Maine Owl.

While the hamsters were out for a run, I made some changes to the blog -- I'll start with the changes that readers can see when they log in, and then go below the fold to mention those that contributors can see.

I added some blocks to the right hand sidebar. Log in, and start from the top:

1. Note the Blogroll. Finally. This block lists 10 randomly rotating blogs from our blogroll (of which more below).

2. Now try out the Chat Box. We tried this chat module before, and though it was popular, it was also buggy. So I'm hoping with updated modules, the bugs have gone away. UPDATE: I've made the box refresh every minute or so. Hopefully that will stop it from being confused about users, too.

3. And at the very bottom of the sidebar, we have a Random Term from our vast arsenal of liberal invective.

To make room for these new features, I moved the masthead down, and moved Recent Comments and Recent Posts to the middle sidebar. UPDATE: I'm still tinkering the sidebar arrangement. It's looking a little cluttered, now.

Next, the top menubar has been changed:

4. The Calendar menu item now leads to a monthly Calendar -- though it needs events! (See below. Mad as Hell Doctors?)

5. The Glossary menu item now leads to a neatly formatted page with terms broken out by letter.

6. The Blogroll menu item leads to the complete blogroll (from which the rotating blogs in the sidebar block are taken).

In posts, as you see:

I've been tinkering with the server some, and I hope pages are building faster now. I think they are, but that may be wishful thinking and projection! So, readers, please let me know!

Note that (1) I had to disable the glossary module for now. You never want to see the words "segmentation fault" in your server logs, eh?

Note also (2) that if you ever get a WSOD (White Screen of Death) on submitting a post or comment -- you always do a Select All and Copy before pressing Submit, right? So you won't ever lose anything? -- the solution is to log out, clear your cache and cookies, restart the browser, and log back in. Sorry!

McClatchy:

President Barack Obama will outline in a major speech on Sunday a blueprint for ridding the world of nuclear weapons that calls for the United States to reduce its reliance on history's deadliest arms and lead a new international effort to prevent terrorists from acquiring them.

The plan would reverse the former Bush administration's policy that made nuclear weapons a central pillar of U.S. security policy by preserving an arsenal of thousands of warheads, expanding the targets against which they could be used and embracing the development of new weapons.

What a shame. Nobody could have predicted:

He also wrote: "My great regret is that I and so many of us who have been involved in this industry for so long did not recognize the serious possibility of the extreme circumstances that the financial system faces today."

You and me both, pal. Still got your insurance? Your pension? Your house? Fuel?

Bloomberg:

“Republicans, by and large, think tax relief is a great way to get money to people immediately,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said yesterday on ABC’s “This Week.”

They're never going to give up their talking points, are they? Though the heavens fall. And never mind the policy -- or that apparently, Obama's package is sucking up to insane people, since it's going to be 40% tax cuts, which provide less stimulus than spending. But here's the insane part:

You've probably seen me messing about with new fields for blog posts over the last day or so, but I think I've finally got this ready for you all to use.

You will notice two new fields in your blog posting form, right at the top: "Media Contacts," and "Other Contacts." In media contacts, you can fill in the email address of a writer/reporter, an ombudsman, or whatever; in other contacts, you can fill in the email address of a legislator, or an opinion maker. (Note that the email addresses are obfuscated; that means that bots and crawlers won't suck of email addresses from our pages and use them to send spam.)

Now, when you do that, what happens?

Indeed.

From the Tampa Bay Tribune:

In an era when our government has intervened on behalf of Citigroup and AIG and Freddy and Fannie and all those financial wizards on Wall Street, maybe we can bail out the tens of millions of Americans without having to count on auctions or widows' funds to pay for medical care.

Read the whole thing. It's terrific.

Now I'm all paranoid that my pipes are going to freeze (what next...).

I did insulate more under the house, after the plumber opened it up to deal with the sewer pipe, but maybe I made things worse instead of better, or didn't close it up properly...

"We gave thousands of dollars..."

You should now see cute little icons over the boxes where you've been typing in text.

Good.

This is a chapter in our book on The Great Meltdown

WaPo:

At a news conference Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama said Republic should follow through on its commitments to its workers.

Actually, Obama said more than that:

"The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they're absolutely right and understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy," Obama said.

What I like to hear. More like this, please. "If the people lead, the leaders will follow."

This is a chapter in our book on The Great Meltdown.

This is a chapter in our book on The Great Meltdown.

This is a chapter in our book on The Great Meltdown.

This is a book (like our many other books) that collects our posts on the ongoing financial crisis (which I've dubbed "The Great Meltdown" The Big Shit Storm* The Big FAIL**).

The book begins with extensive coverage of the bailout, and then expands to cover broader concerns like the progress, or lack thereof, of the TARP, the program the bailout created, and the effects of income inequality generally. Obviously, the book is massive -- during the passage of the bailout, we did several hundred posts on it, in near-real time -- but I hope the table of contents makes the organization of the book sufficiently clear.

(And if you wondered why a large number of posts shows up under "Recent Blog Posts" without appearing on the front page, those are "chapter" posts I used to organize the book.)

Now, why did I create the book?

Behold sanity!

Which will make Sarah happy, at least!_{MR SUBLIMINAL College football should be abolished and the money and energy spent on education. Haw.}.

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