I’ve had some health issues recently which I needed to get checked out and fortunately turned out to be far less serious than I feared. Stress and exhaustion seem to explain most of my symptoms, but I’ve been struggling to tread water for a few months now. One of the things that fell by the wayside was doing a good job of administering this site. I haven’t paid as much attention as I should have and I didn’t have the energy to address some of the things that I noticed going wrong.
I have one request for the short-term to address the unfortunate tendency that has arisen for people to downrate each other’s comments.
For the next seven days, please refrain from downrating any comments made by any user you have downrated in the past.
I just want a cooling off period.
To reiterate the rules, comments should not be downrated for mere disagreement. I know it can be difficult to discern who is being deliberately disruptive, and some long time users have changed their opinions and behaviors over the last year as the stress of the primary and the disappointment of the general election have shuffled people’s assumptions.
This makes it hard to know quite how to treat some comments without guidance from the top, which has been lacking.
I get it. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone. I just want one week of relief from rating wars. And then we’ll see where we’re at.
Okay?
I think you’re making a terrible mistake empowering the small number of toxic posters who’ve been trying to purge the site of any dissenting voices. But I’ll abide.
I’m not empowering anyone. I’m asking people to chill out for seven days.
Well, we’ll see the result I suppose.
I’m keeping an open mind. We each have been targeted for downrates in the not-so-distant past, often simply for being ourselves or challenging some obvious b.s. If nothing else, a week of not having to go back and uprate unfairly downrated posts will save some time. I can live with that.
I don’t down rate the usual suspects in the Our Progressive Betters Club despite the fact their efforts only enable GOP success and do nothing to further Democratic electoral gains.
I figure by simply accentuating the positive here, that in itself sends a message.
Also too, note how those usual suspects are always absent during threads like this one.
That has not gone unnoticed by me. Good observation.
Feel better fast, Booman.
If downrating has long been common on other sites, and if it’s been getting more common here lately, I would think the most likely explanation is that people come here from other sites and don’t realize that’s not the way we do things here.
Take care of yourself Booman
Yes, please take care of yourself
I spent a night in the ER in late December for the same reason. Symptoms resembled a stroke – they were very worried – but in the end everything checked out. Just extreme stress.
Millions (literally) of people are suffering from these kind of symptoms these days. I don’t think I’ve not been at least partly depressed every day since the election. It’s hard to keep up with work, let alone duties at home.
I don’t have a solution – just pointing out you are far from alone.
Speaking as a fairly long time resident here who greatly values this place, I hope you start taking better care of yourself.
It seems that in some ways this site has evolved in a parallel fashion to what we have seen in social media circles in general over the last few years. And as a result it has brought along some of the negative baggage, probably just due to osmosis. For years here, it seems, I really don’t recall much in the way of downrating, except in cases where it was obvious that someone was either purposely trolling or they were engaging in a completely disingenuous or superfluous argument. There were many heated and spirited debates about some very weighty topics. And in the end, someone might end up even being called a f@#$ing asshole. But that was the extent of it. The dust settled, the smoke dissipated, and we moved on. Now, it often takes on a completely different tone. One much more personal and prevalent in the Facebook and Twitter worlds, where it is seemingly a chronic condition. I’m not sure that, in the big scheme of things, that this is a productive development, though I am sure there are many who will disagree.
Again, take care of yourself, Martin. We are all in this thing together. We need your voice and your perspective.
Why do people do this … stick in a “scientific” term where it makes no sense? I tutor college level chem/biochem/physics … anybody want a lesson concerning osmosis? It’s not that tough. “Reverse Osmosis” … you’ve probably heard the term … a form of water purification … use of a filter under high pressure. BFD!
osmosis: the process of gradual or unconscious assimilation of ideas, knowledge, etc.
“what she knows of the blue-blood set she learned not through birthright, not even through wealth, but through osmosis”
OooooKaaay … but how does this apply to the movement of said “negative baggage”, not it’s assimilation?
How’s this: And as a result it has brought along some of the negative baggage, probably just due to the electron transport chain. or glycolysis.
