Mr. Burris, Re-Name That Blog!

I stopped by Dave Burris' First State Politics this evening and found a new feature: The Conservative Corner, a new, apparently to-be-regular, guest-post by pro-development activist Rich Collins.

This is Rich's first foray into the world of modern blogging and his bid to stake a claim to be the voice of Sussex County Conservatism. It joins the regular "Jud's Rant" feature in which former Lewes Councilman Jud Bennett has been tracking and commenting on Sussex County issues for some time now.

As I read through Rich's opening essay, I found myself thinking (in the voice of James Earl Jones and with ominous tympani and horn accompaniment), "And so, the battle for the soul of the Sussex County Republican Party begins in earnest."

For those of who don't follow the growth and development issues of Sussex County, Jud and Rich have been often on opposite sides of the argument.

Jud, who ran for County Council some years back and very nearly won, argues for growth control and land-use planning.

Rich fronts an organization known as the Positive Growth Alliance, which campaigns forcefully against state environmental regulations and land-use planning initiatives that it sees as threatening the free market. Or something like that.

Dave Burris is about to become the Chair of the Sussex County Republican Party (once college football is done). His blog has been a well-written, usually clear and respectable voice advocating Republican positions on Delaware and national issues. I give him a great deal of credit for opening his blog to the verbal food-fights of the Sussex Rebublicateria.

But now, as he gets ready to take on a leadership role, I wonder if Dave shouldn't re-name his blog. Something like "Sussex Republicans Gone Wild?"

May I Just Say, For The Record: OUCH!

My leg hurts. Not as much as it was hurting on Saturday, but enough. I'm just coming out of a bout with sciatic pain. I don't like it.

I have chronic problems with my lower back. They have something to do with my being 45 years old, over-weight, and out of condition. Every once in a while, over the last few years, things have flared up, causing discomfort. This week-end, I got the full effect.

It is my own fault, of course. I had been feeling some sciatic pain for a few days, but I volunteered to drive Christina and some of her fellow dancers up to Newark on Saturday for a Dance-School audition.

When I got out of the car in Newark, the pain came on in full. From then on, I was unable to find a comfortable position, standing or sitting. I spent the day leaning on the backs of chairs or hobbling along with burning daggers twisting in the back of my thigh.

Luckily, Karen had come along and was able to drive home. The ride home was rough. When we pulled into Lewes, I asked Karen to just head over to the Hospital so I could beg the ER doctor for some relief.

I must have been a sight in the waiting room. I was completely focused on enduring. When they took me back to the treatment room, I was shuffling along feeling very sorry for myself -- until I saw the various broken bodies already in the ER.

They took me to a room and asked me to strip to my skivvies and put on a gown to await a Doctor. That was tough; I was having trouble bending and reaching down. But I got it mostly done. Soon I was leaning on the back of a chair with the gown, untied, hanging from around my neck. Waiting.

When the doctor came in, he had two Sussex County Paramedics in tow. The EMS staff were shadowing the Doctors that night.

The Doctor took one look at me and made a sign for me not to say anything. He turned to one of the Paramedics and asked if he could tell what my problem was.

The Paramedic looked me up and down very briefly and said something like, "The way he's having to stand like that, I'd say it's sciatica."

I guess I'm not very original.

The Doctor was very nice. He made sure that I understood what was going on and how to treat it.

Sciatica is not a disease but is a set of symptoms that occur when the sciatic nerve, which runs down the leg, gets pinched or compressed. Short-term treatments can address either muscle-spasm or muscle and nerve inflammation. Or both.

In my case, they gave me a muscle-relaxant shot and prescriptions for a muscle-relaxant, a pain-killer, and an anti-inflammatory. I didn't like the muscle-relaxant; it just made me woozy. The anti-inflammatories, however, work fairly well.

So here I am, two days later, still sore and walking gingerly. I don't much like it.

Taking Action Against Abuse of the News Journal's "Comments" Web Section

Like many Delaware bloggers, I have by turns been horrified by, and fumed about, some of the comments that are posted in response to stories on the News Journal web site. I've just sent an e-mail to the supposed monitors of the site, calling their attention to one problem. We'll see if they fix it.

The News Journal, like many newspapers, has added commenting to its on-line offerings so that readers can react to, and interact about, news stories. Theoretically, this might increase knowledge and foster constructive discussions. In reality, that's only sometimes the case.

