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For me, silence usually means I have too much #%@*ing work to do and don't have time to blog, or possibly because my crappy Internet access at home makes posting impossible. For others, silence on particular topics is a carefully thought-out issue.

Rich explains his approach to tumultuous topics:

So, if I go silent on an issue, or seem to skirt the political side, just know that it is not because I don’t want to address it, or afraid of addressing it, it is because for the purposes of All Roads I should be addressing it in the context of potential impact on those operating in China. It is a process that is less from perfect, and while there are times that I may chose to type out a few choice words about a hot topic, I find it is better to let the folks at Shanghaiist, Danwei, Global Voices, and ESWN, and others address the issues in much better forum than I can.

His post was in response to Dan at CLB, who noted a few days ago that:

Really big things are happening in China and I clearly see the incongruity (absurdity?) of my continuing to chug away on posts relating to joint ventures, intellectual property, and how the rule of law is rising in China. Trust me, I am not blind to what is going on out West. But how should I react online?

Dan's response to his own question is that he is a lawyer and an advisor, not a political commentator. As one comment to his post states, this is the strength of a focused blog, not getting caught up in the hot story of the day if it lies outside your area of expertise. I think that's also a sign of message discipline, something I'm not so good at.

I have a slightly different take than Rich and Dan. First, although my blog is not associated at all with my job, and I therefore do not feel obligated to stay on message, that doesn't mean that I want to comment on everything.

Second, like Dan I am reticent to talk about things that I obviously know nothing about. However, once in a while those topics creep in to my posts, mostly in an ancillary way. For example, I might not talk directly about social unrest, but if Richard Gere makes a stupid comment about it, I may feel compelled to lash out.

Third, I admit that I worry about the Net Nanny sometimes. Why risk getting blocked over a chance comment on a subject that I don't really care all that much about in the first place? That might sound overly calculating, but I'm going for full disclosure here. Also, remember I'm a lawyer.

I do sometimes feel kind of stupid talking about trademark infringement when really heavy things are happening out there. But you blog about what you know and what interests you, and if no one happens to read my blog that day when a major story breaks, I can live with that.