| April 21, 2006 Editor’s Desk by Aaron Selbig, insurgent49 Due to circumstances beyond my control (the power keeps going out in our building tonight ... I suspect a Loren Leman plot), I will be taking the week off from 'Editor's Desk'. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this "classic" column from the archives, dated December 16, 2005. It’s been an inquisitive week here at Insurgent Headquarters. My favorite part of most websites is the FAQ page. FAQ stands for ‘frequently asked questions’, and it’s almost always a fun time scrolling through one. Sometimes, FAQ pages are quite informative, a chance for the site proprietors to outline their purpose, explain their products, or get newcomers excited about their cause. Other times they are simply stupid answers to stupid questions. Unfortunately, insurgent49 doesn’t have an FAQ page. What a bummer. That’s why I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s column to the task of answering some FAQs. How it helps ... and who knows? Maybe we’ll make it a permanent addition if it works out. Here goes. How did insurgent49 get started? It all started with a cute little radio show on the local college station called ‘Selective Hearing’. One day, we decided to create a website for our listeners. Once insurgent49.com was up and running, a newspaper seemed like the next logical step; a good way to get our ideas out to the masses. The newspaper debuted in Anchorage in September of this year. Are you guys a bunch of communists? Some of us. Not me, personally, but some of my best friends proudly call themselves commies. Come on ... the Red Scare is over. Are you hippies? Again ... some of us. Are you tree-huggers? All right, stop it. When are you going to update your ‘archive’ section? Oh, brother, do I hate that question. We’ve been planning something big for the archive section for a while, but have yet to put it into action. It’s kind of like doing the dishes. You know that, if you’d just do the dishes as you use them, the job would be a lot easier. But you don’t, and they just keep piling up in the sink. We’ll get to it (as soon as we’re done with the dishes). Is insurgent49 just in it for the money? HAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, STOP it!! You’re killing me! Seriously, though ... what money? Look, insurgent49 does sell ads in the newspaper, and we also have published some of those ads on the website (for free, as an incentive to long-term advertisers). The money we make from ad sales, combined with the money we’ve collected at our fundraisers, barely (and I mean BARELY) covers the cost of printing. We’re all volunteers here, doing this because we enjoy it and we care deeply about the advancement of progressive ideas in Alaska. Why in the hell would you name a newspaper Insurgent49? This is probably the number one question we get. Basically, we’re trying to reclaim the word. ‘Insurgent’ doesn’t mean RPG-toting terrorist (see the definition at the bottom of this page). And it’s working, too. Donald Rumsfeld himself recently opined that ‘insurgents’ in Iraq weren’t worthy of the title. Thomas Jefferson? Tom Paine? Now those were some insurgents. Would you consider changing the name? No. What is the capital of Denmark? Copenhagen. What is the one thing insurgent49 needs most? An ad rep. Wanna do it? What are your plans for the future? We’d really like to expand our distribution to all corners of Alaska. Also, we’d love to be able to pay our writers, artists and other contributors. But there’s that money thing again. Some day (and this is pure fantasyland), we might be able to have Insurgent Media outlets in other states. You know ... Arizona could be insurgent48, Hawaii insurgent50 and Delaware gets the honor of being insurgent1. But for now, we’re focused on our home state of Alaska. What has been insurgent49’s proudest moment so far? Watching Lisa Murkowski read through our November issue (really happened). I wish I’d had a camera. Is it hard promoting a project like this in Alaska? Yes, but it’s worth it. Who won the 1948 World Series? The Cleveland Indians. Do sharks have stomachs? Hmmm ... probably. Are you guys a bunch of communists? OK. This concludes the inaugural FAQ page for insurgent49. We hope it was as informative for you as it was for us. |
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April 14, 2006 April 7, 2006 March 31, 2006 March 24, 2006 March 17, 2006 March 3, 2006 February 24, 2006 February 17, 2006 February 10, 2006 February 3, 2006 January 27, 2006 January 20, 2006 January 13, 2006 January 6, 2006 December 30, 2005 December 23, 2005 December 16, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 2, 2005 November 25, 2005 November 18, 2005 November 11, 2005 November 4, 2005 October 28, 2005 October 21, 2005 October 14, 2005 October 7, 2005 September 30, 2005 September 23, 2005 September 16, 2005 September 9, 2005 September 2, 2005 August 26, 2005 August 19, 2005 August 12, 2005 August 5, 2005 July 29, 2005 July 22, 2005 July 15, 2005 July 8, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 24, 2005 June 17, 2005 June 10, 2005 June 3, 2005 May 27, 2005 May 20, 2005 May 13, 2005 May 6, 2005 April 28, 2005 April 21, 2005 April 14, 2005 April 7, 2005 April 1, 2005 |
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| Copyright 2005
Insurgent Media.
All rights reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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