How Many Web Sites Are There?

It's a guess, really, but trends and data available say that there is roughly one web site for every three people who use the web, according to this Washington Post report, which features the graphic shown above (via Internet Live Stats).

Meanwhile, the site WorldWideWebSize says there are 2.39 billion web pages as of today, estimated by the numbers of pages indexed by Google, Bing and Yahoo search. The Internet Live Stats estimates there were 1.5 million blog posts today - plus one, this one you are reading right now.

While these stats don't tell us just what is on all the pages (cats? porn? advertising?). 

Every day the visualizations of so many people on the planet are manifest on the Internet. I find it interesting that (according to the above) there are 1.5 billion searches on Google so far today - interesting because that makes it seem that half of the folks in the digital world are seeking something, some information, some photo (some cats, probably).

Email appears to be the most widely used aspect - I sent about 6 today, and likely will send out a dozen more before the day is done.

Capturing the attention of billions is no simple task, especially here on this humble blog, where I noodle about with words and images and ideas. I can usually grab a few hundred views here a day - sometimes more, sometimes less. Big numbers land here mostly when I link to an oddity or a bit of someone else's hostility or such. 

But I do perceive a few things in all these numbers - people have joyfully abandoned publishers and broadcasters to share every kind of thing imaginable. It has been and continues to be liberating - for the cost of obtaining Internet access and some device to access the Internet, anyone can reach global distribution. 

And still, after only 20 some years of such new technology, we are only at the edge of what is going to happen due to this massive shift in human interaction.

I often wonder what might happen if, as in some cheesy story, all that access was suddenly gone, never to return. 

I often wonder if over the next fifty years people will somehow master this wild and wooly digital world, or if such mastery is even possible (mastery meaning that the majority of users add something to this digital conversation that is beyond rude-boy antics and advertising).

I often wonder if the future will steadily erase ideas of borders and countries and race and state and tribe ... what then will follow?

Gov. Haslam Needs History Lessons

For some years I've been a fan of Betsy Phillip's writing, she's wicked smart and has a razor sharp style and calls out BS for what it is. I'm sure some readers get a little uncomfortable with her honesty and her views since she doesn't shrink away from tough issues. Her work at Pith In The Wind has been a must-read.

Example - her take-down of what she calls our "beloved rich-person governor", Bill Haslam. 

"He can't claim that things are worse now than it was 50 years ago, which anyone who's had a decent recent US history class would know is just laughable on its face, and expect that claim to have rhetorical weight AND to want more people to have the opportunity to have good educations. Governor Haslam, either you need a state full of people who don't know better to believe your campaign speeches or you can have an educated populace. But you can't have both."

Her post takes issue with this quote from The Gov:

"The Republican answer — I think, the smart answer — is to say we’re going to give everybody the opportunities that they deserve,” he said. “There’s some people who say ... we can just tax more people at the top end and that can help more people at the bottom end, (and) it’ll all work out.

"But we’ve been trying that for the past 50 years, with the Great Society and all of that. The problem has only actually gotten worse.”

That idea that Republicans are going to "give everybody the opportunities that they deserve" ... I don't think most folks see that as the role of government. Isn't it more "protect the opportunities" of state residents? And oh yes, 50 years have seen huge improvements in most every aspect of life for Tennesseans, not a spiral down into Doom and Gloom. Always defining lifestyles and politics as stuck in the landscape of Us vs Them circa 1960s is a losing and deceptive game for all.

Betsy's right - coming from a family worth a billion dollars, The Gov has a disconnect when it comes to income inequality - mostly because he just hasn't brought any wisdom to the issue. He's kept everything status quo, same as it ever was. Longtime party leaders are calling the shots and defining the state's policies. The Gov is just along for the ride and too often he sounds deeply misinformed.

Tennessee Ranked 'Most Corrupt State'

The Daily Beast has just released their rankings for Most Corrupt States here in the good ol' US of A.

The bad news -- Tennessee ranks Number One.

The criteria they cite include:

•Public corruption, 1998—2008: Convictions of elected and other public officials investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Department of Justice.

