Blog Reviews by Bloggeries » Politics

The Thunder Dragon – Political Blog Review

chrissie — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:00:15 +0000

Political blogs are quite popular these days, and when well written, are a fun read regardless of what side of the partisan fence you are sitting on. The Thunder Dragon blog is no exception. When first landing on the Thunder Dragon blog, you will quickly appreciate the newsy articles this blog has to offer. The Thunder Dragon blog is a blog written by Chris Hawes, who is a recent university graduate and political activist and enjoys writing about his political views and ideas, and what you can expect of the blog, which is a blog that covers global politics, with a focus on the UK and the United States. See this for yourself through any of the most recent bloggeries which include: Cameron Direct to Watford, Lib Dems And A Hung Parliament, I don’t like driving in my car and A Tax On Chocolate.

The blog is well designed into a clean and organized template which upon first glance, makes navigation very simple, however navigation becomes a little cumbersome as you move through the blog. Bloggeries are left marginalized and appear in black text on white background with a black border around the blog giving you a newspaper feel. There is also a double wide right sided navigation system where you can find all of the blog meat. In the navigation system you will find very little in the right sided bars, as the navigation moves with you as you scroll down the page. Content contained here includes some blog widgets, a Recent Posts Menu, Comments Menu, and Blogroll, however the font is very tiny on these features and it may take you a few minutes to see them enough to use them. The blog also offers a top navigation system under the header where you can travel to the home page, About, Blogroll, Comments Policy, Copyright, Email, and RSS information. Most bloggeries are accompanied by relevant pictures to the content which makes for an enjoyable read and adds some definition and life to the overall appearance. I don’t understand why the sidebar slides with you as you scroll down. It looks to me like it’s stopping us from accessing some of the data such as “Recent Posts”

Overall this blog gets a 3/5 and needs a few tweaks to make it an exceptional blog, however, this blog does not have far to go in that respect. Although it does have the basic features that make a blog easier to navigate, the sliding sidebar kinda confuses me and cheapens the appearance. Placing these different features on the home page in a more static location would make much more sense. Also, the blog features are too small to read and a different sized font would change this. Further, some additional blog meat needs to be added such as the standard Categories Menu to make reading easier for the readers if they are looking for a specific topic. The color scheme also makes it difficult to read the different features and focus on the content and black text on blue background in the navigation system is very hard on the eyes, and may make readers wander elsewhere. However, the blog does have a lot of information and the content is quality enough to carry this blog. Activity is great as well with new bloggeries many times a day, which is always great to see in a blog. Overall again, just a few tweaks mainly to appearance and navigation to make this blog more user friendly and this blog is well on its way to successful growth. If you’re reading this and you change your layout be sure to contact us so Rob can add you to the directory; also with a simple change this blog could easily be a 4+/5.
-Chrissie

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South Dakota Moderate – Review

chrissie — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:19:41 +0000

We are looking at another political blog called A South Dakota Moderate. This political blog is ‘trying to see purple through all the red’ and is a site authored by one who has a strong desire to express political opinion through the South Dakota Moderate blog. The blogger makes it known that he has no affiliation politically in the sense that he is not being paid by any party to write the blog, nor has he ever worked in the political arena. He is a former 9 year Navy veteran, originally from Ohio, who has settled in South Dakota and has never looked back. The blogger tries to focus on South Dakota politics, but also includes bits from national politics and some interest on gadgets and technology. The blog is very well written for one that is motivated to see ‘purple’ and you can guage that yourself through any of his recent bloggeries: No Surprisek Here, Everyone is an Expert All of a Sudden, So What do you Really Think?, Please don’t Petrae (us), Chris Nelson: It’s Broken, Makes you go Hmmm…, Do you really want to impress people?, Clean Cut Kid Is Charged, Sweeping Away Global Warming, and Pizza Hut Is Getting To Be A Pretty Dangerous Place To Work.

The blog has a very clean and sleek format and this makes it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a dual right navigation system and a simple top navigation bar. Posts are standard black text on white format and the navigation systems are very nicely laid out. In the top navigation bar you will find links to Home, Contact (containing the About Page), SD Search button, and a register button. In the left/right navigation bar you will find a very healthy categories menu on many different political topics, a feedburner with 19 readers, and archives going back to February 2006. In the far right navigation bar you find an advertisers link for campaign signs, Recent Posts Menu, Recent Comments menu, Blogs I Read, and a South Dakota Blogwire widget.

