General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYa Know... Over My Years Here... I've Had Several PM's And/Or Responses... Asking Me...
If I really Meant To K&R A Poster's Thread... From The Original Poster.A poster I tended to disagree with... sometimes vehemently.
And it has always cracked me up/bewildered me.
"Did you REALLY mean to kick and recommend, or were you being ironic/sarcastic?"
And yeah... I REALLY meant to K & R the post...
Why ?
Because I agreed, it was important, it needed to be seen...
I don't hold grudges... on a political message board.
Hell... I've defended a number of DUers I disagreed with, simply because the place wouldn't be the same without them.
I've wondered aloud on these pages, why people don't just put people like myself on ignore... and I have received some very funny responses.
Point being... strong disagreement, is not a good enough reason to root for the demise of a fellow strong minded DUer.
"Politics ain't beanbag."
And there are many DUers who have gone back to lurking, instead of participating.
And THAT... is a shame on us all.
I would take quinnox back in a second, and hope ProSense is back tonight.
It's as a friend of mine said about religion...
"Is your God so weak, that you have to kill over an imagined insult?"
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Lochloosa
(16,733 posts)
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)#6 rec, or is that from DU of old?
bluedigger
(17,435 posts)I guess I'm not considered influential around here, which suits me fine. 
Prosense back? Absolutely, looking forward to it. 
quinnox back? First, you'll have to convince me he's left. And still, not so much. 
malaise
(296,036 posts)Rec
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)i don't understand why it matters so much to some folks that "someone is wrong on the internet."
people are "wrong" all the time. ignore them…don't click on the post. or maybe read the post, add your view and move along. who knows, maybe tomorrow they'll change their mind, or you will.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
pscot
(21,044 posts)Negative emotions drag a person down.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)not for his political beliefs. Racist taunting is not 'disagreement.'
Let's not push inaccurate narratives.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)Shit-Stirrer, antagonist... definitely.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)who has strong opinions and voices them provocatively (you and I are both like that) and someone who engages in arguments and takes positions for the purpose of making other people upset, angry, and offended.
When someone posts that African-Americans wear Afros as a hairstyle because they are attention-seekers, that is a per se troll.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)Thanks in advance.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)
JI7
(93,602 posts)
bigtree
(94,250 posts). . . as is Quinnox's deleting of offending posts before he was called to the carpet on them. I don't know if that one is still around, but it did happen.
Might be a little sticky wrapping all of your fine sentiments in Quinnox's defense.
oh, here it is: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3452867
WillyT
(72,631 posts)Apparently...we suck at Troll Patrol.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Seventhson, etc.
Just imagine how black folks enjoy reading stuff like this :
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3452867
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)You're a rare soul, and a good one!
WillyT
(72,631 posts)MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)My good friend says the all of life is just high school on a larger scale.
He's right.
JI7
(93,602 posts)ago.
prosense has nothing to do with any of this. she can come post anytime she wants and she knows that. she is just busy with other things right now.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
JI7
(93,602 posts)of GD which probably got him the ban.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
JI7
(93,602 posts)another forum so he could still have access to the host forums.
people see through this shit.
good fucking riddance to him.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Others had it figured out well before that.
Also, he got more brazen and emboldened after the jury system got implemented. Juries are a lot easier to game than moderators.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)but the debate isn't fruitful and prosperous if we just stand around chatting with people we agree with.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
Aerows
(39,961 posts)
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)You and I have disagreed on a number of occasions ... I'm cool with that!
My only problem is when that disagreement becomes a goal post shifting test of name calling wills. That is less than productive and completely uninformative.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I once met a very elderly woman who told me that she had only left her mountain village once in her life -- to go to Vienna to see Hitler. That's what you call a narrow mind. My story is really true.
We only expand our minds by exposing them to new ideas. And that is what being on DU is about for me.
I've changed my mind about many things since I've been on DU. Some people say they haven't but I think that most of us who have been here quite a few years have grown a lot and learned new things even if we don't realize it.
I very rare, almost never report someone or suggest a jury. I could count the times on one hand, I think. Probably wouldn't get beyond a couple of fingers.
I welcome all DUers whether I agree with them or not although I wonder about whether some of them are paid. Nothing wrong with that. I'm curious though.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)Posts should be judged on their merit and grudges shouldn't be dragged from one thread to another. Simply because we don't agree with something doesn't mean people should be encouraged to discuss it. Nice work WillyT.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Well said, Willy
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)but disagree with your statement about quinnox. I am glad he's gone.
Hekate
(100,133 posts) Hekate
(100,133 posts) 
BootinUp
(51,308 posts)take quinnox back in a second. 
WillyT
(72,631 posts)But don't dare cross them... you could be next.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)a bigoted asshole, not a martyred dissident.
