Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Reality always wins in the end.

Screw the Judean People’s Front. Splitters.

Almost as fun as hiking the Appalachian Trail.

We still have time to mess this up!

Our job is not to persuade Republicans but to defeat them.

This blog will pay for itself.

Verified, but limited!

This is a big f—–g deal.

A snarling mass of vitriolic vicious jackals

I thought we were promised Infrastructure Week

Peak wingnut was a lie.

An army of rabid, anonymous commenters

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense.

Shock troops for the Unitarian Jihad.

Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!

Usually wrong but never in doubt.

Hot Air and Ill Informed Banter

Gastritis Broke My Calculator

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

How has Obama failed you today?

Also, too.

The house always wins.

This Blog Goes to 11…

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Readership Capture / Looks Like You Haven’t Burnt it Down Yet

Reader Interactions

185Comments

  1. 1.

    KithKanan

    I like it, and it’s definitely faster. Also, I can actually access the site from my work computer again (for some reason I hadn’t been able to since around the time the new site went into testing).

  4. 4.

    HeleninEire

    Faster? You know John, faster isn’t always better.

  7. 7.

    zhena gogolia

    It’s not working for me. nym sticks but e-mail doesn’t, and comments don’t post or at any rate I can’t see them until I refresh. Others seem to be having the same problem.

  11. 11.

    PJ

    It is faster. Still can’t see embedded tweets, but I guess that’s a problem with having trackers turned off.

    This is the third time I’m mentioning it, so I’m sure it will be the charm, but the tabs on the sides are very annoying as they block the text.

    ETA: I posted a few previous comments without a problem, but this last one didn’t show up until I had refreshed twice.

  14. 14.

    japa21

    I am of the totally uninformed opinion that most of the (relatively minor) problems will disappear over the next few days. And compared to the old site, the problems are very minor indeed.

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    There’s some good and some bad.  It’s definitely snappy, but it sometimes takes a couple of refreshes before my comments show up.  Also, too, sometimes including a website makes my posts get eaten.

  16. 16.

    MisterForkbeard

    I haven’t been able to kill the site yet. Hooray!

    Interestingly, the system is saving my nym but not my e-mail address. Don’t know if that’s intentional.

  18. 18.

    TaMara (HFG)

    Pretty. I can release comments in moderation from the POST! Yay!

    Lots of commenters complaining about emails and nyms not holding.

     

    I’m whining about the back button not working to take me to the last comment I was reading. It takes me to MY last comment. :-(

  19. 19.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    I really like that my nym and email are remembered.

    ETA: NVM, my email disappeared

    By the way John, when are you going to make me a front pager? ; )
    (Where does the term “front pager” in blogger parlance come from anyway? Is the joke that on everybody’s a front pager on a blog?)

  20. 20.

    caring and sensitive

    I come here numerous times a day but post perhaps once a year. I just want to say I love the site and think the new look is great. Thanks to everyone and especially John for creating and hosting such a vibrant community

  25. 25.

    MaryLou

    I ? the new site – great look and feel, easy for these old eyes to read, and all the regulars. What’s not to love?

  26. 26.

    Catherine D.

    Nice look, and congrats on the hard work!

    1) It’s faster on my crap intertube connection, but are the ads on yet?

    2) Minor observation – the post authors aren’t showing up in Feedly.

  29. 29.

    Ohio Mom

    Also, I would have corrected the typos in my comment above but did not see an edit box to click. On the bright side, I can see this comment as I type it.

  31. 31.

    Sab

    I’m on a Nook. I really like the look of the new site. It’s much faster. Also, I have never had a refresh button before.

    My comment appeared right away. It seems to be leting me edit.

  33. 33.

    Seanly

    Will it remember my name & email again?

    Seems fine to me. I am pretty easy going. Congrats on the redesign.

  39. 39.

    Mary G

    Still squinting or moving my face up and down to find the sweet spot in my progressives lenses on the Chrome/Win 10 PC because the commenter names are tiny. They’re fine on the phone and OK on the Kindle Fire. Definitely faster and smoother; love the ombre effect on the next and last post button.

    Testing embedding a tweet got me a message that I’m blocked from BJ.

    Trying another with no hash tags: still blocked.

