I just wanted to take a moment and let you all know that we will have a new front page poster starting soon, and the newest member of the staff is frequent commenter “Anne Laurie.” She’s feisty and opinionated, loves animals, and I’ve been a fan of her comments for some time now. Probably far more to “teh left” than me, although when Democrats are doubling troop strength in Afghanistan and holding hands with Republicans to shovel billions of dollars to the FIRE crowd, and the right wing apparently spent the last eight years combining the highly successful tactics of Code Pink and the comedic stylings of Hee Haw!, I honestly don’t know what the heck “the left” and “the right” mean anymore.
I hope you will all say hello and treat her with the same amount of respect you treat all the rest of us. In other words, feel free to nag her, correct her spelling, mock her, call her a moron, bicker incessantly, and the like. And may God have mercy on your soul.
Welcome aboard, Anne Laurie.
Svensker
Cool!
Of course, you’re only doing this because she’s affirmative action. Reverse racism at its finest, liebrul.
Anton Sirius
Mind if we call her Maria, just to keep things clear?
whiskey
worst front page poster ever
JGabriel
Way cool. I was just thinking yesterday that this board needs a woman on the front page.
Congrats, Anne!
.
AhabTRuler
Yes, but my Grandmother (the dead one) disapproves!
Laura W
YAY! Smart, sassy, funny, gorgeous writing, irreverent.
Pets! Also.
Finally a front page vagina.
All praise be the Goddess.
You betcha!
Bill E Pilgrim
I think that’s a grossly unfair insult to Hee Haw.
At least they had music.
Sm*t Cl*de
Have you thought about the baggage that Anne Laurie brings with her? By ‘baggage’, I refer to the commentariat from Sadly,No!, who will wander over here and drag down the level of discourse with their asinine jabbering, starting now.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Egads, another liberal female! However many of them are there?
I kid of course. Welcome aboard Annie Laurie.
Unless you like Dijon mustard.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@Sm*t Cl*de: You rang?
Ahem. Tonguejack my shitbox.
frigg
Welcome…Miss Lady Communist.
Martin
Damn. I was really rooting for BOB.
I demand to know Anne Laurie’s views on tractors, government controlled thermostats, and hairy armpits before I can endorse this decision.
JK
Welcome Anne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OCPz1j4os&feature=PlayList&p=79D90DD5C2849F6C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=21
Steve
How’s she on empathy?
Zifnab
Affirmative Action candidate! You only picked her cause she’s got boobs! :-p
Welcome aboard Anne. Comment early and often.
Lesley
I’ve enjoyed Anne’s insightful and witty commentary over at Sadly No and glad to see she’ll be posting over here.
Congrats Anne.
P.S. Hope to also see some pet pix, as this seems to go with the territory over here.
KG
A couple of threads back, someone asked if Thomas votes different from Scalia very often. Just for the record, it depends on the metric you use. If you look just at which side they vote for, it is about 91% (Ginsberg-Souter is about 90%). If you look at the reasoning behind the decision, it’s closer to 74%, in those cases, Ginsberg-Souter was 81%. Bit more info at Thomas’ wikipedia page.
The Cat Who Would Be Tunch
Is that jealousy I’m sensing, John?
Rick Taylor
That’s a beautiful summation of the last few years. I don’t know what to think either.
Welcome, Ann Laurie!
kdrtoona
Congrats on crossing over Ms. Laurie. I look forward to your posts on the Steelers, Penguins and the hijinks of your rotund cat who actually does nothing when any one is actually looking…and other important stuff too…
Welcome to the Show …
gbear
But she’s a girl…
One important question: Does Anne pronounce the ‘e’ in her name? My little sister grew up as an Anne-with-an-‘e’. Somewhere along the line she became Ann-silent-‘e’ but somehow us older siblings keep forgetting that. She finds us annoying in that aspect.
One more thing: There is NOTHING that makes me feel more like a toadie than saying ‘welcome aboard!’ to a new fellow employee. I blush if I find those words coming out of my mouth. Just my own personal reaction…
Notorious P.A.T.
