October 3, 2003
Welcome to the Captain's Quarters!
So, naturalists observe, a flea Hath smaller fleas which on him prey And these have smaller still to bite 'em, and so proceed ad infinitum. Thus every poet, in his kind, Is bit by him who comes behind. -- Jonathan Swift I love this quote, and I've had it memorized since I first read it in Tom Burnham's Dictionary of Misinformation. In fact, I think it explains blogs and their popularity, and in some degrees their incestuousness. Glenn Reynolds or Andrew Sullivan read a news story, and they post a commentary, and then other blogs post commentaries to their commentaries, and so proceed ad infinitum. Don't get me wrong - I think that's terrific! We need an open market for political discussion. Hash things out to the nth degree. Argue, bicker, and scold. The trick is to keep your head, check your assumptions, and expose yourselves to differing points of...
Let's piss off Glenn Reynolds
Glenn's right -- we should all be reviewing actual news sources for our blogs. But let's all go to Instapundit first just to piss him off....
October 7, 2003
Project BotWT Still a Failure
Still haven't gotten a link from Best of the Web Today -- I'll keep trying. They did mention my name in the credits, though, and a lot closer to the top than ever before ......
Just takin' it Day by Day
How cool is it to have a comment on your blog from Chris Muir, the artist behind Day By Day? It's this cool! Thanks for dropping by, Chris! I am so jazzed ... now go read Chris' comic strip, and you'd better read the entire archive....
October 10, 2003
Have a drink at the Twilight Cafe
Too often, blog readers tend to focus on those sites where they expect to find no disagreement with their own opinions and prejudices. When I started this blog, I took a quick look around at a few other TypePad blogs, and I stumbled across the TwilightCafé. (Literally stumbled, by the way; I still have a Band-Aid on my elbow.) The next day, Alicia was the first person to post a comment on one of my posts, and I added her to my blogroll, and now she's done the same for me. My first link! We probably don't agree on a lot, as Alicia acknowledges: Since I started this weblog on TypePad, I have found lots of interesting people's sites. I have finally found a conservative (that is safe to say, I believe) whose arguments are well thought out and logical. (I am sure there are more out there, but I...
October 11, 2003
Told you I was mostly right
OK, now it's confirmed ... I'm 62% good: ... which means, of course ... These calculations come to me via the Gematriculator, using arcane mathematics to analyze word and phrase patterns on the website. How does it work? Haven't got a friggin' clue, even (and especially) after reading through the explanation on their website. Thanks to Alicia over at Twilight Café for the link! (I'm 6% more good than Twilight Café ... just for the record.)...
Rating the other blogs
Here's how other blogs rate on the ol' Gematriculator: Instapundit: 74% good Daily Dish (Andrew Sullivan): 73% good Power Line: 71% good Meaningful Media: 70% good (how did Steve get ahead of me??) hmmm ... I was on board with this until I saw Steve's ratings ... lemme see who else scores high: NakedJen: 65% good (ahead of me, too!) Merde in France: 62% -- a tie! But something tells me that this is not terribly accurate. For instance: Michaelmoore.com: 82% CBC.com (Pat Robertson's website): 96% good These two are deal-killers, I'm sorry to say ......
October 14, 2003
The Blogging Iceberg
Here's an interesting article on blogs, and the blogging bloggers who blog them. I saw this yesterday at Amygdala but didn't get a chance to post on the article. Like Amygdala, I am in the 1% demographic, although I just started there. Not to rub it in or anything. Perseus Development Corp. estimates that there are 4.12 million blogs out here in the blogosphere, but 2.72 million have been abandoned, either temporarily or permanently. Over a million of these were one-day wonders. (Guess I've surpassed that threshold; I believe this is my 140th post.) There's lots of interesting data here for bloggers who like a bit of navel-gazing....
October 15, 2003
Captain's Quarters Undergoing Minor Renovations
I'll be making some tweaks tonight -- the three-column format doesn't quite work for me, so I'll be playing around with some other options ... let me know what you think!...
Another take on my post on name-calling
OxBlog has an essay which, unbeknownst to Oxblog, expands on my post yesterday about name-calling and elevating political discourse: Are people really so sure of themselves that they simply cannot acknowledge that anyone who disagrees could be intelligent? Have they no humility whatsoever? Of course we all think we're right -- if we didn't think we were right, we'd change our opinions until we did. Maybe I'm just naive, but it really does amaze me when people claim that everyone who disagrees with them (on topics where general opinion is relatively divided -- I'm not talking about largely uncontroversial opinions like "slavery is wrong") is either malevolent, stupid, or both. This attitude exists in a lot more places than in the blogosphere, although Josh Chafetz understandably focuses on that area of debate. I mentioned talk radio in yesterday's post, of course, but it wouldn't exist in the blogosphere or on...
October 16, 2003
Major blogs off-line tonight
It looks like HostingMatters has crashed for some unknown reason, and some major blogs seem to be down with them. Instapundit is definitely one who is affected -- you can hit the backup site here, but so far the only post is from Glenn confirming that the servers are down. Power Line isn't responding, and neither is Little Green Footballs or Dissident Frogman. I hope the problem gets corrected soon, so I can continue to avoid commercials between innings. (Score so far: Red Sox 4, Overhyped-Babe-Curse Bronxies 2.) If nothing else, take a look at James Lileks today, who's in fine curmudgeonly style. He's ranting about Kill Bill and rooting for Agent Smith. Ortiz just went yard on David Wells' first pitch, so it's Red Sox 5, Crushing Monotony in Pinstripes 2....
October 17, 2003
Thank you, Alicia!!!
It's not often that you run across people who do thoughtful things just because they're truly nice people. I'm lucky to have "met" Alicia through our efforts at blogging on Typepad. Alicia runs the excellent and intriguing Twilight Café, where I encourage you all to visit any chance you get. She's been kind enough to surprise me with a new banner, which is now posted proudly at the top of my blog here. Isn't that great? Thank you, Alicia -- I feel like a real blog now!...
Hugh Hewitt links to the Captain's Quarters
I'd like to give a salute to any visitors being referred from Hugh Hewitt's excellent story on the General Boykin/LA Times scandal. Welcome aboard!...
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes ...
Over the weekend, I'll be testing some design changes, some of which you may have already seen -- I've switched fonts from Palatino to Arial in my posts for better readability, and to Geneva on the sidebar items to be able to read them at all. This makes the page longer, but I've cut the numbers of days displayed to three now. I will be switching between two- and three-column layouts and two different, very cool Alicia-designed logos, so be sure to let me know what you think!...
October 18, 2003
A New Neighbor
I've found a new neighbor, or rather she's found me! Brainstorming is a fairly new Typepad blog, with an easygoing nature but some smart commentary. Definitely drop by and check out what DC's brainstorming on now!...
October 19, 2003
200 Posts, Alternate Design
This is the 200th post for The Captain's Quarters, and today I'll be trying a new design. If you've seen the prior design (with the other Alicia-designed logo), let me know which one you prefer. Just drop a comment onto this post and I'll be reviewing them as they come in....
October 20, 2003
Monday Clarkbot?
Okay, I know I'm a novice at the whole blog thing, but what the hell is a Clarkbot? a. It's a cybernetic Clark decoy sent out on the campaign trail as a security decoy. (Would anyone be able to tell the difference?) b. It's a wind-up toy from a merchandising system gone mad. c. It's a blog program, designed to search the Internet, never sleeping, never stopping, for blog references to Wesley Clark ... it cannot be reasoned with, it cannot be reprogrammed ... it is relentless ... Yes, I guess it's Option C. If you follow the link back, you'll see two of my earlier posts about Clark listed on his campaign blog. I hope they enjoy the posts, but something tells me they won't. Hell, the second one wasn't even about them, it was about AP's inability to spell caucuses correctly....
Power Line: Islamofascists Strike Again?
Note to Fareed Zakaria: stifling free speech isn't the American way. That tactic is employed by others. Interesting to note where the DoS attacks originated. Do you suppose this is in retaliation for General Boykin's churchgoing activities?...
October 21, 2003
Blogosphere to Islamofascists: Drop Dead
The Blogosphere's most prominent citizens are back on line after another DoS attack from Islamofascists. The outage affected not just Power Line, but Hosting Matters and all of the web sites hosted by that company, a group that includes Insta Pundit, Little Green Footballs and many others. ... If Americans' news sources were limited to the network news and major daily newspapers, the Islamofascists would have a much better chance of winning the war. No doubt their first choice would be to blow up Fox News and various talk radio stations, but that is much more difficult than launching remote attacks on web sites from locations like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. Hence their attacks on the blogosphere. Power Line makes a good point about the value of the blogosphere, and why the Islamofascists target sites like Hosting Matters. I'd expand on Power Line and say that, based on the reporting...
Joining the Axis of Naughty
I've decided to pledge my Web loyalty (bloyalty?) to Instapundit and join the Axis of Naughty. There's no sense in spending this much time and effort on something if I can't be part of something divisive, after all. As Gaeilge, I'll add: Sin Instapundit an blog is fearr sa domhain, gan dabht! In the meantime, now that I've picked sides, I've also entered the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, and I've entered into a contest for new bloggers on the site. I had to pick a post to feature during the contest, so I picked my post on Fareed Zakaria's column on Boykin, but I probably should have picked the one on German husband day care. [sigh] Anyway, if you think about it, do me a favor and link to the Zakaria post on your own blog, even if it's to say what a dink I am for having that opinion....
Alicia pitches in -- again
Alicia pitches in again with a post about my shameless begging for trackbacks in the Truth Laid Bear contest. If you haven't visited the Twilight Café yet, go now. She designed my terrific logo (and another one, too, that I'm going to fit in here somewhere). Check out this post, too, at the Twilight Café. Who was your choice?...
October 22, 2003
Evolution at the Captain's Quarters
If you scroll down through my Miscellaneous Links, you'll notice that I've evolved from an Insignificant Microbe to a Slimy Mollusc in the Ecosystem. Always the optimist, I hope to be some variety of vertebrate by the weekend. (It would, of course, be a first for me.)...
October 24, 2003
New Feature: Now Hear This
I've added content to the third column again -- I just couldn't leave it alone, could I? -- in order to list the posts I think best represent Captain's Quarters. The latest post is listed first, and goes all the way back [all the way back being 3 weeks!] to my first post, which explains the slogan that Alicia included in my logo. Now, if I could just figure out how to configure links in Typepad to open a new page ......
Still Evolving ...
Moving on up ... moving on up ... to that upright primate ... on la-and (oh yeah) ... I've progressed from Insignificant Microbe, to Slimy Mollusc, to Flippery Fish, and now I'm a Crawly Amphibian! [sniff] My parents will be so proud of me! Please note that if you want to see me evolve into something remotely mammalian, you'll need to keep linking to my posts and visit the Captain's Quarters regularly! If I wind up being plankton, it'll be on your heads ... eww....
October 26, 2003
Graduating to Land
I've managed to graduate to a land-based animal in the TTLB ecosystem. Thanks to everyone who's linking to my blog or my posts! It appears that Irreconcilable Musings and Demosophia are going to be competing for the win at the New Blog Showcase, where my post on Fareed Zakaria's column trails significantly. Both blogs are terrific and have excellent posts. Make sure you read them, and the rest of the blog entries too....
Meaningful Media Relaunched
If you get a chance, check out Meaningful Media MediaBlog, v 2.0. Steve's doing a nice job in his redesign. UPDATE: It's also in the Comments here, but don't forget to check out Steve's other blog, Indypundit, which "is more or less what Meaningful Media used to be, except with more of a cultural/newsy focus"....
Welcome to Power Line Readers
A cordial welcome to all Power Line readers! I hope you enjoy Captain's Quarters, and I look forward to your comments. If you like what you read, I hope you'll blogroll Captain's Quarters. Big thanks to Big Trunk for the mention!...
October 29, 2003
The Politburo Diktat
Captain's Quarters has been blogrolled by The Politburo Diktat, a very clever and humorous blog with tongue impaled in cheek. Stephen, aka "The Commissar", manages to sound like a [mild?] version of International ANSWER, which in less capable hands would be frightening. Check it out!...
300 Posts, and Some Thoughts
Tonight I'm finishing up with my 300th post in just under 4 weeks, and instead of posting on current events, I'm going to just talk a little bit about why I blog and some of the experience of Captain's Quarters and the people I've "met" as a result. Like most bloggers, I suspect, I love to write and have written for years, in several different formats. I've written short stories and three novels (all unsold), as well as quite a bit of technical documentation when I worked in the defense industry in the 80s. What I hadn't written on a regular basis was commentary, unless I was worked up enough on an issue or about a particular article to fire something off. I've written several letters to local papers, about half of which wound up being published, and even had a couple of longer-form commentaries published in the Star Tribune....
October 30, 2003
Colskee's blog: Phone Jacking in London?
Colskee, a Londoner blog, mentions the latest crime wave in urban Britain: phone jacking? People pedalling up on bikes to relive unsuspecting folk of their mobile phones. This has been an increasing problem in London, especially amoungst younger teenagers (don't even ask me why a schoolkid would need a mobile phone). It's a short post, and Colskee wonders if the cell-phone manufacturers aren't encouraging this by including a lot of teenager-friendly options on the phones. Anyone hear of this in the US?...
Carnival Of The Vanities
I've decided to enter the Carnival Of The Vanities for next week, being hosted by Wizbang of the Axis of Naughty. I'm submitting my post on the Brad Pitt-Jennifer Aniston peace movement, as it's one of my favorites so far. This week's Carnival is up at Blogger Rabbit, with a special introduction offering readers a unique opportunity -- unique, that is, unless you have an e-mail address, in which case you've probably had this opportunity come your way once a month for a year. Here are a few I liked from this week's Carnival ... Catfish 'n Cod waxes poetic about the Rumsfeld memo ... The Smallest Minority contributes a well-written broadside against the war on drugs ... Kiril at Sneakeasyjoint explains why he's crossing the picket line in Southern California to get his shopping done ... Blogfriend DC at Brainstorming cajoles the Republicans into getting active in supporting Justice...
November 1, 2003
Get SWLiP Blogrolled on LGF
Brant at Strange Women Lying in Ponds, a most excellent blog, would like to get blogrolled at Little Green Footballs: Let's talk turkey. The reader who gets SWLiP blogrolled on LGF will win a special prize: The Al Jarreau CD of his or her choice. So if anyone reading this has any influence with the guys at LGF, let's see if we can't help Brant out. And while we're at it, maybe someone can get me a mention there too, or a link over at Instapundit. I'll cough up a Jim Croce double-CD album for anyone who can get me blogrolled at either place. Between Brant and I, we'll rescue the RIAA singlehandedly. Well, doublehandedly, at least....
November 2, 2003
Once Around the Axis, and Others
A collection of links to interesting posts around the Axis of Naughty and other great blogs this morning ... Michelle at A Small Victory wonders how to determine when ululating Arabs is a good or bad sign ... and also has a sane look at this morning's bad news in Iraq which puts it in perspective ... Wizbang has the Howard Dean Metrosexual Quiz ready for you (be sure to read the comments!) ... Samizdata has an example of left-wing hypocrisy in education policy in Britain, but we've seen it here before, too ... Kate over at Electric Venom (cool site!) is angry about the dilution of her Social Security money ... Roger Simon ponders the war of civilizations ... DC at Brainstorming wonders about the world-changing power of the new Apple computers, but over at Jessica's Well, the concern is over the hard-drive-changing power of their new operating system...
My Political Compass
SurlyPundit has a note on her blog showing her Political Compass which gives a more sophisticated indication of her politics than simple "left-right" designations. Her graph point is 7.25/-3.69, which indicates significant rightist economics and libertarian philosophy. My numbers are more centrist: 4.75/-0.56. Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised; I would have expected more libertarian tendencies than that. SurlyPundit has an intriguing blog; you should check it out....
November 3, 2003
Onward and Upward
I didn't notice this until after I'd been on a while, but I've evolved further, from Slithering Reptile to Flappy Bird in the TTLB Ecosystem. Thanks to everyone who's been linking back here -- and if you haven't yet blogrolled me, let me know if you do so I can make sure I've blogrolled you in return!...
November 4, 2003
QandO Joins Fisking Brigade
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler honors a deserving QandO for its excellent fisking of Kucinich.
November 5, 2003
Wizbang: Vote Carnival In 2003!
Wizbang has the Carnival of the Vanities up and running. I'll post up some links later on in order to cast my votes. Don't forget that I've entered this post as my first-ever entry!...
Blackfive: French Boycott Continues
Here's my first vote for this week's Carnival entry -- Blackfive's deep commitment to the French boycott: The biggest fight that I have ever had with my wife in over six years of marriage was over my personal French Boycott. She had gone shopping and brought back some wine which happened to be made in France. She opened it before I knew what it was, and I asked her to pour it down the drain. Of course, my wife knows me well, and she knows how much it would kill me to watch good booze destroyed. But, we went back and forth over it and she finally poured it down the drain, looking me in the eye the whole time. He'd get my vote even if he wrote atrocious posts just for going through with that, but fortunately, he's a good writer. Check out his blog while you're there. And...
November 7, 2003
Snark Hunt!
Electric Venom has its weekly snark hunt posted ... and the snark are running! Venomous Kate was kind enough to include one of my entries this week. But there's lots more snark to hunt, so be sure to go there and check it all out. Enjoy!...
New Weblog Showcase: Mr. Cranky
I've decided to cast a vote in the TTLB New Weblog Showcase for Mr. Cranky and his excellent Halloween story: I am always amazed at how nicely the boy is treated as he goes trick or treating. This year he wore a Hulk costume - you know the one, it has the foam muscles. At one place, the lady of the house gave him a candy after the usual holiday exchange, then squeezed his foam arms and said, "Wow, you're strong!". My boy grinned from ear to ear under his mask. Read the whole thing, it's a great piece of writing. (I have a neighbor like A.H., too ... I wonder if they're related?) I've added Mr. Cranky to my blogroll, too....
November 10, 2003
Cori Dauber Returns to Rantingprofs
For those of us who enjoyed Cori Dauber's prolific and excellent posts while guest-blogging at the Volokh Conspiracy, she's back at her home blog now. I've blogrolled Rantingprofs; be sure to add her to yours....
November 11, 2003
Hosting Matters Down: Another DoS Attack?
Instapundit, Power Line, and Little Green Footballs all are off-line this morning -- could this be another deliberate DoS attack on Hosting Matters? It could simply be a technical problem, but this is happening quite a bit lately. Don't forget that Instapundit's backup site is here; if this is a DoS attack, Glenn will probably post a message there soon. I don't know of any backup site for Power Line or LGF. UPDATE: Although I can't access Instapundit or the other Hosting Matters sites, they do seem to be up and running, as I am getting a lot of referrals from Instapundit this morning about the Rock the Vote story. Welcome to all of Glenn's faithful readers (which includes me), and I hope you enjoy your visit....
Meryl Yourish Fisks Michael Moore
Meryl Yourish, another excellent blogger, fisks Michael Moore, albeit reluctantly: I almost never write about Michael Moore, because I find him a tiresome windbag. I saw him on The View a few weeks ago, and even the ladies of the ABC morning were fed up with his lying and dodging of questions. I have never seen a harsher interview on that show. They don't have transcripts available, but CNN's Kara Henderson asked the tough questions. But once she gets started, she gets rather enthusiastic. A sample: Let's think about why so many Europeans would have passports, and why so many Americans do not. Let's go look at a map of Europe. Okay, now let's go look at a map of America. Do you see something similar about the two maps? Right! Many European nations are the size of American states! Why, if you're German and you want to vacation in...
November 12, 2003
Dead Ends: HOYA SAXA CARNIVAL!
Dead Ends has the new Carnival of the Vanities up and running, with a distinct Georgetown flavor: HOYA SAXA CARNIVAL! My entry on the overwhelming police response to raid a swinger's party is posted there, although I put my real name to it, instead of the blog name. I'll update this post later tonight on my faves from this week. UPDATE: As promised, here are my votes for the Carnival winners: Mark Pierce at Earthly Passions fisks it up on Newsweek's article on Dick Cheney. (He's on my blogroll now!) Porphyrogenitus has a lengthy, detailed deconstruction of the Clark plan on Iraq, and how it flies in the face of historical precedent and common sense. Blackfive posts a letter describing the inspiring events surrounding the memorial and burial of American heroes lost in battle. Bring a Kleenex. Outside the Beltway discusses why we all can't get along, refuting Matthew Yglesias,...
November 14, 2003
Goodness Gracious: G!
In honor of Venomous Kate's declaring today G-day, here are a few Gs for you:
November 15, 2003
So Many Links, So Little Time
A few thank-yous to some very nice people in the blogosphere today ... First off, thank you to Venomous Kate at Electric Venom (a daily read for me) for including me on both the Snark Hunt and The Letter Of The Day Is H Big Trunk over at Power Line included me in today's excellent posts by linking back to my comments about Zell Miller and the end of the civil-rights movement. Merde in France has been sending readers over to me all day long. If you want a window on Europe, especially France, MiF is a stylish must-read. Sometimes I try reading the posts in French, but my high-school French hasn't been able to keep up ... Thanks again, folks!...
November 16, 2003
It Could Have Been Worse, Comrade
The Commissar announces the results of a series of investigations of blogosphere denizens. Lucky for me, I've only been demoted (to Corporal? Bleah), and dishonorably discharged. I could have been purged in a more Stalinist manner, like a few others at the Politburo Diktat. Go visit the Commissar and be sure to have your confessions ready....
November 19, 2003
Wandering Aimlessly Through the Blogosphere
Random sightings while taking a stroll through the blogosphere this evening ...
November 20, 2003
Evolution in Weblogs
I noticed that I have moved up the food chain again, going from Flappy Bird to Adorable Little Rodent in the TTLB Ecosystem. Captain's Quarters is currently ranked in the mid-700s, and we're averaging about 300 hits a day. (At that rate, I'll need 28 months to hit Venomous Kate's latest milestone, and she did it in 8 months!! Way to go, Kate!) Thanks to everyone who's blogrolled me, or has been linking to my posts!...
November 23, 2003
Power Line: A Million Hits
Congratulations to Big Trunk, Hindrocket, and Deacon for going over 1,000,000 hits! Power Line is one of the best blogs on line, and is definitely among my daily must-reads. They've been kind enough to mention me on more than one occasion, for which I am very grateful. Gracious, intelligent, and powerfully good writers -- small wonder they've been as successful as they are. Congratulations, guys, and I'll bet your next million comes in half the time....
Good Advice for New Bloggers
For those of you who may be new to blogging, or are considering starting your own blog but aren't sure how to build a readership beyond your own family, here's some good advice from the Commissar at the Politburo Diktat: As great Revolutionary Ringo Starr sang "You gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues, And you know it don't come easy." You must work to build Revolution. Seek out intelligentsia. Exchange Blogrolls. Comment on posts. Trackback to posts. ... Find "comrades." (No, not in hackneyed, satiric sense of Commissar, in real sense.) A network of blogger/readers. Blogrolling? That only first step. Many have 100, 200 blogs on Blogroll; not all of them are comrades. "Comrades" are bloggers, maybe of roughly same size, who read your blog, maybe comment now and then, mention/link to your blog in posts, and maybe exchange emails. This advice is easy if you...
November 24, 2003
On the Bush Blogroll
George Bush freed almost 50 million people in two years and deposed two of the worst totalitarian regimes in recent decades. Ted Rall advocates the political system which resulted in the oppression of hundreds of millions, the slaughter of millions, and Dean wants us to know that he's proud Ted Rall supports him. That's enough for me.
The Cheese Stands Alone
For all of you cheese lovers out there, I'd like to introduce a new addition to the CQ blogroll: The Cheese Stands Alone. It's well-written, funny, incisive (I guess that means it has fangs), and most of all, it links back to me. Although it lists me in the Brie category, which implies some sort of French connection, and I don't think it's the cool one with Gene Hackman and nifty car chases with drug dealers. Perhaps it has something to do with my blog being like fine champagne, and as the Cheese says, there is no sex in the Champgne Room, and not much of it here either. Since there's no sex, and in honor of the newest blogroll addition, here's a list of my Top 10 Cheese of All Time: 10. Fonzie jumps the shark, and Happy Days bites the dust. 9. David Soul sings "Don't Give Up...
November 25, 2003
Redoing the Blogroll
If you think you're noticing some changes in the blogroll, you are correct. I am changing the blogroll to categorize the listings a little better. My blogroll has grown so large that it's difficult sometimes for people to understand what their relationships are to my blog. As soon as I figure out completely what the new system will be, I'll post an explanation....
November 26, 2003
Magyar Blog: When and How Do You Call It a Night?
This may seem a bit cruel once you read Martin's entire post, but he does raise an interesting point of blog etiquette: What is the etiquette for ending a blog? And not just a cessation of posts either, I mean taking it down completely. If this blog disappears, and all links lead to 404 errors (or even a message from me apologizing), is that some sort of Stalinist re-writing of history? It's not like a million people have linked to this site. I got one link from Instapundit, one from Serenity's Journal, a bunch from Frozen In Montreal, two from Sneakeasy’s, and a couple from Debbye in Toronto. Seriously, in seven months of blogging, that’s it. So no one will be crushed. But do I have some obligation to keep the content online? Read the entire post. I admit that the thought has occurred to me in a theoretical sense,...
November 27, 2003
Thanksgiving Greetings Around the Web
Here are a few good posts this Thanksgiving holiday: Power Line has George Washington's original Thanksgiving proclamation. Definitely a good read today. They also link to a story in today's Strib that I read last night, about George H.W. Bush's Thanksgiving letter back home to his parents when he was stationed in Minneapolis in 1942. The Sophorist continues the historical perspective with a proclamation from Abraham Lincoln making Thanksgiving official, in 1863. Jon at QandO gives thanks for capitalism and its ability to produce freedom. Lileks, who is about to pull a disappearing act in December [sob], has a small thought for today. Venomous Kate's baking all day. My blood sugar went out of control just looking at her menu. Guess who Matt Margolis is thankful for! (Me, too.) Lastly, while we're at home with our families giving thanks, there's one family in the Upper Midwest that will be praying...
New Additions to Blogroll
Today, I'm adding a couple of blogs to my blogroll. First, I'm adding Blog Iran, a blog dedicated to freeing Iranians and establishing a true democracy in Iran, free of the control of the mullahs. Today I received an e-mail from Haleh at ActivistChat.com: The news site provides pro-freedom and pro-democracy news - specifically in regards to Iran, and BLOG-IRAN is a Grassroots Campaign that is uniting Bloggers from around the world who support the Iranian struggle for freedom & democracy. The goal of each is to provide much needed awareness of the struggle for democracy in Iran as well as support America's/Bush's vision of aiding people of the region and throughout the world in their battle for freedom. Here's a telling quote regarding Bush's commitment to spreading democracy, and our willingness to support that policy: Food for thought: - Bush has greater support in Iran among the Iranian population...
November 28, 2003
Politburo Diktat Maps the Blogosphere
Comrade Commissar is not just good political enforcer -- he is Glorious Revolutionary Cartographer as well. If you click on just one link today, you must click on this one, Comrades. I notice that KaptainEdsk is located in South-Central Reynoldssia, which suits me just fine. Nice place for good weather and a nice little dacha near the Volga, da? This is your one-stop blogroll; simply click where you want to travel, and faster than Glorious Revolution, you are transported to the blog of your choice. (Da, I know, Comrades, choice is counterrevolutionary plot, but we must peacefully co-exist for the moment ...)...
November 30, 2003
500th Post: The Dark Side of Blogging
Last night, after we got home, I fired up the laptop and took a quick look around some of my favorite blogs before hitting the sack. I was hoping to come up with a blogosphere theme for my 500th post, and the Commissar at the Politburo Diktat did not disappoint -- although certainly other bloggers have been behaving in a most disappointing manner: The Politburo authorizes me to extend its congratulations to the LOL on its highly successful advancement of Party members within the TTLB Ecosystem, maintained by the "Dumber Than the Average Bear" NZ Bear. With your commendable and Revolutionary use of two tactics, you have propelled many LOL members to high ranking in the Ecosystem rankings, even while the Ecosystem is maintained by that reactionary wingnut, NZ Bear. The Commissar discovered that some League of Liberals bloggers have been using two different methods of artificially inflating their stats...
When Irish Eyes are Smiling
No, this is not a reference to Notre Dame's spanking of Stanford yesterday. Power Line posts about the poetry and beauty of Ireland, a subject which always has my interest, as you well know. And in this instance, Hindrocket has plenty of evidence of both!...
December 1, 2003
2003 Weblog Awards at Wizbang
Wizbang has announced the nomination process for the 2003 Weblog Awards, which I found via Power Line this morning. Wizbang has done a nice job in setting up categories and processing nominations. Take a look and add those blogs you think deserve some recognition. In my case, I've nominated Power Line for both Best Overall Blog and Best Group Blog. Not only does Power Line consistently deliver thoughtful and timely commentary (even on rare occasions where I disagree), but they also maintain a unified voice, which is difficult to do when group blogging. Also, for complete disclosure, Power Line has linked to CQ on a number of occasions, even if I have been a bit of an e-mail pest from time to time, and have been very encouraging to me as I've started blogging. I also took the initiative to nominate myself in the Best New Blog category. I don't...
December 2, 2003
10,000 Visitors -- Thank You!
I noticed that I've crossed the 10,000-visit threshold today on the Sitemeter, thanks to a big assist from Power Line and Steven den Beste. A big thank you to everyone who's stopped by Captain's Quarters over the past two months!...
Marching Orders
I had the audacity to ask Hugh Hewitt, the Lord High Commissioner of the Blogosphere, to induct me into the Society of the Minnesota Master of the Horse (seeing as I'm in Minnesota, and I've been compared to at least one end of the horse on many occasions). Hugh kindly wrote me back and explained that there are three tests a blogger must pass in order to be inducted into Society, the first of which is to denounce the folks at FratersLibertas in a particularly shameful way. The first step I could take in that regard would be to blogroll them here. I should have done it earlier, of course, but I've been hitting their site through Power Line, being the lazy Captain that I am. But now I've added them to the Northern Fleet, and you can almost hear the lustre fading away from them. Besides, as Tim Robbins'...
December 3, 2003
The Midnight Blog Court: An Epic Poem
As part of my trial for acceptance into the Society of the Minnesota Master of the Horse, the second task given by Hugh Hewitt was to write an epic poem, mentioning at least ten blogs, including that of the Lord High Commissioner himself, as well as taking swipes at FratersLibertas and the Elder, and one at James Lileks, too. I decided to proceed, despite the inherent dangers of taking on so many veteran bloggers, by writing an epic poem based on the Gaelic poem Cúirt an Mheán-Oíche (The Midnight Court). This poem can be found in both English and Irish here, for those who want to see how poorly I satirize fine literature. The poem is a great example of an aisling, a dream-vision poem, and in fact is one of the classics in Irish literature. For my purposes here, I took out most of the 1000 lines or so,...
And The Winner Is ... Me?
Hey, I won a contest! The Sophorist announced a little while ago that I won his latest photo-caption contest. Yay!! You can see the photo here, and the winning caption was: "I'm NOT doing a Ross Perot imitation, dammit! You and you -- boost me up!" The Sophorist was even kind enough to link back to my "epic" poem; aficianados of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series may detect a strong resemblance to Vogon poetry here ......
December 6, 2003
Mutual Admiration Societies
I got a nice e-mail from the California Yankee for adding him to the blogroll, an act of politeness that I haven't yet seen, or even actually performed myself (blush blush). He even posted a nice comment on his blog today. Make sure you get a chance to take a good look at the California Yankee. (Maybe I should call myself the Minnesota Dodger ... yeah, I know, that's not the reference, but I sure do miss Dodger Stadium.)...
Patterico's Pontifications
I received a nice e-mail from Patterico's Pontifications, a fellow Marauding Marsupial, letting me know that he enjoys Captain's Quarters and has blogrolled me, so I'm returning the favor. Make sure you take a look at Patterico's Pomtifications!...
Last Chance at Weblog Awards
Kevin at Wizbang has relented to the hue and cry from all of us who have been left off of the lists of finalists in the 2003 Weblog Awards (can you imagine? Four million blogs and I didn't make the cut?)-- he will create a new category, Most Egregious Omission. I would hardly describe overlooking CQ as egregious; there's a lot of really good blogs on Kevin's list. But if you feel like arguing my case, you can leave a comment on Kevin's post and see if it makes a difference. If not, just tell your friends about Captain's Quarters. I tooted my own horn -- sort of -- but I also put in a good word for QandO and Twilight Cafe, who has a subtle holiday change to her logo, if you can spot it. In other awards news, Kevin's dealing with some people who just can't handle an...
December 8, 2003
A Few Thanks to Friends
I just took a quick peek at the comments Wizbang's new awards category, Most Egregious Omission, and I see that Patterrico and DC have put in a good word for me! Thanks to both -- I think the category goes on line tonight, so we'll see if I'm included. If not, I'm sure that we'll get a chance to see a number of good blogs who got left out the last time. (Jon at QandO should be among them!) Thanks again! Hmmm .... maybe I should buy a Karl Marx lunchbox for both of them ......
December 9, 2003
Wizbang Weblog Awards: My Ballot
Wizbang has the 2003 Weblog Awards polls open, and now's the time to get in (while the lines are short!). I'm not amongst the finalists, is mór an trua é, but I've only been blogging for two months now, too. I'm using the awards to take a look at some blogs I haven't yet seen yet, and so far I'm pretty impressed. What was it that Groucho said about not belonging to a club that would have him as a member? I think I'm understanding that now. I'll post my selections for each of the categories below. As not all polls are yet open on the Wizbang site, I'll probably do a few at a time, and then update this one post as I go along. I'll move it to the top of the blog every time I update. Feel free to leave me comments about my selections, especially about...
Weblog Awards Recognize CQ, Friends
Patterico's Pontifications alerted me overnight that the 2003 Awards at Wizbang have added Captain's Quarters to their newest and last category, Most Egregious Blogs -- er, no, sorry, that's Most Egregious Omission! This category recognizes those blogs that were overlooked in the initial nomination process. Nor does the good news end there. The nominees include a number of CQ friends, including QandO, Twilight Cafe, Molotov Cocktail Frank, Jennifer's History and Stuff, and a bunch of other good blogs as well. A big thanks to those who put in a good word, especially DC at Brainstorming. Vote early, vote often!...
Around the Blogs in 80 Seconds
Another of those linkfests for when I only have a few minutes at lunchtime .... First off, I've blogrolled Fresh Bed Goodness, another fine Minnesota blog. She recently linked over to my post abound abandoned infants, and she also has some thoughts on the same subject. Check her out. Hugh Hewitt sent me an e-mail earlier informing me that my third task is to have my picture taken while giving a Hummel to James Lileks. Hmmm. I'm thinking that James is probably already on red alert, looking for lunatics holding Hummels. This will take some thought and cunning, which is difficult for a jack-booted thug. (I'm sure you understand.) More on this later, but on his blog, Hugh wonders if the Democrats will make Dean apologize for his outrageous accusation that Bush had advance knowledge about 9/11 and failed to act. I somehow doubt that such a request would come...
December 10, 2003
Fresh Buggy, er, Bloggy Goodness
The new Carnival of the Vanities is up at Signal + Noise, and this time I remembered to send something in! The host blogger usually comes up with a new way of organizing the entries, and Chris is no exception. He has creatively used the insect world to assign categories to posts. My post, I Am Angry, is listed under the "pugnacious North American hornet" category ... cooooool! I'll post more about the various entries and link back to them later on ......
The Northern Alliance
I'm honored and somewhat stunned to note that Captain's Quarters has been added to Hugh Hewitt's Northern Alliance blogroll in his latest reorganization. As you probably know, I am a long-time fan of Hugh's columns and his radio show, especially when I get caught in scenic drives on the way home from work, like I did last night. I don't listen to a lot of talk radio because I find that a great deal of it is shrill and annoying, and even when people don't make a habit of screaming into a microphone, they still tend to get childish and demeaning. Hugh keeps his focus on facts, which is no surprise if you read him in the Weekly Standard, and at the same time makes his show very entertaining. Hugh has a great sense of humor, which is more than people can say about so-called comedians on the left these...
Captain's Quarters On the Air Tonight
Hugh Hewitt has invited me to comment on last night's Gaffney-Norquist debate tonight on his show. I'll be joining other noteworthy bloggers giving commentary and perspective on this issue. Make sure you tune in to hear what I sound like (and try not to be too disappointed when I don't sound like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, OK?). If you don't know where to find Hugh's show, here's a roster of stations nationwide that carry it. UPDATE: I had a blast on Hugh's show. If you didn't get a chance to hear me, the show may be replayed later, but I can't find anything on that so far. (If you're in the LA area, KRLA will replay at 8 PM PST.) My impressions of my first time on the air as a featured guest ... My experience started with Scott Johnson, the Big Trunk at Power Line, e-mailed...
December 11, 2003
Lá Breithe Sona Duit a Mitch!
Go wish Mitch Berg at A Shot in the Dark a happy birthday. He's apparently four months older than me, which means he's ancient....
December 13, 2003
Deep Thoughts Around The Blogosphere
Tonight I'm having trouble blogging on anything specific, but a number of good bloggers don't seem to be having my problem. Here are a few blogs you should read tonight if you want something significant to ponder ... For instance, Strange Women Lying in Ponds discusses an article by Leonard Pitts that decries the current generation gap amongst African-Americans. Pitts notes that the current generation of African-American young adults seem to have "no tether to the sacrifices that made their lives possible," and Brant goes Pitts one further, arguing that this applies to this entire generation: The irony is that because America has essentially achieved nearly every goal of human history -- generations free from want, free from disease, but also FREE FROM STRUGGLE -- young people have been alienated from the very things that make up the stuff of life itself. People have an inherent need to struggle, to...
December 17, 2003
Light Blogging Today
I'm taking today off to spend a little bit of time with my granddaughter, the Little Admiral, before I go off to see The Return of the King with a couple of other goldbricking friends of mine. I may not get too much opportunity to blog today, especially during the day. In the meantime, may I suggest the following excellent sites for debate and entertainment? Power Line - Big Trunk writes about a shameful event in recent American history, and Hindrocket writes an addendum to the post with which I absolutely agree. Strange Women Lying in Ponds - Brant writes about the twin religions of environmentalism and internationalism and how both have been removed from rational thought. QandO - You can pick almost anything Jon writes, but take a look at today's post on Howard Dean. Fraters Libertas - I meant to link to this yesterday and write some of...
December 18, 2003
No Joke: Fraters Libertas Sponsoring Worthy Charity
The Northern Alliance likes to have a lot of fun, teasing each other and writing really bad and insulting poetry -- oh, wait, that's just me -- but the Elder has a serious project for us this Christmas: Last year a coworker and I organized a drive at work to collect toys and winter clothes (Chihuahua is in the Sierra Madres) for an orphanage just outside the city. We were able to collect four very large boxes of goods which were eventually shipped to the orphanage. But it was a logistical nightmare. This year we contacted the orphanage and asked what their most pressing needs were. Basic medical supplies were among the items high on the list. In order to make the process easier, more efficient, and most importantly get the supplies to the orphanage in the shortest amount of time, we decided to raise money here at our two...
December 20, 2003
Power Line Editorial in Star Tribune
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune puts its paper "to bed" in the late evening prior to publication, so if one is inclined to be surfing the Internet (read: addicted to it) at that time, getting a sneak peak at the next day's edition is easy. While I was doing that today, I noticed a familiar name in the Op-Ed section -- Scott W. Johnson, the Big Trunk at Power Line. Big Trunk's post on Walter Mondale will be published in tomorrow's edition: Those of us who lived as adults through the four years of the Carter administration in which Walter Mondale last served as an important public official may find Mondale's statements especially strange. We recall how President Jimmy Carter proudly announced that the United States had overcome its "inordinate fear of communism," famously planted a kiss on the cheek of Leonid Brezhnev, and then reacted with shock when the Soviet Union...
December 21, 2003
Another One Bites the -- er, Congratulations!
Fraters Libertas has a stunning announcement: Atomizer has become engaged to his lovely girlfriend (now fiancee) Atomizerette! You'll have to read his announcement to get the low-down on Atmoizer's devastating technique, but you could say that he displayed a certain amount of horse sense in making hay while the sun shines. However, Atomizer obviously never played trumpet in a marching band, or at least never had to follow the local 4-H in a parade, or else he'd have anticipated the inevitable result of his creativity. In honor of Atomizer's big announcement, I'd like to relate a story from a while back, when I threw a bachelor party for a friend of mine. The men started discussing the economics of being a married man -- meaning you never ever had cash in your wallet -- and my friend and I both scoffed (I was a single Captain at that time). We...
December 22, 2003
Northern Alliance Charity Project Reminder
Just a reminder to all of you about the Northern Alliance charity project at Fraters Libertas, which I posted about last week. The Elder will respond to e-mail inquiries from those who do not have a PayPal account for the donation, so don't let that stop you from participating! Let's do our best to make some children happy at Christmas this year....
December 23, 2003
I'm Ready For My Close-Up Now
What Classic Movie Are You? (via The Cheese Stands Alone, whose results I find vaguely frightening)...
December 25, 2003
Merry Christmas to All My Friends
I'll be doing very little blogging today; maybe this evening I will post a couple of thoughts, but I'm going to concentrate on family and friends until then. Speaking of which, I'd like to send out a very Merry Christmas to all of my blogosphere friends. I'm going to mention a few who made my first few blog-months special (if I don't mention you, it's because I'm under the evil influence of Christmas carols): * Alicia at Twilight Café started blogging at the same time as I did, left the first comment and linked to me first, and designed my logo. She's a special blog friend, and I hope you all take the time to check out her blog over the holidays. * Hugh Hewitt gave me a tremendous boost in readership and in confidence in what I've been doing, and I can't express how much I appreciate it. Appearing...
December 29, 2003
Brainstorming is Back!
Just got a ping from DC over at Brainstorming, which means she is back on line and blogging away. In fact, she tells us that she misses us, which means she didn't improve her taste any on her sabbatical. Anyway, check out the new layout at Brainstorming (of which I am a tad bit jealous!) and her new tag line from Einstein. Mostly, read through her posts; DC always is a great read. And for the record, we missed you too. Welcome back!...
Society of the Master of the Horse
It took some time, some detective work, and a lot of patience, but I have defied the predictions of the gang over at Fraters Libertas and fulfilled Hugh Hewitt's final task for my entry into the Society of the Master of the Horse. As you may recall, I had to pass three arduous tasks: 1. Write a post that denounced the guys at Fraters Libertas in a particularly shameful way. 2. Create an epic poem that mentioned at least ten blogs ... and also denounced Fraters Libertas and James Lileks. 3. Lastly, get a picture of me giving James Lileks a Hummel. The third task has taken me almost four weeks to strategize. After all, James Lileks is a world-renowned figure, a man who would not be surprised easily, especially after being tipped off to my plans. However, I finally managed to catch up with James at an event I...
January 1, 2004
Mitch Berg's 2003 Wrapup
No, thank Goodness, Mitch doesn't go the Bill McAuliffe route and wax poetic in his EOY post, but instead Mitch focuses on what didn't happen, contrary to all predictions from the left: The Battle of Baghdad didn't turn into Stalingrad. Lack of UN support didn't render the liberation untenable. Hussein didn't nuke or gas Israel when he was up against the wall (hee hee. Remember when that was the left's big bleat?) Tens of thousands of Iraqis did not die. Mitch also was kind enough to add me to his blogroll and he recommends to the Northen Alliance that we look at Jay Reding. Jay posted a thoughtul piece yesterday as to why he thinks Dean is unstoppable, despite his tendency to be his own worst enemy: My guess that Dean has the nomination is based on my own experiences as a political footsoldier. As a former Republican campaign strategist...
January 2, 2004
Blog Maintenance
A bit of minor blog construction going on ... First, I'm adding a great blog that I've previously just accessed through other blogrolls. (The Captain is a lazy guy.) Evangelical Outpost, one of the new outstanding blogs, regularly writes with authority and conviction on matters of religion, politics, culture, blogging ... in fact, on almost any topic imaginable. Hugh Hewitt recommends EO as daily reading -- and what better recommendation could there be? And thanks, JP, for the kind words about this blog. Thanks to the Northern Alliance bloggers, I've added two neighbors to the Northern Fleet: Jay Reding and Spitbull. I've mentioned them earlier, but I just wanted to mention them once again and recommend you give them a read. Finally, I'd like to thank a couple of Northern Alliance bloggers for adding CQ to their rolls. Mitch Berg added me a few days back and I haven't had...
Big Trunk on the Radio
Scott Johnson, the Big Trunk of Power Line is appearing on the radio locally in Minneapolis tonight on a fascinating topic, that of the requirement of continuing legal education for lawyers in bias sensitivity, and one lawyer, Elliot Rothenberg, who is risking his license to challenge this requirement. Minnesota lawyers, like many other professions, are required to take coursework on a regular basis in order to keep up to date in changes and advancements. However, the "elimination of bias" requirement has nothing to do with the practice of law, as the qualifying classes themselves demonstrate: • A 'rally for credit' for attorney Lynne Stewart, who is under federal indictment on charges of supporting terrorist activities. • At least 20 courses beginning in April 2002 with titles like 'Understanding Islam,' which Rothenberg says promotes one religion. • A course opposing military action against terrorists. • A course condemning capital punishment as...
Electric Venom: Snark Abounds
Venomous Kate dropped me a note letting me know that she's back from her injury-induced hiatus and has a fresh Snark Hunt for the readers of Electric Venom. Not only that, but this week's snark includes an entry from CQ, the "epic" poem, The Midnight Blog-Court. She notes, with a hiss, that I didn't mention her in it. At the time, I thought I was doing her a favor ... Make sure you drop by Electric Venom to check out the snark, and all of the other great stuff that Kate posts!...
January 3, 2004
PoliBlog's Toast-O-Meter
Steven at Poliblog has a funny and informative running series on the presidential election called the Toast-O-Meter, designed to predict which candidate is fresh bread goodness, and which are toast in the primaries. Check out the Toast-O-Meter and the plethora of links PoliBlog provides. Obviously, Dean's listed as the freshest bread in the bakery, while candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Carol Moseley-Braun, uh, crumble under the analysis. Steven's added Veep Toast as well, although I disagree with him on his assessment of John Edwards, both as a candidate in general and on his Veep potential. (However, the Quayle analogy crossed my mind as well.) I've also added PoliBlog to the blogroll, if for no other reason than to keep it one step ahead of Kicking Ass. Check it out!...
Blog Madness: A New Tournament for the Blogosphere
It seems that the blogosphere loves contests and awards only slightly less than Hollywood, and Pete and Manny have come up with a fun new contest for fans of such things called Blog Madness. They're serious about it, too -- they've even got a specific domain name for it! The idea is to select one post from 2003 that you feel best represents your blog and register it for the contest. Pete and Manny intend to use a bracket system, just like the NCAA basketball tournament, with voting to determine the winners at each stage. My entry for the contest is my "epic" poem, The Midnight Blog-Court, which I wrote in November. We'll see how far it goes in the tournament, but I think it was written in the same spirit as the contest itself -- fun, not taking things too seriously, and all about the blogging. If you want...
January 4, 2004
Power Line Hot Reads
The guys at Power Line are working hard on Sunday, posting on a variety of interesting topics. Hindrocket starts out with a look at Howard Dean's newfound evangelism on the stump, so far highlighted by misidentifying the location of the Book of Job and complaining about the ending. Deacon notes an article in National Review by Lawrence Kaplan that proposes that Dean will move to what he thinks is the center, but in reality will wind up with a McGovern-Mondale type of campaign, with similar results. Big Trunk reviews two articles today, the new Mark Steyn column about the lack of consensus on reality between the Deaniacs and just about everyone else, and an excellent overview of Bush's national security strategy and how it hearkens to the Grand Strategies of the previous century. Make sure you read everything they've got today....
January 7, 2004
Sailing Through the Blogosphere
Sailing, sailing, over the bounding Main... Patterico proudly informs his readers that he's cutting back on his blogging by not increasing his time as much as he wanted. If you are as confused about that as his wife, then you don't read the Los Angeles Times. Read about "The Jump" and make sure you check back often with Patterico on media-bias topics especially ... Jon at QandO dissects the latest David Brooks column on the hidden anti-Semitism in the term neo-con, and wonders why other bloggers can't give Brooks credit for seeing some truth in his column ... If you've got the bandwidth, Allah's got the pictures. Again. How does he get this great background stuff on the candidates? Oh, yeah, I forgot -- he's Allah ... DC at Brainstorming has, with the help of NASA, solved one of our most enduring mysteries. If mine are nearby, then perhaps there...
January 10, 2004
Electric Venom's Snark Hunt Goes To Brazil
Venomous Kate, always on the prowl for prime snark, has posted a treasure trove of it just in time for the weekend. She links to my story about Nazi-analogy-spouting Brazilian judges, too, and if you read it make sure you catch the comments as well. While you're at Kate's, check out these posts on the new non-smoking policy in Riverside County, and a practical joke that took a lot of time and effort, as well as depriving the Tinfoil Hat Brigade of its primary mineral resource....
January 11, 2004
Post the Tape!
