Blount County bloggers and Web commentators:
For purposes of an article for Blount Today, I am interested in exploring the concept of blogging on county issues and what drives and motivates those of you who offer commentary on this or other Web sites.
I am not so much interested in opinions on the specific issues as I am in the act of blogging itself and why people feel compelled to do it. We would discuss the mostly anonymous nature of the activity, the apparent concerns among many of you about government collusion and what you hope to accomplish by your writings.
Be aware that we do not publish unattributed quotes, so you will be required to give me your real name if you choose to participate. I also will need the screen name under which you have written on BlountViews, though that can be withheld from publication, thus preserving your anonymity. But withholding the screen name is not automatic; you would have to request that.
You also need to know that fairness requires that I talk to people on the other side of the issues also, the ones who are generally the targets of your comments.
I invite your participation because I think it is a modern phenomenon that could see exponential growth in coming months and years, particularly as the presidential campaigns heat up. Obviously, participation is voluntary, so if you choose not to join in, all you have to do is nothing.
If you are interested in being part of the project, please e-mail your name and a phone number where you can be reached to rlwilson2594@charter.net. I will call you back.
Let's see where the conversation leads.
Robert Wilson
Topics:
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Discussing
- Alcoa Schools close for teacher shortages (1 reply)
- City of Alcoa's costly wish list for Alcoa Highway. (1 reply)
- Blount County coronavirus cases at 39,189 as of 4/23/2022 (1 reply)
- Blount County coronavirus cases at 39,079 as of 4/2/2022 (1 reply)
- Blount County coronavirus cases at 38,344 as of 2/12/2022 (1 reply)
- Blount County coronavirus cases at 33,274 as of 1/22/2022 (2 replies)
- Blount County coronavirus cases at 26,253 as of 1/03/2022 (1 reply)
- Blount Memorial at record high for COVID-19 hospitalizations (1 reply)
- Blount County coronavirus cases nearly 16,000 as of 07/12/2021 (3 replies)
- Blount County coronavirus pandemic numbers (2 replies)
- The City of Alcoa's uncontrolled and costly development (2 replies)
- Alcoa City Schools opened Wednesday, July 22nd (1 reply)
TN Progressive
- Do Not Listen to Deranged Fascists Who Can Barely Read (RoaneViews)
- Must Read (RoaneViews)
- It's Time to Call For the Arrest of Elon Musk! (RoaneViews)
- Books (RoaneViews)
- (Whitescreek Journal)
- Lee's Fried Chicken in Alcoa closed (BlountViews)
- Alcoa, Hall Rd. Corridor Study meeting, July 30, 2024 (BlountViews)
- My choices in the August election (Left Wing Cracker)
- July 4, 2024 - aka The Twilight Zone (Joe Powell)
- Chef steals food to serve at restaurant? (BlountViews)
- Blount County, TDOT make road deal for gun mfg ignoring town of Louisville,TN, (BlountViews)
- Winter at the Big Rocks (Whitescreek Journal)
TN Politics
- Lawsuit: Tennessee DCS took kids after traffic stop without a valid court order (TN Lookout)
- Tennessee governor revives farm conservation bill with $25 million fund (TN Lookout)
- Despite Breakdowns in Two States, ESA Provider Student First Seeks to Expand (TN Lookout)
- Foreign aid freeze halts University of Tennessee international agriculture program (TN Lookout)
- John Cole’s Tennessee: Tennessee’s ‘living fossils’ (TN Lookout)
- Tennessee Republican bashes immigrant education bill (TN Lookout)
Knox TN Today
- Fun Abe (Knox TN Today)
- ‘The Road Less Traveled,’ Badger style (Knox TN Today)
- National debt tops $36 trillion: What’s next? (Knox TN Today)
- Scott Chism finds his passion in song (Knox TN Today)
- KCT performs Mean Girls Jr. (Knox TN Today)
- Weekend: Theatre to a dog bar (Knox TN Today)
- HEADLINES: 2/13 (Knox TN Today)
- 33 lots in Spring Lake Farms sell for $1.82 million (Knox TN Today)
- Fall in love with your future home: Financial tips for making it happen (Knox TN Today)
- Jubilee Community Arts fundraiser Friday (Knox TN Today)
- Custom House Chronicles, February 2025 (Knox TN Today)
- Teaching the alphabet (Knox TN Today)
Local TV News
- Hurricane Helene victims reunited with dog's ashes (WATE)
- Fog and slick roads threaten safety during heavy rains across East Tennessee (WATE)
- KCHD: Flu on the rise again, especially among younger people (WATE)
- South Knoxville business owners feel let down by bridge repair timeline (WATE)
- How Covenant Health Park's field will accommodate baseball and soccer (WATE)
- Union County man reclaims home after suing debt foreclosure company (WATE)
- Young KY mom no longer facing threat of execution in 2023 death of toddler daughter (WBIR)
- Megan Boswell Trial Day 6 | Crime lab experts testify (WBIR)
- Covenant Health Park gears up for dual sports action with quick field conversion (WBIR)
- WBIR, UT resolve lawsuit over public records access to ORNL operating agreements (WBIR)
- Here are the 14 Big Lots stores staying open in Tennessee (WBIR)
- Heart of the Matter: Blount County Sheriff James Berrong (WBIR)
News Sentinel
State News
