From time to time I do sponsored posts. You may have seen my advertising policy button in the right column – and I always put such posts in a special category that is called Paid Advertising, which you see in the left column. As such, I think I have made it clear that such posts are compensated, and that I am speaking as a paid reviewer of such of the company or product. I don’t say anything in such posts that I do not believe to be true. I don’t claim to use products or services I haven’t used. I think that is a simple matter of responsibility.

But IÂ’m still troubled by this new policy by the FTC.

The Federal Trade Commission is taking a tougher line on bloggers who accept cash or gifts to tout a company's products or services.
Under revised rules announced Monday, the FTC will require bloggers and celebrities to clearly state when they receive cash or "payment in kind" for endorsing a company's products or services.

The changes, adopted on a 4-0 vote, are the first revisions to federal guidelines on endorsements and testimonial advertising since 1980 and the first to target bloggers.

Connections between advertisers and endorsers must be disclosed once the revised guidelines take effect on Dec. 1. The FTC said the stricter disclosure requirement will apply to comments on talk shows, blog posts and on social media as well as in traditional advertisements.

* * *

Advertisers and endorsers who fail to disclose material connections, or who make false, misleading or unsubstantiated claims may be subject to fines of $11,000 per violation. The FTC didn't set a specific dollar threshold; instead, it called for disclosure whenever a reward is large enough that it might affect the credibility of the endorsement itself.

Now hereÂ’s where I have a problem. The FTC isnÂ’t clear what such disclosure has to look like. Are my posted policy and special category sufficient? And at what point is my compensation sufficiently substantial to trigger the FTC regulations? And does a post in which I simply note the existence of a company and an explanation of their services an endorsement, or is it something else?
My fear? That the rules are so vague that bloggers will find themselves in trouble without meaning to violate any rules. So while I donÂ’t have a theoretical problem with disclosure rules, I remain troubled by these.

Posted by: Greg at 10:55 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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I've linked to Charles Johnson over at Little Green Footballs since the first day I had a blogroll. Let's be honest -- he was, at the time, one of the giants of conservative blogging, and an important voice on the conservative side of the spectrum.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that any longer.

Over the last several months (or longer), Charles has set out to somehow purge the conservative movement, the GOP, and the blogosphere of those voices with which he disagrees. In the beginning, it was a bit odd -- a couple positions I saw as counterproductive and overly curmudgeonly. But one could take his position on Intelligent Design to be reasonable even while disagreeing with him -- though anyone who disagreed with Charles on the issue was immediately labeled a "stealth creationist" -- even me, despite the fact that I explicitly have for many years taught evolution as the best available explanation of the development of life, just because I expressed the belief that the best way to deal with the issue of Intelligent Design is to talk about it as being a philosophical/theological adjunct to science's evolutionary theory.

And then there was the issue of opposition to Islamism. Though once a strong opponent of terrorism, Charles apparently became disenchanted with many of those who agreed with them. He began throwing around charges of racist and fascist when discussing not only actual racists and fascists, but also when discussing anyone who might cross over an ill-defined line or those who might continue to associate with/link to them.

Then came the abortion issue. Charles, it appears to me, may be pro-choice, but i'm really not sure. But in the wake of the murder ofGgeorge Tiller he began issuing edicts about what language was acceptable for opponents of abortion to use. Disagree with him, and you were little less than an accessory to Tiller's killing.

And now Charles has decided that support for the Tea party movement is somehow suspect, and has launched into a jihad against a great many bloggers who dare to disagree with him -- echoing the media line that opposition to Obama is racism.

Along the way, he has done his best to make LGF an echo chamber, banning folks who dare to dissent from his orthodoxy for perceived violations of rules, even while allowing his supporters to violate those same rules. Personally, I got banned because, in response to his diktat on pro-life rhetoric, I gave a one sentence, non-profane response that indicated i would not change my rhetoric just because he said to do so.

In tone, Charles Johnson has come to sound like one of the loony local liberals blogging here in Houston. Frankly, the purges he keeps advocating at LGF sound Stalinist. The creeping nature of those purges remind me of the gradualism of the Nazis described by Martin Niemöller. I won't call him a liberal, a Stalinist, or a Nazi -- I think that may be a bit over the top -- but I will call him both wrong and out of control as he crosses over the line into angry personal attacks on those on the right with whom he disagrees. So I'm joining with some of his targets and a great many other bloggers in cutting my links to LGF in the hopes that concerted action will cause Charles to come to his senses and reconsider the direction his once-great blog has taken -- or that he gets that daily show on AirAmerica for which his recent antics appear to be an audition.

Posted by: Greg at 11:21 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Spam is a sad reality. Unfortunately, we Munuvians have been hit hard by it, especially here at Rhymes With Right. Until I'm ready to move to my new platform, I am closing comments on all entries. I'll then be able to get after the spam, especially the pornographic crap that I've been unable to deal with effectively.

Hopefully we will have comments back in the near future. And feel free to email me any comments you do want to make -- who knows, I may just create a post about them as a regular feature.

Posted by: Greg at 10:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Because Racism, Sexism, Classism and Low Rent Vulgarity as usual are just a part of the Democrat family values espoused over at Bay Area Houston. After all, what else are we to make of this post.

OK. This is getting strange. Palin was pallin' around with Perry purposely at the Governors Political Convention. Here we have two sort of attractive peppy politicians (I threw up a little in my mouth), with Palin pouting the trailer trash grandma look, and Perry with the perfectly quaffed hair, lookin to score politically. And score he does.

Palin has come out swinging with a one night endorsement of Rick Perry for another 4 years of screwing us Texans.

While a bunch of politicians have gone to Washington, hat in hand, seeking a bailout, Governor Perry has left his hat in my hotel room while he sticks his hand out for whatever giveaways the Federal governement will give. Rick Perry is true to conservative principles even when others think the party suck. I like that about him: he doesnÂ’t care who blows, he acts on who does.

And clearly, she does. If she was looking to score a date with Rick Perry, that endorsement just might do it for her. I can see her being dragged around from hotel to hotel on Perry's campaign across Texas speaking to a group of hard dicks, with her yee-ha, howdy-doody, folksy, hot grandmother with an 18 year old unwed mother look. And the retards of the republican party eating it up like a buck toothed hillbilly getting a $2 lap dance at the C-Sec Nudie Bar.

Perry wouldn't have it any other way.

So let’s look at what we have here. Blog author John Cobarruvias engages in racist and classist insults towards white people from working class backgrounds – clearly such folks don’t have any place in politics (or at least not GOP politics – he still worships at the altar of the Clintons). As for his “buck toothed hillbilly” comment, I’d like to remind him that the buck-toothed hillbilly vote is what originally brought his fellow Democrats like Senator Robert Byrd (D-KKK) into office.

