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August 17, 2005Backbone America from America's BackboneWe welcome former State Senate President John Andrews to the blogosphere with his new project, Backbone America. It's a new blog, an addition to John's radio show (scroll down), and a project of the esteemed Claremont Institute. Andrews was previously a conservative reformer in the Colorado Senate, a pioneer of the state think tank movement, and a presidential speechwriter. Jessica Peck Corry is the operations director and policy analyst. Businessman William Armstrong III chairs the advisory board. The name derives from the Rocky Mountains, known as the Backbone of America. Still, John wouldn't want to be confused with these guys, I don't think. June 19, 2005Low BlowI realize that losing hurts, but this is simply stooping too low. Dispatching the Unfunny One on a revenge tour to Denver is more than even I would have expected from the Conspiracy Theorists of the North. (Oh, complain they may, but Duane himself as much as admits that he tried to keep the polls open long enough for the Gophers to catch up.) June 07, 2005Uh, Sure, He Said, Backing Slowly Towards the DoorAs the long Minnesota winter nears its end, one can't help but feel slightly sorry for Chad the Very Elder, whose name betrays his demeanor. His are the rantings of an aged man, a beer in one hand, bitterly decrying a world that has passed him by, powerless to effect change, hoping merely to attract attention. In the past, I've taken pity on him by providing him Lexis-Nexis transcripts, seeing as even his university bretheren and legal friends were unwilling to do so. But now, I question the wisdom (and loyalty) of one so bereft of friends that he and his - gang - have been placed on perpetual probation by the Commish. I can see him now, Photoshopping away, like some Robert Crumb cartoon character, chortling away in a gravely voice, "heh, that'll get 'em." Frankly, I'm impressed that he knew where to find any pictures where the women are wearing clothes. Under other circumstances (which ones, frankly, I can't begin to imagine), I'd be flattered, but as it is, I'd advise any and all members of the Northern Alliance to travel in groups to any Minnesota blogging events. June 05, 2005New HousesBoy, it's been a while. Thought I had forgotten, didn't you? Go ahead, start with the new ones, and then run through all the old friends. May 16, 2005Biweekly Forecast: Continued Sluggishness with Outbreaks of CreativitySo while I graduate on June 3, barring a last-minute breakdown worthy of the 2004 ALCS Yankees, it's going to be an action-packed couple of weeks. First, while I'm only taking one class, there's a case write-up, or something similar, due every class. This means that on days that I don't actually have class, I'm still preparing for the next one. I specifically waited to take Portfolio Management so I could have this incarnation of it, so my latitude for complaint is somewhat - limited. Ah, but then there's that pesky Independent Study. Details to remain under wraps for now, but it's over at Janus, and they're actually expecting a paper that they can use and that the professor can grade. Add in actual work, you know, work I get paid for rather than pay for the privilege of doing, along with the continuing house maintenance and housekeeping activities, along with other ongoing changes, and there's not enough caffeine in the world. (Do they still have those pesky benzedrine restrictions?) Honestly, while the PM class is terrific, and the extra work involved is probably wiring fundamental ideas into my brain at the mitochondrial level, case studies began to seem like make-work about three quarters ago. Writing up my own work on the Independent Study is much more interesting, since it's actually new stuff. Probably not Nobel Prize-winning research, but new stuff nonetheless. Case studies? Meh. May 06, 2005Get Well, JimAlliance stalwart Jim Cannon is battling Gullian Barre Syndrome, and it's kept him bouncing between hospitals and the free world for a couple of years. Right now, it's got him back in the hospital, and it's a helpless and frustrating experience for everyone. Sadly, visitors are barred from the ICU, but prayers and wished to Jim's dad, Guy, are welcome and appreciated. May 03, 2005Campaign Finance IroniesAt the risk of meta-blogging (the story is rarely the blog; usually the story is the story) The Washington Post reports today that the FEC is concerned about possible black-ops political blogging by campaigns. Ironic that the current McCain-Feingold dismemberment of the First Amendment was achieved in no small part by similar, non-blogging tactics, on the part of the Pew Foundation. It also includes this unkillable inaccuracy: The FEC is taking up the disclaimer issue after news reports last year indicated that a handful of campaigns from both parties had put bloggers on their payrolls. The most contentious example came in South Dakota, where GOP senatorial candidate John Thune paid $35,000 to two local bloggers who ran sites critical of the