by frog
I don’t really want to make a big deal about it, but it is my 5th birthday today!
My very first post, which is as valid now as it was 5 years ago, was about the precautionary principle. I followed that with a a post on tax, which is also a hot topic at the moment. The more things change, the more they remain the same!
It’s been a wonderful ride with heaps of readers from around the world and right here in New Zealand. I have a huge American following, much of it driven by a couple of old posts that mention Arnold Schwarzenegger. It seems that Google searches of his name drive readers here – many of whom stick around. Go figure.
I want to thank all of you who take the time to comment in a constructive way, regardless of your political viewpoint, and to the trolls I say, Be Gone!
What do you think, frogblog readers, of the effort of the last 5 years? Any favourite posts? Any favourite topics?
Please don’t send gifts. A kind comment or two will suffice!
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Such a simple idea that I’m surprised Federated Farmers haven’t made an application to the National Geographic Board to that effect. They could do it with lakes too – like change “Lake Ellesmere” to “Ellesmere Oxidation Pond”.
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frog..my fifth birthday was back on 28th feb..
(this is from my first day postings..and tho’ brief..
does..i feel..set the tone/timbre of whoar..)
“..gig warning
Monday, February 28th, 2005
don’t be sucked in by the hype.
peter frampton; purveyor of, guilty of, some of the most self-indulgant crap in the history of music is coming here.
wah, wah, wah, indeed.
you have been warned..”
(and my opinion in the ensuing years on the mewlings of frampton..has..if anything..hardened..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
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and this is (of note) from todays’ offerings..
http://whoar.co.nz/2010/proof-that-911-truthers-are-dangerous/
“.. Most Americans don’t know what kind of people 9/11 truthers really are.
So they can’t figure out whether or not they are dangerous.
Below is a list of people who question what our Government has said about 9/11.
The list proves – once and for all – that people who question 9/11 are dangerous.
Email this list to everyone you know, to prove to them that 9/11 truthers are all dangerous nut cases.
Senior intelligence officers:
* Former military analyst and famed whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg said that the case of a certain 9/11 whistleblower is “far more explosive than the Pentagon Papers”.
He also said that the government is ordering the media to cover up her allegations about 9/11.
And he said that some of the claims concerning government involvement in 9/11 are credible ..
.. that “very serious questions have been raised about what they [U.S. government officials] knew beforehand and how much involvement there might have been”,..
.. that engineering 9/11 would not be humanly or psychologically beyond the scope of the current administration ..
.. and that there’s enough evidence to justify a new, “hard-hitting” investigation into 9/11 .. with subpoenas and testimony taken under oath.
* A 27-year CIA veteran, who chaired National Intelligence Estimates and personally delivered intelligence briefings to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, their Vice Presidents, Secretaries of State, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many other senior government officials (Raymond McGovern) said
“I think at simplest terms, there’s a cover-up. The 9/11 Report is a joke”, and is open to the possibility that 9/11 was an inside job.
* A 29-year CIA veteran, former National Intelligence Officer (NIO) and former Director of the CIA’s Office of Regional and Political Analysis (William Bill Christison) said ..
..“I now think there is persuasive evidence that the events of September did not unfold as the Bush administration and the 9/11 Commission would have us believe. …
.. All three [buildings that were destroyed in the World Trade Center] were most probably destroyed by controlled demolition charges placed in the buildings before 9/11.” (and see this).
* A number of intelligence officials, including a CIA Operations Officer who co-chaired a CIA multi-agency task force coordinating intelligence efforts among many intelligence and law enforcement agencies (Lynne Larkin) ..
.. sent a joint letter to Congress expressing their concerns about “serious shortcomings,” “omissions,” and “major flaws” in the 9/11 Commission Report and offering their services for a new investigation (they were ignored)
* 20-year Marine Corps infantry and intelligence officer, the second-ranking civilian in U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence, and former CIA clandestine services case officer (David Steele) ..
..stated that “9/11 was at a minimum allowed to happen as a pretext for war”, and it was probably an inside job (scroll down to Customer Review dated October 7, 2006).
* A decorated 20-year CIA veteran, who Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh called “perhaps the best on-the-ground field officer in the Middle East” ..
.. and whose astounding career formed the script for the Academy Award winning motion picture Syriana (Robert Baer) ..