Bigotry is not speech that should be protected.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)That's Fashion... not politics.
Hell I had a white fried in High School that had an Afro that blacks were envious of.
Went to the Sunrise Mall, got it shaped and "Picked"...
And he was the hit of High School the following day.
Hell man... Afro-Americans were using chemicals to NOT end up with an Afro.
JI7
(93,602 posts)to african americans so it's not the same thing as some white guy who had it either.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)And in the following years...
Some stood By it...
And some stood against it.
bigtree
(94,250 posts). . . and try and understand.
Ragging on African Americans' appearance has been a constant for racists and bigots in devaluing black individuals, stretching back to the first sighting of Africans by white men.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
bigtree
(94,250 posts). . . and you keep an open mind.
Peace.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)The day will come when people will be able to get transplants of synthetic hair that look absolutely real. On that day, I will have curly hair and my youngest sister will have hers straight. But until then, we are each stuck with what we have.
Mine is really boring. So straight it won't even hold a curl. I wear it short for a reason. The grass is always greener. At least for women with regard to hair.
bigtree
(94,250 posts). . . what it is to be a woman. I have to listen to women and find some acceptance of what I learn from them because I can't really know for certain how they really feel about all of the issues associated with being a woman without their council.
It's one thing to stand where you are and aspire to some characteristic of another race, but it's a much further road to understand what it's really like to live that from birth. There's going to be a point where you'll need to listen to that other person to truly understand what it feels like in their skin, if that's your goal. It's not enough to just aspire to be like them. It's never really been true that folks are unattractive, just different from the white majority and vulnerable to the cliquishness that labels those differences as unattractive.
With African Americans in this country, seeking acceptability in many situations often comes with a cost to self-esteem. True, the grass is greener . . . but, most folks want acceptance right where they stand.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I cannot imagine what it is like to be perceived as African-American, and I suspect that African-Americans cannot imagine what it is like to be perceived as White and to be White.
I read posts that talk about white privilege. I know it exists. It is the sense that you are just normal. As far as I know, white people don't think about their own race. We recognize other people's race but since we are used to being in the majority numerically in this country, we just think of ourselves as average, as normal.
I have been wondering recently (after reading all the posts about white privilege), what can a white person do or say to change the situation so that white privilege becomes less of an issue for people of other races and maybe eventually not an issue at all. Most white people don't do anything to obtain a privilege based on race.
Any ideas about what could be done to reduce the problems in our society that arise from white privilege. Remember, I understand it to be that simple feeling that I have as a white person that I am normal in that respect, unhappy about my straight, thin hair, but normal and free to forget about my own privilege. What can be done about this?
bigtree
(94,250 posts). . . nonetheless, you deserve one.
I don't have a really good answer about what you can or should say. I do, however, have one bit of advice that I carry with me. As I read your very eloquent words and pressed myself to understand and relate, there's the realization (again) that our relationship(s) benefit less from my trying to be understood, than it does from my listening and trying to relate and understand things which I'll have absolutely no way of discerning on my own.
It is as though he listened
and such listening as his enfolds us in silence
in which at last we begin to hear
what we are meant to be.
-Lao-Tzu
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)It is my inspiration for the day.
Beauty.
Thank you.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)they would get this little flip in them instead of staying straight. Now I hate the fact that my bangs are gone, replaced by bare forehead. One of my co-workers shaves his head. I wish I could get away with that. My ears stick out too much though.
The first haircut I ever paid for in my senior year of college, I think she was a trainee or something because she really exposed my ears while cutting my hair. I swear when I walked down the steps to the cafeteria I could see a sea of heads turning to look at me.
Probably because the person sitting across from them said "omigod, look at that haircut". I walked up to sit with my friend Jim and it was all he could do to not burst out laughing.
It was bad. I like to make people laugh, but not that way.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)he was saying that black people who let their hair grow out naturally are desperate for attention.
in another thread he supported a school disciplining a black child because she grew her hair naturally instead of using chemicals to straighten it.
he was stating those opinion as a "fuck you" to the site's african americans. he did the same thing to feminists.
he'd be deliberately racist and sexist, then gloat about how "un politically correct" he was--as if trying to make women and black folks feel unwelcome was something he as a white guy should have been proud of.
please, do not defend that shit
in case you want a really obvious example of his trolling:
he:
a) said that referring to Glenn Greenwald as "GG" in written form was blatantly homophobic; and
b) had nothing but good things to say about Vladimir "Gay propaganda" Putin and the Russian government
sheshe2
(97,606 posts)but you know that don't you.
How about this one.
