So, welcome to HuddledMasses.org

I’ve got the new domain and the new server all set up… but I think I’m going to use WordPress instead of MovableType The main reason, believe it or not, is that I don’t know perl very well and I’m getting server errors when I try to rebuild stuff. PHP, on the other hand, I’m really good at. Of course, there’s also the fact that WordPress is Open Source which I like… Of course, the downside is that I may or may not be able to port all the posts from the old site over easily enough to bother … I’ll have to play with it tommorrow.

As far as the domain name, I might as well quote the whole poem here. It’s by Emma Lazarus, and it is sort-of the inspiration for the naming of the site:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

You can guess that is about the Statue of Liberty, and is somewhat at the heart of the makeup of our nation (meaning that this attitude, at the heart of our immigration policy for many years, has shaped our country and made it the melting pot that it became). Perhaps, however, it is not at the heart of our current immigration policies. But nevermind that … I have other thoughts in mind, and other “Doors” to show the homeless, helpless, tired and poor.

Enough for now. On with the redesign. Again.