FIC and their UNREASONABLE answers

Brian in comments at the FIC Blog:

Spazeboy disagrees with us on broad issues, but on the particular issue we were debating he was the only one who offered a clear solution. Post a screenshot of our statistics. We did that, and it shows clearly that we were not lying about anything.

What you posted proved clearly that you had deceived your readers. Whether through deliberate attempts or ignorance, a deception is a lie. Also, I told you in the comments to put up a public sitemeter to prove me wrong.

If you are not getting page views even close to the 350,000 number it is impossible for you to be getting the hits. Put your sitemeter on the net and let it tell the truth. As For now, the graphics I linked out speak the obvious truth. You don’t have the traffic to support claims of those numbers. In fact the stats suggest your site is in decline. But your post says you are growing? Mighty confusing, eh? Also much of the traffic to your site is the same/similar traffic that goes to all of the “Family Institute” sister sites in other states. Suggesting that much of your traffic is likely from out of State.

I linked out to unbiased Blog tracking sites. Just because you say something does not make it true. Prove me wrong and I will amend or retract the post.

That was a most reasonable answer to your problem. I was correct in everything that I wrote, and yet you don’t consider that reasonable enough for your site?

In that diary you wite after realizing that what I pointed out about your hit counts was correct:

An apology may be in order here. Perhaps he thinks that hits are not the best indicator of readership. The more I learn, the more I agree with that.

Yet, instead of actually making an apology you go into a HUGE BUT BUT BUT:

But, please, don’t accuse someone of lying without taking some basic steps to get your facts straight.

P.S. Drinking Liberally still can’t admit to the fact that he was wrong, plain and simple.

I am therefore including a link to a screenshot of our statistics (following Spazeboy’s advice, who has been the most civil in this discussion) that shows clearly we were not lying. Period. We never lied, attempted to deceive, or distorted the numbers. Drinking Liberally got it completely wrong.

I had my facts straight. Even you had to admit that. I was correct, plain and simple.

I am tempted to say that your embarrassment at having been called out BIG TIME, not just by me but here and here by ConnecticutBLOG and MLN as well by those pesky LIBERAL FACTS, may be what is holding you back from actually making an apology to your readers, and from acknowledging that not only am I an opponent, but in fact a reasonable one. Reasonable enough that I even forewarned you that I would be calling you out on your claimed readership.

This vanity you are exhibiting only further exemplifies the points of what I wrote about your being a pious fraud, etc., something that I told you in the comments I was quite reasonably willing to retract or amend if you could prove me wrong. Something I am still willing to do IF you actually ever make an apology to your readers for the deceptions, and IF you consider ammending the posts that label me as drunk and unreasonable for pointing out these facts about your deceptions.

As ctblogger noted in his update:

Oh man, these guys just don't get it. These guys are opening up a can of worms and I don't think they know how big of a hole they're making for themselves.

Are they aware that they're messing around with the big boys? FIC, I appeal to you to stop before you embarrass yourselves even more.

Now, I know I am not one of the "big boys" of Connecticut political Blogging, but I also know that FIC is digging the hole deeper. Clearly they have not proven me wrong in any of my charges. BUT I am willing to give FIC a SECOND CHANCE to prove me wrong on the points about their character.

It won’t change the fact that I disagree with you on almost every topic you write about - since I am for Marriage Equality, politically Pro-Choice, against public money for private schools, believe strongly in The Wall of Seperation, etc. etc. - but that is a different story…

Christmas For The Veterans

I hope that many people will consider supporting this effort. I know I will.

Dear Friends,

Later this month, thousands upon thousands of our nation’s veterans will be spending the holidays away from their families while recuperating in Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals. Drastically under-funded VA budgets mean that long-distance calls for the patients aren’t covered – and on a veteran’s pension, phone charges can really mount up.

So while others talk the talk about supporting the troops, we’re going to walk the walk – and support our veterans by giving them phone cards so they can call their loved ones over the holidays.

