Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You cannot shame the shameless.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

I really should read my own blog.

The revolution will be supervised.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

In my day, never was longer.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

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Reader Interactions

370Comments

  5. 5.

    Steve

    # Laura W Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 9:23 pm

    FIRST

    I think this might be the first time I’ve ever seen that and not wanted to commit an axe murder.

  13. 13.

    rob!

    wow–went to https://balloon-juice.com, and it loaded instantly! i MUST be in the new location.

    can i be the first to sat Obama/Biden ’08 here?

    oh, and “Bible Spice”–i friggin’ LOVE that. a nickel to whoever coined it.

  16. 16.

    Gaucho Politico

    Wait, whats different? Everything looks the same. Its like electing McCain and waking up the next morning only to find he is not really a reformer, a big let down. i was at least expecting punch and pie.

  19. 19.

    Brian J

    Congratulations on the new digs.

    Allow me to open the floodgates with a question. Today at work, one of my friends comes in and asks me what Barack Obama will do to fix the economy. (He’s a smart guy, but he’s a conservative, and he’s definitely falling into the trap of not thinking things through enough and then repeating ridiculous claims. He’s enjoying Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Facism, for instance.) Well anyway, I have to wonder, was he testing my reasons for supporting Obama, or was he simply looking for answer he might like? And why in the world didn’t he go to Obama’s site? It seems like the easiest way to get a sense of what a person is thinking.

  20. 20.

    Krista

    So does that mean that the archives are now gone, or are your Kool-Aid drinking days still recorded for posterity?

  21. 21.

    Comrade Jake

    Things would appear to load faster. I kind of like the numbered posts. They give me a sense of accomplishment.

  23. 23.

    Comrade Jake

    He’s a smart guy, but he’s a conservative, and he’s definitely falling into the trap of not thinking things through enough and then repeating ridiculous claims. He’s enjoying Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Facism, for instance.

    Sarah Palin, is that you?

  24. 24.

    lampwick

    Weasel Parade
    are:

    Johnny Drama – vocals, lead guitar
    Bible Spice – bass, moose
    Steve Schmidt – random effects generator
    Rick Davis – lobbyist

  29. 29.

    srv

    Crap. Who are all these posters? All the people who’ve been clogging up the balloon tubes for the last several years?

    Get off my lawn blog!

  30. 30.

    Polish the Guillotines (formerly FLILF Hunter)

    lampwick Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    Weasel Parade
    are:

    Johnny Drama – vocals, lead guitar
    Bible Spice – bass, moose
    Steve Schmidt – random effects generator
    Rick Davis – lobbyist

    Slight lineup change:

    Steve Schmidt – backstabbing asshole manager

  31. 31.

    Laura W

    I made the mistake of posting this in the Bird Talk thread earlier and feel about as invisible now as Obama was to McCrank in the debate. Will repost in hopes of getting some much needed attention answers:

    What would happen if something were to happen to McShame, rendering him unable to carry on as the nominee? Specifically, what would the Rethugs do? How would they choose a new one? Would s/he be allowed to choose own VP and ditch Palin?
    It could happen, you know, and as we’ve seen, it probably will.

    I know I could probably research this on the internets, but I try to do as little for myself as possible.

  32. 32.

    Polish the Guillotines (formerly FLILF Hunter)

    WOOORRRDDD PRRREEESSS!

    Your “new and improved” blockquotes char — uh — mock? — yeah, mock me.

  36. 36.

    Comrade Jake

    What would happen if something were to happen to McShame, rendering him unable to carry on as the nominee? Specifically, what would the Rethugs do?

    At this point I think they would party like it’s 1999.

    Seriously? Who knows. I read somewhere that even replacing Palin would be very tricky to do. I think they’d need to hold another convention in either case.

  38. 38.

    lampwick

    I like the borderlessness; it’s cool. Never have liked this font, however.

    Jake is following me around the internets.

    But it’s not a big deal.

  41. 41.

    benjoya

    “Bible Spice”—i friggin’ LOVE that. a nickel to whoever coined it.

    believe it was tbogg. mooselini also genius, caribou barbie not bad johnny drama good mcWar mcLame mcBush mcSame mcGoo mcAnus all servicible mcThuseleh mine

  43. 43.

    Comrade John Cole

    A few notes:

    1. This is not the real John. This is just some network and server nerd who has his login. Root hath its privileges. Questions about ads and whatnot are not things I can answer.
    2. Some of you may be experiencing the same thing I see, where the complete roster of comment tags are not present. I’m not entirely sure what’s causing that, and I agree it’s annoying. I had one of our techs take a look, since she had not visited the site, and all the formatting buttons load for her. This may be some weirdness from the transfer that will cure itself – i.e., the very best kind of issue, in a tech’s eyes.
    3. The archive listings, in the original templates, are (for some bizarre reason) coded in the header. Those of you who were lucky enough to catch what we saw when we found this and got the links to show know what a disaster that is with the new version of WP. I’m not the designer, so this will have to be addressed during the redesign as it looks like most of the current templating needs to be discarded.

  44. 44.

    Comrade Jake

    Jake is following me around the internets.

    But it’s not a big deal.

    Who says you’re not following me there, tough guy?

  45. 45.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    What would happen if something were to happen to McShame, rendering him unable to carry on as the nominee? Specifically, what would the Rethugs do? How would they choose a new one? Would s/he be allowed to choose own VP and ditch Palin?
    It could happen, you know, and as we’ve seen, it probably will.

    That won’t happen, cause God is leading Sarah and John to a Brave New World Order that has such people in it that job creation will be accomplished by maverick reforms and healthcare credits that offset new taxes on healthcare mean that no one will get sick or old or die unless Russia invades the Alaskan airspace with terrorists who hate us because of our freedoms.

    kthxbai.

  46. 46.

    Brian J

    Brian J: point your coworker to barackobama.com/plan. Tell him real intellectuals only believe primary sources.

    That’s exactly what I did.

    Sarah Palin, is that you?

    Just because someone is smart doesn’t mean they can’t make poor intellectual decisions. I’ve made lots of dumb comments talking about politics, but I’ve made fewer as I’ve grown. I don’t think my friend is stupid. Instead, I think his opinions are under developed. There’s a big, big difference.

  47. 47.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    Bravo Comrade Cole. The Proletariat has taken notice of your achievement and would like to bestow Hero of the Intertubes medal upon you. Or maybe just a thanks!

  49. 49.

    maxbaer (not the original)

    Nice new digs, John. And it still has that new server smell. It’ll be beer-stained soon enough, tho.

  50. 50.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Not-John: I have an incomplete roster of tags, same as the old version of WP: close tags, dict, b-quote, link, ext-link, strong, em, code, strike, ol, li. The new buttons for things like tables didn’t seem to work, so do we really need them?

    Let me see if this blockquote works with multiple paragraphs:

    I’m struck by this Mark Salter line in a pool report that just came out, which seems to suggest McCain’s camp is a little worried about how McCain’s demeanor toward Obama came across.

    “It was very tough debate but I don’t think our candidate went over the line. He stayed on offense in a respectful way,” he said.

    If it were obvious, he wouldn’t have to say it twice.

  51. 51.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Crap. We still have the broken blockquote problem, as there should have been 3 paragraphs in the last blockquoted comment I posted. That’s probably more important to most people here than extra tag buttons.

  52. 52.

    Comrade Jake

    Just because someone is smart doesn’t mean they can’t make poor intellectual decisions.

    Yeah I was just giving you the business.

  53. 53.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Just because someone is smart doesn’t mean they can’t make poor intellectual decisions.

    Myiq was here?

  56. 56.

    Laura W

    Nothing sexist about telling the truth, Jasper.
    The next president and first lady.
    I just spent too much time looking for one of my fave shots of her in a chartreuse dress many primaries ago. That was the night I got my girl crush on her, visually.
    The day I caught her speaking live at the rally with Caroline (and Oprah?) where Shriver showed up spontaneously…that was the day I wrote every woman I know and said: I CAN’T BELIEVE WE MIGHT BE SO LUCKY AS TO HAVE THIS WOMAN AS FIRST LADY!
    It also, by association, totally sold me on Barack, although that deal was done anyway. Any man smart enough to attract a woman of this caliber, and keep her, is not to be underestimated.

  57. 57.

    Annette

    Testing: mysql query numbers, active comments, avg load while removing the spam comments that followed like rats from the old location. Added the new server to the remote monitor in case the hooligans get out of hand.

  60. 60.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Testing: mysql query numbers, active comments, avg load while removing the spam comments that followed like rats from the old location. Added the new server to the remote monitor in case the hooligans get out of hand.

    I like Annette. John, can we keep her?

  61. 61.

    ThymeZone

    Damn, this thing is fast!

    Good job, congrats. Apparently some details to be sorted and things to be tweaked, but this is exciting.

    I’ll be raising money to start a Word Press Error museum.

  62. 62.

    gbear

    The archive listings, in the original templates, are (for some bizarre reason) coded in the header. Those of you who were lucky enough to catch what we saw when we found this and got the links to show know what a disaster that is with the new version of WP. I’m not the designer, so this will have to be addressed during the redesign as it looks like most of the current templating needs to be discarded.

