tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post114934092181678347..comments2024-03-28T18:28:52.888-05:00Comments on Althouse: Blind item.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149911674468535002006-06-09T22:54:00.000-05:002006-06-09T22:54:00.000-05:00Well, I still haven't used the guy's name. All I'm...Well, I still haven't used the guy's name. All I'm saying is that since he's been a miserable bastard toward me, I was pleased to see him have to take down his blog. I hope you acknowledge the vileness of his treatment of me. I never took revenge on him. I just ignored him, but expressed pleasure when he took down his vile blog. How can you fault me on this? You can't.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149908697233972872006-06-09T22:04:00.000-05:002006-06-09T22:04:00.000-05:00That's just so much bullshit and you know it. Unma...That's just so much bullshit and you know it. Unmasking someone is vile. At the least, we should respect each other's efforts to post anonymously if that's someone's choice.<BR/><BR/>You use your name and I applaude you for it, but others may want/need to remain anonymous for their own reasons. Allow them that privacy.<BR/><BR/>I also applaude your acceptance of comments. Many don't.SPIIDERWEB™https://www.blogger.com/profile/00923009118197438506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149556145622371832006-06-05T20:09:00.000-05:002006-06-05T20:09:00.000-05:00Where's Quixxo?I like Quixxo.Peace, MaxineWhere's Quixxo?<BR/><BR/>I like Quixxo.<BR/><BR/>Peace, MaxineMaxine Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18164122931399241972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149550373741118482006-06-05T18:32:00.000-05:002006-06-05T18:32:00.000-05:00I am flashing back to a nature program from my you...I am flashing back to a nature program from my youth which said that the presence of roahces in the house was not simply a matter of whether it was clean: a clean house has clean roaches and dirty house has dirty roaches but both can have roaches.<BR/><BR/>Althouse is an appealingly weird blog. It has appelingly weird trolls.<BR/><BR/>But I guess I recant. I've no business wishing abuse on Professor A.Sanjayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08285234006474903641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149545917107136732006-06-05T17:18:00.000-05:002006-06-05T17:18:00.000-05:00Sanjay, The problem is, quxxo and the like are min...Sanjay, <BR/><BR/>The problem is, quxxo and the like are mind-numbingly boring in their utter predictableness. Really, they just make any and EVERY subject political. snore! And I personally come to this blog precisely for the <I>lack of predictableness</I> of its host and its regular commenters. <BR/><BR/>I suppose the argument could be made that the endless myriad of ways in which quxxo, for example, can be <I>sociopathically</I> partisan is sort of clinically interesting... but at the end of the day, it really isn't.<BR/><BR/>A while back, I was against the idea of Ann deleting comments because, again, I like a variety of opinions, and I like to read the spirited debates that go on here... but these people really are beyond the pale and they don't want to play by the rules.knoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231876226573540476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149537181899646082006-06-05T14:53:00.000-05:002006-06-05T14:53:00.000-05:00Now, c'mon, Palladian, that's just not true. Reme...Now, c'mon, Palladian, that's just not true. Remember a week or so back when quxxo came out against airy-fairy psychotherapy (tradtionally, for whatever reason, a "rightist" position)? And remember that when surprise was expressed he linked his opinion to Krauthammer's psych degree? Now, I personally agree Krauthammer is a nut. But going from _there_, to _there_ --- I mean, that was as weird as anything I've read on this blog (and it was real!), and I thought about it for a while -- how does one have to view the world, to come up with that connection? It's a lot different from your run-of-the-mill political extremism (and I know from political extremist headcases, boy, I live in Berkeley).<BR/><BR/>Man, and quxxo thinks Adam Nagourney is somehow anti-Democratic. Because, all insults aside, look surely the guy can read: but look at _how_ he reads. So weird. Have you honestly never wondered about it?<BR/><BR/>Or, to go back to your idea of a "community" of listeners -- sure, but every community has it's half-comatose, lunatic ravers, no? And maybe it needs them: in you, dear animals, we see ourselves. <BR/><BR/>Again; the downside of all this is I see no reason Professor Althouse needs to submit to abuse, and, boy, sometimes the trolls can really crap up a comment thread with endless bitching. <BR/><BR/>Maybe you could dump all the trolls to some sort of place for review? Even maybe sift through them -- I know it's a lot of work --- and pick out the weird and wonderful trolling for consideration? But I get the idea that to some small extent you do exactly that. I appreciate it.