Comrade Commissar at the Politburo Diktat has a transcript from an underground video that may prove rather popular once it makes its way onto the Internet. In fact, it gives a new meaning to the phrase, "Move On": Iowa Hilton: Ahhh. Ahhh. Some Stud: Ohhh. Vohhh. Your votes. I want your votes. IH: (looking at network news cameras): Hi [giggles]. SS: What do you say? I can save you. Come here. Caucus with me for eight hours. IH: I don't wanna vote this way. I got to work for a living, and I've got kids. SS: How do you wanna vote? It'll only take 15 minutes. IH: This way. SS: You're not gonna be able to hear my opinion good from there. IH: Yeah I can. SS: Here. Read the rest, but be aware that it contains certain bourgeois expletives and decadent references to body parts that Young Communists should...
January 13, 2004
Whither the Dean Angst?
Hugh Hewitt had a fun time on his show tonight discussing the source of all the Dean rage after reading this article in the Los Angeles Times today: Dean bristled at those who questioned his motives. He had long had a habit of popping off in public, but until he became governor, no one paid much attention. Now they did. Wisecracks lightened the mood during Dean's drawn-out news conferences, but on occasion, his flippancy curdled. An avid radio listener, he would phone talk show hosts from his state-issue car, raining instant responses on surprised critics. He traded barbs with a welfare mother who had called in to complain about his policies, Hogan recalled. When a station in the town of Waterbury ran a Republican legislator's rebuke of a visit by Hillary Rodham Clinton, Dean called in, angrily comparing him to a barnyard animal, recalled the offended politician, J. Dennis Delaney....
Another Time Round the Blogosphere
Since I'm not feeling too much like doing any original writing so far this evening, I'll point you to some good work being done by others with more to say ... Power Line gets to be the first port in the storm, with a terrific series of posts on Paul O'Neill and Ron Susking, and their new book and interview tour. Hindrocket broke the story about the true nature of the documentation used by the pair in asserting a conspiracy to invade Iraq -- documents which turned out to be normal energy-policy data. Today, the Big Trunk posts the entire transcript of Katie Couric's interview with O'Neill (primarily) in full retreat: O'NEILL: Yeah, and the other thing that's good, today the book is going to be available, and this red meat frenzy that's occurred when people didn't have anything except snippets -- as an example, you know, people are trying...
January 15, 2004
City Pages Attacks Lileks -- He Barely Notices
First, let me apologize for being late. If I am the Navy of the Northern Alliance, as the good folks at SCSU Scholars say, then perhaps I am the French Navy at Yorktown -- arriving just in time to celebrate the victory, but not much else. Yesterday, City Pages published a bizarre attack on James Lileks for daring to express his actual opinions on his own blog: Lileks wasn't as bad as some of the keyboard warriors I'd read, but there was that gloat and strut, as if Lileks had personally captured Saddam. (Lileks has written of dreams and fantasies where he kicks terrorist ass, and I was somewhat let down that he didn't sketch out a scenario where he grabbed Saddam by the beard and gave the Beast an Adam West Batman thrashing: "All right, you Mesopotamian ruffian, where are the WMD!?" SOCK! POW! "C'mon! Out with it, desert...
January 17, 2004
Weekly Snark Attack!
Venomous Kate at Electric Venom has posted her weekly Snark Hunt, and once again I have engaged in shameless self-promotion. Kate was kind enough to include this post about the man who sued his church for spending his donation, a man to whom Kate accurately refers as "asshat." Make sure you check out all of the snark for this week!...
January 20, 2004
Milestones
I noted earlier today that Captain's Quarters has just exceeded 50,000 visitors one week shy of four months after I began. Almost 35,000 visitors have come in the last month! I've had an absolute blast, still can't believe I get all the great visitors I do, and I'm lucky enough to receive some of the brightest commentary in response as anyone else's blog I've read. (The readers are smarter than I am!) I wanted to come up with a way to express how I feel about the wonderful experiences I've had with CQ and interacting with all of you. I think this expresses my outlook and my future plans better than anything. (You may think I need medication after you hear it, though ...) Note: QandO, which has helped me out tremendously, has recently switched to Movable Type and has its own domain now: http://www.qando.net/blog/. If you haven't blogrolled or...
January 22, 2004
Interviewed by Jennifer's History and Stuff
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by the readers of Jennifer's History and Stuff, an excellent blog. Jennifer also notes that we both love Bayfield, Wisconsin -- cool coincidence! Make sure you check out the interview and everything else at Jennifer's....
January 25, 2004
BlogMadness: A New Contest!
I'm entered in a new blog contest -- this one called BlogMadness 2003, designed to emulate the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament. It consists of rounds of single-elimination, head-to-head contests, where a blogger wins by getting the most votes and moving into the next bracket. BlogMadness explains: A few weeks ago Manny and I stumbled upon a little idea: what would happen if you combined the fun and excitement of March Madness with the writing (brilliant and otherwise) which abounds in the blogosphere? The result of our discussion was the creation of a Blog Tournament. Everyone would go through their 2003 archives (which is fun in and of itself), pull out their very best post, and enter it in the tournament. We'll throw together a bracket, everyone will vote, and in the end the winners will be crowned King or Queen of some small portion of Blogland. Hopefully, along the...
January 26, 2004
Lt. Smash: What Is Terrorism?
Lt. Smash -- now Citizen Smash after courageously serving his country -- asks a good question in today's Open Thread: what is terrorism? I've included my answer in the comments. It just got started, but I will bet that this will become a very interesting debate. Check it out and leave your own thoughts on terrorism....
January 28, 2004
BlogMadness Continues
Thanks to a boost from Hugh Hewitt, the Lord High Commissioner of the blogosphere, I'm ahead in the first round of the BlogMadness contest, 24-11, with 8 hours left to go. If you haven't been by there yet, please visit the bracket and cast your vote. Other CQ brethren need some attention as well: California Yankee is down 9-6. Patterico's Pontifications is behind 17-12 against terrific competition from The American Mind. King of Fools, Evangelical Outpost, and Wizbang are all ahead, but vote for them for insurance -- standings can change fast!...
January 29, 2004
BlogMadness, Round 1: Movin' On Up!
The voting is over for Round 1 in the BlogMadness tourney, and Captain's Quarters is moving onto the next round, thanks to all of you who voted for me. My "epic" poem, The Midnight Blog-Court, topped d-42's entry on pornography. California Yankee also won in my bracket. Next up, round 2, where voting starts tonight at 11PM EST. I'm up against some pretty stiff competition this time: a grandmother writing about her grandchild's birth and difficult first few days (an excellent post, really). Hope you'll all continue to participate!...
Limited Blogging Today
I will not be doing too much blogging today, as the First Mate and I will be attending the Patriot Forum tonight in St. Paul, featuring Hugh Hewitt as guest speaker. Hugh and Duane will be visiting us just in time to see the physical proof of Al Gore's theory of global warming; as I write this, it is 15 degrees below zero. (I'm actually surprised the former Vice President isn't speaking in the Twin Cities this week to continue his "Bitter Cold of Global Warming" series of lectures. We could use the hot air.) We'll be dining with our fellow bloggers of the Northern Alliance, such as the gang at Fraters Libertas, Mitch Berg at Shot In The Dark, Big Trunk at Power Line, and many more. If you are a listener of Hugh's show, James Lileks will be guest-hosting live from our own Patriot station here in town,...
Why I Missed the Patriot Forum Tonight
I am so pissed -- at no one in particular, but I'm still pissed. As I blogged earlier, my wife and I planned on going to the Patriot Forum, a dinner and discussion with Hugh Hewitt, an event I have been looking forward to attending for over a month. I got stuck in a meeting at work and couldn't escape until 4:45, although I made it home in a half-hour, something of a record for this time of year. I had originally planned to leave the house about that time, but I got ready as quickly as I could and started to head out the door. I asked the First Mate to check with the hotel to see if they had valet parking, for which I would gladly pay a small fortune on a -15-degree night. (There are other reasons, which will come into play later.) The hotel confirmed that...
January 31, 2004
My Lunch With Hugh and the Northern Alliance
Fortunately for me, after the debacle of my attempt to attend the Patriot Forum on Thursday, I received an invitation to have lunch with Hugh Hewitt and the bloggers of the Northern Alliance. As guests of The Patriot in the Twin Cities, we all met for lunch at Billy's Lighthouse in Long Lake, a terrific restaurant owned by a fan of Hugh's. It was the first chance I'd had to meet most of the Northern Alliance bloggers, as well as Hugh and the Generalissimo, Duane. I think I can speak for the group (although you can check out their blogs, as I'm sure they'll be posting on this) when I say what a blast we all had. Hugh is every bit as gracious and friendly as you'd imagine from his show and his writing, and funny as well. We all talked about Minnesota, blogging, politics ... I don't remember the...
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February 1, 2004
February Link Love
February, the month of love ... St. Valentine's Day, Cupid, and the like ... and so it's time to spread the link-love around the blogosphere a bit. The Commissar has discovered a new initiative from the Left: a deck of cards with the 52 most dangerous bloggers. Captain's Quarters has been assigned the ten of diamonds (I would have expected the two of clubs, myself). Every card is a clickable link to a dangerous right-wing blogger. I may ask the Commissar to send me over the graphic for my card, and I'll include it on my blogroll. Comrade Commissar continues to outdo himself ... Power Line has a great post on Churchill, one of my favorite historical figures as much for his failures as for his successes. Big Trunk notes the relationship between the BBC and Churchill and shows how the BBC has always taken the side of totalitarians in...
February 3, 2004
'Bare' With Us
I have learned an interesting lesson in cultural blogging today -- if you write about a really hot topic, especially involving sex, then you can expect to get a whole bunch of new readers via search engines. Captain's Quarters has recently been averaging between 50-70 page views an hour during prime time (around 40 unique visitors). Today, however, after writing about the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake Boober Bowl halftime show, I have been receiving over 300 page views an hour from referrals from search engines. Don't get me wrong; I like getting new readers, and I hope that all of them take a longer look around the blog to see if they find any other interests here than a grainy picture of a 37-year-old's right breast (which is not posted on this site, but you can go here and tell them I said hello). I'd just hate to have...
February 8, 2004
Can't Get Enough of Link Love, Babe
Continuing my Sunday tours through the blogosphere in honor of Valentine's Day (it's next Saturday -- start making those arrangements!), let's see what's happening on some of my blogroll friends ... Starting with the Northern Alliance, Saint Paul at Fraters Libertas notes the success of the two local dailies despite their lack of customer service, and draws the only logical conclusion: it's time to get more rude with readers. Hindrocket at Power Line gives some background on Herb Brooks now that the movie Miracle has been released; be sure to read it. King at SCSU Scholars reviews a piece by Mark Steyn and relates it to his own well-documented work in improving educational standards in Minnesota. The Warrior Monk at Spitbull rails against the suburban machine. And Mitch at Shot In The Dark notes his change of heart on capital punishment. Sailing further along the coasts of the blogosphere, Electric...
February 9, 2004
Still Northern Alliance to Me
The Elder at Fraters Libertas has immortalized the Northern Alliance in song ... the Billy Joel song "Piano Man," to be specific. An "homage" like this deserves a response -- and one will be coming soon, I'm sure. Now where did my Jim Croce songbook go? Hmmmm .......
75,000 Visitors
Just a note thanking all of my readers who have pushed me past 75,000 visitors. Big thanks to all of you who've blogrolled me and linked back to me, and special thanks to my friends in the Northern Alliance. In celebration, I'm announcing that I will be moving Captain's Quarters to a new hosting service as soon as a new design is in place. The traffic on the site has increased to the point where upgrading to full hosting services makes economic sense, and the folks at Hosting Matters make it pretty attractive to do so. Hosting Matters already supports some of the most well-known blogs, such as Instapundit, Little Green Footballs, and Power Line, so I feel like CQ will be in good hands. I've already set up a new domain -- www.captainsquartersblog.com -- which you can start using immediately, as it's temporarily redirecting back to this site. I'm...
February 10, 2004
Airheads
The Northern Alliance of Blogs has a very exciting announcement -- we will be starting our own radio talk show in the Twin Cities on March 6th! Thanks to our good friend and Lord High Commissioner, Hugh Hewitt, an opportunity arose for us to create a live show for our local Salem Communications Network affiliate, AM 1280 The Patriot. Up until recently, AM 1280 The Patriot had mostly repeats of their weekly shows airing all day Saturday and Sunday, but while Hugh was out here for The Patriot Forum, he suggested that we could create live programming in order to boost their audience. The station was delighted to meet with us, and today Mitch Berg (from Shot In The Dark) and I met with station management to finalize the arrangements. Starting on March 6th, we will have a three-hour live show aired in the Twin Cities. Eventually, if we don't...
February 13, 2004
Electric Venom's Letter[s] of the Day
I completely missed the opportunity to link back to Venomous Kate yesterday in the rush of work and visiting friends, but Electric Venom included me in yesterday's Word of the Day for my post on Osama'a Navy. Lots of other good stuff in there too, so be sure to check it out, and while you're at it you should go through today's collection as well. Don't forget to congratulate Kate on her link from uberblogger Andrew Sullivan, too!...
February 14, 2004
Under Construction
Here's an update from the construction site at the new Captain's Quarters -- it's coming together really nicely, thanks to Mel at Skinny Dippin' Designs. We're not quite ready for visitors, but we're getting close. I think we may actually launch by Monday, if not earlier. Don't forget that the new URL will be http://www.captainsquartersblog.com. (If you click it and come back here, we're not under way yet.) If you want a creative and responsive designer for your MT blog, make sure you stop by Skinny-Dippin' Designs. Mel's been terrific so far and I think you will love the new layout....
February 15, 2004
Welcome Aboard the New Captain's Quarters!
Welcome to the new Captain's Quarters, with a spiffy new layout from Skinny Dippin' Designs! After a little over four months on Typepad, we outgrew the traffic limitations and so I've set up shop at Hosting Matters. Now I'll be able to customize the site (with Mel's invaluable help) and allow you to do the same. In the next couple of days, Mel will have another "skin" available for you to use. I think you'll like what you'll see. In fact, if you need some web design done, you should give Mel a try ... you won't be disappointed. A few housekeeping notes: * The Now Hear This links still connect back to the old site. I will be updating those as we go, but eventually they will all link back to this site. * I won't be terminating my Typepad service for a while at least, so if...
February 16, 2004
Love to Link-Love Ya, Baby
It's a little late for Valentine's Day, but it's never too late for a little link-love ... The Cheese Stands Alone has a new caption contest. Just think of it as a public service for the election ... Evangelical Outpost would like to know what the Left's problem with the Day of Purity promoting abstinence among teenagers. Since when do we root for teenagers to go out and have sex? Read on for Joe's daed-on interpretation ... PoliBlogger's given his site an update for his one-year anniversary. Let him know what you think -- it's good, but I think I liked the old scheme a bit better ... DC at Brainstorming is a Monopoly -- er, Blogopoly -- game piece ... Fresh Bed Goodness plots her stalking strategies in advance of the new Northern Alliance radio show debut on March 6th. But unbeknownst to her, I know exactly where that...
February 17, 2004
Hoo-yah! EV Letter of the Day: H
Rammer takes Venomous Kate's duties over for a day and puts up the Letter of the Day. After horsing around with this post, I hastily hopped over and had a hoot with Rammer's picks. One of the selections today was my earlier post, Shot in the Ash, but there's plenty of other good stuff at Electric Venom -- go check it out!...
Happy Anniversary, Patterico's Pontifications
Patterico's Pontifications, which has been at the forefront of the effort to hold the Los Angeles Times accountable for its dreadful editorial bias, celebrates its first anniversary today. Patterico always has something interesting to say, although I see that I forgot to include something in yesterday's link-love effort. Make sure you check it out and drop him a congratulations while you're there....
February 18, 2004
I'm Always One Step Behind
Man, I tell you -- here I go to all the trouble to move off of Typepad, get direct hosting for Captain's Quarters, and have Mel at Skinny Dippin' Designs whip up this excellent look, and I find out that the premier blogger, Instapundit, has started his own Typepad blog. Glenn actually agreed to start this blog as a test of Typepad, and in his brief series of posts today comes to the same conclusion I did: it's a great service for personal and lower-traffic blogs and any kind of start-up, but if you exceed traffic limits for any significant period or you want a highly customized look, you're better off moving to direct hosting and a self-contained system like Movable Type. I loved my time there, but I'm glad to have a home of my own....
Watcher's Council Nominates CQ Post
The Watcher's Council at the Watcher of Weasels blog has their weekly nominations posted for their Council vote, and my post on Mel Gibson's interview with Diane Sawyer is on the list of non-Council entries. Make sure you read the rest of the entries while you're there. UPDATE: As the Watcher himself points out in a comment, I've had two posts nominated, the second one being this post about Arafat and PA corruption. Wow! Quite an honor, and thank you. I guess I should have read the list a wee bit more carefully ... UPDATE II: The results are in -- and my review of Gibson's interview finished a very respectable second, thank you very much! The Council winner was Jihad on Frisco by Damnum Absque Injuria, and the non-Council winner who topped me was What to Write, What to Write by Inn of the Last Home....
February 19, 2004
It's Nice to be Noticed
Thanks to a tip from Sean at Everything I Know Is Wrong, I found a nice compliment and a new blogroll addition. Amy Ridenour at the National Center for Public Policy Research -- whose newsletters I receive by e-mail, and you should as well -- has her personal blog on the site, and paid CQ a huge compliment: ... that's the most gorgeous blog I have ever seen. The articles are thought-provoking, too. Thanks, Amy! I'd love to take full credit (I will for the articles!), but if you want to know who's responsible for the design, check out Mel at Skinny-Dippin' Designs. In fact, Mel has a surprise for all of you coming very soon -- a new skin for Captain's Quarters will soon be available for your selection. This skin will be "War" and the new one will be "Peace". Let me know which one you like!...
February 20, 2004
1,000 Posts -- And Another New Look
Just in time for my 1,000th post, Mel at Skinny Dippin' Design has the second skin ready for Captain's Quarters. If you look at the left sidebar just below my e-mail, you'll see a new link titled, "Skin the Site". If you click it, you will be given the option of choosing between two 'skins' for the site. The first, which is the one you're likely using right now, is called "War", and that's the one with the azure background and the stunning graphic of a ship sailing into battle. The second skin is called "Peace" and features a softer look, different fonts, and a completely new graphic. As long as your browser is cookie-enabled, you should be able to choose which skin you get whenever you come back to CQ -- which you should do often, of course. I have received a lot of great feedback on the site,...
February 21, 2004
Sean Moves to Typepad, Blogosphere Cheers!
The fine Minnesota blog Everything I Know Is Wrong has moved up to a new Typepad site, and Sean has done a great job making it look good. He also has an excellent post challenging the Democrats to quit attacking Bush and start talking about their plans for prosecuting the war on terror. Make sure you update the blogrolls and take a look!...
February 22, 2004
All You Need Is Link-Love
Another Sunday-night tour through the blogosphere, looking for link-love in all the right places ... The Mudville Gazette, who's sending lots of people over for my caption contest, also has a great post on a young man who styles himself a conscientious objector -- who volunteered for the regular Army, for Pete's sake! Greyhawk calls it desertion, and I agree ... Tim Blair notes that Islamic Jihad is griping about the evil Zionists who hacked into their web site. Of course, the Jihadists prefer an entirely different kind of hacking ... My friend and colleague-to-be, the Big Trunk at Power Line, recounts his experiences bringing Winston Churchill to life in front of an enthusiastic audience at St. Olaf. Since Churchill is perhaps my favorite historical figure, I'll have to buy Trunk a cafe latte when I bring one for Hindrocket and pick his brain during commercial breaks ... Michael Kantor...
February 23, 2004
Bear With Us
There appears to be a problem with Blogrolling this morning, which is keeping the blog from loading quickly. I assume that Blogrolling will get the problem solved quickly. Sorry for the inconvenience! UPDATE: The problem seems to be resolved now ......
February 24, 2004
Electric Venom: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
Venomous Kate is back at Electric Venom -- and a mere three weeks from her first blogiversary, too -- and she shares with her readers a poignant and pointed Dear John letter she has sent to her significant other: When we first got together, I adored the way you made me feel: giddy, energized. You thrilled me. The mere sight of you sent my pulse racing. When we were apart, I held just one thought: when could we be together again? There were times when I shrugged off sleep, lost interest in food, all because I only wanted more of you. But that was years ago. You've long since lost your ability to make me shiver. You no longer make me feel special or important. I don't remember what I ever saw in you. Go pay Kate a visit and give her your support ... believe me, once you read...
February 25, 2004
Watchers Council Selections
Once again, I have been honored with a nomination in the weekly Watcher of Weasels' Watchers Council contest, this time for my post on the LA Times poll and its meaning for Kerry, Edwards, and Schwarzenegger. They've selected a lot of good posts this week. In fact, as I commented on their site, I look around and get an idea of what it's like to be Dennis Kucinich. [shudder] Oh, let's not do that again ......
This Week's Carnival Is All Up Front
Da Goddess hosts this week's Carnival of the Vanities, and the blogosphere turned out in force! Goddess' Carnival definitely lifts and supports all of us who entered, including my entry on the jealousy of Jacques Chirac. Make sure you visit Joanie's artistic presentation -- and certainly it will keep you abreast of the best in the blogosphere ... Next week's host: American Digest....
Blogopoly: Captain's Quarters, Literally!
Aaron's Rantblog has started a wildfire in the blogosphere with his Blogopoly game, and he's kind enough to cut Captain's Quarters in on the action. Any relation between the Captain and the rapper 50 Cent is strictly coincidental, of course ......
February 27, 2004
Add Captain's Quarters to My Yahoo!
Via Buzz Machine and Hoder, Yahoo now offers an RSS reader for members to display the latest headlines on their My Yahoo page. All that is required is a Yahoo membership (free) and an RSS feed from your favorite blogs. Users can set up the function to display up to 10 posts as far back as a week, and it will display either the headlines or an excerpt of each post, along with the timestamp of the last update. How does this help you? For one thing, rather than loading up each blog individually, you can just check a single site to determine if anything has been updated. You can also check to see if you'd be interested in the new posts. If you're working with access restrictions, My Yahoo at least gives you an idea of what's going on with your favorite blogs. I've already set my Yahoo membership...
February 29, 2004
When Blogs Attack!
No, this isn't a new Fox entertainment special, although the thought of, say, Lt. Smash pre-emptively striking Atrios does have its charms. [Would it look like the "Crimson Permanent Assurance" segment of Monty Python's Meaning of Life? Probably, except that Smash would have a younger crew and an armor-plated building with night scopes -- Ed.] Yesterday, I wrote a post about the Iranian Pashtun-service radio report that claimed Osama bin Laden had been captured by American troops "a long time ago" and that he was being held secretly until the election. To me, this ludicrous piece of propaganda -- even their one named source claimed he'd been misquoted -- was yet another example of a clumsy attempt by Iranian hard-liners to influence an American presidential election. They had tried in 1980 to claim that they would never negotiate with a Reagan administration, to no effect; and a couple of weeks...
March 3, 2004
Watchers Council Nominations
Once again, I have been honored with a nomination in the weekly Watchers Council contest for this week. The Council has nominated my extensive post on my opposition of John Kerry and support for George Bush, which makes me feel pretty good; normally, I write posts quickly, but I struggled for hours over that one. As always, the Council has gathered a serious collection of excellent posts from around the blogosphere. Be sure to check them all out....
Six Digits
For those of you who are inclined to notice such things, Captain's Quarters passed 100,000 visitors this afternoon. Thank you to all of you who visit, who comment, and who blogroll me. I certainly appreciate your presence, and I'll prove it by finishing this post and blogging on something more substantial now ......
March 4, 2004
Watcher's Council Has Spoken
The Watcher's Council has made their selections for the week's best entries. My post on my opposition to Kerry came in an honorable second place in the non-Council entries, behind Kim du Toit's great post, Never Again. Congrats to Spiced Sass and King of Fools, who provided the one-two punch for the Council entries. Big thanks to the Council for the nomination and the votes!...
March 6, 2004
Ships That Pass In The Night
The Commissar at the Politburo Diktat posts today about a new Internet gizmo that you might find interesting. The link below will let you see the nearest bloggers to me, or at least those who have signed into this service. Just click the link below: Sign yourself up for this free, fun service, and find out who's closest to you!...
March 7, 2004
Hosting Matters Maintenance Today
If you had troubles reaching Captain's Quarters this morning, it's because my excellent hosting service, Hosting Matters, performed planned maintenance -- moving their equipment into more secure facilities. This affected both web and e-mail service, so if you sent me something and it bounced back, that's why. Everything seems good now -- the site is back up and my e-mail service is working. Instapundit, Power Line, Little Green Footballs, and others were similarly affected. I posted a notice at my backup site of the maintenance as soon as it began. If you don't have that bookmarked, you may want to add it now. I plan on using the old site for extended down times if they occur....
March 9, 2004
Avast, Ye Maties! CQ Has New Buccaneer Skin!
Mel at Skinny Dippin' Designs has finished the third and final (for now) skin for Captain's Quarters, and we're calling it Buccaneer. It's a new, two-column look for the blog, and uses a more basic color scheme of black-on-white text, for those of you who were having a difficult time using the color schemes of the first two skins. I asked the lovely and talented Mel to come up with a more basic look after getting some feedback along those lines, and she's done that while still maintaining an artistic flair. It's another reason that you should be checking with Mel if you need any website design done! I'll be adding a poll later on so that everyone can vote on their favorite skin. In the meantime, be sure to try them all out. Even the Captain can't make up his own mind about which one he'll be usin'! Arrrr......
March 10, 2004
Hello to My Friends in the US Armed Forces
One last quick note before I head out for the night -- I notice that I get a lot of traffic from military servers, especially from a central access server called NIPR. I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your readership and your service in keeping our nation and my family safe. I hope you remain safe and well, and keep coming back to Captain's Quarters. And if anyone else wants to chime in, feel free to leave a message for our men and women in uniform in the comments section of this post....
March 17, 2004
Watcher's Council List Posted! (And Contest Update)
The weekly Watcher's Council list of outstanding blog entries has been posted -- and once again, Captain's Quarters has been selected as one of the entries, this time for The Invisible Poll. Be sure to read some of the other oustanding entries on the list as well. The Watcher of Weasels, the permanent host of the contest, is also an outstanding blog; be sure to read some of Watcher's own fine posts while you're there. The judging in the Caption Contest has been going slow -- too many great entries, and just one guy to go through all of them! We'll have an announcement this morning on the winner....
March 25, 2004
Watcher's Council: New List
I'm late posting this -- at least a day late, in fact -- but the Watcher's Council has posted its list of nominations for the best in the blogosphere over the past week ... and Captain's Quarters has been nominated again, this time for my post on the failure of gun control in Commonwealth countries. As always, the Council has chosen two lists, one for Council members and one for non-members. Make sure you take some time to review all of the excellent entries on this week's list. And next time, the Captain will make sure his ship stays on schedule ......
March 27, 2004
Watcher's Council Winners
The Watcher's Council has spoken ... and Captain's Quarters has come in at #2 for the week, on my post about the failure of gun control in Commonwealth countries. As part of my duties as runner-up, I promise to be available if the winner is unable or unwilling to fulfill her duties ... or poses naked in a men's magazine. That sort of thing reflects poorly on all of us, you know. The winners were Citizen Smash for Down the Rabbit Hole (non-Council) and the SmarterCop for 20 Questions I'd Like To Ask John F*** Kerry (Council). Keep an eye out for the Watcher's next Council vote!...
March 30, 2004
Politburo Diktat: New Map, with Party Lines!
Comrade Commissar at the Politburo Diktat has crafted another of his ingenious maps of Bloggahland. With accuracy guaranteed (all disputes will be settled by the Party, so Trotskyites be warned!), the Commissar shows how the alliance of the Vast Right Warlike Confederation has the Moonbat Colony of Leftieland surrounded. The map itself provides links to many different bloggers, arranged as only the Commissar can do. Definitely a must-see!...
April 1, 2004
I Get E-Mails ...
First off, I love running this blog. Although it takes a lot of effort to maintain, Captain's Quarters has allowed me to interact with some terrific people throughout the political spectrum -- and I find that the regular readers of this blog are almost intimidating in their intelligence. Friends and family ask whether I'm preaching to the converts, but I have been challenged many times on my positions, which just makes me better at defending my positions or, as happens on occasions, rethink those positions entirely. Some of you bypass the comments and e-mail me directly, which is fun to read. Lately, I have been receiving suggestions for posts, which is new for me. I do read each of them, even if I don't respond, so feel free to keep sending them to me. If you don't see a post, it's just because I either have decided to focus on...
April 2, 2004
Yesterday Was What?
As you may have noticed, I played an April Fools joke on you all yesterday ...er, by not playing one. Ha ha! Bet I had you all fooled, right? Okay. However, if I had played one, maybe it would have been like this post at Fraters Libertas. The Elder thought through what a number of bloggers should have done to celebrate yesterday -- and none of us did. Thank goodness for The Elder. But Glenn, if you're reading this ... it's all lies. I swear....
April 5, 2004
The Voice of Reason
Up to now, I have studiously avoided the Kos controversy for a number of reasons. One, I thought that other bloggers already had a good handle on the situation, and I didn't think that a me-tooism would be much of an addition. For another, I wanted to see how the situation developed before writing about it. Lastly, and most importantly, I have a friend working for a security contractor in Iraq and didn't think I could write dispassionately enough about my reaction to Kos' post. For the three of you in the blogosphere who haven't heard, Markos Zuniga -- the blogger who runs the phenomenally successful left-wing blog, The Daily Kos -- posted his reaction to the horrific deaths and disgusting aftermath of four Blackwater Security contractors in Falluja last week. Scorning the men as mercenaries, Kos said: "Screw them." He figured they got what they deserved. The blogosphere blew...
April 16, 2004
Blogspot Difficulties?
Has anyone else noticed that Blogspot blogs seem to be crashing this morning? I went to check out my Northern Alliance colleagues at Spitbull and wound up with a screenful of garbage. But hey, I've miscoded more than a couple of times myself, so I thought nothing much of it. I went to check out Miller's Time, though, and the same problems seem to be occurring there. Fortunately, SCSU Scholars seems unaffected, and that's great news because King just posted an excellent analysis of John Kerry's "misery index". King will be discussing this tomorrow on our Northern Alliance Radio Network show, too....
April 17, 2004
NY Times Notices Wonkette
Feature stories on the blogosphere in the mainstream news media always generate quite a bit of interest. Tomorrow's edition of the Gray Lady herself reports on Wonkette, a blogger who's made a name for herself by covering the more gossipy side of Washington: With her gossipy, raunchy, potty-mouthed blog, Ms. Cox, a 31-year-old self-described failed journalist, has grabbed the attention of staid Washington, where gossip columns usually amount to little more than records of Capitol Hill staff changes and James Carville sightings. As she puts it, her mission for her blog is to write "a blend of gossip and satire and things I make up." It supports no party line, mixing gossip items from newspapers and Web sites with tips e-mailed from readers, which could be anything from guesses about which members of the Bush administration are gay to blind items on Washington luminaries. " `Famous for D.C.' should be...
April 21, 2004
New Blog: JAG Wire
Based on encouragement from Lord High Commissioner Hugh Hewitt, "Whiskey", an active-duty attorney for the Judge Advocate Generals Corps in the Air Force, has begun her own blog, JAG Wire. I heard about it from ol' whats-his-name at Power Line. It's a nicely designed Typepad site, and based on one whole day of blogging, looks to be well-written and insightful as well. (She's got the late-night blogging ritual down pat, so far.) Her first substantive post debunks the current meme on the need for a draft: So let me get this straight . . . we are going to stop offering incentives to volunteer and instead draft spoiled rich kids just to make sure all classes are represented? Its like some kind of twisted affirmative action program. And why does any of this matter when so many so-called upper class gentlemen (Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, I could go on ....
New Blog: Friends of Saddam
If you are interested in following the burgeoning oil-for-food scam that the UN manipulated into multi-billion-dollar payoffs to Saddam Hussein and its own management, then you must add Friends of Saddam to your blogroll. Run by the Commissar but outside of his alter ego, Friends of Saddam will definitely be the central information resource for all UNSCAM developments. His latest post reviews an article from The Scotsman (UK), which details the efforts of Claude Hankes-Drielsma, the British investigator leading the corruption probe at the moment: Mr Hankes-Drielsma, an adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) who is overseeing an investigation by the forensic accountants KPMG, said: "From the evidence I have so far, the report will produce some of the most disturbing information that you have ever seen. "There is no question that where the evidence is beyond doubt, the US will take action to put people who defrauded the...
April 22, 2004
CQ: Watcher's Council Nomination
It's that time of the week again -- and the Watchers' Council has made their selections for the best posts around the blogosphere. Captain's Quarters received a nomination in the non-council category for my post on Bob Woodward's refutation of the Democrats' allegations of gasoline price-fixing conspiracies by the Bush Administration. Just to remind everyone, John Kerry has been expressing his "disgust" at this supposed secret deal that he claims Woodward described in his new book -- while Woodward denies saying anything like that. Make sure you get a chance to read the other nominated posts. By Friday, the winners will be announced after the Council vote. Hopefully, CQ comes out with a couple of "ayes"! UPDATE: Actually, I got 2 1/3 "ayes" and was selected the non-Council winner of this week's Watchers Council contest ... pretty cool! Patterico won the Council category with his post, Your Political Correctness or...
April 29, 2004
Whiskey
I've received e-mail regarding the sudden disappearance of JAG Wire, a fresh new blog by Whiskey, an active-duty officer serving overseas for her country. I can tell you that Whiskey herself is just fine and that she will soon be back to blogging, although under different circumstances, probably in a week or so. I will post an announcement as soon as she's okayed it. Stay tuned!...
Watchers Council Announces Winners and Open Seat
The Watchers Council has spoken again this week, and the winners are King of Fools in the Council category for his post on creating terrorists, and Kim du Toit in the non-Council category for his weekly rant on Dubya the "dummy". My post on Kerry's prime-time paranoid waffling about WMD got an honorable mention ... and one-third of a vote. Lo, have the mighty fallen! It's an honor just to be nominated, of course. The Watcher also announced that the Council has an open seat due to the resignation of the Hawken Blog, who has an acute case of life and needs to reduce his blog load. I'd volunteer, but with the workload I already have, it's just not possible. Be sure to read the rules and let the Watcher know if you'd like to join up. It looks like tremendous fun!...
May 2, 2004
Another Rubberdove Bites The Dust
I'm not even going to comment on this, as Michele Catalano does far too good a job on it. However, the gist of this is that a leftie anti-war blogger has apparently lied for years about his military experience. He did it to argue his props for his anti-war position. He did it to ridicule those who opposed him. He did it to gain notoriety, coming in the form of mainstream media interviews and the like. And once found out, blamed everyone else for not figuring it out earlier. I've decided that this species of human effluvia needs a name: rubberdove sounds about right. What do you think? (via Instapundit) UPDATE: Greyhawk has a great and (especially under the circumstances) reasoned post about Micah Wright at the always-terrific Mudville Gazette. More also at Jim Treacher's blog. Kurt Vonnegut, who has to be one of the most overrated authors of the...
May 7, 2004
Captain's Quarters Expands: Introducing 'Whiskey'
As I alluded earlier, Captain's Quarters will be making a big change. When I started the blog in October of last year, I envisioned this as a solo effort -- one that probably wouldn't attract a lot of notice. Well, thanks to some terrific readers and big assists from people like the Power Line guys, Hugh Hewitt, and all of the Northern Alliance and many others, Captain's Quarters has had much more success than I ever would have imagined. So much so, in fact, that it's time to bring on a partner to expand boundaries of the blog beyond my own experiences. So I'd like to introduce my new partner, Whiskey, who will start posting tonight. She's an American attorney, a graduate of Cornell Law School, living in East Asia, who has had military experience and so can speak to those issues from a more personal perspective when she desires....
May 12, 2004
Watcher's Council Weekly Picks!
The Watcher's Council has made its weekly selection of the best posts around the blogosphere, and the Council has kindly nominated my post on the latest UNSCAM developments for the non-Council contest. Be sure to read all of the great posts at Watcher of Weasels ......
May 14, 2004
Big Get of Few Words. Heh.
Bill from INDC Journal scored a major blogosphere "get" by having Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, answer a few questions at Bill's blog. This may be the funniest thing you'll read in the blogosphere all week. Indeed. Heh. Read the whole thing....
We Have Our Ups And Downs (Updated)
If you're having trouble loading my site ... well, so am I. Not sure why yet, but I will put in a trouble ticket with my hosting service and see if I can find out why. Hopefully, this is all just a momentary glitch. UPDATE: Well, we found out what the problem was -- someone on the same server as us got extremely popular very quickly. Apparently, another Hosting Matters client serves as an aggregator for news from Iraq, and with the news over the past couple of days, they've been flooded with traffic. HM is moving the client to a separate server. 5/13 UPDATE: Still having problems, so if you've had bad luck connecting to me today, you're not alone. This time, a power failure in one cabinet led to a cascade of failures at HM's servers. Not related to what happened yesterday, so it really was just bum...
May 15, 2004
Captain's Quarters E-Mail and Comment Policy
E-Mail You'll find my e-mail address at the top of the left sidebar. When I receive e-mail, I assume that I can quote any or all of e-mails in the blog unless you specify that you do not want it republished, which I would honor, of course. Due to the overwhelming amount of e-mail I receive, I may not answer every one. However, I do read them all and try to respond when I can. I've had readers ask if they can post messages to this blog. I'm inclined to say no, but if an e-mail is well-written and I'm interested in the subject, I'll occasionally post it myself with appropriate credit. I encourage anyone who thinks they'd like to write posts from time to time to start their own blogs. Blogspot and Blogger have free blog programs (they sell banner advertising for revenue), and Typepad allows a more professional...
May 18, 2004
Link Love, The Quarter-Million Hit Version
I noticed yesterday that the hit counter finally tripped 250,000 visitors sometime in the afternoon -- and I wanted to thank everyone again who makes Captain's Quarters a regular read. When I started the blog less than eight months ago, I couldn't imagine that CQ would be reaching as many people as it does, and I count myself as incredibly fortunate to have as many regular readers and commenters as CQ does. Thinking about all of the friends I've made in the blogosphere reminded me that CQ hasn't passed around link-love in too long a time -- so, here's what's happening at the blogs that gave me a tremendous help along the way. First, starting with my colleagues in the Northern Alliance: Hugh Hewitt wants to know why the Los Angeles Times keeps burying the lede when it comes to WMD, sarin and mustard gas. (Hugh has been tremendously gracious...
May 20, 2004
Ecosystem Update: Upward and Onward
The Truth Laid Bare Ecosystem, in which many blogs voluntarily participate in order to determine their relative ranking, just went through an update after a week of status quo. When the dust settled, Captain's Quarters evolved from Large Mammal to Playful Primate and made it to the top 100 blogs for the first time. We're now ranked at #89. (And on a slow blogging day, no less, although I'll pick up the reins later on today.) NZ Bear uses a complicated methodology to calculate inbound and outbound blogroll links from each registered blog and then ranks the results based on inbound links. CQ has 395 unique inbound links, so to everyone who's been kind enough to blogroll me, I appreciate it! If you haven't yet blogrolled me, I hope you will sometime in the future, but more importantly, I hope you come back here to read and debate the posts...
May 21, 2004
Welcome To America
I want to offer my congratulations to my long-distance Northern Alliance colleague, Deacon from Power Line, and his wife Yvonne on her naturalization as an American citizen today, in Baltimore. Yvonne originially came from France. As Deacon states, Yvonne was joined by what would appear to be a UN coalition for today's ceremony: America became even more diverse today as a new batch of citizens was sworn-in in Baltimore (and presumably elsewhere). One of these new citizens is my wife. Her group of about 50 was, as one would expect, quite a melange. It contained a few Anglos, at least one Frenchwoman (my wife), a handful of Eastern Europeans (mostly Russian), many Latino[a]s, many Africans, and some Asians, a few from the near east and a few from the far. There may even have been a couple of Bush voters in the group. Deacon noted a jarring, discordant note prior...
Watcher's Council: New Opening!
The Watcher of Weasels informs me on a quick break from his patrol that the Watcher's Council has another opening available. Those fortunate few members select the best of the blogosphere every week and vote on the nominated posts. Plus, you get to claim membership in a murky and vaguely menacing-sounding fraternity! What could be better? I wish I could commit to it, but unfortunately I don't have the time. I encourage one of you intrepid bloggers to contact the Watcher ASAP, if for no other reason than to ensure CQ posts continue to get nominated. [Yes, everything's all about me. I admit it - Ed.] It looks like a lot of fun!...
May 22, 2004
New Map at Politburo Diktat: Kablogh, Holy City of the Ri'ight
The Commissar has long been known as the official cartographer of the Blogosphere, and regularly produces vivid active-link maps to navigate through the blog universe. He's created a new, Party-approved map of Kablogh that you must check out (or the KGBlog agents will get you, Comrades!): The monuments of Kablogh, notably the now-empty House of Allah Mosque, have seen fierce fighting in recent weeks. The righteous Ri'ightes pray to the House of Allah mosque five times daily, hoping for the imminent return of its rightful occupant. Other Ri'ight strongholds include the LFG Embassy, the Captain's Quarter, the Canadian Embassy, and the Barking Moonbat Airport. Be sure to report promptly to the Commissar, and check out all of the great spots on the map. Don't forget to visit the eerily quiet House of Allah while you're there....
May 26, 2004
Malkin: DC's Double-Ws Libertines, Not Liberated
I've mostly avoided the entire Washingtoniette fracas that erupted on Wonkette's blog because I don't normally comment on sex blogs (and don't make a habit of reading them, either). Regardless of whether the interpersonal relations are located in the halls of power in Washington DC or in the cornfields of Nebraska, does it really shock us in this age that people get promiscuous, both in their sexual habits and their inability to remain discreet about it? I blog on politics for the most part, but blogs exist to talk about whatever interests the writer. For Jessica Cutler, what interested her was her numerous and concurrent sexual flings with co-workers, including the cash "gifts" received for a few of these encounters. However, Michelle Malkin -- a real journalist, as opposed to Cutler -- wrote a terrific piece for today's Townhall edition, explaining why this episode in the blogosphere damages the credibility...
May 28, 2004
Right Wing News: CQ 'Website Of The Day'
John Hawkins' excellent web site, Right Wing News, is a must-read for conservatives and libertarians on the internet. John has great links, terrific posts, and uses a lot of humor to score points off the left. I discovered this morning that John has made Captain's Quarters the RWN Website of the Day! Thanks, John, and I hope that all your readers enjoy their visit today. If you like what you see, be sure to blogroll or bookmark CQ and come back often!...
May 30, 2004
A Housekeeping Note
I'm making a small change to Captain's Quarters. I've received feedback especially from dial-up readers that the load time for CQ is pretty darned slow. Up to now, I've kept four days active on the page in order to allow readers to scroll through several posts at a time. However, due to the length of the posts we typically write and the sheer number of posts, I've decided to cut the active days to two. Archives are always accessible through the calendar on the left or through the weekly and monthly archives, using the drop-down boxes. Hopefully, these changes will work out for everyone. Please feel free to comment on this post or to drop me an e-mail with your feedback on the modification. Thanks! UPDATE: Still working on it .... and screwing things up, as usual. Bear with us for a little while on this. Right now, I've managed...
June 2, 2004
A Memorial Series You Should See
I think all of us in the blogosphere wanted to do something special for the veterans, both living and those who gave the last, full measure, for this Memorial Day. Quite a few posted touching stories, and of course I put the story of Captain Ben Salomon on my site, who died saving dozens of wounded Americans on Saipan. However, I think one of the best I've seen are at INDC Journal, where Bill went out with his digital camera and got wonderful pictures and stories from the veterans themselves. Bill's post turned out to be so large that he had to break it into two parts. Make sure you read them both. Bill has a personal story to tell in the second part, so make sure you read it all the way through. I dare you to do it without tears....
June 4, 2004
Hosting Matters Has Problems, Woh-Oh
If you had problems accessing the site this morning, you weren't the only ones -- it looks like all of Hosting Matters' sites went down for about a half-hour or so. No word yet on the cause. Unfortunately, I'm out of time for blogging the rest of the morning, so I will catch up at lunchtime if I get the chance....
June 16, 2004
Forget-Me-Nots For The Commissar
The Commissar at the Politburo Diktat just received a bit of bad news from his hosting service -- they apparently dislike the Movable Type system and now want to hike his rates to keep his sites going: The Commissar has become embroiled in Revolutionary Struggle with his hosting company, Lunarpages. Greedy Capitalist Lunarpages host now want to charge $40 per month. In a sudden, emergency action yesterday, they moved me from one server to another and seem to have lost several hours worth of updates and Comments. (In response to Comments, I had done some nifty updates to the 'Forget the Swoosh' piece. Gone for now.) The Commissar is looking into a new hosting service, including CQ's provider Hosting Matters. He's keeping the domain name but may have the site down for short periods of time while deciding and/or moving, so don't get discouraged if you see a 404 once...
June 22, 2004
Blogenheit 551?
My Northern Alliance colleague and all-around great guy, John "Rocket Man" Hinderaker, has agreed to appear in a new documentary on Minnesota bloggers, along with Scott "Big Trunk" Johnson. The documentarian is a blogger himself at the left-wing site Blogumentary, and he has already announced the interview on his site, sounding a bit nervous: I reassured him that I'm no Michael Moore, and I'm not out to make anyone look bad. Conservative blogs represent a huge chunk of the blogosphere, and I would be remiss not to include them and their perspective. I'm fortunate (err, as a blog filmmaker) to live in a state chock full of prominent right-wing blogs: The Northern Alliance of Blogs. Wish me luck. Come on, man, we don't bite! (They're lawyers. They sue. It's worse.) I suspect he may be more nervous about the response from his regular readers, though. I noticed that this was...
June 23, 2004
INDC Journal Goes Undercover
If you haven't yet read INDC Journal's new post, Moonbats In The Mist, you have to check it out now. Bill does an anthropological study of anti-war protesters, bringing along a couple of (virtual) partners, and the results are hilarious: Reminder: This INDC Science Series is best appreciated if my portions of the narration are read aloud with an Australian or Queen's English accent. Thank you. Good day, my fellow moonbat watchers and amateur scientists! The Spring and Summer moonbat season has really got into full swing here in Washington, DC, and I recently had an opportunity to witness a significant gathering of countercultural species in Lafayette Park, a popular moonbat greenspace located directly across from the White House. Like any good anthropologist, Bill took plenty of pictures, so you can understand the narrative that much better. Be sure to check out this excellent, National-Geographic level analysis of tribal life;...
June 27, 2004
Cross Your Fingers And Rub The Rabbit's Foot ...
... because I'll be upgrading the blog to Movable Type 3.0 today. Longtime CQ readers know what a Captain Ed-quartebacked upgrade means ... usually, a blog that resembles Picasso on peyote. UPDATE: Upgrade successful! However, there are a few changes, which I will write in another post....
The New Upgrade: Why I Did It & How It Affects You
As I mentioned in my previous post, I upgraded Captain's Quarters underlying program, Movable Type, from its original version (2.661) to the new 3.0 version. Most of the changes will be transparent to you, thanks to the outstanding programming of CQ's designer, Mel from Moxie Design Studios. Unlike 2.661, 3.0 actually costs money, although I got a discount thanks to a donation I had made earlier to MT. So why do it? The main reason is that the author interface is more elegant, and especially that the folks at MT improved the Java scripts to work within Mozilla. Until now, I've used IE to do most of my authoring, and while I have no particular problem with Microsoft -- I love their Office applications -- the security holes in IE and their mail clients drive me batty. The other reason, and the one that affects you the most, is that...
June 29, 2004
Comment Moderation Enabled
As I wrote this weekend, I have upgraded to Movable Type 3.0 for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons was to enable comment moderation to combat spam. A significant amount of my blog time has been spent in updating my MT-Blacklist profile and in deleting comment spam attacks as they come in different forms. I'd much rather spend my time writing and responding to real comments and e-mails from CQ's readers. In order to accomplish this, I need your help in maintaining some semblance of order around here. Movable Type 3.0 integrates with Typekey, a validation service that allows blogs to identify commenters and allow them automatic, immediate posting of comments. It's free and only requires a username and a valid e-mail address, and you can even specify that the e-mail address does not get passed to the blog when you comment. I get no other...
July 2, 2004
Hugh Hewitt Hacked
Someone has hacked into the Lord High Commissioner's site and replaced the index file on his server. Fortunately, they didn't do much except insert a new file that your browser hits before his index file. For the time being, use this URL to access his site: http://www.hughhewitt.com/index.htm If you just use the domain name, you will get the hacked page, which is stunning in its lack of imagination. I will make sure to keep you informed as updates occur. UPDATE: Hugh Hewitt fan Richard Shuford went the extra mile to get the problem fixed: I called the iPowerWeb technical-support line 888-511-4678 (which is claimed to be answered 24 hours a day), and after about 8 minutes of being on hold, I got to talk to a human. This support guy was able to restore the home page while I was still on the line. I asked him to have a...
July 3, 2004
Hugh's Back On Line .... Thanks To Listener!