state's largest newspaper's coverage of Thune's Democratic opponent, incumbent Thomas A. Daschle. In fact, Jon Lauck, the history professor and author of Daschle v. Thune, did disclose (although not advertise) the relationship on his blog, months before the campaign finance reports made it the center of attention. March 29, 2005Harsanyi Media AlertHonorary Friend of the Alliance and Denver Post columnist, David Harsanyi, will be sitting in for Dan Caplis on the Caplis and Silverman Show tomorrow from 3-7 pm, Mountain Time. David's a pretty knowledgable guy, and should do a terrific job. Listen Here, after you go through the free registration process. March 19, 2005The Rocky Defends BloggersThe Rocky Mountain News joins the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in editorializing in favor of journalistic protections for bloggers: The problems here are self-evident. First, of course, is that companies could hang the "trade secret" label on almost any material they didn't want published, including, for example, internal memos detailing everything from product flaws to accounting fraud. The media's responsibility is to publish accurate information of broad public interest, not protect the business interests of private corporations. At least some newspapers seem to understand that not drawing a line can work both ways. Thanks!To Hugh, to KNUS, and especially to Cezanne and Jennifer at KNUS, and RaeAnn at Borders, who thought to include us, and worked so hard to make the event a success. And to PCClub for sponsoring the laptops and wifi access for the bloggers. March 18, 2005Book Signing OffOK. I turn into a pumpkin at 6:10 PM Mountain Time, so I gotta run. Tune to Bob and Jonathan for continuing live coverage. More BloggersNow, Ben and Jared have arrived, along with a few non-alliance bloggers, William Seccombe and Todd Carpenter. We're still waiting on Clay. I guess they don't have all these big, paved roads out in Elbert County. Live! From Golden! It's Friday AfternoonHere at the Colorado Mills Borders, in a makeshift studio. I guess in order to avoid being here until 1:00 AM again, Hugh's signing books during breaks. Some of the Alliance has shown up early, including Bob, Jonathan, Jim, and camp follower Barbara. March 10, 2005Blogging HolidayDespite all the fascinating stuff coming out of Boulder, Qwest, and Wall Street, I'm going to be taking a blogging holiday for the next few weeks or so, to deal with finals and some personal matters that have come up. I'll see you all when I get back, towards the end of the month. March 09, 2005CommentsFor some reason, comments that have been posted are not showing up properly. Until I have time to figure out what's causing the problem, I'm going to disable comments on the site. This doesn't have anything to do with anything that's been written - it's purely a technical problem that I don't have time to solve right now. You're still invited to email me, and let me know if the email is for attribution. With luck, comments will be re-enabled soon. February 25, 2005The Counter-ReformationIf Hugh Hewitt is right, and blogging represents the Reformation, then the counter-Reformation can't be far behind. Today saw the publication of three pieces of literature, ranging from analysis to polemic, that will be brought together in the new storyline of a vast Republican media conspiracy. First, Anne Lewis at the DSSC seizes on Ken Mehlman of the RNC comment that "we don't have to pay for our grassroots," a reference to the paid help that the Dems' GOTV effort relied on. First on Lewis's list: the South Dakota Alliance, and Jon Lauck. Lauck did indeed receive money from the Thune campaign, disclosed this fact, and went on to cover the campaign and the Argus-Leader's distortions in great depth and with great insight. He had a point of view, he was not a shill. This doesn't prevent Lewis from claiming that he never told anyone about his payment. Then, Jan Frel at Personal Democracy posts a long piece claiming to uncover the real strategy of the South Dakota Alliance. That strategy was to "get inside the heads" of the Argus-Leader's staff covering the campaign. Actually, the strategy was to force the A-L to straighten up and fly right, something blogs have been all about for a while now. Dan Gillmor, formerly of the San Jose Mercury News who now blogs about the media, treats this as a startling revelation. But Frel notes that the Alliance made this goal public in a Platform. Gannon-Guckert also makes an appearance in Frel's article. And today, Jay Rosen puts the Gannon-Guckert kerfuffle into a larger context, what he sees as the Administration's efforts to discredit the print MSM. Let me be clear: I think Rosen is acting in good faith, and is putting together some pieces that should be aired. Rosen's a smart guy, and should be taken seriously, and argued with seriously. At the same time, this is a storyline that will be quickly twisted into the larger "conservative-media-as-paid-tools" storyline. That storyline is the counterattack. It matters not that the South Dakota Alliance, or