Citizen Blogger

Last July in my Online Spin column, I wrote a bit about local blogging and how it can fill gaping holes in our news coverage. Those gaping holes still exist, but they're slowly being filled by bloggers. Some of the aggregation tools I mentioned in my article are starting to emerge - RSS readers are starting to move into the mainstream. We can only hope that Microsoft builds RSS into Outlook. Kinja is being described by some as RSS with training wheels but it's valuable nonetheless. I can only hope that the blog movement continues to flourish.

It's no secret that the mainstream media outlets in the U.S. have a credibility problem. I've discussed in the past how increased competition has steered the mainstream media toward emphasizing scoops over substance. Thankfully, blogs are giving us information that is essentially unfiltered. I'm thriving on this stuff right now, taking breaks during lunch and after work to cruise some of my favorite blogs to gather information about anything and everything - especially the war in Iraq.

CNN can give me a somewhat sanitized version of what is transpiring on the ground in Iraq. It also doesn't give me much in the way of opinions of Iraqi citizens or coalition soldiers in Iraq today. Blogs give me that, and in doing so give me valuable information that help me make responsible choices as a citizen of a democratic society. I can't help but think that all of us should blog for at least an hour a day - write about what we think, what we feel and most importantly, what we witness first-hand.

If for some reason, you haven't seen how this phenomenon is manifesting itself in Iraq, please check out the sites of some of the Iraqi bloggers. There's a great diversity of opinion out there. I'm digesting as much of it as I possibly can. And it's great to see this information out there without filtering or agenda-setting that's so prevalent among the mainstream news media.

Start here, or here, or here. Follow links to other Iraqi blogs. Read it all - these people have assumed great personal risk to bring you this information about what's going on in their corner of the world.

Like Father, Like Son

FCC Chairman Michael Powell
awoke this morning
to find the Invisible Conceptual
Idiot Baton welded
to his forehead

The Invisible Conceptual Idiot Baton Awards Committee (ICIBAC) is proud to announce the completion of its latest covert operation. Last night at approximately 0300 hours, ICIBAC reclaimed the Idiot Baton from America's Chief Diplomat Colin Powell. Shortly thereafter, ICIBAC snuck operatives into the home of FCC Chairman Michael Powell and welded the Idiot Baton to his forehead, where it will remain until a bigger idiot is identified.

"Michael Powell recognizes that his efforts are best expended on this nation's number one threat - that of objectionable content," said an ICIBAC spokesman at a press conference held at ICIBAC's headquarters inside a hollowed-out volcano. "Powell is undeterred in his quest to ensure that none of our citizens will ever have to fear the burning sensation in one's eyes that is most closely associated with viewing images of naked people. Nor will they have to live in fear of atrophy of the brain, which has been linked to instances of listening to Howard Stern talk about lesbian sex on the radio."

Amid throngs of applause, Powell was spotted banging his head repeatedly against the wall in an attempt to dislodge the baton.

"Thank God for Michael Powell," continued the spokesman. "It's rare in this day and age that politicians take a proactive stance to address the average citizen's need to be protected from himself."

NYTimes: A Heretical View of File Sharing

According to this article in the NYTimes (registration required), two economists claim that file sharing has a negligible effect on record sales.

The RIAA's response? They fault the study for relying on survey data, saying essentially that people can't be trusted to tell the truth in such matters. The RIAA adds that people who agree to have their behavior monitored are not representative of the population they're after. In short, thanks for trying, but there's no reliable way to get data on file traders. How convenient.

"Professional Courtesy"

According to this piece from Newsday, the PBA has gone on record about a union policy that discourages cops from ticketing other cops. They call it a "professional courtesy."

How nice... What other professional courtesies should government employees extend one another? Should tax assessors give one another leeway in assessing one another's property values?

It's about time we let those that enforce the laws know that they're not members of some sort of privileged ruling class in our society. While we all know that local politics and administration tends to be a game of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" more often than not, we can't give any legitimacy to something that flies in the face of equal protection under the law or preferential treatment.