Thanks to the extra efforts of Hugh Hewitt fan Richard Shuford, Hugh's site is back on line. Read my updated post for the explanation!...
July 9, 2004
Nota Beaga n gCeardlann Gaeilgeoir (Small Notes From The Irish-Language Workshop)
As you'll see by the time on this post, I'm getting back to my room at a pretty late hour -- and I discovered I'm buried in e-mail. I can read everything people send me, but for some really strange reason, I cannot send outbound e-mail. If you've sent me e-mail and haven't heard back, that's why. (Kenneth -- LOL!) The Irish language workshop is terrific, the poitn is tremendous (Irish moonshine, and I ain't kidding), and the people are all having a blast. If you're curious about the Irish language, our organization's website is a good place to read a bit about it, and we have links to plenty of other resources. I have missed most of today's news, but I plan on posting a couple of items in the early morning tomorrow. A couple of items to note tonight: * Hugh Hewitt is celebrating 22 years of marriage...
July 20, 2004
Why I'm So Prolific Yesterday And Today
In case you're wondering, the back is still very much out, and it's all I can do to get out of bed. Right now I'm sitting up in a recliner, doing some stretching exercises at regular intervals, and trying to get well enough to go back to work tomorrow. In the meantime, I can use my laptop and wireless connection to keep up with things. Like I said ... in case you're wondering. Thanks for the get-well messages some of you have sent -- I hope I do, and soon!...
July 21, 2004
Moving The Goalposts
This morning, I received an e-mail from a fairly new blogger (archives only going back a few weeks) who claims to be offering $200 for any proof that Joe Wilson lied. I won't link to him, nor will I excerpt anything from his site, but his top post expressed frustration that he had been sent nothing but unsupported assertions from other bloggers about Wilson, and that his $200 appeared safe. Scrolling down, I read his 'rules' for the contest, which insisted that anyone applying for the cash had to supply URLs from testimony under oath showing Wilson committed perjury. Nothing like moving the ol' goalposts, eh? Here's my reply: This is the weakest blog promotion I've seen yet. You want definitive proof of perjury. Great. I expect that you, then, fully supported Bill Clinton's impeachment and removal from office, since you seem to consider perjury the gold standard of disqualification....
July 23, 2004
Watcher's Council Picks CQ Post Weekly Winner
The Watcher's Council has spoken this week ... and they've selected my post, Gray Lady Spins It Hard For Kerry, Berger as the non-Council post of the week! I was up against some tough competition from Allah and Michelle Malkin (in fact, how the heck does anyone top those two?), among other great selections. The Council winner was Smarter Cop for Government Health Hell Care, which edged out entries by Patterico and Four Right-Wing Wackos. Make sure you check out all of the nominated posts at the Watcher of Weasels ......
July 25, 2004
A Blognote For All You Whiskey Fans Out There
I just received a hot news flash from my partner, Whiskey -- she will be outside of the reach of the Internet most of the next month or so. When she returns to normalcy, she will make the Internet access her first priority (so she says) and will start posting again. In the meantime, you're all stuck with the Captain. All right, all right, pipe down ... I said she's coming back. I'm not at liberty to explain her absence in detail, but she will be traveling most of this period, and through some fabulous areas. I, on the other hand, will be ... here....
July 27, 2004
Captain's Quarters Invited To Republican Convention!
I am thrilled to announce that I received an invitation from the Republican National Convention to represent the blogging community when George Bush is nominated for a second term! The Committee on Arrangements sent out the invitations this evening: For the first time, bloggers will hold an on-site presence at the Republican National Convention called "Bloggers Corner." Positioned near Radio Row, credentialed bloggers will have the opportunity to connect with delegates, guests and other surrogates for interviews, and to provide original content, including multimedia, to their audiences. Through this behind-the-scenes look at the convention's proceedings and events, bloggers will play an important role in telling the story of the 2004 Republican Convention. Bloggers Corner will be located in Madison Square Garden's Theater Lobby in the corridor adjacent to Radio Row. Electrical outlets, tabled work stations and necessary hook-ups for laptop and other portable computers will be available for high-speed Internet...
July 28, 2004
Stupid Blog Tricks (Updates & News)
First things first -- I will be rearranging my work schedule for the next two weeks in order to free up my days to get the First Mate back and forth to the hospital for some treatments. I'll be working swing shifts, which may mean a bit less blogging, although I had curtailed some of the nighttime blogging of late anyway. The FM has experienced some temporary reduction in kidney function, and the doctors want to have her in for outpatient treatment for several days. We started it today, and we'll go every other weekday for the next week or so. At any rate, I'll still be blogging, but the number of posts might be a bit lower while I work swing shift. In a more enjoyable development, the Washington Post jumped on the blogging bandwagon by taking nominations for a blog contest. INDC Journal has directed his readers to...
July 29, 2004
I'm Still Here, But ....
I apologize for the significant downtime today. Big issues, hardware changes, and other things (not health related). May do some blogging later, but am definitely watching the convention on C-SPAN. Be sure to keep up with Power Line tonight for great convention coverage. Hope to be back with you later....
August 8, 2004
Scum-Sucking Spammer Of The Day
I was hoping to have posted something significant this morning, but unfortunately I have spent the first hour cleaning up after a scum-sucking spammer who has been leaving spam comments all over Captain's Quarters. The site referral redirects to www.rxsexualhealth.com, which is a Viagra reseller. If you would like to make your displeasure known to the fine folks at RxSexualHealth, please e-mail them at admin@rxsexualhealth.com. In fact, if you have any political views you'd like to share, send them to admin@rxsexualhealth.com. If you have pictures of your vacation that you think would interest the folks at RxSexualHealt, send them off to admin@rxsexualhealth.com. If you have a blog, feel free to link back to this post and encourage others to send lots of mail to the fine people at admin@rxsexualhealth.com. Just don't forget to use the subject line, "Quit Spamming Blog Sites!" on every piece of e-mail you send. Thank you,...
August 9, 2004
Blog Notes
My random collection of thoughts on a Monday afternoon ... * Again this week, I will be working evenings in order to take care of some work issues and take the First Mate to some doctor's appointments. My productivity may be lower than normal, but hopefully the quality will remain high. * I didn't mention it when it happened, but Captain's Quarters passed its 500,000th visit late last month, approximately 10 months after I launched the blog. I have a lot of people to thank for this -- notably Hugh Hewitt, the Lord High Commissioner for the Blogosphere and the father of the Northern Alliance. The guys at Power Line gave me a big lift right near the beginning, too, linking back to me several times and allowing my site to get great early exposure, and the rest of the Northern Alliance guys, too -- King at SCSU Scholars, the...
August 11, 2004
Blogstamps: Buy Them Now At The Politburo Diktat
Time out for a bit of fun! Rusty, who's filling in for the Commissar over at the Politburo Diktat while the Commissar takes a bourgeois vacation, keeps up the spirit of the P.D. with a new series of blogstamps. Captain's Quarters is among those blogs honored with its own issue: Check them all out -- collect the entire set! And don't forget to visit Rusty's fine Munuvian blog, My Pet Jawa, while you're at it....
August 15, 2004
Troll Banned
The troll that has recently begun posting as both Anjin-San and Swifty has been banned and his comments -- all of them -- have been deleted. People who try to post non-sequiturs under multiple pseudonyms will be assumed to be trolls, especially when the brain surgeons in question all come from the same IP address. Really, really, really smart....
August 19, 2004
On The Subject Of Trolls -- Who And What Are They? (Updated)
Okay, now that I have a full-scale battle going on in the varoius comment sections, along with hints of mutiny ("Mr. Christian!"), it's time that we had a discussion about the bounds of propriety on Captain's Quarters. I had wanted to write a post about the fantastic time I had at the George Bush rally first, but I think I need to address this issue immediately, and I'd like to keep the Bush review on top. Here's what I wrote in the CQ Comments Policy on May 15 of this year: When I began my blog, I was advised to disable comments as some blogs have experienced many problems with "trolls", but I think that the comments are in some ways the best part of CQ. In my definition, a troll is a commenter whose comments are off-topic and designed to insult other readers or us or to start silly...
August 20, 2004
Hey, I Won!
I discovered when going through my e-mail ... belatedly ... that I won the Watchers Council contest for non-Council post of the week! The Watcher of Weasels was kind enough to let me know (it's been a busy week!) I was nominated for our continuing work on the Alston/Kerry story that showed their fabrications going back more than two years. Tom "River Rat" Mortensen shares this one with me. Also a winner was Alpha Patriot for his post on Swift Boats vs The Media. Be sure to read all of the nominees. While you're there, take a good tour of the Watcher of Weasels blog. You'll be glad you did....
August 23, 2004
Restore Irony?
A few weeks back, Jim Treacher noted in an e-mail to me (as Joe Wilson and his Restore Truth website was busy imploding) that the domain name restoreirony.com seemed to be out in the open. I snapped it up before anyone else managed to grab it and it points back to CQ now. Unfortunately, what with Swiftvets and other stories occupying my time, I not only forgot to give Jim credit for this, but I've also not come up with a good idea what to do with the domain. I'm thinking that a second blog would be one idea, but I'm so doggone busy with this one that the very thought of adding another makes my head pound with dread. What do you think would be a good use of the domain? Leave your suggestions in the Comments section, and maybe if Jim forgives me for the oversight, he can...
August 24, 2004
Thanks, INCITE!
I received a couple of tips from CQ readers as well as an e-mail from INCITE's blogmaster himself, Beck, who wrote an analysis of the new information market and used Captain's Quarters as an example: One of the single most important works ever in modern management literature is a paper titled "Marketing Myopia," by Theodore Levitt. He had an amazing revelation--revolutionary at the time. Put quite simply, most companies have no idea what business they're in. His classic example is the railroad industry. The railroads revolutionized the world when they began crisscrossing industrialized nations in the 19th century. Without them, the industrial revolution wouldn't have been possible. Today, railroads are an anachronism. They still exist, but it's mostly inertia that keeps them alive. You see, the railroad companies made the fatal mistake of thinking they were in the railroad business. The fools! They should have realized that they're in the...
August 25, 2004
Hewitt: Why The Blogosphere Will Eat The Media's Lunch
Hugh Hewitt has his new column up at WorldNetDaily, and it's a must read for fans of the blogosphere and for members (and customers) of traditional media: I have been both a lawyer and law professor for two decades and a TV-radio-print journalist for 15 years of those 20. It takes a great deal more intelligence and discipline to be the former than to be the latter, which is why the former usually pays a lot more than the latter. It is no surprise to me, then, when lawyers and law professors like those at Powerline and Instapundit prove to be far more adept at exposing the "Christmas in Cambodia" lie and other Kerry absurdities than old-school journalists. The big advantage is in research skills, of course, and in an eye for inconsistencies which make or break cases and arguments. Lawyers turned amateur journalists are going to be much better...
August 26, 2004
The Captain Goes Mainstream ... And Other News
After posting the long article to Captain's Quarters last night regarding John Kerry's endorsement of UMass-Boston's hiring of Communist 'scholars' from Viet Nam to study the mass flight of Vietnamese to the West, I wondered how the article would be received. I'm pleased to let all of you know that the New York Sun called this afternoon and bought the article for tomorrow's edition (August 26th). It's my first outright sale as a writer, and I couldn't be more pleased with the work that got selected or the newspaper that bought it. I'm hoping to continue my collaboration with the Sun in the future, as they've encouraged. When the article posts, I'll be sure to update this message with the link. UPDATE: Here's the link, although I think you have to be a subscriber to get to this. If you're not a subscriber, though, you should be -- they've done...
August 27, 2004
Lo, How The Mighty Have Fallen (UPDATE!)
As many of you know, being fans of Hugh Hewitt as I am, that the Lord High Commissioner has paid us Minnesotans the honor of a visit and two remote shows from the biggest state fair in America. Hugh came into town this morning with Michael Medved (who brought his lovely family along with him), and both accepted a challenge by the gang at Fraters Libertas to joust at Keegan's Pub in their Thursday night trivia challenge. Hugh knew that he faced the buzzsaw that is the Fraters gang at trivia, since they win almost every week at Keegan's (also a new Northern Alliance sponsor). He prepared his team carefully -- he picked Michael Medved and his wife along with James Lileks, while the Elder, Brian "Saint Paul" Ward and the Atomizer picked up a ringer, Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000. When the dust settled, the two teams...
Thanks A Million
If you scroll down far enough, on the right sidebar, our Sitemeter hit counter just went over 1,000,000 visitors tonight. Captain's Quarters is also now in the Top 25 of the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, at the Mortal Human level. I have too many people to thank, but here's a list to start: Hugh Hewitt Instapundit My Northern Alliance colleagues at Power Line, Fraters Libertas, Mitch, King, James Jon Henke The Commissar Sean ... and many, many other, such as all of the blogs on my blogrolls, especially the Northern Fleet, the locals in the Upper Midwest. It's been a blast, and better days are still ahead. Addendum: I got a nice note from The Anchoress, a new blogger who tells me she was inspired by CQ. Drop by and leave her a comment. Here's an example of the pithy writing I enjoy: Oh, and the anarchists plan to demonstrate...
August 29, 2004
The Vicious Circle Of The 21st Century
Normally on the day before I travel, I do my best to get to bed early, sometimes start to pack the night before, and get plenty of rest for the upcoming day. However, last night I had an opportunity to spend an evening with a group of tremendously intelligent and opinionated gentlemen at James Lileks' Jasperwood estate, with Hugh Hewitt as the honored guest. A dozen bloggers had a smoker and debated politics, blogs, pop culture, and just about every topic imaginable (including the ethics of trivia contests) under the cool skies of south Minneapolis with as much passion and humor as any round-table I've ever experienced. In fact, it's easy to feel outclassed when you're surrounded by this all-star lineup of bloggers and pundits: Hugh, James, Generalissimo Duane, Scott "Big Trunk" Johnson, Mitch Berg, King Banaian, The Elder and Saint Paul from Fraters Libertas, The One Big Swede, The...
Happy First Blogiversary To QandO
Before it was a triumvirate, the essential neolibertarian blog QandO started out as a Blogspot site with just a single blogger, Jon Henke. Today he celebrates his first blogiversary, having started just about five weeks before I did. Jon, and his partners Dale Franks and McQ, have spent that year building QandO into a tremendous voice for political and economic thought. It's on my list of daily must-reads (especially after they made it Mozilla-friendly). If you aren't reading QandO regularly, clear some time to do so. You won't be sorry. Happy blogiversary to three esteemed colleagues, one of whom has been a tremendous blog-friend and a source of support and inspiration for me. The best is yet to come, Jon!...
August 30, 2004
Typekey Registration Now Required
Unfortunately, the spammers have discovered Captain's Quarters along with a bunch of great new readers looking for convention coverage. I have required Typekey registration for comments entry. This will be in effect for the week of the convention, and possibly longer than that. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I have to either do this or shut down comments altogether....
August 31, 2004
Technical Problems Resolved, CQ Back 'On Air'
Talk about being a victim of your own success! If you tried accessing Captain's Quarters last night between midnight and 2 AM ET, you probably got a 509 error saying that I had exceeded my bandwidth allotment. Well, I had -- by an order of about six times. In the past month, CQ has far outgrown the particular plan that I have at Hosting Matters, one of the lower-traffic plans at that. Unfortunately, the system notices these kinds of things, and last night it did its job. Any other time, I'd take this as a sign from God that I've been working too hard and need a day off. However, I'm sure you can understand the raw panic that flowed through my veins when I tried posting from my hotel room last night and got the same error you saw. Frantic e-mails were sent in all directions to Hosting Matters,...
September 1, 2004
Dropping By The New York Sun
After making my sale to the New York Sun a week or so ago -- my first outright sale as a writer -- the editor with whom I worked encouraged me to drop by their offices while I was in New York for the convention. I had a couple of hours this morning (which is why I had no posts earlier) and stopped by their offices on Chambers. I suppose I had an image in my mind of a newsroom; an open area with simple desks piled high with papers, people scurrying around in order to stay on top of the news, phones ringing off the hook, and an editor in the office riding herd on it all. I realize that's a movie cliche, but in this case, it also happened to be the truth. After initially being greeted by Mark Tumin, he introduced me to a few other people...
September 2, 2004
Instapundit On C-SPAN
I'm sitting in a restaurant watching a soundless C-SPAN broadcast across the room and noticing that Glenn Reynolds is being interviewed by telephone about the impact blogs have had on the political process this year. Fortunately, the TV had closed-captioning turned on, although I think the guy sitting right by it is under the impression that we are "having a moment". Glenn addressed media bias and mentioned Newsweek's contention that most of the news media want to see Kerry elected, and that gives him a 15-point boost. That may have been true in past electoral cycles, but I think blogs have erased much of that advantage (which may have been Glenn's point, since I missed a bit of the first part of his call). I'm sure Glenn will have more, so head over to his site for an update....
Blog Notes
Just to let you know what my schedule looks like today, I may be appearing on Dennis Prager's show in the next few minutes. We tentatively arranged something yesterday but have yet to firm it up. We'll also be meeting with J.C. Watts in the next few minutes, which should be very interesting indeed. I want to ask him his opinion on the Alan Keyes debacle, which has set tongues to wagging around here, although mostly off the record. Stay tuned ... UPDATE: Both John Hinderaker and I will be on Dennis Prager's show at 2:15....
September 4, 2004
Bad News From CQ's Technical Dept.
My (brand-new) laptop seems to have taken a flying dumpola tonight. It stopped in its tracks and now won't power up. Unfortunately, it had all the keys to my e-mail, which I'm now going to have to retrieve via the Web interface. It may be a while before it gets fixed. I don't expect it to impact my output -- I have a desktop computer that works just fine -- but the laptop certainly was more convenient. My e-mail response in the next few days will be limited, as you might imagine. Be patient and I'll try to get back to everyone....
September 6, 2004
Where Not To Buy A Laptop
I mentioned earlier that my laptop crumbled under the strain of my Republican convention blogging; it started malfunctioning on Saturday evening, which (fortunately) happened after the convention, but still presents me with an incredible inconvenience. Since I just bought the computer on July 29th, I presumed that CompUSA would try to do their best to make this right. Unfortunately, that presumption was incorrect. I took the Toshiba S126 laptop back to the CompUSA outlet in Bloomington, MN, where I was told that despite the six-week-old status of the laptop, my only option was to send it back to the manufacturer, despite my having purchased a three-year maintenance agreement from CompUSA. I told the CompUSA clerk that I needed my laptop for my business, which requires me to be mobile, and that being without my laptop would create tremendous difficulties for me. I inquired whether CompUSA could just provide me with...
September 7, 2004
CompUSA Makes Good, After Minimal Arm-Twisting
Ah, the power of persuasion ... After talking with a manager at the local CompUSA outlet, I convinced them that swapping out my six-week-old lemon of a laptop for a brand-new one would be considered proper customer service, rather than making me wait three weeks while Toshiba searched for the correct parts on the faulty model I brought back. I just picked up the replacement and am testing it out during my lunch break. So far, so good! Looks like I'm back in business. They even gave me my old hard drive, so my data is still intact. The maintenance agreement even starts fresh. All in all, a satisfactory resolution, and one we could have easily reached yesterday had a manager been on duty....
September 8, 2004
Greyhawk Flies To Serve His Country -- And You Can Help
Readers of this blog are familiar with the terrific milblog Mudville Gazette, run by Greyhawk, an active-duty member of our armed forces. Greyhawk founded the Milblog ring and together with his fellow milbloggers provides the blogosphere with the true perspective of the fighting man and woman. Greyhawk has received new orders and needs a bit of help to keep his excellent blog going. He'll be doing some fundraising to purchase the equipment needed to continue running Mudville Gazette while on his new assignment. He's also running Blogads and some extra traffic will help him with his sales (I second that!). Make sure you drop by and help Greyhawk keep one of the blogosphere's great resources up and running....
September 9, 2004
All Hail Power Line -- Thank God We're On The Same Side!
Just wanted to give a shout out to my good friends at Power Line, who have been all over the TANG forgeries sent out by CBS news. Keep checking back on this post as they continue to update it with breaking news on this story. Edward R. Murrow still lives; he just took up residence at Power Line after leaving the Tiffany Network in disgust. I just took a peek and saw that their post, The Sixty-First Minute, has over 270 Trackback pings. That has to be some kind of a record, doesn't it?...
September 11, 2004
Support Pam Wolf And Laugh At Captain Ed's Golf Game
Self-imposed humiliation seems to be a theme for this weekend at Captain's Quarters -- I made myself the focus of your derision in the Caption Contest; Dan Rather swears that documents from 1972 and 1973 with computerized typesetting and talking about pressure coming from retired generals are authentic; and last I looked, John Kerry is still running for president. Instead of fighting the trend, I'm upping the ante by playing golf on Sunday at a fundraiser for Pam Wolf, the Republican candidate for Minnesota State House in District 51B. For a minimal entry fee -- $30 covers everything, including a small donation for Pam's campaign -- you can play nine holes, get a sleeve of golf balls, have a great lunch, and watch the most hilarious activity you've ever seen: Captain Ed playing golf. We're on the Brightwood Hills Golf Course between 1 - 4 PM Sunday, and you can...
September 12, 2004
Rather's Band Of Bloggers
Allah has a picture up that expresses Dan Rather's isolation after the document-forgery debacle that he brought on himself and CBS. Thank Allah for Photoshop and his delicious sense of humor, and while you're at it, give up a Spasebo to The Commissar, who made the image clickable. UPDATE: Yeah, my Russian is almost non-existent. That's why I originally said "goodbye" rather than "thank you" to the Commissar. I fixed it now....
September 13, 2004
Garbo Speaks! The Generalissimo Blogs!
Hey, our favorite radio producer has finally decided to hang a shingle for himself in the blogosphere. Make way for Duane's new blog, Radioblogger, which is off to an auspicious start. Duane advises to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," but in Duane's case, that's poor advice. I've blogrolled him and you'll want to check him out on a regular basis. UPDATE: Don't forget about our other favorite radio guy, too. UPDATE II: Fixed the link to Chumley's site, now that he has gone pro with his hosting ......
September 14, 2004
Whiskey Alert!
For all you Whiskey fans out there, I've just heard from my globetrotting partner in crime here at Captain's Quarters. She's established herself in a new, undisclosed location and getting caught up with her Internet connection. We should hear from her as early as this weekend ... and believe me, no one will be happier than me!...
September 16, 2004
Slow Loading
Sorry for the slow load times. Blogrolling appears to have some problems responding. Please be patient ... UPDATE: Disabled all blogrolls for now. They'll be back soon, I promise, I'm about to appear on Hugh Hewitt -- tune in!...
September 20, 2004
CQ, Power Line In New York Post
Today's New York Post publishes an op-ed piece written by Power Line's John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson as well as myself on the unanswered questions surrounding John Kerry's Viet Nam narrative. In fact, the Post split the article into two sections -- the data we provided turned out to be so detailed, the Post's editors gave us extra room to fit it all in. Let me tell you, this represents a personal-best moment for me. Not only did I have the opportunity to work with two of my colleagues and friends from the Northern Alliance, but the experience of working with the supportive and professional editors at the Post made this one of the most pleasant writing experiences of my career. And after working with the great staff at the New York Sun, I can cheerfully tell you that if these gentlemen are any indication, New Yorkers get a bum...
September 22, 2004
CQ Blog Updates
A random collection of updates that don't rise to the level of separate posts ... First, I'd like to announce that I've been added to the distinguished list of contributors to Jewish World Review. This website features some of the best punditry in the world, all collected in one spot for your easy review. My initial entry can be found here, published under my own name. CQ readers will recognize it as the post which the New York Sun reprinted last month. It's my honor and pleasure to be included among such luminaries as Dennis Prager, George Will, Mona Charen, Deborah Saunders -- check the site out for yourself to see the all-star lineup they have. Speaking of the Sun, I'm working on a special assignment for their opinion section. I'm holding back the finished product until it's published, but it has to do with stem-cell research and the Kerry...
September 24, 2004
Uh, Gee, Thanks Guys
Earlier today, the man who swore George Bush into the Texas Air National Guard spoke out on behalf of his former trainee, and a number of you thought you'd had a case of deja vu: Ed Morrisey Jr. has his opinion about rumors President Bush received preferential treatment when he was allowed into the Texas Air National Guard in the late 1960s. The Blount Countian also has firsthand knowledge. The 75-year-old Jackson Hills resident is a retired colonel with Texas Air National Guard. He swore Lt. George W. Bush into the service in May 1968. ... Morrisey said the commander he worked for at the unit in Texas was sent there to rebuild the image of the unit. There were only two to four pilot training slots given to them per year, he said. Individuals questioned by an evaluation board and then chosen by the commander had to be the...
September 26, 2004
Slow Day
Feeling a bit under the weather today -- sorry for the low output. I have a couple of things to post tonight still. I hope everyone (else) had a great weekend!...
September 28, 2004
Feed A Cold, Starve A Blogger
I seem to be one of the fortunate souls that catch the flu at the beginning of the season. I spent the past two days in bed, only to wake up today feeling even sicker than before. After an abortive attempt to get into the office this morning, I'm back in bed again with daytime television. (Have you watched this stuff lately? It's egregious; I just watched an operatic diaper commercial. I'm not kidding.) You would think that the time would allow for more and better blogging, but the opposite is true. It's hard to concentrate on reading through the news properly in order to form coherent opinions about it. (As much as I'm ever coherent, anyway.) Yesterday I wound up watching pieces of X-Men 2 three different times, thanks to HBO's lack of imagination in its programming and a couple of naps I took. Actually, X2 was better than...
A Grant Of Nobility
Jim Geraghty of the essential Kerry Spot notes tonight that the Washington Times has recognized a number of bloggers in its Saturday edition as "nobles" in their Nobles and Knaves running featurette: A few honorary mentions are in order: Jim Geraghty of Kerry Spot (nationalreview.com); Ed Morrissey of Captainsquartersblog.com; Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.com; the writers of Powerlineblog.com and Littlegreenfootballs.com; the writers and editors of Realclearpolitics.com; and the ever-vigilant freerepublic.com. For their dogged pursuit of the truth in line with the honored tradition of American journalism, the bloggers are the Nobles of the week. CQ sends its thanks to the editors of the Washington Times, and congratulations to the other bloggers honored along with us....
September 29, 2004
Typekey Update, Among Other Things
A number of you have written to me to let me know about a problem with the Typekey registration. I sent a message to Six Apart describing the problem - I had it too - and they sent me a reply within a couple of hours: Hi Edward, Several other sites have reported similar problems and our echnicians are taking a look at what's going on. I've forwarded your information to the technicians and asked them to look at your site too. Thanks for getting in contact. Laura Six Apart, Ltd It looks like the problem is on their end, and hopefully they'll get it resolved soon. Keep trying! Both Whiskey and I seem to have the same bug, even though we're thousands of miles apart. Clever timing, eh? She tells me she'll be back to blogging when she feels better. I managed to go into the office for half...
September 30, 2004
Quick Links
Just trying to fit in a few last items that caught my eye today ... Bill at INDC Journal interviews Richard Schlesinger of CBS News about the draft story. It's interesting and timely, and a great example of why Bill is one of the leading bloggers today ... Hugh Hewitt has his new column up at the Weekly Standard. Make sure you read it before the debate, and check to see if the Great Pumpkin makes an appearance. (I'd say not: According to Linus in Peanuts, the Great Pumpkin only appears in the most sincere pumpkin patches, a description that hardly applies to John Flipflopflip Kerry.) ... Saint Paul at Fraters Libertas continues to fact-check Nick Coleman's ass, as the phrase goes, and hits pay dirt ... Patterico tries dry humor, and some people find it a bit too dry to realize he's joking -- but it sounds like a...
October 1, 2004
Typekey Update!
I just heard back from Laura at Six Apart about the Typekey frustrations: You recently reported problems logging in with TypeKey on some weblogs and sites. Our technicians have made some changes on our servers. Their testing suggests that these changes have resolved the login problems. We would appreciate it if you could do some testing as well to see if you continue to experience the problems. If you do, please contact us again with the following information: 1) What exactly happens when you attempt to sign in with TypeKey to post a comment? 2) What browser and operating system are you using? Thank you. Laura Six Apart, Ltd I tried this earlier tonight and it appears to be working properly. Feel free to test on this post to check it out....
October 2, 2004
Quick Hits
It's been a long day, meeting with the Northern Alliance after our radio show. A few links before I fall asleep ... Hugh Hewitt is inviting people to a virtual symposium on John Kerry's proposed ban on bunker-busting nukes, as well as his idea about sending nuclear fuel to Iran to see what they do with it. Follow the links ... CQ reader Retired Military points out an interesting error on an absentee ballot in Michigan. Note which ticket the printing error affects. RM says he's confirmed that this only occurred in one county ... Fox News apologized for a lame gag item that got posted to its website earlier from reporter Carl Cameron with a number of faked Kerry quotes in it. I can't work up a great deal of outrage over this, since Fox acknowledged Cameron's fubar immediately, apologized, and pulled the article. However, the faked quotes in...
October 4, 2004
The Blogiversary
Yesterday was the one-year blogiversary for Captain's Quarters, a milestone which I intended to mark last night after attending a Patriot Forum here in town with Hugh Hewitt, Jason Lewis, and the entire Northern Alliance gang. Instead, I did what I usually do -- blog on a breaking news item, and then fell asleep before I could do anything else. In the one year since I started CQ, I have made more friends and enjoyed more new experiences than I ever imagined this would create. Friends like Hugh, Scott and John from Power Line, the entire gang at Fraters Libertas, King from SCSU Scholars, Mitch Berg, David and Margaret from the Taxpayers League, and many others I don't have time this morning to name have helped push CQ to unplanned success. Some of the highlights from the past year: * Adding my partner, Whiskey * Joining the NARN * 29...
October 6, 2004
Hey, I'm Funny And Dumb, Too!
I get a lot of spam on my blog account, most of which I simply delete because it's not worth the trouble to complain or unsubscribe (of which I'm suspicious, anyway). However, when someone is clueless enough to send out self-promotional material that contains a two-megabyte graphic announcement via my e-mail -- especially when I'm paying for bandwidth -- I find it not only incredibly annoying but awfully self-defeating as well, especially on the second message. When the spammer represents himself as a veteran expert in public relations, communications, and e-zines, the cluelessness almost approaches satire. So in an attempt to keep this consultant from sending me any more huge graphic attachments as well as possibly giving him a clue about Internet etiquette, I send the following message: A veteran PR firm would know better than to send a 2MB file on e-mail, especially a self-promoting one, twice. Please don't...
October 10, 2004
I'm Back ...
... but I just walked in. As predicted, I had no access to the Internet, and thanks to the activities this weekend, not much access to the news, either. It was so bad that I called my mom (Vayapaso) late Friday night and had her read the debate analyses from the other Northern Alliance blogs to see how it went. I just read Whiskey's excellent analysis and her blog entries, and I see CQ readers didn't miss a beat while I took my first vacation from the blog. I have 166 e-mails to scan -- sorry, but replies will be almost impossible -- before even approaching blogability. I'll write something about the wonderful visit to Notre Dame and the interminable drives getting there and back later on. Great to be back in the saddle again!...
October 11, 2004
Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem Undergoes Renovation
NZ Bear announces new features in the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, and references CQ to help explain the additions: Over the past few weeks, I've been doing quite a bit of work behind the scenes to improve the Ecosystem and add new functionality. There's still more to be done, but today I'm unveiling some of the new features. ... - History statistics for the blog's rank and total unique inbound links presented in a line graph. Check out Power Line, Captain's Quarters, INDC Journal, Hugh Hewitt or Allah's detail pages for good examples. - An expandable tree menu showing the blog's ten most-linked-to posts and who linked to them - An expandable tree menu showing the links which the blog has received from other blogs, sorted in descending order of the source-blog's Ecosystem rank (for easy identification of 'big links' from top bloggers). The Bear has done tremendous work in...
October 12, 2004
Server Issues ...
... seem to be popping up tonight. If you're getting slow loads or hiccups, be patient. I'm sure the problems will be fixed shortly....
October 27, 2004
Happy (Belated) Blogiversary To The Commissar!
I missed this when it occurred, but it's never too late to sa yHappy Blogiversary ... or at least I hope not! The Commissar at Politburo Diktat celebrated his first blogiversary, or as he put it, the October Revolution. The Commissar has been a great friend to me in blogging, and has developed the Politburo Diktat into not only one of the best satirical political blogs but also one of the best for flat-out analysis. Both of us started at the same time, and we both have had tremendous success, and he's sent a lot of encouragement (and readers) my way. All of the proletariat salutes you, Commissar!...
The Big Apple Takes Two Bites Out Of CQ
It's great to have friends, and two good friends in the New York media world gave Captain's Quarters prominent mention today. The New York Sun and the New York Post, both of which have published my work in the past, reference posts I wrote yesterday regarding two separate subjects. John Podhoretz writes in today's Post about the late hit that the New York Times and CBS attempted to deliver on George Bush, a transparent and terribly clumsy way of trying to get John Kerry elected. Podhoretz actually expresses sympathy for the instinct to look deeper into the Al Qaqaa story but disdainfully critiques both the research done on it and the decision to publish at this time: It's hard to fault the Times for pursuing the story aggressively. In an official document sent to a U.N. agency two weeks ago, the Iraqi interim government said the explosives had disappeared during...
October 29, 2004
Guardian Reviews Impact Of Blogs
I missed this a couple of days ago when it first appeared, but Simon Jeffery wrote a balanced look at blogs earlier this week at the Guardian (UK). Simon was kind enough to mention me and CQ after we traded e-mail last week -- and after we both took shots at each other on our blogs. Simon turns out to be a rather nice guy and an interesting correspondent, and his article presents a fair introduction to those who may not be very familiar with the blogosphere. Simon has this to say about my analysis of blogging: Edward Morrissey, who runs the pro-Bush Captain's Quarters - by no means the largest - is now logging 840,000 visits a month (up from 30,000 in January) to his daily Democrat-bashing. Recent entries include the latest theft or defacement of a Bush campaign sign and the lyrics of a satirical song about John...
Blog Notes, E-Day Minus 4
I'll be hospiblogging again today as the First Mate has to undergo a minor surgical procedure. I've finally managed to get my first cup of coffee down, a Starbucks blend of Mexican Whoopee or some such. (Since when did coffee come with such pedigrees?) I'll be hijacking wireless connections during the morning as I can. With four days left to the election, I wanted to let everyone know what plans I have for Election Day. I will be at work on the day job, but afterwards I will join the Northern Alliance to provide live updates on AM 1280 The Patriot in the Twin Cities, starting at 8 pm CT. We'll be cutting in on Hugh Hewitt's live, marathon Election Night broadcast at the commercial breaks, updating our listeners on election news in the Upper Midwest. We'll stay live until the presidential race has been determined or 3 am, one...
November 5, 2004
Traveling ...
I'll be leaving shortly to visit family in Southern California. I plan on blogging a bit while I'm there, but the productivity may be down somewhat. It'll give me a chance to recuperate from the bruising campaign and recharge the batteries for the next four years. Tonight the Northern Alliance gang will fill in for Hugh Hewitt, so be sure to tune in!...
November 6, 2004
An Unfair Comparison
A report on CNS News seems to be getting a lot of attention this morning, which states that liberal bloggers think that George Bush's re-election is "more depressing" than 9/11. After reading that incendiary headline, I took a look at the article and found out that the headline is quite misleading: Bloggers on the liberal Democratic Underground website have overwhelmingly labeled Nov. 3, 2004, the day after Election Day, "more depressing" than Sept. 11, 2001 in a poll of online members. Seventy-two percent of poll takers said they believed the day Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) conceded defeat in the presidential election was more tragic than the day more than 3,000 Americans were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and on a hijacked plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field. So what happened is that the nutcases at DU put...
November 12, 2004
Don't Blame The Medium For The Message
The New York Times reports on the flurry of post-election conspiracy theories and, somewhat conveniently, leaves the blame at the doorstep of the blogosphere. Tom Zeller notes the proliferation of assertions that the 2004 Presidential election was somehow stolen from John Kerry in Florida and Ohio and determines that the paranoia springs from freedom of speech: In the space of seven days, an online market of dark ideas surrounding last week's presidential election took root and multiplied. But while the widely read universe of Web logs was often blamed for the swift propagation of faulty analyses, the blogosphere, as it has come to be known, spread the rumors so fast that experts were soon able to debunk them, rather than allowing them to linger and feed conspiracy theories. Within days of the first rumors of a stolen election, in fact, the most popular theories were being proved wrong - though...
November 19, 2004
Centrisity Promoting Benefit For Ailing Friend
Local blogger Flash from Centrisity is promoting a benefit for a friend, Ron Rice, who is struggling with esophageal cancer. The American Legion in Chanhassen will be hosting a spaghetti dinner, silent auction, and bake sale tonight from 4 - 9 pm. If you're in the area, be sure to drop by and give a hand. If you can't be there, perhaps you can reach out in other ways. Flash has the contact information you need to help....
November 26, 2004
2004 Weblog Awards Under Way
My friend and fellow convention blogger Kevin at Wizbang! has started the 2004 Weblog Awards, featuring many categories, including several new ones for this year. I've been fortunate enough to be nominated in just about every applicable category, with the possible exception of Best Essayist. If anyone wants to add more voices to the nominations already entered, feel free -- but the better use of the site would be to discover some excellent blogs that you may have missed before. Voting starts on December 1st, and if memory serves, Kevin allows one vote per day per category. It's one election where "vote early and often" isn't intended as irony. Kevin puts a lot of effort and sweat into running the site, so be sure to check it out. Thank you to everyone who nominated me for awards already -- it shows that I'm already a lucky blogger, indeed....
December 3, 2004
2004 Weblog Awards: Voting Begins! (Update)
Kevin Aylward at Wizbang has the 2004 Weblog Awards polls up and running, and blog enthusiasts can cast one vote per day per category. Captain's Quarters has been included as a finalist in at least one category, Best Conservative Blog, and in the extremely early stages, I have a small lead over some very tough competition. I may qualify for one more, Best of the Top 100, although that may wind up capturing some who didn't make the cut in other specific categories. I'll double-check later. (I am a contributor for a group blog, Blogs for Bush, that received at least two nominations in other categories.) I hope you'll take a look at the embarrassment of riches Kevin supplies for people to explore the blogosphere in more depth. Later on I may publish my votes in different categories, but for now I just want to congratulate those who have been...
Another Spirit Of America Update
I want to thank everyone who's already donated to the Spirit of America Blogger Challenge on behalf of the Northern Alliance. So far, our team has raised over $7,000, most of that before the challenge had even officially begun. Our competition now is Castle Arrgh!, a team that has raised over $3,000. It all goes to an excellent organization that helps American servicepeople to rebuild Iraq, both physically and in friendship with the United States. Please give what you can to this worthy charity....
December 4, 2004
Daily Kos Endorses Massive Cheating At The 2004 Weblog Awards
Well, this is rather pathetic. The Daily Kos can't be satisfied with acquiring one of the largest readerships in the blogosphere; they now have to make sure that no one with whom they disagree can conduct a fun contest without ruining it for everyone. Charles at LGF discovered the Kos post that instructs its readers how to write a program that bypasses the reasonable controls that Wizbang's Kevin Aylward implemented to restrict voters to one vote per day per computer, and Kos readers have reacted enthusiastically. They openly brag about their little fraud, congratulating each other for cheating and blaming Kevin Aylward for not making his site more secure. Let's not just chalk this up to blogosphere immaturity, which undeniably exists on both sides of the blogosphere. Markos Moulitsas (Daily Kos' proprietor) is an important fundraiser for the Democratic Party, one of the mid-level movers that got a lot of...
December 6, 2004
Awards Updates!
It's the most wonderful time of the weblog year, apparently, as awards continue to come forth. First off, Kevin has corrected the problem caused by massive cheating at the 2004 Weblog Awards. The cheating appears to have been confined to just the Best Overall Blog category, and the votes have now been reset to their proper numbers. Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who continues to vote for Captain's Quarters -- once per day per computer! -- in the Best Conservative Blog category. I'm still leading LaShawn Barber and Right Thinking From The Left Coast, two terrific blogs you should check out when you have the chance. VodkaPundit looms in the background, just waiting to make a last-minute run, I think. John Hawkins at RightWingNews has concluded his Warblogger Awards, which used a panel of distinguished bloggers to select the winners rather than a web poll. Not surprisingly, Instapundit topped the list,...
December 9, 2004
What Are The Ethics Of Disclosure In The Blogosphere?
The CBS report on the payments from the John Thune campaign to the blogs Dasche Vs Thune and South Dakota Politics has the blogosphere debating what disclosure blogs owe their readers. It's a great debate, and one that should have taken place long ago. Pat from Brainster's Blog wrote: Well, I, for one, am disgusted with Lauck (I never read Van Beek's blog). He owed it to his readers to disclose the fact that he was receiving substantial amounts of money from Thune. And, for the record, our blog received nothing; we did it because we believed in John Thune and despised Tom Daschle. Jon at QandO also feels used by the two bloggers: To put this in perspective: recall that Daschle V Thune spent a great deal of time--and got a great of attention--by ridiculing the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, writing: Look, be an advocate if you choose. Thats...
SDP Responds To CBS, Ethics Questions
In the wake of the CBS hit piece on the blogosphere, Jason Van Beek responded last night to the charges that he hid his relationship with the John Thune campaign: I began my blog a year before Thune declared his candidacy. I became a consultant for Thune in July of 2004, a year and six months AFTER I began blogging. From the beginning, I have always been very clear about my political predilections. I consistently told readers of my blog that I was pro-Thune. If my blog was a "proxy" for the Thune campaign then it can fairly be said that the Argus Leader and CBS have been proxies for Democratic campaigns since time immemorial. [Good point -- CE.] The difference is that I tell everyone I am not an objective observer. To this day, the Argus Leader and CBS hold themselves out as objective observers. I think blogs in...
December 10, 2004
Jon Lauck Responds To Ethics Questions
After an exchange of e-mails last night between Jon Lauck and myself, Jon posted a long message about the ethical issues regarding revelations that he and Jason Van Beek received money as political consultants for the John Thune campaign and did not reveal that to their readers. Jon makes several good points, and the central rebuttal is this: I see Captain Ed has noted that CBS has started criticizing bloggers now that they're about to get nailed for "memogate" and noted some in the commentariat didn't like the fact that I was a consultant to Thune, but I did a long post explaining the many problems I saw at the Argus long before I was a consultant. And SDP and Sibby and others (there was criticism going back 20 years, as it turns out, pre-blog, as the blogs discovered and revealed to those who didn't know about it) were criticizing...
December 12, 2004
Blog Notes
Just a few notes to bring everyone up to date at the behind-the-scenes machinations at CQ ... First, the lower output this weekend is due to the Christmas shopping season and an opportunity to babysit the Little Admiral. Instead of watching Papa sit behind his computer, we decorated the Christmas tree (somehow, it's inexplicably become "Gamma's Tree" this year), watched "Finding Nemo", and played with her Little Peoples toys. I love blogging, but that beats writing every time, which I'm sure CQ readers understand. Speaking of the Little Admiral, she performed in her very first show this week, a Christmas recital her day-care center put on. I have video and hope to post a capture later tonight of her singing ... I'd like to welcome a new sponsor aboard CQ. I'm very grateful to all of my sponsors -- please patronize them as much as possible! -- but today Kevin...
December 14, 2004
Weblog Awards Winner!
I wanted to wait a day for all of the polls to officially close before posting about the results of the 2004 Weblog Awards. Kevin has finalized the polling and Captain's Quarters won for Best Conservative Blog, taking an amazing 36% of the overall vote for the category. My colleagues at Power Line won the award for Best Overall Blog in what turned out to be a squeaker. Having worked with all three Power Line gentlemen now, I can only say that the voters knew what they were doing in that competition, although many fine blogs were featured. You can see the entire list at the above link, but I wanted to note a few other results. In my category, I had the misfortune of being squared off against some fine bloggers, including LaShawn Barber, who traded notes with me during the contest. I'm a big fan of VodkaPundit, who...
December 16, 2004
Cerdip Immortalizes CQ In Cartoon
Blog artist Cerdip has taken our ongoing battle against Brave Sir Dayton and immortalized it in cartoon form: Hmmm ... looks a lot like me, too ... [cough cough] Okay, maybe I have slightly less hair ... Be sure to check Cerdipity for the latest in artistic depictions of the news and the blogosphere!...
December 17, 2004
CQ On The Air Today
I will be appearing on Kevin McCullough's show in a few minutes, part of his On-Air Blogroll. I am not sure exactly what Kevin wants to discuss, but I hope to talk about the European fright over free speech and the continuing political difficulties facing Donald Rumsfeld. Kevin is one of the few on-air personalities that really understands the blogosphere (Hugh Hewitt being pre-eminent among this select fraternity) and his support and friendship to CQ and me personally is very much appreciated. You can listen live here. UPDATE: As always, Kevin's show is a blast, and a big thanks to his producer Gary as well. Keep listening!...
All I Can Tell You Is ...
... he who owns the biggest tires wins -- just like I told Hugh. UPDATE: Oh, sure. First Hugh starts this meme, and now Instapundit broadcasts it all over the blogosphere. At least he didn't call me something like Peeps. Er, well, not yet, anyway....
December 27, 2004
Fortune Favors The Blog-Ready
Fortune Magazine published an analysis of blogs and the blogosphere, with a business rather than political viewpoint. The verdict: Corporations had better understand blogs and bloggers, or risk annihilation in the marketplace. Their first case study shows how Microsoft failed to grasp the underlying concept of blogging -- free speech -- and suffered a major blow to their credibility: [Boing Boing blogger Xeni Jardin] titled her critique of MSN Spaces "7 Dirty Blogs" and hilariously sent up the fickle censoring filters Microsoft appeared to have built in. MSN Spaces prohibited her from starting a blog called Pornography and the Law or another entitled Corporate Whore Chronicles; yet World of Poop passed, as did the educational Smoking Crack: A How-To Guide for Teens. Within the first hour of Jardin's post, five blogs had linked to it, including the site of widely read San Jose Mercury News columnist Dan Gillmor. By the...
December 30, 2004
CQ In The Sun
The New York Sun has published an opinion piece I rewrote about the Vatican's conclusion-jumping regarding the Sri Lankan refusal to admit Israeli aid workers this week. As you may recall, the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, accused Israelis of being "too often preoccupied with making war" because of their supposed refusal to help the Sri Lankans. Not only was it sloppy journalism -- the truth had been long discovered by bloggers -- but the conclusions reached by L'Osservatore Romano smacked of knee-jerk anti-Semitism. You may need a subscription to read this -- I automatically get logged into mine by my browser -- but if you don't already subscribe, you should consider it. The Sun supports bloggers in a very real and literal way and has excellent reporting and writing. Plus, it has one of the richest interfaces for a newspaper I've seen. UPDATE: You're not going to believe this,...
December 31, 2004
Happy New Year!
To all CQ reader -- Whiskey, the First Mate, and I wish you a happy, healthy, and blessed New Year. 2004 has been such a terrific year for us at Captain's Quarters, thanks to all of you. Stay safe, and see you in 2005! In fact, if you tune in the Northern Alliance Radio Network tomorrow at noon CT, you'll hear us live for our New Year's Day broadcast. UPDATE: I don't know if this is one of the reasons why I'll be thankful for 2004, but at least I only came in second for this award. UPDATE: I'm even happeier coming in second here....
January 2, 2005
The Morrissey Method?
Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost has long been one of my favorite blogs on ... well, a whole range of topics, especially matters of faith. Joe and I started blogging within a couple of weeks of each other and we've occasionally corresponded on our progress in our avocation. Tonight Joe provides his readers with a primer on successful blogging that is much too kind to me: Not being a member of this elite circle of bloggers, I cant provide advice from my own personal experience. But just as a biographer can glean insights from a study of great presidents, I think a study of the A-list can provide a few clues into what makes them successful. After giving the subject a considerable amount of thought and attention, Ive noticed three specific ways for breaking into the top tier of bloggers: A. Possess the attributes of the top ten bloggers (e.g.,...
January 3, 2005
Ankle-Biting My Christianity
Mitch at Shot In The Dark drew my attention to a piece by local crank Mark Giselson on his blog that calls into question the Christianity of the Northern Alliance bloggers. (No, I'm not kidding.) He manages to figure out a search engine well enough to find how many times we've all mentioned Jesus on our blogs and from there discerns that we have little faith in our Christianity. Mitch explodes this drivel in great detail. I won't go that far, although anyone who presumes Power Line is some crypto reference to Christianity clearly needs the enema of a really good fisking. (Missing the fact that at least one of the three Power Line bloggers is Jewish also demonstrates Giselson's idiocy.) Here's what Giselson has to say about me: Despite higher hopes for Captains Quarters, I got an immediate negatory noise when I searched for Jesus on their front page....
CQ On Hugh Hewitt Tonight
I'll be on Hugh Hewitt's show at 5:30 PM CT tonight to discuss World Relief Day. Be sure to tune in!...
January 4, 2005
Sick Day
Off to a slow start today, obviously -- fighting a cold and fever. I'll be posting this afternoon as soon as I go through some e-mail. The World Relief Day has skyrocketed, thanks to all of you!...