And letÂ’s not pass on his tendency to objectify women in politics, in this case comparing a successful governor to a stripper. I guess we shouldnÂ’t be surprised. A couple of weeks ago he decided that a lobbyist event for female legislators that included pedicures was indicative of members of the organization having foot fetishes.

Then there is the vulgarity that he believes passes as witty political commentary providing meaningful insight on the issues of the day. What it really shows is his own warped sexuality, which is apparently stuck somewhere around the level of the typical thirteen-year-old.

Oddly enough, John sees himself as an opponent of racism, a supporter of women, and an advocate for the lower and middle class, while claiming that Republicans are on the wrong side of all of those issues. Seems to me that he actually is suffering from what psychologists call projection, seeing non-existent faults in others while being blind to their presence in himself. But on the bright side, at least he didn't call for the lynching of these Republicans.

Posted by: Greg at 01:32 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Hugh Hewitt, who may have been the closest of all other bloggers to Dean, writes the following tribute.

My friend and colleague Dean Barnett died today, and the world is a much poorer place for it. As anyone who listened to him on my radio show or read his work at Soxblog, here or at the Weekly Standard knows, and as everyone who had the great, great pleasure of knowing Dean will attest, Dean's combination of sparking intelligence and enormous good humor made him one fo the most memorable of friends. What too few people know, though, is what a kind, extraordinarily giving and compassionate man he was. Dean loved people and he loved this country and threw himself into every cause.

Be sure to read it all.

I'd like to encourage others to contribute to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in his honor. Let's help eradicate this killer in his honor.

Posted by: Greg at 12:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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As you may be aware, a couple of weeks ago a bunch of PUMA bloggers on Blogger were blocked by Obamabots labeling their blogs as spam.

Well, the same thing is happening again -- but now being directed against conservative bloggers who have failed to show sufficient respect for the Obamessiah.

Among these are two guys I deeply respect -- my fellow Watcher's Council Member Freedom Fighter from JoshuaPundit, as well as David M from Thunder Run. I've offered them temporary homes here -- so when they show up on the site, give them a warm welcome.

The timing of this is particularly convenient, because I may be posting sporadically for a while due to some family plans, and so these two respected refugees are going to be guest bloggers for me during that time, even if they get back into their sites.

You will also see my old buddy Hube from Colossus of Rhodey making some posts here as well over the next couple of weeks, as a favor. It has been a while since he has posted here, but I know my buddy will be popular here as well.

Thanks to all three guests!

Posted by: Greg at 08:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My Darling Democrat spent much of the weekend in misery with what we thought was a toothache. After some serious effort to get her squeezed in with a dentist (we are dumping our current dentist -- and switching dental insurance plans -- after this fiasco), we were pleased to find out that no drilling is required. Still, she will be uncomfortable for a couple more days until the medication kicks in.

Blogging may therefore be sporadic.

Posted by: Greg at 01:24 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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My output may drop off the next day or two -- a situation has arisen which is going to require some special attention the next couple days.

No illnesses, no deaths -- just a serious inconvenience that could limit my online access.

Posted by: Greg at 12:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let's hope not.

Cable service operators Comcast and Time Warner Cable said yesterday that they would begin testing new approaches that would slow Internet access for heavy users and charge more to those who want additional speed.

The tests come as the Federal Communications Commission wraps up an investigation on complaints that Comcast blocked certain users from sharing video, music and other files. The complaints fueled a larger debate, with hearings in Congress and by the FCC, on how much control Internet service providers should have over the flow of data.

"The cable companies see a hammer hovering above their heads and are scrambling to find ways to reduce the appearance of wrongdoing," said Ben Scott, head of policy for the public interest group Free Press, which advocates for better oversight of cable operators. He called the plans "Band-Aids" on the bigger problem of network capacity, which he said can be solved only by larger investments in the cable companies' networks.

Comcast said that on Friday it would begin tests in Chambersburg, Pa., and Warrenton, Va., that would delay traffic for the heaviest users of Internet data without targeting specific software applications. Public interest groups complained in November that Comcast targeted users of BitTorrent, a file-sharing application, by blocking or delaying video and other files exchanged with the technology. Free Press said the practice discriminated against certain content and impeded users from having full access to the Web.

Now i'll be honest -- I don't use that much bandwidth on a daily basis, but my webhost does. Are we going to see the destruction of the blogosphere as bloggers get socked with higher fees.

But i don't think such plans will be accepted by consumers, as is noted by this industry analyst.

Analysts warned that customers have become accustomed to flat fees for Internet and television service.

"Flat rate and unlimited service is an endgame move. When you go to that kind of rate structure, you can't go back," Entner said.

Posted by: Greg at 03:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You know, it sucks to exceed bandwidth and go offline for six hours in the middle of the day.

But it is also a nice problem to have -- it means that for th third straight month my traffic has increased beyond the previous month's traffic. And since I have had the bandwidth bumped every time, that means I'm seeing a real increase.

A change is coming very soon, though, that will take care of this problem permanently -- stay tuned!

Posted by: Greg at 12:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And the rest of my fellow MuNuvians as well.

According to our fearless leader Pixy Misa, we got mega-spammed by the usual sort of scumbags who send out unwanted and unrelated comments for porn, drugs, and other assorted crap. The server was slammed down hard, but Pixy got things working for us.

Thanks for all you do!

Posted by: Greg at 12:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I don't blog about school, and generally limit myself to speech on social and political issues that merit the highest level of First Amendment protection? Here's why.

It's almost like Googling someone: Log on to Facebook. Join the Washington, D.C., network. Search the Web site for your favorite school system. And then watch the public profiles of 20-something teachers unfurl like gift wrap on the screen, revealing a sense of humor that can be overtly sarcastic or unintentionally unprofessional -- or both.

One Montgomery County special education teacher displayed a poster that depicts talking sperm and invokes a slang term for oral sex. One woman who identified herself as a Prince William County kindergarten teacher posted a satiric shampoo commercial with a half-naked man having an orgasm in the shower. A D.C. public schools educator offered this tip on her page: "Teaching in DCPS -- Lesson #1: Don't smoke crack while pregnant."

Just to be clear, these are not teenagers, the typical Internet scofflaws and sources of ceaseless discussion about cyber-bullying, sexual predators and so on. These are adults, many in their 20s, who are behaving, for the most part, like young adults.

But the crudeness of some Facebook or MySpace teacher profiles, which are far, far away from sanitized Web sites ending in ".edu," prompts questions emblematic of our times: Do the risque pages matter if teacher performance is not hindered and if students, parents and school officials don't see them? At what point are these young teachers judged by the standards for public officials?

