20 FEB 09: Open InBox Friday
It's been a long and challenging week for me. Nothing much in the news thrilled me Thursday. So we're waving the white flag today, and letting your e- mails rule the discussion. In fact, you can tell how uninspired I am when I borrow titles from Rush Limbaugh.
Your blog has been all over the "social blog" feud of the last week. Today we hear from two leading names in all of this, beginning with the one who broke away:
Richard, This is a letter I sent out to all our members regarding your blog of columbus posting regarding www.columbusgeorgia.ning.com
Please be sure to add this as a comment to your blog.
Thanks
Simon
Over the past few days we have heard about an all out Social Blog Civil War.
This site was not created in the image of another. We created this site to give people another option, another venue to enjoy and be entertained.
IntownColumbus has done a great job of bringing in people with different views and different ideas. But we are not IntownColumbus. We are ColumbusGeorgia. And we want our members to not feel they are restrained from certain topics. Now I have seen where others have said that this a mistake to not put restraints and limitations on subject matters. But you see, that is where we differ. We don't restrain our folks from being themselves and speaking from their hearts.
For so many people out there, they have to adhere to a certain stereotype or ideology to be accepted in life, but not here. We believe in individuality and we respect everyones opinion.
I am not going to debate ITC or any other site for my reasoning on allowing all topics of discussion. But when someone will not let you get your word in, then they are hindering the voice of the people and that is something I will not do.
But of course we have rules like any other site. No profanity and No personal attacks on others. We can agree to disagree. That's the beauty of being an American, where every voice is unique in its own way and we want to hear them.
Change has only occurred when people went against the status quo and only by making your voices heard, can change ever come about. When you limit those voices, you restrain Change. And isn't that what America is all about, Changing for the better idea? I think so, and I hope you do to.
I want to thank each of you for joining our site and becoming a member and inviting others to join. We are not at war with anyone. We just want to be ourselves without people restraining that effort by deletion of discussions or remarks. We want to hear your unique view and we want to know what it is that you think.
We don't care what side of the tracks you came from, what race you are, what sexual orientation you prefer, what God you worship, We just care about you. Again, thank you for the strong support I have seen with our new members and thank you for helping make this site a success. People on IntownColumbus want to thank Abe for making that site a success, when in fact its the members who make it a success. I haven't done anything but give you the tools to make your site the best ever in Columbus. I will not take credit for this sites rapid success. That glory goes to you, the members, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for helping this site grow and succeed.
So Speak Out and Invite Many. 65 members as of today and we are less than a week old. I am so proud of all YOUR hard work to ensure the people of Columbus have a choice for their entertainment needs.
God Bless You All,
Your Humber Site Creator
Simon
For the record: this blog did NOT call it a "civil war." We realize how offensive that phrase is to some readers - but we couldn't really call this a "war between the states," because both S-blogs are in the same city.
A check of the Columbus, Georgia S-blog Thursday night left me a bit confused. At first Simon announced certain leaders of InTown Columbus would be barred from his site. Now that restriction seems to be gone. Perhaps private peace talks were held in the last few days -- using Twitter, no doubt.
The Columbus, Georgia S-blog certainly appears to be diverse. There's now a "Jesus Group" for Christians, as well as an "LGBT Book Group." I'm assuming that abbreviation does NOT mean Large Books for Tables.
As for Abe: he noticed something we wrote Wednesday....
REALLY enjoyed your blog post yesterday Richard ...
This comes from "Abe," one of the masterminds behind InTown Columbus. What we wrote Sunday hasn't really been discussed there. Instead, there's talk of two additional new social blogs with "Columbus, Georgia" in their names. At least no one has gone all the way and named one Columbus, Kansas.
Mastermind? I'll take that as a compliment Richard ... let's get one thing straight ... you're a blogger and I'm a sblogger (host for lack of a better word) and I admire your work. I do appreciate you mentioning ITC on your blog. Some of our best contributors found us as a result of you hyperlinking ITC .... Richard Hyatt has done the same with his blog and we've also been mentioned in the Ledger ... I credit each outlet as a major part of whatever success we've had .... keep up the good work ... OMT, can you check my spelling and grammar should your publish this comment on your blog? ;-)
Yes, a "mastermind" can be a compliment. If you're playing that old table game, it is. If I was talking about a leader of North Korea, that might be different.
Don't worry, Abe -- we always check the spelling and grammar of the people who write us. We normally don't correct it, but we check it....
It's our policy to post e-mails "as is," unless they contain something which is profane, obviously personal or likely to inspire a lawsuit. Our readers are on their honor to check their work before they submit it -- you know, a bit like those English papers in middle school.
And speaking of spelling....
Richard,
Why is it that no one but you at wtvm, uses spell check...... here's a perfect example..
EducationWatch
News school schedule: A week off for Thanksgiving
Posted: Feb 18, 2009 12:15 PM
Updated: Feb 18, 2009 12:15 PM
New = News : when the h**k did writers become so lazy and not spell check...
I know that you are by far, the best writer at that station.
Keep up the good work on the blog.
thank you for your time.
timothy.
Timothy's making an assumption here -- that I always use SpellCheck. Sometimes when I'm a hurry, I don't. And SpellCheck can't help you when you make my most common mistake - leaving key words completely out of the items we .
But come to think of it, that headline might not be completely wrong. Maybe Shaw High School is expanding its morning newscast, and becoming a journalism magnet. The quality of their football teams might drop, but it could happen.
We've also heard from an Ohio blogger who received a link here Wednesday. He wants to make something perfectly clear....
I'm not calling for nor organizing a tax protest. I have no desire to see the inside of a federal prison.
I'm just saying the possibilities are there. After all the revolution started primarily as a tax revolt.
Now now - you don't have to go to prison simply for protesting taxes. Mayor Jim Wetherington has yet to organize a roundup of everyone who voted against the public safety sales tax last year. I think some people are waiting for it, but it hasn't happened yet.
The item we linked predicted "you may see a wide movement of tax resistors, organized or unorganized...." For a long time, it appeared the organized movement was called the Republican Party.
Thanks to all of you who read this blog and write to us! Now for some quick thoughts from the Thursday news....
+ Hardaway High School began a two-day shutdown, so some underground pipes could be replaced. This seems to be a growing problem in Muscogee County schools -- but at least we know something is older than the textbooks.
+ Phenix City attorney Tommy Worthy told WRBL he's organizing a campaign to turn the old Phenix Regional Hospital into a Veterans Administration medical center. Worthy seems to be overlooking something here. Many veterans who receive health care in Tuskegee can take a short side trip to Victoryland.
+ Bruno's announced it will close ten underperforming Alabama supermarkets, including the one in Auburn. The efforts to expand TigerTown about five miles to include it apparently were unsuccessful.
(I used to shop at Bruno's in Atlanta, then at its FoodMax store in Phenix City. Now both are gone - and when the Russell County Commission doesn't want to use your store for office space, that's a bad sign for your company.)
+ Indianapolis Colts linebacker Philip Wheeler returned home to Columbus, and appeared at Key Elementary School. But Wheeler admitted to WRBL the students booed, when he mentioned playing college ball at Georgia Tech. The efforts to promote "One Columbus" need to start at an early age.
+ Jeff Francoeur signed a contract renewal to play baseball in Atlanta. He gets a one-year deal worth $3.4 million - after spending part of last season in class AA minor league ball?! I keep waiting for Democrats in Congress to call a hearing on such obvious overspending....
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