A Veneer of Certainty

As a newbie blogger, I’m always trying to learn and understand more about new/social media and occasionally question & comment upon it. Two of the perceptions I’ve had since the beginning is that some in new media crave the attention and acceptance of the same MSM they vilify, while at the same time clinging to a defensive stance about what might be expected of new media.

A post at griftdrift made note of a dustup about a recent Creative Loafing (Atlanta) article on the local blogging scene, one that raised hackles on some of that demographic.

What is going on with engaged folk in Atlanta? Andrew Speaker, the Carrier of the Week, shares a few commonalities with Jennifer Wilbanks, the runaway bride:

Both…
- Atlanta-based
- Fled due to weddings.
- May have left people [worried] sick.

Is it something in the Coca-Cola?

UPDATE: A Braves farm club is affected, too.

Good analysis by Sean Aqui at Midtopia on a Red State commentary of Rep. Jefferson's indictment. I'm in agreement with Sean that Jefferson is probably guilty, however that doesn't excuse the pulsar-like spin being applied to this story by the right.

I may be starting to “get it”, with respect to social media. At least, I think so. Social media is the large scale democratization of informational sources and consumers. At the same time, it is many things to many people so there is hardly one definition that fits.

Given the reluctance of any Congress to own up to pork spending, I'm really starting to become a believer of one of Steven Landsburg's ideas from "More Sex is Safer Sex". Specifically, the chapter that suggests the federal taxation rate of congressional district should be tied to the spending initiated or approved by the district representative. Higher taxes for the people who elected the rep who voted for it. The reps - and their constituents - would get the message real quick that there is an incentive not to play fast and loose with the Big Bucket of Cash.

Landsburg's point, among others, is that voters need to be better informed about how federal revenues are spent with regard to taxes. A fantastic idea when coupled with increased accountability from our elected representatives.

(to borrow a phrase from the fine NBC show Heroes)

Find out if your site has the special cachet of being one of the many banned in China.

(h/t to Ain't Chicken)

Just click the link.

(h/t for video and title to Laurie Kendrick. The woman is a turbocharged, eight-cylinder GODDESS.)

Discussion with friends prompted me to write down the progression of my thoughts on the issue of illegal immigrants in the US, insofar as the ones here for work.

My earliest thoughts on the matter for apprehended illegals were simple & Draconian: summary execution. But time & age mellowed me into instead being agreeable to the idea of life imprisonment without parole. Now, the realization that the incarceration of all those people might be more than a little expensive and self-defeating, given the way they're ingrained into our economic infrastructure with our tacit approval. But emotional reaction gives way to some additional mellowing...