.. said that “the evidence points at” 9/11 having had aspects of being an inside job
* The Division Chief of the CIA’s Office of Soviet Affairs, who served as Senior Analyst from 1966 – 1990. He also served as Professor of International Security at the National War College from 1986 – 2004 (Melvin Goodman) said ..
..”The final [9/11 Commission] report is ultimately a coverup.”
* Professor of History and International Relations, University of Maryland. Former Executive Assistant to the Director of the National Security Agency, former military attaché in China, with a 21-year career in U.S. Army Intelligence (Major John M. Newman, PhD, U.S. Army)..
.. questions the government’s version of the events of 9/11..”
(but wait..!..there’s more..!..)
whaddayareckon there..?..bj..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
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Felicitations to the frogpond, and the many frogponders over the past five years.
I have to wait until around September to celebrate five years of my own reading of frogblog – hasn’t it been a busy half-decade, tho’?
My highlights would have been the two election campigns for which frogblog was a great campaigning resource; my lowlight would be the exceptionally sad week after the result of the 2005 election was confirmed, when Rod Donald succumbed to heart failure as a complication of a virus he’d been fighting through the week at Parliament during the negotiations.
Frogblog has farewelled and welcomed many of our MP’s during the 2005 and 2008 election shake-ups, our co-leader changes, and various personal issues that have taken individuals from Parliament.
The staff behind the cutesy logo have been a great series of individuals of talent, and I’ve constantly felt priviledged to have been able to associate with you all over the years. (whew, that was some of my most torturous grammar in a while… )
Hey, here’s to the next five years, when we’ll celebrate a glorious decade of Frogdom
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Five! Fantastic Frog!
I like communities and Frogblog is a community I particularly like.
It’s a pond I’m proud to hover over (though I’m ever-watchful for the quick tongues of Frogs and Toads).
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aww..!..katie..!..and there we all were thinking frog was one entity..
not the serial-hydra you refer to..
how disappointing/disillusioning of you..!
there is no frog..!
phil(whoar.co.nz)
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not in me..i took the emetic..
got ‘clean’/de-frogged..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
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An avocado in the form of a frog then Phil? (you sensitive vegan you!)
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and seeing as you asked frog..about ‘favourite-topics’..
..how about favourite non-topics..?
i just entered the word ‘cannabis’into the frogblog search-engine..
y’know..!..to read yr arguments for law-change..over the (five) years
with some ‘telling’ results..
2010..3
2009..2
2008..none..
2007..none..
2006..none..
2005..none..
(maybe the serial-multi-headed-hydra that is/was frog..and those who directed-content..
should all hang their heads..eh..?
(holy neglected policies/constituents..!..batman..!..)
(and even those 2010/2009 links aren’t presesenting the arguments..
so..really..
it’s zero for zero..
..eh..?
how could that be more of an indictment of your neglect of those who first voted you into parliament..?
..eh..?
(self-congratulations still in order there..?..frog(s)..?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
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[frog: Thanks Marty. By the way, I've added your blog to my blogroll today - not as a reward for your congratulations, but just because I have been rather remiss for some time in updating it and there were lots of good blogs like yours not there.]
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Happy Fifth, frog!
I tried to think up something around a real olde lyric – only five minutes more, only five.. more — but it won’t reshape in my head. Mebbe Greenfly could give a twirl.
You do good work here.!
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Give me five years more, only five years more
Let me stay, let me stay in your pool
Here am I begging for only five years more
Only five years more of your …?
Give me five years more, only five years more
Let me stay, let me stay in your pond
Here am I begging for only five years more
Only five years more of your …?
Give me five years more, only five years more
Let me stay, let me stay in your quagmire
Here am I begging for only five years more
Only five years more of your …?
Until…
Give me five years more, only five years more
Let me stay, let me stay in your swamp(um)
Here am I begging for only five years more
Only five years more of your wampum!!!
Yeah!
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To be Frank, that was lame !
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ta-soh, G/F..
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Happy Fifth indeed! You have provided some great stuff over the years, thanks mate!
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Happy birthday frog. However I do have a question…
Why are certain well known names missing from the “Posts by author” box on the right? The posts haven’t disappeared just because the author is no longer a sitting MP (or a frog), so why should the name? You could put “(retired)” after the name to avoid confusion.
Trevor.
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To celebrate your birthday, Kiwibank plans to sell itself off to private interests on the sharemarket: http://business.scoop.co.nz/2010/03/10/kiwibank-to-offer-tradeable-preference-shares/
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