•Racketeering and Extortion, 1998—2008: Code for organized crime convictions, also investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

•Forgery and Counterfeiting, 1999—2008: Arrest numbers for producing or distributing fake money and goods over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

•Fraud, 1999—2008: Arrests for false statements or documents produced for personal gain over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

•Embezzlement, 1999—2008: Arrests for surreptitious theft of money over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

By using a decade’s worth of federal data, we were able to minimize changes in local law enforcement efficacy, though some flaws remain: local cases go undocumented, and the FBI data is self-reported by local law enforcement. When combined, however, the data provides a fairly deep look into which jurisdictions are uncovering the most corruption. We leveled the playing field by calculating the numbers on a per-100,000 people basis.

Tennessee's score:

Public Corruption: 18
Racketeering & Extortion: 11
Fraud Rank: 7
Forgery & Counterfeiting: 5
Embezzlement: 9

The community they selected to highlight the dire conditions - Newport, TN:

"Recent Scandal: Here's a foolproof recipe for corruption: a former policeman commingling with gang members. Milburn Williams, a retired police captain from Newport, ringleaders Raymond Hawk and Grant Williams, and 20 others were indicted on racketeering, drug trafficking and a slew of other charges last year in Greeneville. The sting operation was headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and centered around a chop shop called "H-1 Auto", later renamed "A Automotive." For six years the chop shop was the command post for an operation that allegedly moved stolen property and goods across state lines and sold cocaine and marijuana. The most serious of the charges carry up to $2 million in fines and 40 years in prison.

The others in the Top Ten:

2 - Virginia
3 - Mississippi
4 - Delaware
5 - North Carolina
6 - Florida
7 - Nevada
8 - Pennsylvania
9 - South Carolina
10 - Oklahoma

Sharing That Cup of Joe With OpenPen

I added my first post today to the East TN group blog OpenPen and I hope you'll go there and read it and explore some of the other writings there as well. I wrote a short bit about the East TN Republican Who Gets No Respect.

Of course, I noticed after I had posted it that another writer, Solon, had written already about the East TN Republican Who Gets No Respect and the comments he made about the new law allowing for guns in more places.

Folks who can legally tote their guns with them are in sizeable numbers in Tennessee anyway. Though I wonder - we will soon see signs at businesses which read No Shirt, No Shoes, No Gun, No Service?

R. Neal at KnoxViews has some thoughts on the new law today as well.

Edible Business Cards via Crooked Brains

An amazing collection of creative and innovative ideas including edible business cards, umbrella art, green walls and vertical gardens, incredibly cool designs for ice cubes, and art made from cassette tapes, such as:



All that and much, much more at Crooked Brains.

Online Writing Challenges The World

"A word to the wise is infuriating" -- Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

A fascinating collection of topics about newspapers, individual rights (of expression and of fair trials), about the online world of writing and commenting and more -- all are part of a post from R. Neal at KnoxViews regarding arguments in court about Knoxville media sites and the Christian-Newsome murder trial.

First, the case has without a doubt generated an enormous amount of local and national press and plenty of very angry public outcry, whether online or off. Attorneys for the defense want the judge in the case to prohibit online comments at media web sites which report on the case, or establish stronger tracking identification for those who do leave comments.

I see little way past the notion of prior restraint of speech on this topic - banning media or any online outlet from publishing comments or even articles seems a no win to me. Likewise, for courts to dictate the standards and practices regulating individual or media websites would not be good for free speech rights in general. Truth be told, these kinds of cases regarding online comments and online writing are being brought out in courts on an almost daily basis. What one court rules today, another may overturn. And there is such an enormous range of writing on the Internet, that courts have for the most part been approaching the concepts involved in a case by case basis.

Courts have been circling around all manner of online actions for some time, whether it's file sharing or copyright issues, threats, ownership of content, and even governmental data mining.

The sheer volume of even the most random of online activities creates even larger amounts of data about usage and traits which many businesses value. Recently, Google announced they are considering keeping a record of individual activities for up to two years for users of their services. That's a vast amount of info and, as mentioned, can be incredibly valuable.

Comments which I have read at the Knoxville News Sentinel on all types of stories range from insightful to ignorant, and part of me thinks that in addition to allowing readers to flag comments as inappropriate, the newspaper could be more active in eliminating some useless or hateful comments. However, I also know that they are simply providing a space where uncensored public viewpoints can be presented and there is value in that both for the readers and for the newspaper, which need eyes on their pages to build revenues.

