Althouse: Isthmus publisher Vince O'Hern embarrasses himself pontificating about the value of his paper over my blogging.

April 22, 2010

Isthmus publisher Vince O'Hern embarrasses himself pontificating about the value of his paper over my blogging.

"We who labor at turning dead trees into public knowledge feel some obligation to make the sacrifice of the atmosphere-cleansing, oxygen-producing creatures worthwhile. It's possible that the theoretical infinity of cyberspace encourages throwing whatever is lying around into the void. It achieves nothing. It is simply wasting time by people who have time to waste."

LOL. Great Earth Day bullshit for the landfill, Vince. I hope you appreciate this blog post, which will lie around in the void... forever... searchable by Google.

54 comments:

Dustin said...: LOL.

What's so funny about writing that goes out of its way to be elaborately pretty is that it becomes this clumsy mess of concepts. It's ugly.; 4/22/10, 4:16 PM
Paddy O said...: I looked but couldn't find any documented rationalization in that link.

If I would were you--and Meade is glad I'm not--I would ask for a correction. You are well-documented as the diva of conservative bloviators, not simply their darling.; 4/22/10, 4:21 PM
mesquito said...: Geez Louise, what a gasbag. Tell you what, Vince: When The Isthmus is available for free way the hell out in Nowhere, Texas, why dontcha give me a holler, m'kay?; 4/22/10, 4:22 PM
Original Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/22/10, 4:22 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: It's possible that the theoretical infinity of cyberspace encourages throwing whatever is lying around into the void. It achieves nothing...".

This is the most damming Ipad review yet ;); 4/22/10, 4:24 PM
Original Mike said...: Holy cow! You're on the cover.

Didn't anything important happen this week?; 4/22/10, 4:24 PM
mesquito said...: Judging by the title of the article, "The Ego Has Landed," and the fact that Ms. Althouse would not stand still for a typical interview, we'd have to say that camaraderie is not a part of the ethos of the blogosphere.

See, if you're unwilling to sit still for an undergrad's grilling, you've got "ego"; 4/22/10, 4:28 PM
Original Mike said...: O'Hern has one comment so far. Let's see if we can lap him.; 4/22/10, 4:31 PM
mesquito said...: UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Vince scored a comment.; 4/22/10, 4:31 PM
rhhardin said...: Man, a little lost on an elephant, is seen to his advantage on a horse, a throne truly to his measure.

- Francis Ponge; 4/22/10, 4:32 PM
Anonymous said...: We have microfiche!

Bitch!

Signed,
Dinosaurs; 4/22/10, 4:35 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Zing! You must have been one of Robin Hood's top archers in a prior life.; 4/22/10, 4:36 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Void. So that's what this is.

Speaking of void, they're issuing tornado warnings for all the counties around me except mine.

Speaking of tornados, I'm imagining a pop-up card based on a piece of bread collecting the elements for a sandwich: bacon, lettuce, and tornado.; 4/22/10, 4:37 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Microfiche haha I remember that stuff.; 4/22/10, 4:37 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: There are probably more comments here in a single day than issues of what was that paper's name?; 4/22/10, 4:54 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,--
This blessed blog, this earth, this realm, this Althouse & Meade

Let Vince eat onion rings.; 4/22/10, 4:59 PM
former law student said...: It's possible that the theoretical infinity of cyberspace encourages throwing whatever is lying around into the void.

However impolite this observation, I daresay the professor puts more effort into her opinion pieces and her law review articles than into her blog posts.; 4/22/10, 5:00 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: Just curious, has that paper or its writers ever been in the NYT? Or mentioned in any other major media?; 4/22/10, 5:01 PM
Teki Setsu said...: Imagine what the Church scribes were nervously saying during the early days of the printing press. What sort of twisted logic did they dream up to make themselves feel ok?; 4/22/10, 5:04 PM
Michael Haz said...: The Isthmus is still a newspaper? Sheeze. I thought it was sorta like The Onion; a rag for bar and concert ads, but without The Onion's humor. Total waste of pulp.; 4/22/10, 5:07 PM
Michael Haz said...: ...Ms. Althouse would not stand still for a typical interview...

