Weekend Open Thread

Posted by | March 5, 2016 08:54 | Filed under: Forum


Go get ’em!

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Copyright 2016 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

41 responses to Weekend Open Thread

  1. Buford2k11 March 5th, 2016 at 10:40

    I checked out the mobile stuff and it works great, until I hit the end of the cable…

    • Alan March 5th, 2016 at 11:25

      What do you mean by until you hit the end of the cable?

      • Buford2k11 March 5th, 2016 at 11:50

        I didn’t unplug it when walking away…it pulled out the plug, and hasn’t worked since…My fault…but I was absorbed in the content until it hit the floor, and ended the test…ummm, I should leave the technology to the grandkid…I never thought that I would be tisk tisked by a twelve year old…

        • Alan March 5th, 2016 at 15:17

          haha…glad you like the way our mobile site works

  2. William March 5th, 2016 at 12:45

    Welcome to the weekend. It was a busy week for the family values party.

    • tracey marie March 6th, 2016 at 08:51

      worse yet for Texas, she believes muslims are forcing textbooks to tell lies and they are buying the books in large numbers so they can take over the countries education system. She also said Obama was a gay prostitute in college.

      • William March 6th, 2016 at 09:08

        This is the same gaggle of rocket scientists who braced themselves for the Jade Helm invasion, right?

        • tracey marie March 6th, 2016 at 09:32

          I am sure she was one of them. Her beliefs are strange and ridiculous to say the least.

      • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 10:43

        I remember when that last started. It was early in the 2008 campaign and the guy making the allegation was a Republican operative {shocker!]
        I don’t think he said Obama was a prostitute, but he claimed to have had an affair with him.

        • tracey marie March 6th, 2016 at 10:43

          It is all ridiculous.

          • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 10:46

            It’s the same thinking that will get Hillary elected.
            They keep trying variations on the character assassination theme, rather than defeating the Dems with well-reasoned, fact-based debate on the issues.
            Every time they overdo it and it blows up in their faces like Elmer Fudd’s shotgun after Buggs Bunny puts a cork in the muzzle just before Fudd pulls the trigger….

    • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 10:43

      See why it’s so easy to be a William fan?

  3. burqa March 6th, 2016 at 00:53

    I HATE YOU, INFOLINKS!

    I HATE YOU, INFOLINKS!

    I HATE YOU, INFOLINKS!

    I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU, INFOLINKS!

    Alan, if you’d bother to use your own product, you’d see what I mean.
    It’s bad enough having this infolinks ad come creeping up on my screen and covering up the content.
    It’s even worse when I’m trying to type a post and the damned thing covers up the reply box.
    Worse still is when I click on the little ‘X’ in the upper left corner and instead of going away, it clicks on the ad for me.
    Really, Alan, is that kind of subterfuge the kind of thing you want on a site with your name on it?

    Pages still take forever to download.
    Posts appear and disappear at random.
    These kinds of things are probably why the number of people actually using the site is down from what it once was. It was only a few years ago when the recent comment box would roll quickly because there were more people making more comments and therefore viewing more pages than today.
    Come on, Alan. Log on with a bogus screen name and try out your product. See how difficult it is to go from blog post to blog post, not only making comments but interacting with other people. Trying to get around here is like trying to sprint in waist-deep water.

    What’s this all about Alan, anyway?
    Isn’t it about communication?
    Your site has gotten significantly slower as the ads have crowded out the content to where now we have to dig it out from under crap like the infolinks ads.

    But at least I know that Liberaland is the place to go to sign up for Mark Levin’s TV channel! Only $59 a year!
    And after subscribing to Levin, I can come back to Liberaland and check out “New video shows Hillary’s deadliest lie yet.”

    That’s what we find on Liberaland these days………

    • Carla Akins March 6th, 2016 at 06:48

      Burqa, I am truly sorry you are having issues accessing the site. I am not having the same issues, in fact since the latest change the site works faster for me. I would suggest adding an ad-blocker, use Adblock plus for Chrome at home and for both Mozilla and Internet Explorer at work. However, the most likely culprit is either a combination of security software and screen resolution. Security software like Norton or Kasperskys will slow how it loads since they have real-time scanning properties but based on your description I’d say adjusting the screen resolution.

      If you have the resolution set too high for the parameters of the page it cannot set the placing for the blocks properly. CHeck your resolution settings, it should offer a “recommended setting” or try something in the 1920×1080 range and see if this corrects your issue. If the trouble you are having is on a mobile device (phone or tablet) unfortunately I can’t help you. I can (and have) used my kindle and phone (Moto E Android) to view the site – the kindle is better but not great and my phone is pretty much worthless. It takes forever to load and since the screen is small it doesn’t properly size, making it difficult to navigate so I just don’t use it. You might try googling for an alternate browser to use on your mobile device for accessing the web that’s more webpage, or blog friendly. Hopefully this will making viewing the site easier for you.

      • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 08:44

        Thank you for the reply.
        I was about to add another problem that just now had me close to stabbing myself in the thigh with a ball point pen.
        Not only is there that annoying Infolinks ad covering up a third of the content, but there’s another mobile ad – a block of 3 “sponsored” ads that follow my cursor.
        When I’m typing a post, this block of ads will creep up and cover the commands so I can not submit or edit a post. I have to just sit there and wait for the damned thing to eventually recede if I want to finish typing or editing a post.
        Between that one and the infolinks ad, over half of the content is covered up. I don’t think this is happening because my screen resolution needs to be adjusted.

        I recall a while back things sped up, but now it’s back to the turtle races.

        Yes, I have one of the security programs you mentioned.
        I have considered using an ad blocker, but the problem is I have too much stuff on my computer as it is and don’t know anyone competent here who could help me clean things out. I don’t think I should download more stuff.
        (I have a laptop and don’t use kindle and only use my phone to make calls.)
        I’m the most ignorant person you ever met when it comes to tech stuff. I have no idea how to adjust the resolution.
        Plus, I don’t have these problems on other sites and didn’t have them here for years.
        It looks to me as if Alan has allowed too much stuff to be added to his site and has lost the focus he once had in terms of what he wanted to do with it.
        These creeping ads that cover up the content are not my fault.
        There’s just too much stuff that is constantly trying to download or put cookies on my computer or whatever.

        The thing to do is backtrack and start eliminating the ads and whatever else is clogging things up. Over time, the site has made it so we have to click through more pages to do the same thing, which generates higher page view counts even though the same number of eyeballs are on it.
        This too, needs to be streamlined.
        It used to not be like this.
        It got this way after too much crap was added.

        Oh, and it would be nice when I logged on if the site would remember my password. Half the time now what happens is I log on and in the password box are a nice row of *’s, but I am told there is no password in the password space even though I’m looking at it.

        I don’t have these problems on other sites.

        I don’t want to leave here. I’m trying to be patient but things began going haywire before y’all got here when Viafoura began piling in too much.
        Then you guys took over and it was fabulous. The glitches with Viafoura went away and things were fast and some really nice people, such as yourself came aboard.
        Over time, things began going downhill and in that time I was still using the same security program and haven’t added a bunch of stuff to my computer.
        These problems did not grow following changes to my laptop. They grew after changes to the site and those changes need to be reversed. There is where the answer lays.

      • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 09:17

        I just now had another new experience. I get an email notification of replies to my posts and sometimes use that to reply to people here. I just now got one that indicated someone named “Lanaljohnson3” replied to one of my posts and the reply consisted of a slimy ad for jobs overseas paying $98 an hour.
        I’m not in the mood and went to reply, thinking of posting a few medieval tortures I felt this joker needed, but the post was not there.
        I’m hoping one of you guys deleted it, if it was a post here and not something masquerading as a post sent to my email.
        It was at the bottom of the “Trump can’t stop talking” thread.

        Ms. Akins, I hope you can see my frustration and how I’m trying to be patient and all. At times I get quite angry, but in that anger I don’t lose sight of what you and the other moderators do and I want to thank you for that.

        I think if Alan would actually use his own product and experience the sorts of things I am, he wouldn’t try to blame it on users but would see he needs to backtrack on a bunch of what has been piled on this site. I think if he would reflect on what he wants for this site and how his original goals seem to have been sidetracked, he would get things fixed.
        I have the impression that Alan spends so much time doing other things like Twitter that he doesn’t have time to do much other than put up blog posts and run off to do other things.

        • mea_mark March 6th, 2016 at 09:25

          Spam gets deleted pretty quick by us. Disqus is a little slow in refreshing things as it depends on the end user to do some of the refreshing.

          I would load the adblocker app to your blocker, you will find that it helps a lot in speeding things up. Your computer will simply have less to deal with. Start with that and let’s see how that works.

          • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 10:33

            Whoa! Now I’m seeing your post and tracie marie’s. I replied a couple posts above.
            I’m leaning toward the adblocker suggestion. I don’t think I have a blocker.
            I think this site would be better off if garbage like infolinks and the creeping “sponsored” ad block was discontinued. I think it’s just a crappy way to do business and to force people to download programs just for one site.
            I don’t have these problems elsewhere. It’s just here.