In states including Florida, Colorado, Tennessee and Massachusetts, teachers have been removed or suspended for MySpace postings, and some teachers unions have begun warning members about racy personal Web sites. But as Facebook, with 70 million members, and other social networking sites continue to grow, scrutiny will no doubt spread locally.

The annals of teachers-gone-wild-on-the-Web include once-anonymous people who've done something outlandish with a blog or online video. Many people, especially in the Richmond area, remember high school art teacher Stephen Murmer, fired last year for painting canvasses with his buttocks in images on YouTube.

Of course, many of the tens of thousands of Washington area teachers put social networking sites or personal Web pages to constructive uses. Others push the limits.

I suffer from serious mixed emotions on such web pages. I'm a strong supporter of freedom of speech. However, I also recognize that we teachers are in a public role where our outside conduct can have an impact in our classrooms and schools.

Early on in my career, a colleague gave me some advice. It amounted to the following -- don't do anything where your students of their parents will find out about it if you don't want to explain it to your principal. Now this crusty old fellow was talking about patronizing the numerous bars and strip clubs that were to be found in one of the communities served by my school (something I didn't do -- but which had gotten a young ale teacher fired the previous year). But it was good advice -- and is even better advice in a day when all it takes is a few key-strokes and mouse-clicks to have activities exposed to the world.

Posted by: Greg at 10:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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After four months in a Saudi prison with no charges against him -- all for daring to blog about the the corrupt government of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's most popular blogger was released Saturday after serving four months in prison without charge.

Fouad al-Farhan, 33, was detained Dec. 10 after authorities warned him about his online support of an activist group. At the time of his arrest, the Interior Ministry said only that his violations were not related to state security.

Farhan had used his blog to criticize corruption and call for political reform in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy.

In a telephone interview Saturday, Farhan said he was happy to be free and described his time behind bars as "a unique experience." He said he had been "fairly treated" but would not comment on the specifics of his case.

"I will be blogging soon," he said.

This should highlight one point very clearly for most Americans.

Saudi Arabia is not much of an ally to America and shares little in values with our country, given that its sharia-enforcing fundamentalist Islamic government is little better than the fundamentalist Islamists against whom we Americans are fighting.

My earlier report is here.

Posted by: Greg at 02:00 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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In an age when anyone can quickly create their own website and report the news, is there really a distinction any longer between citizen and journalist? What’s more, is there really any basis for a distinction – in practice or in law?

The recent “bitter-gate” flap involving on-the-record remarks by Barack Obama at a “no press” event in San Francisco is instructive. A HuffPo blogger – and maxed-out Obama contributor -- recorded Obama’s remarks and then wrote about them on her blog. While some in the Leftosphere objected, even the Obama campaign acknowledges that they fully expected the remarks would become public. We therefore don’t need to consider the question of whether an event news because a candidate or celebrity or public official says it is news, or because it really is information to which the public is entitled.

The reaction to Fowler's blog post then is just another bump in the inexorable sorting out of what the First Amendment means in a society where every person with Internet access has his or her own global broadcasting and publishing facility. The issue is less the distinction between "citizen" and "journalist" and more whether the Founding Fathers ever contemplated such a distinction in the first place.

A close reading of the First Amendment and centuries of legal precedent says "no."

Somewhere along the way, America developed this notion of the “journalist” as some sort of royal priesthood, entitled to special rights and consideration that the ordinary rabble did not enjoy. That was, in large part, because of the practical obstacles to publishing a newspaper – much less in broadcasting over the airwaves.

Technology has now changed the paradigm. Each and every one of us has the ability to become the publisher of our own electronic newspaper or commentary magazine. Indeed, many of us, right, left, and center, have become latter-day versions of Benjamin Franklin Bache of the American Aurora, John Fenno of the Gazette of the United States or Philip Freneau of the National Gazette. Indeed, the pseudonymous semi-anonymity that many of us choose harks back to the practices of many of the Founders who published pseudonymous works within the pages of those newspapers of the 1790s. For that reason alone, Robert Cox of the Media Bloggers Association is quite right in the above quote with his recognition that there is nothing in the First Amendment – nor in the understanding of the framers – that justifies relegating bloggers (or the bulk of the citizenry) to some status below that of “The Press” in the eyes of the law and society. Or perhaps more accurately, there is nothing in those sources that justifies the elevation of "working journalists" above ordinary citizens in the eyes of the law.

UPDATE: Fellow teacher Darren at Right on the Left Coast brings up a similar point brought up by a different commentary from a different source. Drop by and check it out.

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Posted by: Greg at 09:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Robbie at Urban Grounds tagged me for this meme.

The Rules: 1. Write your own six word memoir. 2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want. 3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere. 4. Tag at least five more blogs with links. 5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to playÂ…

How about a quick paraphrase of Chaucer from The Canterbury Tales?

“Gladly would he learn and teach”

(Original quote: "And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.")

It was a great motto for my alma mater, and fits my outlook on life quite well.

IÂ’ll tag the following folks:

Hube at Colossus of Rhodey
Soccer Dad
Freedom Fighter at JoshuaPundit
Laer at CheatSeekingMissles
Darren at Right on the Left Coast

Posted by: Greg at 09:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I may be doing more graphics around here, now that a basic version of this software is coming online.

The maker of the popular photo-editing software Photoshop on Thursday launched a basic version available for free online.

San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe Systems Inc. says it hopes to boost its name recognition among a new generation of consumers who edit, store and share photos online.

While Photoshop is designed for trained professionals, Adobe says Photoshop Express, which it launched in a "beta" test version, is easier to learn. User comments will be taken into account for future upgrades.

Photoshop Express will be completely Web-based so consumers can use it with any type of computer, operating system and browser. And, once they register, users can get to their accounts from different computers.

This is a great marketing move. It allows consumers to learn about the software and build basic skills -- and many folks will then buy the full software package at the market price, which is of great benefit of the company. At the same time, it allows casual users access to some of the best tools out there. I'm really happy with the outcome.

Posted by: Greg at 10:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Even having been away so much this month, traffic on the site has still been up quite high.

This led to a little bandwidth problem for much of the day -- a problem that has since been corrected.

I apologize for the difficulties you might have experienced earlier, and invite you all to come back and visit as often as you want, since the problem is now fixed.

Posted by: Greg at 03:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Really, I am.

The family situation is in hand, just need a couple of days to get life back to normal.

I've missed blogging, and missed hearing back from folks.

I haven't missed the spam.

Details will be forthcoming -- next week.

Posted by: Greg at 01:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A family crisis has arisen.

Blogging will be "catch as catch can" for the next several days, depending upon events during that time.

I'll offer more of an explanation at a future date -- I'm just not ready to say more at this time.

In the mean time, be welcoming to my guest blogger.

Posted by: Greg at 03:29 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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LetÂ’s see.

Last Thursday, we got serious medical news about my mother-in-law. We quickly arranged a flight to the east coast.

We flew east on Friday, and arrived to find my mother-in-law starting to rally.

Saturday, we celebrated her 82nd birthday, with her looking better than she had in months.

We spent much of Sunday at the hospital with her as well. I pulled a muscle in my back lifting my wifeÂ’s wheelchair out of the trunk.

Monday we flew home, my back aching. I was not a happy traveler. We also ran in to the TSA screener from Hell (more on her in another post).

Tuesday I saw the doctor. Pain pills and muscle relaxants left me pretty giddy after that visit.

Wednesday morning I was still hurting, so I played one more day of hooky from school.

I was really looking forward to school on Thursday – and made it through first period. That’s when I discovered that the back spasm had dislodged a kidney stone, which was taking that moment to work its way through the urinary tract. Back to the doctor. And for the morbidly curious, it passed late in the afternoon.

Finally, yesterday, after a good night's sleep, I went back to school. I have never been so happy to see a room full of kids in my life. After school, I took my darling wife to early vote in the Democrat primary here in Texas -- she couldn't stand in line for over an hour (and I'm not quite ready to lift that wheelchair yet), so needed me to do so in order to have the voting machine brought to her in the car. In the end I found myself so fatigued that I couldn't write.

But I'm back now. Let's see if I can get back into the normal flow of things.

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Posted by: Greg at 03:00 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Good on you, Ace! I'm honored to share a server with CPACs blogger of the year.

And I'd like to say that I agree with another fellow MuNuvian, Little Miss Attila, on this key point.

Speaking of which, why is Ace getting the award, rather than me? There is such prejudice against blogs that do not actually get read.

I feel exactly the same way, you little hottie.

And to Andrew Sullivan, I offer the suggestion that the petulant whining of a gay diva like you about this award and Power Line's book of the year award to Norman Podhoretz (and accompanying contribution to a worthwhile charity like Soldiers' Angels, not a small fortune to the winner) are really unbecomeing, and show how you really have much more in common with the Fringe left like Kos, DU, and HuffPo than with anything in the mainstream of contemporary conservatism.

Posted by: Greg at 02:39 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 respect

Posted by: Spinu at Sat Jul 19 02:26:49 2008 (0d9mV)

2

Posted by: Stanley at Thu Mar 5 09:46:39 2009 (OdWpc)

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Posted by: Griffin at Thu Mar 5 12:24:09 2009 (AUefV)

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Posted by: Gunnar at Fri Mar 6 01:23:39 2009 (22X8R)

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Posted by: Arnie at Sun Nov 27 22:20:53 2011 (kN7z8)

8

Posted by: Halo at Mon Dec 5 02:43:03 2011 (k3Wcy)

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January 02, 2008

Saudi Blogger Jailed Over Support For Human Rights

They say that Fouad al-Farhan is not actually under arrest, but merely being "interrogated."

However, that "interrogation" has been underway for three weeks now.

Saudi Arabia's most popular blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, has been detained for questioning, an Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed Monday. It was the first known arrest of an online critic in the kingdom.

Farhan, 32, who used his blog to criticize corruption and call for political reform, was detained "for violating rules not related to state security," according to the spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, responding to repeated requests for comment with a brief cellphone text message.

Farhan's Dec. 10 arrest was reported last week on the Internet and has been condemned by bloggers in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Bahrain. The Saudi news media have not yet reported the arrest, but more than 200 bloggers in the kingdom have criticized Farhan's detention, and a group of supporters have set up a Free Fouad Web site.

Farhan, who was educated in the United States and owns a computer programming company, was arrested at his office in Jiddah and then brought home, where his laptop was confiscated, said his wife, who spoke on condition that her name not be published to protect her privacy. "They arrested him because of his blog. I haven't seen him since. We don't know where he is," she said.

Shortly before his detention, he sent the following email to associates

I was told that there is an official order from a high-ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior to investigate me. They will pick me up anytime in the next 2 weeks.

The issue that caused all of this is because I wrote about the political prisoners here in Saudi Arabia and they think IÂ’m running a online campaign promoting their issue. All what I did is wrote some pieces and put side banners and asked other bloggers to do the same.

he asked me to comply with him and sign an apology. IÂ’m not sure if IÂ’m ready to do that. An apology for what? Apologizing because I said the government is liar when they accused those guys to be supporting terrorism?

To expect the worst which is to be jailed for 3 days till we write good feedback about you and let u go

there may be no jail and only apologizing letter. But, if itÂ’s more than three days, it should be out. I donÂ’t want to be forgotten in jail.

We Americans often take the freedom to speak and write for granted.

Cases like this one should remind us that such rights are not respected in many parts of the world. Each of us who blogs needs to forcefully defend those rights.

To express your dismay over Fouad al-Farhan's detention, write

Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037

You may also call the Embassy at (202) 342-3800.

There is also a contact form on the Embassy's website.

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Posted by: Greg at 12:49 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Good post on this topic. At my blog, I did an intentionally inflammatory slam on Bush's relationship with the Saud family, hoping that someone would appreciate the irony that I could do so safely.

Posted by: Dan at Thu Jan 3 04:30:06 2008 (n1xH/)

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October 25, 2007

What Blogs Should You Read?

Well, one college study has come up with a list of the 100 best blogs to read to keep up with the news -- and one of them is Rhymes With Right (#72)!

k	PA score	Blog
1	0.1283	http://instapundit.com
2	0.1822	http://donsurber.blogspot.com
3	0.2224	http://sciencepolitics.blogspot.com
4	0.2592	http://www.watcherofweasels.com
5	0.2923	http://michellemalkin.com
6	0.3152	http://blogometer.nationaljournal.com
7	0.3353	http://themodulator.org
8	0.3508	http://www.bloggersblog.com
9	0.3654	http://www.boingboing.net
10	0.3778	http://atrios.blogspot.com
11	0.3885	http://lawhawk.blogspot.com
12	0.3984	http://www.gothamist.com
13	0.4078	http://mparent7777.livejournal.com
14	0.4163	http://wheelgun.blogspot.com
15	0.4245	http://gevkaffeegal.typepad.com/the_alliance	16	0.4318	http://www.anglican.tk
17	0.4384	http://www.micropersuasion.com
18	0.4444	http://pajamasmedia.com
19	0.4500	http://blogher.org
20	0.4556	http://mypetjawa.mu.nu
21	0.4611	http://reddit.com
22	0.4661	http://soccerdad.baltiblogs.com
23	0.4711	http://www.thenoseonyourface.com/the_nose_on_your_face
24	0.4759	http://ahistoricality.blogspot.com
25	0.4803	http://theanchoressonline.com
26	0.4848	http://americablog.blogspot.com
27	0.4890	http://www.sfist.com
28	0.4931	http://tbogg.blogspot.com
29	0.4971	http://www.horsepigcow.com
30	0.5009	http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com
31	0.5046	http://daoureport.salon.com
32	0.5083	http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu
33	0.5119	http://www.metafilter.com
34	0.5151	http://www.megite.com
35	0.5183	http://www.laist.com
36	0.5214	http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt
37	0.5243	http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com
38	0.5271	http://blog.guykawasaki.com
39	0.5299	http://tryinotocomeundone.blogstream.com
40	0.5326	http://bluestarchronicles.blogspot.com
41	0.5352	http://googleblog.blogspot.com
42	0.5377	http://theglitteringeye.com
43	0.5402	http://asterisco.paradigma.pt
44	0.5425	http://www.readwriteweb.com
45	0.5448	http://digbysblog.blogspot.com
46	0.5470	http://www.conservativecat.com
47	0.5491	http://www.phillyist.com
48	0.5511	http://www.socialcustomer.com
49	0.5530	http://business2.blogs.com/business2blog
50	0.5549	http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com
51	0.5567	http://www.crooksandliars.com
52	0.5584	http://www.rightwingnews.com
53	0.5600	http://www.10000birds.com
54	0.5617	http://radar.oreilly.com
55	0.5632	http://cowboyblob.blogspot.com
56	0.5648	http://www.business-opportunities.biz
57	0.5663	http://www.dcist.com
58	0.5678	http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users
59	0.5693	http://www.legitgov.org
60	0.5707	http://www.whataboutclients.com
61	0.5722	http://www.roughtype.com
62	0.5736	http://www.tuaw.com
63	0.5750	http://aude91.canalblog.com
64	0.5764	http://thelondonfog.blogspot.com
65	0.5777	http://www.bostonist.com
66	0.5791	http://www.seattlest.com
67	0.5805	http://www.austinist.com
68	0.5818	http://indianwriting.blogspot.com
69	0.5831	http://powerlineblog.com
70	0.5844	http://firedoglake.blogspot.com
71	0.5857	http://elisson1.blogspot.com
72	0.5869	http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu
73	0.5882	http://ragnell.blogspot.com
74	0.5894	http://pulverblog.pulver.com
75	0.5906	http://mry.blogs.com/les_instants_emery
76	0.5918	http://www.gapingvoid.com
77	0.5929	http://catymology.blogspot.com
78	0.5941	http://hughhewitt.com
79	0.5953	http://www.lifehacker.com
80	0.5964	http://www.jordoncooper.com
81	0.5976	http://www.econbrowser.com
82	0.5987	http://socialitelife.com
83	0.5998	http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com
84	0.6009	http://www.nevillehobson.com
85	0.6019	http://www.waxy.org/links
86	0.6030	http://aliferestarted.blogspot.com
87	0.6040	http://volokh.com
88	0.6051	http://library.coloradocollege.edu/steve
89	0.6061	http://drsanity.blogspot.com
90	0.6071	http://www.mudvillegazette.com
91	0.6081	http://www.saysuncle.com
92	0.6091	http://www.privacydigest.com
93	0.6100	http://www.londonist.com
94	0.6110	http://www.shanghaiist.com
95	0.6120	http://markshea.blogspot.com
96	0.6129	http://www.singleservecoffee.com
97	0.6139	http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog
98	0.6148	http://www.scienceblogs.com
99	0.6157	http://www.basicthinking.de/blog
100	0.6166	http://scobleizer.wordpress.com

It's great that somebody noticed -- and exciting to know I'm doing something right.

By the way, congratulations to my many similarly honored blog-buddies from the Watcher's council, and also from my blogroll.

Posted by: Greg at 10:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Congrats and deservedly so. There's not a morning goes by that I don't check in for a dose of your wisdom. Your views and opinions are enjoyed. Keep up the great work.

Posted by: Syd B. at Fri Oct 26 01:14:47 2007 (H+iuK)

2 Congratulations! Being listed with the likes of Michelle Malkin and Glenn Reynolds is surely an honor. Its an interesting study. It first struck me that none of the listed blogs were the usual big loud and cranky leftist trash. The listings consisted mostly of well reasoned bloggers. What the study was measuring though was the mathematics involved as to who is getting out the storys in a timely way. It's now proven that the rant blogs are not about getting real content such as events and facts but blowing steam.

Posted by: Liberty at Sat Oct 27 00:48:56 2007 (/nwR7)

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September 28, 2007

Blogging Scholarship

Over at Gates of Vienna, the Baron posted this interesting notice for college bloggers.

A representative of the Daniel Kovach Scholarship Foundation emailed us today, and asked us to spread the word that the Foundation is giving away $10,000 to a blogger this year. If youÂ’re a college student, a U.S. Resident, and you keep a blog, youÂ’re eligible.

Full scholarship details are available at the College Scholarships website.

This Second Annual Blogging Scholarship prize will be awarded at the Blog World and New Media Expo, to be held in Las Vegas on November 8th and 9th.

Important Dates:
Submission Deadline: Midnight PST on Oct. 6th
10 Finalists Announced and Public Voting Begins: 9am EST on Oct. 8th
Public Voting Ends and Winner Declared: Midnight PST on Oct. 28th

Contact Information:
Daniel Kovach
(919) 630-4895
daniel@collegescholarships.org

If only I were 25 years younger!

Posted by: Greg at 09:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 24, 2007

The Cowboy Code

You may notice I've added a new blogroll here at RWR -- One ascribing to the Cowboy Code.

What is the Cowboy Code?

The Cowboy Code

1. A cowboy always tells the truth and keeps his word.

2. A cowboy is a Patriot and stands for Truth, Justice and the American way.

3. A cowboy never betrays a trust or takes advantage.

4. A cowboy is brave, but never careless.

5. A cowboy defends the weak and helps them.

6. A cowboy is kind to children, old folks, and to animals.

7. A cowboy is free from racial and religious prejudice.

8. A cowboy is clean about his person and in thought, word, and deed.

9. A cowboy is loyal, hard working and maintains a high ethic.

10. A cowboy is thankful for what God has given him.

Seems like the sort of Texas values I ascribe to.

Posted by: Greg at 09:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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September 06, 2007

Net Neutrality Takes A Hit

And if this Justice Department decision stands, we could see higher charges for speedy delivery of email, as well as different speeds for delivery of other web content.

The Justice Department on Thursday said Internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic.

The agency told the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing high-speed Internet practices, that it is opposed to "Net neutrality," the principle that all Internet sites should be equally accessible to any Web user.

Several phone and cable companies, such as AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp., have previously said they want the option to charge some users more money for loading certain content or Web sites faster than others.

The Justice Department said imposing a Net neutrality regulation could hamper development of the Internet and prevent service providers from upgrading or expanding their networks. It could also shift the "entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements onto consumers," the agency said in its filing.

Of course, the question becomes whether the internet is more like the telephone company or the post office. The Justice Department argues the latter, with its differential rates for speed of delivery, while I'd argue for the former, which is required to connect all calls in an equal fashion.

Will Congress intervene to overturn this decision?

Posted by: Greg at 09:36 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 You might want to call the office of Kay Bailey Hutchison, who's voted against net neutrality and is on the relevant committee and thus relatively influential on this issue.

Posted by: John at Fri Sep 7 15:23:15 2007 (OTFxD)

2 You seem to assume I haven't.

Indeed, you seem to assume I haven't spoken to her in person on the issue.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Sep 8 00:23:25 2007 (sRh/O)

3 Interesting that you suggest that the Post Office example should be used to support Net Neutrality as the Post Office does indeed provide different classes of service which is fee-based. When it absolutely has to get there overnight, you can pay to ensure prioritized delivery.

Posted by: Ed Delaney at Sat Sep 8 03:35:40 2007 (RNXRl)

4 Thanks Ed, for pointing out my mistake in the last sentence. I didn't proofread, but now fixed it. I actually support the telephone company model, not the post office one.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Sep 8 03:42:45 2007 (sRh/O)

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August 17, 2007

Vote For Me!

I've entered a contest -- and I need votes for my blog entry Introducing TeachBot Mk1. If you could drop by here and vote for me (I'm entry #7), I'd appreciate the assist.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Perri Nelson's Website, Rosemary's Thoughts, 123beta, Adam's Blog, Shadowscope, Nuke's News & Views, The Amboy Times, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, The Uncooperative Radio Show! Special Weekend!, Pursuing Holiness, Stop the ACLU, Faultline USA, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 09:49 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 111 words, total size 3 kb.

1 In return why don't you visit my site and "browse around"- if you know what I mean. :-)

Posted by: John at Fri Aug 17 13:14:07 2007 (zukYy)

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August 04, 2007

Eight Random Facts About Greg

I've been remiss in responding to this one.

Jason A. Clark from Inner88 tagged me to be part of this meme a few weeks back, and I've simply not gotten around to it. Now I'll take a few minutes to paly the game.

Here's how it works.

In the 8 facts about [name], you share 8 things that your readers donÂ’t know about you. Then at the end you tag 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going.

• Each blogger must post these rules first.


• Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.


• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.


• DonÂ’t forget to leave them a comment telling them theyÂ’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Random Facts About Greg:

1. I never had pizza until I was 14 -- and now it is among my favorite foods.


2. At 16 I was so politically naive that I couldn't decide whether I wanted to volunteer for the Reagan or Kennedy presidential campaign.


3. I don't own an iPod, and probably never will.


4. I'm a big science fiction fan -- and my favorite sub-genre is alternate history.


5. Almost every woman I ever dated -- including the one I married -- has been a Democrat.


6. When I do karaoke, I put on a falsetto voice and mimic Grace Slick singing "White Rabbit".


7. I once got seasick in the watching the dolphin show at Seaworld in San Diego -- from the rocking of the bleachers when there was a heavy surf.


8. I once managed to buy a new car between the end of school at 3:00 and the start of my school's Parent Night at 7:00 -- and made it back to school on time.

You Have been Tagged!

1. Hube at Colossus of Rhodey


2. Darren at Right on the Left Coast


3. Van Helsing at Moonbattery


4. Debbie at Right Truth


5. WZip at Weasel Zippers


6. Terry at Webblogin


7. Anna at Anna Venger


8. Steve at Pencil Nub

Okay, folks -- you are up!

Posted by: Greg at 03:05 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I appreciate the tag very much and I always play these memes.  But I've already done this one.  So sorry.  Maybe the next one that comes along.



Posted by: Debbie at Sat Aug 4 10:46:04 2007 (qWpGo)

2 I'm looking forward to your entry!


Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Aug 4 16:19:34 2007 (7LgSj)

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July 25, 2007

Look Who Got Picked Up By Slate!

Your favorite blogger here at RWR! (Actually, your only blogger here at RWR.)

Thanks for the traffic, folks!

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July 02, 2007

This Is Nice!

Finally upgraded to DSL today -- I don't know how I lived without it! I made the switch because my wife and I had a little surprise dropped in our laps this past week -- the gift of a laptop my father bought for himself and then decided he didn't like almost as soon as it was out of the box. Being able to go wireless and have us both online at once will be a great convenience.

Posted by: Greg at 02:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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June 27, 2007

Amnesty Bill Creating New Jobs

Forging the papers needed by illegal aliens to qualify for amnesty.

The head of a Mexican forgery ring was convinced he could make phony documents that illegal aliens could use to indicate fraudulently that they were eligible for a new amnesty, says a government affidavit recounting wiretapped phone calls the man made.

Julio Leija-Sanchez, who ran a $3 million-a-year forgery operation before he was arrested in April, was expecting Congress to pass a legalization program, which he called "amnesty," and said he could forge documents to fool the U.S. government into believing illegal aliens were in the country in time to qualify for amnesty, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent said in the affidavit.

In recounting a wiretapped telephone conversation, ICE agent Jason E. Medica said he heard Mr. Leija-Sanchez tell an associate the forgery ring could "fix his papers" to meet the requirements of a legalization program such as the bill the Senate is debating today.

"When Leija-Sanchez said 'if there's an amnesty, he can fix his papers,' Leija-Sanchez was referring to the possibility of pending legislation which would allow a certain class of illegal aliens to remain in the United States, as long as they can prove a term of residency in the United States with no convictions," agent Medica wrote.

"When Leija-Sanchez said 'he can fix his papers,' he was referring to the fact that the organization could fraudulently create or alter documents to falsely prove the requisite residency period," the agent wrote.

I guess they are just doing the jobs that American forgers won't do.

Posted by: Greg at 01:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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June 22, 2007

President Low, Congress Lower

But Newsweek is really much more interested in the presidential numbers, hence the story being written in such an unbalanced fashion.

In 19 months, George W. Bush will leave the White House for the last time. The latest NEWSWEEK Poll suggests that he faces a steep climb if he hopes to coax the country back to his side before he goes. In the new poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday nights, President BushÂ’s approval rating has reached a record low. Only 26 percent of Americans, just over one in four, approve of the job the 43rd president is doing; while, a record 65 percent disapprove, including nearly a third of Republicans.

Yep -- gotta look at the Bush numbers and talk about how bad they are. Frankly, the breakdown of the polling data makes me seriously wonder at the level of ignorance shown by my fellow Americans. For example, only 34% approve of the president's handling of the economy, despite the fact that we are in the 5th straight year of strong economic growth following the Clinton recession and the economic disruptions caused by 9/11 -- growth that can be directly attributed to the president's income tax cuts for all Americans who pay them.

But then Newsweek glosses over this number.

If there is any good news for Bush and the Republicans in the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, itÂ’s that the Democratic-led Congress fares even worse than the president. Only 25 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing.

In the scariest news for the Democratic candidates seeking their partyÂ’s nomination in 2008, even rank-and-file Democrats are unhappy with Congress, which is narrowly controlled by their party. Only 27 percent of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing, a statistically insignificant difference from the 25 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of independents who approve of Congress.

Overall, 63 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, including 60 percent of Democrats, 67 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of Independents. Apparently, voters arenÂ’t happy with anyone in Washington these days.

Newsweek, it seems, isn't interested in why the numbers are low, or what areas are driving the low congressional ratings. After all, they don't even ask about such things in their poll.

Posted by: Greg at 12:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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June 18, 2007

DSL Becomes Affordable

You know, this development may make me give up my status as "the last dial-up customer in America".

Without any sort of fanfare, AT&T Inc. has started offering a broadband Internet service for $10 a month, cheaper than any advertised plan.

The DSL, or digital subscriber line, plan introduced Saturday is part of the concessions made by AT&T to the
Federal Communications Commission to get its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. approved last December.

The $10 offer is available to customers in the 22-state AT&T service region, which includes former BellSouth areas, who have never had AT&T or BellSouth broadband, spokesman Michael Coe confirmed Monday. Local phone service and a one-year contract are required. The modem is free.

The plan was not mentioned in a Friday news release about AT&T's DSL plans, and is slightly hidden on the AT&T Web site. A page describing DSL options doesn't mention it, but clicking a link for "Term contract plans" reveals it. It's also presented to customers who go into the application process, Coe said.

The service provides download speeds of up to 768 kilobits per second and upload speeds of up to 128 kbps, matching the speeds of the cheapest advertised AT&T plan, which costs $19.95 per month in the nine-state former BellSouth area and $14.99 in the 13 states covered by AT&T before the acquisition.

I checked it out last night, and I am eligible. Since I'm paying $10 a month right now for dial-up connection that has been a little bit unsteady the last few days, I may just have to make the switch.

My question -- do other DSL providers start dropping their prices to match this AT&T offer? Will this set off a bidding war for customers?

Posted by: Greg at 11:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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June 12, 2007

Safari For Windows

This is an interesting development.

Apple said Monday that it would make its Safari Web browser available for Windows-based PCs, opening a new front in its rivalry with Microsoft.

The announcement came at the end of a presentation made by Steven P. Jobs, AppleÂ’s co-founder and chief executive, at the companyÂ’s annual World Wide Developers Conference. It indicates that Apple is increasingly confident in its ability to compete against MicrosoftÂ’s desktop computing monopoly.

I'm downloading the program to see how it works -- though it is still in beta rather than a final release. Still, given that Internet Explorer and most other Microsoft software is released with as many bugs as your average beta software, I don;'t see a problem with that. You can get it here.

Posted by: Greg at 04:50 AM | Comments (50) | Add Comment
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June 09, 2007

ViraLinking?

I wonder if this idea actually works. It is supposed to boost page rank.

———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions below this line———

Below is a matrix of 120 stars, I have already added a link to my blog onto one of the stars, all you need to do is copy and paste the grid into your blog and add your own link to one of the other spare stars, and tell others to do the same!

Viralink

********************
********************
********************
********************
********************
********************

New Addition: When I receive a ping back once you have added the Viralink to your site I will add your link to this grid, and each person who copies the grid from here will also link to your site!

———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions above this line———

One minor correction here -- since mu.nu's trackbacks have been turned off, you will either have to comment here with your link or email me privately. Hopefully they will be working soon when the new blogging platform is up.

H/T Yoga for Health

Posted by: Greg at 02:46 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 180 words, total size 3 kb.

1 Just added your star to my grid...

--Steve

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Posted by: steve at Sat Jun 9 08:18:56 2007 (pEXyx)

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Posted by: Julie at Sat Jun 9 08:26:04 2007 (Ub4Il)

3 Added at www.youirishwedding.com.

Posted by: Julie at Sat Jun 9 08:28:42 2007 (Ub4Il)

4 I know that you just started Viralink and haven't even had a chance to see how it works yet, but the idea for Viralinks has already been updated with something called ViralTags and it is outpacing Viralinks on my site by 10 to 1...and it's only three days old! You can see my article about it at http://jasonaclark.com/2007/06/09/viraltag-your-way-to-higher-rankings/

Jason

Posted by: Jason A Clark at Sat Jun 9 16:47:16 2007 (pT8pw)

5 just added you to my star!!

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Posted by: dzul at Sat Jun 9 16:59:37 2007 (JezIT)

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(had i comment twice in this post??)

Posted by: dzul at Sat Jun 9 17:34:30 2007 (JezIT)

7 Why would you want to do this?

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jun 11 04:04:20 2007 (n1xH/)

8 increasing page rank for Google and other search engines. In my case, it could boost ad revenue.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Mon Jun 11 04:10:29 2007 (/BJv7)

9 So you artificially boost your hits in the hopes that it will fool your advertisers? I love this family values crowd . . .

Posted by: Dan at Mon Jun 11 06:55:46 2007 (n1xH/)

10 I'd disagree with your characterization -- it is no different than any other link exchange, such as my reciprocal blogroll and the various other blogrolls I'm a part of.

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May 29, 2007

An Army Of Bloggers Against Cancer

You may notice that I've added a new blogroll on my site -- one devoted to fighting cancer. That issue is a very important one to me right now, given that my uncle will undergo cancer surgery beginning at 7:30 this morning, the time I've set for this post to appear on my site.

The originator of the blogroll, G.M. Roper (a fellow Munuvian) explains the goal this way.

Cancer is no respecter of race, religion, social status, income or profession. It is an insidious disease that robs people of a quality of life and too often, of life itself. This blog has one purpose, and one purpose only, to enroll as many bloggers in An Army Of Bloggers as possible and to encourage them to make an annual contribution to fighting cancer. The Rules for membership are simple, put the logo and blogroll on your blog, send a donation to a cancer program of any kind and post about it. It would be helpful if you write in the "memo field" of your check the following "Donated By The Army Of Bloggers." Help spread the word, help beat this s.o.b. into the ground. If you are a blogger, join the blogroll and make a donation. Leave a comment too if you would be so kind as to whom you donated to. Please leave the address and name of the charity in your comment (you don't need to name the amount). Please, if everyone helps this disease can eventually be whipped.

This Blog and accompanying Blogroll is dedicated Pamela Roper Clark, my beloved sister who passed away in 1990 from ovarian cancer. By putting the power of the blogosphere to work, we hope to make a citizens push to conquer this dread disease.

Who do I plan on supporting? The Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, which is a research partnership between Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. It is where my uncle is being treated, and where, with the help of the dedicated medical team and the grace of God, he will beat this disease.

To join, please information, please visit this link. Also contact G.M. Roper for inclusion.

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Posted by: Aurora at Tue Jul 17 01:10:47 2012 (ZRlDz)

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April 29, 2007

More On Attacks On Female Bloggers

When they were just verbal assaults on female conservatives like Michelle Malkin and Debbie Schlussel the MSM didn't want to consider the issue of sexually-based attacks on female bloggers. Now that it has hit more bloggers outside of the political Right -- and outside of political blogging as a whole -- it is being treated as a crisis.

A female freelance writer who blogged about the pornography industry was threatened with rape. A single mother who blogged about "the daily ins and outs of being a mom" was threatened by a cyber-stalker who claimed that she beat her son and that he had her under surveillance. Kathy Sierra, who won a large following by blogging about designing software that makes people happy, became a target of anonymous online attacks that included photos of her with a noose around her neck and a muzzle over her mouth.

As women gain visibility in the blogosphere, they are targets of sexual harassment and threats. Men are harassed too, and lack of civility is an abiding problem on the Web. But women, who make up about half the online community, are singled out in more starkly sexually threatening terms -- a trend that was first evident in chat rooms in the early 1990s and is now moving to the blogosphere, experts and bloggers said.

I agree with Michelle Malkin -- where have you all been?

Posted by: Greg at 10:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 243 words, total size 2 kb.

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April 08, 2007

Codes Of Conduct?

Most of the bloggers I deal with on a regular basis are pretty ethical people. They exercise responsibility in their posts, allow great latitude in their comments but clamp down on/ban obscene, racist, or defamatory commenters, and generally try to engage in reasoned political debate/discussion. They do this without being held to standards by some outside body -- which is, in my eyes, a good thing. And yet some wish to establish some sort of "ethical gold standard" for bloggers.

Is it too late to bring civility to the Web?

The conversational free-for-all on the Internet known as the blogosphere can be a prickly and unpleasant place. Now, a few high-profile figures in high-tech are proposing a blogger code of conduct to clean up the quality of online discourse.

Last week, Tim OÂ’Reilly, a conference promoter and book publisher who is credited with coining the term Web 2.0, began working with Jimmy Wales, creator of the communal online encyclopedia Wikipedia, to create a set of guidelines to shape online discussion and debate.

Chief among the recommendations is that bloggers consider banning anonymous comments left by visitors to their pages and be able to delete threatening or libelous comments without facing cries of censorship.

A recent outbreak of antagonism among several prominent bloggers “gives us an opportunity to change the level of expectations that people have about what’s acceptable online,” said Mr. O’Reilly, who posted the preliminary recommendations last week on his company blog (radar.oreilly.com). Mr. Wales then put the proposed guidelines on his company’s site (blogging.wikia.com), and is now soliciting comments in the hope of creating consensus around what constitutes civil behavior online.

Mr. OÂ’Reilly and Mr. Wales talk about creating several sets of guidelines for conduct and seals of approval represented by logos. For example, anonymous writing might be acceptable in one set; in another, it would be discouraged. Under a third set of guidelines, bloggers would pledge to get a second source for any gossip or breaking news they write about.

Bloggers could then pick a set of principles and post the corresponding badge on their page, to indicate to readers what kind of behavior and dialogue they will engage in and tolerate. The whole system would be voluntary, relying on the community to police itself.

“If it’s a carefully constructed set of principles, it could carry a lot of weight even if not everyone agrees,” Mr. Wales said.

But here comes my concern -- with the amount of censorware out there on the net, how long until some of the filtering companies begin filtering any blog that does not formally adhere to one of these sets of standards -- and until there ctarts being a fee for receiving that badge declaring that one is an ethical blogger? And how long until anonymous political speech -- you know, like that engaged in by the Foundingn Fathers when they wrote the Federalist Papers and other early American political classics -- is strangled by the "ethics mavens" out there as somehow unacceptable?

And let's be honest about matters -- there is good reason for anonymity -- or at least semi-anonymity -- out here on the web. There is, effectively, a record of every word one says, and it is there forever. A pseudonym is therefore not a bad thing. Similarly, I've seen one blogging buddy pull down his website and delete all archives because of a threat of termination by his employer -- and I had a group of local Democrat bloggers prove their commitment to freedom of speech by exposing my name and attempting to get my school district to fire me (don't think I wasn't told, guys).

Personally, I'd prefer self-policing -- with bloggers setting their own policies -- to some sort of over-arching regulation of speech, no matter how benignly intended. Otherwise, you'd get folks like this setting the standards -- and regulating the debate.

MORE AT Reason's Hit & Run

Posted by: Greg at 10:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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March 31, 2007

Captain Ed Reports First Mate Doing Great

One of the folks I truly admire in the blogging world is "Captain Ed" Morrissey over at Captain's Quarters. If you haven't read his stuff you have to be hiding under a rock -- it is great.

Now one of the reasons I love Ed is that he makes no bones about the fact that he loves and is devoted to his wife, the "First Mate". And as regular readers know, she has major health issues, and has been awaiting a kidney transplant.

It happened yesterday.

And it was successful.

To both of them I send my best wishes and most fervent prayers for her continued recovery.

And my thanks.

As we've struggled in our household with the illnesses my dear wife (AKA he Loyal Opposition) is dealing with and the impact of them upon our life together, the Morrissey's have have inspired me and provided an example of how to make the best of a situation which adds an additional degree of difficult to the delicate balancing act that is the care and feeding of a good marriage to someone you adore. Your influence in that regard is more important to me than anything else that Ed puts on his blog.

UPDATE: FM's recovery continues to go well.

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March 26, 2007

Comment Snafu

I don't know what happened, but a number of comments have disappeared from my site after a recent rebuild.

I apologize for any inconvenience, and will attempt to restore them if possible. Please feel free to repost.

Posted by: Greg at 11:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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