Due to the volume of people trying to access TalkLeft during live events like debates, our server has had "issues" to say the least. The site slows down and often becomes inaccessible. One reason is there are controls on how many people can try to access it at once so the server doesn't crash. TalkLeft is on its own server and it's a big and powerful one, but it's just not enough to handle the intense traffic bursts that these events bring. Also, the average time visitors spend on TalkLeft is huge compared to other sites...almost 5 minutes.

In anticipation of Tuesday's election night, we're adding another server today to share the load. Colin at Scoophost, our webmaster, is also tweaking some other things.

Normally we'd do this at night, so that if the site goes down during the process, fewer readers will notice. But, we're doing it now.

Should the site go down today, that's why and it will be back up as soon as any kinks get ironed out.

Thanks for your patience and your readership. And yes, site donations are always appreciated.

You can use this as another open thread if you'd like.