Traffic’s been way up here the past month or so. We’re probably do 3 million page views this month, and I’m hoping that we’ll get up over 4 million during the run-up to the general election.
What kinds of new features, not in terms of the blog lay-out but in terms of topics and discussions, would you like to see over the next few months, to make this place into one-stop shopping for all your election needs?
Jerzy Russian
I would argue that you need fewer bloggers here, and not more. I already waste too much time here. However, since self control on my part is not possible, I would like to see more science related pieces.
pragmatism
Need moar west coast downticket/local issues coverage. y’allz like ESPN up in here with the east coast bias.
eta: like the title change.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
@pragmatism:
I didn’t know the song had such cool title until I googled it.
Schlemizel
a donate column linking to various blue candidates that need our help. Regular updates on various CDs that are in play & how they are trending. Routine reminders about what will happen if we are not successful – OH WAIT! The GOP is already doing that for us.
Thanks to all you guys for all you do!
BenjaminJB
A blog feature dedicated to rebutting Sullivan.
samara morgan
ABL chirpstories.
Cole chirpstories if he can be taught.
add a twitterbar.
welcome to the 21st century.
take the crap blogs off the sidebar and add Charles.
The Dangerman
I’m thinking Cole should put out two bowls of food for Tunch each night; 1 is Obama wins, 1 is Romney wins. We’ll keep running (well, sauntering, if not running) totals and adjust quality of food in bowl as needed to keep it a horserace.
earl_of_scruggs
A conservative blogger, like your own version of Ross Douthat, to bring some balance. After all, when it comes to demagoguery and excessive partisanship, both sides are at fault.
JUST KIDDING!
Crashman
We’ve got some gamers here. I’d love to see someone try and organize some co-op gaming on either consoles or PC sometime. That’d be fun.
Starfish
Compare and contrast “legitimate” Republican candidates with all those crazy candidates that get one debate on CSPAN2 or CSPAN3.
J.W. Hamner
Election related? Maybe some poll wonkery I guess, but I suppose that’s what Nate Silver is for. In addition I come here mainly for the irreverence and snark, so I’m not sure I really need “serious analysis” getting in the way. I’m pretty happy with pet pics and recipes breaking up the quadruple posts on the Outrage of the Day. I guess maybe you could have music threads or something?
Ash Can
Free booze.
Carnacki
More links to West Virginia Blue would be nice
Birthmarker
Can Cole or the rest of you link tweets directly to the blog? Or at least put everyone’s twitter handle off to the side?
Humor–there can never be too much.
MattF
How about some non-jokey subject categories? So, e.g., if I want some Bachmann snark, there would actually be a ‘Bachmann’ category. I understand that this comment falls into the ‘you get what you pay for’ category, but still.
kindness
The concept of ‘one stop shop’ is diametrically opposed to why teh intertubes is a great medium for gaining info.
No one site can have all the differing views and attitudes, nor should they. No, just go about continuing to do what BJ does so well.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
More Roller Derby news. And extra visual aids for vagina outrage threads.
amk
get rid of the fucking mobile version. It’s screwing up this site.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I like the idea of down ticket/local threads. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown get a lot of attention, but there are important and potentially interesting races in AZ, NM, MT, WI. I’m trying to think are there any big, contested governor’s races out there? potential shifts in some of the teabag conquests of state legislatures?
PeakVT
Down-ticket races in general. Without majorities in Congress, no matter how thin, we’ll suffer through another two years of inaction or slow retreat at a time when there is a lot of stuff that needs to be done.
qwerty42
@Schlemizel:
If you can’t put a link to various contributions (e.g Act Blue, etc, for various folks/causes) in right/left cols, perhaps a “contributions” category.
p.a.
second the edit and upgrade links sidebar. orcinus was great, but ancient history now. (I haven’t gone there in a few months, and the postings were 2008. now that I’ve mentioned it it’s probably up to date and I’ll look like an ass…)
Ash Can
In all seriousness, I second the suggestion of a direct link to Cole’s tweets. That would be awesome.
