Comments and Trackbacks Down

I've shut down comments and trackbacks in preparation for moving TAM to WordPress. When the new weblogging platform is in place (later today I hope) commenting should be easier to do on both your end (no more warnings about using words like "info" and blogspot.com will probably be kosher again) and mine (reduced spam). Just as important, I hope WP is more robust than the old version of Movable Type I've been using for over three years. My inability to quickly publish updates to the Cory Lidle plane crash last week pushed me to make the move. Publishing when I want to is one of the best aspects of weblogging.

If you really have the itch to comment on a post send me an e-mail (sean--at--theamericanmind--dot--com) for my consideration.

TAM Technical Issues

The lack of hard-hitting commentary is due to technical issues. I'm working on the new version of TAM (3.0 I think), and it's going slower than I'd like. I hope to get it all working soon so I can focus on writing and my special announcement instead of dealing with website design, moving megabites of posts, spam blocking, etc. etc.

Similar Web Hosting Problems

John Hawkins uses Dreamhost to host his popular weblog. He hasn't been too keen on their service:

My hosting company, Dreamhost, used to give good service. However, for the last couple of months they've been absolutely horrible and up and down like a yo-yo. I've been raising hell with them about it and they've moved me to a different, supposedly more reliable server, but my confidence in them is shot.

On the upside, I do have a back end upgrade of my content management system coming up soon and by the time that is completed, if I don't see an immediate and significant improvement in their performance, I'm changing hosts.

Hawkins is harsher because his Right Wing News is his full-time job.

Blame the Spammers

TAM has been getting hit so hard by comment and trackback spammers that comments had to be shut down. I'll get them up and running again in a day or so to see if this was a temporary situation. When I move TAM to WordPress I hope that really eases the problem. Sorry for the annoyance.

More Proof that Webloggers are Geeks

There's been way too much talk in the blogosphere about ABC's lame Path to 9/11 miniseries. Uh, guys, yesterday was Week 1 of the NFL. I watched my Packers get trounced. Sunday night, the Manning brothers faced each other for the first time and too many of you were watching a melodrama about a story you already know the ending to.

Priorities, people. Priorities.

"Video: “Path to 9/11″ Update: Side-by-Side Comparison"

TAM's Back

Did you miss me?

DreamHost finally got things fixed and TAM is up and running. This was the worst outage in the many years I've been with the host. They tell me they'll be doing some network upgrades Monday night. I hope that prevents future problems.

I survived the quiet time without enduring the shakes. I now know I'm fully capable of surviving weblogging withdrawal without need too much methadone.

Donate to Dean

While I'm on a donation kick think about sending a few bucks Dean Esmay's way. He's dealing with some unemployment insurance problems and hasn't "seen a paycheck in the Esmay household for over a month." Ouch!

"Pledge Drive"

Free from Blogger

Chris at Spotting Horse 2 has thrown off the shackles (and occasional outages) of Blogger and moved to WordPress.

I hope to be joining him in the near future.

Ticket to Ride... er Weblog... er Whatever

If Glenn Reynolds ever hosts an open house I know where he can get tickets made.

New TAM Features

If you look closely I'm "uglifying" TAM with the addition of social bookmarking links to del.icio.us, Digg, Furl, reddit, Spurl, and Yahoo's MyWeb.

If you have no idea what social bookmarking is let me give you the rundown. All these services allow people to share webpages they find with others. Furl (my fave), del.icio.us, Spurl, and MyWeb are all online bookmark sites where you can jump from computer to computer and always have access to your bookmarks. The services aggregate the choices of all their users and show you what's hot on the web. Digg and reddit are news sites where the users are the editors. Anyone can sign up and post stories. Other users vote on them and the ones with the most votes go to the front page. It's a way to glimpse what thousands, if not millions, of people are interested in. Both are ways to find interesting stories that might fall through the cracks of orthodox news sites controlled by formal editors.

So if you like a TAM post you can now easily save it with something like del.icio.us or Furl, or you can submit the post to digg or reddit and see if other people like it.

Behind the scenes at TAM HQ I'm preparing for some major changes. I'm moving TAM to new, up-to-date weblogging software (WordPress) and allow for easier design and feature improvements. I hope the software will help me combat the comment and trackback spam that wastes my time. I will have a new redesign to go with the software improvement. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Conservative Weblogger Discloses a Little Late

Patrick Hynes of Ankle Biting Pundits when he isn't posting is a political consultant. One of his clients is Sen. John McCain, and he's been Hynes' client for a few months. All this time Hynes didn't tell his weblog readers who was paying him. Jim Geraghty exposed him, and got Hynes to come clean.

