Open Last Stanza

R.I.P.

Aimé Césaire

Aimé Césaire was born June 25, 1913, in Basse-Pointe, a small town on the northeast coast of Martinique in the French Caribbean. He attended the Lycée Schoelcher in Martinique, and the Parisian schools Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. His books of poetry include Aimé Césaire: The Collected Poetry (University of California Press, 1983); Putting in Fetters (1960); Lost Bodies (1950), with illustrations by Pablo Picasso; Decapitated Sun (1948); Miraculous Arms (1946); and Notebook of a Return to the Homeland (1939). He is also a playwright, and has written Moi, Laminaire (1982); The Tempest (1968), based on Shakespeare's play; A Season at Congo (1966); and The Tragedy of King Cristophe (1963). As a student he and his friend, Léopold Senghor of Sénégal created L'Etudiant noir, a publication that brought together students of Africa and the West Indies. Later Césaire founded Tropiques, a journal dedicated to American black poetry. Both journals were a stronghold for the ideas of negritude. He is also the author of Discourse on Colonialism (1950), a book of essays.

Césaire is a recipient of the International Nâzim Hikmet Poetry Award, the second winner in its history. He served as Mayor of Fort-de-France as a member of the Communist Party, and later quit the party to establish his Martinique Independent Revolution Party. He also served as the deputy to the French National Assembly. He retired from politics in 1993.

that poets make terrible politicians. Known in the world of letters as the progenitor of Negritude (the first diasporic "black pride" movement), a major voice of Surrealism, and one of the great French poets, Césaire is also revered for his role in modern anticolonial and Pan-African movements. While it might appear that the poet and politician operated in separate spheres, Césaire's life and work demonstrate that poetry can be the motor of political imagination, a potent weapon in any movement that claims freedom as its primary goal.
[Read more...]

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Open Famine

Here is something we really better not talk about. I don't think we should be having any discussions about the rising cost of staple foods. There shouldn't be any public forums on the diminishing availability of basic foods like rice and wheat.

At the same time we really should not concern ourselves with the similar rise in fuel prices.

It is really important to note that, strictly speaking, these issues are not directly related to more traditional Supply-and-Demand market perspectives. On the contrary, neither staple food supplies or base fuel supplies have been significantly diminished. It is only the price that has changed dramatically.

I believe this change is due to the practice of futures trading.

Futures trading, in my simple perspective, is the arena of the few monied interests to first artificially raise the price of base consumables and then reap HUGH profits from the artificially elevated market prices.

Profiteers lining their pockets while Americans are paying $3.50+ per gallon of gas. Greedy manipulators who have profited while "...100 million additional people are considered by the World Bank to have been forced into extreme poverty, and there have been food riots in Egypt, Haiti and elsewhere." [1]

The food crisis is a real one, with rice - basic to the diet in much of Asia - rising in price by 75 percent in two months, and the rise in wheat, equally important to most Western countries, rising by 120 percent over the year. This risks famine in vulnerable countries.[1]

And, before you scold me about lumping food and oil into the same issue please remember that fuel costs affect food production costs, as well as shipping and processing.

But all of this is of very little consequence because

A.) We are not going to talk about it.
B.) We are confident that our current administration has everything well in hand.
C.) We are far more concerned whether an un-named political figure does or does not have an American Flag lapel pin.

OK folks, lets not talk about this any more...OK?

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
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Open Scene

Saudi women jump through many hoops for basketball team

The Jeddah United team in Saudi Arabia openly flaunts a ban on women's sports.

By Faiza Saleh Ambah | Washington Post

from the April 16, 2008 edition

Jiddah, Saudi Arabia - The Jeddah United women's basketball team trickled onto the court, each player wrapped in a black abaya and head scarf. Within minutes, the women had shed their cloaks and were in uniform – white pants and jerseys with their names in red – practicing layups, passes, and foul shots.

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
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Open Food Crises

Food Crises, It Aint Local No More!!

By Faisal.k • Apr 17th, 2008 • Category: Politics • (2,460 views) • No Responses

Often a person gets so involved in their local and day to day problems of which we face several living in Pakistan, that we begin to lose sight of the bigger picture.

