Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

The Fine print: The following are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

Journal by aristarchus

Well, it has been a good run. Some people had some principles, and stuck to them. But the end result is catastrophe. We have made, what? 6000 members? We should be orders of magnitude above that by now. Something is wrong. There is trouble right here in River City! (Music Man, for those too young to get the reference)

Just now, in the submission by butthurt, which I have been watching since it was in the queue, we have people defending the KKK. You know, this is silly. It is ridiculous. This is a farce! Why? Everyone knows the KKK is dead. Those claiming to be KKK are either federal agents or seriously mentally ill persons. That is the only reason that I can say the violence against the KKK was wrong. Although I do not think the violence marred the protest: KKK protests are self-marring. If it was me, no head stomping, just head shots, at an appropriate photo studio, with posting to the internet, a la Anonymous, so we do know who these crazy mentally unbalanced people, and can recognize them in our scopes at a later date. Reap the whirlwind, racists!

But you see, my concern is not with these despicable racists, it is with the false equivalency that SoylentNews seems to be granting them. And not only them, but the gamergater-can't-meet-women crowd, and the Sad Puppies-my-fascist-Futurist_fiction-gets-no-traction people. These people are not to be taken seriously, by anyone! Now I am not saying we should ban them, but just letting them in causes problems for the site as a whole. Yeah, Mighty Buzzard, I hear you, but just listen for a bit.

We are getting an online rep. And it is not a good one. Yes, Ethanol_fueled can be entertaining, but the fact that he posts his racist screeds, even when they are modded down (and they are not always!), hurt SoylentNews. Runaway1956 has similar issues. Not as much of an ass as Eth, but not a contributer of material that is likely to encourage the kind of debate on issues that will make SolylentNews the place to be on the Internets. We are failing to be the replacement for the other site, and this is why. Bad money drives out good, and bad posters drive out good ones. I, for one, welcome [no, scratch that] grow tired of constantly responding to fascist, racist, dominionist, libertarian, and other crap here. I may stop entirely, soon. So, you volunteers, give some thought to what we want to be. A lid on the crazy may not be such a bad idea.

Oh, and by the way, that is the other thing that kind of tipped me off! When we have a certifiable homeless crazy person (MDC), that regularly posts more coherent and interesting things than do these racist trolls, I fear for the existence of SoylentNews. Well. I have said enough. It is up to the site whether I and those like me continue to contribute. The irony is, butthurt did this to me! Ha!!

Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Reply to Article Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by melikamp on Tuesday March 08 2016, @06:39AM

    by melikamp (1886) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @06:39AM (#315416) Journal

    Is there a single large unmoderated forum on the net, where people are not posting rabidly racist and/or sexist comments? I think we just have a large number of crazy people around here, and that gets annoying at times, but on the other hand we have people saying some things that in other places would result in criminal investigations, and those things are fun to read, just like it would be fun to watch some live POV war footage. And the numbers are not a problem. As long as we have some readable comments, and we have plenty, even though they are swimming neck-deep in shit, as you observed.

    Anyway, is there anything else you got in mind? Any better place out there? This sure beats /. And tuning out racists and/or mentally retarded people does not make them any less mental, just makes us less aware of their prevalence. But they are still there, marching in rallies and waving semi-automatic weapons at coffee shop patrons.

    And btw, I think you are wrong about KKK. I wish with all my heart you were right, but you are almost certainly wrong. Never before in history have racists failed to organize and be destructive and stupid together. It's just one of those things capable of uniting people of very different walks of life, as long as they are bigots, bullies, and all the same skin color.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fleg on Tuesday March 08 2016, @08:16AM

    by fleg (128) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 08 2016, @08:16AM (#315436)

    "A lid on the crazy may not be such a bad idea." - but how?

    for myself, when the poison gets too much i take a week or two off.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by juggs on Wednesday March 09 2016, @02:13AM

      by juggs (63) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @02:13AM (#315817) Journal

      Since its inception, SN has followed a policy along the lines of, we as staff will not impose top-down moderation or censorship. We would rather strive to provide the tools for the community to self-manage (via moderation) than to impose what would become any ever more convoluted set of rules, regulations and guidelines. Given the widely diverse political, societal and philosophical viewpoints of those that volunteer their time to be staff and indeed those of the community itself, I'm not convinced we could formulate such things without causing an epic shit storm.

      Sure, there have been many discussions amongst past and present staff around the subject of formulating some kind of acceptable / unacceptable rule set for Comment and Journal posts etc. The takeaway from these is generally always three pronged:-

      1. Do we want to do this? And why? (as many viewpoints here as there are participants to the discussion on the whole)
      2. If we were to do it, what are these rules going to be? (as many viewpoints here as there are participants to the discussion on the whole)
      3. If we could agree on 1. and 2. and decided to do it.... How? We barely have enough volunteers to keep the story pipeline ticking over and the site slowly improving over time. What magic unicorn moderation team is willing to step in and rigorously enforce whatever rule set is agreed upon and how would we ensure that the rules are being enforced in an entirely consistent way by every member of that team?

      I've spent time over far too many years, moderating forums, moderating IRC channels etc. with published rules and quite honestly it is always a nightmare. There are always those who seek to post something ~just~ within the rules but pushing the boundaries of interpretation just for the 'fun' of being able to argue the toss that what they did was within the letter of the rule if not the spirit. So staff end up in an endless cycle of having to deal with appeals against sanctions, tweaking and subtly amending the rule set to cover ever more corner cases. Until ultimately the whole thing becomes unworkable as the rule set becomes so damned complex it basically relies on the interpretation of whoever is applying any rule at any given point in time - good luck getting any consistency that way.

      This is not a new problem by any means, but I have yet to see a coherent solution in action. The top-down imposition of what is and is not acceptable is a dangerous path, this is meant to be an open discussion site, not a carefully curated echo chamber. Hence why we tend to spend so much time agonising over the Moderation mechanism for the community to police themselves (for want of a better phrase).

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fleg on Wednesday March 09 2016, @03:18AM

        by fleg (128) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 09 2016, @03:18AM (#315836)

        i agree, completely, i dont see any solutions either that dont amount to censorship, which i do not want.

        but i also think that aristarchus's point...

        "bad posters drive out good ones. "

        is worth considering. and that, if he's right, you will effectively end up with...

        "a carefully curated echo chamber."

        its just that the careful curators are trolls.

        and just to reiterate, no i dont see a solution and no i do not want censorship.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday March 10 2016, @01:17PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 10 2016, @01:17PM (#316563) Journal

        There are always those who seek to post something ~just~ within the rules but pushing the boundaries of interpretation just for the 'fun' of being able to argue the toss that what they did was within the letter of the rule if not the spirit.

        You one doesn't stretch or bend these rules (any rules, actually) the result is an stiffly calcified place. I'd be rather grateful to have those kind of contributors to a site.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:37PM

        by FakeBeldin (3360) on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:37PM (#641185) Journal

        If we could agree on 1. and 2. and decided to do it.... How? We barely have enough volunteers to keep the story pipeline ticking over...