January 5, 2005
Technical Difficulties Today At Hosting Matters
We have been experiencing a number of technical difficulties today with Hosting Matters, which they have diligently worked to correct. If you have had problems loading the page, just keep trying back. The problem affects everything, including the comments programming and my access to the system. Please be patient and keep checking on our status. In the meantime, don't forget to check our progress on World Relief Day! NOTE: Unfortunately, the system ate my gracious and generous post congratulating USC for winning the national championship last night in the Orange Bowl. I know this will disappoint James from Folsom, but I just can't recall what I wrote. Darn. UPDATE 5:45 PM: Still more problems this afternoon. Sorry for the down time; this second outage appears to have affected all Hosting Matters servers....
January 6, 2005
Hugh Hewitt & Kevin McCullough Support CQ's World Relief Day
I've been fortunate to have received tremendous support from many friends in the blogosphere for World Relief Day, our January 12 fundraiser for World Vision and tsunami victims in the Indian Ocean region. Hugh Hewitt has put the link at the top of his blog every day, and Kevin McCullough has even created a Blogad for his site, which he's donated to promote the cause. I can't thank both men enough for their friendship and support. Kevin says that other bloggers can add this to their sites as well: I created a powerful blog ad - I had even had my in house test marketers run the phraseology through a demo. It came back with high marks. I have linked to your WORLD VISION PAGE. If people want to place this ad they can copy from my web-site or send me passcodes for free blog ads and I will go...
January 8, 2005
DDOS Attack On Hosting Matters
For those of you who have experienced some difficulties in accessing CQ, Power Line, Instapundit, or other blogs over the past eight hours, you were not alone. I intended to post last night on one or two more topics, but I could not access my site either. It turns out that our service provider, Hosting Matters, had to turn back two DDOS attacks overnight. These malicious attacks take some time to identify and counter, and the good folks at Hosting Matters worked as quickly and diligently as they could. It appears the attacks are over and access should be no problem. Thanks for your patience....
January 11, 2005
Funk? What Funk?
One of the questions asked by many of my friends and relatives, and not just a few from the blogging clique, concerned blog traffic after the presidential election. Everyone expected traffic to cool off, but no one knew how much it would drop, and in the age of blogads, that question was not merely academic or ego-driven. At CQ, I told people that I expected unique visits to drop to about half of what they were in October, and given that such a number would be a dramatic improvement over what we had earlier in the year, I would be thrilled. As it turns out, my guess wound up being fairly accurate, but no one I know has done much more to analyze post-election blog traffic. Now N.Z. Bear of the TTLB Ecosystem (where I'm currently ranked 12th for links and 23rd for traffic) has written his own detailed analysis...
January 12, 2005
Rule #1: Don't Blog About Work Unless You Own The Place
Today's Guardian (UK) reports on the first apparent British blogger to lose his job over his online journal. Joe Gordon worked for Waterstone's, a bookstore in Edinburgh, for eleven years and by all accounts was a valued employee -- or at least he was until he nicknamed his manager "Evil Boss" and called the store Bastardstones on his blog: A bookseller has become the first blogger in Britain to be sacked from his job because he kept an online diary in which he occasionally mentioned bad days at work and satirised his "sandal-wearing" boss. ... "This wasn't a sustained attack," Mr Gordon told the Guardian. "I was not deliberately trying to harm the company. I was venting my spleen. This was moaning about not getting your birthday off or not getting on with your boss. I wasn't libelling anyone or giving away trade secrets." ... Named after Monty Python's fictional...
CQ And World Relief Day On The Air Today
I will appear on Kevin McCullough's radio program today at 1:20 CT to promote World Relief Day. Kevin is giving me his prime spot, the one he usually uses for his most prominent guests. Kevin has been tremendously supportive of CQ and World Relief Day. Be sure to tune him in or listen live on the Internet! UPDATE 12:42 - We're up over $30,000 already! UPDATE II, 1:22 CT: On the air now! And this will re-stream several times over the next day from Kevin's site, so if you missed me, you can easily catch me again ......
A Big Thank You From Your Captain
I'm about to pack it up for tonight, and my latest look at the World Relief Day fund shows that we have had a tremendously successful day. CQ readers raised over $6,000 in a single day, and we have raised $33,000 overall for tsunami victims. We are the top individual fund-raising effort at justgiving.com as well, something I didn't realize until I happened to click the wrong link earlier today. Thanks to the multitude of bloggers who pitched in with their links to get the word out. Huge thanks to Hugh Hewitt and Kevin McCullough, both of whom plugged this daily on their blogs and on their radio shows -- this couldn't have been anywhere near the success it was without them. Michelle Malkin also has my deep gratitude, and tonight she's pointing out that some weather-related catastrophe victims closer to home could use our assistance, too. Mostly, I want...
January 13, 2005
Panera Blogging
I have a full work schedule today, mostly on the road (locally) and sitting in meetings, so I haven't had much chance to take a look at my e-mail or the news. I decided to stop by Panera for lunch, as all of their Twin Cities outlets offer free wi-fi service. I know that chain locations like Panera are the epitome of corporate evil and all that, but it's really hard to beat for good food at a low price. They offer a pick-two combo of soup, salads, and sandwiches that allow me to eat healthy food at fast-food prices, or just a few cents more. (Lunch cost me $8.29, and I had a special bottled soft drink instead of the less-expensive fountain drinks, which have free refills.) Combine that with comfortable surroundings and the free wi-fi and Panera has an almost unbeatable combination. Too bad I have to go...
January 15, 2005
Kos, Teachout, Williams, Lauck, Van Beek
Earlier this week, Zephyr Teachout wrote a post for her blog Zonkette, which eventually made it to the Wall Street Journal, disclosing the Howard Dean campaign's payments to the Daily Kos and MyDD bloggers Markos Zuniga and Jerome Armstrong. The accusations of conflicted interest have risen to fever levels in the blogosphere, along with yet another argument about what what ethical standards bloggers owe their readers. I have received e-mails asking why I've remained silent on this issue. Well, I haven't remained silent. Five weeks ago, when the shoe was on the right foot, I wrote that bloggers accepting payments from political campaigns outside the transparency of fully-displayed advertisements -- which don't even have to be exclusive! -- risk their credibility and reputation. I wrote that after the revelation that the John Thune campaign paid two bloggers several thousand dollars to join the campaign, and neither disclosed their relationship despite...
January 17, 2005
Oliver Willis Just Can't Be Honest
I'm turning over this post to Hubris, who writes: This is from Oliver Willis' latest post: I'm sure the right will come up with another b.s. explanation. Can anyone tell me whatever happened to the "smoking gun" memos "unearthed" by Brent Bozell's CNSNews and conspiracy pariah Laurie Mylorie (Captain Ed: "a blockbuster find", Little Green Nazis: "the story is true", Powerline: "a great deal of detail")? Yeah, I thought so. Cash those checks, guys, but at least make sure you're getting more than Armstrong. http://www.oliverwillis.com/node/view/1675 I clicked through to each archived story, and found the following: ----------------------------------------------------- Captain Ed: "In a blockbuster article if their sources pan out... "If the translations and the authentications hold up, this is a blockbuster find." [emphasis mine] LGF: "It needs to be independently confirmed before we can fully trust the story..." [Willis actually quotes a commenter who said "the story is true] Powerline: "The...
January 19, 2005
Vayapaso's Dream Date?
When my mother, who comments here as Vayapaso, went to Hugh Hewitt's book signing for Blog, she got so excited by their enthusiastic welcome that she referred to me as "Eddie." Hugh and Duane didn't miss this and have mulled this tidbit over for a week now. Tonight, they decided that I must have been named after Eddie Haskell, the smarmy and phony-polite troublemaker from Leave It To Beaver. Eddie Haskell? When I called in to talk to Hugh, Duane even played the Leave It To Beaver theme in the background. I foresee a long run of classic-TV jokes in my future with these guys. But why Eddie Haskell? Why not this guy: The American Ace of Aces, Eddie Rickenbacker, was a successful race car driver, fighter pilot, airline executive, wartime advisor, and elder statesman. Few aces achieved so much in so many different lifetime roles. His twenty-six aerial victories...
January 21, 2005
The View From On High
A quick note: I see today that CQ has entered the TTLB Ecosystem's highest ranking today, with a new ranking of #9 now qualifying this blog as a Higher Being. I'm expecting that to change as links expire and other bloggers get hot stories, but I wanted to thank everyone in the CQ community and the bloggers who continually link back to us. What a rush!...
Snow Day
Minneapolis is getting five or more inches of snow as we speak, and I'm stuck at work across the city from home. If I wanted to go home, I'd have about a 3-hour drive ahead of me for an 18-mile trip. Right now the freeways out here are bumper to bumper parking lots. It's an unbelievable mess. My best friend North Star Steve, who also works in my office, is joining me for dinner instead of driving home (we both live in the same neighborhood as well). This is what the commute looks like at the moment: Normally it looks about the same, except all the cars are moving. These are basically parked. More later when I finally get home ... UPDATE: Yes, I finally made it! Of course, it was 9:15 when I finally got here, after spending an hour driving home. Let me tell you, if I knew...
January 26, 2005
New Evangelical Blog Awards!
Reverend Eric at the Evangelical Underground informs me this afternoon that he will be hosting the 1st Annual Evangelical Blog Awards. Fans of evangelical blogs should definitely put in their nominations in the 10 categories. Nominations will remain open until February 14th, and voting on finalists will go from February 16-18. Be sure to check out the site often -- and also those blogs you may not have read before!...
February 1, 2005
Happy Blogiversary, INDC Journal!
Bill Ardolino at INDC Journal celebrates his first blogiversary today by sharing a slideshow of images from his creative and intrepid reporting. Be sure to drive his bandwidth costs out of sight by checking it out -- and drop one of the blogosphere's best a congrats on this special day....
February 11, 2005
Pondering Blogs At The Pioneer Press
Craig Westover reports today on a meeting between Hugh Hewitt and the editors of our other local broadsheet, the Pioneer Press. Hugh continues to press for the expansion of the blogosphere into a true partnership with mainstream media by breaking down the walls between the two: It was an informal discussion with a very specific agenda -- What is the best way to integrate the concept of blogs and blogging into the structure of the Pioneer Press? How might the Pioneer Press move forward to incorporate the new media within its current business model? How can the Opinion Page today, take advantage of the talent and resources available in the existing Minnesota blogging community? ... Clearly, blogs are not viewed by the Pioneer Press as the enemy. There is recognition that both the medium of the blog and the bloggers employing the medium are potential assets for the Pioneer Press....
February 18, 2005
CPAC Bloggers Under Sail
I wish I could have attended the CPAC conference this weekend; I was asked if I wanted to apply for a credential, and after the great time I had at the Republican National Convention, I normally would have jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, we have a major project going on this winter at the office -- I have a *real* job, after all -- and even if that didn't come up, the First Mate's surgery would have scuttled the trip. However, you can read all of the excellent bloggers who gave up their weekends to cover the event at the CPAC aggregate blog, set up by the ever-resourceful Kevin Aylward of Wizbang! Today, Michelle Malkin is scheduled to appear, and I'm sure that will have the bloggers posting like crazy. La Shawn Barber is photoblogging, too!...
February 21, 2005
CQ Says Hello To Inside Politics
I found out from a family member who happened to catch CNN's Inside Politics this afternoon, who watched as Judy Woodruff, Jackie Schechner, and Abbi Tatton discussed the news from the blogosphere -- apparently a new development on the show. My phone rang when she heard Schechner start discussing the Douglas Wead tapes and CNN turned to CQ for a reaction: SCHECHNER: Something that we all seem to agree on at this point. Again, talking about President Bush. He's in Europe on his trip, meeting with world leaders. And that seems to be the top story in the mainstream media. Also talking about the tapes. But the tapes, more interesting on the blogs today, or at least it seems. We went over to captainsquartersblog.com. I'm going to try to pull it up. There we go. We're lucky. A couple of minutes ago it wouldn't come up. [My logs show a...
Five Million Reasons I Love To Blog
Earlier today, my Sitemeter hit counter passed the 5 million mark, another headspinning milestone that has me humbled and grateful for all of your support. The past month or so, CQ has averaged around 23,000 unique visits a day (per Sitemeter), with peaks above 35,000 on occasion. The TTLB Ecosystem currently lists our site as #9 for inbound unique links, and #15 for average daily traffic. Technorati has us ranked at #120 out of more than 7 million sites. For the truly bored, here are a few more stats: Total posts: 3,879 Total comments: 27,609 Days blogging: 508 (October 2, 2003) I want to thank everyone who has read, linked, pushed, assisted, or otherwise just encouraged CQ to get to this level. It's a pleasure writing for and interacting with the terrific CQ community....
March 3, 2005
CQ Reader Survey Bleg
In conjunction with my advertising service, I'd like to ask CQ readers to take 5 minutes to complete this reader survey to gauge how our advertisements match up with our audience. Please make sure you note on question 16 that you've been referred by Captain's Quarters. Thank you for your help!...
March 6, 2005
The Second Front In The War On Bloggers
Michelle Malkin has been covering what looks to be a second front in a semi-coordinated war on bloggers and online speech -- launched by Apple Computers, of all people, the same company who twenty-one years ago advertised itself as a bulwark against Big Brother. In another attempt to strip blogs of any identity as journalism and to suppress the speech within, Apple has sued three bloggers in an effort to reveal their sources regarding the unauthorized release of information about an upcoming product. The court on Friday ruled that Apple must be told who gave the information or the bloggers can be held in contempt of court: In a case with implications for the freedom to blog, a San Jose judge tentatively ruled Thursday that Apple Computer can force three online publishers to surrender the names of confidential sources who disclosed information about the company's upcoming products. Santa Clara County...
March 11, 2005
Blog Notes
I noticed earlier today that Captain's Quarters achieved a significant milestone this week. Technorati now ranks CQ in its Top 100 blogs, a group that is extraordinarily difficult to crack. The rank changes during the day, but at this moment, we're at #89. Thanks to everyone who continues to link to CQ and participate in our community. To celebrate, I've added a new search feature from Technorati on the left sidebar. It allows anyone to search CQ or the Web through Technorati's system using CQ as a launch point. It's a beta feature, which means you may experience some bugs, but give it a try and have some fun with it. (My regular search for my archives will remain on the right sidebar.) One last note: Young America's Foundation/National Journalism Center has named CQ its Blog of the Day. Please drop by their site for a visit to thank them...
March 13, 2005
Blogosphere Created, Women & Minorities Hardest Hit
An old joke about media bias has the New York Times running a headline on the last day of time that reads, "World Ends: Women, Minorities Hardest Hit". Somehow that joke immediately came to mind when I read Steven Levy's truly clueless piece for tomorrow's Newsweek that claims the blogosphere is a club for white men only: At a recent Harvard conference on bloggers and the media, the most pungent statement came from cyberspace. Rebecca MacKinnon, writing about the conference as it happened, got a response on the "comments" space of her blog from someone concerned that if the voices of bloggers overwhelm those of traditional media, "we will throw out some of the best ... journalism of the 21st century." The comment was from Keith Jenkins, an African-American blogger who is also an editor at The Washington Post Magazine [a sister publication of NEWSWEEK]. "It has taken 'mainstream media'...
March 21, 2005
CQ Invited To Brookings Institute Briefing
Captain's Quarters has been invited to participate in the Brookings Institute forum tomorrow morning on "The Impact of the New Media", which will be webcast live from 10:00 am ET while the event simultaneously will display the live commentary from six leading bloggers: At this Brookings briefing, members of the "new" and "old" media will weigh in on the ever-evolving role of the press and the future of journalism. The discussion will focus on new mediums and practices in journalism and what impact these have hadand will continue to haveon the role and credibility of the traditional American media. In keeping with the spirit of this event, the discussion will be webcast and will be "live-blogged" by several prominent bloggers. Panelists will take questions from the audience and via e-mail following their remarks. The panel itself will be moderated by E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post and comprises Ana...
March 22, 2005
Brookings Briefing Live Blog!
8:58 AM CT - I'm setting up for the Brookings Briefing and getting my live-blog post set up. I'm cheating a bit -- I'm using my desktop to watch the event and my laptop to blog it. So far, the stream works perfectly. I believe I see Ana Marie Cox sitting off to the left as they get set up. I'll be checking my comments as we go along, so don't be shy about chiming in. 9:06 - I'm listening to someone talking by the microphone, and a woman says that with Andrew retiring and Ana taking a break, blogging is over. Well, that was a short conference! 9:07 - OK, we're under way. BTW, I really like EJ's tie. 9:11 - EJ refers to there being no true liberal bloggers on the panel. I'd also add that there are no true conservative bloggers on the panel, either. What we...
March 23, 2005
Questioning My Editorial Policy
One of the privileges and responsibilities of maintaining a blog is complete editorial control over its content. That means I write about topics which interest, inspire, and infuriate me, and hopefully the same topics and my essays on them interest a large readership. Once I have attracted a large readership -- which is now the case -- what responsibility do I have to become responsive to their desires in terms of coverage and tone? I'm not asking this question lightly, because I take the views of my readers seriously. Earlier today, a CQ reader sent this thoughtful and critical e-mail to me: You HAVE been one of the more refreshing sources of a viewpoint on the Net and have been my favorite blog to read. Your blog is quickly becoming, however, something that I no longer wish to read on a regular basis. I've been coming back hoping you were...
March 25, 2005
Day By Day Updated Daily At CQ!
Based on the feedback I received earlier from readers, I have finally taken down the Day by Day cartoon which specifically referenced me and the Ted Rall smackdown. Comments and e-mails kindly suggested that I had played that out way past its expiration date -- and while I write what I please, in this case I figured that enough people were telling me that I was drunk and I should sit down, so to speak. After e-mailing DBD creator Chris Muir, I got permission to have his latest cartoon posted at the top of the context column so that it automatically updates each day (other bloggers have already done so). I think Chris does top-flight work and always find his commentary amusing and fresh, and having it appear here will give everyone an opportunity to keep up with it. I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to check out...
March 27, 2005
Have I Angered The Google Powers That Be?
While Charles at Little Green Footballs and Michelle Malkin point out that Google refuses to acknowledge their sites as "news" despite Google's linking to other, less savory sources as news, it appears that Google has stopped recognizing Captain's Quarters' existence on the Internet altogether. I received this e-mail from CQ reader Ed Davidson this morning: I have been using the search criteria "captains quarters" on Google for a considerable time. Your blog was always the lead link returned and it was a convenient way for me to do a two click connection. She's-a-no-work-no-more. Google no longer will return your link with "captains quarters" or "captains quarters blog" or "www.captainsquartersblog.com" in their search function. Of course, I decided to check this out -- and sure enough, Ed's alert is accurate. Check out this search. While my old Typepad site comes up as the first hit, my main site has disappeared entirely....
March 28, 2005
Google Makes Good
Yesterday I asked whether I had angered the Google powers, as suddenly CQ had disappeared from the results of their searches. Rob from Say Anything told me that he and I had made the same mistake: selling ad space and subdomains to a company that creates "link farms" that leverages Google searches for sales opportunities. Neither Rob nor I did enough investigation to understand the implications of the business plan. Although the folks at Business Barn treated me well and never lied to me, had I known that their business practices would get CQ banned from Google, I would have declined. I received an e-mail from Business Barn ending our current relationship -- perhaps because my Google ranking disappeared overnight -- but offering me a new deal with free hosting and unlimited bandwidth. I have turned it down and deleted the subdomains that caused the problems with the Google search...
April 13, 2005
Letter Of The Week
One of the the pleasures of running a blog with so many readers is all of the e-mail I receive. Sometimes people help me with information on stories I'm following, sometimes they ask questions, and sometimes they offer encouragement. I can't respond to everyone, but I do read it all, and once in a while I like to feature a message that stands out from the rest. Tonight, I received this message from an apparent long-time CQ reader Jamie Seelig, which caught my attention: Subj: DIE!!! go curl up in a corner and die u retarded redneck. just because ur politically undereducated and homophobic and lemme guess RICH doesnt mean that you can't spare the rest of america. its dumbshits like u that marry their sister. how many f***ing guns do u own? you selfish bitch THE DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA EQUALITY NOW! Well, Jamie, since you took the time...
April 17, 2005
The Diminshing Returns Of Trackback Pings
Michelle Malkin notes the depressing regularity of having to de-spam trackback pings, as more and more online casinos and p0rn sites insist on loading old blogposts with trackback spam in order to raise their Google scores. I am fighting this daily, because I think TBs are an essential tool of the blogosphere in directing readers to other opinions in the debate. A great example of this is the ongoing discussion over judicial nominations and the filibuster -- I use my own TBs to see how others have reacted to my arguments. On the other hand, folks, the clean-up has gotten very tiresome. Power Line suspended theirs for a time, although they're trying them out again for a while. I'm throwing this thread open for your feedback. Do you see value in the trackbacks, or am I cleaning up the crap for little reward?...
April 20, 2005
Be An Angel
Beth at My VRWC reminds me today that Soldiers Angels, a charity devoted to giving assistance to our brave men and women standing guard over America and liberating the oppressed, has started their annual fundraising drive. Here's a description of what this group does to support the troops: The Soldiers' Angels was started by a self-described "ordinary mother" of an ordinary young man turned hero, Corporal Brandon Varn. Brandon was deployed in Iraq and has since honorably completed his mission and has returned back to his proud and loving family. In the summer of 2003, he wrote home expressing his concern that some soldiers did not receive any mail or support from home. Being a caring and loving mother, she decided not to allow a situation like that to continue. She contacted a few friends and extended family to ask if they would write to a soldier or two. Within...
April 21, 2005
Stand Alone Journalists?
Jay Rosen at Pressthink publishes an article from Chris Nolan which attempts to distinguish between bloggers and those who use the blogging mechanism to act as self-publishing journalists. Nolan calls the latter "stand alone journalists" and argues for a distinction between the two: These are not bloggers. They are people who are using blogging technology--software that allows them to quickly publish their work and broadcast it on the Internet--to find and attract users. They understand that the barrier to entry in this new business isn't getting published; anyone can do that. The barrier to entry is finding an audience. That's why their editorial product is consistent, reliable and known. Readers have expectations and stand alone journalists understand this and put that understanding into practice. So what--exactly--is a stand alone journalist? That's a definition that's going to vary with the person, of course, just as no group or reporters can really...
April 22, 2005
Long Weekends
Just a quick note to CQ readers: I am working all weekend on a major project at work, the culmination of four months of planning. I'm actually staying at a nearby hotel rather than traveling home, so blogging may be limited. In the meantime, don't forget that the Northern Alliance Radio Network will air as usual on Saturday between noon and 3 pm CDT, this time unfortunately without me. Please forgive me if I can't get to your e-mails right away, but I promise to read them all eventually. Thank you, and have a great weekend!...
April 24, 2005
Project Success
Thank you for all checking back while I worked on my project for my day job this weekend. I had actually planned on blogging a bit in the early mornings and late evenings, but starting on Thursday night until today, my days have lasted more than fifteen hours of constant trouble-shooting and preparation for the project. Unfortunately, that left me little time for reading news sources and none at all for writing. I haven't even had an opportunity to catch up on all of the excellent comments entered on the site. Without getting terribly specific about my work, which I like to keep as separate as possible from my blogging, I run a 24x7 call center in the Twin Cities area. Thanks to the terrific executive team for which I work, our business has grown tremedously over the years, and we finally outgrew our offices. Last year we decided to...
April 25, 2005
CQ In The News: Denver
While I was hard at work on my project this weekend, Linda Seebach of the Rocky Mountain News wrote a column about bloggers and journalism, one of the more popular topics these days in the blogosphere. I knew that Linda planned on writing the article before it got published, but I missed it when it came out in all of the long hours we put into finishing the move. Linda, who has a long pedigree in the news business, agrees with me that journalism does not depend on newsprint for its existence or identification: Are bloggers journalists? Sure, when they do journalism, and Ed Morrissey, Captain Ed at the Web log called Captain's Quarters, certainly was doing journalism when he blew open a Canadian corruption scandal that was under a judicial publication ban in Canada. There's been hardly any coverage of what the Canadians call "AdScam" in the U.S. press,...
April 27, 2005
CQ On Hugh Hewitt Tonight
I will be an in-studio guest tonight when Mitch Berg fills in for Hugh Hewitt tonight, between 5-8 pm CDT. We'll be discussing the judicial confirmation fight for most of the show, but probably will work in other topics as well. Be sure to tune us in, either on your local Salem Radio affiliate or via our Internet stream. Call in and join us at 800-520-1234!...
CQ Media Notes II
I'll be appearing on RightTalk Radio tomorrow afternoon with Bill Ardolino and Jeff Goldstein on "Citizen Journalist", from 3:10 - 3:10 pm EDT. It'll be great fun to be a guest on someone else's blog-based radio show, so be sure to tune in. I'll be sharing a segment with Kate from small dead animals, so Canada's political tribulations will definitely be one of the topics. Jeff's been asking his readers for some questions to ask us. This could be the toughest interview I've yet had to face, if their responses are any indication at all... UPDATE: Er, that should be 3:10 - 3:30. Boy, will I catch hell for that error today!...
May 2, 2005
DBD Coming Back To CQ
For those who have noticed that the daily Day by Day cartoon has stopped displaying on the site, this hiatus is only temporary. I am rearranging some elements of the site in order to improve load times and add a new sponsorship slot. DBD will likely appear at the top of the left column later tonight. In the meantime, please be sure to visit Chris Muir's site to catch up to Damon, Jan, Sam, and Zed and their latest hilarious and timely commentary on current events....
May 4, 2005
Confessions Of A Frustrated Blogger
I'd love to post more tonight, but my Toshiba Satellite laptop has decided to start shutting itself down every hour or so, making detailed research into the Gomery testimony almost impossible. I have an extended warranty on it, but that would require me to send it in for repairs, and it would likely take three or four weeks to get it back. I haven't been terribly enamored of this machine since I bought it, and I'm liking it less and less as I go along. I'll have to get back to working on it tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be watching The Last Of The Mohicans, the terrific 1992 Daniel Day-Lewis version with one of the best film scores ever. I may have more access to the redacted Guit testimony by then. If not, I'll continue to work on some of the more interesting, unreported aspects of his testimony instead....
May 6, 2005
The Laptop Follies Continue
Sometimes I have all the luck ... After getting a good amount of feedback on my laptop problems, as well as reading through some similar issues over at Dean Esmay's, I was able to determine a couple of things about my Toshiba Satellite laptop: 1. An earlier model of the Satellite (the 5005) had almost exactly the same problems as my A65 -- overheating, shutdowns, and slow response from the processor which gets increasingly worse over time. In that case, Toshiba settled a class-action suit from Satellite 5005 owners by giving them $500 each, or a $1500 credit from Toshiba Direct if they returned their computers to Toshiba. Unfortunately, that does not apply to the A65. 2. Toshiba didn't learn much from that costly debacle, if their design of the A65 is any indication, considering my current laptop is a replacement of the defective model I first bought. 3. Like...
May 8, 2005
CQ Gets Mention At BlogNashville
The finest of Tennessee's blogs got together for a major blogging conference this weekend, BlogNashville. Instapundit has been covering it extensively throughout, providing video and photo links and even tips for those looking for proper WiFi access. Longtime CQ friend and Rocky Mountain News columnist Linda Seebach was kind enough to mention my work on the Adscam scandal during one of the panels, and Ian from The Political Teen has the video here. They picked a great weekend for the conference, too. The weather looks beautiful in Nashville and this has been a rather slow news period, as Glenn himself mentions tonight....
May 9, 2005
Singapore Shuts Down A Critical Blogger
No one will ever mistake the autocratic rule of Singapore as an open society, but even by Singapore standards, the silencing of this blogger seems rather heavy-handed: A Singapore student said on Monday he has shut down his blog and apologized unreservedly after a government agency threatened to sue for defamation. Chen Jiahao, a 23-year-old graduate student in the United States, told Reuters he closed down his personal Web site after A*STAR, a Singapore government agency focusing on science and research, threatened legal action for what the agency said were untrue and serious accusations. ... On Sunday he posted the new apology on his "Caustic Soda" blog, saying "I unreservedly apologize to A*STAR, its Chairman Mr. Philip Yeo, and its executive officers for the distress and embarrassment caused to them." "They sent me an e-mail with these words," Chen told Reuters on Monday by telephone from the United States, where...
May 15, 2005
The Return Of Day By Day, And Other Blog Notes
As I promised earlier, I've returned the daily display of Day by Day to CQ. Instead of at the top of the content, I've set it to display in the left sidebar. I've been meaning to get that done for over a week, but work issues have impinged on blogging time for the past two or three weeks. However, I wanted to make sure that Day by Day got back to its daily rotation on CQ in time for the launch of Chris Muir's new DBD collection -- which should be coming within days now! If it's been a bit quiet here at CQ this weekend, it's due to a combination of babysitting the Little Admiral and some nasty cold and flu activity at the house, including me. I did manage to get in for an hour at the Northern Alliance Radio Network show yesterday, but most of my time...
May 17, 2005
A Guest Of The Governor
Good news for CQ readers -- I just got at least a three-month lease on blogging from the First Mate, and I'll explain why. About ten days ago, I received an invitation from Governor Tim Pawlenty's office to meet the Governor. After calling to confirm that the invitation was on the level (you never know with some of my friends), I found out that a representative group of Minnesota bloggers had been invited to the Governor's mansion for a reception intended to honor new media in Minnesota. All of my Northern Alliance colleagues had been invited, as well as some of the MOB bloggers that we know so well -- Doug at Bogus Gold, Patriot Blog, First Ring, Kennedy vs The Machine, and others I know I'm forgetting. The Minnesota Governor's mansion is unusual in that it sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood -- a rather ritzy and...
May 20, 2005
CQ On The Air Tonight
I just completed a taped interview with Rob Breakenridge at Corus Radio Network about a wide range of political topics, American and Canadian. The program, The World Tonight, airs on Canadian radio at 9:30 PM EDT. For those who don't live in Alberta, you can catch the interview on the live stream at CHRQ's website at the above link. Rob had some great questions for me about the judicial filibusters, John Bolton, and the collapse of the no-confidence effort in Ottawa. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! ADDENDUM: Before you listen to my interview, don't forget to catch Michelle Malkin filling in for Bill O'Reilly on The Factor tonight on Fox News Channel....
May 21, 2005
Taking The Plunge, Again
After much deliberation and consultation on finances, I finally decided that an upgrade for the Official Malfunctioning Laptop Of Captain's QuartersTM was overdue. Thanks to two generous gift certificates from my last birthday, Amazon wound up getting my business even if they didn't handle my last order very well. I took a trip out to Best Buy to see if they could beat the Amazon price on two models on which I had focused: the Sony Vaio FS640 and the HP 1040 US. Going to the store also gave me an opportunity to see both models to get an idea of their physical build, and also to see if anything else looked better for the money. Both models would have worked for me. I want to get back to an old hobby of DVD production for family films, and while my desktop does that reasonably well, I've gotten so used...
May 26, 2005
If I'm Not Back By Tomorrow, Send Help (Updates!)
The new Sony VAIO laptop came in today, and it looks wonderful. I'm in the middle of transitioning my software and data from the Toshiba to the new system ... and of course, Windows XP won't recognize the home network, although I can get to the Internet just fine. I have the correct workgroup name and a unique computer name, but I can't see any of the other computers, including the old laptop. That means I have to use the portable hard drive to transfer files. Ecchh. I'll hopefully get the core files transferred tonight so I can start blogging with the new laptop. In the meantime, check out Mitch at Shot In The Dark, who has been running a bleg for funds to get a much-needed laptop. He may buy the Toshiba from me, now that I've figured out why it wasn't working properly before, or he may do...
May 29, 2005
CQ - The End Of The World As We Know It
It's the end of the world as we know it, And I feel fine ... An alert CQ reader pointed out an op-ed in yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution that used Captain's Quarters as an example of how the media faces destruction in today's new market. Did Conrad Fink, a professor of journalism at the University of Georgia (go, Bulldogs!), talk about how blogs discovered the truth about the Killian Memos? Did Professor Fink review the Eason's Fables episode, where the vice-president of a major American news organization got caught committing slander on multiple occasions overseas? How about Newsweek's false report on Qu'ran flushing at Gitmo, and the role that bloggers played in forcing Newsweek to address its faulty editorial policies and reviews, let alone its inherent bias? Er, no. Instead, he lionized the journalism industry for -- get this -- actually reporting on Kyrgyzstan and criticized me for reporting on Adscam...
An Unusual Bleg
I have a favor to ask of CQ readers in my area, and it may sound unusual at first... I've been approached by a top-notch representative of public speakers to develop my efforts here into a speaking tour. This service represents some of the finest conservative speakers; while I don't want to get into the specifics, you can trust me that it's a good opportunity to expand my audience and the reach of CQ. If successful, it could eventually lead to the possibility of becoming a full-time, self-sustaining blogger -- something akin to Pinocchio becoming a real boy. In order to work on marketing this possibility, I need to find a public speaking opportunity fairly soon that I can videotape and use to demonstrate my skills (or expose my lack thereof, I suppose). I plan on writing a few different speeches, but the focus of my first would be the...
May 30, 2005
Accuracy In Media: CQ Is Journalism
In an unintentional response to Professor Conrad Fink's hyperbolic dismissal of bloggers as journalists in Saturday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sherrie Gossett writes about my coverage of Adscam for Accuracy In Media today and reaches a different conclusion. Gossett writes: In one of the most dramatic stories to date of blogger influence, an American blogger listed the details of inflammatory testimony in a Canadian government corruption case-testimony that was under a publication ban enacted by the judge. Soon the blogger's website was inundated with hundreds of thousands of hits from Canadians hungry for information, but shut out of the story by the ban. It was a unique case of a lone blogger disseminating information the media were unable to publish. Ed Morrissey, the writer of Captain's Quarters blog, started reporting on the testimony on April 2 in an entry titled "Canada's Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide Open." The political scandal involved allegations of...
June 3, 2005
CQ On The Stump Tonight (Update!)
I will be speaking at a monthly meeting of Twin City conservatives tonight, from 7-9 PM, on the New Media and its effects on politics and news. The meeting will take place at Park Tavern in Saint Louis Park. I want to thank the folks at Townhall for the invitation; I'm looking forward to the speech and an opportunity to discuss blogs and politics afterwards. UPDATE: I'm at the Park Tavern and blogging away with the laptop while waiting for my early-bird sirloin steak dinner -- just $4.95. I don't live or work near here, but if I did, I'd probably drop by for a meal often. In fact, the steak just arrived -- and it's not bad. Hopefully, I will be able to post a video clip of my speech later tonight. I'm taping it for another project. UPDATE II: I think everyone involved had a great time, especially...
June 7, 2005
A CQ-DC Working Vacation
I will be taking a working vacation, so to speak, the first week of July in Washington, DC. Neither the First Mate nor I have ever been to DC before, and thanks to some clever timing and some excellent rates, we have decided to celebrate Independence Day in our first visit to our nation's Capitol. The clever timing comes courtesy of the Heritage Foundation. I have been invited to give a speech at Heritage on my experiences covering the Canadian Adscam scandal as part of a review of blogs and their impact on media and politics. The other participants in the panel have yet to be finalized, but Jim Hill, managing editor of the Washington Post Writers Group, will be among them. Mark Tapscott, of Tapscott's Copy Desk, is the Director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at Heritage and extended the invitation. More information will come directly...
CQ On MS-NBC Today (Updated With Press Conference Notes)
I will be appearing today on MS-NBC's Connected Coast to Coast with hosts Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley at 4 pm CDT. Appearing opposite will be Michael Goeltz (sp?) from Americablog. We'll be discussing aid to Africa, the Middle East, the war on terror, and other issues we expect to be coming out of the Bush/Blair press conference this afternoon. I'll have more for you later. UPDATE: Yes, this was my first time on national TV, and no, my face did not freeze like that naturally. Obviously, I need to work a bit on the screen presence. Apart from that, it was a lot of fun, and the folks at MS-NBC and the local studio here in Minneapolis treated me very kindly. It's an odd experience; it's akin to being locked in a closet and pretending you're talking to millions of people, which in fact is almost exactly what's happening....
June 11, 2005
Upcoming CQ Events
I'm taking a break at the Northern Alliance remote at White Bear Lake Superstore, which we just found out isn't being streamed to the Internet due to technical problems at the studio. Please accept our apologies for the problem; it apparently won't get fixed today. While I'm taking a break, I want to remind everyone that I will be speaking at Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota on June 15th, starting at 7:00 PM. My appearance is being sponsored by CFACT, and I will be discussing the New Media and its impact on politics and the news media. I'll have a Q&A after the speech, which is what I like best. If you're in town, please join us. Speaking of being in or out of town, I'll be traveling to Washington DC for Independence Day with family. While there, I will be on a panel at the Heritage Foundation...
June 13, 2005
Happy Blogiversary To Michelle Malkin!
It's hard to believe that a year has gone by already since Michelle Malkin joined the blogosphere. No one who read Michelle on a regular basis before June of last year should be surprised that in twelve short months, she has transformed her eponymous blog into the class of the genre. Congratulations, Michelle, and thanks for all your hard work....
June 14, 2005
Upcoming CQ Events, Today And Tomorrow
I will make an appearance tonight on The World Tonight, a Canadian radio talk show, discussing the latest developments on Kofi Annan and the Oil-for-Food investigation, the Downing Street memo, and perhaps even Guantanamo Bay. My appearance will be around 9:30 pm EDT. If you live in Calgary and southern Alberta, you should be able to hear me on the air on CHQR 770 AM. Others can pick up the Internet stream at their site. Don't forget that I will also be appearing tomorrow night at Coffman Union at the University of Minneapolis as a guest of CFACT. I'll be speaking about the New Media and its impact on politics and information dissemination, as well as a number of my own experiences as a blogger. I hope to see you there! UPDATE: Bill from CFACT has started his own blog after being inspired by my yet-undelivered talk. I guess we'd...
June 15, 2005
CFACT Speech A Hit, I Think ...
I just returned from the University of Minnesota and my speech to CFACT. We had a great audience for the event; what we lacked in numbers was more than balanced by enthusiasm. CFACT is one of the few conservative student groups on the U of M campus. They're busy building themselves into a strong voice, and it's great to see students speaking out for their beliefs and their politics in an environment that has much more sympathy for the opposite end of the political spectrum. Martin Andrade, a MOB member, also belongs to CFACT and live-blogged the speech (using my laptop!). I'm sure he's much too kind, but it gives me some great feedback for the next time out. Martin also has a pretty danged cool setup for audioblogging, which he did with an after-speech interview with me. He uses his cell phone to call into a voice-mail system, which...
June 20, 2005
Technical Difficulties Today (Updated)
After the deluge of traffic from a Drudge Report link, the comments at CQ appear to be off line. That usually indicates some problem with the Movable Type activity log and a runaway process at Hosting Matters, the excellent service that hosts CQ and many other fine blogs. It does not seem to be a Typekey issue, as a couple of readers asked by e-mail. We will work diligently to restore comment service this afternoon. Keep checking back; I will update as best as I can. Thank you for your patience. UPDATE: Comments have been restarted by Hosting Matters. The script was dragging down the server for CQ, and since I share a server with other HM users, it was only fair for HM to suspend the process until traffic returned to normal. Fair play -- and they've responded very quickly to restart it....
June 21, 2005
New, Improved Heritage Foundation Panel For July 8th!
As many of you already know, I will appear at the Heritage Foundation on July 8th to speak at a symposium on bloggers, journalism, and the convergence of the old and new media. Mark Tapscott, the Director for Heritage's Center for Media and Public Policy, has titled the presentation as "Are Bloggers and Journalists Friends Or Enemies"? Originally, Mark had lined up Jim Hill, the managing editor for the Washington Post Writers Group, as my counterbalance for the presentation. Now Mark has upped the ante (and my flop sweat) by adding Daniel Glover, the managing editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. Here's the description from the Heritage Foundation invitation: American blogger Ed Morrissey has broken story after sordid story on Canada's multi-million dollar Adscam scandal. But are bloggers "real" journalists? Are bloggers and journalists natural enemies or allies in reporting the news? Or are bloggers a completely new kind of...
June 28, 2005
CQ In DC Next Week!
As many of you already know, I will appear at the Heritage Foundation on July 8th to speak at a symposium on bloggers, journalism, and the convergence of the old and new media. Mark Tapscott, the Director for Heritage's Center for Media and Public Policy, has titled the presentation as "Are Bloggers and Journalists Friends Or Enemies"? Originally, Mark had lined up Jim Hill, the managing editor for the Washington Post Writers Group, as my counterbalance for the presentation. Mark has now added Daniel Glover, the managing editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. Daniel also runs the NJ's Beltway Blogroll blog. Here's the description from the Heritage Foundation invitation: American blogger Ed Morrissey has broken story after sordid story on Canada's multi-million dollar Adscam scandal. But are bloggers "real" journalists? Are bloggers and journalists natural enemies or allies in reporting the news? Or are bloggers a completely new kind of...
June 29, 2005
Thank You, Mark Steyn (And John Hawkins)
John Hawkins has posted his second interview with one of the most lucid and erudite columnists currently writing, Mark Steyn. John's been doing a great job getting major media figures for interviews, and his interview with Steyn shows why. It's an excellent read. (The first interview can be found here.) Like my friends at Power Line, however, I have to take a bit of special pride in this passage at the end: John Hawkins: So what blogs are you reading regularly these days? Mark Steyn: I read a wide range. They come and go, but Im still reading many of those I mentioned to you last time round, like Natalie Solent in Britain and Tim Blair down under. Going back to my earlier point about the dullness of many newspaper comment pages, look at, say, Saskatchewan: its got a yawnsville newspaper - The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix and one of the...
I'd Like To Teach The World To Live-Blog ...
Trey Jackson has a video clip of today's installment of Inside The Blogs, part of CNN's Inside Politics. The team of Abbi Tatton and Jacki Schechner highlighted CQ today for the live-blog of the President's speech last night, and they gave me a very fair presentation. As always, I'm glad they're reading CQ, and I'm glad that Trey has the video. Check it out for other blogger highlights. NOTE: It's a bit off topic, but I wanted to thank those of you who have donated to CQ using the PayPal link on the left sidebar. It used to title the donation "RNC", which stood for Republican National Convention, when I put it on the blog to help fund my trip there. I've changed it to "Captain's Quarters Donations" for clarity....
July 1, 2005
I'm On Vacation
As CQ readers know, I will be leaving for Washington DC for a week-long vacation in our nation's capital. We've turned this into a family trip, with the First Mate joining me and my mother (Vayapaso) and my sister meeting us for parts of the week. None of us have been to DC before, and we're all looking forward to the trip. My vacation started last night, as I'm taking today off to finalize some arrangements for the dogs and the house ad, of course, start packing. Vacation for a blogger doesn't mean that blogging will stop; I plan to continue posting throughout my trip, hopefully with photos of a few of the sights of DC. However, it does mean that my pace will slow down a bit. For that reason, I have invited commenter extraordinaire and long-time correspondent Dafydd ab Hugh aboard as a guest blogger. His first post,...
July 2, 2005
Living It Up In The Nation's Capital
So this is what the Center of Democracy looks like! The First Mate and I landed in DC this afternoon, arriving at Ronald Reagan Airport around 4:30 pm. After the normal confusion of deplaning, we quickly collected our luggage and got our rental car, a Mazda compact that surprisingly handled all of our baggage. Due to a fundamental misjudgment of local geography, I booked our room in Gaithersburg, about 40 minutes outside of the sites we want to see, but the hotel is comfortable and affordable. The drive took so long that I had almost convinced myself that I had gotten lost, but the correct off-ramp appeared and we found ourselves checked in, exhausted. We ate at a lovely steak place called Sir Walter Raleigh's in Gaithersburg. It featured a generous salad bar and a casual atmosphere, and the 12-ounce sirloin I ordered came cooked to perfection. The only flaw...
An Independence Day To Remember, Part I
When I first announced my trip to Washington, DC, I received many kind offers from local readers for assistance and pointers. One of the kindest offers came from a CQ reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, who gave me and my family a chance to tour the Pentagon on July 4th. Needless to say, we gratefully accepted this offer, and early this morning we started out our celebration of Independence Day by meeting him for the tour. He started us off in the west wing, the portion of the building that terrorists attacked on 9/11. We could not take pictures of the outside, but remarkably, we had no trouble taking pictures of the interior. The Pentagon has a beautiful memorial at Ground Zero for the victims of 9/11. (More pictures of the memorial and other experiences will be found in the extended entry.) Our friend also showed us the direction...
Continue reading "An Independence Day To Remember, Part I" »
July 6, 2005
Heritage Foundation Event Coming Up!
As many of you already know, I will appear at the Heritage Foundation on July 8th to speak at a symposium on bloggers, journalism, and the convergence of the old and new media. Mark Tapscott, the Director for Heritage's Center for Media and Public Policy, has titled the presentation as "Are Bloggers and Journalists Friends Or Enemies"? Originally, Mark had lined up Jim Hill, the managing editor for the Washington Post Writers Group, as my counterbalance for the presentation. Mark has now added Daniel Glover, the managing editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. Daniel also runs the NJ's Beltway Blogroll blog. Here's the description from the Heritage Foundation invitation: American blogger Ed Morrissey has broken story after sordid story on Canada's multi-million dollar Adscam scandal. But are bloggers "real" journalists? Are bloggers and journalists natural enemies or allies in reporting the news? Or are bloggers a completely new kind of...
DC Blogger Get-Together Tonight!
To celebrate my DC adventures, we have decided to get together tonight (Thursday) at the Phoenix Park Hotel in the heart of Washington DC. Mike from PajamaHadin has graciously volunteered to do the honors as the point person for this celebration. We're going to try to find a place for dinner and/or drinks and meet at the lobby of the Phoenix Park Hotel at 7 PM. I apologize for the lack of notice on this event. I have been busy almost every waking moment during my trip here, and quite simply have not been able to make sense of my schedule until very recently. I just got back from Gettysburg this evening and had a late dinner, after which I've had to catch up on posting and e-mail. Thank goodness Mike has a central point at which we can congregate; I don't think Gaithersburg would have great appeal to most...
July 8, 2005
Heritage Foundation Event Recap
As many of you already know, I went to DC this week for both vacation and work, having scheduled an appearance at the Heritage Foundation to speak on blogging, journalism, and the intersection between the two. While I have regaled you with various adventures of our vacation, including my sudden lack of geographical comprehension, this event has remained my central focus this week. Mark Tapscott set up the panel discussion, with Jim Hill, the managing editor of the Washington Post Writers Group, and Daniel Glover from the National Journal, who now edits their Beltway Blogroll column. We had a lively presentation, I believe, on the issues facing journalists and bloggers in this new market for information dissemination, followed by a thoroughly enjoyable Q&A session afterwards. Post columnist E.J. Dionne joined us in person and tossed out a couple of tough and interesting questions. Mary Katherine Ham from Townhall blogged the...
July 9, 2005
A Big Thank You To Michelle And Jesse
The First Mate and I have had a wonderful vacation here in the nation's capital this past week. We've seen amazing sights, such as the Pentagon tour we took, the Mount Vernon tour, visiting the founding documents of our nation at the National Archive -- really, so many that I can't name them all at the moment. I've taken almost 500 pictures on my digital camera so far. Plus, we've met with bloggers from here and elsewhere, and the speaking engagement at the Heritage Foundation was a tremendous honor. It's really been a great week. One of the highlights for Marcia and I was our evening last night as the guests of Michelle and Jesse Malkin and their two beautiful children. Even though we have corresponded numerous times over the past months, we haven't had a chance to meet until last night. They invited us over for dinner and we...
July 11, 2005
Back From Vacation
I'm back from DC, not exactly well-rested after a whirlwing tour of the nation's capital, but certainly exhilirated from the wonderful events of the week. I doubted that we could have squeezed that much into two weeks, let alone the one week that we had in Washington. I'd like to thank all of the friends that helped make the trip so memorable, especially Mark Tapscott at the Heritage Foundation, who really made the entire expedition possible. I'd also like to thank Dafydd ab Hugh, who filled in admirably in my semi-absence this week to post some provocative and thoughtful essays. One of these days, Dafydd will start his own blog -- and we'll certainly look forward to that. Back to blogging ......
CQ Media Notes
I will appear on MS-NBC's Connected: Coast To Coast with Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley at 4 pm CDT today. The topic: sourcing for news stories, and the media's responsibility to protect its confidential sources. UPDATE: Once again, the folks at MS-NBC and Connected treated me very well and provided a thoroughly enjoyable experience. My thanks to Ron, Monica, and the producers at the show (especially Elizabeth and Susan) for their kind assistance. Ian has the video on his site -- and I'm about to watch it on my TiVo ... UPDATE II: Okay, at least it looks better than my last appearance -- although absent rigor mortis, I'm not sure it could have been worse. I was more nervous watching this than actually doing it. UPDATE III: The Generalissimo at Radioblogger has the transcript posted, along with a critique of my sartorial selection for the appearance. For the record,...
July 13, 2005
The Mad World Of CQ!
