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Hatemongering Becoming A Problem On Orkut

jaquesparrow writes "Orkut is a well known beta experiment, an invite only environment based on social networks. Recently it has been reported that hate and racism is proliferating on Orkut. Besides the story in the Wilmington Star, the International Herald Tribune also has commentary on the situation." From the article: "For Google, the trouble on Orkut - which is still in beta, or test, form - could easily escalate. A prosecutor in Brazil, where the service is especially popular, has already initiated an investigation into some of the more virulent Orkut sites."

585 comments

  1. Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Inevitable as humanity continues to grow and expand. It's not a cause but a symptom of overpopulation.

    1. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You cannot metamoderate "Overrated" moderations. That's why the mod has used it, he knew that it would get metamoderated as unfair.

    2. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      So he/she basically exploited the system the way one of SCO's IP lawyers would. What a shame...

    3. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, but the number 1 cause of hate is insecurity. People who are comfortable with themselves don't go through life comparing themselves to others. People who find themselves lacking compare themselves to others in an attempt to find some real or imagined weakness they can exploit by saying, "I'm better than you because I'm this sex or this color and you aren't."

    4. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. I once got some anonymous threats on Slashdot that I am a "troll" and asking me to shut up "or else" etc. And some time later I got lots of Overrated moderations got to my Funny posts. The posts were moderated as Funny again, and then as Overrated, Funny, etc. All of them had positive moderation at the end, some of then +5, Funny, but the funny thing is that Funny moderation does not increase your Karma, while Overrated moderation does decrease it. I ended up with Karma: Terrible, -1 starting Score of my posts, a limit to post only few posts per 24 hours and a ban on anonymous posting "due to excessive bad posting from my IP". And the jerks who did it got away with it because all of those negative moderations were Overrated which means that they would never be metamoderated. Funny, isn't it? Well, not for me, because it meant weeks of posting before I could post +1 posts again and not get censored/ignored every time I write something.

    5. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then why don't people hate the rich? Why haven't there been lynchings of rich people in America? If people were going to delude themselves, they wouldn't try to be better than people that aren't well off at all, they would try to say they are better than those that are legitimately better than them in some way.

    6. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Then why don't people hate the rich? Why haven't there been lynchings of rich people in America?

      But there have! Read the America's history before the Spanish invasion and you'll find a lot of references. Read about the bloody revolutions in France or in Russia. The problem is that rich people are usually protecte by not-so-rich people who think it is better for them to protect the rich and get some wealth in return, then to destroy the status quo.

    7. Re:Hatred by BaseLineNL · · Score: 1

      Inevitable as humanity continues to grow and expand. It's not a cause but a symptom of overpopulation.

      I don't think it's directly related to overpopulation. Wars and hatred have existed since the dawn of civilization. I think the real cause lies with cultural and social differences - the grass is always greener on the other side...and maybe it's also their fault it's not so green over here.

    8. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      People DO hate the rich. We call them Democrats. They hate anybody who is rich, unless, of course, the rich person is a Democrat.

    9. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but the number 1 cause of hate is insecurity.

      But it's part of human nature. And with more people in the planet, (1) hatred goes out of control, and (2) the effects of it get more serious.

    10. Re:Hatred by screwballicus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Inevitable as humanity continues to grow and expand. It's not a cause but a symptom of overpopulation.

      This is, I think, a word which we need to treat very carefully, with a mind to its historical use.

      I'm bound to ask:

      Was the upsurge in German nationalism and xenophobia in the wake of the First World War a product of overpopulation and overcrowding within an inadequate living space? Hitler certainly thought so, and made that idea crucial to his doctrine. But I tend to think the real sources of sociological tention were far, far more complex.

      Before we start throwing around the word overpopulation without regard to the need for its clear definition, it's worth remembering that the notion of a present-day overpopulated, overcrowded living space creating unacceptable social tension is, interestingly, one on which the most vicious of racist ideologies have often fundamentally depended, and on which they have built their arguments.

    11. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not even that.

      It's the few. Screwing it up for the many.

      And instead of removing the few. We cater to them and make everyone adapt.

    12. Re:Hatred by ikkonoishi · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Those damn insecure people... I hate them so much!!!

    13. Re:Hatred by TCM · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't tell Bush. He might start a war against those insecure people. Who knows what they plan!

      --
      Of course it runs NetBSD. BTC: 1NT7QvbetmANwaMzhpVL6
    14. Re:Hatred by Mr2cents · · Score: 1

      It's not a cause but a symptom of overpopulation.

      Overpopulation not caused by hatred? Now there's something new! :)

      --
      "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
    15. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My philosophy is there are 6 gigs of people in the world: One is the very best, one is the very worst and everyone else falls somewhere in the middle. To some degree its subjective and to some degree its not. Equality implies sameness and everyone is different.

      Its similar with race and gender but divergence among groups is much greater than the different between them.

      What cheeses me off is this is a Thought Crime. Countries make exceptions to free speech for this verboten opinion. Kill the taboo and lets have some honest dialog.

      the number 1 cause of hate is insecurity.

      I'd say that insecurity causes political correctness. If everyone is equal there is no reason to be envious or feel inferior.

    16. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the single most stupid statment I've ever had the misfortune to read. Hatred has nothing to do with population, it has to do with the precepitated outlook of the specific person. Point in note, take a look at places like Suriname and Peru where people of ALL races live together in harmony, with HIGH population densities -- compared to America 3% developed, one of the lowest population densities and a hotbed of bigotry.

    17. Re:Hatred by MoonChildCY · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would rather look at it a bit differently than you. The reason we have hatred, in my opinion, is simply the fact that we have no other way to identify ourselves.

      Every single person defines him/her self by defining the other. When Bush declared there was an axis of evil, he was actually declaring his country as the "good" country. When you say I am a good programmer, you define the others as bad.

      If you actually do believe you are a good person, then you admit that there are other people that are bad, and hence slowly start evolving a hidden kind of hate, that can manifest itself in many ways, one of which is through these online communities.

    18. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The geniuses behind slashdot failed to see how removing Karma benefit from funny moderations could be abused. If they don't feel humor adds to discussion, they should have gotten rid of the funny mod or made it negative.

    19. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      People who are comfortable with themselves don't go through life comparing themselves to others.

      That's hardly insightful. More like anti-insightful. What is society or civilization except relations between human beings? What good are laws or rights without other humans and their actions to relate them to? And if the only reason you aren't racist is because you haven't compared yourself to other people (and not because race makes no difference), is that an intellectually honest position?

      Humans are social creatures by nature. Cleverness/intelligence isn't the the main thing that helped our dumber monkey ancestors to survive against animals that were physically superior. Co-operation was.

      The cause of racism is biological. It's the fight-or-flight response. It has nothing to do with being insecure or in any way inferior to the Politically Correct (and isn't that ascription just another form of classism, anyway?) Tribalism is a human instinct. Racism is just a manifestation of instinctual xenophobia. It's a form of competitiveness.

      This is not to say that offensive actions based on racist impulses are acceptable; obviously in the framework of society we've grown, they can't be. But calling the impulse itself unnatural or based on weakness is just more xenophobia -- you're trying to convince yourself you're better than an entire group of people who only have one trait in common.

    20. Re:Hatred by RWerp · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "When you say I am a good programmer, you define the others as bad."

      I disagree. Praising someone does not necessarily require putting others down. If I say 'he's good at something' I may as well forget about the others. What if I praise the only painter in the world? According to you, it would be impossible, because I would not have other painters to compare him/her to.

      --
      "Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead." (John Maynard Keynes)
    21. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Yes, but the number 1 cause of hate is insecurity. People who are comfortable with themselves don't go through life comparing themselves to others. People who find themselves lacking compare themselves to others in an attempt to find some real or imagined weakness they can exploit by saying, "I'm better than you because I'm this sex or this color and you aren't."
      Look in the mirror, pal.

      See? You just did what you accuse those "others" of doing: comparing yourself against them for invidious purposes.

      I've yet to meet an "anti-hate" or "anti-racist" activist who wasn't a raving totalitarian at heart. They display in their own thoughts and actions every negative quality they claim to despise in others.
    22. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, you're on-topic. That is a classic example of hatemongering. Thank you for the example.

    23. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if I praise the only painter in the world? According to you, it would be impossible, because I would not have other painters to compare him/her to.

      Correct. You could praise her paintings. You could say "Hey, that's a good painting", but you could only do this by comparing it to a "not-so-good" painting that she had previously done.

      Or alternatively, you could say that she was the "best painter in the world". You would be technically correct, but that wouldn't really be considered praise either...

    24. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can abstract it, though, to where you do not require a negative example. If you say that a "good" swimmer can swim 100m, and every person you test does so successfully, then they are all good. The "bad swimmer" is a theoretical person who may not even exist.

      Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is to say that your perception of the world is whatever you make it to be. If you want to look at everyone as "good", then you can. If you want to look at everyone as "bad", then you can. If, more commonly, you want to look at "me" or "us" as being good and "them" as bad, then you have traditional hate. Logic or rational comparison need play no part.

    25. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've yet to meet an "anti-[anything]" activist who wasn't a raving totalitarian at heart. They display in their own thoughts and actions every negative quality they claim to despise in others. (Well, negative qualities, but not necessarily the same ones they despise in others.)

      A dilemma that I have discussed with one of my Christian colleagues (Me being atheist). How do you improve the world without inflicting your will on it, and becoming one of the evil people? My usual question: If he thinks I'm going to burn in Hell for eternity, shouldn't he be trying to prevent that? My ignorance is going to cause me a great deal of agony and it will be too late to learn then. However, our attitude of tolerance meanse he can't even bring the subject up. My mother will protect my physical shell with her own life, but she won't say a word to save my soul out of some misguided respect. But, if they start trying to tell me the Truth, they become evangelists and nobody will put up with them anymore.

      The usual drill is to practice what you preach, and hope that your example shows others a better way. The problem is that we know so many people that there seems to be a negative example for every positive one. If you don't try to help other people be "good", then you are selfish and withdrawn and "bad" yourself. I suppose there is a fine line where you are teaching without any undue persuasion.

      Oh, well. If I'm right then there is no justice and when I die it will all be over (for me). I'll do what I can without inflicting myself on others, and come what may.

    26. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, let me rephrase: People who are comfortable with themselves don't go through life comparing their own value as a living being to that of others. i.e. Look at another person and think, "I am a more valuable human being than that person."

    27. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, as they say - Kill all the FANATICS!!

    28. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then I would have to say that you are experiencing a combination of two cognative distortions. (A psychological term you might want to investigate further.)

      #1 Overgeneralization - The idea that because one person out of a group was complemented as "good" should not automatically mean that the remaining individuals were "not-good". This is a distorted view that exists in your mind and is not fact based. I have a friend that is a good artist; when I tell him that, I am not implying that any other artists present are as not as good as he is. And if they think that, that would be their personal distortion; or assumtion that I implied somthing that I did not (in fact) imply at all.

      #2 Personalization - If I were to make the statment "you are a good programmer" to one of your peers and you thought, "That means I am not a good programmer." You would be personalizing the statment, it had nothing to do with you. It was not a hidden, subversive quip at you in any way. I would be complementing him and you wouldn't enter into it. If you assume it was scolding of your skills then you personalized something that in-fact had nothing to do with you.

      If your method of defining personal identity is through hating others, instead of a realistic assesment of your personal strengths and weaknesses, I fear your self-esteem suffers at your own hand. You might want to try reading Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by Dr. David Burns. It would help you allot.

    29. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then can I put you on the "I support dictators putting people into plastic shredders" side of this debate?

    30. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bad is not the opposite of good.
      not good is the opposite of good.
      because you can be neutral or partially good.
      In a two state world you are correct. However in a multistate world its different. Saying you are good is not the same as saying everyone else is bad. Certainly more then one person can be good.
      Best is value jugdgement that is based on specific circumstances. For example, my car may be the fastest but its not the best. Because it doesn't get as good as gas miliage as another car. So best depends on the judgement criteria.

    31. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right, saying your pro-white doesn't mean you are anti-black.

    32. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      take a look at places like Suriname and Peru where people of ALL races live together in harmony

      Peru? The home of the murderous terrorist Shining Path Brigades? Yeah, THAT'S living in harmony, you moron

    33. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Actually no I didn't.

      When I look in the mirror I don't think about other people.
      I diplore the actions of bigots, not the bigots themselves.
      Bigots, on the other hand, hate PEOPLE and not ACTIONS.

    34. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NO, I think the Democrates hate poor Republicans as well. Rich or Poor is irrelevant.

    35. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, the #1 cause of hatred is over competition for resources. In a over competitive environment, people collaborate to get advantages over others. Anotherwords they cooperate to compete.

    36. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As much as I disagree with Hate speech. IT'S THIER FREE RIGHT!

    37. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then let me say that Xenophobia is also rooted in insecurity as well.

      Xenophobia is a discomfort created by someone who is not sure how they stack up against a comparative standard that they do not understand. If this person was secure in their own worth they wouldn't feel threatened by someone else, especially someone they in fact know nothing about. How can you acuratly compare yourself to something you know little of without an assumption that they are better than you?

    38. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you mean to say that, being comfortable with yourself, you look at the vilest racists and think "I am equal in value to that person"?

      The real question is: how do you propose to set a standard of value for your life outside the context of society and civilization (i.e. other people)? It's not possible.

    39. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know many olympians that hate their competitors... They usually admire and respect them.

    40. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So why is psychological "security" a positive thing? Couldn't that also just be called apathy?

      Why do you think the fight/flight / Fear response evolved in the first place? Why didn't nature select for creatures that are comfortable with the unknown?

    41. Re:Hatred by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

      Maybe I should have added some sort of political slur to my post.

      Come on moderators have you never heard of irony?

    42. Re:Hatred by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 1

      Hmmmm. I think your speaking of a specific kind of hate. I do see your point, but I think you're going at it the wrong way. Or perhaps not the wrong way, but a different direction than I am thinking.

      Let me elaborate: Unless you are extremely isolated, you probably at least come into contact with people from different cultural backgrounds, perhaps even people born in other countries. And you don't instinctively hate them, do you? Didn't think so.

      And yet, if something were wrong in a person's life (for example, unemployment) or if there were something wrong in that person's community (again, let's use unemployment as an example), that person would be much more susceptible to suggestions that the fault wasn't with the person or with persons like him in the community, but the fault was with someone outside the group.

      This is where race, nationality, and culture come in to play. When the body is threatened, either one's personal body or the body of the community, the reaction is to close oneself off to what ever is attacking you (or that you think is attacking you) coming from the outside. If a person is genuinely being attacked, this is the obvious and proper response.

      However, I'm sure you know someone who incorrectly sees external threats when the problem is actually internal. Actually, I think most people do this to a certain extent. We cannot accept responsibility so we blame someone else. While not healthy, this is certainly typical human behavior, and unless you're a saint, you probably engage in it to a certain extent. However, if you're a mature adult, you catch yourself at it and don't let it get out of hand. If you're really wise, you examine yourself for whatever shortcoming and work to correct it, instead of projecting it onto some enemy.

      Perhaps you can see how this could apply to groups, especially large groups. In a time of crisis, the group is even more likely to project internal problems onto external "enemies". Unless cooler heads prevail, a group can often turn into a mob. Mobs are hard to control, but easy to manipulate. The right person or persons can whip of the emotions of a group (or nation) through fear and hate. We've seen this throughout history. Just repeat the word "terrorist" often enough and you can even get re-elected.

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
    43. Re:Hatred by georgewilliamherbert · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I've yet to meet an "anti-hate" or "anti-racist" activist who wasn't a raving totalitarian at heart. They display in their own thoughts and actions every negative quality they claim to despise in others.
      Too bad that you're not looking very hard.

      I think hatemongers and racists are pretty lousy excuses for human beings, and have spent a fair amount of time working against them. But I do it by encouraging fair and open and free discussion of their ideas and exposing how pitiful and lame those ideas are.

      I am all for Nazis being allowed to have a parade in Berkeley... and for everyone else in town to come out and laugh at their lame asses.

    44. Re:Hatred by Rayonic · · Score: 2, Informative
      Every single person defines him/her self by defining the other. When Bush declared there was an axis of evil, he was actually declaring his country as the "good" country. When you say I am a good programmer, you define the others as bad.

      So there is no objective good and evil?

      So murdering random people in your apartment building is just as "good" as helping an old lady cross the street?

      Racism is just as good as tolerance?

      Dictatorship is just as good as Democracy?

      No wonder so many "progressive" people nowadays have no problem aligning themselves with the anti-women, anti-free-speech, anti-tolerance, islamic fascists.
    45. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, but it does suggest you are racist.

    46. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      divergence among groups is much greater than the different between them.

      Which is also true between species. So what? Obviously some differences matter more than others.

    47. Re:Hatred by clayasaurus · · Score: 1

      It is not a symptom of overpopulation, .. people would still find ways to hate each other even with smaller populations. Do you think war is new?

    48. Re:Hatred by Dysan2k · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      So there is no objective good and evil?
      Good and evil are totally byproducts of a society's ideals. They DO exist in our society, therefore they exist for us. (Yes, I'm clumping you in with the rest of society.)

      So murdering random people in your apartment building is just as "good" as helping an old lady cross the street?
      Could be, depending on the planet you come from.

      Racism is just as good as tolerance?
      Same as #2. Course, I always try to use someone's "brightness settings" or as I like to refer to it as the person's "tan", to decide whether they're intelligent or not. It makes perfect sense, and I think we should stick to it. At least until we manage to nuke ourselves out of existance, then I hope the next round of beings decides to be a little smarter. (Cause aliens are ALL green and green is smarter than black or white cause it's an actual single color rather than a variance of light and dark. Same goes for Orientals. Since Sinestro never beat the green lantern, OBVIOUSLY green is smarter than yellow.)

      Dictatorship is just as good as Democracy?
      Hmm.. interesting concept. I suspect they both have their good and bad points.

      No wonder so many "progressive" people nowadays have no problem aligning themselves with the anti-women, anti-free-speech, anti-tolerance, islamic fascists.
      Cool! I was hoping you'd make the rational distinction and link all this back to Islam. BRILLIANT! You do know the best way to beat a facist is to eat a bullet, right? You'd do that for your country if daddy-Bush asked, wouldn't you? Yeeesssssss... Eat the tasty bullet.

      --
      -What have you contributed lately?
    49. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Absolutely. Republicans are either rich and evil or poor and stupid. Thats the formula.

      As for people hating the rich, how do you think this country got here?

    50. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't swim you insensitive clod!

    51. Re:Hatred by Marvelicious · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I've got bullets I'll donate!
      I can identify with "the anti-women, anti-free-speech, anti-tolerance, islamic fascists" in one way: Bush and crew are trampling all over our rights. Theirs, ours, anyone's he can.

      I just hate getting lumped, as a US citizen, in with the Jesus freaks. Where is the opt-out link? I agree islamic-extremists are bad, but so are christian-extremists. Everyone pipes up with these examples of how islam is anti-tolerance at its core, but I could pull just as many examples from the christian "brand" of the same set of myths. Little fun fact for you: islam, judaism and christianity are all based on the SAME BACKGROUND. All this killing is over the details. If there is a god, he probably can't decide weather to laugh or cry!

      --
      Send whiskey and fresh horses!
    52. Re:Hatred by serutan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Whatever the reason for racism, it's pretty clear that governments can't stop people from feeling how they feel. Criminalizing hate speech only hides the problem so you don't have to deal with it, unless you're one of its victims. Then the fact that it's underground makes it harder to convince everybody else that there is a problem. They'll point to the censored world they see and call you a whiner.

      We won't understand why people are racist and how to change that situation if all we do is force them to shut up.

    53. Re:Hatred by iminplaya · · Score: 1

      If you actually do believe you are a good person, then you admit that there are other people that are bad...

      Not at all. We could be saying that we are also good people. If no person ever causes harm to another for instance, we could say that we are all good people. Hate is nothing more than "highly evolved" genetic competition. My DNA wants to reproduce. Your DNA is a possible threat to that. Xenophobia is common in nature. It's necessary among the aminals to insure that the DNA that's most fit will survive over the others. Our hate is no different than the "hate" felt by competing gangs of chimpanzies. "You're no part of our group." "You're trying to take over my territory." all evolved to "You're not one of us." "You're not from here." All our poitical borders, hatreds, fear of others, are nothing more than animals defending their territory with lots of fancy, expensive philosophy behind it. There's nothing wrong with identifying people by their appearances. Hate is not required. Saying "blonde hair, blue eyes" in no way degrades "black hair, brown eyes. Even using skin color is perfectly ok. It shouldn't make a difference. That it does to some people makes it their problem.

      --
      What?
    54. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you actually stop and think about it, that post is half troll and half insightful. It would be very valid and interesting to compare the psychological processes leading from instinctual motivations to xenophobia, rape, theft, and pissing all over slashdot with trolls and flamebait.

    55. Re:Hatred by argStyopa · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, but the number 1 cause of hate is insecurity.
      Possibly true, but what value to make such a statement? Then one could just rephrase the PP instead of saying 'hatred is endemic' to saying 'insecurity is endemic to the human animal'.

      One could also riposte by pointing out organisms that are secure never evolve, either. Not all evolution is improvement, of course. But it might be said that since the nature of organisms in a zero-sum world is to compete for resources, and the evolutionary advantage goes to the organism that NEVER says "hey, I like me" - it would seem logical that such a creature is quickly outcompeted.

      What I find most interesting, and little discussed, is the desire for utopia that is so common with humans. Everyone sees peace and happiness as some sort of 'base state' to existance, when there exists a fairly credible likelihood that perhaps hatred, envy, jealousy, and violence are probably ACTUALLY the base state and the idealisms of only momentary suspensions between beats.

      --
      -Styopa
    56. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "No, but it does suggest you are racist." Only to those to look for racism in ever word someone speaks.

    57. Re:Hatred by twentycavities · · Score: 1
      Reminds me of the following Onion headline (article not available to cheapskates):
      Anti-Racism Laws Mutate Racism Into Newer, Stronger Form
      "In a similar manner," the report continued, "the hiring quotas established by well-intentioned affirmative-action programs over the last three decades may be functioning as a carrier of the disease [racism], providing a pseudo-moral justification for privately held racist beliefs by creating an atmosphere of perceived 'unfairness' and thus breeding even greater super-racist infestations."
      --
      Monstromart: Where shopping is a baffling ordeal
    58. Re:Hatred by greggman · · Score: 1

      > It's not a cause but a symptom of overpopulation

      Only if you define overpopulation as anything more than 1 person. :-(

    59. Re:Hatred by SagaLore · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I have yet to read a slashdot article without at least 1 Bush bashing comment. Thanks for keeping it consistent, and relevant to the topic.

    60. Re:Hatred by Domo-Sun · · Score: 1

      I diplore the actions of bigots, not the bigots themselves. Bigots, on the other hand, hate PEOPLE and not ACTIONS.

      I'm not sure I believe in that "Love the sinner hate the sin" philosophy, because what's the difference? Hate is hate. When someone expresses hate, it's a form of hostility. This sounds like a justification for hate. Maybe you're justified in hating them, but it's still hate.

    61. Re:Hatred by Dysan2k · · Score: 1

      One word: Crusades

      Bloodiest war in history. Who's to blame? Well, does it matter at that point, I ask? Extremists period are just a problem. When beliefs become so hard-core that no amount of explanation or proof will sway them, then they have become a danger to everyone around them.

      --
      -What have you contributed lately?
    62. Re:Hatred by laughingcoyote · · Score: 1

      What idiot modded this flamebait? It's even funnier now that someone took it seriously.

      --
      To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
    63. Re:Hatred by laughingcoyote · · Score: 1

      Your logic seems a bit flawed...what if I say "Every person is a good person?" Who am I comparing them to then? I can say "Everyone who works on this project with me is a good programmer", and there's no logical inconsistency there either. Your logic is the dangerous type-assuming that building one thing up NECESSARILY REQUIRES tearing something(one) else down, that having good NECESSITATES the existence of evil. (Not just as a hypothetical construct, but in reality.)

      All I'm saying, when I make a statement on something like that (good programmer) is just a statement that, in theory, such a thing as a crappy programmer could exist. I'm not saying, however, that everyone besides that one person IS one, or that one even really exists. Just that it's possible.

      --
      To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
    64. Re:Hatred by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      "I've yet to meet an "anti-hate" or "anti-racist" activist who wasn't a raving totalitarian at heart. They display in their own thoughts and actions every negative quality they claim to despise in others."
      That all depends on what you consider an anti-hate or anti-racist activist.
      I know many. A family at my church that have adopted children of all races. Mother Theresa was one. The children in my nursery class at church are also wonderful anti-racist activists.
      The people you are mainly speaking about are not really activists but are more vocalists. The then to talk the talk. The true activists are people you probably do not notice that are walking the walk. Changing people on heart at a time.
      I will take a thousand small victories over hate over one big mouth anytime.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    65. Re:Hatred by stanmann · · Score: 1

      Free and open discourse inevitably marginalize irrational hate. Allowing the idiots(my opinion) in white sheets to spew their nonsense publicly and without unreasonable restriction( daylight hours, not blocking traffic, etc, but no content restriction) tends to reduce their pool of applicants, where gagging or forcing them underground tends to make them popular or attractive to any who feel a rebel streak and allows them to recruit on that basis vs the basis of the open theatre of the mind.

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
    66. Re:Hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All extremists should be shot.

    67. Re:Hatred by Rayonic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Somebody should probably tell you: This isn't Star Trek, or some other sci-fi setup.

      We're all one species down here on the planet Earth, and regardless of any "race" or "nationality", we're all essentially the same. There can be certain universal human truths, there can be human rights.

      To say that Democracy is okay for Europeans, and that Dictatorship is okay for people in Africa, is a fundamentally flawed argument. Africans and Europeans aren't that different -- they're essentially identical.

  2. Why is it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    no one takes the time to stop and smell the Orkuts?

    1. Re:Why is it... by digitalchinky · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, but most gardeners will take time to pluck out the weeds - just to use another metaphor.

      It's called 'moderation' - if someone is a dick, remove the post. The owner does have that right.

    2. Re:Why is it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but most gardeners will take time to pluck out the weeds - just to use another metaphor.

      Insightful?

      Small children do what they see their parents do pull the green things. The moderators clearly want a garden of weeds without the sweet punny beauty of Orkuts.

    3. Re:Why is it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the metaphor is unclear... when you moderate up a flame on an early AC, the first thing users see is the an off topic flame and not the AC post.

