What gives you the right( is just a title nothing else)

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Where else could you go on a comet ride for $5.75?! That's a steal!

I suppose with a deal like that, I can leave the change as a tip to the driver. Or pilot. Or....hmm. Who drives a comet?

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Are you sure they are dead, they might be ridding inside the tail of a comet. Of course that might have been another ritual suicide, it is so hard to keep them all straight.

Regardless, the gene pool is collectively stronger without most of those whack-a-doodles muddying up the waters.

Oh, I forgot, this is a thread without mean things. I meant:

Respectively, the gene pool is collectively stronger without most of those whack-a-doodles muddying up the waters, bless their hearts.

 

[Imzadi]

Pack your bags, you're comin with!

WHA-AT???? How did I get roped into this?

 

[cm8]

I was just reading my local paper and to my surprise.......here is an article that was written this am ( I guess like 30 minutes ago) by one of the staff of our local paper and I think it is appropriate for me to post this link so m this is essentially what I was trying to say( not in so many words but you get the picture).


online comments disturbing
By Ken Burger
The Post and Courier
Saturday, April 17, 2010


Photo of Ken Burger

I rarely read our online comments, but I hear about them.

Ever since we started allowing online readers to post comments on our website, postandcourier.com, I've made it my personal practice seldom to read them.

My reasons are simple:

They are anonymous.

Sometimes they're uninformed.

They are often racist

They can be quite offensive.

Occasionally they are nice.

Sometimes they are nasty.

Too often they are political.

What it tells us is that people who feel a need to post comments online either have very strong opinions on a variety of complicated topics, or they simply don't have enough to do.

The shut-ins

When I was a little boy growing up in the Methodist church, we used to pray for people like that.

There was a designated time in the Sunday morning service when the minister would tell us about members of the congregation who were in the hospital and those who were shut-ins, meaning they were sick and confined to their homes.

So we would pray for the shut-ins, which is how I visualize many of the people who make it their business to comment on any and all the stories in the paper, whether they have any knowledge of the subject or not.

If the story is of a political nature, the comments start popping up early and keep going strong with liberal or conservative rants, sometimes for days.

There are commentators who obviously try to elevate the debate, but they usually are beaten down by the wackos.

All too often, however, they get cannibalistic and turn on each other, forgetting what the original story was about, and start ripping one another apart.

Flea market

But the comments are obviously entertaining.

Those who read our paper only online actually consider the reader comments an integral part of the story and protest when they are taken away.

Sometimes our editors close the comments on a particular story because some people can't control themselves and cross the lines of fairness, libel and decorum.

That's when those who post comments really raise a ruckus.

They say their First Amendment rights are being denied.

One person actually said there was no reason to even print the story if he couldn't comment anonymously about it online.

Mostly, it's a sad commentary on the news of the day.

But we have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing this kind of unfettered freelance foulmouthed flea market to flourish.

Every time someone posts a comment, it counts as a "hit" on the arbitrary abacus that now serves as a forecaster of our fate.

Thus, there are those who absolutely love the comments and those who despise their very existence.

Somewhere in the middle, I'm afraid, is our future.

Reach Ken Burger at kburger@postandcourier.com or 937-5598


http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/apr/17/online-comments-disturbing/

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

WHA-AT???? How did I get roped into this?

You must not question Heavens Gate. You must do as Heavens Gate commands you to do. Heavens Gate is all knowing. Don't forget your Nikes.

 

[Imzadi]

I was just reading my local paper and to my surprise.......here is an article that was written this am ( I guess like 30 minutes ago) by one of the staff of our local paper

online comments disturbing
By Ken Burger
The Post and Courier
Saturday, April 17, 2010


www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/apr/17/online-comments-disturbing

Hmmm, what's disturbing is the odd coincidence that a local reporter wrote this 30 minutes ago. OP, you wouldn't happen to be Ken Burger, would you?

You must not question Heavens Gate. You must do as Heavens Gate commands you to do. Heavens Gate is all knowing. Don't forget your Nikes.

