diff --git a/environment.rb b/environment.rb
index 729b69f1..10385a8f 100644
--- a/environment.rb
+++ b/environment.rb
@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ Sidekiq.configure_client do |config|
 end
 
 if $config['pubsub_url']
-  $pubsub = Redis.new url: $config['pubsub_url'] 
+  $pubsub_pool = ConnectionPool.new(size: 10, timeout: 5) {
+    Redis.new url: $config['pubsub_url']
+  }
 end
 
 if $config['pubsub_url'].nil? && ENV['RACK_ENV'] == 'production'
diff --git a/models/site.rb b/models/site.rb
index 5a1af946..11e3e0f2 100644
--- a/models/site.rb
+++ b/models/site.rb
@@ -243,6 +243,8 @@ class Site < Sequel::Model
       raise 'username is missing'
     end
 
+    return if is_banned == true
+
     DB.transaction {
       self.is_banned = true
       self.updated_at = Time.now
@@ -629,12 +631,15 @@ class Site < Sequel::Model
   end
 
   def latest_events(current_page=1, limit=10)
-    events_dataset.exclude(site_id: self.id).order(:created_at.desc).paginate(current_page, limit)
+    events_dataset.order(:created_at.desc).paginate(current_page, limit)
   end
 
   def news_feed(current_page=1, limit=10)
     following_ids = self.followings_dataset.select(:site_id).all.collect {|f| f.site_id}
-    Event.filter(site_id: following_ids+[self.id]).order(:created_at.desc).paginate(current_page, limit)
+    Event.filter(site_id: following_ids+[self.id]).
+    order(:created_at.desc).
+    exclude(actioning_site_id: self.id).
+    paginate(current_page, limit)
   end
 
   def host
diff --git a/views/_news.erb b/views/_news.erb
index 5a7a3334..9ffc8108 100644
--- a/views/_news.erb
+++ b/views/_news.erb
@@ -19,10 +19,14 @@
       <div class="title">
       <div class="icon"></div>
       <% actioning_site = event.actioning_site_dataset.select(:username, :title, :domain).first %>
-      <% event_site = event.site_dataset.select(:username, :title, :domain).first %>
+      <% event_site = event.site_dataset.select(:id, :username, :title, :domain).first %>
       <a href="/site/<%= actioning_site.username %>" class="user" title="<%= actioning_site.title %>"><%= actioning_site.title.shorten(40) %></a> 
       is following
-      <a href="/site/<%= event_site.username %>" class="user" title="<%= event_site.title %>"><%= event_site.title.shorten(40) %></a>
+      <% if event_site.id == current_site.id %>
+        your site!
+      <% else %>
+        <a href="/site/<%= event_site.username %>" class="user" title="<%= event_site.title %>"><%= event_site.title.shorten(40) %></a>
+      <% end %>
       <span class="date">
         <a href="?event_id=<%= event.id %>"><%= event.created_at.ago %></a>
       </span>
@@ -31,8 +35,12 @@
     <div class="news-item update">
       <div class="title">
         <div class="icon"></div>
-        <% event_site = event.site_dataset.select(:username, :title, :domain).first %>
-        <a href="/site/<%= event_site.username %>" class="user"><%= event_site.title %></a> has been updated.
+        <% event_site = event.site_dataset.select(:id, :username, :title, :domain).first %>
+        <% if event_site.id == current_site.id %>
+          Your site was updated.
+        <% else %>
+          <a href="/site/<%= event_site.username %>" class="user"><%= event_site.title %></a> has been updated.
+        <% end %>
         <span class="date">
           <a href="?event_id=<%= event.id %>"><%= event.created_at.ago %></a>
         </span>
@@ -70,7 +78,7 @@
     <div class="content">
       <div class="comments">
         <% event.comments.each do |comment| %>
-          <% comment_actioning_site = comment.actioning_site_dataset.select(:title, :domain, :username).first %>
+          <% comment_actioning_site = comment.actioning_site_dataset.select(:id, :title, :domain, :username).first %>
           <div class="comment" id="comment_<%= comment.id %>">
             <img class="avatar" src="<%= comment_actioning_site.screenshot_url('index.html', '82x62') %>">
             <a href="/site/<%= comment_actioning_site.username %>" class="user"><%= comment_actioning_site.title %></a>
diff --git a/workers/purge_cache_worker.rb b/workers/purge_cache_worker.rb
index 5017bdbf..461c92a7 100644
--- a/workers/purge_cache_worker.rb
+++ b/workers/purge_cache_worker.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ class PurgeCacheWorker
     attempt = 0
     begin
       attempt += 1
-      $pubsub.publish 'purgecache', payload.to_json
+      $pubsub_pool.with do |redis|
+        redis.publish 'purgecache', payload.to_json
+      end
     rescue Redis::BaseConnectionError => error
       raise if attempt > 3
       puts "pubsub error: #{error}, retrying in 1s"