Lamb vegetable of Tartary
Tip of the hat to Wunderkammer
I hope this isn't too much of a disappointment, but actually no such animal-plant exists. As far as anyone knows.
This posting's head and illustration are what they are because, if I had titled it "Revision to the blogroll," you would click away faster than you can say Jack Robinson. Admit it.
Nevertheless, I have made some changes to the blogroll, and a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that I should declare the causes which impel me to the action.
Many bloggers apparently choose early on in their blogging career some sidebar links that become, so to speak, fossils preserved in amber, and never add to or subtract from the blogroll. Others include links to, you have to suspect, almost every site where they ever read something they liked. The result looks sort of like the Yellow Pages for a small town.
Having -- quite frankly -- nothing worth saying on any of the Great Issues at the moment, I determined that the hour had come to take electronic saw and hammer and rebuild Reflecting Light's blogroll. I thought long and hard about the purpose of the blogroll, and concluded that I didn't know and couldn't think of any justification that I myself might not as easily argue against. In the end, I suppose, we bloggers include blogrolls because we want to.
You'll notice that the blogroll is now shorter -- which means that I can add to it now and then without it becoming bloated. Two exceptions aside, I've eliminated subject headings other than "Worth your time." Which itself is presumptuous, of course, since the sites referred to may or may not be worth your time. But to label them "Worth my time" is too self-important, as though I were royalty bestowing my grace and favor.
The "Gold standard" heading remains. There are no changes in this category and I don't believe there ever have been, which suggests either that I chose well to begin with or am stuck. I'm also keeping the "Spirit/Psychical" heading because these sites are clearly specialty items.
A brief explanation about what is gone, and why.
All the "Ending the immigration madness" sites have been turfed out. It isn't because the subject is any less important, but because with very few exceptions, I have come to find them numbingly repetitious for anyone who is already aware of the severe damage that uncontrolled Third World immigration is doing to our society. Most of them -- VDare is a good example -- are not part of the solution, are not dedicated to strategy, and are content just to whinge endlessly about how awful the invasion is. They're right, but a complaint and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee. We need action, not (only) more viewing with alarm.
Some individual blogs have been tossed for no better reason than I don't like them much anymore. James Lileks is a sad case in point. In the months after 9/11, his "Daily Bleat" was energizing and eloquent. He still is a fine stylist, and I wish I could write as well as he does, but repeated visits to his site have left me cold. Lileks has little on his mind other than pop culture (he must know every B movie and TV show ever made) and nostalgia.
When I put together the original blogroll, Lucianne.com was relatively unknown, or I thought it was. By now, everybody who wants or needs it goes there and it needs no referral from me. The author of Photon Courier now mostly posts at Chicago Boyz. No longer included are ... are ... well, I've already forgotten what else I deleted, which is a good indication of why.
A few months ago I booted out Gates of Vienna, mainly because some of its commenters were too distasteful. It still gives room to a few bloodthirsty types who like to fantasize about nuking the entire Muslim world. But the site's hosts, Baron Bodissey and Dymphna, are sensible, and they publish important writers like Fjordman and include information about militant Islam that the mainstream media downplay or ignore. So the link to Gates is back.
Respect for the opinions of mankind having been satisfied, I will leave this topic with a reminder that the Disclaimer applies. Including a site on the blogroll does not -- not, got it? -- mean that I necessarily agree with what is written there. Some of the bloggers on my list, incidentally, aren't too keen on one another. But I can turn to them in a reasonable expectation of finding something that will be illuminating, amusing, unexpected, or skillfully written. Which is to say, worth my time, and maybe yours.
This posting's head and illustration are what they are because, if I had titled it "Revision to the blogroll," you would click away faster than you can say Jack Robinson. Admit it.
Nevertheless, I have made some changes to the blogroll, and a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that I should declare the causes which impel me to the action.
