Anil Dash's Ten Rules of Internet are getting a fair amount of attention recently.
I find Rule #6 and the second bonus rule particularly interesting in light of recent events. Applicable? Maybe.
What happens if a person breaks a rule? The internet will count to ten?
577 comments:
1 – 200 of 577 Newer› Newest»Definitely applicable.
I'm thinking these were central as well:
Bonus rules which apply equally on the Internet and off:
* Never argue against logic with emotion, or against emotion using logic.
* We hate most in others that which we fail to see in ourselves.
Logic works great against emotion.
Maybe he means don't argue with a woman.
Most valuable words, "I was wrong, dear."
Otherwise no sex.
We hate most in others that which we fail to see in ourselves.
I've found that I hate myself so much that I generally don't have any hate left over to spend on anybody else.
Once someone tips over into 'emotional' discourse, logic only pisses them off more. As a friend of mine once said, "No thinking person home."
Rule 6, though I didn't call it that, was a large part of my disagreement with Freeman and one of the Anonymi over Althouse.
Althouse was not the victim of her commenters. You can't host an online group, or any kind of group, without encouraging and enforcing standards. It's not easy or fun. Individual hosts draw the lines differently and use different techniques, but it has to be done, or you end up with chaos.
Althouse is now complaining about how commenters didn't rise up and help her restore order. I made a few comments stating a preference for more civil discussion, but they seem to have gotten lost in the din.
Plus I couldn't tell what Althouse wanted. She wasn't as crass as the worst of the commenters, but she had her own blowtorch style that wasn't helping. I concluded that she wanted the blog as it was and I adopted a more elbows-up style of commenting.
To me her blog's collapse is a textbook case.
Over 600 comments yesterday without any self-trolling to stir it up. That's pretty good Lem.
I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Are you listening?
Portal.
The second bonus rule strikes a chord with me. a serious chord?
a laughing chord, a laughing chord? there are no laughing chords, according to goggle, there are only geometric chords and musical chords.
Oh, the laughing chord is roller derbying at university. roller derbying is not internet.
Paddy
Sneaky PaddyO
PaddyO- I saw this link that you posted yesterday. Not only was the post cool, but that blog - going on since 1999 is like its own internet history lesson. Cool!
By the way, just out of curiosity. I know that Instapundit did a link to your book. Did that drive much in the way of sales? I've always wondered.
I have an older sister who became involved with the Civil Rights movement in the 60's. I mistakenly bit on one of her Perpetually Aggrieved Facebook posts and regretted it very quickly.
Facts were not welcome, and emotion ran high. For some the German Shepherds are always straining at the leash, and the water cannon are going full blast. No facts can change this.
These are the folks who want a "conversation" on race. I'll pass.
Portal? I thought the one word was supposed to be plastics.
The ancient Greeks didn't know that the brain is what does the thinking. They thought the mind resided in the middle of the torso because that's what it feels like.
That doesn't sound right to me but I heard it from a well-established professor of the classics so there must be something to it.
I need a portal so I can invest in some plastic. Lovable, washable, inflatable plastic. Us beta males get lonely.
I've found that I hate myself so much that I generally don't have any hate left over to spend on anybody else.
That's really nice, Mitchell the Bat.
It seems to me that you feel emotions more in the torso, and that a headache really impairs thinking, so I would expect people to have always imagined they reside where we do today - head and heart, but I wonder if you grew up thinking the opposite, if it would seem right too?
I have some for you phx. Go ahead, just look at me wrong. I have mad blogger MMA skills.
I'm definitely trying to avoid eye contact with bagoh20.
If only all problems were soluble through logic.
One rule should have been stated the way Sippican did, years ago.
Like bad money driving out good, bad commenters drive out the good.
I blame Bush, myself.
I hear you bags, we aren't rushing into things.
Just now when I though of the words "I hear you", it was in the voice of dubya atop some rubble a a couple of days after 9/11.
and just now I'm thinking why the serious comment?
and then what about the rules of internet. yea but i'm just making a comment here i'm not bothering anybody... that's what you think... you just pissed off halve the population of Tallahassee. I don't even know anybody form Tallahassee. Tallahassee insist Tallahassee the home of the government of florida? don't google it and stop wasting my time. ok i'm atta here, i'm going to read that funny post of the new university president in California.
that's Cali if you want to sound cool.
Most of my problems are soluble through alcohol, albeit briefly.
Lem, I think bagoh20 is right about the portal.
You owe Althouse nothing more than to wish her well for a whole lot of reasons I'll not go into.
In fact, by not having a portal you do a disservice to all of us who want to use it to show our appreciation for your blog at no cost to us.
But please, don't do any of those patronizing sales reports.
My two cents.
Over 600 comments yesterday without any self-trolling to stir it up. That's pretty good Lem.
Threadwinner already. When one trolls one's own blog to agitate and stir things up one can hardly complain when people get agittated and stirred up.
A mile away a turboprop crop duster is tending to the corn, which is pretty much ten feet high.
I imagine it's corn. You can roll over soybeans pretty well so don't need an airplane.
Anyway you hear the doppler shifting prop in flat pitch as the tips go supersonic in turns.
"Logic works great against emotion.".
How do I know you're single?
Anil Dash. I had one of those the other day. Made it just in time.
I think we should avoid too much celebration.
that's not a concrete rule its a dirt road rule.
Celebrating the number of comments presents inescapable and elusive and illusory and ... targets.
I was going and and and again.
What I mean by too much celebration.
In baseball, it used to be that, when a hitter hit a home run and instead of running the bases with his head down like he was supposed to, if he stood at the plate admiring it, he was going down at his next at bat. either him, or one of his teammates.
Sadly, that's not the way things are now.
Not measuring really, just pointing out an opportunity. We want this to survive as long as possible, and making it pay might help. Besides, I think it represents what most people here believe in, and I wholeheartedly do - free enterprise, and it's power to liberate. It saved the world, why not the home.
The pole is up! video
Bad language at 0:30
Lots of stuff is going on in rural America.
I think we should avoid too much celebration.
Whut? It's Little Friday. I'll be celebrating at 5.
Patrick, Instapundit links definitely help. A very short term spike, but it's a big spike in the short term.
It's like turning over an engine, cranks it for a little while but that doesn't mean the car will go. The hope is that it gets enough attention to spark further conversation.
Given my publisher had no marketing budget, it was definitely something.
More than sales, though, my hope is that maybe the attention got the book into the hands of someone who needed to read it.
Double Hump daaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!
Paddy, you got a link for that book? I forget what it was. I plan on learning to read this year, and maybe you could be my first. Get Pollo to make it an audio book, and I get right to it without all those messy letters.
