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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Late Night Open Thread: Above My Pay Grade, Fortunately

Late Night Open Thread: Above My Pay Grade, Fortunately

by Anne Laurie|  April 2, 20111:17 am| 136 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Open Threads, Blogospheric Navel-Gazing

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I found Felix Salmon’s post on Bill Keller, NYTimesman, versus Arianna Huffington (which Salmon did not title ‘Daddy & Mommy Are Fighting Over the Internet’, because he is above stuff like that) worth sharing, but I haven’t found a way to sound intelligent about it. Insert your snark of choice below.

Also worth reading is James Fallows’ characteristically thoughtful & optimistic Atlantic article, “Learning to Love the (Shallow, Divisive, Unreliable) New Media“. Which includes a brief aside illustrating perhaps the key difference between “market-driven” blogs and whatever it is we’re doing here:

In the first New York profile, in 2007, Denton had said that an active “commenter” community was an important way to build an audience for a site. Now, he told me, he has concluded that courting commenters is a dead end. A site has to keep attracting new users—the omnipresent screens were recording the “new uniques” each story brought to the Gawker world—and an in-group of commenters might scare new visitors off. “People say it’s all about ‘engagement’ and ‘interaction,’ but that’s wrong,” he said. “New visitors are a better indicator and predictor of future growth.” A little more than one-third of Gawker’s traffic is new visitors; writers get bonuses based on how many new viewers they attract.

Since (of necessity) our Gracious Bloghost follows Arianna’s original business model, then for me at least, our ‘active commentor community’ is the reward. Although I hope that we haven’t reached the point where we’re scaring new visitors from speaking up…

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Reader Interactions

136Comments

  1. 1.

    MikeTheZ

    April 2, 2011 at 1:24 am

    Yeah, Denton killed roughly 1/3rd of his pageviews in a week. Which makes him the net equivalent of a Very Serious Person.

  2. 2.

    Little Boots

    April 2, 2011 at 1:24 am

    frist.

    do we do that here? I always liked it.

  3. 3.

    Little Boots

    April 2, 2011 at 1:25 am

    not that it matters, MIKETHEZ, apparently.

  4. 4.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 1:26 am

    Although I hope that we haven’t reached the point where we’re scaring new visitors from speaking up…

    Worry not. I’ve seen a shit ton of new voices around these parts lately. I’m guessing a lot of folks are like how I was: scared to pipe up out of a fear of being perceived an idiot, then the right issue comes along and you break in. The first comment is always the toughest however.

  5. 5.

    Little Boots

    April 2, 2011 at 1:28 am

    @Yutsano:

    I thought you were gonna say, scared of looking like an idiot then you read the other comments, which …

  6. 6.

    Martin

    April 2, 2011 at 1:32 am

    New media?

    Yep, we’re boned.

  7. 7.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 1:32 am

    @Little Boots: Which I am far too polite to say in public. Usually.

  8. 8.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    April 2, 2011 at 1:33 am

    @Yutsano: That was my process precisely.

  9. 9.

    SRW1

    April 2, 2011 at 1:33 am

    Hm, what does this say about someone who frequents this side, although mostly for lurking, but bypasses Gawker? What in the world is wrong with me?

    Help!!

    ETA: Apparently, WP no like more than two exclamation marks. That just does it then.

  10. 10.

    Little Boots

    April 2, 2011 at 1:37 am

    @SRW1:

    where do we start? but really, bypassing Gawker is more than acceptable.

  11. 11.

    scav

    April 2, 2011 at 1:41 am

    playing with metrics? Oh Goody. Growth over Quality. Writers rewarded for millions of new eyeballs enjoying a click-through tour of the newest high-visibility trainwrecks.

  12. 12.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    April 2, 2011 at 1:41 am

    NYT:

    Terry Jones said the United States and United Nations must take “immediate action” in retaliation for the 12 killings by an Afghan mob protesting his actions.

    I agree. I’d like to see some nice Canadian boys in blue helmets take immediate action. On Pastor Jones. With rifle butts.

  13. 13.

    Console

    April 2, 2011 at 1:44 am

    Coates is practically the only blog I can think of whose comments section are actually a draw for the blog itself. Well, I take that back because some comments sections are great in a car wreck sort of way. Matt Yglesias has some of the greatest trolls in internet history.

  14. 14.

    dr. bloor

    April 2, 2011 at 1:44 am

    for me at least, our ‘active commentor community’ is the reward

    Let me guess: you also find keeping forty to sixty cats around the house at any given time “rewarding.”

  15. 15.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 1:46 am

    @Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel): Canada can feel free to invade any time it wants. Come on down the I-5 corridor and make Washington the twelfth province. Every DFH in Seattle would be partying in the streets.

  16. 16.

