I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

With so much going on, I wish we were still chattering.   The oil spill, McChrystal's interview and Afghanistan,  the upholding of gun rights in Chicago, the G20 deciding on austerity over further stimulus to Krugman's dismay, Russian deep-cover spies!----there is still a lot to talk about.

This is an open thread

 Hope everyone is doing well!

April 15th.  The date we all love as it represents our financial contributions to our society  ;-)

I've contacted Ender about the latest spam.  I've suggested he go ahead and implement the "verification" feature that would mean an extra step for regular posters, but would foil bot spam.   

I'll be out of town for the next several days, and most likely entirely unplugged, so please ignore the spam.

Just 'cause

First some housekeeping:  I've contacted Ender about the spam comments.  There's thousands from our friends in China, so my apologies, but I'll wait and let him clear that user out.   Also, are there really people who believe you get paid for posting comments with links?   I thought that latest "hey, get paid real money for doing next to nothing!" scam got debunked.   

Second, how 'bout those Saints?   New Orleans needed that, and the team earned it.  

Whither the Democrats now?

This is an open thread

Cheers!

Houston Mayor Bill White enters the Texas governor's race.    He's my mayor.

Who's cooking?  I'm not this year; we're going out, to a local hotel's affaire.  That way I don't feel too guilty about making someone work on Thanksgiving.

This is an open thread.

A new open thread, all wrapped up in shiny paper, just for you.

A general question:  What is your opinion on the need for more active moderation here?   By that, I mean someone jumping into threads and providing admonishment for posters who stray into the personal attack territory, somewhat along the lines of what happens at the Forum.   

Happy Halloween, everyone.

I'm wondering about Afghanistan: why are we there ?  Have the Democrats bought into the brown bogeyman scare tactics, or does the idea of spreading democracy and stability through violence now appeal, all of a sudden?   Is Obama too much of a politician to say "you know, I've changed my mind on Afghanistan . . . . "

Ender asked for suggestions that might facilitate participation here.  In that spirit, some of my links are  from blogs; maybe perusing them will spark some ideas that can be applied to SC.    This is an open thread.

Pournelle has some philosophical musings about the affect of increasing bureaucracy upon a democratic society, quoting this well known writer

Hello everyone. It certainly has been a while and I see that, quite understandably, the site has gone downhill. I have no interest in closing up shop unless you guys want me to because I do not mind hosting the site.

However it is quite clear that there is no future here if nothing changes. Would you all be interested in moving on to a different format / different site name / different ruleset - etc? I don't know if you had that discussion or not. There are certain things that are easy to implement (with not much labor on my part) that I would be willing to consider.

Is it just me, or are people taking things way too seriously when the President cannot make a speech to schoolchildren without it causing an uproar?  

This is an open thread.  What's on your mind?

You know it's bad when Bob (aka cheneyslovechild) tosses in the towel . I guess it's hard to be passionate about something when reality slaps you in the face.

Here's your OT for the week.

For those of you who are looking for a bit more activity, The Forvm is in ship-shape.  We're a little slow at the moment, but they aren't.

Sarah Palin is no longer governor of Alaska.  Palin resigned suddenly a few weeks ago...a move which shocked and confused many pundits.

The "swine flu" has made its way to the middle east -- Israel and Saudi Arabia .

Have a good 1st half of the week...and a good rest of the week.  Let's reuse this one since it only has 6 posts.

Here's your open thread for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I'm away doing some house and dogsitting for a family member, so I don't have too much time to check in this week.  I'll be back on Monday!

Good news, everybody!  Today is semi-annual profit-sharing day at my employer.  I awoke to find some extra cash in the credit union account.  Not the full share, mind you, since I've only been employed for about 50 days or so, but extra money all the same.  Cheers!

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI broke his wrist during a fall.

The confirmation hearings for Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor are kaput.  The Senate has already scheduled a committee vote on Tuesday, and the Republicans, true to their word , will not filibuster her floor vote.

Have a wonderful weekend.