TooManyJens
I like Starfish‘s idea. Also, maybe solicit info from readers on how organizing is going in their states/local areas. I love Kay’s posts, and I want to know more about what’s happening on the ground.
Poopyman
Does that count each page refresh? ‘Cause that’s, like, 5 of us.
LGRooney
@Crashman: Cool idea! Any Juicers playing Battlefield 3?
I would also repeat my call for a BJ DC get together at some point – if you’re brave enough to meet my ugly mug and considerate enough to understand that my life revolves around my kid and not all times will work.
scav
I’m happy with continued absolute chaos, especially as breaks are needed during the maelstrom that is and the maelstrom to come (see maelstrom past for supporting evidence).
LGRooney
How about a political PodCast review/recommend on occasion?
ant
perhaps a regular feature that showcases what adds are being run on the tv, and radio around the country.
samara morgan
@earl_of_scruggs: dude we had that. twice. Erik Kain and Erik Kain 2.0.
it sukked.
Jewish Steel
Have you considered commissioning your own polls? Maybe the cost would be prohibitive, but I can easily imagine an interesting and funny take on standard poll questions coming from the FP brain trust.
Merp
In general I think there’s a niche for state-level politics and labor stuff that’s going unfulfilled. You guys do a little bit of it, but there’s a lot more out there to talk about.
I’m picturing, like, 50 clones of Kay except instead of Ohio they cover their own state. This may be impractical.
dedc79
How about a GOP “lie of the day” to counter the Politifact hackery that’s been going on of late?
Granted, picking just one will be very difficult….
Jack Bauer
More angry/snarky rants.
From a functionality perspective, do everything Little Green Footballs does. Content wise I’d like more political theory/history. The Left has a proud fighting past, which needs to be embraced again.
It’s awesome to see Balloon Juice doing well.
MattF
@LGRooney: As long as it’s actually in DC. Too bad The Childe Harold no longer exists, since that would have been the obvious place to meet.
mistermix
@Poopyman: If you look at “visits” in the stats, that tells you Sitemeter’s attempt to figure out who comes and hits refresh a few times on a comment thread, versus just raw views. Visits is pretty high, which probably means a lot of visitors don’t even read comments, or at least don’t refresh them every 5 seconds.
Martin
Well, for election needs, the local/down ticket stuff is an important idea. It’s going to be close in the Senate, and getting news from those specific battleground states would be nice. The real toss-up races are:
MA, NV, MT, ME, VA, MO, FL, NM, OH, WI. We’ve got Kay covering Ohio very well. Would be nice to see that filled in a bit. The House is just too much to do, but getting guest bloggers that focus on those specific states will tell us a lot about where the House is heading, and where things are heading for Obama as well – lots of battlegrounds in that list.
Raenelle
For me, there cannot be enough pictures and information about the lives and times of John, Tunch, Rosie, and Lovely Lily.
Neldob
I like the down-ticket idea. Also, what’s up with other presidential candidates (besides the two big doozies), and candidates to be.
pseudonymous in nc
Don’t do that. Other websites are available, and you don’t want to be the coffee shop and bakery that tries to become a full-service restaurant and neglects what it’s good at.
Twitter feed aggregation, perhaps. Perhaps elevate commenters with regional/local knowledge for one-off guesting. But keep doing what you’re doing, which is snark, high dudgeon and furry friends.
Satanicpanic
There’s already TPM for poll results. I like the blog as it is. Anyone else play LOTRO?
trollhattan
Topicwise, I’d like to see more, a lot more, on the Republican-industrial complex’s environmental victories that they’re hacking out while we’re focused on…the huge platter of day-to-day high-profile stories keeping the blog busy.
National politics–the farm bill and the transportation bill. I hear barely a peep (not just here, anywhere) about these monumental looming reauthorizations.