Cool Paddy. Hope it happens.
In the pole video, take the audio shouts of what to do next.
Compare Wittgenstein :
Let us imagine a language for which the description given by Augustine is right. The language is meant to serve for communication between a builder A and an assistant B. A is building with building-stones; there are blocks, pillars, slabs and beams. B has to pass the stones, and that in the order in which A needs them. For this purpose they use a language consisting of the words ``block'', ``pillar'', ``slab'', ``beam''. A calls them out;--B brings the stone which he has learnt to bring at such-and-such a call.--Conceive this as a complete primitive language.
Wittgenstein's example is ordinary language provided you imagine it in a setting where distant commands are naturally appropriate.
It's not an imagined setting of barely human creatures stumbling into language for the first time.
Observation from Stanley Cavell, somewhere.
rhhardin said...
Most valuable words, "I was wrong, dear."
Being henpecked is not a way to go through life sir.
Zeb Quinn said...
Over 600 comments yesterday without any self-trolling to stir it up. That's pretty good Lem.
Threadwinner already. When one trolls one's own blog to agitate and stir things up one can hardly complain when people get agittated and stirred up.
Makes Rule #6 even more valid no?
I just heard from Pollo via email.
He was involved in a sailboat accident with his daughter and a neighbor (capsized).
(what am I doing? I'm no Tallahassee TV reporter)
Pollo Says....
"Yeah, we're OK. Thanks for asking. Just some cuts and bruises. But we had to be rescued by shore patrol and I lost my iPhone overboard. No more chirbits for a while because I made them on the iPhone."
aftr asking him if I could post the news? the accident on the blog he said...
"OK by me", and added... "I like the changes evolving at your place".
Ok, come down Lem. the guy is hurt and all you can think of is that he likes the changes at you stinking blog... i'm atta here. i'm off to read that math problem freeman posted this morning.
Being henpecked is not a way to go through life sir.
The dog comes to the work desk.
Do I want to go out?
She'll accept either answer.
"Not now, Vicki" is understood.
I forget how you right sailboats. I can do canoes. Boy scout camp.
I ran a couple of groups for 10 years. It had a few pretty basic rules.
-- invitation to subscribe. We didn't want dolts - though we got some.
-- don't post anything you wouldn't want posted about you.
I launched on warning. One moment, you were dropping a turd on some ripely deserving twit. You were reaching new levels of incisiveness, as you let them know they were a Hitlerian asshole. The next, puzzled, you were emailing me about some problem with your connection.
No insights, deathless prose, or vulnerable egos were harmed in the making of these expulsions.
M the Bat said: "The ancient Greeks didn't know that the brain is what does the thinking"
The Egyptians also failed to see any important function of the brain. Herodotus said that during the embalming process they would pull the brain out through the nostrils using special hooked needles --- unlike other internal organs, which were considered important and were preserved.
One would think it must have been difficult to get such a large organ out through such small holes, and in fact, it turns out that it can't be done. This was discovered by a couple of US scholars who got a hold of a body upon which to recreate an Egyptian embalming (gotta love scholarship!). In the end they wound up jabbing the needles into the cranium until they turned the brain into a kind of slurry, then turning the corpse over onto its stomach to let the liquefied brain drip out of its nose.
I'm still leaving my bookmark titled "Lem's" You can rip from my cold dead PC.
Glad you're all safe, chick :)
I watched that "People Get Ready" video one time last night and I still can't stop humming the melody the next day.
I try to write to songs sometimes, and I can't even remember the melody of them after playing them over and over. That creation of a hooking melody is a magic thing. It must be that thing they call talent. Mom left mine behind when we moved out of our first house when I was just a toddler - a damned shame.
I was going to react here to Althouse's latest "I hate commenters" post. (I clicked through from here, Lem. I know it's not good for me; but it's just too tempting. [Sigh].)
But then I realized I would be only proving her point.
I have to admit, though, I'm really surprised at how strong my reaction is, especially since I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I actually commented over there. And it was a near-daily stop for *years.*
Logically, I have to admit that my best course of action is to just let bygones be bygones. Especially since, logically, my connection to that blog makes exactly zero sense.
But emotionally, I am in fact attached somehow. And the result of acting on it is just to make me feel bad.
So logically, I just have to let it go, so I can feel better.
Those AA people someone mentioned yesterday? They say to pray for the person you resent, to pray that everything good you ever wanted for yourself would happen for *them*; and to do it daily for two weeks.
That's not very logical. (In fact, I expect not a few people here, and maybe Althouse herself, would laugh at that.)
But here goes.
(I'll put in a good word for you, too, Lem. It'll have to do until you put in an amazon portal.)
A new president used to get a honeymoon... I figure we should be good for a little while.
- look at him. now he thinks he is president.
- i'm atta here to look at that video rh shot of a guys erecting an electrical pole.
I visited Althouse not too long ago.
There's no blogroll link to this blog, her outsourced commenter blog.
How curious.
Oh, well. I'm sure it's all just a simple matter of her not having yet found the time to get around to it.
A vid of rh erecting his electrical pole? I'm in.
Lem has a very nice place here.
The host sets the tone for the party. Lem is the host and we are the guests.
If you start out with a keg and SoLo cups and visqeen on the floor, and the host yelling Toga Toga Toga!! and barfing in the kitchen....... You are going to have a much different result than if you have a nicely set up open bar with crystal highball glasses, good selection of wines with lovely stemware and interesting appetizers and some variety of jazz, oldies and standards playing softly in the background.
In any party there is always going to be some who don't adhere to the boundaries set by the host, spill the wine and refuse to go home when it is obvious that the party is over. There is no point is getting into confrontations with those people since they are really so unaware of themselves that it is a waste of time. Move away and strike up a conversation or engage in well mannered debates (not arguments) with those who are honoring the host's party.
:-)
Lem, you put 'guys', 'erecting', and 'pole' in the same sentence?
And Eileen, I am in exactly the same boat as you. I had very little interaction with the Althouse commenters, and none with A&M until after the blowup, but I felt connected to the comment pool. I emailed Lem yesterday, and he responded. Nice guy is Lem. I wasn't going to do much commenting here, but it seems this place is different. Better. I hope it remains so.
Well, I backed Althouse on that. The commenter section got to be a vermin's nest.
Here, so far so good! Until the libtards show up. Grumble.
Pollo, if you read this I'm glad you guys are safe.
Best regards to Pollo and crew.
