tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79384491398095660562024-03-06T00:10:15.395-08:00Christ In Blogging We are bloggers who are ChristianRon Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-13631744751581796462018-02-22T16:47:00.002-08:002018-02-22T16:49:17.417-08:00WCIB Schedule<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2yVR09tEIzhq3y433Q3N2X-oIgTDghLgV_IHPL89QbNA93cAMccGtXi36-yh_T5BQXBBaREgKbjsEiTsPlSOOqywWuSMtY6OQcpUDZFpRsQKmEQmOUT9DrjdJH0NUdAvkr4BJVkt5RM/s1600/dove-cross-colour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="500" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2yVR09tEIzhq3y433Q3N2X-oIgTDghLgV_IHPL89QbNA93cAMccGtXi36-yh_T5BQXBBaREgKbjsEiTsPlSOOqywWuSMtY6OQcpUDZFpRsQKmEQmOUT9DrjdJH0NUdAvkr4BJVkt5RM/s320/dove-cross-colour.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Digital Broadcast 98.7 FM 1080 AM</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Mondays<br />
12am - 3am Rush Limbaugh<br />
3am - 6am Mark Levin<br />
6am - 8am Sean Hannity<br />
8am - 12pm Good Morning with Don Imus<br />
12pm - 3:30pm Vox Americana with Bill Bryant<br />
3:30pm - 6:30pm The Jesus Effect with Bishop Rea<br />
6:30pm - 8pm The Real Story with Gareth Gordon<br />
8pm - 11pm The Brincrest Report with Dallas Brincrest<br />
11pm - 12am Real News with David Knight<br />
<br />
Tuesday to Friday<br />
<br />
12am - 3am Rush Limbaugh<br />
3am - 6am Mark Levin<br />
6am - 8am Sean Hannity<br />
8am - 12pm Good Morning with Don Imus<br />
12pm - 3pm Vox Americana with Bill Bryant<br />
3pm - 5pm The Real Story with Gareth Gordon <br />
5pm - 8pm The Jesus Effect with Bishop Rea <br />
8pm - 11pm The Brincrest Report with Dallas Brincrest<br />
11pm - 12am Real News with David Knight<br />
<br />
Saturday<br />
12am - 3am Alex Jones' Info Wars <br />
3am - 6am Savage Nation with Michael Savage <br />
6am - 8am Tonight with Tucker Carlson <br />
8am - 11am Prison Planet with John Bowne <br />
11am - 2pm Business Week with Charles Gannon <br />
2pm - 5pm That Was The Week That Was with Ron Condon <br />
5pm - 8pm The Jesus Effect with Bishop Rea <br />
8pm - 11pm CNS News <br />
11pm - 12am The Libertarian with Kit Daniels<br />
<br />
Sunday<br />
12am - 3am Alex Jones' Info Wars <br />
3am - 6am Savage Nation with Michael Savage <br />
6am - 8am Tonight with Tucker Carlson <br />
8am - 11am Prison Planet with John Bowne <br />
11am - 2pm Business Week with Charles Gannon <br />
2pm - 5pm That Was The Week That Was with Ron Condon <br />
5pm - 6pm Pastor Charles Lawson <br />
6pm - 7pm Pastor Steven Anderson <br />
8pm - 9pm Vintage Pastor Jack Hyles<br />
9pm - 12am CNS News <br />
<br />
*Due to host schedules and holidays, shows may be guest hosted or replayed.Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-57256987735165177802017-03-16T15:59:00.001-07:002017-03-16T15:59:21.643-07:00Mike Rivero: All Wars Are Banker's Wars<iframe width="520" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xhmHaqQ9QDQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-86677388970345948752016-07-19T17:15:00.000-07:002016-07-19T17:15:13.264-07:00Project Veritas Investigates Teachers UnionProject Veritas investigates teachers union with a hypothetical case of a teacher assaulting a student and calling them racial names. The union response is disgusting.
<iframe width="520" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qmYNNJZHhPY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-84991311066327331072016-02-21T15:24:00.003-08:002016-02-21T15:24:32.102-08:00Hillary Campaign Caught Cheating In Nevada<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A video posted on YouTube by James Porter shows Hillary
Clinton voters bypassing the registration area to cast ballots in the
Nevada caucus Saturday.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“They’re letting them into the caucus right now without registering
them,” a woman can be heard yelling as a steady line of people stream
by.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“They’re going to do the count. They’re all going to be part of the count,” anther woman can be heard saying in reply.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“But they’re not registered,” a man says.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“They will register after this,” the woman can be heard saying.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“Clinton supports caught BREAKING the rules,” Porter writes in the
video description. “This just happened at caucus location in Nevada.
