Interregnum

Well it's been awhile, Even though I have had blog post ideas going through my bead I just have not felt like sitting down and writing lately. The Fifth Column will resume even if I am not certain exactly when.

I Have Not Abandoned You

Well it may look like I have abandoned my New Years Resolution to maintain more consistent blogging I have not abandoned you. I have just been side tracked by other matters, including some home renovation issues, computer problems and even some mapping projects. But I have been thinking about blog posts and even started a post on the future of the NDP that was supposed to be finished before the leadership decision but is still a work in progress.

But keep an eye on the upper right corner for I have still been posting tweets on the issues of the day.

More to come.

New Years Resolution

Well, if it isn't obvious what it should be, my resolution is to actually write and post all those blog post ideas that come to me almost daily and get thought about but never written and posted.

The Fifth Column Is Not Dead

I have just been a bit preoccupied with things lately. I've actually been thinking about things to blog about so once the spirit moves me I should be off and running. More to write about SMH, of course, and cycling stuff and political commentary on all sorts of things. And I've been looking at getting a new camera that I want to talk about. In the meantime I am posting short tweets and links on my twitter feed that you can follow on the right hand column of The Fifth Column.

Ever Wish You Could Really Commit Something to "Memory"

If you are a blogger or student or anybody who writes a lot I am sure you do a lot of pre-writing, thinking things through and even composing articles in your head when you are not at your computer. Some of the best things I have never published have been written that way. They never got published because they never got committed to my hard drive. By the time I got around to writing what I wanted to write the brilliant piece of work that was in my mind had disappeared from my thoughts.

Don't you wish that as you composed those brilliant pieces in your mind you could actually commit them to memory somewhere for later retrieval and editing. Wouldn't it be great if you could have a memory card slot in your brain to save them too and then pop into a USB slot and edit.

So are there any techie entrepreneurs out there working on this (besides the CIA of, course, who are no doubt working on secret brain implants to record your every thought).

Summertime and the Blogging is ...

Well it's summertime for the Fifth Column and the blog posts are becoming sporadic as I get busy with travel and other activities. However I do have a few blog posts floating around in my head so I do hope to be posting again soon.

the5thColumnist Is a Twit

Yes, I've decided to become a twit, or a twitterer or whatever you call one who tweets. I've been watching Twitter for awhile and decided to try it. Like most forms of Internet technology I think it is misused more than it is well used, particularly as another way for celebrities to say "I'm more popular than everyone else - I have more friends without lives of their own following me than you do."

One of the things I think Twitter is really useful for for is live blogging - allowing 'citizen journalists to cover events live just like the mainstream media as well as for disseminating in formation on political/social/environmental campaigns and events.

I will probably be using it primarily to let followers know when I have updated either of my blogs - The Fifth Column or Richard' GPS Trail Maps and occasionally to draw followers attention to other blog posts that I am really impressed with.

So why now. Well I just broke my arm a week ago in a mountain biking accident and will be unable to bike for 6 to 8 weeks and somewhat limited in what I can do with just one useful arm and hand so I'm probably going to be spending more time at the computer for awhile.

You can find me on Twitter at Richard W. Woodley (the5thColumnist) on Twitter. You do not have to have a Twitter account to access this page and read my twits.

Fifth Column in Limbo ?

I apologize for the Fifth Column going into apparent limbo. The Fifth Column hopes to be back to reasonably regular postings (at least a few times a week) soon.

Follow Me

With the Olympics, the great biking weather and other stuff to do lately I have been somewhat neglecting the Fifth Column but I hope to get back into things shortly.

In the meantime I thought I would thank my Followers. Looking at blog stats is one thing but seeing readers actually take the time to "follow" my blog really keeps me encouraged to keep writing.

If you are a regular reader you can follow my blog by clicking "Follow" on the right.

Do Computers Make Editing Too Easy

I am in the middle of writing a long comprehensive blog post. Actually I am finished writing it and doing the final edit. My problem is that with computers making it so easy to edit text I have developed a system whereby I keep doing a final read through until I do a read through without changes. However I seem to make changes with every read through. So when is it really ready to publish.

Stand by for my next blog post.

Spamless SPAM - What's The Point

Lately I have noticed an increasing amount of SPAM in my blog's comments section. One common post links to what looks like a porn site and is particularly distasteful.

I can understand the point, albeit lame, of SPAM that tries to sell you something or divert you to a website but there is also another type popping up. This is anonymous generic praise SPAM with no sales pitches or links included. The last two I received were posted by "Anonymous" and read like this.

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

It is extremely interesting for me to read the article. Thank author for it. I like such topics and anything that is connected to this matter. I definitely want to read a bit more soon.

Comments or praise that does not make any mention of the subject of the blog post it is attached to always raises my suspicions. So I googled both of the phrases above and found that they were posted to many many other blogs. So what is the point.

The only thing I can come up with is that spammers are testing new robotic SPAM posting software and we should be prepared for a deluge.

Comments anyone - real ones, that is.

