Mudflats

Okay, okay, I've been living under a rock lately. Cowering, actually. But in the course of my emerging, I have discovered The Mudflats, a political blog by a private citizen in Alaska. The blog came to my attention as I was listening to the CBC (yes, Canadian) news program As It Happens, and heard a story about how this blogger, who wishes to remain anonymous as is her right, was threatened with outing by Alaska State Rep. Mike Doogan, presumably because she wrote some stuff critical of him. (BONUS SHOCK! Doogan is a former journalist, who might possibly have been expected to appreciate and respect freedom-of-expression issues.)

For the anonymous blogger's own take on this, see this post on her blog.

I just absolutely love the Internet. Rail if you will about how it distances people — to be perfectly blunt, what crap. People who want to be distant will find a way, Internet or no Internet. People who want to be close, to engage energetically and compassionately with others and with others' ideas, know that the Internet can be at the very least a useful tool — and potentially a world-changer, even a lifesaver. (I'm looking gratefully at you, all my far-flung friends.)