    Joey Maloney

    April 2, 2011 at 1:47 am

    I’d just like to take this opportunity to point out the mini-riot currently taking place on the Florida State House’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Florida-House/174111792605838. Ever since the Democratic state rep was censured for speaking the word “uterus” on the House floor, interested people have been showing up to question the action, to excoriate the hypocrisy and stupidity it represents, or just to post the word “uterus”.

    Predictably, whoever moderates the page is completely ignorant of the Streisand Effect – they’re aggressively deleting comments and even banning posters, which has generated even MORE comments from people demanding to know why comments were deleted, and even suggesting the deletions are a violation of Florida’s sunshine laws.

    It’s good fun; stop by if you’re on Facebook.

  17. 17.

    Little Boots

    April 2, 2011 at 1:48 am

    @dr. bloor:

    bitter.

  18. 18.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    April 2, 2011 at 1:51 am

    @Yutsano: Canada would first need to build a coalition. Maybe a Norweigian, Swedish, Japanese peace keeping force.

    Is Canada up for some nation building? (I’ll bet that Canadian Observer dude is)

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    April 2, 2011 at 2:01 am

    @Console:

    Matt Yglesias has some of the greatest trolls in internet history.

    Nah. Not to sound all curmudgeonly, but nothing I’ve seen on Yglesias’s blog compares to some of the classic USENET trolls. Even the better Slashdot trolls compare favorably.

  20. 20.

    Roger Moore

    April 2, 2011 at 2:03 am

    @Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel):

    I agree. I’d like to see some nice Canadian Pakistani boys in blue helmets take immediate action. On Pastor Jones. With rifle butts.

    FTFY.

  21. 21.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    April 2, 2011 at 2:07 am

    @Roger Moore: Ah. Better.

  22. 22.

    kdaug

    April 2, 2011 at 2:09 am

    whatever it is we’re doing here…

    That’s an interesting question – what do we do here? How would you define it?

    Also, too – agree about the large number of lurkers. (I just can’t keep my mouth shut). I generally follow the “See what the FPer’s are saying, and then wade though the comments” model.

  23. 23.

    Anne Laurie

    April 2, 2011 at 2:12 am

    @dr. bloor:

    Let me guess: you also find keeping forty to sixty cats around the house at any given time “rewarding.”

    Just two cats, both ex-ferals, now that the third we were ‘babysitting for a few months’ for friends has expired after 7 or 8 years in our household. And there won’t be any more cats in our immediate future, because the Obligation Dog (rescue dog #3) is liable to discourage well-meaning adoption-oriented visitors. (She doesn’t hurt cats, but she can’t resist scaring them. And she’s extremely territorial about human visitors, to say the least.) That’s one reason the Spousal Unit and I have stayed together so long, more than 30 years at this point — we keep each other honest about our pet-rescue capabilities.

  24. 24.

    Your Bloody Savior (former known as justawriter)

    April 2, 2011 at 2:18 am

    You people are frigging terrifying. Why I just dropped in one day to say hello, and then it was Pharisees this and Romans that and the next thing you know, I’m nailed to this bloody tree until I bloody died and was tossed in this bloody cave. Now that’s what I call a harsh comments policy.

    What? Well yes, I did get better.

  25. 25.

    Mark S.

    April 2, 2011 at 2:25 am

    What annoyed me about Yglesias’ comment sections was that 60% of the commenters were dick waving know-it-all pricks. Even when the subject was something trivial like the NBA. Maybe it’s gotten better; I haven’t waded in there recently.

    And you lurkers out there, chime in! We’re really a bunch of shitheads here: you’re not going to look stupid!

  26. 26.

    Linkmeister

    April 2, 2011 at 2:26 am

    @Console: There are a few others. The ones that do are often comprised of people who have met one another in the course of their offline lives and now congregate on the blog, or have met in the blog comments and subsequently made a point of meeting offline.

  27. 27.

    Comrade Mary

    April 2, 2011 at 2:28 am

    @Joey Maloney: Uterus? Pshaw! We’re talking vulva.

    (Warning: link goes to video of an (awesome!) Canadian performance artist in a very detailed costume.)

  28. 28.

    piratedan

    April 2, 2011 at 2:29 am

    relatively new here, been smacked down when I’ve been seriously misinformed and subsequently patted on the head when I’ve added to the conversation and even THISed on the rare occasion. For the most part folks are fair here and offer many perspectives and ideas and snarks that are constantly informative and/or entertaining. Sometimes there’s a bit too much pandering/concern to what the village says but hell, I’m still busy acquainting myself with the folks on the blogroll to be too concerned about the villagers and their collective navel gazing.

  29. 29.

    justawriter

    April 2, 2011 at 2:33 am

    Just in case my previous comment does make it out of moderation someday, I just want everyone to know it is satire. This is one of the few boards where I actually bother reading the comments because 1) the average IQ around here is well above room temperature (compared to the liquid nitrogen of most comment sections) and 2) people here generally know when to shut up. There are boards out there that will get 400 comments on anything, whether it is bombing Iran or the latest lolcat. Here, when a subject has been exhausted, people shut up. That is a gift. Thank you, commenters, and thank you to the front pagers who set the tone around this virtual village common.

