instead of using the plain text version below, except I saw this interesting collection of (direct, non-javascript) links at the bottom of the page. There's nothing wrong about that, but one wonders exactly why a magazine published since the 1850s is linking to sites like these:
[1] harpers.org/archive/2007/04/horton-republicans-banana-republicans
My blogging badge
Tim O'Reilly (publishes tech books; link) and Jimbo Wales (runs Wikipedia, "The Encyclopedia Only As Good As Its Last Edit"; blogging.wikia.com/wiki/Blogger%27s_Code_of_Conduct) are feverishly working on a "Blogging Code of Ethics", which may include blogging "badges" similar to those used with CC-licensed content. ("A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs", link)
While at first I said, "badges? I don't need any badges to do this!" I reconsidered:
"Liberals" project, racialize, trivialize Chertoff comment
Please become slightly hyponatremic and slightly anemic and set the hair trigger on your Hypersensitivity Meter to 11 and read the following:
...In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Michael Chertoff, who arrives in Britain tomorrow for talks with John Reid, the Home Secretary, said the US was determined to build extra defences against so-called "clean skin" terrorists from Europe... "The fear has always been the so-called 'clean skin' - that's a person whose documents are completely legitimate, are not forged."
If you're like some "liberals", your Hypersensitivity Meter no doubt pegged, as you immediately assumed that Chertoff was making a racial comment. In fact, let's turn to Steve Benen of the Carpetbagger Report:
But with that in mind, hearing the Secretary of Homeland Security expressing concerns about "clean skin" terrorists from Europe is hardly reassuring. Maybe it's a term of art in security and immigration circles, but they couldn’t come up with a less racially-charged phrase?
And, both Think Progress and the Huffington Post linked to this story, highlighting the "clean skin" comment and, while not explicitly stating it, encouraging their readers to assume the "liberal" worst:
thinkprogress.org/2007/04/04/clean-skin-terrorists
huffingtonpost.com/2007/04/05/chertoff-the-fear-has-a_n_45084.html
A tiny bit of research would have disclosed this entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanskin
"Within the vernacular of counter-terrorism agents and police officers, a cleanskin is an undercover operative whose identity is not known to the forces he or she is tasked to infiltrate. This is usually because such an agent has not conducted any prior undercover activity... The word cleanskin originally comes from Australia, and refers to an unbranded cattle. The earliest references being around the 1860s. The word then evolved to mean a person whom has had no conviction recorded against them, a person who was 'clean'."
Instead of discussing terrorism, Chertoff's and Bush's failings to protect the U.S. from terrorist infiltration over our borders, or other issues, all many "liberals" are capable of is acting like hypersensitive children who are only able to obtain political power through racializing and trivializing issues.
I know I shouldn't do this, but...
I thought long and hard about whether I want to do this or not. "Isn't it mean and low-class to do something like this?" I asked myself. "Yes, it is, but it's also just a light-hearted jab, plus, it's not like you're doing something like this, and furthermore it's not like you're making fun of her Valley Girl way of speaking and plus it's not like you're ever going to meet her or anything and even if you did it I'm pretty sure you'd never get anywhere. Plus, consider it a satire about the whole idea of being a pundit. Yeah, that's it, it's commentary on punditism. So, just put it up for a bit and then delete it. Just do it, OK?" So, I did what I said to myself, and here it is:
Should you drop your links to Washington Monthly and Calpundit?
A week ago I posted about Washington Monthly editing comments without noting they were edited.
But, there's a completely selfish reason why every blogger should re-examine their links to both Washington Monthly and Calpundit.com (Kevin Drum of WM's former site): many of those entries are clogged with spammmm. That's OK if you don't mind linking to pages filled with spammmy keywords and links, but as for me I suspect that search engines might put me in the same neighborhood as the comments to be found at calpundit.com/archives/002525.html (Warning: the comments and links there are NSFW, as is this screengrab.)
I'll be replacing my calpundit links with bare text like that above, and if you link to either site I'd suggest reviewing the linked-to page to see whether you're linking to something you probably don't want to.
Instapundit makes a shocking confession
Instapundit linked to me a few times for my coverage of the "peace" protests, but his last link was to this October 5, 2003 entry. He subsequently ignored my entreaties to meet him while passing through Knoxville. It's been all downhill from there, including me calling him sleazy, pointing out his failure to point out John McCain lying to him in a telephone interview, helping to drive his then-designated point man on immigration coverage - Marc Cooper - over the edge, making my enemies list, and so on.
Now comes this parody. Click for the legible version:
Washington Monthly desperate enough to edit comments without noting they were edited
[Update here]Washington Monthly ("WM"; Kevin Drum/Political Animal, washingtonmonthly.com) used to have an open commenting policy, and I've been posting the occasional and almost always critical comment at that site since Drum moved there and at his previous location (calpundit.com) since 2002 or 2003.
WM recently changed to some form of post-moderation of comments. Unlike almost everyone else who uses moderation, that includes the sleazy and underhanded tactic of editing comments without noting that they've been edited. In particular, adding extra characters to some URLs left in messages rendering them inoperable.
This has happened to me at least three times, once in January [1], again in February [2] and the second time earlier today (washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_03/010948.php), when a space character was inserted into a URL [3] in my comment (search for "TLB"), causing that link to generate a 404 (file not found message) and causing me to have to add a redirect rule into my .htaccess file. The comment is below. [4]
I don't know whether it's Kevin Drum or someone else who edits these comments, but Drum certainly knows about it. After the second incident I wrote him regarding it and he said it "probably" wouldn't happen again. He also mentioned that the person who did it may have been "annoyed"; whether he was refering to himself or someone else wasn't clear. He didn't raise any issues with the contents of any comments I left there. Note also that in December a comment I left there was deleted entirely.
Note also that two other URLs left in the comments on the latest thread were not modified, one to this page and another to this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_Slepian
Clearly, as with those sites that have deleted comments I left or banned me entirely, they realize they don't have an argument and are forced to resort to playing sleazy games.
On the technical side of things, WM now uses the nofollow tag, meaning that all those who help WM create a "community" are doing so for free. Their older entries are clogged with spammm (example: washingtonmonthly.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=8000). Meaning that they penalize legitimate commenters at the same time as they probably turn up in search results for spammmmy terms and generate click-through traffic for those spammmers. Anyone who links to their entries is linking to pages filled with spammm links and keywords.
On the wider issue, I was banned from RedState despite having posted almost 75 diary entries there over a one and a half year period. I've also been banned from ThinkProgress and QandO and I was banned from DailyKos back when he was just a solo blogger. And, I've had one or more comments deleted from MyDD (2), Think Progress, Brad DeLong, the New Haven Independent, Brothers Judd, the Arkansas Family Coalition, Media Matters for America (2, 3), John Kerry's blog, and, last but not least Blogs For Bush (example 1, 2). Obviously I'm doing something right.
~~~~~~~~ FOOTNOTES ~~~~~~~~
[1] In January a comment I left at washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_01/010513.php had the link in the following converted into gibberish:
Arnold is/was taking advice from someone linked to the MexicanGovernment. Details here. I don't expect Kevin Drum to understand this, but perhaps he should evaluate who Arnie is linked to, who he's being advised by, and who his plans will ultimately benefit before jumping on board.[2] In February a comment I left at washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_02/010675.php had a link left in a comment changed from "lonewacko.com" to "lonewdfhsdfhaacko.com".
[3] The link http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/005911.html was changed to have a space character before the period.
[4]
I agree with our host about the 'hearts and minds' aspect, but he seems to have left a few things out of the equation. Many of those on the far-left think the U.S. is a bigger terrorist than, you know, the terrorists. Moderate Democrats don't exactly seem to be doing their part to reign in people like that.
On the wider issue, both the GOP and Dem leaderships are willing to put the U.S. at great risk out of fear of alienating their respective interest groups.
Recall that ChuckieSchumer pulled a web video about BorderControl simply because one or two Hispanic groups sent out press releases. Rather than taking them on, he capitulated. And, here's something most probably don't know either: HezbollahTerrrorists have infiltrated the U.S. over our porous SouthernBorder. That happened on Bush's watch, but you haven't heard any Democrats speak out about it.
Perhaps the GOP leadership should put the U.S. CofC on hold and think about protecting the U.S. And, perhaps the Dems should put the NationalCouncilofTheRace on hold and think about the same duty.
Sites on new host
Yesterday I moved this site and boreamerica.com from their previous host (tronictech.com) to their new host (steadfast.net). They'd been at the first for almost two years, but recent visitors may have noticed long periods during which this site was suspended. Rather than dispensing information to an information-starved world, I was left dispensing a "this site has been suspended" banner.
tronictech.com is "unsupported" hosting, meaning that if you need to ask how to do things you have to pay. That suits me since I can usually figure things out by myself. Unfortunately, during this episode I wasn't given the information I needed to determine what the issue could be, and my emails went unanswered for several hours. The first problem was with a comment script, so I went to haloscan for the comments, even though I'd prefer to use on-page comments. The penultimate outage was apparently due to some mt.cgi access which had occured when neither I nor my only remaining MT-related cron job were doing anything. The final outage was due to a rebuild I was doing. I hate Perl, so I have no idea what could be causing these problems, and I wasn't given any information I could use to try to solve them. While some of the problems were apparently due to me, others weren't, and I wasn't able to determine whether that was malicious or just an MT or Perl issue. I still have several sites in two tronictech accounts which I'll probably be moving to other hosts as well.
Eventually I'll be moving this site to Drupal but, since there are thousands of entries here that's going to be a bit of work. There are also several entries that for one reason or another were dropped from MT's database, and those will need to be reimported.
If there are any problems please leave a comment.
Commenting status
Comments are currently disabled, because leaving them enabled led to my host shutting this site down temporarily on Friday and on Saturday. The commenting script was using a lot of CPU for a reason I haven't looked into yet, but it may be a bug, or a MovableType "feature", or it may have been abuse. Regarding the last, I note that I had two short busloads of "liberals" coming by here recently (this and this), but whether it's related to that I don't know.
CPAC Day 2: Captain Ed's transcription service
The blog fight is on! Yesterday, "Captain Ed" posted an interview with Mike Huckabee. In a vain attempt to get someone - anyone - attending CPAC to ask anything remotely approaching a difficult question, I responded ("NoMoreBlatherDotCom"), the "Captain" responded, and now I have the feeling I'm about to be banned from yet another site.I posted the following comment:
I just scanned it, but I didn't hear any in there about "Huck"'s immigration stance, despite it being so much of an Achilles heel that a five-year-old who knows just a little about the issue could end his candidacy with just a few tough questions.Addressing me, the "Captain" says:
I asked 14 questions of Huckabee on various policy points after prepping for about an hour during the day, in the middle of writing 7 posts. I note from your web site that you have two posts ... in 2007. Pardon me if I don't take advice from you on conducting interviews, and invite you and your rather snotty attitude to go somewhere else if you don't like it here.Trying to be just as diplomatic as I can possibly be, I posted the following in return. This comment has been moderated, most likely because of the large number of links:
My first post on Huckabee was back in 2004 on my other site, and I've mentioned him in about 25 other posts (search function on each page). I've also asked those to whom I was given access some difficult questions (1, 2), tried with others, and tried to encourage others.For an example of that transcription, see his Giuliani post.
Think of my comment as less trying to pick on you specifically and more a plea that the blogosphere rises above the MSM M.O. of acting as a transcription service.
P.S. You do know the link I included to your own site has a nofollow tag, right?
For another example of me attempting to shame those in the blogosphere who are given access to politicians to do some actual reporting, see the NoMoreBlatherDotCom here.
Note also that just recently I've requested interviews with and received no reply from the Los Angeles Archdiocese and Rudy Giuliani (via Patrick Ruffini). I also sent a question to Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin without a reply. However, Giovanni Peri of UC Davis was kind enough to reply to a question I had.
Those who are intellectually honest might want to wonder why there's almost no intersection between the set of those who will ask tough questions and the set of those who are given access to political leaders.
3/8/07 UPDATE: Oddly enough, the Captain never did approve my final comment, for one reason or another.
Posted at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Bloggers visit CPAC; tough questions, real journalism to follow soon
Several of our favorites have been selected as "credentialed bloggers" for this year's CPAC ("Conservative Political Action Conference"). I fully expect earth-shattering news to come from "Bloggers' Row", as these internet journalists use their new-found access to ask the tough questions that the MSM won't. Digging ever deeper for the truth, these citizen journos will ask embarrassingly tough policy questions that the MSM is afraid to ask.
Why, yes, I am being sarcastic. I have absolutely no doubt that this will be yet another in the long line of supposed watchdogs simply doing the same thing the MSM does, only worse: acting as a transcription service. It will be worse because they aren't as jaded as the jades in the MSM, and some of them might even go as far as asking for autographs and then crowing about it on their sites. Now, of course, that doesn't apply to every single one of them, but let's wait and see.
A list of the attendees (from preview.tinyurl.com/ynovyo) is in the extended entry.
And, if you tried to get credential for CPAC but were denied, please leave comment.
Related:
CPAC, immigration, and not yet clued-in bloggers: Part 2
CNN BlogParty, Blog Party, BlogStock
Fanboys and fangirls at the [other] convention
Redeeming blogdom
Fanboys and fangirls at the convention
UPDATE: A brief scan of the blogs listed below shows not an awful lot of Les Kinsolving going on. But, I believe we've located today's winner of the Ryan H. Sager Award in one Sean Hackbarth of "The American Mind". He says:
Phyllis Schlafly, a woman I only think about when I'm at CPAC, spent half her talk railing about immigrants and the english language... Then Schlafly went into kook-land expressing her fears of a "plan to integrate with Mexico and Canada."
Given all of the evidence - and statements from Mexican and Canadian government authorities - supporting her view, I think it's clear who's the "kook".
* Ace of Spades HQ
* Alarming News
* American Mind
* American Spectator
* Ankle Biting Pundits
* Captain's Quarters
* Hot Air
* Human Events
* Fausta's Blog
* Little Miss Attila
* Michelle Malkin
* Musclehead Revolution
* National Journal
* NewsBusters
* NOVA TownHall
* Outside the Beltway
* Politico
* Reasoned Audacity
* Red State
* RobertBluey.com
* SaveTheGop
* SeeJaneMom
* ShopFloor.org
* Spot On
* The Conservative Voice
Posted at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
Amanda Marcotte now passing 16 minute mark
The communications director for Lieberman's 2006 general election campaign, Dan Gerstein, offers "Liberal Bloggers Demonstrate Their Political Immaturity, Democrat Says":
...Throughout the course of the controversy, the left's bigger digital diatribers never stopped to address the substance of what the Edwards bloggers actually wrote before joining the campaign... Instead, right until the bitter end, most liberal bloggers responded in their familiar mode - by lashing out at their critics and trying to marginalize them... ...Indeed, even after the two Edwards staffers essentially surrendered, the few bloggers who wrote postscripts kept up the front of the petulant, blame-deflecting 15-year-old who got caught spreading rumors about the homecoming queen...
This is followed by comments:
...Why in the @#$% would you allow Joe's "Republican" mouthpiece to speak to what Liberal bloggers think, do and accomplish?...he is a right wing plant in the Republican-lite's attempt to take us further to war? ...even I can see your motivations flashing in the background like neon wallpaper... ...This is coming from the guy who was LIEberman's communication director in 06. and one of the oustanding issues from lieberman's 'screw the democratic process senate run' was his use of misinformation... ...Yes, it's the liberal bloggers that are immature, not the right wing blogs that have spewed hatred and lies toward us the past 12 years, against which we are finally standing up to... ...What I despise are paid lackeys like you, who never met a smear or innuendo you wouldn't wield in a heartbeat, arrogantly lecturing the unwashed masses on proper manners...
Meanwhile, as the clock excrutiatingly passes the 16 minute mark, the daemon herself pens "Why I had to quit the John Edwards campaign". I've taken the liberty of interspersing her real thoughts:
...So it surprised me [like hot **#@#@ *#@##**# @*!@*@] that my [hot sticky white] streak of luck would result in the [*##*!#! *#*@!&$$*#@!] John Edwards campaign calling and recruiting me [the $&#@#$@#* #*$@#$@#$* #$#($@#($@s!] for the position of campaign blogmaster. Of course, when I was informed [by that $(#@#($@# #(@#(@#($@# $$($((@#@] that the general gist of the job played to my strengths of writing about progressive politics and building a [hot sticky] blog audience...
Posted at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
Barack Obama, Al Gore, Bill Richardson begin Amanda Marcotte bidding war
As soon as a door closes, a window opens or something, and recently-resigned John Edwards blogger Amanda Marcotte is learning that Edwards' loss might be B. Hussein Obama's gain. Or... Al Gore's or Bill Richardson's gain!
Shortly after issuing her resignation, the plain-speaking blogger who's unafraid to use vulgar words learned that those three campaigns were considering hiring her to write their own blogs!
Now, a bidding war has erupted, with the three presidential contenders promising her a huge salary together with an impressive array of perks to join their campaigns and chart their course through the blogosphere. Many members of that virtual world have chimed in with their own favorite, some at DailyKos prefering that she works for Gore, with the more liberal MyDD prefering that she goes to Gore.
Developing...
[Lonewacko notes: As soon as I heard about her being hired, I posted how this indicated flaws in John Edwards' judgment. All those who then pointed to her various statements validated that opinion, yet this site received very little attention. Nothing new there. Then, the huge storm started. Then, I started this, but didn't put a lot of work into promoting it. Now, I've posted this entry. I don't really like discussing this because the more this site sees of blogs, the less this site wants to be a blog. This site wants to be a real site, not one of... them.]
Posted at 10:30 PM | Comments (4)
How not to criticize Wikipedia
Dave Pierre offers "'Lib-pedia'? Anti-Conservative Bias Rampant At Wikipedia" (newsbusters.org/node/10615). He's definitely right about that, but I don't think he fully groks that the only way to correct that bias is for conservatives to be more tenacious than those on the other side who currently spend a lot of time making sure WP's articles match their ideology.
Lacking that, the only thing to do is to point out to anyone who relies on WP or who advocates relying on WP that it's completely unreliable.
Oh, and one other thing: stop linking to Wikipedia. Pierre repeatedly violates that, shooting himself in the foot by linking the names of several personalities to their WP entries, thereby slightly increasing the possibility that those WP entries will appear higher in searches for those personalities' names.
On a related note, someone else has come along and modified my test paragraph in a clunky way. It's now:
At UCLA, Villaraigosa was a leader of the group MEChA [5] [6] [7]. Some, such as John and Ken of KFI, refer to him as Mayor Reconquista or "Mayor Viva La Raza",because of that and because of his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants.[citation needed] Others also refer to him as "Mayor Photo-raigosa" because of his numerous public appearances in hopes of another photo-op.
Part-of-the-problem administrator "Will Beback" added the "[citation needed]" bits. I think I'll wait to see what happens; I suspect this is a prelude to the whole paragraph being deleted.
And, I note that WP's use of nofollow is not complete: at their page for Media Matters for America (a horrendous example of bias), in the 'External links' section you'll find a regular link to sourcewatch.org's page on MMFA. I guess some links are more equal than others.
UPDATE: The link to sourcewatch is handled using the template 'disinfo'. That site is very "liberal", and doesn't have anywhere as much traffic or editors as WP. I signed up and tried to add some facts to their illegal immigration page in October of last year, and all of them were immediately reverted by Bob Burton, the site's editor (preview.tinyurl.com/3awaz7).
Posted at 10:27 AM | Comments (2)
John Edwards judgment highly questionable (Amanda Marcotte)
From our "it's the small things, ain't it" department comes the news that the John Edwards campaign has brought on Amanda Marcotte as their "Blogmaster". Marcotte is a contributor to the site pandagon.net, and has all the grasp of current events, rationality, and decorum of a schizophrenic, homeless, "History of Womyn's Studies" major. (No offense meant to those who are schizophrenic or homeless.)
There are at least a few leftwing bloggers who are capable of digging into a subject, and at least a few who are mostly rational. The fact that the Edwards campaign would choose Marcotte is an early indicator that they have absolutely no clue.
You can read a sample post here (my reply is under the name "IllegalImmigrationIntroduction") and more past instances of her brilliant thinking here: pandagon.net/author/administrator
UPDATE: "Shakes" from "Shakespeare's Sister" has joined the Edwards campaign as their "Netroots Coordinator". In contrast to Marcotte, she's just a deluded "liberal".
2/2/07 UPDATE: That didn't take long. As detailed in this barely-coherent post, Marcotte has been caught trying to scrub just one of the embarassing posts from pandagon.
2/4/07 UPDATE: Someone spent five minutes or so compiling just some of her more embarassing idiotic statements here.
Posted at 09:17 PM | Comments (2)
Bloggers: stop linking to Wikipedia
Based on a "directive" from Jimmy Wales [1], the English version of Wikipedia has started using the "nofollow" tag on all external links (the foreign language versions had been doing that for a while). That tag tells search engines to not pass any "search engine juice" (e.g., PageRank) from the WP page to the linked page. While sites that have links in WP will continue to receive visitors from those links, they will (supposedly) not receive search engine-related benefits (they might, however, be spidered by some engines). Certainly, some search engines may special-case WP (including having assumed that external links weren't trustworthy already), and some mirror sites (like answers.com) may or may not follow WP's lead. However, it's the thought that counts, and this is an example of WP giving a big FU to those who contribute to their site.
The rip-off nature of this change is described here:
What happens as a consequence, in my opinion, is that Wikipedia gets valuable backlinks from all over the web, in huge quantity, and of huge importance – normal links, not "nofollow" links; this is what makes Wikipedia rank so well – but as of now, they're not giving any of this back... Wikipedia has become a website that takes from the communities but doesn't give back, skewing web etiquette as well as tools that work on this etiquette (like search engines, which analyze the web's link structure).
That page also describes what I suggest that everyone does in response:
I predict some people will now, in return, stop linking to Wikipedia, or "nofollow" their links to Wikipedia (following the argument that if they don't trust their own system, we shouldn't either, and also following social etiquette – returning a disfavor, so to speak).
This site has been doing that for quite a while, and will do things like link to answers.com if we need WP's content for some odd reason.
Note also that WP's guidelines strongly discourage using blogs as a source [2]. So, if you're a blogger who has a real news story you might have trouble getting your link to stick, and even if you do it will be nofollowed. And, as described here, that might result in WP ranking higher for something than the site with the original news.
This move may lead a small number of people to commit acts of vandalism against WP as a form of revenge, such as by attempting to stuff pages with spammy words. It might also lead to some people spamming not for (the apparently non-existent) "link juice" but for simple traffic. For instance, so far this month their Playstation 3 page supposedly got 40,000 views per day; a well-placed link there could result in hundreds or thousands of click-throughs.
And, it would be interesting to find out which links in Wikipedia don't have that tag; for instance, their links to the wikimediafoundation .org from their main page don't have nofollow.
On a technical note, this tag only seems to be added after a page is edited, perhaps due to caching. I originally thought I found a case of a link without the tag [3], but upon saving the section (without any changes), it had obtained that tag.
[1] Wrap these lines and remove the space before ".org":
en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam
#External_links_in_articles_are_now_.22nofollow.22_per_Jimbo_Wales
[2] Remove the space before ".org": en.wikipedia .org/wiki/WP:V#SELF
[3] The link to cdc.gov here (remove the space before ".org"):
en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Hazards_of_outdoor_activities#External_links
(Note: Placing links in that format is not necessarily suggested, that's just the method used in this instance.)
