{ *Dr. Evil } One... Mill-i-yun... Pageviews { */ Dr. Evil}

Thanks to all my loyal readers and people doing Google searches for "Punished Sailors", I passed a significant milestone in any blogger's career earlier today -- 1,000,000 page views! This comes on the heels of my Sitemeter passing 500,000 visits on Monday, so it's a big week here at TSSBP. Thanks to everyone who's stopped by over the last 3 years.

On this auspicious occasion, I reflected on what blogging really means. Is it a way for ordinary citizens to participate in the national debate on various topics of interest? Is it the essence of 21st century participatory democracy? Is it the fulfillment of Andy Warhol's prediction about 15 minutes of fame for everyone? Or is it a way for guys to share fart jokes and give us another way -- like how cool our cars were back in the 70s -- to compete with each other. Being that I'm a guy, I'm going with the last one.

So how do we celebrate this shared achievement? I say we do it in a guy way! IdaBlue, an Iraq War veteran with the Idaho Army National Guard, has a poll up asking readers which Idaho blog they think is best (it's on the right side of his home page underneath the mug shots of Sen. Larry Craig). The poll ends today. Currently, MountainGoat Report is in the lead (with 6 votes), as well she should be -- she provides great commentary on important political issues from a progressive standpoint. On the other hand, she was a Marine when she was on active duty. Can we let a Marine beat a submariner? I say no! Interesting content and superb design shouldn't win out over in-depth discussions on "how much can you sleep"! Head on over to IdaBlue's and vote for "The Stupid Shall Be Punished" right away!

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled snark and sea stories.

Update 0946 19 Oct: Thanks for everyone's votes! The poll is down now, but I won with 33 of 48 votes cast. While this doesn't prove anything other than that my readers are the bestest darned readers in the world, I still appreciate the support.