      The great grandparent might just be a dick. Might be funny.
      The grand parent is 100% off topic and 100% dick!

      Do not mod this up or some random guy will call you a dick!

    4. Re:Why is it... by mrjb · · Score: 2, Funny

      Slashdot doesn't suffer this problem because of moderators and meta-moderators. Implement something like this in Orkut and the problems will disappear. Maybe.

      --
      Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
    5. Re:Why is it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The whole point of free communities like Orkut is to escape from the petty minded moderators who infest forums such as Slashdot.

      If you have a group set up by "haters" then by definition they aren't going to moderate down or ban someone who is on that group because he or she hates the same things that the group hates.

      There's really no problem here, people, except for the usual set of whiners who can't stand the thought that somewhere out there in the freedom of cyberspace, there are people who are saying things that they don't like and want to ban others from saying.

      In other words, the usual ban-everything-I-don't-like-or-else crowd. Just your usual totalitarians agitating for more laws.

      There's no problem to see here; move along.

    6. Re:Why is it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree, but sometimes the Moderator is a dick too and, in fact, many times when a dick creates a community, he/she attracts all the dicks and jerks to it.

      So you have this situation were there's a whole community based on hatred or racism or whatever, and it can't be moderated by anyone except for the orkut overlords.

      And I think this is the main problem with orkut.

    7. Re:Why is it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Please.....

      "Orkut" is Finnish slang for orgasm...
      no one takes the time to stop and smell the Orkuts?
      ...and you're not helping at all. :)
    8. Re:Why is it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But the owner also has the right to not do a thing and let people say what they want regardless of how others may feel about it.

  3. Seen this before... by jonbeckett73 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I used to run a website (ThoughtCafe) for writers where they could give feedback on each others work. I had to close it down in the end because a small minority wrecked it for everybody. It seems most "community" websites suffer from the same issue - the possiblity of one "rogue" person to pose as several personalities within the website - basically in order to start an argument with themselves in order to draw others in, and then feed the argument. We never found an adequate defence against it.

    --
    Jonathan Beckett http://www.pluggedout.com
    1. Re:Seen this before... by RichardX · · Score: 4, Funny

      This problem is very eloquently explained by Penny Arcade here

      --
      Curiosity was framed. Ignorance killed the cat.
    2. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      moderation?

    3. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i people did not overreact (try to censor free speech) then people would not bother to try and rebel.

      its the stifling that creates the reponses

      that is why in general there is not actually that many 'anti blacks' or 'anti mexican' websites if you actually counted them, even though they are protected speech in the usa

      the reason?

      there is nothing to rebel against

      but when an editor of a community bbs starts to edit and censor free speech , then a massive swarm is created

      let free speech be free and it takes care of itself, you just need to have patience and maturity

    4. Re:Seen this before... by General+Alcazar · · Score: 5, Interesting
      One possible solution that I see might be some fairly vigilant overseerers employed by Google to filter this stuff out. Currently, they have a sort of light weight version of this, in that contentious members get put in "jail" for a variable period of time depending on what, I do not know. However, this is obviously not working that well. They might need to keep a lot of censors employed in order to be effective. The problem with this is that they then may become liable.

      Why not implement a type of self-censorship by the memebers of the sort that Slashdot uses? There certainly is enough hatemongering going on here, and Slashdot is far from perfect, but it seems to be evolving towards something that sort of works. Thoughts?

    5. Re:Seen this before... by siliconjunkie · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unless you are talking about a huge community (such as /.) I can't see why a handful of mods and the ability to IP ban clients from within your CMS couldn't do the trick. It seems to work on most of the community sites I participate in. If you have a particularly unruly bunch trying to ruin it for everyone, then some aggressive mods are in order. Go over to the NetStumbler Forums if you want to see a prime example of moderators who simply do not take ANY shit from ANYone.

    6. Re:Seen this before... by Duncan3 · · Score: 1

      All it takes is the anonymous part. Add that ingredient to anything, and you get the same result.

      --
      - Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
    7. Re:Seen this before... by golgotha007 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We never found an adequate defence against it.

      I run a popular forum, and I find that picking the right moderators to keep the board clean of filth is not an easy task. Once you find the right folks to help moderate, it's all cake from there.

    8. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, this is known as the "Oliver Gaspirtz" effect.

    9. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All it takes is the anonymous part. Add that ingredient to anything, and you get the same result.

      Why would someone be a total fuckwad when no one else is around to witness their fuckwaddery?

    10. Re:Seen this before... by kenji_watanabe · · Score: 1

      I think that there is no purely technical solution, but there is a solution that is a combination of community diligence and technical tools. Slashdot has managed to stay solvent despite the goatsecxsers, hot grittsers, and more virulent trolls. Kuro5hin has managed with a different system. Ultimately it seems that there needs to be some loose hierarchy and some real reprocussions within the community to bad behavior.

    11. Re:Seen this before... by luvirini · · Score: 1

      Well, there are defences, All coming down to control. You should have probably implemented some sort of moderation system and if the situation gets bad a registration system. In short, some sort of control, be it by the community or by picked moderators.

    12. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Instead of banning someone from a forum, what about just flagging troublemakers and having their posts just be invisible to everyone else? The troll can still see their own posts and everything will appear normal, but it will seem like they are just being ignored.

      If you kick someone off, they'll find an alias and new IP and return for more attention. If they think they are just being ignored, they'll find somewhere else to play.

    13. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason there aren't as many anti-black or anti-mexican websites as there [cw]ould be is because most providers won't host them. If not because of the bad publicity, then because there are more than a few kiddies out there who specifically like to DDoS those kinds of sites.

      -an ex large webhosting company employee

    14. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ala groklaw?

    15. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right on. Exactly what happens on slashdot.

    16. Re:Seen this before... by Chriscypher · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've seen people do similar at parties. The 'rogue' joins a small group, steers the conversation towards some topic, then exits on to to the next small group to repeat. The party takes on the general tone of the agitator. I confronted one agitator who fessed up. He did it for fun. He liked to see how far he could turn the party. What I found distressing in this instance was he would steer conversations towards the morbid. Also, no one else at the party was aware of his actions.

      This also sounds a bit like what a friend used to do in chat rooms on AOL. People would go there looking for some hot chat, and he would deliberately weird them out for fun. He would weird them out with conversation so bizarre, they were incredulous they had found such a nutcase. I found this hilarious to read as a third-party, and it probably did the target some good, as they will be forewarned about anonymous fiends on the other side of their chat.

      Social manipulation is nothing new; this style of agitation once restricted to face-to-face interactions has become empowered in online social groups or forums.

      --
      "You have liberated me from thought."
    17. Re:Seen this before... by mooingyak · · Score: 1

      This also sounds a bit like what a friend used to do in chat rooms on AOL. People would go there looking for some hot chat, and he would deliberately weird them out for fun. He would weird them out with conversation so bizarre, they were incredulous they had found such a nutcase. I found this hilarious to read as a third-party, and it probably did the target some good, as they will be forewarned about anonymous fiends on the other side of their chat.


      Was he as good as the bloodninja?

      --
      William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
    18. Re:Seen this before... by Asgorath · · Score: 2, Informative

      That doesn't always work however. I run a fairly use forum that has had it's fair share of trouble. Some people are just intent on destorying and being moderated heavily just gets them the attention they want. Esp. the "there is no freedom of speech" or "Your all Nazi's" becomes a so called argument when trolls are prevented from trolling. Which of course is bull. But it can create a very unhealty atmosphere. I've known some trolls to continue returning for more then a year. They can get a bit of a personal agenda. The right mixture of banning and harsh -but fair- moderation mixed with just letting some people walk the line more then you would want them to walk seems to work better. Especially for those trolls to continue to ban-doge and seem to thrive on being banned. You don't want to create an atmosphere where among a small group of people it becomes a mark of pride to be banned. Because sadly people like that exist. Otherwise a nice conformation that your own life isn't as boring and bland as theirs must be. But overall, they are a pest that even harsh moderation doesn't work agains't.

    19. Re:Seen this before... by TCM · · Score: 2, Funny

      omg stfu who cares rofl noob

      . o O ( that'll show him. now i just need to click this "post anonymously" button, teehee. )

      --
      Of course it runs NetBSD. BTC: 1NT7QvbetmANwaMzhpVL6
    20. Re:Seen this before... by Laebshade · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Moderation. If I don't feel something is on-topic, and especially if it's spam (of course if it's spam), I delete the comment. Sometimes I edit it for grammar and spelling. I have never censored a post for it being crude or lewd, though I've never had to (and probably never will). The point is: it is MY website and I will do with it what I want to. Even if it becomes a giant mammoth like Slashdot (never will).

    21. Re:Seen this before... by Khalid · · Score: 1

      Just make the perturbators invisible, everybody will ignore them, if you ban them, they will find another alias and start again.

    22. Re:Seen this before... by doofoo · · Score: 1

      I put on my robe and wizard hat... :)

    23. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Esp. the "there is no freedom of speech" or "Your all Nazi's" becomes a so called argument when trolls are prevented from trolling"

      I get this on mine as well all the time. Its straight fromt the troll script.

      I explain it this way, freedom of speech is a government role -- in public one should be able to say what they want. In your own home, you have the right to pick and choose who you want in your living room and no government is going to force you to keep the couch open for those you don't like or agree with or even irrationally don't want.

      Beyond that, we are all different than nazis -- even at the most base discription. Unlike the Nazi's you aren't born into a situation you can't escape. You are free to go where you want, but you have to follow our rules. I encourage these guys to start their own sites...one of the sites purely based off the hatred of my own has now 300 members (though, only 15 are active). I'm actually thinking of pdfing a check list of what it takes to run a community along with resources needed and giving this as a going away gift. No hard feelings -- we just don't want them there.

      Running a forum is easy as long as you have the resources.

    24. Re:Seen this before... by mkuki · · Score: 1

      I know what you mean. The relative anonymity of the net allows people to say things that they would not otherwise say to someones face. I think that says something pretty bad about us as people. All it takes is one troll to ruin a message board/discussio n group.

    25. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't see why IP ban clients couldn't do the trick
      Go over to the NetStumbler Forums

      Strange, If there is on set of forum visitors who have a limitless supply of ip addresses its the netstumbler users ;-)
    26. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What problem?

      If the person running the Orkut community wants to, he can ban anyone.

      Thus, these communities become self-selecting, and everyone finds their own level of acceptable group behavior.

      It's only a problem if you insist on letting just anyone post, without restrictions.

    27. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't anyone bother to read the article before posting?

      Orkut is invitation only - by definition, you are not going to have these kinds of problems, because these are small, self-selecting groups, controlled by their originators, not by some nebulous "community".

      If you aren't invited to join the group, you aren't even going to be aware of its existance or what goes on there, unless the usual group of whiners draws attention to it, as per this article.

      No one cares about this, except the usual group of totalitarians who want to ban everything "for the children" or "for equality" or to make the world "safe for democracy" or some such lunacy.

    28. Re:Seen this before... by 1u3hr · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Why not implement a type of self-censorship by the memebers of the sort that Slashdot uses? There certainly is enough hatemongering going on here, and Slashdot is far from perfect, but it seems to be evolving towards something that sort of works. Thoughts?

      Because there is one Slashdot community; but thousands of Orkuts. You choose which to belong to. So for instance, what kind of people would you find in the "All niggers/faggots/Arabs/Catholics/etc. must die" group? Not a normal cross-section of society who might moderate the views expressed.

      Actually, I don't see there is a need to censor these groups at all. They exist, the views expressed are repugnant; but they are not broadcast and are accessible only to the invited members of that group. Obviously law enforcement can infiltrate them to see if they're planning anythng in the real world.

    29. Re:Seen this before... by sketerpot · · Score: 1

      That's why you require a unique non-hotmail (etc.) account to sign up. It generally works pretty well.

    30. Re:Seen this before... by Cracell · · Score: 0

      strict moderator is usually the cure to this

      sure you still have problems and piss some people off real bad, but it usually works pretty well

      if everyone had static ip's it'd be easier, anyways though usually strict moderation works

      I find orkut annoying and useless for me (and most people) anyways

      btw is this hate on orkut by people towards brazilians, by brazilians towards others, or amunst brazilians

      --
      Signatures are so 90s
    31. Re:Seen this before... by fm6 · · Score: 1
      Agreed. Speaking of which, has anybody noticed an upsurge in lame AC lurkers on Slashdot lately?

      A lot of Internet problems stem from people abusing their ability to do things anonymously. Spam is a prime example. It woulnd't be such a nasty problem is a return address were a real proof of identity, not something easily forged.

    32. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Ring of Gyges. Its a greek story about ethics. The ring allows people to be invisible. So moral of the story is that people who can be invisible can do anything they want and get away with it. It's why the military is so interested in "stealth" technology and why corruption tends to hide in obfuscated layers of plausible deniability.

    33. Re:Seen this before... by metamatic · · Score: 1

      The trouble with having a team of censors, is you have to be very careful or else the censors become a bigger menace than the trolls. (See .signature link.)

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    34. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I resent that.

    35. Re:Seen this before... by MyDixieWrecked · · Score: 1

      I still think the greatest part of that comic is the "2+3=cats" part.

      --



      ...spike
      Ewwwwww, coconut...
    36. Re:Seen this before... by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 1

      ...having their posts just be invisible to everyone else? The troll can still see their own posts and everything will appear normal, but it will seem like they are just being ignored.

      yeah, totally, then you find out he was dead all along!

    37. Re:Seen this before... by Queer+Boy · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Social manipulation is nothing new; this style of agitation once restricted to face-to-face interactions has become empowered in online social groups or forums.

      They're not empowered they're just an X-factor. In social settings people who agitate consistently are shunned from the group. Usually all it takes is someone to realise what that person is doing and then challenge them. That's Sociology 101. Betas quite often exhibit this behaviour just to get beat down by the Alpha.

      I think the behaviour is more masochistic than sadistic because the outcome will not be that people will be inflicted with anguish, the outcome is the instigator becomes the target of aggression.

      --
      Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
    38. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      > I've seen people do similar at parties. The 'rogue' joins a small group, steers the conversation towards some topic, then exits on to to the next small group to repeat. The party takes on the general tone of the agitator. I confronted one agitator who fessed up. He did it for fun. He liked to see how far he could turn the party.

      Oh, man. If I were the sort of guy who got invited to parties, I'd so do this the next time I got invited to a party. That sounds fucking hilarious!

    39. Re:Seen this before... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Usenet has had the problem of sockpuppets for years. would suspect that a few of the racists I've seen on newsgroups are probably just trolls who get huge kicks out of getting every poster on the newsgroup up in arms.

      There are some genuinely nasty people out there, however. Matt Giwer, who is one of the filthiest Holocaust Deniers around, is a good example.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    40. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ...upsurge in lame AC lurkers...

      I'm sorry. I'll try to be more mature.

      Sincerely,
      Anonymous Coward
    41. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      haha your stupid forum has zero posters

    42. Re:Seen this before... by Gadgetfreak · · Score: 1

      Oh, sure, blame the minorities...

      --
      "No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
    43. Re:Seen this before... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously haven't heard of a packet sniffer before. Combined with a compromised system near google or a little DNS poisoning (or even a custom piece of spyware) that will give anyone who cares access to the private groups.

    44. Re:Seen this before... by Laebshade · · Score: 1

      That hurts a lot coming from an Anonymous Coward.

  4. Hate and Racism.... by lachlan76 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ....And this is different to real life how?

    Hate and racism exists, has always existed, and will always exist.

    As much as I hate racism, I don't think that trying to legislate people's beliefs is the answer.

    Sure, don't let them act on their beliefs, but if they want to say things, why shouldn't they?

    1. Re:Hate and Racism.... by MoonFog · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because a forum dedicated to a certain topic shouldn't be flooded by inane and pointless racist remarks. Such a forum is privately owned, and freedom of speech is up to the owner, and it can definitely stirr up and ruin the experience for regulars if the problem becomes too large.
      Hell, look at Slashdot. What if there weren't moderations, how many GNAA and Goatse ascii drawings wouldn't there be in every topic on the front page?

    2. Re:Hate and Racism.... by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      It's fair for them to just delete their accounts and posts (they're violating the TOS after all) but I don't think this kind of thing should be a criminal matter, as the summary seems to say.

    3. Re:Hate and Racism.... by DoktorTomoe · · Score: 1

      To make an example to this point: Just look what a mess Usenet Groups targeted to eastern cultures are (soc.culture.japan is no longer about japanese culture, but about chinese hateing japanese, japanese hateing chinese and koreans, americans hateing them all, and of course everyone has to troll around).

      Freedom of speech may be one of the integral principles of American heritage, but this certainly is FoS gone wrong.

    4. Re:Hate and Racism.... by MoonFog · · Score: 1

      That's bit different, I agree, I understodd your post as saying "if they want to post that stuff, let them". That's the part I don't agree with, I don't think criminalising it will lead to much good.

    5. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      OTOH, if you're a black racist against whites you can have a successful career in movies, music, comedy, etc.

    6. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "What if there weren't moderations, how many GNAA and Goatse ascii drawings wouldn't there be in every topic on the front page?"

      Slashhole, News for Nerds, Stuff that shatters

    7. Re:Hate and Racism.... by DaScribbler · · Score: 1
      Sure, don't let them act on their beliefs, but if they want to say things, why shouldn't they?

      Simple enough to answer... because it's cruel, disrespectful, and accomplishes nothing more than to promote hatred. I think it's a foregone conclusion that flawed teenage logic like your statements allude to can't appreciate such a simple concept. Justify what you want with barbed questions and logic; After all, nations have been known to go to war over the same simpleton outlook.

    8. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ....And this is different to real life how?

      It is real life. The article is about real people using real computers to talk about real subjects.

    9. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Vellmont · · Score: 1


      I don't think that trying to legislate people's beliefs is the answer.

      I agree with you, but where is anyone trying to legislate peoples beliefs? Brazil?

      --
      AccountKiller
    10. Re:Hate and Racism.... by sgant · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The people that post racist remarks anonymously aren't really racists for the most part...they're simply trying to upset people and "rage" the forum ala myg0t.

      They want to piss people off and the quickest and most effective way is to post racial remarks.

      Real racists...and belive me I grew up in a racist environment with Klan rallies going on about a mile from my house...are usually up front about their racism and shout it out non-anonymously.

      Now, there are exceptions of course.

      --

      "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
    11. Re:Hate and Racism.... by lachlan76 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Sounds a lot like you're saying "they think different to me, but I'm right, so they must be wrong".

      Just because you (along with the majority of people) think one thing doesn't mean that you should be able to silence the opinions of the minorities.

      We as a people have been cruel, disrepectful, and promoting hatred for thousands of years...don't just think that everyone will suddenly change. Just because the majority has doesn't mean that everyone will.

      What's next? Banning anything that doesn't agree with you?

    12. Re:Hate and Racism.... by fireboy1919 · · Score: 1

      You have a very valid point. It just doesn't have anything to do with the actual article (and presumably nothing to do with the problem).

      The article is stating that hate mongering groups are starting their own little clubs on google. They want to be flooded by inane and pointless racist remarks. Hasn't this mostly been the way of such groups? Exist in exclusive forms for a long time where the ugliness cannot be seen, and come out only when there is sufficient political power to destroy the object of obsession.

      --
      Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
    13. Re:Hate and Racism.... by dbIII · · Score: 1
      Because a forum dedicated to a certain topic shouldn't be flooded by inane and pointless racist remarks.
      You've just described what USENET became a few years ago.
    14. Re:Hate and Racism.... by agraupe · · Score: 1

      This is precisely my opinion on the issue. Everyone is guilty of thinking racist thoughts, because it is natural to think of your own ethnic group as superior. It is, as far as I can tell, a human instinct. I think if people want to be racist in opinion or speech, they should be perfectly able to do so, provided they don't act on it. Once you start legislating what people can and can't say, it becomes a very slippery slope, and it's one that I, for one, would not like to slide down.

    15. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      They want to piss people off and the quickest and most effective way is to post racial remarks.

      Your're only saying that because you're ${color} and smell like ${smell}.

      #Please replace the substitution variables with your preferred offensive values.

      There. Must not forget to post anonymously...

    16. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Because a forum dedicated to a certain topic shouldn't be flooded by inane and pointless racist remarks.

      95% of those remarks are because the english-speaking forum topics are being flooded by people yammering in Portugese. Nobody understands what they're saying, they don't understand what the English speakers are saying, and its impossible to maintain a conversation with people speaking English when Orkut's Brazilian population outnumbers the English-speaking population. Furthermore, its impossible to tell them to go away or create a Portugese-speaking forum to yammer in.

      It's sad that Final Fantasy Online is the only massive multi-lingual environment success story I know of, where people who speak different languages manage to operate together without exploding on contact. Perhaps the world has a lot to learn from this game.

    17. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 1
      because it's cruel, disrespectful, and accomplishes nothing more than to promote hatred.

      Censorship - using force to silence people - is more cruel and disrespectful, and accomplishes nothing more than to promote the views of the censored party.

      The cure for hate speech is truth, logic, laughter, and love. Not threats of violence.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    18. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you think some more, you might find that there
      is more than "wrong" and "right".

      And please, this "what's next" makes it really
      hard to take you serious.

    19. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the cure against murder is trueth, logic,
      laughter, and love. We still jail murderers.

    20. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      soc.culture.japan is no longer about japanese culture

      Bad example. Japan has no indigenous culture - it's all a bad derivative of their western neighbors.

    21. Re:Hate and Racism.... by DoktorTomoe · · Score: 1

      Actually haveing achived a Masters Degree in Japanese History, I disagree. There were adaptions, yes, but Spain also has had its adaptions from Italy. Nontheless, there are clear variations of Spanish and Italian Cultures.

    22. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's a black racist against whites going to do? He can't even hold his day job at McDonalds. Society ignores them. White racists would get the job done. That's why society doesn't like them.

    23. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Because a forum dedicated to a certain topic shouldn't be flooded by inane and pointless racist remarks.
      You didn't bother read the article, did you?

      These are invitation-only groups dedicated precisely for the purpose of making "racist" remarks, ergo, such remarks are not pointless when made on such a forum.

      Get it now?
    24. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Rone · · Score: 1

      What's a black racist against whites going to do?

      "There's a honkey driving through OUR neighborhood! Let's jack her car and shoot her in the street like a dog!"

      What if her only "crime" was being a tourist unfamiliar with the city who took a wrong turn with her rental?

      QED

      Racism is unforgivable no matter who's doing it to whom.

    25. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everyone is guilty of thinking racist thoughts, because it is natural to think of your own ethnic group as superior. It is, as far as I can tell, a human instinct.

      Odd, I must not be human. I think there's a huge 'nurture' component to go with your 'human nature' argument. Some Xenophobia is natural in most species, because it is safer to stay away from something unknown. Human society is also rife with conflicts over resources, so we have learned to oppose our fellow man when he is not part of our own group. However, the society we grow up in does the biggest part in defining our group. If we didn't make such a big deal about race all the time, then it wouldn't be such a big deal.

      Anyway, to present a counter to your argument, people have been acting on those thoughts for most of human history. If you wait for each person to act on their thoughts then you get a lot of crimes happening as you stand around. Racism can also do a lot of damage that falls short of crimes. We have these horrible affirmative-action quotas because otherwise the racists will just make sure that the only qualified candidates are their preferred races. Even little things like how they speak and behave around someone of another race can be hateful. Preventative action is the only way to not have a victim.

      Now, Orwell in 1984 shows that by guiding people's throughts and speech, you can control their actions. If we can prevent people people from thinking racist thoughts, then we don't have to worry about any sort of racist actions. The less they are allowed to speak about it, the less they can think about it, and the less they can influence others to think about it. Eventually it just goes away.

      Now, any argument that uses 1984 as an example of how to run a government very much falls into the slippery slope category. The people should tell the government what to think, not the other way around. People should also be allowed to follow their own beliefs, despite what the majority thinks. The argument that people should only be controlled when they are hurting others is perfectly reasonable. The problem with it is that countless people are getting hurt by racism every day, and often in ways far too subtle to litigate. The only way to prevent harm is to get people to stop thinking about race in the first place.

      Contrary to what every politician would like you to think, there are no easy answers to society's problems. Everything is a compromise.

    26. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      We still jail murderers.

      Some we elect to the U.S. Senate. Over and over again.

    27. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Lemmy+Caution · · Score: 1

      It depends on the nature of the speech. Threats, blackmail, libel, and conspiracy to do something are all forms of "speech," but they're crimes, too. If someone is, for example, writing racist crap that directly targets nn individual, I think it's no longer a speech issue.

      See J.L. Austin's "How to Do Things With Words" and John Searle's "Speech Acts" for their explanation of the types of speech that aren't just speech: they include things like promising, betting, and even marrying people.

    28. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some owners have a free and open system where people can say what they want without censorship or fear of being moderated or edited. It's thier right to do so. Even if you dont agree with it.

    29. Re:Hate and Racism.... by Louis+A.+J. · · Score: 1
      Real racists...and belive me I grew up in a racist environment with Klan rallies going on about a mile from my house...are usually up front about their racism and shout it out non-anonymously.

      If that's the case then why the white hood? There must be at least some importance in using the mask of annonymity to allow or encourage hatred and racism to come forth.

      How many people are afraid of doing something for fear of screwing up or of being humilated? But if you can do it annonymously to 'try it out,' many more are willing to give it a shot.

    30. Re:Hate and Racism.... by jcr · · Score: 1

      I don't think that trying to legislate people's beliefs is the answer.

      The question at hand isn't whether to legislate, it's whether to toss a small group of obnoxious people off of a private service, to make the service better for everyone else.

      Orkut's options are clear: they can toss the nazis, or watch Orkut become another USENET.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    31. Re:Hate and Racism.... by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      The summary implied that it was going to be a criminal matter.

    32. Re:Hate and Racism.... by osssmkatz · · Score: 1

      A belief must have a basis. People believe in Jesus because they were moved, although even that is questionable. An opinion must be defensible without hiding--that is why they call it "free" speech.

      Read John-Paul-Satre.

      --Sam

    33. Re:Hate and Racism.... by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      Now people have to be able to prove their beliefs? When did that start?

    34. Re:Hate and Racism.... by stanmann · · Score: 1

      Frequently you will notice that the hood does not cover the face and is a part of their ceremonial attire.

