The Baron’s List: Small Is Beautiful
In the last two years I have gradually switched from news sites to blogs as my way of gathering news on the web. If you stay current on a range of blogs, you will encounter all the news stories that you want to know about, many of which would never show up on CNN, or even on Fox.
At first my sources were mostly the “big blogs”, the reliable and informative ones that perform such a valuable service. But I found that as I spread my net wider, acquiring new contacts through the comments on Gates of Vienna, the “little blogs” can be just as informative and interesting as the big ones.
So today we are celebrating some of the blogs we like to visit, ones that are less well-known than some but still deserving of attention. They feed us a lot of our traffic, and we in turn spend time lurking on their posts, commenting on their threads, and poking around in their archives.
I can’t include everyone on this list, but here is a representative sample:
- At the top of my list has to be Fjordman, who is performing an invaluable service for the world. He blogs from Norway, so he is living dangerously, since European laws restrict speech for PC reasons, and he is as un-PC as they come. He has a dark view of the European future, so don’t go to him for reassurance. But rely on him for wide-ranging news from all over the world, and not just Scandinavia. He may be taking a sabbatical soon, and we will miss him. So go check out Fjordman while you can.
- Florida Cracker brings a crusty and eccentric voice to the blogosphere; there is no one else quite like her. She has an eye for strange and whimsical news stories, and her blog will supply you with very interesting links, ones she culls from her careful perusal of the South Florida newspapers. Warning: don’t join in one of her comment threads if you have a sensitive nature, because she pulls no punches.
- For extensive digests of the news, nobody tops Cuanas. If I just want to find out what’s going on in the world, particularly as it relates to the Great Jihad, I drop in on Cuanas.
- Indus Valley Rising is a new voice in the ’sphere, looking at the Great Jihad from a Hindu perspective.
- For pure unadulterated history, the place to go is World History Blog. Miland posts on every historical topic imaginable.
- El Jefe Maximo, blogging at Kingdom of Chaos, is another history buff. I have to stay on my toes, because I know that if I make a historical error, Jefe will soon appear in the comments to set me straight.
- The boys at Redneck’s Revenge are another important source of Jihad news. In addition, interesting and knowledgeable people turn up in the comment threads there.
- There are many important milblogs, but one of my favorites is CDR Salamander, who has quirky personality all his own.
- I also count The Word Unheard as a milblog, even though the Vet is not currently serving. He ranges widely through military, intelligence, and historical topics.
- Neddy has opinions, and doesn’t mind blogging them. She can be found at two locations: Neddy’s Palaver and Kerfuffles.
- Jamie Jeffords, blogging at Eye of Polyphemus, took up serious blogging after experiencing a host of medical troubles, ones that would have driven a lesser man into terminal despair. He provides informed commentary on many subjects, and can entertain the reader with the medical expertise that he has acquired.
- Robert Pearson blogs at New Victorian, and is an “unabashed admirer of human freedom and dignity. An unapologetic opponent of those who would take them from others by force. Cultural relativists will be beaten with a logic stick. Finally, if you really believe that ‘A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,’ then don’t come around my boy, or you will get the real stick upside the head.”
- Those of us who have lived in Northern Virginia know that it is a significant front in the American Theatre of the Great Islamic Jihad. Northern Virginiastan monitors the ongoing absurdities and the incipient dhimmitude in the D.C. area.
- For outrageous satire, don’t miss Point Five. When the Wizbang awards come along this year, I’ll be voting repeatedly for a4g and his accomplices in the satire department.
- Bill Keezer keeps a wary eye on the world at Bill’s Comments. Brief posts with extensive links give the reader access to a wide spectrum of information.
- Greg at Toe in the Water is a relative newcomer to the blogosphere, blogging extensively on all current topics.
- Minh Duc is a Vietnamese-American, a former member of the military, and an astute analyst. Read his take on events at State of Flux.
- Last, but not least, is Neo-neocon. She is a recovering liberal, and speaks eloquently of the difficulties and soul-searching that led her to her new political views. Liberals jolted out of their former place by the Great Jihad are in a thankless position: they are often reviled and repudiated by their former friends and colleagues, and if they work in the federal bureacracy, academia, or the media, they can face ostracism and harassment. The center-right blogosphere is a big tent, with plenty of room for differing views. Stop in at Neo’s place and hear what she has to say; it’s worth listening to.
One other person who should be included here is PD111, known to his friends as “111”. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t have a blog of his own, but he comments widely in the blogosphere; if you drop in on almost any comment thread, he is likely already to have commented there. Virtually everything he has to say is well-written, informative, and worth reading. (PD111, if you are reading this: You need your own blog. Seriously. Dymphna and I would invite you to blog here, if we could obtain an email address for you.)
These are some of the voices that can aggregate to form the perfect swarm I’ve been talking about. Readers are strongly advised to pay them a visit.
UPDATE: I have been taken to the woodshed by Texas Gal, so I now know that I should have said, “The boys ’n’ girls at Redneck’s Revenge are another important source of Jihad news. In addition, they are alert and ornery critters.”
Another response was from Donnah, aka Florida Cracker: “‘Crusty and eccentric’? I did not know that about myself. Now show me a picture of the back of my hair.”
Thanks for including me on your list, Baron. I am honored. Although I haven’t published a list, you are also at the top of mine.