I chose to delete comments on my page regularly, sometimes because it is advertising spam and sometimes because it is hateful and inflammatory. Sometimes, I have removed just plain stupid comments because, well, because I can. This is my page. The role a media web site takes, however, is different.

The other issue which the KnoxViews post mentions is shameful lack of ability to correctly identify what is a "blog" and what is not. Writing comments on a "blog" or on a story on a media site is not "blogging". I offer commentary here on all manner of topics, and I comment on other pages, but the two acts are not the same.

And I am utterly in agreement that the words "blog" and "blogging" are awful. And if I had a better word for it, I would try and copyright it and market it.

I describe what I do on my page (and the paid work I have done at other sites) as Online Writing.

We live in a very rare time - people of all ages and temperaments have the ability to create, publish and distribute information and ideas via the Internet, a massive minute-by-minute rush of words and ideas which are not controlled by any save those who create it (and in some cases by the agencies, such as Blogger, which offer the platforms for such creations).

This new age is a very real challenge to all commercial and traditional publishers, a challenge to readers, a challenge to leaders in government and business, and to our society in general. The worst mistake will be to cage it all up and attempt to move backwards towards pre-Internet days.

There is also a real challenge to all of us who use the Internet - will we continue to create as we see fit or be forced to create what others demand?

The debate which has been raging for some time about online writing and blogs and anonymous comments and anonymous bloggers reminded me of something I had read a few years back regarding the prominence of anonymous and signed pamphlets which rose to prominence in the 1600s and 1700s. A book on preserving books and publications from the early 1900s by A.R. Spofford offered this view of the value of information published and distributed by individuals and not companies:

"Strike out of literature, ancient and modern, what was first published in pamphlets, and you would leave it the poorer and weaker to an incalculable degree. Pamphlets are not only vehicles of thought and opinion, and propagandists of new ideas; they are often also store-houses of facts, repositories of history, annals of biography, records of genealogy, treasuries of statistics, chronicles of invention and discovery. They sometimes throw an unexpected light upon obscure questions where all books are silent. Being published for the most part upon some subject that was interesting the public mind when written, they reflect, as in a mirror, the social, political, and religious spirit and life of the time. As much as newspapers, they illustrate the civilization (or want of it) of an epoch ..."

The "Blog" of the Month

A blog I love.

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

The Mega List of Lists of 2008

It is the List of All Lists of the Best of 2008 from Fimoculous. Yes, the annual collection of the best in '08 compiles selections in categories like in advertising, architecture, art, automobiles, books, business, comedy, dance, design, dvds, fashion, film, food and drink, gadgets, games, ideas, media, music, online, paranormal, people, photos, politics, religion, sports, science, technology, theater, toys, travel, tv, videos, words/searches, plus archives for lists going back to 2001.

It may take until 2010 to read thru them all.

Perspective

Here are some thoughts and insights worth your time:

From Aunt B. --

"One black man attaining the presidency when half of the prisoners in the U.S. prison system are black men, when one in ten black men between the ages of 20 and 35 are in prison, and when one in three black men in their thirties has a prison record (which means that one in three black men of prime voting age cannot vote) is not going to fix the problems in the black community. But it does suggest possibilities.

One white woman attaining the presidency when thirty percent of female murder victims are killed by a husband or boyfriend, when one in four hundred of us is a victim of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault every year, and when almost thirty percent of single moms live in poverty is not going to fix the problems of women. But it does suggest possibilities.

Patriarchy as usual is never about suggesting possibilities to people who don’t have power."

From White's Creek --

"The danger from Terrorism is essentially a myth. I have heard it described as being somewhere between the danger from Killer Bees, which everyone seems to be afraid of but have actually killed no one in the USA, and Drunk Drivers, which few folks react in fear regarding but which kill about 17,000 people a year in the USA."

From Cory Doctorow --

"[During World War 2, England's] message to the people wasn't "Take your shoes off" or "place your liquids in this bag". Instead, King George's printer stuck up millions of royal red posters bearing the legend "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON."

The approaches are markedly different - eternal (even fearful) vigilance, versus a reassured, Zen-like calm. Which one makes us more secure?"

From Russ McBee --

"Half the world -- nearly three billion people -- live on less than two dollars a day."

