John's page

About me

I blogged at WordPress for two years, linking news and views as I browse online. Opera is something I played with rather than used as a primary browser - although definitely used regularly.
I started out quipping on political sites about 2004 and decided I needed an online location for interacting with acquaintances. What to blog about ?
I started with personal anecdotes. That ran dry fast. What wasn't was a 'voyage of discovery' that ran the gamut of Google News to whatever blogs I might find.
For that I had a background in following the wonkery of Ezra Klein and his gang - first at Pandagon - then his personal site - and he was posting articles in L.A. Times and The American Prospect : which took him on full time.
Also Kevin Drum's 'Political Animal' at Washington Monthly revealed a circus of political aware people.
Global Citizen was rather startled to find the gang had followed her home to 'Blue Girl Red State' where her ideas were expounded in detail. That was the start of a train of events where commenters joined up to form 'Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus' and later 'Watching Those we Chose.' BGRS' blog went to Blogger and then the strain of a do-it-all-myself blog took its toll : "They Gave Us A Republic' is a co-blogging gig. Now if I ever figured out how to work their controls !
Booman Tribune and TPM Cafe were a couple of other stops that took up a lot of online time. Booman is a group site where bloggers can categorized geographically ! TPM Cafe...if you haven't run across Josh Marshall you haven't found among the best on the web.
So WordPress was my first 'real' blog : two years of finding my way around and starting a report of WordPress Political Blogs. They have their own 'club' now : which I think started in ChenZhen's Chambers.
December 2007 I found my WP account under suspension - and me with a ton of news links and op-eds. Time for a new soapbox.
For all that WordPress had been addictive, only one list automatically alphabeticized itself : the BlogRoll in the sidebar. There was none of that at Opera : but it was easy to add categories. You win some and lose some.
By now blogging had almost been a 'should I or shouldn't I' proposition : social networking loomed large.
I started online in a place where 16-24 kps was normal. Did I ever learn to appreciate sources that loaded easily.
There are many tempting toys for blogging : at WordPress I used a few.
Here that sort of thing isn't really just a matter of simple 'point-and-click' : despite being fans of widgets and groupthink, Opera doesn't have much interest in easy adding of clutter to websites. That means easy loading for the target audience though : people who could use a few tips on what's available online.
I do count myself in that number still.
So how did I become such a nut ?
Being older, one learns to be less concerned as to what other people think of you. Mostly...they don't.
I kept reading all these comments about 'stupidity' posed as analysis of political activities. Well...it wouldn't do to underestimate the ability of people to learn the wrong lesson from experience...but it isn't necessary to think that painting that as a trend of those who also happen to have wealth and power is a good explanation. In fact : it's really an opinion begging to be blown out of the water.
One of the last things I had done before Oldephartteintraining was 'disappeared' was to cite a source which seemed to be sensible to what we laughingly call the '101st Fighting Keyboarders' - who might well belong to Pyjamas Media. The problem ? 911 'theorists' were disloyal Americans who posted hatefulness hurtful to the bereaved.
I choke on bullshit. Freedom does not consist of being frogmarched to the destination of another's choice. Besides, Dad 2059 was having far too much fun considering everything under the Sun...and beyond. I was familiar with 'Invisible Opportunity/Salon Esoterica'...which tickled an old Sci Fi buff's penchant for considering the source.
My problem ? Simple. I knew Mainstream Media were owned by corporations - and had had a friend in the business urge me to skepticism. Why would I give greater credence and exposure to known paid liars than people trying to make sense of what was hidden behind a screen of ongoing bafflegab and disinformation ? Maybe not.

My work

I've driven heavy trucks for the past several years. Currently we've been pulling "Super B's" and continuing to haul hay and straw 'in season'; but cycling costs and bankrupt farmers are making profits a memory.


I originally used Firefox with a del.icio.us tool synchronizing the browser with online backup. A computer board gone with data not retrievable ( I had been able to before ) showed the wisdom of that choice - and of backing up a system. So what to do without loading thousands of bookmarks into my browser ? Ha. Pageflakes offered a tool which loaded the file and showed links in Alphabetical order ! I don't see any reason you couldn't do the same.
There is a Del.icio.us blog to tell you more uses for it : since bookmarks are sharable with others, it's a trove of link picks if you look at different people's files. And...finally the light came on. When you've accessed a Del.icio.us file - look over to the right where Bookmarks and a counter appear. Just below is 'Sorted' - the options list for changing bookmark sorting.

The Links page has just 'grown' as I find interesting things - like a jackdaw with a taste for bright objects. It's easy to miss the educational/library links at the bottom of the page.

I'll houseclean - but know things will get out of order fast as I add new items !