Hynes made a mistake in not being as open about his political consulting dealings. His blogospheric reputation took a big hit, especially after remembering how he bashed Markos Moulitsas for being paid to plug Howard Dean, M.D. on his weblog. His consulting career may be in good shape, but he'll need to put in some effort to fix his blogosphere standing.

"Straight Talk, Unmarked Bills"

"McCain Hires Hymes of Anke-Biting Pundits, but Disclosure is Delayed" [via OTB]

Weblog History Lesson: Robot Wisdom

Ever heard of Robot Wisdom? Well it's back on the TAM blogroll. I'm guessing over 90% of webloggers and their readers have never read or heard of the weblog. It wasn't mentioned in Hugh Hewitt's book Blog so it's understandable if unfortunate. Robot Wisdom is published by Jorn Barger and according to Wikipedia will be nine years old in December making it two years older than TAM though with interruptions. Wikipedia also gives Barger credit for coining the word "weblog." That's a good and bad thing. What's good is "weblog" sounds better than "online journal." What's bad is from "weblog" came "blog," an ugly word that caught on and is forever attacted to this medium.

Barger can be described as eccentric with refusing employment that violates his "gigantic psychological block against Mammon-in-general." He's also been strongly critical of Judaism.

Robot Wisdom is one of the original weblogs. From this we've arrived at Instapundit, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Wonkette, and millions of others. Know your history. Respect your (weblogging) elders.

TAM is Sick

Posting on TAM has been frustrating lately. I've been running into server troubles when trying to publish. I'm not sure if it's due to spammers or the increased traffic load the weblog has been having. Behind the scenes at TAM HQ I've been planning some changes. I may have to make some drastic software changes soon if my problems continue.

I Do Have a Last Name

A minor pet peeve of mine is being called only by my first name when I'm mentioned with my weblog--I'm talking to you Sykes. "Sean of The American Mind" bugs me. I have a full name that I want out there. Call it my small attempt at branding. Jessica McBride mentioned a New York article I e-mailed her about adults who try to remain locked into their 20s, and she used my full name.

Now, we have to do something about her ever-expanding blogroll.

Blogroll Down

Anyone know what's wrong with Blogrolling.com? My blogroll isn't up and there's an odd Tucows (parent company of Blogrolling.com) page up.

Return of Trackbacks

Last year I had to ditch trackbacks because spammers were hitting TAM so hard my webhost complained. I've learned Dreamhost has ended their cpu minute restrictions. So I trackbacks have returned. If the spammers hit TAM again Dreamhost won't be happy and trackbacks would be temporary. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Much of the problem is I use an old version of Movable Type. Its spam-blocking capabilities are not state-of-the art. In the future I plan on upgrading to new weblogging software, but that will require a new template. Since my design skills are zilch I'll hire outside help. Putting a little something in the tip jar or buying a Blogad would speed up the process and be appreciated.

Happy Anniversaries

Those youngins at Power Line are four-years old. Boots & Sabers turned three. Keep it up. Someday you might get as old as TAM.

Kos Jumps Shark

It's really, really weird (even "surreal") seeing Markos Moulitsas AKA "Daily Kos" peeking (stalking) into someone's house then charging in with a few of his cult followers friends. People in Connecticut after seeing the ad will we wondering, "When did Jon Cryer care about our state's politics?"

Allahpundit is right. Ned Lamont, unintentionally, made a Mentos ad.

A Damn Expensive Post

While not as expensive as the Power Line post that lead to Dan Rather's demise the CEO of Raytheon took a hit to his wallet because of this weblogger.

"Chief's Pay Is Docked by Raytheon" [via Instapundit]

A Note About the Blogosphere

English isn't the dominant language. In fact, "English isn't even the primary language of one third of all posts that Technorati tracks anymore."

Just blame the Japanese.

"State of the Blogosphere, April 2006 Part 2: On Language and Tagging"

Vlogs as The Future

Pamela AKA Atlas vlogs [and here] (UGH! A word uglier than "blog!"). Two observations:

1. She sounds a little like Michael Savage only slightly saner.

2. She's hot so who cares what she sounds like.

Seriously, it's sort of interesting that people are playing around with video, but don't view the blogosphere as a place kick back and veg out like a couch potato. I can consume a lot more information via text and audio. On the production side writing text is easier than making a podcast. I can't imagine the complications producing a vlog entails. No, vlogs may be the "wave of the future" (great we'll have one million channels with nothing on), but I won't be surfing too much of it.

