Funmurphys: the Blog

The Triumph of Hope over Experience

Archive for category Inside Blogging

I’m Daniel Drezner’s Doppleganger

Feb 23

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | 2 Comments

So I took the same quiz as Daniel Drezner and got the same result – I’m an enterpriser, which means that I’m a rabid Republican but don’t realize it. I’m an enterpriser because I think that big companies aren’t as big a danger as Islamic exteremists and that just saying “Nice Doggie” without holding a big stick isn’t the best strategy. Or something. Well, that’s about as good analogy as the quiz, which isn’t a surprise since it’s just another lousy online collection of simplistic questions.

I then went on to get 8 out of 8 at the ABC online Shia-Sunni quiz — just like Mr Drezner. So Mr Drezner, you’re not alone.

Hmm, could it be that people who can answer 8 questions about who’s Sunni and who’s Shia are enterprisers?

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Blogger Council or Nannies for Bloggers?

Feb 21

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | No Comments

Ann Althouse reports that Eric Alterman floated the idea of a blogger council that can condemn bloggers to being disbelieved:

“I think it would be valuable if we had… uh… I mean, there’s some sense where blogs correct themselves if you read enough of them, but I still I think it would be good if we had some sort of, you know, blogging — you know — council, where we could condemn people. Sort of… responsible body. You could still blog if you want. Nobody’s going to stop you. But we’re going to… everybody’s gonna know that you’re not to be trusted… unless you can sort of apologize or answer for yourself.”

Apparently I can vote, drink, drive a car, raise children, fight in a war (well, I may be too old (and out of shape) for that) but I can’t figure out when a blogger isn’t to be trusted? Perhaps Mr. Alterman hasn’t really figured out this whole blogging thing after all. Or perhaps he is jealous of the Watchers of Weasels Council (which should be noted doesn’t condemn, but instead elevates worthy posts).

“Responsible body”, “condemn people”? Eric, what are you thinking? Have you missed the whole point of the re-democratization of communications? Here’s how it works – you can gather together a group of like minded people, give yourselves a snazzy title (I prefer the blogging nannies), and publish lists of bloggers that you think should be condemned for their blogging sins and ask them to foreswear blogging until they grovel abjectly at your feet. You can even call this condemnation excommunication, wear funny hats and force them to kiss your ring in order to be recommunicated if you so desire. Just don’t ask me to ever take you seriously again, or for that matter trust you. Because in the Book of Kevin, you’ve just condemned yourself to perpetual untrust, no matter if you make an actual, real apology and answer for your clear lack of understanding.

And speaking of people who puff themselves up beyond all recognition, who is Jonathan Chait to sit in judgement of Rudy Guiliani? Mayor Guiliani isn’t my ideal presidential candidate (we can’t dig up Ronnie just to have him run again, can we?), but I’m tired of people who have done bupkis tell me what to think of people who have actually done a few things in their life.

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Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

Jan 2

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | No Comments

There are scandals, and then there are scandals (not to be confused with what passes for celebrity scandals).

Microsoft handed out a whole bunch of really nice laptops to a whole bunch of bloggers. Take that, anti-blogger triumphalists. Needless to say, hilarity ensued as words like “bribe” and “sellout” and “unethical” and “PR disaster” were thrown about.

My take – if you expect rigorous standards, go to Consumer Reports. Otherwise, caveat emptor applies, as always — even for freebies.

What were people thinking: Gee, I really trusted blogger x when I didn’t know anything about him/her, but now that I know they are another human with all the same frailties as me, I can’t fully trust them to deliver those Olympian pronouncements to live my life by anymore. I mean, what’s next, companies creating fake blogs?

Full disclosure — I’m still waiting to make my unethical sell out. And I still don’t have a big plasma HDTV. (And yes, I have read Bug Jack Barron: The saddest day of your life isn’t when you decide to sell out. The saddest day of your life is when you decide to sell out and nobody wants to buy.

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Weblog Awards

Dec 9

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | 4 Comments

Once again Funmurphys the Blog has been inexplicably passed over for the Weblog Awards. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been locked out of the TTLB ecosystem. Perhaps I offended Kevin Aylward. But whatever the case, I hold no animosity towards anyone involved.

I did notice that they are missing a few categories. Rather than go through that whole expensive and time consuming process of setting up a special website, soliciting votes, and counting the votes, I decided I would just award a my own award, the Koveted Kevy, to those websites I deem worthy.

So it brings me great pleasure and distinct pleasure to present the 2006 winners:

Best St. Louis Blog: Musings From Brian J Noggle

Best Missouri Blog: John Combest

Best Illinois Blog: Arch Pundit

Best Blog By A Bunch Of Guys In Indiana: In The Agora

Best Episcopal Blog: Midwest Conservative Journal

Best Family Blog: Busy Mom

Best Blog A Brother Could Have: SKMurphy

Best Blog With A Japanese Word As Its Title: Kaedrin

Best Blog Written On One Of My Ancestral Sods: Rainy Day

Best Blog Written By A Couple In Arkansas: Overtaken By Events

Best Blog On Those Rare Occasions When Charles Is Actually Blogging: Sine Qua Non Pundit

Best Hasn’t Lost The Wonder Of Childhood Despite Being A Grown Up Blog: Tom McMahon

Best Blog By IT By Day, Ballroom Dancer By Night: No Watermelons Allowed

Best Recruiting Blog By Someone I’ve Networked With: STLRecruiting

Best Blog That More People Should Read, And Not Just About Amway: Random Observations

