Last weekend we published Kiese Laymon's personal history of violence in America. In July, we also ran Cord Jefferson's essay about moving from New York to Los Angeles and Ali Waller's essay about her brief brush with lesbianism.

Hello, readers. You may have noticed that Gawker's discussion system has been tweaked. Yes, again. Read on to learn about the changes.

Gawker Media is flying in the face of conventional media wisdom. While other outlets are doing away with anonymity, we've built anonymous accounts into our new comment system. We'll accept some disorder if that's the price of freedom in one's personal life, in politics and the press.

Good morning, kids. Gawker's brand new commenting system debuts today. You'll notice some changes down below, and if you were a starred commenter in the old format, you'll notice that those little yellow stars are gone, too.

Since last Wednesday, there has been no comment activity on this site. As disorienting as our day-to-day has been without witty insights, well thought-out critiques, demoralizing complaints about the current state of Gawker, and requests to rehire Richard Lawson, I'm happy to announce that this Thursday, the new comment system will be unveiled.

If you are confused about why this is happening, remember to read this post: This one.

For those of you who participated in Gawker's long-standing starred commenter system, you'll be very disappointed to know that those perky little yellow insignias you worked so hard for are now gone forever. We do appreciate your contributions in coming weeks, as our new commenting system is rolled out on this site. The best way for readers who want their comments to be a vital part of the discussion is to take a more economical and thoughtful approach. To commemorate this sea change, Gawker.com will disable commenting privileges tomorrow, starting at 6 a.m.

A brand new day dawns on North Korea's City upon a Silent Hill, and with it a brand new realization that this still isn't all just a terrible dream.

Guys, guys, guys: have you heard those rumblings about a mysterious "new commenting system" that's set to take hold here in the near future? Welcome to Phase 1, which requires you to re-log-in to take the first steps of the journey. Here are some questions you may have:

This is my first post of my first day at Gawker, and this clip from a 1986 episode of the Philadelphia-based teen dance show Dance Party USA sums me up pretty well. I, too, turn feral whenever in the presence of a loudspeaker blaring Nice & Wild's freestyle classic "Diamond Girl." The girl most prominently featured starting at 1:13 is my spirit animal, especially for her self-administered blowjob head-holding move. I'm always doing that!

Please excuse this brief interruption to your regularly-scheduled programming, but we have a quick announcement to share with you that we hope you'll find exciting: Gawker has teamed up with Longreads, the best source for long-form journalism (etc.) on the web, and we now have our very own page over there.

The European Chess Union is not about to let you floozies gain an unfair adventure by parading your bosoms around in front of your opponents. Strict new rules govern the accepted wardrobe for woman's matches. Chessbase News has the details:

Those of you irked by this news may now commence pre-bitching in #crosstalk.

You may have noticed posting was a little sparse today on Gawker. That was mainly my fault: Today was my designated "Traffic whore" day, and I was supposed to post many cat videos and British tabloid stories about people being impaled in interesting ways, so that my colleagues could take time to concentrate on more in-depth stuff, like accurately predicting the reaction if various actors or actresses the day before the Oscars. Maybe Horse_ebooks cast a curse on me, or I ate a bad grape at breakfast. I just couldn't churn them out today.

This stunning image of a woman in Yemen comforting an injured relative during demonstrations against Yemen's president won the World Press Photo Of The Year. Samuel Aranda, a 32-year-old Spaniard, took the shot on October 15 in a makeshift field hospital set up in a mosque.

You will be banned. Have a great day!

Hi Everyone,

Hi, guys,

Tuesday greetings from the Gawker Political Desk! We have some news: This will be the last post for its main political writer, me.

Hello, readers.