DBQ
If you start out with a keg and SoLo cups and visqeen on the floor, and the host yelling Toga Toga Toga!! and barfing in the kitchen
Ouch. She was a victim of her own success and ego, and the realization of their limits. Even so, I feel badly for her now, as she's making a spectacle of herself bashing her former flock. DO something, Althouse. Start that damn Bloggingheads channel, I don't give a damn if it's working gratis. There are worse things than becoming known as an insightful interviewer or political diva. Take your performance art to the next level and skewer away. Anything has to be better than your present fuming.
It would have been interesting had Althouse reached out for help to clean up Dodge.
She wouldn't have been Gary Cooper in High Noon. I believe she would have gotten help and probably enough to make the difference.
As we can see here, the bulk of Althouse commenters have enough good will and commonsense, and they want to keep the conversation going.
Lem, #6 is exactly what I've said here several times. No matter what the entity, the tone is set by the leader. Quite fundamental.
*Never argue against logic with emotion, or against emotion using logic.
* We hate most in others that which we fail to see in ourselves
Seconded Bago's remarks. Rules to live by.
Phx - I have no problem with liberals showing up - as long as they have some class. I cornered my 28yo nephew when he posted a video and said how awesome the lady (who was escorted out) was at the Texas 'abortion bill' fiasco. Her 1st Amendment free speech rights were trampled, don'cha know. To pull the relevant stuff:
...she was abusive and combative and was not providing anything substantive on the issue at hand. Seriously? Her ad hominem attacks were served up with the intent to belittle her opponents with no attempt to engage them civilly... Now defend that position instead of simply bashing and trashing your opponents. That is no way to get any one in opposition to your position to reconsider...she wasn't there to speak eloquently or passionately or knowledgeably... She was there to create a problem...
Eileen, that was beautiful and something I do believe in. I link it to grace and forgiveness, which was the topic the other day as well. I often eventually come around to your suggestion. I wish it was more automatic for me. Never too late.
Thank you.
Jane: You mean all this time we could have been friends?
(Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, 1962)
Phx - I have no problem with liberals showing up - as long as they have some class.
Hi Karen of T. I heard variations on this theme many, many times at Althouse. I was always surprised that the persons who posed that POV seemed unaware that, even if they were relatively decent and civil, many of the conservatives were as bad or worse.
That said, arguing politics and social issues with someone who is fundamentally at odds with your position, and doing that without personalizing the dispute, is an art and takes some self-control.
I didn't always manage it myself.
I never wished to be Aquinas and still less to be Spinoza. St Francis has always been my role model. I prefer to stand outside of doctrinal disputes and to win converts simply by setting an example of piety and humility.
J.J. Hunsecker: Don't remove the gangplank, Sidney - you may wanna get back onboard.
(Sweet Smell of Success, 1957)
Hi, Phx. Yes, self-examination is always painful. And self-awareness is often impossible for some. Look at that. We may be in the right thread - Ten Rules...
What Althouse could've done differently is she couldve had a clear policy on bullying. She and Meade most certainly could've stated that such activity would not be tolerated and bullies would be deleted. Of course bullying would need to be clearly defined.
Bullying
1.Name calling.
2. Threats of violence.
3.Posting real name of another commenter.
4.Posting the real photograph of another commenter.
5. Invasion of another commenters's privacy and posting their information.
No cruel neutrality, that was cruel. Other commenters who stand by and watch bullying without saying a word or even joining in the bullying should be deleted.
Why yes, that is exactly what Althouse did by closing her comments section, is it not? I regret she waited to do it until she herself was unmercifully bullied. I regret that she didn't intercede in the instances of bullying of some of her commentariat.
I think I might be taking crazy pills.
Steve: That's fish four days old. I won't buy it!
(Sweet Smell of Success, 1957)
lol William. You're closer to the truth than you may realize.
I think I saw this in Readers' Digest; A woman approached a new neighbor to give him a religious pamphlet. He declined it, saying, (paraphrase) 'No, I'll just watch how you live.'
Well most people are fundamentally decent I believe, but I do think talking politics often brings out the worst in people, and I'm no exception. The anonymity of the internet makes it more inviting to act on some of those worst impulses.
I really don't assume I'm not going to like someone because their politics or religion or opinions on culture are different than mine. In fact most of the time I like them fine.
PaddyO, Sorry..kudos to you, not Lem. You're a great choice as Lt.
@ fiona
Woolly Bully
Is Althouse testing the waters?
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/07/visible-mending.html
I was going to react here to Althouse's latest "I hate commenters" post.
Bob Dylan's voice is bad, and Althouse writes about Dylan too much.
Heh heh.
Windows: You guys gonna listen to Garry? You gonna let him give the orders? I mean, he could BE one of those things!
(The Thing, 1982)
Preach the gospel always and if necessary, use words.
St Francis may or may not have said that, but whoever did, it's perfect.
Why does Althouse keep posting things justifying her decision to stop comments—even going so far as to post others who depreciate this venue? I went to Althouse from Instapundit. I enjoyed her site as it was then, but I noticed that she was quite a prickly person. She was quick to get her nose out of joint with certain commenters, others she ignored. I think she cares too much about what some other people think. That's why she keeps posting these excuses. It's her site. She can do as she damn well pleases. No excuses needed.
"I regret that she didn't intercede in the instances of bullying of some of her commentariat"
Me too. Indeed, this goes back to the flare up a while back that Trooper was involved with. N (was that the name) was clearly not in good faith but instead of making a stand for continued open conversation, there was a lot of mass deletions. The "good faith" rule was never really enforced, as bad faith commenters were often coddled as they seemed to be amusing to the hostess.
The assertion of an open free speech zone, where bullying and distractions were ignored, then resulted in closing all (almost all) speech altogether.
A very unnuanced response really by Althouse, despite her protestations for better commenting. The better commenting was undermined by her lack of context control, then she got overwhelmed by what she encouraged the comments to become.
Which led good commenters to leave, to be distracted by engaging trolls, to somehow try to take up the role of defending against bullying, or otherwise led way away from the posts at hand.
I thought Althouse has great insights and posts, so I'm not among those who disdain her. But she certainly created the context that became something she disdained, and its sad to me that she could only see a binary response to comments, either everything or nothing.
Thanks, ndspinelli.
Althouse writes about Dylan too much.
No no no!
I probably shouldn't write like that. I've nothing against the Professor. Just seemed funny. She still seems very focused on defending her decision. One thing that annoyed me was how she would often go into the comments to scold commenters who went off on a point that was tangential to her post. I think her whole writing style encouraged that, and was amused by how it got to her.
But that is different from the abusive comments to the lefties, or anyone who strayed off the reservation as defined by a few of the more ridiculous offenders. I admit I never spoke up, and perhaps that was a mistake. My reasoning for not speaking up was two fold: First, I assumed that those upon whom this was being heaped could handle themselves. Second, and more importantly, those comments quite clearly said a lot more about those making the comments than about those they were trying to offend.