Congratulations Anne. Guess what: you have an unlimited expense account and John will never tell you what to write. But you have to make available a picture of yourself looking very serious (mustache optional).
Laura W
@gbear: I find your entire question annoying, frankly.
(I guess I should put in a ;-) so as not to sound totally bitchy.)
Laura Ann (NO “e”)
gbear
Oh, and maybe the overwhelmed Mr Cole can turn over his unpublished stash of pet pictures to the new hire?
Carrie
Ooh I love her,
How exciting is this! Congrats to both of you!
Comrade Jake
@Laura W:
Laura W, FTW.
Ninerdave
@Zifnab:
It’s obvious John’s just trying to get laid.
Oh and John, shouldn’t that be addition, not edition?
srv
As a follower of all, Anne Laurie’s “leftist” comments have been overturned at least 76% of the time. She is just another one of those NE (I think one of those parts of MA that thinks it’s the better part of NY) liberals who shop at Trader Joe’s (feel good greenies who can’t be bothered to notice nothing at TJ’s is recyclable).
What’s funny about BJ is that John thought he brought some leftists in, and he has jumped over them and moved farther to the left.
I will predict here that within 1 year, Doug/Tim/Anne will be the staunch Obama drones, who sigh heavily as progressive causes fall by the wayside (let’s just call it the ppGaz Syndrome), and John will be the screaming DFH on the left.
Ninerdave
I’m pro-front page vagina. Granted, I’m pro-any kind of vagina.
gex
@gbear: I dunno if the answer matters. I mean you’ve asked the question, but honestly, how far can you be expected to go to pronounce her name the way she would like? Just give it your best regular English pronunciation and go with that.
Violet
Congrats, Anne Laurie!
Of course she’s only being promoted due to reverse sexism. And what’s her stance on Puerto Rican food? And does she have a minimum of $100K in her cash accounts? These are the important questions regarding her promotion.
Laura W
@Comrade Jake: Oh wow! It’s been forever since I won a thread and to have it be a vagina-related thread win is twice the honor.
Laura W
(That’s two V’s!)
Ninerdave
@Laura W:
Can you win a thread twice? because that actually made me laugh out loud.
John Cole
@Ninerdave: No, I meant new edition as in a new edition of balloon juice, plus I was trying to keep with our pop culture references as titles. I probably better change it anyway before I get 20 emails from goose grade.
Laura W
@Ninerdave: Well, if you’re asking me, I’m gonna say YES!
Because I am just that needy and desperate for attention.
gbear
@gex:
The world can become a very cold place if you pronounce the ‘e’ to the wrong Anne.
It’s the same thing as pronouncing Sotomayor correctly. No one’s going to know how I actually say it as long as I can spell it correctly, but it’s respectful and good to know the correct pronounciation.
Montysano
Do I want Anne Laurie to fail? Yes… yes, I do.
Robertdsc-iphone
Does she like beagles?
What input did Tunch have on this decision?
YellowJournalism
All the names of possible candidates were hidden in Tunch’s litterbox. Anne Laurie’s was the only name he didn’t crap on.
gbear
Can we have an up-or-down vote on the new title?
gex
@gbear: I suspect my snark went undetected… I was referencing Krikorian’s rant about the absurdity of being expected to pronounce Sotomayor’s name properly.
Cain
Congrats, Anne Laurie, looking forward to seeing some new perspectives!
When is conservative liberal goign to be posting on the front page?
cain
Robertdsc-iphone
Jeeze oh pease, John! New Kids On The Block?Damn your ears. Damn your ears to hell!
MNPundit
PIX! PIX OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!
Or I guess, congratulations, don’t be Michael D.
Anne Laurie
(Hangs head, scuffs shy foot. Looks up from the corner of one eye to see how people are taking this.)
Thank you, John, for your very kind offer, and thank you, everybody, for welcoming me.
Anne-Laurie is my first name (really), and both E’s are silent, although I insist on using them anyway. If you think it looks almost like my parents couldn’t spell, be assured it was deliberate (my baby sister’s name is Barbara Ellen). If this confuses you, get off my dam’ lawn, punk!