More Spice Boys Slapping

Folkbum delivered a solid smacking of the Spice Boys:

Maybe covering the blogs (so you don't have to!) just isn't as much fun as trafficking in political gossip. Maybe they just don't have any respect for people like me (and Althouse) who don't get (or want) a paycheck for writing every day. Either way, their scorn couldn't be more clear. Thanks, Boys, for all your efforts to marginalize us.

I really think the Spice Boys have no idea why webloggers spend vast amounts of time writing. They could be the good investigative reporters they are and ask us, but then their conclusion (before doing any research or serious thinking) that " These guys want to go mainstream" might not be true in all cases. We don't weblog for the chicks or the fame. We do it because we think we have something to say, and weblogs make it really easy for us to say it.

I don't deny I'd love a professional writing gig. Before I die I want to have a few books with my name on it. TAM might help me reach that goal. But understand I've been weblogging over six years. If TAM was all about me going mainstream then I should have shut this place down years ago and tried something different like *gasp* journalism school. There's something very satisfying about getting an idea, stringing some words together, hitting "publish" and knowing the end product is available to anyone on the internet.

"Spice Boys Almost Decapitated by the Point as it Whizzes Past" [via Badger Blogger]

Attacking Weblogs

All the "cool kids" use Hosting Matters to house their weblogs. And every few months the company gets hit by DoS attacks. Thus I'll never move TAM to their servers. Big-name weblogs are targets for crackers or politicaly-motivated script kiddies. I don't want to be collateral damage. I'm sticking to DreamHost. I've been with them since TAM got its own dot-com (the end of 2000), and I've only had two or three serious problems, none lasting longer than a day. The service has been good and the price is right.

[Hey, Spice boys, this is more weblogging navel gazing. Have a problem with it?]

"Blogs Down: Hack Attack"

Clueless

The Spice boys are weblogging goofs. The Journal Sentinel should just shut them down for being such an embarassment. How long have then been zipping around the blogosphere? It must not have been long since they're surprised Ann Althouse would be posting on a weblogging conference she's attending at Harvard. Hello! Webloggers do navel gazing often. Part of it is webloggers are exploring how this new medium (which really isn't that new; it's just writing) intersects with society and institutions. Webloggers are curious folks. Another part is "Blogging: It's all about me." What, webloggers are the only ones who have egos? How about snarky newspaper investigative reporting duo?

Another thing, when has Ann Althouse written deeply about gas prices, the war, or what goes on in Madison? She doesn't. She's a law professor who writes a lot about legal issues, Amercian Idol, and pop culture. If the Spice boys actually read Althouse enough they'd know that and not toss in those straw men. All they are are punching bags for webloggers who know what's going on.

"Navel Gazing" [via Ask Me Later]

Podcast Blunder

The Pajamas Media gang goofs up again. The idea of a "Blog Week in Review" is sound, but there's no RSS feed available on the web page. Quick tip to PJ Media: There are podcast programs other than iTunes.

On-the-Scene Vs. Phoning It In

Jeff Harrell's coverage of a Washington, D.C. immigration rally was good enough to be quoted by Molly Ivins. Jeff doesn't mind Ivins telling her mass of readers he's full of "provincialism." In fact, he notes the irony:

The irony here is so flagrant that calling attention to it almost makes me feel cheap. I went out, immersed myself in a large-scale event, witnessed it and in real time wrote what I thought about it. Meanwhile, a columnist sat in her comfortable house in her comfortable neighborhood and chastized me for my “provincialism.”

Jim Geraghty goes off.

Weblogging Nostalgia

Last week, Ann Althouse wrote,

Don't cave into nostalgia for a Golden Age, especially one that got its golden glow from the horror that was 9/11. Things were bound to change and shake around, and some bloggers that you liked then may put you off now. But there are always a million new bloggers, and blogging is a beautifully fruitful format. The great power of blogging is the way it releases the creativity of the individual mind. That sense of not being able to predict your own opinions and observations -- that feeling of writing to discover your own ideas and interests -- is the great intrinsic value of blogging.

Nostalgia is the last thing I want to do with weblogging. Reminiscing about the "old days," say 1999, when weblogging amounted to links to Wired News and News.com articles or some odd site on the net is worse than blogospheric navel gazing.