I am pleased to announce that I have joined the Daily Standard as a regular contributor to their pages. My first column, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Left", reviews Hillary Clinton's Aspen speech in which she compared George Bush to Alfred E. Neuman. I posted briefly on this earlier this week, and my new column takes a closer look at the factual misrepresentations that Hillary made, and the lack of accountability given to them by the media: HILLARY CLINTON made headlines earlier this week when she compared President George W. Bush to Mad magazine's Alfred E. Neuman, the gap-toothed, freckle-faced mascot whose signature statement is "What, me worry?" As political put-downs go, this hardly ranks as the most egregious, even in the modern era of politics. Fellow Democratic Senator Harry Reid called Bush both a liar and a loser earlier this year, and later only grudgingly offered to retract...
July 14, 2005
CQ On ... CBS?
After checking my referrer logs this morning, I noticed that a few visitors had begun to arrive from cbsnews.com. I found this rather odd (pun intended), as I hadn't written anything about CBS in ages. I followed the link -- and found out that CBS picked up my Daily Standard article on Hillary Clinton and her Mad Magazine moments in Aspen. Interestingly, the site notes that the piece ran on CBS with permission from Nation Review Online. Of course, it originally ran in the Daily Standard and, as far as I know, never appeared at NRO. So far, I'm scratching my head on this one. However, I'm pleased that CBS saw fit to reprint the article, and I hope that new readers from that site take a look around CQ and decide to stick around....
Prayers Needed For Fellow Blogger
Kevin McCullogh, Salem Radio Network talk-show host and all-around great guy, has often written movingly about the struggle his mother-in-law has waged against cancer. It appears, sadly, that she will shortly pass on. Kevin writes about that in his post from last night titled, "The phone call you're never quite ready for...": The phone call that we knew since Feburary of this year - might come - finally has. Early tomorrow The Lovely Bride boards a plane headed for California to say goodbye. There is little that can be said at this time. This part of life is hard, and not without considerable pain - regardless of the amount of suffering someone has been through. I watched my Mom be bed-ridden for weeks and elude death multiple times in the final months... yet in that moment... nothing quite prepares you for it. ... Mom is a hero by every measure....
July 15, 2005
Dafydd: Who's Your Daddy?
As the Captain reported below, a power-mad three-judge panel of the D.C. circuit has made a dreadful ruling. What the hell you been smoking, ab Hugh? The Hamdan ruling was incredibly good! We need those military tribunals to -- Not THAT ruling, you nitwit! I'm talking about the ruling that upheld Judge Kollar-Kotelly's ruling that the FEC had to start regulating blogs and other internet "communication" under the McCain-Feingold "Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act," treating them not like the sainted "exempt media" (the MSM), but rather as if blogs were the equivalent of political ads... forbidding us from blogging about candidates within sixty days of an election, for example, without having our posts being assigned a dollar value and counted as "contributions" to a campaign. This would presumably mean that if I posted about the 2006 race and urged Santorum to be reelected, and if my insights were deemed to be...
July 16, 2005
A Note About E-Mails
I get a lot of e-mail based on the work done here at CQ. Unfortunately, I also get lots of spam, and so I have had to set a spam filter on my e-mail account that takes some of the pressure off. I also have had to get a lot more selective about how to filter it. In order to make sure that your e-mail gets through, I thought I would let readers know how I'm approaching this issue. * Anything that doesn't include my e-mail address in the To: field will likely wind up in the spam bucket. Broadcast e-mails, except from services to which I've specifically subscribed, clog up my inbox and usually have a sales pitch involving former Nigerian princes and people who feel happy to be leaving me money in their will. * Except for known sources, e-mails with nothing but a URL will get ignored....
July 17, 2005
Busy Days
Lots of project work on the plate for the Captain this Sunday, and a visit from friends as well. Given that the news has been relatively quiet this weekend, I'm taking the afternoon off. However, I will return later tonight with a book review and more blogging. Which book? Well, what's the book of the weekend?...
July 18, 2005
Dafydd: Bear Flag League Reception and Hootenanny
As predicted, a fine time was had by all, except for those who got lost, never finding the joint due to the wretchedly error-ridden directions. Some attendees, however, mistrusting the geographical abilities of bloggers, thought to look up the route on the map and arrived undetoured. Relying entirely upon my world-famous memory (and this "agenda" sheet of paper I hijacked back home with me), I shall post here a brief and entirely serious precis of the highlights of the Bear Flag League reception. If serious, sober-minded reporting of such a momentous occasion as this yanks your crank, read on. The management warrant that no outright fabrications will be found in the following dissertation. Everything is true, including the orgiastic fertility rites and the sacrifice of a llama following the event. Special Note: All times are approximated to within 3.825 minutes, due to obscured view of the sun....
Continue reading "Dafydd: Bear Flag League Reception and Hootenanny" »
July 24, 2005
Back To The Encounter
I will be spending the day helping to facilitate a Marriage Encounter weekend. As I posted yesterday, we have worked with this marvelous nonprofit support organization to help bolster marriage for over five years now -- and we're really the new kids on the block. Most of the people who volunteer at Twin Cities Marriage Encounter have worked for ME for ten, fifteen, twenty years or more. In fact, I suspect that's how we became the President Couple; the others have already done their share in leadership ... and probably because we're gullible enough to agree to it! I'll be back to blogging later, but be sure to check out Michelle Malkin, QandO, The Anchoress, bRight and Early, Gay Patriot (who just got back to blogging), Anti Media, Mac's Mind, and the great bloggers on my blogroll. And if you'd like to contribute to the effort to help create stronger...
July 25, 2005
Spammers Use Blogger
I have to temporarily block blogspot.com URLs because Blogger sites have begun spamming my trackbacks. Using a number of different sites, Blogger spam has flooded my site this morning. At first, I tried blocking the specific site URLs, but apparently Blogger has allowed a number of commercial sites to spam other bloggers. Until they fix their problem and block access to spammers, I have to keep the block on CQ. If your blog is part of the Blogger community, you may want to write Google (Blogger's owner) and tell them to clean up their act. UPDATE: I've taken the block off for the moment. It did manage to stop over 50 trackback spams during the day today....
Ten Million Strong ... And Growing
I noticed earlier today that Captain's Quarters has passed the ten million visitor mark this morning! Big thanks to all who have made this possible -- the CQ community most of all. No one does this without lots of help. Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit has sent plenty of his readers in this direction, as has Lucianne Goldberg. I've been blessed with great friends in the blogosphere like my pals at the Northern Alliance: Mitch, King, the Fraters Libertas gang, and Power Line, where John, Scott, and Paul gave me a lot of encouragement in my early days, as well as inspiration. Michelle Malkin has been a wonderful friend and colleague. Jon at QandO and I started out together and he kept me going with lots of encouragement. Alicia at the Twilight Cafe started her blog the same night, and created the first CQ logo as a wonderful favor to me....
July 31, 2005
Conclusion Jumping At CQ
On July 25th, I wrote that leftist vandals piled flags from the yard of a family mourning the loss of a son-in-law who died serving his country in Iraq. An arsonist had piled all twenty flags adorning the yard of the Wessel home under their daughter's car and set them on fire, totaling the vehicle and narrowly avoiding setting their house on fire. I had assumed that only someone who wanted to stage a protest to the war would do something that stupid and dangerous to make a point. Well, I was wrong. It turned out to be pointless after all: Two teenage boys were charged Thursday with burning 20 small American flags set up in honor of a soldier who died from injuries suffered in the Iraq war. Police said the boys apparently did not know the significance of the flags they took from the yard and set afire...
August 3, 2005
A Blogger In Need
One of the first blogs I ever read was Electric Venom, the domain of Venomous Kate and a nice blend of political debate and personal venting. She taught me a bit about the etiquette of blogging and gave me some good advice early on. If one can be said to be an "old-school" blogger, Venomous Kate certainly qualifies. Now she needs our help. She went cycling with her young son and had a bad accident which has knocked out a number of her teeth. In order to pay for the enormous dental bills, she has asked for donations to her PayPal account. As far as I know, this is the only bleg Kate has ever staged at Electric Venom, amazing since a visit to her site shows how much time and money she has spent on the aesthetics. If you can, drop a few dollars in the PayPal account. After...
August 4, 2005
Friends
It's good to have them. And ... once again ... glass house, meet stones. Speaking of friends, Michelle Malkin has a new book coming out soon called Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild. She gives her readers a sneak peek at the Munch-inspired cover. Trust me, this book will knock your socks off when it gets released in October. Start saving the pennies now....
August 6, 2005
Trackback Problems At CQ
For those of you who have e-mailed me about the inability to get trackbacks to work, I'm not blocking you on purpose -- unless you are one of the many spammers trying to hijack my blog for your advertising, in which case you can pound sand. Unfortunately, my MT-Blacklist appears to have a string blocking a large number of legitimate trackback pings. I'm trying to figure that one out, and I'm going to ask the brilliant designer behind the CQ interface, Mel from Bonafide Style, to see what she can do about it. (She's cooking up a surprise for us, too.) In the meantime, feel free to post your link in the comments if the TB ping doesn't work. We will eventually get it worked out....
Two Quick Hits
Just a couple of links to which I want to alert CQ readers before I start babysitting the Little Admiral for the evening: * My friend Jon Henke, proprietor of the indispensable QandO, has the latest edition of The New Libertarian posted and ready for your reading. It has articles on "the China problem, European economic excuse-making, third-world issues, the Space program, Microsoft, the Supreme Court and more." Jon both writes and edits TNL, which has a number of contributors now. If you're not reading QandO on a regular basis, be sure to start now. * Venomous Kate has received about two-thirds of what she needs for her Fang Fund in order to pay for the dental work she requires after her terrible accident. As I wrote earlier, Venomous Kate was one of the first bloggers I ever read, along with Asparagirl and Power Line. She's received a lot of...
August 8, 2005
Why Did Daily Kos Poach Graphics From Joe Sherlock? (Update)
UPDATE: As I predicted, Markos set this right ... I said that Markos would fix the problem if he found out about it, and he did. Good for him.
A Surprise For CQ Readers (Bump To Top)
Mel from Bonafide Style has a surprise for CQ readers today. She has built a new skin for Captain's Quarters, one which I believe will make the blog much easier to read and navigate. Click here to change to the new skin and check it out for yourself. She's still fine-tuning it for some other purposes, but I think you will find it ready to roll right now. The new skin keeps the default theme for the blog, but makes the following changes: * A new two-column format for better text presentation * The placement of the flash ad in the banner * New java-based operation for blog utilities * Faster load time for posts Leave your comments and any problems you have in the comments to this post. Mel and I will review the feedback. Once we have finalized the design, we'll make sure it's accessible through the skins...
August 9, 2005
Trackback Problems At CQ Update
Hopefully, this will be good news. I believe I may have found the strings that caused so many Trackback pings to fail over the last couple of weeks, and I have removed them from my MT-Blacklist system. If you continue to see problems with the Trackbacks and you've confirmed that your ping was sent correctly, send me the excerpt that went with your ping so that I can double-check for more bad strings. Thank you for your patience!...
For Cathy
Chris Muir has a message for all CQ readers tonight: Please click on the strip itself. It will open a new window for your browser. Keep clicking, and while you're at it, say a prayer for Cathy, Chris, and the whole family....
August 10, 2005
Power Line Goes MSM
Well, maybe that's overstating it a bit -- but my friends at Power Line announced today that they have rolled out a news aggregation site called Power Line News. They have links to content sources all over the globe, and RSS feeds from the blogs you read, including CQ. It's a slick presentation and a fun site, and as John says, news junkies can get their fill and more through their Java-enabled interface. Drop by and take a look -- you'll want to bookmark it! Note: Saint Paul at Fraters Libertas congratulates John and I for our nascent speaking careers at Premiere Speakers Bureau. He writes one of his funniest posts ever -- and if you read FL, you'll know that's pretty darned hilarious -- comparing us to some of the more, uh, intriguing options available at Premiere. Check out his calculation of our relative value ......
August 11, 2005
Hate E-Mail Results In Termination
As a result of the commentary that Michelle Malkin has provided on the Cindy Sheehan protests, she has once again received the kind of sexist and racist e-mail that bloggers usually see only from those nutcases who hijack both of those victim classes in order to spew their venom. Sadly and predictably, the lunatics (who do not represent the mainstream Left) focus on Michelle's gender, genitalia, and ethnicity to convince her of the wrongness of her position, which would be laughable if it wasn't so damned predictable and more than a little pathetic. One unpredictable result came from Michelle's decision to publish some examples, complete with headers. Patrick Mitchell, who until today worked at the Los Angeles law firm of Olgletree Deakins, found out that using company e-mail to send hate-filled messages such as "YOU STINK you nasty C*NT! Eat S**t and DIE bitch!!" (asterisks mine) tends to limit one's...
August 16, 2005
Defending Michelle
August 17, 2005
Delving Into CQ's Secrets!
Two intrepid bloggers delve deeply into the murky depths of Captain's Quarters today. Trey Jackson has a ten-minute video interview with Joe Carter of Evangelical Outpost and myself that he conducted during Justice Sunday II. Trey doesn't appear on camera, but that's only in deference to Joe and I, as his matinee-idol good looks would prove too distracting for female viewers. The volume may sound a bit low, so be sure to turn it up a bit when you play it. Speaking of Joe Carter, he conducted a little investigative blogging and discovered the secret of my prolific output. Fortunately, he only has documentary evidence of my evil lackey, Lance McMurray from Red State Rant, for such shameful labor practices. And I don't drink strawberry dacquiris, either -- that was a straight-up double of Tennessee's finest whiskey, pal. Er, if I had been drinking, which I fully deny ......
CQ On The Air Tonight
I will be a guest on The World Tonight radio show in Calgary at 8:30 pm CT tonight, speaking with Rob Breckenridge about Able Danger and the Sheehan stories. That's on AM 770 in the Calgary area, or you can listen on the webstream at the link above. Hope that you can join in!...
August 18, 2005
Hugh Hewitt: The Reformation Sails To Starboard
Hugh Hewitt provides an analysis of the rapidly-increasing impact of the blogosphere, and determines that while the Leftist site have floundered, the center-right has expanded its reach and credibility. His Weekly Standard column will certainly prompt a furious debate in the blogs today: While the lefty blogs are helping to push the Democrats over the cliff, the center-right blogs continue to grow in influence and to innovate. Two examples deserve widespread attention. First, let us now praise Day by Day's Chris Muir, the funniest and sharpest three panel political cartoonist at work in America today. Muir's timeliness and productivity have created a large audience for him online, which is growing wider and wider as new blog consumers arrive in record numbers. Many bloggers routinely cite or even carry the Muir strip of the day (an innovation I first noticed at Captain's Quarters), and Muir's popularity further strengthens the center-right blogosphere's...
August 23, 2005
CQ On The Air Today
I will be on Right Talk Radio today at around 4:00 PM ET for a segment with Ace of Spades and Karol Sheinin from Alarming News, talking about Able Danger and the 9/11 Commission. Go to Channel 1 and look for Hoist The Black Flag. Aargh, ye mateys ... UPDATE: Corrected the link; thanks to CQ reader Mike Morrissey....
August 24, 2005
Skin 4: Two-Column War
If you haven't yet tried the new two-column format for Captain's Quarters, please click on the last CQ icon in the sidebar under the heading, Skin This Site (or clck here). Mel from Bonafide Style has finished the tweaks necessary to make the skin fully functional -- in fact, I've been using it for two weeks and I think it makes the site much easier to read. It loads much faster than the other skins, and best of all it retains the same look and feel of the default CQ skin while sprucing it up significantly. Let me know what you think, and if you have any web design needs, I can give my highest recommendations for Mel. She does great work, is highly responsive, and won't break the bankbook to get you the look you want for your site....
August 25, 2005
And He Squeezes The Charmin, Too
I must say that, unlike my friend Hugh Hewitt, I must agree with Jihad el Khazen's assessment of John Hinderaker in the Lebanon-based Islamist news outlet Dar al-Hayat. Khazen, or Crazy Ji as we call him around the watercooler, gets to the essence of John's insolence: John H. Hinderaker is even more insolent that the former, for he published an article in the Weekly Standard which is a magazine speaking on behalf of the neo-cons, under the title: Fences and a Just Peace. The subtitle of the article reads: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America makes a stand against Israels security fence and in favor of a just peace. (Never mind Palestinian terrorism.) Sharon is the father and mother of Israeli terrorism. He who cover up for him is his alike. Many American Churches took the decision of putting an end to their investments in Israel. The new Pope reprimanded...
August 29, 2005
Bloggers Spearhead Egyptian Opposition
In a country where opposition historically brought oppression, even a moderate loosening of the autocratic controls on dissent has not kept an underground movement from forming in the blogosphere. Egypt has allowed for multi-party elections for the first time in decades and has even permitted some limited criticisms and demonstrations against Hosni Mubarak. However, in the growing Egyptian blogging community, the gloves come off and the real criticisms flow freely: Baheyya is Egyptian, pillories President Hosni Mubarak and heaps scorn on his regime daily. But this fiery dissident who says aloud what others don't dare to think has no face: Baheyya is a blog. In an Egyptian presidential campaign that has failed to generate much enthusiasm, one of the hottest debates is taking place online in the country's burgeoning political blogosphere. "In every normal election, people have their eyes trained on the result: who wins, who loses, and how things...
August 30, 2005
Up Again, For Now
Having problems hitting the site today? You had good company; it looks like the servers have been down for about half of the day today. Hosting Matters has worked hard to reroute around a couple of breakdowns, but now we appear to be going strong. As far as I know, none of the outages had anything to do with CQ. I received a few e-mails while the servers were up asking if my site had been hacked. Not my site, but apparently HM had to deal with some sort of DoS attack on one of its other servers during the middle of everything else. All I can do is shake my head and wonder what small little lives some people lead. Thankfully, the good folks at HM know how to deal with these attacks and should have the rest of their clients up again soon. I'll start working again soon...
September 13, 2005
Waiting For Hef's Call
Earlier today, Kurt from Writing History dropped me an e-mail informing me that CQ had won recognition from a major national magazine as one of the top five "winning political blogs", certainly an honor considering the quality of writing across the blogosphere. However, when the magazine that honored me turned out to be Playboy, I have to admit that I didn't quite know how to respond. First, I am certainly grateful to the editors at Playboy for selecting CQ for such an honor. While I haven't indulged myself in reading the magazine for many years, the publication has always had a sterling literary reputation, apart from its more controversial, er, photography. My first efforts at creative writing regularly got sent to their fiction editors, as Playboy paid top dollar for short stories in the market. At the time, I recall that they offered $2,000 for any submissions that got published,...
September 16, 2005
A Quiet Day, A Few Notes
Sorry for the quiet day. I have had a long week at work and have had a number of projects keeping me busy -- and to top it off, I had to wrap them up before I took a week off. Today and this evening turned out to be difficult for blogging, but I may still have some energy left this evening. To top it off, someone sent me a huge unsolicited attachment, twice, and filled up my mailbox. If you sent me mail that bounced back today, I have the fixed the problem now. This next week should be more fun. I'm taking a vacation to visit Toronto. Assuming that the RCMP does not arrest me, I will speak at the University of Toronto on Tuesday evening as part of a panel discussion on journalism and blogging. The First Mate and I will spend a few days sightseeing in...
September 17, 2005
Big Lizards In The Blogosphere
Dafydd ab Hugh, novelist and guest-blogger extraordinaire, has finally launched his own blogsite, Big Lizards. Dafydd has written numerous comments both supportive and critical of me at CQ, and his excellent writing led me to invite him to join me as a guest blogger for an open-ended run. Dafydd posted over fifty essays the past two months here at CQ, all of them provocative and intelligent, and I've thoroughly enjoyed his contributions to our site. Now we will all have a single point of reference for Dafydd's insights, and much more than that. Big Lizards intends on offering a multimedia experience based on the blogosphere model, and Dafydd has done a fine job in designing the site to represent his writing and talent. Make sure you visit Big Lizards and blogroll it!...
September 27, 2005
The New, Improved Ruffini Straw Poll!
Patrick Ruffini has a new straw poll for blog readers to cast their votes for their Presidential preferences in the 2008 race. We had a lot of fun tracking the results from Patrick's last poll, which could display results by referring blog. CQ readers surprised me by selecting Rudy Giuliani in August, 40%-25% over George Allen, at the time my undisclosed choice in the poll. Patrick now has a way to use Technorati tags to give even further breakdowns in the results. None of this is scientific, of course, but it's a lot of fun. Give it a whirl, using the above link, and we'll see where CQ readers fall this time....
September 29, 2005
Quick Notes
A couple of quick notes before I go to bed and get a little shut-eye... John Hinderaker sent me an e-mail earlier tonight that Sean Hannity quoted my Daily Standard article on the Chuck Schumer/DSCC scandal on his radio show tonight. Glad to hear it! ... Don't forget to keep voting at Patrick Ruffini's straw poll for the 2008 presidential election. So far, we've had 351 voters come from this site, and 40% have gone for Rudy Giuliani. I've been pretty dismissive of Giuliani's chances, although I admire him greatly. Perhaps this shows that Rudy might really represent the rank-and-file of the GOP. ... The Anchoress has been blogging up a storm recently -- be sure to keep up with her excellent output!...
October 3, 2005
Two Years Of Blogging Bliss
Two years. 5,556 posts. 53,148 comments. 12 million visitors and counting. Thank you for two years of pure blogging bliss. I have so many people to thank that I no longer dare to go into specifics. I have too many friends to count, and that is by far the best blessing I could ever have received. My deepest appreciation goes out to all of them, as well as the entire CQ community. UPDATE: It's the second blogiversary for Sister Toldjah, too!...
October 10, 2005
The Weather's Fine, But I'm Under It
Normally by this time, I'd be done posting for the morning ... but I've got a touch of the flu. I'm sticking around the house for the day, so posting will be slow but steady all day long, I presume. The First Mate will be thrilled, to say the least, to have my voice croaking at her all day long....
CQ Does The Washington Post Webchat
Since I'm down with the flu anyway, I'll be participating in the Washington Post webchat at 1 pm ET today, discussing my piece yesterday on the Harriet Miers nomination and the split it caused in the conservative base. I hope you get a chance to jump in and participate, or at least enjoy the debate. Jumping in now to prepare ......
October 15, 2005
The Marriage Encounter Weekend
I will be away this weekend, working on another Marriage Encounter retreat. We have 20 couples who are looking for a way to build their relationships and become closer to one another, and we appreciate your prayers and thoughts in support of our efforts. I will return to blogging as soon as I return on Sunday evening. In the meantime, please keep checking my blogroll for the latest activity on the finest of the blogosphere -- and keep a prayer line open for the Iraqi people as well. Lastly ... go Irish -- beat SC!! UPDATE: I was initially encouraged to find 22 comments about the Marriage Encounter, and then disappointed that a normally substantive poster decided to use it to issue a series of stupid posts about the supposed racism of Michelle Malkin, instead of using his own blog to do so. Those comments will be deleted, and the...
October 23, 2005
Big Thanks To Canadian CQ Readers
I want to thank the many Canadian readers who participated in Kate's poll at Small Dead Animals, one of the best Canadian blogs in the 'sphere, who voted CQ as Best American Blog, Best American Political Blog, and my first Gomery post, "Canadian Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide Open," as Best Blog Post. Steve J at Angry in the Great White North won in three categories as well, most deservedly, including Best Canadian Blog. CQ readers make this possible, and I thank you for your continued contributions to our community....
October 27, 2005
CQ Media Notes
I will do two interviews tonight on the Harriet Miers withdrawal, among other things. The first will be with Open Source around 6 PM CT, or thereabouts. The second will be with Rob Breckenridge on CHQR's The World Tonight at 8 pm CT. Both should be lively -- I'm new to Open Source, but I will be joined by Glenn Reynolds, Paul Mirengoff, Arianna Huffington, and Megan McArdle. I've appeared several times on Rob's show and enjoyed it every time. Be sure to tune in. UPDATE: If you want to call in to Open Source, the phone number is 877-673-6767. UPDATE II: Open Source's producers and host made this a very pleasant experience. Christopher Lydon obviously comes from a completely different perspective, but he treats his guests with respect and encourages intelligent debate. I enjoyed the conversation, and listened to the entire hour with considerable interest. I thought everyone got...
October 29, 2005
CQ Media Notes
I will appear on tonight's "On The Story" on CNN, chatting with Abbi Tatton and Jeralyn Merritt about the Harriet Miers nomination and the effect of the blogosphere on the mainstream media. Jeralyn did a fine job on the Libby indictment, which doesn't surprise me -- she's one of my favorite liberal bloggers (and I do read blogs on the left). It runs at 7 pm ET tonight, and at 1 pm ET on Sunday. While most television appearances require guests to drive into town and get to a television studio with a satellite uplink, CNN tried something different with OTS during its taping last night. They shipped out a basic Mac box and a webcam, and I hooked it up directly to my DSL modem to initiate a webchat. What you see when I appear on camera is not a set, but the inside of my home office --...
October 31, 2005
Sorry About Comments Being Down (Updated)
I understand that comments have been down all day -- it appears to be a Typepad issue. This is my first time logging in since this morning, so I haven't had much of a chance to look into it. I'll see when they expect the problem to get resolved and get back to everyone ASAP. In the meantime, if you're looking for some interactive fun, take Hugh Hewitt's poll on the Alito nomination. Should the Byrd option get invoked if the Democrats filibuster Alito? Let Hugh know what you think! UPDATE: Looks like they're up and running now....
November 3, 2005
CQ Joins The Navy ....
... or at least CQ will join the Navy team in the Soldiers Angels new fundraising project, Project VALOUR-IT. This new project aims to purchase laptop computers for wounded veterans when they come home. Hopefully, we will get a new class of milbloggers when this gets completely rolled out. Here's the description from the site: Currently we are forming "libraries" of laptops equipped with the voice-controlled software for wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines at each major military medical center to check out during their stay. Copies of the voice-controlled software for use on home computers are also available to servicemembers who still need it as they leave the medical center. In special circumstances, a laptop may be provided to a soldier for his or her permanent use. Each fully equipped laptop will cost an estimated $685 (plus shipping), thanks to retailer discounts. Thus, the first two phases will require...
November 4, 2005
All Hands On Deck
Here's a little Friday night fun -- Aaron wants to poll the blogosphere to see which blogs get what cards in his new Deck O' Bloggers. I don't know which card would be appropriate card for a Captain -- maybe the Jack of Spades? Maybe my Buccaneer skin would get me a Diamonds face card. I'll wait and see if I get any votes for either. At any rate, it sounds like good clean blogosphere fun. Hugh as the King of Hearts? I would have guessed the Ace of (RF Moeller) Diamonds. As for the Queen of Hearts, does anyone know if Juice Newton blogs?...
November 8, 2005
CQ Media Notes
I will be appearing on the Lars Larson show at 6:30 PM CT to discuss the French riots. Lars has tried to make arrangements to have me on the show for a long time now, and it finally looks like it worked out for tonight - and I'm delighted to join him. I hope CQ readers will be able to listen in ... more later. UPDATE: I had a great time talking with Lars -- he and his producers run a very tight, professional ship, and Lars gave me plenty of time to talk through my points. If any CQ readers had a chance to catch the segment, let me know what you think about it....
November 21, 2005
Aftermath
So yesterday, after getting up, I realized that sometime during the night I had contracted the flu. I could barely keep anything down -- and I had to drive 500 miles to get home. (I also had laryngitis, but I think that came from the screaming.) By the time we made it home, I had a fever and chills, and I slept from around 5 pm until ... oh, now.I can't talk, can't eat much, and still feel a bit dizzy, but I can sit up and do some reading and writing. Ironically, the First Mate did just fine on the trip. Go figure!...
November 22, 2005
2005 Wizbang Weblog Awards Accepting Nominations
Kevin at Wizbang has once again dedicated a huge amount of his time and resources to host the 2005 Weblog Awards. He is now accepting nominations for the splendid variety of categories. Last year, CQ won the Best Conservative Weblog award, a surprise considering the competition involved. Make sure you get your nominations in early, and then return often to vote for your favorite blogs in their categories. Kevin does a wonderful job in keeping the results honest, and the competition fun. It's also a great opportunity to find new blogs and bloggers. Keep checking in at Wizbang on the progress!...
November 28, 2005
Trackback Problems At CQ
Just an FYI -- the trackbacks apparently have been blocked by the hosting service for CQ. This happens occasionally as the circumstances arise. I've asked them to look into the problem. In the meantime, feel free to post a link in the comments to your post on the related topic. I'll update this post as the situation develops. UPDATE: Trackbacks are re-enabled, but Hosting Matters says I need to upgrade to MT 3.2 to avoid the spam attacks. That's why they disabled my TB system in the first place, and they may have to again if it continues. I'll work on the upgrade ASAP....
November 29, 2005
The Return From Upgrade Hell
I'm reworking my weekly column for the Daily Standard on Canada tonight, which will appear a little later this week, and the renewed trackback function drove me to a new level of insanity ... and to upgrade to Movable Type 3.2, which supposedly controls the spam attacks much better than previous versions with the MT-Blacklist plugin. What I thought would be a 30-minute quick update turned into a three-hour ordeal, the last of which took the site down intermittently, especially if you tried to post comments. It should be back up and running now, but blogging will probably be over for the evening. If you get a chance, take a look at my friend Scott Johnson's latest column at DS, "Second Time's A Charm", about Mary Mapes and her attempt to rehabilitate herself after the Memogate debacle. So far, it's a complete flop, and few things are more fun than...
November 30, 2005
Quick Link-Love For The Evening
I'm busy trying to fix some issues with the Trackbacks -- I understand they're still not working properly, although comments seem to be okay -- and get some other work done. Instead of trying to force a couple of posts, I'm going to recommend some better ones from the cream of the blogosphere tonight, and hope for a bit of time for late-night blogging later. First up is the still-mysterious case of the Oklahoma University suicide bomber. Mark Tapscott, who's covering the FBI investigation, has some interesting developments about whether or not they will be able to put their heads together to get to the bottom of this case. Michelle Malkin has a trove of documents on the case for amateur sleuths to peruse as part of her own coverage on the case. Don't miss her take on Janeane Garofalo, who used to actually be funny ... before a house...
December 4, 2005
CQ Media Notes (Updated - With New Appearance!)
I will be on Howard Kurtz' Reliable Sources today at 10 am ET, talking about the so-called propaganda scandal that already seems to have lost steam this weekend and coverage of George Bush's speech on Iraq. I may have given the wrong time yesterday, so be sure to re-check your times. I'll be on with John from Americablog, so we should have some fun with each other. Also, it looks like my trackbacks might be working again, so give it a shot. UPDATE: Just got home and watched my segment on the TiVo. Not too bad, I think, and the people at CNN treated me very well. Howard Kurtz gave me plenty of time to talk. As it turned out, John Aravosis and I didn't really disagree that much on the topics involved (I thought John did a good job as well, although I didn't know he was in studio...
2005 Warblogger Awards (Update On 2005 Weblog Awards!)
John Hawkins has announced the results of the 2005 Warblogger Awards at Right Wing News. A stellar cast from the blogosphere has reviewed the bloggers under consideration, and CQ ended up in the top ranks in a couple of different categories. Thanks to all the bloggers who voted for CQ! (And a big thanks to John Hawkins for creating and hosting this set of awards.) UPDATE: I have been nominated for Best Blog in the 2005 Weblog Awards at Wizbang. This poll allows voters to cast their selections for their favorite blog once every 24 hours. Check out the competition -- I'm up against some brilliant bloggers -- and make your selection every day until the 15th. And drop Kevin Aylward a note thanking him for all his work in setting up the Weblog Awards....
December 6, 2005
An Honor To Compete (Means -- I Wanna Win, Dammit!)
The voting continues at the 2005 Weblogs Awards, and so far it looks like the Daily Kos will run away with the Best Blog award, the category in which CQ competes this year. Many fine blogs have been nominated for this honor, and it's terrific just to be mentioned in the same category as them. I don't want to get too far into recommendations for specific awards -- I have a lot of friends in the blogosphere, and some of them compete against each other this year. However, I'd like to at least draw your attention to a few: Best Canadian Blog - Near and dear to my heart this year. Be sure to check out Small Dead Animals, Angry in GWN. Best New Blog - All Things Beautiful; Alexandra is a class act all the way. Best Conservative Blog - Jeez, I love all these guys. Vote for a...
December 11, 2005
CQ Reader Gets His Eagle
Many of our CQ community come from a younger demographic than I sometimes imagine. Although I have been interested in politics since Watergate, when I was ten years old, most people don't start finding politics and policy debate very exciting until they have gone through at least an election or two as a voter. As you may imagine, I'm always pleased to hear that young men and women in high school and college follow CQ and other blogs, keeping up with the latest in politics. One of our regular readers, Sean Skelton, has also had time to be active in the Boy Scouts of America, serving his local community as well as participating in ours. I heard from his family that Sean has passed his final BSA review and will shortly receive his Eagle Scout award. As a former Scout myself -- one who only made it to First Class...
December 12, 2005
About The Ad ...
I have received a few e-mails objecting to the MS-NBC ad running in the Premium strip, asking me why I approved the graphic and/or why I don't cancel it. It's a fair question, and I'll throw the comments open for debate on the topic. First, on the ad itself, the graphic shows the outline of a female torso and the word "Porn". I don't find the outline objectionable; I've seen bra ads that reveal much more. In fact, the ad just above it features a woman modeling an anti-ACLU T-shirt that has more curve (and a much more realistic image), and yet I don't consider that objectionable either. The word "porn" has appeared on this blog in the context of discussion and debate; I don't shy away from it, although sometimes I spell it "p0rn" to keep the Googlebots from delivering me fresh readership under false pretenses. MS-NBC has made...
December 13, 2005
CQ On The Air Tonight
I'll be on the air with Rob Breckenridge in a few minutes at CHQR, the Calgary radio station that has often been kind enough to invite me on their show. I hope you can listen in on their Internet stream -- and check out Rob on a regular basis. UPDATE: Sorry for the short notice, folks -- but I had a series of appointments and couldn't post this until just before air time. We talked about Stanley Williams and his execution, and Rob gave me plenty of time to discuss it with his audience. Calgary has a fine show in The World Tonight -- I hope that more people discover it through their website....
December 29, 2005
The Latest On Trackbacks
I'm starting to see trackbacks working again on the blog, but Movable Type does make it more difficult to use in version 3.2, it appears. If others who have tried TBs did so with the autofind feature, that probably will no longer work. The URL for the trackback ping will probably have to be entered "manually" in order for the system to pick it up; the codes are on the individual post screens. MT 3.2 has a way to minimize the junk TBs that I hope will not prove too difficult for valid TBs to match. If it doesn't work, feel free to include the link in the comments section of the post....
December 31, 2005
Knucklehead Of The Year?
The Florida Masochist has taken his daily Knucklehead award (one which I've thankfully not yet won) and used it to anoint the Knucklehead of the Year. He got a blue-ribbon panel of bloggers to help him judge the contest. I won't reveal exactly who it is here, but in keeping with the nautical theme of CQ, you can expect a good Kelo-hauling at The Florida Masochist....
Closing Out 2005
To celebrate the end of 2005, the FM and I finally went out and saw The Chronicles of Narnia this evening after a couple of false starts at it the past two weeks. We both really enjoyed the movie, and we would recommend it to everyone. I won't write a full review, but the movie was excellent in all of its facets -- acting, cinematography, music, the works. The only complaint I had was that the score tended to drown out the dialogue in a couple of places. Otherwise, it should please every member of the family -- and I can't wait for the sequel. I don't have a retrospective to offer for 2005. I had thought I might go through some of my old posts for a list of favorites, but in the end, I just had other tasks going on. Instead, take a look at some of my...
January 4, 2006
Quick Hits
A few notes from around the blogosphere while I catch up on the news of the day ... * Mark Tapscott notes that the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia can teach the world about the advantages of free-market capitalism. Mark, who does great work at the Heritage Foundation and has been tremendously supportive of CQ, has links to tons of economic data. * Speaking of economic data, King at SCSU Scholars (and a good buddy of mine) has plenty of background for the new Russian-Ukrainian compromise on natural gas. King spent time working with Viktor Yuschenko several years ago and knows the Ukraine like no one else. On economics as in politics, King is a must-read. * And speaking of must-reads, my friend the Anchoress has a lengthy, gentle, but firm scolding for the press over the botched reporting on the Sago mine disaster. In my mind as well, this...
January 11, 2006
How To Know You're Back In The Twin Cities
The First Mate and I had to rush out of the day's blogging session in the mid-afternoon in order to get to our evening flight on time back home. Despite a bumpy flight, I slept through most of it, which means I have little appetite for sleep now. When I woke up, the flight attendant addressed the cabin: "On behalf of the captain and crew, I'd like to thank you for flying Northwest Airlines. We know that you have a variety of choices of bankrupt airlines, and we thank you for flying ours." Yes, that means I'm home....
January 25, 2006
A Tribute To Ground State
... who selected the perfect icon for his link to Hugh Hewitt. A man with his excellent taste belongs on my blogroll -- so now he's there. Keith, in case you missed it, this one's for you from the CQ archives: I still think that the colors suit Hugh much better than that dingy orange/brown combination that looks like a reject from James Lilek's Interior Desecrations ......
January 31, 2006
Quick Notes ...
Congrats to Lance at Red State Rant on his first blogiversary. He gives me too much credit for his start, but I'll take what I can get .... The Bird Dog also celebrates his first blogiversary. Gee, lots of people missed the presidential election. No wonder they seem sane ... Lorie at Polipundit wants to organize a thank-you campaign for the 58 Senators who did what they were supposed to do in confirming Alito. Sounds like a nice idea to me ... I'll be live-blogging the State of the Union speech later tonight -- and so will Drumwaster. Hey, run two browsers and keep up with us both! .... Brian at Iowavoice has had a run of bad luck, and could use a hand. If you have a couple of bucks and are so inclined, hit his tip jar. One never knows when a blogger can use a hand ......
February 1, 2006
The Teeth Of Our Skins
It appears that our skins function is down after the move to the new server. I have help-desk requests into Hosting Matters and m2webstudios for immediate attention, and hope to have the problem resolved as soon as possible. It looks like that is the only problem so far, and that all data is accessible. Sorry for the inconvenience! UPDATE: On the other hand, it looks like trackbacks are working again!...
February 6, 2006
Hugh's Silver Lining
I knew Hugh would find a way to make a Steeler victory in the championship into a silver lining somehow. Hugh noted that Lynn Swann got a thunderous ovation from Steeler fans -- and Pennsylvania voters -- when he ran onto Detroit's Ford Field in pre-game introductions: [The worst Superbowl moment] had to be Ed Rendell's when he saw Lynn Swann run on to Ford Field with other past Superbowl MVPs. Swann got a thundering reception from the pro-Steelers crowd. Let's see --tired, old party hack versus fresh face superstar with charisma. Rendell's got a money advantage, but Swann is already pulling ahead in the polling. It is the Arnold effect --someone new, someone not defined by the battles of the past dozen years. Unlike Arnold, Swann's also liked by the GOP base. Swann's been charging past Rendell in the polls for some time, and the Steeler victory certainly won't...
Shooting Fish In A Barrel
Congratulations to our good friend Paul Mirengoff at Power Line for making Dick Durbin look like ... well ... Dick Durbin. Read Paul's own account here. Mark Tapscott replies to his rhetorical question in this post, which sounds more and more true all the time ......
February 8, 2006
Rebuttals, Rebuttals (And Rebuttal-Rebuttals!)
I sometimes get rebuttals via e-mail rather than comments, mostly due to either some difficulties with the Typekey authorization interface or just the length and depth of the rebuttals themselves. I received two today that deserve special mention on posts I wrote early this morning. On my post about Lynn Swann and the exit of Bill Scranton from the governor's race, I received this e-mail from a political activist in PA who wishes to remain anonymous: I read your blog daily, and have nothing but the utmost respect you for you. However, when I read your post this morning on Bill Scranton’s having dropped out of the Gubernatorial race, I could have smashed my head through a wall. With all due respect, this is what happens when campaigns are viewed and analyzed “from afar.” I’m a blogger and political consultant in Pennsylvania, and I can tell you that your characterization...
February 15, 2006
Blogs Bogging Down?
Mark Tapscott links to a Gallup survey that suggests that the blogging explosion has plateaued. After experiencing exponential growth in readership and exposure for two years, blogosphere penetration in the general population flattened in 2005, showing no growth at all: However, according to recent Gallup data, it seems the growth in the number of U.S. blog readers was somewhere between nil and negative in the past year," Gallup said. The data upon which that statement was based was drawn from Gallup's annual Lifestyle survey conducted Dec. 5-8 2005, which found nine percent of internet users saying they read blogs frequently, 11 percent read them occasionally, 13 percent read them rarely and 66 percent never read them. Those figures are virtually unchanged from the results of the same survey one year ago, according to Gallup. Although the response options varied slightly on the two surveys, Gallup said the results were so...
Quick Links
A few nuggets from friends and fellow bloggers ... A reader tells La Shawn Barber how a black female should view the world. A white, male reader. And yes, Damien King uses the N-word in scolding La Shawn for hating blacks. Oh, the irony ... Bruce Kesler has highlights of today's hearings on American corporations enabling Chinese efforts to censor the Internet. I wish I could have watched the debate myself, but alas I have to earn some cash ... Speaking of hearings, Vi at QT Monster has the entire audio for today's Able Danger hearings. I've not had a chance to catch up to the latest efforts of Rep. Weldon, Col. Shaffer, and others to finally get the program's findings revealed to the public, but AJ Strata has done an excellent job in covering it this week. Be sure to check out his entire site... More later ......
March 3, 2006
Live Chat With CQ
Given that I'm feeling under the weather today and am trying to recover from a nasty cold, I though this might be a good day to try a live chat for CQ readers. I'll be discussing any topic that interests those who join the session, which will run from 1 - 2 pm Eastern time. I'll be hosting this chat on AOL Instant Messenger, so if you want to join, either leave your screen name in the comments of this post or send it to me in an e-mail with the subject "CQ Chat" (so I can find it easily). I'll invite you to the chat as soon as I start setting up the chat. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll post the session as an update to this post. UPDATE: The chat room title is "CQ Chat", but I think I still need to invite...
March 8, 2006
Congratulations, Mark
Please send your congratulations to The Heritage Foundation's Mark Tapscott, who has been named to the National Freedom of Information Hall of Fame. This honors Mark's commitment to keep information in the public forum, and in fact Mark is one of the few conservatives so named. It's a well-deserved honor for a great blogger and an even better friend....
March 15, 2006
It's An Honor To Be Nominated
Earlier today I learned that the media magazine The Week has nominated me for their Blogger of the Year award. The Week provides an excellent review of the major news stories and opinion pieces from around the world each week and annually honors those who have provided the best in journalism and editorial writing. Last year, my good friends at Power Line were recognized for their excellent and influential work in the blogosphere in 2004, especially for their deconstruction of the Killian memo fiasco at CBS. Four other bloggers have also been nominated for the 2005 award: Michelle Malkin John Aravosis at Americablog Brendan Loy Arianna Huffington It's wonderful to have been nominated with all of these bloggers, but especially so with Michelle, one of the nicest people and best media bloggers in the 'sphere. John Aravosis and I have traded a couple of e-mails and once appeared together (via...
March 17, 2006
The Great Blogger Degaussing Of 2006 (Updated)
Apparently the folks at Blogger have done a pretty horrible job of supporting their customers. Betsy Newmark had her entire site wiped out mysteriously by their system, and then experienced a boatload of frustration when she tried to correct the situation. Her URL also appeared to have been hijacked as well, but now seems like it's back on line. She vented to Glenn Reynolds: My blog disappeared from Blogger some time Tuesday. All I ge is a message that my blog wasn't found on their server. When I go to my Edit page, it doesn't show Betsy's Page as one of my blogs anymore. It's as if my identity was erased. I just get this very irritating message "The blog you were looking for was not found." It doesn't show up on my dashboard at all. Now, somebody has started a blog using my address and hijacked it. This is...
March 20, 2006
CQ Media Links For Today
Captain's Quarters gets mentioned today in a couple of media outlets ... * First is today's Star-Tribune, where John Reinan gives me a brief mention regarding the efforts to regulate political speech on the Internet. Reinan interviewed me last week and does a nice job of capsulizing the controversy. The Strib doesn't provide links from its web content but it does mention the blog by name. The article also quotes former FEC commissioner Brad Smith on the pending regulation. I enjoyed speaking with Reinan, who used probably the wittiest thing I was able to say while driving on the 494 Eastbound Highway Of Doom. * Our old friend from Salem Communications, Eric Hogue, also mentioned me today on his blog and on his regular morning show in Sacramento. Eric often fills in for Hugh Hewitt when Hugh goes into mourning for his Cleveland Browns -- a regular occurrence -- and...
March 21, 2006
A Blogger Gets His Due
Join me in congratulating Mark Tapscott of The Heritage Foundation and Tapscott's Copy Desk. I spoke with Mark earlier today, and he told me he had accepted a position with the Washington Examiner and on the national editorial board of the Examiner. Mark will be part of the Examiner's efforts to expand into numerous cities as well as creating a significant on-line presence. Mark has been a tremendous presence at Heritage, especially for bloggers and the effort to bring respect for the work we do. He has also been a good friend to me, and I'm happy to see him get such a wonderful opportunity and interesting challenge. Congratulations to one fine blogger! Media Bistro announced this earlier...
March 23, 2006
The Boss Likes Me
The Real Ugly American interviews Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes at length about his new book on George Bush -- an excellent read, by the way -- and Rick asks him about his favorite blogs. I'm happy to report that CQ is on his list: UA: How about you do you read any blogs and if so who are your favorites? FB: Well let’s see I read Real Clear politics, Powerline, Hugh’s blog [Hugh Hewitt] of course. The neat thing about Hugh’s blog is he has these links to other blogs and they are all pretty good. Drudge, you have to read that. Brit Hume that’s the first thing he looks at in the morning. Then Captains Quarters thats a good one. The Kaus Files, Mickey is a smart guy. I don’t do it myself. It would be an overdose for me. I just love the democratic impact of...
March 25, 2006
Will Blogs Eat Themselves?
The entire tempest surrounding the hiring and termination of Ben Domenech as the Washington Post's designated conservative blogger shows that the blogosphere has a lot of growing up to do. Between the hysteria, the personal attacks, the revelation of wrongdoing and the triumphalism that followed, bloggers did tremendous damage to themselves. We had anticipated a lively debate in the Washington Post once Ben started blogging -- but instead we got a slew of ad hominem attacks from bloggers determined to sabotage the Post's experiment. All one has to do is spend a couple of hours surfing through the various Red America links at Memeorandum to understand just how unhinged the attacks were, especially in the beginning. Charges of racism and bigotry flew mighty quickly and with no substantiation, but the accusations themselves took on their own life as a meme. It interfered with the real revelations of plagiarism discovered by...
March 27, 2006
Quick Links
Lyn Nofziger, the longtime Reagan aide, passed away after a long illness today. I had heard he was ill, but Nofziger and his family wished to keep it private. Mark Tapscott writes a short but elegant post to his friend and asks his readers to pray for Lyn and his family. Michelle Malkin has been providing excellent coverage of the immigration debacle, including the news that Los Angeles schools apparently took it upon themselves to send students off to bolster the pro-illegal-immigration rallies. Start with the link and keep going. The Anchoress notes that political correctness has struck "Amazing Grace". God forbid we should have been "wretches" when we turn our face from Him! It's March. It's an election year. That means that Hugh Hewitt must have a book coming out ... Order your copy of Painting the Map Red at fine booksellers everywhere....
April 4, 2006
A DC Interlude
I'm in the nation's capital this evening for an event, so blogging will be light. I'll have more to say about the event itself later this evening. It should be a night to remember, though ......
The Week's Blogger Of The Year
Now that the event has concluded, I can reveal why I came to Washington DC tonight. The Week Magazine selected me as Blogger of the Year for 2005, following in the footsteps of my friends from Power Line, who won the honor last year. The magazine flew me out here earlier today and put me up at an excellent hotel, and then brought me to the Andrew Mellon Auditorium for dinner and the presentation. The announcement has not been posted at their site yet, but the story that garnered the most attention of the judges was the Adscam scandal in Canada and my coverage of the testimony during the Gomery hearings. The Week also had kind words for the overall effort at CQ even outside of that story. I have the dead-tree version of the article, but as soon as it's posted at The Week, I'll link back to it....
April 5, 2006
Clarifying Arianna
Paul Mirengoff quoted Arianna Huffington from the panel discussion at The Week's awards banquet in DC last night as saying that William F. Buckley had written that the war in Iraq was "the greatest foreign policy disaster in US history." Apparently, Arianna now says that she only said that Buckley called for an acknowledgement of defeat. Arianna feels that Paul implies that she made the quote up. I recall this moment on the panel, because my jaw dropped when she said it, and Paul got the quote right. Now, when people speak off the cuff on a panel discussion, it's very easy to get quotes and citations mixed up. Arianna is correct when she says that Buckley believes the war in Iraq was a mistake, but as I wrote when Buckley's column appeared, Buckley opposed the war from the beginning anyway. I don't recall Arianna even mentioning William Odom --...
April 6, 2006
Atsa Spicy a-Meatball ...
