Americentric. Thoughtful. Patriotic. Conservative. And pretty anti-Bush. If you dislike these things, don’t read this blog.
Let’s Talk About It owner Larry Sadler is a no-longer-active U.S. Marine (there is no such thing as an ex-Marine), and he is an unabashed American patriot. Yet unlike many conservative-ish blogs, he does not descend into ranting or raving, but remains thoughtful, balanced, and calm. What a breath of fresh air!
Still, there are some serious problems with this blog that need to be addressed.
Visual Aesthetics ? 7
Visually, this blog is reasonably appealing. Though the flag background could be overwhelming, it is faded back enough that it does not interfere with the reading of the blog. However, a lot of the graphics are grainy, including the flag at the top that should be the centerpiece of the design. Better quality here could improve this blog’s appearance considerably. With layout and other design elements, though, Larry does a good job.
User Friendliness ? 6
Here’s my big gripe. This is a text-heavy site and an idea-heavy site. But the text needs some serious editing. The content is good, but the paragraphs tend to go far too long, making it hard to digest visually. There are some oddities in capitalization, a few misspellings (inexcusable when you can put it through a spellcheck) and some definite grammatical errors.
All these things get in the way of the heart of this blog: the ideas.
Reading Enjoyment ? 8
I know the issues discussed on this page very well. Though I enjoyed what I read here and came across a few original points I hadn’t thought of (rare for me), I really would like to have seen a little more depth, a little more linking out especially for scientific issues, and a little more organization of ideas.
I can tell the author isn’t an experienced writer, and that’s fine. I would suggest checking out some basic online classes, or maybe signing up for a workshop or two. There’s a lot here that wants to come out, but it isn’t being expressed as effectively as it could be.
Useful Info ? 7
As I said, needs more linking out and a little more clarity of thought. There were some good links out here, but it needs more, and it needs more pertinent ones.
Overall Experience ? 7
While I agree with much of the content here, I’ve seen it expressed better. But I’ve also seen it expressed worse, and the strength here is that the author is very calm and reasoned about the issues. Build on that. It’s a rare commodity in our day of shrill, shouting-down debate.