There are some things about weblogging I'm bummed about. I don't like the desire of many to seek a "gotcha" moment. Power Line and Little Green Footballs got a rush and minor fame from helping to take down Dan Rather. Ed Morrisey had a blast publishing coverage of a Canadian trial that was banned to our northern neighbor. Being always on the hunt makes one anxious to not miss any news. One is constantly reading RSS feeds, refreshing Memeorandum, and scouring oodles of news sites. There's pressure to get be the first so everyone else can link to you. Real scoops are moments of serendipity along with the skill to adequately convey or analyze that moment's importance.

Along with that is the need to get a trophy victim. After Trent Lott there was Dan Rather. After Rather there was Eason Jordan. When Jordan went down it felt like some wanted a Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Brett Stephens to go too. Destruction was the goal.

Then there are the annoyances:

• Updating a post with "Welcome Instapundit (or fill-in-the-blank A-List weblogger) readers!!!" Don't make a big deal of it. Act like you've done it before.

• Updating and bumping a post. Go to the trouble to write a new post if the new news is so darn important. Then link to the previous post. That way you tell your readers (and remind yourself) when you started writing on the subject.
  

Michele's Back

It was pretty smart of me not to take A Small Victory off the TAM blogroll. She's baaaaack!!

New FEC Rules on Online Political Speech

The FEC's proposed regulations of online political speech do not look too draconian:

The Federal Election Commission last night released proposed new rules that leave almost all Internet political activity unregulated except for the purchase of campaign ads on Web sites.

"My key goal in this rule-making has been to make sure that the commission establish clear rules to exempt individuals who engage in online politics from campaign finance laws," said Chairman Michael E. Toner, a Republican.

"We tried to craft a regulation that would allow the maximum amount of freedom for people as possible," said Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub, a Democrat.

Most bloggers, individual Web users, and such Web sites as Drudge Report and Salon.com are exempted from regulation and will be free to support and attack federal candidates, much as newspapers are allowed.

Jerome Armstrong of Lefty weblog MyDD sees it as webloggers getting "the media exemption." On his weblog he wonders, "However, for a camapign, I'm unsure of the implications of their ruling. From the sounds of it, Google ads and Blogads are now going to have to carry a disclaimer. I can't imagine that even being practical for candidates to run disclaimers in their search-term ads."

Here's the summary [PDF].

It appears I won't be shutting down only to have my Russian cousin (*wink* *wink*) start it up on servers in his motherland.

"Proposed FEC Rules Would Exempt Most Political Activity on Internet"

Conservative Weblogger Doesn't Last a Week

Ben Domenech didn't last a week as a weblogger for washingtonpost.com. It wasn't the bile-spewing Left or Intelligent Design critics that got him. It was his past. This post at Obsidian Wings is pretty damning. Such criticism must have been damning to Domenech. He resigned.

Lefty webloggers may want his head on their trophy wall. If I were them I wouldn't. First, no body outside the political blogosphere knows who Domenech is. Second, he didn't last a week. That's far from taking down an institution like Dan Rather.

Domenech has written far more than I have. Part of that comes from him being an ex-speech writer. When a young writer is cutting their teeth they will make mistakes. Is past plagerism unforgiveable? Does it have a statute of limitations? When writers are seeking a new gig should they admit the mistakes in their past and hope their recent track record can make up for it?

TAM has existed since 1999. Before that I wrote occasional op-eds in my college newspaper. In all that writing I don't recall ever copying someone elses work, but I might have. Say the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wanted to take weblogs seriously and wanted me on board. How would I deal with a potential time bomb sitting in my archives just waiting for rabid partisans to detonate?

UPDATE: Domenech (AKA Augustine) posted his explanation to plagerism charges and his resignation. The story made it on The Drudge Report so the RedState servers are under a lot of stress. They're reasonable explanations. More reasonable than the hateful responses of his Leftist critics. They are still errors of judgement, but being young (he was 17 at the time) is about making mistakes and learning from them. It makes me ask the question, "When does a writer's past mistakes no longer hurt him?"

Here's something to think about: had Domenech been caught drinking at 17 he would still be writing Red America. If he would have been caught smoking pot he might be praised. Some youthful indiscretions are more forgivable than others.

UPDATE II: National Review Online admits Domenech plagerized, and it wasn't for a college paper. "A side-by-side comparison to another review of the same film speaks for itself. There is no excuse for plagiarism and we apologize to our readers and to Steve Murray of the Cox News Service from whose piece the language was lifted."