Posted at 10:08 AM | Comments (2)
Memeorandum's immigration coverage
memeorandum.com is a tiny bit like the Drudgereport for blogs: it links to the supposed top stories of the day and the bloggers that are discussing those stories. And, it's posted several entries about immigration matters but, AFAIK, has only ever posted one link to this site. While most of those it links to have interesting contributions, not as many of them follow this issue as closely as this site and some of them are basically "drive-by" commentators. I've sent a couple emails suggesting that when posting about immigration-related matters they check this site for our coverage, but obviously that hasn't worked.
Now, certainly, there's no requirement to link to this site. And, this site chafes at the "blog" designation, prefering to think of itself as something a bit different, seeing as how we usually do things like check facts and even call people or go places. Since their site links to all manner of sites saying all manner of strange things, I don't think it's political bias so much as bias directed specifically against this site for some reason. Despite that, let's hope that Memeorandum does better.
UPDATE: My Memeorandum campaign has succeeded, resulting in a few links from relevant stories.
Posted at 08:44 PM | Comments (5)
Fluke: first normal post at Huffington Post spotted
I'm a big fan of the Huffington Post for many reasons: unlike other sites it has a look that's immediately recognizable and one always knows where one is, they occasionally have Harry Reid on there and two of my very scathing comments have ended up on the first page of comments on two of his posts, most of my other comments have been approved despite being just slightly less scathing, plus, The Fourth Gabor Sister aka Arianna is... interesting.
That said, this post from nobody Gerald Bracey - apparently a public schools wonk - is not like the other posts I've read there. While he might be a liberal, and he might even be cooking his figures, it's unique in that it: a) doesn't call Dick Cheney "Darth Vader" or similar, b) doesn't feature obviously lunatic ideas, and c) doesn't feature blackface. In fact, it seems almost normal.
Posted at 08:26 PM | Comments (1)
John McCain's nanny state, anti-blogging legislation
ThinkProgress - adjust your credibility indicators accordingly - sounds the alarm about new legislation from Senator John McCain (R-Lechuga). Based on this CNET article, they provide these handy bullet points:- Commercial websites and personal blogs "would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000."Most forums allow profiles, as does Yahoo. Such capability is also built into CMS's such as Drupal.
– Internet service providers (ISPs) are already required to issue such reports, but under McCain's legislation, bloggers with comment sections may face "even stiffer penalties" than ISPs.
— Social networking sites will be forced to take "effective measures" - such as deleting user profiles - to remove any website that is "associated" with a sex offender. Sites may include not only Facebook and MySpace, but also Amazon.com, which permits author profiles and personal lists, and blogs like DailyKos, which allows users to sign up for personal diaries.
Posted at 05:09 AM | Comments (2)
Vote in the 2006 Weblog Awards (plus: my enemies list)
The 2006 Weblog awards start today. I nominated this site in a few categories, but the only one it was selected for was "Best of the 6751-8750". I ask everyone to vote for this site, and note that you can vote once every 24 hour period.
If you aren't familiar with this site, you should vote for it because of entries like this, this, or this. Compare the facts presented in those posts with the facts available from the MSM as well as the great majority of blogs. Note that those are only three post from the past few weeks, and there are many more where those came from. Sometimes I even use footnotes (also here or here).
There are many other fine sites in the competition which may be discussed here later. Today however, I'm simply going to suggest ones that no one should vote for:
GOP Hacks:
Red State (also banned me after ~75 diary entries)
InstaPundit
The Anchoress (Ken Mehlman in a habit?)
Captain's Quarters
Hugh Hewitt
Friends of Insty:
Lileks
Althouse
Tim Blair (also friend of Matt Welch)
Really sleazy "liberal" a**holes:
Eschaton
Orcinus
Loony libertarians:
QandO (also banned me)
Asymmetrical Information (also frequent Insty link target)
Club for Growth
Dumb "liberals":
Pandagon
Think Progress (also banned me)
Jesus' General
Bitch Ph.D.
any Nick Denton site (because of Wonkette's, Sploid's, and Gawker's immigration-related posts)
Freaks:
TMZ (edited a comment I left to remove the link under my name)
Boing Boing (contributor is Xeni Jardin)
Posted at 07:23 PM | Comments (4)
Sleazy Glenn Reynolds, John Podhoretz smear Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan offers "Is Putin Being Set Up?" about the recent apparent murder-by-plutonium of the former KGB spy, Alexander Litvinenko. He offers an explanation other than the most obvious: that the case was an attempt to discredit Putin, rather than attempts by Putin to silence his critics. Considering the trail of dead bodies, I tend to favor the most popular explanation, but anyway Buchanan names billionaire Boris Berezovsky and Litvinenko associate Alex Goldfarb as possible suspects.
Somehow - something perhaps related to the phase of the moon - John Podhoretz of National Review ("JPod") is smearing Buchanan as an anti-Semite because of his article, despite said article not having any conceivable evidence to support the charge:
...Putin, the former KGB strongman who appears to be re-totalitarianizing Russia, is being set up, you see. By Jews.
Minor league thinker (but fast typer) Glenn Reynolds ("Instapundit") joins in with the smear, offering just this link to JPod and someone else:
PUTIN: Set up by the Jews? Claudia Rosett has a different view.
Is there any reason why anyone takes Reynolds or Podhoretz seriously?
UPDATE: The claims made in "Polonium detected at Berezovsky's office" can be taken in many ways: they did it and were sloppy, it was planted by whoever did it, etc. Note also that it can be ordered over the internet, and one of those selling it is Bob Lazar of UFO/Area 51/Art Bell semi-fame.
Posted at 08:09 PM | Comments (2)
Judd Legum/Think Progress: propaganda is OK if for a good cause
Judd Legum of Think Progress (run by the Clinton-linked joke known as the Center for American Progress) discusses a recent segment of the Neil Cavuto show here. Cavuto claims that the movie "Happy Feet" is "far-left" propaganda:
Cavuto saw the movie with his sons and found it "offensive." Cavuto objected to the fact that penguins in the movie have trouble finding food because of overfishing and oil drilling. Cavuto called the film "an animated 'Inconvenient Truth.' I half expected to see an animated version of Al Gore pop-up."
The only response Legum provides is to support their propaganda:
Cavuto is objecting to introducing children to a real problem. A recent study in Science found "There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue."
Needless to say, the study in Science is not a fact, it's a theory. No doubt the study had caveats and has detractors, yet, oddly enough, those didn't make the cut.
Posted at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)
Citizen Journalist Assignment Desk: compare Arnold coverage
Here's something citizen journalists, media critics, or bloggers could look into:
How did the media's coverage of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 reelection campaign differ from the coverage he received in his two previous campaigns (the recall and the campaign for his propositions)?
Posted at 07:05 AM | Comments (0)
Infiltrator watch: DailyKos meets demographic hegemony
"Duke1676" blogs about immigration matters at his own site and other places including DailyKos. He's on the other side, and he recently offered a standard smear piece on Tom Tancredo. However, while his "suggestions on the upcoming immigration debate" does include his own misguided views, it does have some advice that others at DK and on other sites should consider following. Namely, doing research, not entirely trusting sources with their own axe to grind, etc.But, that's not why we're here.
One of the comments on that entry is from a user called "cador", who's only written one diary entry and six comments, the first on 11/03/06 (click his name to find those). His views seem a little... extreme. While some of the Kossacks disagree with him, none of them call him on his extremist views. Perhaps that's because of his use of words like "AmeriKKKa", a true marker of a Kossack Kid. I suspect that he's really far out there, or he's playing some kind of serious or not-so-serious game. And, his comments appear to have originally been written in Cambodian, Chinese, Russian, or German. Assuming the latter, I've taken the liberty of (automatically) translating them back:
Das RepubliKKKlans und das fromme REICH haben weg für weit zu langes mit Bigotry und Homophobie erhalten, ist es Zeit für Progressisten, irgendeinen ernsten tretenden Kolben zu bilden und diese fundies zu den reeducation Lagern zu schicken, damit sie die amerikanische Weise beachten und respektieren können.(He wants to send religious fundamentalists to "reeducation camps" so they can learn the American way).
From the first thread, here's a re-translation of parts of his comments:
Und indem wir zugelassene Immigration erhöhten, könnten wir eine dauerhafte demokratische Majorität verordnen und das Rethuglicans wird auf einem Hinterteil Caucus im Rassisten verringert, landwirtschaftlich, Gewehr-toting Enklaven im tiefen Süden...(As soon as America is less than 50% white, the "racist RepubliKKKans" won't stand a chance in hell of getting elected.)
Die Sierra Club hat kein Problem mit Immigration und ich nicht auch nicht.
Es gibt zu viele Arbeiten, die Amerikaner nicht erledigen möchten. George Bush, Rethuglican bastard, daß er ist, wird schließlich führt einen vernünftigen Gastarbeiter Programmdank des eben gewählten demokratischen Kongresses (neugierig, den es seine eigene xenophobic Partei im Haus war, das ihn auf diesem jedem Schritt der Weise blockierte).
Sobald Amerika kleiner als das 50% Weiß ist, hat der Rassist RepubliKKKlans keine Wahrscheinlichkeit in der Hölle von überhaupt wieder gewählt überhaupt erhalten.
My apologies to Germans and German speakers everywhere. UPDATE below. UPDATE: Unfortunately, "cador" has been designated a troll by the Kos Kommunity because of this latest diary, which includes this:
Let us heed the words of Art Torres, Democratic State Senator from California:The quote in that excerpt is true, and Art Torres is now the Chairman of the CA Democratic Party. Apparently unaware that such comments came from one of their own, one says, "Reminds me of rhetoric out of the Black Panthers. Bigotry is bigotry. One would think people would know that by now" and another saying, "this diary is divisive hyperbolic racist joke...." And, someone else points out this previous comment from "cador":
"Power is not given to you. You have to take it. Remember, 187 is the last gasp of white America in California. Understand that."
Live it, breathe it, Kossacks. As more and more people of Color come to America we are making it more impossible for the RethugliKKKlans to ever becoming elected again, except perhaps as a rump caucus representing racist, rural gun-toting districts.
Only paranoid Rethuglican idiots believe in firearms ownership. As far as I'm concerned (and most progressives would agree), all guns should be banned. If we get a Supreme Court majority to agree that the 2nd amendment is unconstitutional and uncivilized, then America's standing in the world, especially in Europe would improve tenfold.To all the other "cadors" out there, I'd suggest having a bit longer history, then start slipping in the questionable suggestions. And, to all of those who are currently following that more effective strategy, keep up the good work.
Posted at 08:37 AM | Comments (3)
CNN BlogParty, Blog Party, BlogStock
The latest example of the mainstream reaching out to bloggers is CNN's "BlogStock", aka a "blog party" (1). They've invited a couple dozen mainstream bloggers to blog live from an internet cafe in Washington DC. Apparently this is supposed to be cutting edge, but most of those involved are partisan hacks. And, some of them qualify more as party operatives, with three of the "bloggers" working for magazines and one of those being the publisher editor-in-chief of the mag.
This is certainly a fun night out for the bloggers, and many people will celebrate this as a breakthrough for the medium. But, it's hardly leading edge, and all I expect out of at least those in the first two categories below is the same level of partisanship I've come to expect from their blogs.
Here's my breakdown of the participants.
The "Instapundit/GOP hack contigent":
* Instapundit
* Ann Althouse
* Ed Morrissey ("Captain Ed")
* Mike Krempasky
* James Joyner (OutsideTheBeltway.com)
* Scott Johnson (Powerline)
* Mary Katherine Ham (Townhall)
* Lorie Byrd (Wizbang)
The "Left wing of the Democratic Party contingent":
* John Aravosis (AmericaBlog.com)
* John Amato (Crooks and Liars)
* Duncan Black (employed by the Soros-funded MediaMatters for America)
* Christy Hardin Smith (FireDogLake)
* Bob Cesca (HuffPost contributor)
* Jerome Armstrong (MyDD.com; paid campaign consultant)
* Jeralyn Merritt (not as much a hack as naive)
* Judd Legum (ThinkProgress, run by the Clinton-affiliated Center for American Progress)
Magazine workers:
* Robert Bluey (Human Events)
* Nick Gillespie (lunatic libertarian publisher editor-in-chief of Reason Magazine)
* Jim Geraghty (NRO)
Not categorized:
Steve Clemons
Alex Pareene
Patrick Hynes
La Shawn Barber
Betsy Newmark
Patrick Gavin
Stephen Warley
Marc Lamont Hill
Pam Spaulding
Also, please don't miss my voting guide.
Posted at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
YouTube trackbacks issue: political or technical?
Each YouTube video page has a "Links to this video" section and, even when there are assuredly a large number of such links that have generated massive amounts of traffic to that video, there may be no links at all or the links that are shown seem a bit funky. A case in point is the George Bush Mexican flag waving video linked to from here. I'd imagine that that video has received a dozen or so hits from my post, and most of the rest of the 383 views are from the link at the Human Events page. Yet, at post time, no links are showing.
Alternatively, consider the David Zucker/Madeline Albright ad which has over 700,000 views. The five links shown at post time are 162 clicks from this, and 7, 1, 1, and 1 clicks from various Myspace sites. Yet, one would think that tens or hundreds of thousands of those views were generated by the Drudge link.
And, someone else else has noticed this and says that as of two days ago that Zucker video had no trackbacks showing. Search for "hits back from youtube" at this page.
One will note that in the link to the Bush video I put the URL of the post in urlencoded format like so (line broken up intentionally):
youtube.com/watch?v=PdLqcOt470s
&eurl=http%3a%2f%2flonewacko.com%2fblog [etc.]
I've seen their videos linked plain (youtube.com/watch?v=PdLqcOt470s) and with an empty eurl (youtube.com/watch?v=PdLqcOt470s&eurl=), and I thought that putting the url in the eurl would do the trick.
Whether this is a technical issue or some sort of political filtering is not known.
Posted at 12:04 PM | Comments (3)
Not-so-FreeRepublic.com, Part 2
These Free Republic threads have at least two things in common:
freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1709042/posts
freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1709051/posts
freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1709076/posts
freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1709036/posts
The first commonality is that they're all in FR's "f-chat" section, which, as it sounds, is for "chatty" things rather than the supposedly hard news section at "f-news". And, all of them appear to have been moved into the "chat" side of things by one or more moderators. (The first thread was posted by yours truly, and I posted it to the "f-news" side of things.)
The second commonality is that they're all about the recent FOIA request that released 1000 pages of documents on the North American Union.
Not only that, someone who appears to be a moderator (1rudeboy) has posted several comments on those threads disputing the claims, claiming that the SPP's actions are all covered by previous laws, claiming it's all an attempt by Jerome Corsi to sell books, etc. etc. And, oddly enough, others join in with similar interesting statements.
The simple explanation is that these are just kneejerk BushBots who defend everything the current administration does. More complex explanations could be that, as some have speculated, JimRob (FR founder) is receiving money from the RNC, or that - hold on to your tinfoil hats - operatives who are involved in the administration or with politicians have accounts at the site. They could be dismissing these claims either directly for the benefit of the NAU attempt, or simply out of partisanship.
On a related note, this detailed post about the SPLC, MALDEF, and ACLU having indirect links to the Mexican government - despite uncovering information the MSM articles featured on the "f-news" side cover up - was moved to the "cheap seats", aka "Bloggers and Personal": freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1707968/posts
That's not the first time that's happened to one of my "more news than the news reports" posts.
See also this post about a FreeRepublic purge. Yes, they aren't just for Commies.
And, what's happened at FR is vaguely reminiscent of what's happened at RedState.
UPDATE: I added yet another related thread to the end of the list.
Posted at 05:22 AM | Comments (1)
David Horton cracks; on to Arianna!
My fellow trolls:
David Horton - one of Arianna's nobody contributors at the HuffPost - has finally cracked under our pressure:
...So the Right have gone back to the tactic of employing Thought Police. Not on the streets now, don't need them there, but on the progressive blogs. We call them trolls on HuffPo, but they are as much like thought police as the Stasi of the former East Germany, and as much like Religious Police as the ones the Taliban employed. Their presence has long puzzled posters and bloggers alike. What on earth are they doing here? Why not stick to the right wing blogs where they would be welcomed with open arms? But this is to misunderstand their nature. Watch them on topics like global warming, religion, conservation, the rights of gays, minimum wages, gender equity, Hollywood, guns, socialism, abortion, the United Nations. Recognise the tone and the fury. Recognise the purity of belief, Recognise the absolute refusal to allow any deviation from their beliefs to be discussed. Feel the white hot rage that they express as their rigid beliefs are challenged. They are not here to learn, and they may not even be here to be paid. They don't have black uniforms and long sticks, but they do have the mad staring eyes of the fanatic, and they do have keyboards...
Needless to say, he continues.
OPCEN AUTH 17 BEGIN
372: X-RFX-83
863: AA-X787 OP-ARIANNA
34: 99X-U93
END
Posted at 08:38 PM | Comments (2)
Arkansas Family Coalition deleted comment (pro-Asa Hutchinson site)
Arkansas Family Coalition is a blog that supports the candidacy of Asa Hutchinson for governor of Arkansas. They deleted a comment I left there on the 9/19/06 thread "Beebe and illegal immigration" that was critical of that former DHS undersecretary:Oddly enough, these links I tried placing in Asa's Wikipedia entry about his immigration record at the DHS kept getting deleted. Hopefully that won't happen here:Note: the site is also available at arkfam.com
washingtontimes.com/national/20040909-115715-9178r.htm
nctimes.com/articles/2004/08/14/news/top_stories/20_41_308_13_04.txt
wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39418
Also see these: google.com/search?q=site%3Ajohnandkenshow.com+hutchinson
I don't know about Beebe, but whenever I hear Asa all I can think about is those Temecula sweeps.
Posted at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)
Four years of the Lonewacko Blog?
Today, this site notes its fourth anniversary: four years of providing some information and analysis not available elsewhere. A true blogging innovator, Lonewacko is, unlike 98% or so of other political bloggers, not a partisan hack. Nor does he - or the entire Lonewacko team - curry the favor of the MSM or politicians. You will not find us engaging in conference calls with politicos and if we attended a convention we wouldn't do it from "blogger's row".
Last night was our big celebration to mark this milestone and I'm sorry you weren't invited. However, rest assured that there was plenty of food:
folks:
and fun:
Posted at 12:09 PM | Comments (1)
Lonewacko honored, humbled by Reason Magazine link
As can be seen in the image below, a page at this site was recently linked to by Reason Magazine. That's a link to this page at the word "gripe" (hopefully he meant definition #3, "to be ardent"). In any case, I am deeply honored and humbled to have caught the attention of Brian Doherty for his article "Chickening Out On Immigration", which you can read here: reason.com/links/links091906.shtml
While I am still stunned, shocked, honored, and humbled by being so linked, I feel it is nevertheless my duty to direct the reader to my coverage of the issues mentioned in that piece, suggesting thereby that the reader compare, contrast, and make up his or her mind on which source they shall henceforth trust:
Russ Bynum/AP promotes illegal immigration (Stillmore, Georgia)
Molly Hennessy-Fiske/LAT promotes corruption in Arkansas; Huckabee
Posted at 09:06 PM | Comments (1)
Greg Palast charged with "unauthorized filming" in Louisiana
Way-far-out-there but not-as-far-as-Alex-Jones American-turned-British-"investigative"-journalist Greg Palast claims to have been charged with "unauthorized filming" of "critical infrastructure" after shooting the outside of an Exxon plant a hundred miles from New Orleans, Louisiana. This was apparently part of a documentary about Katrina refugees.
It would be nice to read a straight news report or a press release about the incident, because between the "jokes" and the unclear writing in both his report and that from "Scoop NZ" it's a bit difficult to tell what really happened (so to speak).
Posted at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)
Eric Alterman: bye-bye MSNBC, hello Soros-funded Media Matters
Eric Alterman has been fired by MSNBC. But, don't cheer just yet: he's been hired by Media Matters for America, a group that admits to having received money from George Soros. He will be joining "Hatrios", aka Duncan B. Black, as a Senior Fellow at the organization.
Posted at 07:53 PM | Comments (1)
Sheldon Drobny blows lid off Huffington Post comments system
Air America Radio co-founder Sheldon Drobny is a contributor to the Huffington Post, and he's posted several threads lately where he criticizes Bill Maher for apparently planning to have Ann Coulter on his show. In one post he called him a "sell out", and supposedly Arianna herself gave him a call. And, that was supposedly the first time that The Huff herself had called him.There's no word on what prompted Arianna's call, but one can imagine that it followed a long, tearful conversation with Maher himself.
In the latest post, Drobny describes the Huffington Post "backstage" screen, which is apparently a blog posting screen provided to contributors. In case it disappears, here's the relevant bits:
...Besides having the tools to post, you get information about approved and unapproved comments. Unapproved comments eventually show up at an almost 100% rate...I omitted the bits where he discussed his mad forensic accounting skillz.
Below is the status of comments from my recent posts all criticizing Maher and the Hollywood folks:My Response To Some Comments On Recent PostsAs you can see, almost all of the comments were eventually approved. My latest post showing Hitchins fingering the Maher audience was posted 08.26.2006 at 03:51pm and yet 73 of the 87 posts have been held back for nearly 19 hours. The same thing happened with the other Maher/Hollywood posts. In the past, I have had many posts that got lots of comments that were all approved within a couple of hours. The whole point of getting comments posted on the various blogs is to keep the action going and increase the average time of each person on the blog...
(Comments: 14 approved, 73 unapproved)
Air America Complaint Department
(Comments: 58 approved, 9 unapproved)
Bill Maher: A Retraction Clarification
(Comments: 82 approved, 2 unapproved)
Bill Maher Retraction
(Comments: 11 approved, )
Bill Maher: Another Hollywood Sellout
(Comments: 103 approved, 1 unapproved)
...I need an explanation for the fact that Maher benefited from the unusual hold back delays of the commentors posts about Bill Maher. The blogosphere is supposed to be the highest form of free speech and with all the F words and C words I see on the Huffpo comments, it is hard for me to believe that Huffpo gives serious review of comments that need to be withheld. It is possible that Huffpo is having technical difficulties which need to be explained to its contributors. But, that aside, we don't want censorship or cronyism on the blogosphere...
Also, a few months ago I sent an email to another contributor about a comment I left that wasn't approved. That unnamed person, despite being a far-left loon, to his/her credit did write back with the news that he/she had no way to approve or disapprove comments. (OK, OK, it was Nora Ephron). That squares with what Sheldon says, but they didn't mention the count of approved comments; perhaps that was added later.
UPDATE: I should have seen this coming. His post has now been prepended with a seemingly acceptable explanation: two of their comment-approvers were on vacation and they were just backlogged with their discussion-stopping comments approval process.
Posted at 10:59 AM | Comments (2)
Zack Exley has a Wiki
Zack Exley of MoveOn and New Organizing has a Wiki: neworganizing.com/wiki
You need to sign up to edit pages, and I don't want to encourage any sort of defacement or anything like that. But, I do note that the site could do with something like a section not just praising George Soros, but extolling him, lionizing him, praising him to the skies for being the veritable demigod that he is.
Posted at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
Global warming satires compared
NRO Contributing Editor James S. Robbins offers "Hooray for Global Warming", which I presume to be a satire:
...A population distribution map of Canada shows most people live in a belt running along the southern border with the United States. But add global warming and vast regions would become comfortably habitable. As well, there would be more land available for cultivation. Resources would be easier to extract...
This has the lefties outraged that anyone would dare make fun of the principles of their religion: ThinkProgress, TruthDig, and HuffPost.
Speaking of the HuffPost, back on July 9, "Jim Gillespie" posted "Global warming: the libertarian approach". Why didn't TP, TD, or the HP link to that, which goes even further than the NRO satire? I guess I need to send out press releases or something.
