As much as it pains me to say this, several of the Republican candidates for President have a following that is playing downright dirty across the web. In fact, they’re flat out cheating, and we’ve caught them red handed.

What candidates have these cheating fan clubs? So far, we’ve been able to pinpoint large groups of cheaters who support Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, and Newt Gingrich. Granted, we can’t start pointing fingers at the candidates themselves, because we have no way of knowing if they are indeed involved. My guess is that they aren’t. But we should certainly contact them and let them know we think they should condemn such actions.
read more from "Republican Candidate Supporters Cheat Polls/Digg.com"

Conservative Bloggers, Activists to Convene in Reno
Prez Candidates, Training & Western Themes to be Showcased

(Washington, DC) - A new conservative gathering in the West will be held this fall in Reno, Nevada, on October 11-13th. The Conservative Leadership Conference (CLC) is being co-hosted by Citizen Outreach and Americans for Tax Reform. The conference theme is “Conservatives and the New Media,” devoting considerable focus on bloggers and the Internet cyber-activist community, as well as traditional grassroots activism.

“As dissatisfaction within the conservative ranks begins to reach record levels, the timing of this event in the West couldn’t be better,” says CLC ‘07 director and conservative blogger Eric Odom. “With Nevada being a key swing state, the location is ideal as well.”

In addition to traditional panel discussions and issue debates - primarily concentrating on fiscal, free-market, state’s rights and individual liberty issues - CLC ‘07 will feature a two-track training program for grassroots activists and cyber-activists conducted by some of the leading training instructors in the country today.

Presidential candidates will be invited to address the conference, and an awards banquet featuring the first annual “State of the Conservative Union” address is included. The conference will wrap up with the announcement of the results of a planned “straw poll” of the 2008 presidential race.

The venue for the conference is John Ascuaga’s Nugget Resort, located in Reno/Sparks Nevada. The resort has ample resources and tools which will help attendees network, blog and spread the message. Combined with excellent fall weather, 1,900 rooms, luxury facilities, high speed internet access throughout the entire event center, entertainment and dining opportunities, the Nugget Resort is a perfect location for this event.

Registration fees are being kept to a minimum to allow the widest possible attendance by grassroots bloggers and activists of all incomes. 50%-off early-bird special rates, good through May 31st, range from just $50 for a three-day Conference Only pass to just $125 for a full Silver Pass which includes the awards dinner and receptions. In addition, a limited number of rooms are available at the Nugget Resort for conference attendees at only $96 per night.

For additional information or to register, please visit www.CLC07.com

- 30 -

Last night a newsletter from StatCounter dropped in noting the website statistics providers recent refusal to accept big bucks to allow a third party spyware firm to place cookies in the code of EVERY user of statcounter services.

Not only did StatCounter take pride in refusing the offer, they also made it clear that one of the leading competitors had ACCEPTED the dirty money in exchange for cookie placement in the stat tracking code.

From the official StatCounter Blog:

A few months back, StatCounter was approached by an advertiser, offered lots of $$$, and asked to include a spyware cookie on all of our member sites…we refused on the spot.

You install StatCounter to track visitors to your site NOT to open yourself and your visitors up to being spied upon by phantom advertising corporations.

It appears, however, that other players in the world of webstats were happy to take up this offer…

read more from "Did Sitemeter sell out to Spyware?"

In only three months of being online, ConservaBlogs.com has jumped into the top 9,000 blogs at Technorati and we’ve gone from 6,000 visits the first month to what is shaping up to be more than 25,000 visits for March.

This growth has allowed me to view some very interesting statistics. It was difficult during the first month because I knew that the stats were skewed due to such small amounts of traffic. Now, however, the stats are large enough to actually be taken seriously.

The most surprising statistic has been the user browsers. Let’s take a look.
read more from "47% of network traffic uses Firefox"

Who the hell is Ron Paul? It’s a question that can be heard across the web and beyond. I’ve seen countless threads on discussion forums started by users begging to know more. I myself have even been on the hunt for solid information on the Texas Libertarian.

So begins my hunt for information on Ron Paul. I’ve compiled a good starting list and I’m listing his basic stances. From what I’ve found so far his voting record is superb and matches his beliefs and promises.
read more from "Who is Ron Paul?"

As you can see, I’ve gone with a new theme on the blog. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for some time now, but just haven’t gotten around to it.

This theme is a lot easier to manage and seems to be a lot friendlier on browsers and load times. Plus, the colors are simply much better on the eyes. In my opinion that is…

Also, the last theme I was using was a pain to work with and edit. Widget sidebars are becoming the “hot” way to manage content, but I think they are complete crap. I just need simple HTML to mess around with and I’m good to go. This theme does support widgets, but unlike the last theme it doesn’t force you to use them.

Overall I think this theme will be a long time look for this blog. I’m sure I’ll mess around with the header image a bit, but the over all look and feel will remain in place.

Props goes out to Ed Merritt for creating the theme and offering it for free download.

Hope ya like it!