My there are more blog RSS feed aggregators every day it seems. Searched on my Digital Fingerprint and came up with a few. More search results with Google when add in similar stuff omitted but they were the same few blog aggregators. However, Yahoo had more varied results. MSN had some Google missed although not so many but who uses MSN anyway?

Even caught a splogger in an approved comment that had swiped my feed. Got scrambled content too. Glad AntiLeech works. Deleted the comment. Why I went searching anyway this fine morning.

Quite by serendipity, I found this yesterday on Technorati. Must follow referrers more often. Not sure why it got featured.

As a result, I added my blog authority way down on the sidebar under my ecosystem status. Something else for me to follow. I know - sidebar is too long already.

That featured post was scraped by four sploggers in one day. Now I have a clue why they picked that one.

This stuff just showed up in my stats. Here’s my blog framed.

And here’s an excerpt surrounded by ads.

I have no recollection of anyone asking me if I want to be syndicated. I sometimes get asked if I want to take ads but so far have declined, too low traffic. Sides ads clutter up the blog, mess up the look. Can’t find any email about it either. According to their FAQ, I have to claim my blog, ie prove the blog I’m submitting for syndication is actually mine and since I didn’t do that, who did? I have no member ID or password, would have had them stored if I had joined and I didn’t. Why me?

Would somebody please explain.

I feel so violated.

I don’t mind links especially when I join a carnival but I don’t like my site framed by another. Noted they got Michelle Malkin too.

I signed up for National Blog Posting Month ‘07, couldn’t resist the cat. Thankies sbpoet. I had to sign up for this social networking site to do so, not something I usually do. Last time I did it, I forgot and never networked. Probably considered defunct or deleted if I were to check.

Now I have to remember to post every day this month. This post is to remind me and to remind me to network. Maybe.

If I keep this up, next thing I’ll be doing is signing up for Twitter. Like I really need to do that. Give me one reason I should.

Seeing as I got tagged with the nice meme by Sissy, who is also nice but she’s been tagged already, I’m sharing in the niceness naming names of nice bloggers.

Rahel who takes the prettiest cat photos which make perfect desktop wallpaper and she sings. I’m eagerly awaiting my CD.
Meryl who’s a must read, should add in Gracie, like her too, same blog.
Robyn spiffy jewelry designer and do gooder. She’s well known in the cat blogosphere.
Beth who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting IRL, must do more of that.
Kate who writes the most interesting stuff and makes money at it too.
Lisa web designer and author, I’m impressed.
Jay web designer and frequent IM buddy when our schedules permit.

On the Al Sharpton/Mitt Romney issue, it appears Al may apologize to Mitt - in private of course. So said Hannity who actually had it as his lead story. And FoxNews is MSM. So it’s getting a little bit of coverage in the press.

Update: Hannity had a whole hour of Al Sharpton and that was only part one. Focus on Imus not Romney although that got mentioned along with Al’s history of making offensive remarks and getting away with it. Al didn’t sound the least bit apologetic, rationalizing away what he said.

If somebody got anything different from the show, please leave a comment, quoting Al of course.

Apparently, Al can say anything he wants and it’s ok.

It gets him airtime, lots.

Heard about it on the radio, it being Al Sharpton’s anti-Mormon remark. Got the quote from John Ridley, Yahoo News

During a debate held Monday at the New York Public Library with atheist author Christopher Hitchens, Al assessed Mormon Mitt Romney’s presidential bid thusly: “As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don’t worry about that; that’s a temporary situation.”

And not a word of condemnation from WND which is rabidly evangelical Christian in it’s outlook. They are only happy to let Al do their dirty work while they go after Romney over everything he’s ever said or done. After all, being against Mitt is the Christian thing to do.

Meanwhile, the MSM is hard at work not covering the story. Excepting CNN. As for Al…

“In no way did I attack Mormons or the Mormon Church when I responded that other believers, not atheists, would vote against Mr. Romney for purely political reasons,” Sharpton said in a written statement.

He also accused Romney’s campaign of engaging in “a blatant effort to fabricate a controversy to help their lagging campaign.”

Somehow I doubt Al Sharpton shooting off his mouth is fabricating a controversy. Unless pointing it out is. And since when is “belief in God” or more properly one’s religion purely political? For the record, Mormons believe in God.

I noted too from a Google search that the conservative blogosphere, especially the big hitters, is strangely silent over Al’s bigoted remark. It’s up to us lesser known blogs to point it out.

Sometimes I wonder who visits and check my stats.

domain name | visit time | page views | visit length
navy.mil 12:39:04 pm 5 6:52
nsf.gov 12:17:14 pm 3 11:55
nih.gov 10:55:50 am 2 4:47

Guessing they came for the kittycats. Why else would someone from a government site be looking at my blog?