      Further, the hatred is very much confused... for example While driving home from burning a cross on someone's yard, it is entirely possible that He(hood and cloak guy) might stop to help a damsel in distress with a flat tire and not be detered by noticing that the damsel in distress was of a different shade of melanin.

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
  5. freedom of speech and all that by rve · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As I understand it from the article, these hate mongering forums on Orkut are invitation only private thingies where people express their private hate mongering expressions to their fellow hate mongers. What exactly is the problem here?

    Now if they were to barge in on other forums and express those opinions, it could be considered harassment, and that really is a problem, and probably also illegal is your country, but as far as I know expressing unpleasant opinions in private is considered legal.

    1. Re:freedom of speech and all that by lachlan76 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The TOS says they can't.

    2. Re:freedom of speech and all that by rve · · Score: 1

      fair point

    3. Re:freedom of speech and all that by slavemowgli · · Score: 2, Informative

      RTFA. Many of the offending users aren't from the USA (which is not a surprise considering the majority of Orkut users in general aren't), and many countries outside the USA (Brazil, many European countries and so on) *do* have legislation against hate speech.

      Furthermore, as was already pointed out, it's also a violation of the TOS, so even in cases where there's no crime being committed, people are still abusing the service.

      --
      quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    4. Re:freedom of speech and all that by mboverload · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      I thought that retarded, rasist people were only from the South united states.

      I guess you learn something everyday, right?

    5. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      also, as noted in the article, people with like minded views who meet other such people tend to get even more worked up.

      When you're on a SciFi board and everyone talks of their fond memories of episode x, they get all excited.

      When bad people get together, they tend to get as excited. With the flaw in their logic system (lets face it, prejudice is a major flaw), they are gonna 'talk' about doing things.

      How many of you read the articles about the guy in the US who tried to get a internet suicide thing going?

      My point is, because there is potential for hateful action, this sort of behaviour needs to be pushed back, even if its to save that one AOL teen who is googling for NeoNazi friendster

    6. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other countries might not share americans values regarding free speech (even my native Netherlands, where it's ilegal to belittle or denay the uniqueness of the holocaust, so technicly it's ilegal for me to that communists killed more people than national socialists). However thats not really a problem for a USA based company.

    7. Re:freedom of speech and all that by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Canada has laws against hate speech too. They charged someone under these laws for trying to spread that the holocaust didn't actually happen, that it was all a hoax. You have to be spreading completely untrue fud. But I believe, even in the states there are laws about what you can say.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    8. Re:freedom of speech and all that by slavemowgli · · Score: 1

      True (although it might be for users from Brazil who indulge in racism like that).

      That being said... are you sure that saying that in the USSR under Stalin's regime, more people were killed than in the Holocaust (which I guess is what you mean) would be illegal in the Netherlands? I'm not from there myself, and IANAL, but based on what I know about legislation in other countries (such as Germany), I'd be surprised. In Germany, for example, at least from what I know, it's only illegal to promote the idea that the Holocaust didn't happen - comparing it to other things or belittling what happened there won't get you into legal trouble as long as you don't deny the facts.

      But, as I said, that's just Germany, and I may be wrong, too. I would be surprised if legislation in the Netherlands differed all that much, though - so, are you sure about that? (Thanks. :) I'd just be interested in hearing about it)

      --
      quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    9. Re:freedom of speech and all that by slavemowgli · · Score: 1

      There definitely are. If you yell "FIRE" in a crowded theatre, for example, you won't be able to invoke freedom of speech as a defense afterwards...

      --
      quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    10. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The law says it's ilegal to belittle or deny the uniqness of the holocaust. I doubt they actually would place any one in jail for doing it, it's simply a case of a stupidly writen law and no body caring about.

    11. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 2, Interesting

      But why not just let him say it? By banning it it actually gives what he's saying more weight to those who either already believed him or those who were on the line. The only cure for free speech is more free speech so let Zundel spout his crap and let him be. Besides, most of what he was saying was so ridiculous that it didn't need banning. He claimed the Nazis provided swimming pools for prisoners at Auschwitz for example. Do the Feds really need to step in to shut him up? He's obviously on the fringe as it is. Never mind the Constitution allows him to say whatever he wants (just not whereever or whenever he wants so don't bring out that stupid "Fire" in a theatre analogy. It's stupid.)

      --
      Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
    12. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Asgorath · · Score: 1

      Uhm, talk about FUD. Of course you can state facts, that has nothing to do with denying the holocaust. This is the kind of false arguments used by those who love to abuse the freedom of speech to further their own goals.

      I would also guess that by now the United States can't even be counted among the countries that have any real freedom of speech anymore. Seeing all that goes on there right now.

    13. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually a lot of retarded, racist people come from the Northeast, voted for Kerry and consider themselves extremely liberal Democrats.

      Most of them don't learn anything anyday because they went to some fancy pants ivory tower college and were granted infinite knowledge and wisdom so that they know better than all others what is right and good and how things should be for everyone.

    14. Re:freedom of speech and all that by aiabx · · Score: 1

      I guess the reason is that we have a fine historical example of what happens when people are bombarded with lies; a large number of people will believe the lies, and can be led to commit acts of unbelievable evil. The solution, in an ideal world, would be an enlightened populace who wouldn't fall for the lies, but the practical solution seems to be to suppress the liars.

      Of course I'm talking about Weimar Germany and the Nazis. What other destructive liemongers were you thinking of?
      -aiabx

      --
      Just this guy, you know?
    15. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Rone · · Score: 1

      I doubt they actually would place any one in jail for doing it

      I just love laws like this one.

      They never seem to be used against 99.9% of the offenders, just that small group of 0.1% that needs to be put in jail for some totally-unrelated reason.

      They're also handy as an intimidation tool to threaten people who are breaking the letter of the law, though not the spirit of the law (cf. the DMCA).

      Selective enforcement of broadly-written laws is always a quick path to a totalitarian state.


      (sadly) obligatory disclaimer: Lest the PC-obsessed be offended, the above statements should not in any way be interpreted as supportive of Holocaust-denial or other neo-Nazi thought. The author regards those ideas as intellectual trash that even moderately-intelligent people will dismiss out of hand.

    16. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You, sir, have not even bothered to read what Zundel has actually written. You're getting your "information" third hand by way of the real hate mongers, who control what you think and what you feel by media manipulation.

      Zundel is in jail in Canada right now, faced with zero actual criminal charges, based on a completely phoney extradition from the USA engineered by Jewish hate mongers in Canada and the USA, as proven by official government documents presented at his recent secret "trial" in Canada, and he can't even see the alleged evidence against him because it is a "secret" that the Canadian government won't share in open court. The same Canadian government (or rather, secret police agents thereof) that knowingly allowed a bomb to be mailed to Zundel's residence.

      What is going on in Canada right now is a disgrace to all Canadians, Americans, and people everywhere who have even a trace of justice and fair play left in their souls.

      It's a disgraceful abuse of the legal system designed solely to inflict physical and mental abuse on an old man who's done absolutely nothing wrong except state his opinions about certain historical events which we are not supposed to hear contradicting opinions about.

      Maybe if there are such harsh measures against those who question government-imposed historical orthodoxy, maybe it is time to be a little more opened minded about these alleged historical "facts" and stop repeating lies told about the "heretics" and examine instead what the heretics actually say (rather than what their accusers say that they say) and make up your own mind?

    17. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are misinformed.

      Canadian extra-legal "human rights" courts have openly declared that truth is no defense against their charges of "hate".

      Therefore, it is irrelevent in Canada whether what Zundel says is true or false - if he or anyone else says something that displeases the powers that be, they by definition have no legal rights and can be harrassed at will by legal and extra-legal means.

      Truth is no defense in Canada.

    18. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the very thinking that the rest of the country uses to let themselves off the hook for being racist. Point on finger at somebody, and you still have at least 3 pointing back at yourself.

    19. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So its not about HATE at all. Its about abuse of the service and violating the terms. If that is the case, then why make an issue of hate speech? Free speech is an inalienable right. As an american company, I would hope they support peoples natural right to free speech where ever they might live or whatever they might say.

    20. Re:freedom of speech and all that by focitrixilous+P · · Score: 1

      Freedom of speech is the right to yell THEATRE! in a crowded fire.

      --
      SAILING MISHAP
    21. Re:freedom of speech and all that by As+Seen+On+TV · · Score: 1

      As much as I despise hate speech, I'm also not a fan of thought crime.

      There's no easy answer.

    22. Re:freedom of speech and all that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why don't you read the law that he quoted from. If the law says you can't say that the communists killed more people than hitler then you can't. He isn't spreading FUD, he is simply telling you the law.

  6. Same Article? by ashkar · · Score: 1

    Is it just me or are both those articles the same?

    1. Re:Same Article? by General+Alcazar · · Score: 1

      They are both actually from the NY Times.

    2. Re:Same Article? by netsharc · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I guess the submitter wanted to pimp up the submission by giving it more than one link.

      Or maybe he was afraid the first server would get slashdotted?

      --
      What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
  7. My two cents regarding "trolls". by Antony-Kyre · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe there isn't a technological solution. It's up to each member not to feed the arguments. By not feeding the arguments, I mean a single member shouldn't try replying repeatedly to a thread that's going out of control. One reply is enough, and if someone doesn't listen, that's it.

  8. 1st Amendment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I dislike bigotry as much as the next person. But... I'll still defend the rights of bigots to say whatever they want. Just don't disturb the peace on my street corner with that crap. At the same time, I expect the bigots to back me up on MY right to tell them their fuckin stupid.

    1. Re:1st Amendment by MrRTFM · · Score: 3, Funny

      hmmm. lets see now...
      ...you are going to go up to a large group of angry bigots protesting about something [lack of manufacturing jobs/muslim terrorists/women bosses] and you *expect* them to back you up on your rights to tell them that they are dumbasses?

      1. I admire your conviction
      2. I agree with you totally
      3. I hope you have medical insurance.

      (unfortunately, in this case there is no *profit*)

      --
      You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you
    2. Re:1st Amendment by gralem · · Score: 1

      Stupid /. crowd only likes "free as in beer" speech. Meaning someone call call 9/11 victims nazis and that's OK. Someone can say "abortions for all" and that's ok. Someone can "no abortions for anyone" (same Simpson's episode) and the world freaks out! Free speech is free speech.

      I dare to guess that UofC professor would describe a statement comparing the 9/11 ATTACKERS to n-a-z-i-s as hate speech. EVERYTHING is free speech. In my mind ALL of the above statements are OK. Whenever you try to control any statement, you have a serious problem.

      ---gralem

    3. Re:1st Amendment by gralem · · Score: 1

      before people get upset about my previous statement, even the word "stupid" was carefully chosen to be "free".

      ---gralem

    4. Re:1st Amendment by Jo+Owen · · Score: 1

      What you have to realise about free speach is this. There are a hell of a lot of stupid people in this world, not all of whom are able to do anything other than be led. Free speach may be well and good in a perfect world, but a perfect world this is not. Theres way too much stupidity flying round to let everyone preach anything from the rooftops.

    5. Re:1st Amendment by northcat · · Score: 1

      Woah, you're seriously mistaken about free speech. Free speech means the government or the authority will not stop you from saying what you want. It does NOT mean that no one will protest your saying what you want. They are just exercising *their* right to free speech in protesting you. You say something and because of that organisations migh exclude you from their activities, all legally. Like, a private club might expel you. But you still haven't lost the right to free speech because you still can say whatever you want without breaking any law and the goverment is not stopping you.

    6. Re:1st Amendment by northcat · · Score: 0, Redundant

      tell them their fuckin stupid.

      Correction: they're or they are.

    7. Re:1st Amendment by fireheadca · · Score: 1

      > tell them their fuckin stupid.

      >Correction: they're or they are.

      Don't (do not) forget the 'g' on 'fuckin'.

      -Geez sum ppl.

    8. Re:1st Amendment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 1st amendment protects you from Congress taking away your free speech. Any other group has the right to restrict your speech. You can say anything you want but don't expect that everyone else will gladly listen to what you say. Free speech does not mean that you can say anything and there will not be any consequences. It means that the government will not kick your door in during the night and you will disappear.

  9. I've wondered. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With all the GNAA posts, the randomness and what not if it would be possible to impliment something like a futures market for comments. Where moderation could be done in terms of each user being allowed to carry a limited portfolio of say 10 to 20 comments at any one time with either buy or sell style settings. Then letting a market determine which is good and bad, the writers of the comments would get "points" based on the market consensus as would the people who got in early, where the people who got out late would lose points. If people went bankrupt they'd have to be interesting. Those with positive points would have them carry over some period perhaps quarterly, and the points them selves could be used like raffle entries for a modest Thinkgeek prize budget. The people who maintained the site would be able to perform an SEC like function, (blah blah censorship), and undo/kill abuse as it arises. I think such a system, which would have to be good at killing bots, would be extremely hard to game. While much that a buys site would rather not have would still be present, it'd be confined to the relative obscurity where those who are into it can wallow in it. Not unlike alt.nuke.the-USA and the like.

    1. Re:I've wondered. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PUT DOWN THE BONG!

    2. Re:I've wondered. by ikkonoishi · · Score: 2, Insightful

      An echo chamber would form quickly.

      The majority that agreed with each other would soon eliminate the minority of opposing views. Soon each person would begin to express more and more of a biased perspective as they saw no opinions other than their own. Anyone with a divergent opinion that joined would soon either be acclimated into the overall group mind or be modded down until they stopped posting.

      Soon the overall level of rhetoric in the forum would lead it participants to stage a bloody riot of cannibalism and bestiality. The souls of the damned would escape from their doom and take refuge in the recently slain. Zombies would quickly devour what is left of the living and the forces of darkness would rule over the world forever.

      Of course... Some argue that this has already happened and nobody noticed. Well I'm off to eat breakfast. Mmmm... Brain Flakes!!

      (This post actually started off serious, but then either went horribly wrong or horribly right depending on your perspective of things)

  10. It CAN be done, on a small scale by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Some of the better UseNet groups (e.g. alt.folklore.urban) have developed cultural immunity to trolls & sockpuppets. I have always found it astonishing that such an abstract place as a newsgroup proved to be defensible at all.

    John Calhoun's classic work on overcrowding in rats (synopsis - if your geography supports having a local gang to protect y'all from marauders you don't necessarily become a behavioral sink) is probably also apropos.

    1. Re:It CAN be done, on a small scale by Clover_Kicker · · Score: 1

      >Some of the better UseNet groups (e.g. alt.folklore.urban) have
      >developed cultural immunity to trolls & sockpuppets.

      Yeah, but it requires discipline from *every member* of the community. Not many communities can pull that off.

  11. identifying people to monitor by lkcl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    nah, i think it's _great_ that people set up these sites.

    they are identifying themselves to the world and to the intelligence services "come and get me, we're dumb enough to tell you who we are and dumb enough to _write down_ what we _really_ think".

    1. Re:identifying people to monitor by Guppy06 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      they are identifying themselves to the world and to the intelligence services "come and get me, we're dumb enough to tell you who we are and dumb enough to _write down_ what we _really_ think".

      You're all for the prosecutions of thought crimes, I see.

      I'm living in a country whose founding act was 56 people doing exactly what you're laughing at: listing exactly what they thought and putting their names on it, all but asking to be punished for the document. Part of what they believed in was that everybody had the same right to find happiness as the next guy, which means that holding an opinion, no matter how detestable, shouldn't be a crime and shouldn't be punished.

      It would appear that you are not of the same belief.

    2. Re:identifying people to monitor by lkcl · · Score: 1

      who says i'm laughing? did you see any smileys or comments indicating "laughter"?

      did i say "to think is to commit a crime"?

      no - what i implied was that there now exists a place where what people say is recorded - evidence that could be used if they ACTED or CAUSED people to act on what they are thinking.

      thinking is fine. incitement to violence, racial hatred or other criminal acts is not fine.

    3. Re:identifying people to monitor by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

      Not to piss on your cornflakes so to speak, but John Handcock was the only one to sign the DoI before it was distributed. That is why his signature is so big. All the other ones were added on later.

    4. Re:identifying people to monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      does this also apply during times of war? How many people were lambasted during recent times for their opinions against said country's actions in a foreign country?

      "say what you like"*

      *provided it's what we want you to say

    5. Re:identifying people to monitor by houghi · · Score: 1

      Part of what they believed in was that everybody had the same right to find happiness as the next guy, which means that holding an opinion, no matter how detestable, shouldn't be a crime and shouldn't be punished.

      It would appear that you are not of the same belief.


      And what if he did? I believe you are living in the same country that afterwards 'prosecuted' people for being a communist and attacking countries for not having the same opinion as your country.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    6. Re:identifying people to monitor by helix_r · · Score: 1



      Its not about "thought crimes", whatever that is.

      Its about a small group of creepy people ruining a collective (yet private) internet space-- sort of like having a party with a loose guest list and then having really uncool and really annoying people show up and offend everyone.

    7. Re:identifying people to monitor by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 1

      I agree, they are leaving themselves open to be argued with.

      They may not listen but that's another crime.

      Arresting them for their ideas is possible because their beliefs are against most laws but trying to understand and explain reality to them might be more productive.

    8. Re:identifying people to monitor by ky11x · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I applaud you, sir, for this wonderful bit of troll. This is what is called a "holier-than-thou" troll where the poster cleverly reveals that the other person's position can be twisted and misunderstood in a way that would make it the very opposite of motherhood, baseball, and apple pie. All right-thinking Americans ought to despise anyone who holds the other person's opinion.

      Except of course the other side said nothing of the sort that you pretend they said. There's nothing about prosecution of thought crimes in there.

    9. Re:identifying people to monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      > I'm living in a country whose founding act was 56 people doing exactly what you're laughing at:

      They're dead now. Their words are nothing more than ink on paper. The government they founded, and the citizens subject thereto, have moved on. I suggest you do likewise.

    10. Re:identifying people to monitor by identity0 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, cause Americans are so tolerant of "thought crimes" like making CDs and DVDs, and using computers to spread "Anti-coalition propaganda".

      One man's "free speech" is another's "propaganda", I guess...

    11. Re:identifying people to monitor by ewe2 · · Score: 1

      That country ceased to exist decades ago, or do you think McCarthyism happened somewhere else? You're still free to believe in the founding myth, but your freedom is being ignored in reality.

      --
      insecurity asks the wrong question irritation gives the wrong answer
  12. Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by Phybersyk0 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    somethingawful.com actually has a great method of controlling this:

    1. It's free to browse the forums.
    2. If you wanna post/reply - it'll cost you $10
    3. Custom Titles & avatars -- another $10
    4. If you make a "shit post" (among which blatant racism i.e. "post pictures of black people eating cliche' foods") or even single-word posts will automatically result in your message thread being "gassed" and your account being banned -- resulting in YOU having to pay another $10.

    1. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by fireboy1919 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ...which is why so few have an account on somethingawful.com.

      It's like they're saying "come here and listen to all the people who paid us money. Your opinion doesn't matter until you do too."

      --
      Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
    2. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by agraupe · · Score: 1

      Ummm... there are quite a few forum members, and I, for one, am considering purchasing one. $10 really isn't that much, compared to my monthly MMORPG (WoW) subscription.

    3. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by agraupe · · Score: 1

      Shoving is the answer. Shoving will protect you from the Terrible Secret of Space. Pak chooie unf.

    4. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by Sentry21 · · Score: 1

      I think that's a really good idea, actually, and I expect it would work surprisingly well.

      I've said for years now that the way to encourage thoughtful commentary on Slashdot is to eliminate Anonymous Cowards and limit to one account per e-mail (maybe this is already the case), and I still stand by that. People nowadays are too willing to just spout off kneejerk reactions or mindless bullshit, because they can just check the box and suddenly there are no reprocussions for their actions.

      If you have something to say and you are afraid to put your name to it, then you either are saying something that shouldn't be said, or you are a frightened little child worrying too much about what others think. I've never posted anonymously (except that one time I couldn't log in), and I've been moderated up down and sideways. So what?

      Anonymous Cowards exist only to let people be total fuckwads without reprocussions. Take that away, and the S/N ratio would improve dramatically.

    5. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by mpupu · · Score: 1

      Well, you can change your "Anonymous Modifier" under preferences to something like -6, and all those comments will go away. Me? I prefer listening to everyone.

    6. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You want to pay for the priviledge of joining a forum that bans you based on someone else's whim?

      Gee, I can already do that for free.

      Just goes to show you: a fool and his money are soon parted.

    7. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by strelitsa · · Score: 1

      Did you get caught up in this recent "terrorist" attack on WoW? I know somebody who did, and thought it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

      --
      No mod points, no meta-moderating/Firehose/all the other free work Slashdot wants me to do.
    8. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you care how he spends his money?

    9. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by Sime208 · · Score: 1

      Does that mean rich people can be as racist is they like?

    10. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by Phybersyk0 · · Score: 1

      nope -- they will get continuously banned until their credit card/pay pal account is fully depleted

      or the user gets permabanned.

    11. Re:Do You Have Stairs In Your House? by Phybersyk0 · · Score: 1

      Fireboy1919 said: ...which is why so few have an account on somethingawful.com.

      It's like they're saying "come here and listen to all the people who paid us money. Your opinion doesn't matter until you do too."


      That's not what they're saying at all -- They just want to encourage people to contribute something meaningful -- for awhile there people were getting banned for using AOL/l33tspeak (LOL, ROFL -etc).

  13. NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by djsmiley · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hey, everyones saying...

    "oh i saw them on blogs", "i saw them on site x, y and z"....

    No ones noticed that we have this ALL the time on slashdot? How do we fix it? We leave a warning for all, and then we ignore it. Simple as pie.

    The fact is racistism, and all *ism's will NEVER go away, but this doesn't mean that you can't choose to not care about them. These people have nothing better to do with their lifes, pity them, they are the ones that become nothing.

    Slashdot, would be totally, totally ruined (far worse than people claim it is) if people took any notice of the trolls, but the whole fact that we DONT means they dont get anywhere.

    People are racist in the streets, some people do it without even thinking about it, and would never do it if they realised they were. It happens, why can't humanity get over it?

    Because humanity, wishes to be pefect, when people finally accept that we ARE a flawed race, then we might finally start bonding together.

    Someone said "its from the cause of overpopulation". Nope, your wrong... Its from people creating value of other people. Its from people having something, someone else wants. No person really hated someone else for the colour of their skin, they hated them for some other reason, yet people are stupid and they look for hte easilest flaw to blame, which in most cases is the fact that someone has differently coloured skin.

    I ware glasses, and people used to use this as a method of getting to me, it was actually the fact that i did damn well in school, even when i had only 50%~ attendance, and they were jelious. Yet the only way they could get at me, would be making jokes about my glasses. They couldn't cope when i made jokes about my glasses too, when i would turn around and use them as an aerial for the radio which wouldn't work. It would confuse them to have someone putting them selfs down.

    Im not saying that anyone should go "Hey look, im black, i might as well set my self on fire" or anything stupid like this. This isn't the point, the point is there is many underlying issues, which causes this hatrid, most of the time, the person effected cannot change this either, as they mostly didn't cause the problem in the first place. So they have to look on and say "What can i do? Nothing.... so i ignore it".

    it might anger them to see someone writing these things, but its not like they could ever change this person, so why waste time worrying about it. It wont change the world, it wont stop kids bullying others over stupid little things like this.

    Ignore it, it might not go away, but at least then it wont effect you?

    --
    - http://www.milkme.co.uk
    1. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      it was actually the fact that i did damn well in school, even when i had only 50%~ attendance

      I think they were jelious coz you were doing damn well in school with your most excellent spelling skillz.

    2. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Homology · · Score: 4, Insightful
      No ones noticed that we have this ALL the time on slashdot? How do we fix it? We leave a warning for all, and then we ignore it. Simple as pie.

      Go read the comments of any outsouring story on Slashdot, and you'll find many racist comments moderated Insightful or Informative. It's a real disappointment that so many Slashdotters are nothing more than bigots.

      The fact is racistism, and all *ism's will NEVER go away, but this doesn't mean that you can't choose to not care about them. These people have nothing better to do with their lifes, pity them, they are the ones that become nothing.

      "All what the good men have to do for Evil to triumf is to do nothing".

    3. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Vellmont · · Score: 1


      it was actually the fact that i did damn well in school, even when i had only 50%~ attendance, and they were jelious

      You just might want to check your spelling, grammar, etc before you start talking about how smart you are.

      it might anger them to see someone writing these things, but its not like they could ever change this person, so why waste time worrying about it. It wont change the world, it wont stop kids bullying others over stupid little things like this.

      Google worries about it because they don't want to provide a private forum for people to talk about hate. What company wants to support a forum where people do this? These forums aren't open to the public, since the forum is invite only so any "wouldn't you rather have this out in the open rather than hidden?" arguments go out the door. It's like a bar owner kicking out neo-nazi meetings from the back-room.

      You talk about this kind of thing never going away. You're right, but that doesn't mean Google should provide resources to this kind of thing. Let people that want to talk hate-speech spend their own money setting up private forums if that's what they want.

      --
      AccountKiller
    4. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by hanssprudel · · Score: 1

      I ware glasses, [...] i did damn well in school, even when i had only 50%~ attendance, and they were jelious.

      The classes you skipped didn't include grammar and spelling by any chance?

    5. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by WanderingGhost · · Score: 1

      I ware glasses, and people used to use this as a method of getting to me, it was actually the fact that i did damn well in school, even when i had only 50%~ attendance, and they were jelious. Yet the only way they could get at me, would be making jokes about my glasses. They couldn't cope when i made jokes about my glasses too, when i would turn around and use them as an aerial for the radio which wouldn't work. It would confuse them to have someone putting them selfs down.

      I know what you mean, and I did that several times too in my life (not even because others were bothering me, but because it's FUN!) However, this is not something someone else can do for you. The person (or community) being offended needs to agree to do that, to make fun of themselves, to not care about what others say.
      But the big problem is, what several of these groups do is not only "make fun of people". They can get violent. Since the article mentions Brazil: I am Brazilian, and I'm telling you, part of those Brazilian racist groups are skinheads and similars. Making fun of yourself doesn't help in this case (which is unfortunate...)

    6. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by slavemowgli · · Score: 1

      Do you have any examples of racist comments on slashdot being modded up? I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I'm not really sure about "many" - I can't say I've ever seen one myself really, and I do read (parts of) slashdot quite extensively.

      Any examples would be appreciated. :)

      --
      quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    7. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck'n curry smell'n dotheads! They ain't gett'n MY job!

