SITE-OWNER'S STATEMENT

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on blogging

I used to think it might matter. It doesn't. It was only ever meant to be an online personal journal, a diary, a log of one's thoughts and feelings, kept on the Web. Then along came 9/11 and the 2004 election. Some of us felt we had to say more, to do more; to use the Web as a medium for change.

But nothing changed. Unless you were willing to make an actual career of blogging, no one listened. And, even if you did make a career of it, it was mostly preaching to the choir or flames and counter-flames from right-wing nut-jobs. So all the hours spent reading, researching, writing, editing, verifying, following-up, updating, up-keeping, doing graphics, designing, publishing, promoting, publicizing, responding to comments, fighting attacks, looking for support, networking, soliciting contributions or advertisements, yadda-yadda-yadda, all went for naught, even if you were the greatest, most literate, best-connected, most-subsidized, number-one media go-to blog-whore, it amounted to bupkis. Bush still slaughtered thousands in all of our names.

So, I gave it up. I just do it for me now. It is no longer a compulsion. I don't care if anybody reads, approves, or comments on what I write. I invited a few friends to comment without approval, which also allowed them to top-post without approval. But over-much top-posting of material "borrowed" from elsewhere, in itself often not original, is not what I had in mind for my little personal journal. So, I'm shutting it down.

Please do not top-post anything without my specific approval, especially not other people's work, copyrighted materials, or things already posted on multiple sites. For the time being, I am not considering any other submissions for top-posting, and I will not be posting anything anywhere else myself. Thanks.
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TO POST A COMMENT: CLICK ON "COMMENTS," "Post a Comment" or "# of COMMENTS" just below the SOCIAL BOOKMARKING LINKS (Digg, Delicious, etc), about three inches down from here. Please do comment. Thank you.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM YOUR BLOGGERS:

Suggestion Box & Tip Jar We would like to make over this blog to make it easier to access, to read and to comment on. We would also like to serve our readers better by providing more of what you need and want to see. All serious suggestions will be considered. We hope to move to our own domain in the near future, and we would like to ask for your financial assistance in doing that, and in upgrading our hardware & software. Small one-time donations and larger long-term subscriptions are welcome. Exclusive advertising is also available. If you think we are wasting our time in doing all this, please let us know. If you wish to help us, now is the time. As always, negative bullsh*t from right-wing trolls will be sh*tcanned. Thank you to everyone else. Please send feedback & PayPal contributions to cosanostradamusATexciteDOTcom. Thanks.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS: BRING THEM ALL HOME ALIVE, NOW!

SUGGESTIONS ON BLOGGING

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A MANUAL OF BLOGGING STYLE



1. If one is going to blog, the posts should be primarily one's own. A web log is supposed to be an online diary of one's own thoughts and creations, not a scrapbook of other people's.


2. Out of respect for authors and their work, not to mention copyright law, it is preferable to post only brief excerpts of other people's work, and only as part of a larger essay or story by the poster. All such excerpts should be attributed to their authors in writing in the same post, with a working link to the original post. If the original post is on a restricted website, then a screenshot or PDF might be created and uploaded, with a link to it. Relevant passages could then be highlighted in the attached file, or quoted in the blog post.


3. Cross-posting should be done rarely, if at all, and only then when there is some fresh emergency or great or terrible news, some extraordinary post or author that simply demands to be heard as far and wide and as quickly as possible. In other words, it's not an every-day thing. It should mainly be done by large, popular, high-profile blogs to call attention to small, less popular, less well-known blogs, not the reverse. It should not be done over-much without permission. A simple link will usually suffice.


4. It is not necessary for everyone to blog every day, or on every subject. Also, excessive focus on one subject diminishes the impact.


5. On a blog that focuses on politics, law, and serious social issues, endorsements for or tolerance of illegal activities should probably be avoided, if one wishes to be taken seriously. Drugs in particular, as a serious social problem, should not be treated lightly, and drug use should not be encouraged.


6. Blogs are supposed to be simple, basic, not complex. They should be the fastest-loading and easiest to navigate of all web pages. Large graphics, multiple graphics, very long posts, lots and lots of posts, and too many bells and whistles should be avoided. Many readers still have old, small, weak computers and slow, unreliable Internet connections. Many people are forced to use free public computers such as the libraries', company computers at work, school computers in class, some other family member's computers at home, some other kind of shared computer, maybe just a laptop with a dicey connection, or even a PDA or palm-top computer. They should not be swamped by overlarge webpages that cram too much stuff in, and take too long to load, scroll, link, reload, etc, etc. I will be trimming this site down.


7. If you can't write, don't. There are too many websites out there now that assault the English language. Pure ego motivates people without creative or technical ability to publish things that are either not their own work, or not well-crafted, not meaningful, and of no use to anyone. Because we can all blog does not mean we should all blog. Literacy does not mean we can read, it means we DO read. Writing does not mean that we do write, it means that we CAN write.


8. Blogging is not enough. If you really care about something, you must get off your ass, go outside, and do something meaningful in the real world: Contribute some time, money and energy to something you care about. Register to vote. Attend public meetings. Participate in local government. Vote. Perhaps even run for office. Just like the grown-ups do. It's time.


9. What you do on your blog can and must be done in the real world. It's nice to chat with like-minded folks around the world. But changing the really terrible way things are will require physical contact with other human beings in your own neighborhood. If you can communicate with transvestites in the Philippines, yuppies in Holland, US soldiers in Iraq, and wonk-wannabees in Walla-Walla, you can talk to the housewife next door, the crusty old guy at the gas station, the college kid at Starbucks, and maybe even the mayor of your town.

Don't be scared. They can't even flame you, not IRL! Change starts with communication. Communication requires contact. Contact means being there. If you can help build a global community on the World-Wide Web, you can help build one in your own home town. In fact, if you'd just go outside, you might find that there already is a community in your own home town. And you are already part of it, just by virtue of your humanity. Work it! Walk, talk, shake hands, find out what your local fellow humans are thinking. These days, you might actually find that they agree with you. Work it!

If you don't change, there is no change. Work it!


10. This diatribe is not directed at anyone in particular, certainly no one posting on or connected to this site. Still, a word to the wise is sufficient.
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TO POST A COMMENT: CLICK ON "COMMENTS," "Post a Comment" or "# of COMMENTS" just below the SOCIAL BOOKMARKING LINKS (Digg, Delicious, etc), about three inches down from here. Please do comment. Thank you.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM YOUR BLOGGERS:

Suggestion Box & Tip Jar We would like to make over this blog to make it easier to access, to read and to comment on. We would also like to serve our readers better by providing more of what you need and want to see. All serious suggestions will be considered. We hope to move to our own domain in the near future, and we would like to ask for your financial assistance in doing that, and in upgrading our hardware & software. Small one-time donations and larger long-term subscriptions are welcome. Exclusive advertising is also available. If you think we are wasting our time in doing all this, please let us know. If you wish to help us, now is the time. As always, negative bullsh*t from right-wing trolls will be sh*tcanned. Thank you to everyone else. Please send feedback & PayPal contributions to cosanostradamusATexciteDOTcom. Thanks.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS: BRING THEM ALL HOME ALIVE, NOW!