So, Sorry for not calling them out, Reasonable Man, PHX etc. I hope the experience hear will be better.
rhhardin said...
I forget how you right sailboats. I can do canoes. Boy scout camp.
A very seasoned skipper of the rescue boat shouted orders to three lifeguards he brought with him. I watched from the rescue boat.
First, swim underwater to loosen all the sails so the boat doesn't take off when righted. Second, three guys use their weight on one side to break the suction seal that the air makes. Constantly rearranging their weight, they got the boat to lie side ways and the mast parallel with the surface. Then, with a little more applied human force and a lift of the sail out of the water, momentum will right it, perhaps because of the shape of the hull. It helped in our case because the hull was hollow and fiberglass.
Those AA people someone mentioned yesterday? They say to pray for the person you resent, to pray that everything good you ever wanted for yourself would happen for *them*; and to do it daily for two weeks.
That's not very logical. (In fact, I expect not a few people here, and maybe Althouse herself, would laugh at that.)
Eileen: I don't know, but think not.
I used to wonder why Althouse quoted Jesus back to Christians at times. For a while I thought it was liberal chain-pulling and maybe that was part of it, but in the last comment she wrote that touched me, she was explaining why she often covered religion in her blog and she said (among other things) that she had read the New Testament several times to the point of memorizing passages.
No one memorizes anything unless it's for a test or it's intensely meaningful.
I believed her.
Bagoh, here's the link:
How Long? A Trek through the Wilderness.
If only we could send it through Lem's portal...
Now there's a sentence I hope to never write again.
Jane: I don't want to talk about it! Everytime I think about something nice, you remind me of bad things. I only want to talk about the nice things.
(Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, 1962)
ken in sc said...
Why does Althouse keep posting things justifying her decision to stop comments—even going so far as to post others who depreciate this venue? I went to Althouse from Instapundit. I enjoyed her site as it was then, but I noticed that she was quite a prickly person. She was quick to get her nose out of joint with certain commenters, others she ignored. I think she cares too much about what some other people think. That's why she keeps posting these excuses. It's her site. She can do as she damn well pleases. No excuses needed.
Because I believe in hindsight she made the wrong choice and she's not sure how to walk it back, so like anyone who feels guilty of something, they make up justifications for their decisions that led them to the wrong conclusion. Human nature. Look at it here, some of the same old menaces come lurking about trying to throw bombs, but they are largely ignored. Snark is laid out like a wet blanket, no one wants to sit on it.
Sidney Falco: He thinks J.J.'s some kind of a monster...
Susan Hunsecker: Don't you?
Sidney Falco: Susie, J.J. happens to be one of my very best friends!
Susan Hunsecker: I know. But someday I'd like to look into your clever little mind and see what you really think of him.
Sidney Falco: Where do you come off, making a remark like that?
Susan Hunsecker: Who could love a man who makes you jump through burning hoops like a trained poodle?
(Sweet Smell of Success, 1957)
Patrick you never have to apologize to me. But I was always grateful to guys like you who might have disagreed with the politics but kept an open hand out. Truly that meant a lot. I Callahan reached out right before I left and just about floored me too. Hope he knows how much I appreciated that. Even edutcher came to my rescue once. He gets a pass from me for that just about forever.
I really do appreciate the righties who are thinking about how things might have gone too far. I never want to portray myself as a victim but damn it got lonely there sometimes. Which is why I left about a month or so before the big blow up. I didn't see any of that.
Patrick said...
I probably shouldn't write like that. I've nothing against the Professor. Just seemed funny. She still seems very focused on defending her decision. One thing that annoyed me was how she would often go into the comments to scold commenters who went off on a point that was tangential to her post. I think her whole writing style encouraged that, and was amused by how it got to her.
But that is different from the abusive comments to the lefties, or anyone who strayed off the reservation as defined by a few of the more ridiculous offenders. I admit I never spoke up, and perhaps that was a mistake. My reasoning for not speaking up was two fold: First, I assumed that those upon whom this was being heaped could handle themselves. Second, and more importantly, those comments quite clearly said a lot more about those making the comments than about those they were trying to offend.
So, Sorry for not calling them out, Reasonable Man, PHX etc. I hope the experience hear will be better.
Patrick, some people were and are deliberately obtuse, not for the sake of being ignorant on a subject or on a fine point, but wen out of their way to deliberately derail entire topics and discussions for the sheer sake of the chaos they knew would ensue because of it.
Pollo, I'm glad you weren't eaten by a shark.
One guy repeatedly called me a pedophile and nobody said a thing, like it was just normal to call people a name like that. That was my last straw and I left.
Quint: [trying to hurry Brody into the boat] Come on Chief, this isn't no boy scout picnic. See ya' got ya' rubbers!
[Quint laughs wildly]
(Jaws, 1975)
6) If your website's full of assholes, it's your fault.
Just the obvious as I mentioned this a couple times at Althouse ie how hard is it to change your blog's platform to require membership, hence, therefore, ergo one can delete any poster for whatever reason.
Remember when Althouse made a big "production" saying she moving to another blogger platform that was more reliable/efficient than frickin' mickey mouse Google blog. What a joke. All her con lemmings were waiting w/bated breath in anticipation of the move that never happened lol.
Althouse must not like change her voting for Obama in 2008 notwithstanding! :-P Remember it's all about blog hits as her tombstone will read. She was #1 in blog hits! Surely she will get a mention at Drudge when she passes ...
And a shout out to Lem who is providing an outlet for Althouse # 1 trained, doting pet seal who otherwise would be going thru major withdrawal symptoms now that Althouse no longer allows free speech.
And to all the other Althouse tag alongs who are having major withdrawal symptoms. I feel your pain!
ciao
phx said...
Patrick you never have to apologize to me. But I was always grateful to guys like you who might have disagreed with the politics but kept an open hand out. Truly that meant a lot. I Callahan reached out right before I left and just about floored me too. Hope he knows how much I appreciated that. Even edutcher came to my rescue once. He gets a pass from me for that just about forever.
I really do appreciate the righties who are thinking about how things might have gone too far. I never want to portray myself as a victim but damn it got lonely there sometimes. Which is why I left about a month or so before the big blow up. I didn't see any of that.
July 18, 2013 at 12:56 PM
Listen, you are one of those that I have a particular distaste for. Not as a person, but rather your thinking. Having said that, I'm not so proud as to apologize to for those comments that went overboard. I'm a firm believer in what I know to be right and correct and sometimes the fact that we aren't face to face makes the demeanor stronger. It's not anonymity that emboldens, it's the fact that you can't look into the eyes of your ideological opponent and see their intent. Being wrong yet having a good heart matters. That doesn't come across on this medium all the time. So with that, Tabula Rasa.
