All Spin Zone started life in late 2003 at allspinzone.blogspot.com, when founder Richard Blair got tired of arguing progressive politics with conservative morons on the message boards of a National Football League team that shall remain anonymous. ASZ’s archives from that time are still available at the link above - and not to toot our own horn or anything, but we think that some of the blogging we did in the heat of the 2004 Presidential election stands up as the best that we’ve done over the years.

The Great Blogger Meltdown of 2005 convinced us that it was either 1) time to fold the tent and go home or 2) move to a more stable internet location. And so, for better or worse, we picked door number two, bought own domain, and (after fooling around with a couple of CMS platforms), migrated to a Wordpress installation that Richard customized and manages.

Why do we do this? There are hundreds, nay thousands, nay hundreds of thousands of political blogs and message boards up and running. We visit many of them on an infrequent basis. Some reflect our own thought; some we read simply to see what the other side is thinking or, on occasion, to calibrate our own personal views. What the other blogs and message boards lack is a unilateral way to force our (sometimes twisted) views on you — kind of like George Bush’s unilateral action in Iraq, if you want to look at it that way.

As far as geographic location, ASZ is managed out of the Philadelphia area (the progressive blog capitol of the world; check our blogroll if you don’t believe us), but our commentary extends well beyond the City of Brotherly Love to the national and global political scene. While progressive politics is the bread and butter of ASZ, readers will also find arts and entertainment reviews, discussion of environmental concerns, disection of military and veterans issues (in particular, PTSD and TBI), GLBT viewpoints, and any other cause or acronym that strikes our fancy on a given day.

Who are we? Here’s a little background on the principal contributors who inhabit ASZ’s scrap of the blogosphere:

Richard “Cranium” Blair is the founder and blogmaster of ASZ. He’s a Vietnam-era veteran who is blessed (or cursed, depending on your view) with what he describes as “a finely tuned bullshit detector”. Past and present lives include writing for a major metro newspaper, shipping porn, punching holes in the ocean for the U.S. Navy, managing a large innercity food bank, managing SAP installations, and general computer related tomfoolery. In a distant past life, he was also an INPO / National Nuclear Academy certified systems engineer in the nuclear power industry. Richard has testified before congressional subcommittees, and worked with congressional staffs to educate them on techical issues. He’s also a contributing blogger at AlterNet and writes occasionally for Philly Indy Media.

Steven “SpinDentist” Reynolds joined Richard shortly after ASZ was launched. He’s the calming influence of the group — except that he can go ballistic when the Bush regime issues Code Brown alerts. Ergo, watch out for tactical F-bombs being dropped at random intervals. Steven does a great job of mining the depths of the World Wide Web for the exotic neoconservative claptrap, and takes extreme pleasure in debunking bullshit with facts. Doc’s the academic among us, having taught at the University level and changed diapers in a pre-school setting (among other occupations). He’s currently completing graduate work at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Daniel DiRito is ASZ’s most recent permanent contributor. He’s also the blogmaster at Thought Theater, but his original commentary and posting fits in so well with ASZ’s style that, after a guest blogging stint, it was natural to ask him to continue to contribute. Daniel claims he’s ADD or OCD or BFD or something, but these afflictions apparently allow Daniel to kick out vast quantities of great writing (and top ten lists) with flair. According to Daniel, he’s a “Colorado native, but a New Yorker at heart”, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology. The therapist is in.

Richard, Steve, and Daniel are all in the same basic demographic, age-wise, which probably explains the similarity in style and desire to sit on our asses and write. While not yet into complete geezerhood, we mostly leave the protest marching to the younger folks (although we’ve all been known to put on our walking shoes when the cause is right).

Occasional contributors include somegirl, sukabi, and Gloria, who bring out the strong feminine side of ASZ. Journalism professor Walter Brasch regales us with his syndicated columns once or twice a fortnight. ASZ’s bench of guest bloggers is deep, including FDL contributor (and master musician) Brendan Skwire, and the mysterious Xsociate.

We’re all refugees, ex-pats, and contributors for and from other political blogs and message boards, so we’ve been doing this kind of thing for awhile. Bottom line: a small group of progressive political junkies work this blog to give you our spin on the spin. But let’s be quite clear about something. What you find here is worth exactly what you paid for it ($0.00), and we encourage you to form your own opinions based on the links and stories provided. We claim no particular expertise with or education in any topic on which we comment. Caveat Emptor. Your mileage may vary.

So, put a new set of Energizers in your bullshit detector, and prepare to enter… The All Spin Zone.

Need to get in touch with us? Fill out the form below, and we’ll get back to you ASAP! Update: 2/21/09 - the contact form has been temporarily disabled due to an extreme flood of spamming - if you need to touch base with ASZ’s staff, please do so via normal email at allspinzone -at- yahoo -dot- com.