I don't like Anne Coulter. I don't support Anne Coulter. I don't think OpEdNEws readers like or support Anne Coulter. So I understand when readers take affront when an Anne Coulter ad appears on an OpEdNews article. As I explained in yesterday's newsletter, we don't accept ads from Anne Coulter or her supporters. But we do participate in the google adsense program. That means that we put some javascript code on our pages, where we want a google ad to go. Then google checks the words in the article and puts an ad there, or a couple of text ads, based on context.
If Ann Coulter's name is there, an ad about her might show up. If the words Republican or John McCain are there, then ads relating to them might show up. We cannot control that. It used to bother me. We can use google's "competitive ad blocker" to prevent ads linking to certain URLs from appearing on the site. I used to do that, but it was like playing "whack a mole." Eventually I realized, the ads were doing me a favor. Right wingers were actually paying to support our left wing site. There is a delicious irony in this that I'm sure, if the right wingers knew it, would piss them off.
Still, I had a number of complaints about the recent Coulter and McCain ads, so I tried to find them. I had seen them before, but ignored them, in light of my attitude that they are actually helping OpEdNews. Oh, and I should add that I really don't think any OpEdNews readers will actually be swayed by them. Our readers are smart.
The problem was, I couldn't find the ads. I looked at over 20 article pages. They weren't to be found. That took up my time and wasted my time. Now, I did see a text ad for an coulter ring tone, and for Anne coulter columns, but not the big display ad, with Anne COulter's picture. I just don't have the time or inclination to play whack-a-mole with every little ad that shows up in google adsense. This is a part of web economic in the 21st century. If there was an ad that said something really offensive, I would block it, and also contact google about it. They have policies about that kind of thing. But otherwise, it is necessary to budget my resources, and ad filtering is not high on the list. Nonetheless, I am willing, if readers are really upset about an ad, to take a look at ad landing pages, if you send me the url (web address) that the ad links to. Don't bother telling me if you don't include the URL.
By the way, when I wrote about this yesterday, we had a record number of google clicks. I think a lot of people got the idea that there's a pleasant ironic victory in clicking on ads from right wingers, so they support a left wing cause. Please do not click if you are not interested in seeing what the ad is about. That violates the aims of google. But then again, only about 240 people clicked yesterday, out of well over 20,000 visitors. I'd think more people would be curious.
Crazy Weather and Catching the big Power with The Little...
We're experiencing a Nor'easter here in southeast PA. Snow on the flowering forsythias!! Winds gusting to the forties and fifties causing tall trees to wave. I love watching the tops of trees wave in the wind. It's even hypnotic. I like to see the power of the wind moving big tree trunks, by first moving the leafless thin branches at the top. There's a metaphor that connects to grassroots action in there somewhere-- the power that can be tapped by touching small parts of something big.
AIPAC is Bad for Israel
Yesterday, we ran an article by Scott Ritter, The Final Act of Submission on the problems with AIPAC. As a Jew, who has known concentration camp survivors and who is aware of how Jews had nowhere to go during world war two, to escape the holocaust, I am a supporter of Israel. As loyal American, I support America. But I find Israel is in the same boat as America, with policy making leadership that is really bad-- bad for Israel, bad for America, bad for the world. That said, I find AIPAC has been bad for Israel and bad for the USA. They have effectively stifled discussion of the full range of options for Israel by US legislators. I repeat. I support ISrael. I support the USA's friendship with and support for Israel. But I find Israel's current approach to dealing with Palestinians awful. I find the USA's current approach to dealing with Palestinians (or, more accurately, NOT DEALING with Palestinians) awful.
Well, it happened again. I started a paragraph for the newsletter, and it turned into an article. You can read the rest here.
Enjoying the Gonzales Squirm
This week should be fun. Hopefully, we'll watch the wheels of justice grind the abuser of the justice department into hamburger.
Have a great one,
Rob Kall