Patrick, some people were and are deliberately obtuse, not for the sake of being ignorant on a subject or on a fine point, but wen out of their way to deliberately derail entire topics and discussions for the sheer sake of the chaos they knew would ensue because of it.
No question about that, Meth. Usually, those longer comment threads consisted in large part of just a few commenters doing their level best to derail any sort of interesting discussion.
Laws in the physical sense only exist if they're self-enforcing. So, the question here is - are these laws in the physical sense, or laws in the legal sense? The latter is just silly, but the former is descriptive, and thus useful.
Laudably, Dash's rules seem to be mostly descriptive rather than prescriptive.
Pollo's news sucks - that's one reason I didn't bring my smartphone with us on that canoe trip on the Upper Allegheny in May, I was sure we would capsize at least once. Then we didn't even come close - not even when we got stuck taking the wrong channel a hundred-fifty yards from the final landing and had to portage twice over gravel bars. Glad to hear everyone in Pollo's boat got out OK. I have a friend who nearly drowned flipping a kayak last year, and know another whose friend's child drowned on the Yough the year before that. Playing around on the water has its risks.
phx said...
One guy repeatedly called me a pedophile and nobody said a thing, like it was just normal to call people a name like that. That was my last straw and I left.
That was unfortunate. I just don't remember seeing that. Maybe I did in he scrolling and didn't process it. Who did it, do you remember?
Remember guys/gals I can only read so much of the comments.
Talks amongst yourselves.
"I regret that she didn't intercede in the instances of bullying of some of her commentariat"
Me too. Indeed, this goes back to the flare up a while back that Trooper was involved with. N (was that the name) was clearly not in good faith but instead of making a stand for continued open conversation, there was a lot of mass deletions. The "good faith" rule was never really enforced, as bad faith commenters were often coddled as they seemed to be amusing to the hostess.
I don't think it's meant to be read as such, but it sounds like fiona is saying that Althouse had in some instances bullied her commenters.
Yes, Paddy, Althouse had a penchant for people like J, and Titus at his very grossest.
Now the Trooper/Inga deletion imbroglio was Althouse acting responsibly, I believe. It wasn't the burning of the Library at Cairo, after all.
As Creeley just said, I think Althouse asking for help from trusted commenters to be on delete patrol would have worked swimmingly. If ten such commenters were given deletion privileges, and took shifts, and the comment closed for maybe 3-4 hours at night, it could work. Her blog became a victim of it's own success.
Patrick said...
No question about that, Meth. Usually, those longer comment threads consisted in large part of just a few commenters doing their level best to derail any sort of interesting discussion.
And when that happened it was a real shame because you get a good flow going between comments and you can see the thread of points that people are trying to make and someone comes in with a lighter and sets those threads on fire. I'm sure Althouse would see it and go, "Shit, what the fuck do I do now and how long can this continue?" It's like asking a drunk driver to drive like someone who is cognizant and sober in the expectation that people will self-correct. Instead once people got to that fork, they took it.
And there's Shiloh with his "con lemmings" and "trained, doting pet seal", and "Althouse tag along"...
*sigh*
Good of you not to disappoint, shi... Or prove a point, maybe?
Oh, by the way, for those that go into the water and wish to carry their electronics with them, there is a product on the market that will in effect waterproof your electronics. It's called Liquipel and it's a nanotech chemistry that does this. Also, you can buy phones now that I believe already have it. The new Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is one such phone. That's what I'm going to switch to soon. Samsung has really really upped their game over Apple and I like their industrial design too.
Methradras, I think you may be right.
One of the things I admired about Althouse all of these years is her tolerance of extremely negative comments directed at her.
I've had a few directed at me over there and they always affected me. I didn't expect anyone to come to my defense or the comments to be deleted, though. Not saying I wouldn't have welcomed that, just that I knew there were really no rules and I'd accepted them.
S/b *was* her tolerance.
I have been very rude to libs on AA, including phx on occasion, and Robert Cook on numerous occasions. Especially in the last year or so, y'all have become my proxies for the vast sea of self-destructive America rather than individuals to be taken on their own terms. For that, I am sorry.
And there's a fundamental difference between people like phx and Robert Cook, and lulz-harvesting trolls like shiloh and that ritmo/voltaire guy.
As Creeley just said, I think Althouse asking for help from trusted commenters to be on delete patrol would have worked swimmingly.
deborah: I hadn't thought it through that far, but just putting the word out that she wanted a more civil comment section would have been a start with some coordination offline via email. That was Standard Op at one large bulletin board where I hosted.
I walked by a lot of traffic accidents on the blog because I didn't know where to start, both sides were usually acting foolishly, it didn't seem to be the way things were done at Althouse, and it seemed like a great way to become a new target for abuse.
Compare Wittgenstein
I think I need to read more Trooper York" More boobs of the non-German philosopher variety.
Listen, you are one of those that I have a particular distaste for. Not as a person, but rather your thinking. Having said that, I'm not so proud as to apologize to for those comments that went overboard.
Apology accepted.
Everything eventually relates to boobs. All roads lead to Rome...
But emotionally, I am in fact attached somehow. And the result of acting on it is just to make me feel bad.
Here's where it helps being part West Virginian: Us mountain folk know how to hold a grudge. We're like a bunch of Sicilians, we are, only with moonshine instead of wine.
phx said...
Apology accepted.
Danke Schön
ou are going to have a much different result than if you have a nicely set up open bar with crystal highball glasses, good selection of wines with lovely stemware and interesting appetizers and some variety of jazz, oldies and standards playing softly in the background.
Sure, until Bagoh shows up drunk,naked and frisky. Then you'd better have the jacuzzi ready to go!
(The comment is my all-time favorite comment thread opener.)
I see, Creeley. But as big as her audience is, and with the persistence of people like Mary (she has said some truly vile things about Althouse's son), only hands-on deletion may work. And of course, Althouse herself has to revert back to her earlier pleasantness. Just enough of the sexy school mistress, but still fun and semi-accessible.
Darcy, yes, she did let a ton of insults against her stand.
"Lulz-harvesting trolls". I like that.
Is it the Blue Ridge Mountains that make you so, Icepick?
phx said...
That was my last straw and I left.
That's all it takes?
*jots down a quick note*
Carry on.
He was involved in a sailboat accident with his daughter and a neighbor (capsized).
A three hour toooouuurr!
(A thee hour toooouuurr!)
That was unfortunate. I just don't remember seeing that. Maybe I did in he scrolling and didn't process it. Who did it, do you remember?