Regular commenters on the News Journal site have proven to include some vicious and hate-filled individuals. Stories about fatal shootings of persons who were engaged in criminal activity, or were suspected of being criminals, routinely generate responses such as "It's a shame he didn't kill the other two as well. Would've been 3 less pieces of scum the taxpayers have to support instead of just one!!"

Many of the comments reveal a deep and nasty strain of racism in Delaware society. And the venom directed at those commenters who might suggest compassion, mercy, or restraint is disheartening.

The News Journal does have a link to "report abuse" on its forum pages, though not on the News Story pages, where comments are tacked on at the end. I have sent a few of these reports in the past, but I don't know if action has been taken on any of them. I have seen occasional markers that indicate a post has been removed by a moderator, but the volume of anger has not abated.

This morning, I spotted a comment that looked fishy to me, rather than hate-filled. In response to a story on a potential new subdivision, a user calling him- or herself "Rix" posted the URL of what purports to be Delaware "Business Rating" web site. The comment was worded in such a way as to slightly relate to the news story, but I was suspicious and so I clicked on the "profile" button to see what else this Rix has posted.

The profile pages include a link to "Find all posts by [user]." Rix has posted eight comments on the News Journal site in the last two months, all of which suggest visiting this same web site. It looks like Rix has added his comment-ad to any story that has anything to do with consumer complaints.

This is a form of comment spam. It's not as evil as the automated and often nonsensical comment spamming that hit blogs a few years back. And it must be said that the site that Rix links to may in fact be a legitimate and useful site. But spam is spam and the best that can be said of these comments is that they are noise.

So I have sent an Abuse Report to the News Journal. And I have specifically, though politely, asked that I be notified when an action is taken.

I will be curious to see what happens.

I'd Know That Stone's Slouch Anywhere

Rooting around in the cut-out bin of the internet this evening, I came across a video of a performance including Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino posted on a Swedish site called "Mr. Dante Fontana's Visual Guidance LTD." (Really)

Hearing three of the great rock piano bangers playing all together was worth a click. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There's no information with the clip. It looks like a television show, or some sort of benefit concert. The band is led by the ubiquitous music-elf, Paul Shaffer, who earns equal measures of my respect and my eye-rolling. He's a sometimes annoying presence, but no one puts together all-star pick-up bands as well as Shaffer.

What surprised me in this case, though, was how quickly I was able to pick Rolling Stone Ron Wood out of the dark, out-of-focus background. Other than Shaffer, and the three legends, the rest of the band is mostly in shadow and fuzzy.

Ron Wood, however, stands in a distinctive slouch over his guitar. It's a stance he shares with his band-mate Keith Richards and it goes with their loose-limbed, loping style of rock and roll.

I recognized him by his outline and his lazy grooving behind a piano-pounding Jerry Lee Lewis.

One More On Transitions

David A., who blogs semi-anonymously and quasi-regularly as "The Delaware Right," is terribly upset at the Democratic take-over in Washington. He calls today "A Dark Day in Our Country's History."

I would respond to his doom-seeing on his blog, but Mr. A. has his comments turned resolutely off.

Welcome, Weary MBA Student

When you have a chance, pay a visit to Dino's Journal.

Dino is a young man from Indonesia who will be arriving in Delaware this month as an MBA student at the University of Delaware.

He recently tried out PlaceBlogger and found Newarking. He was pleased to learn a bit more about the place he'll be studying.

I've added him to my blog-roll and look forward to his impressions of our small state.

Staying the Same, the More Things Change

I've been watching the change-overs of various governments around the nation this week. There are a couple of things to note.

In Congress
The big story in Congress, of course, is Nancy Pelosi taking over as Speaker of the House. That she is our first woman speaker will be well-covered elsewhere. I like Martha Burke's take on that on TomPaine.com when she writes "This Just In: Pelosi Is A Woman."

I was planning to post about the symbolism of Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) using a Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson for his swearing-in. Dana, at Delaware Watch, beat me to it.

Dana points to an article on Forbes.com on the use of the Jefferson-owned Koran copy. I saw the story this evening in a news release on the Library of Congress site (Thomas Jefferson's Copy of the Koran To Be Used in Congressional Swearing-in Ceremony). The book, an English translation that dates from 1734, is now part of the Library's collection.