    Trying one of John’s: Still blocked. Will send CloudFlare info to the site feedback button.

  41. 41.

    Kattails

    Well OK then, I was so happy just to find it still here after working all day. Let’s see how it works when I comment.

  42. 42.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    @zhena gogolia: I still love the look, but now my email isn’t sticking either and the reply button isn’t working right. The first time I click to reply to a comment their nym/link doesn’t get in my new comment box. If I x out the box and click reply again their nym/link shows up then, sometimes two of them.

    Chrome, Win 10 on an HP laptop.

    -Did we break our new toy already?

     

  45. 45.

    Mary G

    Not seeing edit button with countdown clock, and have to refresh to see my comment after comment is accepted; also after refresh email addy is gone.

    ETA: now comment appeared without refreshing and I have edit functionality.

    ETA2: email addy still disappearing after commenting.

  46. 46.

    HumboldtBlue

    I haven’t tried to reply to a comment yet so here goes.

    It doesn’t show the name of the commenter I replied to.

    I was replying to Mike S

  49. 49.

    Mai naem mobile

    Its purdy. Real purdy even though you chose the totally wrong day to launch it. Totally wrong day. Guess I better shut up unless I want to get kicked off.

     

  54. 54.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Yay! Like the new look and am excited to check out the bells & whistles.

     

    Thanks to all who worked on this, especially with the public hearings starting. Congrats on getting the switch done so quickly.

     

    (testing the pop-up comment box)

  55. 55.

    randy khan

    It’s got a lot more white space. This is not a bad thing.

    Now let’s see if nyms and emails stick for me.

  57. 57.

    Mai naem mobile

    Also too I like the font. And, oh I didn’t have to fill my name in again. I am impressed but them again it doesn’t take a lot to impress me.

    Edit – I spoke too soon. Had to fill my email.  Oh well.

  60. 60.

    urlhix

    Much faster. And way easier on the eyes to this long-time lurker, occasional poster. Many thanks to you and the crew. Well done!

     

  61. 61.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Yay! Like the new look and am excited to check out the bells & whistles.

     

    Thanks to all who worked on this, especially with the public hearings starting. Congrats on getting the switch done so quickly.

     

    (testing the pop-up comment box)

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:

     

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne

    I can read the font on my iPhone without squinting, so that’s nice.

    I may have heard the front-pager news from Rue herownself last time I saw her here in LaLaLand. ?

  64. 64.

    Ohio Mom

    Yes, I can see “Ohio Mom” in Blue. But I can’t see this comment as I type it. The screen shifts too far up, if that makes sense.

  68. 68.

    gwangung

    Can I test again

    ETA: Weird. Posted from another browser, and THAT one posted.

    Came back to Safari, and it’s now posting….and I’m in moderation.

  70. 70.

    japa21

    @Ohio Mom: Do you have a separate comment box open up when you are replying to a comment?  I do, which is unusual, I think. Usually only had a special box show up for editing.

     

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    Looking good! Quick short post from a Windows PC. I will also be posting from a Chromebook and an Android smartphone.

    My compliments to all who have worked on the upgrade.

    There is no little box to check to save commentor info.

  73. 73.

    J R in WV

    This is my first comment on the new B-J !!

    And this is my first edit comment on the new B-J.

    You know, I thot it was really kool that the Balloon-Juice system was down on the very first day of Impeachment Hearings for Drumpf. Kind of appropriate in an odd way.

    ========================

    OK, my edit to my first comment did not show up until I refreshed the page after clicking the Update Comment button. Trying another update now!

    =====================

    The edit comment function was gone after my first edit update went through. I posted a reply, below, and then when I scrolled back up to thie original comment, there was the edit function again… This is my 3rd edit to this comment.

  78. 78.

    Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)

    This is the worst.  I’ve never seen a worse site.  Everything is new, and it’s different, and even though it’s objectively better in every way, it still sucks and I hate everything about it.

    To sum up, until this moment I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.  You have done enough.  Have you no sense of decency?  At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

  80. 80.

    J R in WV

    @J R in WV:

    Also, after making the update and refreshing a second time, I could see the edits I made, but the Update Comment button disappeared, which is why I’m using the Reply function for this input.

