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I originally started this blog as a fun project to play with html code.  I slowly branched out to some JavaScript and then converted to PHP and MySQL database.  I used no templates or blogging services and still don’t.  I think working with the code and design of the page are probably as much fun for me as the content ... and an outlet to rant about what I really think.  Recently I broadened my horizons a bit further when I discovered the community of bloggers in the Peoria area, many of whom are affiliated with the Blog Peoria Project.  I tentatively put my foot in the water and have slowly spent more time reading and commenting on other blogs.  This has added the pleasing benefit of having a larger audience for my blog and the occasional comment I get from this wider community.

Another aspect I noted early on was the number of blogs that have advertising on them.  I was curious about this, wondering if the pay-off was worth the annoyance of commercializing something I find entertaining.  I just saw an ad on one of the local blogs that brought that thought to a screeching halt.  An ad from some company selling a video tape explaining how the Employee Free Choice Act was BAD for employees and business.  I don’t suppose the blog owner has any control over which ads cycle through the spot contracted, but I could never have my name associated with something so obviously vile, uninformed and hateful.  There would be virtually no middle class in this country were it not for the influence of labor unions.  And as people actively aid and abet the corporate dismantling of labor laws, our middle class jobs are disappearing, our labor laws are being shredded, and our workers are returning to wage slave status.

So to any of my newfound friends in the blogging community ... please use a social conscience when selling your space for commercial ads.  I don’t know how much control you have over this, but please use it to help your fellow citizens, not to help big business and the government representatives they have bought to further degrade our standard of living for greed of the almighty dollar.  Thank You.  [Rant Mode Off]