Jonathan Christensen

from my mom: looked at jaanix design blog - I like the logo in italic - it should stay small but there should be another line of space before the entries begin - too crowded to top. I like the suggested sliders - more weight to them and the jaanix pointing in each slider. Some say get rid of visuals but that = a death nell.
I think you could load the entries down the middle of the page , taking up 2/3 of width, and use a side bar on right for sliders, and get more info into the left side of page.- tips- alerts, news and ,oh my , ads. So center is white b/g and sides are another color. without crowding your entries you could use the space more effectively and the eye would not be carrying all across the page. With the center scrolling you wouldn't lose the sliders which now disappear as you scroll down, they could be larger - plan on finger use on sliders and scrolling soon - right?
Search is working well, could be bigger, but I could not delete catagories like russia, though I could add. edit and clear should not be light tiny type
Make this user friendly for idiots like me who don't think to check out the replies - like say : view 5 replies or see 5 replies - just because it is in light blue doesn't mean I'll look at them
figure you have to get a new user immediately - in the first couple of minutes - not with gunky graphics at the top - that's done and dead, but with action and clarity. Stumbleupon got me to a website - a great one in less than 2 minutes and more immediately thereafter. You have a better possibility for user influence than stumble but you need to get the hook set.