There are two ways you can help get phone cards to veterans this holiday season:

Donate to Help Buy the Cards
$5, $10 or $20 will make a big difference; a $20 contribution will mean that six veterans each get two hours of long-distance calls to their families. Click here for more information and to contribute: http://www.workingassets.com/phonecardsforveterans

Help Us Deliver the Cards In Person
We’re setting up visits to VA Hospitals all over the country on December 18th to deliver the donated phone cards in person. Click here to find the VA facility nearest you and sign up to help with delivery: http://www.workingassets.com/phonecarddeliveryvisits

This is a joint project of Working Assets, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Gold Star Families for Peace, and Iraq Veterans Against the War.


We hope you can participate; just click on one of the links above!

Thanks!
- Veterans For Peace
David Cline, VFP Board of Directors President
Michael T. McPhearson, Executive Director

Saudis reportedly funding Iraqi Sunnis

Saudis reportedly funding Iraqi Sunnis

Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.

Saudis are already funding the insurgents in Iraq. Should this surprise anyone considering most of the hijackers on 9-11 were Saudis?

And, of course, remember this:

Last week, a Saudi who headed a security consulting group close to the Saudi government, Nawaf Obaid, wrote in the Washington Post that Saudi Arabia would use money, oil and support for Sunnis to thwart Iranian efforts to dominate Iraq if American troops pulled out. The Saudi government denied the report and fired Obaid.

Of course the Saudis would offer to help the Sunni Arabs in Iraq if the USA pulled out. Just an opportunity for the Saudis to make their unofficial policy official. Ya think? And Mr. Bush wants the US military to remain in Iraq for... FOR WHAT?

For the Iraq insurgents' target practice.

What a fucking sad-sack piece of shit president.

Scarce at MLN points out that even GOP politicians with a half-a-fucking-clue are begining to get the point.

In an emotional speech on the Senate floor Thursday night, Sen Gordon Smith, a moderate Republican from Oregon who has been a supporter of the war in Iraq, said the U.S. military's "tactics have failed" and he "cannot support that anymore."

Smith said he is at, "the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up the same bombs, day after day.

"That is absurd," he said. "It may even be criminal."

The fact that Gordon Smith is up for re-election in 2008 says it all about why the GOP were swept out of Congress on November 7th. Even the GOP cannot continue to ignore this reality:

Americans voted to get us the fuck out of Iraq.

If you are a politician you better learn that lesson well if you ever hope to get elected OR re-elected.

Mr. Bush, The ISG, and REALITY

(h/t C&L)
William M. Arkin at the WaPo Blog Early Warning:

Not What the American or Iraqi People Want:

"Here's how I see Iraq playing out in the short term: The president makes an announcement within a month about his 'new' plan. Washington is ever so pleased with a new approach. But the a la carte plan is seen by the Iraqis for what it is; it is not a U.S. timetable for withdrawal. It is not an unequivocal pledge not to establish permanent bases. It is sovereignty and authority in name only for Iraq with continued American control behind the scenes. I can't see who any of this equivocation will deflate the insurgency or stem the hatred for America that is fueled by our presence.

The 'plan,' in other words, is neither what the American people nor the Iraqi people want."

Reading stuff like this makes me hope that ideas like Dennis Kucinich's gets some serious consideration from politicians that need to understand why they swept the GOP out of Congress on November 7th.

Why More College Grads Aren't Rushing To Get Married

They just can't afford it.

Instead of worrying about Gay and Lesbian marriages some groups might do better to concentrate on the massive debt loads that bury college grads who go out into a job market with shrinking wages leaving them barely able to, if they even can, pay off the debts for years afterwards.

Every American kid deserves the chance to live the American dream.

What do you get from "Centrist" politicians?

Arianna Huffington over at HuffPo:

"Hot on the heels of the release of the Iraq Study Group Report -- and a day in which 10 U.S. servicemen were killed and at least 84 Iraqis were blown up or shot -- prospective presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will join with Joe Lieberman to hold a press conference today at 3 pm ET to announce the launch of a television PSA campaign about... video game ratings.

Oh. My. God."

Oh. My. God. 2

As sufi over at MLN said:

"If Lieberman is truly concerned about the level of violence in society, he could first start by not cheerleading for more bloodshed in Iraq with calls for additional troops!"

I can see the point in that argument. Video games don't kill Americans, but a deployment to Iraq does.