    Thanks, not-John.

    But will the real John be able to play piano after the operation?

  63. 63.

    Dennis - SGMM

    “It was very tough debate but I don’t think our candidate went over the line.

    Your candidate went over the line, crossed the Rubicon and jumped the shark several weeks ago, pal. When they made your candidate they broke the shovel.

  64. 64.

    Comrade Jake

    Brian J: if your friend genuinely interested in knowing what Obama will do? Because that question is a loaded one from folks on the right. They have this meme that nobody knows what Obama will do, because he never provides details.

    Nevermind the fact that McCain has absolutely no fucking clue.

  65. 65.

    ThymeZone

    Any man smart enough to attract a woman of this caliber, and keep her, is not to be underestimated.

    Totally agree. They’re just an incredible couple. A pretty large part of my obsessive support of his candidacy just stems from the fact that I like them a lot on a personal level.

  66. 66.

    Brian J

    Brian J: if your friend genuinely interested in knowing what Obama will do? Because that question is a loaded one from folks on the right. They have this meme that nobody knows what Obama will do, because he never provides details.

    That’s what I was wondering.

  68. 68.

    Comrade Jake

    I love that Team McCain is having to defend their fearless leader’s assholiness in the first debate. That is some karmic revenge for Gore’s sighing in 2000.

  69. 69.

    ThymeZone

    your friend genuinely interested in knowing what Obama will do?

    I don’t remember a candidacy that has provided so much detail in answer to that kind of question.

    And not just information, but intelligent material that is clearly written from a postion of respect for the intelligence of the voter.

  70. 70.

    TheFountainHead

    I think the redesign requires some serious thought be given to making links open in new window. That’s my deep thought, straight from Port Authority.

  72. 72.

    t jasper parnell

    Brian J, I had a similar conversation and sent my interlocutor transcripts of Palin’s babbling and John McCain declaring every international event to be the greatest problem since Canae as well as links to Obama’s record, via thomas, and links to his site. It seems to me that trying to convince someone who doesn’t want to vote for Obama to vote for Obama is futile while showing him or her that McCain is batshit crazy and that Palin might make a good cow-bell-ringing Hockey Mom ought.

  73. 73.

    Soylent Green

    Tovarishch Cole, thank you for your attention to this matter.

    I also want to say: fuck Bill Clinton and the mule he rode in on for being so obviously in thrall to the 2012 gambit that we talked about during the primary. In every one of his recent media appearances he gave McCain a nice long Lewinsky while damning Obama with praise so faint the Hubble telescope couldn’t see it.

    The only explanation is that he wants McAsshole to win so that Hill can run again in four years. He knows that his legacy as the Last Good President will go right into the toilet after Obama gets and excels at the job, and wants to screw the party and the nation to save it.

    Is Hillary on board with this crap or is Bill doing his own thing? We haven’t heard a word from Hillary lately.

  77. 77.

    Joshua Norton

    making links open in new window.

    I’d like them to come in and clean my apt. 2 times a month. See what you can do about that.

  78. 78.

    TheFountainHead

    deep thought two: Can we get the site to recognize us latte drinkin’ elites with iPhones and reformat accordingly? TPM did a stellar job with that. And, hey, my bus is here!

  80. 80.

    Comrade Jake

    I also want to say: fuck Bill Clinton and the mule he rode in on for being so obviously in thrall to the 2012 gambit that we talked about during the primary. In every one of his recent media appearances he gave McCain a nice long Lewinsky while damning Obama with praise so faint the Hubble telescope couldn’t see it.

    Read Ta-Nehisi Coates on Clinton. You will feel better.

  81. 81.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Would someone please answer Laura W’s question @ 31 so I can stop thinking about it? Please?

  82. 82.

    ThymeZone

    This must be what it felt like to get electricity in the farmhouse for the first time.

    Well, if your farmhouse didn’t have electricity until 1999. But still.

    Again I must say, damn, this thing is fast. Fast trumps a lot of other little problems, believe me, so it’s fine with me if the details get taken care of in the fullness of time.

  83. 83.

    Martin

    The only explanation is that he wants McAsshole to win so that Hill can run again in four years.

    You know, it’s funny, but I don’t hear the wingers bitching about him any more. Who are they going to vote against now?

  85. 85.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Peter Sellars on the issues that are at this very moment concerning us all.

    -What- _a_ funny looking CD.

  86. 86.

    wasabi gasp

    My beautiful boxes are still missing.

    Until John gets the design finalized, this Greasemonkey script will bring back the borders + add alternating background colors.

  87. 87.

    t jasper parnell

    Would someone please answer Laura W’s question @ 31 so I can stop thinking about it? Please?

    The smart money is on Zombie Regan for Pres with Zombie TR as VP, order to be determined by all in wrestling. On the other hand, it might be that as a political party they could vote to suspend whatever rules they have in place to nominate Tweety and Sylvester or the Wiley and Roadrunner.

  88. 88.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    I kind of like the open borders thing. It sort of represents openness with room for the snark to breath.

  90. 90.

    Comrade John Cole

    Ok- This is the real John Cole. How will you know? Because I will say fuck.

    This is not the new site design. This is the move to the new server. We upgraded WordPress and moved to a new server. The design will be sometime in the near future.

  92. 92.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    How do we know Annette won’t say fuck?

    She’s been working on the server and Word Press all day and hasn’t said fuck yet, therefore she never will.

  93. 93.

    Polish the Guillotines (formerly FLILF Hunter)

    You know, it’s funny, but I don’t hear the wingers bitching about him any more. Who are they going to vote against now?

    It’s funny, but he’s brilliant enough that this could be a head-fake to the right, i.e. if Clinton acts like he’s “endorsing” McCain, then maybe it’ll turn the wingers off.

    But he’s also so completely narcissistic that it’s all about Hill in 2012.

  96. 96.

    Joshua Norton

    Greasemonkey script will bring back the borders

    Cool. I finally got to use Greasemonkey for something. I keep forgetting I have it installed in Firefox.

  98. 98.

    Annette

    Genius.

    This is a block.

    This is the secnod block.

    And let’s see if this thing
    will accept line breaks now that we have our plugin cooperating.

  99. 99.

    Brian J

    I also want to say: fuck Bill Clinton and the mule he rode in on for being so obviously in thrall to the 2012 gambit that we talked about during the primary. In every one of his recent media appearances he gave McCain a nice long Lewinsky while damning Obama with praise so faint the Hubble telescope couldn’t see it.

    The only explanation is that he wants McAsshole to win so that Hill can run again in four years. He knows that his legacy as the Last Good President will go right into the toilet after Obama gets and excels at the job, and wants to screw the party and the nation to save it.

    Do you really, in your heart of hearts, think that the Clintons want McCain to win? Leaving aside whatever deep desire that each elected official has to advance, do you really think that the Clintons think McCain will stand up for what they believe in?

    Short of simply keeping quiet for any number of reasons, I’m not sure what you want the Clintons to do. I don’t think Bill Clinton has done anything really damaging to Obama, as in saying that he believes McCain is the better choice. Whenever he makes a statement that isn’t entirely disparaging to McCain, people seem to think that this is an underhanded way to help McCain. It seems to rely on the same sort of literal interpretation, or rather misinterpretation, that conservatives use when they note how many times Obama said he agreed with McCain during the debates. There’s a certain style of getting people to be more receptive to you and your message. Being the fire-breathing knee basher is good for us, but we’re already going to vote for Obama. That sort of style isn’t likely to win over many people besides those who aren’t already leaning towards Obama.

    As for their physical presence via campaign rallies and so forth, have you ever considered that Obama might not want her and her husband to participate too heavily? It’s one thing when a president is campaigning for his vice president, but it’s different when there is someone who has an equal or possibly (for now, at least) stature in your party to be featured too heavily during the campaign. To have Hillary out there as much as some people say they expect her to be out there would definitely take the focus off Obama, but not in a positive way. Besides that, there’s the chance that the mythical deep division in the party between the Clinton and Obama camps could be a central part of the narrative again.

    But let’s assume that they are really as power hungry as you imply. To be so blatant in their desires to sabotage Obama would absolutely destroy her hypothetical chances in 2012. She and her husband would be ostracized from the party. Their careers would be, in a word, over.

  100. 100.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Thanks, wasabi gasp. That’s lipstick on a pig that we can believe in.

    I open links in a new tab/window with a right click or Shift-click. Works.

  101. 101.

    Brian J

    Anybody read the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, yet?

    Has John McCain? If he didn’t have time to read a two or three page document last week, what are the chances he will read this one?

  103. 103.

    Ed Drone

    Bush’s credibility + 700,000,000,000 = 700,000,000,000

    Wrong! Bush’s credibility + $700,000,000,000 = $699,999,999.98

    Comrade Ed

  104. 104.

    Comrade Tax Analyst

    Laura W Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    Tag plugin has imploded

    Man, I’m sleepy.
    I thought that said Trigg Palin

    No, but I have it on good authority that it will be her NEXT child’s name.