        On the other hand, the current comment climate is hindering submissions.
        I know, because I have submitted stories in the past, and feel disinclined to do so now basically because of the comment section's atmosphere.
        I just have less enthusiasm for sharing things I find with *this* crowd.

        That's not to say I will not submit, but a year ago, I was eager to submit. Nowadays, that's not the case any more.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:23AM

    You seem to be one for this site.

    If you're looking for a site that will censor views that you find offensive, allow me to suggest reddit or twitter They've shown plenty of willingness to silence wrongthink. We will not. Ever. Full stop.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday March 08 2016, @04:30PM

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @04:30PM (#315577) Journal

      Very cool! This comment convinced me to sign up. *Just say no* to censorship. Let's make the internet indelible.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday March 08 2016, @05:02PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @05:02PM (#315585) Journal

      There goes the Buzz, falsely equating criticism to censorship, yet again.

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 08 2016, @09:50PM

        What part of a post whose entirety can be summed up by "You allow people to say things I don't like, so I'm taking my ball and going home." do you think is not a cry for censorship?

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday March 08 2016, @10:28PM

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @10:28PM (#315727) Journal

          The part where choosing to not read a website is not even close to censorship.

          • (Score: 2, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 08 2016, @10:40PM

            Let me make it real simple for your bitsy little mind. "You don't censor, so I'm leaving." is now, and will always be, about censorship. There are absolutely zero other ways to interpret it. Either your English skills are failing you or you simply do not want to admit how horribly, horribly wrong you are.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:23PM

              by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:23PM (#315750) Journal

              Yeah, 'cause boycotting a website because you don't like the path it's taking would be a totally unprecedented move for the SlashD...*cough*..Soylent community.

            • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:58PM

              by FakeBeldin (3360) on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:58PM (#641200) Journal

              "You don't censor, so I'm leaving." is now, and will always be, about censorship.

              Maybe, I dunno.
              On the other hand "The atmosphere here stinks, I'm leaving" is not about censorship.

              Aristarchus is pointing out that the current atmosphere on SN is not helping SN. And he is right about that. Source: (1) anecdotal evidence, it is true for me (showing existence); (2) SN has been struggling to pay its bills (showing that on the whole, more supporting folks here would help).

              The thing is (and I experienced it yet again while writing this message and deleted the rest as a result and started writing this instead):
              At one point, you realise you're arguing on the internet. Not learning something, not teaching someone, not getting into a reasoned discussion where either of those two things happen. Just arguing - a pointless exchange of viewpoints that slowly will digress into shouting, namecalling, etc. On the internet.

              As it turns out (cf. XKCD), I've got better things to do with my time.

      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday March 11 2016, @09:49PM

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday March 11 2016, @09:49PM (#317191) Journal

        So the solution to this problem is "tell trolls to be nice"?

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
        • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 11 2016, @10:08PM

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 11 2016, @10:08PM (#317198) Journal

          I was thinking more like "tell the moderators to do a better job."

          • (Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Saturday March 12 2016, @05:22AM

            by anubi (2828) on Saturday March 12 2016, @05:22AM (#317282) Journal

            Most of us do the best we can, DeathMonkey.

            I take the responsibility of moderation very seriously, and do it to the best of my ability. Not as a weapon, but as a "thank you" for the other Soylentils who took the time to post something I got something out of.

            I hold with the concept of anyone posting anything they want. No censor.

            I know, we sometime get some crap posts, but at least its not as bad as trying to eat a catfish.

            Because this is so general, one can get quite an education from reading what other people have to say on a given matter.

            One can find very specialized forums on the net as well. One I liked in particular was "TheOilDrum", ( now in archive status ). I thought it was very well run as well. Other forums I frequent are specialized Ford Diesel Truck forums, as I just acquired one of these old beasts and I need to learn how to feed and care for it.

            I have no changes I would like to make to these forums... I believe the people running this show know exactly what needs to be done and how to do it. There are a few of us that seem to be a bit juvenile and drop inappropriate posts here ( I have done it as well ) and the resulting moderation is by-and-large appropriate.

            I saw a few users called out by name, however, the posts are usually worth the read. I believe everyone should have some flagpole to run his notion up and see if anyone salutes. My failure to salute is NOT an indicator the notion should not be run up the pole. But how is one to know his notion is bad if he never got the chance to run it up and see?

            --
            "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
        • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday February 21 2018, @04:02PM

          by FakeBeldin (3360) on Wednesday February 21 2018, @04:02PM (#641203) Journal

          It's not about feeding the trolls. It's about who's doing the feeding.

          If I write comments that I consider to be intelligible (irrespective of whether they actually are), that garner replies that I consider to be ignoring the points I'm trying to make and trying to move off in their own direction, then at one point, I'll stop feeding.

          I'm happy to have an exchange of comments in which one person (me, or the other) learns something, but I will abort an exchange of comments if I feel (whether justified or not) that all that's happening is that we're just explaining our own stance to the other.

          That's fine when it's not clear, but once that's done, what's the point of continuing?

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by sudo rm -rf on Tuesday March 08 2016, @05:16PM

      by sudo rm -rf (2357) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @05:16PM (#315592) Journal

      You seem to be the one who tries to create an echo chamber of his own views. You also seem to be the one who starts barking the loudest of all, as soon as someone criticizes any fucked up backwater alpha male points of views. And you also seem to have difficulties reading. Read again the part that was obviously targeted at you (the part after "listen for a bit").

      • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 08 2016, @09:53PM

        Really? If that were true, we would have deleted this journal entry. And your comment along with it. Instead witness the huge amounts of nothing that happen when you make blatantly and provably false accusations against a staff member. That, my full of shit friend, is what you call liberty.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 2) by sudo rm -rf on Wednesday March 09 2016, @05:38PM

          by sudo rm -rf (2357) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @05:38PM (#316114) Journal

          Re: sylnt.us
          You shouldn't boil eggs to lengthen their shelf (read: fridge) life except when you are going to pickle or salt them afterwards. Cooking will destroy salmonella and other nasty stuff, but it will also destroy the membrane that keeps bacteria out.
          Mod me offtopic, but it had to be said.

          Ontopic: Has it ever occured that journal entries/comments have been deleted (legal requirement etc.)? And if so, was it made transparent to the community as to why?
          Maybe it was discussed, but I missed it.

        • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday February 21 2018, @04:12PM

          by FakeBeldin (3360) on Wednesday February 21 2018, @04:12PM (#641208) Journal

          You seem to be the one who tries to create an echo chamber of his own views. You also seem to be the one who starts barking the loudest of all, as soon as someone criticizes any fucked up backwater alpha male points of views. And you also seem to have difficulties reading. Read again the part that was obviously targeted at you (the part after "listen for a bit").

          Really? If that were true, we would have deleted this journal entry. And your comment along with it.

          Sure, because the unique and only way to create an echo chamber is censorship. If there is no censorship, then by definition it cannot be an echo chamber.

          </sarcasm>

          To reply to your question: yes, weally weally.