            None of these problems appeared after I changed my screen resolution or after I got a new security program. I’ve had the same security program for at least 6 years and have never touched the resolution.
            No, this stuff began after the site became crammed with ads so dense that they had to go vertical and began floating ads above the others.
            This site worked a lot better before they did all that.
            It’s just too much and there is a need to backtrack and remove this stuff till things run better.
            I know I’m not the only one. I know another current user who is having the same trouble and at least one other who left here because of it. I believe these problems have contributed to others getting fed up and leaving also.

            • mea_mark March 6th, 2016 at 14:54

              Yeah, ads are getting to be a real problem. You will find ad blocker to be very nice wherever you go, where there are ads. Your computer will run so much better. Often over 75% of what you are downloading at sites is ad stuff, it really can slow things down. Without ad blocker I couldn’t do much of anything because I have satellite internet and it’s slow to begin with.

        • tracey marie March 6th, 2016 at 09:35

          You need to go to your personal disqus settings, that is where the email notofication is….switch it off if necessary

        • Carla Akins March 6th, 2016 at 12:49

          It was just a spam reply, it showed up in your email like any disqus reply. We delete them as soon as we notice them but it is a constant struggle to keep them out. I appreciate your kind words and we’d like to find a way for your experience to be more pleasant. We’ll keep chipping away at it and maybe find the right set of circumstances.

      • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 09:51

        I got an email message of a reply to me you made, but when I went here it does not appear, nor does the last couple posts I made, nor at least one other of yours that was here a few minutes ago.

        But yes, spam gets deleted here quickly and I am grateful.
        I can’t think of a bigger improvement here over the last 9 years than the arrival of you guys from FON.
        For a long time I advocated for moderators who were present the way you guys are.
        Not only in the deletion of spam, but also of posts that are over the line and the warnings you’ll give when someone is going too far have been a marvelous improvement. This is good for everyone because we can see what is unacceptable and can communicate with y’all, rather than have the hammer come down out of the blue with no explanation.
        I don’t think you guys get thanked enough here for the time and effort you put in.

    • Alan March 6th, 2016 at 10:45

      Burqa you are rarely satisfied here, but I am sorry you are having these issues. Certain ads produce revenue that are needed to maintain the site, and there has not been objection elsewhere to infolinks.

      As for what ads show up, ie: Mark Levin’s TV show: everyone sees different ads based on algorithms we can’t control. That has more to do with where you have gone on your own browser.

      As for speed, I can attest that the changes we’ve made have the site working faster than ever, both here and now on mobile.

      We aim to be responsive to our users, and take feedback very seriously, but there are certain financial realities to running a site and other digital realities that are beyond our control.

      Oh, and I do use my own product and am quite proud of it.

      • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 11:17

        Alan, the fact that I have stayed here for 9 years indicates I find much more to like than dislike.
        I care a lot about this site, having put up probably 40,000 or more posts here. I’ve gotten to be pretty close to a couple people I’ve met here.
        Yeah, I’ve pointed out things I believe could be improved. That is my focus – things getting better. I have seen them better and have pointed out when things have not been good, in my opinion.
        I have repeatedly praised what I feel is positive and have done so here and in emails to you, something you don’t mention.

        How about these infolinks ads or the “sponsored” ads that float over the content? You see those?

        I understand about these algorithms, though I don’t see them relating to anything I do online. I do little at all online, and certainly don’t bother with sites run by people like Mark Levin. I think at this point it’s more random than advertised.

        I have no problem with you making money from the site. There is one other site I visit that has those ads that float over the content, but when you click one off, it doesn’t reappear. I think it is a dirty trick to click the ‘X’ and have the ad come up instead of go away. But are you saying you don’t want to hear about that sort of thing?

        Sorry you’ve missed my thanks on so many previous occasions, but I’ll repeat them here, freely.
        I keep coming back because I like the place. I like you and your show. For several years I was a fairly regular caller.
        When the Chat Room was going it was a treasure, which is why I was there nightly from about 7 pm – midnight or later.
        I understand that fixes take time and have been patient, going back to the appearance of Viafoura.

        I can’t speak to technical issues because I am a tech dunce. , but I do know from my experience here that things have run a lot faster and more smoothly. My goodness, when FON arrived, there was a dramatic improvement, then it began to ebb.

        Alan, please understand that I haven’t complained just to complain. I have complained when I felt there were things that needed pointed out, and most of those times those issues were addressed.
        That shows 2 things – 1, that I had a legitimate complaint you should have been glad to hear of, and 2, that your response and those running the place shows you are as responsive and concerned as you say.

