Category: Blogs

HotAir.com takes the first step to closing its comment section

Update: Blogger roundup: Editorial Times, Legal Insurrection

Post links in the comment section and I will add them here.

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Original Post:

This, I think, is going to prove to be a very bad move for this blog:

For almost ten years, Hot Air has utilized a proprietary, members-only comment system. In 2006, this kind of system made much sense, but Internet standards and technology have moved beyond this kind of system. Beginning tomorrow, Hot Air will move from its present proprietary closed-comment system to Facebook comments. At that time, native commenting functions will cease, and all comments will come through the Facebook interface. — Via: Hot Air to move to Facebook comment system « Hot Air

Let’s just be real folks; HotAir.com is huge and I mean really huge. I have been to sites that use a strictly Facebook commenting system and I do not believe that I would be exaggerating one bit, if I said that those places are nothing more than pure troll dens. This is usually the first step; first they will use the Facebook commenting system and then, things will get too bad and then they will close the comments sections for good.

I feel that once a site kills the comments section, it becomes nothing more than just another website. I for one, will never go to an external comment system, ever. I tried Disqus and it frankly sucked major donkey doo doo. They should call it disgust, because that’s how you will feel after trying to set it up — Disgusted!

As for HotAir.com, I think they are simply trying to be more inclusive and not have to work their tails off, in the upcoming election. While that might be a good idea for them, it might prove to be quite destructive for the site. Because the trolls will run the regulars off and the site will get a reputation among its core audience. Another thing that I feel will run people off is that Facebook’s founder is a known flaming liberal and there are many conservatives who will not use Facebook because of this fact. So, they will lose those people.

For the record here, I will never, ever, go to a closed commenting system, nor Disqus or Facebook; or any other commenting platform. The only system I will ever use is WordPress Native system which allows you to comment using your Facebook or other identities you choose to use.

I wish HotAir.com the best, because, Lord knows, they are going to need it.

The biggest line B.S. that I have heard at Hotair.com in a long time

This comes via Jazz Shaw, (who is too big of a coward to write under his real name) who once called me a “racist digbag” on twitter:

We’ve heard more than our share of complaints about the fact that Hot Air generally holds open registration periods which limit the pool of commenters and that there are strict rules on what can’t be said in the comments on penalty of the ban hammer. (Excessively foul language, threats of violence or to the life of public officials, etc.) Open enrollment always winds up bringing in some people who are only here to troll, but it’s actually our commenters who are faster and better than the editors in identifying them and they are generally removed. By the same token we wind up with any number of people who join up and vigorously espouse some views which run directly contrary to the general, more conservative tone of the site. But as long as they follow the above noted rules, they stick around and get into all sorts of verbal firefights with the rest of the commentariat.

Source: The end of the comments section. (No… not this one) « Hot Air

Pardon me a second:

BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAW!

*wipes eyes*

Oh man, that was just too rich. *snicker* *snort*

The truth is that if you are a warmongering, Neoconservative, establishment Republican, Israel loving, Bush Loving, Wilsonian, Trotskyite — you will do very well there. But, if you happen to disagree with that viewpoint, you will not last long there. Just ask the supporters of Ron Paul how long that they lasted there, just ask the Paleoconservatives, of whom I agree with, how long they lasted there. Better yet, ask Ed Morrissey about the Libertarian, who wrote of the errors of Wilsonian foreign policy there and basically was never asked to write there again, because it pissed off “the powers that be.”

The truth is, if you do not toe the line and you dare speak out against people like the Kristols and the Podhoretz’s and the rest of the neocon Klan (heh…)  you will not last long there at all. Believe you me; I know, I have been there and done that and got booted, because I DARED to challenge the inane, Trotskyite b.s. that flows from that site like water.

The sickening part? They pawn themselves off as libertarians! Sorry, no, they are not a libertarian blog. Lew Rockwell is a libertarian! Hotair.com is a neocon, establishment Republican blog with some window dressing.

Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake calls it a day

This is a surprise.

Via FireDogLake:

As many of you know, Firedoglake has been on hiatus for eight months while I recovered from hip replacement surgery. During that time I’ve been contemplating what the next chapter should be for the website. After some personal reflection, I have decided to pass the torch on to Kevin Gosztola and Brian Sonenstein, who will launch their own media organization called Shadowproof that will build on the success of FDL.

[…….]

The dogs and I have really loved being a part of the FDL community for over a decade, and are so very thankful for all of the great friends we’ve made and the experiences we have had. But we feel it’s time to hand over the helm to new, young energetic voices like Kevin, Brian, Dan and Kit. Moreover, it’s the right time in their careers when they should be stepping into leadership positions. I am so proud of all of the work they’ve done, and look forward to watching their growth as they lead their own organization.