Salute to the Stewman and Those Who Care For Him

Today and for the last few weeks I've been awed by the powerful friendships and the compassion evident as folks from all over work fiercely to assist with The Stewman, who is battling cancer without the aid of health insurance.

Newscoma got it all started and tonite she and other friends held an auction to raise funds for his benefit. You can read about the success - and how you can help - here.

I am truly in awe of such devotion and caring and hope you can find a way to lend your support too.

Newscoma wrote today:

"Do we feel powerless about the cancer that our friend is fighting?

Yes.

Are we trying to do what we CAN to help him, things that we have a bit of control over. That’s also a yes.

We can’t make the cancer go away, but we can help him. Cancer treatment is not cheap. He is not working now because every moment is spent getting better. The cancer, my friends, is that bad.

So we are doing what the chairman of our little committee said quite eloquently last month that we “have” to do because it all we can do. And because he would do it for us.

Throughout the day, we will be putting updates about the benefit here. We want to help just a little. Are we fighting our own demons? Probably.

Are we trying to raise a bit of money for a person who has been our mentor, our friend and has lifted us when we could not do the heavy lifting for ourselves?

Yes.

BadBadIvy has committed to buy a T-shirt. If anyone in the Nashville blogosphere is interested in buying a T-shirt designed by Squirrel Queen, I will bring it to you personally within the next couple of weeks to The Sportsman’s Grill in Nashville. They are $20 a piece and they are pretty groovy. (A picture of Mabel and a Newscoma emblem is on the back of them as a sponsor.)

Information about the day’s events will be posted at the official Friends of the Stewman blog. I’ll keep you updated all day about how things are going, and if Holly and Scout are interested, will get them to live blog some of the event over there as well this evening at the FofS blog.

We are doing what we have a bit of control over because we can’t cure the cancer. But we can make it a little more comfortable for him.

So if you can, visit the site, buy a T-shirt, leave a nice sentiment for him as that blog will archive the event.

Dreaming of Electric Sheep

I used to think we could peek at the Future and understand the Present when reading science fiction, but now I'm afraid we've landed in a warped world where the horrible ideas of Future dystopias are filling the Present. No personal rocket cars here, more the wreckage of a world gone over the edge into absurdity and delusion.

For instance, I was reading the rather odd press reports from Great Britain, where the government has decided their nation is removing the phrase "war on terror" from their political lexicon:

"The words "war on terror" will no longer be used by the British government to describe attacks on the public, the country's chief prosecutor said Dec. 27.

Sir Ken Macdonald said terrorist fanatics were not soldiers fighting a war but simply members of an aimless "death cult."

The Director of Public Prosecutions said: 'We resist the language of warfare, and I think the government has moved on this. It no longer uses this sort of language."

London is not a battlefield, he said."

Who knows, maybe such attempts at language modification will lead us to ... well, somewhere other than where we are, I suppose. Language modification to accommodate bizarre policies has been a staple in science-fiction tales for some time. (I always laughed at the scene in "Brazil" where the government chief combating terrorism was asked his thoughts on the 13th year of constant terrorist attacks and the chief replies with a laugh, "Beginner's luck!")

Still, after reading the above story today, I then ran across this blog, which offers frequent updates to the world to tell us "Which Phillip K. Dick Story Are We In Today". And yep, right there on January 1st is mention of the story from Britain and which story relates to it.

Don't get me wrong - I like PKD's works, always have. But if we can catalog current events as elements of his fiction, we are in deep, deeeep shit.

For those who don't know his work, suffice to say it painted a world of endless deceptions and paranoia, of fakery elevated to it's greatest height, of reality sliding into madness.

Not the best way to start the New Year - offering evidence we inhabit the nightmarish landscape of PKD's imagined future.

Best of the Top Ten of 2007 Lists

My vote for the most fascinating Top Ten List of 2007 goes to this blog post.

No celebrity mishaps, heartwarming movies or significant failures. As the post says:

"Science doesn’t take away from the beauty of nature. It enhances it, multiplies it."

Roundup of Tennessee Bloggers

A new regular weekly fixture at TennViews is worth sharing with all of you.