This blog will get a 4.5/5 from me. It satisfies all of the blog scoring criteria excellently. The content is very well written and the activity is quite frequent with posts coming in daily or even twice a day. The blog is well read as is evidenced by its many page views for each post with each post reaching several hundred page views. There are currently 51 in the feedburner showing there is a steady following with this blog. I would suggest making the about page a little more prominent and accessible to the readers at this point. Currently it is located in the Contact page and I think many readers may not find it if they do not choose to make a point of contact. It will establish a little more personal voice and connection with the readership. I would also suggest adding some more relevant pictures for the odd post here and there to spice up the overall appearance. I might also suggest taking advantage of the many page views which signifies a strong readership and possibly monetize the blog a little bit through AdSense or other forms of advertising. Otherwise however, I think the blog is very well done with an excellent format and design and would be found very appealing to those that enjoy reading political blogs.

-Chrissie

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Skeeter Bites Report – Blog Review

chrissie — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:31:22 +0000

We are going to look at another political blog that also has a very present personal voice which makes it an interesting read. The blog is called the Skeeter Bites Report and is a weekly news analysis and commentary on U.S. politics, culture, and life in general with an occasional look at Canada. You will find articles published every Monday with some Special Editions coming in on Wednesdays or Thursdays if the scoops warrant it. The blogger is Skeeter Sanders, a native of New York City who is currently living in Vermont. He’s a former freelance journalist, a self-described ‘fiercely independent thinker’ who is highly skeptical of authority figures when they disagree with him. The blog is definitely politically charged but very well written, which you can guage for yourself in the recent Bloggeries: Are you on an Adults-Only Social Network Web Site? Big Brother wants to know why?, Ex Federal Reserve Chairman says war in Iraq is ‘Largely about Oil’, Strong Evidence Emerges that ‘Osama bin Laden’ in New 9/11 video is an Imposter, and McCain, Nominee of ‘Rich People’s Party,’ Calls Obama ‘Out of Touch’ With the Poor.

Though the site is very well written, I find this to be difficult to get to at times with its fierce amount of advertising. Bloggeries are right marginalized with black text on beige background and links highlighted in red. In the left navigation bar you will find advertising, an Archives pull down menu, Where the blog is found on the blogosphere, News the Mainstream Media May have Missed, Headlines from Buzzlash.com, Subscription info, Feedback Section, About page, and a link to listen to Skeeter’s 2 hr weekly radio show. Missing from the navigation system are a categories menu and a recent posts menu. I think these two elements would add to the navigation of the blog. I also don’t see labels attached to the posts and I think the blog could get a much larger readership if it used Technorati tags or sorted the posts with labels and categories.

The blog will get a 3 from me. This blog is a little cluttered and needs some organization and reformatting in order to fare better from me. The blog could be more active. Though this keeps in line with the weekly nature of the blog, the articles that are posted are extremely lengthy and have the potential of losing the reader’s interest. I would suggest breaking one article down to make it more readable and spreading it out over the course of the week or a few days to increase the activity aspect as well as make it an easier read. I would also add some blog elements such as a categories menu as previously mentioned just to organize the blog a little and make navigation a little easier to work with. Further, I would move the advertising around so that it is not the first thing the reader sees and blends in more with the content of the blog. Otherwise, I think the content is extremely well done and the niche itself is unique and very appealing to a large audience. I think with just a few changes this could be a very successful blog with an extensive readership.

-Chrissie

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Phronesisaical – Blog Review

chrissie — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:04:55 +0000

We are taking a look at another political blog, and this one is called Phronesisaical. This blog is about politics, philosophy, international affairs, and fruit. There are two main contributors to this blog, Helmut and Barba de Chiva. Helmut is a Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs and is located out of Washington D.C. Barba de Chiva is an English Professor writing out of Texas. Both of these bloggers offer a unique appeal and excellent writing as can be seen in any of their recent bloggeries: The Void, Flashes of Brilliance, Normalizing Hiroshima, A particular Universal Proposition, Anti-Jaguar Wall, Royal Democracy in Bhutan etc…

The blog is fairly simple to navigate and offers a clean well-organized design. Bloggeries are left-marginalized and are black text on a light green background and links are highlighted in dark green. In the right navigation system you will find the contributors profile pages, ‘Phronesisaicality’ Menu, Bloggery Menu (perhaps a blog roll?), News and Commentary Menu, Magazines, Philosophy, Ethics, Policy, Policy Information and News, Development and Environment, Photography, Fruit Photography, mp3 Blogs, Miscellaneous, Previous Posts Menu, Archives going back to June 2005 and Blog Widgets. What I don’t see in blog navigation is a categories menu or labels attached to the posts, so I don’t think the blog is organized by category. I think this may help the blog given its healthy nature of topics and issues that it covers.

