October 05, 2007
Changes On The Way
This weekend, the Stones Cry Out blog will change web hosts. For almost 3 years, it has been hosted on a machine owned by Foundation Stone(tm) Rick Brady. Starting this weekend, it'll be hosted on a commercial web host that I use for my web sites. During the transition, it's a matter of luck which site you'll see while the pointer to the new host percolates throughout the Internet. Hopefully by Monday, you'll all be seeing the new site, but it takes 24-72 hours typically.
With this move, Rick officially bows out of the blogging biz. We here at Stones Cry Out are thankful for his time and efforts getting the blog going and keeping it going. While he's not been posting much of late, it was his system that kept the site going. He will be greatly missed (but I'm giving him a user on the new system just in case he changes his mind >grin<). And many thanks to his father-in-law, who was the techie behind the scenes. He helped make this move a smooth one.
We're going to be adding a few features to the blog which I'll enumerate on the first post at the new site. Also, access to all our old posts will (hopefully) be retained, if I do all this right.
See you on the other side of the move!
Posted by Doug at 03:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 07, 2007
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam!
When too many spam comments come in too fast, our blogging software shuts down all comments to try to keep from being overloaded in processing it. It then has to be manually turn back on, once one of us checks. This usually only happens once every 6-8 months typically.
This past week has been utterly untypical for spam. I've had to reset the block flag 4 times since last Friday. So please, if you've tried to comment and you were told you couldn't, it's nothing personal.
I just now turn comments back on again. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Posted by Doug at 09:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2007
Comments Return
Unknown to me, the blog software clamped down on all comments as of Tuesday in an attempt to stem the massive flow of spam we'd gotten earlier in the week. Unfortunately, anyone who tried to legitimately comment was also thrown out with the bathwater.
But that situation has been rectified. Commenting may resume.
Update: Blast. I opened the floodgates, and on cue the flood came in again shutting down comments. It's back on. For now.
Posted by Doug at 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 31, 2007
New Blog
A work buddy of mine and fellow Christian has started his own blog "A Dim Light in a Dark Place". Rather eclectic in nature (family, politics, faith, humor (especially his proposed bumper sticker for use in Atlanta)), so give it a look.
Posted by Doug at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 31, 2007
Blogs4God Relaunches
Blogs4God used to be a Yahoo!-like categorization of blogs by Christians. It's now been relaunched as a digg-like social bookmarking site for the same target audience. If you sign up, you can nominate and vote on blog posts you find interesting (hopefully, including some of ours).
Posted by Doug at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 30, 2007
When Spammers Attack
Sounds like a bad sci-fi movie. We've had more than the usual load of spam hit the server lately and we're digging out of it. Comments and trackbacks may act funny for a few hours, but it'll be all better very soon.
Posted by Doug at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 07, 2007
Big Weekend for Spam
This weekend was a big time for spammers apparently. Got so bad that our blog software shut down comments and trackbacks. Looks like the flood has subsided, so they're back on now. Thanks for your patience.
Posted by Doug at 09:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 27, 2007
Spam Flood Abates, Comment Area Dried Off
Spammers overloaded the software and it shut the gates. As of now, the comment area is open for business again.
And I'll get hauled off by the Language Police if I mix in another metaphor.
Posted by Doug at 08:33 PM
March 10, 2007
Comments Back On
The spammers again overloaded our blog software and it threw everyone out of the comment pool. I'm sounding the all clear.
Posted by Doug at 11:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 26, 2007
Comments Back On
Another spam-a-thon today got our blog software in a knot and it shut down commenings for everyone. I've rectified the situation.
Posted by Doug at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
New Pro-Life Blog
Russ Neglia has created a new pro-life blog under the Townhall.com umbrella. He calls it "Pro-Life Pro-Logic", and it's aptly named. Each post is well thought out and logically and dispassionately presented. He doesn't post every day, but you'll understand why when you read his articles. These aren't quick hits on topic, they are essays that take a little time to read. He's covered topics such as embryonic stem cell research and did a two-parter on how the death penalty relates to abortion. Check it out.