Powerline, or the Swifties operated from facts. Or that the CBS memos were fake-but-untrue, or that Eason Jordan had a history of questionable statements and ethics, or that (to address Jay Rosen's point) the mainstream press long ago abandoned professionalism for politics. What matters is that the Administration and the campaign found a way to get around the filter. It's a political counterattack, not a reasoned one, so it relies on ignoring facts and smearing all opponents with the same brush. The hope is to create an image in the public mind, not to win debating points. It's to change the image of bloggers and those who support them, from public heroes (which was always over-stated, anyway) to being something slightly disreputable, and suspect. It's part of the game of discrediting conservative journalism, in an attempt to re-establish the MSM as the only source of critical analysis of the administration. February 22, 2005Sort of Like Spam, But Without the Bitter AftertasteFor those of you who would like to receive new postings by email, there's a subscription form over on the left-hand side (scroll down a little). Just enter your email address, and new postings will be mailed to you as they appear. You won't get offers from jailed Nigerian businessmen and what happens at View, stays at View, so your email address stops here. February 20, 2005About WikipediaWikipedia is an online encyclopedia that operates like a moderated blog. It believes that it has both technical and social means to control trolls, cranks, and partisans, and still publish a high-quality product. About.com relies on a centralized set of experts to edit its articles, mimicking a traditional encyclopedia, but on line. Guess which one the New York Times bought for $410 million? Typically, the Times report of the purchase doesn't even mention Wikipedia. It's couched entirely in terms of the added revenue stream, which is probably true. Until the Times editors get their glummies into About.com, and the Wikipedians start fact-checking the thing. February 16, 2005Not Gonna Play That GameAt first, I thought, "oooh goody. Hate mail." Then I saw that Deb Frisch, an adjuct lecturer at the University of Arizona, has apparently decided to declare guerilla cyber-war on Professor Bainbridge. The brain balks, unable to exaggerate the mismatch. The professor can take care of himself. Ms. Frisch has commented here recently, and, as is my habit on this blog, in the comments section, I've cheerfully ignored her. But if she has a problem with some third party, she's got her own blog. I'm not going to allow my site to be used as a proxy for this sort of thing. People like this tend to be like burrs. Ms. Frisch has the singular distinction of being the only non-poker, non-porn-based individual banned from trackbacks and comments. February 15, 2005Congressional Legislative BloggingThe only reason the last two posts were possible at all is because the Colorado General Assembly posts bills and their Financial Impact Assessments online as soon as each is available. Mark Tapscott, Director of The Heritage Foundation's Center for Media and Public Policy, wrote to suggest a similar project at the Congressional level, allowing bloggers to subject legislation to the same dissection that we do everything else. Bring. It. On. Light Blogging TodayBusy, busy, busy. This evening, I hope to have a review of Blink up. In the meantime, go read the rest of the Alliance. February 10, 2005The WaPo Still Doesn't Get ItYears into the Age of the Blog, and the Washington Post still doesn't know the difference between a blog and a disucssion board. February 01, 2005January 27, 2005January 26, 2005Checking in With the Mother ShipJonathan Sabin of Mangled Cat is in town this week, and we had a chance to get together at the company store last night, and chew over his new HP Tablet PC, business in general, and Howard Schultz's creation, in particular. Jonathan has completely drunk the KoolAid Latte for the place, but it's hard to argue with him on objective grounds. As part of their training, Starbucks employees each get a copy of Pour Your Heart Into It, and Schultz makes a point of stopping by to autograph every copy. Starbucks really hit its stride when he took over, so there's a question as to whether or not it qualifies as Good to Great, or just great, but if you're looking for a case study to do on your own, there are worse places to start. January 19, 2005Ask Not For Whom the Man Dates...Between actual work, school work, presentations to clients, and, well, class, the dance card is pretty full today. For the moment, though take a look at this bit from the RMPN ("Got Me a Man-Date", which, despite the title, has nothing to do with same-sex anything). Go ahead. I'll wait. Now, what on earth do the results from a BBC poll of the rest of the world have to do with President Bush's mandate? Apparently the Left, having lost the national debate, is looking to expand the franchise. The Colorado Democrats need to be careful - very careful - about whom they allow themselves to be seen with in public. |