    8. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Saeger · · Score: 1
      People are racist in the streets, some people do it without even thinking about it

      That's because racism is natural. It takes a "better person" to rise above their primitive Us vs Them evolutionary psychology.

      I'm one of those so-called secular humanists... and I'll be damned if the aliens are going to take our planet Earth! No good bug-eyed greys!

      --
      Power to the Peaceful
    9. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by ngc.for.life · · Score: 1
      No ones noticed that we have this ALL the time on slashdot? How do we fix it? We leave a warning for all, and then we ignore it. Simple as pie. The fact is racistism, and all *ism's will NEVER go away, but this doesn't mean that you can't choose to not care about them. These people have nothing better to do with their lifes, pity them, they are the ones that become nothing.

      WRONG!
      Ignorance is no solution to most problems. Especially if it's racism. What ignorance leads to you can see when you look at Germany in the 1930s. Some ignored Hitler, some didn't take him serious. We all know what happened afterwards so don't pretend ignorance solves the problem. It simply doesn't work that way.

      Someone said "its from the cause of overpopulation". Nope, your wrong... Its from people creating value of other people. Its from people having something, someone else wants.

      So racists envy blacks because blacks have something that racists want?

      Wrong again. What does a man/woman have automatically just because his skin colour is more brown/yellow/red/blue/green/pink or whatever? Well, apart from less problems with the sun if it's brown...
      Racists think that humans are primarily determined by their race and that some races are superior to other races. In most cases - of course - their own race is the one who is superior.
    10. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1
      Go read the comments of any outsouring story on Slashdot, and you'll find many racist comments moderated Insightful or Informative.

      You'll also see plenty of perfectly reasonable posts moderated Flamebait or Troll:

      Poster: I just don't deal with companies that outsource their tech support. If I can't understand the person on the phone, then my money was wasted.
      Hyper-PC Mod: Oh, you're a bigot! I must silence you! Flamebait!

      Much of racism is subjective. Some people see it everywhere, even when most reasonable people would disagree. For better or worse, "racism!" is becoming the new "wolf!" On the one hand, some legitimate complaints are probably being ignored. On the other hand, one bonehead with an axe to grind is less likely to end someone else's career with a single accusation. The former is bad, but the latter is definitely a Good Thing.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    11. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by maxume · · Score: 1

      Is racism really natural? The us versus them thing seems more like tribalism to me. It is interesting that you frame your comments about "Us vs Them" with a statement about us(better people, secular humanists?) vs them(primitive racists).

      I'm not really sure it takes a better person. It is difficult to seperate the person from thier experience, but are you really superior to someone because your life has led you to rise above your pathetic evolutionary psychology, or are you just better off?

      My point isn't really to misinterpret your statements so badly, as your last line clearly indicates you have a sense of perspective about them, but more to point out just how open to misinterpretation they are.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    12. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by maxume · · Score: 1

      It has always facinated me that Hitler wasn't Aryan. I would also say that a lot of racists probably don't see other races as human, they don't want to identify with them that much.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    13. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by djsmiley · · Score: 1

      Well, thats a legal issue now, not one of googles to decide.

      If someone reads something off a website (or hate forum) and then go out and do something, does it make it the forums / websites fault?

      Well, when kids shoot people because they did it it in a game... blame the game or the parents?

      Sadly, its socialty at fault, letting people thingk these kinds of thigns are right.

      And to all my replies, im dylesic

      --
      - http://www.milkme.co.uk
    14. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by WanderingGhost · · Score: 1

      If someone reads something off a website (or hate forum) and then go out and do something, does it make it the forums / websites fault?

      I agree with you, but it seems taht both in Brazil and in the US (as well as several other countries) there is a growing feeling that "people must be controlled". And making the medium responsible for the message is one of the ways to control people. (Think Napster and P2P in general).
      It may have to be with overpopulation: it's all hard to control, and the problems become more evident -- but more rules and control are not the answer, IMHO. Less people and decentralization would be much better. (But then the &@#^ Economy would stop growing, wouldn't it?)

      By the way... Before people start bashing me: When I say "less people" I don't mean we should start killing the oens who are already there. Just stopping making so many more human beings would help... And I also don't like the idea of a fee per extra children (er, noone in the world would think of that would they? Hmmmm?) It's all about education... Tell people that more people means a world that is harder to keep organized (not to mention less resources and other problems), and see if they stop, er, "reproducing". But I think I'm too naive.

    15. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a real disappointment that so many Slashdotters are nothing more than bigots.

      Everyone out there, and I mean, everyone has some kind of fucked up belief or another that you won't agree with. It may be that members of a certain race or nationality or gender or religion are inferior, it may be that Jesus wants them to own an SUV, it may be that one person or the other should be president, that you can heal disease with crytals, that aliens built the pyramids, that natual disasters are good for the economy, that one's job loss is due to one single factor, or that fanny packs are a good idea.

      Whatever it is, it's something you may disagree with. You, likewise, most certainly believe something that many, most, or all of the people you encounter would disagree with. Do such beliefs negate any good properities of this person? No. This is why the ad hominem attack is considered bad form -- you're assuming that the person is no better than his ideas.

      To say that a bigotted person is automatically "nothing more than a bigot" is bigotry in itself.

      I'm not suggesting that you have to ignore such things, but if you are going to speak or act against them, don't do it so dismissively. Deal with the facts.

    16. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Jesus+IS+the+Devil · · Score: 1

      Go read the comments of any outsouring story on Slashdot, and you'll find many racist comments moderated Insightful or Informative. It's a real disappointment that so many Slashdotters are nothing more than bigots.

      The same goes for anything anti-iPod. Even if it's informative, it's often modded as "troll"s.

      --

      eTrade SUCKS
    17. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With respect to isms, what about vegetarianism or lutheranism. Will they ever go away? Catholicicism? Socialism? Jism? Fission? Will it ever leave us be?

    18. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It's a real disappointment that so many Slashdotters are nothing more than bigots.

      Just the kind of thing you'd expect a pinko darkie to say.

    19. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by phoenix.bam! · · Score: 1

      I think all racism is subjective... If it was objective it wouldn't be racism it would be truth.

    20. Re:NO one noticed they reside on /. ? by sacrilicious · · Score: 1
      ...this doesn't mean that you can't choose to not care about them.

      What if I don't *want* to dislike choosing not to be against banning it? :)

      --
      - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
  14. Surprised? by Duncan3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When all other technology is moving to isolate us into our own cozy little worlds, you are surprised?

    Blogs give you the news you already agree with. IM has only your buddies. Cellphones let you walk around the world talking to people you already know, avoiding all new people. I could go on.

    Cozy isn't it. Problem is, now noone has ANY need for real social skills, personality, or the ability to deal with different views.

    Why in my day, we telnet'd into a BBS and met people from all over the world! "Chatrooms" (read: bot nests) only come in local and special interest these days.

    At least here on Slashdot all us geeks are safe in our dupe friendly Microsoft unfriendly world :)

    --
    - Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
    1. Re:Surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's really laughable that you consider slashdolters to have social skills. Slashdot is nothing more than a MS hate-mongering site.

    2. Re:Surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why in my day, we telnet'd into a BBS and met people from all over the world! "Chatrooms" (read: bot nests) only come in local and special interest these days.

      Yeah, right. Back in those days, everybody that was on a BBS was a member of a small special interest group...the few with the tech savvy, money, free time, and geek desire to chat over a slow-ass modem.

      Don't delude yourself into believing it the crowd was more diverse back then.

    3. Re:Surprised? by ikkonoishi · · Score: 2, Funny

      I run commedore 64 you insensitive clod.

    4. Re:Surprised? by Queer+Boy · · Score: 1
      the few with the tech savvy, money, free time, and geek desire to chat over a slow-ass modem.

      Man, don't knock them times. I miss the days when everyone on the internet was rich or smart.

      --
      Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
  15. The "problem"? by Seehund · · Score: 2, Interesting

    People are saying what they want. What's the problem? You don't agree? So debate with them, or start your own Orkut or whatever forums/communities.

    And why is this not posted as the usual indignated rant under YRO, instead of this rehash of hysterical mainstream fear-mongering articles?

    I'm not agreeing with eg. the IMO nutty racist Iranian gentleman mentioned in TFA, but that doesn't mean I want him to be banned from saying what he wants in his own online communities.

    BTW, everyone is welcome to join the Flashback forums, no matter what OPINIONS you hold or wish to discuss. The English speaking forum could use more members too. (Ironically, I seem to have difficulties reaching the site at the moment, but I hope that's temporary. They've had problems with the Swedish authorities before.)

    --
    Help savingAmigaOS and a free PowerPC market
    1. Re:The "problem"? by Vellmont · · Score: 2

      The problem is you can't debate these people. Orkut communities are invite only. This isn't a public forum. In other words the "problem" is Google doesn't want to (or at least I hope they don't) provide resources to a group of people to just insight more hate. If it were a public forum, it might be another story.. but then the whole point of Orkut is that it's private.

      --
      AccountKiller
    2. Re:The "problem"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other words, it's not a problem.

  16. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you expecting it to get moderated to -2, Troll?

    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oops, my bad. I thought it was -1 Troll. Which is a mod I wouldn't agree with. Looks more like an opinion than trolling.

    2. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look at that, you might be able to metamoderate it after all.

    3. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better metamoderate this one. Sounds like an honest opinion supported by verifiable facts and references (and yes, I checked them). You would think +1, Informative? Guess again: -1, Troll.

    4. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, Troll is unfair... But -1 Flamebait would be fair. He's thumping without subtlety. It's pretty much universally known that if you want to preach to the masses you can brow-beat them with the bible.

    5. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      err: can't brow-beat

    6. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would have modded it +1, Flamebait. He did a good job. The zeal and the polit tone were in perfect balance. But it's certainly not a Troll, it's missing at least one glaring inaccuracy amidst all the accurate unreasonableness. And in that sence, -1, Troll is *kind of* accurate in it's own right.

  17. Freedom isn't free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Freedom isn't free and sometimes the price of freedom isn't money.
    If you don't want freedom of speech then by all means close this site down. We don't need these kind of people to have a voice anyway.
    Once we get these people to shut up who should we go after next?

  18. Alex Pazzo created the "Death to the Jews" group by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obviously a brazilian (from the article) of italian descent.
    Pazzo means crazy in italian.
    If you know this guy, please tell him not to take things too literally!

  19. Why bother? by Gorbash+You · · Score: 1

    Maybe it's just my way of thinking, but why pay any attention to their posts and groups? They're only purpose is to piss people off, I really don't think they're trying to swing people to see or consider their views. It's mostly anonymous, so you don't have someone literally in your face chanting hate slogans, and they can't get satisfaction from seeing you get mad or whatever - they need people to post back. Why not just ignore them and they'll eventually go away?

  20. Also by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    alt.sex.fetish.orientals was all people from Berkley and Stanford mutual trolling one another.... Or so I've read.

  21. Regarding Orkut by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why would anyone want to become member of a small randomly put together community by invitations? What do they discuss? Won't the discussions get more feedback in more open communities? Is it because they feel the added privacy makes it easier to reveal private information? But then you need to trust all Orkut members, and many will have been invited by persons you don't even know.

    Hmm, it just feels like a community for people who wish to be "cool" to me, but regardless how I look at it, I always end up as seeing it as a useless idea? :-)

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    1. Re:Regarding Orkut by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do they discuss?

      How much they hate niggers, apparently. RTFA.

  22. I hope google has learnt ... by BillsPetMonkey · · Score: 1

    a valuable lesson from this. "Building Communities Course 101", page one, paragraph one could read

    "Thou shalt not close the community at the expense of diversity of opinion".

    I'm not sure why it took them so long to work this one out. Just goes to show that there's nothing common about common sense.

    --
    "It's not your information. It's information about you" - John Ford, Vice President, Equifax
  23. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Don't call them gays. Call them people who participate in homosexual behavior.

    Therefore you are discriminating against the behavior, and not the people.

    Hence, if you are not a troll, you will know that the bible (specifically New Testament) gives specific instructions on how to deal with someone sinning.

  24. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    christians, muslims, hindus, buddhists, etc. also have "free will" (your definition). they choose their religion and can change it any time they desire. but in many countries, these religions may be banned/illegal.

    but i guess it's not "discrimination" or "hatred". thanks for clearing that up for us all. because religion is a choice, it's not discrimination or hatred.

    and while you're on the subject of biblical quotations, Leviticus 25:44 says I may own slaves. Exodus 35:2 states anyone who works on the sabbath must be put to death. you can't cherry pick and choose what parts of the bible you'll follow and which parts you'll ignore.

  25. An insider's view by the_mighty_$ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here is a post from an insider giving some of his oppinions about what's going on:

    http://media.orkut.com/articles/0100.html

    --
    VI VI VI - the editor of the beast!
    1. Re:An insider's view by Rone · · Score: 1

      The parent's link was very good reading, but one sentence demands response:

      "And there are men that think they can answer hostility with hostility."


      While a initially-non-hostile response to hostility can often be more productive in the long run (e.g. in an invite-only social community on the Internet), there are times when you simply MUST respond to hostility WITH hostility (and greater hostility at that).

      Failure to do so means that you're going to go through life getting stepped on, or worse.

    2. Re:An insider's view by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What that Brazilian orkut user is just dismissing as a minor problem is this:

      Most Brazilians in Orkut won't write in English. Even if they are using an interface that uses English all over the place. Even if they are writting in communities where the official language is English. Even if they're perfectly conscious of the fact that English is the universal language in Orkut.

      And the results:
      You end up with tons of communities with English titles, English descriptions and people perfectly capable of speaking English as their 2nd language flooded with messages written in Portuguese, that effectively leaves out anyone that didn't speak it natively or learnt it (and trust me, Portuguese isn't that hot in language courses).

      So no wonder there are so many reactionaries. Other international users make an effort to lower communication barriers by using a language that isn't their mother tongue. With most brazilians it's not the case, and they're marginating the rest of the community with their astounding numbers.

  26. Racisms will end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1. All humans die
    2. All humans ascend
    3. All humans interbreed until everyone is one race

    1. Re:Racisms will end by MPHellwig · · Score: 1

      4. Then we start all over with aliens
      5. To find out it won't interbreed
      6. But still can die

    2. Re:Racisms will end by tilk · · Score: 1

      1. All humans die 2. All humans ascend 3. All humans interbreed until everyone is one race

      That's wrong. You're assuming that people are interbreeding completely random. It isn't true. People choose, who they are breeding with, considering looks, money, social status, character, intelligence, interests and more.

    3. Re:Racisms will end by dustmite · · Score: 1

      People will find some characteristic other than race to single out and harass people. E.g. they'll single out fat people, or skinny people, or smart people, or whatever. They already do, just look at a classroom, even if everyone in the class is all white.

      Have you ever noticed though that the people who do this, i.e. harass other people based on some arbitrary characteristic, are invariably useless people .. i.e. they are usually people who have nothing special about them, no special skills, and are not able to contribute anything useful to the world. These nazi type groups are always the low classes in society. I think the reason these people tend to cluster in groups around a hate-based ideology is because it gives them a "magic" "free ticket" to feeling "special", without having to do anything other than be a certain colour or look a certain way. It's like the ideology calls to them by saying something like this: "Hey, nothing special about you? Well we say that just being (race XYZ) makes you special by default, because (race XYZ) is superior." So someone with nothing special about them now feels they have something to be proud of, something that makes them special/superior to others, and they feel that they "belong" to something.

      Look at the class bully. Most of them are losers who are going nowhere in life. By picking out and alienating someone else who is smart or whatever, they get to feel better about themselves. Going further, look at television, almost every sitcom has an extremely dumb or nerdy character ... the idea is to make a character that is so dumb or nerdy, that even your dumbest/nerdiest viewer gets to feel better about themselves by being able to say to themselves "ha look at that guy, he's so stupid, ha ha". Because nobody wants to be the stupidest or nerdiest person in a group. The idea is to make a show so stupid that the viewers feel better about themselves, it's a cheap feel-good manipulation trick that never fails to work. It's the same thing with racist groups - when you belong to such a group, you feel better about yourself because you define/depict another group as being inferior, even if you've never accomplished anything in your life. Don't know how a TV works? Who cares, you can say stuff like "we invented TVs". Don't know how a car works? Who cares, you can say stuff like "we invented TVs", as if by saying "we" you become part of a "group" that invented TVs, which is obviously false.

    4. Re:Racisms will end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There ya go, the ultimate solution to racism: just keep having sex until everybody's the same shade of brown :D

    5. Re:Racisms will end by hyperstation · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      you're definitely a part of the problem. miscegenation is *not* good for humanity, imho.

      okay, now call me a big racist, you know you want to.

    6. Re:Racisms will end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      > Look at the class bully. Most of them are losers who are going nowhere in life

      Until they become cops, prison guards, union bosses, public schoolteachers, religious demagogues, senior managers, lobbyists, and politicians.

      Sociopathy and intelligence are orthogonal. Intelligence is merely a limiting factor only in how much damage you can do. If you're a smart sociopath, you just have to get enough thugs on your side, and ride the wave around the world. Fun for you, fun for your thugs. Win-win.

  27. Specialy popular? by Koyaanisqatsi · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If you look at the stats, it is *the* number one place where orkut is popular (63% of the members), with USA in a far second (11%)

    http://www.orkut.com/MembersAll.aspx

    (log-on required to see the stats)

    1. Re:Specialy popular? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you look at the stats, it is *the* number one place where orkut is popular (63% of the members), with USA in a far second (11%)

      Yeah, it used to be very popular in Korea for a while too, but now it's only used by old people and for formal communications.

  28. Is this news? by t_allardyce · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So wait.. Google starts some sort of forum/chat site based on invitation (like gmail), everyone wants in, and now, on the Internet, the have discovered people being racist? So what? this happens on the Internet! just because the site is a friends network doesn't mean you're not going to get this sort of thing - most people in the world are friends of friends of friends etc. If Google doesn't like it they can just kick these people like every other forum, whats the big deal?

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  29. bullshit by PerlDudeXL · · Score: 3, Insightful

    someone who cites the bible to legitimate hate and intolerance is a braindead dimwit. period.

    its pseudo-religious FUD.

    1. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      someone who cites the bible to legitimate hate and intolerance is a braindead dimwit. period.

      Hate and intolerance? If I say that according to the Bible it is wrong to eat meat on Christmas, would you say that I promote "hate and intolerance" towards those who eat meat, either because they don't know (in which case they might want to know) or don't care (in which case they, well, don't care)? Where is hate here? Could you show it to us?

      its pseudo-religious FUD.

      Care to explain?

    2. Re:bullshit by PerlDudeXL · · Score: 1

      it is wrong to use any religious text to promote hate and intolerance based on the argumentation that it is written there and must be true and the way to go.

    3. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it is wrong to use any religious text to promote hate and intolerance based on the argumentation that it is written there and must be true and the way to go.

      Sorry dude, but the original poster didn't promote hate and intolerance, and in fact was against it, which he/she also thoroughly explained later. I've just read it few times and I really don't know what are you talking about. Could you quote the part you are referring to? Otherwise I will just think that both the moderation down and your responses were just childish knee-jerk reactions of people who didn't understand the text and were like: "Gays? Christianity? It MUST be hatred! Flame on!" This is stupid.

    4. Re:bullshit by PerlDudeXL · · Score: 0, Troll


      Is it really "discrimination" or "hatred" if I dare to save them from the hell fire by telling them that what they do is wrong?


      Yes. I can't support this argument.

      As I said, this is latent intolerant and discriminating.

      nuff said.

    5. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't support this argument.

      If you can't support your argument then you have no argument in the first place. "It is true because I say so" is not a logical argument any intelligent person would use in a civilised discussion.

      As I said, this is latent intolerant and discriminating.

      As you said and as you keep saying, but this is a baseless assertion without any merit whatsoever.

      nuff said.

      Dream on.

    6. Re:bullshit by PerlDudeXL · · Score: 1

      baseless? let me cite myself:


      it is wrong to use any religious text to promote hate and intolerance based on the argumentation that it is written there and must be true and the way to go.


      this actually explains what I am thinking about guys using religion (or any other ideology) to blame others for their choice of lifestyle.

    7. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, I'll bite. You apparently don't know what "baseless" mean. You wrote: "it is wrong to use any religious text to promote hate and intolerance" (based on any argumentation, I might add) and guess what? It's true! How does it relate to the original post? They both agree... Now you see? You say that you disagree with an argument and support your claim by using the same assertion that was present in the original post and in the follow-up explanation. Let me quote: "I am not discriminating, I am against violence. I only want to educate people. I only talk to people, write to people, write articles." and "When I say: I hate you because you are gay, this is hatred, no matter that towards a life style. On the other hand, when I ask: do you know that what you do is explained as a sin in the Bible? Would you like me to help you understand it and avoid it in the future? This is not hatred." Do you understand now?

    8. Re:bullshit by PerlDudeXL · · Score: 1

      ok, obviously you don't understand me.

      he/she thinks that this lifestyle is defined as sin in the bible? he/she writes and talks about it thats wrong because they might end up in hell.

      sin? hell? yeah, so what? his/her argumentations are based on a religious set of beliefs and personal views which can't be used to define whats right or wrong. hate and intolerance live and grow on prejudices and dogmatic viewpoints.

    9. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ok, obviously you don't understand me.

      Apparently.

      he/she thinks that this lifestyle is defined as sin in the bible?

      No, he/she demonstrates that this lifestyle is defined as sin in the Bible, quoting exact references. Have you even read the Bible?

      sin? hell? yeah, so what? his/her argumentations are based on a religious set of beliefs

      Well, duh... Of course the argumentation about sin is based on a religious set of beliefs! How else could it be?

      which can't be used to define whats right or wrong.

      This is just your opinion, and you are in the minority thinking that way. Of course I doubt you will bother to explain how else would you suggest defining what's right or wrong...

      hate and intolerance live and grow on prejudices and dogmatic viewpoints

      You are doing it again! You talk about hate and intolerance when there was none in the original post you are supposedly refuting! Do you even read the texts you comment?

    10. Re:bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > > > someone who cites the bible to legitimate hate and intolerance is a braindead dimwit. period.

      > > Hate and intolerance? If I say that according to the Bible it is wrong to eat meat on Christmas, would you say that I promote "hate and intolerance" towards those who eat meat, either because they don't know (in which case they might want to know) or don't care (in which case they, well, don't care)? Where is hate here? Could you show it to us?

      > it is wrong to use any religious text to promote hate and intolerance based on the argumentation that it is written there and must be true and the way to go.

      Hi, I'm late to this discussion but this got my attention. Once again you didn't answer the question. You keep repeating that it is wrong to hate people but fail to demonstrate how it is relevant to the original post or the question you are avoiding to answer and frankly I have no idea what your position is even though your previous posts sounded interesting and I wanted to read an explanation of your reasoning. Could you answer that question?

  30. But what if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they're penguins?

    Who's going to save them from the hellfire!?

  31. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    You don't get it. No one chooses to be black or hispanic so it is ALWAYS stupid to even kindly suggest that they shouldn't be black or hispanic (or white, for that matter). On the other hand, when we talk about a chosen life style, it MAY be hatred and discrimination and often is, but it is also POSSIBLE to have an intelligent discussion. Your straw man argument is suggesting that I think that NO critic of life style (even violent) can be bad, while I didn't say anything like that, and even explicitly stated that I am always against any violence (as was Jesus Christ, FYI). Example: when I say: don't you think that maybe it is not that great that you are black? This is racism, no matter how kindly would I ask. When I say: I hate you because you are gay, this is hatred, no matter that towards a life style. On the other hand, when I ask: do you know that what you do is explained as a sin in the Bible? Would you like me to help you understand it and avoid it in the future? This is not hatred. Your mistake is a false dillema between nothing or all, a black-and-white fallacy. But I'll better shut up now because apparently Slashdot people don't want to have any kind of serious discussion on more important topics than which database is faster this week and I will get rated as "Troll" again. Good day.

  32. The more you tighten your grip, Kyre by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the more web-forums will slip through your fingers.

  33. People are missing the point by 26199 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    These groups are formed and peopled by people who share an extremist viewpoint. In normal society, extremists are moderated by contact with people who aren't extremists. In a society like Orkut, extremists come into contact with more and more people who share the same view. This could potentially cause them to become even more extreme in their views or even spur them to action.

    This is the problem. It's not really about free speech and censorship; it's about what happens when you have a social system which encourages extremism, instead of one which works to moderate behaviour.

    1. Re: People are missing the point by HoaryCripple · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This could potentially cause them to become even more extreme in their views or even spur them to action.


      Until such action actually takes place, there is no justification for censorship. If we retaliate against potential threats, where does it end?

      I think it is much more reasonable to let this take its natural course and if objectionable actions do take place we can punish the offenders.
    2. Re: People are missing the point by 26199 · · Score: 1

      That's the big question, of course.

      To just wait and punish the offenders would seem rather negligent... hate crimes are a reality, and if something is likely to encourage hate crimes then it should be dealt with before the fact, not after.

      But censorship isn't the answer. I'm not sure what is. I do see it as something to be worried about, because it poses a very real danger. The obvious remedy is to try and give these people contact with less extreme views... but how?

      I don't know.

    3. Re:People are missing the point by Legion303 · · Score: 1

      So you would prefer that these extremists met privately somewhere else, where no one could keep an eye on them or refute their stupidity?

      I could "potentially" run over the first pedestrian I see this morning. I'm heading out to turn myself in...see you later.

    4. Re: People are missing the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Until such action actually takes place, there is no justification for censorship. If we retaliate against potential threats, where does it end?

      How do you determine when a threat moves from potential to actual?

      A) If I have a pistol in a holster and am in close proximity to you am I a threat to you?

      B) If I have a pistol in a holster and am in close proximity to you and then place my hand on the butt of the pistol am I a threat to you?

      C) If I have a pistol in a holster and am in close proximity to you and then place my hand on the butt of the pistol and then draw the pistol pointing it at the ground am I a threat to you?

      D) If I have a pistol in a holster and am in close proximity to you and then place my hand on the butt of the pistol and then draw the pistol pointing it at the ground and then raise the pistol to a ready position am I a threat to you?

      E) If I have a pistol in a holster and am in close proximity to you and then place my hand on the butt of the pistol and then draw the pistol pointing it at the ground and then raise the pistol to a ready position and then point the pistol in your direction am I a threat to you?