    Congratulations, John. This seems to work much faster than the old site.

  106. 106.

    Ed Drone

    Interesting — when I did the comment #103 above, I had the small set of buttons, but once I submitted that comment, I got the full set. I wonder what they all mean?

    Ed

  107. 107.

    cain

    Speaking of Ed, whatever happened to him. He was swallowed by Malkin (haha) I know but is he still as wing nutty now? I remember John saying he does say useful things from time to time. But I suppose if you get swallowed by Malkin there is no hope for you.

    cain

  108. 108.

    Scott H

    Anybody read the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, yet?

    Has John McCain? If he didn’t have time to read a two or three page document last week, what are the chances he will read this one?

    Interesting question. I managed to get through the summary and the section-by-section since I posted. McCain could get through this on that blackberry thang he invented. If he was interested.

  109. 109.

    Annette

    The comment tag plugin is having an identity crisis. We’re going to disable and remove both, then reload the later version of it to see if can get WP to agree that it is in fact using the latest version of the plugin and will it pretty please leave all the nice formatting options in place. The format buttons are going to vanish and then return.

  111. 111.

    wasabi gasp

    Your Greasemonkey script is pretty slick… Good job!

    I can’t take credit for the function. It’s something I ripped out of a long forgotten bookmarklet and have used for assorted CSS tweaking ever since.

  112. 112.

    Soylent Green

    To be so blatant in their desires to sabotage Obama would absolutely destroy her hypothetical chances in 2012.

    That should be abundantly clear to the Clintons, so I don’t know what to think. And I’ve never viewed the Clintons as being sufficiently Machievellian to betray their party so brazenly.

    There’s an excellent comment, at 9:23, on the Ta-Nahisi Coates post about this that Jake linked to above ( I couldn’t get my link to it to work) that makes a compelling case for the alternative idea that Bill is doing the same thing Obama is doing, being deferential toward McCain to help people still on the fence to move to Obama without feeling they are dissing McCain. I don’t know if I buy it.

  113. 113.

    Comrade The Moar You Know

    Testing: mysql query numbers, active comments, avg load while removing the spam comments that followed like rats from the old location. Added the new server to the remote monitor in case the hooligans get out of hand.

    I like Annette. John, can we keep her?

    Amen. As a guy geek, nothing is sexier than a girl geek :)

  115. 115.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    How do we know Annette won’t say fuck?

    [Neo sees a black cat walk by them, and then a similar black cat walk by them just like the first one]
    Neo: Whoa. Déjà vu.
    [Everyone freezes right in their tracks]
    Trinity: What did you just say?
    Neo: Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu.
    Trinity: What did you see?
    Cypher: What happened?
    Neo: A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it.
    Trinity: How much like it? Was it the same cat?
    Neo: It might have been. I’m not sure.
    Morpheus: Switch! Apoc!
    Neo: What is it?
    Trinity: A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.

  116. 116.

    BettyPageisaBlonde

    Following your example I just upgraded WordPress on my partner’s blog and fuck me if it wasn’t much fun. But… I love it. Well done and thanks.

    And Annette, cheers to you from one girl geek to another.

    :D

  117. 117.

    Товарищ Scott Ю

    Amen. As a guy geek, nothing is sexier than a girl geek

    In new citizen ownership proletarian paradise we are not looking at each other in such sexiful ways.

    (OTOH, Congress hasn’t voted on the bailout. What the heck.)

  121. 121.

    Conservatively Liberal

    Without borders, terrorists will be able to sneak in and blow up our posts! I demand borders!

  124. 124.

    Julie

    TheFountainHead Says:
    deep thought two: Can we get the site to recognize us latte drinkin’ elites with iPhones and reformat accordingly? TPM did a stellar job with that. And, hey, my bus is here!

    Balloon Juice!Mobile would make my entire month.

  126. 126.

    BettyPageisaBlonde

    Can I edit the CSS for the site? Pretty please? I’m scared by this whole borderless-comment thing!

    We’re one step away from the dreaded knock at the door accompanied by “Housekeeping!”

    :D

  127. 127.

    malraux

    No idea if this has been picked up anywhere, but what the heck was up with McCain proposing a spending freeze? Briefly checking his web page, all I could tell was that his idea of what constitutes issues is crazily scatterbrained. That and autoplaying talking heads are really fucking annoying. But for me at least that was a McCain idea I’d not heard before, mainly because its crazy.

  129. 129.

    Governer Palin

    hi john its me and i wanted to greet you from the people of alaska. or as we like to say just “hi” lol. bristol and i and john (SENATOR john mccane i mean) r going to be in ohio tomorrow and maybe if. do you know where john is becuz he said he would meet us here and i dont know i guess he’ll show cuz he said he would but i dont. steve shmitt said i should memorize this book but its long like the phone book it has the constitution and the decoration of independance and the address of gettysburg which is the town where abraham lincoln was born i think. well dont you know i was goin to memorize it but then bristol said mom i should just put it under my pillow when i sleep and it will help me good enough which is true by my. experience when i went to college for my decree in journalsm. in idaho way back in the day.

    anyway im ramblin like shmitt also said i should avoid so just a shout out to my homies at the balloon juice and to congradulate you on the new no borders. ps did you know alaska has borders in it? it it has a maritime border with russia!!!! xxxoooo Sarah

  130. 130.

    TheFountainHead

    My God – It’s Full Of Stars!

    Ooooo, good one.

    Annette, can WP even handle a mobile version or will that just cause explosions?

  131. 131.

    Stevenovitch

    For now, if the non border thing is pissing you off just copy and paste this up in your address bar and press enter:

    javascript: var c=document.getElementsByTagName(‘li’); for(var i=0;i< c.length;i++)if(c[i].id.substr(0,7)==’comment’)c[i].style.border=’1px solid black’; alert(‘finished’);

  132. 132.

    g-rant

    To those who say their conservative friends can’t be persuaded: My view is that if they are even thinking about what Obama has to say, they have doubts. Feeding those doubts can only be a positive. Yeah, they may reflexively pull the R lever, but as we all know, being the voting booth, alone, with no one but you to know what you do, is a liberating experience. If someone goes in with doubts, that’s one more possible Obama vote (even if they never admit it).

  133. 133.

    Polish the Guillotines (formerly FLILF Hunter)

    If you are seeing this…

    You are not blind. Repeat: You are NOT blind.

  134. 134.

    binzinerator

    What the fuck?! Any time of day I used to easily get to my favorite WordPress Error, and now all I can see is this goddamned balloon-juice blog.

  135. 135.

    Comrade 2liberal

    hey – ‘comrade’ – someone shoud inform you the new server has been hacked and the forces of Rove are pre-pending “comrade” to John Cole and a lot of other names d’guerre!!

  136. 136.

    b. hussein canuckistani

    If it’s not too late for the nickname listings, I’m fond of McHindenburg, because it works on so many amusing levels.
    Bit of a Godwin, though.

  137. 137.

    malraux

    What the fuck?! Any time of day I used to easily get to my favorite WordPress Error, and now all I can see is this goddamned balloon-juice blog.

    My Firefox is convinced that WordPress Error is the name of this site.

  138. 138.

    Annette

    Bad WP: comment deletion and refresh caused formatting options to disappear. Running through the same obstacles to get the advanced items back after restoring a site for a user whose password was not secure and who has not made a backup in eons. Have you changed your password lately to something with at least six and preferably eight or more characters, combining numeric and special characters and upper-and lowercase letters? If not, why not? Also remember, people: backup early, backup often. The damage some kid in Turkey did to his site is minor, with just some index files defaced. It would have been much worse…

    Talk amongst yourselves.

  139. 139.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Oh, my goodness gracious. A bossy girl geek.

    If she now reminds us to floss daily, my Kinsey score is going to be changed forever.

  141. 141.

    Delia

    Well, all the extra little HTML tags are gone from earlier in the day. OTOH, then I was on the laptop and now I’m on the desktop, so who knows.

    But I feel very insecure without my borders. I can haz borderz?

  142. 142.

    камрад комисaр Xenos

    Cyrillic font seems to translate to latinized Greek equivalents. That funny triangle type letter D becomes a Greek δέλτα, for example. Although tried it since the final rollout, so I will get to try the edit function if I am making a fool of myself here.

    камрад комисaр (Dar Komisar – Uh Oh! Oh!)

    It is rare that I can blame the website for making a fool of me – I usually need no help at all.

  145. 145.

    Annette

    You requested mobile, you got it: installed a mobile plugin. I’m sure John won’t mind.

    Now when I’m hanging out at the dentist’s office later this morning, I can keep up with the scintillating conversation around here.

  146. 146.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    But I feel very insecure without my borders. I can haz borderz?

    Just take a couple of strips of Duck Tape and strap ’em on your monitor where you want the borders. Also keeps out unwanted terraists.

  148. 148.

    Martin

    On the bailout bill. Notes as I read it:

    $250B to start. $100B with approval. $350B more with more approval.