Commenting can lead to beautiful things as I do check out links and found this beautiful poem about one of our favorite subjects, cats of course. It always comes back to them.

Poetry and cats, what’s not to love?

Added to the blogroll too. I can always use uplifting thoughts every now and then to counter the less savory stuff I read.

Stories like this is what makes the internet a beautiful place. People getting together from across the globe and connecting in way that uplifts all.

And people like Robyn and KT Cat to remind us of that each in his/her own special way every day.

Catbloggers rule.

At least I notice it more in the cat blogosphere cause I hang out there although other bloggers are just as caring.

Cause I’ve been babysitting. My grandchild (while her mom went to a Superbowl party) not the kittycats although they got a lot of attention when I lay on the sofa watching Heros and 24 at the same time.

OK, maybe not so much attention.

They really need to change the times of one of the shows so they don’t conflict.

I was doing stuff today like going to the doc’s, I get to go back to work finally. Yay!

Other stuff like watching Hannity interview Rudy who’s definitely going for the Presidency. And who will definitely make the WND crowd shudder.

Watched a show yesterday that was sufficently bloodcurdling that it shouldn’t be watched after dark (but should be watched by everyone especiallly Liberals). Children’s cartoons that glorify suicide bombing, children singing about being a suicide bomber, their indoctrination in hate, Muslims burning flags and chanting death to America, stats such as 70% of Muslims support death to America and Israel. That might be the scariest part of all.

And now listening to the Podcast Pickle Playoff and surfing the Carnival of the Cats.

Hattip Lair and Meryl.

Who woulda thought I’d ever see this? Not me. It was for Carnival of the Cats (he’s finally linking it) and I even forgot the begging bit. I’m still not back to work so should have remembered. All the Paypal email I’ve gotten lately I forwarded to spoof@paypal.com.

Got the other hospital bill, it was only for $23,864.38 not including doctors bills. I don’t have to pay that one cause I went in network. If I go to the wrong hospital, it costs. Still waiting to see how much of the other one I have to pay. Insurance only pays part either way, they have a deal with the hospital. However, an uninsured person would get stuck for the full bill. Unless they are really poor or an illegal alien. Then everything’s free.

Interesting, when checking Sitemeter referrals, Insty and Moxie were the predominant referrers.

Want blog exposure, host the kitty carnival. Course, they might only look at that one post and miss all the astute observations and scintillating wit elsewhere in your blog.

People only want the kittycats.

The RINO Sightings are up at Classical Values and boy are there ever Rinos. There’s a little there for almost everyone, even art lovers.

Especially art lovers, it’s a must see/read.

Why I don’t have ads.

1. Creative control: Lookie here, a beautiful theme lost in all the ads. I want my blog to be visually appealing and ads aren’t.

2. Rules and Regulations: They have rules subject to change that the blogger has to follow.

3. Editorial control: What I post under my control including what language I post in.

Sides which, my blog is low traffic and I mean low traffic. That translates into low bandwidth.

The Raging RINOs rage a little this week.

Barry informs us how the criteria for hiring an attorney should be ie his competence not who he represents.

Jane gives us the scoop on the indictment against Amen Ahmed Ali which charged he was working on behalf of the Yemeni government. The prior indictment charged Ali with buying military secrets and equipment with the intention of transporting them to Yemen. Earlier reports indicated he was using the facilities of the Yemeni consul offices in California.

Dan exposes just what caused the damage in a very expensive lawsuit in the wake of Hurrricane Katrina.

And I diss on Pelosi and Samoa. They are connected.

Digger exposes some disturbing facts regarding crime and illegal aliens.

That’s it unless more submissions come in. Official site is Raging RINOs, more stuff there.

With the addition of Izzy’s blog, we (Izzy and I) are using three versions of WordPress now. 1.5, 2.0.5, 2.1beta1. Izzy is running the beta, lucky cat. He is the adventurous one. The test blog is using 2.0.5 although I understand 2.0.6 is out. As I have yet to upgrade the main blog and am hesitant to do so cause of the image uploading differences, I haven’t played much with the other versions.

And until I figure out the image problem, all Izzy’s images are from flickr. Yes, that means I have to keep that updated.

Meanwhile, I’m helping Izzy with adding links to his blogroll.

Lair has taken up my cause, that of being sick and broke, here and here and here and here and here and naturally here.

And here at the very dead Dead Pool. I hadn’t looked there, knowing it was to be deceased and all.

Others, KT Cat and Missy for example, have added their pleas.

Praying for me, are the folks at the Pet Prayer and Praise Blog which I just learned about. The net is an amazing place especially cat bloggers. People that love kittycats are some wonderful folk. Must add link.

I am most grateful and thankful to all of them.

