Disqus - Latest Comments for stoltzc

Re: Protesters walk to Kensington home of bicyclist who accosted teens on Capital Crescent Trail

FoodDude — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 20:22:58 -0000

I believe if you look at Northam's record in its totality it's not possible to fairly consider him a racist. Please review his full record on race issues, not anecdotes, before you respond.

Re: Protesters walk to Kensington home of bicyclist who accosted teens on Capital Crescent Trail

FoodDude — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 20:20:18 -0000

I agree with all of that. Whether what the protesters did qualifies as "destruction" or "temporary modification" I leave to those who deal with local property law.

Re: Protesters walk to Kensington home of bicyclist who accosted teens on Capital Crescent Trail

FoodDude — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 13:59:20 -0000

That is a brilliant thought. I'm not sure what this group could do that would pursue that end -- to engage this guy with other ways to help him understand their viewpoint. It would be interesting to find out. The right to engage in lawful protest is guaranteed. But that's not to say it's the most productive action, in this or any particular case.

Re: Protesters walk to Kensington home of bicyclist who accosted teens on Capital Crescent Trail

FoodDude — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 13:49:39 -0000

Thanks for your thoughts, Guest.

Re: Protesters walk to Kensington home of bicyclist who accosted teens on Capital Crescent Trail

FoodDude — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 13:48:58 -0000

That's a good point, Centervoice. Thanks. I'd argue that this man was more than "not supportive" of BLM. He was angry enough to assault teenagers and try to hurt a guy taking a video of it. BLM comes with a lot of baggage and associations that turn some non-racists away from their cause. But I've never met anyone who can be motivated to violence over disagreements of tactics and associations. There are unhinged progressives who physically attack second amendment supporters who brandish weapons in a menacing way. I don't know if any of them support the second amendment and simply disagree with tactics. I suspect this biker will lawyer up and cut a plea deal and we'll have no insight into his thoughts about race.

Re: Protesters walk to Kensington home of bicyclist who accosted teens on Capital Crescent Trail

FoodDude — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 12:25:04 -0000

Hi all, great to see an exchange of views on this. But I wish it didn't devolve so viscerally into culture wars. There is a lot to try to understand here, but I'm struck how quickly this pivots to the sort of divisive, accusatory sloganeering. It has enormous negative effects on civic culture. I suspect everybody here agrees that what this guy did was horribly wrong, and he should be held fully accountable for his actions. There may be a legitimate difference of opinion whether targeting a private citizen with protests -- even one about whom overwhelming evidence of guilt, including admission of the act, exists, and when the action was designed to silence just this sort of protest -- is fair or good. But why the reference to BLM's [alleged] racism and imagined desire to "overthrow Western Civilization" [?], washing Cornell West's feet, virtual signaling "goons," etc? Energetic disagreement is good. This sort of rhetoric convinces nobody and drives us further apart. Whoever wants that outcome should give their motives some thought.

Re: Farm-to-Table Restaurant Opens in Rebranded Bethesdan Hotel

FoodDude — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:01:49 -0000

My wife and I went there last night just to check out the bar. We ordered the "charcuterie," which was a few flabby folds of salami and prosciutto and a few wedges of gouda. Some jelly and wan winter grapes. The whole thing looked like it was bought at the nearby Harris Teeter. I ordered the Old Fashioned but they had no rye. And the bitters bottle was dry. Nobody was eating dinner -- there were two others at the bar -- and there was no evidence that a chef was around. What a terrible first impression.

Re: Should Electric Bikes Be Allowed On Local Trails?

FoodDude — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 12:23:39 -0000

Hi all, I've had two back surgeries. If not for e-bikes, I could no longer participate in my favorite form of recreation, exercise, and commuting. The same is true for many people, including those who are overweight and out of shape and benefit from a form of exercise where you can control your effort and bodily stress.

Ebikes should be licenced and required to have speed governors. Violators of path speed limits on any form of bike, and causers of speed-based incidents that harm others, should be prosecuted.

But e-bikes are an important innovation that allow many people to enjoy biking. Prohibiting them on trails is unnecessary, and unfair to many.

Re: louisgray.com: 40 Key Elements to Getting Started In Social Media

FoodDude — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:23:40 -0000

Mike--I've read dozens of these things. This is the best. Congrats and thanks.

Re: Fake Your Way to Being a Social Media Expert: Resources

FoodDude — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:34:38 -0000

Joe--Thanks for the mention of my blog. I'm delighted to be mentioned as a resource for helping people fake their way to expertise! I may put that on my website.

Re: Facebook Thrown Out of Tree After Caught Kissing With Twitter

FoodDude — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:09:04 -0000

Nick--Great report, as usual.

One detail catches me short: That a Twittereur may be rewarded based on audience size. It's already going on with recognitions such as wallpaper grandts for high performers.

But I would not have interest in building a big audience; I Twitter for the "ambient intimacy," and secondarily [admitted hereby] to promote my blog entries.

I love the idea that I reach an audience with Twitter that has selected me [and mostly vice-versa], and am intrigued by how Tweets can travel through these non-overlapping social circles across the Twittersphere. If I know strangers are trying to build audience by following me in hopes I'll follow back--and to generate revenue with my attention. . .for me, that will change the social nature of the platform.

Geez, am I getting sentimental about "original" Twitter? Kick me.

Re: What Is A Blog? (And Why It May Not Matter)

FoodDude — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:27:03 -0000

Alan--

This is a great distinction, one that I've found unsettling for some time--TechCrunch is not a "blog" in the same sense that yours or mine are blogs, and HuffPo is something different from that.

The blog platform is so flexible now we need new words to describe these different things. I like blogazine.

But there are also breaking news blogs written by multiple authors of news organizations [USAToday, CNN], individual blogs by reporters [any of the Washington Post or New York Times reporter blogs], multi-author vertical blogs like TechCrunch, blogazines like HuffPo, big-tent, multi-author, news-and-opinion blogs like The Health Care Blog. . .and many more.

I've always been unsettled by calling Twitter a "microblogging" platform, which seems to distort the idea of blog unnecessarily.

I think this stuff, as you point out, is changing so fast the names aren't keeping up. I wonder what words we'd use of we decided none of them is really a "blog"?

Re: Why I Won't Make A Viral Video for You

FoodDude — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:26:25 -0000

Brilliant. I just sent this to a client who asked me to do precisely this. I may lose a client, but I may win a heart and mind. I'm sure I'll be rewarded for this in my next life, if not this one.

Re: iGoogle Getting Social, Adding FriendFeed Feature

FoodDude — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:19:35 -0000

Nick--I'm not surprised to see Google going social off the iGoogle platform (Netvibes Ginger has been trying to go social for a while now, though it seems to be getting little traction).

But it is surprising to see Google pull in content only from its own properties. I suspect this is an implementation issue at this point, and that ultimately iGoogle will pull in everything from everywhere.

And once again Google will have found a way to keep itself at the center of web users' universe. Damn those folks are good.