          Even when people explicitly tell you that the tone and contents of their comments puts them off and is, in effect, creating an echo chamber, then you know better. *sigh*

          The funny thing is: you're no better than a censor. Your actions on this site are driving people away, and you excuse it because you're not forbidding them. But in effect, your comments *are* affecting people, and they *are* causing people to lose interest in the site. Basically, you're just applying censorship in a way that does not fall afoul of your ideals. But after people have repeatedly called you out on it, you should be aware that you are, in effect, censoring this site. By your actions, you are causing people to apply self-censorship.

          And as someone who loves liberty, that should shock you.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 05 2016, @05:44AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 05 2016, @05:44AM (#369925)

      Good. While I do agree with the author about being tired of some crap, I'd rather have a place where all voices get a chance than with pro-censorship platforms. Debate is healthy, and if we all stick to our own echo chambers then our society will speed ever faster into chaos. It takes effort, it can be tiring repeating the same points, but for those 6000 members there are more reading what we write. All the usernames listed have pissed me off on more than one occasion, but at the same time I have upvoted and applauded their points I feel are valid and insightful. As usual every human is a mix, and I just hope that you're wrong about a lot of users being feds and such... Those are the true scum, lying and deceiving to accomplish their own ends (unless they're being honest and just observing the community, goes with the public platform. Though tagging people for their non-criminal opinions sets them back to scum. From a certain space port...)

      What was I saying?

      Oh right, the popular opinion of this site... Perhaps a temporary addition to the page header, something like "this is a diverse community, check our handy various poll results to get a real idea" with poll results for a variety of topics that can help illustrate the diversity here. If the polls show a heavy slant towards one side of the spectrum then at least it would be honest. Without something, this community will be blacklisted by the netizens and even some of the members.

      • (Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Tuesday July 05 2016, @05:48AM

        by Zz9zZ (1348) on Tuesday July 05 2016, @05:48AM (#369927)

        So much frustration with this site on mobile, submit button often gets hidden when pasting text, and wrong form errors all the goddamn time. I was logged in when I pasted that post, still went as AC. Ah well, should I bother with a bug report?

        --
        ~Tilting at windmills~
        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday July 05 2016, @10:29AM

          Yup, bonus cookie if you can reproduce. Either slap it on github or email it to admin@soylentnews.org.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @02:23PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @02:23PM (#514258)

            Turns out the problem is with my mobile provider. Most likely reason: my web traffic through mobile is being "managed". Wish I knew if it was just ISP fuckery or gov spooks causing issues as they run my data through their super secret servers. Disturbing either way.

            For anyone doing what they shouldn't:
            FUCK YOUUUU FASCIST DICKBAGS!

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by bitstream on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:25AM

    by bitstream (6144) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:25AM (#315473) Journal

    The problem is usually not the noise. But the lack of good content. There's several stories the last 24 hours on the green site that I think should been published here in some form.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 08 2016, @02:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 08 2016, @02:32PM (#315526)

      Next time, you should submit those stories. You can improve the content of this site.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday March 11 2016, @09:54PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday March 11 2016, @09:54PM (#317195) Journal

      Look at the bottom of my user page, and tell me I'm not trying to solve the problem of good content.

      Maybe the key is to delete more submissions and increase the gaps between them. I've seen some crap go out in the last few days, so I'm tempted to be more proactive with killing crap submissions.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by bitstream on Saturday March 12 2016, @08:16AM

        by bitstream (6144) on Saturday March 12 2016, @08:16AM (#317304) Journal

        The problem is to know which submissions that are crap. Or rather the key factor is if they are important even if the submission in itself is crap. I've been thinking lately that perhaps some quick voting may be a solution at least for the more not so clear submissions. Those that vote must have some wisdom which is something else than IQ and knowledge to make good choices. Even one good submission dropped together with 10 crap ones might be worse of than publishing them all.

        Regarding publication frequency. The key is that important submissions are published right away. The metric is importance, not a fixed schedule. It's like Intel succeeds to increase processor speed 10x without higher cost but then we can't publish that NASA succeeded to get the science of warp drive because it's been a busy news day. So if the submission is good, then publish and readers have to sort it out themselves.

        One approach that is quite different from the current one here and elsewhere is to let readers vote which users they think have a good judgement for their news flow. And in particular, "users that voted for this submission should be able to vote positive for any other submissions too". That way one doesn't have to select individual users but may select whole clusters of them. Or those that less this crap through should not be able to vote yes, but be allowed to vote no on my personalized news flow.

        One way to determine if a submission is worth to publish is to ask if they will matter 10 years later or change things that do. Otoh news like how to design very efficient DC/AC converters will perhaps not have an obvious effect but may increase the personal knowledge such that one may do new things not otherwise possible or give new insights. Those things may in turn change things that will matter in 10 years.

        Btw, mainstream news must start to feel how f*cked they are ;)

  • (Score: 2) by fliptop on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:39AM

    by fliptop (1666) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:39AM (#315478) Journal

    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

    Evelyn Beatrice Hall [wikipedia.org]

    --
    Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
    • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday March 08 2016, @04:00PM

      by isostatic (365) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @04:00PM (#315566) Journal

      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

      Not in America. In America they just get deported.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 08 2016, @11:53AM (#315480)

    SoylentNews is ruined. It's too late, what the hell am I supposed to do? What do you want me to do? Start the site over? Well, if I don't start over they'll never understand anything, they won't know what it's about. What the hell am I supposed to do? There's no option. I don't know what you think. Or what you think I'm going to do. It's all useless, it's failed already, it's irrevocably failed. I give up, fuck it.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Tuesday March 08 2016, @01:15PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 08 2016, @01:15PM (#315499)

    We (as in groups) are talking past each other, not with.

    These people are not to be taken seriously, by anyone!

    The SJW definition of seriously is we need total blind obedience to the dogma or you'll get the two minutes hate right out of our instruction manual, and we'll destroy you. And that's the only theoretical or philosophical justification they'll provide. Conform to us or die. Might makes right and we have might so we're right.

    The opposition definition of seriously is facts, figures, provocatively meme-y trolling a bit sometimes.

    Obviously "we" (royal we) can't take the other group seriously under such wildly differential rules of engagement.