    Paulson will insure mortgage backed securities purchased before March 14, 2008 – both the assets and premiums. (I assume this is what the house republicans injected). Participants have to pay premiums at a rate he gets to set based on the risk on the asset. He can’t insure more than he reasonably feels he can pay out on. Premiums go into a separate fund to be used to pay claims.

    Paulson has 45 days to publish the following:

    (1) Mechanisms for purchasing troubled assets.
    (2) Methods for pricing and valuing troubled assets.
    (3) Procedures for selecting asset managers.
    (4) Criteria for identifying troubled assets for purchase.

    Paulson cannot buy assets for more than the seller paid. Banks, etc. can only break-even or lose money under this plan.

    Report to Congress every 30 days.

    All institutions may participate (he can’t discriminate). He can provide direct financial support to institutions with less than $1B in assets that serve low-income or underserved communities, provided they were well capitalized before June 30 and are facing downward rating due to the securities covered under this bill.

    Should focus on buying securities from eligible retirement funds.

    Oversight board: Fed Chair, Paulson, Dir. of Fed. Home Finance Agency, Dir. of SEC, Sec. of HUD. Meet monthly.

    Paulson can sell assets whenever and however he wants. Proceeds to be transferred to the Treasury (can’t keep it in the fund and buy more stuff)

    Must reimburse FDIC for services rendered.

    Must prevent conflict of interest in the following situations:

    (1) conflicts arising in the selection or hiring of contractors or advisors, including asset managers;
    (2) the purchase of troubled assets;
    (3) the management of the troubled assets held;
    (4) post-employment restrictions on employees; and
    (5) any other potential conflict of interest, as the Secretary deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest.

    Must encourage participants to provide homeowner assistance. May use loan guarantees and credit enhancement to prevent foreclosures. Can provide term extension, rate reduction, principle write-down, and so on to help with loan modification (all this stuff do be done with respect to net present value to the taxpayer).

    Must use appropriate agencies to identify and acquire rental properties or to provide loan modification in order to help tenants that are up to date on their rent to remain in the property under the terms of the lease.

    Treasury can buy directly from companies without going through the marketplace.

    Executives can have their bonuses recovered if they provide false information, even if discovered after the fact. No golden parachutes. Applies to top 5 executives in the institution. (This seems relatively vague and weak, IMO)

    Must work with foreign banks with similar plans.

    Must minimize long-term negative impact to taxpayer. Hold assets to maturity or sell at optimum time as Paulson determines. Use auctions or reverse auctions if would provide maximum benefit to taxpayer.

    Must pursue additional measures to ensure that assets are reasonably priced and reflect underlying value.

    All participating institutions must provide a warrant for non-voting common stock (with anti-dilution provisions).

    Must provide description, amounts, and pricing of all assets to the public within 2 days of purchase.

    Performance of the package will be measured by:

    (i) foreclosure mitigation;
    (ii) cost reduction;
    (iii) whether it has provided stability or prevented disruption to the financial markets or the banking system; and
    (iv) whether it has protected tax- payers.

    —

    That’s about half of it. I need to take a break.

    Looks like the house only got one small inclusion so far over Dodd’s first bill. His first bill had warrants at 125% coverage of losses. That is, if Paulson bought $1B in securities from BofA, sold them for $800M, BofA would grant $200M + 25% ($250B) worth of common stock back to Treasury based on the share price of BofA at the time of /purchase/. If the stock went up 100% by the time Paulson sells, we’d have $500B in stock to offset the $200M loss in the security. IOW, sell us crap and we’ll make up for it later. The warrant is there, but I don’t see the premium here. Maybe it’s still to come.

    Other than that and the insurance provision, so far it looks a hell of a lot like the one that McCain shafted. I didn’t read that in detail and I’m not comparing them side-by-side, so I might have missed some stuff. And of course I’m only halfway through and it’s boring as hell to read.

  151. 151.

    TheFountainHead

    You requested mobile, you got it: installed a mobile plugin. I’m sure John won’t mind.

    He will, but only because you’ve undermined his ability to keep us miserable.

    You are fantastic, in short.

  152. 152.

    Kali's Little Sister

    Would someone please answer Laura W’s question @ 31 so I can stop thinking about it? Please?

    I think Laura W asked the best question ever. I will now scuttle off to sleep, with visions of Laura W’s question dancing in my head.

  153. 153.

    Martin

    Can I edit the CSS for the site? Pretty please? I’m scared by this whole borderless-comment thing!

    Um, if you’re a geek, why don’t you use a browser that allows you to assign a CSS on a per-site basis?

    (OmniWeb does this, BTW)

  155. 155.

    J. Michael Neal

    Anybody read the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, yet?

    Yeah.

    Meh. Right on the edge of acceptability, where I’m concerned. Though, if Krugman is correct, and there are major revisions coming, who knows.

    I’m still short the market.

  156. 156.

    Wini

    One modification to my glee: names now show at the end of a post (they were at the top before), so on a Blackberry you now have to read before potentially judging a comment by its author. Probably a good thing?

  157. 157.

    J. Michael Neal

    Looks like the house only got one small inclusion so far over Dodd’s first bill. His first bill had warrants at 125% coverage of losses. That is, if Paulson bought $1B in securities from BofA, sold them for $800M, BofA would grant $200M + 25% ($250B) worth of common stock back to Treasury based on the share price of BofA at the time of /purchase/. If the stock went up 100% by the time Paulson sells, we’d have $500B in stock to offset the $200M loss in the security. IOW, sell us crap and we’ll make up for it later. The warrant is there, but I don’t see the premium here. Maybe it’s still to come.

    As far as I can tell, the Secretary of the Treasury gets to exercise as many of the warrants as he sees fit. That can’t possibly be right, but that’s what I see.

  158. 158.

    Martin

    Regarding Laura’s question, I’m almost positive that if McCain died now, he’d stay on the ballot and assuming he won, Palin would take office as McCain is unable to perform the job and then could appoint a new VP. Same deal if he died after the election.

    The constitution doesn’t actually say anything about it, but we’re past the filing deadlines for most states, so that’s pretty much all there is. Of course, this is the benefit of having a Pres/VP ticket – if the Pres dies, you are voting for VP. If the VP dies, you are voting for pres with an appointment. In either case, they could announce the VP pick ahead of time.

    Really, it’s only a problem if your VP candidate is an idiot and you don’t think people would vote for her (or him!) at the top of the ticket.

  160. 160.

    Annette

    I believe the developer released this before the iPhone was released, based on the dates, and that’s likely the problem. I can verify that it works with the Danger browser via T-mobile. I’ll scrounge around to see if he has any updates or if anyone else has something that will recognize what all the cool kids are carrying. I’m also looking for a new comment formatting tool, as this one hasn’t been updated in forever (in Internet years) and it keeps resetting itself for some insane reason. Suggestions? Shout them out.

  162. 162.

    Martin

    As far as I can tell, the Secretary of the Treasury gets to exercise as many of the warrants as he sees fit. That can’t possibly be right, but that’s what I see.

    Yeah, he can surrender warrants, but I think he’d need to show that it benefits taxpayers to do so, so I think this is just one of those filling-in-all-gaps provisions.

  163. 163.

    Kali's Little Sister

    Really, it’s only a problem if your VP candidate is an idiot and you don’t think people would vote for her (or him!) at the top of the ticket.

    Yup, it was a truly glorious question.

  164. 164.

    srv

    Laura @ 31, I think the choice is up to the party machine, not just the VP candidate.

    Don’t worry, Dick has this all covered. I keep thinking they’re going to appoint him Co-Vice-President.

  165. 165.

    bago

    Just use some JS at the page load area to determine which version of the site to load. Switch on useragent string.

  166. 166.

    Annette

    If you’re a geek, use fiddler2 and straight up hack the response to your http GET/POST

    Let me clarify: suggestions for a comment formatting tool that is a plugin and that can be managed by Regular Joe (or Regular Comrade John, as the case may be). I can’t spend all my time hanging out at the water cooler. There’s a fall garden to get in, you know.

  168. 168.

    srv

    he’d stay on the ballot and assuming he won

    McGovern had to replace Eagleton after the convention. The DNC committeemen validated by vote. RNC may have a different process, but it’s up to them.

  170. 170.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Because I am so damn sick of futzing around with OpenXML, I’m trying blockquote again.

    [Neo sees a black cat walk by them, and then a similar black cat walk by them just like the first one]
    Neo: Whoa. Déjà vu.
    [Everyone freezes right in their tracks]
    Trinity: What did you just say?
    Neo: Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu.
    Trinity: What did you see?
    Cypher: What happened?
    Neo: A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it.
    Trinity: How much like it? Was it the same cat?
    Neo: It might have been. I’m not sure.
    Morpheus: Switch! Apoc!
    Neo: What is it?
    Trinity: A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.

    (And is it just me, but did the 2 sequels blow chunks?)

  171. 171.

    Martin

    apple-v

    Apple-v? It’s Command-V. Tech support is hard enough…

    I’ll accept Saint John’s Arms-V, but not many people would get that.

  172. 172.

    iluvsummr

    wasabi gasp Says:

    Until John gets the design finalized, this Greasemonkey script will bring back the borders + add alternating background colors.