I will give this blog a 3.4/5. The blog is very well written and is updated almost daily, so it scores well for content and activity. First off I believe this blog could use some more personality in the theme department. Something from a header with an image to a redesign where it tells you abit about the author and blog before you start reading. It’s currently generic not giving the blog the credit it derserves. I think the current location of the recent posts menu is not doing this menu any service. It is currently located at the very bottom of the right navigation system and would be very difficult to find if you didn’t spend a lot of time with the blog. I also think a deeper connection with the readership could be established if the contributors expanded on the purpose of the blog in the About Pages, or even define the term ‘Phronesisaical’ a little deeper. I don’t see any comments or hit counters, so I am not certain what the readership of the blog is. But I think this blog could reach a larger audience with these simple changes and I wish it the best of luck.

-Chrissie

Phronesisaical – Blog Review

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Take a Stand Against Liberals Blog – Review

Bloggeries — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:13:03 +0000

If you are looking for a good political blog to sink your teeth, and your opinions into, you may want to have a look at the Take a Stand Against Liberals blog. I do offer a reader advisory warning on this spot however, if you are looking for a clean blog without profanity, this may not be the one for you. The blog is politically motivated with a definite stance and strongly voiced opinions and as such, does contain some language for the over 18 crowd. This language is not pervasive on the blog and only comes up now and again, but nonetheless, due to this content, the advisory is issued. However, if you are the type that this does not bother, you will probably love this blog, particularly if you enjoy hearing strong opinions. The blog offers a fresh voice with the purpose of ‘screwing politically correct b.s.’ and offers in its header a quote by Ronald Reagan: “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.” The blogger with this fresh voice is known as Jenn of the Jungle and hails from California. She offers in her profile information that the blog is entirely her own opinions and invites you to either disagree or otherwise while at the same time noting that death threats are not welcome. She disclaims that the blog is not endorsed by anyone, other than of course her dog Liberty who may be running for President I 2008. You will get a great taste for this blog in just the first few bloggeries you get to read: Be Vewy Qwiet, We’re Huntin’ Tewwowists; Lieberman Tells it like it is; Charges Dismissed; More Idiocy in Coloradistan; Par Tay Another Dead Terrorist!; I Love I.C.E.; and Winning Hearts and Minds.

You will find navigation on this blog very simple. The header sports a patriotic banner supporting the troops with a blinking banner that throws out slogans such as “We stand with Israel”, “Defeat Islamo Fascism”, “Islam is not a religion of Peace”, and “Infidel Blogger” among many more like minded quips. The blog is cleanly laid out with black text on white background with many colors through ads and banners adding some pizazz to the blog without overwhelming it with distraction. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a right navigation system that contains ads, About Me page, Last Posts menu, Archives going back to September 2005, Links and Awards (such as Best Political Blog), Email me Info, and Blog Widget Buttons. The only thing I do not see in the navigation system is a categories menu, though I do see labels attached to each post. Labels for this blog include the like of ‘Screw Terrorists’, ‘Illegal Immigration’, ‘Bill Clinton is a tool’, ‘Indoctrination Centers’, and ‘Muslims take over the World’ to name a few.

I am going to go ahead and give this blog a 4.5/5. There is little that I can offer in the way of improvement as this blog is clearly doing very well. This is noted through its hits counter of over 170k and its well established readership that offers a running commentary on every post. The blog is neatly laid out and easy to navigate though I would suggest a categories menu for the right navigation system. The appearance scores also do well with relevant pictures adding meaning to every post. Likewise, the content is fresh and unique and offers a crisply written style that I think would be an enjoyable read to anyone, regardless of what way they swing politically. The only other suggestion I would add for this blog is that it make a move to its own domain. The readership could clearly sustain it, and the blogger would be able to retain permanent ownership of the obviously unique writing style. This is a definite recommend from this reviewer and will definitely get a bookmark from me.

-Chrissie

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Phronesisaical – Blog Review

chrissie — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:42:12 +0000

We are taking a look at another political blog, and this one is called Phronesisaical. This blog is about politics, philosophy, international affairs, and fruit. There are two main contributors to this blog, Helmut and Barba de Chiva. Helmut is a Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs and is located out of Washington D.C. Barba de Chiva is an English Professor writing out of Texas. Both of these bloggers offer a unique appeal and excellent writing as can be seen in any of their recent bloggeries: Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov at Columbia; Friday Dinner Party Conversation Stopper; Noncombatant Immunity, Blackwater, and the State Department; $1 Billion vs. $1.2 Trillion; Seas and Genes; Ian Hacking on Creationism; Brazil vs. Germany; La Franqueza; and William Faulkner.