One of the earliest commenters on CQ has a new home. Linda, the proprietor of the thoughtful liberal blog Auterrific, had engaged in a number of excellent debates in the early days of CQ before deciding to focus on other projects. One of those projects has now come to fruition; she and her husband Joe have started a new blog devoted to one of life's greatest pleasures -- spicy food. Titled The Hot Zone Online, the blog covers everything you want to know about habanero chiles but were afraid to taste. Linda and Joe may just corner the market on spicy blogging ... well, at least clean spicy blogging, ifyouknowwhatImean. Drop by The Hot Zone and scald your eyeballs as well as your taste buds, and tell Linda that CQ says hello....
April 7, 2006
Post.com To Hire Two Bloggers This Time
Raw Story posts an inside scoop from the Washington Post that their on-line site will hire two bloggers to replace the disgraced Ben Domenech -- one liberal and one conservative. This means that Jim Brady has not given up on his efforts to engage the blogosphere, good news for both the newspaper and bloggers: The paper’s ombudsman, Deborah Howell, has informed RAW STORY that Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com, is looking for a liberal blogger, along with a conservative one, to replace Ben Domenech who resigned after only three days of blogging, when his earlier writings were discovered by mostly liberal bloggers to be racially insensitive and – in multiple cases – plagiarized. The paper doesn’t plan on making any formal announcement, but the news should be welcome to many critics on the left who felt that it was unfair to hire just a conservative blogger in the first...
April 10, 2006
Thanks, Mr. Barone
Laurie Mylroie notes that Michael Barone had some very kind remarks about me and CQ yesterday and pointed his US News & World Report back to my two posts on the Iraqi Air Force memo and the implications of its timing. As Mr. Barone states, we still don't know whether Iraq had any connection to the 9/11 attacks, but the memo and the surrounding context of the 9/11 plot suggests that some may exist: Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters makes his living as manager of a call center. But he also blogs brilliantly and thoroughly. Those who insist that there could never have been a collaboration between the Saddam Hussein regime and al Qaeda on 9/11 need to read Ed's following blog entry, in full. It doesn't prove the case, or claim to, but it makes very interesting reading. I am always amazed at those who claim, with absolute certitude,...
April 11, 2006
The Week Award Announcement
The Week Magazine has posted its awards issue on line. This is the digital version of the handout we received at the awards dinner, a wonderful memento from the evening. The blogger award announcement can be found here. I especially liked the artist's rendition of yours truly, but the one on the cover with Nick Kristof, Mike Luckovich, and me panning for gold is even better. Thanks again to the entire CQ community; you made this possible, and words cannot express my appreciation. Addendum: Well, they could have drawn me with more hair, I suppose ......
April 15, 2006
The Fever Swamps, Exposed
Today's Washington Post reports on our more extreme left-wing counterparts of the blogosphere and the measured tones of debate they promote. The David Finkel piece focuses on Maryscott O'Connor, whose life provides an example of the balance and stability so evident in the fever swamps: In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes and realizes that her president is still George W. Bush. The sun has yet to rise and her family is asleep, but no matter; as soon as the realization kicks in, O'Connor, 37, is out of bed and heading toward her computer. Out there, awaiting her building fury: the Angry Left, where O'Connor's reputation is as one of the angriest of all. "One long, sustained scream" is how she describes the writing she does for various Web logs, as she wonders what she should scream about this day....
April 20, 2006
Heritage Foundation Resource Bank Event
Posting has been light as I have been attending the Heritage Foundation's annual Resource Bank event. Bridgett Wagner invited me to speak on a forum about the lessons of Hurricane Katrina and its implications for big-government solutions. Joining me on the panel was Ron Utt of Heritage as moderator, Louisiana state representative Steve Scalise, and Forest Thigpen of the Mississippi Center for public policy. Steve started by reviewing in detail the ways that FEMA has mismanaged the funds allocated to long-term recovery in New Orleans. Steve promised me a copy of his presentation, and I hope to collect it tomorrow; he did a wonderful job in relating how the government procurement process has sabotaged the clean-up and rebuilding of New Orleans while the money goes everywhere but where it's needed. I'll give you one example that I recall from my notes. After almost eight months, much of the debris left...
April 22, 2006
Milblogger Conference Under Way
The first Milblogger's Conference has opened this morning, led by the inestimable Col. Austin Bay and including such luminaries as Smash, Op-For, BlackFive, and several others. La Shawn Barber will live-blog the event, and an audio/video feed is available. Be sure to tune in!...
April 24, 2006
Hot Air Debuts!
Michelle Malkin and several friends have launched Hot Air, a new multimedia blog intended to exploit the newest technologies in information delivery. Part blog, part Internet TV show, part podcast, Hot Air appears ready to engage the twin blogosphere thirsts for information and sheer geekiness. Michelle will have a daily video presentation called Vent, which I am certain will garner attention across the broad spectrum of the blogosphere. Be sure to check out Hot Air!...
April 25, 2006
CQ Sends Its Condolences
... to Terry Heaton, whose lovely young wife passed away suddenly and inexplicably. He found his wife in the bathroom early this morning, already gone, and with no warning whatsoever. My heart breaks for Terry, and our prayers go out to him. Please join us in asking the Lord for His support for Terry and his family and friends....
April 26, 2006
Salute To Port
When any of us in the blogosphere succeed, we all benefit, and I would like to offer congratulations to two bloggers from the port side of the 'sphere. Glenn Greenwald recently released a new book, How Would A Patriot Act?, in which he offers his critiques of the war on terror. The book just hit #1 on Amazon's best-seller list, proving that the blogosphere has plenty of talent for the book market. John Aravosis at Americablog achieved another form of blogospheric success. Due to his discovery of the ease in which anyone can purchase cell-phone records, John has helped get legislation passed protecting the privacy of all cell phone customers. (If you'll recall, John first bought his own cell phone records through a third party -- and when that didn't get much attention, he bought the records for General Wesley Clark -- which got Congressional attention quickly.) Both men show...
April 28, 2006
Still More Server Problems
We've come under attack all day here at the Hosting Matters community, apparently by Saudis who have issues with free speech. Michelle Malkin has some of the background at her site, if you can access it. The only thing I know is that the folks at Hosting Matters have treated me very well, and I'm not going to burn my friends when they're getting attacked. This, too, shall pass. In the meantime, I think I'll check to see if my backup site still works for later use. UPDATE: Please bookmark my backup site. I'm guessing we'll see more of these attacks in the coming days, and if so I will post updates on the old Typepad blog. It's kind of like coming back to your parent's house and having to sleep in your old bedroom -- it makes you feel a bit diminished, but the memories are priceless....
April 29, 2006
CQ: Gadfly Of The Year
I found out this morning that the local alternative newspaper City Pages has named me its Best Gadfly for 2005. Atomizer from Fraters Libertas mentioned to me in the studio while we're waiting for our turn at the microphones for today's Northern Alliance show. Since I had not received any notification, I completely missed that when I had perused the site earlier this week. The paper made it clear that they're not exactly fans of this site, which does not surprise me, but they demonstrated their openmindedness in their selection: According to the American Heritage dictionary, a gadfly is one of three things: "A persistent irritating critic; someone who acts as a provocative stimulus; or one of an array of various flies that bite or annoy livestock and other animals." So far as we know, Morrissey does not harass cattle. On the other two counts, though, he meets the definition...
May 1, 2006
Join The 101st Fighting Keyboardists! (Bumped)
** Scroll down for updates -- script for blogroll in Update V! ** Our friends on the port side of the blogosphere have had quite a time tossing around funny little nicknames for those of us who support the war on terror and use our blogs to express our convictions about it. We've seen the names here at CQ in the comments section -- the term "chickenhawk" has appeared more than once, and others in the blogosphere have assigned us to a unit called the 101st Fighting Keyboardists. I've thought about that for a while, wondering what exactly about both epithets appear so fascinating to left-wing bloggers. As a middle-aged grandfather supporting a chronically ill wife, I have few options for doing my part in the war on terror. After 9/11, I spent weeks looking into different options for service while trying to balance my family obligations. Our family found...
May 2, 2006
The Intellectual Bankruptcy Of Some Bloggers
Mitch Berg wrote a provocative post yesterday on the enduring popularity of immaturity: It's a good thing I have Cap'n Ed and King on the air with me on the NARN show. They are both very diligent in reminding me that when I slag on leftyblogs that there are exceptions to the rule; when I refer to leftybloggers who've been comedically outmaneuvered as "shrieking like a cagefull of poo-flinging monkeys", both were very conscientious about reminding me that there are exceptions. Josh Marshall, Matt Yglesias, Jeralynn Meritt, Flash - they tend to be able to separate the fever from the swamp. ... Sponge seems to assume that anyone involved in the "101st" thinks the joke is in any way analogous to miltiary service. ("Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a midwest call center manager/blogger is comparing a hastily put-together jpeg and internet list with actual military recruitment.") Sponge? Is that really what...
101st Fighting Keyboarders: A Centcom Endorsement (Updated)
Sneakeasy's Joint joined the 101st Fighting Keyboarders and posted about his decision to join up -- which prompted a surprising e-mail from US Central Command: Hi, Kiril: I caught your post about the 101st Fighting Keyboardists. Good luck with the project! I’m not sure if you have been to the US Central Command website but we regularly post news, photos, audio and video from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. You (and your fellow bloggers) are welcome to use any materials you find on our site. If you’d like to receive the weekly electronic newsletter and monthly Coalition Bulletin, just ask. If you could add a link to CENTCOM, it’d be appreciated (I’m trying to spread the word about our site!). I’ve attached the CENTCOM logo, should you want to use it with the link. Thanks! SPC C. Flowers CENTCOM Public Affairs I have had some correspondence with SPC...
May 3, 2006
Endorsing The Online Integrity Coalition
Captain's Quarters endorses the Online Integrity coalition: The Online Integrity Statement of Principles is simple: # Private persons are entitled to respect for their privacy regardless of their activities online. This includes respect for the non-public nature of their personal contact information, the inviolability of their homes, and the safety of their families. No information which might lead others to invade these spaces should be posted. The separateness of private persons’ professional lives should also be respected as much as is reasonable. # Public figures are entitled to respect for the non-public nature of their personal, non-professional contact information, and their privacy with regard to their homes and families. No information which might lead others to invade these spaces should be posted. # Persons seeking anonymity or pseudonymity online should have their wishes in this regard respected as much as is reasonable. Exceptions include cases of criminal, misleading, or intentionally...
May 7, 2006
Referral Stat Of The Week
I often check my referral stats to check on the availability of the site as well as which sites send readers to CQ. Occasionally I see surprises in the logs, as I did just now. One intrepid Internet voyager came to CQ based on a Google search for "Playboy mate 2005". Google returns this post as its top match for that search. Well, welcome to CQ. I hope you get over your disappointment....
Alaa Arrested
Egyptian blogger and democracy activist Alaa has been arrested by Egyptian authorities, and worse. I'll let Sandmonkey say it in his own words: Alaa, blogger, co-founder of the egyptian blog aggregator Manalaa and democracy activist, got arrested today during a protest to support the Judiciary's branch fight for independence. He, and about 10 others, were rounded up in the street, beaten up and thrown in a police car. Amongst those who got arrested were at least 3 girls, and the police beat up at least another 2 girls as well. The way it worked, the police made sure to press the demonstartors close to the egyptian musem, where they cordoned them and wouldn't let them leave, while continiously hurling insults at them. The demonstartors tried to get the police to let them go for half an hour, but no avail. The Police cordon then opend where a group of plainly...
May 9, 2006
101st Fighting Keyboardists Update!
A quick update on the status of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists: we have now grown to a membership of over 300 bloggers, with a number of reader pledges as well. The blogroll contains men and women from the military, including active-duty, reserve, retired, and their families. In fact, the list has grown so long that I may have to limit the display to the 100 most-recently updated blogs. For those who wish to join, please either drop a comment on this post or send me an e-mail. The Fighting Keebees, as one of our members called it, is strictly a volunteer organization. We just ask that you support the troops and support civilian control over foreign policy and the military, and have a really good sense of humor. It's all in fun and meant to irritate all the right people. Speaking of which, this blogger certainly has his knickers in...
May 16, 2006
Lorie Byrd Leaves Polipundit
Lorie Byrd has left Polipundit over a dispute in the editorial policy of the group blog: The fact is that I believe this is the last time I will be blogging at Polipundit. I received a lengthy email from Polipundit tonight alerting us to an editorial policy change that included the following: "From now on, every blogger at PoliPundit.com will either agree with me completely on the immigration issue, or not blog at PoliPundit.com." I would provide additional context, but Polipundit has asked that the contents of our emails not be disclosed publicly and I think that is a fair request. There has been plenty written in the posts over the past week alone to let readers figure out what happened. Polipundit ended a later email with this: "It's over. The group-blogging experiment was nice while it lasted, but we have different priorities now. It's time to go our own...
May 18, 2006
The Night Of The Living Trackbacks!
For those of you who have shared my frustration on trackbacks at CQ for the past several months, I have some excellent news. Thanks to two volunteers, we have resolved the issues that have strangled trackback pings, at least for the time being. Richard and Tim from Hyscience and FreedomsZone got as frustrated as the rest of us earlier this week and asked me if they could help me solve the problem. I gratefully accepted their assistance, and between the three of us and Hosting Matters, we found out that the problem was a sustained and pernicious series of spambots that had throttled the background process. Tim made some internal adjustments to shield the process from the spammers, and we saw the trackbacks start working almost immediately. You should start seeing your trackbacks on my posts from now on, and if you do, be sure to thank Richard and Tim....
May 19, 2006
Stepping Out With The Colonel (Updated)
Blogging will be light tonight as I will be attending a Veteran Appreciation Dinner sponsored by AM 1280 The Patriot, featuring Col. Oliver North as the guest speaker. Amendment X from The Savage Republican invited me as his guest, for which I'm grateful indeed. I will update you on the dinner when I return. UPDATE: I just got back from the event, which was entertaining. Unlike some other events by the station, this one was more intimate; the price was higher and they deliberately kept the room small to ensure that everyone had a chance to talk with the guest of honor. I spoke with John Fund and a few of the attendees, and the feedback on the format was so positive that they may continue to use it in future events. I would assume that when they present Salem Radio hosts, they will stick with the bigger venues. (Hey,...
May 22, 2006
Quick Links
After a long interview, here are a few links to other bloggers working late into the night: Lorie Byrd has found a new home at Wizbang! She has her first welcome post up there now. I think they're both lucky to have each other, and Wizbang! looks more and more like the happening group blog these days ... The Anchoress finds herself writing about politics again, despite her better judgment. She takes fingers to keyboard in defense of George Bush, reminding Republicans of a few things we may have forgotten ... Michael Yon notes the sacrifice of time and energy by underrated actor Gary Sinise on behalf of veterans. Sinise has a rock band named after his Forrest Gump character, the Lt. Dan Band, and he has performed many hours for their entertainment and benefit. If you want to see why Gary Sinise might be one of the best actors...
May 30, 2006
CQ Joins The Examiner
Earlier today, Washington Examiner editorial-page editor Mark Tapscott informed me that I have been named to the Examiner Newspapers Blog Board of Contributors. As far as either Mark or I know, the Examiner has made itself a pioneer in partnering with the blogosphere in this most substantive manner. I will join other prominent bloggers to comprise a diverse group of voices from the world of citizen journalists. My contributions will begin next week, and I hope that CQ readers will show their appreciation to the Examiner organization with their traffic....
June 3, 2006
Is There A Lawyer In The House?
Bill Ardolino at INDC needs some legal advice in a case that has implications for all of us. Bill excerpted material from an article posted at Women to Women, a site dedicated to women's health issues, about breast cancer. In his post, Bill excerpted seven paragraphs of 23 to explain to his readers the potential triggers for the disease, complete with a link and block-quoting to show that the material was not original. That, however, was not good enough for Women To Women, who called this "plagiarism": The post at http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/002478.php used duplicate content from our following womentowomen website page http://www.womentowomen.com/breasthealth/estrogenbreastcancer.asp, without the author's permission. Moreover, its presence subjects our website to a duplicate content penalty assessed by search engines, directly causing us monetary damage. We do not mind you using our content for discussion purpose. However, please be sure they use the following at the top of the article:...
June 9, 2006
Soldier's Mom Starts Media Watch Blog
One of my correspondents has started a blog to keep an eye on media reports regarding our men and women in the armed forces. Sharon's new blog, Spirit Builders, began five days ago and is intended to counteract the overly negative press coverage on all military affairs in the shadow of Haditha and its aftermath. Be sure to drop by and check on her observations regularly!...
June 11, 2006
CQ's Day Off On Drugs
Due to a back injury that has gotten progressively worse, I've taken the day off from blogging, with the exception of the one interesting story on the Canadian imams. I just got back from Urgent Care, and they've upgraded me from Vicodin to Percocet. I'm told by those who know that I will shortly discover an entire new world of sleep, so unless I'm as impervious to Percocet as I apparently am to Vicodin, I'll be unable to do much more. However, I don't want to leave you with no place to go, so .... Ed Driscoll podcasts an interview with Hugh Hewitt about his book, Painting The Map Red. Be sure to tune in; with Ed and Hugh on the podcast, it should be very entertaining. Blue Crab Boulevard has an e-mail from his son memorializing a lost comrade, killed by an IED in Iraq on Friday. I have...
CQ's Day Off On Drugs
Due to a back injury that has gotten progressively worse, I've taken the day off from blogging, with the exception of the one interesting story on the Canadian imams. I just got back from Urgent Care, and they've upgraded me from Vicodin to Percocet. I'm told by those who know that I will shortly discover an entire new world of sleep, so unless I'm as impervious to Percocet as I apparently am to Vicodin, I'll be unable to do much more. However, I don't want to leave you with no place to go, so .... Ed Driscoll podcasts an interview with Hugh Hewitt about his book, Painting The Map Red. Be sure to tune in; with Ed and Hugh on the podcast, it should be very entertaining. Blue Crab Boulevard has an e-mail from his son memorializing a lost comrade, killed by an IED in Iraq on Friday. I have...
June 12, 2006
Quick Note Of Thanks
I have heard from a number of people about my back problems, both in comments and e-mails over the last twenty-four hours. I cannot express my appreciation for all of your kind thoughts and prayers, and excellent advice as well. Some of you have shared some personal insights into painkillers and their long-term effects, and that level of concern has been very touching indeed. I will definitely keep all of that in mind while I work with my doctor to get a plan for recovery together in the next few days. Assuming I can remain alert, I will be blogging on and off, since I do not appear capable of doing much of anything else. Of course, I may also take some time to watch more of my Firefly episodes, or something equally important, so we shall see! Also, the First Mate will return home today. Fortunately, our son will...
June 18, 2006
A Correspondent To Thank
I have received many e-mails and comments on my back injury and recuperation from CQ readers, giving me their personal stories and advice based on their own experiences, and I have found all of it tremendously helpful. I have been grateful for all of the correspondence, but I would like to acknowledge one correspondent whose personal story and outreach to me touched me very deeply, especially considering his experiences with his own difficulties. I wrote last week about the excruciating pain that the disc rupture caused and the painkillers that doctors prescribed to ease the situation. Some of you wrote to caution me about Vicodin and Percocet and their addictive qualities. One person in particular wrote to me about his own addiction, and in particular gave me solid advice on physiological conditions that would indicate an addictive response from my body. Given the very public nature of his addiction, his...
June 19, 2006
HFM Making Excuses
I admit that I have not kept up with this story well enough, but the conflict between independent journalist and photographer Michael Yon and Hachette Filipacchi Media over their use of his poignant photograph without permission prior to publication has escalated. HFM CEO Jack Kliger has sent a letter to retailers that have come under pressure to pull all HFM publications from their shelves, especially Shock, where HFM used Yon's photograph without permission, according to Yon. Kliger essentially has told retailers to stand fast, as the entire controversy is a tempest in a blogpot: Even though we had purchased the rights to use the photograph through a reputable photo agency, we recognize that misunderstandings do occur. We acted quickly to address Mr. Yon's concerns, attempted to settle the matter, and when he agreed to a settlement, Mr. Yon himself stated on June 5th via his on-line magazine that he was...
Disabiliblogging Round-Up, Day 1: Six Degrees Of Connie Chung
In honor (or denial) of my temporarily disabled state, I offer the following roundup of political and cultural liabilities around the blogosphere. I don't think this will exactly be a trend, but it's good for a laugh for now: In an apparent attempt to wrest the title of World's Worst Television Variety Presentation from Lifetime Achievement Award winner Chevy Chase, Connie Chung sings goodbye to her MS-NBC audience, her credibility, and any respect she still might have in broadcasting. The Moderate Voice has the YouTube video and the sound. Trust me, the latter is worse than the former, but that ain't saying much ... Ankle-Biting Pundits picks up on the Democrats' plan to combat the "culture of corruption" in Congress by making impeached former judge Alcee Hastings their chair of the House Intelligence Committee. That's somewhat akin to improving Connie Chung's singing by having her accompanied by PDQ Bach. I...
June 20, 2006
They Can't Silence Us! (Well, Not For Long, Anyway)
Apparently we are having a problem with the comments script at CQ, so our readers have not been able to post their thoughts. I have asked Hosting Matters to look into the matter. Hopefully we will have the comments section open for business soon. In the meantime, please check out these links: Bruce Kesler is callng for Human Rights Watch to fire Mark Garlasco. Given his and HRW's track record on Israel, he's probably right but shouldn't hold his breath... The Anchoress notes a very strange coffee commercial ... If you haven't read Michelle Malkin's post about the 9/11 Scholarship Program, make sure you do so soon. See Deb Schlussel as well ... Learned Foot's substituting for Mitch at Shot In The Dark, and he has a scoop on Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters and his protest against the Israeli security barrier. Gee, guess which song lyrics he changes...
June 21, 2006
Liberating Trackbacks
In all of the posting I did the last couple of days, I neglected to check my junk-trackback filter. This morning, I found around three dozen valid trackbacks that had not appeared on my posts. The posts are in the process of being rebuilt now, and the trackbacks will appear shortly....
Walking In Lockstep
The conservative blogosphere gets accused often of working off of "talking points" and coordinating our efforts. That's a fairly ludicrous charge, as anyone who really reads the starboard side of the 'sphere understands. Most of us support the Bush administration, but certainly do not offer carte blanche on all policies and efforts from either the White House or Congress. We also sometimes snipe at each other, usually politely but not always, and the latest such point came with the latest Ann Coulter brouhaha. I can state pretty clearly that, as far as my involvement with conservative bloggers go, we have never sent around e-mails telling each other to not blog about an issue. According to The New Republic's Jason Zengerle, however, that's exactly what Markos Moulitsas did with several of the more prominent liberal bloggers, and apparently they obeyed: TNR obtained a missive Kos sent earlier this week to "Townhouse,"...
June 25, 2006
Conservative Convergence Coming
Newsweek has an interesting article on a project about which CQ has long known: the conversion of the durable Townhall website into a merging of conservative talk radio, weblogs, and opinion leaders to create an unprecedented media convergence. When Salem Radio bought Townhall, Hugh Hewitt and Salem dared to dream big, and that dream is about to launch: Hugh Hewitt is a master of multitasking. Week after week, the sanguine, persistent pundit hosts his "center-right" talk radio show from a nondescript office in Orange County, Calif.—and more than a million people tune in. Two computers flank his mike. While on the air, Hewitt uses the first to surf news sites, then swivels to the second during breaks to update his well-trafficked blog. "Both spoken words and written words are powerful," he says. "Acting in harmony, the effect is exponential." Just ask Rick Santorum. In May, he urged Hewitt's listeners to...
July 3, 2006
Two Women Enter, One Woman Leave
When two scribes go to war ... Whenever I bet on a fight ... ... I always bet on the fighter wearing the largest earrings. Check out Michelle's steely-eyed stare, too. Ana Marie appears unnerved -- never a good sign before Michael Buffer says, "Let's get ready to ruuuuuuuuuummmmm-bulllllllllllllll!!" I hope for both their sakes that the referee is the guy with the cigar, and not the guy who has to re-read his placard in order to remember what it said. At least Stogie Man has the good sense to notice the two good-looking women right in front of him. UPDATE: I linked to Wonkette earlier, but should have linked to Ana's new site instead. Hat tip to Alex at Damned Machines for the correction....
July 4, 2006
A Look Back At A DC 4th
Last year, we were honored to have been given a private tour of the Pentagon by a CQ reader assigned there. In honor of this year's Independence Day, I would like to remind CQ readers of the tour and what it meant to us. We wish you happiness and an appreciation of the gift of freedom on this Fourth of July. When I first announced my trip to Washington, DC, I received many kind offers from local readers for assistance and pointers. One of the kindest offers came from a CQ reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, who gave me and my family a chance to tour the Pentagon on July 4th. Needless to say, we gratefully accepted this offer, and early this morning we started out our celebration of Independence Day by meeting him for the tour. He started us off in the west wing, the portion of the...
July 6, 2006
Two Must Read Posts
I'm taking a couple of hours off -- my back's hurting again, and I'm a little tapped out, but I'd like to point readers to a couple of must-read posts. First, be sure to read all of The Anchoress' birthday greeting to George Bush. It's a repost, but it's brilliant. Don't miss it. Second, Meryl Yourish takes sides in the conflict between Western values of life, liberty, and the rule of law, and the forces of Islamofascism that threatens all of it. She's a Zionist, and she explains her declaration in a brilliant post. Michael van der Galien points it out from The Moderate Voice. Back later, with batteries recharged....
July 8, 2006
Attacking Bloggers' Children? Despicable (Updated)
Jeff Goldstein, who has always been a friend to CQ from its earliest days, has found himself and his family the target of some despicable threats, apparently from an academic at the University of Arizona. This series of e-mails allegedly came from Deb Frisch, a professor of psychology at Arizona with some history of on-line histrionics: "I’d like to hear more about your “tyke” by the way. Girl? Boy? Toddler? Teen? Are you still married to the woman you ephed to give birth to the tyke? Tell all, bro!" *** "[...] as I said elsewhere, if I woke up tomorrow and learned that someone else had shot you and your “tyke” it wouldn’t slow me down one iota. You aren’t “human” to me." *** " Ooh. Two year old boy. Sounds hot. You live in Colorado, I see. Hope no one Jon-Benets your baby. Are you still married to the...
July 11, 2006
A Day For Anniversaries
Most CQ readers know how influential Hugh Hewitt has been not to conservative bloggers in general, but specifically to me and to my success in conservative opinion journalism. He has been a tremendous mentor and a good friend to me and to my compatriots in blogging here in Minnesota. Founding the new Townhall for Salem Communications is just the latest proof of Hugh as a visionary. Yesterday, I had the honor of an invitation to appear on his show on the same segment as Claudia Rosett and wish him a happy 6th anniversary for his radio show -- and 24th wedding anniversary to the Fetching Mrs. Hewitt. It's my honor and privilege to thank him again for all he has done for me personally, as well as blogging and conservatism in general. Addendum: He's not the only one with an anniversary. Best wishes to a great friend and a lovely...
July 12, 2006
Old Wine In New Bottles
Singapore, which has one of the strictest and regulated cultures among nations nominally considered "free", has declined to force bloggers to register with the government's media watchdog agency. Referring to blogging as "old wine in new bottles," Singapore determined that bloggers do little other than post their own thoughts to web pages, amd that represents no threat to public order: Singapore’s National Internet Advisory Committee has abandoned an idea to make it compulsory for bloggers to register with the media watchdog. The popularity of blogs or online journals prompted the committee to consider requiring their authors to register with Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA). Political and religious parties, Internet service providers, and online newspapers already come under this rule. The NIAC decided that bloggers who posted material "against the public and society interest" could get prosecuted under other laws, and that registration with the MDA amounted to a redundancy. The...
Comments And Trackbacks And E-Mail, Oh My!
I have received a few e-mails from readers that say the Typepad validation process has stopped working on the comments. I tried it at 6:50 PM CT and successfully posted a comment, so it may just be an intermittent problem. Keep trying -- it should be working shortly. This is as good a time as any to remind the CQ community of the policies on comments and trackbacks. Commenters here are valued guests, and as long as they can abide by the rather simple rules, then we will have no issues. I will delete posts that attempt to hijack a thread by changing the subject. I have a pretty wide definition of "subject" and usually allow almost any tangential debate to continue. When it strays, I will delete the comment and replace it with a reminder to follow the policy. If a commenter has to be reminded repeatedly to stay...
July 13, 2006
Trying New Fix For Typekey
CQ reader Jim,MtnViwCA sent me a fix for the Typekey process on comments. Let me know if this improves the comment performance, or if it makes it worse. If it's the former, he gets the credit, but I'll take the blame if not!...
July 20, 2006
A New Venture At The Heritage Foundation
CQ readers know that I have a passion about spending and budgetary issues, especially regarding pork barrel projects and entitlement spending. I have worked hard to put myself in a position where I could have some influence on those processes and hopefully educate people about the waste and potential for fraud in the federal budget. Now I have an even better platform from which to pursue these goals. The Heritage Foundation has asked me to partner with them to blog on spending-related matters. I cannot tell you how gratified I am to be working with the experts at the premiere conservative think tank. I have appeared at a handful of Heritage Foundation events, and they have always treated me like a member of the team -- and now I can contribute as such. My work will appear on Heritage's blog, and it will draw heavily on the experts at Heritage...
July 21, 2006
I Hate Online Gambling Sites
One of my favorite aspects of Captain's Quarters is the trackbacks. I love the fact that the site can display all of the bloggers who have linked back to CQ in order to continue the debate. Readers can make quick jumps to read all of the arguments (and if they're using Firefox or the beta release of IE 7.0, they can open them up in tabs). I often browse through my trackbacks to see how others view my argument, and it makes me a better blogger. What I don't like about trackbacks -- what I absolutely hate about them -- is the trackback spam I have to weed out. Movable Type 3.2 does almost all of the hard work for me by using a complicated algorithm to identify potential junk trackbacks. It catches valid ones a little too often, but I approve those and they eventually appear on the posts,...
July 29, 2006
Blog Wars, Minnesota Style
Fraters Libertas tells readers how we do blog wars here in the upper Midwest: we shoot each other and get the whole conflict behind us. Actually, Kevin at Eckernet has issued a challenge across the political spectrum of Gopherblogs: Ok, I hope to be putting together a Battle Royale of the Blogosphere on a field of combat. Yes, I'm trying to put together an Minnesota Blogosphere Paintball game. The particulars are yet to be decided (or even thought about) but for now I am trying to guage interest. Preferably I would like to have the teams be the Right side of the Blogosphere vs the Left side of the Blogosphere. So hopefully we can get enough interest from both sides. Gonna try to work in a charity in there as well. Not sure if I should just pick one or if the proceeds go to the charity of the victor's...
August 7, 2006
Hey, We're Open For Business At CQ ...
In case anyone out there wants to invest five million dollars in Captain's Quarters, we'd certainly be open to negotiations: A group led by venture capital firm Softbank is investing $5 million in the Huffington Post, an online news site and political blog owned by the pundit Arianna Huffington, The Post has learned. The investment comes a little over a year after the launch of the Huffington Post - which then was billed as a celebrity-filled blog but has since evolved in to its own news brand. An announcement of the investment could come as soon as today. In addition to Softbank, venture capitalist Alan Patricof is also investing in the site, as well as some of the initial investors. Huffington and former Time Warner executive Ken Lerer founded the site. CQ's third anniversary is rapidly approaching, and while we don't do quite the traffic at HuffPost, we don't do...
August 16, 2006
More Computer Fun At CQ
The CQ laptop has once again gone overboard. The Sony Vaio I bought over a year ago suddenly died this evening -- just as I was about to put up a killer post, too. It looks like the power supply burnt out; the computer suddenly lost power, and it will not power up at all, either with our without the battery. What's more frustrating is that I had to stay home from work today, thanks to a minor surgical procedure on my finger, and I took most of the time napping and recuperating. I wish I'd spent the time keeping up with my e-mail and news. Unfortunately, that puts a bit of a crimp in my style. I can get e-mail on my backup machine, but all the e-mail I received from around 5 pm and earlier is now unaccessible to me. I can still surf and post, but my...
August 17, 2006
CQ Under Construction, Open Thread On NSA Ruling
We've got the construction hats on tonight, although all of it behind the scenes. I'll be rebuilding the vast machinery that supports the CQ empire .... which means I've replaced the laptop. This time, I bought my new computer at Best Buy and got the three-year all-inclusive warranty. I decided on another Sony Vaio, because I've had excellent luck with Sony in the past and the price was too good on this machine to pass up. The Geek Squad guys are going to retrieve the data from the old Sony's hard drive, and I'll start restoring previous e-mails this weekend. In the meantime, how about an open thread on the federal court ruling on the NSA warrantless surveillance program? I'll have more to say about it tomorrow....
August 19, 2006
Data Restored
I got a call from Best Buy's Geek Squad earlier this evening, after the NARN show was over. I had asked them to retrieve the data from my dead laptop's hard drive, a service they provide for a fairly reasonable fee regardless of the condition of the drive. They have two tiers for the service: $99 for up to 9 GB of disk space, and $159 for unlimited retrieval. I chose the second, and it turned out to be the right call. The Geek Squad got 43 GB of data off my hard drive, everything I had before the crash. They had asked me to bring my new laptop into the store to transfer the data rather than burn a bunch of DVDs, and the data is now safely on my new system. I'm very pleased with their responsiveness and the fact that all of my data came through cleanly....
August 30, 2006
Just A Note To E-mailers
I believe that self-promotion has a key role in the success of a blog. E-mailing other bloggers when one has a particularly good post, or one that complements a post at another's blog, makes good sense and is always welcome. However, when a blogger sends out multiple mass e-mails a day heralding every post and update, it clogs my inbox and makes it impossible for me to actually respond to anything good they may have to offer. E-mailers who do that end up in my spam killfile, because I've learned not to ask them to stop. That usually generates a query as to why I suddenly hate conservative thought or an apology that somehow fails to end the mass e-mails. I'd rather hear from CQ readers on what they think is important rather than get added to listservs for which I never registered. Yes, I've been buried in these messages...
September 1, 2006
Henke & Allen
Last week, I suggested that Jon Henke would make an excellent ambassador to the blogosphere for the George Allen re-election campaign. Perhaps someone in Senator Allen's office noticed the post, but they certainly made the right decision whatever the reason. The Allen campaign has hired Jon to be its Netroots Coordinator: I’m very happy to announce that I’ve accepted a job as Netroots Coordinator with the George Allen Senate Campaign. Obviously, this will change my focus quite a bit, but I will continue to blog at QandO whenever possible, generally on the issues and stories in this very important Virginia Senate race. Naturally, as a Netroots Coordinator, I’ll be working directly with bloggers and readers who support George Allen. If I can help any of you, don’t hesitate to contact me. I want to make a couple of observations about this decision, which delights me for personal reasons; Jon and...
September 2, 2006
QandO Hacked; I Question The Timing
Just a day after Jon Henke announced his new position with the George Allen re-election campaign, his QandO blog has been hacked. Individual posts still display, but an attempt to access the main page only displays a misspelled text message, supposedly from a Turkish hacker, saying "NO WAR!" Uh-huh. Suddenly QandO has landed on the radar screen of Turkish hackers -- who manage to misspell 'Turkish'? And their anti-war fervor led them to hack a neo-Libertarian site? Riiiiiiiight. If you don't have QandO's RSS feed, here it is. It appears to work just fine, and you can read anything new that the trio posts while it fixes the damage done by, er, Turkish hackers....
September 26, 2006
Comment Policy Change (Updated And Bumped)
Due to some complaints I have received over the past few weeks, I am making a small change to the comment policy. Commenters will have a one-hour restriction on posts, which means that after a comment from a specific IP address gets accepted, it will take one hour before another comment from that same IP address will be accepted. I'm hoping that this will reduce some of the "comment bombing" seen recently on some threads, where one person posts three or four lengthy remarks within a few minutes of each other. Eliminating that will, I hope, make the threads easier to read and produce a better level of debate. I hope this poses little inconvenience for CQ readers and addresses everyone's concerns in a fair and equitable manner. We've got the best comment threads in the blogosphere, I think, and I want to make sure they stay that way. UPDATE:...
September 29, 2006
The Incredible Lamery At Wonkette
It's almost too pathetic to post a response, but the Wonkette benchwarmers really have no clue about weblogs, photoshops, or criticism -- and their latest attack on Michelle Malkin exposes them as wanna-bes. Michelle penned a cultural critique about the potential effect of trashy chic on young girls, as exemplified by Bratz dolls and the recent restyling of Charlotte Church. Rather than actually responding with any intellectual criticism, Wonkette instead posted a picture that supposedly depicts Michelle in a bikini in 1992 -- as if that has anything to do with her critique of Charlotte Church. As if that wasn't bad enough, they failed to realize that the picture was a pretty obvious photoshop. Note for instance the size of Michelle's head in proportion to the rest of the body: Now, I've met Michelle Malkin and spent time at her house. In fact, I've seen her standing next to a...
October 5, 2006
Hospilunchiblogging
E-mail response and blogging may be light over the next 24 hours or so, as the First Mate has experienced another little bump in the road, although one that was not completely unexpected. As we continued to throw off the viral infections that have plagued her since the beginning of the year, we had to keep an eye on her pancreas function to ensure that it didn't reject. We've been pretty lucky up to now, as the transplant managed to survive without immunosuppression for longer than we anticipated. However, her labs have shown some disturbing trends of late; I'd like to explain it, but the mechanics of this escapes me. I'd start sounding like that song that goes, "The knee bone's connected to the leg bone," except in this case it's "the amylase is connected to the lipase, and the lipase is connected to the glucose". It's got a lousy...
October 6, 2006
Playboy's Top Ten Blogs
Earlier today, I received a nice e-mail from Glenn Greenwald, informing me that Playboy had selected their Top Ten Political Blogs -- and that Captain's Quarters made the list. Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend got the advance look at the feature from the November issue (Pam contributes to Pandagon, one of the other blogs nominated). Glenn's blog also made Playboy's list, and I appreciate his heads-up. The other blogs selected by Playboy are: * Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish * Power Line * Daily Kos * TPM Cafe * Hit & Run * Tapped * The American Scene Here's what Daniel Radosh wrote about CQ: The swaggering Ed Morrissey puts his back into blogging. His ability to dig up stories make him a must-read in right-wing circles beyond the blogosphere -- Rush Limbaugh reads Morrissey's posts on the air. Radosh wrote about CQ once before, almost exactly a year ago,...
October 20, 2006
The Anchoress Has The Conn
Many CQ readers know that the First Mate and I volunteer our time at Twin Cities Marriage Encounter, both as the president couple of the board and as weekend facilitators. This weekend, we will help stage an Engaged Encounter for affianced couples looking for a head start on communication skills. We've not done a weekend in over a year due to our health problems, but we felt that the shorter EE weekend format would work well for us. That means that I will not be blogging again until Sunday, although I may unleash a prepared essay on Saturday just to keep things lively. However, I want to make sure that the CQ community doesn't miss a beat, so I have invited one of my favorite bloggers to take over the ship in my absence. The Anchoress excels at long-form political essays, analysis, and Catholic theology. Most CQ readers probably already...
October 21, 2006
Back At Home
We just returned from facilitating the Engaged Encounter weekend, and once again, we're exhausted but happy to have been of service to a group of fine young couples and helping to build families. The First Mate and I plan to do nothing but relax around the house tomorrow, and that means I'll get a chance to catch up. That doesn't mean that The Anchoress has to sail off quite yet. She's posted some excellent articles here today, and hopefully she will continue tomorrow. Maybe we'll have a blog-off or something ... I just got done reading the comment thread on the Trek post -- great responses from all of you. Dafydd at Big Lizards wrote me a lengthy e-mail about the post, and I'm hoping he'll either post it at Big Lizards or let me post it here. Fascinating, as Spock might say. For now, however, I'm calling it a...
October 24, 2006
A Groundpimple Of Support!
Yesterday I wrote about my effort to win the mayoralty of Eagan, MN, by staging a write-in campaign, starting with my and the First Mate's absentee ballots. Well, this idea has really caught on, folks. I can reveal here that my campaign has picked up steam. I got another Eagan resident to commit to casting his vote for me. At this pace, I'll have twelve votes when Eagan residents go to the polls. Twelve! I'm already planning my triumphant march to City Hall. I might just drive over, though. It's easier on the back. You've heard of the Dean Scream? Of Joe-mentum? Now we've got ... Ed-ertia! UPDATE: Start up the bandwagon -- I've received my first endorsement. I've cornered the crucial martini-swilling bloc vote ... nothing can stop us now, except sobriety and common sense!...
October 25, 2006
Barone On Bush
One of my favorite analysts, Michael Barone, pens a must-read blog about his meeting with George Bush. The President has decided to go full tilt on defending the mission in Iraq, and Barone covers the effort: First of all, Bush started off with a lengthy monologue, trying to put a historical perspective on where we are now. He clearly sees his primary mission as protecting the American people from the terrorists who want to do everything they can to hurt and destroy us and our civilization. He makes the point that we ought to listen to their words when they threaten to kill us–even though our first instinct is to flinch and turn away from threats that, if taken seriously, are extremely disturbing. Later he returned to this theme. The September 11 attacks made it clear, he said, that we're at war, and we're still at war. These terrorists want...
October 28, 2006
Apology
I owe someone an apology. I'm not going to get into who and why, but he knows who he is, and he knows what it's about. I apologize for breaking a confidence; I should have avoided it. That's all....
October 30, 2006
We Apologize For The Inconvenience
A series of technical breakdowns kept CQ off the air this morning, and I was not able to post much as a result -- and now I'm off to the day job. Hosting Matters got the problem resolved fairly quickly, but I have a narrow window in which to work, unfortunately. It does give me an opportunity to open a thread for CQ readers, though. We're entering the last week of the mid-term campaign, and most of us are waiting for the big-time, last-minute smears to arise. Where and when do you think they will appear, and what effect do you think they'll have? NOTE: I did have to make a change to the comments script tp avoid the spambots. If you have trouble posting a comment, reload the page and then try again. It does work now....
It's A Blog Party, And CQ's Invited
What are you doing for Election Night? Hopefully CQ readers will follow some of the coverage on CNN, because I'll be part of blogger coverage for CNN in the evening of Election Night. The Los Angeles Times reported the story this morning that CNN will invite about two dozen bloggers to a blog party, where they intend to check our reactions to breaking news on their main broadcast as well as provide continuous coverage through CNN Pipeline: Who says the mainstream media don't respect the blogosphere? CNN is trying to incorporate bloggers directly into its coverage of next week's midterm elections by inviting them to an "E-lection Nite Blog Party," an event aimed at corralling some of the top online opinion makers in one place to provide instant reaction as the results come in. The cable news network plans to host more than two dozen bloggers from across the political...
November 6, 2006
Truth Laid Bear Election Tracker Now On Line
Experienced blog-readers know that NZ Bear at the Truth Laid Bear always manages to develop state of the art blogging tools for the TTLB community. He's done it again with the midterm elections, designing a page that will allow election observers to keep track of the national races. It looks excellent, and while I'm working at the CNN event tomorrow evening, I'm going to keep it open in a tab for quick reference. Check it out and keep the link handy....
November 7, 2006
A Reminder Of CQ Election-Night Coverage
As CQ readers know, I will be in DC tonight at the CNN blogger bash, hanging out with an impressive array of fellow citizen journalists. I found out yesterday that the list includes Scott Johnson of Power Line, one of the true gentlemen of the blogosphere. I also get to hang out with Mary Katherine Ham, La Shawn Barber, Lorie Byrd, and a host of other fine conservatives at Tryst, the DC coffeehouse that CNN selected as the site. CNN coverage starts at 7 pm ET, and the plan is to have the national coverage check in with the bloggers as the night progresses. They will also televise us continuously on their Pipeline channel, the Internet video service. If you want to avoid the anchor-desk commentary and hear exclusively from the bloggers, that's the place to go. (See update) That won't be the end of my activity, either. I will...
November 14, 2006
Exciting Blog News!
We have two exciting developments in the blogosphere this evening. First, the folks at Wizbang! have launched the 2006 version of The Weblog Awards. Blog readers made CQ the Best Conservative Blog in 2004, and I was honored with a nomination for Best Blog in 2005. Be sure to check out all of the categories and make your own nominations in the comments of each thread. Voting begins shortly, and I'll keep an eye on how that goes as well. In the second development, another mainstream columnist has joined the ranks of bloggers. This time, we welcome Jules Crittendon, one of the strongest conservative voices in the mainstream media. Glad to have you with us, Jules. Just don't forget to maintain the proper dress code while blogging .... pajamas....
November 21, 2006
CQ Get Together On Friday Lunch? (Update & Bump)
I've had a number of requests from CQ readers and fellow bloggers here in the Southern California area to find a time to get together. With the family obligations, it's going to make it difficult to find time, especially since the First Mate has three dialysis runs this week. However, that does allow us a window of opportunity, if people can make it out to Orange County on Friday. Since the FM will be dialyzing between 10-1:30, we could get together for a lunch at the El Torito restaurant in Fullerton, perhaps starting at 11:30 am. If you have any interest in this, leave a comment or drop an e-mail with the subject "CQ Lunch". Let's see what we can put together. UPDATE: Okay, we're definitely going to do this. I'll need RSVPs by Thursday so I know what to tell the restaurant. I'm looking forward to it! UPDATE II:...
November 25, 2006
A Lunch With A Few Friends
It's not often that someone can blow into a town and have lunch with a couple of dozen friends that one has never seen before. Blogging, however, opens some pretty unusual doors, and today I got to spend a few hours with some terrific people. We had an informal meeting of CQ readers at the El Torito Restaurant in Fullerton, enjoying lunch and some great conversation. Of course, the CQ community includes some pretty impressive bloggers, such as Patterico, Mike Lief, Darleen Click, the Grumpy Old Man, NZ Bear, OC Chuck, and Achillea. It boasts equally impressive readers and commenters, and I'm happy we got the chance to get together. For such short notice, we got quite a few people together -- I think the final count was 22. For all of those who made the time to join me, I thank you for spending a little time getting to...
December 6, 2006
CQ Nominated In 2006 Weblog Awards
Captain's Quarters has been selected as a finalist for Best Conservative Blog in the 2006 Weblog Awards, the annual readers' poll conducted by Wizbang's Kevin Aylward. I'll have some stiff competition: Ace of Spades Little Green Footballs Hugh Hewitt Michelle Malkin Mary Katherine Ham Patterico's Pontifications Red State The Jawa Report Power Line They're all excellent blogs, and I read all of them myself. I recommend all of them to anyone who wants to follow intelligent conservative thought ... so whoever gets the nod will definitely deserve the honor. I'm happy to be included! Voting starts tomorrow. Vote once a day in each category for your favorites, and believe me, there are plenty of candidates and plenty of worthy blogs. Most of all, take the opportunity to check out a few blogs you may have missed along the way -- that's the best part of these awards! UPDATE: A...
December 8, 2006
If You're In The Voting Mood ...
... please be sure to drop by the 2006 Weblog Awards and cast a vote for Captain's Quarters as Best Conservative Blog. It looks like Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs is running away with this category, and it's hard to argue with anyone who chooses LGF -- or any of the other great blogs in this category. I'll have an endorsement list later, but I do want to throw in a special mention for The Moderate Voice as Best Centrist Blog. In my opinion, Joe Gandelman and his co-bloggers practically define centrist blogging, and he deserves the nod. Unfortunately, that puts me at odds with another one of my favorites, QandO, which isn't really centrist but libertarian. They didn't have a group blog category this time, so QandO appears in competition with TMV. Most of all, be sure to select a new blog every day to read!...
December 13, 2006
Day By Day: Too Sexy For My Blog?
I have run the Day By Day cartoon by Chris Muir for around two years at Captain's Quarters, and I constantly receive e-mail on the strip. It's about evenly split; I get equally passionate missives about its content in either direction. Yesterday, however, Chris depicted the 40ish female character Sam in nothing but a thong and a come-hither look, which brought an especially impassioned set of e-mails from CQ readers. I correspond with Chris on occasion, which I enjoy immensely; he's a great guy. He contacted me earlier this week because another blogger denounced me for displaying DBD, calling me a phony conservative. Chris wanted to find out my state of mind and explain what he wants to do with his creation, and I appreciated the contact. Obviously, Chris wants to push boundaries with DBD, and I think he does it well and intelligently. Normally that's a good thing. Conservatives...
December 14, 2006
A Little Link Love For A Cold December Night
... except it's not so cold out here right now, and maybe I just jinxed it. We had an unseasonably warm day for mid-December, getting into the high 40s on a sunny day -- a rare pleasure. Unfortunately, I worked through most of it, but took a quick drive at lunch with the window rolled down to enjoy it, sans jacket. The First Mate and I finished up the Christmas shopping, for the most part anyway, and enjoyed it until the rain started to fall. Now I'm back and catching up on a few things, including rest. However, I want to hit a few links before getting down to more serious work. First, speaking of serious, Thinking Right has an interview with a National Guard soldier currently serving in Iraq. Jim gets that all-important boots-on-the-ground opinion of the war, and you might be surprised about what you find. Next, we...
