Thinking about trolling, I wonder if there's a Troll's Anonymous out there somewhere. It'd be funny, you know, since trolls are inherently anonymous or even if they identify themselves (I try to) they're unknown persons to the blog they've just commented on.
I'll say I feel like a troll often, since I don't really have the time to be a truly social blogger. There are people's blogs I really enjoy reading, and I want to comment, but hesitate because I don't really know the difference between a random comment from someone and a troll's comment.
I think the first step in eliminating a problem is understanding the problem.
Later: I went to wikipedia, as many of us do to find information, and found this, which is more than I knew before. I guess being at odds with a 'community' or popping in and intentially being inflammatory would be the keys to being a troll...
My idea still stands for a Trolls Anonymous website. I wonder if there already is one? Checking...
Later: I found Kibo and his signature.
Even later: Trolls Anonymous on Dogpile. Nothing official that I could find..
Later still: Let's say for example the search trolls anonymous is not in quotes, well not it's not very specific, so follow on search, with quotes, yeilded this, a posting on a message board. It goes to show that someone somewhere thought of the same thing. Not surprising, not even annoying, but cool, actually. What's cool is the fact that the internet makes possible the connection between two similar ideas no matter who has it.
Last post script (maybe): You know how AA encourages its members to believe in "'something'-it-doesn't-have-to-be-called-God?" for TA it would be "'something'-it-doesn't-have-to-be-called-balance."
Ok my last PS I promise:
An example of me, posting to a blog just because I read it once in a while, and I felt the urge to be part of it.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Trolls Anonymous
Rich or Poor
Yesterday on the trip home in my car (yes my car, not via metro) I was listening to NPR, and there was a story about how the top 3% of income earners have 20% of the wealth and the gap is widening.
One of the indicators of the wealthy CEO's pay in the story was the purchase of private jets.
This morning driving to work I realized that the key to good driving is not to be greedy. There's a lot of road there and you only need the space around your car. Then I thought back to the story about the rich, and actually short of getting your private jet/chopper/air travel, if you're on the morning commute, the road is a great equalizer, everyone, regardless of income can really only take up the space of one vehicle, and they only get so big, even a stretch limo maxes out at 3 cars long or so, and frankly isn't that much of an advantage, it only offers comfort while traveling, but won't necesarily get you there faster. In that sense the road is the great equalizer. Now reliabilty, comfort, and good looks is a whole nother discussion.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Charles Lenox Remond
Just now I went to amazon and read the freebie pages in How the Irish Became Black since I've never actually read the book yet, but should. In it there's a lot of stuff in the 1800's which I had no idea about, much less this figure O'Donnell in Ireland, etc etc. Anyway there was a reference to this guy Charles Lenox Remond who was a black guy (as though this was fortuitious and not often happenish) so I looked him up. Not a lot of web resources on the guy. Apparently a great orator (so he'd have to be played by Denzel?) who went with the delegation from the States over to a World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London.
No mainstream movies address this convention to my knowledge. If a movie like 300 can get made, easily a movie could be made about this guy, or the convention, and both. I'm sure Remond has made appearances in Civil War movies and he should, but I wonder how prominently and how detailed. I do believe it's one life not much explored. Here's a link to a blurb about him.
Political a little more
My other t-shirt goes something like this: a head shot of Obambam, or even my nifty bam-bam idea. It says above the picture, WE'RE NOT READY and below the picture HE'S NOT READY.
I sortof feel sorry for the Delaware Senator who put his foot in his mouth about Obambam, I hope he doesn't think he's a contender after doing that. Look at Howard Dean, in one night, he killed his campaign.
I'd like to add my editorial aside to this whole question of what you can and can't say about, to, or of the other race in America, and that is the underlying tension that still exists, on a different level, not that 'your daddy enslaved my daddy' so much any more but still the continued minority mindset and they hypersensitivity to accusation of any kind, by implication or explicitly. Accusations such as being racist, or being a minority, or being oppressed, or the worst, causing your own misfortune with bad choices rather than the excuse, I wasn't handed the opportunity.
That 'real' opinion said, to anyone who is still reading instead of rolling their eyes, I'll say I don't understand what it's like on the other side. I really don't and never will. My parents never drilled into my head that it will all come to nothing, as I know some kids get day after day. I also didn't grow up in a place where the weak are killed and the strong survive. This environment of the weak getting killed, literally and figuratively would in my mind lead to survival instincts of conforming to the norm, even if that norm keeps you down.
I still say we are not ready, but someday we might be. I'd like to see a world where a successful black person is not an anomaly or a story of conquering insurmountable odds, and I think we're getting there, albeit with a subset of blacks, the 'oreo cookies' if you will, but it's hard to separate the two groups because of the discomfort and the taboo which still honestly creates an us vs them environment. There's a book by Noel Ignatiev called How the Irish Became White. I wonder if in 50 years there will be a similar book, 'How the Blacks Became White.' Maybe I'll write it, but it'd have to be sooner than 50 years.
A little political
Some political tripe for you this fine morning. I've got visions of t-shirts dancing in my head again. one of them was after listening to NPR (I've been driving to work this week, so I get the news I haven't been getting) and there's a lot of buzz about Iran now. Predictably!
Who here reading this blog doesn't think that the rhetoric is building support for a hit on Iran? A lot of people say it's a bad idea, and rightfully so, but they're not the people who have their finger on the trigger. Those people, who went to Iraq, are still in power and there's still two years to serve out. Personally I hope someone succeeds in building a case for Bush's impeachment, he really is a terrible president.
Listening to the radio, they're detaining 'Iranian officials' who are doing trade with Iraq. This is clearly aimed at Iran, not at the security of Iraq, since Iraq needs to trade and become integrated with the region under the new "democratic" (read weak as water and failed puppet) regime if it is to build its economy. I love the fact that Jaques Chirac was brave enough to let out his real opinion on the situation, even if it's a little MAD-cold war era thinking.
As an aside, the MAD doctrine isn't the same anymore because Russia is no longer a communist threat, nor is China, which has trended increasingly capitalistic. These days it's much murkier since you have a cluster of unpredictable and uncontrollable countries and the question becomes how far can we go and how quickly in order to gain greater control of the region.
This is exactly where my thoughts went when I heard about the pressure on Iran's trade with Iraq, especially the cries of aiding and abetting rebels in Iraq. To me it smells like they found what they were looking for because they were looking for it, and granted I haven't done any fishing for more information but on the radio the official never says where the weapons are going, whether it's to Iraq the government we're trying to prop up, or to insurgents. Why wouldn't it be ok for Iraq, the sovereign state we support, to buy arms from Iran?
It is an agenda. We are the best, our way is best, and all you freaks and sheiks can put up or get out. The t-shirt: Bush is fascist.
