Okay, cobwebs dusted off?  Lemme do a little testing, then get back to work here.

As much as I appreciate the Instalanche (and Glenn, a big thank you for all you do for libertarian thought, policy differences aside), I would hardly call this a “Going John Galt” website.  It will be someday, but the strategy isn’t developed enough yet. As I told the Colbert Nation when they found this place, [cutting and pasting...] assuming my G4 Mac Mini hasn’t crapped out again, welcome one and all.  Enjoy your look around, and I hope some of the stuff I and my commenters have written are of interest to you (please keep the comment policy in mind, thanks).  I’ve linked some of my favorite posts on the sidebar, and I kinda like this recent one too.  Like I said in that post, “The culture is changing; what’s happening here [at this site] is both a symptom of the change, and an agent of it.” But change is tough, and I could use your ideas.

And you won’t hear from me until it’s over. I need to reply to the folks I owe replies to, moderate some comments, and most of all, write out the next few posts I’ve got planned, but not until this storm of non-GJG activity ceases. Which will probably not be until next week. Hope to see you then, hope all of you are well.

One last post about the blog, rather than what the blog is about. I’ve decided to create a WordPress plugin for this blog to enable individual readers to filter out comments they don’t wish to read a second time. I plan on it working as follows:

• The average reader would see the site totally unfiltered, all comments visible
• A reader could choose to click a “Filter Comments” link over in the sidebar
• If they have used the Filter Comments capability before, if would use their most recently used settings
• If not, the reader would create / have created for them (not sure yet) a unique ID that could be preserved as a cookie, so their filter choices could be preserved
• With an ID, a reader could toggle on/off the visibility of any comment on the site, and have that visibility choice retained for subsequent visits to the site.
• If comment filtering is enabled, the reader can pick a “Show All” link where they can unset their previous filtering choices.

Pretty simple, eh? My comment policy remains the same, but this little bit of functionality puts more control in the individual reader’s hands. And while I think the idea behind it is philosophically consistent with the ideas motivating this site, it has a much broader applicability. Imagine the benefit to, say, the proprietor of a feminist site who gets periodically hit with ugly misogynistic comments, but who has an objection to deleting them outright. This plugin would empower their readers to customize their reading experience for the site.

Now I have no experience with creating WordPress plugins, and I’m curious to see what the API is like. But it’ll be worth the effort to make something reusable that I can donate to the WordPress community. WordPress is a fantastic technology that I have enjoyed immensely, and it’s good and proper to finally make a contribution of my own.

I’ve got a lot on my plate (hello, iPhone 3.0 SDK beta!), including a promised post on a wonky job action idea of mine, but I’m looking forward to getting cracking on it this weekend. What do you folks think, good idea? bad? lacking key features?

I had really wanted to post on a possible job action, but circumstance demands that I address this site’s comment policy, as it appears to be widely misunderstood by those who are in general agreement with the site’s overall mission, probably due to my tendency to wax poetic a bit when getting my objectivist on. So let me break it down.

1) People who are only here to troll, mock, etc., are free to say whatever they want. Their comments will always be approved. The only circumstance under which I might delete one of those comments would be if they contained potentially libelous or otherwise illegal content, but that holds true for anyone’s post. And anyway, I’m not a lawyer, so what the hell do I know.

2) People who are here to explain why the whole endeavor is doomed, evil, unwise, etc., are similarly free to say whatever they want.  Their comments will always be approved.

3) People whom I see as a potential ally in the promotion of liberty face onerous restrictions. Essentially, you are not permitted to engage anyone from 1) or 2) above. If you find yourself itching to reply to something you see as demanding a smackdown, take a walk around the block. Do not succumb to the temptation. If you do, your comment will be deleted. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a direct fisking or a veiled response, straightforward or sarcastic, confrontational or conciliatory. It has no place here. Additionally, general attacks on “the enemy”, however you see it (“leftists”, “socialists”, “moochers”, etc.), are also not permitted. 

I have endeavored to be consistent in my application of this policy, and I will continue to do so.

There’s a method to my highly arbitrary fascism. Regarding 1) and 2) above, I just don’t care. As to 3), for good or ill, you people reflect on me, and on lovers of freedom in general. And when you engage in comment policy violating behavior, what you are saying is that freedom is primarily a debate club position. You’d rather just rehash the same old arguments for the millionth time than work towards actually developing ways to advance freedom.