Posted by Doug at 09:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 09, 2007
Comments & Trackbacks Return, and an Upgrade Coming
Commenting may resume.
For the past few days, I've been trying to streamline the spam handling process. There's only so much I can do with this older version of MovableType, so an upgrade is in order. There are some new plugins that come with or are available for the new version that will give us some more control over things, and perhaps be less of a drain on the poor computer hosting the site. That's on its way; details as to when, and some potential downtime, as they become available.
But enough administrivia. On with the blog!
Posted by Doug at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 05, 2007
Comments & Trackbacks Down
So much spam is having to be processed by the server that it's slowing down to the point of sloth. We're pretty much a Spam Handler right now. Until the server gets a chance to catch up and I get a chance to streamline the spam handling by MovableType, I'm getting everyone out of the pool.
Watch this space for resumption of festivities.
Posted by Doug at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2007
Comments Re-enabled
Once again, spammers overloaded our blog software, MovableType, and it ordered everyone out of the pool, stopping all comments. Consider this the all-clear (to mix a couple of metaphors).
Posted by Doug at 09:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 18, 2006
Weblog Awards Voting is Closed
The voting is over, and SCO placed 5th in its field of 10. Congratulations to Blogs of War, the (so far unofficial) winner of our bracket, with almost double the votes of the second place contender.
Posted by Doug at 09:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 16, 2006
Weblog Awards Voting is Open
The 10-day voting period for the 2006 Weblog Awards is open (through the time of this post-dated blog entry). You can vote once each of the 10 days. Click here or on the graphics to the right to get to the voting page where you'll find the category with Stones Cry Out in it. If you think we're the best of that group, we'd appreciate your vote. Thanks so much.
Note: In order to vote, you need to have Macromedia Flash 7 installed and JavaScript enabled. If you don't, you'll be prompted to install the latest version. This may be to facilitate detecting cheaters.
Posted by Doug at 11:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 06, 2006
2006 Weblog Awards Finalist
"Stones Cry Out" is honored to be one of the finalists in the 2006 Weblog Awards. The category we're in is "Best of the Top 501 - 1000 Blogs". Voting starts tomorrow.
Posted by Doug at 02:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2006
The Christian Carnival
The CXL'th (140th for us non-Romans) edition of the Christian Carnival is up at the blog "Lux Venit" (a Latin phrase for, I belive, "the light came", and also the title of a Michael W. Smith song).
Posted by Doug at 09:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 04, 2006
Commenting May Resume
Over the long weekend, the spammers weren't taking the time off. We got so much spam in a short amount of time that our software shut down commenting until somebody manually turned it back on.
It's been done. Sorry for anyone having been turned away. Please try again.
The Management
Posted by Doug at 10:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 20, 2006
Comments from Blogspot'ters Working Again
I found out today that if you left a comment recently where either the URL field or a link in the text was to a blogspot.com address, you were getting rejected for "questionable content". During one of my spam elimination sessions, I apprently blocked the whole domain. My fault, and it was entirely accidental. (I try to specifically avoid doing that, actually, but I must've been sloppy one day).
So if you got censored, please try again.
(Thanks, Dan, for pointing this out.)
Posted by Doug at 04:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 14, 2006
Highlights from the SCO Blogroll
Here are some notable posts from the group on the SCO blogroll:
- Captain's Quarters - "The Vatican finally issued a statement on the conflict in Lebanon, and Catholics around the world -- including yours truly -- will wish that the Holy See had remained quiet. Despite the attack on Israel by Hezbollah, a member of the Lebanese government, the Vatican blames Israel for defending itself militarily." Indeed, one wonders why the vast majority of condemnations, from the Vatican or the UN, are aimed at Israel, and not that the many groups who daily attack them.