- Dear Abby: Son’s public outburst sparks bitter feud with father - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Judy Harris Obituary - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Mary Magdalene Jones Obituary - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- SoCon-leading UTC men win at Samford for season split - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
Wire Reports
- Plans to Buy ‘Armored Teslas’ Vanish From State Department Procurement List - Bloomberg (Business)
- Donald Trump opens the door to Vladimir Putin’s grandest ambitions - Financial Times (US News)
- The PPI Inflation Data Are Out. Here’s What to Know. - Barron's (Business)
- Southern California Braces for Storm Damage in Wildfire Areas - The New York Times (US News)
- This fund surged 40% last year. The manager likes Netflix and these two stocks. - MarketWatch (Business)
- Exclusive: JPMorgan CEO Dimon derides in-office work pushback, demands efficiency - Reuters (Business)
- Kennedy to clear final Senate hurdle in bid for top US health job - Reuters (US News)
- Financial firms hated US consumer watchdog, but rapid unraveling creates limbo - Yahoo Finance (Business)
- Judge removes key legal hurdle for Trump’s plan to trim federal workforce with deferred resignations - WTOP (US News)
- UK economy unexpectedly grew in final months of 2024 - BBC.com (Business)
- ‘Deregulation by Firings’: Breaking Down the Cuts to Financial Oversight - The New York Times (Business)
- Trump's pick for secretary of education is Linda McMahon. Here's what to know - NPR (US News)
- ‘The rules of the game have changed’: Europe fears an unreliable US ally - POLITICO (US News)
- Retailers including Trader Joe's and Kroger have begun limiting egg purchases - NPR (Business)
- AG Bondi, Justice Dept. sue New York officials over immigration laws - The Washington Post (US News)
Local area websites:
Blount DemsMC Democrats
Raven Society
League of Women Voters
Wendy Pitts Reeves
Stop Alcoa Parkway
KnoxViews
Knox Dems
RoaneViews
TennViews
TN Clean Water Network
TN Dems
Government websites:
Blount CountyCity of Alcoa
City of Maryville
State of Tennessee
TN Code Annotated
TN General Assembly
UT CTAS
UT MTAS
Media websites:
Maryville Daily TimesKnox News Sentinel
That's easy!
We blog, because in the absence of watchful media, there is no alternative way to get the news and analysis of county government and local issues out.
Blogging
I blog because it gives me a voice.
Reasons to blog
Most reporters from our local media no longer do any investigative reporting They simply accept what the Mayor, the Sheriff and Bennett give them.
Think about it. When is the last time you did a real investigative article?
The few reporters that try to do investigative work have wimpy editors that won't print their efforts because it displeases the political machine.
That is why blogs are replacing "traditional media".
Stop wasting your time investigating bloggers and take a serious look at what is going on in Blount County.
Motivation for blogging
You said:
I'd reply that I don't feel 'compelled' at all - that seems like a curious word choice to me. Speaking for myself, I feel I offer very little commentary - when I do participate, it is because a particular topic or comment has caught my interest, and it represents an opportunity to exchange thoughts, ideas, and information with people that I may otherwise never meet or have an opportunity to talk with.
While I may not actually post very much, I do read a variety of blogs and online forums on a regular basis. I find this to be an interesting source of information, where I can find out about things that I wouldn't otherwise know about, or hear a different point of view than I would find in the mainstream media. If your goal is to understand the attraction of blogging, I think these things are a big part of it.
Welllll......
In that case, I love everything that this County does. I don't fault anyone, and I wish we'd all get along. Global warming is a myth. We can pray our drought away. Jesus would have wanted us to invade Iraq. Burr Haircuts and Rebel Flags show modesty and open-mindedness. Blount County has too little asphalt. Bloggers are all mean-spirited. Foreigners are anyone who didn't come over on the Mayflower. Ronald Reagan was resurrected in Mike Huckabee's body. Gay bashing is a good Christian ideology. Fred Thompson is the best thing that's happened to the South since George Wallace and Jefferson Davis. All other Nations owe us their resources. When we kneel to pray, we should face Houston or Crawford. I should be able to take my guns anywhere I want to. It's American to drive huge Gas Hogs, and eventually our Savior will bring the pump prices back down to $1.00 / gallon.
Amen
Amen
I am not so much interested
I am not completely understanding regarding the point of your "project". You ask why are people compelled to blog. You are not interested in opinions on issues. You are interested in "people on the other side of the issues", "targets of your comments". What input will these "other side" people have regarding reasons for blogging?
What is the actual purpose for your project? Will it be an article in Blount Today? How does the purpose of blogging fit in with people who do not blog?
Also, do you have an official email at BlountToday and a phone number?
