Jeff Jarvis writes about Zeyad, an Iraqi blogger:

Thanks to the Internet and weblogs — and a little help from the community there — it is possible for one man in a country just coming out from under dictatorship and war to speak to the world, to exercise free speech, to help spread that free speech, to report news, to make news, to build relationships, to create understanding. That is the moral of the story of the blogosphere: All that is now possible. Anyone can do this. Any of us can support it. All it takes is one person.

Jeff helped Zeyad get started back in October and is rightly proud. Here is Zeyad’s site and here’s his post about yesterday’s anti-terrorism demonstrations.

— warning —

Ok, stop here if you don’t want to see me rant again about corporate media versus real blogging.

–end warning–

(For context, folks in places like Davos wonder can “Mainstream Media Co-opt Blogs?” More optimistically, some bloggers like Jarvis think corporate media can incorporate blogging. I disagree: the New York Times can’t blog.)

Zeyad’s blog offers a prime example of things corporate media can not do. It can’t pursue absurd dreams. It can’t get other people excited and linking in. It rarely strays from the rest of the corporate pack. It can’t speak with sustained passion. It can’t converse and it can’t pay people to converse.

Corporate media ain’t human. It is a machine, a legalism. It’s an it.

Blogging is not a technology — blogging is the brainstorming human spirit, unadulterated by corporate filters and armor, linking to kindred spirits. Corporate media can’t do that.

Steve Outing points to David Carlson’s interesting timeline of online news.

Science writer Steven Johnson writes on his blog‘s first birthday: “I suspect the most rewarding part of all of this will arrive ten or twenty years from now, reading through the archives in chronological order, making all the long-forgotten connections (‘That’s right — we were just moving into the Brooklyn house when I came up with the idea for that book,’ etc.)”

I sometimes find it uncanny rereading old posts. I can still remember the color of the sunset reflected off the apartments opposite our house in Mareil Marly when I wrote my first blog post. These things are textual snapshots imprinted with the scent and texture of the moment.

Glenn Reynolds says Cameron Barrett’s [url=]blogging for Clark[/url], covered yesterday by AP, is one of the few things going well the candidate.

Rubbermaid, the corporate spine of the town I grew up in, is closing its headquarters and factory there. In 1993 and 1994, Rubbermaid was named America’s most admired company by Fortune. Here’s Rubbermaid’s history.

The jobs will be moved to cheaper production facilities “abroad,” so some will see Rubbermaid’s demise as evidence for more trade barriers. But here’s an interesting argument blaming Walmart, which dominates retailing enough to dictate what manufactures can peddle. Brands mean little when Walmart dominates the sales channel. An important lesson for publishers who deal with Google.

A new test for Presidential candidates. (Skol Ken Layne.)

Pandagon is annoyed that Andrew Sullivan is once again asking for donations.

I do think it is funny that while Democrat blogs like Atrios, Talkingpointsmemo, DailyKos, Pandagon, Talkleft, OliverWillis and many others have embraced the good capitalist practice of peddling ads, Republican Sullivan sticks so loyally to the tactics pioneered by PBS. Listen in:

If you read the blog regularly, we’re asking for the same amount as a good cup of coffee a month. If you think this site is worth that, and you want to keep it afloat, please help. All the details are here. Without you, this new experiment in online journalism is impossible to finance. With you, it can go from strength to strength. So please don’t delay.

The only thing missing is the soundtrack of phones ringing in the background and the frequent reprise “our phone volunteers are waiting for your call.”

A year ago when he was fund-driving, Sullivan wrote “we’re working hard for ad dollars, but the landscape is still bleak.” I responded then: “Sullivan won’t begin to find a steady commercial audience until buying ads on his blog is as easy, transparent, affordable and automated as blogging itself.” A year later, he’s still doing things the hard way.

Cool image zoom.

Jeff Jarvis reports this startling research about the correlation between online buzz and music sales: “Walter Bender of MIT and Dan Gruhl, graduate now at IBM, said they independently did research on buzz on music online and they each found that online buzz presaged retail sales — up and down — by two weeks. We are influencers influencing buyers.”

Hello
You’re fired
Be ready for holiday fun
Hot Deals For You LaserGun Only $6.96. Was $19.96!!!!!!
Fwd: Purchase Prescription Medication Here Withou
Send Me Deals Bloating? Gas? Irregularity? Good News…
Avalanche Gifts the gift of money
Closout – Special Omaha Steaks-Save up to 50% & get 3 Free Gifts
Orlando Bishop No More Pill+s, add 3+ inches

(Spam subject lines, in the order captured by my filter.)