better news than mine is that there are THREE tall ships in the bay right now. Now THAT is cool. Ah but yes, i am the spouse of a newly minted Evil Store Vision Center manager. And i think that's pretty cool, too.

Wishing you all the best on your move. Can't wait to hear your KF stories. He he!

The age of the Internet and instant communication makes it too easy to anonymously rant and hide behind the "send" button. Blogging is a system with no checks and balances and no accountability, but with the potential to do great harm.

No checks and balances? That might be true of personal blogs and such, but I can say with certainty that EVERY blog I read--whether it's Instapundit, Daily Kos, Talkingpointsmemo, Andrew Sullivan, Redstate, Atrios, etc. etc.--corrects its mistakes--often within hours of being alerted to the fact. Contrast this with newspapers, which bury their corrections on the inside of the front section, oftentimes days after they occur.

That's not to say that blogs are perfect, but it's annoying to read, time and time again, a newspaper editorial that purports to be a reasoned critique of blogging, but seems more than anything like a frustrated rant against the immediacy of online journalism. They pretend that their beef is with blogs, but it is actually with the technology that allows blogs to do what they do--publish countless times each day, let readers interact with oneanother, allow for real-time updating of information, etc.

The highfalutin dialogue in the Depoe Bay case is so funny. I think the whole flap over there started when the paper omitted a blogger's favorite restaurant from one of its guides:

no matter how good a hot dog slathered in mustard is, it cannot compare to bouillabaisse or herb crusted fresh halibut served with a fresh salad tossed with blue cheese.

They're now strutting around arguing about the True Meaning of Journalism, but I think it's mostly about the croutons.

no matter how good a hot dog slathered in mustard is, it cannot compare to bouillabaisse or herb crusted fresh halibut served with a fresh salad tossed with blue cheese.

Well, that's an ignorant statement right there. I love a good bouillabaisse as much as the next guy (can even make a mean one myself), but a REALLY good hot dog covered with mustard and onions is one of the great joys in life.

Nonsense. Mustard and relish, yes, but no onions, please.

What's "bouillabaisse" . . . Can I grow it in a garden? Never mind, reminds me of when I had no idea what plenary meant.

You can call a blog an “online magazine” just as does BillHobbs.com.

You can explore some more about the declining role of dead tree distribution of news beginning here. Blogs as a threat to freedom

A blog can end the frustration of the need to send anything to the big papers. The papers can simply run auto adds and real estate adds and include some coupons, but as to opinion and commentary they have just been rendered as no more than just a blog. But as a blog, they will have too much overhead and thus will have to downsize, eventually. They’re beef is they already see themselves as mere bloggers and they can’t come to grips with this reality yet.

"Once the domain of political campaigns and corporations, blogging is now mainstream - and in our view, growing more dangerous."

(fixed links)
BillHobbs.com.
Blogs as a threat to freedom

Before i head to KF, i'm going to be in Ontario for a week or so causing some whiskey-fueled, bass-driven mayhem. The best kind, of course.