On the other end of the scale there can’t be too many pets.
scav
@pseudonymous in nc: Add Rants and Food to the list, but otherwise Ex-Act-Ly. Don’t forget to call us all Impossible from time to time or we feel abandoned.
Poopyman
@pseudonymous in nc: Yeah, I tend to agree. If I wanted full election analysis 24/7, I’d go to Kos.
Rants, when well placed, are always good. And pets.
El Tiburon
Please God No.
More gossip and blog wars. It’s what we all really need.
joeyess
Poll Tracking.
Suffern ACE
A paywall to keep away the riff raff. With comp subscriptions to VIP commenters such as me, of course.
Joey Maloney
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
Second!
Liberty60
Doug, your question could just as easily be directed at the clown car, or the fever swamps of Wingnuttia;
You just know, don’t you, that in the next several months we will witness someone mailing bags of shit to a RINO official, or demonstrating with toy cars in a sandbox that libruls hate Murka, or doing a countertop inspection of some poor civilian who spoke out against all that is holy.
All BJ needs to do is link and mock as appropriate and watch the sitemeter spin.
wilfred
From the point of view of someone more interested in foreign affairs than the excruciating minutiae of domestic policy I’d like to see more light shined on the what the US is doing and not doing in the rest of the world.
I’ve never seen, not in my lifetime anyway, a purportedly Democratic Party center of interest less interested in the rest of the world than this one.
To be a Leftist used to mean being a de facto internationalist. Maybe that’s changed, but if so, better to say it.
More links to Marcy Wheeler, less Brooks.
Martin
@Satanicpanic:
I’m not thinking about poll results, but more on-the-ground reports. How are the campaigns focused. What are voters thinking. What are the issues in that race, etc.
We’re going to get a whole pile of ActBlue requests, so I’m thinking about reporting that can add context to where that money is best spent. 2008 my money went to Prop 8. 2010 it went to the governors race here in CA. 2012 it’s earmarked for Obama, but if the first head-to-head polls after the GOP race is settled show him up strong (as I expect it will), then my money is going to go into other races – and there’s not much shaping up here in CA, so I’ll put it in Ohio if it’ll help there, or MA, etc. But I want info, and I want to make sure it’s going to the right place.
slag
@Martin: Agreed.
Any good blogs or bloggers currently covering the regions Martin mentioned who could either be linked or xposted here every now and again? Sporadically, though. Kind of like Colbert’s Better Know a District series. If kay posted about OH on a daily basis, I think her posts would get old too quickly.
Also, more links to polls might actually be somewhat useful here. It’s easy to get in the bubble and forget that a substantial portion of the country currently thinks we’re borderline insane–at least from a “branding” perspective.
srv
I think we need to be a little more open-minded and have a guest Romney supporter FP. Since you might not be able to find one of these chupacabras, you could create one, or we could just settle for a Mormon. I’d suggest:
http://themormonworker.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/an-injury-to-one/
And some bunting in the header.
Rommie
Stop the sock-puppet trollery, or declare a moratorium on socks until after the general election. Let’s have genuine Trolls of the Day for the rest of the season rather than you poking the beehive with a stick for lulz.
TK-421
An economic/business/state-of-US-entrepreneurship roundup would be nice. And don’t you dare say that doesn’t relate to politics and elections, because then you’ll expose yourself as a fool.
I guess given the arcane nature of that topic, maybe it should be a weekly roundup of the “best” articles and posts seen by the frontpagers*? I dunno.
*I’d volunteer, in case you were interested **.
** You weren’t.
piratedan
well I think the bench is already pretty deep here and the collection of BJ commenters appear to be a fairly well informed bunch, how about we simply pool our resources and submit guest postings for the site, call it Cole’s Inbox or something. That way we can direct FP’ers to nifty articles we find elsewhere on the web to share that merit more than ordinary linkage or even for those of us who feel inclined to write about something that moves us or has a regional flavor that isn’t covered by the slate of front pagers?
