My First Entry

I first encountered blogs from a news article about Salaam Pax's blog on Iraq, I think it was in the Guardian. It didn't give a link, but I searched on the text "Where's Raed" and eventually found it. I was completely blown away by the potential of this new medium for taking control of the news out of the hands of large news organizations and into the hands of individual people. I had been looking for years for good alternative sources for news, especially from outside of the U.S., that would represent other opinions of what was going on in the world, and this exactly fit the bill. I think one of the problems of the big news organizations is that they don't have access to good sources in areas like the Middle East, and they basically just publish the press releases of those in charge. Blogs from people inside these areas are a perfect way around this.

For my own part, I have a lot of opinions about what is going on in the world, and I really wanted a place to air them. Especially since my wife is getting pretty tired of hearing them. :) Of course, I would love to hear peoples opinions of what I have to say, either pro or con.

I would like to take a moment to give recognition and thanks to those blogs who have inspired me the most:

- Where's Raed - The first blog I ever read, and a great source of information about how Iraqis viewed the war.

- Baghdad Burning - I really admire this girl for putting herself on the line to express her opinions of what is going on over there. She really makes what is going on over there a more personal experience for anyone who reads her blog. Whenever she doesn't write for a while, I get worried that something has happened to her.

- Turning Point - I wanted to get a soldier's view of what was going on over there as well, and Turning Point gave some very intelligent and well thought out opinions on the subject. He's back in the U.S. now. It's too bad he's stopped writing.

- Healing Iraq - I really like the way the stories of his work and career show what it's like to live in Iraq these days. Like Riverbend (Baghdad Burning), his blogs really open your eyes to what most peoples lives are like in Iraq these days.

- Ture Porn Clerk Stories - This one is obviously not about Iraq, but I'm interested in seeing different parts of the world from different perspectives, not just Iraq, and she is definitely seeing a different part of the world than I am.

It's probably only fair to tell you a little bit about myself, so that you can know where these ideas are coming from. I am a 40 something year old Software Engineer from Southern California. I'm married, have a few kids, etc.. I prefer to remain otherwise anonymous because I want to be free to say what I really think without worrying about some wierdo taking offense and targeting my family. I'm probably being a bit paranoid, after all, probably no one is even going to read this, but that's just the way I am.

So long for now,
LeRoy