    Thanks for the script — the borders really do make a difference.

  173. 173.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Oh, well. The line breaks from the original IMDB cut and paste were fine, but double-Entering to get a new paragraph for my parenthetical comment worked in preview but not in reality. Just need to be patient, I guess.

  175. 175.

    OriGuy

    I’m (barely) old enough to remember that when George McGovern dumped Tom Eagleton, the DNC met to approve his replacement. It appears the same sort of thing would happen if either McCain or Palin dropped out or died. From the Rules of the Republican Party at gop.org:

    RULE NO. 9
    Filling Vacancies in Nominations
    (a) The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all
    vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise of the Republican candidate
    for President of the United States or the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.

    It goes on from there. Of course, state laws affect whose names actually appear on the ballot.

  176. 176.

    bago

    Seriously though, good on you for knowing what fiddler is and how it is used. I have had to interview so many douchebag “web developers” recently that didn’t even know what an anchor tag was or how to reverse a linked list. It’s nice to know there’s someone competent backing up one of my favorite sources of snark.

  177. 177.

    Beej

    Have you seen the insane right’s newest explanation for the bailout mess? Apparently it’s all the fault of affirmative action in lending practices. See, it’s those irresponsible brown people who borrowed money for houses they couldn’t afford, and, of course, the Democrats who insisted they be treated equally, who are really to blame for the implosion of the subprime mortgage market.
    the poor investment bankers were just caught in the undertow. For more, read Glenn Greenwald and follow his links to Krikorian and, shu d d d d d d der, Michelle Malkin.

  178. 178.

    Joshua Norton

    (And is it just me, but did the 2 sequels blow chunks?)

    Most sequels blow chunks. But Matrix sequels wasn’t as bad as Dune’s. But that’s pretty much damning with faint praise. Brrrr!

  179. 179.

    OriGuy

    Arrgh, got bit by the paragraphs in blockquotes bug. Nevertheless, Annette, you are a Goddess of the Geek Pantheon for the improvements so far.

  180. 180.

    Martin

    McGovern had to replace Eagleton after the convention. The DNC committeemen validated by vote. RNC may have a different process, but it’s up to them.

    Remember that they’re still constrained by the filing deadlines in each state, so after a certain point, that option starts to go away.

  181. 181.

    Martin

    Have you seen the insane right’s newest explanation for the bailout mess? Apparently it’s all the fault of affirmative action in lending practices.

    BULLSHIT!

  182. 182.

    Nikolita

    The update looks great, thanks John and company for the new server! :) I love that my comments actually post now, and don’t take forever to do it either.

  184. 184.

    Conservatively Liberal

    Added iPhone the user agent array in the mobile plugin. If someone could test again, that’d be just swell.

    Send me an iPhone and I will be glad to get right on it! ;)

    shuffles back to peanut gallery

  186. 186.

    Annette

    Test for comment post after separating the items in the formatting plugin, since they won’t work and play well together when in the same directory.

    block1

    block2

    block3.0

    block3.1

    block3.2

    Note to self: if you have it working after this post and refresh, leave it alone, would you? Thank you.

  191. 191.

    cain

    Niiice.. so much nicer than wordpress blog! We need to cruise the wordpress plugins to see what other bling we could get installed on here. You’re too good, Annette.

    BTW folks, OpenLeft had a great post on smack down of that tool David Broder. Who still can’t admit to himself that he’s backing a losing ticket. Check it out here.. it’s somewhat similar to the monkey comparison on TPM: The link is here.

    I read the sunday paper today in the Oregon, and Jonah Goldberg had some fucked up commentary on how the media is claiming that if you don’t vote for Obama you’re racist. WTF, if you don’t want your country to go downhill you’d vote for a smart choice. I’d like to send him a wetsuit and two dildos, I think he instinctively knows what to do with them.

    cain

  194. 194.

    Eric Fail

    psst, Annette… this will bring our borders back under control:


    ol.commentlist li {
    border: 1px solid #999;
    padding: 5px 5px 0px 5px;
    margin-bottom: 5px;
    }

    Aahhh, that’s better.

  198. 198.

    Conservatively Liberal

    What’s this all about then? Why does my name still suck?

    I hooked your name up to a hose and tried to vacuum my garage floor but it didn’t work, so I would say that your name don’t suck.

    Get your money back if you can. ;)

  200. 200.

    Conservatively Liberal

    Weird. I refreshed the page and it is now formatted for the mobile version (text only), and there is a link at the bottom of the page to “Exit the mobile version”. If I click on it I get the same page but that option is no longer at the bottom of the page. If I go to the main page, it is formatted properly. But when I click on an entry I am back at the mobile page (with the option to exit it at the bottom of the page).

    Time to smoke another bowl and see what happens! :)

  201. 201.

    Conservatively Liberal

    And after posting that I am now at the regular page and I didn’t even smoke a bowl yet! I feel cheated. ;)

  202. 202.

    Comrade grumpy realist

    Whoever put the Cyrillic in up above, I’m seeing it as Russian and not Greek.

    Hmm, lessee…

    日本語も読めますか？

    Are other people seeing the above as Japanese or does it come out as Elvish?

  204. 204.

    Comrade Johnny Pez

    intelligent material that is clearly written from a postion of respect for the intelligence of the voter

    In other words, elitism.

  207. 207.

    SGEW

    Congratulations, O mighty webmaster people, on the (apparently) successful transition.

    test
    test
    test

    test1

    test2

    footnote test [back]
    footnote test 2 [back]

  214. 214.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    Unfortunately, I am not smarter than a 4th grader! Jesus I can’t get a blockquote right. Just missing all those WordPress errors. Sign … I miss the old days. John McCain was 3 inches taller, my neighbor had just invented the wheel, and smoking wasn’t bad for you.

  217. 217.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Wow. Diane Francis, a financial columnist for Canada’s conservative National Post, was just on a Toronto radio show, describing how some Asian and European banks are now collapsing. She’s also making the claim that if credit stays stuck, within two weeks, people won’t be able to use ATMs. (I know that some say that’s pure scare tactics, of course.)

    But what is most striking is that she went out of her way to talk about the Republicans’, and especailly McCain’s, grandstanding next week. He really is getting no love up here.

  218. 218.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Block quote test with line breaks only (maybe).

    First line.

    Second line after shift-Enter to (maybe?) impose break tags instead of paragraph tags.

  219. 219.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Nope. Shift-Enter isn’t the magic bullet.

    (I saw what you did, SGEW. Hmmm.)

    First line.
    .
    Second line.
    .
    Third line.

    First line.

    Second line.

    Third line.

  220. 220.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Grr! Spaces on lines instead of ellipses don’t work.

    First.
    …
    Second.
    …
    Third.

  221. 221.

    камрад комисaр Xenos

    Whoever put the Cyrillic in up above, I’m seeing it as Russian and not Greek

    That is what I get for posting just because the baby got me up and I could not get back to sleep. The cyrillic and greek characters appear to work in the body of the comment, but not in the field for the name. This is an improvement from the old WP, where both comment and field had limited character pages available (maybe my inability to tinker with Google Chrome is the problem).

    In any case, it is getting time to get beyond the Soviet-era shtick. The new American Socialism feels more like African Socialism to me, with a small, wealthy elite and masses of undereducated, unhealthy post-colonial people who the government tries to mollify with cheesy kiSwahili catch-phrases while doing damn little to effect the reforms that will attract international capital back in to rebuild the ravaged country.

    HARAMBE!

  224. 224.

    Krista

    Annette Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
    You requested mobile, you got it: installed a mobile plugin. I’m sure John won’t mind.

    Now when I’m hanging out at the dentist’s office later this morning, I can keep up with the scintillating conversation around here.

    Can I just add to the Annette-love that is going on around here? Your geek-prowess is impressive, but it’s the subtle snark that delights us beyond all reason.

  225. 225.

    SGEW

    May I just say that the Balloon-Juice WordPress fix has turned my otherwise dreary and blah Monday morning into an exercise in joy? (Ok, maybe that’s a bit much, but I’m stickin’ to it).

    Hooray for Annette!

    Your geek-prowess is impressive, but it’s the subtle snark that delights us beyond all reason.

    Nonsense. It is perfectly reasonable to delight in both geek-prowess and subtle snark. It is well within the bounds of reason.

    Demand NO2 from your dentist, Annette. It shall make our conversation even more scintillating.

  227. 227.

    SGEW

    So I’m jumping around trying to figure out the new bailout proposal, reading everyone that I can (thanks also to Martin in comments, above at 148). As I’ve said before, I’m much more willing to heed “expert” opinion on the financial crisis than I am on other issues, and (as a hopped-up partisan so close to an election) am pretty ready to defer to my candidate’s position (as much as that might have galled me in other circumstances; see, e.g., FISA, “clean coal,” not-quite universal health care, etc.).

    Krugman, DeLong, and hilzoy seem to support the bill as drafted (with major reservations, but it’s better than nothing) and that may be good enough for me, at this point. Obviously, there will have to be huge reforms made soon, but it looks like we might have to wait for the Obama administration for that to happen (anyone have any idea who th’ Treasury Sec.’s gonna be?).