      F) If I have a pistol in a holster and am in close proximity to you and then place my hand on the butt of the pistol and then draw the pistol pointing it at the ground and then raise the pistol to a ready position and then point the pistol in your direction and begin to apply pressure to the trigger am I a threat to you?

      At which point to I become a threat? A? B? C? D? E? F?

      At any point from A to F it is possible I am an immediate threat to you and it is also equally possible I am no threat to you at all.

      Depending upon many factors you could correctly or incorrectly feel that I am or am not an imminent threat at any point from A to F. I'll leave those factors as an exercise for your imagination.

    5. Re:People are missing the point by ewg · · Score: 1

      This insight suggests an experiment: give the wider community a way to mark extremist forums as such. Let everyone see which forums are considered nutty and by what share of the larger community.

      --
      org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
    6. Re:People are missing the point by 26199 · · Score: 1

      These people wouldn't have met at all without the online community. The Internet lets people with any set of views find people with similar views. This could lead to problems.

      I don't know quite what you read into my first post, but that's all I'm saying. It's a completely new type of social interaction. New things can turn up new kinds of problems. I didn't say anything at all about what I think should be done about it (if anything), censorship or not. I don't think my opinion is especially relevant or useful.

    7. Re:People are missing the point by hkb · · Score: 1

      Excellent, excellent post.

      --
      /* Moderating all non-anonymous trolls up since 2004 */
    8. Re: People are missing the point by syukton · · Score: 1

      So attempted murder is no longer a crime, only the actual act of murder is? No threat of murder is a crime, no waving of a knife in somebody's direction or pointing a gun is a crime either, because they're just potential threats?

      I don't like your ideas.

      Eliminating potential threats and making potential threats illegal does serve well to eliminate problems down the line. Can I buy Uranium by the pound? No. Why? Because I might build a bomb with it. I could build a special kind of new nuclear reactor with the Uranium and power my entire city/county/whatever as well, but that I might use it for a weapon and that I'm deemed to be unqualified (I'm classed/categorized as a citizen. love that.) to handle it prevents me from acquiring it. I wouldn't mind having some Uranium on-hand to play with, honestly. I'm into Stirling engines lately and building an RTG to power my house just kind of makes me get all nerdy inside. If you have a platter of radioactive matter which is highly emissive of thermal energy... well, anyhow, I'm getting off on a tangent. Point is, I'd like to have some uranium. It'd be nice. They won't let me have any.

      Is it good that they won't let me have any? I'm particularly upset about it, really, but it's good that in addition to me, nobody else in the "Joe Citizen" category gets to play with such materials either.

      This is a very good thing.

      --
      Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
    9. Re:People are missing the point by khallow · · Score: 1
      This is the problem. It's not really about free speech and censorship; it's about what happens when you have a social system which encourages extremism, instead of one which works to moderate behaviour.

      I don't see the problem. If all countries adopted approaches to speech like the US in theory should have, then you wouldn't have this problem. But when you have systems where a form of harmless speech outlawed, for example, what is usually classified as "hate speech" or perhaps "subversive speech", then you have repressive social structures that encourage extremism.

    10. Re:People are missing the point by 26199 · · Score: 1

      Hmm. But if people did speak out about their extreme viewpoints, in normal society, they'd encounter a lot of opposing viewpoints. Whereas, if they use the Internet to find people with similar viewpoints, they bypass that mechanism completely.

      I agree, though, making certain subjects difficult to talk about doesn't help matters.

    11. Re: People are missing the point by HoaryCripple · · Score: 1

      Your argumkent is flawed. Everything that you stated in your post is action, not speech. Attempted murder is illegal because there is an actual attempt. A better is the death threat. I agree that there is some speech that is not protected (in the USA), but the type of instigative speech not protected is that which has no reasonable arena for discourse. Take for example the following:

      "I am going to murder so and so." vs. "Do you think that so and so should be killed?" One is illegal the other not.

      Even though you don't like my ideas, I hope that you would defend to the death my right to express them :)

    12. Re: People are missing the point by HoaryCripple · · Score: 1

      I stated in my original post that actions may be punishable. Why are you confusing action with speech? Obviously there are laws protecting the individual against bodily harm. If I feel at any point above that because of your actions I am in danger, I have the right to defend myself. If I incorrectly surmise the situation, and retaliate against you, then I am at fault, and will be charged accordingly.

    13. Re:People are missing the point by khallow · · Score: 1
      Hmm. But if people did speak out about their extreme viewpoints, in normal society, they'd encounter a lot of opposing viewpoints. Whereas, if they use the Internet to find people with similar viewpoints, they bypass that mechanism completely.

      I don't know what I'd do if I ever ran into someone who disagreed with me on the Internet. Fortunately, it never happens. ;-)

    14. Re:People are missing the point by 26199 · · Score: 1

      :P... well, open forums vs closed, invitation-only forums. There's the difference.

    15. Re:People are missing the point by khallow · · Score: 1
      Well, as the old saw goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. We also ignore here that even a closed society may be an improvement over no society plus the member is on the Internet, they can't help but trip over rival viewpoints. Besides, even if someone never changes their mind, they still can find all sorts of neat information to better their condition.

      I find instead that the "real world" has the problem that it often is very hard to find alternate viewpoints. In real life, we rarely feel comfortable in debating people outside a circle of friends and associates. That drastically reduces your exposure to alternate viewpoints. I have yet to see what is bad about Orkut or the existence of these closed groups since the members aren't restricted to these groups.

    16. Re: People are missing the point by stanmann · · Score: 1

      At point A, I determine if you are a threat to me by your demeanor, speech, and carriage. If i determine that you are not, you are no more a threat to me at F than at A. If I determine that you are, Somewhere between B and C, I will take steps to eliminate you as a threat.

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
  34. Mixi.jp (Re:Regarding Orkut) by interactive_civilian · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Jugalator said:
    Why would anyone want to become member of a small randomly put together community by invitations? What do they discuss?
    Well...I am a member of Mixi.jp, a Japanese inivitation-only social networking site. It is a bit exclusive in that you really can't use the site unless you can read Japanese, but perhaps that keeps a lot of would-be trolls out (though there are plenty of Japanese trolls out there).

    Anyway, it seems to me like a successful version of what Orkut should be. I use it almost religiously and it works well because the majority of users are actually rather close to each other (few hours by train at the most in most cases) so we can actually meet in real life. My list of friends is a little small (32 at the moment) but I have met all but 3 of those people IRL. Of those three, one lives in the US, one lives in Hokkkaido (I'm in Tokyo) and the other...well, timing just hasn't worked out yet.

    Anyway, the point of my post is that in some cases, these "small randomly put together communities" work quite well and can be an excellent supplement to IRL (note: I did NOT say replacement). I've gotten some good snowboarding buddies, some good music buddies, some good photography buddies, etc. Hell, I even met a really attractive girl that will hopefully be my next girlfriend (2 months without getting any is starting to drive me crazy...broke up last december ;_; )

    So, these sites can work. I think Orkut's problem is that it is just too big and unfocused.

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
    1. Re:Mixi.jp (Re:Regarding Orkut) by Jugalator · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So, these sites can work. I think Orkut's problem is that it is just too big and unfocused.

      Yes, that's what I thought too. I can certainly see the point of a community like the one you're member of, since you can both meet each other and has a system so you're more willing to leave out sensitive private details that can't be read by any freak in the world. :-) It makes a lot more sense than having a loosly knit community spread out all over the world like Orkut. That's when I stop seeing the point of it. I thought the idea of these communities was to be a community offering better abilities to get to know each other better than on regular forums, but you can't say that if you're invited to Orkut and instantly face hundreds of members around the world.

      Actually, I'm also member of a quite large international community where many of us are meeting occasionally IRL as well as for yearly parties. It's open for anyone to join, but we've organized it so we have guild-only forums (it's actually a gaming community, but has expanded beyond that) which only guild members can read. This is where any party discussions take place, and more sensitive issues like if a member's spouse is ill in a hospital so that person can leave out the hospital phone number for supportive calls, and so on.

      However, over here, anyone can read the other forums and participate in the same community. Guild members also post in non-guild forums of course. Non-guild members don't even need to be registered, unless they wish to post on the non-guild forums. And *we* don't invite them, but *they* post a request. I like that more since it makes us having guild member status feel less elitist, like "uh, which are worthy to be part of our exclusive club". ;-) Instead it's more like "I'm starting to know people well around here, can you let me in"? If we then don't see him/her as a troll and have had gaming experience with that person and believe it's someone who don't cheat etc and generally act mature and social, we invite that person as a guild member so he/she can read those forums. I like this idea more than a totally sealed off community like Orkut since non-guild and guild members can mingle on most topics; it's only for private stuff we're restorting to the guild forums simply due to internet safety. Otherwise we're making a little deal of the guild membership as possible, and if a non-member would bring up concerns about us sealing ourselves off too much we'd really take it personally and try to solve the problem. We've already lifted out member threads to non-member because we've agreed we were foolish to have something member side when it didn't need to. We of course also have clear guidelines about what they need to do to become members and what we want of them. It's not supposed to be a mystery.

      A cool bonus is we'll have a common interest, being a passion for computer games.
      And yes, we do have a lot of wonderful women here too, so it's no "geeky male club". ;-)

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    2. Re:Mixi.jp (Re:Regarding Orkut) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Orkut's problem is that it is just too big and unfocused.

      Orkut's problem is exactly what Mixi.jp's problem would be if it tried to expand to cover the world like Orkut did. Whatever the minority language was would complain that most of the content is unreadable, attempt to form communities based on language, then gripe at the number of "invaders" in their community that refuse to speak the local language.

      In my experience, 95% of the "hate speech" on Orkut consists of "Learn English or get the hell out of our forum!"

      I just looked in one of the communities I had joined way back when orkut was new. It used to be exclusively english speakers, but on the first page of topics, 5 (out of 50 or so?) are in english. 1 is bi-lingual. The rest are all in a language I don't understand. I'm no longer capable of participating in the community. (It looks like there is now a Language setting for communities, though whether that's obeyed or not is hard to tell, since Orkut's server is crashing when I search for communities.)

    3. Re:Mixi.jp (Re:Regarding Orkut) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but that "hate speech" on orkut is necessary. those dumb brazilians come into a primarily english-speaking community and start talking portugese. it's really annoying. and they all make stupid comments too. they're dumb. idiot brazilians. and then when we say "learn english" they come back and say "become more cultural, learn portugese". right, learn a language and very few people speak in the world... they're dumb, just plain dumb...

    4. Re:Mixi.jp (Re:Regarding Orkut) by Stiletto · · Score: 1

      "become more cultural, learn portugese". right, learn a language and very few people speak in the world...

      The parent Anonymous Coward is the winner of this thread. I don't think I've read anything this funny for weeks.

      Well done. Nice troll. I salute you.

  35. The End Of Political Correctness by xxSOUL_EATERxx · · Score: 1, Insightful

    For years now, the intellectual elite of this world have labored mightily to stamp out all superficial signs of racism, sexism, gayism, and other isms, by banning "insensitive" speech and images, in an effort to sweep the natural human impulse to hate under the rug.

    Repellent as Mr. Pazzo and his intellectually deformed ilk are, the undeniable fact is the internet itself --that is, the human connectivity it brings about -- facilitates their unpleasant behavior, as what were formerly isolated kooks find courage, companionship and new ideas through "virtual communities" on sites like Orkut, as they have in the past through other forms of communication such as BBS's and Usenet.

    Abolition of such groups seems impractical withour the imposition of barriers to entry as would defeat the whole purpose of virtual communities.

    Like other socially detrimental practices such as downloading music, taking drugs, and practicing illict sex, hatred, like it or not, serves a vital purpose to a not insubstantial number of people. The repressed have returned, more disgusting than ever, much to the chagrin of our minions of political correctness, and there is no easy solution in sight.

    Until the gods tire of idiocy and invent a race with greater souls than our own, it seems for the time being we will simply have to thicken our skins and put up with these unpleasant reminders dark side of humanity

    1. Re:The End Of Political Correctness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find your writing style intriguing and would like to subscribe to your -- newsletter

    2. Re:The End Of Political Correctness by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 1
      My eyes are really hurting.

      There is something in the parent post that is making me nervous.

      What the hell could that be?

      --
      IANAL but write like a drunk one.
    3. Re:The End Of Political Correctness by dustmite · · Score: 1

      Until the gods tire of idiocy and invent a race with greater souls than our own, it seems for the time being we will simply have to thicken our skins and put up with these unpleasant reminders dark side of humanity

      So in other words you are proposing MORE political correctness by saying we should be accepting of this foolish and harmful behaviour? I don't think society should put up with anything that is harmful to it. That is why societies organize and create formal justice systems. Now, you could argue the existence of hate groups is harmless in itself, but when they wield enough power, or when they invariably simply get drunk one night and go murder some gay or black people, then it is harmful.

      What would you say if a group of wanna-be rapists got together on the Net and had discussions about how they believe women should be raped, and how much they want to go out and rape women ..... and then every now and then they actually go out and do it? (It's the same thing ... a race-based hate group simply says "we think black/gay people should be killed" and every now and then they actually go out and do it.) Do you think society should "just develop a thicker skin" and "for the time being" leave the rapists be? That would be idiotic. These people don't belong in our civilized society.

    4. Re:The End Of Political Correctness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For years now, the intellectual elite of this world have labored mightily to stamp out all superficial signs of racism, sexism, gayism, and other isms, by banning "insensitive" speech and images, in an effort to sweep the natural human impulse to rape under the rug.

      Repellent as Mr. Pazzo and his intellectually deformed ilk are, the undeniable fact is the internet itself --that is, the human connectivity it brings about -- facilitates their unpleasant behavior, as what were formerly isolated kooks find courage, companionship and new ideas through "virtual communities" on sites like Orkut, as they have in the past through other forms of communication such as BBS's and Usenet.

      Abolition of such groups seems impractical withour the imposition of barriers to entry as would defeat the whole purpose of virtual communities.

      Like other socially detrimental practices such as downloading music, taking drugs, and practicing illict sex, rape, like it or not, serves a vital purpose to a not insubstantial number of people. The repressed have returned, more disgusting than ever, much to the chagrin of our minions of political correctness, and there is no easy solution in sight.

      Until the gods tire of idiocy and invent a race with greater souls than our own, it seems for the time being we will simply have to thicken our skins and put up with these unpleasant reminders dark side of humanity

    5. Re:The End Of Political Correctness by shish · · Score: 1
      For years now, the intellectual elite of this world have labored mightily to stamp out all superficial signs of racism, sexism, gayism, and other isms, by banning "insensitive" speech and images

      No, politicians have been stamping stuff out; the intellectual elite realise that political correctness is a load of ass and have been trying to get their freedom back...

      --
      I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
    6. Re:The End Of Political Correctness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should never ever put up with it. Always deal with false ideas upfront.

    7. Re:The End Of Political Correctness by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      The situation you describe is covered under Conspiracy Laws.

      Talking about doing something is perfectly ok - as long as noone involved does it.

      As soon as one party to the conversation commits the illegal act, the other parties to the conversation are, more or less automatically, chargable as Conspirators.

      Which carries a sentence similar to the crime they were conspiring about.

      These people don't belong in our civilized society.

      Funny, that's exactly what the buttheads you're talking about are saying....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  36. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They have a choice. Ask Micheal Jackson. Booya. What do I win?

  37. International Herald Tribune stinks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The International Herald Tribune is an opinion site.
    Rarely do you see a news story posted without them injecting their opinion. If, by blind luck the IHT manages to forget to inject their own opinion, they will quote any of dozens of "expert" college professors that also agree with their views. Any opposing views are left out.

    I'd put the IHT up there with Salon.com and the Guardian.

    1. Re:International Herald Tribune stinks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder if anyone else has noticed that both articles contain the same copy, because both were originally published in the New York Times.

    2. Re:International Herald Tribune stinks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuckwit.

  38. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Guppy06 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "OK, hatred for Jews is stupid (after all, even Jesus was a Jew)"

    And so it's OK for Muslims, who don't view Jesus as a Messiah, to be antisemetic? Nice logic: by it, you're allowed to hate people you're not forced to relate with.

    "Gays, on the other hand, have free will and they do what they choose to do."

    It's really simple: if one could choose one's sexual orientation, then a heterosexual man could choose to be gay. Since you're the one making the assertion, I have to ask you: Have you ever tried being gay? Or are you so unwilling to try to tread a mile in the shoes of those who you would "save?"

    ""If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Leviticus 20:13."

    So God didn't have room on those stone tablets to jot down "Don't be gay" on Mount Sinai? Pretty interesting that Ol' Infallible Himself was able to include relatively minor things like "take a day off every week" and "put up with your parents" but seemed to think that an outright capital offense wasn't worth mentioning.

    And Jesus was crucified before he was able to do his key "Don't be gay" sermon? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, unless what you want to have done unto you is... hey, where are these Romans taking me?"

    You, as a Christian, have the trinity itself, not to mention the list of prophets, all telling you how to live your life properly and all, none of which really got around to the all-important "Don't be gay" commandment, and so you're giving a collection of these insane Biblical footnotes the same weight, especially when said footnote seems to fly in the face of one of the Ten Commandments?

    "Who knowing the judgment of God,"

    Knowing the unknowable, hm? So much for Christian humility...

    "Is it really "discrimination" or "hatred" if I dare to save them from the hell fire by telling them that what they do is wrong?"

    Do they want to be "saved?" According to other major religions, Jesus was a prophet at best and a false Messiah at worst, and these people complete with their own divine set of quotations to back up their assertions. Would you willingly allow others to attempt to "save" you from your own Christianity?

    If the opinions of non-Christians don't do anything for you, what about other sects of Christianity? When was the last time you invited into your home a Jehovah's Witness or even a Mormon who appeared on your doorstep and let them go the whole nine yards in their attempt to "save" you, listening politely and never trying to argue?

    "I am not discriminating, I am against violence."

    Because if the death is "on their hands" (as prescribed by Leviticus), it's not really violence? Oh, and there it seems God is telling you to be violent when it comes to homosexuals, so aren't you going against His Will by falling back on such principles and squeamishness? The Bible tells you that you'd better be prepared to do what God tells you to do despite your personal desires: if he says "Kill your son," the only proper response is "With what weapon?" So are you really as Christian as you claim to be when you are willfully ignoring that part of scripture where you believe He Himself tells you to kill somebody?

    "I only want to educate people."

    As a Christian, shouldn't you be balancing your wants and desires against theirs?

    " I only talk to people, write to people, write articles. Is that really wrong?"

    That depends: are you talking with, talking to or talking at these people?

    "Is education really the same as the crimes of holocaust? Do we really have to compare education to hatred for Jews?"

    Well, many Soviets were sent to the gulags for the cause of "education," so yes, it can be.

  39. It's not that he hasn't wanted too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you ever tried being gay?

    The only thing that's stopped him is that it's against his religion. He's very pious, he even considered being a priest.

  40. Why can't we all just listen to TMBG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and take a play outta Rodney King's playbook?

  41. It's only a problem because the news told you so. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You people listen to the news. Is it really a problem? Are people dying? Are they injured? If the Wilmington Star or the IHT hadn't put out this story, would you REALLY have known?

    So many people just don't get it. Newspapers and the TV want to sell advertising. They want controversy. They don't do anything useful. They rarely report on "happy" people. Sure, once a week they give you the rescued kitten story, or the kid whose dream was to meet NBA stars.
    We will always live with stupid people. People who hate. People who bully. The decision is how you let them affect you. If you ignore them, the bulk of the population will too. If you make a big scene, they're happier because now you've MADE THEM FAMOUS! They want attention.

    People, you need to quit reading the news and the mimick this stuff like it's manna from heaven. It's not. It's trash. Giving it time on Slashdot is the worst thing you could do.

  42. Jesus didn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    According to other major religions, Jesus was a prophet at best and a false Messiah at worst

    Actually, Jesus didn't exist at all [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
    Please educate yourself before you spread misinformation. Thank you.

    1. Re:Jesus didn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Come on, Jews don't even dispute that Jesus existed. Why would they deny that he was the messiah in biblical times when they could of just said he doesn't exist?

    2. Re:Jesus didn't exist by Colonel+Cholling · · Score: 1

      Well, if a Wikipedia article whose neutrality and facticity have been disputed says it, that tears it. That's almost as infallible as Usenet.

      --

      I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
    3. Re:Jesus didn't exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you had actually read the text following those links you would know that I linked to exactly the entire discussion where that article was disputed so you could see for yourself that no one who asserts that Jesus existed was able to produce a single piece of evidence during those years. Conclusion? The claim about the existence of Jesus is baseless so far. If you have any evidence, go to that article, hit "edit this page" link and add your reference. Many people will be very grateful. You don't even need to log in, just hit edit and add your evidence. Thank you.

  43. How about chalkboards and papyrus? by bs_02_06_02 · · Score: 1

    Don't blame technology or isolationistic behavior for any of this. Hate is hate. People are looking to belong. These sad souls simply have twisted values, and those values are most often passed on from family members. End of story.

    Bringing these people attention is the last thing I'd do. Bullys and hate-mongers? They don't deserve the attention. Leave them alone. Let them have their private discussions. The rest of the planet sees them for what they are.

    --
    -- No sig for you!
  44. Orkut is alive? by hobbsbutcher · · Score: 2, Funny

    Orkut is still around? I mean I guess I still have an account on there, but it's been quite a while since I logged on - mostly becuase the people I knew on orkut were the same I knew from friendster.com who were the same from friendzy.com who were the same from tribe.net...

    --
    Jonathan B.
  45. The concept of orkut draws facism by Qbertino · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually, in a way, the concept of orkut ist facist in itself. Creating artifical borders were there are none. I remeber running into orkut when it was just anounced. After reading what it all was about it came across to me as a very unsympathetic concept of a web community. Very much the kind you find in religious sects or, extremer, in facist communities. Artificially bordering a group of people and in unison with that, blurring the individuals in to one big group. We, the "orkuts", are something special.

    I personally react extremely allergic to stuff like that, due to personal experiences with latent synthetic elitism in the past. Weak personalities (which racists and facists usually are) much easier see orkut as their chance to feel special for no true reason whatsoever.

    Bottom line:
    Orkuts basic concept actually is an emotional and spiritual groundwork for facisim and thus flawed. Google would be best of shutting it down or dropping the concept of 'invitation only'.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
    1. Re:The concept of orkut draws facism by ultrabot · · Score: 1

      Actually, in a way, the concept of orkut ist facist in itself. Creating artifical borders were there are none.

      It's also a way to make it interesting. You want it because someone else can't have it. Google is a business so it does what it needs to do to make it interesting and different.

      --
      Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
    2. Re:The concept of orkut draws facism by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      first off the invite only is an experiement unto it's self.

      Asking north american friends for an orkut invite? nobody was willing to GIVE them away. I ended up with my invite from a stranger in south america. North Americans are typically very selfish and greedy... Yes this is true, I live here, I see this greed every day. While many other cultures are open and very giving. Many of the south American cultures are very open,espically to outside people!

      The huge skew in locations of users in orkit is a major statement to the socality of those areas.

      Americans sell their orkut and Gmail invites on ebay or demand payment for it somehow. Other cultures freely give something that costs them very little yet brings happiness to others.

      I am one of the very few that rarely has free invites, because I give them away as fast as I can with no strings attached. But I know of many that horde them like they were golden eggs.

      THAT is the biggest telling indicator of the Orkut experiment.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:The concept of orkut draws facism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact that a moderator scored this 3, Insightful is a direct refutation of the concept of moderation as practiced on Slashdot.

      Creating "artificial" borders is "facist" (sic)?

      It's "fascist" to create "artificial" borders? Really? What would be an example of a non-artificial border created by humans?

      Your "artificial border creation" looks like freedom of association to me - if you want to call that "fascist" you're one sick, twisted totalitarian motherf_ucker.

    4. Re:The concept of orkut draws facism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Asking north american friends for an orkut invite? nobody was willing to GIVE them away. I ended up with my invite from a stranger in south america.

      Man, you have the wrong kind of friends. I got on orkut and gmail pretty fast and immediately gave invites away to other people. As many as possible. However was interested (and a lot more people were interested in gmail than in orkut, natch!)

      I got in pretty fast because this is what my friends do, it's what their friends do and it's what their friends do. This is basically a free service. Free. Trying to make money out of that is just pure bad form, but spreading the love is Good Karma(tm). I end up with a lot of gmail invites left over because there really is no-one else to give them away too. (50 invites left, come and get 'em!)

  46. And now for a completely obscure remark. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If fonetik spelling was gud enuf for FDR, it is gud enuf for me.

  47. from the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mr. Poursaleh has joined dozens of other English-language Orkut communities, including the "Adolf Hitler SS Army Fan Club" and an "anti-Jewry" community, as well as a group for fans of the television show "Friends."

    Those BASTARDS

    --krimson

  48. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is bullshit and you know it. Grandparent raises a very good point. Too bad that all of you prefer to make fools out of yourselves rather than address its points.

  49. Invite Only? by Muttonhead · · Score: 1

    Then how does the media write a story about it? --- I see brainwashed people.

  50. Fucking stupid moderators! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    How the hell the parent insightful?

    Basically he's saying the goverment should prosecute people for their beliefs.

    How fucking 'insightful' is that?

    1. Re:Fucking stupid moderators! by lkcl · · Score: 1

      ehhh eerrrr bzzzt wronggggg.

      monitor yes.

      gather evidence yes.

      prosecute based solely and exclusively on the basis of "words"? no. ... except, of course, the fucking stupid american dickhead neo-fascist-conservatives now running your country _are_ putting people in prison on the basis of what they think - and say.

      _just_ in case they _might_ commit acts of "terrorism".

      and in the UK they're passing laws that allow the government to do exactly the same... ... even though those same laws would allow the british nazi^H^H^Hational party to place people under arrest/detention without trial on suspicion not evidence... ... and the BNP is gaining popularity just like its similar predecessors, across europe, in the 1930s.

      history repeats itself whereever there are crass enough people to take power without taking responsibility.

  51. I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Maybe there isn't a technological solution. It's up to each member not to feed the arguments. By not feeding the arguments, I mean a single member shouldn't try replying repeatedly to a thread that's going out of control. One reply is enough, and if someone doesn't listen, that's it.

