Sunday, June 19, 2005

Pro_Gun bloggers in the PNW

I mentioned the other day that I planned to support other Pro-Gun Bloggers in the Pacific North West.

I received in return a very nice note from Mr. Completely, who mentioned some other Pro_Gun Bloggers (note the differnence in terms: replacing the hyphen with an underscore is a deliberate action, the purpose of which is not clear even to me) .

I've only had the opportunity to take a cursory look at these blogs, but I've included them in the sidebar for your personal evaluation.

I'll include a few comments here, just so you'll have the (dubious) advantage of my own initial impressions. Don't put too much importance on what I say; I would rather you form your own opinion. I hope you'll spend a little more time than I expect to spend, late on a Sunday night, but these small summaries may serve to at least adquaint you with the general tone of each blog. I won't bother to put the links in this article; they're all available on the sidebar.

The first (presented in no particular order) is GullyBorg, of "Resistance is Futile!" He's a law student (pre-law?) in Eugene, Oregon. He is the sometimes host, and the originator of the Carnival of Cordite. Every Friday, he or some alternative host provides links to the RKBA-applicable article most highly prized by the author, all over America. This provides a delightful cross-section of pro-gun information which is often more inclined toward a humorous look at the Shooting Sports, but very often includes some serious RKBA commentary on legislation, etc.

Next (as a courtesy) is Mr. Completely. His blog features a template which is as butt-ugly as mine ... in fact, he uses the same blogspot template as I do. You gotta like him, right off. He presents an eclectic mix of photos, references to GullyBorg & the Carnival of Cordite, thought-provoking questions, bitching about blog-relates software, legislation, personal observations, and whateveryouwannatalkabout. One of the best recommendations I can cite is that he claims to have "... shot at Custer ...", which implies that he plays the IPSC game. Best of all, of all, of all ... he has a lot of links to HoserCam. Anyone who is impressed by Nolan Smythe is okay in my book.

Jason's Blog is more introspective, more like the traditional format of a personal diary. He talks about his high-school reunion in Tumalo, and goings-on in Seattle. Likes Skeet & Trap. He has been blogging for over 3 years, which beats my unimpressive 7-month tenure so he must be doing something right.

Random Nuclear Strikes is an obvious fan of Benjamin Franklin, as evidenced by his inclusion of "Don't Tread On Me" flags in his masthead. (O'Shea, don't make something of this term which isn't there!) He seems to be a rifleman by inclination, has posted for over three years, and isn't afraid to talk about legislation in Washington. Funny, isn't it, how legislation introduced in Washington seems so often to be mirrored in Oregon ... most frequently by the awful Ginny Burdick? Recently, he has talked about the egrigious Kos, Gulags, PETA, Cops in Canada, 80's music, and a miscellany of popular topics. Displaying a creative collection of photos to illustrate his subject, you can usually find something startling to start your morning.

Rivrdog (no clue about why he has eschewed the obvious "e", but I bet it makes a good story), tends to be more ... ah ... SERIOUS about his choice of topics. Though they're often humorous, there's an underlying message of alarm running through it. (Apologies for dated pop-culture references here.)

For example, in a recent post he suggests a similarity between he Holloway Aruba situation, and the Jon Benet Ramsey case. It would never have occurred to me.

He includes refs to MJ and OJ, to the OSU Beavers winning, and a deep and thought-provoking discusion of Liberals and Genocide. Sure, he'll tickle you with Oregon issues and pop culture, but he'll turn right around and stab you in the heart with RKBA-based articles that will make you sit up and say ... huh?



I haven't mentioned Brian, from ARPC, who isn't regularly 'blogging' in the generally accepted sense. However, Brian is the webmaster at the Albany (Oregon) Rifle & Pistol Club and usually manages to include his personal observations when describing IPSC matches at the club. If and when Brian decides to generate a regular blog which he wishes to include here, he'll appear on the sidebar as well.

There's a reason for including a new sidebar-entry which links to PNW (Pacific North-West) based bloggers.

I think we can provide a much richer mix of perspectives and information-based discussion of the issues by providing a cross-section of observations region-wide. My hope is that you are encouraged to visit other forums/blogs, see what THEY think is important, and gain a broader viewpoint by benefiting from their evaluation of what is the important issues of the day.

The usual reason for providing links from one blog to another is that the other blog will reciprocate, and will improve your OWN traffic. Nothing wrong with this; if we didn't think we had something significant to say, we wouldn't be spending evenings sitting in our pajamas in front of a computer, chipping away at the Main Stream Media (MSM).

But there's more to it than trying to go one-better over the MSM. Those "real" reporters will write one or two poorly researched articles, and then their editors will tell them "get me something new" and they're off on another subject.

Bloggers don't do that. They get their teeth into an article, and they blog the sh*t out of it. We saw it right here in the article about BB-guns not being acceptable to the Mass. Science Fair because they (BB guns) are dangerous.

Bloggers get the bone between their teeth, growl like junkyard dogs, and spend an inordinate amount of time demonstrating that there is something rotten in the information you're getting from 'other sources'. Dan Rather saw that happen to him. John Kerry hates the Swift-Boat Veterans becasue of that. Other examples are easy to find.

We don't expect that THIS 'harmless blog' is going to have the same international impact as these examples, but maybe if you have ready access to a number of regionally related sources you can find the best examples of perspective on a number of issues which affect you, personally.

So much for the 'cross-polinization' reason for linking between regional bloggers.

The best reason, and perhaps the truest, is that these people represent a group which have intersting things to say, and I want to share their collective wisdom with you.

No, that's a damned lie.

Really, I want to get them involved as a group, and see what happens. If nothing else, maybe they will allow us all to get to know them better, and perhaps someday they'll show up at a local shooting match so we can ALL meet & greet them.

I just think they're an interesting group, and if I play my cards right I could meet them all and spend some range time with them.

What do pro-gun bloggers talk about when they meet on a range?

I figure, they just put as many rounds down-range as possible in the time available, and have a helluva good time.

That's what I'm talkin' about!
zzz

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the kind review, Sir Geek. It's all from the heart.

You missed my "Preparedness" blog, Paratus, which has firearms training information, and can be found at:

http://rivrdog.typepad.com/paratus

The shortened name is there because there were other River Dogs out there, and also, it's my one concession to "leetspeak".

Rivrdog

Anonymous said...

I'd like to thank you for the kind review as well, Jerry, and also apologize for the delay in stopping by.

I actually see a lot of the legislation from Oregon coming up to Washington. Most recently, the 'Vote By Mail' bills being slung around our legislature.

All government calls between the states should cost as much as a SATPhone call and be paid for directly out of the pols pockets. Maybe that'd slow these fools down.

BTW, I'm an pre-IDPA 3-gun match-maker, the rifle thing is still a bit new to me, but I hope to be able to call myself a rifleman by the end of this year.

Congrats on your latest IPSC success!

The Analog Kid