        If you don’t want me to bring up things I think need fixing, just say the word. But please remember that most of the things I have brought up were corrected (with not a word of thanks for bringing them to your attention).
        I care a lot about this place Alan, and I wish you could see that. I have tried and will continue to try to get that point across.

        • Alan March 6th, 2016 at 11:51

          I have no problem with you bringing up things that need fixing, and I am thankful that you have been a regular user of this site for so long, and I appreciate that you have complimented our mods. But when you begin a post with “If you’d bother to use your own product…” it doesn’t exactly endear me.

          It likely faster before we had ads, true. The site has always been a labor of love, much more than a business, and I never even thought of having ads until years in. Even now, given the amount of development money I’ve put in, I do only a little better than break-even.

          We do our best to eliminate ad content that isn’t appropriate, but there are times we’ll all see ads that are not to our liking. I sometimes see ads for the NRA that doesn’t make me happy.

          Until and unless our usership is so huge that we can sell ads directly, we’re dependent upon the algorithms mentioned above. and live at the mercy of our ad providers.

          The Infolinks ad should go away when you click on the X. If other users are having the same issue I do want to know about it.

          I do appreciate that you are a regular user of the site, and have been for a long time, but please know that I am hyper aware of our deficiencies and am always working to create a better user experience.

          • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 13:00

            I’ll admit to listening to the little cartoon devil on my left shoulder when I used the “if you’d only use your own product” – line. It’s sharp, but I mean it. I think if you would spend more time navigating around here as we do that you’d catch a lot of these things. I would like you to occasionally respond to comments under your blog posts. A couple of the other bloggers do.

            ‘Labor of love’ is certainly apt. I have no idea what the ad revenue is or what you’ve invested, but I am given to understand that the ad revenue is not that much and imagine that your investment has been considerable. You have my thanks.

            I think in the long run that selling ads directly is the way to go. Then you don’t have to go back and say you don’t want that annoying infolinks ad, for example. I’ll take your word for it about volume on this one.
            But that durned infolinks ad, I have tried over and over. It used to go away, but no more. I tried it several times, taking great care to get my cursor perfectly aimed.

            Alan, your responsiveness and that of the moderators are major reasons I like the place so much. I used to be on one board that was extraordinary, but absentee moderators who would try to come in later and sort things out who never did understand what was going on were a major reason it is gone. There is a rhythm when things are going well and a feel that can’t be sensed later on when going back, especially if a particular conversation spans a number of threads.

            The ‘X’ on the infolinks ad used to work for me, but not recently. I have been super careful to get that cursor perfectly aimed. Unfortunately, a lot of the time it was at times when I’d already typed out a paragraph or two, and when I clicked the ‘X’, the ad came up and when I got rid of that, what I had typed disappears, too.
            I’ll admit it got to me and apologize if mt reaction was too pointed. I’m just trying to describe my experience with a view towards improvement.

            We’re all struggling along, trying to find our way. It is a point in your favor and mine too that we’re both willing to work together with the understanding that change is always slower than we would prefer. Just think, Alan, back on how long it has taken us to get to the brink of equality for gays in this country. On one hand, it is hard to imagine this change coming faster, but when we look back all the way to Stonewall, I think we can agree that it has taken far, far too long. But at least we’re getting there.
            Life is just like that, and we all need more patience, forgiveness and understanding. I am presently in a personal struggle that demands more of these qualities than I have, and I’m trying to grow.
            These characteristics are not foreign to you by any means. I wish other radio hosts would treat their callers as well as you do. I wish more people posting here would tune in and see that one can be polite and respectful without losing any of the force of one’s argument. I’m from the Deep South and my mamma, a sainted Southern belle, taught me that when you’re right is the time to be on your best behavior because it generates a greater contrast with the other side, thus strengthening one’s argument more, in addition to being the right thing to do.

            AND ALL YOU OTHERS NEED TO GO RIGHT OUT AND GET YOURSELF A COPY OF ALAN’S RED, WHITE AND LIBERAL!
            (Sorry, Alan, I haven’t read your last book, but the title looks like it contains a lot of the sort of thing I’ve posted here. What is it, “Thank The Liberals” or something like that?)

