July 17, 2005
Froggy Visit to SEAL Memorial
Matthew Heidt of Froggy Ruminations tells the story of his trip to the memorial for the fallen US Navy SEALs. It's an excellent read.
"I made the travel plans somewhat impulsively, not really thinking the trip through. After purchasing the non-refundable plane tickets, it hit me that I was going to a memorial for 5 SDV guys that I had never met who were stationed at a Team that was a community within a community, separated from the West Coast and East Coast Teams geographically and culturally. I figured I would know a couple of guys, but would they remember me? After all, it has been 5 long years since I wore a Trident every day, and I wasn’t sure how or if I would fit in with a bunch of salty combat veterans. Would they look at me and ask, 'So you flew out here from LA, and you didn’t even know any of these guys?'"
Posted by Lockjaw at 6:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
New Amateur Radio Blog
In my need for a shorter and more professional-looking website address, I've registered my Amateur Radio callsign as a web address. The most immediate need of such a site was to serve as the host for the Lee County Amateur Radio Emergency Services website, thus the choice of addresses. The LC-ARES site is still under development, but I wanted to put something up on the main site. The obvious choice was to start a blog. If you're interested in Amateur Radio, go on over and take a look. There isn't much there right now, but it will slowly improve. You may also notice my penchant for the ugly website. Pretty sites are great for other people, but I like simple and boring. (I have almost decided that this site is even uglier than I intended, but that's another project for another day)
It ain't much, but run over to KD4THS.com and take a look.
Posted by Lockjaw at 9:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 13, 2005
Huffington Post?
When is the last time you heard anybody acting like they cared about the Huffington Post?
That flash in the pan fizzled fast, didn't it?
Posted by Lockjaw at 10:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 13, 2005
Congrats to Eugene Volokh
Congratulations go out for the 30th anniversary of leaving the former Soviet Union.
Posted by Lockjaw at 1:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 11, 2005
Tar Heel Tavern Is Up
Tar Heel Tavern, the carnival of North Carolina blogs is up. Check it out.
Posted by Lockjaw at 11:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 10, 2005
Lorie Byrd on Female Bloggers
Lorie Byrd is one of my favorite bloggers to read, ever since I met her at the North Carolina State Fair. She has her own blog over at Byrd Droppings and is a regular blogger on . She's just written a great piece over at Town Hall about women in the blogosphere. It's a great refutation to the argument that there aren't enough women in blogging, or in opinion writing as a whole. Go give it a read.
Posted by Lockjaw at 1:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 10, 2005
Huffington Post Day 2
No, this blog isn't going to become a one-stop critique clearinghouse on the Huffington Post. With all the pre-launch publicity for Ariana "The Kook" Huffington's effort to change the blogosphere, though, it behooves us bloggers to give our honest opinions on what she's doing right. Unfortunately, she's not doing much of anything right.
It's only Day 2, but there's no reason to think things are getting any better, or will soon. Nikki Finke has an excellent column that goes into a lot of the smoke and mirrors that Huffington used to get the word out about this travesty. (Hat Tip: LaShawn Barber) My own visit, today, makes me quite sure this will not become one of my daily reads, much less a subscribed RSS feed.
Today's roundup?
Joe Scarborough notes that Sudan's muslim majority is still slaughtering, raping, and enslaving non-muslims. Of course, he never once mentions that the oppressors are muslims.
- Bill Maher has discovered that Bio-Diesel exists.
- Gary Hart has discovered that the US being invited to build permanent bases in Iraq might conflict with pulling out all our troops as fast as he'd like. He's one big thinker, that Gary Hart. I seem to remember this discussion going on at about the same time that we invaded, but if Hart knew what was going on, he wouldn't be a liberal.
- Larry Gelbart couldn't put a single coherent thought together for a blog entry, so he treats us to a couple dozen incoherent ones instead.
- Haim Saban puts a coherent thought together, and writes one paragraph. Here's hoping that Gary Hart reads it.
- Rob Reiner bemoans the state of the media in an entry that shows none of the talent that has made him so enjoyable as a director.
- Danielle Crittenden wrote something about Hollywood and what font you should use to flatter your boss, before launching on something about DC -vs- Hollywood that so completely bored me that I didn't bother reading the script. Really horrid stuff.
- Andy Stern gives us one of the high points. He offers some advice to the Democrats on how they should once again become the party of the working man. This entry is well-written and informative, while offering a message that needs to be heard. Maybe you'll agree with him and maybe you won't, but at least this guy can deliver a good opinion piece.
