Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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

People are complicated. Love is not.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

The revolution will be supervised.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

I was promised a recession.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

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

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

I really should read my own blog.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / NY Times, What Are You Doing?

NY Times, What Are You Doing?

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I pay for a digital subscription to the Times because, for all her faults and continued employment of Dowd, Brooks, and Friedman, it is still my go to source for news. But for the last two weeks, whenever I go to the Times website, I have a full page ad I have to close, and then, once I do that, I get the NY Times front page and see I am logged in, but another ad covers half the god damned page until I click it. And if I click the minute “x” in the wrong place, I get yet another pop-up ad.

Why would anyone treat paying subscribers this way? Jack my monthly charge up a couple dollars and stop fucking with me, you morons. Hey- thanks for the subscription. We’re going to treat you shittier than everyone else who doesn’t pay to read us (and I say that because I never get the pop-up ads on public computers in which I am not logged in as a member).

Baffling. Is Judith Miller still working there in the subscriptions department?

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  3. 3.

    Kropadope

    As a non-paying daily reader, I can assure you the ads aren’t special for payers. Maybe the public computers you’re using have ad-block or aren’t updated to support the ads?

  7. 7.

    srv

    I can’t use Google Maps because there’s always a “Welcome to the new maps” popup.

    Can’t have a browser not saving cookies. Apparently they’ve paid Adblock to, you know, not adblock teh google.

    Thanks! I’m finally google free!

  9. 9.

    beltane

    I’m sure the ads are in good taste. We should be honored that we are allowed to see the same posh ads our betters were intended to see.

  10. 10.

    Richard Shindledecker

    No Judy isn’t there but the dicks she was sucking are still running the rag. 42 years living in this town, gave up on the NYT 17 years ago. No one edits it.

  12. 12.

    M. Bouffant

    I can’t tell you how many sites I’ve dropped from my reader because every time you open one there’s some bullshit between you & the story. Slate & its stupid Slate+ are the latest offenders.
    Between the FCC & these idiots killing their golden geese I pronounce the iNternet over.

  13. 13.

    Cacti

    O/T but I just got some horribly sad news on the book of faces this evening.

    The Mom of one of my best friends from high school days unexpectedly passed away today.

    She was in her early 60s.

    Damn.

  14. 14.

    Bob In Portland

    I agree, John. It’s getting worse than some of those Spanish-language porn sites.

  15. 15.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Cacti: The father of an ex-girlfriend for high school died last Friday. In retrospect, he was more likeable than she was.

  19. 19.

    jl

    @srv: People should complain to google. Every time I have to deal with their ‘new’ google maps, I find the pop up that lets me tell them why I am sticking the old version. Basically, they removed a lot of useful features, and put photo album crap in its place.

    I guess one day I will break down and ‘sign up for google’, whatever that means, so I can send them some text that chews them out.

    Not sure how much of it is malice versus getting sloppy. Maybe its a glitch on my system, but sometimes I want the crappy new version of google Earth, and the route back to the new garbage version of maps disappears.

    I think the new google maps sucks. I took their brief tour, I clicked through their how-to lessons, and didn’t learn anything from either that was not immediately obvious upon opening up the new map or earth version. Did some microsoft suit take over the google maps division and is fouling it up, or what?

    Edit: If I am dumb and missing some wonderful new features of new google maps other than photo albums and some stupid social media garbage, let me know.

  20. 20.

    Joey Maloney

    @srv: Yes, how dare Kerry say what Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres, and a plurality of the Israeli public have been saying for years. Off with his foreskin head!

  21. 21.

    some guy

    the only reason we have IE on our box is to read the Times.

    step 1: open IE, delete browsing history
    step 2: open NYT
    step 3: find the small x and close the scrolldown ad
    step 4: read up to 10 articles

    rinse, lather, repeat as necessary.

    Krugman on M/F, and the book reviews and auto reviews, as well as just to see what’s on A1, is really why I go there. Also, reading Anne Barnard’s latest propaganda missive from the March 14th Press Office in Beirut, cheering on the latest advance by al Qaeda against the godless Baathists, is always fun too, especially when it makes it ‘above the fold” in the electronic edition.

    but that’s just me

  23. 23.