As for what politicians that aren't trying to convince you that Centrist politics is what you need even if you voted with the express intent of sending the message to "Get out of Iraq!"



"A classic Washington compromise"... In otherwords:
A Centrist bipartisan whitewash.

All that idiots like Lieberman, McCain, and likely Hillary too, will get us is more dead Americans and Iraqis. All they want to do is pander to right wing fools. There is no compromise in that.

In a statement released yesterday, Feingold wrote, "Unfortunately, the Iraq Study Group report does too little to change the flawed mind-set that led to the misguided war in Iraq."

"Maybe there are still people in Washington who need a study group to tell them that the policy in Iraq isn't working, but the American people are way ahead of this report," Feingold's statement continued.

"While the report has regenerated a few good ideas, it doesn't adequately put Iraq in the context of a broader national security strategy," the statement went on. "We need an Iraq policy that is guided by our top national security priority - defeating the terrorist network that attacked us on 9/11 and its allies."

"We can't continue to just look at Iraq in isolation," Feingold wrote. "Unless we set a serious timetable for redeploying our troops from Iraq, we will be unable to effectively address these global threats. In the end, this report is a regrettable example of `official Washington' missing the point."

(h/t to ctblogger for the video and feingold quote.)

Compromise is not what we need right now. We need to get out of Iraq. No compromise on that issue. We need to get out of Iraq ASAP. Not as conditions get better. Iraq isn't going to get better as long as we are there. The only chance of things getting better there is if we leave. And even then it will still be a crap shoot.

Fuck the "Centrist" politicians. Let them fight their childish war on video games and pander to their right-wingnut fools. In the meantime all we can hope for is that there will be enough adults left in Washington that will do what they were voted in to do"

Get out of Iraq.

Nancy Johnson's Legacy

Taken From a dKos diary:

My 79 year old mother cried when she went to get her prescription:

"The other day she went to get her medication at Kaiser and was told the bill was $900, to which she burst into tears and didn't know what to do. She didn't have $900 (her monthly income is Social security of about $600 and some income from property she owns, she lives month to month with little if any 'extra' income). She called me in tears, and I told her to charge the amount on her Visa.

After I got off the phone with her I was crying (mainly because we are not in the position to give her much financial help), and then I became so very angry, angry at those who passed this shitty drug plan that makes our seniors cry. How can any group of people be proud of a program that has so many shortcomings it becomes everything but what it says it is. "

Nancy Johnson's Legacy:

The Donut Hole
And other mean and nasty things...

Think Equal

Equal rights for all citizens.



You would think that it would be a no-brainer? Sadly there are many "no-brainers" that would like to ignore equal rights.

A Silly Answer to a Serious Problem?

It seems almost silly enough to work:

Serious Use for Silly String:
"In an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes it's the simplest ideas that can save lives. Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.

American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.

Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible."

If it saves a soldiers life than that is a good thing BUT... Redeployment would save alot more lives.

Fireworks over Mary Cheney's Baby

But you can bet many will not be celebrating this blessed event...

Groups mixed on Mary Cheney's pregnancy:
Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of
Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces 'a lifetime of sleepless nights' for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples.

Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are expecting a baby in late spring, said Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for the vice president."

I can think of a few Christianist organizations, and other right-wing-whackos, that might blow a gasket over this. Next thing you know she'll move to another state, since Virginia doesn't allow same-sex marriage YET, get married and settle down to raise a happy family.

Does the FIC lie about their readership?

On the announcement of their revamped FIC Blog they tout their great numbers:

Connecticut in the Crosshairs began in 2004 and quickly became one of the most viewed political blogs in the state. The media tried to ignore us and the liberal blogs loved to mock us (which just made us smile and blog more!) but we kept growing until we were receiving over 350,000 hits a month. Given that the technology we were using was, frankly, junk, this was a major coup. But we’ve learned a lot since then and we now have one of the best blogging platforms around. In the future we will be adding even more functionality, with a video and audio podcast already in the works.

I find that number to be impressive if it were true... But is it?

