One says free publicity is always welcome, at least someone is paying attention. That’s true, and it always serves some goal even if it’s quite rediculous.
JoelDanWells is such a person who wrote a diary about me, although it’s not really about me. That is if one expects comprehensive reading, such a fool’s diary would not get any recommendation. However, in open view we can watch and see what happens in posts and support. We’ll see what the Pond is all about.
- Zionist Occupation Government, anyone?
I’m Jewish, and obviously dismayed and disgusted by blatantly antisemitic invective thinly disguised as political commentary. What makes this garbage all the more troubling is that it pops up so damn easily: start from a left-wing website or a right-wing one, and one is quickly down in the sewer of antisemitic ranting. And yes, of course, one can quickly find oneself in various other fetid swamps of intolerance and hatred.
To be clear, the antisemitic article I mentioned above was not directly linked by Oui [Bold face mine – Oui] and I don’t hold him responsible for it.
Like JoelDanWells wrote:
- Well, sometimes I start clicking on links that other diarists and commenters here provide and within just a couple of clicks–two degrees of separation, not six–come up with some truly unsavory stuff. By “unsavory”, I don’t mean that I just happen to disagree with the perspective offered, but rather some really vile stuff.
JoelDanWells, an attempt to character assassination by association?
I have no idea about his motive to spend a diary about me, but I really don’t care. Here a few rebuttals and facts …
I read a broad range of views, I do find some well researched articles at b’s Moon of Alabama about the military operation at the crossroads between the West and Russia: Ukraine and Syria.
I never spend time at The Saker, so I don’t really know his writings. Both The Saker and Moon of Alabama were mentioned in the Fake News article by the Washington Post a few months ago because of pro-Russian views.
The “vile” website called Global Research where I linked to a small part of a selected article.
- The attack on Global Research and Professor Michel Chossudovsky of the University of Ottawa represents an expansion of activity by pro-Israel lobbyists in Canada.
U of O physics professor says he was fired for criticizing Israel and the lobby | Mondoweiss |.
In September 2005 the dean cancelled my Physics and the Environment course following a complaint (regarding an email
comment about Zionism), channelled through the university’s Canadian Studies Institute director Pierre Anctil to the VP-Academic. A complaint against an invited speaker in the course, Professor Michel Chossudovsky – who spoke about Middle East geopolitics- from the Jewish Student Association then gave rise to a sustained but failed attempt to
discipline me.
The Ottawa Citizen is a CanWest newspaper and its director is a member of the university’s Board of Governors. CanWest Global Communications Corporation is a staunch advocate and supporter of Israeli policy. In 2007 I criticized the university’s official position on the academic boycott of Israel on my UofOWatch.blogspot.com blog.
Responses are all over the place, this one just about sums it up:
- michel chossudovsky’s globalresearch.ca is a light in the halls of pol darkness
agree not all globalresearch.ca writers meet high scholarly or informed opinion standards, but the vast majority do. the site is a clearinghouse for many kinds of critical pol views, from the right and left. if i need quick access to left views in particular i search the site. dr paul craig roberts is routinely featured (a repub anti-fascist former reagan treas dept undersec) as is dr michel chossudovsky from the left, whose pol-ec views are unassailable from the left. whoever ‘conspires’ to trash the site as unworthy should look in the mirror first.
I do wish some commenters @BooMan would care to do some careful research before publishing such a vile bull shit diary.
Indeed JoelDanWells, I won’t accuse you of being a scholastic. The last time I was pointed at being anti-Semitic was 11 years ago here at the Pond …
○ Character Assassination :: Mine! by Oui @BooMan on Jan. 19, 2006
Sorry, I’ll return to read some of Arthur Gilroy’s diaries which offer much more insight about American culture and where society is heading.
Diaries @BooMan quoting the site The Vineyard of The Saker …
○ J’Accuse! [Update #2] by Marie2 on Feb. 28, 2015
○ The Shadow Play by TarheelDem on Jan. 12, 2017
Glossary of terms:
Six degrees of separation: The theory that any two people in the world are connected in some way by no more than six people.
Two degrees of separation: see above but much worse, now actually guilty as alleged. Lock him up!
Guilt by association: When the source is viewed negatively because of its association with another person or group who is already viewed negatively. [Ad Hominem]
Character assassination: the slandering of a person usually with the intention of destroying public confidence in that person.
Oh, he just spends what appears to be an inordinate amount of time searching for any kernel in anything not-strictly-partisan-Democrats post and then he pounces on the nothingburger that he found. Always spoiling for a fight, but often claiming to be innocent.
That said, it seems better to me not to do meta and focus on individual personalities. It’s a bit of a chore, but skipping without reading the posts of those that offer nothing other than trite and poorly informed bs limits the amount of conflict. At least two-thirds of MOA threads are now infested with crap, repetitive crap, and spats between those posters that I skip all of their comments.
Inadvertently, I saw a one sentence comment here a couple of days ago where I was called a bitch. I handled it the same way I long ago learned to handle such attacks from insecure men in real life, I walked away from it. The difference is that in real life when subsequent interactions were unavoidable such men later always apologized.
Sorry, I missed that post or I would have “bitch slapped” the poster.
In real life, that wasn’t an infrequent response by men that respected me and understood just how wrong on every level the speaker had been.
Oui, and now I am directly addressing you, let me state emphatically again that I did not and do not identify you with the antisemitic dog whistles in the article by The Saker. I was doing what you, I’m sure, do as well: follow links that sound interesting. Oh my. Sometimes that lands one in a nasty spot.