  30. 30.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    April 2, 2011 at 2:34 am

    @Yutsano:

    the irony there is, no matter what you say in your first 10 dozen or so comments, you are going to be perceived as a troll, regardless. the best you can hope for, is to remind the old guard of someone who used to comment.

    my first comment here got picked up by b.o.b. before i knew what an “honor” that was. so he went into some wierd calculation about how to manuever a shopping cart at the perfect arc or some junk…so i responded, “or you can just pick up the back end of the cart and change the “arc” that way.

  31. 31.

    Comrade Mary

    April 2, 2011 at 2:36 am

    Here, when a subject has been exhausted, people shut up.

    It appears that you posted this in the wrong tab and that this comment was meant for some other site.

    It’s OK. We love you and forgive you.

  32. 32.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 2:37 am

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: Oh I got my share of, “Who the fuck are you?” responses. I forget which front pager warmed up to me first, but I’m pretty sure it was AL cause I stuck to pretty much cooking and light politics. The beauty of this place is my views have both refined and sharpened. Plus I haven’t been this much of an activist since college. Except now I haz disposable income.

  33. 33.

    Martin

    April 2, 2011 at 2:51 am

    @Yutsano: Government worker with disposable income?!

    ♬♩Someone needs a pay cut… ♫♪

  34. 34.

    justawriter

    April 2, 2011 at 2:57 am

    @Comrade Mary: Oh beauteous comrade, while it is true that vital topics of the day like bad dog behavior and truculent republican behavior can generate 200-400 comments, there are many threads here that peak at 50-80 comments so a person with a normal attention span can follow them. The amazing thing about those threads is not their length, but that the debate is still engrossing and edifying so one actually wants to read them. I cruise the front pagers of many sites. BJ is one of a very few where I actually care about what the commenters are saying about those posts.

  35. 35.

    Suffern ACE

    April 2, 2011 at 2:59 am

    It’s either comment here or go back to answering homework questions on Y!Answers for 14 year olds who can’t be bothered to Google. It’s a coin flip between the two places, actually, but it’s come up “Balloon Juice” 17 times out of the last 20. What are the chances of that happening?

  36. 36.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 3:00 am

    @Martin: Hehehe. Remember that big show about federal gubmint workers getting a big pay freeze? Total kabuki. The scheduled grade step increases continue on as normal. IOW, by the time my probation ends, I’ll easily be a GS-6 step 1 eligible for my first raise about three months afterwards.

  37. 37.

    kdaug

    April 2, 2011 at 3:08 am

    @Yutsano: Hrm. Maybe ’cause I’ve been around for a while, but can’t really recall getting in a knock-down around here (well, did tangle a bit with M_C, but it was just snark, and who didn’t?)

  38. 38.

    kdaug

    April 2, 2011 at 3:11 am

    @Suffern ACE: 85%

  39. 39.

    Anne Laurie

    April 2, 2011 at 3:36 am

    @Yutsano: To be fair, you’re mostly commenting after the other front-pagers in the Eastern timezone have signed off for the night, so you were liable to meet the (self appointed) Night Janitor first. Also, I think we bonded over the cuteness of puppies. And Kylie Minogue.

  40. 40.

    Martin

    April 2, 2011 at 3:43 am

    @Anne Laurie: It’s a bit easier here with the west coasters. By the time I get up, 8 threads have gone by and Cole has gone Galt twice. And invariably the most interesting post is the first or second, which everyone has long moved on from.

  41. 41.

    Joey Maloney

    April 2, 2011 at 3:49 am

    @Comrade Mary: I’ll see your vulva costume and raise you “Even Brando liked some wang”.

  42. 42.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 4:05 am

    @Anne Laurie: We bantered over the relative similarities and differences between border collies and papillons. And I got your name wrong once. Once. Lurned me lesson good after that me did.

    @Martin: I do occasional catching up by the time I return to the world of the living, but it’s usually not serious. I save that energy for later. Or ABL, whichever occurs first.

  43. 43.

    Calouste

    April 2, 2011 at 4:12 am

    @Yutsano:

    Washington will only get Canadian territory status first until they get a professional hockey team.

  44. 44.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 4:16 am

    @Calouste: I’ve been long demanding the T-Birds grow up and join the big boys, but that’ll take a major stadium remodel that just ain’t gonna happen any time soon.

  45. 45.

    Amir_Khalid

    April 2, 2011 at 4:22 am

    My first comment here was to correct a mistranslation of the word “orangutan” from the original Malay. Since then I still lurk a lot more than I comment. While this blog concentrates largely on American issues and interests, I like that the commentariat is so welcoming towsrd foreign commenters like me and to what we have to say. (I remember that m_c gave me a really big welcome, because she took a liking to my name.) Heck, just the other day El Cid said it was cool that I comment from Kuala Lumpur.