Posted at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)
Have you ever considered becoming a florist?
Well, it looks like I'm still out of town, so a question: have you ever considered the work of a florist?
UPDATE: A word of explanation. The title is a take-off on a question from the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory); a purported copy of which can be found here.
Posted at 12:26 PM | Comments (1)
What's your favorite color?
Since it looks like I'm out of town for a couple days, what's your favorite color? How does it make you feel?
As for myself, I tend to prefer red. I don't like orange or yellow that much because they're a bit wishy-washy and seem a bit garish, especially orange. I do, however, greatly enjoy citrus fruits and vegetables that are orange or yellow.
What about you?
Posted at 12:22 PM | Comments (6)
Jane Hamsher goes nuts(er)
Maybe I'm just not attuned to her special wavelength, but Jane Hamsher strikes me as just a tad - just a tad - incoherent. The same goes for her blog. Once again, maybe it's just me. However, her latest post is truly the lowest in a long string of low points for the Huffington Post:
Note: the original file name is 4931cdbe-934f-4622-97c7-9629e6b7f8a3.jpg and it's in the
firedoglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/ directory
UPDATE: Hamsher has removed the Lieberman picture from the original post, without any explanation on the post itself. However, she does have a long, tortured explanation here. A commenter on the latter thread says:
I find it so ironic that this blog has been all over Mel Gibson for days now "some justified" has one if its "treasured" contributors post one of the most racist pieces of trash.
Posted at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
Think Progress deletes another comment, again!
All thoughts must be sanitized and correct in the fine sparkling world of Think Progress, and the latest example comes from the thread "Malkin: Outrage About Qana 'Manufactured,' 'If It's Not Qana, It's Something Else... It's Beauty Pageants'".As you might expect, a firestorm of witty "liberal" comments and jokes follows, partly because they don't understand the "Beauty Pageants" reference, and partly because, well, they're who they are. (That said, there are occasionally a few intelligent, non-childish people commenting on TP's threads).
Anywhoo, in an attempt to be useful, I decided to leave a comment explaining the reference, which refers to 2002 riots in Nigeria when the Miss World competition was held there. My comment was deleted, but here it is (only modified to HTMLize the links):
Judd is apparently too young to remember, so here's what Malkin is refering to.Needless to say, Judd Legum or an underling deleted that comment. Why ever would he do that? There are several other comments deleted from that thread, but many of the "jokes" and obscene statements have been left. Why would he delete a useful comment (admittedly a bit snarky, but still providing useful information) and leave mostly fluff? Surely Judd isn't afraid of the facts, is he?
(Remove the underscores to read the details on my banning)
Posted at 09:45 PM | Comments (2)
Santorum confused about Al-Jazeerah.info. So was DailyKos
Sen. Rick Santorum is apparently trying to promulgate an endorsement of his rival (Bobby Casey Jr.) made by al-Jazeera. Santorum even mentioned this on Thursday's Bill O'Reilly show.
Only one problem: the endorsement is from al-jazeerah.info, which is not related to the infamous network (and is in fact located in Georgia in the U.S.)
Of course, what few will remember is that our good buddy the DailyKos made this same mistake a few years back. Perhaps someone who has a DK account could point that out to them.
Posted at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
Hugh Hewitt controls horizontal, vertical
In some ways, Hugh Hewitt is the person that I wish I was. He is a true renaissance man: an author, a radio host, an attorney, a public speaker, a blogger, a virulent BushBot, and now the editor of Townhall.com. He's reportedly able to update his blog... while doing his radio show and in between taking sips of KoolAid!
Of course, now that Townhall has a brand new look, they've deleted the blog I once had there. It only had a few entries, so it's not that big of loss. I'm currently trying to sign up for a new blog, but I keep getting "The page you requested cannot be found."
But, assuming I do get a new blog there, how many posts do you think it will be before the BushBot patrols come by and shut it down? I'm betting on three, four at the most.
Posted at 09:04 PM | Comments (1)
NAU posts moved into own category
A housekeeping message: this site's posts dealing with the North American Union have been moved into that category.
Posted at 09:52 AM | Comments (1)
Dvorak Uncensored?
John C. Dvorak's "Uncensored" site deleted two of my comments I left on the thread "Ah, Mexico? Can You Send More Illegal Aliens To Pick Florida Oranges? What BS!" The following backstory is a bit long, but the bottom line is this: if you want in-depth information on immigration matters, come here. If all you want is hot air without any of the background information, go to Dvorak's site.
The two comments are below. As usual, neither of them are abusive; further, I have trouble seeing how they violate the site's guidelines. What is unique about this situation is that unlike other bloggers deleting my comments, my comments in this case were not antagonistic. I provided additional information in support of the post, and information that the poster is probably not aware of.
The post was created by "Uncle Dave", and I don't know whether it was him or JCD who deleted my comments, but they might want to consider whether they're publishing their site simply to blow hot air, or whether they're interested in something a bit more useful. The post excerpts to this article, and then comes the only "analysis" they provide:
Curiously there is no evidence of any massive return to Mexico anywhere. It's not in California or Texas. Are they swimming home from Florida? So this is a crock for sure. If anything they've taken construction jobs "Americans don't want." How long do we have to tolerate this bullshit?
Please compare that "analysis" with the information contained in my first comment. Their post offers nothing; my comment provides their readers with in-depth information. Would you rather learn about the background of this propaganda, or would you rather read someone who has nothing to offer beyond venting?
As for the second comment, someone mentioned the LAT article described in that comment, and someone else asked "Can you produce a citation for the article describing landscaping jobs paying $35/hr?" I provided the given link to a discussion of the LAT article, and that was deleted as well.
And, an unnamed "editor" has posted the following in the comment asking the question above:
editor: most of the posts with that $30+ citation are just trolls advertising a web site — deleted according to Commenting Guidelines
I didn't post the first comment mentioning those jobs, I simply provided the information in order to help Dvorak's readers understand this issue better. Someone has to, since Dvorak's contributors and editors aren't doing the job.
Previously: Brad DeLong deletes comments
COMMENT #1:
This is just the latest in a very long series of propaganda containing dire warnings from growers. Articles just like this have been appearing for literally decades. No, really:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/000905.html
One solution to their "problem" is mechanization, already underway in some Florida groves:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/001133.html
And, of course, Bush is on the wrong side:
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/004682.html
COMMENT #2:
#12: The $35/hour landscaping job refers to a bit of propaganda from the LAT, in which they failed to note that someone complaining about lack of workers was an immigration activist:
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005225.htm
Posted at 08:29 PM | Comments (1)
Brad DeLong deletes comments
I left two comments on the entry "Greg Mankiw Explains Why Economists Favor Immigration" from UC Berkeley professor Brad DeLong. Both were deleted.
Since both comments have a bit more heft than some other comments which were not deleted, and neither comment is abusive, I have to wonder what's going on. Has DeLong suddenly realized that he and the other "economists" have no argument?
The two comments are in the extended entry.
July 9 UPDATE: Oops, he did it again. The comment he deleted this time is at the end as "COMMENT #3". He must realize exactly how weak his arguments are.
Related:
The Independent Institute's Open Letter on Immigration (Delong, Mankiw, and others signed on)
"Brothers Judd" deletes comments
Banned by ThinkProgress and QAndO
COMMENT #1:
Apparently these economists are unable to make a simple distinction between legal and illegal immigration. What's worse, they seem unable to think beyond simple, first-level economic impacts.
For instance, illegal immigration leads to political corruption. What economic impact does that have?
What economic impact does giving the government of Mexico even more political power inside the U.S. have?
What economic impact does companies being able to choose between cheap labor and innovation have?
What are the non-economic impacts of massive legal or illegal immigration, especially from one country or region?
Perhaps they need to think about this in a bit more depth and consult people who have an ability to see the big picture.
------
COMMENT #2:
I continue to be amazed that some "liberals" attempt to claim that there's no reconquista movement, however loosely constructed it is.
Do they think people will just believe what they say without doing any research? Do they hope to have any credibility remaining after people do that research?
All you have to do is google a few related terms, and you'll find a ton of evidence, questionable statements, and questionable links.
For instance, here's a quote from a 1996 Black Issues in Higher Education article:
The Chicano activists' mission at that time -- as documented in the book "MAYO: Avant-Garde to the Chicano Movement in Texas" by University of California-Riverside Professor Armando Navarro -- "was to eliminate and replace the gringo," says Jose Angel Gutierrez, director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas-Arlington.
How many Mexican-American politicians can you find who have links to Navarro?
Or, take a look at this video:
youtube.com/watch?v=FgbCB8QlQWw
That's the Speaker of the California Assembly, Democrat Fabian Nunez.
For more, see all the replies to this thread:
huffingtonpost.com/alex-koppelman/cnn-stands-by-lou-dobbs-_b_21617.html
"Liberals" need to come up with a new excuse for the Democratic Party's support for racists.
-----
COMMENT #3:
Since my comments on the other thread were deleted (lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005235.html), this might not be here long. But, here's my reply to the NYT article:
---
First, cute photos of undocumented workers in the shadows. A bit hamfisted, but what do you expect?
David Card says: "If Mexicans were taller and whiter, it would probably be a lot easier to deal with."
What Card fails to realize is that many Mexicans are in fact both tall and white. Those are the leaders of Mexico (such as the Spanish-Irish Vicente Fox), and they're the ones who are sending us their excess population. One against Card.
And, if all those illegal aliens were indeed tall and white, and everything else were the same as it is now, there wouldn't be an illegal immigration problem: all those millions of illegal aliens would have been deported long ago.
It's largely because most of the illegal aliens from Mexico are not white that illegal immigration supporters such as the MSM and others are able to racialize this issue and smear anyone who simply wants to enforce our laws.
As for the economics, they don't really matter. The economic effect of illegal immigration is clustered somewhere around zero. It might be slightly good, or somewhat bad. But, no one is arguing that it's very good.
Now, compare the possible benefits to the negatives:
* increased corruption in the U.S. as companies that profit from illegal immigration donate to politicians who look the other way
* increased numbers of low-wage workers coming into a high cost of living country (resulting in people living in garages or even tents in backyards)
* lowered wages for our own low-wage workers, many of whom have simply stopped looking for work
* increased chance of worker abuse and workplace injuries and deaths (much higher for illegal aliens)
* entrenching the corrupt Mexican government rather than forcing them to reform
* assisting the government of Mexico meddling in our internal politics
* assisting attempts to weaken U.S. citizenship and sovereignty
* foreign citizens marching in our streets demanding rights to which they aren't entitled
* among other diseases, drug-resistant tuberculosis
So, one the one hand you might get a small economic benefit. But, at what cost? All things considered, is illegal immigration really worth it?
Posted at 09:08 AM | Comments (4)
Is The Anchoress really Ken Mehlman?
A data point in support of one of my favorite theories.
Posted at 11:45 AM | Comments (1)
"Brothers Judd" deletes comments
The obscure blog "Brothers Judd" - run by Orrin Judd with the technical assistance of his brother Stephen - has deleted the last four comments I left there. Since none of the comments were more abusive than usual and all were on-topic and I daresay informative, I'm left with the usual explanation when things like this happen: that site realizes that its position is extremely weak and is afraid of contrary opinions.
Of course, since most of their immigration-related posts consist of extended excerpts of a news report combined with a title featuring a smear like "nativist" or similar, together with a snarky throwaway line at the end, the weakness of their argument is largely self-evident.
Oddly, some of my comments are still there on earlier entries:
2006/03/were_all_paying.html
2006/03/its_a_living_ju.html
2006/03/sinking_islands.html
2006/03/lazy_native_but.html
2006/03/dont_look_for_p.html
2006/02/its_a_demand_si.html
2006/01/he_and_tancredo.html
The deleted comments are in the extended entry.
Previously in this series: I was banned by ThinkProgress and QAndO. And, of course, I was banned from RedState despite having posted 75 or so entries there. In 2003 I was banned by DailyKos.
(link)
Hispanic immigrants have the exact same values we do
Based on years of personal experiences, that's only true for a segment. That's not true for a large and growing segment. For instance, see the penultimate paragraph here: humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=14010
"The first thing everyone wants to do when they get on the lifeboat is raise the ladder behind them."
I have a site that answers such childlike arguments (http://ImmRef.com), but that's one I haven't gotten to yet. So, as even third-graders realize, lifeboats can only hold so many people and have a limited amount of resources. And, we have to make sure that those we invite into the lifeboat are not going to make things much worse for the current inhabitants. That's just good lifeboat management.
Click my link for a brief introduction to this subject. Based on some of the comments, I think a more in-depth knowledge of this subject is needed.
----------------
(link)
Meanwhile: Migration of working-age people has devastated many Mexican villages.
Of course, it has a devastating impact here in the U.S. as well. For instance, U.S. companies helped send home that $20 billion, much of which was gained through illegal activity.
In other words, those companies profited from illegal behavior.
Then, they donate money to politicians that allow further illegal behavior.
Most non-corrupt, responsible people realize that such political corruption is extraordinarily dangerous.
----------------
(link)
1. Has the WaPo ever looked into all the money politicians receive from those companies and their industry groups that employ illegal labor? Have they ever - even just once - attempted to find out whether that money causes those politicians to refuse to enforce our immigration laws?
2. If we capitulate to the demands of those foreign citizens who are marching in our streets now, millions more will come here knowing that all they need to do is march in our streets to get what they want. We'll look weak to our enemies around the world.
Saving a few dimes on asparagus soup pales in comparison to corruption and a loss of sovereignty, and I suggest keeping track of all those who think that's a good trade.
----------------
(link)
Let's look behind the story:
In 2002, the Denver Post collaborated with the Mexican government and helped them spread pro-illegal immigration propaganda to their readers. Click the link for more on that paper.
In that light, one might understand why they'd falsely identify Lamm and Tancredo as "immigration foes" and talk of "nativists". And, one can understand why they fail to understand the fundamental differences between then and now.
Posted at 11:26 AM | Comments (2)
Is it satire, or is it the Huffington Post?
The difference is often difficult to discern, but here's a real-world example.Huffington Post:
Arianna has booted contributer Dr. Peter Rost: "Setting the Record Straight: On Trolls, Moles, and Dis-Invited Bloggers":
Dear HuffPost Readers, Commenters, and Bloggers,Satire:
Here's the bottom line on the issues raised by Peter Rost: We disabled his password for one reason and one reason only -- his refusal to act as part of our online community.
A little background: Peter Rost was initially invited to post about issues related to the pharmaceutical industry, his area of expertise -- but his posts increasingly became about his personal grudges and beefs or long, self-referential, diary-like entries about finding an injured bird in his front yard (complete with photos) or a blog post about his friend having an extramarital affair...
Over six months ago, on December 12, 2005, I penned the entry "SIT-IN FOR MARC MARON OF AIR AMERICA RADIO" about "Melvin Duchovny" chaining himself to a desk at Huff and Blow headquarters and refusing to leave. "Ariadne Huffanan" subsequently blocked him from posting to her site.
(HuffAndBlow is, of course, a take-off on the HuffPost. The Duchovny character was invented before Rost began posting to HuffPost and - spoiler warning! - is a take-off on Air America co-founder, loony loose cannon, and HuffPost contributor Sheldon Drobny That's a picture of The Captain from Gilligan's Island next to his entries.)
Helpful tip:
Print this page and keep it handy when reading other entries at the HuffPost.
Posted at 10:09 PM | Comments (3)
Lonewacko banned from ThinkProgress, QAndO
To keep you up-to-date with my bannings:
1. I'm blocked from leaving comments at ThinkProgress. Here's the last comment I left there, which was removed (twice!):
Interesting factoid: Nativo "Larry" Lopez - one of the organizers of the recent illegal immigration boycott - was booted off the Santa Ana schoolboard because of his views on Spanish. He not only supports bilingual education, he reportedly wants to make Spanish the official language of California.
I'm able to work around the ban, of course. (Search for 'pretty rich')
I've linked to TP a couple times in the past when they actually had news items instead of their usual fare of childish gotcha posts.
2. The libertarians at QAndO.net banned me for some reason. This must have happened months ago because I only noticed it when they came back on my radar a few weeks ago and I tried to leave comments there. I'm able to work around it using a similar procedure. The prime suspect is their contributor Jon Henke.
3. I'm still banned by RedState. They never provided me with a non-ludicrous explanation of the reason why.
4. I was banned by DailyKos in 2003.
5. MoJo has a strange habit of not approving the few comments I've left there.
Places I have not yet been banned from include: Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, FreeRepublic, TownHall, and DailyKos. (The last under a few super-secret identities. Don't tell any Kossacks about those however!)
8/1/06 UPDATE: Think Progress deletes another comment! Why are they afraid of facts?
Posted at 08:42 PM | Comments (4)
Last remaining Bush supporters spotted
Irrepressible BushBot Mark Noonan offers "President Bush Riding High", which links to Michael Barone's "Stronger Than He Seems". (Insty would link to both analyses, but he's on vacation.)
On the other hand, I note that PardonMyEnglish no longer features a big picture of Bush as the background of their site. Instead, it's been replaced with a picture of the... Golden Gate Bridge.
Posted at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)
Kos: I'm a "Libertarian Democrat"
Subcommandante Markos "Kos" Zuniga has finally nailed down his exact political orientation: he's a "Libertarian Democrat". Now, that doesn't mean that he embraces the full lunatic/libertarian agenda, nor does it mean that the lunatics/libertarians have embraced the Lunatic World of Kos. However, as for the latter, we can pretend. And, be assured that I will every chance I get. (Ex.: "A libertarian? You mean, like DailyKos?")
So in practical terms, what does a Libertarian Dem look like? A Libertarian Dem rejects government efforts to intrude in our bedrooms and churches. A Libertarian Dem rejects government "Big Brother" efforts, such as the NSA spying of tens of millions of Americans. A Libertarian Dem rejects efforts to strip away rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights -- from the First Amendment to the 10th. And yes, that includes the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms.
Posted at 09:43 PM | Comments (2)
A traipse through the BushBot blogosphere
Believe it or not, there are still KoolAid-besotted bloggers out there who believe in Our Leader.One of them is "MacsMind", which was previously featured here giving Bush's critics a piece of his mind:
"Shut up whiners"He's back with this:
No one is above criticism, yet of all the Presidents of recent history - including the previous President - of which history will show to be the most corrupt ever - President Bush is a true leader and a true American hero.He also links to the strangely creepy "The Anchoress":
While not always agreeing on everything he presents, one think I admire about him is that he does stand behind what he presents and believes passionately in what he is doing and believes it to be in the best interests of the country.
That's called "Character"...
That made me wonder a little - has President Bush lost his bearings, or have we? Is it President Bush who has broken faith with "his base" or have they?I can't quite put my finger on why "TA" seems so creepy, but perhaps it has something to do with the pompous-yet-down-to-earth prose style, or perhaps it's the ever-so-slight whiff of propaganda, or perhaps it's because I suspect she's actually Ken Mehlman.
...The president who had delivered one gift after another to his base asked them to trust him, and his base sneered...
UPDATE: This is very, very scary. It has come to our attention that a NYC prat likewise has complaints about TA. I only found out about that after I posted the above. And, in Pajamas Media blog babe is scary, but hot I raised issues with Pamela. Only after posting that I found out that the same NYC idiot also had issues with her. Very scary indeed.
Posted at 02:43 AM | Comments (4)
The view from Kevin Drum's window
Kevin Drum informs us that Sully is asking his readers to send in pictures from the windows of the cubicle whence they encumber the world with their thoughts.
Rather than provide my own, I decided to make a slight modification to the picture that Drum is good enough to provide. It's only a slight modification, so look closely:
Posted at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
Hugh Hewitt straw ballot excludes Tancredo
Insty directs our attention to Hugh Hewitt, who's conducting a straw poll for the 2008 presidential race.
The lucky choices are:
George Allen
Sam Brownback
Bill Frist
Rudy Giuliani
Mike Huckabee
John McCain
Mitt Romney
Isn't the omission of Rep. Tom Tancredo rather curious? Well, not if you know how the BushBot mind works.
Posted at 08:30 PM | Comments (3)
Oliver Willis to blog from Siberia
ODub comes out against illegal immigration, although he can't help but get his digs in at those evil conservatives.
Posted at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)
Instapundit ends up supporting Bush on illegal immigration
This was highly predictable. Yesterday, Insty posted the following:
I'VE GENERALLY FAVORED OPEN IMMIGRATION, but I find myself feeling less and less that way in the face of mass rallies by illegal immigrants like this one...
Now, he's got an update with an email putting the bestest spin possible on illegal aliens marching in our streets, claiming that "these people are positive about our country, and are interested in being Americans." Insty calls that a "good point".
Didn't you just know that Insty would come around to Bush's position within a very short period of time?
(On a completely OT note, the emailer appears to have some connection to the Sheldon Drobny case.)
Posted at 01:04 PM | Comments (1)
Arianna Huffington has nothing to apologize for about George Clooney incident
Arianna Huffington stands accused of posting a post that claimed to be from George Clooney but was actually cobbled together from bits and pieces of overheard conversations, blogospheric duck tape, random statements from Clooney's publicist, and swear words allegedly provided to the HuffPost by Gov. Dr. Howard Dean M.D. RCVS.
What's lost here is that the HuffPost has dozens upon dozens of airhead celebrity bloggers, none of whom have hitherto claimed that Arianna wrote one of their "blogs". In other words, Clooney's complaint is statistically meaningless and can be safely ignored.
Arianna: we in the blogosphere have got your back on this one!
Posted at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
How to make BlogAds work for you
In a desperate attempt to increase the readership to this blog, I recently placed a blogad on the Liberty News Forum highlighting this site's immigration coverage. Here are the stats:
page views: 112132
clicks: 5
CTR: 0.004%
CPC: $2.40
Now, obviously, that CPC would be acceptable if I was selling credit cards or something. But, for my purposes it's just a "tad" too high, and the CTR is just a "tad" too low.
The ad wasn't as good as it could be, but it wasn't that bad either. And, it would seem to have been targeted towards potential readers of this site.
I had a similar experience promoting my restaurant directories, placing an ad in the "Celebrity Baby Blog Third Tier". Obviously, it was not a targeted selection, but all their regional sites' CPM was stratospheric, and that site had a relatively low CPM. That got 454405 impressions and the same CTR. At 20 clicks, that resulted in a still-massive CPC of $1.50.
Since people keep buying BlogAds, they must get some kind of results, but as of now I think I'll stick with what works better and is much cheaper: AdBrite and AdWords.
I believe the secret to BlogAds is an eye-grabbing picture. The restaurant ad had a nice picture of pasta, but the LNF ad did not. OTOH, if I'd had a picture of a girl in a t-shirt or a guy humping the carpet, I'm sure the CTR would have been much higher.
Posted at 03:28 AM | Comments (1)
I was banned by RedState
I've been posting entries and comments at RedState since July 2004. [1] A few days ago my last entry there was deleted and my posting privileges were revoked. [2] And, despite sending two emails to RS co-founder Mike Krempasky and one to another moderator there, no one has seen fit to tell me exactly who banned me and why they did it. [3]
The entry that initiated the banning was Bush "Gold Card" would open borders to cheap labor. That entry made it into Google News before it was deleted.
Perhaps the reason is because I refered to Bush's "guest" worker program as "un-American". While it's easy to overuse that phrase, and it does have very negative historical connotations, if Bush's plan isn't un-American I don't know what is.
Does the reader find anything in that entry worthy of me being banned?