- Mere Comments - "If a young man were to ask me how he should prepare for pastoral ministry, close to the top of my list of advice would be, “Get and maintain--especially if you plan to marry and have children, and are not of independent means--a skill for which there is a ready market, for which you could leave the pastorate and quickly begin to support your family.” I am deadly serious about this."
- Power Line - "It seems clear that Iran has not only encouraged but ordered the latest terrorist outrages against Israel." They point to a report that Iran plans to rebuild any war-damage in Lebanon.
- Parableman - A rather extensive review of a number of commentaries on the book of Leviticus. It's part of a larger project of reviews on commentaries for each book of the Bible. Pretty ambitious, if you ask me.
- Mark D. Roberts - Part 5 in his series of What's So Good About Denominations.
- La Shawn Barber - "There is a growing movement in the United States to mainstream mediocrity and define deviancy down. All cultures, ways of life, or however you want to define the ideals under which we live, are not equal, nor were they meant to be. American culture, for lack of a better term, is far better than any other on earth, including its diverse subcultures."
- The Evangelical Outpost - "The writings of Michael Kinsley, former editor of Slate and The New Republic, are often intelligent, insightful, and invariably, incorrect. His latest article for Slate, Science Fiction: What pro-lifers are missing in the stem-cell debate, is a prime example."
- The American Mind - "UK Banning Sex-Selection Abortions"
Posted by Doug at 03:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Stem Cell Roundup
With the debate over embryonic stem cells heating up again, and the President threatening to dust off his veto pen for this (if he can find it), here's a list of SCO posts about the issue over the past year.
Adult Stem Cells Further Prove Their Worth
Big Promise from Adult Stem Cells
Avoiding Ethical Complications in Stem Cell Research
Ethical Sources of Embryonic Stem Cells
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: A Done Deal?
One less bonus to embryonic stem cells
Posted by Doug at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 08, 2006
Comments Working...Again
Movable Type's IP Banning feature has been giving us fits of late. That's the feature where you can ban comments from those coming from a particular network address. Twice in the past month this feature has spontaneously turned itself on, and banned everything. It usually happens after we go though and clear out a lot of spam comments, so we'll have to be more vigilant when sweeping up around here.
Sorry about any pearls of wisdom that have been rejected. Comment away!
(Quick updte: For the record, we have never banned anyone's IP address.)
Posted by Doug at 05:00 PM
Zarqawi Eliminated. Good News, Right?
The latest casualty in the war in Iraq is a major one; the most wanted man in Iraq.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face. It was a major victory in the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the broader war on terror.
It was rightly cheered by all present when it was announced.
Loud applause broke out among the reporters and soldiers as [Prime Minister Nouri] al-Maliki, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a news conference that "al-Zarqawi was eliminated."
This is an opportunity for Iraqi insurgents to re-evaluate their purpose and their means to that purpose.
Thamir Abdulhussein, a college student in Baghdad, said he hopes the killing of al-Zarqawi will promote reconciliation between Iraq's fractured ethnic and sectarian groups."If it's true al-Zarqawi was killed, that will be a big happiness for all the Iraqis," he said. "He was behind all the killings of Sunni and Shiites. Iraqis should now move toward reconciliation. They should stop the violence."
These may be the words of an idealistic college student, but the hope is there that such a thing could happen Depending on how much al-Zarqawi's death becomes a blow to their morale, it could represent the perfect chance for this to happen.
On the other hand, it may not.
Amir Muhammed Ali, a 45-year-old stock broker in Baghdad, was skeptical that al-Zarqawi's death would end the unrelenting violence in the country, saying he was a foreigner but the Iraqi resistance to U.S.-led forces would likely continue."He didn't represent the resistance, someone will replace him and the operations will go on," he said.
I'd guess that this outcome is more likely, but at least now the chances for decreased violence have been given a renewed possibility.
But the Left is still looking at the cloud instead of the silver lining, just as they did when Hussein was captured.
Hesiod at the Daily Kos, in his diary about Zarqawi, starts out with promise...
