Apologies to all, I thought I was doing ATHF this week. Anyway, here's some links:

First, Hube has some extensive thoughts on Battlestar Galactica as it heads into its final season, while Paul points to George Will on McCain and the housing crisis. Jeff the Baptist is helping the economy, one big screen at a time, and Ryan Mc is reflecting on his college experience.

Meanwhile, Mike Matthews is fighting corruption in two places now. What a media diva! Over at DelawareLiberal, the 'Geek is pointing to Hillary's worldliness. Dave is covering the Democratic governor's health care debate, and partisan-ly declaring no winner, except Floyd McDowell.

Kavips is blaming Republicans for the financial crisis and ignoring that a certain even-numbered president (Clinton!) passed all of this regulation. Duffy is having fun with LOL-candidates, but also reminding us that April is Autism Awareness Month. Mike Mahaffie is Osprey watching. Cool.

Joe M. is defending Expelled and DelawareLibertarian has an interesting guest post about Indian independence.

Sorry if I forgot anyone, and the person for this week is, I think, TBD.

Labels: ATHF, blogging, Delaware

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:26 AM | Permalink | |

JttR is getting a new writer!

No, I'm not going anywhere I haven't already went, but my good friend and fellow UD student Gary (he's been around here before) will be joining me as a sort of "political correspondent."

Gary's a junior here, and a big Mike Huckabee supporter (and has been since CPAC last year), though he'll be doing his best to give straight-laced commentary. He's got a good head on his shoulders, and though I don't always agree with him entirely, I trust his sense of judgment.

His posts will most typically appear on Wednesdays and Sundays. Today will be the first edition of what we're calling "Pinstripe Politics!" (Gary's a Yankees fan too.)

Labels: blogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:57 PM | Permalink | |

I've found it somewhat difficult writing about politics lately, mostly for lack of things to say. That doesn't mean I can't or won't continue writing about politics, it just seems like it is the same couple of stories day in and day out.

I also enjoy writing about pop culture, and if I had more writing time to myself, would start a second blog dedicated to my musings on music, film, television, books, etc. (except celebrity gossip, which makes me vomit in my mouth a little just from thinking about it. I do some of that already, but I could do more if there is interest beyond me.

What are your thoughts? Please feel free to utilize the comments to this post, but also answer me this poll:

What would you like to see on Jokers to the Right for content?
	Politics Only
	Keep the current mix
	Move away from politics altogether
pollcode.com free polls

Labels: blogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:26 PM | Permalink | |

Just as a programming note of sorts, this blog is now a ripe three years old.

It feels like longer.

Here is the oldest link from the Wayback Machine.

Labels: Anniversaries, blogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:13 PM | Permalink | |

Since I took this week off with not announcing it (I was just too tired to write, and didn't have much time for blog-reading), I'll just put H/H on hiatus for this week. It will return next week, and I'll be back here full-time starting Monday.

Thanks again to Mike McKain who did a great job guest-blogging!

Labels: blogging, Hero/Hack

Posted by Ryan S. at 7:36 PM | Permalink | |

I won't have much time to blog this week, so Mike McKain is going to mind the store for a week.

And yes, that means that all this week, Jokers to the Right will be all-liberal!

I'll check in if I can to see how things are going when I can, but he's up for the rest of the week.

Labels: blogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:23 AM | Permalink | |

No, I'm not talking about Barry Bonds again.

Today was my last day at Townhall.com. That means I'll be back in Delaware sooner rather than later.

Last Townhall post: One Last Word from The Cave

Labels: blogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:30 PM | Permalink | |

I started a Football Pick'em for all Delaware Bloggers on Yahoo. It's really easy, all you have to do is pick who you think is going to win each game. Fifty-fifty shot even if you know nothing about football! All you need is a Yahoo account.

If you haven't gotten an e-mail about it, it's because I don't have your e-mail address here at work. If you want in, e-mail me at FlyByYYZ -at- udel.edu.

I'd like as many people as possible to get in on this, so feel free to spread the word.

Labels: blogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:21 AM | Permalink | |

My hero this week is Michael Yon.

Yon's been reporting from Iraq off an on for a while now, and his courage and candor is well worth reading. His on-the-ground reports are honest and up front. And he does it all out of pocket or through donations.






My hack this week is Barack Obama, who apparently is not a friend to bloggers. Even ones that are sympathetic.

At least, that was Jerid from Buckeye State Blog's experience. He writes:

Apparently that didn't matter. It was of no consequence that I'm a Democratically slanted activist who's trying to learn as much about all of the candidates in New Hampshire as I can. It didn't matter that I phonebank and canvas for candidates I support. I didn't matter that I put my "super friendly blogger hat" on when I go to these events and am respectful of folks privacy, taking great care with what I write about. All she saw was the press.

The Obama campaign, along with some of the other prezzies, don't understand the concept of citizen journalists. There's a lot of old school politics out here on the NH campaigns - some of the communications folks desperately need to refresh their understanding of how bloggers work. You see, we're not all the same. Just like regular folks, there are friendly bloggers that want to help, and there are bloggers bent on screwing you. It's up to a campaign to discern who's who and dole out special access depending on such. However, we're regular folks too - we volunteer, vote, and try to help because we believe in the Democratic party. So you can't really lump bloggers entirely into the press category - last time I checked Brian Williams wasn't passing out door hangers for his local Democratic Party. That's hard for folks on campaigns, locked into one particular mentality or another, to understand. It's a nuance to which some campaigns are tone deaf.

That's just sad. Both sides need to be much more open with citizen journalists, or it's going to come back to bite them later.

Like this example. Rather than writing a glowing pro-Obama post I never would have read, I found Jerid's post through Instapundit, and now several thousand people have heard this negative thing about Obama. Great job!

Labels: 2008 Watch, Barack Obama, blogging, Iraq

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:26 AM | Permalink | |

Not anymore! I have added a graphic above for my Townhall.com blog, Permanent Waves.

I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier.

Generally, Jokers to the Right will have longer, more essay-like pieces, while Permanent Waves will be full of linky goodness.

Check it out!

Labels: blogging

Posted by Ryan S. at 8:17 PM | Permalink | |