Martin
@wilfred: Well, Marcy can be useful, but she can also be the worst kind of fire bagger. If we’re looking at what the US is doing in the rest of the world, I’m not sure a white lady from Michigan is really the best source because she reports everything through the lens of what she wants Obama to do, not what Obama is doing or what the people in Iran or wherever are seeing. If you want to know the view from Europe, get a blogger from Greece or Italy or Spain. It’d also fill in the desire for more posts between the time that Cole goes to bed and Cole starts blogging again because he can’t sleep and again between when he finally falls asleep and when AL wakes the place up.
BGinCHI
How about when you launch a post it plays the song the post title references automatically. This will get some in trouble at work (who cares), but what it will do, spectacularly, is allow B-Jers in any crowd to identify one another.
The Other Chuck
MOAR TUNCH
Really, we come here because this blog is what it is, not because it micro-targets the socially networked synergies of the technologically hip demographic blahblahblah…
Make the site stable and responsive, swing the ban hammer on some trolls now and then, that’s all I care about.
Soonergrunt
@El Tiburon: chuckle.
@TK-421: And why aren’t you at your post?
Martin
@TK-421:
I’d like to see that. I think the election stuff is more important in the next 6 months, so if they have to choose who to add up front, I’d lean toward the local election stuff, but after November and that all calms down, I’d particularly like to see something like you suggest.
Satanicpanic
@Martin: Just offering some “constructive criticism” here- maybe BJ could put up a blogroll for blogs that focus on state issues. Calitics does some great work for CA.
Martin
@piratedan:
Yay! Let’s all fax Cole our credenzas!
Tractarian
Limit front-page bloggers to:
1) John Cole
2) Tim F.
3) Doug J.
That is all.
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
how about something along the lines of “better know your commenters”. you don’t really dig into the site until you dig into the comments. if you are new or less frequent a vistor its hard to know who says what. in bj style it shouldn’t just be a puffery, also include long standing positions, memorable quotes, stupid positions they have taken, abject trollery, asskissery. its easy to take shots at front pagers. i think many in the commentariat would love the internetz fame and infamy of being *balloon juice verified* good, bad, and too funny not to mention.
samara morgan
meh. kos does all the action blogs you need, and polls too.
more zandar and abl.
look, even sully is falling for him.
piratedan
@Satanicpanic: said same for Blog for Arizona
http://arizona.typepad.com/
gogol's wife
I want more of those hand-drawn maps of the electorate like the one Betty Cracker made for Florida.
maya
We are in de-spirit need of a Chaplain’s Corner.
piratedan
@Martin: I’m sorry, I only have chiffarobes round here…. If you wouldn’t mind bustin it up Martin, I could give you a nickle…
Squid Vicious
Licker. Deeply, deeply discounted licker. It’s the only thing that’s going to help me survive another 8 months of hyperventilating vermin seed Republicunts braying about the death of America at the hands of Barack Hussein Stalinhitler.
pragmatism
@piratedan: and square state in CO
donovong
Ain’t broke, don’t fix it. More of what we already get would be cool.
If I want local politics, I look at local sites. Living here in Southern hell, that ‘s plenty.
Of course, more activity on the help homeless animals would be cool, too.
greylocks
*NO* horse-race stuff. That’s DailyKos and TPM turf and they will always do it better.
You start posting that shit here, you lose me.
I like this place just the way it is. It ain’t broke, so don’t try to fix it. Although more pet pix would work for me.
samara morgan
this blog needs a Real Hard Science blogger, a badass like Levenson’s particle friend..
(no offense levenson, sry. you are a great science writer and uberl33t art historian.)
particle man… i cant remember his name, but i read his blog.
;)
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
SOROS CHECK IN MAH GODDAMN MAILBOX LIKE WAS PROMISED, FUCKERS.