Speaking of anonymity, how do we know "Redfox" is Robert Wilson, an agent for the newspaper BlountToday?
Forrest Erickson ... Real Name
Mr. Wilson, glad you asked.
I am Forrest Erickson and I blog because I am a scientist. As a scientist I feel I must visibly challenge the champions and adherents of supernatural explanations for the world around us. I am also a human being. As a human, I am an opponent of the immorality of the Bush / Cheney, torture, war regime. It is an outrage and that they have been empowered to commit war in Iraq biased on lies and that they were re-elected by appeals to the adherents of a supernatural world view. It is a crime against morality and humanity that this regime has championed the use of methods of the inquisition, such as partial drowning, in our name. Such acts will not go unchallenged while I draw breath.
I am
Forrest Erickson
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek
Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any
church that I know of. My own mind is my own church. From Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine a Hero of the American Revolution.
Prime example of why blog and read blogs
I mostly just lurk at newsy blogs and forums, here, there, and everywhere. While lurking earlier today at a brand new discussion group that appears to be a conservative answer to Blount Views, I found a thread about corruption that caught my eye.
There are the usual inuendos, but then if you keep reading someone has posted some material regarding a committee nomination. There are two seperate items. (link...) It occured to me that if this stuff is for real and was about a Democrat it would have been headline news. If it is not true, it would seem easy to prove and a story in defense of the nomination could be written. I do not know when this appointment is, but this inofrmation would seem of general public interest.
So why am I reading it on some obscure discussion site, Mr. Wilson?
Interesting link. Thanks
Interesting link. Thanks Minnesota.
So why am I reading it on
That's news to me. If you want real news, tune into Comedy Central's Jon Stewart or blog. The MSM is too invested in the status quo.
Let's hope his vetting process doesn't turn into a "moot point".
let us bloggers not forget history . . .
Greetings:
I recall an initial lecture in freshman History 101 at a "highly rated in-state university" where the professor from Grinnell College ((link...)) touted the necessity of studying the discipline of History.
From that lecture, I only recall the quote attributed to a famous western philosopher:
What I read in Blountviews, the DT, and now this "Government Corruption-Civil Discussion" blog leads me to believe that BC and the powers-that-be (in apparently all branches of BC government) make poor decisions, decide that embarassing issues should prematurely become moot, and then delay and delay and delay other decisions important to the citizenry until the point becomes moot or forgotten or lost to the public memory.
Let me take a breath after that compound, complex sentence that my grade school teachers warned me about . . . please bear with me . . . (deep breath)
Ok, my humble opinion: Bloggers and web commentators uniquely expose and juxtapose recent and historically relevant facts. These facts compare and contrast ideas not published for analysis and dissemination to the public by traditional forms of media (TV, radio, traditional printed newspapers). In my view, we are respecting fundamental notions of the democratic process and first amendment rights, regardless of political persuasion.
Unfortunately, it just so happens that the BC powers-that-be (a/k/a what has been termed on Blountviews and otherwise as the "GOB") are apparently uniquely gifted in their collective attempts to stifle our consciousness. Fortunately, we bloggers now have a method as exhibited by Blountviews (and, not surprisingly, denounced by the County Mayor) by which to educate ourselves and the public.
Of course, one must also remember that the freedom of speech exercised by the bloggers (on this site and otherwise) is the antidote to a political ideology whose key attributes involve intolerance of others: other religions, languages, political views, economic systems, cultural practices, etc. For example of this ideology, see, (link...)
To sum up, I eventually completed my B.A. in History at the same in-state university with high honors and a firm belief that was related to me in my senior year by another professor regarding my senior thesis:
We/you are important-no, crucial-in the dissemination of information. Those who would seek to eliminate ideas contrary to their individual and collective thought process are not disciplined: they are the ones who would devise schemes to encourage the populance to forget our history and their history.
The powers-that-be are the ones that my teachers warned me about.
Tom
Thomas F. Mabry
P. O. Box 52385
Knoxville, TN 37950
Fax 1-888-215-3119
Phone 1-865-271-9224
The F-word
Dr. Mabry:
Thank you for having the fortitude to allude to the F-Word. Most folks are afraid of that word, for it makes their vanity mirror ugly. However, all over our country right now, from the Federal to Local level, it appears that we're experiencing that good ole' Mein Vaterland Über Alles!
The F-Word
BL:
So that you and all know that I can also speak the traditional local language, as to alluding to the F-Word, I can only comment:
Now, someone prove to me that what we are witnessing and have witnessed is not an attempt to silence persons in furtherance of a political agenda and I will gladly listen.*
TFM
* Of course, my comments are made knowing that certain free speech of professionals is appropriately regulated by the governing board of that profession-a power that I contend should be applied with an even hand by said regulatory board to each and every one of the profession's members equally, regardless of the individual's "status" or "stature."
Thomas F. Mabry
P. O. Box 52385
Knoxville, TN 37950
Fax 1-888-215-3119
Phone 1-865-271-9224