Some Conservative Bloggers Are Calling It Quits

Some blogger friends are calling it quits, saying goodbye to blogging.  One is Debbie Hamilton of Right Truth, and the other is Rick Darby of Reflecting Light.  Debbie is moving on to other things and Rick is just tired of blogging -- he has been at it ten years this past September.

I understand.  I too have thought about hanging it up.  If the right wing blogosphere is having any noticeable effect on the direction of the country, it isn't really obvious to me.  The USA seems to be going leftward at an increasing speed.  Each day brings forth some new outrage that would have been unthinkable ten years ago.

The major media are firmly in leftist hands.

Academia is far left and increasingly berserk.

The Supreme Court is a Clown Parade, a bad joke, a failed agency of government.  They prove only that we cannot rely on parchment to protect our liberties.

We have a terrible, reckless, out-of-control president who increasingly seeks to rule as a dictator through the use of executive decree.  Lately he has been threatening gun rights through this avenue.

Political correctness, i.e., what you can say or think or do, is tightly regulating open discourse, discussion and debate.  There may as well be a far-left speech code imposed on the country, under penalty of death for disobedience, because the First Amendment is pretty much fatally wounded.  One must not offend special groups, or commit microaggressions, lest one be insulted with racial epithets (like Ben Carson was recently, when called a "coon" by some black woman professor) or assaulted with outright profanity -- Seth Rogen, a Canadian comedic actor, stating publicly that Carson can "go fuck himself."  The proper response to Rogen, this pathetic girly-man, is not a rebuttal, but a strong punch in the mouth -- hard enough to dislodge several teeth.

When will the Revolution finally start?  I can hardly wait.

Meanwhile, goodbye to those bloggers who are giving it up.  I understand.  What's the point?  We are losing the country and our freedoms and the downhill slide is only accelerating.

Seth Rogen and his ilk have not only fucked Ben Carson, but all the rest of us as well.

Saber Point Gets One Million Hits!

Today I passed the one million hit mark.  I did it without following Stacy McCain's program, though his program has some very good tactics for bringing in visitors.  There is no doubt that a bit of cheesecake brings in a lot of hits.  I don't follow Rule 5 Saturdays, but I have occasionally posted something salacious, and those posts are top attractions for this blog.  Yes, it is very satisfying to write a well-written, researched post, and then see all of your visitors are passing it up to look at Barack Obama's mother in the nude.  Arrgh!

897 Hits To Go and Other Thoughts

I have several gadgets in my left sidebar that count hits, but the oldest of these is StatCounter, which has been installed almost from the first post here at Saber Point.  It now reads 999,103 hits, so I should reach the one million mark by Monday.

I am sitting in my back yard enjoying a cigar and feeling quite relaxed.  Some good things happened this week.

--Brett Kimberlin was defeated in a Maryland court by Aaron Walker,who had been sued by Kimberlin in an effort to shut Walker up.  A disastrously wrong verdict had been rendered in the first trial by an apparently incompetent, retired judge.  Walker had been prohibited to blog about Kimberlin for six months, and was arrested and handcuffed in court, then temporarily jailed for breaking the judge's unconstitutional order against free speech and in favor of prior restraint.  A new judge reversed it all and cleared Walker, allowing him to blog about Kimberlin until the cows come home -- a very satisfying outcome.

--Obama's campaign is desperate for money and appears to be failing as his poll numbers continue to drop, suggesting that we may be rid of this Neo-Bolshevik come November.

--I've had steady work since January, though the pay is a pittance compared to what I made before the 2008 crash; still, the work is satisfying, adds a lot to my resume and chases away the blues.  It is nice to be productive once again.  The work will slow or stop after July, but that's okay too, so I can get reacquainted with my neglected string bass, work on my continuing education requirement and plot my next career move, which now involves more than just finding a convenient bridge to live under.

This past week I began work on the audit of a San Francisco taxi cab company, one that is pretty famous, and have been working in San Francisco proper.  I love that kind of work.

--My youngest son brought home his girl to meet the parents, a hopeful sign that there may be more grandkids in my future.  She is a lovely, young Korean woman, a U.C. grad like my son, and they have much in common.

--This same son closed escrow on his first home, a condominium in Los Angeles.  It's small, but it's his, and now he has his own place to hang his hat after work.

In September I plan to resume my study of the Spanish language at a local community college.  That may not earn me any dinero, but it is an intellectually challenging pursuit.

Then in November, I get to vote for Mitt Romney, not my first choice by any means, but "anyone but Obama" is the watchword here.

Saber Point Hits Almost to a Million!

Right now my hit counter shows over 990,000 hits.  It takes about a week to ten days for me to accumulate ten thousand hits, so I should join the million hits club very soon!

Finally Learning Twitter

I have always found Twitter to be intimidating.  All those hash marks and @ signs.  However, I am finally learning to use this tool, by using it, playing with it, and trying things out.