Pakistan has been in the grip of serious shortages of food, i.e flour, rice and other edibles since the start of this year. Which basically means an increase in prices of staples progressively leading to that fine line where the public breaks into mayhem to secure food.

At first it was thought that this is happening due to hoarding or the smuggling of food to Afghanistan. However lately through U.N and other media everyone knows that this “Shortage of Food” is now a global threat.

[Read more...]

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Open Secret: MicroNovell (2)

Is there any chance that I can get them to pay for my idea(s)

Novell: 'The Standalone OS is Dead' ... so says InternetNews.com

The future of the standalone operating system is not particularly bright. At least, that's according to Nat Friedman, chief technology and strategy officer for open source at Novell, which yesterday officially announced the company's entry into the Linux appliance space.

Novell's effort, the SUSE Appliance Program, aims to provide independent software vendors (ISVs) with an appliance-friendly version of Novell's SUSE Linux, so they can create integrated software appliances.

. . .

"The big story here is Linux versus Windows," he said. "I do not believe that Microsoft has shown the interest, time and the will to allow an ISV to embed their operating system and intermediate between Microsoft and the customer."

. . .

Despite its earlier rhetoric, Novell also said it would be taking advantage of its interoperability agreement with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to ensure that the SUSE Appliance will be able to run on Microsoft's Hyper-V.

"We can run Windows on top of Xen," he said. "That's part of our agreement with Microsoft to do the technical interoperability to make that happen. We're also the only Linux platform that Microsoft certifies to run as a guest on top of Hyper-V."

You didn't hear it here first ... and you haven't heard the last of it!

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Open Bail - Followup to Open McCarthy-ism

Iran: Woman activist is released on bail

from Global Voices Online by Hamid Tehrani

According to[Fa] Change4equality, Khadijeh Moghadam, an Iranian woman activist for equal rights,has been released on bail after 9 days in Tehran. She has been accused of activities against “national security.” Several people waited for her outside of the prison.Watch the photos here.

Previous posting

Open McCarthy-ism

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
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Open Blogging, quitting

Recently I came across the following...

I have to confess that I am seriously considering quitting blogging. Any thoughts from the Peanut Gallery?

Now I am not going to cite my source for this quote (you know who you are) because it is not my intention to embarrass a given individual... Nope, I am setting my sights a bit higher than that. I want to send a message to all of the folks that are currently uttering such plaintive cries...

If you have to ask a question like this you are blogging for the wrong reasons!

Following the sage advice of my great-great-grandmother... "Iffen you don't have anything to say then STFU!" Ok, ok, she would not have used the colloquial 'iffen' but you get the message.

So here are a simple set of rules...for blogging.

1. If you have something to say then go ahead and blog.
2. If you don't have anything to say then don't blog.
3. If you don't feel like blogging then don't blog.
4. DO NOT ask [me] if you should continue blogging.

If you are blogging for other people you are blogging for the wrong reasons.

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
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Open FUD

Fear, uncertainty and doubt = Windows Vista devil

April 16th, 2008

Better the Windows Vista devil you know than the Windows 7 one you don’t?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 2:20 pm

. . .

Couple Sinofsky’s track record with the fact that Windows 7 will likely be a minor upgrade to Vista, plus the fact that the Softies gave themselves quite a bit of extra breathing room with the 2010 due date, and I’d say it’s more likely Windows 7 will ship early than late.

So when is a pig in an evening gown not a pig? When you change the name to Windows 7 and ??? ... will likely be a minor upgrade to an existing pig; Vista!

Aside: A recent study shows that a PC that is Vista suitable costs in the neighborhood of $1,100.00 USD. (Papa Research & Co.)

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
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Open Fair Pay Day

Why, in this day and age of enlightenment, do we have to legislate parity and equality?!?!?

Are we truly such a backwards society that we still don't know how to treat our fellow men and women with respect?!?!

"But, but... nobody ever tol' me I had to."

Excuse me but didn't Jesus teach us to 'love thy neighbor as thy self'?

Doesn't the primary canon of our society, the Golden Rule, say, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"?

"Yeaha but neither one of them'll stand up in court iffen yer o-po-nent has hizsef a good mouph piece."