I like this quote from the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington:

Jefferson believed that there was no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer. As the nation's library, and as a symbol of the central role that free access to information plays in a knowledge-based democracy, the Library continues to collect internationally, on all subjects, and in more than 470 languages.

In the States
There were a few notes from the change-overs of Governors that also caught my eye.

In Massachusetts, outgoing Governor Mitt Romney apparently did bit of patronage-packing on his way out of the Governor's Mansion and into the Republican Presidential Primary fray. The Boston Globe reported yesterday:

Governor Mitt Romney, despite his stated opposition to patronage appointments, installed more than 200 Republican activists, current and former state employees, and others to boards and commissions in December, including departing Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.

Apparently, Romney had complained back in 2002 when his predecessor did much the same thing. He was quoted back then as saying "I will look for people to get jobs based on what they know, not who they know."

Things change.

Meanwhile, down in Florida, new Governor Charlie Crist signed his first Executive Order yesterday. As reported in The Ledger:

Charlie Crist's first move as governor is tackling bureaucratic language and barriers to public information that he criticized Wednesday as an "arrogance" in state government that intentionally distances itself from citizens.

Surrounded by TV cameras and reporters, Crist signed an executive order Wednesday morning that requires each state agency to "adopt a plan to implement Plain Language guidelines" to "communicate in a clear, easily understood manner."

I wish him, and all my friends in Florida state government, the very best of luck with that. Honestly. I know I am a word fan (Lexiphile?), but I do think that, in communication from government agencies, simplicity and clarity are important.

I just don't think they are very likely.

Cold. But Sunny and Quiet.

I had an extra day off for New Year's because of the National Day of Mourning for President Gerald Ford. Delaware State Government offices were closed. I took the opportunity to walk around the Point of Cape Henlopen in the afternoon. With my camera.

It was cold, but not as cold as it should have been in January. The sun was shining strongly and the sky was appropriately blue.

The beach was empty, but for a few seagulls. It was wonderfully solo out there.

There were untouched, newly blown dunes. The tide was low, offering me shallows to explore and offering snacks for the gulls.

The winter air was clear, offering a glimpse of Cape May on the northern horizon.

A walk around the point features two historic lighthouses. The Harbor of Refuge Light is on the outer breakwater off the point of the Cape. The East End Lighthouse is on the inner breakwater, within the inner arc of the Point. I take lots of pictures of these.

Crossing the dune, back to the Point Parking lot, I noticed one of the Delaware River and Bay Pilots Association boats headed out into the Atlantic. As I reached the top of the dune, I could see a large container ship waiting just off Hen and Chicken Shoals.

I took much this same photo walk with Christina late last January. I think it should become a tradition.

An Albino Deer? Or An Echo From the Distant Past?

Driving past the old parade ground in Cape Henlopen State Park this afternoon, I saw a small heard of deer grazing by the tree line. This is not unusual; the Whitetail Deer feel safe enough to graze there most of the year.

What caught my eye, though, was an apparently all-white deer. I had to try for a photo.

This was taken at a distance and with a bit of zoom. It is not as sharp as I would like. In addition, the white deer seemed to shine in the late-day sun. I was not able to get it properly in focus.

Are there albino deer? There seem to be. From my quick research, I'm guessing that this was either an albino or a piebald deer.

I was also fascinated to find references to a legend of a Great White Deer from the Lenape people who first lived in this area.

Looking Ahead to 2007

I've been thinking about New Year's Resolutions.

Mine are simple. I plan to pursue health: physical, mental and spiritual. They are connected.

I've also been looking around the Delaware blogosphere to see what other folks are thinking as they look at the year ahead.

I'm collecting links to "New Year Thoughts" on my flickr account. Here are a few things that jump out at me.

• Joe, at Merit-Bound Alley, has a clear-eyed view of how he can use his blog to help affect change. We're not all going to be the leading political bloggers; some of use are supporting voices.
• Guest-ranter Jud, at First State Politics, will continue to be one of the leading voices. That's appropriate; he has been and probably will again be a candidate. I think Jud needs his own blog in 2007.
• Taylor, at Mac'N'Cheese, offers a recipe for Hoppin' John And Collard Greens. I don't plan to make that dish, but I will be tracking healthy recipes from Taylor this year.

I'll be adding to my tag-list today, and may update these bullets as well.