I found a large number of my blog posts had been retweeted by various users.  I also found that you can locate many blogs of interest (I have added several to my blogroll just this evening), as well as a lot of information on any topic of interest.

For finding topics to blog about, Twitter is tops.  I will keep learning.

R.S. McCain ("The Other McCain") Achieves Ten Million Hits

Robert Stacy McCain's blog, "The Other McCain," achieved Ten Million Hits today.  That clearly places "The Other McCain" into the pantheon of greatest conservative blogs.

McCain has shown himself to be skilled at organization and delegation, as the success of his blog rests partially on the work of capable volunteers, primarily his right hand man, Smitty.  This has freed McCain to work on "shoe leather" reporting, visiting people and places to get breaking news stories from the source, and to provide original reporting of same, often with photos and videos.

McCain, an experienced professional journalist, has run his blog like a small newspaper, with him as the star reporter.  McCain has appeared at many critical political events (most recently some of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests) and interviewed people at the scene, including some well known personalities like Todd Palin and Andrew Breitbart.

Achieving even one million hits on one's blog is no easy feat.  Saber Point is finally approaching one million hits (right now, 982,396, as recorded by StatCounter, my oldest recording tool).  And, it only took six years!  I think McCain first achieved that mark in less than a year.

Congratulations to Robert Stacy McCain.

Saber Point Nears a Million Hits

My oldest hit counter just passed the 900,000 visitors mark, which means I am now in the countdown to the million hits mark.  Okay, it only took me six years, but what the hey, better late than never.

I remember I almost quit when my daily hits were around 35.

I figure it will take a month or two to finally hit one million.  Whoopee!

Okay, there are some blogs who get that many hits in a month.  A pox on them!

Blog Whoring and Me-Too Blogging

Dan Riehl has a worthwhile post this morning on "Iconoclastic Bloggers."  He defines an iconoclast as a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions.  I like that.

I like even more what he said about blogger cliques and groups:

"Still, cliques and groups around certain larger blogs have grown up, along with the professional sites and aspects of it."

A light went on in my head.  Dan had described a phenomenon that annoys the hell out of me, though I hadn't fully verbalized or defined it.  Cliques!  I have simply referred to the phenomenon as "Me-Too Blogging."

"Me-too" blogging is where one assumes a role in the king blogger's court and begs for links and attention and indulges in throw-me-a-bone bootlicking. "Me-too" bloggers are beholden to bigger bloggers for traffic they haven't actually earned, and so compromise their principles and honesty in order to retain their benefactor's good graces. Some people have called this "blog-whoring," and the description is apt.  It means you must defend your benefactor, even when he or she is wrong or has done something unethical.

Also, Clique-Blogging is a form of group-think.  Riehl also pointed out:

Group-think is the enemy of freedom and I detest it, in its various forms.

Me-Too Blogging is compromised blogging.  Don't do it.

Cleaning Out the Ol' Blog Roll: In Pursuit of Those Who Value Truth Over Hit Counters

Today I cleaned out my blog roll, deleting those bloggers who have disappointed me, as well as their me-too hangers-on bloggers.  I also deleted some blogs that I just never read.

I have in particular some ill feelings towards bloggers who care more about their hit counters than they do their own integrity or to the pursuit of truth.  If hits are all you care about, become a copycat of National Inquirer or some skin magazine.

I am going to begin looking for a new blogger crowd to hang out with.  If I get a lot of hits, fine, but if I don't, then that's fine too.

Here's a poem from 19th-century German romantic poet Theodore Fontane, as published at Gates of Vienna:


NIGHT IN THE FACE OF DAYBREAK
I believe in truth.
To look for her, to search for her within us and around us
            must be our highest purpose. In that, we serve
            first and foremost yesterday and today.
Without truth there is no security and no continuity.
Be not afraid when the pack starts to scream and shout.
            For nothing in this world is more hated and feared
            than the truth.
Nevertheless, at the end of the day, any opposition to the truth
            will crumble like the night in the face of daybreak.

Left Coast Rebel is on the "Daily Caller" Today

My good friend the Left Coast Rebel (aka Tim Daniels) has an article on the Daily Caller today.  Be sure and read it.  It's called:  "Ringing the Bell at the Top:  Paging Chris Christie."

Express Yourself: the Graffiti Subculture and Blogging

Last night I saw an episode of "Cold Case," wherein taggers and graffiti artists were the subject matter.  I have always thought of graffiti "artists" as human rats who befoul their own nests with meaningless paint splatter and incomprehensible words and symbols.  However, the Cold Case episode gave me something of an epiphany:  there is more to graffiti than meets the eye.