A weekly sampling from some of Tennessee's best and brightest bloggers:

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: Huckabee stumbles, Clinton needs better friends

• Andy Axel: Fall Heron, plus Good little lapblogs

• BlountViews: Hometown poll not kind to Lamar Alexander

• Cup of Joe Powell: Christmas TV season preview, plus Joe has the incredible Sidewalk Politics video that's been making the rounds

• Enclave: Tennessee in another Top 20

• Fletch: Two men and a truck

• KnoxViews: KnoxViews 2007 Year in Review, plus W settles an old score, and Holiday shopping humor

• Lean Left: Weak-minded Huckabee

• Left of the Dial: Geek-o-rama, plus Bad boss

• Left Wing Cracker: TN Supremes should decide open meetings law

• NewsComa: No solar eclipse in government

• Pesky Fly: Impeach Hillary

• Progress Nashville: The blog business model and TV Guide, plus Missing Bill (no, not that one)

• Resonance: Expert advice on not getting shot in random mall shootings, plus "Serious" Primaries

• RoaneViews: 20,000 tons of nuclear waste

• Russ McBee: Carbon dioxide reduction not as expensive as we're being told, plus Candidates: Speak to the working people

• Sean Braisted: (at TennViews) The obstructionist Senate

• Sharon Cobb: Is Pelosi hurting Clinton?, plus I know what you did in nursery school

• Silence Isn't Golden: Mitch McConnell's unfortunate remarks, plus Regent Law School needs a better recruiter (this is hilarious, keeping in mind that Regent is the law school supplying the Neocon cabal with legal foot soldiers who come up with crap like it's ok to lie to Congress)

• Southern Beale: TN GOP bunker mentality

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: Harriet Miers knew

• TennViews, by Persimmon: Corridor K

• Whites Creek Journal: CIA: American heroes

• Women's Health News: Make your holiday donations count for women

Visit The Psychozilla Tribune

Yes, I said Psychozilla Tribune.

Why?

Because the world needs to know there is much in existence which is "far beyond the ken of mortal men."

Plus I am a contributor, and with the other writers, we'll try our best to keep you informed of things Which Defy Explanation and are Slightly Off Center.

You Said It, You Own It

A bizarre rant/opinion from State Rep. Stacey Campfield (of which there are many to pick from) has brought national attention. And ridicule.

His response -- "the Left" are crazy "loons" who have no civil discourse.

Look, you said it all, Mr The Rep, word for word, and posted it proudly on your blog. It made no sense. It brought ridicule. No one made up your words for you. (No one spell-checked it either.)

You said it, you own it.

UPDATE: Snikta takes Mr The Rep to the mat with facts, not insults.

A Webwalk From The Serious to the Not So Much

So much good reading, fascinating and provocative and informative, and on a wide range of topics. A brief tour is offered herein.

Failure dogs the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Bush threatens to veto bill for assistance. (via Facing South) --

"The failure is seen everywhere: The tens of thousands of people still living in "temporary" FEMA trailers because insurance companies and the government failed to compensate homeowners. The 100+ public schools still closed in New Orleans. Lack of housing that has driven up rents 100-200% across the Gulf Coast, unaffordable to many. The lack of any meaningful effort to restore Louisiana's stunning wetlands, the best defense against future storms.

So one can only imagine the rage that is greeting this week's news that President Bush plans to veto a $21 billion bill for flood control and coastal restoration, passed 381-40 this week with broad bipartisan support in the U.S. House. The bill's programs are national but of special importance in southern Louisiana, where it would fund a 72-mile levee and floodwall system and put $1.9 billion -- a fraction of what's needed -- towards coastal restoration."
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If you're paying millions of dollars to writers and consultants to create information opposing the scientific findings related to global warming, that is not an imaginary conspiracy -- it's called paid propaganda. (via KnoxViews)

" ... learn how their propaganda campaign has successfully fooled 64% of Americans into thinking there is "a lot of scientific disagreement on climate change."
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Did you know that today is an almost formal state holiday?? Anyone? .... Bueller? Well it is and no, until I read ACK's post sharing the information, I simply did not know that today is Emancipation Day. The Greeneville Sun covers the story:

"Organizers of the event estimate that a few hundred individuals, some of whom came from out of town to attend, were on hand for the annual African-American historical celebration that marks the emancipation by then-Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson of his personal slaves."
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Angelia reports that TriCities.com gives 1st District Congressman David Davis a 'thumbs down."
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Is that a monkey under your hat or are you just happy to see --- Oh My God! It is a monkey under your hat!!
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Um. Well. I know it's not meant to make me laugh but I, for one, am utterly helpless before the headlines and stories heralding the game that is sweeping through Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky. Yes, it is a Carnival of Cornhole.