    =======================

    So, there is something hosed up for the update/edit comment function. I’m able to edit this comment, but until I hit the refresh comment in the upper left corner, the edit function was missing.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    Heath Mayo
    @HeathMayo
    ·3h
    In a single clip, you can see here the utter disconnect between Taylor’s reality-based worldview and the conspiracy-based partisan blinders of the current GOP. This is precisely the reaction Castor deserved.
    The GOP used to be more like Taylor.

     

    I can’t stop laughing at Taylor’s face during this. “I…I don’t know”

     

    WTF are the ‘Manafort black binders”?  I’ve never even heard of this conspiracy theory.

  93. 93.

    Kattails

    I went completely off-site after my quick post, came back, my nym is here but not email. Mac mini Catalina, Safari 13.0.2.Don’t understand issues w/ speed, it’s always been fine for me so can’t assess that. But I’m just so happy we’re all still here tra-la omg I went to “visual” and there are all these weird markings, what have I done

    Now seeing how edit works.

  94. 94.

    J R in WV

    @jeffreyw:

     

    IT was witty!  And fun!!!

     

    hehehe.

     

    It looks good, very readable and all, but I have trouble editing a comment more than once, suspect something is hosed up.

     

     

  98. 98.

    Chetan Murthy

    Likey-like.  I just wish there was a “strikethru” button.  Oh, edits are schweet!  And zippy-fast, too!

  103. 103.

    rekoob

    For what it’s worth, seamless transition into my RSS feeder (Feedly Pro), which makes me an old. It looks great and is easier to read. Enjoying the transition and hope all the other glitches can be worked out before too long.

  105. 105.

    Aleta

    I notice that none of the several categories Cheryl Rofer covers w/ such accuracy are listed under Featuring.

  109. 109.

    J R in WV

    The site is beautiful now. Thanks to Watergirl, and Steeps, and John Cole, and the anonymous developer who did all this. Except for the edit comment function, which didn’t work for me at first. I’ll be editing this comment to see how ti works now.

    Ubuntu 18.04.3 Firefox 70.0.1… now to post this and see about edits.

    THIS comment did NOT appear until I hit “Post” and then refreshed the page again. So now both the comment appeared, and I have an Update Comment button, which I will use to update this comment for the first time. Also tried strikethrough function.

  111. 111.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Just had a gateway connection error posting my last comment with the link, but after refresh it looks OK.

    ETA using android phone

  114. 114.

    J R in WV

    @J R in WV:

    I tried to update the 106 comment I am replying to here. I got a timeout error which I copied and will paste here:

    Error 524 Ray ID: 53556fb58ea1c538 • 2019-11-14 02:08:13 UTC
    A timeout occurred
    You
    Browser
    Working
    Chicago
    Cloudflare
    Working
    http://www.balloon-juice.com
    Host

    I tried to update my comment at the foot of the “You haven’t set it on fire yet” thread, around comment 100 or 105 or so, and got this timeout error when I hit the update button a couple of times…

    Error

    I tried to blockquote the error message, and got an odd reaction, which I plan to use the “Text” function to repair.

    I think the text repair will work ok…

    ===============

    This is an edit to this comment, still testing posting, editing, etc…

    This is a third edit test.

    This is a fourth edit test, looks to be working oK now.

    I submitted a couple of Site Feedback posts regarding my edit successes and failures.

  116. 116.

    DaveInOz

    I think the site looks great and it is definitely faster. Congratulations to all involved in the redevelopment. A massive undertaking.

  118. 118.

    Aleta

    I like that there’s not surplus wordiness or excessive tags, which makes it elegant like the best equations and puzzles and poems. I like that on the front page the posts are featured in brief so you can scan more at one time, without scrolling down down down just to get to the next. I love the look, I love the spaciousness and font—it leaves room for ones thoughts and senses. It’s not controlling. You all are such pros and I’m in awe of how ever you accomplished this. Gives me faith tonight that things can be good.

  121. 121.

    J R in WV

    I’m pretty much done now. Things look pretty good so far.

     

    Loved (not really) the Iimpeachment hearing today, live on ABC. The Gym Jordan dude was a total fail, did as well as a wrestling coach would be expected to do. Even their attorney was a total fail.