<BR/><BR/>It occurs to me by the way that in harping on an admittedly weird position here I might be committing the offense myself ("in you, dear...") Please excuse, but I _am_ serious.Sanjayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08285234006474903641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149508480683787502006-06-05T06:54:00.000-05:002006-06-05T06:54:00.000-05:00For the mystified, "Thers" is "Thersites," who had...For the mystified, "Thers" is "Thersites," who had to delete the blog "Metacomments." You may remember his abject trollage on this blog in times past, before I took to systematically deleting his comments and he went on cyberstalking me on the blog he's now deleted. I'm unblinding this item because he's stopped by another post to talk about my taking pleasure in his downfall. You can go to <A HREF="http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/06/sopranos-big-love.html" REL="nofollow">that post</A> and discover the reason he posted there and not here (further evincing his sleaziness).Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149468472630235372006-06-04T19:47:00.000-05:002006-06-04T19:47:00.000-05:00Ann, please, please, please keep evaporating the t...Ann, please, please, please keep evaporating the troll crap. They (it) was very nearly destroying the comments section of your blog, not to mention constantly insulting you in the cheapest, stupidest way possible. No one would behave that way in person unless they wanted to get clobbered.<BR/><BR/>I think the most egregious, relentless troll you had quickly realized that you were liberal and permissive towards comments on your blog, almost to a fault, and therefore realized that it could take advantage of that. I don't think, in the end, it had much to do with you or your style specifically, just that it was easy to get away with. Trolls troll because they want the conversation to be about them. It doesn't matter if the conversation is vituperative; in fact, that may be sort of desirable as the added passion of anger and nastiness is both exciting and ensures a response. These trolls often take far left wing (or right wing, depending on the blog) political stances, but only because it's extreme, and tends to provoke more responses when directed toward sensible, non-or-minimally-partisan people. The word "hijacking" perfectly describes what happens in those comments: you make a post, people begin to discuss it, the troll comes in and says "this conversation may have been gently gliding towards bedscarves, but now I'M at the controls and I'M flying it towards BUSH ROVE EVIL HITLER IRAQ and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"<BR/><BR/>Anonymity, of course, makes this possible. If these sadomasochistic onanists were forced to reveal their identities, they would rarely continue their attacks. They use anonymity as a kevlar shield behind which they hurl their invective and snicker, knowing that they won't get burnt. It's one thing to write opinion anonymously and another to use that anonymity to protect yourself and your reputation while you systematically harangue and seek to injure others. Contrary to what Sanjay says, this behavior is not interesting. It's tiresome and at its worst, sociopathic.<BR/><BR/>I greatly appreciate your blog, Ann, and I'm glad that you've been protecting it, and the odd "community" that's built up around it. If only Blogger would do what every other piece of blog software has done and include an IP banning tool. It's a good reason to consider switching to something else, but that's a discussion for another time.Palladianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01105490715666718993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149454085181859692006-06-04T15:48:00.000-05:002006-06-04T15:48:00.000-05:00Thanks, Sanjay. I'm not sure what it is. Sometimes...Thanks, Sanjay. I'm not sure what it is. Sometimes I think the young men seek to scare women out of the blogosphere. It probably works a lot of the time. Women tend to not like anyone to be mean to them or to say they aren't nice. <BR/><BR/>I'm sure part of what these characters have against me it is that I have supported the war and I blogged against Kerry toward the end of the '04 election (including a few weeks on the very high profile blog Instapundit). <BR/><BR/>Some of it is connected to my collecting quotes of commenters on Eschaton and saying they were sexist and then refusing to back down no matter how much they argued with me. Some people on the right got very mad at me for critiquing Pajamas Media. <BR/><BR/>The fact that I don't write about politics all that much and claim to be moderate and nonpartisan is taken as a big challenge. Some folks are really hot to show I'm lying.<BR/><BR/>Some people find it especially irksome if a woman doesn't stick to the liberal side of the spectrum, so I come in for special monitoring there. <BR/><BR/>Sorry to have decreased your reading pleasure by deleting a lot of trollage recently.