Friends in the know confirm the game has captured tons of fans. That was after I sent them some info directing them to the American Cornhole Association website. (thanks, Sysm!)

If You Email Me, I Will Write

The creator of a video which I mentioned a few weeks back, titled "100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers" sent me an email with a simple request. It should be noted that the video is one of my favorite little short bursts of internet goodness and was expertly created. So, since the creator of the video, Alonzo has asked so nicely, I am happy to comply.

(NOTE: I did an 8 Random Facts meme a few weeks ago, but as the keyword here is 'random. I am happy to offer up 8 more such facts. Plus, my previous post of 8 Random Facts has shown up quite often in internet searches under the heading 'naked fishing' because of a random fact I mentioned. I guess it is good to be noticed, web-tastically speaking.)

(NOTE 2: Alonzo has a few more videos on YouTube for you to view, and of course, I would be remiss to not mention Alonzo's blog, Acrentropy, which has been running for some 3 years.)

Also, the rules about this meme are available at Alonzo's page, and I am not tagging anyone else with this peculiar assignment since I did that already. My blog, my dictatorial rule prevails.

8 Random Facts

1 -- On this morning, there is not enough coffee in the house to open my eyes wide nor to disengage my sleep-deprived brain from the murkiness of a humid, heat-blurred night of insomnia. And yes, insomnia has been my companion since I was a wee toddler.

2 -- Speaking of coffee, if I had known of the Curious and Powerful Magic of the Brew when I was a freshman in college, I could have made those darn 8 a.m. classes.

3 -- I remember watching Nixon resign on TV one summer night while at the house of the grandmother of a friend of mine. She had no electricity, but ran a series of incredibly long and tangled extension cords from the nearby house of her son to power her 13 inch black and white TV. (True story: her son's nickname was Mousey and she had another son nicknamed Meatskin, but that's all another post.) The grandmother also had no indoor plumbing and the Standing Rule of visiting at her house was to never go to the right side of the house, because her outhouse was about 25 feet from her kitchen door and had been there for decades. In summer, the Danger Perimeter of the outhouse expanded to such size that I always associate a certain aroma with Nixon.

4 -- Once in high school, I went out one night and drank such copious amounts of alcohol that when I arrived home, I began a Technicolor Yawn over the porcelain that seemed to last a week, After howling and hurling for some 45 minutes, I left the bathroom to find both my parents standing in the hall with deep scowls on their faces. My dad proclaimed, "You smell like a brewery!" I weaved about dangerously and calmly replied that I had been to McDonald's that night and met a girl, whom I kissed, and that "I think she had a beer." The next day my dad told me if I was out late at night again and kissed a girl who had a beer, I should just call home and say I would not be driving home and to find a safe place to spend the night.

5 -- When I mentioned the above story to my mother recently, she still saw no humor in it.

6 -- I used to raise and sell rabbits when I was a young boy. While waiting for customers, I would read books of collected Pogo comics by Walt Kelly. I read recently that J. Edgar Hoover had an FBI cryptology team scour through Pogo books as he was convinced that coded messages of subversion were hidden in the nonsense poetry and Southern accents of the characters. Perhaps Hoover's dresses were jes' a little tight in those days and cut off circulation to his brain.

7 -- Speaking of youthful days, the small Tennessee town I grew up in was so small, they had to widen to road to put white lines down the middle and was so small it said "Welcome To" and "Come Back Again" on the same sign.

8 -- I almost cut my right hand off once when I was a kid, while I was playing Spiderman. And once, some years later, I fell in a hole and cut myself on a walnut. These are both stories too long and detailed to provide here. Maybe later.

Sunday Web Walking - Extended Edition!

Buckle up for a brief yet intense whirlwind tour of the internet and the bloggers and more.

The WKRN-TV blog Nashville Is Talking may soon be Not Talking So Much, though comments from their GM Gwen Kinsey are not easy to decipher. Suffice to say the future of NIT is where it has been for the last month: Unknown. But the Web is an always-evolving place, so it is no surprise that many mid-state and beyond blog-makers decided their best option was to create their own collective and hold their own conversations, which they call Music City Bloggers. I wish them much luck and thank them for linking to this humble (but lovable) page.