OMG!!11!!! Althouse is an anti-stillite!!1! Oh noes!!11; 4/22/10, 5:10 PM
Balfegor said...: This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Shouldn't that be "This precious stone, set behind this captcha?" I suppose the meter (or is it the stress?) wouldn't quite work.

We who labor at turning dead trees into public knowledge feel some obligation to make the sacrifice of the atmosphere-cleansing, oxygen-producing creatures worthwhile.

Trees aren't creatures. Should be something more like:

"We who labour at this conversion of defunct trees and dead vegetable matter into physical artifacts dedicated to and not unfit for the enhancement of public knowledge, feel an obligation to ensure that the sacrifice of the acres be not in vain."; 4/22/10, 5:21 PM
Irene said...: I am glad Isthmus is still turning out dead trees.

The Poodles are paper trained, and Isthmus is the *perfect size.*

(Father-in-law removes the staples.); 4/22/10, 5:28 PM
Michael Haz said...: At least the internet doesn't fill up landfills and blow around empty lots in bad neighborhoods.

On the down side, the internet isn't very good for picking up dog poop from the yard.; 4/22/10, 5:42 PM
Dustin said...: "However impolite this observation, I daresay the professor puts more effort into her opinion pieces and her law review articles than into her blog posts."

This is such a stupid point.

Althouse has a good blog. I know it's annoyed the hell out of me and most folks at some point, but a lot of work goes into the photography and some of the posts are clever.

So it's not a law review article... big deal. a) low review articles that are submitted are usually kinda sloppy, not that I know anything about Althouse's. b) even if she is more relaxed here, it's not like she's throwing up crap from her floor

So you insult, make no coherent point, and it's not even accurate. Where's your blog that shows how sloppy this one is? Isthmus clearly is losing that comparison, but are you?; 4/22/10, 5:47 PM
Eric said...: Good Lord! How does someone leading an organization increasingly suffering from a lack of public respect and interest get to be so pompous?; 4/22/10, 6:10 PM
chickelit said...: The real Ursula would have Understood Althouse.; 4/22/10, 6:11 PM
Unknown said...: What the guy wrote wasn't worth one dead tree.

String 'im up!!

Lem said...

This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,--
This blessed blog, this earth, this realm, this Althouse & Meade

Didn't I hear some guy named Oliver say that once?; 4/22/10, 6:16 PM
chickelit said...: I have long suspected that one or more of Althouse's longtime lefty commenters were Isthmoids in disguise.

I also foresaw that Isthmus would become jealous of Althouse as her local star eclipsed their own.

Instead of bickering, they should unite for a better cause.

wv: "calspin" LOL!; 4/22/10, 6:22 PM
Anonymous said...: What under the sun is "absent documented rationalization"?; 4/22/10, 6:58 PM
Trooper York said...: The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.

But at least you can wrap fish and chips in a newspaper. They have that going for them, the commie pricks.; 4/22/10, 7:01 PM
Methadras said...: Solemn Vapors. A meaningless entanglement of words that are voluminous in their creation as they are vapid in their execution. Hey Vince, what is the greatest invention ever made? Paper, you stupid douche.; 4/22/10, 7:33 PM
Triangle Man said...: I wonder how the world looks to Vince now that he's in the Althouse vortex.; 4/22/10, 7:38 PM
sonicfrog said...: Makes me want to go chop down a tree just to be more relevant...

Oh, and when did the internet change from "a series of tubes", to "the void"?; 4/22/10, 7:53 PM
Michael Haz said...: It'd be interesting to compare The Isthmus' weekly circulation numbers with Althouse's weekly site meter hits.; 4/22/10, 8:17 PM
Mutaman said...: If the ole professor is 59, I'm Mahatma Gandhi. This article was clearly a plant by Althouse herself.; 4/22/10, 8:24 PM
Roux said...: I hope those tree killers keep publishing only if to help me clear my pulpwood producing land a couple of more times.; 4/22/10, 9:26 PM
Wince said...: Aptly named, it's only a matter of time until the Sconz "jumps the shark."

Jack Craver is a senior history major at the UW who has become a local person of note through his elucidation-of-place blog, The Sconz.

WTF?; 4/22/10, 9:46 PM
LonewackoDotCom said...: Cat fight!

If Althouse is going to crow about getting things into google, couldn't she raise the bar a little and try to make an argument showing how her opponent is wrong?

