Readers Poll

Papamoka, aka me and my four out of five of my little girls in the picture, is looking to get some feedback from all the folks that read this blog on a regular basis. Please feel free to comment below on stories or video’s you would like to see more of. All of the gang contributing here would love to hear what you the reader really think.

None of the writers here get paid to do this and it is a work that we just feel the need to do and sometimes just vent or write. Okay, we love to write too. I wish that I could pay Michael Boh, Alex Goodall, Ms Crystal, and the rest of the contributors something but I don’t have the means to do so. (HINT to Paul Allen or George Sorous). Pro or con, we love the debate from all the regulars like BJ, Frodo, DB, GTL, Infidel and Sue to name a few but we would like to hear more from the rest of you too. What do you think about the issues we talk about? Spill your guts and speak your mind. That is what this site is all about. As a rule I do not delete comments from any point of view but I reserve the right to do so if foul language or attacking personally of another commentator is clearly evident.

Papamoka Straight Talk has a worldwide audience of readers and we love ya all! Just check out our ClustrMap in the sidebar to see where all the folks are coming from. Last but not least, this site is almost 100% monetized by one company and we appreciate your supporting them too. Other than the non stop Ann Culter crap they have some good stuff to point out most of the time. How we got noodled into a Republican advertising category module is beyond me. This is after all a clearly Liberal ideology thought thinking blog.

Let us know what you think and feel free to comment at anytime on your thoughts.

Papamoka

Traffic Update for Papamoka

We are growing and one site picking up this feed has us at 36,328 views over the last seven days. Thank you Reuters for the link love and I hope that we can keep you and your readers happy with our content. I was shocked at the numbers. Wow!

I'm thankful to all of the folks that pick up this site and run with it. I'm honestly greatful for the connection to this Worcester blogger. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make a legitamte paycheck from blogging? Anyone have any secrets you want to reveal?

Papamoka

Technorati Messed Up

Is Technorati messed up or what? How does this web site go from over 70 links to just 46 links in just three months time? Not that Technorati is the gold standard for bloggers but I liked having the authority of my site under the top one hundred thousand in the world of bloggers.

Over at Google there are over one thousand links back to this site from all over the world so I'm thinking that Technorati has a link building or recognition problem. I'm not claiming to be a web site guru but it doesn't take a genius IQ to figure out that Technorati is messed up. Just for giggles I checked on a friends site and he had zero links back and he is one of the largest web bloggers in America! Thus I am thinking that Technorati has lost it's edge on the blogosphere.

Sad.

Papamoka

MBA Clears Up AP Issue

I owe the Associated Press a huge apology. With all the hype over AP allegedly going after the Drudge Retort with a law suit, the whole matter was a very large misunderstanding. In an email from a fellow blogger I received a link to Media Bloggers Association that has all of the facts behind the AP issue with Drudge Retort. You can read it here. MBA is a group of volunteers that mediate on behalf of bloggers. They are a bloggers best friend when it comes to freedom of speech on the internet.

After reading all of the facts I have to say that I agree with the AP. Drudge Retort was posting entire articles including the headlines from the Associated Press and that is copyright infringement.

Wrapping this story up with a huge apology to the Associated Press.

Papamoka

****My friend over at the Gun Toting Liberal has linked to this post with his own thoughts on this issue...

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To the Center

Associated Press Blindsiding Bloggers

*****UPDATE From Media Bloogers Association


On my own site and others that I post on I am a stickler for linking to the site the quote comes from, the author when listed also. Over at the Associated Press they are going after bloggers for monetary damages for using quotes in their posts that originated from AP.

You can check the Associated Press thought here.

What I just don’t get is the terms of their definition of “Fair Use” in the news and blogging world. My good friend is a retired Newspaper Editor and she has this definition of “Fair Use” listed on her blog. I may be way off the mark on who knows what is “Fair Use” policy in the printed media world but I’m going to trust my friend BJ. God forbid the Associated Press would go after someone that used to buy ink by the barrel that has a blog. I would be the first one to go to her defense with a fat check for her lawyer if the AP attempted to sue a retired editor that is slowly loosing her vision. I’ve deliberately not linked to her site to protect her happy retirement life from AP lawyers thinking they are on the scent of blood and bloggers… Sorry BJ.