    More importantly, in my opinion, is this latest WND poll*, which is overwhelmingly against the proposed bailout. I’ve never been steered wrong by taking the opposite tack than the readers of WorldNetDaily.

    *Warning: links to WorldNetDaily, which may cause apoplexy, eye gouging, and spontaneous head explosion.

  230. 230.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Wachovia? Is it officially sold off now or are they still in talks?

  234. 234.

    greynoldsct00

    Wachovia? Is it officially sold off now or are they still in talks?

    I was just reading Wall Street and didn’t see that, they reported talks with Wells. I’m keeping an eye, Wachovia’s my bank… wheeeee!

  236. 236.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    The ethical quandaries ahead for me!

    Not a problem. We’re going to have One Big Bank RSN. It’s either put your money in the mattress, or suck it up.

  239. 239.

    SGEW

    From NYT:

    In a statement, the FDIC . . . emphasized that Wachovia did not fail and that the Deposit Insurance Fund would not be affected.
    . . .
    “For Wachovia customers, today’s action will ensure seamless continuity of service from their bank and full protection for all of their deposits,” FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair said in a statement. “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual.”

    (emphasis mine)
    Nothing to see here, move along.

  240. 240.

    TheFountainHead

    Added iPhone the user agent array in the mobile plugin. If someone could test again, that’d be just swell.

    Confirmed. It is teh sexy.

  242. 242.

    TheFountainHead

    CNN says Wachovia has been bought by Citigroup.

    This smells more of, “Hey, it’s a good time to buy!” than “Help us! Save us! We haz no monies!”

  243. 243.

    SGEW

    Ye gods. The wing nuts are really going all out in blaming the current financial crisis on the CRA and ACORN.

    It really is true that they’ll always find a way to blame everything on minorities. How can they keep getting away with this?

  244. 244.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Citigroup has been on my shitlist for years.

    They ran a computer leasing operation where both my ex and I leased from them. When my payments were complete after 36 months, they stopped automatically withdrawing payments from my bank account. I asked my ex if he had stopped paying for his two computers, which he had started leasing months before me, and after he checked his faxed copy of the agreement, he found that not only was he still paying, the term should have been over 8 months earlier.

    It turned out there was some fine print saying that even though the lease was for 36 months at $xxx per month, it was his responsibility to tell them the term was complete, and if he didn’t, they would just continue taking his money. No matter how he argued on the phone, they refused to refund the extra payments, a couple of thousand dollars. Of course, he should have known better, and he did sign that contract, but that’s still pretty damn shady.

  245. 245.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    This smells more of, “Hey, it’s a good time to buy!” than “Help us! Save us! We haz no monies!”

    Man, Wachovia was bleeding money. They had a shitload of bad paper that they acquired from Golden West, and it killed them.

  246. 246.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    It really is true that they’ll always find a way to blame everything on minorities. How can they keep getting away with this?

    Because the media is “balanced” and gives assholes like Eric Cantor (who was pushing this shit yesterday) equal time to spread their lies.

  247. 247.

    SGEW

    pretty damn shady

    That’s their motto, after all.

    Citigroup: Pretty Damn Shady.

    I suppose the upcoming CitiMorganChaseBank of Amerika’s motto will be ALL YOUR MONIEZ ARE BELONG TO ME.

  249. 249.

    SGEW

    Because the media is “balanced”

    Today, on CNN’s “Point/CounterPoint”: Is America Ready For A Black President?

    Point: Dr. Cornell West of Princeton University
    CounterPoint: The Grand Wizard of the KKK, Mississippi division

    Moderator: David S. Broder

    (I much prefer the Onion’s latest Point/Counterpoint, by the way)

  250. 250.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    I suppose the upcoming CitiMorganChaseBank of Amerika’s motto will be ALL YOUR MONIEZ ARE BELONG TO ME.

    The Free Market(TM) at it’s best.

  251. 251.

    Comrade Jake

    I can’t fucking stand CNN’s online BS. They are absolutely terrible.

    “Is America Ready for a Black President?” FUCK YOU.

  252. 252.

    камрад комисaр Xenos

    BTW, the bailout proposal appears to have gone from “All Your Bailout Are Belong To Me” to “Throwing Money Into a TARP-Pit”

    Did Krugman coin TARP-Pit? It is clever, but does not scan well. A wit on the Calculated Risk called it the Taxpayer Anal Rape Program, which I think will catch on better.

  256. 256.

    Comrade Jake

    Kramer was on NBC this morning talking about how good the bailout plan is, and that he wishes he could invest in it.

    I take that as a sign that we’re screwed.

  259. 259.

    SGEW

    That’s it. I’m going to try and ignore the financial news and just read the latest Pirate news.

    . . . (reads pirate news) . . .

    Oh. That’s not really any better for my agita.

  260. 260.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    I can’t fucking stand CNN’s online BS. They are absolutely terrible.

    “Is America Ready for a Black President?” FUCK YOU.

    I hear you, but it might be good to get it out in the open. I know people who will not vote for Obama because he’s black. Well, black-ish, anyway. Maybe it might not be a bad idea to drive the racism out in the open. That’s what you have to do to kill cockroaches.

  262. 262.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Comrade Jake at 6:10 AM: NBC this morning is BRUTAL on Palin. Absolutely BRUTAL.

    Details? I need some sweet, sweet schadenfreude while I’m huddled under my blankie.

  263. 263.

    SGEW

    I hear you, but it might be good to get it out in the open.

    The problem is, the way the media (i.e., CNN, Fox, etc.) “get it out in the open” is through their Broderesque “balanced” routine (which I satirized, above). On one side: some fast-talking black guy says one thing*, and on the other you side have a racist who (surprise surprise!) disagrees.

    This is not a conversation on race, and helps nobody. All it does is legitimize racists.

    *Don’t get me wrong, I loooove Dr. West. But he does talk fast.

  264. 264.

    Comrade Jake

    Details? I need some sweet, sweet schadenfreude while I’m huddled under my blankie.

    First, they ran the NRO commentary from Parker? stating that she doesn’t have the experience to be VP. They used it as an example of how conservatives are now questioning her fitness.

    That was bad, but the brutal part was when they split the screen and ran the SNL skit side by side with her Couric interview, where Fey was repeating her nonsense response verbatim. KABOOM.

  266. 266.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    The problem is, the way the media (i.e., CNN, Fox, etc.) “get it out in the open” is through their Broderesque “balanced” routine (which I satirized, above). On one side: some fast-talking black guy says one thing*, and on the other you side have a racist who (surprise surprise!) disagrees.

    Not fair, you demolishing my airy-fairy dream about serious social change with naked, brutal fact. I need a Word Press error right now, while I regroup.

  269. 269.

    SGEW

    . . . the brutal part was when they split the screen and ran the SNL skit side by side with her Couric interview, where Fey was repeating her nonsense response verbatim.

    Oh man, I’ve been waiting for someone to do that (I tried it with the SNL vid and the Couric clip in two separate windows the other day: the overlap was amazing).

    Can’t wait for th’ YouTube.

  271. 271.

    Comrade Jake

    From TPM:

    The Wall St. Journal reports that Sarah Palin will be headed to John McCain’s Sedona ranch this week for a few days of intensive debate preparation, in the wake of her problematic interview with Katie Couric. In particular, a McCain adviser said the goal will be for her debate answers to be “her words,” and not campaign talking points that she’s had trouble reciting properly.

    This should go well.

  272. 272.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    SEGW @ 239:

    From NYT:

    In a statement, the FDIC . . . emphasized that Wachovia did not fail and that the Deposit Insurance Fund would not be affected.
    . . .
    “For Wachovia customers, today’s action will ensure seamless continuity of service from their bank and full protection for all of their deposits,” FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair said in a statement. “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual.”

    They left out this part (from Bloomberg):

    Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, agreed to buy the banking operations of Wachovia Corp., the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender best by mortgage losses and a 74 percent drop in market value this year.

    Citigroup will absorb as much as $42 billion of losses on Wachovia’s $312 billion pool of loans, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said today in a statement. The FDIC will take on losses beyond that amount in exchange for $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants.

    (emphasis mine)
    Nothing to see here, move along.

  273. 273.

    Annette

    You’re a chatty bunch, aren’t you?

    The problem with the block quote is the insertion of blank space line feed. One carriage return (to start a new line) is apparently fine, but two or more is a no go. The solution, as someone noted above, is to put some ellipses in between your blocks, or just close one block and start another. There’s probably a solution for this, and I’ll poke around at it in between all the other things that we do on a daily basis around here.

  275. 275.

    Comrade Darkness

    Why do people that I protest against have to buy institutions that I patronize?! O! The ethical quandaries ahead for me!

    You were protesting citigroup and not wachovia? Clearly, you are not involved in internet security. If your bank account in the U.S. gets emptied by overseas scammers, odds are wachovia was in on the assist. Ruining thousands of lives, just to make their little transfer fees, apparently. Fortis too has a nasty history of helping money laundering. Gods, I’m really starting to like this downturn from a house-cleaning perspective.