And now we wonder why we live in such litigious times...

Shark-Fu (go there and read her stuff) posted a reminder that we have to lobby for fairness and parity - again and again and again.

Raise your voice in support and sign up to post to your blog on Friday, April 18, about the importance of fair pay for women.

And urge to your Senators to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act.

Thanks ABB for keeping us on the straight and narrow.

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Interests

From Sister Beth Who-doesn't-blog-yet...

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Baseball Quiz

Where are these women playing baseball?

The First Iranian Women Sport Magazine

Shirzanan | شیر زنان

Our Goal هدف ما - اولین هفته نامه ورزش زنان در ایران با هدف جبران کمبود پوشش اخبار این حوزه (...) +ادامه

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Art & Culture

Ethan Kaplan at blackrimglasses poses this question . . .

Where do you all see the import of art and music education within the public school system?

After giving his question some thought (and some feeling) I have come to the following conclusion...

As you easily see I am not a great visual artist. I was however able to render both an image and a symbol that succinctly speaks of our culture.

The serpent of our society will succeed in consuming itself unless we fortify it (our society) with values that are greater than its sense of self.

Art, as crude as mine, draws its power from the ability of the image to resonate with the members of the audience. With out even the most rudimentary Arts appreciation such expression would fall on deaf eyes - and the serpent would in fact consume itself.

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open: Papa List

Current Projects:

IPv6: Prepare presentation for Greater Owensboro Territory - Information Technologists (GOT-IT) meeting.

Haiku-a-day

Shamus.txt - A work in progress - a tribute to hard nosed gumshoes and the dames that just seem to fall for 'em...

HIDS - Host-based Intrusion Detection System

Ceramic sculpture study - hand building with slabs

Neural network research

Assistant Director for "Cell" - Owensboro Mystery Festival June 13th - 20th


[This list appears in the sidebar of Pa^2 Patois. It will be updated appropriately there as list items come and go.]

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Standard, Double

While I do not support HRC for the Democratic nomination as candidate ... I do respect this presenter's right to ask difficult questions.



Brava!

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Surge, Redux

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Admission: Hi! My name is Papa...

Denial:

I am not disenfranchised. My vote counts! I am a thinking, feeling constituent and I make a difference.

Anger:

I'll kick you &ss if you suggest that I am disenfranchised. It is the power elite that are corrupting the electoral process. They are just trying to buy their way to office.

Bargaining:

If I get disenfranchised then I won't vote, so there! If the candidate that I don't want steals the nomination then... I won't vote. Or just for spite, I will vote for the other 'worst evil.'

Depression:

I am sad, I am bitter and I am tired! Just leave me alone...

Acceptance:

Yeah, if that is what the country wants, let them vote for Billary or McBush

Hi. My name is Papa and I am a disenfranchised American...

... to which the American Chorus responds, "Hi Papa..."

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(Now forming...the committee to not re-elect Presidents Clinton)
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Bitterness

I am bitter and I am tired! I am tired of disingenuous politicians. I am tired of the likes of Billary and McBush. I am tired of politics that listens to what a shyster wants to hear instead of what a man actually says.

Open: Not PC, NSFW

Support for Hillary

Open Secret: MicroNovell

Gartner Disses Windows, But Where's The Breakthrough OS?

from /Message by stowe.boyd@gmail.com (Stowe Boyd)

The headline screams, the pundit queries...

The answer is painfully obvious... in a word . . . MicroNovell.

As it stands right now there are only very few applications that would need to be ported for MicroNovell to capitalize on the upcoming Business Desktop replacement cycle.

MicroNovell Office
MicroNovell Outlook

But...but, what of all those applications that run on that old Microsoft OS architecture?

Well, what about them? Microsoft got locked into its current box because no one was willing to evolve - most specifically the users. (Which are by the way the people with the money that all developers want a piece of...)

I pity the foo' developer that isn't looking at their current offering through the rosy lenses of a browser! Only the most foo'ish will insist that their 'precious little program' must run stand-alone in a proprietary computing environment.

Sheeeeesh! Talk about the epitome of Microsoft mega-egotistical thinking.

