The Funny Farm

Quick Note To Oliver Willis, Calpundit, the Left Coaster, and the Hollywood Liberal

^{Fryday, 5 Reckning 2007}

Your trolls have taken over your respective comments sections, and the resulting dialog (if by dialog, you mean obtuse Putsch fellating Republican'ts spewing Republican't talking points, making personal insults about the blog authors and any person supporting Democratic political positions, and taking the comments thread off-topic) is so misinformed and shrill that it is no longer worth the time and trouble to look at.

There are others who have a similar problem with disapproving commenters, and at least one that I can think of uses his Monkey Mail in a form of blogjitsu that consistently shows how inane, uninformed, ignorant of the facts of the matter (no matter what they are talking about), and just plain wrong most Republican'ts continue to be, to this day, in spite of what reality has to say.

If you're looking to create a blog rampant with Republican't misinformation from Republican't operatives, you're doing a heck of a job. Otherwise, would you consider banning some of the more reprehensible morans commenting on your site? I'd rather not name names, but here's a small minded example from each site:

A certain gasbag who helps Michele Maglalangadingdong generate shrill, immoral, slanderous internets videos lacking any connection to reality has not added significantly to the discussion at ODub's place in, like, forever. He's literally one of dozens...

A certain neoconservative pigeon does nothing but regurgitate Republican't spin over at Kevin's zone.

Usama Ben Ditto usually drops in a religiously insane piece of immoral crap in The Left Coaster's punchbowl and then runs underneath his mommy's skirts.

And the Busy B's over at HL's place haven't met a Democratic smear job yet that's too slimy for them to wallow in, or a Republican't con job they can't swallow whole and regurgitate all over HL's home on the intertubes.

If I want to hear Republican't misinformation, spin, and talking points, all I need to do is check out any mainstream media source. After you (or others like you) have pointed them out and showed us what they're doing and why they're doing it - generally speaking, fairly insightfully, I might add. You also usually point towards the topic at hand in a way which causes others to add more to the discussion.

I used to go visit your sites, and check out your comments sections, because they were oases with less Republican't spin than most, and quite a few very good commenters. They not only grasp your meaning most of the time, but they bring more to the site for the rest of us to grok.

Now I still read the posts, but I avoid the comments, as well as making any at your sites. Which is too bad - you usually bring up good points overlooked in the various discussions up till then, and there are still lots of reasonable, intelligent commenters contributing to the discussion. But the noise from the Republican't minions (Who seem to be getting shriller and shriller as more and more of their horse-hockey is recognized as lacking any connection to reality) ruining your comments sections is drowning everything else out.

I might also add at this time, that, should such consistently trollish behavior show up in any area where I have operational control and/or the ability to do something about it, that said behavior will be treated in a manner that might not necessarily agree with the individual engaging in troll-like activities. As well as the disclaimer that this has been and will continue to be done by Your Humble Narrator at his internets sites when the need arises.

Homey don't play dat...

Incident Report

^{Fryday, 28 Goodenuf 2007}

Life at the Funny Farm can get pretty surreal sometimes...

The other day, the doorbell rings, and there's a young (late high school/college age) gentleman at the front door.

[conversation paraphrased courtesy of the Funny Farm Transcription Service. Recollections may vary slightly from reality, but not so as to significantly alter the content of the conversation.]

Your Humble Narrator [YHN]: Hello?

The Young Dude [TYD]: Dude! What's up? Feeling good this evening?

[YHN]: What exactly is it you would like to talk to me about?

[TYD]: I only need 26 points and I can get to Cancun!

[YHN]: Excuse me?

[TYD]: I only need 26 points and I can get to Cancun!

[YHN]: What are you selling?

[TYD]: [looks at my WPE T-shirt] Dude! That's an awesome T-Shirt! Can I have it?

[YHN]: Excuse me?

[TYD]: Can I have that shirt? Where did you get it?

[YHN]: [points to the plainly visible URL for Bartcop] You can go to BartCop and get one of your own. They're $23, but less if you buy more than 1. What are you trying to sell me?

[TYD]: No, man - just give me the shirt.

[YHN]: Sorry, dude. You always walk up to people's doors, and ask them for the shirt off their back? You ever going to get to the point? What do you think you can sell me?

[TYD]: [whips out a laminated flyer, and shakes it out to full (three 8.5x11 page) size] These!

[YHN]: [barely glances at flyer] What the hell is this crap?

[TYD]: [mumbles]

[YHN]: I think we're done here...

[TYD]: Dude! Give me that shirt!

[Slam!]

The next day, after discussing landscaping alternatives with those who will be aiding me in my beautification (cough) project*, and basking in the glow of one of the first nice sunsets of the year 'round these parts, my friend and I were sitting on the front porch, and I watch a vehicle pull up in front of my next door neighbor's house - which is basically the first house of the row of houses along the street in the subdivision where I currently reside. Three individuals get out of the vehicle, commiserate with each other for a few seconds, and walk (out of my vision and) up to my neighbors' front door. As I continue my conversation with my friend, we see these three individuals march (with quite a bit of processional flair, I might add) down the sidewalk in front of my house, up the sidewalk leading to my front door, and start shuffling some papers (along with a familiar book quite popular with the locals) prior to beginning to start a dialog with Yours Truly.

[YHN]: If that's a Bible in your hands, you better just keep on walking.

Which they did without hesitation or complaint. Thank you, Jeebus!

Shortly thereafter, I checked, and verified that it was in fact a New Moon, as opposed to a Full one.

*: This one comes under the heading of any changes would be an improvement type of project. Not to say that the landscaping was not high on the list of Things To Do until lately or anything like that...

Today's Royal Proclamation

^{Sunday, 9 Goodenuf 2007}

Buried within the minutae of this announcement today:

President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate ten individuals, appoint twelve individuals, recess appoint four individuals and designate one individual to serve in his Administration. The President today also announced that he has appointed one individual to serve in his Administration. [snip] The President intends to recess appoint the following individuals: [snip] Sam Fox, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Belgium.

Un-frelling-believable...