Hillary supporters were not registering to caucus, which is NOT allowed
by the Democratic Party.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Ug9hHe_iZg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-36994059554949334282016-02-20T22:48:00.000-08:002016-02-20T22:48:01.387-08:00The Truth About Bill Clinton - Hillary Banished His Black Son<iframe width="520" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xm6wcj38d4E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-4970093835678154032016-02-13T00:38:00.002-08:002016-02-13T00:38:19.792-08:00Uncle Sam Wants To Raise Your KidsThe Dept. of Education and Dept. of Health and Human Services want to raise your children. After all, they know what's best.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe width="520" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9EsKBsq95A0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-78856245841682729382016-02-07T00:08:00.001-08:002016-02-07T00:08:36.881-08:00Alex Jones Speaks With Pastor David ManningAlex Jones speaks with Pastor David Manning. Trump endorsement.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe width="520" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9o4rROypo9Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-17304244101641965922015-11-07T17:47:00.002-08:002015-11-07T17:47:34.101-08:00Dr. Carson Slams Obama Lap Dog MediaFight lies with the truth and the truth always wins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pfTnRQsNQMw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-54570564552899056382015-11-05T21:07:00.001-08:002015-11-05T21:07:10.753-08:00Rush Limbaugh ChannelThis is the Rush Limbaugh Show Youtube channel.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6r5_c6QaXgkfOUiPsTqgLw" target="_blank">The Rush Limbaugh Show</a>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-81340815956276848622015-11-04T15:09:00.002-08:002015-11-04T15:09:39.427-08:00Coddling College Students From Education<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Ah the perennial question: What is with these kids today? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A movement is arising, undirected and driven largely by students, to
scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause
discomfort or give offense. Last December, Jeannie Suk wrote in an
online article for <i>The New Yorker</i> about law students asking her fellow professors at Harvard not to teach rape law—or, in one case, even use the word <i>violate</i> (as in “that violates the law”) lest it cause students distress.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Full story: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/" target="_blank">Coddling of the American Mind</a> from <i>The Atlantic </i></span>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-56785945230992752652015-11-04T15:05:00.001-08:002015-11-04T15:05:15.329-08:00Alex Jones First Hour 11/4/2015Shredding the Constitution, coddling college students from ideas they disagree with, and transgender mania precedes a cultural collapse.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4hCE84CVpJA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-9009674534080609852015-11-03T16:15:00.002-08:002015-11-03T16:17:45.360-08:00Alex Jones 11/3/2015<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pBet12ud8Ws" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-74845415461612850782014-08-13T00:37:00.001-07:002014-08-13T00:37:18.898-07:00ISIS Taking Over Iraq<div class="articleText">
<div class="adjusted">
Islamic terrorists in Iraq are
beheading children and burying people alive, and it won't stop there.
They have a message for America: "We're coming for you."</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
Over the past week, the army of ISIS (Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria), also known as IS (Islamic State), swallowed up
swaths of Iraq like a pervading darkness. </div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
In just one day, tens of thousands of Christians
fled from towns like Qaraqosh and Bartilla, about 25 miles away. Most
came to the town of Erbil with nothing more than the clothes on their
backs.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"They take everything from the house, from the
store, everything," one refugee told CBN News. "They hate Christian
especially. We don't know why."</div>
<div class="adjusted">
The choice was leave or die.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"They say if anyone don't [sic] become like Muslim,
we['re] going to kill them, each one, from baby to women to old man," he
said. "We don't have anything here," one woman told CBN News.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"They bombed the churches and already took our
houses," she continued. "We have nothing here. No money. No ID. No
travel documents."</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
Dr. Sarah Ahmed, with the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, called the attacks "a genocide."</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"What's happening now to the Christians, to the
Yazidis, to the minorities is -- in the last couple of days mostly to
the Christians -- is a genocide," she told CBN News. "What's happening
is what happened 200 years ago to the Jews [sic]."</div>
<div class="adjusted">
The Yazidis follow an ancient religion with ties to Zoroastrianism.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
Dr. Ahmed relayed stories she'd heard of the barbarism of ISIS. </div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"That ISIS was shooting the kids and people, and
they were laying them on the ground and they bring tractors that they
walk [drive] over them in front of their families," she said. "They take
women out of their houses so if a family had three daughters, they
would take one."</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
In the wake of the ISIS advance, thousands of ethnic
Yazidis escaped to a mountain outside the town of Sinjar. Some
Christians found shelter at a Catholic compound in Erbil. These families
fled a few weeks ago when ISIS ethnically cleansed the city of Mosul.
