December 8, 2019

Part of blogging is choosing what not to blog.

There's one thing in the last few days that so many people seemed to think needed to be blogged (or tweeted or Facebooked) about, and I knew not to be part of the virality. It's nothing that involved anyone dying or anything evil, just something where I could see people were accepting a cultural con and doing free PR for somebody. There's an additional development that makes it more obvious that it was that sort of thing, but many people are doing another post about that. I'm pleased with myself for passing on this story, which I won't identify because that's my point. I didn't let myself be used in someone else's promotion. Didn't do it before, and won't do it now.

ADDED: I said "I won't do it now," when "now" was 4:57 a.m., but I will do it now, at 2:58 p.m., because the post did get people guessing, and I want to recognize the winner, who posted at 8:11 a.m.  The winner is dustbunny, who said: "The duct-taped banana art scam."

61 comments:

tim in vermont said...

Is this like that Doritos ad where there was no logo on the bags or name mentioned?

RobKleine said...

Slyly promoting nonpromotion ...

David Begley said...

What is this post not about?

Wilbur said...

I appreciate the rejection of a scattershot approach, and the focus on only what interests you. I lack the time to read everything here, and appreciate the fact that anything about which you write will be thoughtful.

Doug said...

Humblebrag's second cousin - the Virtue brag

rhhardin said...

This is how corruption starts.

Clyde said...

Well, it can’t be Peloton Girl, because she blogged that...

gilbar said...

wasn't it Rumsfeld, that said: we don't talk about nuclear weapons.
we don't talk about why we don't talk about nuclear weapons, because that would be talking about nuclear weapons
?

Bob Boyd said...

Give me a hint.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Sparse-shaming of the Norway spruce given for Trafalgar Square display.

As the mayor of Oslo said, "That is how a 90 year old tree grown in the wild looks." It's realism for you, folks.

tcrosse said...

Ceci ce n'est pas une blogue.

Temujin said...

I don't suppose it was about the US military training Saudi terrorists to fly planes was it? That some of them decided to say fuck it, they're not going to finish the training on how to fly a plane into a building and just decided to start killing and filming the killing of Naval Airmen?

I don't suppose you were avoiding talking about why the US would even be talking with these Saudi scum, let alone bringing them into the country to TRAIN THEM HOW TO FLY PLANES?

Our upper level leaders in all fields need to be reevaluated.

Mike Sylwester said...

You are blogging about not blogging about it.

Bob Boyd said...

Was it Hillary talking to Howard Stern about her sexual preferences?

Lincolntf said...

The cell of Islamic terror suspects that attacked Pensacola? Apparently, the FBI is still searching for up to ten Saudis.

Spiros Pappas said...

It's clearly Baby Yoda.

Tank said...

The First Rule of Not Blogging About It is Not Blogging About Not Blogging About It.

rastajenk said...

Buckeyes own Badgers AGAIN.

Ralph L said...

Althouse is Sherlock Holmes' dog that didn't blog in the night.

Crimso said...

"Didn't do it before, and won't do it now."

"Wouldn't be prudent. Not at this juncture" seems to naturally flow with what you wrote. Not that I'm telling you how to blog...(Hey! Less TikTok, more throuples, dammit!)

dustbunny said...

The duct-taped banana art scam.

mockturtle said...

Well, it can’t be Peloton Girl, because she blogged that...

Good one, Clyde. ;-)

David Begley said...

Ann really knows how to get our goat and generate interest.

mockturtle said...

I fear Temujin is on the right track. Althouse is afraid to post anything anti-Muslim even if Saudi-flown F35s were aimed squarely at her house. Or maybe that's what she fears.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Hillary on Howard Stern? Maybe it was blogged. Don't remember. I haven't clicked on any of it.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

It can't be the Saudi attack in Pensacola because people died.

My guess is the blogger, or whatever, that let the dog sniffing he crotch.

narciso said...


Of course we know the media has to play it:


https://amgreatness.com/2019/12/07/the-shakespearean-grandeur-of-trump-derangement-syndrome/?fbclid=IwAR3PKawzzFKFUDQFgeMBvLfXVuyxpGaZYmLK8lu3CJ3pzwhmmKPxl1RtMqE#.Xeza4c-Aquo.facebook

narciso said...


Only one point of view permissible


https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/12/veteran_spy_novelist_john_le_carr_takes_on_brexit_in_his_latest.html

mockturtle said...

Narcoso posts: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/12/veteran_spy_novelist_john_le_carr_takes_on_brexit_in_his_latest.html

So Le Carré sees himself as a European rather than an Englishman. Well, his name is French. My husband, who was British, always insisted that Great Britain wasn't even part of Europe and Europe was referred to as 'the continent'.

JPS said...

mockturtle,

" Le Carré sees himself as a European rather than an Englishman. Well, his name is French."