"This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of current issues. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes."

Tell me I’m wrong and that the Associated Press is making up there own rules for the internet use that they post on the internet that people read every single day. Most legitimate bloggers link back to the persons originally credited with the article which in exchange drives people to the AP post that was paid for by the news service posting it. That in turn pays the advertising bills for the site and thus money is made by the original site. For that fact to be true then Crooks and Liars can steal my work seven days a week if the link back benefits my advertiser. Daily Kos, feel free to hold my entire posts hijacked on a trip to Cuba. As for the Huffington Post, I don’t want those bastards stealing my works. What the AP is doing is picking and choosing what web sites or blogs they want there work to appear on and that is wrong. The law is clear and the AP does not write the law. Legally I don’t think they have a leg to stand on but I will defer that to the people in the know of the law, AP lawyers not included.

As a blogger I read dozens of blogs a day and each one is more or less opinion of the article written than content theft. In that same thought I have found myself clicking on many AP articles to read the associated quote from many sites across the internet. I’m not talking about just AP articles but many other sources of news in the “Fair Use” presentation of the articles posted online. If any organization posts its writers articles online then they are open and free to interpretation just as much a letter to the editor is in your local paper. Or are you guilty of theft if you send a letter to the editor in opposition to an article labeled “XYZ on ABC”?

Some of the folks in the undergound blogger union have spoken of a united front to boycott the Associated Press and I’m finding myself looking favorably toward that position. We bloggers have our own secret handshake and manifest destiny that compels us to rebel against the institution of society. And there is that other thing where we are just one person writing opinion where the media has no clue as to the real world in America.

At the next meeting for the local chapter of Bloggers I’m going to raise the resolution to ban AP from our posts. From now on I will be only quoting over the fence news from my neighbor. No, that won’t work. Maybe I could use this search engine called Google to find relevant information? I’ll have to just check that out.

Papamoka

Feel free to link to, borrow, steal, or call this post your own. A link back is appreciated though!

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McCain Obama Scuffle

One of the things always common in past elections was the ability to launch out with full attacks on your political opponent. George Bush and Karl Rove toasted John McCain’s ass in the 2000 election so bad that it left John McCain with a bad taste in his mouth. So bad a taste that he morphed into George Bush to be his political parties candidate???

It’s ironic that John McCain who was the champion of change back then is now the stay the course candidate for the Republican Party. Is it me or has the Straight Talk Express run off the road and slammed into the out house? There isn’t enough toilet paper to clean up this mess that McCain has re-invented himself into. One thing is certain is that the Maverick is apologizing for the simple fact that someone used the Christian middle name of Barack Hussein Obama over and over before John McCaine took the stage.

This isn’t a shameless fact or reasonable excuse to apologize for giving a man’s Christian middle name or is it? Politics is all about the bait and switch and with the internet being a non stop twenty four hour feed of news then this was a classic we have this great car for you hear and we have this nice self destructing Ford Pinto for you in your mental price range. The end result of the talking points is to be afraid of a man Christened with an Arab middle name. If that isn’t more Bush II politics I don’t know what is?

Throw that mud up against the wall and the low retention level voters buy it. “I saw it on the Internet that Obama is an Arab Muslim” so it must be true. For the record, emails do not count as the internet and sites like this one that actually point out facts. Next line of thought after the middle name drop is that Arab’s attacked America and we are at war with fundamentalist Muslims who are also Arabs. Follow the trail of domino’s and that is the Republican war machine come the general election. Telling you who to be afraid of and why you should vote for keeping America closed up with our own version of the Great Wall of China.

One of the talk radio stations I listen to for Imus in the Morning every single day along with Eagan and Braude at lunch time also has Jay Severin on for the drive home that is a political mind provoking talk radio station. 96.9 FM WTKK in Boston has a good mix of opinion in a very Liberal state but does not connect well with Liberal opinions for the most part. With the loss of Air America in the local Boston market there is no other broadcast available for good talk radio. That being said they have an excellent orator in Jay Severin who is also a national political radio talking point go to guy that has some clear points from a Conservative but Independent side of the aisle political theology. You don’t know how many times I screamed at him for being an idiot on the drive home and in the same respect agreed with his points on other issues. That is what politics is all about, getting you moved enough or angry enough to demand change and Jay points that out daily.

