TUESDAY

1. I watched the CNN debate last night from NH. Ron Paul hammered his usual message. Bachmann looked hot. Gingrich looked like he was going to explode and beshit himself. Romney reeked of utter hypocrisy. Pawlenty blew his Obomneycare moment. Gary Johnson was banned from the debate for not having higher poll ratings. Except for Paul, no one seems to be the GOP rock star.

2. I also watched the CNN piece entitled "WikiWars" that really paints Assange as some total villain. People forget that the Pentagon was allowed to vet the documents but declined. The military could give a shit about civilians. Then, there was that general that was allowed to try and explain the Collateral Murder video and put the Pentagon spin on it. The whole damn thing was just sickening to watch. CNN licks the ass of power.

3. Leo Babauta confesses to being a socialist. He needs to rethink this. I'd call him out on it, but it seems various minimalist bloggers don't have the balls to allow comments on their sites. I asked minimalist blogger Mike Donghia about this in an email, and this was his reply:

Hi Charlie,

Good to hear from you, man! Glad you liked the post.

Here's my take on comments, but I can only speak for myself -- not Leo and Everett:

When I used to do comments, I felt like there was an expectation that I responded to each one. I felt like it was only polite. Well, that started to become a big time commitment and took me away from other things I really cared about. Namely, spending time with my fiance and close friends.

I'm the type of person that likes to do things right, or not at all. So, I did away with them all together.

While I do not get as much contact with my readers (which I miss), I am still pretty accessible by email and through twitter. Comments were my most time consuming communication channel -- so it's definitely lightened the load.

I guess the main thing is that blogging started to become more of a burden than a joy. When someone really connects with a post (or has a beef with it) they write a post in response (I do the same thing) -- and I read all the posts that track back to my blog. It is certainly less communication, but it tends to be more thoughtful than just leaving a comment. I guess in a way, that is a minimalist approach to blogging and maybe Leo and Everett have similar rationales.

That's just my take on things. You might not agree, but I'd certainly love to hear what you think. Is there a better solution that you can think of?

--Mike

OK, I am going to lay it out here. I work a job. I post anywhere from once a day to three times a day. I am also a Facebook machine. My reading load is quite vast, and I write a good bit on stuff that never sees the light of day. Yet, I have never had any time problem with dealing with comments. Some may say that I have no life. Others may argue that I don't get that many comments. Now, Mike is unemployed. He doesn't have a job. Yet, he has the time to blog, but he doesn't have the time to deal with comments. Let's just say it like it is. The guy doesn't have the balls to deal with the comments. They sting his ass, and he spends all his time trying to censor them or debate them.

Here's the deal. If you can't stand the heat of reader comments, you need to get your ass out of the kitchen of blogging. The most minimalist thing a minimalist blogger can do is stop blogging. Trust me, the world will survive just fine without another blogger. If you want a nice quiet peaceful stress free existence, then don't be a blogger. A blogger who can't take criticism is like a lifeguard who doesn't like to get wet. Some things just go with the job.

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