I looked around at some of the more popular Blogs in Connecticut and decided to do a simple comparison. I found that one of ctblogger's site connecticutBLOG generated about 1329 hits in the last week alone... Not bad! He has been averaging somewhere in between 2,500 and 80,000 hits per month in the last year. That is outstanding! Not the most popular Blog in the nation (HuffPo), nor even the most trafficked site in Connecticut, but great numbers for any political Blog.

As outstanding as ctblogger's numbers are, they are still dwarfed by the Family Institute of Connecticut's claimed 350,000 hits per month. Alexa rates connecticutBLOG a very respectable 1,410,658.

Traffic Rank for connecticutblog.blogspot.com: 1,410,658

Considering the millions of Blogs out there that is a very good number ESPECIALLY for a political blog. Not quite up there with the dailyKos (Ranked 1,764) but an awesome ranking all things considered. It lead me to wonder where Alexa would have the FIC Blog ranked...

Traffic Rank for ctfamily.org: 5,553,563

No! That can't be right? The FIC says they get 350,000 hits per month and connecticutBLOG has never had more than 80,000 on it's best month? How could ctblogger's Blog be higher ranked for traffic ranking than the FIC's Blog?

Unless the FIC is lying about their traffic...

Go ahead and look at the comparison of these two sites traffic at Alexa.

Those really high peaks in blue are connecticutBLOG on their best days... Reaching 80,ooo hits AND 100,000 page views in the month of August. Again WOW! As for the really tiny bumps in red... Those are the supposed 350,000 hits per month that are claimed bye the FIC.

Looking at those numbers compared to ctbloggers it is easy to see that it is impossible for the FIC website to have 350,000 hits per month when their ranking is so low and, even on the FIC's best days, they don't even get as many pageviews as connecticutBLOG.

Little wonder why the FIC doesn't have a viewable sitemeter on their website, huh?

I think the Family Institute of Connecticut is lying the big lie. And I think I have proven it. Aren't those great moral values that they want to preach to your families? The FIC site is a pious fraud. Much like the hipocritical Dobsonites, these lying immoral fraudsters should focus on their own damned families.

Note: Those numbers on the Alexa links can fluctuate, but those were the numbers reflected as this was written.

Senate committee approves Gates for Pentagon

Donald Rumsfeld is one step closer to the door.

Senate committee approves Gates for Pentagon | Politics News | Reuters.com: "Gates' nomination now goes to the full Senate for a vote, where he is also expected to prevail in his bid to replace Donald Rumsfeld, a lightning rod for critics of the increasingly unpopular Iraq war.

Twenty one senators on the panel unanimously approved the nomination."

The quicker this vote is done the sooner the Rumsfailed era is over.

The FIC's Biased Poll

The FIC is mad that some in the corporate owned media doesn't share their radical point of view that gay and lesbian marriages should be banned:

The more the Courant continues in its left-lunacy the more people come to our blog.

Anyway, Sherlock has given us the grand idea of running a poll on this question (on the right of the blog). I think its pretty likely that many of our readers are going to say they have either cancelled their subscription to a major paper because of bias or considered doing so.

First, many come to the Blog simply to point out hipocrisy... And, secondly, the poll question they ask?

Have you cancelled your subscription to the Courant or another state paper because of liberal bias?

* No, the Courant is fair and balanced!
* This is a lame poll, and I refuse to respond!
* Yes, the Courant is way out in left-field!
* No, but I've seriously considered cancelling!

OK... So the second was more of the first!

The FIC poll exposes their site as a pious fraud, most likely by ID (Ignorant Design).

If you wanted an honest poll you would add this choice to it:

NO, I cancelled because the Courant, and the bulk of the MSM, is on right-wing-crack!

But the goal of your FIC site is obviously not to inform people with honest ideas. Your agenda is to perpetrate mass ignorance on society with biased deceptions and myths. In other words: Christianist gay and lesbian bashing done in the name of Jesus, who never preached such hatred.

Instead of looking for dividing factors amongst political and religious factions, any group that claims morality and religion as their compass should be looking more at the issues like poverty and the enviornment that could be uniting factors.

Your sites' agenda exposes the not-so-hidden hate and divide messages that false christians emulate in the political arena. Some moral values...