Blogging

Right now, the blogosphere is the wild & wooly West. It is open to anyone who wants to talk about anything. Guys with guns move through our territory, but it remains an inviting & pleasant place: this is cause for celebration. It doesn’t pay. (A topic being discussed now by Anchoress, Riehl, & Instapundit) But it isn’t very risky: it may waste time but it doesn’t waste much money. For this moment anyone who wants a soapbox can have one.

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Geitner Simmons posts erratically & so often slips off my radar. But his curiosity takes him to interesting places; clearly his lack of posting isn’t because he isn’t thinking. (The dilemma: does posting make us think or distract us? And what about reading blogs?)

Over the last month or so, Simmons has posted about Kaplan’s two interviews (with AEI & Hewitt) in “Foreign policy directed by majors and lieutenants.” He also notes how differently massacres of innocents were viewed in 1957 & now in “Intellectuals and Massacres.” On a more regional note, he looks at “Buffalo Bones Along the Trail”, discussing the strange (but telling) rumors & fears of those taking the often dangerous Platte routes West. And, reaching California, he contrasts the garish & assertive post Gold Rush architecture with the more “humble” 1840’s.

Simmons discussed Marsden’s wonderful Jonathan Edwards a few years ago, for which I have been long thankful and he pushes Nebraska press books with the fervency of a transplant. He may be MSM but his sympathies are not easily pigeonholed.

Brian Anderson’s “Shut Up, They Explained: The left’s regulatory war against free speech” should interest Chicagoboyz: in general, it desribes the regulatory effect on the marketplace of ideas; in particular on blogs. While not primarily political we occasionally make (and want to be free to make) political arguments. In this Wall Street Journal piece, Anderson argues: “Campaign-finance reform now has the blogosphere in its crosshairs.” Those sections continue below, but the editorial as a whole is of interest.

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-Brad Workman’s online journal devoted to Haiti seems interesting. He was kind enough to take out a BlogAd here, but his ad is so modest that I suspect many readers will overlook it. Check out his site if you are interested in Haitian affairs.

-Completely unrelated to the above link, Moira Breen posts a superb example of amateur tornado porn from her neighborhood. I am jealous.

Every year at this time, the newspapers give a recap of the results of the dead pool for the preceding year. I do not feel qualified to deal in such profundities as life and death without the liberal use of scare quotes. Accordingly, here are some of my favorite weblogs that have “died.” Or are “resting.” Or “feeling a little poorly.” If any of the authors of these sites want to point out that they are “not dead yet,” or are “feeling a bit better,” please speak up before the dirt hits your face. Otherwise, I will assume that you have been “nailed to the perch” and have “joined the choir invisible.”

The Dissident Frogman, a rare voice of sanity from the laughing academy that France has become, is missing from our lives. The loss is irreparable. He designs websites and is probably lurking in Samizdata even as we speak. Or write. Or waste time at work. He shows up in the comments of this and other weblogs from time to time. Nevertheless, it would be wonderful to hear his inimiable “ribbit” again.

The Raw Prawn was a business blog with nice graphics and good commentary. It seems to have lapsed when the author moved to another location, but rumor has it that Australia has recently acquired internet access. Perhaps he will avail himself of it.

I wasted nearly a year on Long Island (and believe me, any year on Long Island is wasted) without meeting Michele of A Small Victory. Now I’m back in Massachusetts, and she is only maintaining a photoblog. She mentioned that part of the reason was some ambivalence about the Iraq war. Sorry, but if you don’t feel at least ambivalent about something that makes people dead, you really should see about acquiring a soul.

Right Wing Duck appears to have succumbed to right-wing avian flu. Don’t bother clicking the link – it just leads to one of those sleazy sites that wants to sell you the domain name.

The Dutch Report had a good deal of information about the Netherlands. This was very useful this past year when that country was reacting to the grisly assassination of Theo van Gogh. Some of the writing indicated that the author was not entirely comfortable with English. I hope he will at least continue posting in Dutch, so that the indispensible Zacht Ei (soft-boiled egg, or “softy”) could let us know when something comes up.

Vanished without a trace
Nelson Asher’s Europundits from Brazil;
Amish Tech Support

On “life” support
Bill Whittle has been tapering off. When he does write something, read it. It may not happen very often, though, and seems to be trailing off.
I thought Atlantic Blog was done for, but it seems to have come back. Give William Sjostrom a link, an e-mail, whatever, and help coax him back to life. Sorry, “life.”
Ian Murray didn’t vanish – he graduated.

What did we miss? Please post your keenly-felt losses in the comments.

Update: Kim du Toit was missing for much of the year, but has reappeared with a new site. This was after the mysterious disappearance that elicited this from Mrs. du Toit:

If we could give an explanation we would. Since we can’t, we can’t. It’s sort of the point that we can’t (or we would have). For those who have expressed genuine concern: we’re fine. We’re needing to move to a new chapter in our lives. Our blogs are closed permanently. We’re working to “move” the forum to another guardian/location. We apologize for the suddenness of it and for scaring some folks, but it really could not be helped.

Speculations about black helicopter scenarios and such should be stopped. It is nothing like that.

If there was a way of saying more or giving some sort of explanation, we would, but we can’t.

Thanks to all who played.

Rumors of alien abductions were unfounded.