    Cacti

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The father of an ex-girlfriend for high school died last Friday. In retrospect, he was more likeable than she was.

    I still have warm feelings for this friend and his folks, although I’ve not seen any of them in a long time.

    Just terribly sad for him, his old man, and his siblings.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Cacti: The ex-gf was on the Ed Show on Thursday. Her dad was a massively fat guy who used joke about needing two napkins when he ate – one on his lap and one tucked into his shirt for the food to rolled down toward his lap.

  26. 26.

    Punchy

    You actually spent money on the NYT? Can I sell you a few bridges and a handful of exotic dihydrogen oxide?

  27. 27.

    Cacti

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The ex-gf was on the Ed Show on Thursday. Her dad was a massively fat guy who used joke about needing two napkins when he ate – one on his lap and one tucked into his shirt for the food to rolled down toward his lap.

    My grandmother also passed away in early March.

    So, all in all, this hasn’t been a happy couple of months for me.

    :-(

  28. 28.

    muddy

    @some guy: I look at the headlines and then google “ny times” and some word or phrase from the headline. Even if I just clicked on it and it was closed, when I click through from google it opens. I used to do this with WaPo but it doesn’t let you anymore.

  30. 30.

    some guy

    @muddy: not quite sure what WaPo is doing with their site now. just finished the Trusted User/Commenter re-registration. they are taking much more care recently to make sure your laptop/cellphone/tablet Buys In Now.

    :-(

  32. 32.

    Mandalay

    @srv:

    IDK how Hillary or Biden keep quiet on this one.

    Easy – because Kerry’s remarks were obviously cleared and approved by his boss. Biden and Clinton can give their opinions if and when they start campaigning, but not before.

  34. 34.

    some guy

    @Mandalay:

    Bill Kristol has already given his opinion about what Hill should (or shouldn’t) do:

    “It is no longer enough for the White House to clean up after the messes John Kerry has made. It is time for John Kerry to step down as Secretary of State, or for President Obama to fire him. And it would go a long way toward repairing the damage Kerry has done if his predecessor as Secretary of State, who is the likely Democratic Party nominee for president, explained why this kind of rhetoric had no place in her State Department and why it will have no place in her presidential campaign.”

  38. 38.

    Paul W.

    LA Times is the only readable major newspaper for me. Otherwise it’s straight to Google News or Reuters/McClatchy, or even more often just clicking favorite blogs.

    NY Times is not great, and has been worse recently.

    On new media 538 is boring as fuck and nowhere near as introspective/investigatory as I hoped while Vox is doing quite well digging into issues but also leaving them as an open topic with multiple entries on it. I hate the “one and done” attitude of 538, there’s no narrative, and back in 2008 with Nate’s and the other guy’s analysis (Sean?) were just amazing to see them dig into local and national elements of actually GETTING votes, and the voting process.

    Now, what the hell does 538 contribute? It hasn’t been better than slate so far, and I couldn’t be more disappointed. Thank goodness for Booman Tribune, where at least I get to find out about the process of making laws and campaigning.

    Paul +4

    Oh, the original point of my comment was to say that commenting on an MSM website hasn’t been productive since 2010. Despite great writers like Benan/Plum/Krugman.

  39. 39.

    some guy

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Google, Still Our Friend

    I think it was four or five takes. I spent a total of about an hour and a half hanging around.
    I think I was forewarned, so I probably was acting.
    Actually I barely interacted with the cast — but I hung around with the crew and the director, talking about what was involved in making a movie.
    My answer is, lighten up! I had fun for part of an afternoon, then went back to my regular stuff. I wouldn’t have done it if it had involved travel or any serious time drain.
    I was paid scale, because the rules say they have to do that; I have no idea how much that was, but it obviously didn’t amount to much even in depreciated kronor.
    Well, unless I become a physicist in my old age, it’s hard to see how I get another Nobel. But I don’t expect to become a movie star either.

  41. 41.

    Mandalay

    @some guy:

    It is time for John Kerry to step down as Secretary of State, or for President Obama to fire him.