We have a radio reporter out here in LA who broke the story about the Hizb ut-Tahrir guys who wanted to shoot up the National Guard recruiting offices. At first the reporter said Hizb was an unknown group. Obviously, they are not, so I sent him links to
1)Jihad Watch
2) LGF
3) Gates of Vienna
4) CUANAS.
Yes, I am at the top of my list.
😉
Anyway, like I said, I am honored.
Bless your heart…
Just a gentle little bitty correction Baron. NOT all the boys and Redneck’s Revenge are BOYS. If your turn your attention to the contributors list at Redneck’s you will see TEXAS GAL.
As in not-a-guy! Or a boy!
However, I am one of the GALS .. a lonely posture I do admit. But I do strive to hold my own there!
Texas Gal aka “The Sniper”
BTW
Thanks for the recognition! It is greatly appreciated.
Is Dymphna this hard to get along with Baron? 😉
Seriously thanks for the recognition.
In addition, interesting and knowledgeable people turn up in the comment threads there.
The same of which can be said for here. RR is not a blog so much as it is a collection of “news commenters”, all of whom have access to the front page if they feel a long-winded rant comin on.
Thats not the way it started out. It was originally a platform for me to rant without the threat of banishment hangin over my head, but unlike you I quickly ran out of new material other than creative new ways to kill Muslims, and it has morphed into a straight current events website designed particularly to generate discussion on the topic of the day.
Thanks again for the plug, and I am flattered that you frequent it.
Thanks for the plug Baron. Your blog is #2 on my read list behind Michael Yon. I am honored to be included with the bloggers you mention.
And thank you for your blog that opened my eyes more completely than any other to the true magnitude of the Jihadist threat.
Baron, thank you for including me on your list. I appreciate it and I hope to continue to draw attention to quality history sites.
Keep up the good work at Gates of Vienna.
Miland Brown
Very kind of you to mention New Victorian, Baron. I’m pleased and honored to have you as a reader!
This account of a woman who survived a “honour killing” should be read.
A TRUE STORY OF ISLAMIC SLAVERY- THIS IS HOW THEY TREAT THIER WOMEN
http://uppompeii.blogspot.com/
On this thread in the comments section, I have posted a link to the writings of a poster known as have_mercy on Dhimmi Watch. What he writes about the way black Christians were caught in Sudan to be sold as slaves, is one the most disturbing essays I have read in a long while. I would dearly like to refute have_mercy, for his essay shames me as a human being.
There a few of other articles that are worth reading on this site, while you are there.
1. ISLAMIC SLAVERY
2. ISLAMIC UPGRADE freebies from your taxes
3. IF YOU WANT TO KILL A CULTURE-DESTROY THE LANGUAGE.
All of them are worth reading.
In this Great conflict that we are in, I had never considered the role of language. That is, the destruction of language and the consequent destruction of culture. This topic may be of interest to GoV commentators.
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Dymphna: Thank you very much for your kind words. I’m content that the truth of Islam as the RoP, is well and truly out.
Back in the eighties, in the immediate afternmath of the Rushdie affair, I wrote to the MSM
of the threat islam posed to the most important value of Western civilisation – Freedom of expression. Needless to say, my family and I were subjected to threatening phone calls at all of the day and night. Since then I became acutely aware of the threat we faced. Now, unfortunately as it is to say it, as a consequence of 9/11, I’m more sanguine that we will will win. In the very unlikely event of our defeat, it will not be due to default or ignorance.
I will consider setting up a blog but in the meantime I’m grateful for the space that you allow me on your site.
There are few blog sites that approach their subject matter with the intellectual rigour of GoV. You are also lucky in the commentators that respond with clarity and thought.
Thank you again for your very kind words.
DP111
UPDATE: I have been taken to the woodshed by Texas Gal, so I now know that I should have said, “The boys ’n’ girls at Redneck’s Revenge are another important source of Jihad news. In addition, they are alert and ornery critters.”
And you took it so well too!
Sorry Baron, I didn’t intend to be seen as ungrateful for the plug of Redneck’s Revenge. But you see as the ONLY female willing to contribute there and, more often than not, the ONLY female willing to take a stand and express her opinions, there have been more moments than I’d like to acknowledge of being brushed aside and dismissed by some commenters because of it. So RT knew being referred to as one of the boys was going to strike a cord in me!
My apologies for my orneriness .. 🙂
Well, I sure can’t brush aside the female contributor on this site. Boy, just think what would happen to me if I did…
Thank you for your kind words. If it was’s for Gate of Vienna, my, blog would not have the readership it has.
By the way speaking of “Gates of Vienna” (the historical event), Eugene of Savoy is one of my favorite. I always thought he left France to offer his service to the Hapsburg is because the Austrian was more deserving. Austria was afterall a tolerant multi-ethnics empire, unlike France.
Minh-Duc — you’re right about tolerance in Austria-Hungary. The Empire is what made tolerance possible — it set limits on what the groups could do to each other. After the end of the Habsburgs, they could all go for each other’s throats.
But, of course, the German-speaking people were in charge, generally speaking. Hungarians were not quite co-equals.
Speaking German was not that all important in the Empire. Afterall, Prince Eugene of Savoy never learned German. He spoke French throughout his life. Luckily, the emperors (father and son) spoke French too.
Thank you for including me. I am flattered.
Baron,
Thank you kindly for mentioning Indus Valley Rising. I only wish I had some of the more recent articles up there when you posted.
In any case, on Indus Valley Rising is a new posting I think may interest readers from both a socio-economic perspective and a human interest perspective: Industry, Redundancy, and Coping with Hurricane Katrina.