I’m sure there’s other cat bloggers I need to add too. I’ll be busy…

when not petting Meowza. He seems quite insistent on getting some love. Poor boy has been deprived for a long time. Half a month is an eternity to lover boy here.

In the mood for something light soooo…

Found this in between the kittycat posts at SB’s.

Now if I’d post more…

RINO Sightings is up at Right Thoughts and it’s full of low-cal, high-humor political commentary goodness.

Found a few good reads here so sharing. Hmm, perhaps I should check out stuff like del.icio.us, might make my life easier. Then again, might not.

Meryl gives us a heartwarming (to the Bushes) tale of helping hands. Sometimes the people you invite over to dinner aren’t your best buds. They’re all our enemies, we just want their oil so we deal.

In the more bang for the buck department, Rob points out that the U.S.’s spending on education isn’t exactly keeping us at the top of the heap. Maybe they could rename it No Child Left Educated. Better to teach them the correct way to put on a condom than how to do math anyway considering the moral climate in the country.

Ragnar tells a tale of thumping future if certain people don’t get their act together. Less pork is the ticket. How are we going to lose waste if we keep shovelling on the pork?

Sissy gives us the etymology of the saying “Lame duck” not the recipe, darn. All this mention of food is making me hungry.

And to go along with the birds, Rahel has some lovely bees that would make fine wallpaper. I don’t eat bees however these images are a reminder that despite all the horror and strife in the world (and Congress), there is beauty to be found if we only look.

Problem is some people prefer to destroy. And how, course you can’t believe everything you read in the papers. Thank you Headmistress Sondrak. Maybe she should be teaching our children instead.

Are up at Diggers Realm and as usual, I forgot to enter a post. I always seem to remember the kittycats stuff, just not the politics. I have posted on Dhimmi stuff, just not Dhimmicrat stuff. So to not be totally amiss in writing about the Dims, one quote from Joseph Farah at WND.

Do you think the Democrats, the party of alternative lifestyles and same-sex marriages and group rights based on sexual preferences, is really morally outraged about what Foley did?

Frankly, if I hear one more Democrat call for House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s head, I think I’m going to scream. And that’s coming from me - a guy who believes Hastert should resign for mishandling this sicko under his authority.

But, please, don’t let me hear it from the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgendered-hermaphrodite-whathaveyou Democrats. This is, after all, the party that has embraced sexual perversion in all its forms - except, of course, when practiced by Republicans.

Rep. Gerry Studds and Barney Frank got slaps on the wrist (oooh, they probably liked that!) in the form of censures for behavior at least as contemptible as Foley’s.

I am not here making excuses for Foley. Like I said, Hastert should be forced out of power for not smoking this weasel out a long time ago. That’s incompetence. That’s malfeasance. It’s just that the Democrats have no moral authority when they played such a critical role in designing the anything-goes sexual climate for which we are all encouraged to be so tolerant.

Need I say more, oh but he did. Hit. Nail. On. Head.

Not that IM’s are that big of a deal, even naughty ones. Just have to watch who one is IMing, know how old they are which is tricky unless you know the person. Oh, but he did, and that makes it a big deal. Still, witch hunt cause he’s a Republican, no other reason. Eediots!

Had he actually done something concrete and not just IM about it, then it would have been a big deal. I’m not losing any sleep over it in any case.

Let’s see, been missing stuff cause I’ve been preoccupied of late with what looks to be a stone in my kidney. There’s the RINO sighting, creatively taking off.

And while I was concerned with other little annoyances, it appears that, after today, I won’t be able to carry ads for or against any of the political candidates up for grabs. I think it’s the against that’s the deal breaker. This pleases them (the politicians not them the cats, they could care less) immensely. Course, I have yet to have a paid ad on this site.

Would spoil the design. Bad enough I put the NeoCounter up cause I liked all the little flags. So I was curious to see where my visitors came from. Thankfully, not very many from those countries. I’m spared a fatwa for now.

And while there’s no linkie, I got a final notice in the mail from them (the RNC not them the cats, they don’t send mail, they meow) cause I haven’t given them any money this year. I’m rather disgusted with their performance from President on down. Where’s my property rights? Border control? Balanced budget? Reduction in pork? Line item veto? Heck, any veto? Spine?

Which reminds me, time for another Vicodin, that kidney hurts.

This week is at Enrevanche and in case you missed them…

Last week, Jun 26th edition was at Searchlight Crusade.

Week before that, Jun 19th edition at Inside Larry’s Head.

Week before that, Jun 12th edition was at Tinkerty Tonk.

Should be enough reading for people when not watching fireworks or doing other July 4th stuff. It is Independence Day and we should be celebrating not blogging.