Microsoft is dead, long live MicroNovell!

Open Meme: Greenwashing

Writing for The Huffington Post...

Linda Cronin-Gross

. . .
The current focus on "greening" is bringing real change, but it's also bringing out "green washers" - people and organizations who are getting on the green bandwagon to simply get ahead, but whose commitment to environmental change and environmental justice is less than skin deep.

We can expect to be fully greenwashed, soon and often . . .

Open Future, Back to, again

Winston at NobodyAsked - The Center for Artificial Indifference
reminded me of this excellent visionary tale...

Open Stone Brilliant

Nina Hachigian

A. M. Homes

Audre Vysniauskas

Sasha Cagen

Shannon Moffett

Shelley Batts

Karen Abbott

Egregiously stolen from the pages of The Six Thousand - "6000 intriguing people you want to meet online before you die.
Who will make the list tomorrow?" (Edited by Cliff Pickover)

Open Danger Will Robinson!!!

Microsoft Said To Be In Talks With News Corp Over Joint Yahoo Bid

from Business on HuffingtonPost.com by The Huffington Post News Team

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is in talks with Microsoft about joining in its contested bid for Yahoo, according to people involved in the discussions.

This has BAD written all over it. Time to find another planet!

Open Closet Doors?

Open Terror-izers

Turkeys terrorize Wis. mail carriers

MADISON, Wis., April 8 (UPI) -- A post office manager in Madison, Wis., says delivery workers are being terrorized by wild turkeys in a West Side neighborhood.

Mara Wilhite, manager of the Hilldale Station Post Office, said between five and 10 large male turkeys have been pecking at postal carriers and occasionally attacking them with the spurs on their legs in the Parkwood Hills neighborhood, the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) reported Tuesday.

Wilhite said one turkey barged into a mail truck's open door and scratched the surprised driver.

Eric Lobner, regional wildlife program supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said the turkeys' aggression is likely tied to the mating season, which started recently and lasts until mid-May. He said the red, white and blue coloring on the mail trucks could be raising the ire of the birds, whose heads change color between blue, white and red during the mating season.

Open McCarthy-ism

Khadijeh Moghaddam Member of Campaign and Mother’s Committee Arrested

Tuesday 8 April 2008

Change for Equality: April 8, 2008; On the morning of April 8th, security police forcibly entered the home of Khadijeh Moghaddam, women’s rights activist and member of the One Million Signatures Campaign and arrested her. Khadijeh Moghaddam who is a member of the Mother’s Committee of the Campaign was transferred to Eshrat Abad Security Police, where she was interrogated for several hours, and then transferred to the Revolutionary Courts, where she was interrogated by the Mr. Sobhani the Investigative Judge in charge of her case and charged. A temporary arrest order was issued and a bail amount of 100 Million Tomans (roughly $110,000) was set as a condition for her release. Moghaddam was then transferred to Vozara Detention Center.

Khadijeh Moghaddam’s friends and family members had an opportunity to visit with her while she awaited the processing of her arrest order. During this time, Khadijeh spoke of the poor treatment she received from the Security Police officers who had come to her home to arrest her. “They rang the bell to our apartment at 11:00 am. I was home alone and speaking on the phone with my sister. I was still wearing my pajamas. I looked through the peep hole and saw that there was a woman behind the door. I opened the door slightly. The woman announced that she was a police officer. I asked her for identification and a court order to enter my home. But instead of presenting identification, the woman and two men, pushed the door open and entered my home forcibly. They entered with such force that I was unable to resist. Apparently they had entered our building through the parking garage! My sister, who was still on the phone, had heard my exchange with the intruders, and she quickly came to our home. The Security Police treated me in a despicable manner and after 20 minutes of arguing with them and objecting to their treatment of me, they finally agreed to show me their court order. They told me that they had come to our house on 5 different occasions over the past month, but that I had not been home. They claimed this, despite the fact that I had been home for the past couple of months, because my husband has been ill and I have caring for him. I told them that until I have the chance to speak to the prosecutor I would not leave with them. I was yelling so that the neighbors could hear that they were taking me from my home by force. Finally they allowed me to make a call.”