Obviously, I was one of the few people there who dared criticize George Bush, so perhaps that did it. Perhaps they're trying to be more like Blogs for Bush. Perhaps I should have posted things like the ludicrous "Why I Like George W. Bush (redstate.org/story/2004/7/25/155049/493), which was promoted to their front page. Instead, I concentrated on breaking news or being one of the few people who corrected widespread misconceptions about breaking news.
And, from the irony file, note that DailyKos and Mike Krempasky want you to support free speech online.
I've been banned from both their sites, so I must be doing something right.
1/24/07 UPDATE: I never did receive a good explanation for my banning, but Robert A. Hahn ("Nick Danger") or anyone else from RedState is welcome to leave a comment. And, I've since sent a few requests to RedState - and to EaglePub, their new owners and also the owners of Human Events - asking them to remove my copyrighted content from their sites. They've so far stonewalled me, despite (AFAICT) there being nothing in the RedState.org user agreement giving them the legal right to continue to display my content, to transfer my content to RedState.com and now EaglePub, or to display ads alongside my content. I may end up having to file a DMCA complaint; if anyone else wants to get involved in that leave a comment.
---
[1] the-lonewacko-blog.redstate.com
[2] I sent an email using their contact form. A day later I sent one to MK's email address. I can sign in, but there's no link allowing me to post new comments. And, I get the message "Sorry, but you don't have permission to post stories to section 'Diary'" when I try to post a new entry.
[3] What does the reader think it says about a group that won't even respond after banning someone who's contributed dozens of posts? Does the reader think it's ethical to ban me and then keep my copyrighted content? What I'd like is for them to delete the content and set up a redirect from my URL there to this site. Unfortunately, if they won't respond to emails I might have to send a letter.
Posted at 08:23 PM | Comments (6)
Kos/Krempasky: support free speech online!
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (DailyKos) and Michael Krempasky (RedState) have sent a letter to Congress urging them to support H.R. 1606, the Online Freedom of Speech Act.
Just as a small bit of irony, back in 2003 I was banned from leaving comments at DailyKos, after I pointed out that Kos' source wasn't what he implied it was.
And, a couple days ago I appear to have been banned from RedState. I had posted almost 75 posts there since mid-2004, and a few of them broke news or corrected widespread misconceptions about breaking news.
To be banned from both I must be doing something right, and you can rest assured that I'll keep on doing it.
Posted at 09:11 AM | Comments (1)
Banned by RedState!
It might just be a technical problem, or I might have finally been banned by RedState.org.
Yesterday around this time I re-posted the entry Bush "Gold Card" would open borders to cheap labor at RedState, and it still shows up in news.google.com:
The URL in that picture goes to a moderation page:
the-lonewacko-blog.redstate.com/story/2006/3/6/232229/3836
And, while my diary is still there (the-lonewacko-blog.redstate.com), there are no links allowing me to comment on stories.
It might just be a technical glitch, or I might have been banned. I have been warned, so it's not like I wasn't expecting something like this to happen eventually.
Note also that someone else has posted on the very same story about "gold cards" for illegal aliens, and he doesn't appear to have been banned:
wubbies-world.redstate.com/story/2006/3/7/154912/2175
I've sent an email, and let's see what happens.
Posted at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)
How to unblock censored BoingBoing access
Apparently various countries block access to BoingBoing. There are ways to get around the censorship, but the problem is they're listed at BB itself! So, those who are censored might not be able to read it.Thankfully, Insty has stepped into the breach.
In addition, here are some tips if you're using ZimboSSL. Use the following initialization string:
tunnel --site boingboing.net --block "xeni jardin"If you're using ObmizSSL, here's the command to use:
tunnel --site boingboing.net --filter-out "xeni"
If you're using google as a proxy, just add -"yellow journalism" to the query string.
HTH
Posted at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)
Denver Post blog
Did you know that the Denver Post has a blog? In fact, you're ordered to think of it "as a funky old apartment building where a lot of different personalities live and hang out".
Cool! Is one of those "different personalities" the Denver Mexican consul? Remember that in 2002 the Denver Post collaborated with the government of Mexico on a pro-illegal immigration puff piece.
Please register to comment there and leave that last link whereever it's appropriate.
Posted at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
David Brooks: liberal bloggers are "semi-nuts"
Speaking on the Chris Matthews show, the NYT's David Brooks said the following:
Whoever the Democratic candidate, that is the weakness of the Democratic party, they’ve got the blogs and the netroots who are semi-nuts and they insist on a Stalinist line of discipline.
Obviously, that's completely false. Liberal bloggers are completely nuts.
Posted at 11:11 PM | Comments (1)
Join The Jobs for South Asia Coalition!
In the recent entry "Central Valley orange growers look to Thailand for labor" I alluded to a "shocking revelation", and now's the time to reveal what that meant.
The "Jobs for South Asia Coalition" - which you probably never heard of - was a Swiftian satire on guest worker programs.
The "Coalition" wanted to bring victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami to the U.S. as guest workers, and it bore more than a whiff of slavery. In bad taste? Well, shortly after I published the idea, a Cato Institute analyst (Will Wilkinson) came out with a serious proposal closely tracking my (satirical) proposal. And, that proposal was published in Reason Magazine. And, that was a couple weeks after I'd sent an email to Reason Magazine asking for their assistance with my "proposal".
Was it just a case of great minds thinking alike?
The blog is at jfsac.blogspot.com, but you can read the latest version here: "Jobs for South Asia Coalition". Please post that link around.
Despite my best efforts (also this and this classic), my satire never really took off. But, hopefully now that it's hosted at the HuffPost we can change that.
Posted at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
Norm Coleman's staff edits wikipedia bio
Who really cares?
Posted at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)
Dover Post reporter fired... for blogging
The DUmmies report here. The underlying news article link is bad, but his myspace "blog" - apparently what they're referring to - is here, with his explanation here.
Posted at 01:25 AM | Comments (0)
Difficulty of obtaining Technorati rank makes service almost worthless
Dear Technorati:
I have absolutely no idea why you removed the numbers next to each citation showing that blog's Technorati rank, i.e., the number of inbound links that you say that blog has.
For various reasons this information is invaluable and it needs to be visible in each blog's citation. Making someone click a link in order to get that number won't work, since I use those numbers to scan for Important Bloggers and to filter out splogs and blogs with almost no popularity.
Accordingly, please add that back in. There is no reason why that should be computationally expensive. Simply cache the number and compute them during your off-hours; they don't change that often. Other schemes are possible depending on how your system works, but I cannot imagine why you wouldn't show information you already have.
UPDATE: It has come to our attention that you can mouse over one of the images to get this information, so they are indeed displaying this information, they're just doing it in a highly-unusable way that doesn't work in my version of Firefox. I want to be able to immediately see that information, I don't want to have to mouse over - and use a different browser or version - in order to see that.
Posted at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
Huffington Post: massive graphic needed for Bill Maher head
Is the Huffington Post trying to tell us something? Is Bill Maher the secret brains behind the operation, with Arianna just a foxy front person?
If that's not true, then why is Arianna's picture a modest 39 by 46 pixels, whereas Maher's weighs in at a whopping 45 by 64, making it easily the largest headshot at the site? Or, is such a large picture necessary simply due to the size of his head?
(Oh, and in case you're wondering who those other people are, no one else knows either.)
UPDATE: Here's a better graphic showing the relative sizes on a grid:
Posted at 05:55 PM | Comments (5)
Snark, sass, and destruction since 2002
Kathleen Parker has a column called "Lord of the blogs".
I only have one thing to say about her "column": go to the hot place, you idiotarian asshat.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: It has come to this site's attention that Parker had been including this site in the list of "many brilliant people out there... who also happen to blog". I apologize for any misconceptions that were raised and any misunderstandings that came about.
Posted at 05:49 AM | Comments (1)
Why do I bother?
First of all, I'd like to thank the 150 or so people who voted for this site in its Weblog Awards category. Unfortunately, this site ended up in seventh place with 5.42% of the vote.
Obviously, that's not that good, especially considering that I've been a bit of a pioneer of the medium. And, I continue to cover the illegal immigration scam, something that most other bloggers - especially the major ones - ignore. Now, obviously, occasionally calling people names, working to discredit others, not playing well with other bloggers, not being a sycophant, not being a partisan hack, etc. etc. does tend to take its toll.
Nevertheless, I shall persevere. For you, my reader.
Posted at 11:26 PM | Comments (6)
I am no longer able to satirize the Huffington Post
I may have to shut down my Huffington Post satire site because what's going on at the HuffPost itself is an even better satire than even I could come up with.
To wit: Arbitrary Justice by... Bianca Jagger. She's supporting clemency for Tookie Williams.
On the other hand, Arianna herself offers "Airport Reading: Of BJs and Bike Seats". While parts of it are a bit worrisome, I personally would pay to hear Arianna speak the first part aloud.
Posted at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)
Vote like you're Democrats!
I can't believe how far behind this site is in the Weblogs Awards. Please vote each day as described here.
Posted at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
Vote for this site in the Weblogs Awards
Please vote for this site here.
And, please also vote for our sister site BoreAmerica.com in this category.
I note that those sites in the Best "Humor"/Comics Blog (quotes added) category are a bit... broad in their humor. For something quite a bit more subtle, check out my Huffington Post satire. It did not make the cut.
And, even more annoying, another of my sites did not make the cut for the Best New Blog category: KatrinaCoverage.com. That has almost 1000 extensively-tagged posts about the topic and contains more information on it than probably any other single source.
As for the other categories, here are our selections:
Top 250: The Indepundit (only because the rest are bad)
500-1500: Digger's Realm
As for the other ecosystem categories, use your best judgment, because I've never heard of most of them.
Best conservative: I note that both PoliPundit and BlogsForBush are choices. Should you vote for them in order to discredit the Awards? Or, should you vote for someone else to make the Awards look good? Use your best judgment, but if the latter I'd say Debbie Schlussel since she's got two nice big blogs.
Best Liberal: No one on this list would make the Awards look good, thus the question becomes, who will do the most to discredit the Awards? While Wonkette is a solid choice in that category, I believe AmericaBlog is working the hardest at discrediting its side.
Best Media: I'd say 'Oh, That Liberal Media' on the name alone.
Best Group: The leader in the discrediting category would be the lunatic liberaltarian site Reason, followed by Pandagon. But, I'd suggest MensNewsDaily.
Best New Blog: As previously discussed, Atlas Shrugs would be a fine choice in the discrediting department. But, I'm not familiar with any of the others.
Best Blog: Far and away, the Huffington Post.
Posted at 07:39 AM | Comments (4)
Pajamas Media blog babe is scary, but hot
If I were going to create a fake blog that represented many of the things that are wrong with the medium, it might look something like this. She's pretty hot even if that's not her body, but... c'mon. Note also that her page contains around 130 various graphical doodads which weigh in at around 1.68 Megs. And, she's also part of the Open Source Media stable.
For balance, here's her red-headed, foul-mouthed opposite number. Just 79 objects weighing in at 949kb, so, she's got some work to do to catch up.
UPDATE: The first site is in the hunt for a Best New Blog award. I guess I was completely wrong. Her site is great, and I was wrong.
Posted at 04:16 AM | Comments (0)
Celebrate blogging with the Los Angeles Times
The LAT has promulgated "Blogging L.A.", and, no, it's not as bad as you would think: it's even worse.
They give the shout out to several recommended sites:
Finding the jewels among Los Angeles' thousands of blogs can take some doing. This is a highly selective list of some of the more interesting — and regularly updated — blogs.
One of those on the list is polizeros.com. He's a member of ANSWER, and, as I described here, the L.A. Times covered-up the violence and far-left nature of an anti-American ANSWER protest that PZ attended and blogged about. It's nice to know they have something in common.
One of those not on the list is this site, which, low as it is, gets more traffic than several of their choices. I could care less whether it's because their crack researchers didn't run across this site or because they rejected it for some reason or other. Caring what the MSM thinks is so '02.
Posted at 07:05 AM | Comments (0)
Because the world needs more gadget blogs
The page "What Your Blog is Worth" has an interesting scatterplot attempting to show how much traffic you need in order to make some amount of money with blogging. He bases that solely on annualized income from BlogAds, using the prices various bloggers charge and how many ads they have running.
Even if we assume that BlogAds is correctly provided an up-to-date number of ads being shown, there are a few other factors to consider. For instance, BlogAds is certainly not the only possible source of income from blogging.
A few others include: AdSense, Chitika, and affiliate links. Unlike BlogAds, the revenue possible from those is open-ended: you could earn nothing, or you could earn a good amount, and perhaps even more than from BlogAds. In the first case, you get money per click whether or not someone buys something. The middle case is similar but (I believe) more stringent. In the last case, in most cases the user needs to buy something. But, if they spend $100, you could get a fair commission.
If you run a gadget blog about, say, digital cameras, and people find your blog in searches, they might be more inclined to click on a Chitika ad or an Amazon link allowing them to buy a camera. There are many affiliate programs and Amazon carries a wide array of products, so if you attract visitors either through searches or through links elsewhere that are interested in some specific niche, and there are products in that niche, people might consider buying those products through your links. Another example might be an authoritative book review site that people visit specifically to read your in-depth book reviews. If you say a book is good, you might get a reasonable percentage of your visitors buying that book through your Amazon link.
On the other end of things you could get a large amount of unfocused garbage traffic, and figure that a certain percent of those would be interested in your ads.
Posted at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)
This site has a strict nofollow policy
Dear blogger:
If trackbacks at your site have the nofollow tag on them, and I send you a trackback, I will put a nofollow tag on my link. Otherwise, I'd be giving you a good link, and you'd be giving me nothing in return. This is just an attempt to even out the situation.
Likewise with sites that use that tag in their comments. If I link to one of your posts, and it's full of nofollowed links in the comments, I'm not about give you a good link. Let me put it this way: if you're doing that intentionally, perhaps you should reconsider using people to build content for you and giving them nothing in return.
You might want to consider what would happen if everyone had this same policy. Then, look up how to remove the plugin or whatever that puts on those nofollow tags. Here's the instructions for MT, and for WP I use Follow URL.
This site's strong objection to the nofollow tag is described here, here, and here.
And, there's more on it here, here, here, here, here, and here. And, here's a joke.
UPDATE: Here's a sample site that uses these tags: The Only Republican in San Francisco. But, that's not all. Not only does he use the tags, he requires commentors to be signed in using TypeKey. But, wait, there's more! After signing in, they still need to enter a captcha. You really have to wonder what's going on here.
And, here's another one. After admitting in 11/04 that he gets "almost zero comment spam", Dave Taylor announces in 1/05 that he's adding the tag:
There are some definite problems with this strategy, not the least of which is that it means that if my friends and colleagues pop by and post an erudite comment - or write their own article that trackbacks to mine - I would like to give them some of my PageRank goodness, but now I can't. You're all thrown into the 'spammer scum' box, like it or not.
Screw your friends, I say. It's your readers that you should be thinking of, since they're the ones who visit your site and keep you in business. Why treat your readers like "scum"? Especially since he admitted that this probably wouldn't work:
Nonetheless it's clear that something has to be done about blogspam, and I applaud the search engines and weblog teams for working together to at least make some progress in this direction, however suboptimal it may be.
The solution to blogspam is to delete the comments and use a blacklist of some kind. I get a ton of spam, but very little if any makes it through because of the filters. And, if some does make it through, I delete it ASAP. That's how you handle these matters, not with same half-assed, anti-web tag.
Posted at 07:34 PM | Comments (1)
The only way liberals can win the debate (new Huffington Post tactic)
The Huffington Post is trying out a new tactic in order to stifle political debate and silence the other side. Unlike other similar leftie attempts, it doesn't involve violence or coersion. In fact, those who choose to remain silent will do so voluntarily.
For the preview of this tactic, see this HuffPo post. Note that that author is just 14 years old. What sort of a-hole is going to tell a 14-year-old that he's completely wrong? Just how bad would someone look if they did that?
There is no other conclusion I can come to other than that the HuffPost is doing this intentionally in order to stifle debate.
Yes, you are correct: this is about the relatively non-controversial topic of Dodgers baseball. However, expect them to broaden this technique to other, more controversial fields.
And, note that the poster's last name is "Reiner". Does anyone know any washed-up actors with that same name?
Gosh, do you think he could be related to someone? Further, note that one of the contributors there is Stephen Kaus, who happens to be the brother of another Kaus.
Visiting the HuffPost is giving me an uncomfortable feeling that I've just barged into someone's living room. In Brentwood, of course.
Posted at 02:50 AM | Comments (1)
Perky Little Katie Kommunist too conservative for MediaMatters
MediaMatters for America has set its "always"-accurate eye on perky Katie:
On the October 31 edition of NBC's Today, co-host Katie Couric baselessly suggested that newly named Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. is "a strict constructionist" who "will interpret the Constitution literally." Couric's comment marked at least the second time that she has parroted rhetoric conservatives use to promote President Bush's judicial nominees...
Just for yucks, let's try to figure out what's going on here:
1. MMFA thinks Katie is a conservative or displays disturbing conservative traits...
2. MMFA is working to keep Katie on the reservation...
3. MMFA is trying to portray Alito as a "judicial activist" and is willing to use Perky Katie as their vehicle...
4. This is a diversionary tactic designed to deflect things like this.
Also see "What You Need to Know About Tenacious Katie" and "Perky Katie "hopeful" for Saddam's safety?"
Posted at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
Backstage at the Huffington Post
While struggling to understand this web thingy, sexy Greek siren/Web entrepreneuse Arianna Huffington seems to have put part of her site behind a secret, members-only wall.
If you go to their Newswire Archive, at the present time you'll see links to this week's coverage and a search box. What you will not see are links to monthly or weekly archives, such as, oh I dunno, people might want to actually look at.
When you search for something, it asks you for your password to the "Huffington Post Backstage", which appears to be located at build.huffingtonpost.com.
This blogger claims to have received a hit from there, and speculates that it might be a secret area for them to scheme over their next far-left inanities and insanities. Maybe even George Soros has an account there. Maybe it's even the online home of the New World Order.
Needless to say, those past archives might be of use to their users, plus having links like that will help search engines find their way to those pages. The corresponding search form on the blog side actually works, and I was also able to access old blog posts using their tags system. You can also access them using the poster's name which is included in each post, making them easy to spider by SE robots.
I worry about the PR of pages that SEs can't get to, especially since a few of them contain links that I placed there. All on-topic and of interest of course. The HP main index has PR7, the news/blog indexes have PR6, and a few old blog pages I looked at had PR3 with one from the siren herself at PR4. But, I wonder if those old news pages have much PR at all.
Posted at 04:38 AM | Comments (0)
Ray Nagin for President!
Because America needs strong, capable leadership.
I am, of course, kidding, but feel free to buy a button or a T-shirt from that store.
Posted at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)
We oppose the Miers nomination
The last thing we need is a Bush family crony on the United States Supreme Court.
(This is here for obscure blogospheric reasons.)
Posted at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)
Bloggers blogging from the Capitol!
Wow! This is big news! Several bloggers - led by Matt Margolis of Blogs for Bush - will be blogging live from "Bloggers' Row" at the Capitol on 10/20!According to the invitation he received from the House Republican Conference:
For the first time ever, Bloggers are invited to meet directly with House Members and blog from the Capitol. Members will be stopping in throughout the day to meet with bloggers and discuss the House Republican record of successful economic policies, their commitment to fiscal responsibility, and the details of the historic proposed budget amendment that is expected to reach the floor later this week.Why, Matt's even got a form you can fill out with your questions.
Just off the top of my head, here's a few:
To what do you owe your successful stewardship of this great country?And, note that this effort is Insty-approved!
What was the most difficult plan of Our Leader to implement, and how did you feel when you had successfully implemented it?
How does it feel to have finally got the country on the right track with your successful economic policies?
Will your commitment to fiscal responsibility continue in the coming years of your esteemed reign?
N.Z. BEAR IS SETTING UP A SPECIAL PAGE for people participating in the Congressional blogging event tomorrow. If you'll be participating, please let him know.And, now for the punchline: only some of these people are in on the game!
Also, Matt Margolis is taking questions to ask the House members. Submit yours!
I say, ask 'em about the pork, and the Coburn amendment. (Yes, I know it's in the Senate, but someone could always introduce a House version.)
And, this is similar to what happened the last time bloggers were invited to the Big Top. At that time, BlogsForBush solicited questions for the RNC bloggers, and you can read my attempt to hijack their comments thread at that link. Note this from that post:
Please keep your questions positive and related to the campaign, George W. Bush, and the election.And, you can read my unsucessful attempts to get a few questions proposed and asked here and here (redstate.org/story/2004/8/23/184419/535). Needless to say, it didn't work out too well.
Posted at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)
"To get Canadian Citizenship do you have to be fluent in French?"
Now, where else do you think you'd find a thread with that title but here? Au revoir, ma DUmmette.
Posted at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
The Hugh Hewitt Dining Guide
Our favorite BushBot is back with a shocking column:I was chatting with an administration insider over the weekend. During a sidebar in the conversation, it was intimated to me that President Bush's favorite late-night snack was a "shit sandwich" with tartar sauce on the side. That encouraged me to give it a shot with an open mind...Needless to say, Hugh has provided an update to his post. Some forms of playground humor are well-done and have a grain of truth in them.
...The verdict? Earthy, no-nonsense flavor. The tangy contrast of the tartar sauce is initially off-putting, but like Bush, I'm in this game for the long term. I'll give it some time to grow on me. It's easily a B+ snack...
(nofollowpolicy in effect)
Posted at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
Arianna Huffington and Baby Blumenthal
Did you think the low-point of Huffington Post came when Randall Robinson uttered these memorable words?
It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive.
Well, you're only part right. While it's extremely difficult to find an actual low point of the sexy Greek goddess' site, a contender must be Max Blumenthal, the son of Sid Blumenthal.
There's even a direct connection between Max and Randy. Shortly after the cannibalism charge, Sid Jr. offered "The Right Plays the Race-Card, Randall Robinson Unwittingly Indulges Them". Max stepped in as a bit of a White Savior, trying to offer Randy a lesson.
Obviously, almost everyone didn't believe Robinson's tasty charge; it didn't confirm our hidden suspicions about "those people." It simply provided yet another chance to laugh at Arianna and her crew.
Continuing his winning streak, Max now offers us "Bill Bennett, White Savior". He educates us about "closet racists" and "their codes", and diagnoses Bennett as being a "White Savior". Has the HuffPost no shame, have they no shame?
From young Max's bio:
Max Blumenthal is a Nation Institute Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow whose work regularly appears in the Nation. He has also written for The American Prospect, Salon.com, and the Washington Monthly. He received the Online Journalism Award for best independent feature in 2003 from the Online Journalism Association and the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communications. He is a Research Fellow at Media Matters for America.
Posted at 08:43 PM | Comments (1)
Now that's a money-making hoax!
I'm going to spell this site's name out since I don't want to link to bad neighborhoods: rent - a - d i l d o.com. If you remove the spaces from that string, you'll find a nicely designed site that might fool a fair number of people. It appears to offer a Netflix-style service, complete with a neat graphic showing how it all works.
Note that you can't subscribe to their $19.99 a month service, indicating that they a) aren't scammers and b) it's a hoax.
However, note that there are links to other sites where you can buy those items.
This looks to me like a nifty form of viral marketing: get large numbers of people who want a laugh coming in, and send them to another site to sell them stuff.
Posted at 02:09 AM | Comments (0)
You've endured three years of this?
A few days ago, this site quietly celebrated its third anniversary. Very shortly thereafter, traffic picked up markedly, due to a bit of a fluke involving people searching for the picture provided here. Slightly good for my gigantic ego, but a) this is a news and politics blog, and b) celebrity sites aren't usually as big an earner as sites involved in products people want to buy.