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149451236029297262006-06-04T15:00:00.000-05:002006-06-04T15:00:00.000-05:00Y'know, Professor Althouse, frankly, your trolls f...Y'know, Professor Althouse, frankly, your trolls fascinate the bejeezus out of me. I mean, this is, you gotta admit, a hell of an odd blog: it's quite excellent reading (it has become quite an addiction among my coworkers in a couple places) but I'm not quite sure how one describes it or its range of interests. And that someone picks _this_ blog and it's proprietor (proprietress?) as the Epitomy of All Evil and the Fascist Face of the Right/Left is, honestly, fascinating. I mean, why here? And why for this audience, which seems less of an affirmative echo choir than so many -- that is, which maybe can be won over by argument?<BR/><BR/>So I never skip over the posts of, say, quxxo --- they fascinate me. I don't mean that to be condescnding; they do. Of course there's no reason why you should have to suffer abuse to fascinate me and you're going to draw your line where you want. But they do kind of add to the weird wonderfulness of the blog.Sanjayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08285234006474903641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149445156162189662006-06-04T13:19:00.000-05:002006-06-04T13:19:00.000-05:00Including the human ones.Including the human ones.reader_iamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352836883752091339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149445115521462582006-06-04T13:18:00.000-05:002006-06-04T13:18:00.000-05:00What's wrong with camels? I like watching them, an...What's wrong with camels? I like watching them, and I like their eyes.<BR/><BR/>I do make sure to stay well back, though, if they seem annoyed, as I do with all of the spitters.reader_iamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352836883752091339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149438980628915312006-06-04T11:36:00.000-05:002006-06-04T11:36:00.000-05:00When I went to the zoo on Friday, one of the chimp...When I went to the zoo on Friday, one of the chimpanzees was lying on his back on a branch with his head nearest the glass where we watched him. Thus, he was looking at us upside down. He just gazed endlessly, hardly moving. It was utterly impossible to know what he was thinking. It is easier to guess what the human beings were thinking. I would think that for most, it was something along the lines of <I>he wants to understand us</I>. But perhaps it was <I>I hate you. How can I kill you?</I>Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149421999952988512006-06-04T06:53:00.000-05:002006-06-04T06:53:00.000-05:00Fair enough, Mary. But I'm saying "we," speaking g...Fair enough, Mary. But I'm saying "we," speaking generally about human behavior. Not every individual fits every example. I don't see myself doing that either. Please note that I implemented a policy of not engaging with "nastier," a man who was continually taunting me publicly. <BR/><BR/>As to whether we are correct about what animals really are when we see us in them, my statement doesn't depend on that. I assume the deer had little or no ability to chose not to engage. Nasty and nastier aren't like the deer, because they could have behaved differently. To say they are like the deer is to forgive them too much. I wouldn't call the deer "nasty," except as a joke.<BR/><BR/>As to the zoo, I do think people roam about looking for animals to identify with. No one stares at the camels. There's always a crowd gazing into the eyes of the chimpanzee. It is far more interesting to watch the people as they watch the animals or to watch the animals and think of people.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149419613627255352006-06-04T06:13:00.000-05:002006-06-04T06:13:00.000-05:00"Wow.... makes me want to say again: in you, dear ..."Wow.... makes me want to say again: in you, dear animals, we see ourselves." Nope, I can't see myself a similar situation, though it made me think of the two men you described. <BR/><BR/>One of the commenters midway through that page had it right: the bucks locked antlers fighting, with only one dead when the guy with the camera came upon them. It's not uncommon to find two skeletons come spring with the antlers locked.<BR/><BR/>Here's another "dead stuck buck" http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=10898 . His horns got locked up with a tree, and they found him dead after a fight to free himself.