In relation to the reason for her arrest, Khadijeh Moghaddam explained that: “they were objecting to the fact that I had hosted meetings in my home, to which I replied that I have the right to hold meetings and parties and weddings and memorial services in my home, my private residence…the investigative judge at the Revolutionary Courts asked that I identify 7 or 8 members of the Campaign who had participated in the gatherings in my home. I refused to do so, and explained that I do not believe providing such information to be ethical. I also explained that we are not engaged in any sort of covert activity and that the security officials know the identities of Campaign members.” Moghaddam explained further that the charges against her were: “spreading of propaganda against the state; disruption of public opinion; and actions against national security and that an order for bail amount of 100 Million Tomans was issued for my release (roughly $110,000). I explained that I am unable to provide such a heavy bail amount for my release, and the investigative judge told me that I will be transferred to prison for a week, after which I will provide the names of Campaign members and also the bail amount. When asked to provide my last defense, I explained that my way of life is my defense and also told the investigative judge that it is in fact the security authorities with their actions who are endangering national security.”

Emphasis is mine.

Open ly sha king hi shead

The sound of giants... What is Microsoft thinking????
How in the world can Google compete with "Backup singers"?

Microsoft creates 'instant backing band' for singers # 13:24 07 April 2008 # NewScientist.com news service # Paul Marks Whether you're a frustrated songwriter or a shower-time crooner, you may long to hear your lyrics put to music. New software from Microsoft promises to provide just that – instant musical accompaniment to singing. The software, called MySong, was developed by Dan Morris and Sumit Basu at Microsoft's research lab in Redmond, Washington, US, and Ian Simon at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Google Cloud Now on Tap for Web Developers Stacey Higginbotham, Monday, April 7, 2008 at 7:30 PM PT Google, with its new Application Engine product, has taken aim squarely at the web services market — and companies from Amazon.com to Bungee Labs should be running scared. The search giant’s Application Engine allows developers to build a web application “in their garage” and then host it for free on Google’s existing infrastructure. Take that, Jeff Bezos! The App Engine will run in the same Google data centers that host GMail, Google Docs and other online programs. Initially up to 10,000 developers will have access to the preview edition of App Engine. Every developer will be able build up to three applications, each of which will have 500 MB of storage and the CPU cycles and bandwidth to support about 5 million page views a month. All of this will be free, and when the service is out of preview Google will announce the ability to buy more storage, bandwidth and CPU cycles.

Who ever gets paid for "Backup singers" - I want a piece of that!

Open Scrabbling

For Real? No Deal With Scrabulous?

Stacey Higginbotham, Monday, April 7, 2008 at 10:00 AM PT

As sad as it might be for the 600,000 users of Scrabulous, this is a clear-cut case of infringement. Mattel and Hasbro could have done the easy thing and bought Scrabulous and its user base, but they’re well within their rights to launch Scrabble online.

Being neither a Scrabbler nor involved with Facebook I should take the high ground and say, "My dog isn't in that fight" and leave well enough alone.

Not gonna do it!

Mattel and Hasbro, IMHO, have cut off their respective noses and then tried to thumb them at us... er, well, you understand.

So it is our turn. It is time to BOYCOTT any official Scr*bble site that the two might try to field.

When it comes to re-aligning BIG Business' self-centered-egotistical demands I believe that our only recourse is hit them in the wallet. If a company, or two, is going to be so insensitive as to insult their buying public then I think it is only fair that we oblige them. Give Mattel and Hasbro just what they have given to us... NOTHING!

Open Headrinds

Rind: Thick, often pithy, skin covering soft mushy fruit.

Google Faces Damaging Loss Of Talent

from Business on HuffingtonPost.com by The Huffington Post News Team

So I suppose I should run right out and dump my 2 shares of GOOL in the face of this most damaging loss.

Google searchers could end up with a new type of bug

By Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

... an article that I had to analyze and then offer assurances to Management that a.) this had more to do with people's choosing than it did with Google and b.) we are taking every precaution to protect ourselves from malware.

There is a full 60 minute hour of my life that I will never get back ... thanks to a thick, pithy skin covering a bunch of mush!