Nevertheless, I was happy to see the graphic above, in which I am currently the 87th most highly-trafficked web site. Among blogs that use sitemeter and that are monitored by the ecosystem, that is.
I believe one of the major reasons why this site doesn't get as much traffic as it should is because, let's face it, most bloggers are partisan hacks. They only link to people who confirm their beliefs rather than challenge them.
Needless to say, this site has a different perspective and, while it has a definite right-ward tilt I have no problem with calling things as they really are.
Posted at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
Huffington Post is scared
It used to be that the Huffington Post approved almost every comment I left on the blog side of things.
Then, after they started their Katrina coverage, there were very few comments on the blog side, and what there were were complimentary. While some brave souls appeared to let most or all comments through, most of the HuffPo's pseudo-pundits appeared to be massively deleting comments. I say that because controversial posts had almost no comments, and that's certainly strange.
Now, the HuffPost has disabled auto-linking of URLs. That means that the URL you leave beside your name is not linked to any URL, bare URLs left in comments aren't turned into active links, and HTML links are stripped out.
They apparently can't stand the heat.
Not only that, they appear to want people to build content for them for free. One of the prices you pay for people leaving comments is giving them a link. Leaving a comment builds up a page in a way that search engines like. So, if you leave a comment there expecting to get a link out of it, you're getting ripped off.
Solution: ignore that site.
UPDATE: This site says that the Greek beauty has over 15,000 comments needed to be moderated, so, if that's to be believed then it's not that they've been deleting them they just haven't been able to deal with their absurd policy. They're "liberals", what did you expect?
Also, note that that last link contains a nofollow tag. I left a comment there, which may or may not get moderated. But, if it does, it will have a nofollow tag in my URL. Why should I give him a real link if he's not going to return the favor?
Posted at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
Reason Magazine's Hit & Run now using idiotic nofollow tag
The loony libertarians at Reason Magazine's Hit & Run are now using the braindead nofollow tag on links in comments.
See this for just some of the reasons why that's an idiotic idea.
Pending clarification, I'm going to put Reason's decision in the "psychological affliction/what else do you expect libertarians to do/cut off nose to spite face" category.
UPDATE: In case you aren't familiar with this issue, here's what it means:
- If you've left comments at their site in the past, and you've left a link in your comments, you've now been retroactively stabbed in the back.
- If you leave a comment at their site in the future, you're being ripped off.
Here's an example of what that means: as it is right now, this post has less than two hundred words. But, search engines ("SE") just love lots of text, they gobble it up and like returning results containing pages that have 300 to 500 (or more) words.
But, I can only write so much. So, that's where you come in. If ten people leave comments here, it increase the value of this page, meaning the SEs will send more people here.
So, in effect, you're creating content for me. If you include an on-topic, non-spammy link in your comment, well I guess that's the price I pay for having you create content for me.
So, Reason has basically just told all those unpaid content creators to go fuck themselves. And, they did it after all those creators created that content for them.
While I might still leave comments there in the future, I strongly advise you to only do it in the rarest of cases. Why spend the time creating something for them if they aren't going to return the favor?
On the plus side, one of the ways that SEs find out what a page is about is by looking at what it links to. Reason is reducing the chance that a SE will be able to find out what their posts are about, which will probably end up hurting them far more than any benefit from using the nofollow tag. When wikipedia started using that tag, they started tanking in the search results. So, hopefully, we'll have that to look forward to.
And, of course, if you link to them, perhaps you should remove that link. Or, just change it to use nofollow.
Posted at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
DUmmies on Katrina: Bush MIHOP; minorities being oppressed; etc.
"cthrumatrix" offers us We need "one dot connected for MIHOP" New Orleans disaster & impeachment."MIHOP" stands for "made it happen on purpose". The case for MIHOP consists of four points:
1. "Bush received a 2001 national disaster update." One of those concerned NOLA.
2. A 2004 report to Bush covered what a major hurricane would do to NOLA.
3. "Bush cut funding to New Orleans and hurrican planning by 80%"
4. CIA weather control using HAARP and "Tesla technology".
Now, the first three probably happened, even if some of the details are a mite off. But, as proof that not all DUmmies are completely insane, most dismiss #4 as tinfoil hat time.
Returning to slightly more sane race-baiting and victimization territory, the DUmmies offer us "Are Minorities getting the short end of the stick in NO" and "white evacuees/black refugees".
Finally, "CrackpotAmerica" spares no rhetorical florish in "Our Nation Is In Great Danger":
In the wake of this disaster, we are all bearing witness to the competence of our nation’s institutional response. I am afraid that this response is less helpful than it is indicative of the gross incompetence and arrogance of our President’s agenda. Further, those private institutions that have received great benefit over the past six years are serving to remove their facade of charity and compassion by their meager offerings to this devastated landscape.In the not too distant past, "liberals" would have concentrated on leading the humanitarian effort. Now, they've simply been reduced to one small step above jabbering street people.
The immense consequence of the President's quest to cut funding to FEMA coupled with his complete disregard for any tangible plan for emergency preparedness will now be experienced by our entire nation. Yet, there is no mention of it thus far in the mainstream.
The President in his great narcissism has not walked a single yard of this broken soil since the storm has passed. As people scrambled upward in their homes to save their very lives, the President opted to enjoy a sliver of sweetly frosted cake on a sunny tarmac and attend a town hall meeting to discuss matters of no relevance to the immediate crisis.
While the Coast Guard worked to chop holes out of roofs to save men and women in their potential last moments, the President opted to commemorate Japan’s surrender, strumming a guitar with a boyish posture.
Posted at 08:15 PM | Comments (1)
I need $25 for an ad on MotherJones.com
For "just" $25, I can get a text link (javascript, not a direct 'a href', not that a week would do me much good if it were) on MotherJones.com for a week. Considering the CTR, it's not such a bad deal, but even so...I'm seriously considering it in order to educate their readers about the idiocy that that site spews forth.
For instance, clicking around a bit, I came across this roundup after the last presidential elections:
...Illegal immigrants were also big losers last night. Voters in Arizona passed Proposition 200, which would deny services to illegal immigrants and require government employees to report, by law, undocumented workers to authorities. Conservative supporters argued that it saves the state money and send a message that illegal immigrants are not welcome. At the "Yes on Proposition 200 party," J.T. Ready, a campaign volunteer, captured the nativist sentiment of many southwestern conservatives:What planet are MoJo readers from, and when will they return there?"This is going to send a resounding message to the federal government. We citizens are sick of them turning their heads to illegal immigration."[That's "nativist"? -- LW]
The proposition drew widespread criticism, from Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano to Republican Senator John McCain. [That's not a wide spread --LW] But in a campaign that urged voters to "do something about illegal immigration," the politics of fear and ignorance swept more than just the presidential election. [Too bad most Arizonans aren't as highminded as MoJo and don't support massive corruption, an invasion by a third world country, and the Mexican oligarchy. Bad, bad Arizonans! -- LW]
Unfortunately, Arizona was not the only state to enact anti-immigrant legislation. Even in San Francisco plenty of folks voted against according "illegal" immigrant parents voting rights in local school elections. [The quote marks around "illegal" are in the original -- LW] Although the measure failed in a narrow election, it speaks volumes that in a city that supports Kerry, Senator Barbara Boxer, and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi with over 80 percent of the vote, a basic right for these parents is voted down. [Do I really need to say that voting is not a "basic right" for those who are here illegally? To MoJo readers, apparently I do -- LW] It's getting ugly when progressive initiatives are beat up in our own backyard...
Posted at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
Debbie Schlussel meets the SPLC
The Southern Poverty Law Center has responded to a post from her about the Ranch Rescue controversy. You really need to read their reply to believe it. Her post and their email are in Gaza in Arizona: How "Civil Rights" Lawyer Morris Dees Seized American Land For Illegal Aliens.
(I went to her site yesterday because for some reason I got a ton of hits to my collection of Debbie Schlussel pictures. I was unable to figure out why that happened; perhaps she was on TV or something. Her site is now blog-like, including comments. They, however, use the idiotic nofollow tag.)
Posted at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
DUmmies: Chavez for Prez, simple "liberal" minds on multiculturalism, and George Galloway
Today in DUmmy News:
The poll question "Is Hugo Chavez is the greatest world leader so far in the 21st century?" [sic] has the following results: Yes, 32 votes. No, 24 votes.
And, they respond to the news that the Dallas school board has voted to require bilingual principals in some schools: "Bilingual-principal plan approved". To you this is an obvious ethnic power grab: just having a passing knowledge of Spanish probably isn't going to be good enough. A, shall we say, native fluency will be required. As will - of course! - an in-depth knowledge of "Hispanic" culture. Of course that will require that someone be "Raza"; otherwise the students won't have the proper, racially-sensitive learning experience. Needless to say, the DUmmies - except for one brave poster - are unable to grasp these elementary concepts.
And, lastly: "George Galloway US Tour! September 13-24". He'll be at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church at 3300 Wilshire on September 22, and I might be there. More tour dates here.
UPDATE: Chavez is pulling ahead! It's now Yes, 57 votes. No, 43 votes.
Posted at 04:15 AM | Comments (0)
Chavez for US President!
A trip to wacky DUmmyland is always a treat, and the thread "Chavez Dismisses Robertson Death Wish, Offers 'Medical Aid' to U.S. Poor!" is an extra special treat. Our friend in Venezuela has made a most generous offer:...Chavez said what did concern him was the level of poverty of certain people in the United States, and he offered aid from his government to help with the well-being and health of the American people.One poster suggest that Chavez runs for U.S. president. Others congratulate him for pointing out U.S. poverty and offer to help. But, oddly enough!, there are few negative comments. In fact, after more than fifty comments, I only found one that was negative, and, after several deleted replies, that poster offered an explanation:
Chavez said that some citizens of that country could be enrolled in the VISTA medical program of Cuba, and he even spoke of offering a special program of direct gasoline assistance to poor communities.
"The level of poverty in the United States also worries us. We offer not only to cover 6 million people with Vista over the next ten years, but to train over 200,000 doctors over the 10 years. We will put them back into Vista," he said... (original source)
All I basically said in my first post was, Ill believe it when I see it.
Posted at 06:44 AM | Comments (1)
Reason Magazine's Hit & Run can't stand the heat [RETRACTED]
[UPDATE: In the comments, Matt Welch says this was a technical glitch. The last time this happened I sent an email to Tim Cavanaugh and my second email with my screen name didn't get a reply and the comment never showed up. The comment in this case has not shown up either. Nevertheless, I'm going to give Reason the benefit of the doubt in this case.] As previously discussed, the libertarian site Reason Magazine has banned blogger Xrlq from commenting there.Now, it looks like a comment I left is being moderated out of existence. This happened before on a Kerry Howley thread in which I included several links in my comment. However, this time I didn't include any links (other than the redirected one for my name).
The thread in question is "Happy Hawaiian Statehood Day!" from Matt Welch, which includes this:
I'll have more on this Monday, but in the meantime, I'll throw this chum out to you sharks: Assuming there was strong popular support -- which may very well be an incorrect assumption, but just for the sake of the exercise -- why shouldn't the islands secede? Isn't it finer to be a 49er?(Emphasis as in original). I left the following:
why shouldn't the islands secede?That received a "Your comment has been received. To protect against malicious comments, I have enabled a feature that allows your comments to be held for approval the first time you post a comment. I'll approve your comment when convenient; there is no need to re-post your comment" screen, and the comment has not shown up after a couple hours. If it does, I'll retract this post. However, I'm not expecting it to show up.
Well, let's see. Because they're currently part of the United States? That would seem to be obvious to about 99% of Americans, but not apparently to the less than 1% who are libertarians.
Here's another question libertarians might enjoy pondering: If China invaded Hawaii, why should we bother fighting them? Isn't it much better to just let it go?
And, another stumper for the libertarians: What about Maine? Who needs it anyhow?
And, of course: Why not Aztlan? After all, Mexico is the Party Country, and with the (former) U.S. Southwest under their control, Aztlan will be a fun new vacation destination!
Will the last sensible libertarian please turn out the lights on the Manassass Holiday Inn where you're conducting this year's convention? Thanks.
Posted at 03:28 PM | Comments (6)
Huffington Post: monetize before it's too late!
The HuffPo has a new look. They've also added a bunch of ads to their news side: a top banner, a skyscraper in the upper right, a google skyscraper further down, a big fastclick square after the third post, and yet another fastclick square between each individual post and its comments.
I believe this change falls into the "monetize the site before it goes dark!!!" category.
Posted at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)
Standing in solidarity against Reason Magazine
The purported secret project designed to completely discredit any libertarian form of thought, otherwise known as Reason Magazine, has banned fellow blogger Xrlq from commenting there.
This blog stands in solidarity with comrade Xrlq against the loony libertarians.
Posted at 09:36 PM | Comments (1)
Favorite non-blogs?
I'm really sick of blogs. So, please take this opportunity to herein list your favorite - or least favorite - sites which are not blogs. These must be sites that never use the word "blog", "blogger", "blogosphere", or any of the other sickeningly cutesy words those odious people use.
Posted at 07:04 PM | Comments (6)
Can I comment on Instapundit posts?
Yes, you can!
In fact, you can comment on the posts made by Insty, Sully, Josh, Mickey, and all the rest over at BigMediaBlog. It's like a forum, except it's just designed for one thing: to provide (unauthorized of course!) comments for sites that don't have comments. Every day there's a new open thread for 17 sites, including many of your favorites.
If you see an entry at Instapundit or DailyKos or one of a dozen other sites and you disagree with it or it's just plain wrong or, leave your comments at that site.
In addition to BlogsForBush, Instapundit, and DailyKos, there are daily threads for these sites:
DemocraticUnderground
Andrew Sullivan
TalkLeft
Kausfiles
Talking Points Memo
Professor Bainbridge
National Review
NYT
WaPo
LAT
TV/cable
Other MSM
Other media
And, BigMediaBlog has a comments feed that you can subscribe to. So, check it out.
Posted at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)
There's nothing "fishy" about this site!
Have you ever thought about just how weird it is to see people posing with giant sea creatures?
Well, you might not have done that, but I have.
And, that's why I started a new site: fishosaur.com.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Posted at 05:51 AM | Comments (1)
Some people aren't worth the time it takes to try to help them: discuss
Why do I waste my time trying to help people who are apparently unable to appreciate my (more or less) worthwhile advice?
A recent example comes from radio host Phil Hendrie. You'd think that if a famous blogger such as myself starts offering not just advice but a link, Hendrie would be a slight bit grateful. I mean, he's a moderately well-known radio personality, but he's new at the blog game. So, I left a comment at this entry pointing to this helpful post. The comment has been deleted. Note, of course, that it might have been an underling that did that.
Then, there's my long-running attempt to improve the effectiveness of DTN. They still haven't fixed those easily-fixed problems even after yet another message, this time sent using FPM's form. Once again, their frontline less-than-bright persons might be the ones who get those messages.
And, over two weeks ago I tried to offer some advice to the new site smartbusinesspractices.com. For instance, their left menu barely works in Firefox. I got a form letter in reply, and the problems still haven't been fixed. The previous disclaimers might apply here as well.
In all these cases, the problems I discussed are fairly easy to fix and would improve those sites' effectiveness. And, the value of my advice could be easily verified with a search on those issues.
The problem with all these appears to be quite simple: operator error. I'm going to stop trying to offer advice to people who are apparently unable to understand it.
Posted at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
L.A. Newspaper Group has an immigration blog
Fulfilling his quota of discussing vitally important matters once every month or two, Insty informs us about a new blog covering immigration matters: Beyond Borders.
Scroll down to the bottom or peel back the URL and what do we find?
A Special Report on Immigration by Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and The [San Bernardino] Sun
Those papers have published some good articles and some bad as well. The blogger doing this is one Conor Friedersdorf, who appears to have worked for that newspaper group and contributes to Claremont's Local Liberty blog. He also has a low-traffic blog of his own entitled Unconventional Wisdom.
Unfortunately, the new blog seems a bit credulous, but perhaps that's an attempt to be fair or provoke comments, such as with this post that takes Tamar Jacoby seriously. At post time there are no comments that I could find.
UPDATE: There are a few comments now, but I note that like other sites they appear to be using the idiotic nofollow tag on links in comments.
Posted at 09:55 AM | Comments (2)
Soros-funded Media Matters deletes yet another comment
Their message control is getting pretty funny. Perhaps I should start a new category just for my comments that they've deleted.The latest is the comment I left in "In NY Times book review, Posner rehashed tired "liberal media" claims". Yes, of course I saved my comment:
If you go to BoreAmerica you'll see that it's been over 7 days since the Air America scandal broke. Yet, none of the "non"-liberal media outlets like the NYT, WaPo, LAT, or their smaller brethren have covered this issue.Previous examples start here.
Seven whole days without a peep from the "non"-liberal media.
For another example, check out this table. It has two stories side-by-side: one from the Chicago Tribune, the other from the N.Y. Daily News. I'd imagine that 99% of Americans would say those paragraphs had the exact same structure. They even share phrases. And, they both promote the same "liberal" legislation.
Anyone who says that the MSM is not "liberal" simply reduces their own credibility.
Posted at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
On Andrew Sullivan, patriotism, and treason
Earlier I had a post here in which I said some rather unfortunate things about Andrew Sullivan. I used some strong language and some scurillous innuendo. I have removed that post and I deeply regret making those statements, most of which I believe are not completely true.
I do, however, hope that one day "Sully" returns to his senses - and his previous position - of supporting Our Leader. Perhaps one day we'll hear him taking the Bush Pledge. Perhaps all he needs to do is read "Why I Like George W. Bush" (redstate.org/story/2004/7/25/155049/493) or - even more appropriate for him - "Why I Like Dick Cheney" (sdai-tech1.redstate.org/story/2004/7/27/23591/3849). Team Bush would welcome Sully with open arms if he ever decides to return to the light.
As for the so-called "Bush Suck Up Watch" that he posted:
"It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can't get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile." - John Hinderaker, Powerline.
Is there anything in there that isn't true?
Posted at 11:06 AM | Comments (1)
Phil Hendrie has a blog
And, Phil Hendrie might be about to learn his first major web lesson: don't announce your future URL until you've registered that URL and possible variations.
I believe his blog is going to be at georgewbushisgod.com. At post time that has a NetSol Coming Soon page.
However, over at georgebushisgod.com it has the similar page... from GoDaddy.
Either he's using different registrars, or someone's trying to get the type-in typo traffic.
I'd suggest changing the name before it's too late. I'd also suggest changing the name to something that reflects reality, like possiblythemostcorruptadministrationever.com or similar.
UPDATE: Regarding "Sir Bob"'s comment, I rarely listen to the show since I disagree with almost all of his guests. I can stand Ted Bell to a certain extent, but the rest are complete idiots.
Also, as of 8/03 Hendrie does indeed have a blog at that site.
Posted at 05:58 PM | Comments (3)
The Houston Chronicle has a blog about itself
This should come in handy, especially since they allow comments.
Posted at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)
nofollow breaks trackbacks, and what Firefox users can do
Let's say you create an entry on your blog that comments on this post. You give a link to this post and send a trackback*. That's the way trackbacks are supposed to work: they create a reciprocal link between two posts, each referring to the other.
But, let's say I was sneaky and I didn't really want a reciprocal link, I just wanted a one-way link from your site to mine.
What I could do is use a "nofollow" tag on the trackback link pointed back to you. While people might click on that link, search engines will ignore it. So, you've given me a nice link that search engines will follow, but I'm not returning the favor.
And, this appears to be MovableType's out of the box behavior with their latest versions. Most bloggers probably have this setup because they don't know better, but I'm sure there are more than a few who know what's going on.
If you use Firefox, you can install the one-liner described here in order to easily detect sites that use nofollow: those links show up as red text on a black background.
* Note: I've disabled trackbacks at least for now, but I don't use nofollow on other links left here.
Posted at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
Blogging promotion tip #832: summit registers
In past episodes, we've covered tattooing your URL on your forehead, balloon drops, engaging in a high-speed chase with your URL painted on the roof of your car, and putting your pet in a T-shirt with your blog's URL on it and parading it around town.
Todays tip is inserting blog advertising in summit registers.
As you can see from the comment from this site here, this has already paid off:
Hi. I picked up your blog business card at the top of Guadalupe Peak. Good idea. Will an entry on GP be forthcoming?
In an attempt to continue getting the phenomenal summit-register-related traffic, just yesterday I placed a summit register at Strawberry Peak. I placed a small notebook and a couple pens in a metal box festooned with kitty pictures, because that's all they had at the discount store. I also, of course, signed it using this blog's URL, so I fully expect the traffic to increase markedly in the coming months.
Bear in mind I'm quite serious about this promotion business. As usual I got a late start, and I was also delayed because they were holding a road rally of some kind in the Angeles National Forest and there appeared to have been a serious accident. I didn't see the accident, but I was in a long line of cars waiting for a helicopter to land so the injured person(s) could be transported out of there. I can't find a news report on this and I don't have any more details.
When I started hiking from Red Box up the eastern route, the radiation from the ground felt like I was standing next to an oven. There was very little breeze and it was muggy and smoggy. I eventually made it to the top and made it back down but I really should start earlier or later during the summer, eh? I also saw no one else going up or coming back, and I only saw a few other people in the Red Box parking lot. I really need to go to the Sierras soon. I'll bring blogging cards.
Posted at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
It's time for a pledge drive
Rather than a tip jar, I just want each of my readers to buy several Rejuvenique RJV10KIT Facial Toning Mask Kits. Note that that fine kit is currently or formerly endorsed by Linda Evans, TV Megastar.
Whatever you do, pay no attention to this page, this page, this page (the fact that the inventor is from Clearwater, FL is reportedly not a coincidence) or this page.
Posted at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
Soros-funded Media Matters still deleting comments
To the best of my knowledge, even the Huffington Post has published and not deleted the several comments I've left there, even on their moderated threads.
However, MediaMatters for America - the outfit that receives funding from George Soros - has deleted my comments in the past, and it looks like they've done it again.
The latest was on the thread Limbaugh blasted Mehlman's renunciation of GOP racial tactics: "Republicans are going to go bend over and grab the ankles". At that thread I left a comment with links to "NAACP Chairman Compares Republicans to Terrorists", this, and a couple other posts. Of course, there was no swearing, personal attacks, or anything remotely similar in my comment. Just the truth.
On the other hand, at the same time I left the following comment on the thread "ABC's Tapper misstated law on Rove's disclosure of Plame's identity":
Jake Tapper used to be reliable, but he's obviously not on our side anymore.
What we learn: if you leave an informative comment at the Soros-funded MMFA, and it shows just how wrong they are, it stands a good chance of being deleted.
However, they don't understand satire, so that gets to stay.
On a related note, this puts them in the same scared-of-the-truth category as KoolAid Central.
Posted at 01:56 PM | Comments (1)
DUmmies wising up about illegal immigration?
I don't want to disturb their fragile attempts to come to their senses, so don't everyone click on the following link. Maybe, copy and paste it instead of just clicking on it. The DUmmyland thread "Non-Mexicans arrested at U.S. border nearly doubled" has a few of the usual kneejerk comments, but it also includes this:"Aguilar said that last year the border patrol detained 644 people from "countries of concern" and had stopped some 500 this year. They were subjected to intense interrogation and investigation."And, this from another poster:
How much damage could 500 people possibly do? After all, there were 19 hijackers on September 11 and they barely did any damage at all.
...we want them here legally, and in controlled numbers, so that a flood of cheap illegal labor doesn't drive Americans out of their jobs. 10 years ago, most roofers in Denver were Americans, and they made damned good money. Then some unscrupulous employer figured out he could save some money and outcompete his competition by hiring illegal laborers for dirt cheap. Pretty soon, his competition either had to stoop to his tactics and hire illegals, or go out of business.