Jay backed Mitt Romney like I backed Joe Biden. They both dropped out and broke our hearts in doing so. All of our heart went into promoting our individual candidate. They both busted us but the future is bright. America has a better future ahead of us if we all continue the debate of all the issues that matter to us as Americans.

Tomorrow he will either enlighten me or be the cause for an accident on interstate 190 South. Jay Severin is a political guru that sees the mistakes of many of the candidates on both sides and his dislike of Juan McCain as he coined the phrase works for me right now and that is what I like to hear. I’m a blogger, I point the obvious out and this is one pissed off Republican sympathizer against McCain. That I can agree with him on.

You can check Jay Severin latest adventure into blogging here.

You owe me one Jay! Best wishes for you in the Blogosphere.

Papamoka

Feel free to link to this post or borrow it...

WHY I BLOG

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES

I could make this a short piece by saying that some wisenheimer put a "this vehicle equipped with a driver's side windbag" on my car. That might describe me when I get on the soapbox about those things that both interest and concern me, but it doesn't explain the why of it.

The answer lies deeper than a quick answer can reveal. There are individual reasons, and many are complicated. But, one thing I believe all bloggers share: they CARE. They want to put forth thoughts that they firmly believe. In many respects that is enough. However, the surprise comes when one finds that those thoughts interact and sometimes change the perspectives of others.

Prior to blogging, public opinion was shaped and honed by those deemed "experts." The normal course was a journalist spending years doing their trade, eventually morphing into a pundit. It was assumed that someone with a degree in journalism and years of experience in covering politics would be best qualified to pontificate upon our governing process. As citizens we trusted them (and still do) to place into perspective the news stories that float around.

Although always having an interest in politics, I spent ten years as an expatriate. Upon my return to the U.S. I found I suffered from what I call the "Rip Van Winkle Syndrome." One of the thoughts that jumped out was, "What the hell happened to my country?"

It had changed but I wasn't here to see it. And, perhaps I had changed, too. I no longer took for granted many things that I had before. For the first time in my life I felt that America was "mine," in that my responsibilities to it outweighed its responsibilities to me.

A man once said of Ireland, "Here we have no present, or no future. We just have the past happening over and over again." That is not entirely true, but it does point out a huge difference between the European and American perspective. Every January now we hear the speech by Dr. King in which he states, "I have a dream....," but don't take into account that the nation as a whole has a dream....IS a dream to some extent.

In truth, most of the people on this planet do not dream; they survive. The difference between dreaming and surviving is astounding. So I came back and realized what a precious jewel of possibility America was, and is.

Yet unlike jewelry, dreams and aspirations can be tarnished. And like jewelry, they can be stolen or damaged. To see a false hope offered a nation by people intent on self-enrichment is to witness the attempted theft of the future.

That is why I joined the "piss and moan club" known as the blogosphere. Each generation is supposed to smile at the lens of the future, and I don't see it right now. I have no doubt that the metaphorical merde is going to hit the turbine in my lifetime. Material accoutrements, to the contrary, do not guarantee a happier future.

There is a quote from Sir Isaac Newton, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." If we look (and nothing gives you the incentive to do so more than not having your own country for a while) hard enough we realize we stand on the shoulders of giants: our forebears. The men and women who provided the gift of this platform are not the famous, but rather the unknown millions who lived their lives with an unceasing hope that things would always get better. Or at least turn out all right.

And we....well we are destined to be part of the shoulders ourselves someday. There's no reward for it, only the knowledge that we tried. And in life, that is good enough sometimes.

Let us hope that a future generation someday looks back upon us as being worthy of admiration. This might sound quaint to some, yet that is what I believe to be possible.

My faith in the American government is limited. That goes for the political process, too. At my age I reserve what faith I have for the American people.

As long as we refrain from navel-gazing we'll be okay. And so will those coming behind us. We owe them that much.
***************************
Cross-posted at Michael Linn Jones.com

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Daily Kos on Colbert

This is a must see interview of Kos on Colbert....