Herr Smut Clyde, Xunpronounceable Gilchrist, my dear old S,N! friends, I have but one word to say to you:
PENISKisses!Ninerdave, you would be most bitterly disappointed, because (as John already knows) I am middle-aged & fat & married. For my fellow Pratchett enthusiasts: Think of me as Nanny Ogg, but with fewer kids (none) and better dentistry.
And this is where I should prove my bona fides by grabbing Martin in a headlock to let him discover the answer to his armpit-hair question via direct observation, but fortunately for you bystanders, this is the intertoobz.
Now I must go see if I can figure out this “front page posting” stuff, and possibly find a Sara Steele picture for Laura. (Just don’t count on it, since I put the ‘challenge’ in ‘tech-challenged’.)
Bill E Pilgrim
Okay I’m actually starting to be put off being attracted to women by that Pamela Anderson thing I see every time I click over here.
I may have to make a choice. Hmm. Lessee, on the one hand there’s one’s sexuality and entire romantic life. On the other hand, there are some funny commenters here.
Irony Abounds
Anne Laurie knows the group The October Project, so that’s a good start in my book. I just hope the pay and the benefits are worth the aggravation.
tripletee (formerly tBone)
Best. Frontpager. Evah.
And it’s about time some ladyparts got tossed into the frontpage sausagefest. Although I’m guessing most of Anne’s stuff will be more masculine than some of John’s Hola Fruit-ier posts.
freelancer
Expanding the lineup, introducing a little more variety,
Kudos John.
Congrats Anne.
I just hope that the ethereal, eventual future beagle that Cole’s fated to adopt doesn’t make him snap and go all Oprah on the regular commenters:
“You’re a frontpager!
And you’re a frontpager!
And you’re a frontpager!
Everybody’s a frontpager with posting privileges!”
If that happens, BJ (and my Reader page) is immediately NSFW.
gnomedad
@Laura W:
One without an arm sticking out of it, anyway.
Wile E. Quixote
@Bill E Pilgrim
I’m still trying to figure out where the third arm is coming from. I mean it looks like its growing out of her vay-jay-jay. Or is this actually her clitoris, grossly enlarged from years of hormone therapy?
J. Michael Neal
Anne-Laurie on the front page, the Red Wings in the finals, me officially in graduate school, and Matt Wieters called up by the Orioles.
All in all, a very good day.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
New democRat John Cole apoints a blogger whos only obvious qualification is that she is a she which definately proves that this is an afirmative action move by that liebrul wimp to pacify his asskissing liebrul possy of thugs who worship every single fart that BHO cracks.
/wingnut
Congratulations and welcome to the top tier Anne Laurie! Now dazzle us with your wit and wisdom! Now! Damn it, what’s taking so long? ;)
I prefer the centerfold, more room for the display. Ditto on the “pro-any” though, no argument there.
Johnny Pez
Do we even know whether Anne-Sotero is qualified to be a front page poster? I demand to see a birth certificate!
Bookmark this, liberals!
Ninerdave
I’m still trying to figure out how to pronounce her name in American. One step at a time.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Wile E. Quixote:
I think it’s more likely from too much meditation. I think after you get the third eye thing and you keep on going, then you start popping out other body parts.
That’s what happens when you combine Los Angeles and overachievers.
Besides, compared to Shiva, she’s a beginner.
freelancer
@DougL: Clearly, you’ve never been to Singapore.
OriGuy
Welcome, Silent E! Maybe you can help us discuss shοes and soçialism without standing on our heads.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
No I haven’t, but being pro-vagina is not necessarily a hands on job unless you are a gynecologist and even then you have the gloves (no gloves, no gynecologists practicing their love of women!).
When it comes to the hands on stuff, I am a bit more picky. ;)
Blue Raven
Man, I’ve been wondering for months when y’all were going to get the distaff side in on this party. Welcome aboard, Anne Laurie!
Mike Huckabee
Congratulations Maria Laurie.
bago
Queued up a bunch of demos, video, and episodes to download on the ol xbox. Time for some intertoobes! (Silent E)
El Cid
This was all part of Karl Rove’s The Plan (TM).
