It seems that there is a dearth of local blogging according to a recent story in The Journal Standard (story unavailable online) indicates that while bloggers often are daily journals (or in my case whenever I have time to update it) they can have an influence on national or local politics. With the advent of this site since February, 2005 there have been multiple references to local issues and politics, as well as several references in the "For the Love of Community" column (see www.kastlepublishing.com for story about Mitch Albom in the past columns section) about the role of blogs and journalism. Currently, there are many local issues, including the Trim-Rite Pork Processing Plant, the gradual loss of good-paying jobs from the manufacturing sector, the downtown development issue, US 20 and the woeful lack of funding to put us on the map, the difficulty in recruiting and retaining specialists, and self-image issues of a manufacturing community that no longer has a glut of manufacturing jobs. Some of these have been discussed in previous columns and some have been touched upon here in previous postings. Currently it seems that global events are also playing out in some ways with local attitudes divided about issues such as Cindy Sheehan. I recently spoke with a mother whose son is home from Iraq. She said that her son feels that only those that want us in Iraq are being interviewed or allowed to be interviewed by the media are having their voices heard. Those that vehemently oppose the US and foreign troops in their country are not being heard. He spoke of an incident where a US soldier was killed by a sniper and the people danced around him in the street, celebrating the death of one of our men. Then there are others in Iraq or in this country of Iraqi heritage that truly believe that we are there to liberate them and have their country's best interest at heart .
I do know that as the number of American soldiers die from the never-ending car bombs, sniper fire, RPGs and land mines it becomes increasingly difficult to see why we are there and what are ultimate goal is that we wish to accomplish. We want to believe that we are fighting a just war and that the liberation of a country from an evil dictator will be the end result, but with the conflicting views from the media, the defense department and international news sources, confusion often reigns. So, yes, there is at least one local blog that deals with local and global issues; intermittently refers to the mainstream media; sometimes is more of a journal; occasionally expounds on topics that have been covered in my local column; and probably will not appeal to everyone. Of course, it is quite possible to pick and choose what one wants to read. Though I did actually follow-up my predictions that appeared in the Best of the Web from the Wall Street Journal with predicting the exact finishes of the Freeport mayoral primary (see February 2005 blogs from this site). I'll keep writing on a regular to semi-regular basis as an adjunct to the column or just personal reflections. I know that it isn't mainstream enough for everyone, but everyone has the perogative to read it or avoid it. That is the beauty of the internet or mainstream media for that matter. In short, Freeport does have at least one local blog for better or for worse. Of course, there is plenty of room for more voices to be heard.
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