The Random Metaphor of the Day Memorial Open Thread.
This space reserved for an amusing comment.
By Moe Lane Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (25) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I've been reading various and sundry discussions and counter-discussions and analyses and confident assertions and unapologetic random guesses, and I've concluded: the current political situation is precisely like the exact moment where two groups of SCA heavy weapons fighters have locked shields, lowered pikes and smashed into each other. There's a lot of shouting and loud noises; somebody's winning, but you don't quite know who yet; and the people most likely to be able to tell from looking are currently busy holding off some screaming lunatic brandishing a greatsword.
Add some haybales (and that special armor scent) and it'd be a perfect match.
Open thread.
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#1 would be nice. #2 is irrelevant to me since I am generally in opposition to most here on most issues. #3 would help a lot to respond to people who may have posted a little later on.
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not." George Bernard Shaw
you are one of the people I thought of when I came up with #2. It is especially good to see someones posting history when they give a not-so-republican opinion, especially if it is very short and sweet.
If a troll comes in with a quick one liner you know you can dismiss them if it is their first post, but if it is someone like you, with a long, thought out, opposing opinion, it would more likely open discourse instead of receive hostile retorts. I think I have even seen people reply to you thinking you just jumped on to wield a quick pointy stick, not knowing who you are.
Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. -Ronald Reagan
I no longer use the front page. You can get a better summary of where new commentary is coming in at http://www.redstate.com/tracker which details new comments since your last visit. The only drawback is you have only the article title to use as an indicator whether you'll find the content interesting but if your goal is to followup on new comments of posts you're already interested in, it works very well. Since it displays the author as well, you can also easily follow persons who tend to write subject matter you find interesting.
Recent Posts is wonderful.
I will grant though that for occasional readers it's probably inferior to Your Comments.
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
thanks for the info I will see if I can get used to using that.
Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. -Ronald Reagan
http://devine-gamecock.townhall.com
www.race42008.com
"Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face." - Ronald Reagan
I don't use the front page either... I use /tracker.
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
The loss of comment posting history is a major flaw. If I was wondering about dismissing someone as a troll or moby, a quick browse of their old comments usually made it clear whether they were here for serious discussion, so I could respond (or not bother) accordingly.
For people who browse the site sporadically, the old quick way to check for replies to their comments was helpful.
Using the current tracking feature is a decidedly inferior substitute for comment history, since you have to waste time text searching through everybody else's comments.
I also agree on #1, new comments count on the front page, but rate it less important because tracking is a reasonable substitute for that.
I also think the loss of the comment Parent links is another big flaw. When a comment has a lot of replies and sub-replies etc., it often isn't clear what original point a reply is addressing.
Of course I don't see what else goes on under the hood with the current vs. old software/scripts, and presume there were some compelling reasons on the administration side to make the change. However the new end user interface has some serious disadvantages with few compensating advantages, so hopefully the new system is flexible enough to restore the lost features.
Right, the guys who actually make all this function, they won't mind skipping work and not seeing their families while they stay up tweaking the site to make all us happy. A big thank you from here in the peanut gallery for all you've done.
Now you're starting to unpleasantly remind me of some of my early days here at RedState, back when all of this stuff was funny and lighthearted, and I could laugh at things like this old summary of the New York Times op-ed columnists, in particular Maureen Dowd.
Summary of the New York Times Op-Ed Columnists
FWIW, I liken our current political situation to the unfortunate veterinarian who has to insert his arm into a horse's anus up to the shoulder to remove an intestinal obstruction that is killing the once-proud, triumphant horsey. Meanwhile, the field he's supposed to be ploughing is being consumed by a swarm of locusts. And his wife wants a divorce.
I mean, look at sites where people don't do that - (I mention no names, mind you). I don't mean serious sites: I mean sites where the writers and commenters seem actively incapable of regular, normal, non-cruel humor. You have to and ask yourself, Do I want to be like the people on those sites? I mean, I don't: they're always bitter and usually afraid.
Which is deeply, deeply silly.
Moe
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
*And it's got to be clean laughter, too. Not bitter, nastyfun take-pleasure-in-the-pain-of-your-opponents laughter. That just makes you all twisted up inside.
I'm not afraid of the Big Bad Democrats and I'm also not afraid of the 21st Century and what it might mean for America. And because of that I don't have to rely on schadenfreude for kicks or humor. I really believe that come what may, this country is still by far -- head and shoulders -- the most promising place in the world for people all around the world, including the ones who already live here, some of whom are enormously spoiled and need to get a grip. And I also think that some of the concerns we get so excited about today are going to turn out to be molehills fifty years down the road -- because of the things that America has going for it right now. So we sit here today with our arms up the horse's arse, with the swarm of locusts descending on the crop, and the wife wanting to take off for parts elsewhere, but let's not forget, ladies and gentlemen:
It can always get worse. And until we realize that the option is to either make it better or make it worse, it will. So take Bob Dylan's advice, as I have done, from his album "Slow Train Coming:"
When you gonna wake up? And strengthen the things that remain?
I am a little afraid.
But I try to add a little humor some of the time.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
But that doesn't stop me from laughing when laughter is called for.
And it only makes me want to fight harder...
"Always be honest with yourself even if you are honest with no one else...
...It helps you keep track of your lies..."
--Myself
when we know what SCA stands for.
in many a year, But I am attending the Texas Renaissance Festival (its close to my house) this weekend and the next.
Looking forward to some Mead and a turkey leg.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
I coudln't get time off to go to Pennsic or even to the Penn Ren Fest. But I still get to beat some people about the head on Sundays, so that's something...
"Always be honest with yourself even if you are honest with no one else...
...It helps you keep track of your lies..."
--Myself
Mold got into the haybales this year, thus having the War being dubbed 'Allergsic'.
Kingdom Crusades was pretty good, though. Once it stopped raining.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
One change that could be made sitewise that would really help is to automatically close any tags left open at the end of the blog/article/comment/what have you.
Right now thanks to a strike tag left open nearly the entire blog page has been stricken.
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Internet member since 1987
Member of the Surreality-Based Community
Now the aliens are going to be clued in to the fact that Bush is teh HitlerBurton and that anarchy is so obviously superior to capitalism.
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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson
I guess they're also going to think we're all a bunch of friggin' idiots with bad grammer:
"The world's angry at North Korea for defying the world's protest againts it nuclear test. But so what? Mr. Bush the Presiden of America defied the world's protest againts Iraq! and look what happen now??"
Hey, we can hope that they will see the danger of the teacher's unions!
Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. -Ronald Reagan
Or maybe I just dont know where to look.
Is RedState done redoing the new site or should I expect more changes? Specifically there are a few things that I miss from the old site that I also think did a LOT to retain return visitor traffic and they are:
1. New comment count on main page. on the main page where the number of comments are listed it was great to see if there were any new comments. There are a lot of great articles here and you cant read them all. This is especially hard now that you have to spend more time going through to see which have new comments and which dont.
2. posting histories Why cant I see someones posting history? this was an excellent barometer to see where someone was comign from...if they were trolls, mobys, someone with sincere reservations about a subject or being sarcastic
3. replies to my posts i cant see my own recent posts let alone whether or not someone has replied to me directly. The latter was a great way to actually have a side conversation that oftentimes really accomplished a lot of thoughtful debate.
so there are my questions. I miss those thing (and admit that possibly 2 & 3 might be somewhere I dont know about).
Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. -Ronald Reagan