Oh, and since they are here illegally, they can't get a driver's license. And since they don't have a driver's license, they don't get insurance. And since they don't have insurance (not that they could afford it anyway) my insurance has to pay when an uninsured motorist damages my vehicle. And since my insurance has to pay, my rates have to increase. And naturally, their employer certainly isn't going to give them medical insurance, so the same holds true there.
Now, on the other hand, if he is here legally, he can provide ID, get a drivers license, buy insurance, and complain to legal authorities if he is being abused or taken advantage of by an unscrupulous employer. He has rights. Employers can't pay him less than minimum wage. He can apply for a legal social security number. He can testify in court without fear of deportation. He could even join or form a union to strike for higher wages or better work conditions.
Do I blame the immigrants? No. They are just doing what they can to improve their lives. I'd do the same thing in their shoes. I blame the US govt, unscrupulous greedy employers, and pandering politicians. Since employers from packing plants to landscapers to roofers to janitorial services companies to Walmart need and want an endless supply of ever cheaper labor, the US govt makes almost NO effort to control it. Republicans don't stop it because the employers pay them to let it continue. Democrats don't stop it because they like the idea of people being able to improve their lot in life, but they fail to recognize the costs to American workers in terms of wage pressures, higher insurance rates, and higher taxes.
You say "we've got bigger problems than illegal Mexicans working for less than minimum wage". But I say we don't. The biggest concern I have for the future of this entire country (and hemisphere for that matter) is the destruction of America's middle class...
Posted at 12:44 PM | Comments (1)
Blogging 500 Internal Server Error problems solved; a plea
I haven't had any of those nagging 500 Internal Server Errors today, so perhaps the author of DBD::mysql has finally fixed the problem and done so in a way that cPanel can automatically update itself with the new version.
I also have a plea that's driving me wacky. Did you come here looking for cat_politics.html, and did you get a 404? That's because there's a space before "archives" in the URL you followed. Please leave a comment telling me where that URL can be found, since I can't find it. (The space might be a "%20", or it might just be a regular blank space).
Posted at 01:19 PM | Comments (1)
Guess who's blogging at the Huffington Post?
There are so very many angles with which to approach this, but let's try this one. Which of these do you think has a post at the HP?
1. Dr. Phil
2. John Edward (the spiritualist, not the VP candidate)
3. Deepak Chopra
4. the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
If you care, click here for the answer. Note the advice about 10pm, then note the post time. (OK, time zones might be involved, but let's not let that spoil yet another chance to make fun of HP).
On the other hand, at least the poster is not as objectionable as Paul Krassner or Tom Hayden.
Here's an idea for Arianna: an HP cruise! It would be like those National Review cruises, except it would be for everyone who's posted or who will post at HP. And, instead of hum-drum locations like the Caribbean, Arianna could pilot the cruise into the South China Sea. Arrr, me liberals!
Posted at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
Look! It's Insty, and he's talking about immigration!
Once every month or two, America's favorite blogger turns his attention to the most critical issue facing this nation. This time around he links to a Mickey Kaus blurb about Bush's "Amnesty" Magnet, which discusses the story we posted here two days ago about the Border Patrol survey showing 45% of illegal crossers came because of Bush's "temporary" worker plan.
Insty has this to say:
This won't play well among the Republicans who are angry at Bush over immigration, and there are a lot of those. Kaus also draws a parallel between welfare reform and immigration reform that seems apt to me.
Kaus (for the most part) understands these issues, but he could do more. For instance, he calls a quote from the National Immigration Forum "idiotic", but, unlike me, he didn't provide a link to more information on that fine organization.
However, to Insty matters involving immigration, sovereignty, and similar are more like a minor annoyance in his libertarian worldview and his support for the Bush administration. He'd much rather discuss important issues like Rathergate. Here's a hint: every American should be angry with Bush and our other leaders about these issues, not just a segment of Republicans.
Posted at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
Take the MIT Blogger Survey!
Because you believe in personally enforced diversity, even if it's not 100% accurate.
Posted at 05:39 AM | Comments (0)
Could the blogging bubble burst already?
Please, please burst, little bubble, burst! From "AO/Technorati Open Media 100":AlwaysOn and Technorati are pleased to present the first annual "Open Media 100," the power list of bloggers, social networkers, tool smiths, and investors leading the Open Media Revolution...It's like they left their multimedia costumes in the closet, and now have found a new trend to latch their worthless selfs on.
The purpose of this list is to provide an initial, helpful framework of this emerging industry and highlight its key players who are influencing the adoption of open media and proving the impact it is already having on the technology industry, journalism, and marketing. To achieve this goal, we created the following categories: Pioneers, Trendsetters, Practitioners, Toolsmiths, and Enablers...
...This list will evolve and change just as quickly as the Open Media Revolution continues to take hold...
Most of their politically-oriented choices are people who have worthless or childish or childlike opinions. Hatrios indeed, although he's just one of their several duds.
I left the following comment:
I'm a reporter for a major newspaper, and I'm writing an article on the New Media. I'm a little confused and hope someone can help me out.
How will I be able to tell whether someone is (frankly) moving up on the list or moving down? Are any of those on the list showing their age, so to speak?
I'm glad I was already familiar with some of the names on the list, but some I wasn't and they're quite interesting. Thanks for the helpful list.
P.S. Can I just re-write the columns I wrote during the MultiMedia Revolution, re-purposing my old content for the new revolution? Or, are there major differences between multimedia and blogging?
Posted at 07:59 PM | Comments (2)
Huffington Post: only the little people scale their pictures
Once you achieve a certain level of "liberal" eliteness, you can do things like the following:
I'm sure one of Arianna's manservants will be along presently to rectify this situation.
In the meantime, visit Huff and Blow. If I start getting visitors I might update it.
Posted at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)
Should you link to discoverthenetwork.com?
Let's turn that question on its head: should you link to discoverthenetwork.com, or should you link to the version with www? Wait, there are even more choices ahead. You can also link to either version in the .net and .org TLDs. And, it gets even better, because you can link to all six at discoverthenetworks. And, all of those return a 200 instead of 301s pointing to a main domain.
Let's look at a few PR values:
www.dtn.com: PR5
dtn.com: PR3
www.dtn.net: PR0
www.dtns.org: PR0
So, why am I telling you this? Because I've already sent them two emails telling them to fix and the many other problems at their site, and they've failed to do so. Which is a bit frustrating for me, since I've linked to them from many posts here and elsewhere, but they don't seem to be able to do their part to try to make their service as effective as it could be.
I mean, this blogger is hardly an SEO expert, and this site has its own problems, some of which I'm still fixing or have given up on. But, DTN is a newer site, and they (I would imagine) have enough of a budget to actually do something.
So, if you have some pull with them, please suggest they finally fix their site. Some of these changes - like redirecting all 11 alternate URLs to one URL - would take about 15 minutes of work if that.
Posted at 08:20 PM | Comments (1)
How to rank really high for worthless terms
If you go to G00g|e and search for $pr|nger rad|o (as in Jerry $pr|nger, of course: replace $ and | with letters), you'll find that another Lonewacko project, BoreAmerica.com is currently #6. Wow, I've finally made the Big Time. Except, as I discuss in "Jerry Springer radio career questioned", it's a pretty worthless distinction as out of about 35,000 searches for his name in April, just 200 were for that term. Plus, although it seems to be changing, G00g|e seems to first link to the terms on the front page of that site, then as they disappear from the front page it links to the individual entries but it only does so at a lower position in the SERPs.
Posted at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
Illegal immigration for real DUmmies
How DUmb are the DUmmies when it comes to illegal immigration? About as DUmb as they are about other things. To see how sheep-like and gullible some DUmmies are, check out the MSNBC story "'Minutemen' gear up for mainstream movement". Notice anything interesting about the accompanying photo by Robert King of the Zuma Press? Here's a screengrab:
And, here I've (very roughly) divided the photo into nine parts:
And, here are two parts of the photo:
Now, if you were a DUmmie, you would end up saying something like:
Are they armed or just kickin' back with binoculars, brews and a cel phone?What gun? Anyone see a gun in that photograph? Oh, that! Why, that's barely visible. It's not like the Zuma Press was trying to make the gun as huge as possible and put it front and center so everyone would immediately notice it or anything. Here's another DUmmie comment:
On edit:
I just checked out the link and the photo shows a guy with a gun...
Of all the problems this country faces, illegal immigration ranks pretty damn low.Obviously, anyone who's spent some time reading this blog knows that it's one of the most pressing issues currently facing the U.S. Just because the MSM continually denies the existence of problems doesn't mean there aren't problems.
And, what would a DUmmie thread be without an absolutely idiotic comment? You know, the kind that puts all the other comments in the thread to shame:
The minutemen are nothing but republican brown shirt storm troopers who have been given the power and authority by the republican majority and the Patriot Act to shoot first and ask questions later. This is now beyond dangerous, because American military troops sworn to protect the U.S. people against all aggressors, are off fighting an insane war for the president and republican controlled corporations and interests, while the people are exposed and vulnerable to literally hundreds of thousands of these vigilante minutemen thugs.For all we know, some of those "republican controlled corporations and interests" might be posting things like this in "liberal" forums like DUmmieland. What better way to keep the money flowing than to have the "liberals" on your side?
Posted at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
Nigerian blog spams?
Yes, you read it here first. "Dr. Nate Obaseki" just left a comment, and he wants you to know that his group deals on raw materials and export into Europe/America. They want representatives who can "help us establish a medium of getting to our clients in America/Europe as well as making payments through you to us... There will be no financial obilgation required from you in this transaction..."
Of course, we can see what comes next: there's the minor perfunctory nature of the transfer fees. You see, those need to be paid beforehand, and to be on the up and up, it has to come from your account. It's just a minor matter, and it will make get the 17 Million and Four Hundred Thousand Dollars U.S. ($17,400,000 USD) to you that much quicker.
Posted at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)
Soros-funded Media Matters now deleting comments?
Media Matters - which admits it receives money from George Soros - appears to have deleted several comments from this thread about Bill O'Reilly discussing Harvard's plan to spend $50 million to promote "faculty diversity." O'Reilly said: "Any woman who signs on to work at Harvard gets 100 pair of shoes ... because all women want shoes."
I left a sarcastic comment in the Manolo Shoe Blog style, and linked to that blog. I also said, "I think MMFA, they have no sense of the humor." That comment is now missing, as are about 50 others that were there.
Posted at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
How Insty does it
How does Insty post all those informative posts? AutoBlogger!
AutoBlogger is a powerful content-authoring software tool designed for online columnists and bloggers. Upon installation, AutoBlogger uses a sophisticated Artificial Intelligence algorithm to 'read' the public entries of your journal/blog to triangulate a sense of your writing style. From that point forward, any time you hit a writer's block, want to take a vacation, or simply wish to step away from your computer for a few days, AutoBlogger can be set to take over, using what it has learned about your posting and writing patterns to author original content in a voice consistent with your existing prose.
Heh. Indeed.
Posted at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
8ulova Watches come to the internet
If you're wearing glasses, could you misadjust them so your vision is slightly blurred? Or, if you aren't could you blink your eyes or do something else to achieve the same blurred effect? Then, read the following:
I recently flew from Boston to Oakland on AmericaWest airlines. This is the second time I've flown like that across the United States of Arnerica.
Cute, huh? In fact, if you go to google and search for BoreAmerica, you'll see that airarnerica.com is in the first page of results. The site appears to be inactive right now, but Google's cache is from the 12th and it appears to be a basic parked directory, but somehow 'boreamerica' wound up in google's index.
Posted at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
Blogs for Bush: off the Kool-Aid?
A few days ago, Blogs For Bush, aka "Kool-Aid Central", announced the winners of their... stamp contest. I kid you not. The emotionally immature, ideologically insecure fanboys at B4B had a contest to design a George W. Bush stamp. The winner's at the link. The picture to the right would have been my entry had I known about the contest.
However, an entry today reports on the Washington Times article "Border Patrol Told To Stand Down In Arizona". It includes this:
If we have another 911-type attack on our soil, and it is shown, that they came through the Mexican border, then there is going to be hell to pay to both political parties for totally ignoring the problem.Will that entry (from Paul Lewis) be allowed to remain there? Will Paul Lewis be sent to the gulags in West Texas? Stay tuned.
And, for those who haven't been following this story, one of the reasons I laugh at B4B is their habit of deleting my comments. Start in My picture is in the KoolAid Central dictionary under "troll" for the backstory.
Posted at 11:19 PM | Comments (5)
Bloggeur sous attaque!
Mon bleu! Un bloggeur est sous attaque par les forces de Puteaux! Donatez vous tout de suite, mon cheries. J'attends le couverature de mon ami l'hack d'instant.
L'UPDATE: Oouups: je m'ai fait realizer que le blogge Boing Boing a deja couvrit cette affaire, donc ceci n'est pas un scoup. Mon mal.
Posted at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
Huffington Post is not making my job easier
Over at Huff And Blow, I've been trying to satirize the concept of Arianna Huffington's new site.
Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of an identity crisis here. But, it's more than that. I fear I'm having trouble with reality itself.
I know that Ariadne Huffanan, Zeke Whittle, and Cudahy Patel are made-up names, because I made them up. And, I realize all the posts at Huff And Blow are fake, because I wrote them.
But, then I look at the site I'm supposed to be satirizing, and I see that Robert Evans is posting there, and Hillary Rosen out of the RIAA has a sleazy post about Mary Cheney (she's gay, don't you know).
Which is the satire? Where am I? Who am I? Which reality am I really in?
Posted at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
Ariadne's celebrity group blog
I see that Ariadne Huffanan - the famous columnist, thinker, author, educator, activist, and former candidate for honorary mayor of Brentwood - has started a new blog: HuffAndBlow.com
One of this blog's favorite "video stars" has joined her as well. None other than socialite and motel heiress Cudahy Patel will be joining her experiment.
America's favorite legendary and avuncular newscaster, Ezekiel "Zeke" Whittle has a post up where he talks about journalistic ethics. Maybe he should learn from his own post.
So far, I'm giving two thumbs down - way down - to HuffAndBlow.com. Check it out and you'll probably agree.
UPDATE: Shocking developments over at Huff And Blow, but thankfully everything appears to be OK. The same can't be said of the other celebrity group blog, Huffington Post.
Posted at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
BoingBoing joins the sleaze parade
The blog BoingBoing usually concentrates on semi-interesting but ultimately worthless junk. However, they occasionally swerve into politics, and it's usually about as funny as watching your average celebrity with their average IQ discussing something like farm subsidies.
Their latest attempt at commentary is a post on the Minuteman Project from Xeni Jardin entitled "Snapshots of volunteer "Minutemen" on US/Mexico border", which is sandwiched between posts entitled "Dada Dolls made from found objects" and "Bukkake Cookies".
In the post, Jardin juxtaposes two pictures of Minuteman volunteers with a poster that refers to "wetbacks." That's where the sleaze comes in. See, the poster says it's from the "Campaign for Public Awareness", and it has no other identifying information. It doesn't have the Minuteman name on it, and it runs contrary to the goals of the Minuteman project.
A search failed to turn up an organization with that name that could have produced these posters. Someone appears to have stamped a phone number on the poster, but it isn't clear whether that number is really part of the poster or was stamped there afterwards. The number appears to be associated with unionvoice.org, but whether they're the authors of the poster is probably unlikely. It's certainly possible that the poster was created by an enemy of the MMP in a rather pathetic attempt to smear them.
Isn't this false juxtaposition what is usually referred to as "yellow journalism"? Like much of the other MSM coverage of the MMP, I'm continually reminded of the glory days of William Randolph Hearst.
In her little post, Jardin also refers to the Minuteman volunteers as racists and sees no difference between them and lynch mobs. And, it includes this bit:
...these are the volunteer border patrol militias comprised of heavily armed, grumpy-looking white people who have self-organized to stem the flood of wannabe janitors, dishwashers, and nannies who threaten our national security...
Of course, as pointed out before, not all of the MMP volunteers are white.
And, if I were a big corporation (or a member of the corrupt elite) that was making money off illegal immigration (or was even just employing an illegal nanny), I know that I'd make the same arguments that Jardin attempts to make. I don't think that Jardin falls into the corrupt elite category, I imagine she's just parroting the comments of other, better pundits.
Posted at 07:25 PM | Comments (5)
Random notes on the Nick Denton blogging empire
I'm still getting the occasional hit at BoreAmerica.com from a year-old Wonkette entry about Air America.
Curious about the numbers at the end of that last URL, I visited Wonkette's home page and looked at the last five entries. These are the numbers at the end of their URLs:
039802
039800
039792
039769
039767
From that, Watson, I conclude that Denton is running at least one other - and perhaps all - of his sites off one copy of MovableType, because even if you have multiple blogs MT stores all the entries in one table using that number as the entries' unique key.
Then, Watson, I looked at the IP addresses of Denton's sites. I only checked four since I think I figured it out:
gawker 67.18.39.132
defamer 67.18.39.133
wonkette 67.18.39.135
gizmodo 67.18.39.136
Just to satisfy my own personal interest, I note that Wonkette's home page has a PR of just 6, and the second and third index pages have PRs of 0. However, the Air America page linked above has a PR of 4, and a more recent individual post has PR 5.
As for the picture of PBS NewsHour's Margaret Warner above, she's responding to my spurious questioning in which I proposed that she - and not Ann Marie Cox - is the model for the oh so sexy Wonkette graphic.
Posted at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)
Could you play a "liberal" on the Net?
The DUmmies have had and have currently several threads on the Minuteman Project. Here are a few of the recent ones:
A POLL: Will You Be Joining The "Minutemen" To Defend The Fatherland? ("liberal" humor with a tip o' the hat to Godwin, gotta love it!)
About the latest immigration threads here
How in the hell are the "Minutemen" allowed to do what they are doing?
The Minuteman Project: What They Stand For In Their Own Words (includes the words of others, but close enough!)
In all of those threads a few 1000+ posters make sane arguments in favor of the MMP or at least supporting their right to do what their mission statement says they're going to be doing.
However, in each thread there are several people who chime in with the expected "liberal" response involving race-baiting, or invoking Godwin's law, or similar.
Now, if I were, say, a big corporation that made millions of dollars off illegal immigration, I know what I'd consider doing. I'd try to oppose the MMP or similar anti-illegal immigration groups in whatever way possible. And, that might include astro-turfing online forums with the expected "liberal" responses. After all, millions of dollars are at stake.
I'm not saying that's happening, but it's hardly impossible. Most of the negative responses at DU are no doubt from committed "liberals". However, some at DU or elsewhere could be from people who are paid to give the impression that there's something wrong with enforcing our borders.
Posted at 03:02 PM | Comments (2)
Wikipedia's continual low credibility
I provide yet another reason to distrust Wikipedia in this post at BoreAmerica.
Previous coverage of Wikipedia starts here.
Posted at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)
Bush, Fox, and "North America"
I posted an entry entitled Welcome to "North America" over at Michelle Malkin's new group blog The Immigration Blog. It concerns the recent meeting in Waco between Bush, Fox, and Martin to announce the "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America" and what Fox - and perhaps Bush - are getting at.
Posted at 11:04 PM | Comments (3)
I need a WordPress evangelist
I want to set up a blog at tolstoy.com. I currently have three MovableType blogs, all of which fit under MT's non-commercial banner: this one, BigMediaBlog.com, and BoreAmerica.com. Since the blog at tolstoy.com would be construed as commercial and it would put me over my three blogs/person limit anyway, I would probably end up having to pay MT $199, something which I'd rather avoid. I might end up doing that because, even though MT is written in the horrific language of Perl, I'm familiar with it and I know I can make it do what I want to do.
So, will WordPress allow me to do the following?
1. Here's the structure I want. This is mostly non-negotiable. I don't want files named *.php with or without any numerical identifiers on the end:
main page: tolstoy.com/blog/index.html
posts: tolstoy.com/blog/this-is-a-post.html
monthly: tolstoy.com/blog/archives-march-2005.html
category: tolstoy.com/blog/category-bloggage.html
(As implied by the next requirement, I very much don't want to use mod_rewrite to achieve the foregoing.)
2. I want as little dynamically-generated content as possible. WP apparently uses index.php to serve all content dynamically. mod_rewrite is used to simulate permalinks. MySQL is hit each time a page is loaded. That scheme has two problems: a) it's resource-intensive, and b) it's prone to errors. If MySQL or PHP crashes, there goes your pages. I want index.html to be an actual static HTML file which is served to the user with at most server-side includes. I've found two possible ways to create static pages with WP so far: Staticize (originally from here; at the end of that page there are currently some PHP errors printed out which is what I'd like to avoid) and the more recent WP-Cache 1.0. Both apparently just cache pages when they're first requested, they don't rebuild a la MT. Thus, index.html isn't a standalone page, it's served from the cache. I just want to rebuild and create static pages.
3. When a post is added, I want to output a snippet of HTML containing just links to the latest posts. I'd use server-side includes to include that in the non-blog-related static files at the site.
There are earlier discussions of MT v. WP here and here. There's even more links here.
(I can't use Roller because the server with tolstoy.com doesn't allow servlets. I have another server that allows servlets, but that would be even more complicated than caching. Plus, the roller .jar files are >600kb meaning that figuring out how to make modifications might take some time. Or, I could create a fake blogging system by hand-writing raw HTML but I'd rather avoid that. Or, I could write something like this myself, but then I'd need to add in comments. Then, I'd need to add trackback, XMLRPC, etc. etc. Then...)
UPDATE: I downloaded WP and, since it consists of several 100s of kb of PHP files, I don't think I'll be wading into that any time soon. However, a plugin looks easier to write. It looks like I might be able to create a plugin similar to the caching ones that would save WP's output at a series of static files like I want:
1. Create one or more db tables that would map whatever internal ID WP uses to differentiate posts to a file name:
create table filename_map_table( WPs_ID_number int, filename varchar(255) )
I might need different tables for categories and dates depending on how WP's IDs are set up.
2. When a post is created, the plugin would be called and would execute:
insert into filename_map_table( [post ID], dirify( [post title] ) );
I'd have to figure out how to get the post's ID and title from WP.
3. Whenever something happens (post created, comment added, trackback received, etc.) rebuild the affected files.
I'd imagine I'd be able to get the post ID of the affected post from WP. Then, I'd figure out what categories and date-based files that's in, and rebuild all those files.
4. Rebuilding a file would be similar to what's done by the caching plugins. I'd save to a buffer the output of index.php when hit with the post/category/date-based identifier. Then, I'd save that to the filename obtained from the filename_map_table tables.
5. index.php would still exist and the blog could be accessed that way, but I'd discourage that by renaming it to hidden-index.php or similar.
If there's something like that already out there, please leave a note.
Posted at 01:04 PM | Comments (4)
Air America in Dallas and Austin: join the discussion!
Over at BoreAmerica, a surprising number of comments (9!) have been left about Air America radio coming to Dallas and Austin. Feel free to join in.
Posted at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
My picture is in the KoolAid Central dictionary under "troll"
While searching for something else, I came across this year-old thread all about comments being deleted from KoolAid Central, a.k.a. BlogsForBush.com. Matt Margolis responds with this comment:
It's interesting how a few people have wasted a decent amount their time and energy accusing B4B of censoring opposing views. It comes as no shock to me that people who are extremely set upon using B4B as their personal soapbox are very willing to overlook their own repeated violations of the comment policy and ultimately express shock over comments being removed or repeat offenders being banned.The presence of these commenters on ReadMe shows the true nature of their adamancy to push their views without any regard for appropriateness.