And I'm grateful to hear that. Because at the time nobody said a word, and I couldn't believe that. For a mortal enemy like Methadras to even now at least acknowledge it wasn't right puts a little of my faith back.
To the rest of you who were there, I would really have appreciated it if one of you had said "that's out of line." Most of you have heard me say I don't believe people should be victims, myself included, so I never complained to anyone, didn't say anything to Althouse, or complain out loud that no one was standing up against that kind of abuse. I just left. But I really wish you had said something - just one thing to make me feel like I wasn't crazy.
That said - and I'm glad to say it at last, it makes me feel better - tabula rasa, and good will to those I argue with going forward.
Methadras, interesting comments and insights from a person who was one of the worst offenders of bullying others. I see he is attempting to rehabilitate his reputation here. I hope he's sincere. I have my doubts.
That's all it takes?
I think you're joking, but let someone repeatedly call you a pedophile in a room full and see how you like it.
phx said...
One guy repeatedly called me a pedophile and nobody said a thing
I searched the entire Althouse comment history, and below is a complete list of your calling out fellow lefties for their personal attacks:
.
Standards have to work both ways.
Thanks Paddy. It's in my phone now. Now just think, your mind is in my pocket all day long and on the nightstand next to my head all night.
OK, now I just creeped myself out.
Phx is not Inga. I believe Methadras owes apologies to her also.
Re: the most recent "I hate commenters" post. I just clicked over after reading Eileen the Lurker's comment. I think that's the last visit for me to Althouse. Something is not right there.
phx said...
That was my last straw and I left.
That's all it takes?
*jots down a quick note*
Carry on.
You lefties really do like to lead with the victim thing don't you? Our current President is so perfect for you.
I bet it was Bush who called phx a pedophile, or at least is controlling whoever did from his bicycle in Texas.
Standards have to work both ways.
You have never understood this, it's like you're congenitally unable.
The standard I hold myself to that I hold you to is that I won't call anyone else a pedophile, particularly in place of an argument.
fionamcgee said...
Methadras, interesting comments and insights from a person who was one of the worst offenders of bullying others. I see he is attempting to rehabilitate his reputation here. I hope he's sincere. I have my doubts.
Who the fuck are you again? Oh yeah, I know who you are. I neither need or want your 'praise'. I do not bully, I attack. Specifically, I attack ideas that I believe are wrong. If I attack a person, there is a reason for it. There is a distinction, clearly to fine for someone like you to understand. I don't need to rehab myself in any way to anyone. I call them like I see them. PHX comes here and expresses his dismay at certain issues and the hows and whys. I sat back and pondered it and believed that he is sincere. One can reflect and realize that maybe a different approach or nuance might be used, thusly I reached out to PHX because his bewilderment needed to be addressed with some sense of respect and understanding.
I don't need you nor want your affirmation, doubts, or anything otherwise. Your kind is quite transparent.
I bet it was Bush who called phx a pedophile
Mmm hmmm. And you were there.
"A three hour toooouuurr!
(A thee hour toooouuurr!)"
Yea, don't start making coconut Iphones. Fix the boat, and go home.
Is Althouse testing the waters?
Given the earlier anti-commenter thread this morning, I doubt that is the case. She clearly hates commenters now, and probably has for some time, even when she (through the agency of Meade) was sucking up to everyone to give her money.
Leave human decency at the door when discussing politics. After all we are humans first and foremost. Insects love their politics and don't recognize a delineating line.
OpenID fionamcgee said...
Phx is not Inga. I believe Methadras owes apologies to her also.
I don't owe that drunken raving bug-eyed demented thread crapping lunatic a thing. But isn't it nice to see what you think people should be owed something when it isn't even your place to offer it. You reveal yourself with every post.
But phx, even though you comport yourself in an admirable way, when someone else gets nasty, shouldn't you confront them? To let it slide is to passively agree, is it not? To expect the right to police there own but not expect the same from the left is a bit... unbalanced?
Meth you shouldn't argue with Althouse's kid. He is going to protect his Mom no matter what. So chalk it up to family loyalty and move forward.
I am glad to see that he wants to ban Meade since he posted my real name and photo.
That would clean up the mess in aisle 3.
Precisely what I expected from Methadras, he does dissapoint. He is king of the locusts.
phx,
To the rest of you who were there, I would really have appreciated it if one of you had said "that's out of line." Most of you have heard me say I don't believe people should be victims, myself included, so I never complained to anyone, didn't say anything to Althouse, or complain out loud that no one was standing up against that kind of abuse. I just left. But I really wish you had said something - just one thing to make me feel like I wasn't crazy.
I wasn't there, and this is one reason why. I could be right but I'd be standing alone. There were no standards for right and wrong. People would say horrible things and get back-up. I got dissed for wording. It was completely upside-down.
Anyway, I'm in too much pain to bitch about it today. It was just wrong.
Like getting jailed for "emotional distress" because you told a child not to play with fire,...
phx said...
And I'm grateful to hear that. Because at the time nobody said a word, and I couldn't believe that. For a mortal enemy like Methadras to even now at least acknowledge it wasn't right puts a little of my faith back.
To the rest of you who were there, I would really have appreciated it if one of you had said "that's out of line." Most of you have heard me say I don't believe people should be victims, myself included, so I never complained to anyone, didn't say anything to Althouse, or complain out loud that no one was standing up against that kind of abuse. I just left. But I really wish you had said something - just one thing to make me feel like I wasn't crazy.
That said - and I'm glad to say it at last, it makes me feel better - tabula rasa, and good will to those I argue with going forward.
Look, I'm not calling you a victim or anything. You willingly went into the comment pool and threw in your lot as well. That's the risk we all take for opening ourselves up in this way. We are vulnerable to criticism. All of us. Some more so than others. You're a leftist. You know I'm not a huge fan of that ideology and would rather see it squashed for good out of the existence of the memory of mankind. But I will still call it like I see it. I simply believe that you came here with sincerity and camaraderie even if we are on polar ends of the political spectrum. I can appreciate that.
*their own... Hate doing that.
phx said...
Standards have to work both ways.
You have never understood this, it's like you're congenitally unable.
The standard I hold myself to that I hold you to is that I won't call anyone else a pedophile, particularly in place of an argument.
Sure you'll hold yourself to not calling others peds, but the standard you're holding out for others is that they speak in your defense. When I note you fail that standard you claim it shouldn't apply to you.
And then this: it's like you're congenitally unable.
So Lemlings, we have identified a bully. Do you recognize him? Now is your chance to speak up. I'll be waiting to hear from those who won't tolerate a bully in their midst. Any humans out there, or do we revert back to insect politics?