Finally, some genuine good news from Iraq. Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed in an air raid last [n]ight in Northern Baghdad.We can all analyze what this means for the Iraq occupation later. But, right now, we should all be happy that a man who was responsible for the murders of hundreds, if not thousands of men women and children in Iraq -- and for the demise and maiming of our troops -- has been taken out.
...yet he soon degenerates into back-handed slaps.
No matter whether you support, or oppose the war. No matter whether you believe Bush is doing the right thing, or is a lying snake who got us into this war for the most cynical of reasons and then screwed it up -- this is good news.Yes, I know. Bush had a chance to take out Zarqawi BEFORE we ever invaded Iraq and "allowed him to escape" because he didn't want to eliminate one of his principle excuses for the invasion.
But, still -- this is good news!
And, yes, I know that the major problem in Iraq isn't so much the insurgency anymore, as it's the growing sectarian civil war that we are barely able to keep from exploding.
But, this is good news, right?
And, true...the Haditha killings are not exactly endearing us to the Iraqi population.
But...this is some good news!
So, tip your hats to Jordanian intelligence and our military forces. Everything is now hunky dory in Iraq, and we can all declare victory! And , more importantly, we can all expect our military forces to start coming home now because the war is over!
Right?
As the news story noted, Zarqawi was one of the essential elements in the sectarian violence, so this indeed does deal a blow to that situation. Hesiod can't manage to report good news without "balancing" it with 3 or 4 problems, real or perceived. There are always problems in war, always setbacks, created by ourselves or the enemy. This is not new, but Hesiod has to bring this up to keep his opinion of the war in Iraq consistent in his own mind. When Hussein was captured, Hesiod was the most positive of all the tier-A lefty sites. He's losing his objectivity.
The same goes for Steven Benen, guest blogging for Kevin Drum at the Washington Monthly.
Iraqi and U.S. officials agreed that his death would not necessarily stem the violence and insurgency -- and as if to prove the point, an explosion ripped through a busy outdoor market in Baghdad just a few hours after Zarqawi's killing was announced. Regardless, when a dangerous terrorist can no longer wreak havoc, it's good news.One relevant angle to this story, however, that has not been emphasized (or even mentioned) by most news outlets this morning is that Zarqawi could have been taken out years ago, on several occasions, but Bush decided not to strike.
Benen goes on to quote an NBC article that says the National Security Council couldn't decide how to proceed; no mention of Bush in that meeting. No mention of what the causes for concern were, but here's an idea; the intelligence they were acting on talked about Zarqawi making ricin and cyanide production. Yet we haven't really seen those chemicals used by the insurgency. As we all know, pre-war intelligence gave us some false positives on a number of fronts; perhaps this was one of them and the NSC was wary of it. Imagine if we'd sent in cruise missiles and wound up destroying, oh, say something like an asprin factory. Imagine the outrage by Democrats then. So here's Benen speculating that maybe, not knowing himself the nature of the intelligence, that we might have been able to take out Zarqawi before the war. He calls the intelligence "air-tight". Interesting he doesn't use the phrase "slam-dunk", a phrase used about other pre-war intelligence. Thus he has to form the wisp of a cloud just so he can try to tarnish any silver lining that appears during a Republican administration.
Was never quite sure why we didn't go after him when we had the chance.Anyway, I'm supposed to give the obligatory "YAY USA!" cheer here, but while it's good to get the bad guys I don't really think it's going to improve much. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Top al-Qaeda guy in Iraq out of the picture, and the best he can do is be curt and "obligatory".
Josh Marshall leaves us all wondering what he thinks, since he doesn't say.
Zarqawi dead. Juliette Kayyem explains what it means. Ivo Daalder explains that one thing it doesn't mean is an end to the violence in Iraq.For the deeper background, just out from The Atlantic: Mary Anne Weaver's The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
That's the sum total of his response; curt and not even obligatory.
As I said before, the view of the Left, as it was for the Hussein capture, is "This is good news, but let us remind you of all the bad news and our dire predictions." Some don't even say much at all about the good news. Nope, there's a Republican in the White House, you see, and we can't bee seen as cheering for anything. I'll close this blog post as I did the one for Hussein.