SuzieC
@TooManyJens: Seconded. Reports from those on the ground and in the field, organizing, phonebanking, and doorknocking. And downticket races.
burnspbesq
You asked for it …
More focus on the issues that really matter to people’s pocketbooks and their daily lives (econ/tax policy, etc.). Kay’s health-care policy stuff is the best thing happening on this blog these days. Moar like that plz.
Much less political echo chamber comfort food. This means you, Doug. Too many empty calories, so to speak.
Some actual, thougtful music and film criticism would be great. Not just “this is what I like, and if you don’t like it you’re a douchebag.” Although those threads have their place, and can be a lot of fun.
trollhattan
@samara morgan:
Dear lord, an actual paper published that?
There is no peak wingnut. Wingnut will eventually expand to where it leaves the solar system’s gravational grasp.
Jim C
@Tractarian:
I disagree.
I want more Randinho soccer/football blogging. And, no, I don’t care if he doesn’t have the time. I want more.
samara morgan
matt strassler.
i got if off my bookmarks.
particle man.
Loneoak
Monthly parenting open thread. I’ve learned a lot from folks here.
gex
E dispensary. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be sort of happy feeling through an election season?
BGinCHI
@Jim C: Me too. I also want more Liverpool wins.
Nemesis
I know I shouldnt speak of this, but, dammit, we must coordinate our activities such that we are clandestine up to the point of action. But…
Can we have as an on-going diary regarding the four major reeducation camp locations, plans for the “roundups” based on opposition IP addresses we have archived and when we can wear our new uniforms, officially, in public, for the first time. Mine fits quite well and Im busting a gut to wear it around town to get some much deserved respect from my neighbors.
We will need to password protect the diary, so only
the purist of the pureBJers may enter and engage in planning.Ive heard from FEMA officials that camp constructions will begin in September. The media is with us. The lack of reporting on this issue proves it is really happening, but most citizens wont notice anything.
geg6
@wilfred:
Shoot me now.
samara morgan
@trollhattan: the Wingularity is near.
BGinCHI
@Loneoak: Balloon Juice baby calendar.
fasteddie9318
There continues to be a disturbing irregularity in this site’s denunciations of Stalin and/or The Broccoli Mandate. I would like to see this become a daily feature.
scav
Have personal bookmarks become obsolete and the effort of clicking tiresome to the extreme and no one told me? Ke-rist it’s hard not being a luddite.
samara morgan
@geg6:
wow.
me too.
Jim C
@BGinCHI:
Heh. Since it was my team that nicked it last weekend, I’ll stand mute on that.
JGabriel
DougJ:
I’ll second the following three suggestions:
1) A little more local/downticket coverage, with snark
2) A little more international coverage
3) A few more science posts to mix in with the recipes and pet pictures for breaking up the political talk.
Might be a good idea to bring an economist on board for the front page, too.
But I’m also with J.W. Hamner, the main attraction here is Balloon Juice’s smart, irreverent, snarky, impassioned, angry, non-cynical, absurdist take on politics and current events — I think it’s more important to maintain that tone than try to be some kind of one-stop shop.
By the way, whatever happened to Balloon Juice occasionally getting into battles with other sites over who could post the most godawful crazy music videos? I kind of miss those posts. It was a good way for us to communally bond with other sites that have similar sensibilities.
.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@Nemesis: The shiny black with the green crescents on the back is stunning, no? Barack does not miss a detail.
pseudonymous in nc
A little more delving into the blogroll, perhaps: there’s been a lot of consolidation over the past few years, and it’s always worth sharing the link-love by highlighting people who produce good writing to a relatively small audience.
shabadoo
Make it quit serving the ugly-ass mobile version to me when I visit using Chrome on my desktop Mac.
JGabriel
@Nemesis:
This, goddammit. Our liberal, socia1ist, red diaper infrastructure sucks. For instance, I STILL haven’t gotten my Soros checks.
.