I want to thank everyone over the years who has helped to make FDL a huge success. I urge those who have supported FDL to support Shadowproof, because it’s going to be amazing.

When I first started blogging back in 2006, when I was writing at “The Populist“, Jane’s blog was one of my regular reads. I wish her the best with her hip recovery and in her future endeavors.

Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo remembers as well. Skippy is an old timer blogger like me. 🙂

UPDATE: I just wanted to share a few more thoughts here on this blog posting that I didn’t get to share earlier.

For better or for worse; Jane Hamsher has been a critic of Barack Obama. she was a critic of Obamacare, she was a critic of many of the things that went on during his administration. For that she lost a lot of friends on the liberal left and because of that she lost her status in the blogosphere as one of the great ones.

That in itself, is a demonstration of how just how partisan politics can be corrosive to the political process and also to political writing. I mean Jan Hamsher has been around since 2004 and she started blogging on Blogspot which was a long time ago in blog years and human years too and I think it’s sad that Jane basically became of pariah in the liberal blogosphere, because she dared not to go along with the group think when it came to Barack Obama.

Anyhow, I wish Jane the best and I hope she finds something good to do after blogging.

…and they call me a whackjob?

Man, if I was gonna kill myself over not getting laid not getting a woman; I would have been dead years and years ago! 🙄

I mean, don’t get me wrong, Asian woman are awesome and all. But, but, this? 😮 😯

Go Read: Black Blogger ‘Mr. Talented’ Found Hanging in NYC, Wanted to Start Civil War | Jammie Wearing Fools

Hot Air’s Noah Rothman moves on…. 

Over to Commentary…. So, basically he is moving from a blog with neoconservative leanings; to a full on neocon blog. Nice.

It was just under a year ago that I had the great fortune of being asked to take over for the capable and talented Erika Johnsen when she moved on from the site to pursue a law degree. Though my time with the site has been lamentably short, today will be my last day blogging full-time for HotAir.Working with and learning from the best at HotAir has been a career highlight. I will always treasure the time I spent honing the craft of political analysis on such an important and visible platform. Working alongside such well-known talents as Ed Morrissey, Allahpundit, Jazz Shaw, and Mary Katharine Ham has been a dream.I owe a special debt of gratitude to all of them, as well as Townhall’s Guy Benson, for having faith in my work.

[—]

Beginning on Monday, I will be joining the incredibly talented team at Commentary Magazine as the publication’s new assistant online editor. There, I hope to modestly fill some of the void left by Seth Mendel who recently joined The New York Post as its opinion page editor. I hope you will continue to follow my writing there and on my Twitter account.

Source: Let’s don’t say goodbye. I hate the way it sounds « Hot Air

I wish him the best.

9 Years Later

It was December 30, 2007 that I wrote this posting:

This Blog will be for the discussion of Politics and News. With Any luck, it will be successful.

via The start of something new… | Political Byline.

That above was the first entry on my new blog political byline; after my first one, The Populist was hacked, either by hackers in some foreign country or by neocons, who were pissed at me over something I had written.  Either way, I lost of years worth of work; due to some crappy hosting that I was really not even paying for. The hosting company folded, for what that is really worth.

2006 and 2007, feels now like an eternity ago. How things have changed! Bush is gone, Iraq is over; and now, it’s blew up again. Al-Qaeda is now taking a backseat to a group called ISIS; and they ain’t playing either! Obama has come and is about gone. The Tea Party rose, got exploited, and fizzled out. Ron Paul retired and now, his kid Rand is running for President. Hillary Clinton Ran, got defeated, by a black man and now, tomorrow is going to announce, again. New names: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker. It is all rather strange.

When I started in 2006, social media was non-existent. Trackbacks were the lifeblood of blogging. New names: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, Pinterest. Cell Phones or smartphones, as they’re called now; basically rule us. Before I got this silly Galaxy S4, the last phone I owned was a Sanyo (I think?!?!?!) flip phone —- Egad, remember those? Now, apps are a big part of my life; I have 8 screens of them on my phone! In the days before smartphones, the first thing I would do, when my eyes opened in the morning, was go take a leak; now, I check my phone.

In the old days, if something big happened, my Mom would IM me or I’d hear about it some other way. Now, if a big story breaks; my phone goes nuts with alerts. I do everything from set my alarm to wake up to timing hamburgers on the grill with this thing. I even usually call in my refills for prescriptions with this thing. I don’t even have to climb the stairs anymore, except to grab my daily three square meals or take a leak.

