Agree.

Though some of us contributors/ detractors/ opinionated so-&-sos/ concerned scribblers/ whatever do tend to ramble on a bit. [Brevity? How do you spell that?] Most people I’ve come across here are pretty straightforward – even if they are tearing you and your opinions up for confetti. I like Larvatus Prodeo because it informs me, it challenges my assumptions and its good [usually] clean fun too.

j-p-z [59]:

Hey, family-size packets of Irony are only $2.99 at Walmart this week. And say Hi to Oscar for me too please. L=O=L

Sorry, it’s just a character flaw of mine, I can never resist the easy ones.

Back into the bin me with me now, to have a nice chat with Oscar the Grouch…

Fair to make a call on it, I think LP has maintained a welcome level of transparency, as well. While I don’t check it out that much, this could also be said of Catallaxy from my limited experience. I’m talking here in terms of content and what comes through between the lines, or in the vibe, as the reason for the content. In the current climate, these two main group blogs exhibit a particular honesty in this regard, which stands out and should be applauded. You don’t feel you’re getting content designed to generate readership-for-revenue.

Mark as the blog owner has been open to readers in relation to monetising the blog – the reasons for that, where the money goes, and how much – which is something Webdiary set out to do with a passion as respect for its readers – and readers cannot but respect that, after the “behind closed doors” backroom agendas (particularly of MSM) creating that underskin irk when the content published gave it away, either obviously or in vibe or elsewhere in its publication as another true and distinctly unpleasant ‘personality’ of it made it onto the page.

I think LP’s a bit long-winded at times in this busy world, and it often skews its writing into its community – but again that achievement of community is not a given for a group blog – and LP is fairly entitled to enjoy in that achievement. As a reader, this is not unpleasant, as the sense of warmth for those contributors involved compensates for the experience of reading what can be a lot of pap. Better for reader(s) to suffer pap from a blog exhibiting often a warm heart and that heart not frightened of showing itself, than to fall into the trap of enjoying a trainwreck brought upon by an unhealthy love of cold cynicism or hidden self-aggrandizement, and leave it feeling worse for visiting.

At least when LP blows its own trumpet it does so openly.

Credit where it’s due, and it’s a pleasure to throw two bobs of it on the table. Good on you, Mark in heading it up, for what you’ve achieved. Those are bloody good stats, and for what it’s worth, I think you’re setting standards in areas which are to be applauded: in transparency, fair-dinkumness and grace.

(Again, I don’t read that many blogs, so I hope others who’ve achieved for themselves the same are not offended. – That said, too, I think the new SL & LE are going to work wonders).

[Meditates quietly on the nature of irony, a force which would appear to drive the universe every bit as much as gravity and electromagnetism]

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/06/12/lp-virtual-soapbox/

I notice Possum is inviting commentators to get involved in a “guest/URL post” section. What about it, Mark?

I think the distinction between policy and process is problematic. First of all I don’t think you and Mark address process and not policy, even defined in their terms.

But policy also deals with process. It is policy for schools to get their returns in by a certain date, and there are policies that relate to how failure to do so should be viewed. This operates in the political sphere as well. Ask Florida and the other state (it’s slipped my mind) about process in relation the the Democratic Party primaries.

Also there seems to be an assumption (I could be wrong about this) that policy is more important than process. Process is the difference between having democracy or not, so I wouldn’t downgrade it.

Sociologists are in large part about uncovering hidden realities, of turning the searchlight on taken-for-granted assumptions, beliefs, values, knowledge, ways of seeing the world. As such processes, power relationships, structures as well as overt policy positions by those who are in a position to make them (which is rightfully subject to question) are bread and butter.

Anyone who thinks sociology is boring is barely alive.

I along with Robert Merkel seem to get the tick of approval. I’ve probably buggered that now.

Mountain View-based Google completed its $3.2 billion acquisition of DoubleClick in March after an extensive antitrust review that focused on whether the deal would give the combined entity too much power over the $40 billion online ad market.

Google also has a financial incentive to bolster newspapers because the stories, pictures and other content that they distribute online creates more opportunities for the company to make money from short advertising links that appear on millions of Web pages each day…

Google’s revenue last year rose 56 percent to $16.6 billion, widening the company’s lead as the Internet’s most profitable business.

On that point, I’d like to encourage more readers to get involved with the comments! To think that LP has such traffic, and yet so many of the comments come from the same people (often pushing the same tired arguments) is rather a disappointment really.

I know websites comments can get a bit out of hand on “anything goes” websites like Atrios, but I personally would very much like to see a more dynamic commenting space for Ozblogistan readers, and LP seems to be the best option right now.

Not so much for me since you cut down on the pin up threads.

Perhap the question could be better rephrased as:

“Is Larvatus Prodeo Australia’s most influential current affrays blog?”

Fuck Rudd said this, the pundits said that and Nelson will say this. No one is ever surprised but always outraged.

Personally I’d rather discuss the looming problematic fun of dirty Russian/Bollywood whacko/PRC cyber units gone private/US guerilla entrepreneurs netentertaiment centipede opertations, running off data haven servers, that are well on their way to making Slitscan look like the Drudge Report -rather than the usual dull and ritualised aAustralian political theatre. The latter is like kabuki without the dynamic stage action and surprise endings. The former’s gonna be our future.

Kim, ‘For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.’ I think I know what it means & why I don’t visit that island anymore. Plenty of policy discussion full of snarkery…where wigs & crowns are worn. Shame really. But such is life in the places of rarefied air.

He undoubtedly has other things to do, as do I. For me State of Origin is number one priority right now!