Jacel
I’ll add my vote to hearing more about down-ticket issues and candidates in whatever states your regulars happen to focus on. The way voices here explain ‘Here’s what matters where I live” is interesting and gives more standing to commenters spreading the word about similar situations where they are.
When in doubt, more postings about food and buildings (and beverages) are always a good go-to.
Birthmarker
@Marcellus Shale, Public Dick: This would require a better search function, which I have mentioned before in these “how to improve BJ” threads.
I like the idea of, from now to the election, having an occasional post that highlights state politics. It could simply be 4 or 5 links on a particular state, for those who choose to dig deeper. (I am trying to think in terms of front pagers who have jobs and lives and limited time to devote to these endeavours.)
Front pagers could start with their own states, to give an example of a simple format, then take a few volunteer guest posters, and see how it goes, or see if those posts generate any page views or comments (to gauge interest.)
Let’s not forget that Kos gets paid for his work, and he pays his writers. I don’t mean to be the person who is suggesting a lot of great ideas for someone else to go do.
Much thanks and appreciation to all the FPers.
KS in MA
@PeakVT: This.
pragmatism
@BGinCHI:
yes. i would like to contribute to this. ours is up to 1 1/2 now but we have boatloads of pics.
hope all is well with you and your young’un.
Keith G
How about a little less time being outraged at bits of GOP stupidity already covered by other blogs.
Instead, give us some value added content. Each of you have experiences and insights that could be the basis for interesting and sound analysis. You really seldom try.
Any 8th grader can throw in a link and type, “Can you believe the the dumb shit he just said?”
Anya
@wilfred:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I am serious. No Marcy fucking Wheeler.
BGinCHI
@pragmatism: All is indeed well. I assume FPers would also share their baby pics.
pragmatism
@BGinCHI: FSM dammit i misunderstood. i’m an overbearing proud poppa like this dude: http://www.theonion.com/articles/astronomer-discovers-center-of-universe,559/
LowProfileinGA
@samara morgan:
Great to have a link to Charles Pierce here!
Arclite
@Crashman: Balloon Jooce Gamez!
The tricky part is getting everyone on the same page. Maybe try some Free 2 Play stuff at first like LOTRO and see how it goes?
I game on a budget (being the sole breadwinner) so I always wait a year or two before picking up games on Steam sales.
Currently playing Supreme Commander and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
LGRooney
@BGinCHI: I was going to recommend myself to write the football posts but I fear there would be too much Liverpool bias.
Anya
More Dennis G, Tom Levenson and Zandar. Also, too, Kay is doing a great job. We need more local reporting like that from other contested races. Unfortunately, all the other front pagers live in places that are either too red or too blue***, so they can’t do a meaningful local reporting. But maybe we could have guest bloggers from those areas for the duration of the 2012 election.
*** I know both DougJ and mistermix live in upstate New York, but still…
AdamK
More petz pics plz.
kc
Election, shmelection. I want more Tunch.
Kiril
Yglesias’ link is outdated on the blogroll.
Don’t change the content, except maybe you could all write one post about how much you love your pets and then just link to that when you get the urge to share.
kc
@Anya:
I second the request for more local coverage. Plus more Tunch.
LGRooney
@Arclite: BF 2 was fun. I passed it to my brother-in-law to get him into it. Worked, he is going to buy his own copy now and I’ll get it back. However, I am well into BF3 now.
LGRooney
@Kiril: Your name is missing a final ‘l’ but I’ll let it pass. In any event, from your idea, how about instead of a cutesy quote, e.g., “Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!” we get a new pet picture every time? They could be small format with an embedded link should someone want to see the full-sized version.
pragmatism
@LGRooney: while messi was scoring 5 yesterday, christiano ronaldo was having his $300K lambo towed. http://deadspin.com/5891578/while-messi-was-scoring-five-goals-cristiano-ronaldos-300000-lamborghini-was-getting-towed
also, too, come on you Spurs!