Best Blog That Captures Her Range Of Interests But Should Have More Of Her Great Photos: Planet Shelley

Best Blog That is Updated Even Less Frequently Than Sine Qua Non Pundit: Regions Of Mind

Best Blog That Keeps Changing Focus, Direction, and Appearance: Accidental Nomad

Best Blog In the Holler By A Feller Who’s In Love: Think Sink

Best Blog That Marries Outstanding Writing With Superior Analysis While Obsessing On Particular Topics: Just One Minute

Best Blog That Demonstrates Critical Thinking And An Unswerving Dedication To The Facts Except When It Comes To Al Gore: The Daily Howler

Best Blog Across Time and Space, Always and Forever: Wizbang! (How’s that for sucking up? C’mon Kevin, next year is MY year!)

Deb Frisch: Wanted Woman

Dec 7

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | No Comments

Deb Frisch is back in the news — now an arrest warrant has been issued for in her in Colorado for contempt of court after Jeff Goldstein accused her of violating a restraining order he obtained against her. As Jeralyn Merritt says:

Moral of the story: Derogatory posting on the internet carries consequences. So does violating a court order directing you to personally appear in court.

Although it was more than derogatory posting, it was threatening posting. Against a 2 year old. That’s far more than just pathetic.

Political Strategist Straw Poll

Oct 27

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging, National Politics | No Comments

I’m holding a referendum on Tom Maguire:

Is Tom Maguire

[ ] Not Smart Enough to be a strategist for the Democrats, or

[ ] Too Smart to be a strategist for the Democrats.

I don’t want to bias the results by proclaiming my opinion, but let me just say that if Tom were to become a strategist for the Democrats the age of signs and wonders would clearly be upon us.

Of course he’s too smart to be a strategist for the Democrats; he’s too smart to be a strategist for the Republicans too. I could become President if Tom became my brain like a certain other, better known team (that actually is a team).

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How To Take A Vacation

Aug 21

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | No Comments

I go on vacation for two weeks and the place goes dark, even though I asked my two fellow contributors, whose contributions I look forward to eagerly, to please please post while I was unable to (I’m sorry, but when I’m paying large sums of money to enjoy Europe, I’m not going to be spending my time at an internet cafe writing about it). Tom Maguire goes on vacation, and he cleverly has a new post every day via Typepad delayed postings that are just open threads, and a week later he has 305 comments on a single post, and they aren’t of the “Bush Sucks” caliber either. Yikes, thats more than half of the total comments for this blog. Still, I’m hoping that I had a better vacation — I rate mine as wonderful.

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Glenn Greenwald, Sock Puppet?

Jul 25

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | No Comments

I feel special, since the latest two blog two blog kerfuffles involved two people who have commented here, Deb Frisch and Glenn Greenwald. Given how few people comment here, I’m just pleased as punch that a couple of titans of the left side of the blogosphere commented here. Or it could be that those two just leave a lot of comments – one used to stalk Professor Bainbridge whom I linked to, and the other seems to keep an eagle eye on links to his site or mentions of his name and responded to those from my site.

While Ms. Frisch made comments that clearly crossed the line of acceptability, Mr. Greenwald is accused of sock puppetry, which I don’t think is all that big a deal – just kind of sad, really. While some bloggers are absolutely convinced, I’m not so sure, for a couple of reasons.

While the IP address Mr. Greenwald used here was from Brazil, it isn’t the same as the one I’ve seen at Ace of Spades. So does that mean the Real Mr. Greenwald didn’t comment here? Or could it be that Kevin Aylward is correct, and anybody commenting from Brazil runs the risk of being though of as a Greenwald sockpuppet? If IP addresses really were like fingerprints, how easy would my job of eliminating comment and trackback spam be!

The other reason is that this seems out of character for Mr. Greenwald who seems to have no trouble speaking his mind under his own name. I could well be wrong, but it does sound more like friends arguing from authority than Mr. Greenwald himself.

I don’t agree with many of Glenn Greenwald’s views on politics, but when he did comment here we were in agreement on the idea of federalism, and he expressed himself clearly and civilly. What blogs need is more of that, and less ad hominem, which is really what the sock puppet charge amounts to — an attempt to make Mr. Greenwald lose all the arguments because he’s a pathetic loser sock puppeter.

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Blogging Part of American Life

Jul 20

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | No Comments

According to the latest Pew study of American Life and the Internet, I’m only somewhat anomolous. It isn’t my age, but my traffic – if there are 12 million bloggers, and 57 million people who read blogs, I should expect about 5 visitors per however often those 57 million people read a blog. Since I average somewhere between 10 to 20 times that daily, I feel pretty good. Maybe I’ll keep this up, at least once I get back from my real vacation.

More Than A Food Fight

Jul 7

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Inside Blogging | No Comments

I’m always on the edge, never in the middle.

Jeff Goldstein is having a bit of a dust up with one Prof. Debbie Frisch, who used to hound Prof. Bainbridge (what is it with professors and blogging). I linked to a Bainbridge post about a readibility test, and Prof. Frisch popped in here to slag us both. Since she only slagged me, and not my children, I was quite civil in reply, and so was she in turn (she actually apologized). Sadly, I think her remarks to Jeff go way beyond acceptable insult, and indicate, well, insanity.

Get help, Deb.

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