His pen name is French, anyway. (See also David John Moore Cornwell.) Maybe the choice indicates a wish to be more European than English.

narciso said...


From a foreign perspective

https://lithuaniatribune.com/lilia-shevtsova-russians-are-weary-of-living-in-the-besieged-castle/?fbclid=IwAR05HvOXrpFmZOIsVVGQNxTsnkeBtzaxI0yYkVXAk8PlDqhvNhZ4KpvuItw

MadisonMan said...

I've been away from the news for a week+ (Yay!) Did something happen?
(Tank, you made me laugh out loud in this coffee shop. Ooops)

Bob Boyd said...

@ narciso 9:02AM

Excellent piece. Thanks for linking it.

This line about Putin's power: the legitimacy of the regime is based on the conviction that there’s no one else made think this is the foundation of Trump's seeming invulnerability.

mockturtle said...

Listening the Chris Wallace's interview with Secretary of Defense Esper this morning, I can't think why Trump would appoint someone who is:
1. an obvious globalist
2. an eager interventionist
3. an enthusiastic nation builder
4. a Deep State weenie

I immediately emailed President Trump asking more or less the same thing.

Howard said...

Temujin: 100%. We continue coddling, arming and enriching our most powerful enemy in the middle East.

mockturtle said...

JPS: Thank you for the clarification. I admit to being a non-reader of spy novels. Still he must be some kind of francophile, non?

narciso said...

Is the kingdom really the great power in the gulf, or it qatar, they punch above their weight in many respects.

tcrosse said...

This is the Seinfeldian post about nothing.

narciso said...

I have thats why i found this narrative so uninteresting.

Ken B said...

I have no idea what this isn’t about, so I don’t know if I should be proud of not caring. And do I care I don’t care, and is thinking that really caring after all?

reader said...

Schrödinger's Post

narciso said...

If you want to current on whats happening in the middle east read dan silva, kyle mills take on mitch wrapp is ok, brad thor not so much ben coes is also good.

Ken B said...

WE WERE PUNKED

This post is NOT by Althouse. It is a leaked copy of Schiff's articles of impeachment!

mockturtle said...

It can't be the Saudi attack in Pensacola because people died.

You're right, Bill. My bad. So maybe Baby Yoda after all. As if we're all drooling in anticipation of a blog about that.

Mr. D said...

I agree with you. I blog (with a very small readership) and I have had some (former) readers who kept commenting with "I notice you didn't write about _______," with the insinuation that I was somehow not being intellectually honest because I didn't write about the topic they wanted to discuss. That's no way to live. Your only obligation is to blog about what interests you. If you're interesting enough to attract an audience, and you are, that's gravy.

mockturtle said...

If you're interesting enough to attract an audience, and you are, that's gravy.

Amen to that, Mr. D. And Althouse has one of the best blogs ever.

Bob Boyd said...

Was it the trans person who smuggled a dick into a gynecologist's office?

Yancey Ward said...

tcrosse said...

"This is the Seinfeldian post about nothing"

For once, CNTL Fing the comments saved me from repeating a joke.

Jupiter said...

"I don't suppose you were avoiding talking about why the US would even be talking with these Saudi scum, let alone bringing them into the country to TRAIN THEM HOW TO FLY PLANES?"

The idea is that they are supposed to fly them over Iran. Not saying it's a good idea, but I can see why some people might want it to happen.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

'negative space' in written form

Rabel said...

perineum sunning

daskol said...

It's that Aviation Gin ad about the Peloton ad girl.

mockturtle said...

The idea is that they are supposed to fly them over Iran. Not saying it's a good idea, but I can see why some people might want it to happen.

When will they get a clue?
The Saudis are not our friends
The Saudis are not our friends
The Saudis are not our friends
The Saudis are not our friends
The Saudis are not our friends

Jim at said...

Maybe she's not blogging about that stupid Wisconsin town that banned throwing snowballs.

Unknown said...

Lesbian Hillary?

mockturtle said...

As this blog is about nothing, I assume it's up for grabs. Did you know that there is an English dessert called Spotted Dick? Who would want to eat something that sounds like a venereal disease?

Ann Althouse said...

We have a winner.

Will front page.

tim in vermont said...

"Ceci ce n'est pas une blogue.”

Maybe a “blague" though! I made a pun in French! I can die happy now.

tim in vermont said...

"Did you know that there is an English dessert called Spotted Dick?”

What if your other choice is “toad in a hole."

mockturtle said...

Congratulations DBQ! Nice work!

mockturtle said...

What if your other choice is “toad in a hole."

I used to make that quite often as it was one of my husband's favorites. It's essentially Yorkshire pudding with meat in it. But I draw the line at Spotted Dick. ;-)