It’s Wednesday and let’s cut to the chase. You came here to look at salacious pictures because you are essentially a degenerate. I am not going to implore you to spend your energy doing earnest things to improve the world. I am just going to give you want you want. Continue reading
The Grand Inquisitor
1914 posts
Well hello there, cuties! Welcome to the Crasstalk writing clusterfuck. If you have an author’s account or are planning to write in the near future, you are in the right place. Tonight we are going to try to get everybody ready to post or to improve your posts if you already are. I am going to try and cover some basic issues about the mechanics of posting, but I also want people to kick around some ideas and coordinate with one and other if you are working on related topics. I will be around for the next few hours and will occasionally add to the post, so refresh your screen now and again for new announcements. I will be in the thread so feel free to asks questions, but since I am drinking some delicious beer tonight look for the last 20 minutes or so to consist of my sending you bunny pictures and typing I love you guys in all caps through my drunken sobs.
All right, let’s get to work. First, everyone of you need to go and read this now. Yes, you! I don’t care if you read it yesterday, take 5 minutes and look it over again. I’ll wait.
Ok, so now I want to post something for those of you who are new to Word Press. First, click on this link and bookmark it. This will answer 99% of your questions about creating a post. Also, if you have never posted watch this video to help get you started.
Ready? Great! Now that you have Word Press mastered you are set. Now, let’s move to the next issue. What the hell are we going to write about? There are no content limitations for the most part and there are no assigned beats. Write whatever you are passionate about. Don’t feel like you have to have some amazing topic to get started. Write about what you find interesting and your enthusiasm will probably spread to your readers. Don’t be afraid to take the plunge. We are all pretty nice over here. Also, the beauty of Word Press is that if you really hate it you can just take it down. Take a deep breathe, you are going to be good at this.
So let’s go ahead and throw out a few ideas for each other and try to give each other some feedback so everyone can develop their ideas. Please post ideas if you have them, or if you want to see what people think about a topic. Also, I know several of you have similar interests, so maybe you can work together to come up with some stuff. I know there are a lot of TV fans out there, so we can try to come up with what shows you guys want to cover.
Here are a few things that myself, Dogs, and Meat want to stress:
- Please try to take the time to write up good material. You don’t have to write a novel, but you are making this for our community, so give them something good.
- Please don’t over post. Everyone who is taking the time to write here deserves to have their stuff seen.
- Don’t be a jerk commenter to people who are just getting the hang of this. I should not have to add any more to this.
- Let us choose the categories for the posts. It is necessary to keep the front page looking orderly.
- Make sure you have a thumbnail image for every post. You must load the image into the media library and link it from there. You can not just copy the link from the internet.
- Ask of if you have any questions are need help. The admin types here are doing this because we really enjoy all of you guys, we are here to help.
I am going to post a few links to some good stories that have been posted in the past. Please take a look at them because I think they will really help you.
Here is a wonderful story from Aunt Betty Crocker.
A great music column from Left Coast Lady.
Great political column from Arken. I think this was Arken’s first post so he deserves a bro hug.
I can’t even really explain this one, although it is an example of a post from a recurring column.
Ok, let’s get to it. Post your questions, ideas, irrational fears below and we will all try to make sense of this.
Quick note: If you are interested in a certain topic, put that word first in your reply so others can find you. Second, please thank Coffee and Cigs for being our sexy secretary this evening.
New Update:
I am putting some topic threads below. If you are interested in those topics, put a reply in the disscusion so I can see who is who. Also, I noticed no one said thank you to Coffee and Cigs for taking notes. Don’t make me take the cute bunny pics away.
BTW, here is a really fun TV column.
OK. I am going to take a break for a minute. Please take a brief dance break.
Also, I could really use a few news items for tonight’s overnight open thread. Send ’em if you got ’em.
Update: I think we have had a productive night. If you are reading this late still feel free to add comments and sign up under a topic section. I will check this post in the next couple of days to see what people are thinking and what they are interested in. I think the next step will be to have some posts for each section so we can help each other develop our posts. I will try to get that started in the next week. In the meantime, please feel free to put up posts and get started if you haven’t already. Let us know if you need help.
It has been an honor to serve with you all. Together, we will win the internet.
Good afternoon. Just a couple of quick announcements for you Crasstalkers:
Please take a moment to read the new commenting guidelines and the writing rules posted by our Beloved Leader last night. Also, there will be a writers workshop thread starting about 8 pm EST tonight. Please join in if you are writing or want to in the future. Also Coffee and Cigarettes is hosting the first Crasstalk Book Club Meeting on Sunday. Better get to reading, kids. Continue reading
Good morning. Hopefully you are more chipper than I am today. A couple of housekeeping announcements. Please take a moment to read the new commenting guidelines and the writing rules posted by our Beloved Leader last night. Also, there will be a writers workshop thread starting about 8 pm EST tonight so we can all get together and talk about our “art.” I hope that we can all use this as an excuse to exercise our pretension muscles. Actually, I am really hoping we can give each other support and develop our ideas. Continue reading
Good evening, or good morning to our European partners. Please take a moment to check out the new articles on commenting and writing guidelines. We have commenced herding cats and we are hoping that this will make Crasstalk more fun for everyone. Please feel free to give us feedback in those threads.