MelodyMaker
I want to ask Double-Silent-E about a bitey freakin’ declawed persian, but she’s on some book thing. I’ll wait for the right moment. This is cool!
geg6
Yay! Woman parts on the front page is always a good thing. Unless they are Pam Anderson’s, that is.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Front Page Vagina would be an excellent name for a rock band.
@Ninerdave: Even if it’s attached to Katherine Lopez?
[Holds out barf bowl]
John O
Anne Laurie totally rocks!
Krista
Congrats, Anne Laurie!
Laura W: see what you started? You mention the V-word, and the boys all go a little insane, poor things.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Or Manilla, or Bangkok, or Seoul or……
Not that *I* know from personal experience.
canuckistani
Those aren’t Woman Parts. They superficially resemble woman parts, and are attached to a woman, but god knows what the hell they really are. I like looking at woman parts, and those things make me want to pull my eyes out. QED.
D-Chance.
a) Why the thread title (New EDITION) change, Cole?
b) The “watering down” of Balloon Juice continues.
c) No mention of the REAL news… Obama covering for the military by refusing to release the Abu Ghraib photos, which are said to include:
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Major General Antonio Taguba, the former army officer who in 2004 investigated and wrote a report on allegations of detainee abuse in U.S. prisons in Iraq, has confirmed the existence of graphic photographs depicting the following:
–An American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner.
–A male translator apparently raping a male detainee.
–A female prisoner having her clothing forcibly removed to expose her breasts.
Other photographs depict sexual assaults on prisoners with a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube, according to the Telegraph story.
So when are we going to string up that war criminal of a president we have right now? Co-conspiracy in the cover-up of such heinous acts is grounds for impeachment, at the very least, and criminal punishment if justice is to be truly served.
And we’re STILL not getting the true story of the horrors currently occurring in Bagram…
jenniebee
Is she really the best candidate for the job, or is she just the best female candidate for the job? And that is totally not sexist because it isn’t sexist to imply that all women are inferior to all men, it’s just a statement of completely made up fact. She’s probably an activist poster, too, instead of one who reiterates the precedent of rock-solid and unassailable posts that advanced concepts like “greeted as liberators” and “peak wingnut.”
Oh sure, she graduated summa cum laude from Princeton (for all I know) and provides insightful and witty comments, but does she bring you links like this one?
flukebucket
And hers.
Jay
@gbear: Be careful with that – if she doesn’t approve, she’ll be sure to tell you what a “garbage in, garbage out” shit-breed you have.
I’m sure there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but this joint just lost a reader because PETA-types piss me off!
Krista
Oh and John, damn you to the lowest bowels of Hell for the thread title. I was actually a fan of NKOTB when I was 13, so not only do I have the song in my head (with all the lyrics), but I can now clearly visualize the video, too.
Krista
Wow, way to be open-minded and give people a chance to win you over, Jay. Jeez…
Jay
That stems from a heated conversation weeks ago when I was told that my Labradoodle was crap.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s a James Dobson acolyte or an animal advocate – that level of aggressive self-righteousness is to be condemned and mocked, not rewarded.
Oh, and next time you walk in a bar, John, tell the first man you see that you don’t want to start a fight and then throw your drink in his face. No, No, I said I didn’t want to start a fight! See how that works for you.
Bad choice for a blog that want’s a more common sense, reasonable, and centrist tone.
Face
Can I look forward to Friday Tampon Blogging?
Heh.
Krista
Why yes, Face, because that’s all we chicks know is tampons, high heels, and lipstick.
/rolls eyes.
gbear
@Irony Abounds:
Oh oh. ‘Funeral In His Heart’ is a great sounding song, but otherwise TOP wins my award for poutiest band evar. they make The Cure sound like Up With People.
@Wile E. Quixote:
It’s a PETA ad: People Equipped with Three Arms.
Cyrus
@YellowJournalism:
Corrected. Remember who we’re talking about.
Little Dreamer
So John, what this means is the BJ wants to be GOS? You added Doug just a short couple of months ago and now you need someone else too?
And, ummm, shouldn’t a “frequent commentor” have a name that is obviously recognizable? This new front pager has been posting since back in 2007, yes, but with less than 200 posts in that time and the name didn’t jump out at me as obvious*.
