Best of (other) Blog

Thought I might include some of the better blogs that I've come across my time on the interweb, and since I'm not explicitly commentating on politics myself, I've filed under non-political. It's also an exercise in waiting for the Democratic numbers to come through!
The criteria I've tried to judge by are:

• They are not the output or comment blog of a print/tv/radio outlet


• They occasionally morph into newsmakers, rather than newstakers (which this site truly is)


• They have something that distinguishes them from other, and are thought provoking.

Of course, you'd need to rank them across the political spectrum and by country. I've forgone the use of conservative, liberal so as not to confuse the readers from Australia. So:

US Left
Daily Kos: Particularly remembered for comments from Bill O'Reilly who declared that Satan was running the Kos, and that readers of such 'far-left websites' are devil worshippers. If Bill says it's that bad, it must be good.

The Huffington Post: Since its inception in 2005, by Arianna Huffington, this has blossomed into a must stop for left-learners, with many heavy hitters and celebrities, as well as a core group of regulars make it worthwhile reading.

US Right
The Drudge Report: Although missing the punch for big stories that appeared (such as the Newsweek's' withholding of the Lewinsky story), there are still little nuggets of gold on a site that is very 'link heavy', and a little difficult to navigate (Thank god for tabs in browsers, I still keep heading back there).

Power Line:A triumvirate of lawyers press the conservative cause here, with Time Magazine's Blog of The Year award, and there is always interesting content, some which may feature here by link. No long winded personal rants here, it's pretty succinct and crisp. These guys aren't soft on Republicans either, and will call them for working against America and its interests

UK Left
Recess Monkey: Parliamentary Insider's blogs, that always has the who, what, where, and how of apparently anything that moves inside and around the Palace of Westminster. Although previously not allowing comments to focus on their output, they've opened up the blog, and have "interesting" photos of MPs at events.

Newer Labour: Simple blog advocating how a post Blair Labour party should advance, which will be particularly interesting when the election really starts to get on the boil. Interesting links from someone who clearly has an insight inside. Self described as Labour's soft left.

UK Right
Guido Fawkes (Paul Staines): In his younger days, the now unmasked author of this blog described his politics as 'Margaret Thatcher" on steroids. A critic of the cosy relationship between media and politics, he often obtains documents from political insiders, such as Peter Hain's leadership documents.

Conservative Home: Although not official Conservative fodder, this does give coverage of UK politics from a conservative perspective, with lots of extra policy material and updated regularly, you do get a flavour of politics from the right

AU Left
Larvatus Prodeo: I would have put Red Rad in here, had it not retired in 2005. LP is a broad and broadly inclusive and occasionally cutting blog, with many contributors, who all think before posting, which makes a change from other blogs on the interweb. I might fail on that criterion right there.

John Quiggin: An older statesman of the blogosphere, Quiggin's insight into economics is not to be sniffed at. You can find him in the AFR, but the blog is certainly seperate, and it's not always serious, thick and boring (as far as economic commentary goes)

AU Right
Andrew Landeryou: Shaming the nameless, and naming the shameless. Landeryou takes his readers through an American prism of commentary on Oz Politics, never short of patriots, traitors and hacks. Interesting relationships with university pollies haven't stopped his ability to scoop, or his distaste for left MSM.

Tim Blair: What hasn't Tim Blair done over the last few years? Opinion editor for the Telegraph, Bulletin opinion writer. He won't be blogging for a while, as he's going under the knife for abdominal cancer. Maybe the surgery will mellow him out? His painkillers at one stage allowed him "to watch Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth without twitching." I wish him all the best.

Oh Corey...

I wouldn't normally descend into this crass story, but I can't help but have my two cents worth; I've even created a new tag to go with this!

Young Corey Delaney, a sixteen year old resident of Narre Warren in Melbourne's south east (Australia), did what every teenager dreams of: He threw a party. But Corey is a member of generation z, who know exactly how to harness the power of Web 2.0, and advertised it openly on his myspace account, and no doubt details were forwarded by that other tool of modern technology; SMS. Either that, or he's foolish enough to underestimate it's reach.

In the end, 500 yoofs arrived, and like any party where gatecrashers tend to fill it, got out of control. It's the same all over the world: gathering of teenagers+alcohol+lack of supervision= trouble. The neighbours called the local constabulary, but the first patrol was repelled with missile thrown by a thronging mob. The air wing and dog squad had to be deployed to convince guests that it was well beyond last drinks. The Commissioner of Police wishes for $AU20,000 to be repaid for the extra call-outs. His exploits garnered him international attention, with grabs all over the world, even on Sky News (UK). Have a gander here.

Parents obviously distressed, and wanting to talk to their child. Probably embarrassed too, to have to deal with their son through various media forms, as he's not returning their calls and has decided to hide with friends while the heat dies down.

I'm a little sad that the media hasn't gone after him, and I bloody hope there'll be no outlets paying him for an exclusive; it'd just encourage him further. Glad that I'll forever be more eloquent than him:
Corey Worthington Delaney wrote at 1:20am

:take it:BREAKIT ^luvin dis shit^
Ur all Tha GOOD type !!!~~~Every1 HiT up
tha C-nut
Fkn (maKe) me a groUp Offica!
Sik.

Corey's Myspace Profile is here, but I'm not sure if it's him being over the top, or an ironic joke being put together by people who aren't fans of his. His facebook profile looks to be no better, with his last status update suggesting he is "rearranging his tackle".

Is this a reflection of a society that gives celebrity status to anyone who causes mischief. I hope his star fizzles as quickly as it appeared. He's blown any chance of a normal job, but he maybe he didn't want that in the first place. He's also an enterprising little bugger, who was charging $1 donations until the venue was full, and then $10 for any late comers. Business acumen...next he'll be fronting motivational seminars. A (non-idolistic) gem from Yok who sums it up perfectly:

I fail to see what is so cool about a bunch of idiotic teenage gobshites worshipping some preening tool who is leeching fame from fucking up, shirking responsibility, hiding in his house when shit went down and hiding like a bitch from his patents, to be honest.but if you all want to live in your own little world, feel free, just remember that you'll be bagging my groceries for the next 20 years.