About how women should protest hobby lobby topless. He was having a gay old time on this thread yucking it up and stirring shit, all at the expense of women. This wasn't about fashion. It was about politics and an insult to every woman.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025172737
Will you shrug this insult and blatant baiting off too? His opinion of women are about as low as you can go. If it's possible,I believe that he has an even lower opinion of us than the GOP and SCOTUS combined.
redqueen
(115,186 posts)Surely you can see the connection between the opinion that kinky hair is ugly (like quinnox so helpfully and kindly shared) and the fact that eurocentric beauty standards have so insidiously infected almost every society.
I'm stunned. Really.
Opinions aren't sacrosanct just because they're opinions. Some opinions are fucked up and should be condemned for the fact that they feed and enable bigotry. Some of us expect that it shouldn't really need to be spelled out on a forum like this that some opinions aren't worth sharing, and that those that share them despite how hateful and hurtful they are are not deserving of protection so much as education, however much some people would like to characterize that education as mean or as an attack. The fact is it is two thousand fucking fourteen and this shit should not still need to be explained.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)I was in high school in the early 70's, and there were a whole lot of Afro hair-dos on campus...
And although there might have been a few bigots on campus, me and my friends never associated with any of them.
We thought the black kids were really cool...
We befriended them, played sports with them, danced with them, dressed like them, and listened to a whole lot of Rhythm & Blues.
The head of the PTA was a Black couple, whose daughter was the head cheer-leaders, and whose son dated my sister.
A lot of money was spent of trying to turn our cars into low-riders, and get perms in our hair... just to make it kinky.
zeemike
(18,998 posts)But there are quite a few I wish would come back, that have abandoned us for their own sake.
And I have had strong disagreements with a few...and I have put none on ignore, although I am sure they have me on ignore.
I am not hear to converse with like minds...hell I could just talk to myself and be happy if that is all I wanted...I am hear to converse and debate...that is what makes us keep our brain cells working.
And it amazes me that so many think it is their duty to hunt down trolls and people with "bad" ideas and beliefs and kill them (metaphor of course, don't want to be alerted on for calling them murders)...to me it is a sure way to bring us down...a house divided thing.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)
- Or, not.
K&R
That's why G-d made Ignore buttons......
LiberalLovinLug
(14,683 posts)Yeah I really mean it!
I have never put anyone on ignore, and I've never reported any post. I guess in some cases its understandable, but I agree with your basic premise. If there weren't anyone to disagree with, even on minor offshoots, it wouldn't be much of a discussion board IMO.
And really, with the right wing bagger morans kept at bay outside the door, I can't really complain about my sparring partners on DU.
I enjoy and and am thankful for this place
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)!!
ecstatic
(35,074 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)closely, so reliably, so strongly and with so many, many citations -- follow the official party line -- consistently, dependably, without deviation.
I sometimes agree with such DUers. I sometimes disagree. I K&R when I think that what they have posted is worth discussing (which is very, very often for me), but I still observe several DUers and wonder how they can be so consistent and professional in their posts on DU. Just makes me wonder.
Used to do research and write for a living. So I just wonder.
I obviously make too many typos and grammatical errors and rant on personal issues too much on DU to be paid for what I write. My posts are obviously the work of an unfocused amateur.
There is no rule against being paid to post, but when I suspect someone of being a party-line bot, I just think about that when I see another of their posts.
bigtree
(94,250 posts). . . I never really completed any extensive schooling, and over the decade, or so, writing on this board, I've actually honed and developed my writing skills. I used to write letters to the editor at WaPo and got published about a dozen times. I basically learned to write politically from the countless rejects.
I know, from my own experience, that writing and advocating well, and with consistency on these issues isn't beyond most anyone here. In fact, having absolutely no ambition to write full articles, I was inspired enough by others here to develop my own craft. I wrote and self-published my first book at the very same time I was battling politics out on these pages; inspired and informed by the dialog.
That's why I find observations like your own - that articulate writers MUST be part of something organized and nefarious - as insulting as it is unbelievable. It's not surprising to me to find folks who are actually willing and take the time to engage in discussion here able and articulate in their expressions.
I'm not surprised to find this kind of belief here, though, as the vast majority of the work and research I sometimes spend hours on and include in most of the free-standing material I bother to write and post here is usually ignored or dismissed in favor of promoting and celebrating self-important snark and fractured expressions of angst or outrage.
LLD
(136 posts)Du is so political there are only politics played on DU. I rarely see a real discussion on DU. But enjoy reading them when I do.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Seriously, who has time to take DU that seriously?
The craptastic metapalooza navel gazing echo chamberiffic extravaganza some seem to crave, here.....
Eh. Fuck it.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)
mylye2222
(2,992 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)H2O Man
(79,042 posts)I really like this OP, Willy T !!!
Recommended.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)