I am stipulating that you are right to favor freedom and independence. But you think you are showing the world that you favor them by repeatedly arguing your case while things fall apart around you. You aren’t. You’re demonstrating that the actual loss of freedom is less important to you than the opportunity to type another essay, or to call names.

I’m trying to train you. If you can’t keep your eye on the goal because someone is saying something stupid somewhere, you won’t be of much use in the fight ahead. 

Who am I to be such a hardass? Honestly, I’m nobody. I’m a smart guy, but I’ve got no particular skills when it comes to this sort of fight. But I know that in looking back on the time that I’ve spent engaging in random running battles with cranks online, I don’t think that time was well spent. I’m not speaking of discussions with people I know personally, or people I respect; those have paid great dividends. But the eternal internet flame war has just been a monstrous deadweight loss when judged by the proper standard of actual liberty achieved, instead of by the usual standard of vaguely satisfying snarkiness.

Okay, I’ve said my piece. I will be updating some links and information pertaining to the comment policy. From this point forward, I’ll be leaving moderation on to keep me from being put in the position of needing to delete comments after they’ve already been published. Furthermore, I’ll be deleting offending comments without explanation. You’re smart enough to figure it out. If you’re concerned that your essay will be lost, save it locally first.

Hope everyone’s having a nice weekend.  I’ve been busy with rehearsals for a concert on Sunday, so rather than let the site stay stale for days, I figured I’d let you know what was coming up here. First, I’ll post on a possible incipient job action plan on Monday or Tuesday. Then I think a post explaining the purpose behind the comment policy is in order. That’ll drop the day after. And probably the day after that will be a bit on a tool I’m developing for use on this site and others, but I don’t want to say much about it before the comment policy post.  So stay tuned!

What an odd 24 hours. For what it’s worth, the site had over 4,000 visitors today, and over half of them were using Firefox. I had no idea IE had lost that much market share! I had some real nice comments, many thanks, and I appreciate the folks who actually signed the Public Declaration. I’m hoping at least half of you are real. Just a bit too tired to look into it right now.

Just an FYI, I’m real unavailable for the next 15 hrs or so, so don’t freak out if your comment doesn’t show up because it’s held in moderation. I should be able to get to it in the afternoon or evening. That’s of course assuming the site doesn’t fall over again. We’ll see.

In short, an interesting day, but nothing that changes the fact that there’s a lot of work to be done, and i don’t even know what it is :-/ .

1,000 unique visitors today (as of 11:05 AM).  Surprising doesn’t begin to cover it.  I hope some of you have found something you like, and I wish I had some more goal-oriented content for you. There’s a bunch of us (and our numbers are growing) who don’t think the world can continue on the way it is without some pretty disastrous consequences, but know that changing course is a tough endeavor. Just “trying anything” is costly in itself, so I’m committed to finding a real solution. Unfortunately, I realize being deliberate about finding a solution can look a lot like dithering; what can I say — I’m honestly not sure what I can offer, but I’ll be damned if I’m not trying. Look around, judge for yourself, and if you find another place you think can get the job done better (or if you think you can), then tremendous! Be sure to let me know.

Apparently this site was mentioned on The Colbert Report? Really?  I haven’t received any direct confirmation, although James Emms’ comment gives me pause… (UPDATE: okay, looks like evidence is strongly suggesting it did happen.  Whaddya know!  Thanks I guess for the mention, and let me say that I always enjoyed the “Even Steven/Stephen” bit on The Daily Show back when I used to watch it.)

Anyhow, assuming my G4 Mac Mini hasn’t crapped out again, welcome one and all.  Enjoy your look around, and I hope some of the stuff I and my commenters have written are of interest to you (please keep the comment policy in mind, thanks).  I’ve linked some of my favorite posts on the sidebar, and I kinda like this recent one too.  Like I said in that post, “The culture is changing; what’s happening here [at this site] is both a symptom of the change, and an agent of it.” But change is tough, and I could use your ideas.

(Another Update: I guess that means the site will fall over when the show hits the west coast too. C’est la vie.)

100 unique visitors today (as of 11:35 PM). Surprising, to say the least!  Where the hell did you folks come from?  I’m really curious.  Please tell your story, brief or long, in the comments if you would.