With that Domenech would have been booted from the Red America weblog had he not resigned. That's understandable for an institution like The Washington Post who has a reputation to maintain. I would like to know is Domenech scarred for life? Will editors reject job opportunities or even free lance articles when he's 40, 50, or even 80 because of what he did in his teens and 20s? With the internet as a permanent archive we all should wonder how long our past mistakes will haunt us.

What's really disappointing is washingtonpost.com will be "likely to look for someone with a more traditional journalism background." Domenech's flagrant copying tarred the reputations of conservative webloggers everywhere. Thanks a lot, Ben.

[via Michelle Malkin]

The Bile Toward Ben Domenech

A few people don't like Ben Domenech writing a conservative weblog for The Washington Post. Instead of ignoring him or actually challenging his ideas some decide to play quote-pulling (some from as far back as 4 1/2 years ago), insult him (and all others like him) for being home schooled, and call him an idiot for believing God created the universe.

At least Steve Verdon puts some real thought into his challenge of one of Domenech's points about intelligent design. Others should take notes from Steve on how a serious debate is done.

James Joyner collects a number of Domenech-bashing posts and observes:

And am I the only one who sees the irony in a bunch of 40- and 50-something bloggers with advanced degrees resorting to name calling and over-the-top rhetoric to attack someone on the basis of being too young, immature, and lacking in nuance to blog?

Let them waste their time and energy. It's better than having this shreiking part of the Left doing things they think are actually helpful or productive to their political cause.

Weblog Addiction Syndrome

Business Week's Stephen Baker joins me and thousands of others and admits their problem. We're addicted to weblogging. While Washington Post reporters wonders if they should be paid extra to post (and wonder if the newspaper can "compel employees to blog") Baker would do it for free.

"Should Mainstream Bloggers Be Paid Extra? Should I?"

Blogger Bounces Betsy

One of my favorite webloggers (who I don't link to enough) Besty Newmark is having Blogger troubles. It's still not fixed even though Blogger says it's fixed. Blogger's problems was the reason I moved to Movable Type a few years ago. Their service wasn't reliable enough for me. When Google bought Blogger I had hopes their infrastructure and software would get fix and be stable. That hasn't happened. A company can't do everything well, but Google has had a good run. A stable, reliable Blogger/BlogSpot would get more people to write weblogs which would mean more real estate for their ads. Why the company never has gotten Blogger fixed is beyond me.

My advice: go with weblogging software that's on your server. My host, Dreamhost, lets you install WordPress with one click so you don't have to deal with UNIX commands, FTP, or PHP. If you want free try WordPress.com.

"Bloggers, Back up Your Work"

UPDATE: Betsy's weblog is back, and she's not pleased with Google. I don't blame her.

Weblogger Protection Bill Pulled

Mike Krempasky reports the House Rules Committee couldn't agree on how to proceed on HR 1606, the Online Freedom of Speech Act. "[I]t's been pulled until after the recess."

We now have more time to put pressure on our Congressmen to protect online political speech.

"HR 1606 Pulled for the Week"

To Protect Online Speech Call Congress

It's time to turn the blogosphere's albeit limited power onto meatspace. Tomorrow, HR 1606, The Online Freedom of Speech Act, comes to a vote in the House. As Mike Krempasky puts it it "simply puts into law the existing status quo. It preserves the system under which we operated for the 2004 elections - WHEN THERE WAS NO CORRUPTION OR SCANDAL. It's supported by bloggers left and right. "

This is about maintaining lively, pointed, passionate political speech on the internet. Call these people who voted against the bill when it came up last year under special rules. For my Wisconsin readers that means making Rep. Tom Petri explain his stance on online political speech. Petri's Washington, D.C. office number is 202.225.2476, his Oshkosh office number is 920.231.6333, and his Fond du Lac office number is 920.922-1180.

Stop reading TAM for a few minutes and get on the phone.

"Get on the Damn Phone"

Huffington Post Dishonesty

Want another reason to not read The Huffington Post? Arianna practices intellectual dishonesty. George Clooney's "post" about being proud to be a liberal and how weenie Washington Democrats are wasn't his post at all. Clooney's ticked:

Oscar-winner George Clooney may make politically provocative films like "Syriana." But he doesn't write politically provocative blogs.

So imagine his ire when Arianna Huffington used some of his recent answers to political questions in a way that makes it look as if he wrote one for her Huffington Post blog site.