  46. 46.

    amk

    April 2, 2011 at 4:26 am

    Whoever takes blogistan seriously ought to have his/her/its head examined by a neutering vet. “New media” a place for fvcking navel gazers and for those who can’t even stand up to their spouses in their real lives.

  47. 47.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 4:28 am

    @Amir_Khalid: Yep. I’ll take credit/shame curtains for that one too.

  48. 48.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    April 2, 2011 at 4:55 am

    @Amir_Khalid: The hell with Kuala Lumpur. The real action tonight is in Mumbai. I’m going to try to stay awake as long as I can, but I’m about +4, so I’m not sure how well it’s going to go.

  49. 49.

    Comrade Nimrod Humperdink

    April 2, 2011 at 5:04 am

    BJ is one of about 4 blogs I’ll look at at least once a day. I mostly lurk because a lot of the time I have absolutely nothing of value to offer to the comments, but I always read them because of their quality compared to the giant crayon/fingerpaint approach one finds at most other places. I came to BJ for Cole rants. I stayed for Levenson takedowns, and the comments. Wonkette is the only other place I lurk at just for comments. Some of those people are friggin’ geniuses with the snark, and I need my laughs. Since I moved to Australia, blogs have become how I keep up on things back in the States, and cable tv (used to watch the MSNBC/CNN axis before I left) is out. And I think I’m better off for it.

  50. 50.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    April 2, 2011 at 5:13 am

    @Comrade Nimrod Humperdink:

    a lot of the time I have absolutely nothing of value to offer to the comments

    Oh, please. That doesn’t stop the rest of us.

    Nice bit of shenanigans on the toss.

  51. 51.

    Pat

    April 2, 2011 at 5:33 am

    I have a ball commenting on HP. This is why. Any comment about a Democratic issue or a Democrat is always readily accepted without monitoring. When it comes to commenting about the GOP and their “stars” (Sarah Palin, etc.), the comment police are out in full force. I’ve gotten so good, I can predict which of my comments will be monitored and tell them as much in my comment!

    The HP scrutiny of comments made regarding the GOP is nothing new. I began to notice these changes as early as last summer, which of course has left me with even more distrust for all media going forward!

  52. 52.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    April 2, 2011 at 5:46 am

    Although I hope that we haven’t reached the point where we’re scaring new visitors from speaking up…

    I always reached out to the newbies but one or two of ’em made me regret it. New commenters aren’t necessary the cat’s meow. Some of them really suck.

  53. 53.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    April 2, 2011 at 6:29 am

    @Amir_Khalid:

    I never would have guessed it- that you’re a furriner, that is. Your command of the English language is pretty damned good. I just figured you used the handle of some character from a piece of fiction with which I have no knowledge…But I guess that could be true yet.

  54. 54.

    stuckinred

    April 2, 2011 at 6:40 am

    @Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): WTF-K?

  55. 55.

    HRA

    April 2, 2011 at 6:42 am

    I make very few comments in comparison to how much I read here. In the beginning I got slammed for OT which was understandable and deserving IMO. The last slam was a tad more brutal slam in wording and followed quickly by an LOL from another commenter. I saw no merit in either one. I went back to short concise remarks. It’s healthier to lurk rather than to be perceived as something absolutely unwarranted.

  56. 56.

    stuckinred

    April 2, 2011 at 6:44 am

    @HRA: If you can’t run with the big dogs stay on the porch!

  57. 57.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    April 2, 2011 at 6:52 am

    @HRA: Link?

  58. 58.

    HRA

    April 2, 2011 at 6:55 am

    @stuckinred:

    You bet.
    The last big dog got bitten the last few days and has rabies.

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Link to what?

  59. 59.

    bkny

    April 2, 2011 at 7:10 am

    denton’s comments explain gawker’s shitty new format

  60. 60.

    Maude

    April 2, 2011 at 7:28 am

    We have a lot of crows around this year. This is the first time I’ve seen so many.

  61. 61.

    vaux-rien

    April 2, 2011 at 7:43 am

    Eh, this place is all right. Gawker was the first place I noticed a community popping up in comments and it seemed ridiculous to me at the time, for reasons you all understand; things aren’t threaded, topics get dropped too fast, you never get a reply and if you do you probably won’t see it, etc.

    I think ObWi was the first one I saw that made sense, I never hardly commented over there ‘cos it seemed like they were doing serious bidness. This place is a happy medium, nothing much gets accomplished but people seem to be enjoying themselves.

    In general though, when I start seeing open threads and stuff it does signal a shift to a less relevant mode of blogging.

    There are a bunch of styles; Sadly No! is just a horrible spectacle, one short bad joke followed by 10 pages of worse jokes from the same 6 people. TNC seems to be trying something admirable but on the whole I’d rather he spent his time writing better posts. I was pleased to see that Slacktivist seems to have escaped the crew of dipshits that ruined his site, that place was a nightmare and probably the best illustration of Denton’s point.