    Lets compare two practical examples:

    I think a provocative meme that the klan is mostly a creature of the news media, staffed by cops, and a side dish of WBC lawsuit trolling is insightful to think about. There is likely at least a kernel of truth worth thinking about in that. Could there be real bubba-class racists in there? Yeah, of course there are some, but who cares. Outta 300 million people in a mass media county completely ruled over by SJWs, that small number just doesn't matter. Why is our news media run by people who think providing the "two minutes hate" came from their instruction manual, not a dystopic novel? Isn't that the real problem with this story? Why aren't people denouncing the implementation of a dystopic novel? What would Dr MLK jr or Gandhi think about political oppression via the two minutes hate? I have to think that MLK and Gandhi would sympathize with some of the beliefs of the SJWs, but would have to hang with us oppressed anti-SJWs. Its interesting how things have changed politically over the last half century or so. Back, say, in the 70s, I never thought Dr MLK jr and I would be bros, or Gandhi would be my homie, but here we are. So much stuff to think about.

    vs

    We all know the progressive narrative and that's pretty far off the path we've been given (... by whom, and why, and where does it lead?), now unthinkingly obey or we will intimidate and bury you. That doesn't really add much in itself, and the philistine mobs on other social media sites, and the dumber college kids, chant it incessantly like little Hitler youth at a rally, so its not even new to think about. No need to point out that I find SJW beliefs and behaviors abhorrent, I have kind of noticed that, thanks. Also the readers, especially here, aren't idiots and easily figure it out too. And there's not enough SJWs here for you to spin up a holiness signalling spiral, as you mention. Maybe that's good aside from the politics (I'll have a non-political post on that topic)

    Now right-wing people don't get too pissed off at me for saying this, but the SJWs do occasionally have a logical rational reasonable point. They can't express that by intimidation. That's why you haven't heard their good points. Its a pity they aren't stepping up to the debate and instead stooping to terror tactics or silence. Left wing people don't need an introduction to right wing intimidation/terror tactics, in fact they generally won't shut up about it. So there exists that giant hole in the argument that needs filling. If you want stories submitted that make the SJW perspective look better, theres a "send in your scoop" right on the front page...

    I'll give Aristarchus credit, he's right to be pissed because this individual story was inherently biased in that it does nothing other than make SJWs look bad. Its hard or impossible to have any other reading of it. If you knowingly see the kitchen is on fire yet you run inside anyway, no point in going all wide eyed with surprise telling us to rally the troops because its hot in there. That story by its nature was going to be toasty for SJWs, you had to have known that. And you didn't submit a story thats toasty for anti-SJWs ... why exactly? Now it would be kicking a guy when he's down to suggest its because there are no stories that make the SJW point of view look good. There must be some scientific paper somewhere, or some heartwarming story, or something? Or maybe not?

    If I made you think, that's good. If you didn't like thinking, oh well. If I pissed you off, well, you seem like a nice enough guy aside from politics so I hope you feel better soon. Id owe you a beer if I ran into you at a con. Have a nice day!

    • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday March 08 2016, @01:26PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 08 2016, @01:26PM (#315502)

      We have made, what? 6000 members? We should be orders of magnitude above that by now. Something is wrong.

      Time for a completely non-political post, at least that's the intention.

      Lots of sociology and anthropology ink has been spilled about natural size of human tribes. I'll estimate hundreds of people or so. Figure there's hundreds of topics popular enough to talk about. That's 10K or so people as a natural evolved human discussion group size. Not that far from the actual 6K.

      No point in arguing the details. Well, we're smarter than the average bear, so our tribes can be a little bigger. Hacker mindset means more overlap in interests, yet also means more wider interests. Whatever.

      Note the word "natural". Yes I'm well aware via modern technology we can occasionally form a temporary world cup soccer viewer tribe of a billion or so people, and even legacy american football gets 100M or baseball gets 10M sometimes. But thats all special cases, broadcasting one to many, for a very short time, simplistic viewing (often while drunk) of a sport vs technical hobbies and interests.

      And yeah yeah ratio of poster to lurker, but again even in natural human tribes no more than half the population talks at any time anyway, usually less, so I'm unconvinced.

      Sure twitter has X million advertised users, but "real users" is immensely lower, and mostly they deliver spam from outside the ecosystem celebrities to fans.

    • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Friday March 25 2016, @07:21AM

      by dyingtolive (952) on Friday March 25 2016, @07:21AM (#322821)

      The proverbial +6 insightful post. I'm always in awe of what you say. Well done sir.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
    • (Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:24PM

      by Vanderhoth (61) on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:24PM (#340793)

      Might makes right and we have might so we're right.

      Got to this part, the issue is they often don't have the "might". What I've seen is they stack the deck to make it look like they're a majority. They do so a couple different ways.

      One is having multiple accounts or posting as AC to make it seem like they have a lot of support for ideas, but frequently will give away what they're doing. That's combined with moderation to make sure opposing ideas are as invisible as possible. I've seen +5 moderation for people (I don't agree with) go from +5 to -1 a few days after a thread is most definitely dead, which I know is an intimidation tactic and the reason I don't care about moderation in general, it's just too easy to manipulate with a few extra accounts. It's actually not so bad on SN because if you browse at -1 you see everything anyway, but on a site like Reddit you can vote someone down to the point that their comments will be completely hidden from view, then argue with them in sub-threads to continue massively voting them down until their karma score is so low they have to wait 10 minutes between posts and just get frustrated and quit altogether. SRS (Shit Redit Says) is known for "brigading" topics in other sub-reddits where they have enough members to make sure anyone with wrongthink gets voted into oblivion.

      The other thing they do is ban anyone, or any topic, that doesn't agree with the consensus. Wikipedia is especially bad for this, try introducing something controversial or ask why something that's not so obviously true is stated as an undeniable fact. They'll call you a SPA and ban your IP, sometimes banning entire organizations that IP is attached to, faster than you can make a case, even if you've been on wikipedia for years. It's easy for them to maintain "consensus" because they won't let anyone that doesn't 100% agree with the group even think of being an editor.

      The way it usually works is they start by going after actual assholes and at first everyone is like, "yeah, that guy's a total racists/misogynists", I've been there myself agreeing that someone was just being an ass and had no issues with them being tossed. Then they start going after the people that make a few stupid comments, but aren't overall major issues. By that time they have enough people in their cliques they can silently pick off individuals that don't agree with the group mostly by chasing them away. Although I'm firmly liberal, I've seen this mostly done to conservatives. As if being conservative automatically means you agree with racists/misogynists/homophobics/etc.

      Once anyone with wrongthink has been chased off or banned, like in NeoGAF, they have moderator positions, because everyone else has been chanced off, and can easily just boot anyone they don't like. Then they, and their cliques, can act like assholes and bully or ban anyone that doesn't toe the line.

      Often they like to pretend they're a majority and will make claims like, "There aren't two 'sides'. It's you (the racists/sexists/homphobe), and then there's everyone else.", except there's a lot of people that don't agree or are neutral to a topic that either don't know what's going on or are too afraid of being stalked, doxed, targeted, smeared or banned to speak out.

      So, no, "might" doesn't make right. To them the perception of "might" makes right, which is why they like tools in place to make sure they can censor comments and commenters they don't agree with. It's not about how many actually agree, it's about making sure the ones that don't can be hidden from view or intimidated.

      --
      "Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
    • (Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:33PM

      by Vanderhoth (61) on Tuesday May 03 2016, @12:33PM (#340796)

      So now that I've finished my rant and read the rest of your post I can safely say, we're pretty much on the same page. And I agree with the other comment. If I wasn't coming into the discussion over a month late I'd have given you all the mod points.

      --
      "Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 08 2016, @02:49PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 08 2016, @02:49PM (#315534)

    Just skip TFAs that are political if you get tired of them.

    The lack of down-mods for particular views is how it should be. Unless someone is trolling, those posts should at least stay at their initial score. Add people to your foe list if their views bother you enough.