Another page I've been meaning to link to is heretofore presented with some fanfare: Russ McBee. And yes, he is right that this post on the "Amazonian Bigfoot" got my attention. I will confess a curious interest in cryptozoology. Why, just the other day, I discovered that scientists have known about the Vampire Squid for over 100 years. Anytime you write Vampire _________ as the name of a creature, I take note. Please take note of Russ McBee who writes about much more than the odd things which might perplex me.

Perplexed describes my reaction to this report from Grainger Today newspaper -- for some reason, a SWAT team raided a news publisher's home for some kind of suspect wanted for something. Details are scarce, and yet sooooo tantalizing.

First District Congressman David Davis was lauded by local officials for opening an office in Morristown on Friday, at Walters State Community College, in a branch of offices related to Homeland Security and much more. Rep. Davis had promised to open such an office -- staffed by some familiar GOP names from past office-holders. Also this week, a Tri-Cities TV station which had endorsed Davis gives him a failing grade some six months into his first year in office. They say his actions show him more interested in serving the GOP than serving his district. I would be greatly surprised if more than 20% of voters in the First District could even name their own congressman.

A regular feature via Jack Lail and the KNS on Sunday is an overview of what East Tennessee bloggers are talking about -- always a good way to peek into what people are writing and saying on a wide range of issues and topics.

It's kinda funny to write something like "East Tennessee bloggers" as the phrase really did not exist a few years back. I am happy it does exist. For the first time in my lifetime, I have scores and scores of local resources for news and information, all freely provided and independently created. What is provided on this humble (but lovable) page barely scratches the surface of info on the area and the state which is available.

If you have a suggestion for another place to seek info, to learn and to read, please add it in the comments!

IN OTHER NEWS: I haven't had the chance yet to write of the recent passing of composer Will Schaefer, so I will make time to do so now. His music is well-known by many, whether they are aware of it or not. His musical themes and songs are well known to you if you ever watched "The Flintstones," "Scooby-Doo", "Hogan's Heroes", "I Dream of Jeanie", "The Super Friends" or Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, countless commercials throughout the 1960s and 1970s and he is the man who re-crafted a popular song into a theme for one of the most well-known of Disney's theme park rides: "It's A Small World."

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I'm ready to train the dog to do this.

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The European Union provided a commercial about how the government spends money and the result was Sex, Sex, Sex!!!

Lessons in Blog Sarcasm

Some things I learned this week:

Wading deep into the mire and muck and into the witless hubris of some blogs dotting the cyberscape which are best referred to as My Sarcastic Ironic Metaphors Are Better Than Yours, I was reminded of three old sayings from old people.

First, from a conversation I had once on my grandfather's farm on summer day -- "Boy," he said, pointing to a steaming cowpie, "That there is bullshit. Now, it ain't got no use unless you use it as fertilizer. The difference between a human and a bull is that a bull will drop a big ol' pile of shit and walk away from it and a person will make a pile of shit and crow about how proud they are of it, polish it all up as if it would turn into solid gold and then go in search of more bullshit to make folks think they have mastered the art of goldsmithing."

Next, a quote from G.B. Shaw - "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

Third, Shaw also wisely notes, "I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty and the pig likes it."

POSTSCRIPT: Nope, not going to link to the blogs of not-sarcastic-just bullshit wordgasms helmed by not-Generals and Meatless buffets, because my grandfather taught me to lead folks away and not into shit. Plus many Tennessee blogs including mine have given you much context on this topic all week. (If yer burnin' with desire to know details, use the email option in my profile.)

WKRN About To Lose Out

Terrible news from Brittney, who is resigning as blog hostess at Nashville Is Talking. She has been needlessly beaten and abused of late. I hope WKRN-TV realizes they need to rally to support her in a major way rather than allow her to be cut loose.

I respect her viewpoint and reasoning on wanting to go. The threats and hatred are frightening. Which again means to me the management at WKRN need to celebrate, elevate and embrace the enormous success her work has created. Like some others, I wonder if the new management at the station is pushing for her to go instead. Their loss. And a major one.

UPDATE: Fortunately, I do not think her voice could ever be silenced. In fact, she'll be getting a bit more kick ass at her own place, Sparkwood & 21.