- Jerry Brown offers yet another incoherent list of somethings that's unreadable.
- Larry David gives us another high point. He demonstrates how wimpy the complaints against Bolton's leadership style really are. He explains how badly he has berated an assistant for giving him too much milk in his coffee. This one's fun.
- In a true example of journalistic quality and responsibility, Walter Cronkite tells us how glad he is to be a part of Huffington's shell game, and that he hopes to actually write something for it someday.
Ariana, I could produce a blog of greater quality than yours by spending all day on the toilet and taking pictures of the bowl. This "Post" of yours has been two days in existence, and has produced exactly TWO entries that are worth reading, and only one of those has been of any serious merit. This whole thing is reminiscent of the South Park episode where the kids work to produce a quality newscast, only to be beaten in the ratings by a show full of closeups of pets with a wide-angle lens. You've taken thousands of dollars of other people's money and produced the same thing that others have for $100 in hosting fees, only of lower quality.
This is so typical of liberal methods. Start by raising a lot of money. Follow up with flashy ideas. Gain the involvement of a bunch of "beautiful people." Declare your efforts to be the best thing since sliced bread. Follow up with a declaration that your effort is an answer to the "right-wing control" over whatever industry it is you're going into. Get the cooperation of the major media in tooting your horn for you. Produce lesser-quality pap that appeals to the leftiest of the left. Watch the money dissapear when revenues don't turn up. Re-tool your efforts, not to match what the audience needs but to meet the new, lower budget. Repackage your marketing to say that your offering is a necessity to the few rather than the panacaea it was originally touted as. End as an also-ran with a shoestring budget.
Rush Limbaugh started on a shoestring budget, offering people views that they had been missing in the major media. His ideas appealed to millions, and now he makes millions of dollars as a great success.
Air America started with millions of dollars, offering people views that they could get in the major media nearly anywhere they looked. Their ideas appealed to dozens, and now they're coasting as best they can on what little money they can bring in as a great failure.
I wonder which of these the Huffington Post will emulate.
Posted by Lockjaw at 7:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 9, 2005
Welcome to the Blogosphere, Huffington Post
It's been weeks since it was first announced, so imagine my glee when celebrity nutcase Ariana Huffington's new group blog finally launched. The Huffington Post is off to a start this morning. It isn't really a good start, but most blogs take a little time to get running well. In fact, if I had to choose one word to describe what I've seen so far, it would be "boring."
John Cusack blogs about Hunter S. Thompson, a truly current event. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband (mostly her husband) have something to say about marriage, but it's hard to tell what it is. Ellen Degeneres blogs about wild horses. Hillary Rosen can't figure out what every other iPod user can, how to use music you didn't buy from Apple.
I've been looking forward to the Huffington Post. I thought it would be a good opportunity for Hollywood Liberals to say their piece, put it all into print, and let us know exactly what they thought without having a reporter or editor screw it up in the process.
Here's hoping that it doesn't continue to look so irrelevant. Day 1 is just so... sad.
Posted by Lockjaw at 1:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 2, 2005
Holy Crap! Powerline at 25 MILLION Hits!
I'm coming up on 25 thousand hits someday soon on my blog. That's cool. Powerline, though, has reached the 25 MILLION hit mark. Congratulations are in order. I'm awed.
Posted by Lockjaw at 9:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 26, 2005
The Bear is Redesigning - Needs Logo
If you've got graphical design skills (girls like guys with skills), then The Truth Laid Bear has a contest for you. I'd enter this one, but as you can see from MY logo above, I'm no graphic designer. If you think you've got the chops, click on over and check out what he's looking for in a new logo.
Posted by Lockjaw at 8:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 24, 2005
Congratulations to Marginal Revolution
Far short of their two year anniversary, Marginal Revolution has hit the two million hit mark on their counter. I can tell you, the reason they're hitting two million is because they run a GREAT blog over there. I've learned a great deal about economics from them that I didn't know. I especially love their series of posts on "Markets in Everything." If you aren't reading MR, you should be.
Posted by Lockjaw at 8:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 22, 2005
Goodbye to The Roth Report
Wes Roth has been keeping up The Roth Report for a while now, and has turned the site into one that I've enjoyed quite a bit. It had worked its way into my daily routine. Now, Wes has landed a position as a Senatorial Intern. Congratulations to Wes on the new position. I hope this job leads to bigger and better things. Unfortunately, it means that the Roth Report is no more.
Ogre Sad.
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