See the following about CNN:
CNN: MISTREATMENT AND DEATH OF EMPLOYEES

Salvadoran journalist Mario Vela passes away 12 days after being dismissed by CNN. The organization AGACAMT denounces the hostile attitude of CNN towards ill employees. Jose Ramon Cotti, Puerto Rican journalist dismissed by CNN, remains in a hospital after months of pain.

Atlanta (23 March 2009). – Salvadoran journalist Mario Vela passed away 12 days after CNN dismissed him. The company fired this worker despite the knowledge of the seriousness of his illness. Mr. Vela had been several months agonizing in Washington after his doctors declared there was no hope to save his life.

Mario Vela and his family underwent the pressure imposed by CNN in his last days when receiving a document in which their rights of denunciation were questioned and conditioned to the signing of a humiliating severance package.

CNN served notice to Mr. Vela via mail explaining that he no longer was to have his disability benefits and the medical insurance from the company.

Eva Ventín, president of AGACAMT, the Galician Association Against Moral Harassment at the Workplace, denounces the hypocritical attitude of CNN, that, after putting Mr. Vela in the street, sent the Vice-president of CNN Spanish, Cristopher Crommett, to this employee’s funeral to sing a song and to deliver a pitiful donation.

Relatives and friends of Mario Vela were themselves forced to organize a fundraising concert to collect money to pay for his medical treatment.

It is difficult to think that a powerful and multi-millionaire company like CNN, that in spite of the world’s economy crisis have announced economic gains, gets to mistreat its professionals and families”.

Mario Vela who passed away at age 34, was named by the mayor of Washington DC “the journalist of the year of 2007” recognition who was emphasized by his support to the Hispanic community and towards the under-privileged.

With more than 10 years of experience Mario Vela was news director of Mega Communications and Radio Capital 730 in DC. Vela worked for Channel 30 of Univisión and Radio World in Maryland.

AGACAMT wants to bring to the world’s attention other serious cases of labor harassment at CNN as in 2003 the local press of Atlanta related this network with the depression of a journalist who committed suicide. (see original editorial of the Mundo Hispanico about former news director Abel Dimant).

The complaints of labor abuses and irregularities had been communicated to Mr. Jim Walton, the President of CNN, but there are no answers neither solutions that protect the victims.

AGACAMT denounces that “this it is not the unique case of a journalist dismissed by CNN in a serious condition”. News anchor Jose Ramon Cotti remains in a hospital in Georgia after several months of pain.

The Puerto Rican journalist also was dismissed by CNN while on disability awaiting a delicate heart operation.

CNN brought Mr. Cotti and his wife to Atlanta from New York 9 years ago and the company has now totally forgotten this family, not even making a phone call to inquire about its employee’s condition after double bypass surgery and leg amputation and also after Mrs. Cotti’s hospitalization with health problems including stress related condition.

We communicated Mr. Walton of the above again with no responses.
This prestigious New York radio journalist, recipient of Several prizes including two awards from ACE. (Award of creative excellence) is just another one of the numerous victims of the dramatic crisis that shakes CNN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV_ngsdcwFo

Thanks for the tip about your hidden feed. I’ll check it out.

My 2 blogs are my main one at http://blog.demodulated.com/, and my fairly neglected mixtapes sharing blog at http://mixtapes.demodulated.com/. I could have posted my mixtapes on my main blog but wanted to segregate them so that they were more easily accessible to my users. I get very different hits from search engines for my disparate blogs.

I stand very firmly on my opinion that technical writing is poetry. A Technical Writer must conform to formats to convey his message as succinctly, meaningfully, and attractively as possible. He must envision a concept or a succession of occurences and translate it into digestible prose. He must know and empathize with his audience, and use careful phrasing to share his view of a subject with his readers. Technical writing doesn’t rhyme but it certainly has stringent guidelines the writer must stay within. Most of all, technical writing takes both talent and practise – without both of these things one can’t excel in the field.

Maybe I’m overly romantic about technical writing, but when I see a well-written technical document it speaks to me, telling me it’s special, it’s beautiful, it’s rare.

Also read Sifry’s commentary in that section. Did you know that the New York Times uses WordPress blogging software? Does that make it a blog? MSM is also incorporating a lot more blog-like functions. For example, on KSL.com, a news site, each article has a comments section. So the line between blogs and MSM is blurring. A lot of less tech-savvy readers can’t distinguish between a blog and MSM, so I’m not sure how the polls are even accurate in the first place.

You said many readers are interested to read what shapes and motivates me. Mainly, I enjoy writing. That’s probably an understatement — I’ve always wanted to “be a writer,” and the traditional print publishing paradigm is way too slow and dated for me. Writing makes me feel good. These past two days I haven’t posted anything, nor responded to any comments. Doesn’t feel so good. Kind of like I’m missing out, and not doing what I’m supposed to do. Don’t we all believe in destiny and calling to some extent?

But more on the personal side, your comment and other comments from my family as well as my own desire to record some mundane little personal thoughts have prompted me to once again, probably despite my better judgement, and against all matters of privacy and personal space, resurrect my hidden feed. If you look in my Shared Info section on my sidebar, I’ve republished my Tom’s Life Feed (previously called Off Topic), which is a category hidden from the home page and excised from the feed. I don’t put much effort into the posts, though I probably should.

You said you believe technical writing is poetry. You’ll have to elaborate on that because, as much as I like technical writing, I hardly consider myself a poet. Technical writing is pretty dry and boring — at least my experience of it. You wouldn’t think I’d say that, considering my entire blog is pretty much devoted to the subject. But sometimes the more interesting, creative lens that we apply to this field — and which we can apply to any field — is what motivates and inspires me.

I think you have a great blog going.