December 15, 2006
HostGator Will Not Stand Up For Clients' Free Speech
UPDATE III: Apparently, the bloggers at Pandagon have a reading disability. I know that Jonathan Swift was Irish, I know that he didn't want the English to eat Irish children -- which is why I described A Modest Proposal as effective satire.
December 18, 2006
Widgeting On A Monday Night
I've been tinkering with the blog tonight, and you may have already noticed the new addition to CQ. At the bottom of each post you will notice a new link titled "Sphere It". If you click on the link, it will display a two-column Java pop-up window. The left side of the window will display related posts from CQ, and the right side will show links to posts at other blogs in the Sphere universe. Clicking the links will open up a new window, so you do not have to navigate away from CQ to follow the threads. This is an initial version; Sphere will add more content as we go along. Give it a try, and let me know what you think....
December 20, 2006
Now Digg This
Among the changes I've made over the last couple of days has been the addition of a Digg icon on each post. Digg is an aggregator of news articles and blog posts that allows Digg users to add articles and vote for them; the more votes, the higher up the rankings the articles go. CQ readers can help bring new readers to the site by clicking on the icons and casting votes for each blog post they deem worthy of a larger audience. Also, don't forget the new Sphere widget. That's more for the readers than for the blog, as it will display a pop-up window that shows CQ posts related to the topic, and blog posts from other blogs that discuss the topic as well. I've found it a bit addictive, and I hope you find it helpful and entertaining. Sphere will be adding even more content after they've...
December 23, 2006
Michelle's 'Whatever-Happened-To' For 2006
One of the blessings of having Michelle Malkin in the blogosphere is her journalistic sensibilities. Yesterday, she posted a follow-up to several of the most affecting stories that she had covered in 2006. Be sure to read it all....
December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas To The CQ Community!
The First Mate and I wish all of our friends in the CQ community a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and a terrific new year! We've been blessed to have you with us, and hopefully this video Christmas card will express our gratitude -- especially to our readers in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere putting their lives on the line for our nation. You are all in our prayers, as always. UPDATE: Bumping to the top. I won't be doing much blogging today, but I do have at least one new post below on the topic of Christmas. I'll be back on schedule tomorrow. Neo-Neocon wonders whether bloggers can keep their Christmas promises to stay off the computer; I'm skeptical, even of myself!...
December 31, 2006
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to all of my friends at CQ! I hope you celebrate with people you love, and get home safely. For us, we've just spent the weekend at a suite at the Radisson Plaza hotel in the city for a change of pace, so tonight we took it easy. We did some shopping around the Gaviidae Commons and Nicollet Mall, and we had dinner at M&S Grille. We both tried the blue marlin and loved it, and we split a serving of excellent key lime pie. We noticed several buses parked across the street at the Marriott along with police protection, and we finally assumed that the St. Louis Rams must have stayed there before the game today -- and they must have enjoyed it, because the Rams dismantled the Minnesota Vikings in the season closer. Tomorrow we'll relax around the house and hopefully do dinner with our...
January 5, 2007
A Few Notes On Credibility
Bloggers operate on credibility, just like anyone else, and have to answer for their missteps. Ten days ago, I linked to a story from radio host Scott Hennen that displayed a photo of John Kerry sitting at a mostly-empty mess hall table in Iraq. After his snarky comment about getting "stuck in Iraq", we laughed when the troops there apparently did not embrace Senator Kerry as enthusiastically as they did others. Although I did not post the picture, I certainly participated in the snark, which caused an eruption of criticism and counter-criticism. After some arguments over the provenance of the picture, which dissipated, Greg Sargent did some legwork at TPM Muckraker that pretty much demolishes the notion that Kerry couldn't buy a friend in Iraq: I'm here to report that I've now contacted at least two people who say they were at the table with Kerry. And it's clear that...
January 14, 2007
Another Lesson In Not Crapping Where You Eat
The Washington Post reports this morning on a blogger who decided to write a post about one of the customers he served at work and got fired over the aftermath. Two days before Christmas, Chuckles of Freelance Genius (real name Charles Williamson) wrote the following about Tucker Carlson after he and his companion rented movies at his video store: Tucker Carlson opened an account last night at my video store. I thought the name seemed familiar but I couldn't figure out why. It was after he left that I realized he was on the list of Gigantic Cobagz. I could tell you what he and his ridiculously wasped-out female companion (wife?) rented if you really want to know. I won't tell you where he lives, though. That would be wrong and stupid. I will also not be running around ordering 10,000 copies of America: The Book and having it sent...
January 21, 2007
Hanging With The Neo-Libertarians
It's been a busy weekend, with the First Mate home from the hospital. I've been doing a few of the chores around the house today, and ran out for lunch with my son and the Little Admiral. The FM has some normal pain and a bit of insomnia, so she couldn't do lunch or a visit today. I got home in time to join Dale Franks and McQ from one of my favorite blogs, QandO, for a Sunday afternoon podcast. It's a great conversation, and the topics range from the war in Iraq to primary scheduling. I think you'll enjoy it. Oh, and we all miss having Jon Henke at QandO, but he's doing a great job as the new media liaison for the Senate Minority Leader's office. Along those same lines, I will be looking into launching an Internet talk show through Blog Talk Radio. I'm in the process...
February 2, 2007
CQ Notes
It will be a light posting day today, as the hosting service for CQ had its share of problems overnight. Starting around 7:45 or so, Hosting Matters had a complete failure of some sort; the forums have no explanation, but all HM blogs went dark and didn't come back until about an hour ago or so. Unfortunately, that pretty much killed the traffic to my Blog Talk Radio show last night. It's too bad -- I thought I had a better show this time than the last, but only got a few calls. Sean from The American Mind paid another visit as I mostly focused on the Senate resolutions wending their way through committee hearings. You can listen to the show as a podcast at the CQ Radio home page, and I hope you enjoy it. I'll be back next Thursday for another installment! Addendum: It was apparently a line...
CQ, CPAC, And The Importance Of ... Advertising
Earlier today, I accepted an offer from the organizers of the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) next month in Washington DC. I'll be one of the bloggers covering the event from Blogger Alley, similar to what I did at the Republican National Convention in 2004. I've not been able to attend CPAC before, and it seems more critical than ever to get involved after the midterm losses and the weakening of resolve on the war. Even with all of that, I put off the decision for a couple of weeks until we got a clearer picture of the First Mate's prognosis. It turns out that the nephrectomy was successful in eliminating the BK virus from her system. She's had at least one blood test come back completely negative, which means she can now have a transplant. At the same time, her donor -- a very generous friend of ours...
February 20, 2007
Comments And An Open Thread
Yesterday I deleted a comment that was off topic, and the commenter -- a long-time and valued member of the CQ community -- objected to the decision. He thought that I should have covered a different topic and took it upon himself to open a thread on the matter, within an existing thread on satellite radio, and then objected to my calling it a "hijack". However, that is precisely the term used when commenters attempt to inject a completely unrelated topic on an existing thread, and my policy has been to delete comments that do that. As to my editorial decisions on covering events, I plead guilty to posting on topics that interest me. I post a number of threads a day, and I write about those topics that generate a response in me. It takes hours each day to produce the output here at CQ, and I love doing...
February 23, 2007
And Now, A Word About Our Sponsors
I don't support Hillary Clinton. I wouldn't allow my son to have a high-powered laser pointer when he wanted one as a teenager. There's nothing I like better than a good steak for dinner. If people thought that my advertisers represented my beliefs, they would be surprised by the above statements. In fact, I continue to get e-mail about the sponsors who choose to support CQ through advertising on this site. Yesterday, I received a very nice and polite note from a beef producer in the Midwest objecting to the PETA ad on my Blogad strip -- the one with the picture of the rare steak on a plate. (I prefer mine medium rare, actually.) Earlier this year, the topic of advertising arose when Hillary bought blogads on a number of conservative blogs, including mine, to advertise webcasted "conversations" that launched her campaign. As I explained then, the purchase of...
March 16, 2007
When The Hobby Becomes The Profession
Just a little over three and a half years ago, I began this blog as a creative writing outlet and a chance to hone my skills. When I launched Captain's Quarters, I had no idea how it would grow, that it would attract this wonderful community of readers and commenters across the political spectrum, or that it would change my life. Today, with the support of family and friends, I made the transition from hobbyist to full-time worker in the New Media. I have accepted a position as Political Director of Blog Talk Radio, an exciting new venture known to the CQ community but one which I hope to help expand exponentially. It's a chance to work full time in the field which I have grown to love, and an opportunity to help others literally discover their voices. Why Blog Talk Radio? After weeks of interaction with the owners and...
March 17, 2007
I Know You Guys Will Tell Me To Buy An Apple ...
In preparation for the job change, I decided to get a spare laptop to use in case my main computer goes down. I bought the Sony Vaio PCG-7M1L last summer at Best Buy, along with the 3-year, drop-in-in-the-ocean-and-we'll-replace-it warranty, so a failure would get repaired for free. However, it would also be gone for up to 3 weeks if that happened, and that would mean 3 weeks of using my old, slow desktop -- not a good option, especially if I have to go on the road for Blog Talk Radio. I went back to Best Buy and looked for an inexpensive yet serviceable laptop. I had originally looked at the Gateway MT6828 system on their website, as Best Buy had it on sale from $899 to $749. Unfortunately, the store and the site were out of stock, and instead I decided on the Gateway MT3705. Only $599, it had...
March 19, 2007
Prayers For Cathy Seipp
Sometimes, when we're in the middle of crises, we lose perspective on how our stresses and sorrows relate to those around us who may have it much worse than we do. In the middle of a very bad day for the First Mate, I had one of those realizations when I heard the news about Cathy Seipp. Her daughter posted the latest update about Cathy, whose cancer appears to have overwhelmed her: As earlier mentioned in the comments section, my mother is in the hospital. The doctor says that right now they're just making her comfortable. She's sedated, with painkillers among other things. Lungs collapsed so right now we just want to make sure she has dignity and is not in pain. The doctor says she has a couple days left. I want to thank all her readers for reading this blog, her friends for supporting her who made up...
March 20, 2007
Live Blog: Jonah Goldberg At UM
I found out a few days ago -- from reading The Corner, naturally -- that NRO editor-at-large Jonah Goldberg would give a speech to CFACT here at the University of Minnesota tonight. I have long wanted to meet Jonah, but didn't have the opportunity until now. With the First Mate in the hospital, I sent Jonah a welcome-to-Minnesota e-mail (to which he sent a friendly reply), but didn't think I'd get the opportunity to hear the speech. Fortunately, the FM has improved greatly. I visited with her this afternoon and spoke with doctors, and they're very encouraged about her status. She tired out quickly today, so I need to let her get some sleep, but her blood pressure has been very consistent and very normal all day. They removed the IV drip and switched to oral medication, and they think she'll get out of the ICU pretty quickly. After I...
March 21, 2007
Cathy Seipp, RIP
Cathy Seipp has passed away. Our condolences go out to her family and friends, and our appreciation for her wit, talent, and heart goes with her. Godspeed, Cathy, and thank you....
March 23, 2007
Friday Night Tech Bleg
I'm looking for a little assistance in embedding a script into the RSS feed. If anyone has experience with Atom and RSS formats and their programming, I'd appreciate a little assistance. I'll promise to link back to you in a highly approving way .......
March 24, 2007
Support Mike In The PanMass Ride
Yesterday, I put out a bleg regarding RSS programming. One of the people who responded was Mike Sierra of the blog LetMeSpellItOutForYou. I promised a cheery link in return for assistance in fixing a particularly nagging problem, and even though we're still working on the problem, I'd like to highlight Mike's efforts to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute: A year and a half ago, I rode in my first Pan-Mass Challenge, a two-day bicycle ride across much of Massachusetts that benefits research at Boston's world-renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I originally envisioned that the ride might offer some encouragement for my brother-in-law, Bryce McHale, in the midst of his treatment for colon cancer. Instead it marked a premature memorial, since he died from surgical complications a few days shy of his 41st birthday. This year I will participate in this remarkable, uplifting event for a third time, riding...
April 4, 2007
Hey, I Could Get Used To This!
As some of you have probably surmised, I've stayed home to take care of the First Mate today. I expected her to come home later in the week, when the Admiral Emeritus and his wife will be here for a week to help us out. Unfortunately, I didn't get anyone committed to being here while she's recuperating today and tomorrow, so I'm working from home the next couple of days in the meantime. Of course, this is great preparation for April 16th, when I start my new job as Political Director for Blog Talk Radio. More announcements will be coming about a new, daily slot for CQ Radio, as well as other exciting developments. As you can see, I'm hard at work acclimating myself to the rigors of the job: Actually, I am multitasking here. The left-most laptop is from my current job, for which I'm running some analytical databases...
April 9, 2007
Does The Blogosphere Need A Speech Code?
The New York Times reports on an effort that has percolated in the blogosphere over the last couple of weeks to clean up the on-line debate. Spurred by threats made against a female blogger over the propriety of deleting abusive comments, the new standards would more or less compel bloggers to eliminate offending comments and to discourage anonymous comments: 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...
Update On Trackbacks
Earlier, I had removed the URL for trackback pings because of heavy spamming recently. All of the spam had been caught in my filter, but a few legitimate pings get caught in the filter as well. I have been rescuing legitimate pings from the junk process up to now, and I wanted to stop the flood of actual spam pings in order to approve the others. It didn't work out the way I planned. I couldn't quite get the descriptions correct, and pings went to the wrong posts. I've restored the display of the trackback URL, so that problem should be eliminated. However, I will no longer check the junk filter for legitimate pings, and will force them to delete in 24 hours after detection. Almost without exception, the trapped pings get flagged because of a mismatch between the IP address in the ping and the IP address for the...
April 12, 2007
What Happened To The 'Invisible Hand'?
Daniel Henninger lends his normally rational, free-market voice to the matter of blogger civility in today's Opinion Journal -- and opts for the communal approach. Henninger wants a code of conduct imposed on the blogosphere, even voluntarily, to reverse the tide of uncivility in modern discourse: And so it came to pass in the year 2007 that a little platoon came forth to say unto the world: Enough is enough. Two leading citizens of the Web, Tim O'Reilly and Jimmy Wales, have proposed a "Bloggers Code of Conduct." The reason for this code is the phenomenon of people posting extremely nasty verbal comments about other people on Web sites devoted to political and social commentary. For Mr. O'Reilly, a publisher and activist for open Web standards, the last blogospheric straw involved a friend whose suggestion that it was OK to delete offensive comments from Web sites earned her a backlash...
April 13, 2007
Speed Demons We're Not
Yesterday, I received a number of messages from CQ readers noting significant slowdowns in page loading. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to work on it much until this morning, when it has taken most of my time investigating. The culprits appear to be the outside content providers for CQ, notably Technorati and Blogads. The Technorati tags on each post now take longer to load than before, which causes the content column to load much more slowly -- because I usually have 25-35 posts on the main page. I have removed the Technorati and Digg tags from the main page posts, but they still remain on the individual-post pages, where people go to read and add comments. The Blogads proxy server appears somewhat slow in responding, too. That doesn't cause as much of a problem, though, because the content loads first, and people can continue reading while the ads load....
It's The End Of The World As I Know It ...
... and I feel fine! I will go to the day job as a call center manager for the last time today. On Monday, I start my new full-time position with Blog Talk Radio as Political Director and will provide full-time commentary through my blog and my new daily BTR show. The phrase "dream come true" is hackneyed, but in this case the cliché applies. I have worked in the burg/fire alarm industry for eighteen years, starting in late 1988 as a night shift operator at a Honeywell central station. I took the job after working at Hughes Aircraft in Anaheim Hills as an editor and tech writer for the Technical Publications group for almost four years. It had been my first career, and I loved the work -- even if the writing was dry and repetitive. It allowed me to build my skills, and I would have cheerfully done...
April 14, 2007
Slow Loading Resolved
The incredibly slow loading of CQ has been resolved. The culprit? I had old Blogads code on the site that utilized their proxy servers, rather than their 2.0 platform. Thanks to CQ commenter ForNow and Instapundit, I've fixed the problem and the site loads much more quickly. I will also probably look into reducing the graphics load on the site in order to make it even more responsive. After hearing the response to the removal of the Technorati and Digg widgets from the main display page, I'm going to leave them off. I'm keeping Sphere because I find it personally useful, and because it does a good job of finding related posts both within CQ's archives and around the blogosphere. All of the widgets will remain on the individual post displays, where they will have no effect on page loading....
April 16, 2007
Prayers For WFB And The Anchoress
Patricia Taylor Buckley, the beloved wife of conservative godfather William F Buckley and mother of novelist Christopher Buckley (Thank You For Smoking), has passed away this weekend. National Review's The Corner has a number of touching tributes in remembrance. Bob Leibowitz, who knew Mrs. Buckley for many years, writes his personal recollections of the "den mother of the conservative movement". Our prayers go to the two Mr. Buckleys and all of their family and friends. While you say your prayers for the Buckleys, spare a few for The Anchoress as well. My friend is struggling with a chronic illness that has incapacitated her to varying degrees, and right now she is too ill to write. I know she'll deny this, but she's one of the gentlest souls in the blogosphere. When politics got too nasty for her, she consoled herself and all of the rest of us with beautiful Catholic...
April 17, 2007
The Consumer Network Prevails
Last week, I wrote about the heavy-handed efforts of JL Kirk Associates, an employment placement firm, to silence one of its dissatisfied clients on her blog. They hired a law firm and sent a cease-and-desist demand rather than addressing the cause of her dissatisfaction. When word went out about the legal brinksmanship, bloggers from across the nation linked to and discussed the story -- and apparently let JL Kirk and its legal team know about their unhappiness through a flood of e-mails. The story appears to have a relatively happy ending for the blogger, Kate Coble: Attorneys for JL Kirk & Assocs. contacted Media Bloggers Association attorney Ronald Coleman shortly after receiving his letter stating that the MBA was representing me in this dispute on Thursday afternoon. Both sides expressed their wish to avoid litigation or further aggravation of the situation. JL Kirk’s main concern at the outset was that...
April 23, 2007
Searching For A Transcriber
Due to my current workload, I'm finding it difficult to produce transcripts of my interviews -- and I would like to have them available for use in promoting my shows. I'm looking for someone who wants to do transcriptions for a reasonable rate and who can accept PayPal for their payment. If anyone would like to inquire, please e-mail me at the address on the sidebar with the subject line "Transcription". Thank you!...
April 24, 2007
Hot Air Turns One
Happy anniversary to Michelle, Bryan, Allahpundit, and Ian, as Hot Air celebrates its first anniversary. Michelle writes: This is the very first business I’ve ever run. The experience has deepened my already abiding respect for entrepreneurs small and large. It ain’t easy. Not everyone has the intestinal fortitude to attempt to create something from nothing, if I may say so. It takes a great leap of faith–and I’m grateful to all the members of the Hot Air team who took that leap with me. The risks are great, but the rewards can be, too. And not just financial rewards. Hot Air is not just a business. It’s a mission. I intentionally brought together an eclectic group of incredibly talented people to bring something new to the blogosphere. One of the things, I think, that makes this site compelling and interesting to read and watch every day is that we have...
April 26, 2007
Day By Day: Crossing A Line?
Today's panel of Day by Day uses blackface on Hillary Clinton to make a political point about her pandering to the African-American community by changing the cant and accent of her speech to sound more "black". Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House criticized Chris Muir on his own blog and on Heading Right this morning: Considering how we conservatives trashed Jane (”you ignorant slut”) Hamsher for photoshopping Lieberman in black face, shouldn’t we police our own and give Mr. Muir a few well chosen jabs for his insensitivity? As I point out in my blog post, there is more than political correctness at stake here. The Minstrel Show - which is where black face comes from - did more than any other American institution to spread the black stereotypes we’re so familiar with today. I responded by agreeing with Rick, although I think the Hamsher example is less apropo...
April 28, 2007
Ups And Downs
Apparently, the CQ hosting service has had some interruptions in service, but we're back up at the moment. Remember, if CQ goes down -- a rarity -- I'll post at Heading Right until service is restored. We're about to go on air, but I've been following the NFL draft. Question: Why have Cleveland, Minnesota, and Miami all passed on Brady Quinn? UPDATE: Michael Ledeen will be on the NARN at 1:30 pm CT to talk about George Tenet's book and his appearance in it. Don't miss this! UPDATE II: Cleveland traded up for Dallas' first round pick to get Brady Quinn at #22. KC might have been interested in Quinn at #23. It's a good move for Cleveland, who gets away with its odd choice earlier in the first round....
April 30, 2007
She's Baaa-aaack!
Guess who's blogging again? The Anchoress has recovered enough to resume blogging, although she may still want to take it easy for a while to regain her strength. In the meantime, be sure to check out her post on her latest bout of song poison, as well as her take on Al Gore and Democratic openness to media coverage. Addendum: Guess who else is (almost) back? Our neighbor, Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD). Congressional Quarterly -- the other CQ -- has the story: Sen. Tim Johnson, who suffered a debilitating brain hemorrhage in December, has left a rehabilitation center to continue his recovery at his home in northern Virginia. The transition from a full-time rehabilitation facility to outpatient and home care puts Johnson, D-S.D., one step closer to returning to full-time Senate duties. While Johnson has started to handle paperwork, cosponsor legislation and receive briefings, his staff and his doctors have...
May 3, 2007
Jumping The Snark
Atlantic Monthly's Andrew Sullivan has spent the last few years raging about the Bush administration and its predilection for torture. He has also written extensively on the supposedly degrading effect the television show “24″ has on the nation, and how it fits into a Fox/neocon mentality and to desensitize us to the horror of torture. Unfortunately, this predisposed Andrew to fall for a rather obvious hoax at a website devoted to entertainment satire. Has Andrew jumped the snark? Join us at Heading Right to discuss!...
May 7, 2007
Tinkering With Comments (Update & Bump)
Here at CQ, we're always looking for ways to tinker with the system in order to improve performance. I'm testing a new comment interface that works outside of the Typekey login. Typekey still works with the comments section, but at least for a test period, it will not be required. I'm using another form of spam blocking, and hopefully this will work well enough to eliminate the Typekey requirement, which has never worked particularly well with this blog. Let me know what you think. I'll update everyone on the performance of the system to keep spam out of the comments sections. UPDATE, BUMP: Still doing some tinkering. I'm trying to find solutions that won't require Typekey but will not create a lot of work for me to clear comments from spam filters. This may take some time and could create delays in comments posting on threads. I'm also trying to...
May 11, 2007
Light Posting On CQ
For various technical reasons, I'm unable to receive e-mail on most of my accounts at the moment, and my ability to post here will be limited for the next few hours. I'll post at Heading Right while we work out some bugs here, so be sure to check in there from time to time. I will post an update when we're back up and running....
May 12, 2007
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Quite a few people have noticed that some changes have been made behind the scenes today at Captain's Quarters. It's been a long couple of weeks, and it resulted in a change in hosting services that supports CQ. Most of this has been transparent, but as some noticed today, it resulted in difficulties in commenting on the threads I posted. I have been with the same hosting service for over three years, and I didn't really want to move. However, I had a number of problems posting over the last two weeks, and when I asked for assistance, I was told that they considered me a problem for their other customers. I asked several times for assistance in helping to solve problems with runaway processes, but was told that they had other customers to service. Over the years they had been supportive and generous with me, but this kind of...
May 14, 2007
Site Issues (Mostly) Resolved
Between Pair Networks, my new hosting service, and myself, we seem to have determined the problems with slow loads and errors on comments. It turns out that Movable Type wants to rebuild the entire comment database every time it rebuilds pages (blog posts or comments) on a blog. We have a database of over 140,000 comments at CQ, and that created a database table that topped 160MB. Rebuilding that file every time created an overload on the server that caused their "reaper" programs to kill the processes before they ever had a chance to complete. This was certainly the problem at my former hosting service. However, since they gave me no direction about the reason for the problem -- indeed, told me on more than one occasion that application issues were not their problem -- I had no idea how Movable Type handled rebuilds, and so I could not fix...
May 16, 2007
On The Road Again
I'm in Madison, Wisconsin, preparing for my appearance at the Online News Association conference tomorrow at the Hilton. I'll be on the last panel, discussing how online coverage will shape the upcoming campaign. I get to join a rather august group -- Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics, joe Trippi, The Politico's Ben Smith, and Vaughn Ververs of CBS' Public Eye. I'm looking forward to meeting all of them. Posting may be limited tomorrow, but I'm hoping to get some audio for a show or two later ......
May 18, 2007
A Note On Comments
CQ commenters have noticed a large number of errors when trying to submit comments. I get the same errors when I try to comment -- and we're working on a permanent solution. The truth is that we've become too successful in building traffic and a large community to work through normal, low-cost hosting services, and I need to make other arrangements. I've been trying for months to make enough back-end changes to keep costs down, but I have to acknowledge that success in this industry requires a better allocation of resources. It will take a few days to implement the necessary changes. In the meantime, please don't reload your comment when you get an error message -- in almost every case, the comment has been received. For new commenters, I have to approve your first entry in order to get past the spam protections we have here, and I'm pretty...
May 20, 2007
Dawn Of The Living Blog
As many CQ readers surmised, Captain's Quarters underwent some serious reconstruction last night -- as well as another host change. Pair Networks put forth a lot of effort the last couple of weeks, but the performance of the blog got increasingly worse on their servers, even as we kept upgrading the service level they provided. Yesterday it got so bad that I couldn't even get the scripts to build a post most of the day. I don't consider this a reflection on Pair, though, who did work very hard to find the trouble -- but I couldn't allow the blog to crawl to a halt. I decided to contact my old hosting service, Hosting Matters. As I wrote earlier, the owner had contacted me shortly after I left, and after explaining what had happened, she apologized for the issues and had been assisting me with some of the back-end processes...
First Mate Update
Over the last few days, I've received several e-mails reminding me that I have not updated readers on the First Mate's recovery. In this case, no news is really good news. She continues to recover at a nice rate. In fact, we're now seeing the transplanted kidney do an even better job of regulating her blood pressure. We've had to drastically reduce her medication intake over the last week to keep her from bottoming out, and it's possible she won't need any BP meds at all within the next few weeks. Last night, before we started the really heavy lifting on the blog rebuild, we did something we hadn't done in ages -- went out for burgers and a movie. She has had to avoid sodium like Superman avoided Kryptonite, and she still has to be careful with it, but now she can start to enjoy occasional treats like Red...
A Note On Fixes
Seems like this morning has been eaten up with the internal mechanics of the blog, but I want to add a couple of items to the update. As CQ commenters know, this all started out with problems in the comment scripting, although it went beyond that eventually. It turns out that MT users have some particular issues with comments, especially over a long period of time. The first, of course, is spam -- and when I dropped Typekey, I enabled other spam plug-ins to keep the spambots at bay. It turns out that I inadvertently made the problem worse, as Kevin at Wizbang! reports: One of the features that keeps Wizbang running smoothly is the SpamLookup service that is a part of our blogging software. I actually use three products - SpamLookup, Akismet, and AutoBan to automate our spam prevention process. The three together work great; catching, removing, and banning...
May 23, 2007
New Search Function At CQ
As many of you know, I have been working on some problems behind the scenes with script performance in Movable Type. Most of the issues have involved the comment script, although the central MT script has also created a few headaches over the past couple of weeks. During the two recent hosting moves, I upgraded the MT version from 3.2 to 3.35 to ensure that I have the most recent versions of these scripts running. Between that and some assistance from Hosting Matters on server allocation, we seem to have solved most of the problems. One nagging problem remain, and it's a puzzler. The upgrade to 3.35 gave me access to an internal RSS feed on my activity log, and it revealed some odd traffic on my site. It seems that spammers like to run searches on their URLs on my blog, which explains why my search function slowed to...
May 27, 2007
The Birthday Boys
My good friends at Power Line are celebrating their fifth anniversary in the blogosphere this weekend. Most of us on the conservative side of the blogosphere have been influenced, directly or indirectly, by the clear prose and skilled argument that John, Scott, and Paul have consistently produced since 2002. Not only did they help inspire me to start blogging, but they actively mentored me during the early days of Captain's Quarters. Happy anniversary to three great guys. Keep up the great work....
June 4, 2007
Rick Moran's Fundraiser
One of my favorite bloggers needs your assistance. Rick Moran, of Right Wing Nut House, will hold his third annual fundraiser, as he tries to keep his time free for free-lance writing: This is the third June in a row that I have forthrightly and without any qualms asked the readers of Right Wing Nuthouse to donate funds to this site. And it is the last time I will make such a request. This is because by next June, I either won’t need the money or will have given up trying to write for a living. Of course, you are not exactly donating to “this site.” You would be giving money to me, Rick Moran – someone who no doubt has made you laugh, angered you, made you think, or perhaps moved you with his writing. I make no pretense to having a corner on truth, being a superior writer,...
June 15, 2007
Literary Bleg
I've been asked over the last couple of years by CQ readers why I haven't written a book. I usually tell them because I haven't had the time, but with the recent changes in CQ-land these days, I've begun to reconsider my long-term goals. I'd be interested in talking with a reputable, legitimate literary agency about a couple of projects I have in mind. Please send me an e-mail at my address on the sidebar with the subject heading "Representation" if anyone has an interest....
June 29, 2007
The Stickings' New Blessing
Congratulations to my friend on the other side of the political fence, Michael Stickings, and his wife. Two weeks ago they welcomed a new addition to the family, Emily, which has explained his absence at The Moderate Voice. Congratulations to the entire family on the new arrival!...
July 2, 2007
If You Don't Hear From Me, Send Lawyers, Guns, And Money
After struggling for a few years with Qwest's DSL service, I'm changing to Comcast this afternoon. I'll be replacing my local phone service and Direct TV programming at the same time, a move that should give me much faster Internet access while saving me close to $60 per month ... if it works. My DSL has always had its share of problems. I live in one of those neighborhoods that sits too far from a central office to get normal DSL. Qwest installed repeaters nearby to give service to my area, but no other CLECs followed suit. As a result, the only DSL I can get is Qwest's business class (for networking in the house), and while the down/up pipe isn't bad -- usually 512/256K -- it's cranky. If I run a trace route on any domain, it times out. Cable hadn't been an option for a while here either,...
Cancel The Lawyers And Guns ...
... but feel free to send the money. Comcast completed its installation while I conducted my CQ Radio show today, rushing to complete the Internet connection before the show started. They made it with two minutes to spare; after a lifetime of watching bad movies where bombs get stopped at the 00:00:01 mark, it hardly even raised the blood pressure. Everything is up and running as it should be, and my download speed has increased from around 500K to something well north of 6M. I'll have more, but right now I have to redo two entertainment systems. No nightmares!...
July 3, 2007
Media Alert
I'll be appearing on CHQR's The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge, appearing at 9:05 Central. The main topic will be the Libby commutation, although knowing Rob, he'll want to cover other topics as well. Be sure to tune in; if you're not in Calgary, the station has a live stream over the Internet....
July 8, 2007
Travel Day
I'll be traveling to Washington DC today in preparation for my live interview with Ambassador Said Jawad of Afghanistan on Monday. I'll also broadcast live from the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday afternoon. Both shows will come at special times -- 1 pm CT on Monday and 1:30 pm CT on Tuesday. I'll have more later this evening when I escape Minnesota's sticky heat for DC's even worse heat. I'm hoping that everyone has their air conditioners in top form and their electrical bills paid! UPDATE: Just arrived -- and I'm back at the hotel where I stayed last year at The Week's awards dinner. If I have to travel, this is the way to do it. More later. UPDATE II: Took a walk after eating a $16 hamburger in my room. It's just as steamy as the Twin Cities, but it's nice to see so many people out on the...
July 20, 2007
JetBlue Retracts Sponsorship; Is This Victory?
After the discount airliner JetBlue sponsored the YearlyKos event, conservative bloggers started campaigning to pressure the airline to end its association with the Leftosphere event. Bill O'Reilly even had a Factor segment on his show this week, challenging JetBlue management for its decision to help underwrite the event. At first, JetBlue remained adamant that they would not succumb to the pressure -- but that didn't last too long. According to Markos Moulitsas Zuniga at Daily Kos, they have ended their association with his conference (via Memeorandum): Okay, so JetBlue, after deciding to resist Bill O'Reilly's pressure last night, just decided to back down. ... As for my part, I'm cancelling my JetBlue American Express card and will be looking at alternative options for my future travel. Too bad. Unfortunately, JetBlue just told me (and the rest of us) that they accept O'Reilly's ... smears. .. Oh, and JetBlue advertises with...
July 22, 2007
Technical Problems At CQ
If you have been experiencing any access issues this weekend at CQ, you are not alone. My hosting service, Hosting Matters, discovered some hardware failures on the server that hosts this site. They have had to perform an emergency transfer to a new platform -- no easy feat -- and it seems there may have been a few issues with that move. My access to the blog's scripts has been spotty, and my e-mail is currently down. Tech support is looking into all of the issues right now, but it may take a while before everything gets ironed out. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience!...
July 28, 2007
Changes Coming, And Right Soon (Updated)
Captain's Quarters will undergo a few changes in the next few weeks. It has been more than two years since the last site redesign, and it needs some serious retooling to match my new efforts in New Media. I've engaged the design firm that retooled Michelle Malkin's site earlier this year -- and already they have impressed me with their professionalism and their insight. The redesign has several goals, among them increased functionality for myself and CQ readers, quicker load times, better commenting features, all while retaining the CQ brand. We will also have new print and e-mail functions for posts, two long-term requests from CQ readers. There are a couple of more surprises that I will save for the new site launch, which should be in a few weeks. One change, though, I can announce today. The pop-under ads have been removed. I hope that will please readers, especially...
August 1, 2007
I Obviously Needed More Coffee Today
Apparently, I miscoded something on my CQ Radio post which made everything else fail out. I've fixed the problem, and the rest of the site should be accessible now. I apologize for the inconvenience....
August 3, 2007
A Day Out Of The House, Courtesy Of Comcast
I'm enjoying the relaxations of our local Panera restaurant and its free wi-fi service, courtesy of an area-wide disruption of service at Comcast. Today marks the first full month that I've had with Comcast's Triple Play, and until about 6:30 this morning, I was pretty satisfied with the switch. Comcast had a couple of advantages. It could provide much faster Internet access and it saved me $60 a month over my combined Qwest and DirectTV bills. The picture isn't quite as crisp as with DirectTV, but I love the free on-demand video. The internet speed went from 500K to 6M, and it allowed me to finally start streaming video on my computer. (Before that, YouTube was a rare indulgence.) Unfortunately, when something goes wrong, it really goes wrong with Comcast. The only problem before today was a bad TV box, which they replaced in two days with no fuss. Today,...
August 5, 2007
Access Denied!
Have you been having trouble accessing some of your favorite blogs? So have the bloggers that run them. Hosting Matters has had issues this afternoon, so it's not your imagination or some grand conspiracy. (At least, I hope it's not some grand conspiracy.) I'm not sure what the problem was, but it's apparently been resolved....
August 6, 2007
A Union For Owners?
Bloggers on the port side of the 'sphere have suggested a new way to organize the chaos that is the blogging community. They propose a union for bloggers, which has some labor organizers salivating but a good number of us scratching our heads. Since when have owners (outside of sports leagues) needed to organize? In a move that might make some people scratch their heads, a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers are trying to band together to form a labor union they hope will help them receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards. The effort is an extension of the blogosphere's growing power and presence, especially within the political realm, and for many, evokes memories of the early labor organization of freelance writers in the early 1980s. Organizers hope a bloggers' labor group will not only showcase the growing professionalism of the Web-based writers, but...
A Diversity Issue At YKos?
The Washington Post and Rick Moran agree on one thing: the YearlyKos convention looked monochromatic for a multicultural movement. With few exceptions, the gathering could have used Procul Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" as its theme song, according to these reports: It's Sunday, day 4 of Yearly Kos, the major conference for progressive bloggers, and Gina Cooper, the confab's organizer-in-chief, surveys the ballroom of the massive McCormick Place Convention Center. A few hundred remaining conventioneers are having brunch, dining on eggs, bagels and sausage. Seven of the eight Democratic presidential candidates have paid their respects this weekend, and some 200 members of the credentialed press have filed their stories. A mere curiosity just two years ago, the progressive blogosphere has gone mainstream. But Cooper sees a problem. "It's mostly white. More male than female," says the former high school math and science teacher turned activist. "It's not very diverse." There...
August 8, 2007
Isn't That 72 In Blog Years?
Glenn Reynolds, one of the true pioneers in the blogosphere, celebrates the 6th anniversary of Instapundit today. Glenn launched this indispensable site just five weeks before 9/11, which puts his enormous influence today in an amazing context. He's made himself almost into a public utility in the blogosphere, which I'm almost certain may be more of a curse than a blessing for Glenn. HIs success inspired many of us to follow. Early in my blogging career, I struggled to find my own style, and someone suggested that I emulate Glenn. (If you go back to my first month of blogging, you'll see this pretty clearly.) In a very short period, I learned the error of that approach, and it reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite movies, Rudy. Robert Prosky, playing Father Cavanaugh, says, "Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with...
August 10, 2007
Project Letters From Home
Jim Cannon at Thinking Right has a new project and could use a lot of help -- and the best part is that the more we help, the more we support the troops. Picking up where Blackfive left off, Jim has decided to organize a letter-writing campaign to keep up morale in our fine fighting forces in the 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. He wants to make sure every Marine in that battalion gets a personal letter from an American expressing our gratitude for the service he or she provides us. Jim has the contact information at his site, and perhaps we'll get Jim on today's CQ Radio show to discuss the project further. In the meantime, help Jim reach his goal of 1000 e-mails to those Marines....
August 17, 2007
Prayers For The Anchoress, And Others
Many CQ readers are, like myself, fans of The Anchoress. Her clear and humble writings on religion always provide a lift for me, usually just when I need it the most. However, right now she needs the lift from all of us. I received a note from her a few minutes ago, telling me she has to go to the emergency room for a serious medical complication that just occurred this morning. I don't want to get more specific than that, but it is quite serious and needs immediate attention. Keep her and her family in your prayers and thoughts today. Feel free to leave her messages of support in this comment thread. UPDATE: Let's keep some traffic going to her site while she's obviously off line. She posted an intriguing essay on the incompatibilities between socialism and monastacism, which might be a good place to start for new readers....
August 19, 2007
Changes Almost Here
Earlier this summer, I announced that Captain's Quarters would undergo a face lift. My site designers, The Blog Studio, have worked hard to make the changes as quickly as possible. Peter and Lucia have been enthusiastic about taking my sometimes contradictory concepts and making them into reality. And now I can tell you that the wait is almost over for the new launch. On Tuesday, we will start working to switch from the old design to the new Captain's Quarters. It may take a little work, and we may have a few ups and downs while we get the kinks out, but we're looking forward to the new CQ -- and you will see that we have taken your input into account in the new design. So what will be new? * Faster load time * New color scheme and logo * Easier to read * New e-mail and print...
August 22, 2007
Welcome To The New CQ!
As CQ readers have already surmised, we launched the new site design this afternoon. We've made quite a few changes, and I'd like to walk you through some of them -- and get your feedback on this thread. The site had not been substantially updated in more than three years. My previous designer did a good job, but I wanted a site that looked less like a hobby and more like a profession. Michelle Malkin kindly referred me to the firm that did her recent site redesign, The Blog Studio. I worked with Peter and Lucia to develop the goals of the conversion. First, I wanted the site to load much more quickly than it did previously. It sometimes took forever to get the site to load, causing me and readers a lot of frustrations. I also wanted less contrast in the color scheme. I liked the navy blue but...
August 23, 2007
Comments Closed For Repair (Update: Open Again)
Unfortunately, we seem to have introduced some weird loop into the comment scripting with the site changes. It's kept me from blogging most of the day and created astronomical server loads. Until we can address this later today, I've had to disable the comment script. It should be up and running later. In the meantime, if you want to comment on one of the posts, feel free to call my CQ Radio show today -- and you can bark directly at me! UPDATE: I've re-enabled the comment script, as we think we've found most of the problem. Later tonight, we're going to do a major rebuild and try to fix most of the outstanding issues. I will probably disable comments at that point until the rebuild finishes so we can ensure a clean, successful rebuild. In the meantime, the floor is yours!...
August 29, 2007
The CQ Rollercoaster
It's been a fun day at CQ -- the comment scripts still have their problems, and once again they locked me out of the site and dented my blog output, as well as other work-related issues that I had to put aside. We've unknotted most of them, and I'm reopening comments once more. Tonight, I'm making the last of my weekday appearances at the Minnesota State Fair for AM 1280 The Patriot. Tonight my co-host will not be Mitch Berg but Colonel Joe Repya, a local legend and a tremendously fine man. We'll talk about Iraq with Col. Repya, who served multiple tours there, especially about the latest developments. We will also talk politics regarding the special session for the bridge, the problems with the primaries, and maybe even get to John Edwards' sacrifice offsets. If you get the chance, be sure to listen on the Internet stream at the...
August 31, 2007
Comments Problems Resolved ... I Hope
CQ readers know that we have had nothing but frustration with the comment process here, a problem that has long predated the recent site upgrade. Over the last couple of weeks, we have tried everything we could think to resolve it, and I've spent more time on this problem than I have on my actual blogging. One reason for that is that the same problem commenters have in posting on CQ happens for me when loading new posts as well. The server load has driven performance to a crawl several times a day, and none of us could really understand why. The Blog Studio and Hosting Matters have put a lot of effort into trying to make the comments work properly again. Eventually, the good people at Six Apart (creators of Movable Type) explained a number of facts about the commenting process that made the problem clear. We knew that...
September 1, 2007
Comments Still Humming, 24 Hours Later
So far, so good -- it looks like the last fix applied last night has really solved the commenting issue. I've timed the process at my home, with high-speed Internet access, and it looks like conmments are still executing in 5 seconds, perhaps less. A few commenters have posted their approval; hopefully we will no longer have any issues with comments....
September 22, 2007
Nutpicking Penalizes Free Commenting
It's not often I agree with Steve Benen, but he makes a good point about trawling through comments sections of blogs of any stripe in order to cast aspersions on the blogger. It gets worse when political candidates do it to discredit opponents, the context in which Benen discusses it here: For quite a while, conservatives have embraced an annoying strategy -- trawl through liberal comments sections in the hopes of finding intemperate remarks. The right then takes these comments to "prove" that the left is made up of unhinged radicals. The practice has always been rather self-defeating. In fact, about a year ago, Kevin Drum came up with a sensible maxim: "If you're forced to rely on random blog commenters to make a point about the prevalence of some form or another of disagreeable behavior, you've pretty much made exactly the opposite point." Eventually, the practice was even given...
September 23, 2007
He's Cute, He's Coy, He's My Cuddly Toy
Perhaps the invitation by Columbia University to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak during his UN visit may do some good. Already it has had a clarifying effect on the sufferers of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Kos diarist Sallykohn, a Jewish lesbian who acknowledges that she'd be among the first to have a brick wall dropped on her in Iran, confesses to a crush on the diminutive Mahmoud -- because he's so much better than George Bush: I want to be very clear. There are certainly many things about Ahmadinejad that I abhor — locking up dissidents, executing of gay folks, denying the fact of the Holocaust, potentially adding another dangerous nuclear power to the world and, in general, stifling democracy. Even still, I can’t help but be turned on by his frank rhetoric calling out the horrors of the Bush Administration and, for that matter, generations of US foreign policy preceding. She...
September 26, 2007
Solutions Day: Ask Your Questions Of Newt Gingrich
Tomorrow I will fly to Atlanta to attend Solutions Day, the event hosted by Newt Gingrich's American Solutions organization. I'll blog live from the launch that evening, and I will get a chance to interview Newt Gingrich earlier in the day. The recorded interview will get aired on my Heading Right Radio show on Thursday afternoon. I'm excited to take part in this effort. Many of us bemoan the lack of fresh ideas and approaches in American politics, and events like this challenge us to keep open minds. Newt Gingrich, who has long been one of conservatism's leading intellectuals, seems particularly suited to lead an effort searching for big ideas. Here's the description of the event from American Solutions: American Solutions for Winning the Future is a new, non-partisan organization built around three goals: to defend America and our allies abroad and defeat our enemies, to strengthen and revitalize America’s...
September 30, 2007
Taking The Day Off
A bout of insomnia, computer problems, and a busy travel schedule have led to do something I haven't done in the four years I've been blogging -- take a day off. I need a recharge of the batteries and preparation for travel tomorrow. I'm going to give the First Mate some undivided attention, because she deserves it. Have a great day -- I'll be back tomorrow!...
October 5, 2007
Chickenfarmer!
I don't often do this, but I have to highlight this as the comment of the day. Tom W, responding to the inevitable "chickenhawk" ad hominem non-argument in the Code Pink thread, responded thusly: Unfortunately I don't have time to join the military. I support the police, so to be consistent I had to join the LAPD. I also support the fire department, so I became a firefighter, too. Since I drive a car, I had to become a roughneck on an offshore drilling platform, because I can't expect someone to do that dangerous work for me. I also support the building of skyscrapers, incredibly dangerous work, so I had to become an iron worker. Well, I have to go now. Since I eat vegetables, I have to go out and become a crop duster. Yes, but you eat meat, which causes the death of animals. Why aren't you working...
October 7, 2007
Rightoberfest: The Conservative Leadership Conference
I am happy to announce that I will appear at the Conservative Leadership Conference this week in Reno, Nevada, both as a speaker and as an exhibitor for BlogTalkRadio. The CLC will feature many fine speakers, including BTR's Andrea Shea-King, as well as presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Duncan Hunter. The event is sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, RedState, Citizens United, and more. Over 50 speakers will appear at the convention, and it will make for some great live-blogging opportunities. It starts Thursday, October 11th, and runs through Saturday. I will conduct my normal Friday show, but I will probably have to make other arrangements for my Thursday show as I will be traveling in the morning and speaking in the afternoon. If you have the time free, why not come to Reno and see all of the speakers and exhibitors yourself? If you can't make it out there, be...
October 10, 2007
Prayers For Chris And Shaun
I woke up this morning a little late and read through the comments -- and didn't realize that Chris Muir had put up an announcement of a family crisis until I read Rose's comment on another thread. I don't have any news from Chris, and I don't want to bother him while he focuses on his family. I'd just ask you to keep Chris in your prayers, and to leave positive messages in the comments section for support. Chris reads the blog and the threads when he has time, and I know he'll appreciate it to see all of his friends lining up behind him. Also, please pray for Shaun Daily at BlogTalkRadio, one of my colleagues at the network. He took ill this week and had to be hospitalized. He needs to get some rest and heal up, and he could also use your prayers....
October 11, 2007
On My Way To The CLC!
Later today, I will appear at the Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno, Nevada, both as a speaker and as an exhibitor for BlogTalkRadio. The CLC will feature many fine speakers, including BTR's Andrea Shea-King, as well as presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Duncan Hunter. The event is sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, RedState, Citizens United, and more. Over 50 speakers will appear at the convention, and it will make for some great live-blogging opportunities. In the morning, I will be traveling, and I give a talk just as soon as I hit the hotel. After that I'll put together the BlogTalkRadio exhibit, and once that's complete, I should be ready to start blogging again. I'll try to conduct a Heading Right Radio show if I can at that point, but we'll have to see how things are going at that point. Keep an eye on the blog for further updates....
October 14, 2007
A Loss In The Family
I received an e-mail from our friend Chris Muir this morning that his sister passed away yesterday. Please continue your prayers and good thoughts for Chris and his family, who will be struggling with this tragic loss. Day By Day will return, but in the meantime, he and his family need time to themselves.
October 15, 2007
On Tap For Monday
After my last trip to DC, I thought that I couldn't have a bumpier flight, but the trip from Vegas last night proved me wrong. Thanks to tough weather and some delays, I didn't make it home until almost 1 am this morning, so I'll be off to a slow start. Later today, we have the interview with John McCain on Heading Right Radio, and I will be blogging as normal, with just a later start. Be sure also to read Andrea Shea-King's report on Mark Sanford's speech at the CLC, too....
The 2007 Weblog Awards
I see our good friend Kevin Aylward has once again launched the Weblog Awards, which give everyone an opportunity to find new voices in the blogosphere. Like The Anchoress, I missed the actual launch of the awards, and the nominations close today. Kevin has done an excellent job in setting up the categories and has even switched to Movable Type 4.0 for the contest blog -- which shows a lot of courage as well. Be sure to visit, nominate your favorites in the various categories, and most importantly take some time to try new sites!...
October 23, 2007
Redstate Bans Ron Paul Supporters
Redstate has made a mistake in dealing with the Ron Paul Internet phenomenon. Instead of dealing quietly with trolls, the excellent conservative blog has announced a blanket policy banning supporting diaries and comments for Ron Paul from the site. Leon Wolf, who had worked for Sam Brownback for a while, announced it on the site today: Effective immediately, new users may *not* shill for Ron Paul in any way shape, form or fashion. Not in comments, not in diaries, nada. If your account is less than 6 months old, you can talk about something else, you can participate in the other threads and be your zany libertarian self all you want, but you cannot pimp Ron Paul. Those with accounts more than six months old may proceed as normal. Now, I could offer a long-winded explanation for *why* this new policy is being instituted, but I'm guessing that most of...