I will give this blog a 3.4/5. The blog is very well written and is updated almost daily, so it scores well for content and activity. I would suggest working with the length on some of the posts as they are currently very lengthy and can get difficult to read. I would either break these up into more frequent posts or perhaps adding pictures to each post to break up the length a little and make the reading go a little smoother. I also think the current location of the recent posts menu is not doing this menu any service. It is currently located at the very bottom of the right navigation system and would be very difficult to find if you didn’t spend a lot of time with the blog. I also think a deeper connection with the readership could be established if the contributors expanded on the purpose of the blog in the About Pages, or even define the term ‘Phronesisaical’ a little deeper. I don’t see any comments or hit counters, so I am not certain what the readership of the blog is. But I think this blog could reach a larger audience with these simple changes and I wish it the best of luck.

-Chrissie

Phronesisaical – Blog Review

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Chuck Hagel for President 2008 – Blog Review

chrissie — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:59:48 +0000

If you are a follower of American politics, and specifically the Presidential race, you may enjoy the Chuck Hagel blog. This blog is following the campaign of Chuck Hagel for President in 2008 and is an unofficial blog formerly at the center of a grassroots movement to encourage support for the Hagel Candidacy in 2008. Since the blog has started however, Chuck Hagel has since announced that not only is he not seeking a third term in the U.S. Senate, but he is not intending to run for any office at all in 2008. This is not to say that this blog can not find appeal or an audience, as any facet of any Presidential race official or otherwise still marks a place in American History, so we take a look at this blog that is a follower of the Chuck Hagel career. You can see the most recent in his career in any of the following of the author’s bloggeries: Hagel not running in 2008, Watch Monday’s Announcement Live, Monday – Hagel to announce Future Plans, and American Public Media: “Drafting a President”.

You will find navigating this blog very easy. Posts in this blog are left marginalized with black text on a beige background with links being highlighted in orange. There is a right navigation system that contains a picture of Chuck, a form if you’d like to join the Hagel Movement, Official Hagel Sites, Hagel Related Pages, Election Resources Menu, Iowa Links, New Hampshire Links, South Carolina Links, Michigan Links, a Blogroll, and a Categories Menu containing a variety of topics such as Education, Energy Policy, Audio, 2006, Environment, Foreign Policy, Fundraising, and so many more. You will also find in this navigation bar a disclaimer stating that this blog is not an official Chuck Hagel website and is an unofficial blog.

I will give this blog a 3 but I think even with the change of recent events this blog could do well if it makes some changes. Activity and appearance seem to be the biggest issues for the blog right now. The blog clearly has a healthy readership with over 40,000 hits on its counter and readers coming in from all over the globe. I think an About Page would give this blog a personal voice as though it is clear this is an unofficial blog, the background of the author may help create a more personal connection between the blogger and the readership. Content scores are good as the content is very readable and user friendly and well written overall. The appearance of the blog is appealing though I would suggest a few more relevant pictures with each post to perhaps add some additional meaning to the history making headlines the author writes about. I think this blog scores well for uniqueness as well given the timely nature of the blog in concert with the Presidential campaign. I also think the blog has a good potential given its readership and healthy comment base and thus would probably benefit from more frequent activity to sustain that readership despite the fact that Chuck Hagel is not running for Presidency. There are many things the blogger could do to follow Chuck Hagel’s current career and still highlight his political life without focusing entirely on the campaign trail. Overall this is a good blog that could do very well if it sustains its readership.

-Chrissie

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Pressing the Flesh Blog – Review

chrissie — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:45:35 +0000

If you are looking for a personal blog that offers a little tongue in cheek on a whole lot of everything, you may find the Pressing the Flesh Blog a breath of fresh air. This blog offers a running commentary on politics, punditry, pop culture, and propaganada – all sprinkled with a touch of Flesh, which apparently, is suitable for pressing. Not sure exactly what this means, but you will find this blog is definitely of the personal variety, with a very rich personal voice. The blogger, or flesh presser, is a 251 ‘year’ old Pisces male working in the theater industry. You can get a flavor of his most recently pressed flesh through the following bloggeries: Wise words from Molly Ivins, A list of movies I’ll be watching for free, Now I’ll NEVER leave my computer, Hillary can’t win, Obama’s response, Heir to the Hair, Are you experienced? PTF Hearts Russ Feingold, Back from my Retreat, and a Christian Embarrassment. If you can not guess yet, the blog is a political blog with a fresh opinion, and offers the definition of “pressing the flesh” as the shaking of hands and mingling with many people, especially when campaigning for political office, a place for progressives, politics, punditry, propaganda, pop culture, and a palace for those with appoint of view. The author offers a place here where even in the most unsatisfactory exchange, something is exchanged. Now do you get it? You really have to see it for yourself to get the full feel.