I so wish people would stop buying such trash but I suppose they can't get it through their thick headrinds. Oh well...

Open Pocket

Celebrate the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day!

The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends on April 17.

Poems from pockets will be unfolded throughout the day with events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. Create your own Poem In Your Pocket Day event using ideas below or let us know how you will celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day by emailing npm@poets.org.

Open Church

These guys, Joe & Eddie, sang my church when I was a kid. No, that is not a typo. Regardless of their setting, on white-bread TV or LPs, these two men sang my church. I knew then as I know now that their belief, their faith was in their blending soaring voices. When they sang they called me to believe, to have faith.

So it is entirely fitting that you get to hear a little of the church they sing... ignore the vestments, the trappings, just listen to their gift...




Joe & Eddie/Children Go (Embedding disabled by request)

jguth3 posted the above clip of Children Go

Danny Kaye presenting Joe & Eddie performing, "Children Go". (arranged & adapted by them). I was there! They brought me along for moral support. Ha! As if they needed it. THEY WERE GREAT!
I lived and worked at Doug Weston's Troubadour from 1962-1969, and I can say that Joe & Eddie was the most dynamtic duo that ever played the club. Joe was killed in a car accident, August 6,1966. Joe is the one on your left singing tenor, off time, on time and weaving around Eddie like three gospel singers.

Of herself jguth3 says...

Mother & grand mother of a bunch of folk singers. Artist & love working in the multimedia world. I married that wandering folk singer 38 years ago.

Open Blogosphere

An interesting effect is being seen in the blogosphere. ROI is beginning to take its toll on the community of bloggers.

Recently I took some heat, very little heat, for uttering (twittering actually)

#Conversation is time expensive. Only those monetizing it can afford it.

Then Huge MacLeod of gapingvoid declared (twittered actually) ...

@armano The truth is, I'm too freaking busy to keep the Blogosphere happy, all the time, day in day out, for years on end. 11:54 AM April 03, 2008 from web in reply to Armano

Sorry, Gang, I just don't think I can do the "Blogosphere" thing any more. Gonna do something else. Already doing it, actually. 11:44 AM April 03, 2008 from web

... today I read Doc Searls, he says

... Blogging today ain’t what it was when Dave started it, and when I followed in his footsteps. The kind of writing we both try to do — what I once called “making and changing minds” (including our own) — is an ever more narrowing slice of the whole, even if the amount of it is still going up.

So I want something new. Something for which the making of money is at most a secondary or lower priority. Not sure what that should be, but I am sure, if it ever happens, it won’t be called blogging.

"...Making and changing minds..." is the very heart of conversation. Open and free sharing of view points and perspectives. Engaged, often heated exchanges of opinions laced with supporting facts and figures. Gentle consoling graced with empathetic affirmations. Fond remembrances. Touching eulogies. And too, just a bit, of breaking news.

The the teeter-totter turned - all marketing (monitizing) became conversation. The cart was now before the horse. Fortunes were made and lost at the turn of a ...blogged... phrase. Readers became our currency. Blogrolls displayed the stuffed heads of our trophy prey - the untold a-list secret: "You blogroll me and I will scratch you back."

"So now I want something new."

Doc, I don't know you to say "Hello" on the street should we pass but what "new something" do you, would you want? Ennumereate the 'New' somethings that have come and gone since you started blogging. Go have a look at YASNS.
This is an attempt to document just social networks. Note their prolific rise in the time frame you site. Further I would acknowledge in the same breath how quickly they have become passee, just how soon the rock came tumbling back down the hill.

[Side note: I find it interesting that there is no mention, as of this writing, on the YASNS site of The Well. Probably one of the original SNSs. Also there are no mentions of Internet Relay Chat, MMORPGS, or howard rheingold's Brainstorms (one of the original walled-gardens.)]

So here is the dilemna I face. I don't have the time to follow every twittered tweet. I cannot afford the inanities of who had what for breakfast or where so-n-so is staying today and whether the wireless access is any good. Call it 'sour grapes' but I cannot stand the thought of another shiny-sparkly-friendly-river-book that will fill up with the tired, the poor, yearning to be ... to belong to the next shiny-sparkly-fried...

