This time last year, well it was a little later, but it was at the blogger BBQ, I decided to get back into doing She’s Right after calling it quits three months prior. I couldn’t stay away. I love talking politics and, let’s face it, kids, with whom I spend my days, are not an appropriate audience for such discussions. It’s like blogging was made for me.
But, you know, I have been worn down by the hostility this election has brought out in people.
I barely read blogs anymore and, when I do, I usually stay clear of the comments - even on my own blog.
I just can’t stand the nastiness.
I think I have a lot to add to the discussions about politics. I have several posts planned that I think could lead to some great discussions, if I could find the time to work on them. But to be honest, I do not make the time because I do not want to deal with the nasty comments people will make. No one seems to be capable of a thoughtful discussion any more.
I am dealing with a lot in my personal life right now, and I just don’t have the energy to spare on pointless bickering.
The thing that has kept me even doing She’s Right, besides the fact that I love talking about politics, is that the blog is actually making money for me now. I was able to pay for hosting for all of my blogs for the year, plus I am bringing in additional money monthly.
But money alone is not a good reason to keep doing it.
I might decide to continue with a blog that does not allow comments. That is one option.
The other is to just quit completely. As they say, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. But, I think I would regret that given the important upcoming election.
I also have another idea that involves changing the format of the blog.
I am going to take a month to think about it. I will make my final decision at the end of July.
I am still going to blog at All Things Hold Together (dot com), so if you like non-political things like crafts, cooking, family, and faith, come join me there. I plan to get back to blogging with more regularity there. I have been wasting a lot of time lately writing posts for She’s Right, only to end up not posting them because I did not want to read the nasty comments.
If you would like a reminder to check back here at the end of July to see what’s happening with the blog, you might consider subscribing to the blog’s feed. It is located near the top of the side bar, under the search box.
I am disabling comments for now, but feel free to drop me an e-mail. It’s charity at this domain. (All of my other e-mail addresses still work, too, except adelphia.net is now comcast.net)
Enjoy the summer! And thanks for reading!
Posted on June 30th, 2008 by Charity
Filed under: Blog Business | Comments Off
But, if you care about that at all, you already knew. Otherwise, you weren’t there either, so you don’t care if I was!
This morning, I was picking up my kids from a summer camp near Plymouth, NH. That’s almost 3 hours away, not counting stops.
I had two choices. Stress everyone out by insisting we rush right home so I could get to the barbecue, or enjoy a leisurely time with the family, stopping as necessary.
The initial plan was to rush right home, I hate to admit. I figured we could all relax at North Beach. Worst case, I could go alone.
Then I saw how exhausted the kids were from a week of non-stop summer camp action. So, I opted for the latter and we rolled into Burlington around 4:00 PM, in the pouring rain.
No barbecue for me.
The real bummer is that this is the only weekend we had plans that were set in stone. Like, ever. I mean ever. Seriously. Other than holidays, we never have plans like this. And the rest of my summer is wide open.
‘Twas not meant to be, I suppose. Better luck next year.
My only question now is whether or not another conservative blogger was there to represent.
Well, I’m off to NH for the night. My older sons were away at summer camp this past week and we are heading down that way today to enjoy a relaxing night by the hotel swimming pool, so we can pick them up first thing in the morning. We hope to be back in time to swing by the annual blogger barbecue at North Beach. I would hate to miss it.
The hotel has free WiFi (w00t!), so you might hear from me again, even.
I am sure there will be lots of fun things to read on the internet today while, as Alphecca’s Jeff Soyer says, “liberals collectively piss their pants” over the Supreme Court’s upholding one of our fundamental Constitutional rights. (It’s the second amendment; they must have thought it was important!)
It is no secret that I am not a proponent of massive government regulations in the name of so-called consumer safety.
For one thing, such regulations are often too cumbersome for small businesses to comply with, limiting consumer choice to large corporations with the resources to comply with the excessive regulation.
For another, I believe that the best way to ensure quality products is to maximize consumer choice. But I guess that goes along with number one.