     

    I’ll check by again in an hour or so to see if the site remembers my nym etc…

  124. 124.

    burnspbesq

    Too bad Stuck and efg couldn’t be around for this.

    Too bad Molly Ivins and Steve Gilliard weren’t around for Amb. Taylor’s testimony.

  127. 127.

    Laura Too

    I love it and first time ever it remembered me! You all are awesome, can’t wait to get time to figure it out. Thanks for all the hard work!

  130. 130.

    EmanG

    Here’s my test from an HP Chromebook, don’t know how it will post yet but must say I love the look and feel of the new design. Props to JC, Watergirl and all the rest who made it happen! Also, remembered my (rarely used) Nym and email

    Second edit: Comment popped up instantly, all looks good, but what’s with the countdown clock? I feel like it’s judging me…

  131. 131.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Kay:

    WTF are the ‘Manafort black binders”?  I’ve never even heard of this conspiracy theory.

    Not a conspiracy theory. There are some documents recovered after the Maidan revolution in Ukraine (generally referred top as the “black ledger”) that show Manafort was paid in cash by the Yanukovych party. These dosuments were made public by then-MP Serhiy Leshchenko. Their accuracy and provenance are disputed only by RWNJ’s.

  135. 135.

    burnspbesq

    John Yoo, Hugh Hewitt, and Alan Dershowitz are allowed to teach Con Law at ABA-accredited law schools.

    There is a serious problem with the ABA’s accreditation process.

  136. 136.

    Kay

    Thanks. I watched some of the hearing tonight but I turned it off about a quarter of the way into the GOP lawyer’s questions. It wasn’t really tracking.

  138. 138.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Trying to reply to Subaru Diane, but not seeing the reply @SD.

    Also, don’t see any formatting functions – e.g. bold, italics, etc. I did see them on my phone.

    Laptop Win10, Chrome

    ETA: Interesting, I now get the formatting functions when I go back into edit. As others have mentioned, I get sent back up to the top after posting my comment and then need to scroll back down to wherever I was. Nevertheless, like the new site a lot!

  139. 139.

    Aleta

    Some kind of glitch?
    I noticed in Recent comments, a few minutes ago, clicking on the comment listed from

    S ar a h F r e e went back to a post by AL on Oct. 22. But that commenter did not show up on that AL post. (There were no comments on that post from tonight or recently.)

  140. 140.

    CarolDuhart2

    Looks good so far. May actually work better. Impatient to talk about the Republican clusterfuck impeachment. Not much left to say, and none of it is good for Orange Cheeto.

  141. 141.

    Dan B

    TestingTesting wow bold.  colours, even types English!  

     

    Now for erase.  ♥ Didn’t erase, or do anything but the rest is fun!

     

    Plus nym and email!!

     

    But if this here plce needs immolating my BBQ tried immolating the chicken thighs.  It may be available on an as-needed basis.

  142. 142.

    SiubhanDuinne

    My cousin and my younger brother and sister are very close in age. Cousin Dave is just six weeks older than the twins, and to all purposes they were raised as triplets (my mother and aunt would feed any baby who squawked, whether or not she had actually given birth to it).

     

    Anyhow, Dave learned early on how to reach through the rungs of his crib, loosen the butterfly bolts that held the crib floor in place, jump up and down really hard, and allow the crib base to fall to the floor. Then it was a simple task for him to free the twins in similar fashion.

    The Liberating Cat reminds me of my cousin :-)

  149. 149.

    Kay

    They almost got away with it. But for the whistleblower Ukraine would have had to capitulate and they would have announced the “Biden investigation” on CNN.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    My posts seem to mostly just disappear.
    Tried to write another and it said duplicate post.
    But there is no post showing in the thread.

  153. 153.

    Ruckus

    @Ruckus:

    I see the problem.

    Must be moderation for putting in my website. But that worked before the update. Maybe it doesn’t like the competition.

     

  156. 156.

    LanceThruster

    LanceThruster here. Long time listener, first time caller.

     

    Likes: Bernie Sanders, The Squad, protecting the environment, the vulnerable, and the marginalized, and hiking and biking.