Navigation on this blog is fairly straightforward though not the easiest on the eyes. BLoggeries are white text on black background which offers a nice backdrop for the many relevant pictures and videos to stand out. Bloggeries are left marginalized with a right navigation system. In the right navigation bar you will find the About page; ads; Recent Posts menu noted as “Previously Pressed”; and assorted menus for fellow bloggers, ‘ptfners’, muckrakers, and etc. You will also find here the archives menu noted as “Remember When”, search menu for the blog, video clips menu, sponsors menu, and amazons ads. Almost every post contains a relevant picture or video that adds spice to the blog as well. I am not seeing any categories menu at this point, which may help organize the blog a little bit more given its eclectic nature.

I am going to offer this a 2.3/5 for now, as the blog is currently losing marks for all criteria. The appearance really needs some work, I would suggest changing the black background. This makes the pictures stand out and almost take over the blog. With the pictures standing out, the ads are screaming as well.For some blogs I have seen this work, but for this particular one I find it very distracting from the actual content of the blog which is very well written. Because the content is well done, I would suggest more frequent posting as to date, the bloggeries are ranging from every few days to a couple of weeks in between. This is an interesting and fun blog and I think the readers AND the author would benefit from seeing the results of more frequent posting. Navigation marks are straightforward but again I would suggest changing the colors just to make the ads blend in more and navigation within the menus a little easier. Otherwise overall I think this could be a very fun and popular blog if the author spent a little more time with it and made some appearance changes.

-Chrissie

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Take a Stand Against Liberals Blog – Review

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The Conservative Revolution – Blog Review

chrissie — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:30:58 +0000

As the United States works its election year fervor, a political blog for the right wings may catch your attention. The blog is called Danger Management and is known as The Conservative Revolution blog. The blog does not take any subtleties on its right winged approach, and it does so very well. Yu can see this through any of its recent bloggeries: Support the Troops, Is This in our Future (More Democrap), Beginning of Ramadan in Gaza Strip, War of Gog and Magog, Russia’s Super Bomb, John Cornyn Condemns MoveOn.org’s Unpatriotic Statements, John Cornyn US Senator From Texas, Hypocrite!!, Caucus of Corruption, and Jim Ogonowski for US Congress 2007 Special Election. The blog though it comes with an obvious angle, also plays a very diplomatic role in approaching what could be considered sensitive subjects. You can see an example of this in the bloggerie “Support the Troops” where the author says “We recognize that the U.S. involvement in Iraq has divided Americans and that our leaders have made mistakes.”

Danger Management has a very simple navigation system. Bloggeries are black text on white background, and the blog is themed patriotically. The header and right sided navigation bar contains titles and headings in red, and the border for the blog is in blue. Bloggeries are thus left marginalized with a right navigation system. In this navigation system you will see archives going back to November 2006, Recent Posts Menu, a menu called “Resistance Links” which is the most extensive menu in the blog and carries almost all the way down the page, many subscription methods, and advertising information. The blog also has a good amount of relevant pictures that add to the appeal of the bloggeries. What I do not see on the blog that would be very helpful in navigation would be a categories or labels menu despite the fact that each post contained a label. I think a menu like this would make the blog a little easier to navigate. I also think that with a blog as politically charged as this one, an About Page would be extremely useful for the readership to identify with the thought processes that are being offered.

Overall I will go with a 3.5/5 for this one. The blog scores well for navigation, appearance, and athe uniqueness of the content. The content also receives good marks as the writing is very well written and easy to follow even if the reader is not politically motivated. The activity is picking up, though it has been considerably sparse at times. The thing that struck me about this blog was that it has an obvious personal voice, but there was a disconnect between that voice and the reader. An About page would really make a difference as I enjoyed reading the style of the writing and the thoughts offered, but found that disconnect to be a little disheartening. There are also currently no places to offer comments on the blog, and I think that would be a benefit in establishing a connection between the author and the reader. With a blog such as this, opinions are bound to be rampant and the author may benefit from seeing how the readers are acknowledging the writing. Overall however, it is a fairly neat and tidy blog that is well written, and if it maintains its current activity level, it should do very well.

-Chrissie

Take a Stand Against Liberals Blog – Review

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