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All Facts and Opinions
Rather than the Grateful Dead fan site that I was expecting to find, I am reading the wonderfully written and researched blog of Natalie Davis. I notice a clean, minimalist interface and organization which makes the content easy to read.
Natalie Davis' blog highlights progressive news and offers us commentary from her prospective. Natalie's views are intelligent and well informed, her articles are well written and she obviously has a great understanding of the subject material which is discussed. George Bush and the upcoming presidential election seem to be Natalie’s favorite recent topics.
I had to fumble about for a few seconds trying find the links to other sections of the blog, I finally found them in a small drop down menu. The drop down menu does not stand out; this misleads readers into believing that there is only one page. There is no reason that all of the links located in the drop down menu and at the bottom of the page can not be organized into the column to the right of the articles; this would eliminate white space and make navigation much easier.
Additionally, the white background is dull. Separating the menu from the article’s main body with slight color tones and a few images would be a wonderful addition. I would also like to see more information about the author, there should be a direct link to an author profile.
This blog’s content is far more interesting than its presentation. I hope that readers do not judge this blog by its cover. It provides great insight into current events from a knowledgeable person who has an obvious passion for what they are writing about.
This site was reviewed on 2004-08-10 by Slog.
They felt this site belonged in the News/Links category.
Slog felt that All Facts and Opinions deserved a rating of 3.25.
"All Facts and Opinions" is a clean two column page with a red banner as a header. Seems a simple and straightforward layout at first glance. But as I went looking for an "About Me" link, I scrolled through what was undoubtedly THE longest list of linkage I have had the misfortune to encounter as a reviewer. I never did find an "about" page. But I did discover I had arrived at a political blog.
I searched in vain for an easy to access archive link and finally found that if I typed "archives" into the search box, a long list of entries appeared. A more user friendly archive access would be helpful to newcomers.
As to writing style and content, the entries are generally rather sarcastic jabs at whoever is annoying our author that day. There is a mean spirited tone to many of the entries. This is fine if you just want to vent. And establishing a blog as a place to vent has a long and glorious tradition. But if you want to persuade, other tactics are in order. One can be civil and still have strong opinions. Occasionally there were entries about movies and pop culture, but these were few and far between.
There were certain inconsistencies that I found annoying, given the strong opinions our author holds about her brand of politics. In one entry she says the following:
"It is any wonder why some see no other recourse but to leave the US? That is my ultimate goal, and it will happen the minute my economic condition allows it. To me, the choice to flee is a simple one: Why stay in a country that hates?"
And in another she writes this:
Can't believe I am admitting this publicly: One of my favorite guilty pleasures is Ted Casablanca's "The Awful Truth" a celeb-gossip column presented weekly at E! Entertainment's web site. Naturally, I surf by for delicious dirt, but what really tickles me is the blond one's open partisanship -- Casablanca is an out-and-proud Bush hater (in more ways than one, she quips crudely, taking a page from Whoopi Goldberg's book) and he takes delight in zinging the Shrub every chance he gets.
So, it's okay to hate, as long as it's President Bush.
It's hard to respect this kind of sloppy logic, regardless of your political leanings.
I found little original thought on this blog, and frankly, the vitriol became tedious. Political blogs of all stripes run the risk of falling to the lowest common denominator. Honest political commentary is hard work, requiring diligent inquiry into opposing views and deep introspection into one's own positions. I found little of that here.
This site was reviewed on 2004-08-10 by yetzirah.
They felt this site belonged in the News/Links category.
yetzirah felt that All Facts and Opinions deserved a rating of 1.75.
2 reviewers gave All Facts and Opinions an average rating of 2.5000
Site Stats
Site Category: News/Links
Reader Rating: 2.2500 based on 7 votes
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