  276. 276.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    We just keep hoping you’ll show up to chide us some more. Also, it’s novel to be able to actually, you know, post comments and actually see them show up.

  277. 277.

    Conservatively Liberal

    From a post at Kos about how the military is giving six times as much to Obama as they are McCain:

    “We feel confident that many U.S. troops stationed overseas will support John McCain in the election this fall, but we suspect most are too busy doing the important work of defending this country than to make political contributions,” Goldfarb said.

    So I guess Goldfart is saying that a soldier who is stationed overseas is the only kind of soldier that matters to McCain? What an idiot (in other words, business as usual for Goldfart).

  278. 278.

    SGEW

    You were protesting citigroup and not wachovia?

    Environmental issues (coal investments), not internet security issues (of which I am mostly ignorant of). All banks are bad, but some are more bad than others kind of thing (I protest XOM and Shell but not BP, even though BP is plenty bad, for instance – there’s only so much protest time in a day).

    You’re a chatty bunch, aren’t you?

    You have no idea.

    Oh, and Comrade Scrutinizer: My “Nothing to see here, move along” line was ironic, if I failed to make that clear ;)

  280. 280.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Then did she raise on high the Holy Blockquote of Annette, saying, “Bless this, O Lord, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy snark.”

    And the people did rejoice and did feast upon the Malkins and Broders and Red-States and Powerlines and K-Los and Hewitts.

    Now did the Lady say, “First thou clickest the B-Quote button, then typest a set of words, then pressest the Enter key. Then thou must count to three as thou types the periods. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. One shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Four is right out as overkill. Once the periods number three, being the number of the counting, be reached, then addest more sets of text, three periods each in between, then clickest the /B-Quote, then lobbest thou the Holy Blockquote in the direction of thine foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.”

  281. 281.

    Comrade Darkness

    Hey, how about a tip jar for Annette?

    She’s a geek, so we noes she won’t blow the dough on lipstick or anything like that. She can have a tip from me if she promises to spend the money on beer.

  282. 282.

    SGEW

    And the people did rejoice and did feast upon the Malkins and Broders and Red-States and Powerlines and K-Los and Hewitts.

    Skip a bit brother.

    [a day without a MP reference is a wasted day]

  283. 283.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Got it SGEW, I was wanting to try block quote inside block quote the way I used to do it.

  284. 284.

    Lab2112

    Of course U.S. troops stationed overseas absolutely support John McCain (except for the DADT fudgepackers and closet Muslims in uniform — a true disgrace). Patriotic American soldiers know that McCain will stand courageous and firm against Iranian Nuclear aggression, while Barry is wildly anxious to transform America into a Islamic-Socialist paradise.

  286. 286.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Oh, fuck. Find and replace didn’t work completely in Notepad and all I can see now are a myriad of typos in my last post. I shall have to fling myself off a tall tower somewhere.

  289. 289.

    Comrade Darkness

    Word press added a marquee there…

    Well, it makes us geezers feel good that one thing hasn’t change: the preview still lies to us like a snake that just bit Sarah Palin after a long night at an Irish pub.

  293. 293.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Huh. Pressing “Submit Comment” without typing anything gives me an error message. Whodathunkit?

  295. 295.

    Kamishna ya Watu Xenos

    “Wachovia did not fail,” the F.D.I.C. said, “rather it is to be acquired by Citigroup Inc. on an open-bank basis with assistance from the F.D.I.C.”

    Comments like this from the FDIC do very little to restore trust in the banking and regulatory systems.

    Meanwhile, we are now down 3% in the first 20 minutes. Hold her Newt, she’s a-heading for the river!

  297. 297.

    Punchy

    She’s a geek, so we noes she won’t blow the dough on lipstick or anything like that. She can have a tip from me if she promises to spend the money on beer.

    I’m pretty sure geeks dont drop dimes on draws of draft. Too bizzay trying to reconfigure the hard drives penchant for reformatting the configured format, and hacking into Palin’s email addy.

  299. 299.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Dow is off nearly 300. I thought that the bailout was supposed to inspire confidence in the markets.

  301. 301.

    The Other Steve

    Citi is buying up Wachovia!

    What’s awesome about this all is that the companies who were too big to fail have now become even bigger!

  302. 302.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Dennis, I’m hearing two sets of spin here in Toronto:

    1) The delay in approval is spooking investors
    2) There’s no confidence in the bill even if it passes

    I think the markets wouldn’t be as bad if they had come to a decision earlier, but they may have still dropped to some degree.

  303. 303.

    Comrade Jake

    I hate to rain on the “Troops give to Obama!” parade here, but if you look at the study – it’s based on a pretty small number of troops. The only data they have are what the FEC provides, which consists only of those folks giving more than $200. I’m not sure the results are statistically significant.

  304. 304.

    The Other Steve

    Dow is off nearly 300. I thought that the bailout was supposed to inspire confidence in the markets.

    LIESS!!!! LIES! ALL LIES!

    The fundamentals of our economy is strong, my friends.

  305. 305.

    The Other Steve

    I hate to rain on the “Troops give to Obama!” parade here, but if you look at the study – it’s based on a pretty small number of troops. The only data they have are what the FEC provides, which consists only of those folks giving more than $200. I’m not sure the results are statistically significant.

    John McCain has been endorsed by more Generals and Admirals than soldiers giving to Barack Obama!

  307. 307.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Dennis, I’m hearing two sets of spin here in Toronto:

    Makes sense. I’m wondering if the media will have the stones to contradict the Republicans bloviating about their concern for the taxpayer. That ship sailed during the Reagan years and was scuttled in the Marianas trench by the Bush administration.

  309. 309.

    Svensker

    Dow is off nearly 300. I thought that the bailout was supposed to inspire confidence in the markets.

    Think the Wachovia failure, plus Fortis failure in Europe, plus Blinksey (or whatever it’s called) in UK is spooking the folks. Worldwide Depression, bitches!

  310. 310.

    Comrade Jake

    Anyone else see where Team McCain is now stating that if Gwen Ifil asks too many foreign-policy questions this Thursday, she will have to answer for it?

    Questions concerning moose-hunting are, however, perfectly acceptable.

  311. 311.

    SGEW

    Anyone else see where Team McCain is now stating that if Gwen Ifil asks too many foreign-policy questions this Thursday, she will have to answer for it?

    TPM has the video here.

  312. 312.

    TheFountainHead

    Anyone else see where Team McCain is now stating that if Gwen Ifil asks too many foreign-policy questions this Thursday, she will have to answer for it?

    Questions concerning moose-hunting are, however, perfectly acceptable.

    Deference, goddamnit, deference!!

  313. 313.

    Krista

    Annette Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
    You requested mobile, you got it: installed a mobile plugin. I’m sure John won’t mind.

    Now when I’m hanging out at the dentist’s office later this morning, I can keep up with the scintillating conversation around here.

    Can I just add to the Annette-love that is going on around here? Your geek-prowess is impressive, but it’s the subtle snark that delights us beyond all reason.

    Yeah, the blockquotes were buggered up a bit. Annette’s entire quote was meant to be in the blockquote, but the bit about the dentist got excluded.

    And yes, we are a seriously chatty bunch. We’ve got a bit of a community thing going on here.

  315. 315.

    Comrade The Moar You Know

    Lab2112 Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am

    Of course U.S. troops stationed overseas absolutely support John McCain (except for the DADT fudgepackers and closet Muslims in uniform—a true disgrace). Patriotic American soldiers know that McCain will stand courageous and firm against Iranian Nuclear aggression, while Barry is wildly anxious to transform America into a Islamic-Socialist paradise.

    7/10. Good effort, not enough racism.

  318. 318.

    Comrade Jake

    The other part from this morning’s NBC take: Biden has done 90+ interviews since his selection as Obama’s VP. Palin has done 3, one of which with that GOP butt-pirate Hannity.

    I mean, it’s unreal how much of a joke Palin is turning out to be.

  322. 322.

    SGEW

    We’ve got a bit of a community thing going on here.

    Just what you’d expect from a bunch of elitist, uppity “community organizer” supporters.

    Damn libruls and their stupid “communities”!

  323. 323.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Dow is off nearly 300. I thought that the bailout was supposed to inspire confidence in the markets.

    Some people over at the GOS won’t be satisfied ’til the Dow tanks by 1000.

  324. 324.

    Kamishna ya Watu Xenos

    I am not putting more money in the market until it either drops another 20%, or stays steady with 20% inflation priced in.

  325. 325.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    # SGEW Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 9:36 am

    We’ve got a bit of a community thing going on here.

    Just what you’d expect from a bunch of elitist, uppity “community organizer” supporters.

    Damn libruls and their stupid “communities”!

    Well, I tried to do a little airy-fairy social-consciousness raising earlier, but I was smacked down. So now I’m back to the “Ilsa, She Wolf of the Nazis” level.

  326. 326.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    LONGEST BALLOON-JUICE THREAD. EVAH.