Brooklyn Michael
One-stop shopping for all my election needs? Simple…
Hire Steve Benen, TBogg, Nate Silver, Atrios, Charlie Pierce and most of Josh Marshall’s team, including Josh.
Then I won’t have to go anywhere else.
curiousleo
MOAR PET PICS!!! Srsly, the rescue pet stories and pet pics are a great antidote/counter balance to the rage-inducing campaign stuff.
ReflectedSky
@Ash Can: I follow Cole on Twitter, and I think it’s a great idea to have his tweets load here along the side — as long as he doesn’t tone them down for all the additional readers. All the FPers being included might be great, but I don’t follow them all, so I have no idea how entertaining they are.
LGRooney
@pragmatism: I’ve honestly got no beef with Cristiano Ronaldo. He has the misfortune of being incredibly talented, good looking, and not as humble as someone like Messi. He isn’t a Beckham, though, i.e., gone all me-me-me Hollywood (my guess is you can’t be that way and find success in a Ferguson regime), and he actually seems like a nice guy (ever seen him in an interview?). He is also an excellent team player – and not nearly the diver that people seem to claim. So, while I understand the enmity directed at Ronaldo, I don’t agree with it. In any event, looks like Ronaldo will be wearing the league banners this year and not Messi.
The beauty, i.e., frustration if you’ve ever played the game, of Messi is how incredibly effortless he makes it all look and then his lack of limelight hogging. Come on, man, no one has the right to be that talented, give me something to dislike! Someone who doesn’t know the game would look at what he does and think, “What’s the hype about?” He truly is brilliant, though, and the fact that he can get kicked, hit, bumped, and not go down as long as the ball is still moving in the right direction, i.e., “I’ve got a chance,” is beyond admirable.
As for the Spurs, they are my wife’s team this year. They’re just exciting to watch, as Arsenal have been the past two months – albeit relying far too much on RVP, a worrying situation. Spurs’ will to attack makes the games a joy to watch.
Sadly, as a Liverpool fan, there is clearly not the ambition or the urgency necessary. How to explain so many draws against lower-level competition while holding their own well against upper-levels? They have bought too much into the history of Anfield and think the lower-level games don’t carry the same importance, i.e., “Why do we have to play these teams?” That is a management problem that needs to be wiped out before next season or they’ve got much longer-term problems.
penpen
@LGRooney: @pragmatism: COYS!
Cain
Weekly reading from the book “My Pet Goat”.
Hillary Rettig
ditto for a regular science blogger.
ditto for a parenting column.
also more regular “jobs/careers” feature, to help the community.
Feministe has a “Self-Promotion Sunday” regular open thread where people can link to their own writings. That would be great here.
Amusing Alias
My wife has 12 dogs and 6 cats. So FEWER FUCKING ANIMALS.
LGRooney
@penpen: You and my wife!
4jkb4ia
You guys can’t beat DK Elections–don’t even try. I am satisfied with what Tim F., mistermix and Kay are doing on the election front.
(I do not know this greylocks person but assume he/she is not a troll.)
pragmatism
@LGRooney: points taken on ronaldo. i like messi far far better and i have an anti-real bias. i do know that ronaldo and real would trade 10 league banners for a CL trophy. i’m prolly just jealous that ronaldo gets to shayk it with irina shayk.
@penpen: COYS indeed. i’m absolutely terrified that they are crumbling right now. if they give up their CL spot i’m gonna lose it.
Violet
This is a great blog. Thanks for all you do. I’m sure there are things I could think of, but overall I like it the way it is and almost always enjoy new bloggers and the interests they have. So keep up the good work.
Cathie from Canada
PLEASE don’t get too complicated. I like my Balloon Juice nice and simple — one page, scroll down, find something interesting, read it.
No columns, no sub-pages, no sign-in, no “click-whoring” where stories are set up to forces readers to click internal links again and again just to get their reader numbers up.
