Blog Roll Up

From time to time I like to suggest must read blogs or just a blog with a different view than most rants you see on the internet. Real thinkers and real people with a real opinion. People that care about their community and their nation. This time around I was snagged by a friend with an award so I have to participate in the award and pay it forward. Check out the blogs I love and become addicted…

Gun Toting Liberal has an Independent view that comes from being raised in Alaska and moved to Alabama. He in fact went to school with Sarah Palin and her husband and is not taking any questions on that subject. So don’t even think of asking questions! Believe it or not he is also in fact a card carrying member of the ACLU and the NRA. If that isn’t a moderate voter then I don’t know what one is! When he covers a topic he is not afraid to show the skeletons in anybodies closets. Love him or hate him, he makes you think! That is the magic that keeps people reading the GTL over and over again. I thank him for reading here as well daily. My brotha from anotha motha!

Bring It On is a great collection of liberal leaning writers and I love the friendship of each and everyone of the friends I have been able to write with over there. You have to check out the many posters that SteveO puts up. It cracks me up because they are so true. Jet, Cranky, Dusty and the rest of the writers are great and Dan Delrito’s pieces have been picked up by Crooks and Liars a couple of times. You don't get that kind of attention if you don't have legitimate points that make sense.

Worm Town Taxi is the premier site for Worcester, Mass news and information on the goings on. I’ve been following his pieces on the wind turbine going up at Holy Name in the city and the coverage he has on it is top notch. Then again, anything Jeff is covering is breaking news in the local community.

Atlantic Review just added this site to their blog roll and all I know about them is that they are huge in Europe and like what they read here at Papamoka.

Our Rants and Raves is a new blog and the writer has his heart in the right place. Talking about the issues and putting his opinion out there to read. Liberal in content but strong in his values and topics that he covers. You can feel the passion in his writing and I like his style.

I’m From Worcester, my sister from another mother covers everything local and sometimes covers national politics when she feels the winds of politics need her voice. Which reminds me that Ms. Crystal joined us as a contributing writer and she has a clear understanding of the issues facing America too! Two woman, great writers both.

Paper May. I saved the best for last, my good friend from Minnesota that helped me out more than she even knows. She helped me out with my pet project as a friend and since then has started her own voice on life in politics called Paper May. If you want to talk to someone with a firm grasp on life then talk to Chell and read her site. I’m addicted.

Now it seems that all of you must award seven other people this great honor from your heart as a fellow blogger. I don’t usually do this but my sista from another motha put me up to it! I’m ignoring the click your heals three times and say there is no place like home requirement. Not going there Chell!

Papamoka

Blogging, Blog, Writing On Line

Many of the friends that read this site are from all over the world. With Papamoka Straight Talk being a national political blog we talk about and write about politics that is not on the local over the fence level. In retrospect, many of my readers are from the heart of New England, Worcester Massachusetts. Proudly, and locally we can boast politically that our states Lieutenant Governor is the former Mayor of Worcester, Tim Murray. For the record I think he and Governor Deval Patrick are cleaning up the Mitt Romney mess very well. But I digress. My five year old had breakfast with Lieutenant Governor Murray last year at a local event so that is my local connection to politics in Mass-a-two-sticks. A phrase I use often to describe the taxation status of Bay State residents and what we have left over after we pay all the damn taxes tossed on us.

Getting back to my original point… Many local blogs and people visit this site day after day and all of the contributors and I appreciate that. They are the reason we write day after day and offer opinion on national politics but in the same perspective I have built many personal relationships with people that link to this blog, write for this blog, and email me on their blogs latest posts. Some I have never met and some I think as my brother or sister with a DNA link with a high speed internet connection.

In the format that the “This Blog is Rated E for Excellent” I offer the following ten amazing reads, some local and others around the world. Punishment if you receive this award and have to pay it forward.

My number one "E for Excellent" award goes to someone that I consider one of my closest online friends and that is Michael Linn Jones who is also a contributor hear at Papamoka Straight Talk. No matter how many times I scream at him to write a book he refuses. Through him alone I personally have grown as a political writer and following his lead is why he is my number one E for Excellent nominee. If you love Mark Twain, one of my favorite authors of all time, then you will love visiting Michael Linn Jones.

My number two link "E for Excellent" is yet another group of folks that reached out to me and caught me when I was down and I will never forget that. Bring IT ON is a national site with writers from all over the United States that write from the heart on a moderate to left leaning perspective and each one has a unique view on national politics. Pick an issues and Bring IT ON has it coming up on the radar. My thanks to Jet and Cranky for believing in me and letting this writer cross post on their site. If you have a left sensing personality then Bring IT ON is a must visit site.