  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday March 08 2016, @03:38PM

    by acid andy (1683) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @03:38PM (#315559) Homepage Journal

    What's wrong with libertarian? You use that word in the same breath as terms that are typically associated with very questionable ethics. I don't think libertarianism should be tarred with the same brush. Smaller state and smaller corporations could mean less bullying of the individual which I feel could be ethically desirable. Anyway I don't want this to generate into yet another damned political rant or flame war. I think I've made my point Sir.

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
    • (Score: 2) by fleg on Wednesday March 09 2016, @03:37AM

      by fleg (128) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 09 2016, @03:37AM (#315852)

      >What's wrong with libertarian

      its like communism, or anarchist, or hacker. to your average person those words have come to mean something other than they originally did. libertarian seems now to be equated with something like "extreme right winger who lacks charity and compassion". and before i get jumped on, yes, i know thats not what it means.

      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday March 09 2016, @12:33PM

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 09 2016, @12:33PM (#315972)

        Slight correction that its a discrediting technique.

        Say for example there's a big NYC bank that doesn't like some obscure corner of libertarian economic policy. You could argue the actual point, or use your immense power to push a "libertarians are klansmen in disguise".

        To some extent its like Trump-ism. Someone hates libertarians? Even better yet the hated establishment and media hates libertarians? That means they must be full of awesome! Tell me more about libertarians! Woo Hoo! Love those guys!

        The biggest enemy of my biggest enemy is Trump, so even if he has some highly questionable social policies and beliefs, woo hoo love that dude make those Fox News newscaster dirtbags cry on camera, love it love it!

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Friday March 11 2016, @10:02PM

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday March 11 2016, @10:02PM (#317197) Journal

        I think some people would like to convince others to hate the term "libertarian". I'm not so sure that process is yet complete. It's wrapped up in the Tea Party movement and evangelicals, sure, but to me, "true" libertarianism means small government, but very permissive on social issues and pro-civil liberties. So many self-described libertarians would not meet my definition. Any of them that oppose abortion, gay marriage, or even gene editing for instance.

        Ideology has made people hate each other long before the Internet was around, and if the term "libertarian" is deemed too "toxic" by society, some other terms will rise. Freetardarian?

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by linkdude64 on Tuesday March 08 2016, @03:53PM

    by linkdude64 (5482) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @03:53PM (#315562)

    Failing to satisfy the desires of people who are indifferent to censorship and blindly support, even take part in, marketing posts and politically correct diatribes about how people with white-colored skin are inherently evil/sexist/racist is completely fine by me. Stay mad.

  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday March 08 2016, @05:23PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @05:23PM (#315595) Journal

    You should dial back your posts a little. I see what you're getting at generally, and I want to mod it up, but many times is just a little too flamebatey.
     
    Presenting your case in a direct and logical way, without resorting to namecalling would result in higher modded posts.
     
    That would do two things:
      1: Improve the the signal to noise ration with regard to sane posts by making yours more visible.
      2: Help you realize there are more sane people out there than you realize. And frankly, we're the majority. Those guys just make a lot of noise...

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday March 08 2016, @06:36PM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @06:36PM (#315625) Journal

    Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it.

    • (Score: 2) by melikamp on Tuesday March 08 2016, @09:03PM

      by melikamp (1886) on Tuesday March 08 2016, @09:03PM (#315690) Journal
      Get a load of CNN contributors now defending Trump's love for KKK [dailykos.com]. SN is not over. But a reasoned political discussion in the US may be over, we'll see :)
    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday March 09 2016, @12:17AM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @12:17AM (#315778) Homepage

      " and bad posters drive out good ones "

      Like you just drove me from the site.

      But seriously, I've had nothing good to say or contribute lately and I don't anticipate that situation improving in the next few months, so I'll take a break from Soylentnews and return around June-ish. I got too much other shit to do anyway.

      This place better be more awesome, or at least as awesome as it is now, when I return. If I come back and this place is like Reddit or Twitter then I'm going to Jewpost until my karma goes to permanent -1 and I get banned Slashdot-style.

      You asked for the challenge, now let's see what you're made of.

           

      • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday March 09 2016, @03:29AM

        by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @03:29AM (#315843) Journal

        God, don't leave, EF... if you (or anyone) say something i don't like, i bleep over it.

        It's easy.

        But i also like to hear other points of views (wacky or not: mine to decide). It's the crazy that sometimes keeps me coming back!

        Keep your crazy here (and your 'sense of humour'): it won't hurt me.

        I think we all just need to bleep over what we don't want to read and use moderation.

        Bleep it.... bleep it all!

        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 09 2016, @08:00AM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @08:00AM (#315921) Journal

        Eth, thank you for the response. I will try to live up to your challenge. But please understand that I, and many others, do not understand what your issues are. You post, or as you put it here, "jewpost" in a way that does not invite or encourage the interesting intellectual exchange that should be the hallmark of SoylentNews. Maybe you are right. We should both take a time out. But I just have to say, If I come back to this place and it is like 8chan or Stormfront, I will SJW it until my karma goes permanent negative sub-alpha, prime. See you on the other side. No, I am not Adele.

        • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by zugedneb on Wednesday March 09 2016, @06:53PM

          by zugedneb (4556) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @06:53PM (#316155)

          so wtf is your problem u stupid cunt?
          the rights of the religious, faggots and wimmin has never been more at a peak then now...
          and still, the volume of the screaming and getting-on-the-victim-bandwagon is also at it's peak.

          i am an above avarage educated 40 year old immigrant in my country.
          i have seen, and on daily base talk to other immigrants who have seen shit that [_____]...

          wtf u want me to debate intelectually about your petty missplaced shitty to-late-to-flowerpower topics?

          i am here for technology, and the part of politics and psychology that i can tacke with an engineering mindset and education.
          fucking faggots and feminists are not part of that...

          --
          old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
          • (Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday March 10 2016, @12:07AM

            by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday March 10 2016, @12:07AM (#316322) Journal

            And Thank you, zugedneb, for sharing your insight and wisdom. I feel much better now.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2016, @02:20AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2016, @02:20AM (#316367)

              feel better?
              FEEL BETTER?
              WHO THE FUCK CARES U FUCKING CUNT?
              U THINK INTERNET IS ABOUT U?

              only reason i don't kill wimmin is cuz mamma said it's wrong to harm girls!!!!11!!!!1

              • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday March 10 2016, @04:36AM

                by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday March 10 2016, @04:36AM (#316405) Journal

                Hmm, not normal for someone to stay this drunk for this long. Umm, you know that you can always call for help. Medical services do not discriminate, even in war zones. So call the local emergency number, and tell them something like that you have an erection that has lasted longer than four hours and you are worried. They will send clean young men in nice white coats. Seriously. Cuntabulation is not an amateur sport.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2016, @06:26AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2016, @06:26AM (#316443)

                  chill bro... internet is for trolling...
                  though, when u have calmed down, you might want to ponder all possible interpretations of being "too human"...
                  i give this advice from time to time, but not many seem to get the point of it...

                  if u are one of those who will not get the point, than have a good life being a victim...

