I made the error of posting a response to a comment by Brooks, B Rational, on Diane Lim's blog, http://economistmom.com/2010/02/why-paygo-isnt-enough-but-why-well-take-it/#comments , that had nothing to do with her original posting.  This lead to an exchange of comments which which got nowhere.  The final comment there is Brooks accusing me of copping out.  I have learned (or should have learned by now) that Brooks has endless ability to keep adding comments with more q

Based on prevailing opinion I will do something long overdue. Let this not be a license for lobbying new moderators to pick sides. But anyways, you all know each other. Respect the rules please. They are not there to restrict but to facilitate debate.

PF and SL, please let me know if you have any issues or need help.

While everyone is focused on AIG Rage, here are some other stories of interest, in our new, Swords Crossed series on the pundit/blogger round up! I'll try to pull articles from all sides of our little blog here, with liberal, conservative, independent, and libertarian voices. Maybe it will spur some conversation and encourage more non-Open Thread posts. Hope you like!

 

It is a new year and it is yet again that we should start thinking of where we want SC to go, if anywhere. I've been absent for quite a while but I as an admin I'd like to open up the discussion and see if we as a group have some ideas as to our direction.

Take a look at this diary from Redstate.

Today is the first day of his polling track that includes all polling after the VP debate. 70 million people watched that debate, and the results are that Obama's lead increased to 8 points? How does that make any sense in a sane universe? Giving the MSM spin, at best it can be called "Biden held his own", which should have resulted in the tracking poll holding steady.

Promoted by Brendan

They say people speak (or write) when they cease to be at peace with their thoughts. So let me get this out

I've been throwing around this idea on how to further increase the uniqueness of our niche here at Swords Crossed. In keeping with the name of the site, I propose that we have a internal (fencing-themed) debate among ourselves in a "co-diary" format. We'd have two of our fellow "Swordsman" do and 3 point back-and forth (opening point, rebuttals, and closing point) Here's (roughly) how it would work:

A few things you should know: (1) we are looking into making SC more user-friendly; (2) we're working to implement a strategy to attract more traffic; (3) we are pleased to announce a new liberal front page poster. Details below the fold.

Welcome to SC Analysis, a section of the site devoted to in-depth discussion of big-picture topics. There is a "table of contents" below with recent posts you may find of interest. Further down we highlight a few pieces with the introduction and a link to the complete essay. Finally, at the bottom of the page all posts are listed by category. Comments are encouraged at the original post. Suggestions for what to include are welcome; just put a comment in an open thread or the original piece.

(promoted by Ender) OK, take a breath Swords Crossed. Back in August of last year, we put up a set of ten questions that we'd revisit after the first major primaries ended. With Florida pending for the Republicans and the Democrats poised for a Super Tuesday Blitz, the results look to be fairly surprising. So how'd we do? Let's see how far we've come...

Here are the questions, with some of the selected answers that were dead on, way off, and even the absurd :-) I've only selected a few; you guys can click through to the original if you want...

I have been traveling through Second Life checking out all the political sites and events, accumulating a lot of photos that I have yet to sort and categorize. But last night's meeting was well attended and FUN (after an hour plus of chat on the patio, we moved to the dancefloor and chatted some more), so I figured I'd just throw what I have ready so far into a slide show and post it. Lots more to come.

This slideshow version will stop if you run your cursor over it.

A recent comment about my Wikipedia userpage led me to the idea of asking everyone where else they have online presences. I know Second Life is somewhat popular in these parts. At what other websites do you have an account?

Obviously, if you aren't comfortable divulging anything, please don't. Google and a few bits of info can get the home addresses of just about everyone.

This is the SC Chatroom. When you get to this page, your browser might freeze for 5-20 seconds loading the chatroom. Once that is loaded click on the little green world button to connect (above the B for bold, and the smiley icons). If you have any problems you can leave the comments below. Leaving the comments here or refreshing the page will disconnect you from chat so you would have to reconnect.
It is possible that the chat will just say loading and never open. Try refreshing the page a few times or a different browser. We've been able to get it working in Firefox and IE7.

Current Bugs / Problems / Suggestions / Current Projects
(List update in progress...)

Bugs / Problems

• Special Topics items have my signature doubled up on top
• [fixed] Special Topics should be automatically sorting by newest comment first
• [fixed] Layout of the Blog list block is screwed up
• Lists are not displaying properly in IE6 - possible CSS issue
• Investigate the issue with the limit on number of comments displayed in "My Comments" link (view)

Owner

• Ender - secular fiscal/defense conservative (recent posts )
  

Current moderators

We will be adding to the following list as we add new features or make changes.

Table of Contents:

• Why would I want to register?
• What sort of information goes into my user profile?
• What is a diary?
• How do I post a diary?
• What are popular diaries?
• What are these tags attached to the diaries?
• What is an open thread?

Posting Rules (subject to discussion and change)

They’re simple enough. Because this isn’t a site for folks who all lean one way, self-policing will be buttressed by some healthy outside intervention. In brief:

As you probably have noticed, SC users have different colored bars above their comments. The colors correspond to the ideology each of them picked while setting up their Account Profile. By going to "My Account" menu option you will be able to modify those choices. Here is the current list:

Great idea, promoted by Brendan

With the election "just around the corner" according to our Beloved Media, there has been no restraint on the media to declare next year's Election outcomes for 2008 President. This is the earliest start of the Presidential Race. (In contrast, Clinton entered the race for President in October 1991, not February of that year. Bush started his journey in June 1999.) Granted, there are still a few people who are waiting for the right time to jump into this election--yet, the media has done a terrific job this year crowning the candidates down to the one's they like. It's an old practice. Take for instance, the Media Oracles' predictions before the 2004 Iowa Caucus:

This is a list of the most influential, interesting, controversial, or insightful posts on Swords Crossed.

• Trevino : Discussion of the Overton Window
• Quaoar : Recent developments in Waziristan
• Ender : Why I am a Republican
• Tlaloc : How to fight a progressive war
• Leon : On the goal of democracy in Iraq
• Haystack : The impending clash of civilizations
• Specter : America needs political correctness
• Purpleface : Global warming and our lifestyle
• Brendan : Why children get handcuffed
• GoRight : Thoughts on the possibility of a civil war
• John : Fascism from the right and from the left
• Pico : SiCKO and the healthcare debate

Here's a brief guide to help you use quotes, post images, link articles, and so forth. Please feel free to suggest any additional topics in comments.