    Heh. Kristol wants Kerry to go because of his apartheid remarks, and that’s about the only reason I want him to stay. Kerry isn’t the brightest bulb on the tree, but he is dead right on Israel.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Sounds like a Being John Malkovich situation — the writer wrote the scene not really thinking they could get Krugman, and then Krugman agreed to do it.

  44. 44.

    some guy

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    in your browser there is a small window at the top where you can enter what is called a URL . Once you locate that, if you type http://www.google.com into that small input window you will find a website that offers users an unexpected treasure trove of data.

    Once you get to this site called Google you could enter a query like ” why Paul Krugman took a cameo role in Get Him to the Greek?” and lo and behold you (or your hired assistant, aide, researcher, or paralegal) would find out that Paul Krugman (tentatively) answered your question on June 11th, 2010.

    Google.com. You should really look into it. they also do email

  48. 48.

    Kropadope

    @Mandalay: I think John Kerry’s worst mistake at State is degree of difficulty. I can almost forgive him for almost getting us to war in Syria since we met our WMD goals without, ultimately, bombing. However, I gotta applaud him for giving the college try on Israel/Palestine. He got the parties back to the table, he contributed some good ideas, and he played a pretty good honest broker, not pussyfooting with extremists or negotiation saboteurs on either side. This isn’t the first truth he’s spoken about Israel.

  49. 49.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some guy: Jesus fuck. I was trying to make light of our previous interactions; I assumed that you had left out the link on purpose for a similar reason. The original question was really just a random conversational gambit. I thought that those things were somewhat obvious.

  52. 52.

    jl

    Off topic, but, wow, talk about ninniies.

    Boehner’s Tea Party Challenger Loses Job Over ‘Electile Dysfunction’ Ad

    ‘ House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) primary challenger has lost his job as an adjunct professor at a small Christian university in Cedarville, Ohio over an ad in which the challenger, J.D. Winteregg, said Boehner suffers from “electile dysfunction.” ‘

    …

    ‘ In an interview with The Washington Post on Monday Winteregg said that the ad was what caused Cedarville to end its ties with him.

    “They said because of the ad that my relationship with them will be done. It’s over,” Winteregg said on Monday. “The ad obviously touched a nerve.” ‘

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/j-d-winteregg-boehner-primary-opponent-cedarville-university

    I wonder what nerve was touched? Couldn’t be in their head, since no nerves or anything else in there.

    Johnny Bones, that cheap two-bit hood, have any serious primary opponents?

  53. 53.

    some guy

    @Mandalay:

    Jenghazi Rubin’s flying monkeys are all in a blather. I await with bated breath c und d gulag’s query of Jenghazi and the Pravy Sektor Regular’s if Obama has taken Bill Kristol’s advice and fired John Kerry yet?

    pass the apartheid popcorn and SodaStream

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some guy: I was really trying to offer an olive branch. We disagree on a number of things but it doesn’t mean we need to be assholes. If you prefer being assholes, that’s fine.

  65. 65.

    jl

    @beltane:

    ” We should be honored that we are allowed to see the same posh ads our betters were intended to see. ”

    I am not even near not quite rich enough to understand, let alone want, some of the stuff I see in NYT ads. I am not even sure whether the stuff I see is what is for sale.

  67. 67.

    jl

    @John Cole:

    I hereby internet flame the vile, hapless and sinister Cole for finding Krostiffol, or whatever NYTer he’s talking about, unreadable.

    You want more where that came from, Cole?

    Ha, the big coward left the thread! I win.

  69. 69.

    srv

    @Mandalay: Obviously cleared

    In a statement Monday evening, the secretary of state said if he ‘could rewind the tape,’ he wouldn’t have used the word ‘apartheid’ in his warning about Israel.

    John Kerry apologized Monday for warning last week that the lack of a two-state solution in the Middle East could lead to Israel becoming an “apartheid state.” Kerry’s remarks, made in a closed door meeting of the Trilateral Commission and first reported by The Daily Beast Sunday night, provoked strong reactions from across the political spectrum.

    In a statement issued Monday evening, Kerry defended his record as a supporter of Israel but also said, “if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two state solution.”

  70. 70.

    Mandalay

    @Kropadope:

    I can almost forgive him for almost getting us to war in Syria since we met our WMD goals without, ultimately, bombing.

