This is one of my strongest self edits ever. I began writing an article, wrote about 30 words, then decided better. I killed it. Yes, it is in response to my feelings about the current events on JU, yes, it would have established pretty clearly which side I tend to favor in several of the current conflicts. But it would have hurt a LOT of feelings. A LOT. And while I don't mind getting into it on political views, I don't want to get into it on the personal views. The fact is, I care to...

The following is unsolicited. In the wake of the longer than expected delay in blogging, I thought I'd toss out a few suggestions for a JU premium program based on the program components that I, personally would pay for. I don't know enough about computer programming to know how much is practical, but felt that offering some input from a consumer's perspective might help guide the programmers of this site in implementing something that is being considered anyway. I believe JU is a marketable ...

I've been opinionated since the day I first arrived on JU (OK, so I didn't exactly get off to a stellar start with the "Mary Kate" article, but hey, it's still the number one). I've tried to be reasonable and respectful in many of my writings, and have tried to put out an insightful, quality product. Lately, though, I've noticed that former regulars are avoiding me like the plague, and those who comment are commenting as if I'd committed some sort of personal offense against them. I've even d...

I had a very interesting, very intellectually stimulating "live" discussion with an individual from JU last night. We disagreed pretty fundamentally on the topics we discussed, but when all was said and done, it was a pretty cool conversation. Neither one of us "converted" the other, and the individual gave me several very insteresting, very compelling points for discussion. And so, I got to thinking: while it occasionally happens on my blog, there are several good, compelling articles I've w...

I have a set of goals for 2006. I didn't do resolutions, because they just don't work. But a new year IS a good time to evaluate where you've come from and where you're going. By this time next year, my primary goal is to be preparing for inauguration in the Texas State Legislature. Every other goal takes a back seat to that. While I realize that I am a dark horse, even in the two person race I face, I am not content with the words "moral victory" to define this campaign. In other words, I d...

We've all been there before. The "New Blogger on the block", putting out our writing and hoping that somehow we will be seen on the large, impersonal internet. Somehow, we make it to the point where our articles are read. This is one reason why I am so fond of JoeUser's format. My articles receive a wide readership here, while I would be struggling to promote them on other sites. If I write an article, my work ranks high in the google search engines on the subject matter because of the promin...

Well, this will probably be my last article before Tuesday. Unless something pressing crosses myn eyes in the next 15 minutes or so, this will be my last online session before the library reopens Tuesday morning. So, have a merry Christmas, one and all, and I'll see you next week. In the meantime, I am sure I'll have a few more  comments to post before returning to real life.

So, here's the scenario. I come into the library this morning, log on, and quickly find the latest "farewell blog" from a blogger who has basically made a whole blog of farewell blog's. The gist is this: you guys aren't treating me the way I want to be treated, so I'm gonna take my ball and go home. My response: fine. Don't let the door hit you. You may be fed up with us because our answers don't extol your virtues and extol you as the purveyor of all wisdom, but, frankly, I'm equally fed up ...

I've watched some of the recent JU drama from the sidelines. I don't want to jump in the middle of it as I can see something of each side's perspective, but I DO want to offer a little bit of advice that I hope EVERYONE can take from the table. Blogs are a fairly new phenomenon for many of us. If you're in your mid thirties, as I am, chances are you haven't been involved with the internet for more than 1/3 of your lifespan, and for many of us possibly significantly less. During that time, eve...

As many of you know, as an activist against CPS abuse of power, I frequent the fightcps.com website. While this website provides A LOT of good information, it provides evidence of why you should check your sources before reporting something as fact. One of the posters posted an article as a joke (my guess is, he was wanting to research how many people actually checked their source). The article referred to a lesbian mom who had adopted a son and was planning to give the son a sex change opera...

For those of you keeping score at home, I am making a format change to my "sister" blog site (linked on sidebar). On it, I will be posting articles that pertain to topics of interest such as homeschooling, homesteading and the like. This is to give those interested in those topics easier access to the information, as well as to separate the identities of the two blogs, rather than make them virtual clones (even though some articles may still appear on both sites). I believe the blogspot site...

I saw another blogger lambasted today for apparently "stealing" another blogger's idea and incorporating it into their own article. Having been previously accused of the same, I felt it was a good topic for discussion. When I log on to JU, I don't have the time to peruse blog articles of the last several days. Being limited to a few hours' access three or four times a week, once I have purged, checked, and answered my email, I read the recent forum posts. Then I begin blogging on article...

I have lately been inundated with popunders from the sites I surf. At first, I thought it had to do entirely eith the sites I surfed via blogexplosion and blogclicker (as I run three separate windows when I surf). But as I went across another JU blogger's site, it became clear: SOME of those popups, at least, are coming from JU blogsites (before you ask, I don't have the option of downloading software to kill these pesky mosquitos...it's a library computer, 'member?). I realize that there ...

I was reading the blog of another person whose material I read because I regard the person as a "friend" in the acquaintance sense of the word. Interestingly enough, we've never met...but there's a scant degree of separation between the two of us. And if it were not for the internet, this person would remain a complete unknown to me (although we probably wouldn't know the same people). Here's how it went down, for you newbies. You see, my family and I had moved to a forbidding hellhole so...

JoeUser's going through another one of it's personal battles. So, in the interest of restoring civility, I decided to abandon my usual political bent for one article and blog about "fluffy" bunnies". I mean, if we can't all agree on "fluffy bunnies", what CAN we agree on. So, here it goes. There it is, for all you aesthetes out there...pictures of fluffy bunnies for your peaceful enjoyment. BUT... Because I cannot live without SOME strife, I've decided to provide some ...