     

    Dislikes: site blocks though comment guidelines are followed, being labeled a troll when making sincere arguments, DNC shenanigans and superdelegates, she-who-must-not-be-named for reasons that apparently must-not-be-discussed, coups, rapacious corporatism, US dollars bankrolling murder in Palestine, and those sticker plants that hurt your feet when walking barefoot and pop your bike tires.

     

    Pleased to meet you, electronically speaking.

  160. 160.

    opiejeanne

    But they didn’t. Their whole argument, aside from the ridiculous conspiracy theories, seems to be that he got caught before he could commit the crime so no harm/no foul/no crime.  You already know all of this, and there was already one crime committed just by Trump asking for something from Ukraine.

    The election of 2018 made such a huge difference! Elections matter.

    And I can edit it!  I tried the P, it highlighted the last thing I typed.

  161. 161.

    Jerry

    Just checking to see if the site finally keeps my name and email address.

    ETA:
    Yes! Success! Now everyone go listen to Jerry Jeff Walker.

  163. 163.

    frosty

    Left and right arrows! Be still my heart! I’ve only tried the mobile site but it’s great. Thanks to all!

  165. 165.

    The Lodger

    So far everything is equal or better.  It was nice to be able to see and select both my IRL name and nym. ♥ trying a few formatting things here.

    1. Let me try lists with numbers.
    2. Howell Raines really, really hates the Clintons.
  166. 166.

    sneezy

    I don’t comment here much but do read pretty faithfully and yes, I think the new look is great. Thanks and congratulations to all on a job well done!

  167. 167.

    The Lodger

    I don’t see the name of the commenter who I’m replying to. (To whom I am replying? Where the hell is my grammar filter anyway?) My nym and email are visible, so that’s cool.

  169. 169.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @randy khan: It’s got a lot more white space. This is not a bad thing.

    Prepare to be deeply disappointed when you find out that all that “white space” is in fact reserved for ads & come next week will be overrun by them.

     

    NB: For once when I hit “reply” it actually inserted the nym & post I was replying to. And it remembered my e-mail. Go figger.

     

  171. 171.

    dww44

    Have to disagree.  I like neither the fonts and the white space is truly killing my eyes.  I just accessed the blog a few minutes ago and although I played around with the Zoom functions in Firefox, I cannot come up with a solution that makes reading the blog easy on my eyes.  Speed was never an issue for me.  Readability is my primary concern.

    Thus far, this new look is not good for me.  I just looked at other blogs I read, and the unsharp text here that recedes into way too much grayish white space just doesn’t compare well to the contrast between text and background at sites like No More Mister Nice Blog, Eschaton  Slate, Talking Points Memo.

  172. 172.

    Eunicecycle

    First, the site looks great! My first reaction was “Ooo wow!” Now I have a question: What is the difference between “visual” and “text” for the comments?

  173. 173.

    dww44

    So, I’ll try this again, since somehow I made my comment disappear. I just tried the site about a half hour ago and for me the readability is an issue. I’m not a fan of the text nor of the excessive grayish white space. The text is not sharp and is too small in relation to the surrounding empty space. I’ve tried adjusting via Zoom functions in Firefox, but nothing seems to help. Getting the text large enough throws everything else out of whack. I’ve compared to other sites I read, like No More Mister Nice blog, TPM, Eschaton, and the contrast between text and background at those sites is much sharper and easier to read.

     

    My experience has been that when sites redo their websites, folks like me who read on a desktop, have to take a backseat to those reading on notepads and smart phones. I confess that I was not looking forward to the BJ redo and, thus far, my worst fears have been realized.  Aside from the other positive changes that commenters have noted, it’s the readability that’s most important to me and this  is not an improvement over the prior iteration.

     

    I

  174. 174.

    minachica

    testing in Chrome on a Macbook Air, it takes me back to my comment and remembers my nym and email address. I really love the look of the place, and so far everything I’ve tested has worked great!

  180. 180.

    rye

    Looong time reader; first time commenter. Just wanted to say congratulations and keep doing what you are ALL doing.

  182. 182.

    Villago Delenda Est

    So far so GREAT, Cole. Really lookin’ good. The entire team has done great work! WaterGirl is a goddess, never let her go!

Comments are closed.