Just throw a scientific sounding term in there … you’ll sound intelligent and who’ll know the difference.
I think you are confusing “a figure of speech” with “a physical action and property of matter”. While a case could be made for ensuring that all comments conformed with physical reality, most of us probably would be struck dumb.
Is being used that way in the dictionary acceptable? It’s been used figuratively since 1900.
I get it. If some knothead puts words into a dictionary … just what qualifications does that person have ? … then go for it. My fault. Carry on.
Sweaty hands on 1-troll rating.
That did it. Time for a new diary.
Osmosis, LIKE MOST SCIENTIFIC TERMS, IS a metaphor in the first place. It comes from Greek osmos, “pushing”. Certainly the rest of us have a right to it as well.
Ummmmm…it does make sense. I’m hesistant to add to the thread hijack but the usage warrants a defense.
Surely you’d agree that scientific terms are often properly used in a lay context too. In this case, the dictionary allows…
Go ahead, explain that phrase to me.
Gotta go. Gilmore Girls. Be back in 2 hours.
Huh…It would seem all of this arguing and disparagement being lobbed over the simple usage of a word might just be confirming my point about how things have evolved here over the last few years.
omg! You said “evolved”!
ha ha
Yes, as a matter of fact. I did. Makes me sound intelligent, doesn’t it? Because that’s my goal, you know? 😎
Are you speaking of forward osmosis, or perhaps is it due to the principle of reverse osmosis / nanofiltration.
It will leave a residue that could be quite murky, if not toxic. Makes more sense to me … my two cents worth.
Stress is a silent killer. And stress is omnipresent these days. Take time to step back and get well. We’ll be here. (promise, not a threat)
Yo man, hope you feel better. This has been a crazy stressful time for a lot of us. I know I have seen some stress-related symptoms myself, and have heard of others as well. Turns out it’s stressful to have your country hijacked! Anyway, hope you get some rest.
This makes sense to me. Prior to recent, I am not in the practice of using the lower end of the rating system. I will use the upper end.
A healthy debate involves comments from those with whom we disagree.
I hope you are feeling better, Booman.
Here are 3 books that I have read recently that you might find interesting:
Birds without Wings: a novel about the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
The Habsburg Empire: a narrative and political history of the empire from Maria Theresa to the end under Francis Joseph
The world at night: A WWII thriller by Alan Furst
Suggesting reading an Alan Furst novel as a way to reduce stress does not seem the way to go, although I will admit Furst’s stories usually do have a satisfactory outcome for their principal protagonists, better than they often times should. One could say the same thing for Philip Kerr’s “Bernie Gunther” novels as well. About the only good thing about wallowing in novels about the 1930s can do for you is to make one realize that things haven’t gotten quite that bad — yet.
Furst and other thrillers from that era immerse the reader into a world in which evil was real, danger was real, and the possibility of death for even modest infractions was always there. While we go to the mattresses over the nomination of a slightly unqualified Sec of Education, when they went to the mattresses, it might have been the actual end of their life. It does give perspective. I remember that my dad was carrying a rifle, shooting it at other kids his age, and surviving at an age in which I was trying much less difficult jobs.
Gaining perspective DOES reduce stress.
If you enjoy historical fiction, the “Birds without wings” is just a rare treat. It is set in a small village somewhere near (Thes)Salonika, now Greece, then part of the Ottoman Empire. The village has Christians, Muslims, and Armenians, but by the end, it does not. It tells a story I was unaware of – the partitioning of the former Ottoman Empire, and also the biography in fictional form of Kamil Attaturk. My mom (89) was reading it, and telling me about Attaturk, and I was kind of confused – Mom knows about Kamil Attaturk? The book is great.
Rest up Martin. We need your voice, but we need you to be healthy, and your family does too!
Throw on some tunes and kick back for a bit. There’ll still be atrocities to document whenever you’re feeling better.
Your cabin is superbly located … step back a little and enjoy family, such a great asset in your life Martin!