Many bloggers apparently choose early on in their blogging career some sidebar links that become, so to speak, fossils preserved in amber, and never add to or subtract from the blogroll. Others include links to, you have to suspect, almost every site where they ever read something they liked. The result looks sort of like the Yellow Pages for a small town.
Having -- quite frankly -- nothing worth saying on any of the Great Issues at the moment, I determined that the hour had come to take electronic saw and hammer and rebuild Reflecting Light's blogroll. I thought long and hard about the purpose of the blogroll, and concluded that I didn't know and couldn't think of any justification that I myself might not as easily argue against. In the end, I suppose, we bloggers include blogrolls because we want to.
You'll notice that the blogroll is now shorter -- which means that I can add to it now and then without it becoming bloated. Two exceptions aside, I've eliminated subject headings other than "Worth your time." Which itself is presumptuous, of course, since the sites referred to may or may not be worth your time. But to label them "Worth my time" is too self-important, as though I were royalty bestowing my grace and favor.
The "Gold standard" heading remains. There are no changes in this category and I don't believe there ever have been, which suggests either that I chose well to begin with or am stuck. I'm also keeping the "Spirit/Psychical" heading because these sites are clearly specialty items.
A brief explanation about what is gone, and why.
All the "Ending the immigration madness" sites have been turfed out. It isn't because the subject is any less important, but because with very few exceptions, I have come to find them numbingly repetitious for anyone who is already aware of the severe damage that uncontrolled Third World immigration is doing to our society. Most of them -- VDare is a good example -- are not part of the solution, are not dedicated to strategy, and are content just to whinge endlessly about how awful the invasion is. They're right, but a complaint and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee. We need action, not (only) more viewing with alarm.
Some individual blogs have been tossed for no better reason than I don't like them much anymore. James Lileks is a sad case in point. In the months after 9/11, his "Daily Bleat" was energizing and eloquent. He still is a fine stylist, and I wish I could write as well as he does, but repeated visits to his site have left me cold. Lileks has little on his mind other than pop culture (he must know every B movie and TV show ever made) and nostalgia.
When I put together the original blogroll, Lucianne.com was relatively unknown, or I thought it was. By now, everybody who wants or needs it goes there and it needs no referral from me. The author of Photon Courier now mostly posts at Chicago Boyz. No longer included are ... are ... well, I've already forgotten what else I deleted, which is a good indication of why.
A few months ago I booted out Gates of Vienna, mainly because some of its commenters were too distasteful. It still gives room to a few bloodthirsty types who like to fantasize about nuking the entire Muslim world. But the site's hosts, Baron Bodissey and Dymphna, are sensible, and they publish important writers like Fjordman and include information about militant Islam that the mainstream media downplay or ignore. So the link to Gates is back.
Respect for the opinions of mankind having been satisfied, I will leave this topic with a reminder that the Disclaimer applies. Including a site on the blogroll does not -- not, got it? -- mean that I necessarily agree with what is written there. Some of the bloggers on my list, incidentally, aren't too keen on one another. But I can turn to them in a reasonable expectation of finding something that will be illuminating, amusing, unexpected, or skillfully written. Which is to say, worth my time, and maybe yours.
4 comments:
That old ink apparition looks more like a wolf in a few scraps of sheep's clothing than anything else. Perhaps it represents a specimen of olde wolfbane at anthesis?
Thanks for jotting down some of your reasoning on the blogroll selections, something few would think worth the time of others...
Nice application of the phrase in the Declaration, Rick. And no better time than the present for conservatives to be applying its phrases and their undergirding principles in my opinion.
As an individual member of the group addressed I personally thank you for considering its opinions, and the decent respect you've shown it in declaring the causes which impelled you to make the changes.
Now, how about a rewrite of the entire DoI which might better apply to the current situation in America while holding to the spirit of its principles.
I know what you've been thinking. ;-)
Leadpb,
A wolf in sheep's clothing on a plant stalk! Now that's what I call diversity.
Terry,
How far along are you with the new Declaration of Independence? We need to be ready.
vfr but no va
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