  4. Buford2k11 March 6th, 2016 at 11:00

    I photo’d this the other day…It was a powerful moment for me, as I watched him/her soaring, searching, and living day to day…the Red Tailed Hawk…and the rabbits ran for cover…living on the edge of the “wilderness” has given me some rare insights to our natural world…and how I want to preserve and protect what is left of our environment…It has, also, given me some insights into the perils of the political process…there are Hawks, and there are Rabbits…both serve a purpose, both are natural, and both are in danger….we must not let any more republicans get elected to any office…

    • burqa March 6th, 2016 at 11:49

      I like watching nature, too. Around here we have red tailed hawks, but most of the time people confuse them with the more common Cooper’s Hawk. Yeah, it’s cool watching them. Kingfishers are cool, too, and we gots Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles that are awe-inspiring.
      I don’t care for foxes, but they are necessary. I killed a water moccasin in my driveway last fall. 43 inches long and chubby. I try not to kill things, but a water moccasin, copperhead, tick, black widow or stink bug is gonna meet it’s demise around me.
      When I see a Republican coming down the sidewalk, sometimes I get a container of salt and sprinkle it on them and they kind of shrivel up into a pile of goo….

      • Buford2k11 March 6th, 2016 at 15:31

        I haven’t gotten my camera on a pair of Baldies yet, they are fast and cover a lot of territory…there are times that I am not fast enough, and I am driving…I have been photo’ing wild turkeys…there is a big Tom who is really shy…and seems to disappear as I draw down on him with the camera…I will eventually get my photo…

    • jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 6th, 2016 at 16:52

      cool picture.

      saw my first (identified) red tailed hawk yesterday.

      some kind of bird of prey has been feeding at my bird feeder (not on the sunflower seeds).

    • tracey marie March 6th, 2016 at 17:06

      Very good analogy.

  5. jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 6th, 2016 at 17:01

    Looking forward to the debate tonight.

    Bernie’s campaign keeps rolling forward, gathering momentum.

    It would be tragic if, thanks to the disgraceful media blackout/spin jobs and the DNC rigging, “superdelegates”, election fraud (?), or whatnot, we failed to go onward to the general election with the strongest candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders.

    • tracey marie March 6th, 2016 at 17:05

      puleeze, he is just not getting the votes, stop with the conspiracies already.

      • jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 6th, 2016 at 17:38

        I hope he gets your vote in November, if not sooner.

        • tracey marie March 6th, 2016 at 18:21

          wait…you petulantly whined that the fix is in…which is it?

          • jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 6th, 2016 at 18:50

            I mentioned the disgraceful media virtual blackout (you could probably find fairly objective statistics without too much trouble, if you’ve failed to notice it yourself), spin jobs (watching the news and things like Chris Matthews’ spinning sometimes brings scenes from the film They Live to mind), the DNC rigging (you can look it up), “superdelegates” (who knows what they’ll do), election fraud (?) (not just for the GreedyOligarch’sParty anymore?)…

            or maybe I “petulantly whined” about those things, or whatnot(?)

            In spite of it all, Senator Sanders’ campaign is only gaining steam, thanks to voters. Maine, Kansas, Nebraska… and looking good in a number of upcoming big “blue” states, some say.

            One campaign has all the enthusiasm and energy, the other (the one with the bought-and-paid-for-war-mongering-neocon-candidate (you can look it up)) is dead in the water.

            So, I truly and sincerely hope that, when the will of the voters is heard, you won’t go and pout in the corner, and instead choose to fully support the Democratic Party nominee, Bernie Sanders.

    • robert March 6th, 2016 at 17:09

      BE there 7pm cst tonight on CNN

    • Obewon March 6th, 2016 at 19:04

      Superdelegates are why POTUS Obama won nomination, winning 53% of the popular vote, and in the Electoral college 2:1 (D)365 to (R)173 & 3:2 (D) 332 to (R) 206-47%. Forty Dem Senators all support HRC, who leads in both Delegates and in superdelegates 1,123 to Sanders 484. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=Hillary+Clinton+number+of+delegates+won&eob=m.09c7w0/D/3/short/m.09c7w0/

      • jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 6th, 2016 at 19:28

        I understand that in 2008, the “superdelegates” switched from supporting then Senator Clinton to supporting Senator Obama. I don’t know what might happen this time around, but would hope the will of the voters is not ignored.

      • jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 6th, 2016 at 19:35

        Democratic CandidatesDelegatesSuper DelegatesTotal DelegatesHillary Clinton6654581123Bernie Sanders46222484

        (Clinton leading 665 to 462 (thanks largely to wins in some (“red”) Southern states) without the “superdelegates”)

  6. jstsmlbrlcnsrvtvguy March 6th, 2016 at 22:26

    weird… not that most people didn’t already know that Trump University was phony, but kind of surprising that Il Donald would refer to it as such.

    twitter thing that popped up on the front page (hope he paid for it):
    ____
    Donald J. Trump

    ‎@realDonaldTrump

    The primary plaintiff in the phony Trump University suit wants to abandon the case. Disgraceful!

    11:27 AM – 6 Mar 2016

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