                  • (Score: 5, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday March 10 2016, @06:45AM

                    by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday March 10 2016, @06:45AM (#316453) Journal

                    I am starting to assume that this is not zugedneb, can I talk to Dana? Who is the Keymaster?

                    if u are one of those who will not get the point, than have a good life being a victim...

                    OK, first, u is not a word. Could it hurt that much to type out two more letters? Or at least use your goddamned autocomplete? Minor point. "Than"? Than is a comparative? What in God's name are you comparing those who will not get the point to? I do not understand you, because your grasp if English grammar is tenuous, at best. Is there not a native language in which you could post? Enough grammar, on to content. You are being a victim. A victim of your own poor grammer, which I can only surmise is matched by equally poor education on all other areas of learning! What is the average air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? Do you know the capital of Assyria? Have you ever talked to a member of the opposite sex? Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the American Communist Party? Too Human. Friederich Nietzsche: Ecce Homo. It's a book. Read it. And that thing about an alcoholic dementia lasting more than four hours? I was serious. Get some help. Otherwise you might end up being your own victim. Peace, bro!

                    • (Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Thursday March 10 2016, @02:37PM

                      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 10 2016, @02:37PM (#316583) Journal

                      Or at least use your goddamned autocomplete?
                      ...
                      A victim of your own poor grammer

                      Oh, the irony**
                      ---
                      ** of course I know what irony is... it's like silvery, but with iron instead.

                      --
                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
                      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday March 14 2016, @05:12AM

                        by aristarchus (2645) on Monday March 14 2016, @05:12AM (#317874) Journal

                        Oh, the irony**
                        ---
                        ** of course I know what irony is... it's like silvery, but with iron instead.

                        Oh, that is some real silvery irony right there! Almost golden! Or even Palladiumistic! Iridiumy just doesn't sound right.

                        Thanks for your counsel and support, c0lo. Much appreciated.

                        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday March 14 2016, @06:07AM

                          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 14 2016, @06:07AM (#317885) Journal

                          Thanks for your counsel and support, c0lo. Much appreciated.

                          My pleasure, mate. Literally.

                          (bows. fades in the distance, softly singing...

                          Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
                          I got the feeling that something ain't right,
                          I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
                          And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
                          soylent to the left of me, news on to the right
                          here I am...
                          )

                          --
                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
                    • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by zugedneb on Friday March 11 2016, @12:53PM

                      by zugedneb (4556) on Friday March 11 2016, @12:53PM (#316990)

                      as i said:

                      the rights of the religious, faggots and wimmin has never been more at a peak then now...
                      and still, the volume of the screaming and getting-on-the-victim-bandwagon is also at it's peak.

                      so, u still decline intellectual debate on this, but u choose to troll me on the other baits?
                      the above 2 line point to some big problems in general psychology of the masses, and it poisons every institutions that has anything to do with the masses, like large enough companies (gamergate), and left or green political parties...

                      so, i am waiting for some intellectual bait form u, u stupid fucking cunt...

                      --
                      old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
                      • (Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Friday March 11 2016, @06:36PM

                        by aristarchus (2645) on Friday March 11 2016, @06:36PM (#317112) Journal

                        so, i am waiting for some intellectual bait form u,

                        "from"? and what do you mean by "bait"? But in any case, just no, not until you clean up your language enough to be taken out in public.

                        • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by zugedneb on Friday March 11 2016, @10:32PM

                          by zugedneb (4556) on Friday March 11 2016, @10:32PM (#317206)

                          tell what, boyo (or cunt):
                          firstly, as someone (you) who does not seem to see that of all the groups and last 50 years, the racists did the least damage, except maybe children and demented people, well, your complaints does not carry a lot of weigth...

                          secondly, calling some racist means mostly that you call them "fucking gaschambertechnician" or "the kind of guy who gases children"...
                          it is as if i would go home to someone and call the family father "fritz" (the guy who had his daughter + her children in the basement)...
                          normally people do not get away with that type of insult...

                          a key event for you, we could even call it a paradigm shift, would be the insight that someone being "racist" does not relly mean that much, when it comes to violence and destruction. in most cases they just have a different idea about the optimal ratios in the population...

                          as such, u are on such a low level, that there is no reason for me to make my language more tidy...

                          --
                          old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
                        • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by zugedneb on Friday March 11 2016, @10:57PM

                          by zugedneb (4556) on Friday March 11 2016, @10:57PM (#317215)

                          it strikes me that jou actually might be a jew, and in that case here is a thing for you...
                          as some point out, the jews were educated and established in germany.
                          the same germany that was the most civilised, advanced and educated country on the planet.
                          the same germany where all these resident jews got their education.
                          the same germany where all these jews worked...

                          how the in hell some could pull such an enormous "lie" that an established portion of the population ends up in "gas chambers" is beyond me...
                          if not, of course, the "lies" are true...
                          as i said in some other thread:

                          the jews are "stranglers" - whatever they get hold of in a country, they monopolize, and in times of war and other national difficulties, they try to trample the original citizens of the country.

                          also, how all the gasing does not seem to put a dent in jewish population is also beyond me... the population in sweden is 9M now, in hungary maybe 6M... so 70 years ago an entire country worth of jews were gased and cremated, in times where all energy went into the war...

                          anyways, bro, the jews are not liked enywhere, so you can't complain about people not liking them... it is kind of a norm...

                          my guess is, the jewish lies, that were meant to denigrate germany, went out of control, and ended up costing the world tremendous pain (palestine?) and a lot of money, specially to germany.
                          now jews fear, that if the thruth gets out, jews are going to be butchered.

                          when i saw the david irving guy's videos, it struck me, that the main reason the governments held the archives closed so many years was to gain time to forge the documents and make up some consistent story...
                          all the decades are enough to forge the paper, inks, stories, messages...
                          so, the governments try to protect the jews for getting butchered...

                          anyways... gl;hf =)

                          --
                          old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Subsentient on Wednesday March 09 2016, @12:18PM

        by Subsentient (1111) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @12:18PM (#315970) Homepage Journal

        Some of us enjoy your deranged racist, sexist, deliberately offensive rants. Why wait for the jewposting? I say start now!

        --
        "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Wednesday March 09 2016, @04:18AM

      by butthurt (6141) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @04:18AM (#315868) Journal

      I was having a slight bit of fun with the headline, but could have anticipated that the humour would be unwelcome. Causing offence and driving people away from this site is not my intention.

  • (Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Wednesday March 09 2016, @01:00AM

    by Non Sequor (1005) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @01:00AM (#315800) Journal

    My reaction to the KKK story was similar to yours, it just wasn't interesting to draft a post to spell out an easy argument. Most of my posts are motivated by a contrarian impulse, and in this case, the contrarian impulse was so bland that I did not feel the need to elaborate on it.

    --
    Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday March 09 2016, @04:02PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 09 2016, @04:02PM (#316058) Journal

    Hey - I've got an idea. Why don't you post a post, and just dump on EVERYONE with whom you disagree.

