tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552422419133819877.post3827084736897057287..comments2024-03-13T14:21:41.243-05:00Comments on The Retirement Project: Heros and trollsTJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03459069175481821975noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552422419133819877.post-48937387502238925642014-04-10T10:41:30.785-05:002014-04-10T10:41:30.785-05:00aggressive negativity is fostered by anonymity.......aggressive negativity is fostered by anonymity..... <br />I read German stuff, and various comments are more vicious and aggressive yet, meaning this is NOT exclusive to the USA. <br />As an American BY CHOICE I can say one thing : We are blessed to have many many good folks out there, which makes this country great. I can also say that not all is gold which glitters, but all in all this is the best country in the world. Despite our elected officials on both sides are questionable at best. <br /><br />I also know from experience if you are looking from the outside in, it makes for a much more critical look, but dont despair, its a good thing to be critial at times. ( actually its our duty as Americans :-) <br />Love the Bahamas tude and the people I met there, but I will bet, that if they leave their islands and looking back, they also have some valid points to be critical and even dissapointed about there own country. <br /><br />We miss you guys, will you be up on the lake sailing on Greyhound I hope during your boat hiatus ? <br />Thor Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09451224614231644415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552422419133819877.post-63839513339337333792014-04-10T09:09:19.298-05:002014-04-10T09:09:19.298-05:00Well said. Regardless of anyone's opinion abo...Well said. Regardless of anyone's opinion about their ill fated trip the internet comments are cowardly and mean spirited and they embarrass me. I can only imagine the combination of anguish and humiliation this family is going through so I hope they just pull down the whole site and delete all the comments without reading them. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03333579989265514424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552422419133819877.post-40558532040331788572014-04-10T08:49:10.532-05:002014-04-10T08:49:10.532-05:00I long for the days when the "news" was ...I long for the days when the "news" was a public service and not a business. 24/7 news and sports, even weather is just insane. We end up giving endless talking points to completely mundane events. Personally I would like to see comments removed from news sites. Just give me the events of the day and spare me the opinions. However, Blog comments are perfectly acceptable :)Latitude 43https://www.blogger.com/profile/09482326023480150403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552422419133819877.post-48198651604546947302014-04-10T07:47:04.555-05:002014-04-10T07:47:04.555-05:00TJ - Nice that you pointed out the heroes. We alw...TJ - Nice that you pointed out the heroes. We always try to take time to think about those folks in any situation that requires heroes. Great comments Chris. I agreed that this is not unique to America. We really try to be careful as we travel abroad as America's that we aren't too negative about America and her people. No country is perfect. Open discussions about differences in various cultures is good. Grousing to other cultures about all the bad in ours is feeding the Ugly Ex-Pat American stereotype.Sabrina and Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04460271699538815720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552422419133819877.post-64344049270596530692014-04-09T15:59:21.834-05:002014-04-09T15:59:21.834-05:00TJ
I haven't commented here before, and I'...TJ<br />I haven't commented here before, and I'm not sure this is the best topic with which to start. Trollism has been around for a very long time. I can remember it from before Berners-Lee gave us the WWW. The screen was black, the letters green, and the vitriol often esoteric (but it came pretty slowly). It prospered because, like the green wizard's pronouncements, it came from behind a veil, translated through technology that gave the weak and spiteful a stentorian voice far out of proportion to their intellect or insight.<br /><br />Gandhi is said to have said, "No one can hurt me without my permission." It something essential to remember when it comes to the open sewer of some internet comment and the inciteful rant of 21st century media. The good news is most ranters have no political will and a short attention span. The bad news is The Media will flog a story for ratings and advertising share as long as a comment trail shows promise.<br /><br />Having just been in Europe a few months ago, I can assure you that this is <b>not</b> a uniquely American phenomenon. The internet comments and commentary we saw there were sufficient to start vendettas, pogroms, and wars...and may have.<br />ChrisBrilliant Starhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16447213418232371488noreply@blogger.com