Today, at precisely 1 pm Irish summer time, the special software installed on this site registered the 5000th individual visitor from the USA.
Ever since I began writing this weblog almost 17 months ago, Americans have provided the largest proportion of visitors and readers. This is probably not so surprising, as the internet began in the USA and a very large number of Americans use it on a daily basis.
But since most of my entries are about Ireland, it is perhaps a little exceptional that they find such interest in the USA. Although there are approximately 45-50 million Americans who have Irish ancestry, I am sure that not all my American readers have a direct personal connection with the Emerald Isle.
Maybe the fact that I look at the world as a whole from time to time, and comment extensively on global political developments - including the USA - is attracting so many American readers.
Especially last year, during the long presidential election campaign, I wrote many pieces about the candidates from both major parties, right from the start of the 'primaries' in January. And I take a little pride in the fact that - using my skills as a political analyst - I was able to predict the final candidates (Barack Obama & John McCain) as well as the correct election result at an early stage of the 'primaries'.
I also managed - after several weeks of intensive research - to establish that Sarah Palin was not a 'surprise candidate', pulled out of John McCain's hat just a few days before the Republican Convention. I documented in detail that she was quietly selected and built-up as a potential vice-presidential candidate by the right-wing neo-cons of the Republican Party even before John McCain declared his own intention to become a candidate for the White House. (see my entry of October 26th, 2008)
This was quite a scoop for me, a single blogger without staff or professional research facilities, and a number of major newspapers that did not find the truth about Sarah Palin by themselves (despite their staff and research facilities) were happy to take this exclusive story from me.
And to round up my coverage of the presidential election, I stayed up all night (from November 4th to November 5th) and live-blogged the development and incoming results, declaring Barack Obama's victory about an hour before the major US television networks did the same.
As I have a great interest in the USA and all American political developments, I will continue to write about them whenever it is appropriate and I find the time.
I like to take this opportunity to thank the 5000 Americans who have taken the time to visit this weblog and read my entries. I hope you find them interesting and informative, and I will do my best to keep up the standard I have established so far.
Please share the information you find here with your family, friends and colleagues, and always feel free to leave comments. They are as much appreciated as your visits to this site.
The Emerald Islander
But since most of my entries are about Ireland, it is perhaps a little exceptional that they find such interest in the USA. Although there are approximately 45-50 million Americans who have Irish ancestry, I am sure that not all my American readers have a direct personal connection with the Emerald Isle.
Maybe the fact that I look at the world as a whole from time to time, and comment extensively on global political developments - including the USA - is attracting so many American readers.
Especially last year, during the long presidential election campaign, I wrote many pieces about the candidates from both major parties, right from the start of the 'primaries' in January. And I take a little pride in the fact that - using my skills as a political analyst - I was able to predict the final candidates (Barack Obama & John McCain) as well as the correct election result at an early stage of the 'primaries'.
I also managed - after several weeks of intensive research - to establish that Sarah Palin was not a 'surprise candidate', pulled out of John McCain's hat just a few days before the Republican Convention. I documented in detail that she was quietly selected and built-up as a potential vice-presidential candidate by the right-wing neo-cons of the Republican Party even before John McCain declared his own intention to become a candidate for the White House. (see my entry of October 26th, 2008)
This was quite a scoop for me, a single blogger without staff or professional research facilities, and a number of major newspapers that did not find the truth about Sarah Palin by themselves (despite their staff and research facilities) were happy to take this exclusive story from me.
And to round up my coverage of the presidential election, I stayed up all night (from November 4th to November 5th) and live-blogged the development and incoming results, declaring Barack Obama's victory about an hour before the major US television networks did the same.
As I have a great interest in the USA and all American political developments, I will continue to write about them whenever it is appropriate and I find the time.
I like to take this opportunity to thank the 5000 Americans who have taken the time to visit this weblog and read my entries. I hope you find them interesting and informative, and I will do my best to keep up the standard I have established so far.
Please share the information you find here with your family, friends and colleagues, and always feel free to leave comments. They are as much appreciated as your visits to this site.
The Emerald Islander
No comments:
Post a Comment