This bill would, among other things, subject small cosmetics manufacturers - including at-home moms who make soap to sell on the internet *ahem* - to a $2,000 annual registration fee.
Here is a video from the Indie Business Blog explaining the impact this legislation would have on small crafters of soap and other cosmetics, who are often supporting their families with their business revenue, and on consumers that prefer natural or artisan products over cosmetics from multi-national corporate manufacturers.
This is a bad bill that hurts small business under the guise of consumer safety, which will limit consumer access to small-scale, often natural and/or local, products.
Some people are taking the angle that since he has no record, he has to make one up, but it seems like there is something more to this. Why would a campaign that has otherwise been run very smoothly do something so monumentally stupid?
Unless that campaign is not as good as people say.
Who knows, but this just seems like a pointless error. It’s not that hard to scrutinize a record that is less than 4 years long.
I guess the AP wants to charge bloggers for quoting AP content on their sites.
Well, Michelle Malkin decided to use the AP’s rates to calculate how much they would owe her for quoting her blog without permission. It’s at least $132,125.
Gee, I guess that one was poorly thought out, AP.
Here’s a clue: Bloggers still need a news source. We are not really a threat. Really.
Not only that, but we have developed sort of a symbiotic relationship. We quote you; you quote us. (Well, some of us.)
Now stop being such you-know-whats.
(The link to MM above has links to the backstory, too.)
From the Chris Kelly at The Huffington Post, with the makes me want to vomit just a little remark in bold.
When John McCain says government is too big, what do these people think he means?
Who are we kidding?
John McCain was in the navy and then he was in the U.S. Senate. He has never cashed a check a bureaucrat didn’t write. I’m not trying to be glib, and I realize he was doing a solemn and dangerous job, killing people from the sky. But it was still government work.
Wait, except for those years as a POW. A sick but undeniable fact about John McCain: The only period in his life when he wasn’t living off the American taxpayer, he was living off the Vietnamese taxpayer.
Sick, indeed. Only, it’s not the “fact” that is sick in this case.
And it’s only June. It will get worse.
And we wonder why the world does not embrace our form of democracy.
I just modified my commenting options so that first time comments are held for moderation. Once you have commented, future comments left with the same e-mail address should post automatically.
If you have commented before, you may still have your next comment held, as this is a newly activated feature.
Sorry for the slight inconvenience, but I have not been able to use the computer very much lately, due to some family stuff, and I am getting spammed a lot. For some reason, a few are getting through the spam filter.
I just emptied my spam filter a few minutes ago and there are already 89 new spam comments. Holy cow!
Posted on June 13th, 2008 by Charity
Filed under: Blog Business | Comments Off
My husband told me the news when we were driving home from his office this evening. I had been at the beach all day with the kids, so I hadn’t heard.
I was a huge fan of Tim Russert. I even had a crush on him in college.
I remember waking up every Sunday to watch Meet the Press in my dorm room, hang over or none. It was the highlight of my week. Not only because I had a thing for Russert, but also because I was a hard-core political junkie.
I always thought he had a great talent for tough, but fair, questioning of his guests.
This is a huge loss for American political journalism. He will be missed.
My heart goes out to his family, and all who knew him.
Posted on June 13th, 2008 by Charity
Filed under: Random Thoughts | Comments Off
An Etsy shop called “dugshop” sells an Obama soap on a rope called, what else, “Hope on a Rope.” (Etsy is a website for buying and selling handmade stuff.)
From the website:
What we’ve all been waiting for — a little hope, and Barack’s the man for the job. We made him purple, because we here at dugshop feel that he’s a true uniter, there are no red or blue states, we’re all purple. (we promise not to make you sing Kumbaya…).
This soap measures 4.75” x 3.5”, weighs a substantial 10.5 oz, and comes to you on a black rope. He smells like a breath of fresh air, because, well, he IS a breath of fresh air!
33% of all profits go to Obama’s presidential campaign, so you’ll make a difference if you buy this soap!
Yeah, he’s a real uniter. That’s why he always refers to slimy political tactics as “Republican” tactics. What a breath of fresh air!