  62. 62.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    April 2, 2011 at 7:49 am

    Go VCU – my father’s alma mater (in the 1940s).

  63. 63.

    JPL

    April 2, 2011 at 7:49 am

    In the morning I like to scan the overnight comments because you can learn so much. It’s nice to hear from all the visitors from the west coast and overseas.

  64. 64.

    JPL

    April 2, 2011 at 7:51 am

    @Cheryl from Maryland: Sweet! It should be an exciting game.

  65. 65.

    GregB

    April 2, 2011 at 7:51 am

    @Comrade Mary:

    Can’t wait to see her box set.

  66. 66.

    Cermet

    April 2, 2011 at 8:12 am

    If my posting is your “reward” then you are in deep shit … its bad enough for your poor readers to endure (or have to skip over), and except for keeping trolls employed, not really of any value.

  67. 67.

    Southern Beale

    April 2, 2011 at 8:31 am

    Morning, peeps. I have some questions about the state of our discourse. In particular: if we’re in constant campaign mode, if everything is a manipulation, if every “supporter” is potentially a paid actor reading from a script or a paid sign-holder or part of a fake astroturf group, what’s the fucking point?

  68. 68.

    Bruce S

    April 2, 2011 at 8:37 am

    Just in case you were enjoying your morning:

    “In 2010, CEO Pay Went Up 27% While Worker Pay Went Up 2%” – ThinkProgress

  69. 69.

    Ked

    April 2, 2011 at 8:46 am

    Anyone else here watching the World Cup final?

  70. 70.

    The Ancient Randonneur (formerly known as The Grand Panjandrum)

    April 2, 2011 at 8:47 am

    @Southern Beale: As I noted at your place it’s the difference between “grassroots” and “astroturf”.

  71. 71.

    Southern Beale

    April 2, 2011 at 8:51 am

    @The Ancient Randonneur (formerly known as The Grand Panjandrum):

    Yeah I approved the comment. Of course, but the larger theme at work is: why? If everything is suspected of being astroturf, then the entire process is corrupted. You’ve got people pretending to have a real opinion when it’s actually a paid opinion, and then you have people with a real opinion … is there some idea that if there are more people with the paid opinion that will influence the political process? But when it’s the political puppeteers paying people to hold an opinion in the first place, then they have to know it’s fake?

    So what’s the fucking point of the entire charade?

  72. 72.

    Southern Beale

    April 2, 2011 at 8:54 am

    @Bruce S:

    “In 2010, CEO Pay Went Up 27% While Worker Pay Went Up 2%”

    To echo Anne Laurie, I guess that means *everything* is above our pay grade.

  73. 73.

    Cat Lady

    April 2, 2011 at 8:56 am

    Gail Collins hits another one out of the park. The only place left for the GOP to go is Gary Busey/Charlie Sheen 2012. Winning!

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 2, 2011 at 8:56 am

    @Southern Beale: Gresham’s Law. In this case, bad (not real) comments driving out good (real) comments. Some might find it a feature not a bug.

  75. 75.

    asiangrrlMN

    April 2, 2011 at 9:05 am

    I read the blog for a couple months before I started commenting. Then, I just dove in. Because of my weird sleeping habits (which I’m trying to correct), I was mostly a late-night participant, and I find the late-night crew to be a good fit for me. I mostly stick to the open threads these days.

  76. 76.

    jeffreyw

    April 2, 2011 at 9:14 am

    I have kitteh, therefore I post.

  77. 77.

    burnspbesq

    April 2, 2011 at 9:14 am

    On to something important.

    Sri Lanka has given itself a real chance to win. They got 63 runs in the last five overs of their innings, to get to 274. The pressure is on India.

    Go Sri Lanka!

    Go VCU!

  78. 78.

    Southern Beale

    April 2, 2011 at 9:23 am

    @jeffreyw:

    That is too cute! What did you do with the mouse? Let me recommend a delightful beurre blanc sauce ….

  79. 79.

    Swellsman

    April 2, 2011 at 9:25 am

    I’m too scared to speak up.

  80. 80.

    Ked

    April 2, 2011 at 9:25 am

    Cheering for Sri Lanka here, but more glad that it’s going to be a competitive innings. You can just imagine Tenwag putting down 200 or so in an important game like this, and I was so scared that Sri Lanka would end up posting 220 or so.

    Also scared that Dish Network is going to chop off the broadcast. Wasn’t there supposed to be a minimum over rate the bowling team is supposed to meet or get penalized?

  81. 81.

    Southern Beale

    April 2, 2011 at 9:29 am

    @Cat Lady:

    And “Comments are no longer being accepted” on Gail’s column. Well that takes care of that.

    You know, am I the only one who sees Donald Trump’s faux “candidacy” for what it is? A craven publicity ploy to boost ratings of his failing reality TV show?

