Around the Web
•The wacky world of blog statistics
Looking at blog statistics can be revealing. It can also be gratifying. . . or disgusting. I get people doing searches such as: "Jessica Lynch+ naked+ rape." There's even one for "amputee+ devotee+ fingers." Guess the latter example is what I deserve for writing about sometimes arcane subjects.
The one that gave me pause today was someone searching for DailyKos' identity. I don't believe it is a big secret, though it doesn't strike me as something a blog reader really needs to know. When I see someone doing something by subterfuge, I suspect he is going to use the results in an ugly way. If the person's intentions are honorable, why doesn't he just ask Kos?
•Kieran turns one
Kieran Healy announced his blog is now one year old. I gave him props and you should, too.
Congratulations, Kieran. I hope Mac-a-ro-nies does so well. One of the things I've discovered in my two months as a blogger is that the bodies of abandoned blogs litter the landscape. Staying the course is the minority position. Those who do it and have good blogs deserve praise.
One report I read said only about 20 percent of the blogs ever founded are still in existence. I see it every day, especially when I am looking for intelligent blog entries on a topic I'm writing about. I will find one or two or three, only to discover the blogger either mothballed his blog officially, the polite exit strategy, or just left it one day and never returned.
Some of these blogs are atrocious in regard to design and content. In my opinion, the conversations with God, of which there are way too many, are the most embarassing. However, other abandoned blogs look and read just fine. I believe the bloggers just became discouraged.
•Brian Emanuels: Hero or a zero?
The talk in civil rights blogging circles is about the Seattle teacher who called a student a 'nigger,' twice, to 'teach him a lesson.' Silver Rights has three entries about the controversy, which also involves the use of the word 'gay.' Read them here, here and here. The entries round up much of what other bloggers have had to say on the topic. They include the thoughts of Barry of Alas, A Blog, Fred of Rantavation and Earl of Prometheus 6.
•General Christian isn't at ease
General J.C. Christian, the fellow who believes Colin Powell has 'purty lips,' is having problems with feminism. Who would've thunk it? He asks:
How can a man resist assaulting a woman who's flaunting her body by wearing shorts, a tank top, or even a nun's habit? It's almost as bad as seeing a bulge in a man's jeans. We have no ability to restrain ourselves. The Lord made us that way.
The General's consternation doesn't stop there. He is concerned about his, and possibly Colin's, golf outings.
Like many Americans, I'm pretty upset about this here foreign Annika Sorenstam woman trying to play in a PGA tournament. She's going to ruin golf. It'll become some kind of sissified girlie game.
Can you imagine being forced to golf with a woman? You wouldn't be able to partake in one of life's greatest pleasures, taking a leak on the green. Where's all that beer going to go?
Pay the general a visit and try not to laugh out loud.
•Speaking truth to the Right
Avedon is calling the Righties out over at The Sideshow.
. . .Aside from the aristos and theofascists, there is no one who is actually benefiting from the way Bush is running the country, and most of us are endangered by it. If you belong to the first two categories, you are utterly anti-American and worthy of no intellectual defense; if you belong to the latter category and still think there is any defense of Bush, you're deluded. It's pretty simple, really. There are certain things that sensible people do not do. We do not set our houses on fire, we do not seek out winos in the park for sex, and we don't support the Bush administration.
Bravo! Avedon is right. Some of us liberals are so determined not to be considered unpleasant we turn ourselves into pretzels trying not to confront the Right Wing in regard to the absurd policies of the Bush administration. In doing so, we unwittingly help them sell the bill of goods they've brought to market, which in most cases will harm them as much as it does us. Read Avedon's entire entry. She has said what needed to be said.