Marie3, now I am directly addressing you. A couple of months ago, I think it was, I offered you an apology for harsh remarks written during the presidential campaign. You replied “apology accepted”, although you did not reciprocate. I have barely been on this website since then on account of my wife having been diagnosed with a serious medical condition that has required a lot of my attention. But when I have been here, and have commented on anything you’ve written, I have gone out of my way to be polite. It would appear that when you wrote “apology accepted”, you were insincere, and that you are clinging tightly to your anger.
I’m not angry. But being “polite” to initiate a spat isn’t the same as engaging in an honest debate or discussion. When I’ve taken a question or comment from you at face value and responded with facts, etc. that you can’t refute, you disappear from the discussion or interchange. And in some instances, I’ve had to put some time into verifying the information before responding. It’s impolite not to acknowledge that effort and that is easily read as you not being honest.
None of us here lack empathy for those struggling with health issues. However, that’s not an excuse for being dishonest in discussions or making a mountain out of a molehill with a diary that offers nothing other than personal pique. And this is not the first time that you’ve done this.
I’m uninterested in initiating any spats. And I would hope that you or anyone else writing here (especially yours truly) takes time to verify information being posted. You write that “it’s impolite not to acknowledge that effort”. Hm. You would not be the first person to tell me that I’m slow to offer thanks, so let me retroactively do so, along with expressing a plea for sources to be provided in the first place.
By the way, I have noticed you writing pretty harsh remarks about others either in your own diaries or in comments on other people’s diaries.
I’d withdraw that damn diary of mine, which I actually tried to write so as to make it clear that personal pique was not the issue, but when I did withdraw a diary once, I received some harsh criticism for doing so.
Tipping is a one second acknowledgment that a requested response had been offered. Not precise because it doesn’t indicate agreement; only that the discussion is over.
Who wants phony politeness? While I’m sure that on occasion my words have been unnecessarily harsh and I regret not having worded a comment better or more sensitively, harsh is the only authentic response to all sorts of positions, actions, and words. So, yeah, I’m going to write harsh statements when confronted by liberals/Democrats acting like 21st century “commie hunters” or swallowing any sort of “Kool-Aid.”
Suggestion: don’t write call out diaries. Then consider how some of your comments are less contributions to the topic under discussion (personal opinion or facts omitted by others without an intent or invitation to discuss further are fine) than a challenge for a spat.
Real community spirit – [Ad Hominem]
An apology?!
Aww…his second attempt at initiating a blog swarm failed, didn’t it.
There’s always someone ready to make a bad atmosphere even worse, isn’t there?
But is seems not very many fish are biting. That is hopeful.
Keep doing your work, Oui. It is appreciated.
heh — a tea party where all the mad hatters showed up.
It’s shocking to me how fast paranoid hysteria can infect minds. Also scary as that’s always at the root of public support for irrational and very damaging acts by governments. Education and critical thinking were postulated to inoculate people from such stinking thinking. Sure didn’t when it was needed back in 2002-03 and apparently that recent lesson remains unlearned.
Lynch mob mentality. It’s probably a deep instinct needed by carnivore packs. Don’t cross the Alpha male/female. You stand with the pack and kill outsiders, no matter what.
nah, it’s just people that didn’t get what they believe they’re entitled to — greedheads going nuts.
??Blog swarm??
FWIW I generally find Oui’s diaries interesting. Overwhelming, of course, given the many links, and definitely stream of consciousness–he could do with a bit of editing before posting–but definitely thought provoking.
Marie3, I don’t even know what you mean by “tipping”. I expect you mean a rating of some sort, but I don’t rate diaries or comments because I don’t see any point in it.
The harshness of rhetoric seems to be pretty strongly correlated with the existence of on-line anonymity. I’m thinking of the way that the “Blue Oregon” website, which is pretty much one for Democratic Party regulars, got rid of anonymity several years ago–the harshly worded anonymous comments disappeared, no great surprise there.
I did not read the original diary in question as character assassination against you. If I did view it as such, I would refrain from recommending. There are a number of questionable websites and questionable authors who attempt to appeal to those who self-identify as “leftists” (whatever that term may mean anymore). Some awareness of those sources could be viewed as beneficial to our community (to the extent that there is a community anymore). If nothing such awareness can be used to scrutinize such sources carefully before citing them as authorities, and for those of us who see some value in knowing our enemies some insight into their worldviews. Apparently mine may be a minority view here. So be it.
So, if y’all can’t downrate each other, at least you can write diaries about each other. Is that the idea?
I’m getting close to just banning everyone and going to no comments.
Grown ass people whining about ratings and people being mean to them is not something I’m interested in facilitating.
People need to ask themselves if they’re adults and if they’d punish their own behavior if they encountered it with their children.
THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.
The point of this post was to note an example of the way that seemingly reasonable websites that publish thought-provoking essays can also wind up hosting hateful nonsense. Is the hateful nonsense getting published because whoever runs the website pays no attention? Is too busy? Is perhaps just fine with the hate? I don’t know about that Global Research website that I mentioned in my original diary. I will, however, speculate about the Booman Tribune: Any diary that appears using phrases like “the Neocon-run Ziomedia” or “the AngloZionist Empire” is going to have a very short shelf life indeed, and Booman will banish the writer. Oh, one more thing: someone will then attack Booman for censorship.
I provide an e-mail address in my signature for anyone who wishes to write me directly.
Global Research seems to be more of a conspiracy site, at least based on a couple media watchdogs I follow:
Media Bias/Fact Check
OpenSources
In other words, it’s a site that should be taken with a few grains of salt. Not to say that everything it publishes is wrong, but that it is wise to do some digging and make sure that a potentially interesting story from there is being verified by reputable sources. At one point, the selling point for liberal and progressive blogs was that they were reality-based. That reputation has taken something of a well-deserved hit, and it is largely to the extent that blogging communities have done a poor job of vetting information.