And being Canadian, I am already reading way too much about the American elections, so my heart fell with the prospect of reading more — except for stuff like Romney’s dog, love that, and ABL, and Doug, and Levenson and … oh well, come to think of it, if I have to read about American elections, this is the place to do it!
Schlemizel
could we get that nice man, veritas, on the front page?
I figured there should be at least one suggestion here that everyone agreed on 8-{D
tom
Be great to add the feature of keeping the desktop view instead of going to the !@#$% mobile view every time one clicks on an internal link or comes back from visiting an external link.
Really, it’s not rocket science…
Tom Levenson
@Anya: Sorry. I’m hors de combat for the next couple of months at least. My day job is about to suck the marrow from my bones.
But thanks for the kind thought
low-tech cyclist
Just be who you are. Do things that grow naturally off that.
I don’t comment here a lot, because I’m usually late to a thread, and hate to be commenter #137 when I don’t have time to read the preceding 136 comments to see if anyone’s already said what’s on my mind.
But this blog is one of my favorite reads, and has been for a few years now. It’s just a sweet place, and it’s great to stop by here a few times every day.
skippy
a seaech feature to arrange all of doug j’s posts by
a) which different goofy pseudonym he used that day, or
b) song or movie which the post title is punning upon
skippy
no, i take it back, just take Ash Can’s suggestion.
R-Jud
@low-tech cyclist:
Agreed. Being 5 hours out of synch, time-zone wise, makes it hard for me to keep up in a lot of threads. But coming to BJ is a daily reminder that, despite what I’m reading in the news, not everyone back home has lost their minds.
Jim Pharo
Snacks. Definitely snacks.
DougJarvus Green-Ellis
Thanks, I’m going to try to add in some local coverage as well as international coverage as some sort of regular feature.
gbear
You should make sure that the blog has enough capacity so that it doesn’t crash and burn on election night.
Kay Shawn
Please don’t make this “one-stop shopping” for the election…BJ is great because it is a true mix. TPM and GOS, and now the US version of the Guardian are good for the other stuff.
4jkb4ia
This was meant for Martin, but two “no Marcy Wheeler”s came in, too.
You may remember Tim F.’s post on “Why write about Sullivan” where he simply said that you should engage with people who are willing to engage. “Better Marcy Wheeler than Brooks” has the constructive meaning of “engage with people who are more than willing to engage with you and who you are perfectly capable of learning from once in a while”. David Brooks is inured to the kind of criticism he gets here and no one here is going to learn anything from him.
“High dudgeon” was a great phrase. I find that rolling my eyes at the Cole version of high dudgeon is helpful with the Wheeler version, but that is just me. (ETA: This whole Rush thing was aimed directly at what John does best.)
Chris Grrr™
> a donate column linking to various blue candidates
> link tweets directly to the blog? Or at least put everyone’s twitter handle off to the side?
> GOP Lie of the Day
> snacks
Yo quiero un TunchCam (dat video was awesome)
And I like being able to +1 / upvote great comments, but that’s probably sorta indulgent.
samara morgan
@LowProfileinGA: okfine, add both Charles’.
just get rid of the League of Incredibly Boring Glibertarians and the rest of Coles kumbayah assclown cadre.
smintheus
You need more coverage of the candidates on foreign policy. The Republican candidates are ridiculously weak and just as crazy in foreign affairs as in their craptastic domestic ideas.
I think you could also use more on the Republican war on workers. Kay does a great job on Ohio stories but is focused there to the point where some national stories don’t get covered.
wilfred
Republican lunacy on foreign affairs does not make Democratic Party policy any better. The lack of discussion and critique amounts to a free pass for Empire.
What was Left of the Democrats, has left.
This is a good site:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/
Tom Levenson
@samara morgan:
No offense taken.
That physics guy would be Matt Strassler. (profmattstrassler.com) and I think he’s happy at his place (+he’s physics only, and we need more of science than that, I’d say.
At the very least, though, I can do a wholly random round up of links on good science blog stuff from time to time.