Three months ago, when Sinclair gave us the news that he was closing down his blog (Catallaxy Files/Cat2), along with other Cats, I was sad. It felt like the end of our home of free speech and real news. While we were busy reminiscing and discussing options for a new blog, unknown to most of us, there was already one being put together.
There was much jubilation and gratitude in the Cat-world when we got a link to our work-in-progress new home. My initial reaction was to wait till everything was nicely in place: bugs ironed out, other issues sorted, and it was good to go. After that, I would decide whether this new blog was up to my perfect standards and worthy of my presence on it. But then, I realised that someone had taken a risk to step in and set up this blog, at short notice. Any new venture will experience teething troubles. Instead of waiting for it to be all safe and secure, I needed to get in and help. I joined that weekend, and have stayed with the blog, since then.
I have read the comments and posts by the blog owner. I have read the comments posted by the commenters. I have participated in discussions and posted my comments, opinions and rants on the threads. The content of comments posted on blogs contains more than just information about politics or society. It also provides an insight into the personality of the poster and clues about their life and character.
I understood, from all that I had read, that Adam (the blog owner) had seen a need for this free speech site to continue, and used his skills to quickly put it together. We were given an Open Thread to keep on chatting, while the bugs were being sorted on another site. Over that first month (August), there were indications that Adam was also busy with other commitments. But it was his post, A Personal Covid Journey, that detailed his experiences and clarified why the blog had not been getting much attention.
Like others here, I have felt frustrated with certain major issues that have been derailing the site. But instead of lobbing grenades and jumping to conclusions, I decided to give the owner a fair go, and allow time for the blog issues to settle down. I shared this decision in comments on the Open Threads.
Adam has already provided us with a snapshot of his life which indicates he is very busy. Like him, I too, do not have a great deal of spare time. But I will continue with my plan to give this site a fair chance to succeed. So I will be here, on Catallaxy Files (Cat3), contributing comments and posts, and helping out the best I can.
We jump hurdles. Sometimes, we fall. Life’s like that.
We pick ourselves up. Dust off. And carry on.
We carry on, the best we can. That’s all life asks of us.
Well expressed, Kaysee.
At least in the near term, I suspect some of us may need to be more active contributors than most of us were on Cat2.
I can pop out the occasional guest post, but what I write suits a niche audience only.
What content would people like to read on here?
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Thanks Kaysee, I feel the same as you.
The thing is, there are plenty of interesting places on the Internet and in order to succeed, a site needs to be active and provide a place for lively discussions.
We, the readers/users, cannot expect this to be delivered to us on a silver plate. Blog sites are not main stream media (fortunately!) and are usually maintained for little or no financial reward by the owners.
Therefore, to provide the content, user interaction and input is needed.
This clone of the old Cat is no different. Readers will come here if they can see that new content has been added. If the site stands still for extended periods, it will die.
Not many of us are actual writers, so what we come up with may be a bit cumbersome at times. But we need to have a go of it nevertheless.
The final result will not be the ‘old Cat’, where we had the likes of Sinclair Davidson, Henry Ergas, Judith Sloan and others of their writing & public persona calibre. But that does not mean it cannot yet be a great place for us to congregate.
I will try to do my bit as/where I can.
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Quite frankly it’s a pleasure to come to AdamCat. Might be a little light on posts but compared to every other site in the world which only talks about Convid, note no one has ever isolated the virus still, I can live with the peace. There are a lot of other things happening in the world. Very important things. And if someone snaps and I’m on the jury, “not guilty, your honour”.
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Many thanks Kaysee.
I think people underestimate their ability to create content. Your comment are exactly that if you extend them out just a bit you have a blog post. All a post has to do is start a discussion or provide a different point of view and it is a success, so please if you have something more worthy of being buried in the comments just send them through and I would be happy to publish.
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Well said Kaysee, and other comments.
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Agree, Kaysee.
Personally, we had a duty to keep that cretin off our blogs. So I’m glad we have managed to prevail.
And a hearty cheers to Adam D.
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In response to some of the comments above, if you think this is a blog worth supporting and you are wondering how you can contribute, here are some ways to do it.
1/ Comment on the different threads, if you have something to say or share.
For the past two months, there have been a few commenters who have been on the blog every day, posting comments with news items, cartoons, music links or just opinions. No temper tantrums or criticisms of the site. Just a valiant effort that has kept the threads moving along. Thank you.
2/ Help rid the blog of those who come in to specifically disrupt and destroy it (aka D***heads). The blog doesn’t need such commenters.
All you need to do is flag their comments. The moderation system will deal with it.
3/ If you can write a post, do so.
If you feel that you have content and knowledge but not the skills to write a post, there may be a possibility of getting your posts edited, if you wish. However, right now, is a very busy time. Hopefully, things will settle down and this could be an option.
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for those lamenting they have nothing to add in posts, comments are just as important if not more so….
moderated
It needed to be said Kaysee……unfortunately.
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