I really need to be more on the ball with this one - need to send in entries, host one, be focused on something sides those little monsters one of whom is meowing up a storm outside my bedroom door when I want to sleep. She’s been fed, just hasn’t gotten laid or better yet fixed.

Or, even better yet, adopted by someone else.

Had a thought, I probably remembered this week cause Barry is a catblogger. Yeah, that’s it.

He will be sorely missed in the blogosphere. Details at his site. He was not everyone’s cup of tea but he told it like it was and had a special wit. Just try to find another blogger who posts about his “fix a flat” dick implant. I didn’t read him regularly but, when I did, it was definitely a good read, his choice of words notwithstanding. He also hated cats and thus held a special place in the hearts of us cat bloggers. My condolences to his daughter Sam, who did like cats, and son Quinton, whose opinion of cats I am clueless about.

The blogosphere mourns.

And Lair podcasts a tribute.

Hat tip Aaron over at the Dead Pool.

I really need to check my favorite sites more often but Lair is so prolific I never get to read much else. Yeah, it’s the cats and all his goodies like the 100 Word Story Podcasts, all of which are on my iPod.

Anyway, Kate is doing the Letter of the Day, this day F.

F is for fabulous photos of felines.

F is for French which won’t be required of the U.S. to have along with English. We were so worried about it too considering we border Quebec.

F is for found it, I didn’t know the correct spelling of Ori nor of how they came to be villain of the season.

F is for beautiful flowers, reminds me I need to water mine.

F is for fashion, or in this case the utter lack of fashion. Never let governments dictate what one should wear, the results tend to be very drab, uniform, and oh so boring.

And I even remembered. It’s at Strata-Sphere.com, got some interesting reading, no kittycats thou. That’s for later.

A fellow RINO is in need, Right Thoughts and doesn’t have the money for his server costs, said server hosts Right Thinking, Right Thoughts, Moorewatch, The Starkcast $4500 is the total, they have $2500 but needs the remaining $2000 by Monday the 24th. If you like reading his sites, throw a few bucks his way. They all go to his host. Bandwidth is a killer.

I’m rather low traffic so doubt this will help much. I do understand the medical stuff. Gets expensive fast.

I always recommend Dreamhost. Been with them for years and the goodies keep getting better. Support is relatively quick and they know what they are doing.

Whatever the outcome, frequent backups of one’s database are essential. Whole sites too are good. MT has disappeared Sissy’s pics from time to time. And one never wants to lose those, especially Tiny and Babe, accompanying food and meaty topics. Still reading.

Think again. From The Nation via Yahoo, this quote is telling.

Many House members, both Democrats and Republicans, are wary of offending the blogosphere, worried that the wrath of bloggers could cost them votes. If the biggest, most politically active blogs are against something, members of Congress are loath to cross them. Likewise, many bloggers fear the reform community, believing that political reformers, if they could, would use the campaign finance laws to squash them like bugs. And then there is opportunism. House leaders who don’t seem to have any trouble with the notion that corporations might one day control what we get to access on the Internet are seizing the chance to look like the heroes of free speech online. Even better, they can advocate for a bill that gives them the opportunity to undo, at least in part, a soft-money ban they never liked.

Note there is some self-interest in that - votes, soft-money. They may advocate for the bloggers but there is that back door. Corporations. They can always shift the blame for cracking down on free speech.

Bloggers do matter. We aren’t so easily controlled as the MSM.

RINO Sightings is up at Polytechnical Institute and I am one of the raging ones.

What’s more dangerous than a raging RINO?

Meowza.

He’s figured out how to open my bedroom door. I had to lock it as I am not interested in cat sightings in my sleep. Or I’ll really be raging.

The ads, the offending ads, I am so disappointed. Both Safari and Camino currently show Pajamas Media 3 but Firefox blocks them all. Wonder why the blogs have to have three ads. I did undo the adblock in Safari briefly to see what I was missing.

Yes Sissy, I clicked on your link. No plain vanilla dating service this with a drop down box where one can pick choices like “domination and submission” and “fetishes.” Gee Roger and Co. sure know how to pick them or do they have a choice? Do they serve up whatever Doubleclick sends their way?

I remember a similar thing occuring with BlogAds. Some ads would change their image after people bought them and the bloggers ended up stuck with ads that offended not just them but their core audience. One reason why the only ad I have is my own for CafePress which is so lowkey that I get no business. I must redesign my stuff too. Other reasons - low traffic and, most important, they mar the site design as do various buttons so I keep them to a minimum.

Picky aren’t I?

So what to do about the offending ads. Easiest is to use Firefox with or without Adblock as it now comes with ad blocking. It’s crossplatform and has lots of cool features and ad-ons. Sides which it is an award-winning browser which should say something. Does defeat the purpose of having ads to start with.

But it does take care of the offending ones.