    As a long time internet troll I couldn't agree more. I don't troll because I like to write (I do like to write but that's not enough). I troll because I love to read responses. And that's pretty much all. No responses, no fun. Real trolling is all about reading, not writing. For example I might write a pro-creationism post to observe the heated reaction of atheist nuts. Next day I would write an anti-religion post to observe the reaction of religious nuts. It's all about a balance and subtlety to attract the right kind of nuts because readng their texts is interesting, especially if they do exactly what you want them to do. Trolling is power. Aristotle new it and I know it. Reading idiotic texts of people who think they are smart (be them Jesus lovers who don't know the bible or MySQL funboys who don't know the relational model) is amusing. It really is.

    1. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're the guy who did the Bible vs Gays: Flame On! event, nice work. But, I was wondering if I might make the smallest suggestion....

      I'm a long time troll afficionardo. A coinisewer, if you will. And one thing I miss, is that trolls used to always contain one glaringly obvious inaccuracy mixed with with excacting accuracy as part of the art. I happen to still think that a proper troll should, indeed must, contain such an improbable juxtoposition to be not just great but a troll at all. And if I have guessed right, I still offer my warmest congratulations and compliments. But I do hope you'll keep this in mind in the future.

      Thank you.

    2. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a long time troll afficionardo. A coinisewer, if you will. And one thing I miss, is that trolls used to always contain one glaringly obvious inaccuracy mixed with with excacting accuracy as part of the art.

      Yes, I remember PhysicsGenius, tps12, Mensa Babe, Professor Collins... Those were real masters and I miss them. But now we have Dancin_Santa, Sheetrock, reporter, Pan T. Hose, Amsterdam Vallon, they all occasionally post really good stuff, especially Dancin_Santa. Visit their user pages from time to time and see the posts with the most answers and set threshold=-1 and mode=nested.

      I agree with you about the glaringly obvious inaccuracy. I've noticed that when there is enough accuracy and insight with intelligent language readers will do everything to understand that inaccuracy as something valid - it's a cognitive dissonance, it's easier to intellectually justify a small part of a long post than to accept that it is all a joke. It's amusing to read follow-up discussions resulting from that effect.

      You are very right. Someone posting first posts with goatse links will get modded down and forgotten in a matter of seconds. The best trolls are those that stay as Score:5, Insightful with 50 direct replies.

      I happen to still think that a proper troll should, indeed must, contain such an improbable juxtoposition to be not just great but a troll at all. And if I have guessed right, I still offer my warmest congratulations and compliments. But I do hope you'll keep this in mind in the future.

      I will! Thanks a lot.

      Oh, and you've guessed right. Thanks.

    3. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I like to torture puppies. I don't torture puppies because I like to use power tools (I do lke to user power tools but that's not enough). I torture puppies because I love to inflict anguish.

      Trolling isn't power. It's the sign of a kid holed up in a basement since he's gotten his butt kicked ten too many times for being unable to keep his sociopathic mouth shut. You think it's cute. Everyone else on the planet thinks it's a maladjusted waste of time. That you find it to be high entertainment says much more about you than your "audience".

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    4. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who's the bigger asshole? The asshole that writes to get a rise or the person who gives in to the jibe?

    5. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YHBT. YHL. HAND.

    6. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Robocoastie · · Score: 1

      eh, neither one really. Some of us just like to debate/argue. That's the common denominator that atheists and fundys have is they both have an interest in religion and they both love to fight about it.

      Doesn't make either one a "nut" its just another social method we humans have.

    7. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, I'll bite. All these days I was sure that you are a troll too... I remember that I always enjoyed reading trolls by Just Some Guy, Overly Critical Guy, and ObviousGuy (who has posted the 10,000,000th post and sadly passed away - see his bio). Was I wrong? Or IHBT right now? Anyhow, if you think that torturing puppies is even remotely comparable to posting bullshit on-line then you are the one who is a sociopath. What I do? I write stupid texts. I post them and to my surprise instead of being modded down or ignored they get modded up to +5, Insightful and discussed endlessly. I usually get bored before I read all of the replies, I go out, and when I'm back I check out Slashdot and there's another 20 replies. Amusing for a while, boring in the long run. Nothing special. And now you say that I am like someone who tortures puppies? Why won't you admit that you think that I am just like Hitler! After all, trolling is nothing more but a form of on-line holocaust! Now can you see why I like it? When I'm bored because I have an hour or two before work or a date I can always post some bullshit and there will be a lot of idiots who will take it seriously and spend hours upon hours replying to my posts, so I could have few minutes of fun when I skim through all of those replies next time my date is late, or I'm on a train or something like that. And for that I thank you!

    8. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trolling isn't power. It's the sign of a kid holed up in a basement since he's gotten his butt kicked ten too many times for being unable to keep his sociopathic mouth shut. You think it's cute. Everyone else on the planet thinks it's a maladjusted waste of time. That you find it to be high entertainment says much more about you than your "audience".

      So many fine examples of wanton hatred in the forums for an article on hatred in online forums. Never has Slashdot been so appropriate.

      You're partially true about the nature of trolls. This is classic "bully" behavior that you can see anywhere. Bullys enjoy beating people up. Trolls enjoy imflaming emotions. Black-hats enjoy breaking into other people's computers. Malware writers enjoy fucking up systems. Jocks enjoy conquering others in sport. Princesses enjoy being socially superior.

      All of these things are competitive activites that require a great deal of skill to do well. Their proponents enjoy this part of it, that they can overcome a challenge with greater and greater ability. Most of these things can be used for "good" purposes, the skills put to the benefit of society.

      However, too often they are just used to cause pain or discomfort to others. That's the part that is maladjusted and antisocial. These people mostly think they're having harmless fun, and nobody is really getting hurt. The problem is that society always fails the prisoner's dilemma, and it only takes a few trolls to cause tremendous damage. This is a big part of why I rarely socialize (and when I do I spend far too much time pointing out that the "other side" isn't evil. Uh, like now, for instance.)

    9. Re:I am a troll and I agree by skaffen42 · · Score: 1

      Trolling is power. Aristotle new it and I know it.

      new != knew.

      Idiot. How about learning the language?

      (Somebody please moderate this post as a troll... I am trying for my first meta-troll.)

      --
      People couldn't type. We realized: Death would eventually take care of this.
    10. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck off!

    11. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eat SHIT! COCKSUCKER!!

    12. Re:I am a troll and I agree by antiMStroll · · Score: 1

      That's inaccurate. Spend time in some of the rec.audio.* Usenet groups for example (.tubes is a classic for it) and you'll find the most aggravating, immature trolls who've argued the same points and hurled invictive at each other for well over a decade. Most are middle aged, many professionals.

    13. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Kwil · · Score: 1

      If they really believe what they're saying, they're not trolls. They may be flaming, but that's different.

      --

      That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze

    14. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Im a Troll Too.
      Trolls are a heros, TROLL's get people to think about the things they think they know. Because without people like you there would be swarms of people who think they know everything.
      Socrates was the first TROLL.

    15. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The first rule of trolling is that you cannot let people know you are trolling. Troll elsewhere and leave this game to the big dogs. You're just a wet kitten.

    16. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazing. You completely fed into what anon. coward #1 openly admitted is the only reason he trolls in the first place.

    17. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's so sad. I think you should go out more man. And really you don't need to defend yourself by mentioning that you go out on dates. Just another sign of insecurity.

    18. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, that's awesome-- you just totally proved grandparent's point. He trolls (about trolling, in this case), with the intention of getting on your nerves and eliciting a response, and he completely succeeds :D

    19. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Queer+Boy · · Score: 1
      Trolling is power. Aristotle new it and I know it.

      A troll comparing himself to Aristotle. That right there is the best troll ever. Better than "think about your breathing".

      --
      Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
    20. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please, gentlemen, let us not lower the level of this discussion. We have to remember that arguing over the Internet has certain rules. It is like running in the special olympics--even if you win, you are still retarded. Let us all keep that in mind. Thank you.

    21. Re:I am a troll and I agree by karstux · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You know, trolling is really disruptive for serious discussions and erosive to real communities. Yes, partially this is the fault of people who allow themselves to be trolled, or who are unable to recognize a troll for whatever reason and take it seriously.

      But provoking this out of boredom, lack of self-esteem or whatever, is not only rude, it's fucking destructive. It's like shitting on someone's table and grinning at his disgust.

      Also, it's drastic abuse of Free Speech. Moderation (=censorship, in a way) wouldn't be neccessary, were it not for provocateurs like you. Go and look in the mirror, and consider that the person you see there is hurting people and communities, and is damaging basic human rights. Are you happy with yourself now?

      --
      Don't whistle while you're pissing.
    22. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Worked like a charm, didn't it? Now, few secrets:

      1. It doesn't matter whether the original troll post is modded up or down, if only there is a follow-up post modded up. After this post was modded to Score:5, Insightful, the answer to the orig. post started to appear. Why? If anyone is reading a Score:5, Insightful post that talks about torturing puppies it makes no sense whatsoever without hitting the [Parent] link and reading the original post. For that reason, Just Some Guy not only did exactly what I wanted (i.e. posted an idiotic and amusing answer comparing posting silliness on-line to torturing puppies) but actually made more people read my original text, which at this point might be moderated as -1 and would still get read. (To be honest this post was so obvious that I am still suprised that anyone was so stupid to reply.)

      2. If you want to get answers you have to include mistakes. People love to prove their smarter than others by pointing out mistakes. What is important here is that a smarter reader is less likely to point out any given mistake, but is more likely to notice it. People usually correct you if they think that the mistake they found makes you only slightly more stupid than them and when without said mistake you would appear smarter than them. For the smartest readers you must include very subtle logical fallacies. For the most stupid readers you must include obvious speling errors. For example, skaffen42 in this post was only smart enough to point out that I am an idiot because I don't know the difference between "knew and new" which let's face it could be (and in fact was) an honest typo when one key was not pressed hard enough. This may seem pathetic that certain people are unable to point out any one of the dozens serious flaws in any discussion and saying "new != knew. Idiot. How about learning the language?" is the best they can do, but remember that even stupid people have a right to benefit from trolling.

      3. People like trolls. People need trolls. People love to argue and win with people who sound smart.

      4. Interesting discussions are started by trolls. As another AC pointed out, Socrates was the first troll. And indeed, anyone who has read Platonic dialogues will exactly know what I mean. What we call subtle trolling, Plato would call Socratic irony.

      5. Certainly there is nothing wrong in being a sociopath or having an unpopular opinion. For example, my stance in abortion is that I am anti-choice and anti-life, which puts me in the position to argue with both pro-life nuts and pro-choice zealots.

      7. Anyone who is too serious about Slashdot, should be, well, less serious.

      8. If you get angry while reading something, it might be a good idea to (a) stop reading it, (b) not replying and effectively (c) not increasing the amount of things that you don't like to read being written. There are lots of interesting things to read and other things to do, why waste your life reading things that you don't enjoy? (The last question applies only when one has a life in the first place.)

      9. Everyone in this thread (except those supporting me) has demostrated his or her stupidity, every one on a slightly different level, most on a disappointingly pathetic level.

      10. There is nothing wrong with stupidity. Even Newton used to say: there is only one thing that is infinite in the universe: stupidity.

      I wish you all the best luck. I hope people like Just Some Guy will always help me and my fellow trolls in our noble mission. Have a nice day.

    23. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you happy with yourself now?

      Yes, I am. See this post.

    24. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For example I might write a pro-creationism post to observe the heated reaction of atheist nuts.

      The only problem is - you're the one who's nuts.. kinduw.

      Trolling is power.

      No it isn't, it's line noise caused by someone with a vocabulary and a small amount cleverness (let's face it, it's very easy to deliberately provoke and/or piss someone off). It's also a textbook example of someone who's desperate for attention although I'm sure you don't see it that way. But don't take my word for it, look it up. I used to get upset by trolls until I figured you out (read up a bit on psychology - behaviour etc.) and as strange as it may seem - I don't really hate trolls any longer, I actually feel indifference towards you and your type and have come to accept you as just a "broken coggwheel".

      Heh, the ironic thing about your post though is that by confessing to being a troll, you are actually trolling and I'm sure lot's of people will post and say how much they hate you. I must admit, thats pretty clever but I've seen it done before =P

    25. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      1. It's the sign of a kid holed up in a basement since he's gotten his butt kicked ten too many times for being unable to keep his sociopathic mouth shut.

      I don't doubt that what you say is correct for a large percentage of trolls. There are people, though, that think it's funny to be assholes...and they beat others up just for fun. The trolls don't have to be just abused people lashing back.

    26. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People have a right to say whatever they want. We are not required to provide the forum for their rantings. Whoever runs the website can ban whomever they want for any reason they want. If you don't like it, go to another site or start your own. I know someone will whine about the first amendment. It would be nice if people would actually read the bill of rights before they say their rights are being abused. It says that Congress shall make no laws restricting speech. Last time I checked Congress did not moderate forums in websites.

    27. Re:I am a troll and I agree by pipingguy · · Score: 1


      "There are some individuals out there who don't just enjoy winding up people on newsgroups and bulletin boards - it's their sad lifestyle choice!"

      Excerpt from "The Subtle Art of Trolling".

    28. Re:I am a troll and I agree by ArtStone · · Score: 1

      A response to a troll is not a troll.

      Spelling flame trolls are not particularly original - however /. folks cannot seem to resist jumping on a speeling troll and taking a thread off topic.

      --
      Final 2006 "Proof of Global Warming" US Hurricane Count -> 0
    29. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A troll comparing himself to Aristotle.

      Herself, you idiot!

    30. Re:I am a troll and I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Learn to speel.

  52. Because I appearently just don't know any better.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aside from homosexuality in the animal kingdom lending creedence to the notion that, while there is an element of choice, there also is a very fundemental drive at work, people with a skin tone can, and at least one did, chose to have it bleached out. I myself am considering adding skin tone, not out of any self-loathing, but out of consideration for others. (Depending on the position of the sun, the glare I throw off can be dangerous to bystanders.)

    Given that we do have some understanding the processes that regulate melatonin in the skin, and we understand virtually nill about how personal biological variation influences any mating behavior let alone sexual preference. It's not much of a leap at all to suggest that it's easier to choose to be black or white. Since it's simply a matter of enduring the treatment, which will work, and choosing to radically alter one's sense of themself.

    He doesn't raise any point. He just baited people. And he did it well.

    Were he really a Christian he'd be careful about sitting in judgement. (Ruse or not.)

    We're all fallible and have frequently fallen short of the Glory of the Lord. Judgement isn't the domain of man beyond the laws he crafts. A real Christian, as opposed to one of a group people who simply gather at a church, would put aside fear and threats. They find generosity and kindness are more in keeping with their teachings. I don't like that either.

    Like the original poster, I prefer reindeer games.

  53. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Ckwop · · Score: 0, Troll

    I could go on and on forever. The point is that according to my religion gays are sinners, even if many of them are not aware of that. Is it really "discrimination" or "hatred" if I dare to save them from the hell fire by telling them that what they do is wrong? I am not discriminating, I am against violence. I only want to educate people. I only talk to people, write to people, write articles. Is that really wrong? Is education really the same as the crimes of holocaust? Do we really have to compare education to hatred for Jews?

    Education implies that you impart some truth upon people. The only truth you've imparted on me today is that the Bible is an instrument of hate and repression.

    Personally, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in hell and I think Jesus was a clever, manipulative man but a man non-the-less. If that makes me a sinner in your eyes then so be it - I'll gladly live in sin because your alternative looks such much worse.

    Simon

  54. Welcome back to the BBS era by tjlsmith · · Score: 2, Informative

    I was running BBS's in the 80s.

    There is always a few clowns who like to post crap - they get real tough safe in their rooms. I call it 'modem machismo'.

    The way to handle this is to hammer the offensive message immediately. No need to kick the guy, unless he is incorrigible.

    Works for flame wars too. (Which must be discouraged immediately)

    It's a little like being the bouncer in a bar. How long do you think the bouncer would tolerate a punch up?

    --
    Mumia Abu-Jamal is *laughably guilty*. Check the evidence.
  55. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is precisely why I converted to paganism. The religion that discriminates against nobody and the god and goddess condemn nobody because they truely are the meaning of "love". Christianity = outdated bollocks. The most unnatural religion man ever created.

  56. What the .. ? Resubmitting by dustmite · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What the hell, I edited the mistakes in that post on a preview, resubmitted, and it posted the OLD VERSION with the mistakes in it?!? Dammit. Here we go again:

    People will find some characteristic other than race to single out and harass people. E.g. they'll single out fat people, or skinny people, or smart people, or whatever. They already do, just look at any classroom in which everyone is white.

    Have you ever noticed though that the people who do this, i.e. harass other people based on some arbitrary characteristic, are invariably useless people .. i.e. they are usually people who have nothing special about them, no special skills, and are not able to contribute anything useful to the world. These "nazi types" are usually from the low classes in society. I think the reason these people tend to cluster in groups around a hate-based ideology is because it gives them some kind of magic "free ticket" to feeling "special", without having to do anything other than be a certain race or look a certain way. It's like the ideology calls to them by saying something like this: "Hey, nothing special about you, never achieved anything? Well we say that just being (race XYZ) makes you special by default, because (race XYZ) is superior, and (race XYZ) achieved all sorts of things." So someone with nothing special about them now feels they have something to be proud of, something that makes them special/superior to others, and they feel that they "belong" to something.

    Look at class bullies, most of them are losers who are going nowhere in life. By picking out and alienating someone else who is smart or whatever, they get to feel better about themselves. Going further, a more subtle example is television: Most sitcoms have an extremely dumb or nerdy character ... the idea is to make a character that is so dumb or nerdy, that even your dumbest/nerdiest viewer gets to feel better about themselves by being able to say to themselves "ha, look at that guy, he's so stuuupid, ha ha". Because nobody wants to be the stupidest or nerdiest person in a group. So the sitcom creators lower the bar so much that all viewers are raised above it. The idea is to make a show so stupid that the viewers feel better about themselves, it's a cheap feel-good manipulation trick that usually works. It's the same thing with racist groups - when you belong to such a group, you feel better about yourself because you define/depict another group as being inferior, even if you've never accomplished anything in your life. Don't know how a TV works? Who cares, you can say stuff like "we invented TVs". Don't know how a car works? Who cares, you can say stuff like "we invented cars". As if saying "we" somehow makes you part of some "group" that supposedly invented TVs/cars, which is obviously not quite correct.

  57. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by iamacat · · Score: 0, Troll

    I am not discriminating, I am against violence. I only want to educate people. I only talk to people, write to people, write articles. Is that really wrong?

    No, on two conditions - you don't advocate any anti-gay/anti-abortion/bible-based laws and if people tell you to get lost and never talk to them again you respect their wishes. Law is very much a form of violence. If you don't obey, policemen will show up and eventually kill you if you continue to resist them.

  58. Hallucination of the way I read the story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    littlesparrow writes "Slashdot is a well known slashcode experiment, a geek only environment based on social networks. Recently it has been reported that hate and political bias is proliferating on Slashdot. Besides the story in the New York Times, a news source often quoted by the site, there is also commentary on the situation." From the article: "For Google, the trouble on Slashdot - could easily escalate. A prosecutor in California, where the service is especially popular, has already initiated an investigation into some of the more virulent Slashdot reporting sites.

  59. Grammar hate by orzetto · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you were so "good at school", why exactly is that you misspell:

    • everyones (everyone's)
    • racistism (racism)
    • lifes (lives)
    • Its (it's)
    • ware (wear)
    • i (I)
    • jelious (jealous)
    • them selfs (themselves)
    • Im (I'm)
    • hatrid (hatred)
    • wont (won't)
    (and I did not consider the typos).

    Did you go to Yale and sit next to Dubya? Or are you simply trolling|karmawhoring?

    --
    Victims of 9/11: <3000. Traffic in the US: >30,000/y
    1. Re:Grammar hate by haluness · · Score: 1

      Sloppy typing does not imply lack of academic acheivement (and vice versa of course)

    2. Re:Grammar hate by djsmiley · · Score: 1

      "Sloppy typing does not imply lack of academic acheivement (and vice versa of course) "

      thank you for making a perfect point, im actually dyslexic, and instead of choosing to spell check everything i do. I go with the flow.

      Tbh you find me an example of anyone (who has i.q. ranging 140+, ) who did as well as i did, especially in the educational intuitues which i was at.

      I mean, my mum told them i couldn't spell, i told them i couldn't spell, and yet they did nothing about it.

      Im that kid the one which all the "rock" stars write about, the one who really DID have it bad....

      but i made it good....

      --
      - http://www.milkme.co.uk
    3. Re:Grammar hate by Stiletto · · Score: 1


      If someone knows they just "go with the flow" and doesn't care enough to spell-check their posts, why should anyone care enough what they have to say?

      How siriusly can you take somewon who awlays rites like this and blames it on deslixea or typos?

    4. Re:Grammar hate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Intentionally being ignorant of your own shortcomings and not improving isn't very intelligent.

    5. Re:Grammar hate by haluness · · Score: 1

      Thats certainly true - my comment was'nt really in support of the parent, I was just pointing out the generalization.

      Personally, I think bad spelling/grammer is sloppy and in many cases I don't pay as much attention to a post as I would have had it been properly composed. Clearly, thats a failing on my part, because in the end presentation doesn't imply content.

      I suppose I'm old fashioned in this 'OMG lol' world

  60. How is it a problem? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    Its human nature... Its how we are wired.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:How is it a problem? by Megamote · · Score: 1

      Just a Merry Minute: You are saying that it is inevitable? The whole world is suffering with unhappy souls, The French hate the Germans, The Germans hate the Poles Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch, AND I DON'T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH!! But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud For man's been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud And we know for certain that some lovely day Someone will set the spark off AND WE WILL ALL BE BLOWN AWAY!! - The Kingston Trio

    2. Re:How is it a problem? by ultrabot · · Score: 1

      Its human nature... Its how we are wired.

      That doesn't stop it from being a problem, much like many other very human traits.

      --
      Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
    3. Re:How is it a problem? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      I dont see it as a problem personally. Might be for you, but not for me.

      Now, who is wrong here? Its all personal attitude, there is no right or wrong when it comes to a persons feelings about other peoples.. If you judge a person poorly because hes a racist and doesnt believe as you.. How are you any different?

      Now if you want to talk about acting on those attitudes violently, instead of just voicing your feelings ( a constitutional right here in my country ), we would be more in agreement.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    4. Re:How is it a problem? by ultrabot · · Score: 1

      Now if you want to talk about acting on those attitudes violently, instead of just voicing your feelings ( a constitutional right here in my country ), we would be more in agreement.

      Note that I didn't say it should be banned - just said that it's a problem. Greed, gluttony, lust, and other "human vices" can be problematic, but they should not IMO be banned.

      I would still ban hatespeech in a forum I was moderating, mostly because it may offend other members. All kinds of "jewish conspiracy" stuff might be funny in a perverse kind of way to some people, but "kill the Jews" is not, most of the time.

      --
      Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
    5. Re:How is it a problem? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      Hyprocrit..

      Think about what you jsut said.. makes you no better then the one that is making the 'hate speech'.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  61. shoking to see... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..how "normal" people find racism, expecting racism to exist for a long time to come.

    I expect it's mostly from white westeners (although it exists within all races), guess white man needs to be "put in place" , but how I don't now(maybe geneticaly changing the USsouth would be a good start

  62. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Personally, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in hell and I think Jesus was a clever, manipulative man but a man non-the-less. If that makes me a sinner in your eyes then so be it - I'll gladly live in sin because your alternative looks such much worse.

    This is just sad. Could you tell me your address so I could send you this postcard? You seem like a perfect recipient for that card, my dear Athiest friend.

  63. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by stormi · · Score: 0

    i couldn't agree more..... really, i couldn't.

    --
    "if only i had known i would have been a locksmith." -albert einstein
  64. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, on two conditions - you don't advocate any anti-gay/anti-abortion/bible-based laws and if people tell you to get lost and never talk to them again you respect their wishes. Law is very much a form of violence. If you don't obey, policemen will show up and eventually kill you if you continue to resist them.

    This is just silly! Where did the original poster say anything about law?? People, look at yourself! First, you attack the OP because of advocating violence, then hatred, but there was nothing about hatred or violence other than saying it is wrong, so now you say that the OP is wrong because he/she advocate anti-gay/anti-abortion/bible-based laws?? What? Where??? When in fact he/she wrote: "I am against violence. I only want to educate people. I only talk to people, write to people, write articles." in the very first post! Do you even read the posts you are replying to?

  65. The difference by D4C5CE · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Hey, everyones saying... "oh i saw them on blogs", "i saw them on site x, y and z".... No ones noticed that we have this ALL the time on slashdot? How do we fix it? We leave a warning for all, and then we ignore it. Simple (...)
    The problem on Orkut (besides performing as if it was suffering from a ceaseless Slashdot effect) seems to be that the moderation is not working quite as well. Posts and people don't go to -1 and disappear into oblivion. Rather, those who feel offended have to refrain from reporting too many incidents to avoid being sent to "jail" themselves.

    Although the model of Orkut depends on everyone being a real person (and an adult as well), release from jail seems to occur automatically even for fake accounts.

    If you punish users for moderation rather than encourage it as /. does, and if you tolerate bogus identities in a social networking system (i.e. many miscreants don't get kicked out, as it does not really matter if they play by the same rules as everyone else), it becomes too easy for malicious participants to keep their hate speech visible on equal footing with honest, real people, while hiding behind forged profiles that are no better than anonymous avatars.

    Actually, some apparent "fake users" have been allowed to exist for long enough on Orkut to see "fan" or "hate" communities being set up for "themselves".

    In other words, on ./ and in real life (or even Usenet for that matter), the simple rule is this:
    Whether you are using your true name or not, if you choose to be a troll, expect no better than to be treated as a troll.
    On Orkut, everyone is expected to use their true identity and stand by their opinions, but because none of this is sufficiently well enforced, trolls have surprisingly little to fear.
    There is no better way to undermine the moral standards in a community than allowing this to happen.

  66. Re:Because I appearently just don't know any bette by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aside from homosexuality in the animal kingdom lending creedence

    Great... Now you tell us that people are animals without a soul, free will, morals and responsibility for their behaviour? What a pile of bullshit...

  67. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where is it that people like you are taught to read without comprehension!?! They must send you to a special school or something, I suppose. But allow me to point out a major oversight on your part that could have been avoided if you had been taught to read AND comprehend, (of course you'll have to get someone explain this to you, what with your limitations and all...)

    The Bible says "they shall be put to death", it doesn't say "put them to death"!! It says "at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD", it doesn't say "cast them down"!! YOU don't have to concern yourself with what happens to so-called 'sinners'. That is the job of the LORD! Vengence is MINE, sayeth the LORD! YOU will be judged by how YOU treat the least among you! Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, jackass!!