Usually for open threads I post a few news items, but since I am guessing we can all find the BBC I thought I would do something a little different. I am going to post a few of my favorite Wikipedia articles. I am picking them because they are fascinating, weird, or thought provoking. Post yours as well and maybe we can find out some interesting things to talk about.
Lysenkoism is the manipulation of scientific fact for political purposes. The term is named for a Soviet agronomist who was favored by Stalin for his loyalty. Lysenkoism is the worst outcome when science fuses with politics. This page illustrates the awful consequences of dogmatically driven politics.
Toynbee tiles are a set of weird, cryptic messages found embedded in asphalt in several US cities. The messages reference the movie 2001, but are named for Arnold Toynbee who is also frequently referenced.
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born actress who emigrated to the United States. A classic beauty, she starred in Cecil B. Demille’s Samson and Delilah. However, there was much more to Hedy than looks. Along with a musician friend she developed a rough frequency-hopping idea which served as a basis for modern wi-fi.
Have a wonderful night Crasstalk.
Happy Valentine’s Day, even if you are single you have the Crasstalk love to keep you warm tonight.
Just a quick rehash in case you haven’t been over here. We did a redesign last night and hope that everyone is feeling very pretty. Please give the new format a chance, but please also report any bugs or issues to crasstalk at gmail dot com. Here’s a few headlines to start of the conversation tonight:
Iranian security forces clashed with protesters today in Tehran. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the street after last week’s detention of a number of journalists and activists.
Pro Publica has an interesting investigative report on disabled student loan borrowers. People who become disabled are entitled to get the loans forgiven, but apparently the process of doing this has become confusing and arbitrary leaving many disabled borrowers in severe financial trouble.
A report from Politico details the enduring nature of the Obama birth certificate conspiracy. While national politicians will not touch the issue state and local politicians have taken up the cause. Ten states so far have introduced birth certificate requirement bills before their state legislatures. I am sure this is a productive way to spend lawmaker’s time.
Hope you all have a wonderful evening.
Good morning fine Crasstalkers. I know you may feel a bit out of sorts by the changes, but please give this a try because we think you will like the new design. Courage.
Please see the post from our fearless leader for more information about the redesign. We hope that we are making you look as fancy as you all deserve. While no news on Crasstalk is as important as what is happening on Crasstalk, here are a couple of stories from overnight. Continue reading
Hi all, hope you are having a relaxing Sunday. Here’s a couple of conversation starters (as if we need those).
The Atlantic has some fantastic videos of the reaction of protesters during the moments after Mubarak was removed a s Egyptian President. It really captures the emotions of a beautiful moment.
Ron Paul (R-TX) won the CPAC presidential poll this weekend in Washington. This is the second year he has won, but Paul is not exactly embraced by the mainstream part of the Republican party. Alex Jones is probably pretty stoked though. Sarah Palin finshed third, suggesting that their are limits to crazy, even at CPAC.
The Economist has an interesting article about income inequality in Angola. While the country has become rich from national resources, corruption, poor planning, and lingering animosity over the civl war have meant most Angolans still live in abject poverty.
Also, Jerry Springer turns 67 today. Try not to throw a chair or get anyone knocked up during your celebration.
Well, it has been an exciting week in politics. There was revolution in Egypt, scandal in the House of Representatives, and probably a lot of secret, gay sex at CPAC. All of the usual pundits have weighed in with the predictable, self-serving “analysis.” However, if we want some really entertaining commentary we need to transport ourselves to the less lucid part of the Internet. We need to take a trip to the WingNutverse. Here’s a smattering about the topics that are important to the batshit crazy tonight:
At Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, Glenn explains how the Egyptian revolution is all a conspiracy against Israel and will kill us all. I think, he’s really hard to follow. Anyway, he includes this handy organizational chart to clear the whole thing up.
Best quote: “I hope these things don’t happen, but I fear they will.”
Bonus points: He blames The New York Times.
Over at Newsmax (home to Ann Coulter) they want to give you the truth about Islam. Their hard-hitting report addresses important issues:
- Home-grown terrorists and their “stealth jihad”
- A violent struggle for Shariah in Detroit
- Rape and murder — disturbing incidents “justified” by Shariah
Are you terrified yet? Want to know more? It will only cost you $4.95 to find out. Waiting only means that someone will rape and kill your family.
Bonus points: You do get a free radio with your order. I’m not kidding, follow the link.
Let’s go to Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government (hold me). Tonight we are discussing how the presidential nominating process could favor Donald Trump (I am going to need you to keep holding me). Apparently The Donald has the media savvy and star power to capture the Republican nomination (fuck it, just shoot me).
However: BG’s crazy readers are skeptical.
Bonus points: This is how much I hate Mr. Breitbart.
All right, that’s enough with the scary stories tonight. Let’s all go back to celebrating Egypt, being reasonable, and pretending these people don’t exist.