"He doesn't object to the quotes," says Stan Rosenfield, Clooney's valiant rep. "He said those things and those are his views. Arianna asked for permission to use the quotes and he gave it to her. What he didn't give permission for was the use of his quotes without source attributions to make it appear that he wrote a blog for her site. Which he did not. When he saw the posting Monday, we called and asked her to make the change, to simply attribute the quotes and make it clear that he did not write a blog. But she refused. And it's now Wednesday."

Rather than keep waiting, Clooney got pro-active and issued this statement:

" Miss Huffington's blog is purposefully misleading and I have asked her to clarify the facts.

I stand by my statements but I did not write this blog. With my permission Miss Huffington

compiled it from interviews with Larry King and The Guardian. What she most certainly did not get my permission to do is to combine only my answers in a blog that misleads the reader into thinking that I wrote this piece. These are not my writings - they are answers to questions and there is a huge difference."

All Huffington had to do was note that the post wasn't an original piece. Even better she should have wrote a post under her name using Clooney's quotes. It makes you wonder what other ways Huffington is manipulating content on her collective weblog.

"Clooney to Arianna: I Did Not Blog" [via Alarming News]

For What It's Worth

. . . Harrell's back. The Shape of Days is live, from Washington, D.C.—a town that is, for many reasons, dear to my heart.

A "Journalist's" Take on Blogs

Steve over at Letters in Bottles has a great post up fisking a ridiculous article about blogs and the mainstream media. Check it out.

Wal-Mart and Webloggers

Professor McAdams has put together a string of interesting posts [and here] on how webloggers are getting pro-Wal-Mart information. He then compares that to how the MSM works. Webloggers are more transparent.

I Feel Better...Sort of

I'm not the only one to have been challenged this week by a WTMJ radio yapper.

"A li’l backtrack…"

Best Weblog Post Ever?

I only called Tom McMahon's beautiful post the best of the year. John Podhoretz declares it "might be the greatest blog entry ever written."

Weblog Post of the Year

If there was an award for best weblog post of the year Tom McMahon's would be on the short list. As a matter of fact, I'm declaring it already. It's touching, timeless, moving, and full of wisdom.

"What I Have Learned In 15 Years"

Weblog Snob

Call me a weblog snob. When someone like J.B. Van Hollen is running for statewide office and their weblog is on BlogSpot I think a few things: 1) they haven't thought much about weblogs and wanted to get something up to make it appear they "get it;" 2) they're too cheap to integrate the weblog with the rest of their website which means they either have money problems or care more about tv and radio ads than an online strategy.

There are a few big-time webloggers who have used BlogSpot for a long time. With my experience using it as a member of the Badger Blog Alliance I have to think Google has set it up so they don't have the same problems as ordinary, peon webloggers. Free places like BlogSpot are good ways to get your feet wet in the wild world of weblogging but serious people should move far away from it as fast as possible.

A Pet Peeve

It's bugged me when I go to a weblog linked by Glenn Reynolds only to find "Welcome Instapundit readers." I thought, "Act like you've done it before." Kevin Aylward had the guts to say it. I'm just the tag-along.

"Our Baby Is Growing Up..."

*Blush*

Thanks, Jessica.

The Pioneers. Lakeshore Laments (http://www.lakeshorelaments.com/), the American Mind (http://www.theamericanmind. com/), Tom McMahon (http://www.tommcmahon.net/wisconsin/ index.html), Badger Blogger (http://badgerblogger.com/), and Jiblog (http://jiblog.blogspot.com/) were doing this a heck of a lot longer than the rest of us. They’re thought provoking. They are the true pioneers.

"Blog on for Fresh Insights"

Same Name, New Address

Leaning Blue now has its own domain name. Please change links accordingly.

Feel the Burn

Peakah's Provocations... hosts this week's Bonfire of the Vanities. I don't think he's completely sane.

It's Alive...Again

After hours of Blogger technical issues the Badger Blog Alliance is up and running. Definitely check out Chris' post on making every state legislature race a state-wide one.

#1 Google Search

"best political websites"

I'd like to thank the fine engineers at Google for this honor. I don't know what I did to deserve it. Really, I'm clueless, but I'm not complaining.

Dear Abby: Weblog-Style

Me thinks Wizbang's advice column, Dear VK, will be a winner. Read this Q&A:

Dear VK,

I accidentally clipped a homeless guy driving back from a bar at the beach last weekend. I'm pretty sure he's dead because his head hit the bumper like a Gallagher melon. No one saw this, and I cleaned the car up real, real good. I feel bad now, but not bad enough to risk prison time. Should I just try to get over this, or do you recommend therapy? If I don't pay my therapist, can they tell the cops?