    Am I the only cynic left in the country? Or just the most cynical?

  82. 82.

    karen marie

    April 2, 2011 at 9:31 am

    @justawriter: Here here! I second this comment.

    BJ has excellent posts and — best of all — great comment threads. I have never felt unwelcome to add my two cents.

  83. 83.

    burnspbesq

    April 2, 2011 at 9:36 am

    @Ked:

    Tenwag lasted exactly two balls. Pressure is really on India now.

  84. 84.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 9:39 am

    @Ked

    Wasn’t there supposed to be a minimum over rate the bowling team is supposed to meet or get penalized?

    Not sure this applies in the final, as there wouldn’t really be any point, although I read that the interval between innings is only the minimum of 20mins instead of any longer (so you might consider that a “penalty”).
    Turning out to be a great final for a really entertaining tournament. India to win due to not great Sri Lankan bowling, I predict.

  85. 85.

    aimai

    April 2, 2011 at 9:45 am

    @vaux-rien:

    vaux-rien I really like your nym.

    Slacktivist’s blow up was a really interesting one. I loved the old comment thread, although it could get very heavy into games stuff–but it was incredibly repressive and self policing and self referential. The blow up itself was kind of jaw dropping in its passive agressive tone. Now things have settled down and you do see lots of new posters. I think there’s just a limit, an obvious limit, to how many people can reasonably be expected to engage with any topic before the whole thing just gets too big and devolves into a shouting match. But there may be a place for blog communities that have a substantial number of lurkers and readers who don’t feel the need to say anything.

    aimai

  86. 86.

    PurpleGirl

    April 2, 2011 at 9:48 am

    @Yutsano: Every winter there is a Canadian colony of snow geese in Fort Lauderdale. The signs at the boardwalk food places are in English and French. I’d suggest that the Canadians bring their grandchildren with them and turn them lose on the locals.

  87. 87.

    Cat Lady

    April 2, 2011 at 9:49 am

    @Southern Beale:

    You’re not, but you know what? Obama got elected. That really did happen. I know it should have been by a margin of 20% or so given his competition, but the fact that it happened tampers my inclination to go full metal suicidal cynic. Fox viewers are old and don’t want to see how they’re being played. The unfortunate part is the political arm of Fox has been recently successful, but I have a gut sense that the midterms were a dead cat bounce, now that they’ve shown their hand.

    /pollyanna

  88. 88.

    RosinDetroit

    April 2, 2011 at 9:53 am

    Regarding commentariat I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned bOINGbOING. They have a good mod crew to keep things under control or it would go Thunderdome in a matter of hours.
    And they pioneered the wide use of disemvoweling, which is brilliant.

  89. 89.

    RossinDetroit

    April 2, 2011 at 9:55 am

    Regarding commentariat I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned bOINGbOING. They have a good mod crew to keep things under control or it would go Thunderdome in a matter of hours.
    And they pioneered the wide use of disemvoweling, which is brilliant.

    ETA: reposted because I misspelledmy own name. hate the laptop in bed…

  90. 90.

    Southern Beale

    April 2, 2011 at 9:57 am

    @RossinDetroit:

    What is “disemvoweling”?

  91. 91.

    D. Mason

    April 2, 2011 at 9:57 am

    Although I hope that we haven’t reached the point where we’re scaring new visitors from speaking up…

    Nah, It’s easy for new folks here to see that as long as they sing in tune with the echo chamber everything will be fine.

  92. 92.

    Southern Beale

    April 2, 2011 at 9:59 am

    @Cat Lady:

    Obama got elected. That really did happen.

    That’s true. Of course, after he got elected he turned all “we’re a center right country” on us. Maybe all of the message manipulation is directed at those currently in office not the electorate. But again, they have to know it’s fake since they’re doing it too.

    I’m just so confused. It all seems so pointless.

    {{ sobs }}

  93. 93.

    RossinDetroit

    April 2, 2011 at 9:59 am

    @Southern Beale:
    whn pst hs ll f th vwls remlv t cn stll b rd bt ds nt ffnd th ye f ths scnnng b.

  94. 94.

    RossinDetroit

    April 2, 2011 at 10:02 am

    Disemvoweling is punishment for a comments standards violation. The post is left in place and the vowels are removed. It can still be read but does not crap the place up. And it makes the commenter look like a ninny sitting on the punishment stool in the corner.

  95. 95.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 10:06 am

    @D Mason
    I completely agree, and anyone who doesn’t is a paid troll.

  96. 96.

    Ked

    April 2, 2011 at 10:10 am

    @Superluminar:

    India to win due to not great Sri Lankan bowling, I predict.

    Not great, huh? This is getting scary for India really fast.

  97. 97.

    burnspbesq

    April 2, 2011 at 10:10 am

    @Superluminar:

    “India to win due to not great Sri Lankan bowling, I predict.”

    Some guy named Malinga would like a word with you.

  98. 98.

