THE TENSION: About This Blog

WELCOME

Thanks for visiting my blog!

When I started THE TENSION, I originally posted articles about news, culture, current affairs, politics, and media bias. For the most part, I have been particularly focused on exposing junk journalism and trendy pessimism as it exists in the effeminately wimpy, yet quite illusory "culture of crisis," which an agenda-driven, talent-poor media perpetrates on an unwary, susceptible public. In traditional newsrooms, editors accept premises without examination and digress to a single, simple rule to manage what's news: if it bleeds - it leads. The formula produces, at the very least, a distorted and disingenuous view of the world that begs for counterbalance. A blog seemed the natural place to discuss such things.

In the current incarnation of THE TENSION, I decided to move away from discussions about the ephemeral attention of the media and post primarily about substantial military topics. The agenda-driven media template has suffocated any chance of rational balance when it comes to reporting about the military. The blog seemed to be a perfect vehicle to get out the other side of the news. Thus, I am not balanced in my coverage; I am trying to bring balance with my coverage.

That said, on occasion I will offer editorial comments. However, my written opinions, which are generally more sarcastic than sanctimonious, tend to be mercifully brief observations, even if they do sometimes descend into the pejorative. The greater mission here is to let the subject matter itself define the frame of reference for the content.

While we are talking about 'framing' the content, you may be surprised to know I actually have a degree in journalism. Sadly, though, it is not from one of those big liberal schools known for their esteemed journalism departments. Such as were, my career followed a path away from the dark side. Luck smiled on me when I found work as a technical copy editor creating and maintaining knowledge bases for a very large dot-com outfit back in the heady Internet bubble days of the late 1990s ... and smiled again when I parachuted to safety, stock options securely in hand, short moments before the bubble burst.

Since that fateful landing seven years ago, I have been languishing in the ranks of the gainfully unemployed. Eventually growing restless from a pastime free of word-counts and deadlines, I started blogging in 2005 as a leisurely exercise simply to see how many posts I could post within a month. That which remains -- in all its deliberately austere glory -- is the original effort thousands of pages later. And please note that I am the only one blogging on my own dime here.

If, by chance, you think you would be remotely interested in utilizing my consummate editorial or knowledge engineering skills, please drop me a line. I'm open to suggestions!

To contact me directly, send e-mail to: thetension@gmail.com.

Steven Moyer
(1.17.2008)

NOTE: Answers to many questions regarding individuals named in articles and requests for imagery can be found at Help.

AN AMERICAN CRISIS

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

Thomas Paine penned those words in 1776. They are as true today as they were then.

SITE INFORMATION
The blog's motto is "Hoc voluerunt." Julius Caesar uttered the phrase after the battle of Pharsalos, where he crushed his enemies during the Roman Civil War. It translates to the phrase, "They wished this," or commonly, "They got what was coming to them."

The tagline is "Veritas vincit," or truth conquers.

Handicapped accessibility: The blog is syndicated in MP3 audio format from Talkr. Click here for the feed.

THE TENSION received an 95/100 WebSite Grade from websitegrader.com
A website grade of 95 for thetension.blogspot.com means that of the thousands of websites that have previously been submitted to the tool, the algorithm has calculated that this site scores higher than 95% of them in terms of its marketing effectiveness. The algorithm uses a proprietary blend of over a dozen different variables, including search engine data, website structure, approximate traffic, site performance, and others.

Blog Metrics Report Recent Traffic Peaks of 900K Daily Headline Impressions.

Alexa Traffic Rank: Top 14.31%

Google PageRank : 4

Google Indexed Pages : 3,140+

Actual Pages: 3100+

Inbound Links: 9,900+

digg.com Submission Summary
The website thetension.blogspot.com has had 10 articles submitted to digg.com. These articles received a total of 1950 diggs (votes) and 1 of these articles made it to the front page of digg.com.

Linking
The site is regularly linked at Reuters, Fox News, The Palm Beach Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and a few other other major media outlets, is a Sphere 'Recommended' blog, and has been rated a Top-100 Blogburst blog.

Technorati Blog Directory
This indexing service, originally used for blog taxonomy and linking, is currently unable to provide satisfactory performance levels and has become generally worthless. Please report unpopulated queries to thetension@gmail.com.

REGULAR COLUMNS AND POSTS
Open Thread
Add your voice to the discussion: anything goes.
Tag: Open Thread

Combat Camera
Images taken by photographers in uniform. Absolutely no Photoshopped press photos allowed! "If your pictures aren't good it means you weren't close enough." --Robert Cape
Tag: Combat Camera

View Combat Camera Imagery on THE TENSION

Dispatches from the Front
Official news from the Global War on Terrorism.
Tag: Dispatches from the Front

News in Balance
The mainstream media often reports an agenda-driven version of the news. Here is the other side of the story.
Tag: News in Balance

Focus on Defense
Military news you won't see in the mainstream media.
Tag: Focus on Defense

The Decline and Fall of Western Civ.
Barbarians are Crashing the Gate
Assembled collections of headline stories that illustrate the difference in world-view between those who seek to manage the downfall of America, versus those who seek to promote American exceptionalism in the world.
Tag: Decline and Fall of Western Civ

Counterbalance
The buzz inside the beltway outside the mainstream.
Tag: Counterbalance

MAINTAIN THE TENSION
If you enjoy THE TENSION, by all means please help support the site!

The blog is independently and privately produced, has no affiliation with and is not funded by the U.S. Government, the military, any commercial nor political entity.

You can help support the blog by making purchases through affiliate advertisers or by simply clicking through Google ads located on the sidebar.

You can visit the online store at THE TENSION EXCHANGE.

You can help support the blog by making making a donation through the Amazon Honor System Paybox.

"A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one."
--Alexander Hamilton

"Admitting reading political blogs is like admitting watching daytime TV."
--P.J. O'Rourke

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Content Reproduction Policy

The text and image above are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Commercial use prohibited.

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© 2008 Steven Moyer, Some Rights Reserved.