Trooper:
I am glad to see that he wants to ban Meade since he posted my real name and photo.
I took a three month break around in February. When was this? Why did he do that? Was it allowed to stand?
Phx, I hope you didn't bet any money on that apology meaning anything.
All I said is that as a human being at that low point, which went over more than one thread, I would have appreciated it if one of you who were there reached out and said "that's out of line," or some such thing.
I didn't say any of you owed it to me, or had a responsibility to say something. I just said as decent people you might have recognized I would have appreciated not feeling like you all were good with someone calling me that.
I left saying "If you won't leave then I have the responsibility to GTFOH."
My exact words. Note I put all the responsibility on myself and I still do. Something some of you conservatives need to learn to do more of. Just as you need to learn to be a little more decent in your behaviors.
JMO which I take the sole responsibility for.
fionamcgee sure it meant something to me. Nobody else ever said a thing. I don't care if he's Hitler, for a moment he treated me decently when it was welcome.
Trooper York said...
Meth you shouldn't argue with Althouse's kid. He is going to protect his Mom no matter what. So chalk it up to family loyalty and move forward.
I am glad to see that he wants to ban Meade since he posted my real name and photo.
That would clean up the mess in aisle 3.
I hear ya, but I may not obey. ;p
Phx, the apology didn't mean a thing to Methadras. That was my assertion.
As I recall one or two of my libtard friends were there and they didn't say anything either.
Even a belated "that's unfortunate" from Methadras is very welcome.
I always say treat your enemies with respect. That's the warrior's way.
Pollo - So glad to hear that you, your daughter, your friend and the people who rescued you are all safe and dry. Moments like the ones you had in the ocean can be life changingad in a truly positive sense.
Darcy- we're all Romans now, marching along the Appian Way, looking for a glimpse of the Leaning Tower.
Where are Meade and fibromyalgia today? No longer posting here?
Hey buddy I am not the guy who wants everybody to obey him.
Do what you think is best.
That is what everybody should do.
fionamcgee,
So Lemlings, we have identified a bully. Do you recognize him? Now is your chance to speak up. I'll be waiting to hear from those who won't tolerate a bully in their midst. Any humans out there, or do we revert back to insect politics?
Is it me or does that read like Ann?
As I recall, there were numerous times "libtards" did not defend one another. It was as shameful as when the conservative commenters stood by and watched also.
Darcy- we're all Romans now, marching along the Appian Way, looking for a glimpse of the Leaning Tower.
Where are Meade and fibromyalgia today? No longer posting here?
Wish I'd said both of those :)
Phx, as someone who almost never commented at Althouse, I missed that dust up, but as mostly a reader, I wouldn't have commented anyway.
I do remember you getting jumped on many an occasion - and the more reasonable you seemed to be, the more ugly the comments would get sometimes. Always a puzzle, that. And wrong. I think Mitch H's comment further upthread about proxies probably explains some of that. I'm not trying to offer an excuse, mind you, but possibly a reason - good, bad, or indifferent but there it is.
fionamcgee said...
Phx, the apology didn't mean a thing to Methadras. That was my assertion.
Absurd. Of course I meant the apology. Why would I say something I don't mean? That is not who or what I am. I offered it, he took it and I thanked him for it. You see how your kind operates? You don't think what you are doing right here right now isn't transparent, clear, and repugnant. Your assertion is meaningless. In fact, what you are doing right now is frankly in line with what Satan did to Christ in the desert, the difference is, is that you suck at it. What a horrible temptress you are. rofl.
fionamcgee,
As I recall, there were numerous times "libtards" did not defend one another. It was as shameful as when the conservative commenters stood by and watched also.
See, that's what I see as part of the problem, right there:
Why should libs be defending libs and cons defending cons?
Is there no right and wrong? Were we all raised in different countries, so there's no basis for agreement anywhere? Or are we all Americans, quite aware of where the parameters are - but willing to let that go for "your side"?
If so, then you can add yourself (whoever you are) to the list of reasons shit don't work.
That's not what I've been fighting for,...
Thanks for your kind words, Darcy! I'm way too quick to nurse ill feeling and resentment. Don't know what I think I get out of it, but there you are. It's nice to have a way out of it ... if I remember to go there, that is. :)
Trooper York said...
Hey buddy I am not the guy who wants everybody to obey him.
Do what you think is best.
That is what everybody should do.
Oh, it was just a riff on the word play of "I hear and obey". I'm good. I know who what I'm dealing with. It's like an insect being squished that dreads the insect politics of squishy-ness.
Is it me or does that read like Ann?
The ethereal, noble, spirit-of-truth Ann? She'll stop at nothing to get a rise. But, maybe just a sockpuppet with excellent aim.
Some commenters here are going to spend a lot of time giving this commenter what he/she wants...a reaction. How bored he/she must be.
I do remember you getting jumped on many an occasion - and the more reasonable you seemed to be, the more ugly the comments would get sometimes.
Thank you thank you thank you! I didn't know if anyone ever saw that or recognized it. If I had it might have made it easier for me to stay in reasonable mode. Sometimes I'd get lured out of it myself and get into the ugliness.
But I want to stand apart from the emotional namecalling and invective. Good to hear someone saw that sometimes, it will make me a better, more patient commenter.
fionamcgee said...
As I recall, there were numerous times "libtards" did not defend one another. It was as shameful as when the conservative commenters stood by and watched also.
You ever consider that sometimes people just don't give a shit and that sometimes there might be anything with that? People will pick and choose what they want to see and how they want to deal with it. That could be from doing absolutely nothing to full on involvement or something in between.
I always said I was a free agent. But I stand on the side of people who are treating each other decently. Especially people they disagree with.
Wow, I just took an Internet walk over to Happy Valley and had a look around.
A commenter sent her a seemingly supportive email and what did she do? Deconstructed it and essentially told Supportive Commenter that she is full of shit.
Someone needs to step in between Althouse and Ann when these fights break out in her writing.
Some commenters here are going to spend a lot of time giving this commenter what he/she wants...a reaction.
This
To the rest of you who were there, I would really have appreciated it if one of you had said "that's out of line."
What, you were incapable of ignoring those comments? I didn't see them, because whoever was making them were people I was skipping, at least at that time. If people start a pissing contest, I walk away.
Besides, what do you want, us to play neighborhood watch or not? I thought you were against anyone but the government doing anything for anybody. I don't remember you thinking much of George Zimmerman doing things to help out his neighbors on something important, so why should I help you out with something completely meaningless?
Cedarford used to call me a pedophile and implied that I slept with my students.
Althouse-favorite commenter "Titus" has written many vile things about me.
It's the Internet. It happens.
