Maine Owl

I have made a few changes to the sidebar and contact form. From now on, neither real names nor the contact form are visible unless a user is logged in. I added the "Create Account" and "Log In" forms to the contact page.

Joining this site requires only that you supply a valid email and jump through a couple of captcha and activation hoops. It's no big deal. There is never any charge for registering.

I'm happy to report the site seems not to be bugged by spam or robot registration, a very good thing.

Why register and log in? This makes a few changes in site experience when you do:

• You do not have to use captcha to post comments. Your screen name is automatically added to the message.
• You can use the handy email contact form. I do not publish email addresses on the site (unless you allow yours to appear with a comment), so you need the contact form to contact me. You can only use the contact form if you are logged in. Also, you may use the form to contact other members here. The list is growing.
• By request, you could get limited back-end access to manage your name, email, password, and comments yourself.
• I'm open to adding members with posting rights. This is easy for me to do if you register for an account. I'd like to have more active posting and commenting here, especially in this season of political change.
• Finally, I send out an irregular Maine Owl email newsletter. All members will get that at least once, but you have a link to shut it off if you don't like it. Currently it goes out to about 70 people.

Questions? Log in and send 'em using the "Contact" button!

Today was a maintenance day for the site. I needed an upgrade to address a security issue. After a few hiccups, it seems to be back to normal. Let me know if you notice any issues.

Great story today!

Check it out:

Maine's netroots community growing
Political bloggers will likely become more vocal as the Senate race between Collins and Allen heats up. BY JONATHAN E. KAPLAN, Washington D.C. Correspondent - February 17, 2008

Several Maine political activists are harnessing the power of the Internet to reshape the state's political landscape...

According to Kaplan, your host at Maine Owl was "ahead" of his time! Thank you, Mr. Kaplan.

I also like the way Kaplan ends his article with my diplomatic comments, what I really believe: "'Blogging has a lot of room for growth in the state [of Maine]. I now think our entire state politics would be enhanced with progressive and conservative bloggers,' Olson said. 'That's what's going to enhance our understanding of each other.'"

It always throws me a bit when an interviewer suggests I'm one of the early bloggers, and still one of the few political/activist bloggers in Maine.

Of course someone like Daily Kos's Bill in Portland have a much bigger following than this humble effort, due in no small part to Bill's persistent cultivation of the gigantic Kos audience. My best diary over there attracted a whopping 35 comments (though they were excellent comments), while Bill gets 400 to 500 with his superb "Cheers and Jeers" columns.

I suppose I should cultivate more over there myself. As Gerald has mentioned to me, it would help if I used proper titles and keywords when posting too.

Anyway, to all readers getting here through the Maine Sunday Telegram, WELCOME! I will try to keep it lively for you with my political observations, anti-war movement news, research, and comments, plus my photography, science, food, and recreational postings. WELCOME, WELCOME WELCOME!!!

Technorati Profile

Maine Owl is a comment & nature photography blog. It is written by The Owl, a long-time peace & justice activist now residing in the Bangor, Maine area.

This is the successor site to Deep Blade Journal, the archives of which are here. The new blog will differ from Deep Blade Journal in that I intend to keep the content driven more from a local & personal viewpoint. Maine Owl will cover many of the same issues as Deep Blade Journal—Iraq and the Terror War, for example. But more often that coverage will be inspired by local events and media. I will be less likely to post here on national electoral politics or national-level politicians unless there is a local event or media appearance to discuss. And, I intend to amp up the photography here as time goes on.

All posts will be written by your host, The Owl, unless otherwise indicated. I know some other very, very good writers who I hope will one day finally decide to post here. If that ever happens, the conversation will be richly elevated from what I am able to do.