Going through changes...

First of all, I need a guinea pig. After coming home from work on several occasions and finding 700, 900, even 1100 spam comments on my site I finally decided enough was enough from the spambots and installed word verification. But since I am perpetually signed in and I don't go back to work until Monday to check on a remote computer, I'd appreciate someone leaving me a comment just to verify that it works. I know I had only 4 spam comments overnight so maybe someone's figured out a way to beat the program or it went on the blink - regardless going through four is a heckuva lot easier than seeing that I have 1100, just saying "screw that" and deleting the lot. It's quite possible I may have deleted a few legit comments doing it and for that I apologize.

Next are the links. I added the link to the Robert Joseph Banks Congressional campaign. Lending credence to the accusations in yesterday's Washington Times about Banks being a Gilchrest-backed ringer is the fact that his website is simply a screen and a contact address. Maybe the website will evolve as time goes on but for the moment the charges leveled by State Senator Nancy Jacobs and others seem to be legitimate, not a "vast right-wing conspiracy" as Banks himself answered.

Sadly, I also had to take off one of my favorite links because it appears that Crabbin' is no more. So we all lose what was generally a good summary of news related to immigration and border security. Hopefully this is a temporary thing but I fear that "ddcrabb" has left the blogging scene for good, at least as an active participant. He's always free to add his two cents on monoblogue, though. Maybe he'll be my guinea pig for the word verification.

Finally I have to respond to a post in Salisbury News yesterday. While I'm glad Joe appreciates my political coverage and the attention to detail I exhibit as I craft my posts, I have to take issue with him ragging on my support of the local music scene. Besides the fact that thinking about politics 24/7 gets really boring after awhile, there's a purpose behind expressing my interest in bands, as there's a reason I have a Myspace page and generally separate blog there.

I'm trying to take a long-term view of changing society in general and one place my interests are congruent with those of the next generation is musically. To me, there's nothing wrong with using those posts as a hook to snare the attention of those who are of my daughter's generation. This technique is sort of like various churches using the appeal of a more laid-back and casual service to attract a younger generation to their services.

And I think I've walked that tightrope pretty well, as my political influence rating is generally among the top among Maryland blogs yet I can get away with non-political posts like my music coverage and Shorebird of the Week.

So that's the deal, and even though the bulk of my article was about changes, one thing I refuse to compromise on is writing about what interests me. Ask the people I spoke to Thursday if I haven't done it with at least some success.

Late edit: I just added another recent link, that of the Camden Neighborhood Association.