Speaking of "insect politics", there currently seems to be an effort to poison and destroy this place. Don't let it happen.
Are we humans or are we insects? We treat one another according to how we see ourselves. Merciless, cruel, biting the heads of our political opponent as if he were simply our next meal?
Politics does not need to resort to insect like behavior. Why is it so easy to leave our humanity at the door when we are anonymous commenters in an online community? Would Methadras volley such vituperation at a person he shares space with in real life?
In his case, yes perhaps he would.
Palladian gives good advice.
You can listen to him when he talks about scotch, art and gay stuff.
He's been there and done that.
So to speak.
Palladian, you misunderstand. In order for a community to survive and thrive they need to identify what destroyed communities that came before theirs. You know the saying, those who don't learn from history...
Wow, I just took an Internet walk over to Happy Valley and had a look around.
I've just quit doing it at all.
In fact, as much as Lem, et al, have worked to develop a comment solution; I've noticed that they have actually created a better blog. I hope they strive to do their own content and just sail away from Happy Valley.
Besides, what do you want, us to play neighborhood watch or not? I thought you were against anyone but the government doing anything for anybody. I don't remember you thinking much of George Zimmerman doing things to help out his neighbors on something important, so why should I help you out with something completely meaningless?
You don't get it, you idealogue. And you don't know anything about where I stand on the government or George Zimmerman.
Don't forget that.
So is fiona some kind of "comments mother" here or something, so that when she speaks we all must listen, and when she snaps her fingers we obey?
Look, fiona, I mean no disrespect, but your attempts to boss everyone around here seem oddly out of place. You could be 100% right in everything you say, and still I would find your comment style kind of icky.
I just said as decent people you might have recognized I would have appreciated not feeling like you all were good with someone calling me that.
SO it is necessary for decent people to come to your aide but not necessary for you to come to the aide of others?
Look it is the Althouse family playing their usual mind games and trying to control everything. Typical of the credentialed elite telling the peons what to do.
Just ignore him if you can.
Palladian has it right.
Fiona: So all your shit-stirring is for our own good? Why don't you take off your mask, relax, and join us? The water's fine.
As the philosopher Mayfield once said:
It's all right to have a good time
Because it's all right.
SO it is necessary for decent people to come to your aide but not necessary for you to come to the aide of others?
Read my comment at 1:57. Then come back.
Eileen. No I am most certainly not your mother. You are all adults. You don't even have to listen to what I say. You can skip over my comments. But those who have ears will listen. The tone deaf can't appreciate music.
Who can hear anyone over the King of the Locusts buzzing anyway? Some crickets and grasshoppers just join in, happily.
Someone needs to step in between Althouse and Ann when these fights break out in her writing.
LOL!
The Haz is back.
--btw I'm just really glad you know longer cut your head off in your avatar--that use to scare me.
Is there no right and wrong?
No. I guess you didn't get the memo - I'll forward that to you. Also, I hear you're having problems with your TPS reports?
I've been on opposite sides of a comment argument/debate with PHX but I dont' believe that I've ever called him/her names nor do I remember that someone called him/her names.
I've been commenting on the internet since a 28 baud modem was a big impressive deal. You are going to get crap from some people and you are going to get some good dialogue from others. There are always going to be trolls who want to disrupt the comments either for the sheer fun of it (and I have to admit to being guilty of that sometimes). There are others who just have some sort of personalty derangement (narcissistic personality, sociopathic, permanently angry). There are others who have their set in stone opinions about all kinds of things and it is useless to even consider debating (abortion, feminism, political stances). I've been on the receiving end of a lot of insulting comments and insinuations from commenters not only at Althouse but other places and times. So what? Pixels on a screen. No big deal
There was one commenter at Althouse "J" that was truly abusive and stalker-ish. Unfortunately, he was encouraged by Althouse despite pleas from many in the commentariate to get some control. This allowance and encouragement of over the top abuse in the comment section and the constant trolling, histronics and threadjacking by her who shall not be named, set the tone for the party. The kegs were opened, the visqeen was rolled and and the party was ON!!
What I have learned is.....the scroll wheel on my mouse is a valuable tool. There are some commenters who just are scroll worthy.
I want to add that I did not observe the nastiness specifically being referred to here. I don't know what happened to Inga, for example; it always seemed to me she gave as much as she got, and I really didn't understand where it was coming from. Once the flame wars started on a thread, I got out of there. So maybe I missed the really ugly stuff.
I have to say, though, that even if I had, I would not have said anything. As a lurker, I would have thought something along the lines of, "Geez, what is it with these people?" and moved on. At the end, I thought that kind of a lot, actually. But I didn't see it as my place to scold anyone.
Maybe this time, I'd do it differently.
I appreciate, phx, how your comments help to "humanize" you. It's really to easy to forget to consider how the target of abuse -- which as Crack ably points out, is neither left nor right -- might be feeling. No one could see your eyes, as someone else pointed out above, and everyone was free to paint your words with whatever brush they chose. We all tend to impute the best motives to ourselves, while reserving the right to harshly judge everyone else.
Everyone seems to agree that it doesn't have to be that way.
I just heard from Pollo via email.
He was involved in a sailboat accident with his daughter and a neighbor (capsized).
****
Oh holy ...
Glad El Pollo is okay.
Holy crap that is scary.
Someone needs to step in between Althouse and Ann when these fights break out in her writing.
Althouse strongly believes in the motto "live freely through writing."
The German translation is Schreiben Macht Frei
Methadras said...
Phx is not Inga. I believe Methadras owes apologies to her also.
I don't owe that drunken raving bug-eyed demented thread crapping lunatic a thing. But isn't it nice to see what you think people should be owed something when it isn't even your place to offer it. You reveal yourself with every post.
Since I don't even recall the "incident" (and I was there every damned day), I have to say, while meth's language went over the line at times, the, uh..., "person" in question was one of the most manipulative, mendacious, and duplicitous people imaginable.
One takes her word at their peril.
You don't get it, you idealogue.
I've had people piss all over me on the internet before. So fucking what? If you want a support group go then see a therapist.
And you don't know anything about where I stand on the government or George Zimmerman.
You toe the party line on everything else, why should I think you feel any differently than directed this time?
"Who can hear anyone over the King of the Locusts buzzing anyway?"
Wait a second, Napolitano is in charge of this blog now too?!
Makes me happy to see Meth & phx shake hands.
And I second what Palladian & others have said re the buzzing bossy busybody (not Althouse IMO, but someone happy to be mistaken for her).
This room smells like Inga, and I should know. My Doberman is wearing her panties as we speak.
I hope you guys realize that if she actually sent me them, you would never hear of it. Or maybe that's just what I would say to cover it up.
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