Keep up the game of soccer. Indeed, one has to learn and experience the phenomena of stress …
All the best Martin and CG … we’ll behave during the period of truce. 😉
Take care!
Which is better as far as supporting you? Subscription to the Washington Monthly or a direct donation via Paypal to your blog?
Hope you find some time to get back to 100%
Regards,
Patrick from Sherwood
Stay healthy BooMAN. You are a voice of sanity.
Hi Arthur,
Sorry to see you are going. I appreciated the different take you have on things. The amount of time I can spend here is limited and mostly related to my own diaries so I have not encountered any down rating issues which seem to have plagued you.
It’s a pity that a few negative posters can wield so much influence. Perhaps, if Martin’s time and energy is limited he could appoint a few more editors to help police the site. Managing a community blog site should be a community responsibility.
It is understandable that there will be much disappointment and some parting of the ways in the wake of such a devastating defeat by Trump (albeit by a tiny margin). We at the European Tribune have also been experiencing a decline in the wake of a general disillusion with the European project of European Union.
But it is so much harder to build things up than to tear things down. I have been trying to keep European Tribune going in the wake of that disillusionment and know how much effort and work that takes. You won’t get thanked for it, but at the end of the day if you don’t work for a more progressive Democratic party, it won’t happen.
What other game is there in town?
In the meantime I wish you all the best, and to Booman I wish better health. There aren’t a lot of places left that you can post on European issues and get an even mildly interested and informed response.
Keep the faith!
Frank
I hope that you are feeling better and less stressed, BooMan.
I have literally never downvoted anyone here, ever.
I’ve picked on some posters (okay, one poster) and I’ve argued aggressively, but no downvotes. I try to obey the Internet dictum of “attack the idea, not the person.”
All work and no play makes Booman a dull boy or something like that. Adjust, leave yourself some me time …and we (as in CG) time as well.
Good to hear, but please take care of yourself.
It’s funny; I’d not noticed any of this down-voting. Just an occasional disagreement or clash of values. Seemed to get more intense during the primaries. But I’ve not noticed any outright trolling. Of course could just be that I’m dense.
Certainly not everyone is respectful of differing opinions but that seems to go with the territory of politics. I don’t come here for emotional or spiritual sustenance and there have been times I’ve shied away because I found discussions unpleasantly acrimonious. I just chalk it up to ego. My Sufi teacher once said, in response to a question around some struggle I had experienced, “Yes, yes — the human being listens to shaytan.” That was his way of saying we focus more on the mind than the heart sometimes. In the words of the 16th Century Spanish poet, Saint John of the Cross, “This will lead you to a bed of evil far from any bliss.” But then that’s the nature of our politics these days. A lot of heat; very little light. Preciously little willingness to listen. Almost a complete absence of empathy. It’s a long way home.
Now, to quote the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts,” “When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed. To turn, turn will be our delight ’til by turning and turning we come ’round right.”
” A lot of heat; very little light. Preciously little willingness to listen. Almost a complete absence of empathy. It’s a long way home.”
And that is an Internet deal. When you are looking at a screen, the other person is an abstraction. When you are sitting looking at the other person, the abstraction is far less powerful.
I’m beginning to think, in many ways, that we have let the Evil One into the tent, and the Evil One may be the Internet.
First of all, Booman, your health comes first, and if commenters here are exacerbating your health issues by causing you stress…well, let me put it this way: I never forget that being allowed to comment here is a privilege granted by you, the person who created and maintains the website. And you’ve criticized me more than once, which is your prerogative.
I’ve in fact hardly looked at this website for about the last 6 weeks owing to a very difficult situation at home connected to my wife’s health, so I’m not ignorant of the stresses you might be dealing with there.
I quite honestly do not get the whole business of one commenter rating another commenter’s remarks. I’ve never done so, nor have I ever looked at how I’ve been rated. I do think there are people who comment sincerely and in good faith, and others who try to control the discourse by hijacking discussion threads and more generally just being on the attack at all times. Those tactics are glaringly obvious to me and I assume to others as well.
Glad to hear that your health checked out.😁😁😁