October 29, 2007
Technology Bites
Yes, I mean that title in all its contexts. Today has been Technology Day at Captain's Quarters, and that is never -- never a good sign. First, as some of you may have discovered today, I have been working with my BlogTalkRadio player. We have had people working on the issue with player volume on autostart, and we needed to test the function on a real live blog -- and since I'm the Political Director of BTR, I get to be the one to play. We did finally solve the issue of volume, so now we can use autostart without blasting readers into oblivion with Hugh Hewitt's splendid introduction to my show. The player will not autostart on the main page, but will on most of the subpages of the blog. Part of this is monetization, and part of it is promotion. If you find yourself on the page and...
November 1, 2007
An Honor Just To Be Nominated
The 2007 Weblog Awards team has announced the finalists in the various categories -- and Captain's Quarters has the honor in being named a finalist in two categories, Best Blog and Best Conservative Blog. Voting begins tonight and will run through next week. In fact, the winners will be announced at the Blog World Expo, where I will be next week as a speaker, an exhibitor, and as an excited attendee. I will be there to represent BlogTalkRadio, of course, and on both days will participate in panel discussions. On Thursday, I'll talk about "Raising the Level of Discourse in the Political Blogosphere," and on Friday my panel will discuss "Political Blogs and the Political Press: From Antagonists to Co-Players?" I'm looking forward to seeing the winners announced Thursday night -- and to meeting bloggers from across the spectrum during the conference. There is still room and still time to...
November 2, 2007
Weblog Awards Polls Open!
The 2007 Weblog Awards polls have opened! Cast your votes for your favorite blogs in a number of categories. Each person can cast one vote per day per category, which means you can spend the next week visiting the excellent site created by Kevin Aylward of Wizbang in Movable Type's new 4.0 system. Captain's Quarters has the honor of being nominated in two general categories -- Best Blog and Best Conservative Blog. I'll leave the link to vote at the top of the Crow's Nest for the week,along with the graphic to remind people to keep voting -- but don't forget that the best part is checking out new blogs and new voices. Explore the blogosphere and hopefully find a couple of new friends in the process!...
November 3, 2007
The Navy Sails Into .... Third?
Last week, I got off to a slow start in the Project Valour-IT fundraising competition, lingering at the dock while my Navy teammates struggled. After finally raising the sails, I'm happy to report that the Navy team has moved into .... third place. The Army and the Marine Corps teams still have a lead on us, but we've got a good wind now and we're closing the gap. If you haven't yet done so, be sure to help the Navy team push into the lead. But whichever team you support, all of us win. Project Valour-IT helps our wounded warriors of all branches by purchasing laptops for severely wounded service members. As of October 2007, Valour-IT has distributed over 1500 laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines across the country. Help the people who gave their bodies and their health to keep this nation secure and strong --...
November 5, 2007
BlogWorld Expo: The Gang's All There
Have you made your reservations for BlogWorld Expo yet? This week's festivities in Las Vegas promise to deliver the best that the blogging world has to offer, and the conferences will feature some of the most prominent bloggers in its conferences. The conventions will provide support, information, and advice that will put lie to the phrase, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Rick Calvert talks about the blogging lineup: This is a great line up if I do say so myself! Hugh Hewitt, Jerome Armstrong (MYDD), John Hinderaker (Powerline Blog), Jeralyn Merritt (Talk Left), Glenn Reynolds (The Instapundit), Joe Sudbay (America Blog), Ed Morrissey (Captains Quarters), Sean-Paul (The Agonist), NZ Bear (TTLB), Pam Spaulding (Pam’s House Blend), Jim Hoft (Gateway Pundit), Brad Friedman (Brad Blog), Mary Katherine Ham (Townhall.com) Nate Wilcox, Dean Barnett (The Weekly Standard), Professor David Perlmutter, Michael Medved, Roger L. Simon, Kevin from Wizbang and more....
November 7, 2007
Travel Day: BlogWorld Expo!
Today I'll be traveling to Las Vegas to attend the BlogWorld Expo on Thursday and Friday. I'll be speaking at two panels on Thursday, as well as being an exhibitor for BlogTalkRadio. I'm looking forward to meeting some of my good friends in the blogosphere, many for the first time in person, like Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House and a few of my BTR colleagues. There's still time to register and head out to Sin City, if you want to join us for a fun event and lots of blogging support! I'm going to try -- try -- to do my Heading Right Radio show today at 4 pm ET. I can't commit to it, because I don't know whether I'll be able to check into a hotel in time for it. If that doesn't work, we'll be on the air at the regular time Thursday and Friday,...
November 8, 2007
What Happens In Vegas, Gets Past Me
I'm out here in Sin City for the start of the BlogWorld Expo tomorrow, as a speaker on two panels tomorrow and an exhibitor for BlogTalkRadio Thursday and Friday. I had most of the day open after doing a slightly abbreviated 40-minute version of Heading Right Radio today, so I thought I'd get out of the hotel room and see a show. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a gambler. I'm not opposed to it for any moral reasons; I just don't get enthusiastic about playing games in which, even in the most favorable conditions, I'll lose whatever I bring to the table eventually. In Las Vegas, this can reeeeaaalllly handicap the fun quotient. I went to Rio, an unusually festive casino with a free dance show at the bottom of each hour complete with ceiling-mounted floats and dancing girls -- and that was fun the first time I saw it....
November 9, 2007
BlogWorld Expo Panel Discussion: Raising The Level Of Discourse
One of the difficulties of attending an event like BlogWorld Expo is the sheer busy-ness that accompanies it. I'm exhibiting for BlogTalkRadio as well as being a speaker at the expo, and still trying to get around to see some of the offerings by other vendors. That takes quite a bit of time, and it's difficult to compress that into a blog narrative for readers. Yesterday, I participated as a panelist on a subject matter that intrigues me: raising the level of discourse in the blogosphere. We had a pretty good mix of bloggers on this panel, with Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit, Roger Simon, Jeralyn Merritt of Talk Left, Natasha (whose blog I cannot recall), and Michael Medved -- who got stuck with moderating the panel on 30 seconds' notice. He did a great job, but I'm certain he was rightly nonplussed to have to handle a panel with...
A Blog Convention Without , You Know .... Blogging
A funny thing happened to me at the BlogWorld Expo. I stopped blogging. And while it seems a strange way to celebrate the success of the first industry convention for the blogosphere, those many who attended will understand. The success is undeniable. Dozens of exhibitors set up shop at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and not just with card tables and folding chairs. The booths showed obvious capital investment, just as professional as any other trade shows I've attended in past careers. I helped man the BlogTalkRadio booth, and we had very few quiet moments in two days of blogger celebration. I spent most of both days on my feet, talking with bloggers and entrepreneurs about BTR and its potential for their ventures, and at least as much time simply swapping stories with friends old and new. In fact, the booth commanded so much attention that I wound up attending...
November 12, 2007
I'm Back
Some of you may have noticed a lack of content yesterday. I don't often take a day off, but since returning from Las Vegas, I've had what seems to be a migraine and a bout of insomnia. I'm feeling much better today, but yesterday was a nice recharge day. I didn't even open the computer once, and I'm not sure I can recall the last day that happened. Thanks for your patience. Time to get to work....
November 13, 2007
New Comment System
As part of my ongoing efforts to improve the experience for the Captain's Quarters community, I have decided to try a different system of publishing comments. Instead of using Movable Type's native system, I wanted to try something closer to a forum -- where commenters can reply to specific comments, shown as nested so that people can track specific threads on a topic. Many people have asked for a system that would organize comments better, and I agree that we have gone long enough with the simple linear system that we have used until now. This morning, I shifted the comments program to Disqus, a system created by a member of our CapQ community. It integrates tightly into Movable Type through a plugin, and it appears very simple to use and manage. Given the level of effort needed at the moment to keep the comment threads free from spam and...
November 14, 2007
Who Wants To Be The Analog To Kos At Newsweek?
Via a number of sources, Markos Moulitsas has won a column assignment at Newsweek. In a press release, the magazine announced that Markos will occasionally appear in both the print and on-line versions of the periodical as the presidential campaign rolls towards its November 2008 conclusion. Markos himself comments that he expects "heads exploding in wingnutlandia today," but also expects the conservative columnist Newsweek will hire to balance his entries to explode a few heads on his side as well. Don't count me among the explosions. While I don't find Markos to my taste, his win is a positive step forward for the blogosphere, and I congratulate him on that. I also give high marks to Newsweek for engaging the blogosphere and opening themselves to the talent that has developed organically within it. Too many media outlets treat us as a plague instead of the consumer focus group we are...
November 16, 2007
Just Another Texas Sunrise
That was the view from my balcony this morning in Corpus Christi. It should have been the last Texas sunrise I saw on this trip, but unfortunately my luck on airline travel ran out this evening. I had a tight transfer schedule to get me from Corpus Christi through Houston to Minneapolis this evening, but a static discharge assembly on our Continental Express flight had to be replaced. It delayed the flight for two hours, and I missed my connection. Instead of being home, I'll spend the night in Houston instead. That means I'll miss most of the Northern Alliance Radio Network tomorrow, but my partner Mitch Berg will hold down the fort. I'll make it home tomorrow afternoon, rested and relaxed after an easy flight home. At least that's what I hope! In the meantime, I'll work on some of the podcasting from the conference and tour of...
November 19, 2007
Relaunch Of The Crows Nest
I've begun a relaunch of The Crow's Nest today, the blog-within-the-blog here at Captain's Quarters. The Crow's Nest contains links to articles of interest, but which don't fit into the normal style and substance of CapQ. It's my way of highlighting blog posts that otherwise wouldn't get a mention here, and of supporting some great bloggers. Expect to see a couple of fresh posts each day with the best of the blogosphere represented. Today we have links to a Fred Thompson interview at Pajamas and a spicy response from Norman Podhoretz to Andrew Sullivan. The Crow's Nest is only available through the web version of Captain's Quarters, so be sure to check the site even if you normally read from the RSS version!...
November 21, 2007
Comments Policy Update
We've been on the new comments system for a few days now, and I'm pretty happy with the results. The Disqus system allows for direct replies, user ratings, and takes the processing load from my servers. It also does a better job of keeping spam out of the comments section than Movable Type, which makes it easier to maintain as well. As noted earlier, we will move towards restricting comments to registered users only. I'm going to start that process today to keep the trolls and sockpuppets out. We've had a few take advantage of the new system, and I want to keep from having to overmanage that aspect of it. For the next couple of days, comments from unverified users will get reviewed by me and posted if appropriate. By Monday, commenters will need to have a Disqus registration in order to participate in the CapQ forums. Thanks for...
November 30, 2007
Comments Policy Update II
We've gone about two weeks with the new comment system from Disqus at CapQ, and I'm pleased to see it working as well as it has. The folks at Disqus have received a lot of feedback from the commenters here, and have quite a list of updates to implement. The outstanding issues that I've seen include: * Absolute timestamping (time zones are the trip-up, I understand) * Viewer option for threading or flat displays * Either a preview option or an edit option * Sorting options on an individual basis (hot, old, new, etc) They have a couple of requests from me, too, and I look forward to their implementation. Some people have written me with questions about the change. I'd like to address the answers to everyone: Why change at all? -- I have been dealing with an increasing level of trolls and sock-puppets, and quite frankly, it's made...
December 10, 2007
E-Mail Alert
If anyone attempted to e-mail me over the last 24 hours, I probably didn't receive the message. A large message with multiple attachments remained on the server yesterday, and I went over my limit on the mailbox. If you sent me something important yesterday, you may need to re-send it....
December 12, 2007
Media Alert (Update: Time Change)
I'll be interviewed on C-SPAN2 sometime after 10 pm CT tonight. The topic will be the Republican debate earlier today. Normally we'd live-blog this at Heading Right, but thanks to the odd time the Des Moines Register chose for this debate, most of our correspondents won't be able to watch it live. I'll post my debate analysis after my Heading Right Radio show concludes. (I'm TiVoing it, as it will run during the show itself.) Be sure to catch my telephone interview during Capital News Today. UPDATE: Thanks to an extended Senate session, they had to pre-record the interview, which I just completed. C-SPAN2 will play it after they replay the debate, which is on right now -- actually just finishing up. I'm guessing that they'll run this around 11 pm CT. UPDATE: It looks like it will be more like 10:30 pm CT. It's coming up soon. Sorry for...
December 16, 2007
The 2007 Retrospective
We're coming to the end of another great year here at Captain's Quarters, and just as with most enterprises, it provides us an opportunity to review the work done over the past twelve months. Rather than decide for myself which posts rise (or sink) the farthest, it makes more sense to me to ask the CapQ community. What posts touched you the most? Which posts engaged you? Which left you cold? Which just flat-out got it wrong? Granted, this is a rather large task, given the volume of posts here. However, I'd love to get some nominations for Best and Worst Posts here at Captain's Quarters in 2007. I'll try to narrow it down to three each, and I'll put up a poll in time for the last week in December for finals voting. Feel free to include your arguments in favor of your nominations, and to reply back to...
December 18, 2007
Kicking Up The Ruckus
Newsweek has launched a new feature at its website called The Ruckus, in conjunction with the Media Bloggers Association. The Ruckus will track the postings of nine bloggers on the presidential race from now until Election Day in November -- including Captain's Quarters: Media Bloggers Association (MBA) and Newsweek have launched "The Ruckus," a new group blog about politics for Newsweek.com. The blog will feature posts from nine MBA-member bloggers about the presidential campaign on a single page, giving Newsweek.com readers a convenient sampling of some of the best political blogging from across the country and from key primary states. " 'The Ruckus' places Newsweek on the cutting edge of this campaign season's online political dialogue," said Robert Cox, president of MBA. "MBA bloggers offer Newsweek readers fresh, authentic content with real-time updates from some of the nation's leading political blogs." " 'The Ruckus' will be a key part of...
December 19, 2007
AOL Puts Captain's Quarters On The Hot Seat
Today, AOL announced a new partnership with several bloggers for a new project called The Hot Seat. Daily poll questions will appear, asked by the various members of the partnership, on AOL and on the blogs. The partnership includes Captain's Quarters and Power Line, as well as some well-known media sites: AOL has launched a syndicated online political widget - called "Hot Seat" - on AOL News, http://news.aol.com. "Hot Seat" features daily political poll questions from some of the biggest political bloggers on the Internet, including The Huffington Post, Time's Swampland, Slate, The Politico, Crooks & Liars, Power Line and Captain's Quarters. The questions address current political issues and events as a way to stimulate a dialogue between voters, pundits and politicians. "Hot Seat" also features responses from major presidential candidates to specific questions posed to them by bloggers and pundits. "Hot Seat" will be displayed on all AOL News,...
December 20, 2007
A Little Experiment With Searches
CapQ readers may notice a new search feature on the far right sidebar. I'm testing a Lijit account. It looks like it works a little better than my native search feature, and it allows me to expand the search parameters to Heading Right, Heading Right Radio, and other blogs as well. It uses the Google engine, and it includes a normal Google web search as an option. Give it a go, and let me know what you think....
Cheney The Time-Traveler, And Thoughts On The Poll
Tom Maguire has a great takedown at Just One Minute. It seems that Dick Cheney not only is all-powerful in linear time, but also has traveled back in time to make America a land that potential immigrants fear. Be sure to read the entire post. On another topic, the AOL poll seems to have worked pretty well today. Despite a script problem that we quickly overcame, the poll has generated 39,000 votes already today. Comments, as you may imagine for a Ron Paul post, have been overwhelmingly negative, including one ambiguous threat that I'm reviewing at the moment. However, the poll itself shows that only 29% of respondents think that Paul should have kept the donation. Only five states show a plurality of votes for that option, and nowhere does it get above 40%. Only two states favor sending the money back, again none over 39%. The rest of the...
December 21, 2007
Don't Forget The Bookshelf For The Last-Minute Gifts!
If you're looking for some last-minute gifts -- and who isn't? -- you still have time to order them through the Captain's Quarters Bookshelf and Amazon widget. Orders placed by 4 pm ET tomorrow will still get delivered in time for Christmas, in most cases (check the stock status before you order, of course). Shoppers can also buy Amazon gift certificates through the Bookshelf's Amazon widget. All sales through Captain's Quarters results in a small percentage paid to me by Amazon. It helps defray some of the tech costs of the blog, as well as giving me a handy method to purchase gifts for others. All of the books promoted on this blog use links that sell through my account. Thanks for your support, and I appreciate all of those who have put cash in my tip jar for a more direct gift this Christmas season. (thanks to Instapundit for...
December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas To The Readers Of Captain's Quarters
I'll be off until Wednesday, December 26th, when CapQ and Heading Right Radio return to the normal schedule. In the meantime, keep safe, enjoy Christmas, and keep all the men and women who protect us in your thoughts and prayers....
December 27, 2007
Blaming The Jews, Again
Why do people fall into anti-Semitism? It happens on the fringe end of both the Right and the Left. It almost seems as though people need to think that a vast conspiracy operates against them, personally and individually, in order to explain their own shortcomings -- and the Jews make a great scapegoat. This sign of a weak mind showed up in the blogosphere, and on Christmas Eve of all days, as My Left Wing blames the Jews: Several months ago, at the suggestion of MSOC, I returned to this site, resolved that I would never again descend to the moral cesspit occupied by the haters. I would willingly engage in civil and rational discourse with anyone of good will, but if they refused, I would ignore them. Unfortunately, the same persons whose emnity and hostility were so pervasive before immediately resumed their campaign to discredit me, not only rejecting...
December 31, 2007
Happy New Year
At the first real "career" job I had at Hughes Aircraft, I worked in the Tech Pubs department as an editor and writer. It paid well and it allowed me to learn a lot about the military, corporate America, and life in general -- and taught me a few lessons about professional behavior, too. On one occasion just before New Years Eve, I decided to leave a little ditty on my white board that I had seen on a poster: See Dick drink. See Dick drive. See Dick die. Don't be a Dick. My boss, an old Senior Chief from the Navy (and a good but tough manager), did a double-take as he walked by my cubicle. He looked as though he wanted to say something to me, but then shook his head and walked off. When we came back from the holiday, someone had removed my Public Service Announcement...
January 1, 2008
So This Is 2008
Hmm. So far, seems a lot like 2007. I'm just amazed I stayed up late enough to see it change. I hope you all had a great (and safe) celebration! I got to spend it with the Little Admiral and the First Mate, which is as spectacular as I wanted. We watched the Back to the Future trilogy after having an early dinner with the Little Admiral's other grandparents. It seemed an appropriate choice for ringing in a new year. I'm assuming the ball dropped in Manhattan as it always does....
January 4, 2008
Travel Day
I'm taking a short vacation this weekend, and I'm traveling today and Monday; posting may be limited. I'll have my normal Week in Review show with Duane Patterson on Heading Right Radio this afternoon, and Monday will be a "Best Of" show. In between, I'll post a couple of updates on the race and other critical stories, but otherwise will busy myself with the Little Admiral, Mickey, Minnie, and the beautiful weather in Florida....
January 7, 2008
If You Enjoy DBD ... (Bumped)
I'm pleased to put up a guest post by my friend and partner, Chris Muir, the author/artist behind Day by Day. I am asking readers of DaybyDay to contribute $10 or more for the 2008 DaybyDay Fundraiser. This amount is based on a 'guesstimate' of how many serious readers DBD has. Perhaps this will result in a Fundraiser that is held every 2 years , instead of every year. Perhaps it will keep DBD going for just a month. What I do know are that funds are needed to continue the strip, well, day by day. This Fundraiser will end January 30, 2008. I know this is very much a vote from readers on DBD. Contrary to rumor, I'm not rich, and I need the help of every reader. If you have donated in the past, ask someone you know who reads DBD to contribute. What will really determine things...
January 10, 2008
If It's An Election, There Must Be A Conspiracy
After watching the Democrats spin wild conspiracy theories about how they lost the 2000 and the 2004 elections, it shouldn't surprise that similar paranoid thinking has arisen in 2008. However, this time the target of the conspiracy thinking isn't Republicans, but other Democrats. Progressive bloggers have begun launching accusations of fraud and vote-rigging in the wake of Hillary Clinton's surprise victory in New Hampshire's primaries: The results weren't even in when the blogosphere started to hum with a theory that sharply divided Democrats online: Barack Obama lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire because the vote was rigged. "Something stinks in New Hampshire," a commenter posted on the popular liberal site Americablog.com. Curious about the "wildly inaccurate" polls that put Mr. Obama in a double-digit lead going into Tuesday's primary, blogger Brad Friedman, a Los Angeles-based election-fraud watchdog, questioned the results as soon as they arrived, and all day...
January 30, 2008
All Good Things Come To An End
Danny Glover has been a good friend to many of us in the blogosphere during his tenure at National Journal. I heard from him a while ago that he would soon move on from that position, and today will be the last day he updates what has been a vital Beltway blog. He posts his valediction at Beltway Blogroll this morning: My tenure at National Journal ends tomorrow with the final issue of Technology Daily, where I served as the managing editor for six years before being promoted to the editorship in November 2006. Beltway Blogroll, a direct outgrowth of the interest I developed in politics and technology while at Tech Daily, will cease publication at the same time. Its death is by no means sudden. I started Beltway Blogroll and a companion column for NationalJournal.com in June 2005 with the goal in mind of proving that blogs would quickly...
February 1, 2008
Technical Notes
I got several e-mails complaining about load times this week, and it appears the problem came from multiple appearances of both the BlogTalkRadio player for my shows, and from multiple appearances of the AOL Hot Seat Poll script. I took out all but one of each and the site appears to load faster now. I'll keep this in mind as we go along, and from now on there will be one instance only for both. Since the BTR player for Heading Right Radio sits on my sidebar, I won't post the one for my show with Nikki on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This should resolve the problem. Thanks for the feedback!...
February 2, 2008
Do Blogs Matter In Presidential Politics?
Ron Klain wonders what happens when bloggers speak truth without power in his New York Times blogpost. Klain focuses on the Democratic race, where blogger favorites Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, and Chris Dodd (whom he doesn't mention) all sank without much of a fight: The ultimate measure of this shift of influence [towards the blogs] came this summer, when virtually every Democratic candidate for president attended the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, and skipped the annual convention of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council in Nashville. But notwithstanding this stunning success, this week’s withdrawal by John Edwards, coming a week after the departure of Dennis Kucinich, means that both of the preferred presidential candidates of the liberal blogosphere are now out of the race. Instead, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the two candidates who have drawn some of the sharpest criticism on progressive blogs, are the only ones who will make it...
February 16, 2008
Blogs Should Be What?
The International Olympic Committee has deigned to allow athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to blog. However, the IOC wants to make sure that athletes know the rules beforehand. They cannot post pictures, audio, or video of the events because the IOC does not recognize blogs as a form of journalism: The IOC has set out guidelines for blogging at the Beijing Games to ensure copyright agreements are not infringed. They include bans on posting any audio or visual material of action from the games themselves. ... "The IOC considers blogging... as a legitimate form of personal expression and not a form of journalism," the Olympic authority said. "Blogs should be dignified and in good taste." Dignified and in good taste? The IOC obviously hasn't spent much time reading blogs. Or, maybe they have. Since this Olympiad takes place in China, where oppression on free speech and Internet access has...
February 21, 2008
Today's DBD Cartoon
Chris Muir has an unusually provocative cartoon for today's Day by Day, one which has stirred up a hornet's nest here at CapQ. In it, Chris appears to equate a quote from Michelle Obama to the kind of "Arbeit mach Frei" statements of the Nazi regime. Here's the quote from Mrs. Obama: Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed. Quite frankly, I consider that statement a little creepy. Who is Obama to demand that I shed my cynicism? When dealing with government promises of Utopia, I consider cynicism very, very valuable -- and...
February 25, 2008
The Road Goes Ever On
Today brings exciting news and an end to a time in my life that has proven far more successful than I ever dreamed. Beginning on March 1, I will begin working for Michelle Malkin, a friend, mentor, and writer I have long admired. She has offered me a position as writer at Hot Air, and my blogging will appear exclusively there. That means that I will close out Captain’s Quarters sometime in March. This saddens me, as it has become my ever-ready home and because of the terrific community it has generated. I hope that the CapQ community comes with me to Hot Air, and Hot Air will have open registration today for 12 hours in order to allow CapQ commenters to join me at my new digs. Michelle and I have different voices, and sometimes different points of view. Rest assured that Michelle respects these differences and wants them...
A Farewell To BlogTalkRadio
Earlier this morning, I wrote about my new position with Hot Air and the new opportunities it affords me. I didn't write about my status with BlogTalkRadio, in part because of some miscommunication on how to address it. I will leave BlogTalkRadio at the end of the week. I want to thank Alan Levy, the CEO and my boss since last April, for the wonderful opportunity I have had to work as Political Director and later as Director of Customer Relations. I have enjoyed working with Alan and the entire crew at BTR, as well as the bloggers and talk-show hosts who have created a strong conservative presence on the BTR network. Let me assure you, my departure doesn't diminish the commitment of BTR to the political channels, especially the vibrant Heading Right community I had the great fortune to build. I will do my normal schedule of shows this...
February 28, 2008
Open Comment Registration At Hot Air Today! (Update)
UPDATE IV: Some commenters are continuing to have issues with creating a login. If for some reason you just can't get it done through the system, e-mail me your preferred user name and password to this account: "register" at "captainsquartersblog.com" (without the quotes). I will manually add you to the system -- but give me some time to get it done. BUMP: Registration is now open. It will remain open until later tonight. Link to register is here. UPDATE III, 9:30 am CT: Had a glitch with registration this morning, but it's fixed now. Earlier this week, we held a comment registration event at Hot Air to try to get as many CapQ commenters into the system as possible. Some missed the window, however, and I have received many requests to hold another open-registration event. As I reported yesterday, we have scheduled another period of open registration today, February 28th,...
Once More, With Feeling: Registration Open at Hot Air
In case anyone lost their sanity in the Byzantine series of updates on my earlier post, comments registration has been open all day at Hot Air, with a few glitches. The link to the registration page is here. It will remain open until later tonight. However, I can also add people myself to the user database, if commenters are having problems registering. Send an e-mail to "register" at "captainsquartersblog.com" (without the quotes), and be sure to include your preferred username and password, as well as the e-mail address you want to use for your account. I can add people manually or fix earlier registrations at any time, so keep that e-mail address handy. Some have asked whether I will be cross-posting most of my material at Hot Air for the remainder of the time left at CapQ. I believe I will. With Bryan already hard at work at his great...
February 29, 2008
I'm So Glad We've Had This Time Together
The time has come to sail Captain's Quarters into drydock. Tomorrow I officially start my new adventure at Hot Air, and as we have discussed all week here, all of my blogging efforts will go into building on the success at that site. I will continue to write as I like, as often as I like, on subjects that I like, with my own perspective, and gain access to a much larger platform at which to do it. The site will remain on the Internet. The archives will be accessible at this link, so if you ever decide you wish to review my work or search for a favorite post, it will be ready to serve you. I hope all of the commenters at Captain's Quarters will join me at Hot Air. For those who missed the open-registration deadline, I can add people manually. Send an e-mail to "register" at...
About
Ed Morrissey has blogged at Captain's Quarters since 2003, and has a daily radio show at BlogTalkRadio, where he serves as Political Director. Called "Captain Ed" by his readers, Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather.
My Other Blog
The Crows Nest
I'm So Glad We've Had This Time Together
The time has come to sail Captain's Quarters into drydock. Tomorrow I officially start my new adventure at Hot Air, and as we have discussed all week here, all of my blogging efforts will go into building on the success at that site. I will continue to write as I like, as often as I like, on subjects that I like, with my own perspective, and gain access to a much larger platform at which to do it.
The site will remain on the Internet. The archives will be accessible at this link, so if you ever decide you wish to review my work or search for a favorite post, it will be ready to serve you.
I hope all of the commenters at Captain's Quarters will join me at Hot Air. For those who missed the open-registration deadline, I can add people manually. Send an e-mail to "register" at "captainsquartersblog.com" (without the quotes), and be sure to include your preferred username and password, as well as the e-mail address you want to use for your account. I can add people manually or fix earlier registrations at any time, so keep that e-mail address handy.
For my last post here at Captain's Quarters, I'd like to thank a few people. First, I want to thank the entire CapQ community, which has been an absolute blessing. I want to thank Hugh Hewitt and Duane Patterson, who have mentored and befriended me and opened many, many doors. Rush Limbaugh has shown me many kindnesses, most of which have come quietly. Of course, it goes without saying that Michelle Malkin -- for whom I will begin working tomorrow -- has been a wonderful friend to me for almost the lifetime of this blog.
I don't have the room to list all of the bloggers who have assisted me over the years, but I do want to acknowledge a few. Glenn Reynolds has given me many links and has served as an inspiration, of course, as he does to many of us. Robert Bluey at Heritage has been a good friend and a sounding board. Rob Neppell has become a good friend, as has Mark Tapscott.
Mostly, though, I want to thank my friends on the Northern Alliance -- Mitch, King, Brian and Chad at Fraters Libertas, and John, Scott, and Paul at Power Line -- who gave me encouragement and guidance without any reservation or condescension. They are a great group of bloggers, but more importantly, a great group of friends, and I'm lucky to have them.
Finally, and crucially, one person remains to thank. If it weren't for the support and love of my wife Marcia, the First Mate, I never would have been able to do this. She has been nothing but supportive and encouraging, even when the blogging became a much larger effort than either of us ever dreamed.
Simply put, I'm one lucky man to have all of this.
Let's all take the next step on the adventure.
Once More, With Feeling: Registration Open at Hot Air
In case anyone lost their sanity in the Byzantine series of updates on my earlier post, comments registration has been open all day at Hot Air, with a few glitches. The link to the registration page is here. It will remain open until later tonight.
However, I can also add people myself to the user database, if commenters are having problems registering. Send an e-mail to "register" at "captainsquartersblog.com" (without the quotes), and be sure to include your preferred username and password, as well as the e-mail address you want to use for your account. I can add people manually or fix earlier registrations at any time, so keep that e-mail address handy.
Some have asked whether I will be cross-posting most of my material at Hot Air for the remainder of the time left at CapQ. I believe I will. With Bryan already hard at work at his great new job as Laura Ingraham's producer, he hasn't had an opportunity to post at Hot Air. It gives me an opportunity to learn the ropes there as well. Starting on Saturday, I'll post all of my new material there exclusively anyway.
One last note: Several people have asked me whether I plan to post less now that I'm going to Hot Air. Not at all! In fact, I may post more, now that other responsibilities have been removed. This week, though, has been insane -- so that's why the output seems a little low.
Thanks for all of your patience and understanding.
Open Comment Registration At Hot Air Today! (Update)
UPDATE IV: Some commenters are continuing to have issues with creating a login. If for some reason you just can't get it done through the system, e-mail me your preferred user name and password to this account: "register" at "captainsquartersblog.com" (without the quotes). I will manually add you to the system -- but give me some time to get it done.
BUMP: Registration is now open. It will remain open until later tonight. Link to register is here.
UPDATE III, 9:30 am CT: Had a glitch with registration this morning, but it's fixed now.
Earlier this week, we held a comment registration event at Hot Air to try to get as many CapQ commenters into the system as possible. Some missed the window, however, and I have received many requests to hold another open-registration event. As I reported yesterday, we have scheduled another period of open registration today, February 28th, between 9 am CT and 9 pm CT.
Why does Hot Air limit registration to certain periods? They have had many more problems with abuse than we have had at CapQ, and they have had to build their community in a different way as a result. Any site with the level of traffic that Hot Air generates becomes a target for trolls and spammers, and the management issues increase accordingly. This method has succeeded at Hot Air in keeping trolls and spammers to a minimum while allowing for dissent and debate in the comment threads.
When the registration period opens, those wishing to register will need to post a comment on a Hot Air post, which will go into moderation. I'll approve it, and that will register the commenter. It would be helpful if CapQ commenters keep their current names so I can recognize them in the comments.
I look forward to getting everyone into the system. In the meantime, I hope you have been enjoying my cross-posts at Hot Air, and jumping into the commentary.
NOTE: This is an update and bump from yesterday's announcement.
UPDATE: For those who may have lost their passwords -- please e-mail Hot Air with your info, and we will get your account reset.
UPDATE II: I will be crossposting most of my material today and tomorrow at Hot Air, but not all of it.
A Farewell To BlogTalkRadio
Earlier this morning, I wrote about my new position with Hot Air and the new opportunities it affords me. I didn't write about my status with BlogTalkRadio, in part because of some miscommunication on how to address it.
I will leave BlogTalkRadio at the end of the week. I want to thank Alan Levy, the CEO and my boss since last April, for the wonderful opportunity I have had to work as Political Director and later as Director of Customer Relations. I have enjoyed working with Alan and the entire crew at BTR, as well as the bloggers and talk-show hosts who have created a strong conservative presence on the BTR network. Let me assure you, my departure doesn't diminish the commitment of BTR to the political channels, especially the vibrant Heading Right community I had the great fortune to build.
I will do my normal schedule of shows this week. Next week, my 3 pm ET show will get rebranded as The Ed Morrissey Show, and hopefully we'll retire that name quickly as we transition to a Hot Air-branded interactive show. We plan on airing the show from March 3 to March 28 at the Hot Air site with BTR's network. After March 28, we may reconceptualize the entire idea. I will not do any other shows after February 29th, however, except my afternoon show.
As you might imagine, I am deeply appreciative of BlogTalkRadio and believe in its power to give voice to the individual. It's been a great ride, and I know they will prosper in the future.
The Road Goes Ever On
Today brings exciting news and an end to a time in my life that has proven far more successful than I ever dreamed. Beginning on March 1, I will begin working for Michelle Malkin, a friend, mentor, and writer I have long admired. She has offered me a position as writer at Hot Air, and my blogging will appear exclusively there.
That means that I will close out Captain’s Quarters sometime in March. This saddens me, as it has become my ever-ready home and because of the terrific community it has generated. I hope that the CapQ community comes with me to Hot Air, and Hot Air will have open registration today for 12 hours in order to allow CapQ commenters to join me at my new digs.
Michelle and I have different voices, and sometimes different points of view. Rest assured that Michelle respects these differences and wants them as part of Hot Air. My writing and my viewpoints will continue, and find even more encouragement than before. In fact, we look forward to debating on some of these points between her personal blog and Hot Air, much as we have between her personal blog and CapQ – with respect, affection, and the absolute belief that we have it right!
In short, nothing really changes except location. I’ll still write as I have always done, perhaps with even more frequency, as I join Allahpundit at Hot Air. I’ll continue my daily show as a key piece in building the Hot Air brand and increasing our visibility. The show may take new directions before long, but we’ll talk more about that when the time comes.
At some point, we’ll redirect the CapQ domain to Hot Air. My archives will remain on line, though, and I intend to keep them available permanently at this link. Comments will close on all posts after March 1, even though I may cross-post for another few weeks to make for a smooth transition.
I want to thank everyone who has helped make Captain’s Quarters such a great success. I hope you will all join me on the next part of the great adventure.
UPDATE: Michelle wrote a warm, welcoming announcement at both Hot Air and her own blog. Be sure to register as a commenter today so that we can all pick up where we left off here on March 1. Also, I've done my first (cross-)post at Hot Air.
UPDATE II & BUMP, 10:39: The link for commenter registration is here. There is no requirement to register to just read the site. And let me say thank you to the numerous well-wishers in the comments and on e-mail this morning.
Today's DBD Cartoon
Chris Muir has an unusually provocative cartoon for today's Day by Day, one which has stirred up a hornet's nest here at CapQ. In it, Chris appears to equate a quote from Michelle Obama to the kind of "Arbeit mach Frei" statements of the Nazi regime. Here's the quote from Mrs. Obama:
Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.
Quite frankly, I consider that statement a little creepy. Who is Obama to demand that I shed my cynicism? When dealing with government promises of Utopia, I consider cynicism very, very valuable -- and history has proven me correct. Given Obama's economic agenda, I'd say that engagement will be necessary as well as deep skepticism, at the least.
Also, there's more going on in this cartoon than just the second panel. For seven years, we have heard the Left compare George Bush to Adolf Hitler. I find the sudden outrage over Chris Muir's deliberate poking of this impulse more than just a little hypocritical. Try googling "Bushitler" to see the point of Muir's satire here today.
In one sense, though, the cartoon does go overboard. While Mrs. Obama's speeches on the stump are completely fair game for criticism, I think using her words to make this point is a little unfair. I'd rather see this level of satire aimed at the candidate himself rather than any of the surrogates, including the spouses.
I probably wouldn't have drawn this panel. However, I'm not going to ask Chris to take it down, either. Let people debate its propriety and meaning in the comments.
Blogs Should Be What?
The International Olympic Committee has deigned to allow athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to blog. However, the IOC wants to make sure that athletes know the rules beforehand. They cannot post pictures, audio, or video of the events because the IOC does not recognize blogs as a form of journalism:
The IOC has set out guidelines for blogging at the Beijing Games to ensure copyright agreements are not infringed. They include bans on posting any audio or visual material of action from the games themselves. ..."The IOC considers blogging... as a legitimate form of personal expression and not a form of journalism," the Olympic authority said.
"Blogs should be dignified and in good taste."
Dignified and in good taste? The IOC obviously hasn't spent much time reading blogs. Or, maybe they have.
Since this Olympiad takes place in China, where oppression on free speech and Internet access has been a major issue, who becomes the arbiter of dignity and good taste? Will the athletes have to pass their posts through an IOC censor before the text can hit the web? Or will that fall to China's authoritarian regime, as it does for more than a billion Chinese? Once pre-publication standards get put in place, enforcement always follows.
The real concern isn't about dignity and taste. It's the fear that the athletes will use blogs to make political statements about the oppression of the Chinese government. The Olympics have a long and inglorious history of being manipulated for political purposes, by both its athletes and its host nations. The IOC wants to cut off the athletes while looking relaxed, but has no problem staging games in countries known for their dour attitude towards liberty, free speech, and free access to information.
In effect, the IOC has become a mini-me to Beijing in an attempt to straddle that line. Only the East German judges would have given them high marks for courage with this statement -- if freedom hadn't eliminated the ersatz nation of East Germany almost two decades ago.
Do Blogs Matter In Presidential Politics?
Ron Klain wonders what happens when bloggers speak truth without power in his New York Times blogpost. Klain focuses on the Democratic race, where blogger favorites Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, and Chris Dodd (whom he doesn't mention) all sank without much of a fight:
The ultimate measure of this shift of influence [towards the blogs] came this summer, when virtually every Democratic candidate for president attended the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, and skipped the annual convention of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council in Nashville.But notwithstanding this stunning success, this week’s withdrawal by John Edwards, coming a week after the departure of Dennis Kucinich, means that both of the preferred presidential candidates of the liberal blogosphere are now out of the race. Instead, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the two candidates who have drawn some of the sharpest criticism on progressive blogs, are the only ones who will make it to Super Tuesday. A similar thing happened in 2004, when Howard Dean and Wes Clark, the two candidates most strongly backed by blogs, were beaten by John Kerry, who wasn’t a blog favorite.
The blogosphere has had impressive electoral success in Senate and House races, especially in 2006. But at the presidential level, while the blogosphere has been effective in changing the political debate and the party’s direction, it has been less successful in helping its preferred candidates to victory. Why?
I'd challenge Klain on a number of his assumptions. First, I see no evidence that the blogosphere has had "impressive electoral success" anywhere. The high-water mark came in 2006, when Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman in the primary, only to get thumped in the general election by the same opponent running an independent campaign. Where are the wins involving candidates that weren't already backed by party establishment? And while Markos Moulitsas deserves a great deal of credit for the Yearly Kos convention, it is a political truth that politicians will attend the opening of a wallet anywhere it happens.
Klain doesn't mention Republicans in this post, but it applies to conservative bloggers as well. Fred Thompson had tremendous support in the Rightosphere, but that made little difference in his ultimate fate in the primaries. No one has on-line support like Ron Paul, and so far that has translated to nothing more than single-digit support in the primaries. Huckabee had a burst of blog support as well, but has lost momentum since his win in Iowa.
The blogosphere has influence, of course, but mainly on policy and not on candidate campaigns. They also can help raise money, but not usually in the kind of amounts that give them king-making power, a gap that Lamont's flop in November 2006 aptly demonstrated. Even with the 10-1 advantage in fundraising between the progressive bloggers and conservative bloggers, the actual amounts came to a pittance in the overall totals among the Congressional candidates.
Why do bloggers succeed on policy -- say, with porkbusting, immigration, and other issues -- and not with candidacies? The answer is actually very apparent. Blogs do best at dicussing ideas, delving into detail and utilizing rhetoric to motivate and to persuade. The candidates have to sell themselves. Blogs don't do much as surrogates in those efforts, and as history shows, have a very poor track record in elevating any but the most already-elevated candidates.
Blogs aren't irrelevant in elections. However, they do best in enlightening people on policy, which secondarily may boost candidates who champion them.
Technical Notes
I got several e-mails complaining about load times this week, and it appears the problem came from multiple appearances of both the BlogTalkRadio player for my shows, and from multiple appearances of the AOL Hot Seat Poll script. I took out all but one of each and the site appears to load faster now. I'll keep this in mind as we go along, and from now on there will be one instance only for both. Since the BTR player for Heading Right Radio sits on my sidebar, I won't post the one for my show with Nikki on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
This should resolve the problem. Thanks for the feedback!
All Good Things Come To An End
Danny Glover has been a good friend to many of us in the blogosphere during his tenure at National Journal. I heard from him a while ago that he would soon move on from that position, and today will be the last day he updates what has been a vital Beltway blog. He posts his valediction at Beltway Blogroll this morning:
My tenure at National Journal ends tomorrow with the final issue of Technology Daily, where I served as the managing editor for six years before being promoted to the editorship in November 2006. Beltway Blogroll, a direct outgrowth of the interest I developed in politics and technology while at Tech Daily, will cease publication at the same time.Its death is by no means sudden. I started Beltway Blogroll and a companion column for NationalJournal.com in June 2005 with the goal in mind of proving that blogs would quickly gain power in policy circles inside the Beltway, just like they did in the political realm in 2004. Mission accomplished.
If you doubt it, take a look at the blogroll to your left. It is at least twice as large as when I started Beltway Blogroll -- and inside-the-Beltway blogs are started with such frequency now that I long ago stopped trying to find them all. That's especially true of the "mainstream blogosphere" occupied by professional journalists. Why do so many of them blog now? Because that's what more and more people in Washington read.
The proof of blog power abounds: regular blogger conference calls and briefings by politicians, think tanks and trade groups; bloggers who work for presidential campaigns and other candidates; bloggers who have infiltrated mainstream newsrooms or who write columns for major publications; and the achievements go on.
Be sure to read it all. Danny has chronicled a dizzying array of stories during his tenure at BB, and worked hard to fairly capture the essence of Beltway blogging about them. We will miss his tireless work and trenchant analysis, as well as his inherent fairness.
Fortunately, Danny will remain in the blogosphere at Air Congress. With any luck, he'll pick up there right where he leaves off today. Join me in wishing my friend Danny "Not The Actor" Glover all the best.
If It's An Election, There Must Be A Conspiracy
After watching the Democrats spin wild conspiracy theories about how they lost the 2000 and the 2004 elections, it shouldn't surprise that similar paranoid thinking has arisen in 2008. However, this time the target of the conspiracy thinking isn't Republicans, but other Democrats. Progressive bloggers have begun launching accusations of fraud and vote-rigging in the wake of Hillary Clinton's surprise victory in New Hampshire's primaries:
The results weren't even in when the blogosphere started to hum with a theory that sharply divided Democrats online: Barack Obama lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire because the vote was rigged."Something stinks in New Hampshire," a commenter posted on the popular liberal site Americablog.com.
Curious about the "wildly inaccurate" polls that put Mr. Obama in a double-digit lead going into Tuesday's primary, blogger Brad Friedman, a Los Angeles-based election-fraud watchdog, questioned the results as soon as they arrived, and all day Wednesday.
"Other folks that I've spoken to, who follow this sort of thing, share my concern at this hour," he wrote on bradblog.com. "If I was Barack Obama, I'd certainly not have conceded this election this quickly. I'm not quite sure what he was thinking."
I'd make one criticism of Karen Brooks in this instance. She shouldn't hold John Aravosis responsible for the opinion of a commenter at Americablog. If John has made these allegations, as Brad did at Bradblog, then Brooks can rightly use that as an example. If John didn't write the comment, then it's a bit unfair to show him as a purveyor of this charge. The same holds true at Crooks and Liars, where it appears that Brooks surveyed the comments and not the posts.
The conspiracies have popped up in my threads as well among the supporters of Ron Paul. They're claiming that their fifth-place finish springs from a Diebold conspiracy to discredit their candidate. Paul and his crew have a long history of conspiracy theorizing, and Paul himself appears regularly on the Alex Jones radio show, which lives off of them. Just because those comments appear on my site doesn't mean I agree with them, and as far as I know, no one else on the Right outside of the Ronulans have given it a second thought.
Mostly, this is a debate taking places on the fringe of the progressive blogosphere and primarily among commenters. It's still amusing to see it, however, because if one follows the conspiracy theory to its natural conclusion, it indicts the Democrats' biggest assets. Who benefitted from this alleged vote rigging? Bill and Hillary Clinton. It mirrors the conspiracy mongering on the Right during the 1990s involving Bill and Hillary, at least on the fringes. It makes it harder for the Left to castigate conservatives over the real phenomenon of Clinton Derangement Syndrome when their own allies suffer from it.
Danny Glover notes at Beltway Blogroll that none of the campaigns have floated the notion of fraud. I also notice that the one group that would most benefit from that explanation -- pollsters-- have not mentioned it as a reason for the surprise Hillary win. Will that make a difference for those who see wheels within wheels everywhere they look? Probably not.
If You Enjoy DBD ... (Bumped)
I'm pleased to put up a guest post by my friend and partner, Chris Muir, the author/artist behind Day by Day.
I am asking readers of DaybyDay to contribute $10 or more for the 2008 DaybyDay Fundraiser. This amount is based on a 'guesstimate' of how many serious readers DBD has. Perhaps this will result in a Fundraiser that is held every 2 years , instead of every year. Perhaps it will keep DBD going for just a month.
What I do know are that funds are needed to continue the strip, well, day by day.
This Fundraiser will end January 30, 2008.
I know this is very much a vote from readers on DBD. Contrary to rumor, I'm not rich, and I need the help of every reader. If you have donated in the past, ask someone you know who reads DBD to contribute. What will really determine things is meeting the minimum cost of running DBD for one year.
If you find DBD speaks to you on the issues you find important, I urge you to step up. this kind of grassroots participation is what defines New Media, and frankly, it will only be the small donations of the many that will matter.
Chris has brought his delightful and provocative point of view to Internet viewers for the last five years, free of charge, including e-books. If you have enjoyed his work, please consider giving something back. I appreciate your consideration.
UPDATE & BUMP: Chris has seen a great response to this fundraiser, but I'm going to bump it up to today as well. Several CapQ readers have been kind enough to hit my tipjar as well; it's much appreciated.
Travel Day
I'm taking a short vacation this weekend, and I'm traveling today and Monday; posting may be limited. I'll have my normal Week in Review show with Duane Patterson on Heading Right Radio this afternoon, and Monday will be a "Best Of" show. In between, I'll post a couple of updates on the race and other critical stories, but otherwise will busy myself with the Little Admiral, Mickey, Minnie, and the beautiful weather in Florida.
So This Is 2008
Hmm. So far, seems a lot like 2007. I'm just amazed I stayed up late enough to see it change.
I hope you all had a great (and safe) celebration! I got to spend it with the Little Admiral and the First Mate, which is as spectacular as I wanted. We watched the Back to the Future trilogy after having an early dinner with the Little Admiral's other grandparents. It seemed an appropriate choice for ringing in a new year. I'm assuming the ball dropped in Manhattan as it always does.
Happy New Year
At the first real "career" job I had at Hughes Aircraft, I worked in the Tech Pubs department as an editor and writer. It paid well and it allowed me to learn a lot about the military, corporate America, and life in general -- and taught me a few lessons about professional behavior, too. On one occasion just before New Years Eve, I decided to leave a little ditty on my white board that I had seen on a poster:
See Dick drink. See Dick drive. See Dick die.Don't be a Dick.
My boss, an old Senior Chief from the Navy (and a good but tough manager), did a double-take as he walked by my cubicle. He looked as though he wanted to say something to me, but then shook his head and walked off. When we came back from the holiday, someone had removed my Public Service Announcement from the office.
Now that I own the joint, I can put up whatever message I want on the white board, I suppose. Have a happy and joyous New Year celebration, but be safe, and don't be a .... well, you get the idea.
UPDATE: And give thanks that these folks can celebrate the New Year, this year (via Bruce Kesler):
It was something not seen in Baghdad since before the 2003 invasion — people publicly welcoming a new year with singing, dancing and general revelry. The ballrooms of two landmark hotels — the Palestine and the Sheraton — were full of people for the first New Year's Eve celebrations after four years of violence that has bloodied Iraq."This place is now more secure," said Zahraa, 23, adorned with heavy black eyeliner and red lipstick, sitting with colleagues at the Palestine hotel, which was the target of huge car bombs in 2005. "Yes, we are still afraid, but we need to lighten our moods occasionally."
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