You gotta wonder what these folks said when Milosevic was captured. Ah, but you see, that was a non-UN-sanctioned war run by a Democrat. Therein lies the whole story. Leftists are showing their true, extreme partisan colors all over the blogosphere.
Posted by Doug at 12:48 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 18, 2006
Online Integrity
Josh Trevino's "basic plea for basic decency" on the web is called Online Integrity. The main points of the effort are:
- Private persons are entitled to respect for their privacy regardless of their activities online. This includes respect for the non-public nature of their personal contact information, the inviolability of their homes, and the safety of their families. No information which might lead others to invade these spaces should be posted. The separateness of private persons’ professional lives should also be respected as much as is reasonable.
- Public figures are entitled to respect for the non-public nature of their personal, non-professional contact information, and their privacy with regard to their homes and families. No information which might lead others to invade these spaces should be posted.
- Persons seeking anonymity or pseudonymity online should have their wishes in this regard respected as much as is reasonable. Exceptions include cases of criminal, misleading, or intentionally disruptive behavior.
- Violations of these principles should be met with a lack of positive publicity and traffic.
A worthy, bipartisan effort to help clear the air and keep the conversation civil.
Posted by Doug at 06:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 12, 2006
Comments Working Again
Comments are back on again. Don't know how they got shut off, but it was brought to my attention that they weren't allowing anyone to post, and I've cleared that up.
Sorry for the inconvenience. (It did seem kinda quite around here.)
Posted by Doug at 04:22 PM | TrackBack
April 26, 2006
Highlights from the SCO Blogroll
- From Virginia Postrel, a short history lesson on what is and isn't a "crisis" with regards to gas prices. Doug Williams at Bogus Gold also explains the economics of oil prices for those that think the government must do something.
- The Mystery Pollster uncovers bias in a Zogby poll about online gambling, with regards to both the questions and the method used to gather the answers.
- The Evangelical Outpost comes out with Yak Shaving Razor #50, a collection of tips and tricks and bits of information culled from all over the net. Very interesting, entertaining and useful. (No, I'm not going to explain the title; click the link to find out.)
- Captain Ed notes that Hamas is finding it harder to live without Western cash than it thought.
- Mark D. Roberts asks "Whither the Renaissance Man?" (This is part 3 of his travelogue "When in Virginia...".)
- Jeremy at Parableman warns about confusing motivation with theory in the Intelligent Design debate. "In defense of the charge that ID is religious creationism, many opponents of ID point out that most people who support ID believe in a creator God for religious reasons. This happens to be true. Actually, they usually say that all who support ID believe in a creator God for religious reasons, and that's false." He explains the error, describes why it's wrong, gives examples, and notes a number of folks using this fallacy.
- Anthony Esolen at Mere Comments talks about the wonders of the ordinary.
Posted by Doug at 08:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 12, 2006
Spammer with a Sense of Humor
We've done a bit of work with keeping the comment and trackback spam off SCO. There's always some that still gets through, but it's two orders of magnitude less that it used to be before we instituted countermeasures.
Lately, comment spam has been trickling in from what appears to be the same person/bot. It's usually a content-free comment but has a URL associated with it that it hopes is noted by search engines. Most are nailed, but again some get through. This person/bot hit another post this afternoon that got automatically zapped, but I got an e-mail showing what the comment was. I got a good chuckle.
Greeting!
Hello! This is a nice site! but alot of Spam...Good Luck!
To the Pit of Spam it goes, but it was good for a smile.
Posted by Doug at 12:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 08, 2005
"God or Not" #2
A recent addition to the blog "carnivals" is called "God or Not". The second installment, which covers the topic of Proof, is up at Eternal Revolutions.
Posted by Doug at 09:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 22, 2005
New Blog from Nancy Pearcey
Nancy Pearcey, author of the award-winning book Total Truth (and one of my favorite writers) has started her own blog with her husband Richard called The Pearcey Report. This will be a blog that you will want to check often.
