Welcome to Mal’s World!
Around town I’m known as Steve Ford, but in the blog-o-sphere I’m known as MalamuteMan, or simply Mal.
As a way of injecting a bit of humor into my commentary I sometimes assume the persona of Mal, an anthropomorphic Malamute who fancies himself as a philosopher, photographer, and modern-day Luddite.
Mal carries all his worldly possessions around in a saddle bag strapped to his travois. The saddle bag seems to be quite magical, as it appears to have far more room inside than it looks like it has from the outside.
Among other things in his magic saddle bag, Mal keeps his vintage 8-track tape collection (he’s a die-hard Luddite) and his etch-a-sketch, which he’s rigged up to work something like an iPad.
About My Time on The Vine
Several years ago I started writing and commenting on Newsvine, a news blog now operated by MSNBC. Over 8 years I posted more than 200 articles on “The Vine.” Most of those were about politics, human nature, photography, and travel. Over the years I learned quite a bit… about people… others and myself. I improved my writing skills, and generally had a great time interacting with others.
In recent years, dialogue on the Vine has devolved into a vitriolic and unproductive state. Lots of hateful rhetoric… and not much listening, understanding, or empathy. So, the Vine has lost its appeal to me as a place to interact with others. I miss this interaction! So I decided to create Mal’s World here on Medium, a place to discuss stuff…
The tag-line of the Vine was “Get Smarter Here.” Well… I think I did get smarter during my time on the Vine. Perhaps the most important thing I learned on the Vine was that respectful and empathetic interaction with people who are most different from me is the most productive and rewarding way to “get smarter.” “Preaching to the choir” is fine, but there isn’t as much to be learned or potential for positive results as there is when I make an effort to understand and find common ground with people who have differing views. My objective with Mal’s World is to inspire and nurture positive dialog among people with a broad spectrum of ideologies.
Some of the articles posted here in Mal’s World, were originally posted on Newsvine. [ Update: I removed the link to Newsvine, because the Newsvine site has been taken down. That link now leads to MSNBC ]