  68. Skinheads Brasileiros are making fun of themselves by hummassa · · Score: 1

    They just don't realize it.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  69. Hate and Racism....Middle of the Road. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Hell, look at Slashdot. What if there weren't moderations, how many GNAA and Goatse ascii drawings wouldn't there be in every topic on the front page?"

    As opposed to the opposite extreme of Group Think? That's humanity for you. Always going for the extreme solution to any issue.

  70. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Megamote · · Score: 1

    "...if I dare to save them from the hell fire by telling them that what they do is wrong? Huh. Is that what saves 'em? You go! Get a show - save the world.

  71. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Leviticus 20:13:

    If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

    The West Wing:

    President Josiah Bartlet: Good. I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination.
    Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does.
    President Josiah Bartlet: Yes it does. Leviticus. Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.
    President Josiah Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police? Here's one that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you?

    Not wishing to hail WW as a greater spiritual guide, but, I think there's a point there, no?

  72. So delete your account... by Tek+Tekson · · Score: 1

    From Orkut Help:

    How can I delete my account?
    Category: My Account
    Updated: 9/28/2004

    Answer
    If you'd like to permanently delete your account, please follow these steps:

    1. Select the 'Home' link in the blue bar at the top of the page.
    2. Click on the 'profile' button under your photo.
    3. Click the 'edit profile' button that appears under your photo.
    4. Click the 'terminate' option on the right-hand side of the page.
    5. Select 'terminate account.' If you wish to remain a member, choose 'i changed my mind.'

    Please keep in mind that once you delete your account, you will not be able to restore or reactivate this account.

    Thanks for playing,
    orkut.com

  73. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Asgorath · · Score: 1

    Interesting, as most studies show that being a homosexual is not a choise, it's something your born as. Homosexuality happens with many spieces inside the animal kingdom (yep that's what we are part of, not some outdated primative caveman religion you still cling too. I keep being amazed how people actually take such an obvious piece of nonsense for being a fact - sorry to be rude).

    Religious people.... sometimes.... I know religon is just a symptom and not a cause. But it really once more confirms to me how primative, sad humanbeings still are.

    Doing good by hating others? What a wonderfull concept. If there really was a god out there that was a good god, I think the first people send to hell would be all those to worship him/her/it for how intolerant and plain evil they are. And that under the guice of being morral and upstanding.

  74. No broken glasses? by sammyo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Defusing mean jokes is great, but you were lucky. The jokes would have hurt more if you had been beat up or had the glasses grabbed and stomped.

    Does happen and that is the problem with hate talk.

    1. Re:No broken glasses? by djsmiley · · Score: 1

      You think i didn't have my glasses broken?

      Hah, but hten, i did throw the kid through a glass door afterwards, then, i wore some steel toe caps and kicked another in the balls (no kids then...).

      Either way, both things worked....

      In the end they feared me for some fucked up reason, and they still do. I see them in the street, they will shout out "is that XXXX" and i say "yes?" then they wont do anything else..... If its anyone else, they get mugged.

      Heh, i guess im lucky

      --
      - http://www.milkme.co.uk
    2. Re:No broken glasses? by sammyo · · Score: 1

      Thank you, you make my point. Not everyone is as tough as you and if a dozen decided to gang up on you or maybe a government with guns... the story may be different.

  75. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Uh, if Jesus Christ was "always against any violence", why did he advise his disciples to sell their cloaks (which also served as bedding in those days, a critical personal possession) and buy swords, a few days before the crucifixion?

    Not to say he was a warmonger either, but I think you are imputing motives to a historical figure you can't possibly be so sure about.

  76. OK, to make it clear once and for all: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Interesting, as most studies show that being a homosexual is not a choise, it's something your born as.

    Homosexuality is not a choice. Sodomy is.

    Homosexuality is not a sin. Sodomy is.

    A homosexual living in a celibate can go to Heaven.

    A homosexual or heterosexual guilty of adultery will go to hell.

    Is it clear now?

    1. Re:OK, to make it clear once and for all: by schtum · · Score: 1

      A homosexual or heterosexual guilty of adultery will go to hell.

      Ok, so once gay marriage is legalized, they're in the clear. Thanks for clearing that up!

    2. Re:OK, to make it clear once and for all: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A marriage is between man and women.

      "If a man also lie with mankind, as he If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Leviticus 20:13 (more references here)

    3. Re:OK, to make it clear once and for all: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Marriage is between 'man and women'? You must be a Mormon.

    4. Re:OK, to make it clear once and for all: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because marriage in any other religion is between man and man? Get a clue!

    5. Re:OK, to make it clear once and for all: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, yes, there were other cultures that permitted same-sex marriage before the Christian missionaries stomped out their "heathen" religions and instituted a soothing, uniform hatred of homosexuality.

    6. Re:OK, to make it clear once and for all: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only that, fellatio evidently is the preferred method of homosexual gratification for the genitally obsessed, pseudo-religious busybody!!

  77. MOD PARENT DOWN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "... if you are not a troll, you will know that the bible..."

    So wait... Are you saying that non-catholics are trolls? And that homosexual behaviour should be discriminated against? Eat me.

  78. Re:A lack of tolerance...or a matter of statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its the way the human mind works to find solutions, be they solutions to better warfare or better peace.


    Or in the UN's case the best way to get a piece.
  79. Some thoughts about Orkut by rinkjustice · · Score: 1

    The first thing about Orkut is how bloody slow and unreliable the service is. I guess Orkut being in perpetual beta allows them to continue sucking. There are some times I can't even log in, it just redirects me to a "Bad Server, no donut for you" page which becomes tired in a hurry. Do a google search using the words "Orkut" and "sucks" and you'll see alot of people share my opinion.

    Another thing I've noticed about Orkut, is how popular it is with Brazilians. I have no problem with this, and I've made some friends from there via Orkut, but it's interesting nonetheless.

  80. Hate or "hate"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's "hate" when a hypersensitive person says that it's hate. Or if they simply disagree with the political values of the other person, then that's "hate" too...

  81. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

    Yep. In a nutshell "Have nothing to do with them."

    If they are in your church you warn them twice to stop, and then kick them out. If they eventually stop then you welcome them back and help them repent.

  82. How come only Anglos must be pilloried for this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As a Latino, I find it funny that only Anglos gets scorn for racism, but the second a Black or Asian does it, no one says a peep. Want proof? Just look at most Black sitcoms or films, there's almost always a pointed anti-White tone to it all. Jokes that get directed towards Whites would garner instant outrage if the situation were reversed.

    Until ALL racial groups get equal scorn for commiting racism, I seriously could care less about racism right now.

    Point it, there are a lot of Black hate groups out there, yet we never hear anyone speak up against them. Why?

  83. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

    Not to really support the grandparent, but the books go "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus"

    The Ten Commandments were in Exodus and the verse that you quoted were in Leviticus which is the book of law as opposed to the commandments which were more like an informational brochure.

  84. One man's extremism... by Baldrson · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

    Look at the history of interference with peacable assembly for a clue as to why the Founders put this clause as the first of the rights they considered most likely for the government to usurp from the people.

    Yes you read that right... the Bill of Rights is not an enumeration of the rights guaranteed to the people by the government -- but an enumeration of the rights that the people possess by "the laws of nature and nature's god" in the order most likely to be usruped by government.

    Moreover, what this means is that the Bill of Rights is a declaration of natural rights meaning that if any government violates them that government cannot be considered consistent with the laws of nature.

    This is an "extremist" stand. Indeed, any stand of integrity means adhering to the principles stated in the face even of death. That is the essence of "extremism". Can you think why powerful people might consider any integrity exhibited by those without power as "extremist" and seek to have "extremism" suppressed through social, cultural, legal, economic, police and any other means necessary?

    Indeed, when weaseling courts mockingly refer to "the penumbra of the Constitution" what they are in fact saying is that the government is like the light of the Sun itself and the people's rights are like the shadow of the moon on the earth during a total eclipse of the sun -- absolute only at a single point.

    Well, if there is a single point to the Constitution, it is reflected in the first paragraph of the document forming the foundation for the creation of the Constitution:

    When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

    It is clearly stated:

    The whole point of freedom, the single point made by the whole of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the original Bill of Rights, is recognition of the primordial freedom to choose those with whom one will associate.

    1. Re:One man's extremism... by 26199 · · Score: 1

      I'm not entirely sure what your point is. I didn't say anything about closing down these groups, or about rights to associate, or about censorship.

      All I said was that this is a completely new type of situation, one which is outside the way society normally works. As such it's potentially problematic.

      If you're saying that it would be wrong to close these groups down, fair enough. It's a defensible viewpoint. I don't have an especially strong opinion on the matter.

  85. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by GWTPict · · Score: 1
    It's not education, it's your opinion. The fact that you get your opinions from an internally inconsistent book which is a translation of a translation of a translation (etc, etc) of a 2000 year old work about someone who may or may not have existed in the form which the book describes will tend to undermine your arguments. That's not to say that you shouldn't be allowed to hold those opinions, just don't be suprised when people consider you to be an idiot.


    Ignoring for the moment the fact that many people don't consider someones chosen religion a good basis for deciding what is and isn't 'correct' behaviour, there is considerable evidence for a genetic component in homosexuality, where does that leave your claim of free will ?

  86. Some things I know about moderating conversations by maggard · · Score: 3, Informative
    Theresa Neilson Hayden, who maintains a lively, smart, community on her Making Light blog, was invited by the South by Southwest Conference to sit on their "Spammers, Trolls and Stalkers: The Pandora's Box of Community" panel. Instead she submitted her suggestions, a magnificent set of common-sense policies for maintaining a virtual community from the host's viewpoint:

    Some things I know about moderating conversations in virtual space .

    Suggestions include:

    1. There can be no ongoing discourse without some degree of moderation, if only to kill off the hardcore trolls. It takes rather more moderation than that to create a complex, nuanced, civil discourse. If you want that to happen, you have to give of yourself. Providing the space but not tending the conversation is like expecting that your front yard will automatically turn itself into a garden.

    5. Over-specific rules are an invitation to people who get off on gaming the system.

    6. Civil speech and impassioned speech are not opposed and mutually exclusive sets. Being interesting trumps any amount of conventional politeness.

    The rest of the list is also quite good, including a comment on /.

    --
    I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
  87. Get Off Your High Horse -Immature Flamers by N8F8 · · Score: 1
    Years ago I dealt with the same sorts of problems in chatrooms. Every time I would try to hold a decent conversation some dork would interject him or herself into the discussion for the sole purpose of pissing people off. Eventually I gave up. It wasn't till years alter that I came to Slashdot that I found somthing that works marginally better. Still, I see litte difference between the problems with Orkut and what chatrooms and forums deal with. Most popular sites end up with metamoderators that can help with the problem.

    But don't get up on a high horse over this. Slashdot and sites like Kuro5hin can be just as bad. Try posting something remotely conservative on either site and you'll see what I mean.

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
    1. Re:Get Off Your High Horse -Immature Flamers by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 1

      Still, Ive seen some reallly far out articles that I'd never expect even K5 to accept. One was on a D&C howto. Yes, a HOWTO...

      Ive also seen some quite conservative pieces there too. They just have to be good.

      And as a last note, about the troll culture there, Its funny.. Ive seen the trolls (Circle times square, tex bigballs, and the like) talk quite intellectually with the owner ;)

      --
  88. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by BattleTroll · · Score: 0, Redundant

    If you're sure of yourself, why hide behind AC? Persecution goes both ways buddy.

    Christ preached tolerance, understanding and compassion. "Let he without sin cast the first stone" - so what do others get to save you from?

    Seems you should spend your time figuring out how to save yourself and not worry so much about other people. I have a feeling you'll have more luck that way.

    Christ wasn't a gay-basher. If you're a true believer where do you come off being one yourself?

  89. I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by cs668 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Assuming that you are not just a troll.

    I love how you guys pick and choose what to follow but then hold the bible up as the absolute word of god.

    Let me ask you a question. If you got in a fight with some guy and he was kicking your ass and your wife ran up and punched him in the balls would you cut off her hand?

    Well that is what Deuteronomy 25:11-12 also tells you to do. BTW it also says that you should not feel bad about it when you do it.

    So unless you are willing to cut of your wife's had for helping you in a fight, I guess you have to invalidate the whole book.

    1. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would not cut off her hand like I am not trying to "put to death" any "man [that] lie with mankind". Still, I believe both of those metaphors describe sins and I wouldn't expect my wife to sin in the first place but if she did then I would try to explain to her that it was wrong just like I try to explain to homosexuals that sodomy is wrong. This is a good example because it shows that my position is consistent and logical. Thanks for bringing it out.

    2. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by BattleTroll · · Score: 1

      It's more like they're using religion as an excuse to be jerks. People who hate and wrap themselves in Religion want to come off as all nice and sweet by saying they're trying to "save people", when in fact they're just prejudicial, small minded bigots.

      I'd have a lot more respect if thee bigots just come out and say "I don't like you or what you do. I'm an Asshole and I'm OK with it". It's more honest.

    3. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by cs668 · · Score: 1

      So if you were being mugged by some guy and your wife managed to incapacitate him by punching him in the balls you would tell her she was wrong to save your ass?

      Interesting.

    4. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by cs668 · · Score: 1

      They are not metaphors Deuteronomy and Leviticus define the law. If you chose to not honor the prescribed punishment why should you honor the rest of the text. If the punishment is antiquated and no longer the word of god why not the whole thing.

    5. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So if you were being mugged by some guy and your wife managed to incapacitate him by punching him in the balls you would tell her she was wrong to save your ass?

      Yes. Also if she saved my life by killing someone who wanted to kill me, it would be still a homocide and it would still be a deadly sin. I wouldn't want her to save me in such a case because "saving" me from going to Heaven early is not worth eternal damnation for her.

    6. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by cs668 · · Score: 1

      Nice now you equate a groin punch with murder in your judgment of your wife. I just am not able to comprehend this line of thought.

      Let's turn the tables would you kill someone that was about to kill your wife?

    7. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by iXiXi · · Score: 1

      Humans can act like conditioned lab rats with the right motivation. Look at those Halebop cult people who killed themselves over some crazy dude's ramblings. So, when there is a mass of people that widely accept a religeous text and fanatically interpret the meaning, there will be a few who blindly look in and pull out the basics without understanding the detail. I find myself quoting scripture in my own defense at times and I am not religeous at all. I think it is a safety net that people wrap themselves in because they don't want to think about the here-after. I can't wait to find out why there is so much suffering, death, hate, pain and lack of purpose in this world. To quote a lyric: " I don't want to start any blasphemous rumors but I think that God has a sick sense of humor and when I die I expect to find him laughing."

    8. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's turn the tables would you kill someone that was about to kill your wife?

      No. She's a saint woman and I am sure she would go straight to Heaven. If I killed her killer I would never meet her again after our death.

    9. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by cs668 · · Score: 1

      OK I can't understand you, but at least you are consistent.

    10. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by Megamote · · Score: 1

      A Legalist religion is a religion, ANY religion, that when confronted with a conflict between love, compassion and caring, and conformity to doctrine, will almost invariably choose the latter regardless of the effect it has on its followers or on the society of which it is a part.

    11. Re:I love the hypocrisy of the bible thumpers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you that you could finally agree with me. Not everyone is so honest to admit he was wrong.

  90. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ignoring for the moment the fact that many people don't consider someones chosen religion a good basis for deciding what is and isn't 'correct' behaviour, there is considerable evidence for a genetic component in homosexuality, where does that leave your claim of free will ?

    I have already written about it. While there may be an evidence for a genetic component in homosexuality (like in most of mental disorders) there is still free will to choose if one wants to commit a sin of sodomy and adultery. You don't sin by being a homosexual but by sleeping with men instead of women. I thought it was clear.

  91. Mod parent Troll! :-) by thegnu · · Score: 1

    Try posting something remotely conservative on either site and you'll see what I mean.

    YO MAMA!

    --
    Please stop stalking me, bro.
  92. Rather simplistic explanation by sammyo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sheesh, solved a cultural problem that had injured an killed countless. How about, beat up on the weak, then steal their property? Maybe opportunistic sociopaths using ignorance to rabble rouse? There are many reasons, all bad, all wrong, all pathetic.

  93. Please do bother by sammyo · · Score: 1

    Why? Same reason it's illegal to shout fire in a crowded theater. From past experience, people DIE. Not hurt feeling, not a flame war, death, injury, destitution. Words can't break my bones but if I can talk some idiot to come to your house and burn it down perhaps you should have paid attention?

  94. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by GWTPict · · Score: 1
    Homosexuality is not a mental disorder you idiot. I feel free to call you an idiot because you state,

    You don't sin by being a homosexual but by sleeping with men instead of women.

    That statement implies all heterosexual women are homosexual because they sleep with men. As I said in my previous response, 'don't be suprised if people treat you like an idiot'.

  95. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Christ wasn't a gay-basher.

    His Father was and as a Holy Trinity they are both One and the same Person.

  96. How redundant of hate monging.... by 3seas · · Score: 1

    or begetting itself ... avoid solution directions.... hence moding the above as a troll...

    hahahaha...

  97. These People are Mostly Thick by fuzzybunny · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The founder of that group, Kiarash Poursaleh, who described himself in his profile as an 18-year-old living in Tehran, also listed "Mein Kampf" by Hitler as a favorite book...

    You know, I'm more worried about the rise of organized groups, such as the German NPD or the Russian democratic party. Gentlemen such as Mr. Poursaleh somehow, deep down, seem to missing a somewhat fundamental point about how the people whose policies he's advocating might view his own particular ethnic group.

    Crackpot pseudoscientific about racial biology and what defines "aryan", as a sometime student of history I'm not aware of Mr. Hilter & his merry gang of pirates ever planning to set up an division of Persian SS stormtroopers...

    --
    Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
    1. Re:These People are Mostly Thick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      You know, I'm more worried about the rise of organized groups, such as the German NPD or the Russian democratic party.
      Yes, perish the thought that Germans or Russians ever get governments that are actually of, by, and for Germans or Russians, instead of decracinated internationalist elites only intererested in selling their fellow citizens into slavery.
      Gentlemen such as Mr. Poursaleh somehow, deep down, seem to missing a somewhat fundamental point about how the people whose policies he's advocating might view his own particular ethnic group.

      Crackpot pseudoscientific about racial biology and what defines "aryan", as a sometime student of history I'm not aware of Mr. Hilter & his merry gang of pirates ever planning to set up an division of Persian SS stormtroopers...
      That just shows you up as a historical ignoramous.

      I'd suggest that you do some deep Googling on the Waffen-SS and the numerous non-Germanic, non-Nordic SS troops that the SS created. The Germans also created a free Indian army - had they gotten to Persia there's no reason why they wouldn't have created Persian military units to fight the British.

      If you actually read what the Nazis actually wrote, you'll not find much that is anti-moslem, anti-Arab , anti-Persian or anti- anything else. What you will find are "hate" directed at groups with which they had specific historical greivances - Jews, some Slavs (ie, Poles and Russians, but not Croats, Slovenes, etc.).

      Of course today you have "haters" who don't like Turks or Arabs because they are now in Europe, but that's a modern problem that did not exist back when the Nazis were in power.

      The problem with this topic is that all people know about the subject is misinformation they learned at school, and crap on the History Channel. It's all recycled war propaganda and modern political nonsense, having no bearing on the actual history of the period.
    2. Re:These People are Mostly Thick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not his ethnicity but his ideology (in this case religious) at work here. Hitler may not have had a Persian SS division, but he did have a Muslim one, Al Hanzar. under Grand Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini.

    3. Re:These People are Mostly Thick by fuzzybunny · · Score: 1

      Your political opinions aside, the SS also had an English division (which numbered something around 12 members), etc. etc. etc.

      With a bit of research, you may find that the examples you state all (a) stretched the concept of "division", and (b) weren't exactly the first choice of troops for the nazis, only being tapped as the war progressed and simply serving to evolve the Waffen SS from a monoethnic gang of armed thugs into a multiethnic one.

      You will, however, find no documentation beyond crackpot fantasies cooked up by maniacs like Alfred Rosenberg, of plans for a Persian/Iranian troop contingent--by the time the Germans were actually putting together units of "non-teutonic" origin, the war had progressed far enough that both OKW and Himmler were more concerned with getting enough warm bodies from still-occupied territories under arms than extending their imperial claws any further.

      As for your "haters" (quotes yours), I witness a fair number of them waving NPD flags nowadays, so I don't quite see the distinction, to be honest.

      And thanks for the unfounded insult, I'm quite well-versed in the topic.

      --
      Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
  98. riiight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'In one of the oddities of an online universe in which software, not a human brain, is behind a service, Orkut lists a "Jesus Christ" site ("for people who love Jesus") as a "related community" to "Anti-Jews." '

    Right, as if they're not related. Antisemitism was always a favorite past-tome of over-zealous "Christians". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemite

    They INVENTED the word. You may remember learning about the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and the "passion of the christ" etc. Those were perpetrated by people who called themselves Christians, exhorting people to hate my people, the Jews.

    So yeah, the two topics could be considered related.

  99. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Homosexuality is not a mental disorder you idiot.

    Great, argumenum ad hominum! You state that I am an idiot, therefore homosexuality is not a mental disorder. Wonderful logic!

    I feel free to call you an idiot because you state,

    You don't sin by being a homosexual but by sleeping with men instead of women.

    That statement implies all heterosexual women are homosexual because they sleep with men. As I said in my previous response, 'don't be suprised if people treat you like an idiot'.


    Nice try but I didn't say "women" or "everyone". I said "you". Are you a woman? (This is a rhetorical question, we both know you're not.)

    We both know what the point is, your semantics "lesson" is just a red herring and you know it.

  100. Babies and bathwater by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Unless you are talking about a huge community (such as /.) I can't see why a handful of mods and the ability to IP ban clients from within your CMS couldn't do the trick. It seems to work on most of the community sites I participate in. If you have a particularly unruly bunch trying to ruin it for everyone, then some aggressive mods are in order.

    This isn't a particularly novel solution (or problem, for that matter -- it's the problem of anarchy), and in 15 years I've never seen it work over the long term. Aggressive mods == dead forum within months. This was even true in the BBS days.

    Trolling can be a problem, but aggressive moderation is an even worse one. The once free forum necessarily becomes an expression of the moderators' personal visions. Since there are no objective criteria for trolling, it all comes down to the whim and ego of the moderator. And this is usually a recipe for disaster. I've seen - many times - moderators cracking down in the wake of a troll attack, only to drive more people away from the forums than the trolls themselves ever could have accomplished. And occasionally, IP banning will only egg the trolls on, causing them to use proxy after proxy to get 'revenge' for the bans. When the aggressive mods inevitably begin banning the proxies, and entire ISP domains, it's the beginning of the end.

    Of course, there are some who will argue for the effectiveness of this system in removing trolls, just as some might argue for Fascism as an effective means of removing terrorists. But if you have to kill the community to get at the trolls, have you accomplished anything in the end?

    Slashdot's quasi-democratic mod/user-end filter system is the best solution I've come across ever. It isn't perfect, but it's worlds better than turning your forum into a despotic monarchy.

  101. Orkut never worked for me by juliancoccia · · Score: 1

    I don't know what is everyone talking about. I registered months ago and ever since all I've got when I go to www.orkut.com is: "Bad, bad server. No donut for you" Is there another URL to log in ? What is the matter ?

  102. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by QuantumFTL · · Score: 2, Informative

    Alright - screw my karma - I'm disgusted by the sheer level of anti-religious groupthink that occurs on this web site, and also by the tactics that are used to suppress religious views.

    "OK, hatred for Jews is stupid (after all, even Jesus was a Jew)"

    And so it's OK for Muslims, who don't view Jesus as a Messiah, to be antisemetic? Nice logic: by it, you're allowed to hate people you're not forced to relate with.

    Hey I have a great idea - how about arguing against what he said and not words you decide to put in his mouth. For instance, stealing from people is wrong, but stealing from your parents is plain stupid - you are likely to be hurt in the process. By saying that I do not imply that it is OK to steal from someone because "you are not related to them." You don't like what this guy is saying, how about not putting words in his mouth?

    "Gays, on the other hand, have free will and they do what they choose to do."

    It's really simple: if one could choose one's sexual orientation, then a heterosexual man could choose to be gay. Since you're the one making the assertion, I have to ask you: Have you ever tried being gay? Or are you so unwilling to try to tread a mile in the shoes of those who you would "save?"

    I'm sure he wants to save criminals too - does that mean he should try doing things he feels are wrong (i.e. violating his conscience) just to gain a better understanding? That's insane!

    ""If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Leviticus 20:13."

    So God didn't have room on those stone tablets to jot down "Don't be gay" on Mount Sinai? Pretty interesting that Ol' Infallible Himself was able to include relatively minor things like "take a day off every week" and "put up with your parents" but seemed to think that an outright capital offense wasn't worth mentioning.

    I think you'll find out that things like rape and incest (things we feel are bad still today in modern society) were also offenses of similar magnitude - do you really think a list of 10 things can meaningfully cover all possible "really bad" actions?

    And Jesus was crucified before he was able to do his key "Don't be gay" sermon? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, unless what you want to have done unto you is... hey, where are these Romans taking me?"

    The vast majority of Jesus's sermons did not focus on what not to do but on having the correct heart attitude. Once again, he didn't say "don't rape people" but yet that's still an important part of the religion (and society). I don't know why he felt it was unnecessary to say this (or that those recording it did not record it) but perhaps people of the time already knew that was wrong?The new testiment, however, does contain several warnings against homosexuality.

    You, as a Christian, have the trinity itself, not to mention the list of prophets, all telling you how to live your life properly and all, none of which really got around to the all-important "Don't be gay" commandment, and so you're giving a collection of these insane Biblical footnotes the same weight, especially when said footnote seems to fly in the face of one of the Ten Commandments?

    I do not understand how this illogic gets modded up. You have created a false dichotomy - Ten Commandments vs Stuff Not In The Ten Commandments. Maybe the Ten Commandments are just the Ten most important - notice there is no dietary law etc - yet many Jews to this day still observe it.

    "Who knowing the judgment of God,"

    Knowing the unknowable, hm? So much for Christian humility...

