respublica

Typepad comments

Last week Typepad changed the way comments were authenticated, putting up one of those computer generated two words of mixed letters thing. The first time I saw it I tried putting in the letters but many were impossible to make out. Why Typepad thinks its a good idea to follow the bad ideas of other blog companies I do not know. 

But, it also looks like there is a sign in drop down box in which a commenter can sign in to their facebook id if they have one or a few other options. This has become the way of doing things in the comment business on most newspaper etc websites. I guess we're stuck with it for now.

But, signing in with Facebook or Twitter or some other ID does not send anything to your facebook page or anyone else's, its merely the blog site's way of knowing commenters are real person not spammers from overseas.

St Louis the butt of a joke

The famous satirical humor website, The Onion, made St. Louis the object of laughs yesterday.

"The Labor Department reported Monday that the U.S. economy created a staggering 4 million jobs in October, though government officials hastened to add that the new positions are all located in the St. Louis metropolitan area."

Finish the satire written as news bulletin here.

Been down

Typepad was down this morning so this is the first time I've had to update the blog.  Hopefully it will live the rest of the day.

Introducing

A new blog begun over the weekend by our daughter Elizabeth who recently moved from DC back to St. Louis.  

A good blog.  The Omnibus.

Pioneer Woman on tv tomorrow

Just a reminder, the Pioneer Woman's first program on the Food Network premieres tomorrow morning at 10:30 Central time. 

Ree Drummond has one of the best websites around and if you haven't read her, you need to take a look.  Her recipes, dogs, kids, ranch, husband, horses all abound day to day and she uses her photography skills to bring everything she writes come alive.

I've been looking forward to her show all summer. 

The Food Network channel number in St. Louis on Charter is 62 or if you have a high definition set up it is 760. 

7 years

It occurred to me last night that 7 years ago, July 31, 2004, I began this blog. So many things happened during those years, local, state, national and personal that it would be impossible to recount them this morning.

I've loved every hour I've spent on Respublica and have enjoyed everyone I've met across the web as a result of it.

Thank you all.

A window into Madison Wisconsin

There is still no place on the web or on tv which gives a better glimpse into the goings on in Madison than Ann Althouse.

After yesterday's vote by the state legislature and the ensuing rush of protesters (again) piling into the capitol, Ann's husband Meade (new media Meade) was right there with his video and still cameras. 

The photos are amazing, capturing every detail of the protesters, the rotunda, the police.  Ann's descriptions of the who, what, why, where and how outpace any of the journalists covering the situation.  Then Ann comes at the day's events from the area of law, her speciality.

Riveting.

An Open Letter to Mr. Daily Kos

A good point of view by Stephen Green, the Vodkapundit in an open letter to Daily Kos detailing a different take on the demonstrators in Madison Wisconsin. 

I have to say, it's gratifying to read a POV which does not mirror what we see on tv and read in papers by reporters and pundits. 

An upfront, on the front lines, look at the Madison demonstrations

Ann Althouse is doing such a terrific job of sorting out what's going on with the union protests in Madison this week.  She's armed with using her camera and video cam, bringing us images we might not see on tv.  Her short video interviews of some of the protesters are great, she's polite, friendly and curious, but still tries to get people to explain exactly what they are thinking.

I'm just going to link her website as a whole because her posts on the situation go one after another.  Really good stuff if you like sociology and politics.

Making the SOTU fun

Watch the speech while reading websites of those who live blog. If it weren't for those hardy souls who can listen, react and type at the same time, I'd be turning to HGTV.

I bookmark Vodkapundit and Ann Althouse, maybe others if something pops up. Ann's commenters do the heavy lifting.