Some folks are miffed that Jef Jarvis' proposal for a Weblog Foundation includes giving grants to winners.

Hi, Jeff.

Money should be the least valuable thing you do.

Recognize:

• An interesting work (like the Pulitzers),
   
• Creative individuals with promise (like the Macarthur grants), 
   
• The single most influential post of the year (like the Times person of the year) 
   
• Achievement by category of author (e.g. age, region), subject (public policy, science, academics, life, metablogging), or medium (photoblogs, long form, audioblogs) 
   
• Popularity (like the webbies and bloggies) 
   
• Contribution to the craft (innovations in technology, writing or reading styles, etc.) 

In this context, your grant money connotes authority, power, success, conviction.

So money helps carry the meme.

Just be sure money isn't the message.

nosi News brings word the Canadian Navy was so short of sailors, they've gone from 6 ships in the Arabian Gulf to 3. Shifting to higher wartime service levels accounts for most of the gap but a structural personnel shortage contributes.

According to the National Post's Canada had trouble manning warships:

 "A close scrutiny of the numbers reveals that there are serious shortages in naval electronics technicians, naval weapons technicians, some combat operator trades and ... officers, especially at the director level."

"In fact, the Canadian Forces were short more than 1,000 trained naval personnel at the time, including 116 officers and 970 non-commissioned members, ranging from cooks and plumbers to professional divers and equipment operators."

Labor shortages are affecting national security.