The funny thing is, the Galaxy S4 is old technology now. They have a Galaxy S5, S6 and S6 edge now. Jebus, can we slow down, just a little? I’m just getting comfortable with this phone and now, its old hat. 🙄

9 Years. That’s a long time. I’m still that kid from southwest Detroit; an analog kid, living in this digital world:

…and everything has been good…..so far:

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 😀

-Patrick

Andrew Sullivan pulls off another head fake

Remember when Andrew Sullivan said that he was quitting blogging? Well, maybe not. Looks like this was nothing more than some stunt to boost readership…. Again.

Quoting the important stuff and ignoring the touchy feely psycho babble nonsense:

And, of course, it is also yours. We’ve all been deeply moved by the wave of protest that this community not simply be disbanded. There’s an intimacy to this conversation that makes this feel less like a business decision and more like a terrible family break-up. I understand all that. I’m deeply torn about it. It takes time to process.

So give us a little space to absorb this week. As of tomorrow, we’re going back to regular blogging. And let us know if you would be prepared to give the team a chance to figure this out or if you think it’s best to leave the Dish as a 15-year adventure that helped shape the Internet conversation.

This may be the denial part of grief. Or it could be something else.

See you in the morning

via Could The Dish Continue Without Me?« The Dish.

The problem is, Sullivan did this before; he left for a while and, of course, came back. Now, he had made headlines again and is now basking in the glow of popularity and huge hits. It is the classic attention seeking head fake and the media world, myself included, fell for it…again. 🙄

I will say this, from a legal standpoint, Sullivan could find himself in the middle of a huge lawsuit. The Dish is a business and was soliciting subscriptions to his archives, I think. So, if someone just plunked down a good deal of cash to become a member of that site and he suddenly decides to stop publishing. Someone could, in fact, sue Sullivan for false advertisement and a good deal of other things as well. I believe he was offering subscriptions on a yearly basis; so, that could get dicey, if he decided to pull the plug.

Still I share a good deal of his feelings about blogging. The total freedom of self-publishing, without editors, without people telling you what you can and cannot print is the ultimate drug high. I also can relate to his physical issues, as I have them myself. So, I happen to think that if Sullivan is being straight up and honest about the whole thing; then maybe he should just take some time off and relax a little and let his staff run the place until feels like coming back to the grind.

On another note that’s related, I happen to think that this here, is soooo funny!: 😆

welcome2insanity(2)

 

Andrew Sullivan calls it quits

This is mildly surprising.

One of the things I’ve always tried to do at the Dish is to be up-front with readers. This sometimes means grotesque over-sharing; sometimes it means I write imprudent arguments I have to withdraw; sometimes it just means a monthly update on our revenues and subscriptions; and sometimes I stumble onto something actually interesting. But when you write every day for readers for years and years, as I’ve done, there’s not much left to hide. And that’s why, before our annual auto-renewals, I want to let you know I’ve decided to stop blogging in the near future.

via A Note To My Readers « The Dish.

Sullivan has been blogging for a very long time, since before 9/11. 15 years. That is an eternity in online years. I can understand the reasoning:

I’ve had increasing health challenges these past few years. They’re not HIV-related; my doctor tells me they’re simply a result of fifteen years of daily, hourly, always-on-deadline stress. These past few weeks were particularly rough – and finally forced me to get real.

I can totally relate. Sitting on my butt and writing for 10 years, basically caused me to get type II diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I mean, it does run in my family; but sitting around and writing did not help any either.

I did not always agree with Sullivan, but I did think that he was a talented writer.I hate to see someone just walk away from the blogging scene. It causes the field to become more bare. I think lots of opinion is good; and Sullivan had a legit position — even if I did not agree with it.

I wish him and his partner the best.

Others: The Moderate Voice, Hit & Run, Gawker, Politico, Towleroad News #gay, Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post, FishbowlDC, Capital New York, The Daily Caller,Althouse, susiemadrak.com, Talking Points Memo, American Power, Gigaom andNew York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

So glad that I am an only child

This was my thought after reading these three postings over at Protein Wisdom, ran by Jeff Goldstein

Basically, Jeff’s brother is severely screwing his Mother, who is dying with cancer, over. I give Jeff credit, he is handling that little situation very well and with much restraint. Because if it was me; I would be going to florida, finding the nearest gun store, picking up a nice .357 and a box of shells.

My best to Jeff in getting that little situation straightened out.