Signed, Guilty in Guilford

Dear Guilty,

It is just me, or does it seem like homeless people ought to stay under bridges and in soup kitchens where they belong? I guess I'm trying to understand why you feel bad now, when you clearly didn't at the time. If it's for the homeless guy's sake, don't bother -- he's not feeling a thing, and wherever he is it's either a damn sight warmer or nicer than the box he'd previously called home. So why waste the money on therapy when you could be spending it on something far more productive, like buying me a drink.

Besides, the real question here is: how's your car?

Soberly,
VK

Excuse me. I was rolling on the floor laughing.

"Dear VK"

SRLC Taking Webloggers Seriously

Webloggers are still looked at as the red-headed stepchild of media, but they're being taken seriously. This year's Southern Republican Leadership Conference are treating them just like newspapers, television, and talk radio.

Bonfire #132

The Business of America is Business hosts this week's Bonfire of the Vanities.

Help Out Kevin

Kevin Holtsberry is asking for donations to get him to NYC for a National Review fundraiser. Give him a hand. All the money will go to helping NR remain the vital conservative institution it is.

"Send Me to New York!"

Washington Times' New Weblogging Policy

Looks like I won't be writing for The Washington Times anytime soon. Their new non-work weblogging policy is pretty strict. You not only have to "request and obtain permission from senior editors" but you can't "report on or publish anything concerning The Washington Times itself." After six-plus years of having the freedom to write whatever I want whenever I want to it would be hard to enter an environment with any restrictions.

"The Washington Times' Policy on Bloggers"

2005 TAM Weblog Awards

As the weblogs become more known weblogger's numbers increase. That makes for tough choices for the coveted (I would like to believe) TAM Weblog Awards. My criteria is simple: 1) it must be on my blogroll; 2) I have to think it's good for whatever reason I choose. It's the most subjective weblog awards in the blogosphere. Here we go:

1. Captain's Quarters

   For the first time in TAM Weblog Awards history we have a repeat. Captain Ed sealed the deal by being the conduit to get news about a Canadian political scandal around a judicial gag order. That news led to new elections for our neighbor due north. Ed has also been on the forefront of the Able Danger story. Still, that's not all. He consistently puts out lengthy posts filled with insight and solid argument. All the while he values the community that has grown around his weblog.

2. Boots & Sabers

   When Wisconsin politicians want a glimpse of the thoughts and feelings of passionate local conservatives they turn to B&S. Owen Robinson comments on the latest news with a consistent conservative viewpoint. Party means squat to him. It's ideas that matter. His good writing and thinking has made him a great spokesman for the conservative blogosphere in the Badger State.

3. JustOneMinute

   Tom Maguire followed the Valarie Plame case like he had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He parsed stories line by line. Such detail drove me batty at times. Still, he kept you informed of all possible angles.

4. RedState.org

   Sure, it's a giganto-mega-weblog made up of lots of diaries. But they were the center of the blogospheric dissent to Harriet Miers' nomination. Add to that so many good writers take on issues to philosophy to political strategy. You can be sure some future strategist will come from this group.

5. Charlie Sykes

   The radio yapper fully embraced the blogosphere using them/me for ideas and a gauge of opinion. Without him the Wisconsin conservative blogosphere would not have become the growing force it is today.
   

Congratulations to the winners.

Why I Can't Rip on Instapundit

Not only is Glenn Reynolds a weblogging superstar, but he's also a nice guy:

CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY ADVICE to blog readers: Don't do this here, as I don't need it, but go to one of your favorite blogs and make a donation or send an appreciative email. Especially one of the smaller blogs, where the attention is especially likely to be noticed and appreciated. There are a lot of blogs out there, and the bloggers with low traffic often work just as hard as the ones with big numbers. Let 'em know if you like their work.

I've met Glenn a couple times. What you read on his weblog is what you get in person: curious, thought-provoking, and generous to others.

Hooray!

TAM didn't win, but she wasn't last. (Sorry Gary at Ex-Donkey Blog.) Thanks for all who voted. Next year, I hope TAM gets creamed by some Top 250 weblogs.*

*That's a subtle hint to tell other weblogs to link to TAM.