    Sophia

    April 2, 2011 at 10:18 am

    I rarely comment here because of the anti-beagle sentiments lurking about.

  99. 99.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 10:20 am

    When evaluating my predictions, please do not refer to any previous comments I may have made. Kthxbai.

  100. 100.

    ThresherK

    April 2, 2011 at 10:32 am

    @Comrade Nimrod Humperdink: I was going to say “a regular usually has me covered, more cogently or in more detail, before I get here”, but somebody beat me to that!

  101. 101.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    April 2, 2011 at 10:33 am

    I hope that we haven’t reached the point where we’re scaring new visitors from speaking up…

    I don’t comment often, but I’ve contributed the odd bit and even been nominated for a comment of the year once. Generally the regulars are very nice.

    Semi-seriously one thing that keeps me from commenting more is that, distressingly often, I’ll post some comment and then a few seconds later someone else will post that some terrible personal tragedy has befallen them – cat died, dad diagnosed with terminal cancer, etc – and the thread goes off into a heartwarming display of support which is as it should be but I feel like a tool for making jokes just before all that goes down.

    (Plus who knows but that my comments cause the tragedies? Yikes!)

  102. 102.

    Amir_Khalid

    April 2, 2011 at 10:35 am

    @Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
    I was a journalist at an English-language newspaper, The Star, for nearly 20 years. For most of that time, I wrote for the IT section. So my command of English is above the average for a Malaysian, but not by all that much. And most Malaysians speak English at least as well as Americans of comparable education.

  103. 103.

    Maude

    April 2, 2011 at 10:38 am

    @Sophia:
    WIN

  104. 104.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 2, 2011 at 10:39 am

    @Xecky Gilchrist: That’s all very nice, but I awoke this morning to find my parakeet vomiting blood again.

  105. 105.

    Amir_Khalid

    April 2, 2011 at 10:41 am

    @Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
    Oh. and Amir Khalid is not a nym. It really is my name.

  106. 106.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 10:43 am

    @Xecky Gilchrist
    yeah, think I’ve done that before also too, but then again my ideal is to be like JSF, which I believe would probably involve snarking after someone’s SO has snuffed it.

  107. 107.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    April 2, 2011 at 10:43 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: You see? Totally my fault!!!!!

    (Have you tried giving him little pellets of Omeprazole?)

  108. 108.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    April 2, 2011 at 10:45 am

    @Superluminar: That’s another thing that keeps me from the top echelons of commentariat. I don’t have the heavy chutzpah.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 2, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @Xecky Gilchrist: I don’t like parakeets very much, so I don’t really see the point.

    (N.B. I do not own, and have never owned, a bird of any kind with the possible exception of a period of time when I was about 10 and helped rescue a merlin with an injured wing that was subsequently released back into the wild.)

  110. 110.

    RossInDetroit

    April 2, 2011 at 10:57 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    (N.B. I do not own, and have never owned, a bird of any kind with the possible exception of a period of time when I was about 10 and helped rescue a merlin with an injured wing that was subsequently released back into the wild.)

    Which is where I jump in and attention-wh**e with a picture of my dog and a pair of rescued wood ducks.

  111. 111.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 2, 2011 at 11:00 am

    @RossInDetroit: This is a weird blog.

  112. 112.

    arguingwithsignposts

    April 2, 2011 at 11:04 am

    This and rumproast are the only comments section i read in detail consistently, although I have read through LGM or C&L on occasion. S,N! is good most of the time, but really difficult to keep track of who’s responding to whom.

    I mean, where else can you get laughing helicopters, low-flow toilets and kitteh alongside heated discussions of torture, humanitarian military action, religion, etc.?

  113. 113.

    RossInDetroit

    April 2, 2011 at 11:05 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Word.
    I should just stay the hell out. Reading about politics is recreation for me and I don’t have the genuine interest or mental discipline to stay on topic. The comments get my brain going in lots of interesting directions, which is good. Then my brain gets my fingers going, with mixed results.

  114. 114.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 11:09 am

    @RossinDetroit

    attention-wh**e

    look, I really don’t think I’m missing some internet tradition here, but is there a reason people here are censoring their own language more? It seems as if a lot of commenters are doing this without any of the Front Pagers asking for it. I blame Allan.

  115. 115.

    arguingwithsignposts

    April 2, 2011 at 11:10 am

    @Superluminar:
    Fuck you, superluminar, you attention whore!

    (there, feel better?)

  116. 116.

    burnspbesq

    April 2, 2011 at 11:17 am

    At the current rate, India is going to come up 12 runs short. The Sri Lankan bowlers are doing just enough to win, avoiding giving up big overs.

    The catch by Dilshan for the third Indian wicket was spectacular.

  117. 117.

    Ked

    April 2, 2011 at 11:21 am

    Spectacular, yes.

    This seems to be typical Sri Lanka in this cup – Malinga puts a couple down fast, then things kind of putter along and you start worrying about run rates creeping up. And then something lucky happens in the mid/late 20’s and the other side strangles to death.