The Islamists gave an ultimatum to the Christians there. </div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"They gave us four choices," one refugee told CBN
News. "Either convert to Islam or paying tax [jizya, the Islamic tax on
non-Muslims] or leaving the city or the sword." </div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"They are using the sword to cut off hand[s] and
also beheading other[s] so I don't think this is the behavior of human
beings, but wild animals do that," he concluded.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
ISIS looted their properties and left them
destitute. One woman told CBN News they took her dentures, wedding ring,
and documents.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"They took everything," she said. "We asked them
please give us something to show that we owned our car, our home. They
said, 'Here, you have nothing.'"</div>
<div class="adjusted">
In searching the home of one Christian in Mosul,
ISIS found two New Testaments, one with a camouflaged cover and the
other with a picture of an American flag inside. The terrorists accused
him of being a missionary and a spy.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
ISIS put his name on a list. When he told CBN News his story, he asked us to hide his identity.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"They say, 'Hey, hey, stop. You are a Christian," he
recalled. "You are a Christian, get back!' The terrorists told me, 'We
could kill you.'"</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
Sometimes the pressure is overwhelming. </div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"Jesus save me," he said, weeping. "Forgive them. Forgive them because they didn't know what they want, what they ask."</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
Even though these Christians are the indigenous
people of the region, many simply want to leave. They're pleading for
the United States, United Nations and Pope Francis to come to their aid.</div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
"We are asking the responsible states of the
international community to come and look and see how all the people are
living here," one woman said. </div>
<div class="adjusted">
<br /></div>
<div class="adjusted">
From CBN </div>
</div>
Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-7270282925691001082014-07-29T01:26:00.001-07:002014-07-29T01:26:44.609-07:00Saudi Christian Arrested for Blogging<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On July 23, Saudi police re-arrested Hamoud Bin Saleh (28) and
blocked access to his online blog, according to reports from The Arabic
Network for Human Rights Information. Saleh had used his blog to express
his opinion on religious issues and discuss his conversion from Islam
to Christianity. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saleh was previously arrested for his faith in 2004 and
imprisoned for nine months. He was also arrested and briefly detained
in November 2008 and was released shortly before the Saudi-sponsored
interfaith dialogue conference held November 12-13 at the UN
Headquarters in New York. Sources believe officials released him to
avoid tarnishing Saudi Arabia's image of religious tolerance, as at the
conference King Abdullah spoke out against mankind's "preoccupation with
differences between the followers of religions."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> At last report, Saleh
was detained in the Eleisha political prison in Riyadh, the nation's
capital.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pray for the release of Saleh. Pray for strength and
protection for him in prison. Ask God to enable him to grow in
Christlikeness through the opposition he faces for his faith (James
1:2-4).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saleh had been areested before in 2009 and 2011 for blogging about Christian issues and each time received flogging. This time it seems Saleh could be tried for a capital offense as prosecutors are pushing for a charge of "activities against the Prophet and by an infidel". The penalty for such crimes are death.</span></div>
Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-85336930985503442622014-05-11T05:35:00.002-07:002014-05-11T05:36:02.744-07:00Saudi Blogger Sentenced To 10 Years and 1,000 Lashes<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sentencing of a prominent Saudi blogger to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam shows the Kingdom is run by radical Islamists who leave no room for dissent, his wife told FoxNews.com.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Raif Badawi, co-founder of the “Saudi Arabian Liberals” website and a well-known thinker and blogger, has been accused of writing anti-Islamic discourse online. His wife, who fled the nation two years ago and now lives near Montreal, said Badawi is “paying the price” for believing in freedom of expression.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I am very shocked by the news, but the Saudi government is radical Muslim,” Ensaf Haidar told FoxNews.com of her husband. “He is the leader of the Saudi liberal movement, and the government wants to make a symbol out of him.” </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Haidar said it has been two years since she last saw Badawi, who first came on the Saudi government’s radar in 2012, when he was imprisoned and subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes for violating the country’s cybercrime laws.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In December, his sentence was overturned after appeal, but his case was sent to the Jeddah Criminal Court for review. A retrial was ordered. Badawi had originally been charged with “apostasy,” according to his wife, which is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Saudi Court also fined him the equivalent of $266,000, in a verdict Amnesty International called “outrageous.”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amnesty International is publicly calling for the verdict to be overturned.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"He is a prisoner of conscience who is guilty of nothing more than daring to create a public forum for discussion and peacefully exercising the right to freedom of expression," said Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Amnesty International.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, Saudi King Abdullah issued a piece of legislation that would clamp down on dissent in any form.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the law is meant to curb regional terrorism from bleeding into Saudi Arabia, critics say it is an overreaching measure that allows officials to prosecute any form of peaceful dissent.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"></i></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lisa Daftari </span></i></div>
Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938449139809566056.post-77013401636566833642014-05-03T07:00:00.002-07:002014-05-03T07:01:14.772-07:00Bloggers Make A Difference<div style="line-height: 19.5px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been thinking about what blogs do, economics blogs in particular. Here are some preliminary thoughts - please add to the list if you have more ideas:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Blogs are often criticized for simply echoing information. But in doing so, they provide information to readers. Blogs act as filters on information. When you come to trust a blog, or know it well enough to judge its content, the fact that an article is posted there tells you that the person running the blog thought it was important enough to bring to your attention. Blogs can also help by pointing out information that is misleading, wrong, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Even if you don't fully trust any one information source, there is value in repetition. As blogs echo information, it gives a sense of its importance and credibility. If a report is only discussed in one place it might be notable, but in general if an issue is being discussed most places you happen to visit, that indicates the information has some significance. So, beyond the filtering role that blogs play as they echo information from other sources, they also give it weight, e.g. if all blogs are worried about how to interpret labor force participation statistics, that is notable. And on those occasions when blogs on both sides of the political fence (or whatever fence divides the issue) are discussing an issue and coming up with similar answers, that is informative, as are the cases when heated debate erupts among reputable blogs on opposite sides on an issue.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Blogs add new information. On occasion, bloggers are inclined to seek out new information, for example to present economic information graphically, in tables, descriptively, and so on that helps to place economic statistics in perspective or to point in new directions. Thus, novel information provided on blogs can buttress or rebut the topic of the day, or it can point in new directions altogether. And the information does not have to be novel to enlighten and inform a discussion. There is also a role for pointing to, say, existing academic research on topics being discussed in the news and elsewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. This is something that I think is new, or at least a speeded up version of what we had in the past. In a sense, a traditional column in the newspaper is a blog as are editorials. A columnist posts articles say twice a week, then comments come back in the form of letters to the editor. There are also discussion at work, and so on. The modern blog speeds this process up considerably and allows broader participation in the dissemination of information and in feedback. When there is an important question, say a proposal for an energy tax as we saw recently, instead of the discussion being dominated by a few columnists, editorials, letters to the editor, discussion on talk shows, etc., we have almost instantaneous discussion of these topics on blogs, some from people with expert credentials, along with feedback in comments, email, etc., and many rounds of discussion happen quickly as ideas richochet back and forth.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think this will become important when we have a crisis of some sort, say a currency crisis, and there are important policy questions that require immediate reaction. We saw something like this after Hurricane Katrina with questions about whether the Fed should lower rates, pause, or continue increasing them in light of all the uncertainty and destruction that existed. Blogs began debating this topic almost immediately and added important elements to the discussion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When a crisis hits, we have a collective capability to respond that did not exist in the past and it will be interesting to see how well it works when it is needed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. In addition to their filtering role, blogs also motivate the media to take care in how they write about economics and other topics. Though anyone writing publicly develops a thicker skin, it can't be fun to be skewered for something you have written, and tools like Google and The WayBack Machine hold people accountable for things they have written in the past in ways they never were before. It's no longer possible to present misleading points of view without being immediately and thoroughly rebutted in public and if the issue is important enough, on fairly prominent platforms.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, what have I missed or gotten wrong? I suppose there's a whole post to be written about the downside of blogs, e.g. bad information can get echoed and magnified as well as good, so on balance are blogs a positive or negative influence, questions like that. But that will have to wait for another day, or perhaps others can fill in the missing pieces.</span></div>
Ron Condonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09739827607524037860noreply@blogger.com0