Hat tip: Writing Right.
Posted by Tom at 02:05 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 19, 2005
Highlights from the SCO Blogroll
- Captain's Quarters - Angela Merkel may not be the only casualty of the latest round of German elections. German journalists and pollsters who proclaimed the inevitability of her win at the expense of Gerhard Schroeder now wonder how they missed the story so badly.
- Dynamist - In short, think tanks are well into their decadent phase. They're giving their donors what they want--simple sound bites--but they aren't producing many new ideas.
- the evangelical outpost - A few weeks ago I argued that parents who oppose the teaching of neo-Darwinism in public schools were following the wrong tactic. Instead of “Teaching the Controversy” I claimed that they should simply teach students how to think critically and logically and then have them read the claims made by “evolutionists” (people who have an almost religious faith in the ability of the theory to provide "scientific" explanations). At the top of such a reading list would be the complete works of Richard Dawkins.
- In the Agora - I had lunch on Saturday with my friend Dan Ray, a con law teacher, and we had an interesting discussion about John Roberts and the issue of the level of abstraction at which you view a given claim when it comes before the court. This was an issue during his confirmation hearings, though I'm sure a lot of people missed the significance of it.
- Mark D. Roberts - In my last post in this series I suggested, somewhat irreverently, that the Jesus Seminar was like a circle dance in the way it dealt with evidence. Even before the Seminar examined the purported sayings of Jesus, it had already assumed much of what it would eventually conclude. That's called arguing in a circle. But if it's done as artfully as the Jesus Seminar did it, it deserves to be called circle dancing.
- Power Line - In recent years, the Democrats have violated many of the tacit conventions of civility that have enabled our political system to work for more than two centuries. Yesterday another barrier fell, and once again, we entered uncharted waters: former President Bill Clinton launched a vicious attack on President Bush on ABC's "This Week" program.
- Mere Comments - Are Pat Robertson’s days numbered? Of course they are, just like the rest of us. But I mean, is he about to get the “left hand of fellowship” from a number of Christians who are increasingly embarrassed by his public comments?
Posted by Doug at 02:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 18, 2005
Homespun Bloggers Radio, Program #8, released!
It's time for another edition of Homespun Bloggers Radio. Listen in to hear three of the Homespun Bloggers make their voices heard.
- Bob James, of the blog CrosSwords, suggests that a little perspective is in order for folks who are criticizing the delay in creating a new Iraqi Constitution.
- Yours truly (Doug) hits the talk radio show circuit (i.e. I call in to a couple of shows and have the audio).
- Andrew Ian Dodge of Dodgeblogium notes that Tony Blair is deporting jihadists and taking names, and British bloggers are holding folks' feet to the fire.
Click here to listen. The current audio feed is a loop of shows #7 & #8. Also, you can click here to download a high-quality version of the show. The 3 previous shows can also be heard by clicking here.
Posted by Doug at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 27, 2005
Left-wing Blogs React to Hillary's Ceasefire Appeal
The Kossacks at the blog "Daily Kos" have never been a big fan of Hillary Clinton's feigns to the center. The mainstream media is now finding that out.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's call for an ideological cease-fire in the Democratic Party drew an angry reaction yesterday from liberal bloggers and others on the left, who accused her of siding with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) in a long-running dispute over the future of the party.Long a revered figure by many in the party's liberal wing, Clinton (D-N.Y.) unexpectedly found herself under attack after calling Monday for a cease-fire among the party's quarreling factions and for agreeing to assume the leadership of a DLC-sponsored initiative aimed at developing a more positive policy agenda for the party.
...
The most pointed critique of Clinton came in one of the most influential blogs on the left, Daily Kos out of Berkeley, Calif., which called Clinton's speech "truly disappointing" and said she should not provide cover for an organization that often has instigated conflict within the party.