    Really wishing I’d put the money down on Sri Lanka now.

    Does anyone know how to get IPL in the States this year?

  118. 118.

    burnspbesq

    April 2, 2011 at 11:33 am

    @Ked:

    Does anyone know how to get IPL in the States this year?

    Have you checked out willow.tv?

  119. 119.

    abscam

    April 2, 2011 at 11:35 am

    @dr. bloor: Stop peering in my windows!

  120. 120.

    Ked

    April 2, 2011 at 11:36 am

    @burnspbesq:

    Have you checked out willow.tv?

    As of two days ago, they didn’t have ANYTHING listed on the site as happening after the World Cup. I’ll look again, of course.

  121. 121.

    RossInDetroit

    April 2, 2011 at 11:47 am

    @Superluminar:

    I censor words that might trip up WP’s spam filters. Words that look like they might be in a gam**ing ad or pee-oh-arr-enn spam.

  122. 122.

    Allan

    April 2, 2011 at 11:49 am

    @Superluminar: Go fuck yourself. There, feel better?

  123. 123.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 11:51 am

    @aws
    what kind of attention whore would deliberately draw attention to another attention whore in order to get attention? For f***s sake!

    @tragic SL supporters
    I think India will pull this off. Just watch.

  124. 124.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 11:55 am

    @Allan
    yeah that feels pretty good actually, but fucking oneself on one of your luxury fainting couches would feel even better. I hope you have expensive wipes to clean them down afterwards…

  125. 125.

    burnspbesq

    April 2, 2011 at 11:59 am

    @Superluminar:

    I think you’re dreaming. Malinga and Muralitharan have nine more overs to bowl between them, and they have been giving up less than 3.5 per over.

  126. 126.

    Allan

    April 2, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    @Superluminar: They’re scotchguarded. Knock yourself out.

  127. 127.

    Superluminar

    April 2, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    @Allan
    why, I prefer to Koch myself out, if you know what I mean..,

  128. 128.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    April 2, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    @RossInDetroit: I loved that pic the first time, and it’s still wonderful. I’m scared of birds, though I’ve stood toe to toe arguing with murderers. Go figure.

    Except crows, which I adore and am not afraid of. Even weirder.

  129. 129.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    @RossInDetroit: QUACK!!

    (and I’m shocked there hasn’t been more squee for teh cute here.)

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    Except crows, which I adore and am not afraid of.

    Crows are a symbol of death in Japan. Just food for thought. I lurve me some corvids too.

  130. 130.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    April 2, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    @Yutsano: They are mushc more a symbol of mystery, transformation and healing in Native American symbolic views. I like them because they are so smart, curious, bold, and so witty.

    A personality kind of like goats, except much smarter. Heh.

  131. 131.

    Bmaccnm

    April 2, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    @Yutsano: They can keep comin’ down to Eugene, AFAIC.

  132. 132.

    Yutsano

    April 2, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I was coming home from work one day and saw a crow trying to open a food container that was half-full he had picked out of the garbage. I watched him rather intently for a minute and even considered opening the container for him. Then I realized he was CHALLENGING himself, and I would spoil his victory, so I left well enough alone. I unfortunately had to catch a bus, so I never saw the final results.

  133. 133.

    licensed to kill time

    April 2, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    What John Cole has created here is like a big comfortable rooming house with all kinds of characters inhabiting the place. You’ve got your kindly sociable types, your cranky curmudgeons, your preachy know-it-all types, your batshit crazy ‘America is DOOMED’ types, your I’m gonna be an asshole but at least I’m funny types, your I’m just an asshole, fuck you! types, your ‘pets are superior to people’ types, your trolls who just want to get a rise out of people and far too often succeed, your thoughtful serious commenters who add real value to the conversation and lots of folks who just want to snark and have fun.

    There’s room for everybody here, a host who has a heart of gold under his (was gonna say crusty exterior, nixed that…then prickly, nixed that…) curmudgeonly exterior, and a wide range of topics that keep me interested and coming back for more.

    Invariably by the time I type up something to say it’s been said already and better, so I tend to lurk and only wade in at intervals. I am amused at the flame wars that break out because I can’t get that exercised over what people say on the Internet and find it amazing that others do…they are fun to watch from a safe distance, though.

    This is a nice community space that Cole has organized. Balloon Juice, I likes it.

  134. 134.

    DPirate

    April 2, 2011 at 3:50 pm

    You don’t scare me, Anne Laurie!

  135. 135.

    uptown

    April 2, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    What attracts and keeps me is good, solid writing. This place has it. Great job everybody.

    I mean really who has time to read through more than 20 comments on each post they read? And don’t get me started on gawker.

  136. 136.

    KimAlanUS

    April 2, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    I was once a new visitor, was not frightened away by the active commenting community. I would speak up if I had anything to say….

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