For just one of the many, many instances I could provide, I'd like to think that this post about Shikha Dalmia of Reason Magazine might cause some on her side to think of her as a bit tarnished. And, it might cause those who haven't made up their minds to come down opposite her. And, at the end, I throw the floor open to her supporters, asking if they still trust her.

Maybe instead of crowing about filling Google with posts that really aren't that useful, Althouse could consider doing things that are useful such as linking to some of my posts about our shared opponents; I'm sure we've got several even if she doesn't know about them (yet).; 4/22/10, 9:48 PM
Anonymous said...: @Trooper York: But at least you can wrap fish and chips in a newspaper. They have that going for them, the commie pricks.

Not in England you can't, not no more. Violates the EU 'Elf 'n' Safety regulations.; 4/22/10, 10:05 PM
Jeremy said...: The fact that "The Queen" uses the term; LOL makes the point even more relevant.

Duh.; 4/22/10, 10:47 PM
Jeremy said...: Trooper Dolt - "Trooper York: But at least you can wrap fish and chips in a newspaper."

Yeah, if only we had never had these horrible newspapers.

Just think of where we'd be.

Duh.; 4/22/10, 10:48 PM
Dustin said...: Indeed, Jeremy, people who laugh or say they laugh are idiots.

Duh.

I don't want to become some sort of Althouse Sycophant. I really disagree with her a lot, though the Tea Party coverage was really pleasant and the nastiness in the comments is hard not to make me sympathetic.

I guess it's because she's a she, a law professor, lives in a liberal place.

If she were a white Texas oil man, the liberals wouldn't think of her as the house negro.; 4/22/10, 11:00 PM
former law student said...: elucidation-of-place blog, The Sconz.

Years of living with cheeseland expatriates has taught me that the native pronounce Wisconsin as "Sconsin." "The Sconz" is obviously an affectionate diminutive for the name of the state.; 4/22/10, 11:37 PM
former law student said...: natives

sheesh. Obviously I do not put effort into commenting in electronic formats.; 4/22/10, 11:38 PM
Revenant said...: We who labor at turning dead trees into public knowledge feel some obligation to make the sacrifice of the atmosphere-cleansing, oxygen-producing creatures worthwhile.

FAIL; 4/23/10, 1:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Judging by the title of the article, "The Ego Has Landed," and the fact that Ms. Althouse would not stand still for a typical interview, we'd have to say that camaraderie is not a part of the ethos of the blogosphere.

"See, if you're unwilling to sit still for an undergrad's grilling, you've got 'ego'"

And if you're willing to judge the ethos of the entire blogosphere based on this one data point, then you're a total idiot.; 4/23/10, 7:33 AM
Calypso Facto said...: Which medium has the Library of Congress chosen to store in perpetuity, Sconzi? Oh yeah, Althouse and her blog. Nary an entry for the Isthmus (which only remains relevant for its free listing of local events--until someone comes up with a more useful website for the same thing).; 4/23/10, 7:41 AM
bagoh20 said...: This guy is disparaging someone else's ego?; 4/23/10, 9:29 AM
Original Mike said...: One comment and holding.; 4/23/10, 9:45 AM
Joe said...: Does he realize that he sounds like he's writing for The Onion?; 4/23/10, 10:25 AM
Balfegor said...: Does he realize that he sounds like he's writing for The Onion?

No, the Onion would have had him abuse his cretinous readers and talk about "this new-fangled cyber-space" and "news-papers" and boast about how he and his mechanical manservant ginned up the Spanish-American War.; 4/23/10, 10:30 AM
raf said...: We who labor at turning dead trees into public knowledge feel some obligation to make the sacrifice of the atmosphere-cleansing, oxygen-producing creatures worthwhile.

Imagine the editorial conferences...

Instead of: We need 13 column inches to fill out page 4, whaddya got?

We get: I am not convinced that the stories we have are worthy of the sacrifices involved. Maybe we should just not publish this week.; 4/23/10, 11:28 AM
Brian Hancock said...: A name like Sconz will jump the shark at some point.

You must be doing something right if you are getting spears from the Ithmus. I used to read Kent Williams, but alas too much other crap to flip through.; 4/23/10, 3:19 PM