My number three "E for Excellent" is of course the Gun Toting Liberal. If you want to read real opinion and real thoughts then Gunny has it covered when it comes to national politics. I consider the GTL my mentor and my brother from another mother. We are kindred political and personal friends. I absolutely loved writing for the Gun Toting Liberal and the site is just amazing with all of the posts that make you think out side of the box. Visit the Gun Toting Liberal and be enlightened. Private message to Gunny, you’ve been tagged bro so pay up and you better link back here… LOL!

Number four for "E for Excellent" is all of my friends from Poli Gazette to Chells Roost to Pissed on Politics to Vim and Vinegar which reminds me...

Number five is of course Vim and Vinegar. If you want from the heart political news and opinion then she has it covered in spades! She also contributes when she can here at Papamoka and when she does it is always a great read. Just Wondering has a spin on politics with a Southern twist and she calls it like it is. Painting a fire in her words is what she does best on her site at Vim and Vinegar and yet another must read.

Next on my list for "E for Excellent" is at number six my good friend BJ at I See My Dreams. One of the things that makes me read a blog is the love of writing from the site owner. BJ is a retired news paper editor in South Carolina and I just love reading her posts. Liberal leaning and on topic with facts and links to back up all of her posts. In her heart is what is right and from her perspective is always an amazing read. I just love her work. Who loves ya BJ!… Tag, your it my friend! You can see her work at I See My Dreams and get addicted yourself.

Number seven "E for Excellent" who I will personally forever email all of the emails that demands you forward to twelve thousand friends or your head will pop off is I’m From Worcester. Photographs out of this world and local events and culture is her heartbeat. This is where I go to find out what is actually happening in the real world in Worcester culturally.

Claudia is an amazing person and she has a gift that she hasn’t tapped to its full potential as a blogger yet. That reminds me, I have to forward her this great opportunity to get a piece of the action from a dead banker with $26 million dollars in escrow with no family in Africa email…LOL! I’m thankful to the author and blogger of I’m From Worcester for putting Papamoka Straight Talk on the local scene. Visit I’m from Worcester and check out her insight and thoughts on life in Worcester. Thank you Claudia for including this little blog.

Number eight "E for Excellent" comes in as Worm Town Taxi. This a great blog by yet another on line friend. Jeff drives a cab keeps us all posted on the goings on in Worcester. He doesn’t just end it with what’s going on but has some great tips on the latest electronic gadgets out there. In-between all the great pictures he puts up on Worm Town Taxi is his personal thoughts and opinion where the local paper is way off the mark and that is why I read his posts daily. That and the fact that this is one site that has inspired me to write many national related posts. You don’t have to pay the fare for visiting the Worm Town Taxi but it is worth the ride.

Number nine is A View From Battleship Cove. This site has a great writer in Lefty covering everything that is Fall River in Massachusetts. If you want to know what is going on in Fall River then you need to read A View From Battleship Cove. My personal thanks go out to the site owner for contributing here and linking to this site where he has. If you want to know the truth about Lizzie Borden then Lefty at A View From Battleship Cove has it covered. If you like Fall River Politics, or love great photography of Fall River he has that nailed!

Number ten is my email friend that has linked to this site time and time again from Crooks and Liars. Mikes Blog Roundup is an inkling to small fish in the sea that are not on the radar. When it comes down to blogging there is no better sense of making it to the big time than being linked on Crooks and Liars. Mike has been kind to me at Papamoka Straight Talk and I do appreciate it more than he will ever know. If you want the latest politically the Crooks and Liars is a daily must see.

That is my list of ten blog’s that I think stand for Excellent in content and worth your reading. If I listed your site then I am immune from the tag so go get the blogs you think are worth reading. You can mention this blog and I would appreciate that.

If you clicked on any of the links here I thank you for visiting sites that are all friends and favorites of Papamoka Straight Talk. Each one is a gem and if you find yourself addicted to them then please let the writer know that. Comment on the sites and just let them know what you think. Bloggers do not make much money if any for the most part for what they write and this is just something we do. If it entertains you then that is a plus. Visiting their sponsors helps though. For all the people I listed today, tag, you have been chosen as an Excellent Blog and now it is your turn to pay it forward. Ten Blogs you love or appreciate.

Papamoka