We have a comment policy at B4B, and those found in violation of the policy are dealt with appropriately. Comments are moderated by the author of each blog entry and a "full time" moderator. When challenges to the policy, or accusations of unjust deleting or banning are made, I make inquiries to the moderator and I'm then provided with the comments made in complete context, and any history of the person in question. The people complaining above are telling their one sided (and incomplete) story of the circumstances for their banning or deletion of their comments.
Some of the people making a fuss are individuals who were determined by the moderator not only to have repeatedly violated the comment policy, but also to have made repeated attempts to circumvent their banning...
Previous abuse of KoolAid Central begins here, but be sure to check out the post screengrabbed here.
For an example of KoolAid Central's Stalinist commentary policies, the following comment I made was deleted from a thread about Hillary Clinton:
Hillary's on the right side of immigration matters, something that most other Democrats and many Republicans are not.
Yep, that's the whole comment. Another deleted comment included links to MattWelch, Sen. Schumer, and WND. I removed the Schumer link and tried again. The second try was deleted as well.
It's not like I'm complaining, overall I find such cult-like behavior entertaining in a way.
Posted at 05:22 PM | Comments (2)
The long blogdom nightmare is finally over!
If blogging has been light these past few days, it's because I've been obsessively working on a new site: food312.com. The regular blogging schedule shall resume later today.
Posted at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
Don't let ODub or Hatrios say I never gave them anything
Here, I just made them a nifty graphic they can proudly display on their web sites:
(In case you don't know what this is about, see "The George Soros/Media Matters/David Brock network discovered")
Posted at 08:27 PM | Comments (1)
What is a food blog?
Insty directs our attention to the an article in the Tennessean entitled "World-wide recipe swap". In the following excerpt, see if you can notice the slight change I've made to their text in order to elevate this blog above the rest:
...Blog is a shortened version of "Web log," which is an online personal journal. There are thousands out there, some personal, some professional, focused on everything from sports to politics to . . . well, food.What elevates a blog is that it usually contains hyperlinks (for example, a link to a Web site selling the whisk a cook is raving about). And most blogs allow you to leave comments and read comments left by others, a particularly helpful feature when you want to know how others have fared in trying a recipe...
I'm just trying to help.
Now, if you have an abundance of spare time, you might wonder, why did I spend the time to read through this article to that point? Because I'm considering starting something similar. It will probably use MT, and it'll have recipes but it'll also have other things as well. Stay tuned.
Posted at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)
Ah, the tolerant left
Just as long as they aren't "spiritual" polygamists or from Utah, that is.
Posted at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
Psychologolizing the DUmmies
Today's low hanging fruit watch discusses a thread that tries to call FreeRepublic a hate group and, in the process, reveals a bit more about DU than they might have expected.
Read all about it in today's DU thread at BigMediaBlog.com.
By the way, each day BigMediaBlog.com posts threads where you can comment on the posts from over a dozen big bloggers and MSM outfits. The site is for your comments, so if you see one of those big bloggers posting something you disagree with, post a comment over there. If you've blogged about it, post a link.
Posted at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
Instapundit and DailyKos are always right
What's that you say? You disagree? Well, then have I got a site for you: BigMediaBlog.
Every day, BigMediaBlog posts threads where you can comment on mistakes made by Big Media bloggers like Instapundit and DailyKos. Even if you just disagree with something they said, post a comment. Or, leave a link to a post at your blog.
In addition to Instapundit and DailyKos, there are daily threads for these sites:
* DemocraticUnderground
* BlogsForBush
* Andrew Sullivan
* TalkLeft
* Kausfiles
* Talking Points Memo
* Professor Bainbridge
* National Review
* NYT
* WaPo
* LAT
* TV/cable
* Other MSM
* Other media
And, BigMediaBlog has a comments feed that you can subscribe to. (It uses MT-Blacklist and comments are semi-moderated so spam shouldn't be that much of a problem.)
Posted at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
The Lonewacko Blog is now 50% more legible
Those of you who remember the old green/white monstrosity will no doubt welcome the new look of The Lonewacko Blog. I took the three-column stylesheet from here, combined it with the existing MovableType stylesheet and templates, et voila.
I was going for a desert look, but it's not quite there yet. It also looks vaguely like this site. No doubt there are some problems with the change. I'll fix those and try for a more desert-y look at some unspecified future point.
Posted at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
Insty does propaganda!
Yeah, she's hot but it's clearly a staged shot.
(Also posted in today's Instapundit post at BigMediaBlog)
Posted at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)
Is Michael J. Totten the Ernest Hemingway of the blogosphere or what?
What does this guy do? Driving from Idaho to Minnesota, hobnobbing with BushBots, getting smashed with "Hitch", printing propaganda pictures, and now he's just back from Puerto Rico. Does anyone know what exactly this guy does? Is he CIA or something?
Posted at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
Take a DUmmy break
In the mood for some entertainment? Head on over to today's DU thread at BigMediaBlog where this hour's wackiest "liberal" comments have been captured for your enjoyment.
Posted at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)
"Ward Churchill may not be one of you but he's definitely one of me."
There are so many entertaining Democratic Underground threads I posted all of them over in today's DU entry at BigMediaBlog. The titular comment about Ward Churchill, the DUmmies trying to portray the BTK killer as a Republican, a fun poll, and even a call to remove "hate speech" (such as that from Ann Coulter) from First Amendment protection. Have fun!
In other BigMediaBlog news, Rob wonders whether Condi is indeed a lesbian.
By the way, BigMediaBlog is for your comments. Most of the big blogs don't have comments, and when they make a mistake it's a bit difficult to get the word out. BigMediaBlog attempts to keep those big bloggers honest, but it needs your help.
If you see a post at Insty, DailyKos, DU, TalkLeft, BlogsForBush, Kausfiles, Sully, or Josh, and the post is wrong or misleading, head on over to BigMediaBlog and leave a comment about it. Each day there's a new set of threads for those big blogs and even the MSM.
Posted at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)
Keeping comment spam under control with MovableType
Other than resource issues related to DOS-style spam attacks, comment spam isn't that big of a problem around here because:
1. I've installed MT-Blacklist.
2. I use MySQL to quickly delete large numbers of spam comments.
Regarding #2, here are some common commands. You'll need to connect to your server using SSH, login to your account, and then login to MySQL by typing something like:
mysql -u [your MySQL user name] -p [the name of your MT database]
So, if your MySQL username is 'fred', and you keep your MT information in the database 'mydatabase', you'd enter:
mysql -u fred -p mydatabase
Then, at the prompt you'd enter your MySQL password.
To see a list of all the distinct URLs used in trackback pings you've been sent, type:
select distinct tbping_source_url from mt_tbping;
To delete all trackback pings that link to a specific URL, replace http://spammername.com in the following with the bad URL; be very careful:
delete from mt_tbping where tbping_source_url = 'http://spammername.com';
The following is similar to the last, except it uses a substring instead of a complete URL. Be very careful since this uses just part of the URL, not the whole URL. So, if you replaced 'spammername' with 'a' you'd delete all trackbacks that contain the letter 'a' in their URL, which is probably something you don't want to do:
delete from mt_tbping where LOCATE('spammername', tbping_source_url) > 0;
The following is untested, but might turn off trackbacks on all posts. Change the 1 to 0 to turn them back on:
update mt_trackback set trackback_is_disabled = 1;
The commands dealing with comments are similar:
select distinct comment_url from mt_comment;
delete from mt_comment where comment_url='http://spammername.com/';
delete from mt_comment where LOCATE('spammername', comment_url) > 0;
Use these commands at your own risk. Backup your database before using them.
Posted at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
All blogs are now at a new host
If you're reading this, you're at the right location. Those who are accessing this blog as tolstoy.com/lonewacko will be forever stuck in time. The correct address is just lonewacko.com. The tolstoy.com/lonewacko pages will stay as a backup, but they won't be updated.
Likewise, BigMediaBlog is just BigMediaBlog.com and BoreAmerica.com is just BoreAmerica.com.
Strangely enough, when I type 'lonewacko.com' into Firefox, it leads me to the tolstoy.com/lonewacko page, but it doesn't do that with individual entries. Both IE and lynx on the tolstoy.com server do the right thing. Perhaps Firefox is caching the old address because of a redirect I used to redirect tolstoy.com/lonewacko/index.html to tolstoy.com/lonewacko/blog/index.html.
Please report any problems in the comments. Since I always linked using the short form, this shouldn't be a problem for most people.
Posted at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
How liberal of you!
Some of the DUmmies are voluntarily shipping themselves off to the gulags: "I'm kind of sick of this homophobia on DU" and "How I know Ann Coulter is not a man"
Posted at 12:05 AM | Comments (1)
BigMediaBlog, BoreAmerica currently unavailable
I'm moving both sites to another host, and it will take 24 to 48 hours for the new DNS information to propagate. If you can reach them and they don't look normal, that's because they haven't been setup yet. They both should be back online Friday or Saturday.
This blog will be moved over the weekend. Further instructions will be provided in a future post pertaining to what you can do during the period that this blog is not available.
Posted at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
Guest Commentary: RedAmerika responds to the Koufax Awards
[The following is a guest commentary from guest blogger "RedAmerika"]
First, I'd like to thank Lonewacko for allowing me here, reactionary running dog that he is. Now, to the subject of my post.
I see that the corporate lackey bourgeoisie at "Wampum" have selected the winners of the Koufax Awards for best "left" blog. Koufax - left, get it?
The awards are about as original as their humor.
Of particular note, only one or two out of a dozen or more blogs are from Bloggers of Color.
And, even though as Chairman Mao said "Women hold up half the sky", only a few of the awarded bloggers are women.
The Patriarchy wins again, and the Struggle continues.
Posted at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)
Today in low hanging fruit news: "liberal" hate edition
"Sabra", a 1000+ poster over at DU, asks "Has Gannon found a date yet for this years WHCA Dinner?" To their slight credit, the "liberals" don't join in on a jolly good round of Gannon jokes: the thread only got one reply.
That reply suggests Ann Coulter as a potential date. She's also mentioned in the longer thread "Today I perused Man Coulter's book..." That include a comment from a 1000+ poster: "Ann Coulter is not a Man! She was born with "ambiguous genitalia", a birth defect, and was surgically assigned to be female at age nine months. Calling her a man is unfair. It is sufficient to call her a Nazi." Those wacky, non-hate-filled "liberals!"
In slightly more important news, "liberal" paranoia is on display in the thread Why should I trust John Aravosis and "America Blog?" Trusted comrades vouch for him.
In the Gramscian category, we have "In honor of Black History Month - I apologize as a white American". The poster has 1000+ posts, so I'm almost certain he's not a VRWC member in disguise:
Well, I have been sorry 3 times for something my race did.As a white American I am sorry for slavery and our 100 years of White shame where lynching, segregation and other mistreatment of people of color suffered, and still continue to suffer in many cases.
As a German American I am deeply ashamed of my German ancestry due to Hitler. Luckily, my people had been in the US since the 1700's, so my shame is more for my ethnic group than my direct ancestors.
Because I am a white American with some Native American blood, I am extremely sick over what our country did to Native People.
But it is Black History Month. I would like Black DUers to know I am sorry, and please share your heroes from black history. I know there are a lot of people who have been overlooked in "white history books"...
And, in the perhaps-even-important news category:
We have a "friendly" MSM reporter who is seeking Guckert news.
I've established a working relationship with a reporter for a major newspaper that all would recognize. He wrote two of the first Guckert articles well before anyone else in MSM. If you're familiar with my posts, you can figure out who it is.He is willing to receive more information (nothing basic, he has already covered this aspect). Here is how you can help:
Apend to this thread "bite-sized" pieces of information. In the subject line, classify what the "bit" is. In the body write a brief description with supporting links.
I in turn will spoon feed the information to the reporter.
The poster's screenname is "paineinthearse", so if anyone wants to look through his past messages and figure out whether he's blowing smoke and, if not, who he's referring to, please drop a dime in the comments. We can discuss the irony of a "friendly-to-DU" reporter uncovering dirt on Gannon later.
Posted at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)
Well, Mike Farrell maybe
From the leftie wall of shame at DiscoverTheNetwork:
(Note that the top and bottom halves are from different sections of the wall, and that Horowitz responds to critics of the wall here. Berresford is the head of the Ford Foundation, so maybe in her case as well.)
Posted at 03:37 PM | Comments (2)
KoolAid Clear?
FYI: KoolAidCentral is no longer blueberry flavor, it now comes in the KoolAid Clear variety.
Posted at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
Today in low hanging fruit news
10 out of 17 DUmmies expressing an opinion want a Spanish-language section of their website. One wonders why they would want such a section.
In other DU poll news, 126 DUmmies voted on the question "Is the b**sh administration fascist?" The results were quite surprising: ten of those voted "no." Of course, they've since been purged.
And, finally, the DUmmies help us understand why Utah is the reddest state in the union in the thread "How can I tactfully say no to a Mormon". Does Karl Rove have an account there?
Posted at 12:43 AM | Comments (0)
Because... she's special
She's a special dog, and you love her. That's why her jewelry is important. Sure, you could buy cheap costume jewelry, but what if it causes all her hair to fall off or something?
No, what you want is the "Small Crystal Dog Collar, 15" by Paris Hilton". This is part of the Paris Hilton collection of dog collars inspired by the very ones worn by Paris Hilton's special little Tinkerbell.
Because the bitch is worth it.
Posted at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
Today's Low-Hanging-Fruit Watch
The two best DU threads of the day are highlighted over at BigMediaBlog.com in today's DU thread.
Each day, BigMediaBlog.com has over a dozen threads where you can comment on what Insty, DailyKos, DU, BlogsForBush, the NYT, the LAT, and many more are writing about. If one of those sources says something you disagree with or think is just plain false, head over to BigMediaBlog.com and let us know about it.
Posted at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)
BigMediaBlog.com is back online
I've moved BigMediaBlog.com to a new host, but that might just be a temporary move because I'm not too happy with that host. More on that later.
In the meantime, visit BigMediaBlog.com and comment on today's posts by over a dozen big media outlets and bloggers: Insty, DailyKos, DemocraticUnderground, etc. etc. All of those sites have no comments or restrictive comments policies. BigMediaBlog.com is your chance to keep them honest.
Posted at 05:48 PM | Comments (0)
Low hanging fruit watch
Since BigMediaBlog is still down during its move to a new host, we're conducting today's DU thread here.
When you see a post at DU with the title My son was called a "cracker" at school today you might expect a few people to be shocked at the racism. However, out of around 300 or so comments, you might expect most of them to put the word "cracker" in the "proper perspective." And, you might expect a few people to joke about it, as if being called "cracker" is no big deal. And, you might expect a few people welcoming being called a "cracker" because of white people's collective sins against the Oppressed. And, of course, you'd be right. Noxious "liberal" racism distilled into 300 fairly easy-to-read comments.
Continuing on, we come to "In theory, what is wrong with Communism?" And, a bit of psychodrama in "What effect are Democratic Underground and Free Republic having?"
And, on the semi-useful front, comes "Concentration Camps in U.S."....how real is this??? One of those supposed camps is above Brand Park in Glendale. Having been there a few times I've seen the catchment basin, but I don't recall having seen any prison-style buildings. That doesn't mean that there might not be other facilities elsewhere, and FEMA definitely has various "contingency" plans.
Posted at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
It's like a BlogFight, but at a much higher level
Live! Tonight's fights are being broadcast live from the Rand Center in beautiful Manorland, New Hampshire!
Tonight's feature fight is doughty libertarian Cathy Young vs. sprightly liberal Eric Alterman!
In the undercard, Michael Young faces off against Justin Raimondo.
Let's get ready to rumble..... zzzzzzzzzzz......
Posted at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)
BigMediaBlog.com is currently unavailable... back online
UPDATE: BigMediaBlog.com is back.
Posted at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)
The best DU post of all time?
OK, well maybe that's over selling it. But, judge for yourself over in today's DU category at BigMediaBlog.
Each day, BigMediaBlog has over a dozen threads where you can comment on posts at sites that don't have comments or that have restrictive comments policies: Insty, DailyKos, DU, TPM, Kausfiles, Sully, the MSM, and many more.
Posted at 12:43 AM | Comments (1)
Top three DU threads of the day
They're highlighted in today's DU post at BigMediaBlog.
Leave your own comments about the day's posts from Insty, DailyKos, and a dozen more.
Posted at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)
Mike Malloy + Ward Churchill = magic
Live coverage of Ward Churchill on Air America's Mike Malloy show commences at 10pm Pacific here.
Posted at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)
More Jackie Johnson pictures!
Here are even more pictures of KCAL's weathergal Jackie Johnson.
Posted at 02:47 PM | Comments (16)
Keep it real with these fine Lonewacko properties
While other bloggers are cashing in with fluff spin-offs, The Lonewacko Blog concentrates on doing good and keepin' it real.
In addition to this blog, visit BoreAmerica to keep up with the latest news about Air America.
And, every day BigMediaBlog posts threads where you can comment on mistakes made by Big Media bloggers like Instapundit and DailyKos.
Recent comments posted by TLB at BigMediaBlog include:
- Wacky DemocraticUnderground posts here and here (later thread was deleted it was so wacky)
- Insty discussing the Saudis but not providing enough background
- Insty informing us that a BushBot is back blogging. TLB provides us with a flashback.
Go over to BigMediaBlog and leave your own comments!
Posted at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)
Is this a fake blog?!?!
I don't know how long this trackback will be allowed to stay here, but if you're reading this please let me know whether this blog is real or not. I went to lincolnfry.com, and at the bottom it says it was produced by the McDonald's Corporation, which I'm pretty sure is the same as the restaurant! What's the deal? Are those your "friends"???? How'd you get on TV, and during the SuperBowl? All blogdom wants to know.
Posted at 11:20 AM | Comments (7)
BigMediaBlog.com needs your input
Everything Instapundit and DailyKos post is 100% correct.
If you disagree, go find something they're wrong about and post about it on BigMediaBlog.com.
Every day there are open threads for over a dozen big bloggers and big media outlets, including Instapundit, DailyKos, the NYT, the LAT, the WaPo, and many more.
Posted at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)
BigMediaBlog is for your comments
John S. Bolton comments on NYT's drive for diversity in the NYT category over at BigMediaBlog.
Each day, BigMediaBlog tries to keep the Big Media honest. But, we need your help. If you spot a post at Instapundit or DailyKos or one of a dozen other sites and it's just plain wrong or you disagree with it, leave your comments over at BigMediaBlog.
Most of the sites featured at BigMediaBlog don't have comments or have restrictive comment policies. For instance, BlogsForBush has deleted a few of my comments, so, better late than never, a new category just for that site has been added.
In addition to BlogsForBush, Instapundit, and DailyKos, there are daily threads for these sites:
DemocraticUnderground
Andrew Sullivan
TalkLeft
Kausfiles
Talking Points Memo
Professor Bainbridge
National Review
NYT
WaPo
LAT
TV/cable
Other MSM
Other media
And, BigMediaBlog has a comments feed that you can subscribe to. (It uses MT-Blacklist, so hopefully spam won't be that much of a problem.)
Posted at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)
BigMediaBlog now has a comments feed
Here it is.
BigMediaBlog is the site for your comments. Did a major blogger make a mistake? Do you disagree with one of their posts? Leave your comments about it in one of the posts over at BigMediaBlog. If you blogged about it, leave a link there.
Here are the sites covered by BigMediaBlog:
Instapundit
DailyKos
DemocraticUnderground
Andrew Sullivan
TalkLeft
Kausfiles
Talking Points Memo
Professor Bainbridge
National Review
NYT
WaPo
LAT
TV/cable
Other MSM
Other media
Note that most of these sites don't have comments or have restrictive comments policies.
(Code for the comments feed from this)
Posted at 11:34 PM | Comments (1)
Most disturbing search terms ever
And that's saying something. Here it is:
hal fishman, ktla news, divorced?
I'm sure even Hal has "fans" who'd like to get a "ride" in his plane. I just don't want to know about it.
Posted at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
Today in blog spam
I debated a bit before deleting this comment:
Its the second time I visited your web site. Looks interesting. However, Id recommend you thought of a new design.
Since the provided URL goes to a sports betting site and this was left on a year-old post, I decided that, despite the admittedly correct nature of the comment, it was just spam.
I did not check out the Indian porn URLs however, as they didn't have Mallika running slowly.
Posted at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)
History's erasers
Yesterday, Instapundit linked to a post about Rep. David Dreier's social security card proposal. That post is at a group blog known as Liberty & Power which is part of the "History News Network", which doesn't appear to be a cable TV network, just a web site spun off from George Mason University.
I left a comment suggesting that Dreier was just proposing this bill expecting it would fail but that it would show to his constituents that he was trying to do something. I also left a comment on this thread. However, both comments have now been deleted, but thankfully I saved a copy of the first:
Dreier probably intends this to fail.From "Dreier race illustrates cautionary tale on immigration policy":
Tucked into last week's otherwise predictable California election results lay a cautionary tale about the election year's most uncovered issue: illegal immigration. Republican Rep. David Dreier, the 24-year Los Angeles-area veteran who chairs the powerful House Rules committee, won re-election to his House seat with just under 54 percent of the vote, down from 64 percent in 2002. His Democratic opponent, Cynthia Matthews, won almost 43 percent of the vote, despite spending just over $31,000 in her campaign, compared to more than $900,000 spent by Dreier. A Libertarian candidate won 3.5 percent of the vote.
The close result - his closest since 1980 - was because of Political Human Sacrifice.
The other comment was on this thread and noted that even someone as far gone as Badnarik didn't support physical open borders.
Not only have both comments been deleted but when I try to login I get the message "You could not be logged in because you have been blocked."
Three questions:
1. Did I violate History News Network's policy by using the pseudonym 'Lonewacko DotCom'?
2. If so, why wasn't the comment from 'Tom Anon' on the same thread deleted too?
3. And, is there any reason to believe the version of history provided by the History News Network?
UPDATE: I changed the links above to use that nifty new "nofollow" tag.
And, I received an email too:
Your account was blocked because you used a pseudonym.
We are checking into Tom Anon's identity. If this is a pseudonym, as seems
likely, his account will be deactivated as well.
Rick Shenkman
Editor
editor [atsign] historynewsnetwork.org
History News Network at George Mason University http://HNN.us
Man, and I thought the guys at KoolAidCentral were funny. (See also They can't ban all of us, about DailyKos doing an HNN.)
Let's look at HNN's FAQ entry:
...Only readers who register with HNN are able to post comments. They are required to post under their real names. To make sure they are who they say they are they have to provide their email address. Once a reader registers the system dispatches an email to their registered email address. They then have to respond in order to be able to post. Once a reader registers in this manner they can post as often as they like without reregistering. Email addresses are hidden, but the readers' names appear on the site...
It is our hope that by holding people responsible for their posts we will be able to discourage irresponsibility on the boards...
I certainly complied with the spirit of their rules. I took responsibility for my comments by including a very easy way for people to understand where they were coming from: Lonewacko DotCom. And, they've got my IP address and my real email address. What more do they want, a notarized copy of my driver's license?
Whether I complied with the exact letter of their rules is still an open question. "Lonewacko DotCom" is certainly the real name of my site. There are probably a large number of "John Smiths" posting at HNN, so my name is probably more real than many they already have there. Perhaps for the ultimate in Principal Skinneritis they should ask for a mailing address and double-check it with the Post Office.
And, in case you were laughing too hard before, here it is again:
"We are checking into Tom Anon's identity."
Once again, is there any reason to believe the version of history provided by the History News Network?