"If she wanted to give a speech to a centrist organization truly interested in bringing the various factions of the party together, she could've worked with NDN," the blog said in a reference to the New Democrat Network, with which Daily Kos's Markos Moulitsas is associated. "Instead, she plans on working with the DLC to come up with some common party message yadda yadda yadda. Well, that effort is dead on arrival. The DLC is not a credible vehicle for such an effort. Period."
The post by Markos himself is here.
You'd think with the huge following of Kos visitors (over 500,000 per day), Moveon.org, Howard Dean fans, and a press that is increasingly and openly antagonistic against the right (and the Christian Right in particular), this would result in more Democrats being voted in, not less. Instead it's beginning to appear that this group of hard-leftists who keep pushing further left are simply more vocal, as opposed to more numerous. And indeed the more vocal they are, the more they alienate the folks that the DLC is trying to bring in. Is this a winning strategy? (Hint: No.)
As to Hillary's participation in this, I think it's just another bit of posturing, but if it gets her barbs from the far left it may help a potential presidential candidacy. (See here for my thoughts on that, and here for what "Stonette" Thecla has to say about her.) Could actually be a good political move to get herself in a situation like this. But, as I've noted before, if it's a political move without the actual move, then it's just pure politics. So far, not much substance. We'll see.
Posted by Doug at 01:58 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
May 16, 2005
Doug Bass Wants to Apprehend More
Doug Bass, a fellow Minnesotan, has launched a new blog entitled Apprehension. To find out why he closed down his old blog Belief Seeking Understanding, and why the Swiss Guard is a bit worried about Doug, check out his first post.
Posted by Mark at 01:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 10, 2005
Don't Click Here
Feel free to ignore Arianna Huffington's new blog, which isn't so much a blog as it is a 48-car celebrity freeway pile-up, with pearls of wisdom from such luminaries as Bill Maher, Larry Gelbart, Gary "Monkey Business" Hart, Rob "Meathead" Reiner, Jerry "Governor Moonbeam" Brown," and Walter "I'm Still Alive" Cronkite.
Sense a theme?
Posted by Drew at 01:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 17, 2005
Like Flypaper to Moonbats
This morning I was clicking around, following some links about Wolfowitz’ nomination to the World Bank (mrghmghfm) (surpressing mad laughter) (mrghmghfm) (Sorry, mwa HAHAHAHAHA) and encountered one of those brand-name sites I don’t visit much because the proprietor has nothing to say and no particular skill at saying it. He referred to that “filthy Wolfowitz.”Do you often come across the word “filthy” applied to many politicians? No. Can you recall which group, in the last, oh, 60 years, got tarred with that word most frequently? Just curious. If the word rings no bells for you, then I’m overreacting. Obviously rung no bells for the author. I expect he will be equally unaffected if Trent Lott refers to “that uppity Rev. Jackson.”
Well, it rang a few bells for me. Not that I'm anybody in particular. I'm just sayin' is all.
But I'm not surprised to learn that there are those on the left responding this way to Wolfowitz's nomination. Frankly, when I heard who Bush nominated, my first reaction was "What a brazen thing to do!" Or to borrow a phrase from Peggy Noonan, "He's got two of 'em."
My second reaction was "This is going to send the moonbats 'round the bend."
And which moonbat in particular was Lileks reading when he came across that phrase? He's not going to get a link from me, so you'll have to do some research. Here, let me help.
Posted by Drew at 06:50 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 14, 2005
How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth
Tim Challies is not kind to Blog. No, not kind at all.
As I read Blog, I was continually struck by how self-serving the book seemed. It struck me as being almost like the biography of a proud, self-made billionaire, except with site traffic and recognition in place of dollars and European models. If you do not know how many visits Hugh has to his blog in an average day, a busy day or an election day, you will before you have finished the book. You will know how many blogs have been started because of his influence and just how useful a link from his blog to yours can be. I came to realize, though, that in a sense the blogosphere is built on just this sort of self-importance. Bloggers succeed by driving visitors to their sites by whatever means possible. The most important person in the blogosphere is the one with the greatest readership, just like the most important person in my hometown is the one with the most money. And lest I sound hypocritical, I will admit that I have a blog of my own and that I have no right to cast the first stone.