    Yes, Kerry arguably got very lucky over Syria, but the results so far are not bad at all, given that there was and is no “good” outcome.

    But, as with Snowden and Stiviano, (mis)perceptions of Kerry’s motives and tactics matter far less than what he ends up achieving.

  71. 71.

    Mandalay

    @srv:

    Obviously cleared

    Just because he is making a retraction now does not mean that it was not cleared from above initially.

  72. 72.

    Mandalay

    @Mandalay:

    the results so far are not bad at all

    Uh-oh…

    Trust that the Syrian regime is committed to banning the use of chemical weapons is withering amid allegations that it gassed rebel areas with industrial chlorine.

    On top of that, Syria missed a self-imposed deadline to remove the last of its chemical weapons from the country Sunday, and questions are also being raised about the accuracy of the regime’s declared inventory of lethal chemical agents. The delays and lingering uncertainty place additional pressure on Syria to meet a June 30 deadline for destroying all of its chemical weapons facilities and equipment.

  73. 73.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @Mandalay:

    Not sure what can or should be done in Syria. Both sides have their share of bad guys. I suspect that the war there has gone on for so long that even if peace were to break out tomorrow Syria would become a fractured state like Libya.

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    @? Martin: My kiddo is away at a school club event being held in a town that is right in the path of the storms. Gives me something new to worry about!

  77. 77.

    Montarvillois

    I’m a subscriber to the NYT but not having the trouble you’re currently experiencing with pop-ads, probably because I live in Canada and not a target for these particular advertisers.

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    For those without HBO who might have an interest in the Oliver show’s premiere, HBO has put it up on YouTube, here.

  83. 83.

    JPL

    Good Morning. It’s windy here and the mutt decided that laps are safe havens. Weather channel is providing a live stream for those without cable.

  84. 84.

    NotMax

    @raven

    Maybe will take a look-see tomorrow. Eyes kind of glazed over from Children’s Week event on Warcraft starting today, having run orphans all over hither and yon for way too many hours.

    Not particularly a big fan of Stewart’s show, either (even though a friend from here was an intern on the program*). Find it occasionally humorous, but nowhere near as sharp or clever as I remember the old That was The Week That Was being, and too often the punchlines are as predictable as the Capistrano swalllows.

    *I’m sworn to silence on the juicy stories on and off set.

  85. 85.

    Schlemizel

    @raven: That was my take also.

    I really didn’t get people saying how great Oliver was on TDS. He was good sure but I didn’t notice he read the lines written for him substantially better or worse than Stewart. Since all they are going to do is be TDS+bewbies it would boil down to writers and I can’t see them being better than the original, as good as but not better.

  86. 86.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Three times I have responded to special offers and subscribed to the NYT weekend package. Three times I have gotten bills. Three times I have seen not a single paper.

    Of course, I did it three times so I’m a slow learner. They keep sending me the offers even now.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: That’s exactly what I thought. Exactly. I was kind of disappointed, and I was a bit surprised to see people here calling it “brilliant”. I thought it was “fine”.

  90. 90.

    Villago Delenda Est

    It’s really quite simple, John.

    You are the product being delivered to the Times’ true customer, the advertisers.

    Your needs are unimportant in the short term, which is the only term MBAs think of.

  91. 91.

    J R in WV

    Geezers, well some of ’em! But it’s gotta be the right kind a Apartheit, though.

    Goobers. though… who’re they?

  92. 92.

    MvR

    I’m stupid enough to get the Kindle subscription *and* pay for a Sunday paper, which seems to come most weeks but not others and which doesn’t seem to be sent even a day after I call to report the missing paper. Nor do they have a , a way that one can complain about the overall pattern of bad service as opposed to a particular missed delivery, at least by phone. And when one emails about that issue one seems to get no response. There’s an old saying about the day before yesterday’s papers, or wait a minute it was about yesterday’s papers, and I seem to be getting no paper at all some of the time . . .

    I want them to do well and remain in business, and but they make it hard to feel good about paying for a hard copy Sunday subscription at $8.50 a week. (Can you tell this was one of the weeks they missed delivering and haven’t responded to calls or emails? I mean I’m not always this cranky.)

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