Trust me that this does not mean I wanted the position myself, I do not have an active blog and I would neither want the position or feel I was qualified. I just wonder how someone whose name I hardly recognized is a “frequent commentor”.
Notwithstanding that I don’t like John’s decision, simply because it doesn’t pass the smell test to me, I will still welcome Anne as a new member of the BJ family.
Welcome Anne.
*before anyone says I probably don’t have the ability to see the obvious, I would like to mention I happened to notice the license plate that is one number before mine at a red light when TZ and I were out together last night. He can tell you that I have the ability to notice a lot of things.
Krista
Sez who? :) I thought this blog was all about unreasonable, foolhardy islamofascistleftyness. And Tunch.
gbear
@Krista:
…don’t forget being consistently wrong.
iluvsummr
I go to Cape Town for two weeks and the blog gets better! I need to go away on another vacation soon, obviously. Welcome aboard Anne Laurie.
canuckistani
I’m buying you a virtual beer for that one.
Bill Belichick
I only pass by a couple of times a week so I can’t keep track of all the inmates, this isn’t the Crazy Kale Lady, I hope. Or the one who drinks peach liquors. Since Cole is such a metro-wuss I really think a bull dyke would provide the necessary balance. I’m not getting the impression that this Annie is all that.
InflatableCommenter
So, it’s not Sarah Jane Moore, then?
InflatableCommenter
@Little Dreamer:
You certainly do. And I guess I’ll point out that I have no idea what my license plate number is.
But in my defense, I was able to listen to that guy in the parking lot for three minutes and figure out that he was from Long Island. I have a very accurate ear, but license plate numbers and details like that escape me.
I frequently get names and handles wrong around here. Anne Laurie could be DougJ for all I know. Or vice versa.
Little Dreamer
@InflatableCommenter:
You don’t need to know what your license plate number is, because I know what it is. ;)
InflatableCommenter
@Little Dreamer:
Works for me.
Michael D.
@Zifnab:
She’s the chick with the huge ones in the ad on the left.
mrmike
“Her brow is like the snawdrift,
Her neck is like the swan,
Her face it ’tis the fairest,
That ‘er the sun shone on.
That ‘er the sun shone on,
And dark blue is her e’e,
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I’d lay me down and dee”
Welcome.
Just Some Fuckhead
I blame DougJ for this. If he hadn’t been such a lousy front-pager, John wouldn’t have had to go looking..
;)
InflatableCommenter
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Hey, do you have a new email address? The last mail I sent you got bounced.
thx.
Kenbob
Welcome Anne. You’re in great company. Some of the best writers and commenters anywhere are right here.
Ken J.
Anne Laurie: Jeez, is everyone from our old crowd going to get a highly visible blog gig? :-) At least I won’t have to try to search through comments to find your stuff now…
Comrade Darkness
John, we thought you were getting a second cat. Now look what followed you home.
Some diversity is welcome. But what really matters is what part of the pig does Anne Laurie prefer to eat?
Just Some Fuckhead
@InflatableCommenter: Same name, use hotmail.com.
Laura W
Nice to be recognized.
Ed Drone
Your folks are folkies! “Barbara Ellen” (Allen, in the ballads) and “Annie Laurie” in the same family. If your brother is “Tom Joad” or “Willie Taylor” [whatever the last name is], I am proved right.
Hey, nonnie, nonnie!
Ed
Irony Abounds
@gbear: Well, I guess that’s why I like TOP. One should have music for all moods, so when I’m in the mood for pouty music, I go for the best.
gbear
@Irony Abounds:
I have to confess that I had the Falling Farther In CD in my pile of background cubicle music and I’m listening to it right now. The thing that bugs me most about them is that the photos of the band in the booklet make them look focus-grouped and taste-makered to death. They all look like they work as design consultants or at an advertising agency.
Irony Abounds
@gbear: I only have downloaded versions of their two albums (bought and paid for mind you), so I haven’t seen the booklets. I must admit the videos for Bury My Lovely and, especially, Return to Me are rather odd. In any event, I just love Mary Fahl’s voice so I can overlook other issues.