They're going to have to catch me!

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Hmmm, what's disturbing is the odd coincidence that a local reporter wrote this 30 minutes ago. OP, you wouldn't happen to be Ken Burger, would you?



They're going to have to catch me!

Umm, comets can go like a million miles an hour. Duh!
You really need to stop questioning. You don't want to earn the wrath of Do.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Just curious and for my own edification - are blatantly religious signatures banned just as political signatures are banned?

this is from the sticky on religious and political posts:

As a result, we are announcing a new policy on the DISboards, effective immediately: POLITICS AND RELIGION are no longer acceptable topics of discussion here.

This also will extend to signatures: no political statements, logos, or slogans are permitted in signatures.

Is it only political statements or does it also extend to religious statements in signatures?

 

[cm8]

Hmmm, what's disturbing is the odd coincidence that a local reporter wrote this 30 minutes ago. OP, you wouldn't happen to be Ken Burger, would you?



They're going to have to catch me!

sorry, I can't take credit for what he wrote, I am female, and it was actually written at midnight it says.....it is just a HUGE coincidence! Trust me, we look nothing alike

 

[JoShan1719]

People can be all sorts of nasty when they're not face to face.

Unfortunately, they can be just as nasty in person. I work at the front desk of a hotel and it is amazing how cruel people can be to complete strangers

My reference to kool-aid was to the "Jonestown cult" or the "People's Temple" that, um, drank the kool-aid in 1978.

It's ok, I caught it

It got worse once the debate board got axed.

There was a debate board? I missed it!

 

[Planogirl]

Wow, I must have missed some excitement today!

I agree that people have the right to state their opinions but there are ways to be nice about it.

 

[cm8]

Just curious and for my own edification - are blatantly religious signatures banned just as political signatures are banned?

this is from the sticky on religious and political posts:

As a result, we are announcing a new policy on the DISboards, effective immediately: POLITICS AND RELIGION are no longer acceptable topics of discussion here.

This also will extend to signatures: no political statements, logos, or slogans are permitted in signatures.

Is it only political statements or does it also extend to religious statements in signatures?

yes, can someone please clarify, I feel there is another issue brewing here .

 

[Mickey's Minion]

yes, can someone please clarify, I feel there is another issue brewing here .

No . Just curious. I had never really taken the time to read the sticky thread until it was linked here and it just got me wondering.

Peace & love

 

[Cornhusk]

Some people just have no respect, morals, values it is dishartening to see how people have become so self centered .... NO I HAVE TO HAVE THE LAST SAY I HAVE TO BE RIGHT...some are soo stubborn this will mean nothing to them. We all have our faults but I agree 100% with the OP. I was raised with if you don't have anythin good nice or uplifing to say don't say it all. I said this in another way in another thread and I got bombarded, glad to see there are still some people with core values and morals. I serve my God and don't want to get into a religous debate by any means, but it is just very easy to tell who is saved and who is not, who is active in their religion and who is not, who stays true to their God and who doesn't. It is sad to see so many people thrive on the negative, if they took a step back and looked at the situation you know they would tell their children do as a say not as I do.

Wow.


I guess I am a heathen then because I don't go to church, but thanks for making the evaluation and Jenna West, I am sure that from the posts you have created you must be "the church lady". Right, thanks for passing hypocritcal judgement.

And OP from past posts before you have not been all sugar yourself so how can you expect others to be?

 

[Jolly Ole Bert]

The problem is, people get behind the keyboard and feel like they can say whatever...as they feel safe behind the screen, causing them to act out in ways they would never do in person. Some of the hate-filled YouTube comments are prime example of this. Pretty sad.

 

[Imzadi]

I think religious siggies are only banned if they are of a nature like "My cult leader's religion is better than your cult leader's religion ."

Or proselytizing, getting people to convert type of siggies. But, I've seen what would be considered non-offensive ones here, where people are just stating their personal beliefs & values

and isn't directed toward anyone else.