I can afford and do relish the few minutes each day when I can sit with my RSS reader and drink in the fine steeped brew of the internet.

As to the conversation let me leave you with this thought. Do not respond to this post - do not leave me a comment. Instead, take the time to let your day dribble, trickle, flow, meander, gush, or even flood from you finger tips into your own weblog. Let me find you there.

Open Instructions ... for Dummies

Dictatorships For Dummies

Open ...

See you around the net... don't forget to write... or cartoon.

Open Blogging

...should be a party.

I danced at your wedding, I drank at your wake ... in the interim let us celebrate! This isn't a Great American Novel, it isn't the next Iliad or Odyssey ... or even The Stinky Cheese Man ... a blog should be the celebration of the author's' life ... what resonates with a given individual ... what is important to me, now ... Blog on!!!

Jon Scieszka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jon Scieszka (SHEH-ska) (born September 8, 1954 in Flint, Michigan) is an American author of children's literature, best known for his collaborations with illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and in early 2008 was named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Librarian of Congress.^[1][2]

The Guys Read compilation stems from his personal nonprofit literacy program for boys and men, Guys Read, which he created due to his reaction to United States government statistics regarding literacy amongst boys, as well as society's attitudes toward masculinity.

Open Goodbye

Isn't it just like the net ... a man you never met, via a man you never met...and yet with his passing you know you are diminished... or... you have yet another hero... or... another standard to ascribe to...

Shang Goodwin

I am truly sorry I never met you ... I am less for it. David S. Isenberg, thank you for sharing...

Shang's craft was listening. He would ask you a question and listen with his whole brain to the answer. Then he'd ask you a deeper question. Sometimes they were very personal questions; if somebody else had asked, it'd be impolite. But Shang had such genuine curiosity that it was OK when he asked.

In a world full of important people I can say that I am sorry that I never got to meet him...

Open Awakening

So glad that somebody mentioned it or I would have missed it completely...

Happy Cheese Weasel Day!

Open Exhibition

Open Conundrum

Do we want politicians who tell us the truth - a truth that we can barely stand to hear. Or do we want politicians who tell us a nice story? Who tell us the fairy tale we want to hear with the ending that we want - for our lives?

Open WRONG, just plain

Hi, William Meloney.

gapingroid (gapingroid) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out gapingroid's profile here:

http://twitter.com/gapingroid

You may follow gapingroid as well by clicking on the "follow" button.

Best,
Twitter

Open Chance, Last

Big Mc has one chance to capture the office of POTUS.

If his little buddy Bush were to aggressively exit Vietnam uh, Iraq then, and only then, would Big Mc have a chance to be Pres...

Open Giggles

Does it strike anyone else silly that Loic Le Meur plots his 'Social Map' on rule lined paper with a blue pen?

Open Infamy

Winston, over at Nobody Asked said that JohnB, over at Blog Meridian said all I had to do was click my heels together three times and say "MacGyver, MacGyver, MacGyver."

Open Surprise, Pleasant

Working with Firefox 3 Beta 5 rc 2 (ff3b5rc2 for short) and I just tried the Full Screen view (F11) ... WOWSERS!!!

Implemented with an auto-hiding tool bar ff3b5rc2 offers a FULL SCREEN presentation - top-to-bottom, side-to-side web page presentation - this means that for the very screen I am composing on I do not have to scroll down when it comes time to click the [PUBLISH POST] button.

Open Concern

That GIANT sucking sound? That is Freedom being flushed away!

Brazil: Blogs banned from the 2008 elections

from Global Voices Online by Paula Góes

. . .

Two of the regulation's articles have especially raised blogger's eye-brows, starting with the very first article:

“The electoral campaign for the 2008 regional elections, even if through the Internet or other electronic devices, will be subject to the terms of this resolution”

And second the 18th article, which states:

“The electoral campaign on the Internet will only be allowed on candidates' purpose-built web pages intended exclusively for the campaign”

Add to these lines the decision that any campaign for the 2008 local elections will only be allowed from July 6, even on the Internet (in fact it has already started on social networking websites and blogs), and stir up this mix of misinformation. Will netizens be silenced?