blogs

I want to try to give an overview of the NC progressive blogosphere for the past week. While these are just my arbitrary opinions of what I thought to be interesting posts, please let me know what I missed and should have included.

Louisa Warren calls attention to the fluctuating proposals to (partially) fund child care. "Childcare has long been one of the largest, if not largest, budget items for working families." It's a blessing that Louisa is doing this work; I'm sure she needs help.

The Associated Press has filed 7 DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) takedowns against the Drudge Retort, a community blog much like BlueNC. According to editor Rogers Cadenhead:

I'm currently engaged in a legal disagreement with the Associated Press, which claims that Drudge Retort users linking to its stories are violating its copyright and committing "'hot news' misappropriation under New York state law." An AP attorney filed six Digital Millenium Copyright Act takedown requests this week demanding the removal of blog entries and another for a user comment.

Demonstrating a commitment to unprecedented access for bloggers at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced that bloggers credentialed as part of the DemConvention State Blogger Corps will be seated with their respective delegations in the Pepsi Center during the historic four-day event. The move guarantees bloggers with a focus on state politics a unique vantage point to provide localized coverage of the Convention, to be held from August 25-28 in Denver.

"The Internet is the most significant tool for building democracy since the invention of the printing press," said Democratic National Committee

Max Borders at Red Clay Citizen would have you believe that resources never run out and that Bush has made improvements in cost-benefit analysis.

According to Thunder Pig, John Armor and Fred Smith won the Macon County GOP straw poll.

Cold Fury openly celebrates the possiblity of increased violence against gay and bi-sexual teenagers.

Michael Munger converts Mike Gravel

How do you spell rightwing? "Right-wing," "Rightwing," or "Right Wing?" I tend to want to conjoin my words...

Ok this is going to be quick and dirty.

While no doubt the angry words of North Carolina fundamentalists deserve more than a cursory glance, a glance is all I've got to spare for this lot.

Let us venture where men have bested their better angels, and partisan passion has broken every bond of affection:

I recently committed to a weekly post at Mystic-Lit, a new blog for people interested in writing.

I want to start doing a better job of reading right-wing blogs. While a lot of the content is offensive, it's probably a good idea to get a sense of the world right-wing agitators are living in.

Here is a summary of some GOP blogs in the past two weeks. The summary is my personal characterization of content I most likely merely skimmed (swim at your own risk!). I put Katy first since she sometimes comments on BlueNC.

I'm sure I've left out some significant right-wing blogs, please give me feedback.

All links open in a new window.

Frontpaged by A.

Once upon a time there was a world without blogs. It was a dark and dangerous place, where knowledge was controlled and hoarded by insiders, leaving We the Pesky People out in the cold. In business, politics and government, corporate media dominated the flow of information. In choosing what and how to cover the news, they effectively set the public agenda in virtually every aspect of daily life. In recent years, with the support of entrenched Republican policy-makers, the corporate media have indulged in an orgy of consolidation that has further narrowed the range of voices and perspectives available to citizens. The watchdogs may not be fully asleep, but neither are they alert or trustworthy. Reporters relationships with sources often go unexamined, and the ability of multi-million dollar opinion manufacturing machines to influence the media agenda remains unfettered.

It is against this backdrop that political blogs emerged on the scene. Starting with excellent regional voices like Orange Politics, Scrutiny Hooligans, Ed Cone, and Pam's House Blend the standard for engagement was set, and it was set high. When BlueNC was launched two years ago, it was a natural next step in the evolution of information.

Please Join Congressman Brad Miller

For a discussion hosted by Ruby Sinreich of OrangePolitics.org and Brian Russell of Yesh.com about the impact of blogging on today's political environment.

When: Thursday, November 29, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Where: Mill Town Restaurant, 307 E Main St, Carrboro, NC