Richard's GPS Trail Maps Site Completed

I have finally finished updating and moving all my existing GPS Trail Maps to the new site, with photos for all the trails except the Marlborough Forest Roads.

I will be adding more trails to the site as I get them mapped, in particular the Bruce Pit area trails including Trail 29 and the trails near Shirley's Bay, including Trail 10.

Check it out at:

http://gpstrailmaps.blogspot.com/

Summer Blogging Frustrations and The War on Workers

Summer Blogging Frustrations and The War on Workers

Those who have followed The Fifth Column from the beginning will know that summer is a slow time for the blog when I find my time taken up with other things and the blog becomes intermittent.

This summer has been particularly frustrating because while preoccupied with other things I have found myself thinking about things to blog about but too frustrated to do it. This is primarily because we are in the middle of the War on Workers in this country at the same time as our American friends are battling the War on Health Care and, in particular, the War on Canadian Health Care.

I found myself vacationing in Sudbury when the vote results from Local 6500 came in. As a student at Laurentian University I worked for INCO and was a member of Local 6500 and walked the picket lines with my brothers and sisters who depended on working at INCO for their livelihood.

I call upon all readers of the Fifth Column to give their full support to my brothers and sisters in Sudbury.


Please feel free to use the following on your blogs or web pages.

Support Local 6500 Sudbury

Richard's GPS Trail Maps

My new site for posting my trail maps is up and running and I think it looks good. I have some background information posted plus links to all the existing maps.

I used Blogger's simplest template and I think it's a good fit for the project. It is a work in progress. Eventually all the maps will be moved so there are small versions viewable on the site and clicking on them brings up the full map. I hope to add more annotations to the maps along with trail descriptions and photos, and of course more maps.

Check it out at:

http://gpstrailmaps.blogspot.com/

Blogging Break

Last week we were in Toronto visiting our daughters so I took a blogging break. Spring has arrived in Toronto and there was no snow to be seen in the city. With the warmer weather I should be back on my bike this week. The Fifth Column will probably become intermittent again. But I will try to do at least one posting a week.

How Progressive is Progressive Bloggers

The Fifth Column is a Member of a blog aggregator or blogging community known as Progressive Bloggers.

Progressive Bloggers describes itself this way:

Progressive Bloggers is a group of Canadian bloggers who firmly believe that this great country needs to move forward, not backwards. Be they Liberal or liberal, New Democrats or democrats, Green voters or voters who want a green country, or even Red Tories searching for a home, these bloggers believe that Canadian politics should move in a progressive direction.

On these blogs you will read about the importance of the environment, the need to preserve Canada’s social programs and its multicultural mosaic. You’ll see posts on why national unity is important and on why there are worse problems than letting two people who love each other marry.

If you have a progressive blog, be sure to join this group. If you enjoy reading progressive blogs, then you’ve come to the right place.

When I first started my blog, The Fifth Column, I set out to find ways to increase my readership and I discovered a number of blog aggregators that post your blogs, or the first few paragraphs, together with other blogs, and Progressive Bloggers was one of them.

At that time I really did not think too much about just how progressive many of the bloggers on Progressive Bloggers are.

My political background is on the left of the New Democratic Party, having been on the executive of the Sudbury New Democratic Party Riding Association when I was in university and having been a member of the Waffle and the Left Caucus. I represented the riding association at Ontario New Democratic Party, Waffle and Left Caucus meetings of various kinds.

For myself and my political contemporaries progressive started with the left wing of the New Democratic Party and moved leftward. Liberals and Tories were Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee and definitely none of them could be called progressive. Neither could the NDP establishment be considered to be progressive.

Then of course came Mike Harris and Stephen Harper and the Canadian political compass seemed to shift to the right making those on the centre right seem to be moderate and even progressive. But I think it is a mistake for those really on the left to buy into this.

I have certainly noticed in recent weeks some very non-progressive posts on Progressive Bloggers, in particular, some very anti-worker posts, but not limited to that.

And I am sure today, after Iggy's announcement of his “difficult decision” that Progressive Bloggers will be filled with posts justifying why the discredited Harper government should be allowed to remain in power.

For myself I will remain a member of Progressive Bloggers because there are still quite a few progressive voices here and it allows me to reach a broader audience but I will no longer be blind to the fact that many of the bloggers here are far from progressive.

Follow My Blog in 2009

Happy New Year Everyone. It is 2009 and you can follow my blog by clicking "Follow This Blog" on the right.

The Fifth Column Has Been Offline

My computer has been in the shop for the last week so you have been spared my comments on the United States Election. The Fifth Column hopes to be back to normal next week.

The Fifth Column is Returning

It's been a longer and busier summer than expected but regular Fifth Column postings will return soon, although there may not be daily posts at first.

Fifth Column Going Into Intermittent Summer Mode

Biking and kayaking season is upon us and there are just too many outdoor things to be done for me to blog on a daily basis. The Fifth Column is now in intermittent summer mode. Until the fall I will only be blogging when the spirit moves me.