    I’m just practising for my upcoming state of permanent joblessness.

    Brother, can you spare a pixel?

  328. 328.

    Roonieroo

    Yeah, I got up this morning after reading all the articles saying that if they didn’t get the bailout done then Monday would see the market drop badly.

    Uh huh. They got the bailout nailed down and ….the market is dropping badly.

  329. 329.

    Comrade Jake

    Some people over at the GOS won’t be satisfied ‘til the Dow tanks by 1000.

    I like visiting the GOS from time to time. They’re decent for posting recent info and news items. If something happens of interest to the left-wing blogosphere, you’re likely to find it there.

    By the same token, it appears to be something of a magnet for wankers.

  331. 331.

    TheFountainHead

    By the same token, it appears to be something of a magnet for wankers.

    Heh. If the GOS is a magnet for wankers (and it is), who exactly does this place attract!

  332. 332.

    Comrade Tbonevitch

    I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m pouring one out for WordPress Error. Things will never be the same without him.

    Love having a mobile version of the site, hate having it based on user agent detection. I’d much prefer a dedicated mobile URL instead.

    The mobile template also needs some work. With the borderless comment aesthetic carrying over from the full version of the site and the lack of whitespace, it’s really hard to read.

    Excellent work so far, though. Props to Annette et al.

  333. 333.

    Comrade The Moar You Know

    Hmmm, blockquote’s not working the same as previously. Let’s try this:

    Lab2112 Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am
    Of course U.S. troops stationed overseas absolutely support John McCain (except for the DADT fudgepackers and closet Muslims in uniform—a true disgrace). Patriotic American soldiers know that McCain will stand courageous and firm against Iranian Nuclear aggression, while Barry is wildly anxious to transform America into a Islamic-Socialist paradise.

    7/10. Good effort, not enough racism.

  335. 335.

    SGEW

    Well, I tried to do a little airy-fairy social-consciousness raising earlier

    Baby steps, Scrutinizer. Baby steps.

  337. 337.

    Comrade Jake

    Heh. If the GOS is a magnet for wankers (and it is), who exactly does this place attract!

    Comrades?

  339. 339.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Dammit, I keep pimping my Nancy Whatsername==Ilsa, She Wolf comment. Somebody laugh, so that I can get to work.

  340. 340.

    4tehlulz

    >>who exactly does this place attract!

    Wankers that at least acknowledge that we’re wankers and accept that this will never change.

    Also about 90% fewer concern trolls that GOS.

  341. 341.

    The Other Steve

    Anyone else see where Team McCain is now stating that if Gwen Ifil asks too many foreign-policy questions this Thursday, she will have to answer for it?

    What? Are they going to burn a cross in her lawn, or is it pistols at dawn?

  343. 343.

    Chinn Romney, polygamist

    I’ll have you know that the Belmont Estate Grounds have never looked better. Thank You Sarah!

  344. 344.

    SGEW

    Somebody laugh, so that I can get to work.

    I laughed when I saw it. But then, I have actually seen “Ilsa, She Wolf of the S.S.”

    In a theater. Took me years to recover.

  345. 345.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Jesus Christ. This goes beyond working the refs: they’re PREDICTING that Palin will be sandbagged by “too many” foreign policy questions. I predict that “any” will be “too many”.

    Maybe Palin and her team have a future in soccer.

  346. 346.

    SGEW

    Error establishing a database connection

    Hooray! I was getting worried that the new upgrade would be too flawless.

    I like being reminded of the fallibility of the world (by which I mean the internet).

  347. 347.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Yeah, posting has slowed down a bit. It’s real world weekday traffic now.

    Hold me, BJ.

  351. 351.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    So what’s the deal here? Are we seeing how big a comment thread can get before we freeze up the system?

    Perhaps John and Annette are closeted together, —discussing things? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  353. 353.

    Ash Can

    Team McCain is now stating that if Gwen Ifil asks too many foreign-policy questions this Thursday, she will have to answer for it

    Oh, for fuck’s sake. Yes, I’m sure Gwen Ifill is seeing that this morning and thinking, “Goddness gracious, I’d better be extra super nice to that poor Sarah.”

    This is like when some empty-headed athlete mouths off about the opposing team just before a big game, gets quoted in the press, and the quote gets blown up into 340-point Times Roman bold and plastered to the main wall of said rival’s clubhouse. I just hope Ms. Ifill doesn’t injure her hand too badly when she crushes her coffee mug with rage upon seeing this ridiculous quote (as well as its stunningly stupid context).

    Actually, the more I think about it, the more I suspect a set-up here. Team McCain might be waving a red flag in front of Gwen Ifill to encourage her to go full throttle in lighting Palin up. Palin crashes and burns so badly in the debate that even the so-cons have to admit that replacing her with Lieberman is for the best. Team McCain fires a parting shot at Ifill for being OMGSOMEEEEENsob!!, and proceeds to work on salvaging itself.

  357. 357.

    Comrade The Moar You Know

    Jesus Christ. This goes beyond working the refs: they’re PREDICTING that Palin will be sandbagged by “too many” foreign policy questions. I predict that “any” will be “too many”.

    Godammit, I am dumber for having watched that. Fuck Nancy Poofenhauser or whatever the fuck her name is, and fuck Fox News for enabling/encouraging/abetting.

  358. 358.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Ash Can @ 346

    The McCain campaign is already saying that Couric’s interview was unfair and ful of gotcha’s. Katie fuckin’ Couric, a tough interviewer. The mind boggles.

  361. 361.

    Comrade Grumpy Code Monkey

    LONGEST BALLOON-JUICE THREAD. EVAH.

    And we haven’t (yet) brought the site to its knees. Nice.

  362. 362.

    Annette

    Hey, how about a tip jar for Annette?
    …
    She’s a geek, so we noes she won’t blow the dough on lipstick or anything like that. She can have a tip from me if she promises to spend the money on beer.

    Thanks, but not necessary. And I would spend such stuff on beer, but alas, a bout with oral cancer (no, I dont smoke and never have) left me unable to drink alcohol. The radiation, instead of giving me super powers like they promise in the movies, just left me with an overly sensitive mouth and tongue. What’s left of it. Bummer.

    The load has climbed, and I’ve taken the trace back to the queries that WP uses. The newer version appears to be better in some respects as far as the time spent on and number of total queries, but there are still a lot of high-resource sorts and copies going on. The comment table contains about half a million comments, and a lot of what I’m seeing here is operations on that table. So we’ll see what we can do about optimizing that so mySQL doesn’t pound the server quite so much. We may experiment with some query caching, but that will be in the overnight hours since it requires that the process be restarted after changes are made.

  363. 363.

    Annette

    Ah, the light is shed: scraper bots. Here’s the deal: in general, when a page is requested, the WP cache plugin caches that page. Result: one set of WP-generated queries. If the page doesn’t change, that’s the page served up when someone next requests it. If it does change (in a lengthy and active comment thread, for instance) the cached page is regenerated. We all know – or at least many of us do – that WP generates a ton of queries per page because of the way it’s coded. What I just saw in the logs, and blocked, was an automated bot running through every single page on the site. Result: many, many sets of WP-generated queries, as it works to answer those page requests. The cache grows as each page is also stored. Further result: high loads, because the bot requests come in at a much higher rate than any human could possibly attain.

    We saw this same type of thing on the original server, but because the new server is more powerful, the effects of the bot are lessened somewhat, although not entirely. The real question to my mind is: why would someone set off a scraper bot against this site for no apparent reason? The requesting hosts are in various places (this last one from a machine at Abbott Labs in IL), and we see this same activity to a lesser extent on other sites that are as busy as this one and less busy, so there’s no pattern we can point to in order to institute fuller controls. The life of a tech…

    Also, I’ll be testing out this comment tag plugin along with a few others on my blog, to see what we can make of it all.

  364. 364.

    cain

    We saw this same type of thing on the original server, but because the new server is more powerful, the effects of the bot are lessened somewhat, although not entirely. The real question to my mind is: why would someone set off a scraper bot against this site for no apparent reason? The requesting hosts are in various places (this last one from a machine at Abbott Labs in IL), and we see this same activity to a lesser extent on other sites that are as busy as this one and less busy, so there’s no pattern we can point to in order to institute fuller controls. The life of a tech…

    I had a suspicion there was an attack. I had asked john to look at the logs because it was happening between certain times. I hope this isn’t some kind of malicious attack.

    cain

  366. 366.

    ImJohnGalt

    Dennis, I’m hearing two sets of spin here in Toronto:

    Hey Mary, you seem to know a little about these here internets in Toronto. You know any techie/webdev not too long out of college who might want to come to a smallish company that will give them way more responsiblity than they should have, where the pay is okay but we’re not in danger of going under?

    [I know, I know, I’ve gotta stop overselling ourselves].

  367. 367.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head, but I can ask around. What sort of work and qualifications are you talking about? Server admin? Database work? Front-end development? All of the above?

  368. 368.

    Shinobi

    Wow… The comments actually loaded in under 20 minutes. WOW!

    Do I need to update my RSS aggregator?

Comments are closed.