More Blegging

My goal of catching Meryl Yourish is fading. I'm again worrying about falling into last place. Give this poor weblogger a hand and vote today, then tomorrow, then the next day. I won't cry if you don't support me, but I will be very disappointed.

A Tight Web They Weave

Here's some quick inside baseball weblogs stuff: Only Pajamas Media weblogs are linking to the PJM site. Without Glenn Reynolds they'd hardly have any links. PJM might be bringing in readers (no Sitemeter so who knows) but they certainly aren't winning over webloggers.

"Pajamas Media - Building A Better Echo Chamber"

It's That Time Again

I'm asking for your votes again. I'm not getting any closer to Meryl Yourish, but TAM also isn't getting closer to last place. Your vote would be just lovely.

PJM Isn't Fast

When you think of weblogs you think of ordinary people who can quickly comment on a breaking story. That's what I did when I heard about the Hemel Hempstead fuel depot fire. I quickly put together weblog, Flickr, and Technorati links. I kept that up with further updates. I did this without any funding. Pajamas Media with its $3.5 million in venture capital didn't have anything up until later Sunday morning. If I were operating a weblogging company I'd have someone awake at all hours of the day waiting to pounce on breaking news. Let's face it, they got scooped by the MSM. That shouldn't happen to a company that wants to outdo them.

"Sleepwalking In Pajamas"

Ho-Hum

Michael Crowley's NY Times Magazine weblogs article is out. That tiny thing garnered too much attention. All Crowley says is the conservative blogospheres uses uses weblogs for "eliciting strong emotional responses from their supporters" while the Left supposedly "air[s] ideas and vent[s] grievances with one another" and is too busy "examining every side of every issue." Crowley offers nothing to support that statement. If he's comparing Free Republic, which isn't a weblog, to Crooked Timber that would be unfair. Looking at the big boy of the liberal blogosphere, Daily Kos, we have this "interesting" post: pictures of four Republicans with them labled "bad guys." is that "examining every side of every issue" or "eliciting strong emotional responses from their supporters?" How about calling Iraqi elections as "The Myth of the Purple Finger?"

Then there's the assertion that conservative webloggers are part of the right wing media conspiracy. Well, I'm still waiting for Karl Rove's orders.

Crowley's piece has no point and no evidence. He's just using the pages of a major American newspaper to smear conservative webloggers.

Here's Michelle Malkin's response as well as Captain Ed's and Glenn Reynolds'.

"Conservative Blogs are More Effective"

The Blegging Continues

TAM is solidly not in last place. I thank you all for that. The next weblog infront of me is Meryl Yourish's. The unemployed Jewish writer (help her out) is a great writer with a distinct Israel angle to many of her posts. She's good. That's why I want to beat her. Help me out, ok?

Conservative Weblogs Rock

Michael Crowley will be arguing in the NY Times Magazine that conservative weblogs are more politically effective than liberal weblogs. That's quite debatable. What may be making conservative weblogs politically effective is how other conservative media, especially talk radio, use weblogs for ideas and to comprehend future political currents.

"NY Times Sunday Preview: Conservative Blogs Rock!" [via JustOneMinute]

Ouch

"The Twelve Days of Things that Make Baby Jesus Cry (#2)"

[via Hog on Ice]

UPDATE: Earlier this week Moxie put PJM into perspective.

I Might Have to Stoop This Low

Lucky me. I don't have to compete with Jane Galt in the Weblog Awards. She's threatening to cry if you don't vote for her. And it's working.

Remember for vote for TAM. You can vote once every 24 hours.

Vote Begging

Voters can vote once every 24 hours in the 2005 Weblog Awards. I'd love your vote. TAM is not dead last just second-to-last. It's progress. Thanks for all your support and tell your friends about TAM.

Vote for TAM

It's Weblog Awards time. TAM is in the running for "Best of the Top 251-500 Blogs." As of this moment my little hunk of cyberspace is running dead last! I guess that makes me the 500th best weblog. At least I know of one reader who loves me. I'd like to say be like someone in Chicago and vote early and often, but I think Kevin Aylward got that bug fixed. I'm happy to be a finalist. With the likes of Austin Bay, a real journalist, and Betsy Newmark, one-time TAM Award winner, competing with me I'd be shocked if TAM won. Still, I'd love your vote.

While you're at it give Nick Schweitzer (The World According to Nick) some love too

At PJM's Expense

"Flannels Media" is the new competitor to Pajamas Media. Their had their first "Flogjam" a few days ago.

"Flannels Media: Flogjam #1" [via Jiblog]