Most of these "artists" are kids who are invisible to society and want to be seen, to be noticed.  So they paint "art" on buildings, bridges, boxcars, billboards and walls.  After a while, the really good ones emerge and are respected by the graffiti art "community."  Competition is inevitable, as well as bitter rivalries and even violence.  As warped as it may seem, graffiti often represents a struggle for meaning and identity in the society of the streets.  Many kids see it as their only means of self expression.  That, of course, doesn't make it right, but it makes it a bit more understandable.  Graffiti is a very human activity.

Bloggers are not dissimilar to the graffiti subculture.  We too want to express ourselves and to avoid being invisible.  We too strive for recognition.  Alliances are formed, friendships made, reputations established, rivalries created.  Nevertheless, the point is this:  human beings have to express themselves in some way, in order to feel whole.  It is all about feeling valued and validated, i.e. that you have somehow contributed to the larger society around you.

If no one sees your street art, or reads your self-published book, or visits your blog or listens to your band, you may feel you have failed.  It is a lonely feeling.  However, many artists, writers and musicians follow a simple rule on the road to success:  please yourself first.  Once you are satisfied with your creation, chances are others will find it pleasing too.  That rule is certainly working for me in music.  My bass playing is unfolding like a flower, and I really am enjoying my art.

Rethinking Blogging and Cleaning Up My Blog List

Cleaning Up the Blog List

It's good to reconsider your blog list from time to time and delink those who are no longer supporting the conservative cause. Today I deleted Right Wing Nut House, as I could no longer take the PC opinions of wussy Rick Moran. Check out his latest wimpy post, "Why Conservatism Sucks Right Now."

Moran seems to be a Charles Johnson wannabe. He seems to be saying "Look at ME, I'm a RESPONSIBLE conservative!" Maybe he should change the name of his blog to "Moderate Wing Nut House," or maybe "RINOs R US."

Last week I deleted French blog SPQR who has apparently sold out to the Truthers movement; he was publishing incredible merde about how Bush planned 9/11 as an "inside job," and getting lots of new hits in the process. The gullible French public loves to believe the Truther crap, and if lots of hits are your goal, I guess that's good. However, if tons of hits are your only consideration, start a porn site; you'll get plenty.

Rethinking Blogging - Are "Tons of Hits" the Major Goal?

Now as far as getting lots of hits, is unethical activity really worth it? I am speaking of "Google bombing" by creating titles like "Lindsay Lohan in the Nude," when there is not really a picture of Lindsay Lohan in the nude, but just a fake come-on to get lots of hits. Then the visitors discover you're full of shit and will never return. I guess that doesn't really matter, since Google searches will send you a steady stream of new suckers.

Several blogs are taking advantage of a crime committed against ESPN reporter Erin Andrews; someone made a peephole video of her undressing in her hotel room and uploaded it to the internet. Andrews says she is working with the police to find and prosecute the perpetrators. Link to the video and get lots of hits!! No thanks.

Update: I received this email from Dan Riehl and it is good advice.

This is not a post. Given some questions, just my quick, experienced-based thoughts on group blog projects.

All groups should be opt in when started. This is common practice for Internet professionals and amateurs alike. It will win you friends and not create enemies, or cause trolled link emails to be ignored as a waste of time.

Don't use mass CC. There's a BCC option for a reason. Use it, as I did here, or look inexperienced and risk aggravating people whose in boxes are aready much too cluttered, Blog project groups have proven in-effective and actually counter-productive over time. It's why the practice was abandoned. They are inside bogging posts for bloggers that do not grow readership over time unless you want to blog for a small circle of people across a small number of blogs over and over, again. That's fine. But don't think it will "grow" your blog in rankings, or traffic to an appreciable degree. It doesn't work.

For many blog readers, most of whom never comment, nor want to be part of an Internet clique - they have lives, unlike we bloggers and have a beer with the neighbors when they want to talk - the posts are annoying. There are no short cuts to writing quality posts over a long period of time. Too many of such posts won't create new return readers, they will more likely give you a bad rap and cause people to stop bothering to look in, or follow links to you.

Presumably you have a blog roll. Refer your readers to it if you want to refer a list of other blogs. A long mass of 100 blogs linked one after another offers nothing and accomplishes nothing. Nor does fifty links in one post I can't imagine anyone frittering away their time writing. But be my guest.

Have fun. If this sort of thing floats your boat - go for it. I don't mean to judge anyone too harshly. But understand what it is you are actually accomplishing and for heaven's sake, please follow commonly accepted Internet ettiquette as the experienced hands you would purport to be, or become.

Rule 5 Sunday: A Pair of Bodacious Tatas

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  There's now a whole crowd of R.S. McCain imitators who are following his five or six rules to blogging success.  One of those is Rule 5 where you are supposed to post a sexy photo.  So here's mine:  a pair of Bodacious Tatas.

The Tata is the new Indian car that costs $2,500 and is very easy on gas. With Obama in office we will all be driving them soon.  

I understand that the economy version is called Tata but if you want one with all the options, like tires, it is called the Bodacious Tata.  That's my understanding anyway.  I could be wrong.