<BR/><BR/>(I think that: "In you dear animals we see ourselves" is only true in a romantic sense for people who general don't read or know much about animals. If you do, lots of human situations make you think of animal behaviors, and not just your favorite at the zoo.)Derve Swansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03588383169658816894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149402469687707692006-06-04T01:27:00.000-05:002006-06-04T01:27:00.000-05:00What? What? I knew I should have been paying more ...What? What? I knew I should have been paying more attention to this blog. I miss out on everything! <BR/><BR/>(Although, someone can always email me, explain it all, in one brief paragraph, so I don't feel so dopey and out of the loopyness).Finn Alexander Kristiansenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05393135095699664504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149393195802163022006-06-03T22:53:00.000-05:002006-06-03T22:53:00.000-05:00The littler professor and pals share a mindset wit...The <I>littler professor</I> and pals share a mindset with the Chinese blogswarm you later post about. People become obsessed with others they have never met and have no business with, and seek to undo them for violating certain principles they esteem. Its the internet equivalent of stoning.<BR/><BR/>While sad and pathetic in some ways, it's scary in others. <I>Sippican</I> has correctly noted the sociopathy of a commenter here, a quality or diagnosis I agree with, but had not previously considered. Not <I>sociopath</I> as a lame rejoinder, but as an actual diagnosis.<BR/><BR/>I have read about this fight, thanks to Google's cache method, and in the end it makes me wonder whether some of those folks wouldn't be better off pushing a broom.KCFleminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00124201866124646626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149390791131947532006-06-03T22:13:00.000-05:002006-06-03T22:13:00.000-05:00Well, I came back here to say I had "mis-guessed" ...Well, I came back here to say I had "mis-guessed" 'Pick's reference (that one was among the other number, but, as he says, I wasn't "disappointed" by that one, 'cause it was no surprise), only to see he beat me to it. No wonder he hasn't read my response yet!<BR/><BR/>LOL.<BR/><BR/>And that'll teach me to try and read 'Pick's mind.<BR/><BR/>Hmm, Jennifer. But no more mind-reading for me!reader_iamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352836883752091339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149388251720129992006-06-03T21:30:00.000-05:002006-06-03T21:30:00.000-05:00Yes, sorry Alan. Sometimes I take out a troll post...Yes, sorry Alan. Sometimes I take out a troll post and there's a response to it that doesn't have any meaning anymore except to give the troll the satisfaction of leaving a trace.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149388094463149812006-06-03T21:28:00.000-05:002006-06-03T21:28:00.000-05:00Ann, not a problem. I was wondering what had happe...Ann, not a problem. I was wondering what had happened there, not that my comment would have been any big loss.<BR/><BR/>My comment "Dang ... that was fast" was referring to the speed with which the <I>prior</I> comment had been deleted. That comment went up while I was composing mine, and was deleted by the time I hit post. Quick like lightning!Icepickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09616554052707230326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149387443395790642006-06-03T21:17:00.000-05:002006-06-03T21:17:00.000-05:00"which has now meta commentariat's worst end, as a..."which has now meta commentariat's worst end, as a spam site"<BR/><BR/>LOL. I'd glanced at that and assumed it was some damned allegory written by the litprof. The site's gone to the dogs.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149387315405620762006-06-03T21:15:00.000-05:002006-06-03T21:15:00.000-05:00Oh, I thought I knew who you were talking about, t...Oh, I thought I knew who you were talking about, too, Icepick. Well, I'm pretty sure Reader and I are thinking of the same person. I was shocked and disappointed myself.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12824506338738265111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149386702368602852006-06-03T21:05:00.000-05:002006-06-03T21:05:00.000-05:00Sorry, Ice Pick. I didn't mean to delete your post...Sorry, Ice Pick. I didn't mean to delete your post. That was an accident. You wrote:<BR/><BR/><I>"There are a number of familiar commenter names threading all around through this blogoflap (blogofuffle?), but I am almost certain I know the specific one to whom 'Pick is referring.</I><BR/><BR/>"Reader, we must have two different people in mind, because you wouldn't be disappointed by anything the particular commenter I meant would do. I'll email you the name of the commenter I was talking about"Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149383064187641692006-06-03T20:04:00.000-05:002006-06-03T20:04:00.000-05:00Dang, Ann, that was fast!Dang, Ann, that was fast!Icepickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09616554052707230326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1149380982428822822006-06-03T19:29:00.000-05:002006-06-03T19:29:00.000-05:00.... wing... not win....... wing... not <I>win</I>...Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.com