But it's not all bad . . .
This book has much to say that is valuable, especially in regards to the importance of trust and the application of blogging to corporations and organizations. Unfortunately, I found it frantically-written and poorly-organized. I wanted to love it, but in the end just could not. Yet I still do give recommend it, especially to those in positions of leadership. Its alarmist tone may convince some of the value of blogging, but I suspect just as many others will be put-off. I agree with Hewitt that the blogosphere is giving individuals power in the marketplace of ideas and agree that this is generally a good thing. I think there is great future for the blogosphere.
Go here for the whole review.
Posted by Drew at 10:27 PM | Comments (2)
March 08, 2005
But I don't think my wife would go for it.
(Hat tip: Blogizdat)
Posted by Drew at 11:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2005
More Visceral MSM Bias Exposed
Bill Keller, New York Times executive editor reportedly had a few words about bloggers and the new media (HT: Drudge):
[Keller] noted that, according to a recent opinion poll, the public’s trust in journalists is at its lowest point in decades. He attributed this in part to the increasingly polarized nature of the American public, who look to the press for support of their viewpoints.Keller revealed the hopelessness of his position with the following words as characterized by the Columbia Spectator reporter:“At the moment,” he said, “the major press is under attack from ideologues on the right and left.”
Keller also sees “blogging,” or online writing that blurs news and commentary, as a mixed blessing. While he celebrated the blogger’s ability to uncover breaking news, he noted that a blog’s inherent bias might be detrimental to the reader. “A blog is still a view of the world through a pinhole,” he said, noting that it can sometimes fall as low as being a “one man [censored].”Rather than point the finger at biased bloggers for masquerading as journalists, perhaps the MSM elite should remove their veils from behind which they pedal their bias that masquerades as objectivity.
Keller's remarks remind of a line from the CBS report explaining what went wrong with Rathergate:
The combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the networks news anchor, competitive pressures, and a zealous belief in the truth of the segment seem to have led many to disregard some fundamental journalistic principles. (emphasis added)The fact that the CBS report could not determine political motivation for airing the segment, is proof enough to me of the extent to which the MSM is viscerally biased.
My previous post on visceral bias and the MSM can be read here.
Posted by Rick at 08:04 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 17, 2005
Dispatches from Glass Houses
James Taranto's "Best of the Web" today points to blogger David M's piece pondering the identity of the person who wrote Monday's Wall Street Journal editorial on the Eason Jordan "kerfuffle." (The word "kerfuffle" being a big clue, apparently.)
I've made no secret about being freaked out lately by the power of the blogosphere, particularly as it pertains to the Eason Jordan incident, but Taranto responds in such a dismissive, condescending manner that . . . well, it wouldn't surprise me to see Taranto in the blogosphere's crosshairs soon (if he's not already.)
David forwarded us his blog entry, asking if we did indeed write the editorial. That is a question we cannot answer, for Journal policy is to keep the authorship of editorials confidential. An exception is made when editorial writers are nominated for prizes--which means that bloggers who wish to learn who wrote this editorial should be rooting for the author to win a Pulitzer.Isn't this a perfect example of how bloggers are amateurs (amateur: "one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession")? If David enjoys puzzling over the authorship of newspaper editorials, more power to him--but it's hard to imagine anyone making a living that way.
There's also something sweet in how the bloggers have taken such offense at the editorial. Rather than bask in their victory, they are focused on letting the world know how much they crave the approval of the big boys at the Journal.
Perhaps Taranto hasn't noticed, but his "Best of the Web" is essentially a blog, pointing out newsbits from across the web and commenting on them. The only difference is that Taranto gets paid to write his blog while the "amateurs" he sniffs at do not.
WSJ's Peggy Noonan, on the other hand, gets it.
Posted by Drew at 05:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack