A Chicken Is Not Pillage

Foolishness

Way back in the day, my daily reads included many websites that frankly went insane after 9/11.  Some of the bloggers went a little Wharrrgarble cookoo, some just let their websites be taken over by the delusional.  Some dove head first into the insanity, granting themselves a false sense of purpose and importance.  It became fairly clear to me then that many don't really wish to engage or think about or discuss issues; they simply want to find their own importance in them.  I always thought that was the shtick of the libertarians and objectivists.

I'm seeing the same thing now among the leftward in the blogosphere.  My temptation is the same as it was then; to simply quit reading the bullshit.  'Obama is a complete failure!  The government sucks because the people suck and you suck too if you don't agree that I need what I need!  Gimme Gimme Gimme!'  The end message is that these twits know more than all of us and demand that we pay them in blood, money and submission.  Don't get me wrong, the right is continuing their campaign of the same, but they've been doing so since Reagan.  It's kinda old hat by now.  To me, it's kind of new to see such tripe from people who claim to believe in progress and love this country, and yet hate everyone in it who doesn't agree with them 100%.  They've gone completely nuts, delusional.  They're like the PUMA's, only not as comedic.

So here's the question:  Why should I, or anyone, continue to read websites taken over by such a gang of idiots?

It's Taken A Long Time

But I do have to admit.  The right is correct about this small and usually insignificant point.  Lefties are the biggest wieners in the entirety of the blogotubes.

In Praise of the Montana Dextra Blog Feed

Craig Sprout, so many moons ago I cannot remember exactly when, set up the Montana Dextra feed.  It lists the posts from right oriented blogs.  He did so with efficiency and balance, rejecting those sites that have checkered and deranged past history.  It is an invaluable resource to those of us who wish to read the rightwing (or wingnut) thought without being burdened by linking to those websites.  How I truly wish the left had something of that nature.

What we have is the LeftyBlogs (BETA!).  It is driven by so-called 'local' left wing tags, inefficient and lately seems to work hardly at all.  One cannot deny that it is a poor tool for promoting more liberal thought in the state of Montana, online. Once again, the right takes a strength of the left and succeeds while we fail.  I don't find this shocking.  I find it sad.

Too Tired To Care

When Mark T trolled my website before, I was willing to offer a pass and forgiveness for the BS.  I don't really know what his game is, but at least it appears to be important to him.

Well now, he done got himself a posse over at LITW.  I'm over it.  This guy has nothing to tell you except how wrong you are, or how worthless you are, or how you just don't support his idears.  I'm too tired to care anymore.

UPDATE:  Mark T, Keymaster of healthcare:

An Obvious Observation

Blog commenters in Montana get very active in the middle of the afternoon.  Comments dry up about 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm.  In my case, it's because I get off work at about 2:00.  But my work schedule is hardly typical.

I'm not saying anything specific.  Just noticing the obvious.

Yay, Redundancy

When I build a computer, I like to use Intel boards.  Not so much out of brand loyalty, but rather for the fact that they are more robust and tend to have more system redundancy.  For instance, this machine that I built has on-board video processing, a handy fall back when your video card goes belly up.  Not my first choice, to be certain, but a damned fine alternative to having to stare at 800x600 resolution for the next week.

P.S.  No Monday Dinosaur until I get this machine in some kind of order.  I know, you're all heartbroken.

Bad Bad Things

My video card has taken a flaming a taco dump, so my screen resolution is limited to 600x800 until a replacement can be found.  Posting will be whatever it is until whatever it is is different from what it is now.

An Open Letter

Dear Mr. Singer,

It saddens me to say that you have lost control of your website.  I do not bring this up lightly.  Rather, I submit to you that the ideologues have taken juicy bites out of what was a community, and turned it to their ends.

Ad Hominem argument has become de rigueur.  Not only are arguments turned against yourself, but against any who might think you have value in your statements, as well as those who post at your hosting.  This is not simple disagreement with your view, but attacks on the validity of disagreement itself.  As you are no doubts aware, an Ad Hominem as with all fallacies has no truth value, whether it be Mark T.'s weak applications of such or the rather more harsh.  You, sir, as the blogger of note, have allowed these arguments to profligate to the point where if another states such attack it does not imply a lack of truth value, but rather a lack of truth on your part.  This has been and will remain your undoing.

It struck me as rather surprising this weekend, when I asked an assembly which is the "most popular website (blogwise) in Montana", they almost to a person named yours.  Sadly, that is not the case, but through no fault of your own.  What is your fault is that you went to great lengths to build a remarkably diverse community, and have let that suffer for the sake of those who cannot abide disagreement.  You, sir, have allowed others to co-opt your good works.  They indulge themselves in a forum where you are the receptacle of their spite.  You allow them to do this.  You have allowed specific individuals to highjack what community you might have built for their own ends, and you personally pay the price and consequence.

If this is your will, then please forgive my presumption for having pointed out the obvious.  But if I, of all people, find it almost painful to peruse Left in the West, then I suggest to you that you have a problem as needs handling.  Kindly keep in mind that I have done what I could to protect the communal spirit of your efforts.  I have rated as I should, and apologized as I must.  But simply put, I cannot abide seeing my friends abused for the sake of ideology at the expense of reality.  That you seem willing to let it happen is most egregious to me.

I hope this missive finds you well, and bid you good evening.

Rob

ECW Community Meetup, Part Zwei

In the post before this, 'Craig Moore' asked me if I had a Powerpoint of the talk I gave in Great Falls.  No, I don't.  And, no offense meant to Craig, but I do wonder just how people ever conveyed knowledge and ideas before Microsoft came along.  But, always being accommodating, I will post my outline for the talk.  The core remained the same, but I did cut parts out, and deviate from the narrative as audience reaction permitted or dictated.  The thesis, on the other hand, was and remains consistent.

Greetings:

 

Expectation as theme

 

Types of blogs.

 

                        Essayist.  (Digby, Daily kos, Michelle Malkin)

                                    (Pretension of journalism)

                        Blog aggregator. (Glenn Reynolds, Atrios.)

                        Photoblogs.

                        Personal blogs.  Most popular website in

Montana

?

 

Thought experiment.*

            Everyone is unhappy.

 

            Commenters are unhappy:

 

                        Don’t like subject.  (boring)

                        Don’t like writing style.  (jarring, big words, small words, verbose.)

                        Don’t like penmanship (design).

                        Don’t like the person. (vulgarity)

                        Don’t like the implications of the writing.  (Political divide.)

 

Suck it up.  Commenters are not blogging. Writing is blogging.  So why would the bloggers be unhappy?

 

            Don’t like criticism.

            Don’t like attitude.

            Didn’t meet expectations!

 

Differences.

           

Blogging is opt in.  The happiest bloggers are likely those who don’t accept comments.

                       

                        The writer chooses to write.  Why?

                                    Acclaim.

                                    Importance.  (impact)

                                    Validation.  (agreement)

                                    Frustration.  (venting).

                                    Profit!  (silly)

 

                        Commenters challenge that.

 

                                    First read is not a choice, Comment is.

                                    Subsequent read is a choice.

                                    Personality (conflict, no conflict, strong, weak.)

                         Commenters stand in opposition to the blogger.

Relationship building and impact.

 

                        Expectation as a tool of relationship.

 

                                    Like minded, (acceptance)

                                    Contrary minded.  (Debate vs. disagreeable disagreement.)

                                    Trolls.

                                                Personal exposure and anonymity.

                                                Public exposure. (politicians)

                                                Trolls seek to usurp power from where it belongs.

 

                        Ultimate power and setting the rules to serve that.

 

Commenters are at a disadvantage because they don’t know the rules.

 

The blogger sets the rules.

Those rules should and must serve the expectations of the blogger.

 

The real power of blogging is in fulfilling expectations of blogger and commenters.  Community is built.

 

                                    Like minded community (social networking)

                                    Advocacy and organization.

                                    It’s dynamic, organic and fungible.

The media sucks.  Its expectations are well known.  We all agree on             that.

Evolution.  (Social networking, change in standards, the government.)

 

Discussion.

*The thought experiment was really simple.  I asked everyone in the room to imagine that I had given them 20 minutes to write a 'blog post'.  Then, they were to have 5 other people read it.  The end result?  Everyone in the room is unhappy about something, because at least one of the 5 readers didn't like something about what the 'blogger' wrote.

Keep in mind that I am available for finer parties, Bar Mitzvahs, funerals, proms and sporting events.  My fee structure is such that I require lunch and at least an hour of good fishing talk with an attractive woman.

P.S.  The outline was copied from a Word document, so blame the formatting issues on that.  There's times I really hate Microsoft.

ECW Community Meetup

Before anything else is written, I want to extend heartfelt thanks to Gregg Smith.  He opened his heart, his will, his mind and his home to the blogging community of Montana.  He, and his beloved, hosted a great event.  I also want to sincerely thank Bob Adney, and the Treasure State Network.  They bought me lunch; well, me and everyone else.  That was *cool* in a can, no lie.  Finally, I want to thank my beloved for giving me up for a whole Saturday, and letting me borrow her car which a) gets vastly better gas mileage than my truck, and b) simply looks far sweeter cruising down the road.

I had the rather unbelievable honor of tooling to Great Falls this Saturday to meet with other bloggers and blog commenters and spouses of the web addicted.  Gregg had asked me to present a talk, and I simply couldn't refuse him.  In all honesty, I was as nervous as hell.  I disagree rather vehemently with many of those I thought might be there, and more to the point, they disagree with me.  I sincerely felt like a guy who'd gotten dared to step in a bear trap, and did it just for the filming of the next Jackass movie.  But, Gregg had some confidence in me, and I wasn't gonna let him down.  Hopefully, I didn't.

I'm not going to go into a whole lot of specifics about who was there, what we did (other than have fun), or the play-by-play.  If you expect that, Sorry!  I'm mostly going to give my general impressions.  Since time is limited for me, this may spread out over several posts.

The initial get-together at the restaurant was awkward, I haven't doubt.  Most everyone there was from Great Falls, and that's why I refer to this as an ECW community meetup.  The only out-of-towners were from Bozeman.  I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't get to meet some of the folks from Missoula.  (But I am hopeful that the next such grouping will take place there.)  I was relieved that Dave Budge wasn't there.  Get the two of us in the same room and it might be like matter/anti-matter.  Shit might go terribly wrong.  Those that were there certainly didn't know what to expect from me, and I had no clue what to expect from them.  That was the perfect way to begin.

The talk went well.  I strayed from my narrative a bit, and left a bunch of stuff out, but I was more interested in hearing what others had to say in response.  The point of my presentation was that commenters/readers are the bane of bloggers because of differing expectations, and that bringing them together builds community which will satisfy all parties.  It's win/win.  Because the attendees shared a respect for Gregg and the idea of community, they were remarkably receptive to, what is in my mind, an obvious message.  There are websites in Montana that are really building some things that are powerful, and Electric City Weblog is one of them.  They are building community.  I don't state this as proof of thesis, but as a witness to what happened on Saturday.  Trust me, that was cool beans.

Many of the people there were/are associated with GF city government.  I am stunned with how well they have embraced the online media as a tool and as a forum.  That struck me hard, but on many levels.  It struck that Great Falls is not only isolated in geography but in outlook.  They see themselves as 'different'.  (Don't mistake me.  Many other Montana cities do as well, but this was different from my experience.)  These are the people of the river.  It infuses their lives.

I did finally get to meet an old nemesis/friend.  David Sherman was there.  We have been together online for a very long time.  He had a strong invite to party in my backyard, but didn't do so.  Finally, I got to meet him.  I have real affection for this guy.  He has been many places, but adores his community in Great Falls.  I do wish him the best.

Time is up.  More later.