    Ya know, if you want a soft, cozy, touchy-feely, homoerotic forum to inhabit, I'm sure there are some of those on the web. Some of them are probably inhabited by nerds and geeks, too. Whatever else one thinks about gay people, they aren't necessarily stupid, after all.

    Whatever. I'm glad I'm not as judgemental as libruls and progressivites. :^)

    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 09 2016, @06:52PM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @06:52PM (#316154) Journal

      As some AC has said in the past, with Runaway, it's all about sex.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday March 10 2016, @01:48PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 10 2016, @01:48PM (#316569) Journal

        As some AC has said in the past, with Runaway, it's all about sex.

        Naw, mate, you missed his point. Lemme repeat it for ya:

        Why don't you post a post, and just dump on EVERYONE with whom you disagree.

        (when I dump something, it's usually shit... yes, I know, I know, not me but some may consider it erotic)

        I gave to you the same advice some time back, maybe under a more general form [soylentnews.org].

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 2) by bart9h on Wednesday March 09 2016, @05:30PM

    by bart9h (767) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @05:30PM (#316110)

    I, for one, welcome [no, scratch that] grow tired of constantly responding to fascist, racist, dominionist, libertarian, and other crap here. I may stop entirely, soon.

    Aren't trolls supposed to be ignored?

  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by zugedneb on Wednesday March 09 2016, @06:39PM

    by zugedneb (4556) on Wednesday March 09 2016, @06:39PM (#316151)

    do not antiracist people see that the view they hold are not easy to attain in a world shaped by evolution?
    you know, that passage in biology books that say animal popuylations go up and down with fucking resources available?
    do you motherfuckers understand that the same applies to humans? that we can cooperate but we do not like eachother?

    ethanol is not a racist, by the way. some people just do not understand what he writes...

    --
    old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday March 10 2016, @09:43PM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday March 10 2016, @09:43PM (#316795) Journal

    Not sure if Mr A got spanked or just is having a thin-skin period, where every loony comment is getting to him.

    I have been reading about Dunbar Numbers (people in your extended circle; politicians c. 1000, loner geeks, c. 100, most people c. 200-400.). Too many and you get lost, or lose you sense of family/community.

    Soylent is (and should be) a slow-growth/self-levelling size.

    If Aristarchus stops posting, I will miss the insights.

    Also: we *are* the weirdos on the 'net. This place is self-selecting for opinionated, reasonably informed, loonies.
    If you don't think you are a loony, go back and read some of your own posts, only think about what your "average" person would think. Topic? Likely to be obscure, if not completely esoteric. Viewpoint? Not usually "mainstream". Likelihood of someone more crazy than you joining in the discussion? High!

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday March 10 2016, @11:20PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 10 2016, @11:20PM (#316839) Journal

      Viewpoint? Not usually "mainstream"

      Assuming one understands it.
      Reading his views... ok, viewpoints, I sometime suspect that the "view" part (form) is devouring the "point" (substance) part to annihilation.
      But... he's doing it to (almost*) perfection, an art form if you like... and this it exactly what makes his posts fascinating.

      ---
      * perfection is a dead end, I feel he has potential for more

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday March 11 2016, @12:48AM

        by MostCynical (2589) on Friday March 11 2016, @12:48AM (#316865) Journal

        I thought this was all performance art... (Crossed with old-fashioned soap-box in a park ranting)

        --
        "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 11 2016, @01:16AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 11 2016, @01:16AM (#316872) Journal

          I thought this was all performance art...

          Well, maybe... but it has some attributes of a jazz improvisation on a theme (usually) proposed by others.
          I don't think his posts could be circumscribed** to solely "a performance", even if the performance has a major part in the act.
          Shall we settle for "jamming on top of a soap box"?
          (can we use the "park" metaphor for SN?)

          --
          ** or... does "circumcised" fits as a better word in the context?

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday March 11 2016, @07:35AM

            by aristarchus (2645) on Friday March 11 2016, @07:35AM (#316939) Journal

            Um, people! You know I can read this?

            • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 11 2016, @08:11AM

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 11 2016, @08:11AM (#316951) Journal

              Um, people! You know I can read this?

              Tee-hee, what a question!... Of course we know.
              (isn't it good that you can read it? I mean, how many occasions you lately had to learn how others see you?)

              So... what do you propose, should we start using zugedneb style to deter you from reading?

              Here, let me get down from this ☐ (not a soapbox, but I guess it'll do just fine), climb on it and tell us what you think.
              Should you choose to post in reply, don't forget... the theme is "Looney central".

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by fritsd on Sunday March 13 2016, @11:10AM

          by fritsd (4586) on Sunday March 13 2016, @11:10AM (#317590) Journal

          I thought this was all performance art...

          If this is all performance art, then which one of us is the demented crying masked cook??

          (And what was that video performance called again, anyway? I only saw it once on TV at VPRO "Zomergasten" and didn't catch who made it)

          • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 16 2016, @08:52AM

            by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 16 2016, @08:52AM (#318923) Journal

            I thought this was all performance art...

            If this is all performance art, then which one of us is the demented crying masked cook??

            Do you refer to Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover? Great movie. But I fear Shakespeare was right, we are all players upon a stage, or from the Bard himself:

            Macbeth:
                    To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
                    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
                    To the last syllable of recorded time;
                    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
                    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
                    Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
                    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
                    And then is heard no more. It is a tale
                    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
                    Signifying nothing.
                    Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28

            Yours sincerely, Aristarchus

            • (Score: 3, Interesting) by fritsd on Wednesday March 16 2016, @10:24AM

              by fritsd (4586) on Wednesday March 16 2016, @10:24AM (#318944) Journal

              No, I meant something different, I had hoped that one of the soylentils would know what it was.

              Every year in the summer vacation when many people are away, the Dutch TV provider "VPRO" has a program called "Zomergasten". A very special format.
              The evening is filled with a long interview of a special guest, who had prepared his or her favourite TV fragments, which the VPRO personnel then look up, see if they can get the transmission rights, etc.
              The guest can also choose a film which is then shown after the interview. There's a lot of preparation; it's quite special, also for the "celebs" who get 4 hours to tell their life story if they like.

              Now these are usually interesting people, and the selection of TV fragments they can come up with is truly unbelievable. It makes "Zomergasten" a very special evening-filling entertainment program: a good in depth interview, and lots of old TV almost lost from the collective memory but brought up again by the interviewee.

              One interviewee, years ago, and I really don't remember who it was, selected something called "post-modern video performance art" or something, with one of the weirdest things I have *ever* seen on TV:

              The (fixed) camera is watching a kitchen. A person enters. He/she is masked with a rubber mask of a cook, and dressed up like a cook.
              The cook begins to prepare a meal. The cook starts sobbing, whining, slobbering, and throwing with food. For half an hour of TV time or so, the cook gets more and more hysterical.
              That's it.

              No context, no interpretation, no spoken word, no explanation for this bizarre act. The cook acts, and the Dutch TV audience watches it.
              I found it quite shocking to watch, but I don't really know why.

              • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday March 20 2016, @09:38AM

                by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 20 2016, @09:38AM (#320709) Journal

                I found it quite shocking to watch, but I don't really know why.

                Here's why [xkcd.com].
                Seriously.

                --

                If you don't get it, hover you mouse over the cartoon to see the title.

                --
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by turgid on Saturday March 12 2016, @08:53PM

    by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 12 2016, @08:53PM (#317432) Journal

    That seems to be "the Internet" in general these days. The world is an increasingly crazy, selfish, violent place. Those of us who have been around this site for a while get to know the opinions of the regulars, and we know what to expect, and can generally deal with it.

    For me, this is a place where I can keep up with some of the more interesting news and vent a bit of steam relatively safely. And it's good to know what kind of crazies are out there.

    You call MDC certified crazy. The guy has a serious and debilitating mental illness, and it often shows, but I wouldn't call him crazy. He seems to be trying to deal with his condition with dignity in the best way that he can given the society in which he lives. There are plenty of regular "libtards" and other bigots that deserve the label more, people who seem proud to remain ignorant and intolerant. I'd never call them a "libtard" in a discussion, though. They make that obvious enough.

    When the green site started back in 97 it was a great place to hang out, to find out all the latest developments in the world of tech and to learn from all the people who commented on the stories. After a few years the signal to noise ratio went way down, and continued to do so until the site became unusable.

    We still have some signal here. Things haven't got that bad. And the groupthink isn't nearly as pro-establishment. I mean, you can still get away with criticising Microsoft round here without getting modded to blazes and getting accused of being "immature" :-)

    Oh well, if the site goes away, I'm sure something else will spring up to take its place, last a while and then start to drown in drivel. It's the natural way of the intertubes.

  • (Score: 1) by YeaWhatevs on Friday April 01 2016, @05:13PM

    by YeaWhatevs (5623) on Friday April 01 2016, @05:13PM (#325786)

    I've given up on soylentnews in the last month or twoo. I only stopped by today to see the April fool's jokes.
    Racists? I don't see 'em, I guess I don't pay attention. Rep? Haven't heard it. MDC? Yes, you have a point there, I can't say I expected that one.

    I gave it a try for a couple of reasons. It's not the ads. I filter those out already. First, the summaries are more or less accurate, unlike the outrageously misleading click-bait on the other site; I like that. That's still a strength, but the other site seems to have taken notice that people are tired of those style posts (they still seem to include the annoying "applications include self-cleaning underwear and intelligent poultry" part, but I'm learning to tune that out) and upped their game, so it is no longer a big advantage. Next, I thought perhaps as a fringe group (let's face it, it is a small internet group, choosing to go here makes one fringe) the people would be more accepting of original ideas. Boy was I wrong there. No, I'm not a racist, or crazy; I'm not into putting others down or forcing other to come around to my point of view. I simply make my own observations and analysis, and call it as I see it. Different input, different output (I'm sure many here would say garbage-in, garbage-out, but that just makes my point). There, the other site, unless you make it a game of word-crafting a popular view like a politician, you get ignored, that isn't fulfilling. Here you get scorn.

    Is the problem this winner-take-all game to get the most points? Has it created a territorial urge? I think some of that is in play. The soylentnews manifesto dedicates a lot of sentences to financial freedom, but only 4 talk to ideas and topics. Alter the point system to lean towards getting more points for better exchanges would probably help. +1 for an original idea thread. +1 for summarizing cleanly. +1 for citing facts cleanly, +1 for keeping a cool head, +1 for making an effort to take different points of view into account, -2 for losing your temper, -1 for making a misleading argument that seems to purposely leave out evidence (nobody says you have to make any specific conclusion), -2 for personal attacks, but +1 for apologizing and removing it, -1 for lacking a citation, but +1 for correcting it. It's a different site, shouldn't it be done differently? Somehow this site didn't cultivate a culture of tolerance and appreciation of original ideas, you get more tolerance by accident in big groups on the other site.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @06:07AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @06:07AM (#457967)

    Dear Editors,

    If you don't edit... you aren't editors.
    Period. End of fact. (And possibly, if that simple truth doesn't sink in "media-wide"... THE end of ALL facts.)

    #asstag postamerica

  • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:26PM

    by FakeBeldin (3360) on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:26PM (#641179) Journal

    Interesting. While I would phrase things very differently from you, I also noticed there are issues with SoylentNews in the direction you indicate. The effect for me has been to be more of a lurker, or even not be here, than to engage actively in posting.

    I recently came back from a self-imposed sojourn when I realised that the comments were making me experience negative emotions. A while ago I realised I shouldn't be looking at the internet to make myself unhappy, and I stopped visiting sites that do.
    It turns out SN was also not making me happy too often, so I reduced the amount of time I spent here, and the amount of interaction.

    I've recently started lurking more, and moderating a bit more. Still not too eager to start actively commenting a lot. Just when I feel I have something to add. I guess if more people did that, instead of arguing back and forth, I'd like this site a lot better ;-)

    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday February 21 2018, @06:43PM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday February 21 2018, @06:43PM (#641310) Journal

      But you do realize you are posting to a two year old journal? Or are you just trying to knock the TMB off his bragging rights? Good point about the happy place. Which brings up, have you watched "The Happy Place" on Netflix?

      • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Thursday February 22 2018, @09:20AM

        by FakeBeldin (3360) on Thursday February 22 2018, @09:20AM (#641717) Journal

        I did notice. I even thanked TMB for pointing out this journal post to me, because I had missed it.
        I replied to it because, even though I'm late to the party and even though your phrasing is (in my view) rather meandering, it's core message hit home.

        I keep seeing comments like "I come to SN for the comments" or "the comments on SN are its real value!". I was like that. But something changed. The ranting, the continuous espousing of the same viewpoint reply after reply, without any show of understanding each other... that's talking to each other, not with each other.

  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday December 01 2018, @05:11PM

    by Gaaark (41) on Saturday December 01 2018, @05:11PM (#768663) Journal

    If you say something i don't like, it should be censored?

    If i say something YOU don't like... it should be censored?

    This would be a good site: "I like butterflies" turns into "XXXXXXXXXXXXX" because someone else DOESN'T like butterflies?

    WHERE. WOULD. IT. END?

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday December 12 2018, @02:53AM

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday December 12 2018, @02:53AM (#773259) Homepage Journal

    Ari, you drama monarch of unassumed gender. We don't have an online rep for anything. You need to be noticed to have a rep. We've got a larger community than the KKK has members but not several decimal places worth.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 14 2019, @07:15PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 14 2019, @07:15PM (#801125)

    > When we have a certifiable homeless crazy person (MDC), that regularly posts more coherent and interesting things

    Insane and homeless do not mean foolish, uninteresting, or useless.

    Yes, there is a societal "false equivalency" pattern where both sides are given consideration independent of quality. We have mechanisms (voting) to curb this. And we have people like me (and you) who can post pithy takedowns of the fallacious logic which is the core problem of Bad Ideas.