Posted at 10:36 AM | Comments (1)
Hey commenters: FU
The latest blogospheric craze is the "nofollow" tag. This is added to the HTML of links left in comments on blogs. The hoped-for use is to make leaving spam comments unprofitable: google and other search engines will not use links so marked to compute a site's PageRank. The upsides, downsides, and the possible futility of this new feature are discussed here.
The Lonewacko Blog's opinion of this feature can best be understood by referring to the following graphic:
This new feature throws the (perhaps unwanted) babe out with the bathwater. It's a good thing that comment spammers will be somewhat hurt by this. However, at the same time legitimate commenters will be hurt.
If you run a blog about, say, weasels you probably want to be at the top of the list of weasel blogs. And, you probably don't want someone to be able to leave comments about their weasel blog at your blog, thereby moving them up in the search results and giving searchers a choice between weasel blogs.
And, as noted at the thread above, some people might sell PageRank: pay me money and I'll remove the "nofollow" from your link.
However, if those or similar cases don't apply, any use of the "nofollow" tag is just a big wet Fuck You to those who bother to leave comments at your blog. So, unless comment spam gets way out of hand, I probably won't be using this wonderful new way to say Up Yours.
UPDATE: The preceding sentiments will not, of course, preclude me from changing some of the links herein to use "nofollow", such as those to KoolAidCentral.
However, let's consider a somewhat contrived example and see if we can discover some of the downsides.
Let's say a Big Blogger lies about something. Several other bloggers join in with the lie. However, a true truthseeker goes to each of those blogs and posts comments including a link to "the truth about weasel bloggers." A perfectly legitimate use of a link, even if it would be looked down upon by some of those bloggers. Unless other bloggers start linking to the same thing using non-"nofollow" links, the truth about weasel bloggers might be a bit hard to find using google.
I hereby coin the word "malletous" (and its synonym "hammerish") to denote hamfisted things like "nofollow" to which little apparent thought has been applied by either the designers or those using them.
Posted at 02:58 PM | Comments (3)
You might say it's a controversy in a circle
Controversy opens Harvard blog meet:
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - An invited group of bloggers and journalists began a two-day conference Friday morning at Harvard University amid cold weather (3 degrees) and controversy.
Alex Jones, head of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, acknowledged "contentious" comments have been made about the event's guest list of about 50 people.
Among the critics was a conservative blogger who said the meeting "is a hopelessly biased group of center-left academics/journalists who are once again getting overwhelmed by the marketplace." That statement was made to Ed Cone, one of the conference's participants...
The part where they form a circle and see who can post the fastest will not be webcast, unfortunately.
Posted at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
Say hello to GahpBlawgerz.com!
Say hello to gopbloggers.com, or as they shall be henceforth noted here, GahpBlawgerz.com. Yes, two slightly disgusting series of phonemes that sound even worse together.
GahpBlawgerz.com is from blogsforbush.com, the same site that frequently deletes my comments, the last one noted here and one of their more wacky posts noted here.
Of especial interest is the logo for GahpBlawgerz.com: Mount Rushmore background, Reagan midground, and GWB foreground. No, really, I'm not kidding, go check it out.
Posted at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)
I guess I need a scheduling program
Welcome doughty visitors who are using [the old address] rather than lonewacko.com!
It appears that I let the lonewacko.com domain name expire. Fortunately, it had entered the redemption period. Unfortunately, I had to pay a $50 restoral fee to re-register it, in addition to the normal registration fee. My registrar is eNameCo.com for some reason. They claim to have sent me over a dozen emails about this, but I only received one and that was three months ago. There's a good chance they're telling the truth and those emails just got trapped in my spam filters.
Anyway, lonewacko.com should be widely available within 24 hours of this post and will continue spreading the truth and enlightening the world. Please use lonewacko.com when accessing this blog or leaving links to pages here.
UPDATE: The email receipt from eNameCo was put into my spam folder by SpamAssasin 2.63. It looks like I'm getting between 10 and 20 megs of spam a day, so I guess I need to come up with some form of a verification deal as well, together with a whitelist for mailing lists and other known addresses.
Posted at 11:59 AM | Comments (1)
Mexifornia
Posted at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight CD Tent (Closeout) : 3 Season Tent
I've never used this tent but for $127 it certainly seems like a bargain. See the four reviews here, and note that this is a three-season tent and that sometimes tent designs and manufacturing conditions change from year to year. Amazon has several other tents, including Biblers in case you're heading to the Himalayas...
Posted at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History"
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History" looks like an interesting book:
From a reader's review:
...Although not a substitute for a comprehensive U.S. history, it effectively refutes many of the more common claims by leftists, such as the Puritans were racists and the U.S. Constitution was meant to prohibit states and localities from enacting laws concerning religion. He points out that Joe McCarthy (for all his flaws) was correct that large numbers of government employees were commies. As he notes, the same libs who have a cow about Joe McCarthy can't get worked up over the New York Times columnist Walter Duranty covering up the crimes of Joe Stalin. He even rescues Operation Keelhaul (in which the U.S. sent Russians back to Stalin to be murdered or worked to death) from obscurity...
Publishers Weekly huffs and blows and lets us know the author hit a nerve:
This book is not so much politically incorrect as it is contrarian, as well as utterly contemptuous of anything supported by Liberals or "Intellectuals." At every opportunity, Woods quotes government leaders, media sources and "distinguished" academics who have said something that he feels backs up his view. That view is, by and large, classically conservative, with a focus on states� rights and small government. Any flaws in or missteps by politicians become instant basis for rejecting them wholesale (i.e., Lincoln�s racial views; the fact that JFK�s two major books were ghostwritten), as Woods dredges up accusations both familiar and long-forgotten. The historical coverage is hardly comprehensive, since Woods focuses on telling the "truth" about issues Liberals have allegedly distorted, like the New Deal and the Civil Rights movement... Diehard Republicans may find this book an inspiring corrective to supposedly Liberal-biased history texts, but others will be put off by Woods�s cherry-picking approach and supercilious tone.
Plus, it's from Regnery so you can strike a double-blow against PC.
Posted at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
Does it get any better than Natalie Merchant?
OK, so there's reportedly a stridency problem, and smoking, meat, and smoking meat are right out. And, she purports to have never heard of National Review. Does it really matter?
My recommendation: buy both The Wishing Chair (link) and Hope Chest (link), and compare and contrast at leisure:
Posted at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
"The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating"
On the other hand:
The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating is a certified "foodie" classic. In it, Fergus Henderson -- whose London restaurant, St. John, is a world-renowned destination for people who love to eat "on the wild side" -- presents the recipes that have marked him out as one of the most innovative, yet traditional, chefs. Here are recipes that hark back to a strong rural tradition of delicious thrift, and that literally represent Henderson's motto, "Nose to Tail Eating" -- be they Pig's Trotter Stuffed with Potato, Rabbit Wrapped in Fennel and Bacon, or his signature dish of Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad. For those of a less carnivorous bent, there are also splendid dishes such as Deviled Crab; Smoked Haddock, Mustard, and Saffron; Green Beans, Shallots, Garlic, and Anchovies; and to keep the sweetest tooth happy, there are gloriously satisfying puddings, notably the St. John Eccles Cakes, and a very nearly perfect Chocolate Ice Cream.
Posted at 12:50 AM | Comments (0)
Pesky little nerds
Some pesky little nerd who has administrative privileges at Wikipedia has twice deleted an entry I placed there. Here's more on the nerd ("Neutrality"):
My name is Neutrality (real name: Ben). I have been a Wikipedian since I was first welcomed by Meelar on May 15, 2004. On October 12, I became the 300th active administrator and member of the top sekrit sysop kabal. ("Wiki-janitor" is the term I prefer). As of December 2004, I was listed on Most Active Wikipedians as the 54th most active contributor to all namespaces, a positional change of +8 from the previous month. On December 18, I became an Arbitrator-elect following the December 2004 elections. My term began on January 1.
It helps if you read the first two paragraphs of the Instapundit page first.
Here's the text:
The Lonewacko Blog [http://24ahead.com] is a U.S. political weblog produced by one or more shadowy figures who use the name "Lonewacko." Unlike [[Instapundit]], it is one of the least widely-read blogs in the world.
The Lonewacko Blog offers non-"liberal" coverage of immigration [http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/cat_immigration.html], Iraq, terrorism, multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor.
The Lonewacko Blog frequently "disses" other bloggers - right, left, center, apolitical, wherever they may be. In addition, The Lonewacko Blog frequently "disses" Libertarians, "liberals", "progressives", BushBots,... As a result, very few other blogs link to The Lonewacko Blog. Despite that, The Lonewacko Blog gets a fair amount of traffic from google.
The Lonewacko Blog spent four months driving from L.A. to Maine and back, resulting in the posts in Blogging Across America [http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/cat_bloggingacrossamerica.html]. None of the other bloggers to whom The Lonewacko Blog sent emails suggesting they get together received the emails, or they were out of town.
The Lonewacko Blog has received [[Instalanche]]s in the past. However, there have been no [[Instalanche]]s after this post [http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/000829.html]
~~
External links:
lonewacko.com [http://24ahead.com]
No reason was given for the deletions. I'm going to appeal to his supervisor as soon as I find out who that is. I have to be careful though: he's in Meelar's sphere of influence.
Posted at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
What's Milhouse's login name?
I don't know if that relatively easy Simpson's trivia question is in "The Trivial Simpsons 2005 365-Day Box Calendar", but I'm sure with 365 trivia questions there's enough to keep you busy.
Posted at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)
The newest Harry Potter is due in July!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due for release on July 16, 2005. But, you can preorder it now and avoid the rush!
Posted at 12:21 AM | Comments (0)
Rumpole!
Remember the series that ran on PBS?
Posted at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Do you know how to punctuate? I mean, really know how to punctuate? Very few people have that skill, and if you want to improve your punctuation skills, buy "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation":
"You don't need to be a grammar nerd to enjoy this one...Who knew grammar could be so much fun?" -Newsweek
We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? A look at most neighborhood signage tells a different story. Through sloppy usage and low standards on the internet, in email, and now text messages, we have made proper punctuation an endangered species. In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss dares to say, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset when it is mishandled. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, this lively history makes a powerful case for the preservation of a system of printing conventions that is much too subtle to be mucked about with.
Posted at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives
Could "liberals" use NLP or perhaps involuntary hypnotism to convince people that their arguments have some slight merit? I don't know if "Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives" answers that question, but it was written by a linguist:
In the first of his three debates with George W. Bush, 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry argued against the war in Iraq not by directly condemning it but by citing the various ways in which airport and commercial shipping security had been jeopardized due to the war's sizable price tag. In so doing, he re-framed the war issue to his advantage while avoiding discussing it in the global terrorism terms favored by President Bush. One possible reason for this tactic could have been that Kerry familiarized himself with the influential linguist George Lakoff, who argues in Don't Think of an Elephant that much of the success the Republican Party can be attributed to a persistent ability to control the language of key issues and thus position themselves in favorable terms to voters. While Democrats may have valid arguments, Lakoff points out they are destined to lose when they and the news media accept such nomenclature as "pro-life," "tax relief," and "family values," since to argue against such inherently positive terminology necessarily casts the arguer in a negative light. Lakoff offers recommendations for how the progressive movement can regain semantic equity by repositioning their arguments, such as countering the conservative call for "Strong Defense" with a call for "A Stronger America" (curiously, one of the key slogans of the Kerry camp)...
Posted at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)
The newest Harry Potter is due in July!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due for release on July 16, 2005. But, you can preorder it now and avoid the rush!
Posted at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)
My 2005 Resolutions
Here's mine:
1. Post more cheesecake photos like the women's Olympics beach volleyball pics available in this category.
2. Continue harping on scams.
3. Climb 5.7c, maybe even 5.7d or even 5.8.
4. Climb Mt. Hood or some other technical snow climb.
5. Lose enough weight and increase conditioning to do #4.
6. Improve my google ranking through keywords and placing the URL to this blog in messages posted to various non-blog forums around the web so that people around the world can come to this site and learn.
7. Think up a name for a software product I have that lacks almost all but a name. This one has stumped me for a while.
8. Promote BigMediaBlog.com
9. Kick my $200-a-day heroin habit.
Posted at 11:54 PM | Comments (5)
What's a good "liberal" to do?
Apparently some "liberals" are boycotting Amazon because their employees donate to Republicans in a 60-40 ratio over Democrats.
Per Pandagon:
I'll certainly buy more from Barnes and Nobles (91% Democrat) and Borders (100% Democrat), but I don't know that giving up Amazon is the right thing to do...
Apparently they didn't get the memo. B&N and Borders are evil! Shouldn't "liberals" only patronize local bookshop collectives?
Posted at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
Could our collective memories have erasers?
Thanks to Betsy's Page, I learned that Hugh Hewitt's yet-to-be-published book Blog is climbing the Amazon sale ranks, breaking the Top 1000 and then the Top 500 today. I received a recent draft of the book last week and finished it...
Good for you!
UPDATE: Also, thanks to Hugh for including Blogs For Bush in his "must visit at least weekly" list!
Intrigued, I clicked over to Hugh's site. Unfortunately, it's not as bad as I'd hoped:
A year ago you had probably not heard of Powerline, KerrySpot, INDC Journal, BlogsforBush, the Belmont Club, LGF, Jeff Jarvis, RadioBlogger, One Hand Clapping, Shot in the Dark, Beldar, RatherBiased, Professor Bainbridge, VodkaPundit, TriGeekDreams, Scrappleface, Bill Hobbes, Blackfive, RedState, Matt Yglesias, Kevin Drum, RightWingNews, JohnMarkReynolds, PoliPundit, The Fourth Rail, StonesCryOut, CadetHappy, BrainShavings, Al Mohler, Betsy's Page, Smash, Patrick Ruffini, Captain's Quarters, Wizbang... (This is my "must visit at least weekly" list, along with others named above or below.)
I've never heard of a few of those, and, except for a few of the rest I think we'd all be better off if most of them would just go rest on their laurels.
Posted at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)
The 2004 BushBot Blog Awards
[Cross-posted to the comments at BigMediaBlog.com]
What if the BushBot Blogs gave out an award for the most notable blogging events of 2004? What if they reciprocated the links in the article, propping each other up? I posit it would look an awful lot like this TechCentralStation post.
Posted at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
If it were a "Best Of" list, I would no doubt be on it
LABlogs selects Notable Blogs of 2004. The disclaimer gives me hope:
...from the beginning want to state that this is NOT a "Best Of" list. I would like to point out some notable Los Angeles based blogs, mostly because I personally appreciate the writing that they do. Of course, no matter what I say, someone is going to feel left out and there is not much more I can say, except that this list doesn't mean crap, it isn't based on votes, is only a glimpse at the tremendous community that is out there and is entirely by my own hand, so blame me if you feel shafted.
OK, I will.
Posted at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
TAP-bashing
I'm always up for a jolly good round of TAP-bashing, and apparently Steve Sailer is involved in some kind of dispute with The American Prospect.
Posted at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
Today's comments
The "libertarians" at Reason Magazine have yet another post supporting illegal immigration. See my comments.
"Liberal" TalkLeft supports driver's licenses for illegal aliens. I supply the correct side of the argument here and in the extended entry.
The comment at TalkLeft:
First-We have an enormous number of illegal aliens in this country because that is the way a large slice of the electorate wants it to be. From cheap nannies to cheap farm workers and everywhere in between, many persons and businesses from accross the political spectrum benefit from the labor of illegal aliens.
The great majority of Americans are opposed to illegal immigration. It's the elites that benefit and that have caused the current situation, not the "electorate."
As for the organization, here's the board for their parent organization. Katrina VD Heuvel, Eric Alterman, the Ford Foundation, etc. etc. I suspect they're a "liberal" group.
As for their reasons:
First, the very fact that 13 million illegal aliens are already within our borders means that a perimeter-based defense is porous.
The problem isn't with the perimeter defense so much as with what happens behind the perimeter. "Liberals" try to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. That makes it easier to live here illegally. That increases the number of people trying to come here. That makes the job of defending the perimeter more difficult. Plus, those who employ illegal labor are rarely punished. Correct those issues and the perimeter defense would be much more effective.
As for the second reason, we reduce the size of the haystack by refusing to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. That will force many of them to self-deport and many fewer to come. That's an effective way to reduce the size of the haystack.
The "market" is already supplying fake documentation. If you reduce the number of illegals here, you would drive the price for fake documentation up. And, by improving the security of DLs, you'd make such counterfeiting more difficult.
I also think it's funny the various contortions of the language TL uses to describe illegal aliens. I'm sure TL has a copy of the U.S. Code handy. Look at, for instance, this. Yep, that's right. The U.S. Code uses the phrase "illegal aliens." That is the correct, legal term.
I also wonder why "liberals" would support cheap, exploited labor and massive corporate subsidies.
Much information on this subject is available in my Immigration category.
Posted at 11:17 AM | Comments (1)
Congratulations to "heh"!
Yesterday, a person calling themselves "heh" and giving a fake email address became the first person (other than your blogger) to comment on my new site BigMediaBlog.com! Yes, it's a nonsense comment that uses profanity, but it's a start.
(It's too bad "heh" didn't leave a real name, otherwise he or she would have been eligible to receive the $10 award for being the first such commentator. Since I have no way of knowing who he or she is, I'll be donating that amount to charity in "heh"'s name.)
If you'd like to comment on the day's output of more than a dozen big media sites including Insty, Josh, Mickey, Sully, and all the rest, head on over to BigMediaBlog.com and leave a comment or a link to your comments.
Posted at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
Just 8 hours until I can post at FreeRepublic.com again
Whaaaat?
Your posting privilege has been suspended until 2004-12-15 05:46:18
Reason:
You have a one day suspension. CLean up the language or you will be banned.
#$@@! All I did was post this $#)(* quote from that #$(@*##*#(@# Nativo Lopez. As as I explained to the FreeRepublic.com webmaster in an unanswered email, the quote wasn't from me. It was a quote from Nativo Lopez, and I provided the quote to point out Mr. Lopez' personality.
Of course, this isn't the first time I've had a bit of a problem there. Some months ago I crossposted the post "The Feds threatened L.A. radio station KFI?" to FreeRepublic. I posted it to their front page news section, but shortly after having received a few comments it was moved to the "bloggers & personal" section, which is much less frequented than the news section. Now why ever would they do that? As the first comment at my version of the post said, "The reason your posting on freerepublic was moved is because you posting something that is negative against the Bush Admin. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are conservative, all that matters is they have a R by there name."
UPDATE: I posted this there too, and it had two bad words as well. Now it's gone. But, hey, I can post again! I'm so fucking happy.
Posted at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
Oh yeah? So, when's the last time a magazine's web editor misstated your position?
Reason Magazine is apparently a well-known libertarian magazine with a press run of somewhere around 10,000 or 20,000 issues, most of them distributed for free on racks at AR*CO.
OK, maybe their circulation is more around 50,000 or something.
In any case, their Hit & Run blog frequently posts pro-Open Borders posts, and I frequently tell them exactly where they're wrong.
With that background, they recently posted on Bernie Kerik withdrawing his name from consideration for the head of the DHS. They pointed to this article by journalist Doug Ireland.
On the latest thread I commented:
I can think up three reasons not having to do "the immigration debate" why Kerik continuing to have an illegal alien nanny would be a bad idea. Can you do better?
Doesn't Doug Ireland write for the L.A. Weekly or something? Couldn't you find a better link? It was certainly action-packed, but surely a few links with the similar information from other sources might be a bit more credible.
As for Kerik's possible replacement, let's hope Asa Hutchinson is no longer in the running.
That resulted in Tim Cavanaugh posting the following:
I don't often stand up for the Lonewacko, but this characterization is a crock. He's up to head the department charged with overseeing not only all immigration but all movement into and out of the United States; even if it were not a woefully dysfunctional department that recently detained an 81-year-old Baptist minister with a valid visa until he died, the DHS needs an unimpeachable hand at the top. It doesn't take an anti-immigration wacko to perceive that Kerik's failure to follow the rules with an out-of-status employee is a straightforward dealbreaker. If the head of the IRS cheats on his taxes, you don't need a debate about the rightness or wrongness of the income tax to understand that he shouldn't be holding that job.
Tim - for those not in with the in crowd - is Reason's web editor. Admittedly this isn't as good as if I'd had my positions misstated by, say, Nick Gillespie, but I'll take it.
(P.S. Two of the possible downsides I was thinking of were: blackmail or spying by the illegal alien worker. The fact that the Reasonoids are unable to come up with those as possibilities indicates yet another reason why libertarians should be kept as far from the levers as possible.)
Posted at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)
BigMediaBlog.com
Ever wished that Sully, or Insty, or Josh had comments?
Until they see the light, head on over to BigMediaBlog.com. Every day it posts open threads where you can comment on that day's posts from Sully, Insty, Josh, and ten other comments-free sites.
Posted at 07:16 PM | Comments (0)
None have a "None of the above" option
Grab your vaseline and your wank rag and head on over to the 2004 Weblog Awards. Just don't vote until they add a "None of the above" option.
Posted at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
The perils of a high google ranking
My 6/03 entry about Fear Factor shooting in Griffith Park has generated 12 comments from people who think I'm Joe Rogan or have some way to get him a message... (Several visitors to that post have come after searching for "fear facter"; that was a mistake made by one of the commentors, not by me...)
I'm also top ranked for the phrase "sell your body to science". The entry dealing with a spam message I received has now generated 25 comments from people who want to sell their body to science.
Why am I not making money off these people?
Posted at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
BigMediaBlog.com
You've probably experience this dozens of times: you're reading Instapundit, or Andrew Sullivan, or TalkingPointsMemo, and you want to leave a comment telling them how they're just plain wrong.
But, without a possibility of comments or even trackback, there's little you can do.
Until now!
BigMediaBlog.com to the rescue!
Each day, BigMediaBlog.com posts several open threads for various sites that don't have comments: Instapundit, or Andrew Sullivan, or TalkingPointsMemo, the WaPo, NYT, LAT, TV/cable, etc. etc.
BigMediaBlog.com also has open threads for sites that have a habit of deleting comments with which they disagree: DemocraticUnderground and DailyKos.
Yes, you do need to sign up for a TypeKey ID, but that's fast and free if you're one of those who doesn't have one already.
So, head on over to BigMediaBlog.com!
Posted at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)
XML-RPC API: metaWeblog.newPost, no publish/draft/future capability
[If you don't know what the XML-RPC API is or don't care, please skip to the next or previous post]
As described here, the "metaWeblog.newPost" method "creates a new post, and optionally publishes it." It takes these parameters:
String blogid, String username, String password, struct content, boolean publish
The publish parameter doesn't do what you think it does. You can't use it to set a post's status to draft versus to publish. That issue is described here, complete with a workaround.
However, that workaround still won't let you create posts with a status of "future." For that, keep reading...
I wanted to set the status of entries to "future", and NoPublishMeansDraft doesn't help with that.
What I ended up doing is using my imperfect knowledge of Perl to edit [MT install directory]/lib/MT/XMLRPCServer.pm
In version 1.31 of that file (for MT 3.121), I inserted the following at line 165 in the newPost function:
## Java-like Perl courtesy of
## BigMediaBlog.com / Lonewacko.com
if ( defined $item->{mt_entry_status} ) {
my $statusString = $item->{mt_entry_status};
my $status = MT::Entry::status_int( $statusString )
or die MT::XMLRPCServer::_fault( "Value for mt_entry_status undefined (was '$statusString')" );
$entry->status( $status );
}
That should be inserted right after the following:
if ($mt->{cfg}->NoPublishMeansDraft) {
$entry->status($publish ? MT::Entry::RELEASE() : MT