Category: Blog-Related

Sunday Night Open Thread

Posted onAuthorjeralyn28 Comments

It’s a Sunday Night in January, 2021. I remember in 2015 I thought it would just be a few months to get this new TalkLeft site up and running. Well, a few months has turned into six years, and I still don’t know how to get the old site imported into this one, or whether this site should be TalkLeft com and the old one TalkLeft.net or how to do it.


The old site is getting too small for me to read on a mobile device. I really like this site so much better. If you haven’t registered here, please do.


It is free, and if you use your same username we will all know who you are.
It’s also much more protected against Spam.


Let me know what you all think since we have some downtime while Colin is fixing whatever I messed up on the old site that’s keeping us from posting comments there

Jeralyn

Norway Open Thread

Posted onAuthorjeralyn

So, who’s been to Norway? Not me.

Donald Trump exposed himself today as the vulgar, insensitive man we all knew he was.

He has single-handedly ruined the image of America around the globe in the last year. How many generations will it take to recover, assuming America is still here.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome, especially site suggestions.

Tuesday Open Thread

Posted onAuthorjeralyn12 Comments

Here’s an open thread. All topics welcome.

It is really cold here:

Forecasters say temperatures in Denver will top out at 4 degrees on Tuesday before dropping to as low as minus 9 at night with a wind chill of minus 15. A 70 percent chance of snow remains until this evening through which about an inch is expected to fall.

The keyless entry system in my Jeep went haywire yesterday. As I was pulling it into my garage it flashed a message saying there was no key activated and the engine shut down. (At least I had finished parking it.) I can start the engine with the key fob but I keep getting that message. Jeep says I have to take it in. Not what I want to do when it’s 4 degrees out, the roads are slick ice and the jeep dealer is 15 miles away. What if the engine shuts down on the way to the dealer?

I think I’ll just stay home, test my new Spanish learning program, play with WordPress some more and maybe get some work done.

Weekend Open Thread

Posted onAuthorjeralyn108 Comments

‘

I’ve been working on this site since Christmas eve. I’d like to hear your thoughts.
(You have to be logged in to comment. If you haven’t registered yet, please do, with your current user name if you have one so we know who you are. To reduce spam, your first comment will have to be manually approved. After that, it’s just log in and comment.

I’ve added as many features as I could from your earlier suggestions. The comment box now allows you to view your comment either in preview mode (visual). It also has more styling options.

Another benefit to being logged in: You will see a section on the right of “unread comments” since your last visit (in addition to recent comments.)

I don’t have a set date for moving the site. But I’m getting closer.

If you have questions or suggestions, or notice bugs, you can put them here. Since I want to see how the comment section works, and what changes still need to be made overall, this is an open thread where you can write about whatever you want — it doesn’t have to be about the site.

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Posted onAuthorjeralyn

larger version here.

It sure is cold outside, but the view from my living room was very pretty yesterday.

I’ve been mostly reading news from Mexico today. The papers there have been filled the past few days with revelations that the DEA made deals with top Sinaloa cartel members to provide information about rival cartels in exchange for immunity and the freedom to continue their illegal activities. This is about the case of Jesus Vincent Zambada-Niebla, awaiting trial in Chicago. I’m not sure why the Mexican papers are just picking it up now — it was news in the U.S. in 2011. The reporter does a good job though, and includes references to some of the pleadings. Here’s a long post I wrote about the case and the DEA’s “snitch and carry on” policy. It’s an interesting question whether Humberto Loya-Castro, the Sinaloa lawyer who became a DEA informant and provided information about rival cartels for years to the DEA, and who set up a meeting in Mexico City between the DEA and Zambada-Niebla, at which Zambada-Niebla claimed the DEA offered him the same deal as Loya — become a snitch against rivals and continue on without fear of busts — was not so much an informant as an agent of the Cartel doing business with the U.S. Government.

Snitch and receive a get out of jail free card pales in comparison to snitch, stay in business and be free from arrest. The  DEA used the same strategy in Colombia when targeting Pablo Escobar. It’s called “Divide and Conquer.” [More…] Read More

Requested Site Features

Posted onAuthorTalkLeft18 Comments

Tiny Pass is helping me with some registration issues related to site permissions. Until that’s settled, hopefully by tomorrow at the latest, I don’t want to post new content. Instead, I am going to open up the posts we already have to everyone. Since I’ve seen several requests for additional site features in the comments, I thought I’d start this thread asking readers who have subscribed what additional features they’d like to see. I assume the login issue is part of the TinyPass issue, so let’s put those aside for now. So far, I’ve seen:

  • ability to be notified of comments to a particular comment or post by e-mail
  • bolding unread or new comments
  • putting a link to TalkLeft’s main site on the front page
  • having a more visible link to purchase access or a subscription from Tiny Pass

Any other suggestions? Read More