Special thanks to Comedy Central

Alberto Gonzales is Cool With Mini Republicans

Just for giggles and chuckles let me put forth a hypothetical scenario that involves you. You are speeding way over the posted limits and a police officer pulls you over. You know what you did wrong and know the consequences of it but you have a get out of jail card up your sleeve. All you have to say to the police officer is “I don’t recall”. That and the card up your sleeve gets you off without so much as a slap on the wrist.

This is the same scenario played out in our nations capital with the man that is supposed to be in charge of enforcing the laws of the land. I do not recall is not the answer you want to give when you know your hand is glued inside the damn cookie jar. An oops might work but I don’t remember that I broke a dozen laws as Attorney General just does not fly.

Congress is a body of people that make the laws and if the Attorney General forgets what laws apply then a vote of no confidence is in order. President Bush was right in declaring the latest vote on Alberto Gonzales as politics. The only problem is that it is yet one more time that the Republicans fail to face reality that the current administration has been twisting the laws that apply to everyone else to suit what they want.

Over at Yahoo News they have this piece on the never ending deception and bait and switch that is the Bush administration…

GOP blocks Gonzales no-confidence vote

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press WASHINGTON -

Republicans blocked a Senate no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Monday, rejecting a symbolic Democratic effort to force him from office amid blistering criticism from lawmakers in both parties.

The 53-38 vote to move the resolution to full debate fell seven short of the 60 required. In bringing the matter up, Democrats dared Republicans to vote their true feelings about an attorney general who has alienated even the White House's strongest defenders by bungling the firings of federal prosecutors and claiming not to recall the details.

Republicans did not defend him, but most voted against moving the resolution ahead.

Monday's vote was not the end of scrutiny for Gonzales and his management of the Justice Department — more congressional hearings are scheduled and an internal department investigation continues.

Short of impeachment, Congress has no authority to oust a Cabinet member, but Democrats were trying anew to give him a push. Gonzales dismissed the rhetorical ruckus in the Senate, and President Bush continued to stand by his longtime friend and legal adviser.

"They can have their votes of no confidence, but it's not going to make the determination about who serves in my government," Bush said in Sofia, Bulgaria, the last stop on a weeklong visit to Europe.

"This process has been drug out a long time," Bush added. "It's political."

The attorney general said he didn't plan on leaving anytime soon. - Yahoo News

Everyone should get the same turn at the wheel of justice that the President has in his pocket. For that matter I would prefer the laws that simply apply to political appointees by this President. Break any law you want and if Dick and George approve then it is okey dokey. Apparently, the Republican Party has no problem with that either.

One problem with this scenario is that each one of these people that refused to vote for a no confidence vote for the Attorney General also swore to defend the Constitution and as we all know, you might as well use is to wipe your back side according to President Bush.

Personal thanks to Achorn for this list of Senators with confidence in Gonzales...
Papamoka

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America and its love affair with books…

I’m starting something new here at Papamoka Straight Talk with posting books relevant to the topics I cover. Having that option to not just give my opinion to people but suggest some great titles by some very applicable authors on the topic in print is a service I would like to think that my readers will appreciate. Knowledge and understanding from respected authors is immeasurable when it comes to your outlook on life. The more you know, the better you are as a person to form an opinion that is your own.

We can click all over the internet trying to find information on any subject but when you really think about it; there just might already be a book out there that covers it. I’m a firm believer in reading up on all that you can on any topic and yes I am guilty of not reading up on every topic. Blogger privileges to write from the heart over rules having all the facts first hand. That is when I count on my readers like you to correct me and slap me up side the head for being stupid in the comment section.

From time to time I may be guilty of shameless plugs for authors that I appreciate and then again I will also offer authors that I by no means on this good earth agree with. Writing opinion sucks but everyone has one. I offer you mine and appreciate any feedback you deem necessary. The books I suggest to you for reading are just that, suggestions.

One last shameless plug, Amazon.com will be the suggested link to the titles I put up and I appreciate your support of Papamoka Straight Talk with your purchases.
Let me know what you think about this change and I will gladly reply back in the comment section.

Papamoka

Shameless plugs via Amazon …

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