    The *ENTIRE* message of Christianity is that it is possible to have a direct, personal connection of God - through the revelation provided in the Bible, and through personal prayer. Whether that's true or not, who's

  103. How to destroy a liberating technology... by RexRhino · · Score: 1

    A new technology develops: Cheap and ubiquitous home computers and the internet.

    This new technology makes major changes in society, government, and the economy. No longer is someone forced to rely on advertisments to find out if a product is good or bad, they have access to huge amounts of customer reviews on a product, and they can also instantly find the cheapest place to purchase a product. No longer are people dependent on government news sources, or large media outlets, because the internet has allowed asymetrical information transfer for pennies. And it is certainly a lot harder for governments to manipulate people, because it is so easy for people to find other like minded people on the internet and develop their own political community.

    This, of course, makes people in the traditional seat of power upset. Elected officials, government beurocrats and regulators, Corporate CEOs, heads of the traditional political parties. They enjoyed their position of power, wealth, importance, and control, and they are not about to give it up without a fight.

    However, they cannot just outright say why they want the internet and home computers controled and restricted. In order to ban things and control things, you still need the government to go along with it to enforce it, because they are the people with the prisons and the guns. And in the west, at least in theory, officials are still elected.

    So in order to get people to rally around destroying this great global free-flow of information, you must convince people that it is to protect them. That is why we are now bombarded with stories about racists using peer to peer networks, child pornographers on the internet, people at every turn waiting to steal your identity. The power structure is setting things up so that when they start to heavily regulate, censor, and control information, that you and people like you will go along with it.

    The sad thing is how easy people are to manipulate. The same people who claim to be anti-authoritarian, and anti-corporate, or whatever, are usually the quickest people to rally behind these laws. "We MUST protect people from racism and child porn, so everyone who opposes the government licencing web sites MUST either be racist or a child pornographer".

  104. Parent is a nutter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He pissed off so many people on Usenet that someone in an Amiga group made a FAQ about him.

  105. hatemongering by fireheadca · · Score: 1

    No one hates others as much as they hate themselves - but when one self-degrades they still respect their own opinion. It seems there's alot of ignorant people in the world - including me (+1) - but imagine that ignorance on a global scale combined.... We should kill all the haters. Utopia can be ours!

  106. Re:So a US company has to abide by unfree speech? by slavemowgli · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Again, RTFA. Nobody says Google has to do this or that; quite the opposite. Google is one of the parties telling people what to do - namely, to honour the TOS they agreed to.

    The other party who's telling people what to do is the Brazilian police (and, thus, the Brazilian government), and as long as they're regulating what Brazilian people are allowed to do, it certainly is within their rights to do so.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
  107. PLEASE MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thank you for posting a wonderful post. If I was a moderator it would be Score:5, Insightful and the post you are replying to would be Score:-1, Troll. Sadly, everything you write about the anti-religion agenda on Slashdot is true. I am posting with "Post Anonymously" checked because I don't want other people to use my Faith against me later, which has already been done before. There's nothing worse than someone in a not related discussion about databases posting something in the lines of "shut up! why won't you talk to your imaginary friend?" :( Thank you for taking your time to address the issues you wrote about. Moderators, please mod parent up. Thanks.

  108. if only... by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

    If only they'd let these people fight in the streets, back alleys, and basements like civilized humans, and not require all this pent up false agression.

    --
    ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
  109. Search and Destroy by Paralizer · · Score: 1
    When users "don't follow these terms and we are made aware of an issue, we take the necessary steps, which may include removing the content," she said. Google would not say if it had ever taken such action.


    Being google, I'm sure they would be able to come up with an efficient algorithm to search their databases on a regular interval for such content, and either suspend the account pending investigation or take a similar action. It may be difficult for such people to regain membership since it's invite only. I don't see Google shutting down their site or suffering from this problem for too long, they are of course known for their search technology and genius employees.
  110. Penny Arcade has identified theis phenomenon by daemonc · · Score: 1

    Behold, the simple brilliance of John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory

    --
    All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
  111. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by CTachyon · · Score: 1

    "Gay" means someone who is attracted predominantly to members of their own sex. There's no contradiction in being a gay virgin, or being gay and celibate.

    --
    Range Voting: preference intensity matters
  112. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Rone · · Score: 1

    Being a "let other people do as they will" Christian myself, I'm happy to see that there's somebody with the time and energy to challenge the "anti-religious groupthink" (love that choice of words) on Slashdot in such a well-written manner.

    Just out of curiosity (and a desire to make this more than a "Meee Tooo!!11!!" post), how do you reconcile your philosophy that "God exists - yet I also realize that I could be wrong about that" with the school of thought of many other Christians - namely that everybody who ISN'T a Christian is going to suffer immeasurably after death? (i.e. go to Hell)

    Do you hope that perhaps the rule isn't strictly enforced and/or misstated/misrecorded/mistranslated to begin with?

    Or do you perhaps write off non-Christians as a "lost cause" in favor of letting them exercise their own free will?

    Or do you subscribe to another school of thought entirely?


    This is not meant to be an antagonistic question, I'm genuinely curious about what your thoughts are on this issue.

  113. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you're sure of yourself, why hide behind AC?

    Why? Have you read this thread? Can't you see how biased the Slashdotters are? I don't want to be discriminated here by all of you athiests just because I dared to say that I am a Christian. You can safely post logged in because you are part of the groupthink so you're safe, but see the moderation in this thread: faithful and honest posters moderated down, anti-religion zealots moderated up. Interesting, isn't it?

  114. Re:MOD PARENT UP by CTachyon · · Score: 1

    Be warned that the Bible claims that insects have four legs and that bats are birds. Relying on the Bible to provide literal truth is like relying on Microsoft to compete fairly in the software market. It has some good stuff, but sometimes you really have to read between the lines, especially when you get into the God-ordered genocides of the Old Testament.

    --
    Range Voting: preference intensity matters
  115. Keep in mind by hkb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Keep in mind that "hate and racism" is covered by the first amendment, no matter how tasteless. These people have a right to what they're doing and thinking.

    I worry that this recent witch hunt trend against racist movements will supercede the country's recognition of the Constitution.

    These people have a right to their thoughts and ideas as long as they aren't harming others, killing, assaulting, etc.

    If you want to properly combat these people, you are going to have to listen to their concerns. I believe that they have legitimate concerns that are skewed by blanket ideology and a fascination with nazism and ephemera. Shunning them only makes them stronger.

    Diversity counselors are well-versed in this, as they're always lecturing us about this shit, but seem unwilling when the tables are turned.

    Shouldn't this be a "Your Rights Online" post?

    --
    /* Moderating all non-anonymous trolls up since 2004 */
    1. Re:Keep in mind by Ill_Omen · · Score: 1

      Keep in mind that "hate and racism" is covered by the first amendment, no matter how tasteless. These people have a right to what they're doing and thinking.

      I worry that this recent witch hunt trend against racist movements will supercede the country's recognition of the Constitution.


      Also keep in mind that Orkut is very popular in areas not covered by the US Constitution (ie, most of the world). The article specificly mentions that the US is unusual in its treatment of hate speech, and that in much of the rest of the world, hate-speech is illegal.

    2. Re:Keep in mind by hkb · · Score: 1

      Last I heard, Google is an American company. If Orkut is a popular website for those who's government oppresses their natural rights to free speech, so be it.

      The idea that any government has cotnrol over a person's thoughts is utterly ridiculous.

      --
      /* Moderating all non-anonymous trolls up since 2004 */
    3. Re:Keep in mind by Queer+Boy · · Score: 1
      Keep in mind that "hate and racism" is covered by the first amendment, no matter how tasteless. These people have a right to what they're doing and thinking.

      So do the people who are targeted by their ignorance, which is exactly what it is. People who have no actual knowledge of the people they are targeting.

      The targets of these attacks also have right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

      If you want to properly combat these people, you are going to have to listen to their concerns. I believe that they have legitimate concerns that are skewed by blanket ideology and a fascination with nazism and ephemera. Shunning them only makes them stronger.

      There is reason why people do not try and reason with these types of people. Many of them actually are insane. There's no arguing with people who have biological malfunctions. If their concerns were legitimate they would have been addressed centuries ago.

      There are a lot of cockroaches in the world, that doesn't inherently make them interesting or worth considering.

      --
      Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
    4. Re:Keep in mind by kevcol · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter if it is an American company or not. The Constitution does not protect speech on private networks, it excludes censorship by the GOVERNMENT and you need to understand that. If I run a BBS/web board and find something I don't want to read or have posted, it is within my rights to remove it. Most of the content that people are complaining about are specifically excluded by the Orkut TOS.

  116. Also in the New York Times Feb 7th by Linuxathome · · Score: 3, Informative
  117. how many lummi indians live on lummi island? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    anytime anyone points a finger at anyone else for doing anything, just remember that three of those fingers are pointing back at you!

    "humans are just bad like that", "racism will always exist", "our way is the best way", "all of the above", "none of the above": which statement is correct?

    in my opinion, i think, i wonder, what if:

    while exploring the northern reaches of pangaea ("supposed" super continent which reconvenes on a quarter million year cycle), a group of us got cut off. it hurt, we lost loved ones, but we had to move on ... especially as the next convergence began (continental drift). (please pardon the pun.) (i'm thinking that those of us that wound up riding the americas, as well as some of the other "island nations" around our planet, actually survived and were there when these "new worlds" were re-"discovered".)

    many years later, these lost loved ones returned to us, somewhat the worse for wear.

    while stranded for so long in such inhospitable conditions, we underwent a number of modifications to adapt to the conditions: there being very, very few resources, any discovery or development of any needed resource became "intellectual property" that we "circled the wagons" around to protect (clans, communities, guilds, nations, etc); someone else having something different/better than ours resulted in our seeking to gain it through "mergers", "licensing" and other tactics that have "trickled down" through the eras as "corporate raiding" or "war". knowing that there was nothing but howling winds and blinding snow, there really wasn't much need to look at the new spaces that we encountered other than to figure out how to "adapt" those spaces (and occupants) to conform to the structures that we had developed to survive the inhospitable conditions. as there really wasn't much of any way of "cleaning up behind ourselves" (other than burying it in snow), the places we had been got kinda "messy". as well, any putative "former occupants" of those spaces that had anything to say about our adaptive activities became "inconvenient persons" who were either "removed", ignored or conscripted to do the actual work of "adapting" the spaces (that they had figured out how to adapt for themselves) into adaptations suitable for the "visitors" (regardless of how those adaptations [dis]affected the original users). given that any efforts by these "putative former occupants" (aka "indigenous" persons) to reclaim any portion of, originally, their homes were soon shown to have absolutely no result (other than negative results), there really isn't much left for us to do but bitch about it. when we do so, it is called "hatemongering", when "you" do so, it is called "political campaigning". unfortunately, since the original perpetuators are in putative "control", they are able to continue practices of yore and shift the blame to the indignant indigenous indigents.

    does anybody see any parallels in this to anything that might be going on today?

    running the risk of being pointed to as a "hate monger": those "vikings" are still up to the same tricks and traps that they used to survive the glacial conditions. however, given that the conditions previously obtaining don't exist on this side of the glaciers it is no longer necessary for that particular mindset to exist. application of patterns which are injurious to self, others and the environment are the hallmarks of a mind that is somewhat out of touch with reality. unfortuantely, it is an inherited disorder. but where there are humans, there is hope. i just hope it's not too late.

    (addendums:
    the title: i think it was a george carlin routine that commented on early treatment of american indians. about how they were continuously moved as "the settlers" advanced to the point where they were moved almost completely off the continent. well, the lummi indians of whatcom county, wa wound up on an island. evenutually, they were kicked off the island because the local residents wanted "island

  118. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by GWTPict · · Score: 1
    Rubbish, nothing in my first sentence implies that homosexuality is not a mental disorder because you are an idiot, it actually says you are an idiot for holding that belief.

    As to your second point, I'm heterosexual so I read 'you' as meaning

    2. refers to an unspecified person or people in general: you can't tell the boys from the girls
    Collins Concise English Dictionary, Third Edition, 1992.

    So you see there was no red herring, rather your insistence on promoting your hand me down belief system to those around you lead me to the conclusion that you are an idiot.

  119. Hate is ignorance by Adolph_Hitler · · Score: 0

    ignorance is hate. When you don't care about yourself, its much easier to not care about others. When you hate yourself you can hate others. Most people who hate others hate themselves. Most people who love themselves love others. This depends on the nature of the specific human. Some humans are designed to hate other humans, some humans are designed to love other humans. Humans which are designed to hate are filled with rage to begin with and usually look for a scapegoat to direct this. Finally hate is a meme, its a concept. In some cultures and society the concept does not exist. Some societies don't hate because they believe everyone is connected (buddhism), some societies don't hate because they don't express anger in the same way.

    --
    People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
  120. Is anyone still using Orkut? by pez · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In direct contrast with Google's rock-solid reliability, Orkut works for me approximately 1 in 10 times that I try to use it. And by "works for me" I mean just the most simplistic, basic functions like returning a page instead of a server error. They've had this problem for months, and it only seems to be getting worse.

    Why people are using this service and not some of the alternatives, I have no idea. Were I google, I'd jettison it quickly before it more seriously erodes my brand.

  121. The solution could be... by theolein · · Score: 1

    The solution could very well be that closed social networking systems such as Orkut, where invitation is by invite only, have the same efect as inbreeding and exclusive clubs do in the real world: produce weaker offspring and jealousy and envy.

    I personally think that slashdot, with its quirky, yet working and egalatarian modding system, where irritating posts are almost always sent to the bottom of the heap very quickly, is a much better social networking system than Orkut.

  122. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by dejavudeux · · Score: 1

    Right. And if anybody commits a different sin (i.e. lying, coveting, stealing, being an alcoholic, being born with original sin, etc.) then you warn them a couple of times and kick them out.

    My understanding is that many (all?) Christian denominations consider everyone to be a sinner so even if gayness is considered a sin, it just becomes one of many things that the church suggests you don't do.

  123. LA Times: Neo-Nazis Aim to Upgrade PR by jasonla · · Score: 1

    Neo-Nazis Aim to Upgrade PR, The National Alliance seeks a higher profile and more members with multimedia campaign. LATimes.com article.

  124. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Gay" means someone who is attracted predominantly to members of their own sex. There's no contradiction in being a gay virgin, or being gay and celibate.

    True. There is even an online community of gay virgins here (and for straight virgins here).

  125. Try thinking about this.... by Baldrson · · Score: 1
    Which is worse:

    Having:

    • A small group of people in authority over mass media causing people to stop talking to ANYONE else and instead adopt the views of that incestuously small group.
    • A lot of small, voluntarily formed groups, any member of which is also a member of a number of other groups, discovering that after many decades of alienation from their own thought processes they are very pissed off and have some serious grievances that some -- especially the old incestuous community of mass media authorities -- would consider "extreme"
    This is no false dilemma. It is the practical reality of the situation.
    1. Re:Try thinking about this.... by 26199 · · Score: 1

      Huh? I have no idea what you're arguing against, but I haven't said anything advocating censorship.

      This is why I'm confused. You seem to be saying things which don't relate at all to what I'm saying.

  126. Hotbed of bigotry? by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you insane, or just provincial?

    Look, in countries with real ethnic tensions---Yugoslavia, Iraq---a large proportion of the people will, every so often, get up and kill their neighbors, who've lived next to them for centuries.

    In America, once a group of funny-speaking immigrants (Bosnians, Irish, whatever) has been here for two generations or so, they're just as white as everyone else. Our remnant bigotry comes from the notion of race, which is sort of like "ethnicity for dummies", as it depends on being able to identify someone from fifty paces.

    And I should point out that we have racial tensions in big cities which are thickly developed, and which are frequently (Los Angeles) terribly segregated. Note that Los Angeles was the site of the most recent significant civil unrest in America.

    America may have bigotry, but we do not have bigotry like they have in other places. It's more dumbed-down. How predictable.

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:Hotbed of bigotry? by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1
      America may have bigotry, but we do not have bigotry like they have in other places. It's more dumbed-down.

      I think America has every bit as much hatred, racism, and bigotry as other countries. They just make it look better. If you're of the right demographic, you're just as likely to get denied employment, shunned in school, or get your ass kicked by a cop as you would be in any other countries. The only difference is in America they come up with a nice excuse for why they did it (example: he was a drug addict so it's okay to beat him up, he's unteachable so we shouldn't try to teach him) and in other countries they don't hide the fact that it's racism, nationalism, etc.

  127. Seeing a solution as a "problem" by Baldrson · · Score: 1
    You mentioned nothing about the real problem, which was the granting of monopoly rights to broadcast mass media by the government several decades ago.

    What we have here is a case where the patient is dying of a serious disease, something happens that will save the patient but causes the patient to vomit or have the shits and all you can do is point to the unpleasant odor.

    Get real.

    1. Re:Seeing a solution as a "problem" by 26199 · · Score: 1

      You're saying that the Internet is a good thing because it aids free speech. I can agree with that.

      I don't think that means you should ignore everything that's potentially wrong with it, though.

      Maybe you can't have the good side without the problems. That's entirely possible. It's still valid to talk about them.

  128. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1
    Thats what it says though.

    1 Corinthians 5

    6Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

    9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

    12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."[b]


    There is a difference between being a sinner and actively sinning while doing nothing to correct your actions.

    The Bible throughout places sexual immorality of any sort as among the most damaging sins.
  129. Honesty. by I'm+a+racist. · · Score: 0, Troll

    The cause of racism is honesty, not overpopulation. Racism has been around, even in times when populations were much smaller. The thing that makes racists stand out from everyone else, is they admit to their true thoughts.

    I'm sure there are times when a nego does something you don't like, and you think to yourself, "Figures, he's a dirty nigger." You just want to pretend to go along with the current tolerance in the zeitgeist. But, seriously, how long can that last? As people get more and more fed up with having to deny their true thoughts, and lie to themselves, there will be a backlash. Even worse than the political correctness movement in America are the laws in Europe. They're actually trying to regulate people's thoughts. It's quite sickenning.

    In the end, it is inevitable only because people believe that not everyone is created equal (which is absolutely true). Now, you can argue about which group, as a whole, is better than another (and I have a very strong opinion on this). This will never change, because by virtue of the fact that there are different races, the various races will always have identifiable characteristics (physical, mental, and social). It then becomes a question of what you consider to be "more correct" and the associated importance.

    You can pretend that these thoughts don't exist all you want. But they do exist. And you, like everyone else, have them.

    --


    Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
    1. Re:Honesty. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It must feel very safe living in your mind with such big walls blocking off large sections of reality. It's too bad you cant grow like that.

    2. Re:Honesty. by poopdeville · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You can pretend that these thoughts don't exist all you want. But they do exist. And you, like everyone else, have them.

      Speak for yourself. I've noticed that many racists try to justify their hatred by claiming that everyone feels the same way. I suppose people just want to feel "normal" and not the exception. Well, let me tell you something: You are the exception. Racism is a learned behavior and you are a part of an increasingly small minority of indoctrinated people.

      Your "science" is also horribly flawed. Here are a choice quote from the AAA:

      Evidence from the analysis of genetics (e.g., DNA) indicates that most physical variation, about 94%, lies within so-called racial groups. Conventional geographic "racial" groupings differ from one another only in about 6% of their genes. This means that there is greater variation within "racial" groups than between them. In neighboring populations there is much overlapping of genes and their phenotypic (physical) expressions.

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
    3. Re:Honesty. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here is what I don't understand. If you see on the news that it is mostly black people commiting most of the crimes (for example), it doesn't hold true that because someone is born a part of that race that they will also commit crimes or will not be very smart. In this case it is a social problem, not a racial problem. This social divide came about from the whites' mistreatment of blacks in the first place, starting with slavery. What do you think?

    4. Re:Honesty. by felis_panthera · · Score: 1

      You can pretend that these thoughts don't exist all you want. But they do exist. And you, like everyone else, have them.

      No. I do not have these thoughts you speak of. In fact, I find those thoughts to be morally repugnant. Not, as you surmise, because I want to go along with current trends, but rather because I do believe that all beings are created equal.

      Please, everyone here who does not think like this closed minded, hate filled near-human, respond here and prove the parent wrong... we do /not/ all think like racists.

      Tolerance is not a 'social trend'. Intolerance is an outmoded thoughtform that is being rejected by rational, thinking people, and only embraced by reactionary non-thinkers.

      --

      The chains are broken
      Loki is free
      Ragnarok is at hand...
    5. Re:Honesty. by KillerDeathRobot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      While I think that to a certain extent you have a point, I also think it's pretty silly for you to imagine you know what every other person thinks.

      I'm sure there are in fact a number of people out there who are to some extent racist and hide their true feelings because those feelings aren't popular. There is likely a whole spectrum of racist attitudes from very minor to very extreme. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that there aren't ANY people who truly aren't racist.

      --
      Thinkin' Lincoln - a web comic of presidential proportions
    6. Re:Honesty. by abbamouse · · Score: 1

      Moderation +1
      30% Interesting
      40% Insightful
      30% Overrated

      OK, who the hell thought the rantings of some random bigot were "insightful" or even particularly "interesting," for that matter? It bugs me that any /. mods thought this was more than a troll. Like Holocaust deniers and flat-earthers, open racists like this are really beyond rational persuasion and best left sitting in the shadows. Responding to them as if they make arguments just convinces them that they are a part of some sort of lively debate instead of simply being an unpleasant odor in the room.

      --
      Make cheese not war 8:)
    7. Re:Honesty. by Donny+Smith · · Score: 1

      I feel sorry for you.

      > The cause of racism is honesty, not
      overpopulation.

      Of course it is. You feel it, and you
      are honest about it. What you do not
      know, though, is that not everything's
      right in your head.

      If you seek help, maybe you can become a
      healthy, happy and free individual.

      I'd say you lack self-esteem which you
      then project unto others. You hate others
      for what you are.

      Read some books about Jung's concept of
      shadow and its connection to racism and
      seek professional help.

      > You just want to pretend to go along
      with the current tolerance in the zeitgeist.
      But, seriously, how long can that last?

      You better hope it can last long enough as
      you may live long enough to become a member
      of a minority (race).
      To paraphrase that line from American
      History X, "in the future, you will be
      black".

      > the laws in Europe. They're actually
      trying to regulate people's thoughts. It's
      quite sickenning.

      IIRC, in Europe (I think you mean Germany
      here) they're still free to think whatever
      they want, but Nazi parties and propaganda
      are illlegal. What's wrong with that? Like
      the society needs their contributions!

      What is sickening is that people have the
      ability to hate so much so that they have to
      be legally restrained from creating a new
      Nazi state.

      P.S.
      Modding the parent interesting is the
      triumph of the Slashdot moderation system.
      Moron after moron...

    8. Re:Honesty. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No I don't have those kinds of thought. I might think that damn asshole but if that makes me racist against assholes so be it.

      I realize this is an old post that I'm responding to but I didn't realize that someone as ignorant as you could actually think you were somehow normal.

      You need and should seek professional help.

  130. Parent has it right, AC or not by metamatic · · Score: 1

    Trolling can be a problem, but aggressive moderation is an even worse one. The once free forum necessarily becomes an expression of the moderators' personal visions. Since there are no objective criteria for trolling, it all comes down to the whim and ego of the moderator. And this is usually a recipe for disaster. I've seen - many times - moderators cracking down in the wake of a troll attack, only to drive more people away from the forums than the trolls themselves ever could have accomplished.

    The parent post has it exactly right, Anonymous Coward or not. See .signature for a concrete example.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  131. Current political climate... by katharsis83 · · Score: 1

    I think you've just described America's current political climate. We have people on the right watching Fox News/listening to Michael Savage, and people on the left watching Michael Moore.

    When you're convinced you're right (no pun intended), and that those who have different viewpoints are idiots, what's there left to discuss?

    (btw, I'm not equating racism with liberal/neocon views; racism IS wrong, nothing left to discuss).

  132. Well by strlen · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Not to defend this idiot, but the name Iran is derived from the word "arian" and Iranians are far closer related to the original arians than Germans (and North Europeans) could ever be. The persian language Farsi(as well as several Indian languages) are also Indo-European. So in short, he probably has more of a right to call himself an Arian than Hitler ever had.

    I remember reading a story about Jew growing up in Shah era Iran (for all its flaws, Iran had actual religious and ethnic tolerance under the Shah) and reciting, each day in class, some sort of a national pride song which went something along the lines "we are the proud arians".

  133. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by dozer · · Score: 1
    "OK, hatred for Jews is stupid (after all, even Jesus was a Jew)"
    And so it's OK for Muslims, who don't view Jesus as a Messiah, to be antisemetic?
    Hey I have a great idea - how about arguing against what he said and not words you decide to put in his mouth. (stealing discussion ignored)

    The GP was not putting words in his mouth. This is exactly what he said -- that it's wrong to hate Jews because Jesus was a Jew. This is an apallingly bad argument. What if Jesus was Taoist instead of Jewish? How does Jesus's religious affiliation have anything at all to do with anti-semitism??

    Gays, on the other hand, have free will and they do what they choose to do.
    It's really simple: if one could choose one's sexual orientation, then a heterosexual man could choose to be gay. ... Have you ever tried being gay?
    I'm sure he wants to save criminals too - does that mean he should try doing things he feels are wrong (i.e. violating his conscience) just to gain a better understanding? That's insane!

    He was tyring to illustrate the absurdity of the original poster's statement (that homosexuality is a choice). You're right, it was a poor example. Let's get back to the original point: do YOU think that gay people have any choice in the matter? Can they simply decide to be attracted to women from now on?

    If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Leviticus 20:13."
    So God didn't have room on those stone tablets to jot down "Don't be gay" on Mount Sinai? Pretty interesting that Ol' Infallible Himself was able to include relatively minor things like "take a day off every week" and "put up with your parents" but seemed to think that an outright capital offense wasn't worth mentioning.
    I think you'll find out that things like rape and incest (things we feel are bad still today in modern society) were also offenses of similar magnitude - do you really think a list of 10 things can meaningfully cover all possible "really bad" actions?

    You missed the OP's point. If God felt so strongly about homosexuality, then why didn't he ever SAY so? Even Leviticus is incomplete and open to a number of different interpretations. Even if we were to assume that God is talking about homosexuality in general here, apparently He thinks that it only merits a brief mention among a whole bunch of other things to avoid, like yoking an ox and a donkey together. So why should you attach such grave importance to it?

    ...burning building...

    If I ran into a burning building and saw a man refusing to be saved, heck yes I'd do everything I could to drag him to safety. But this is an analogy, and it's a poor one. Where is the burning building? Are you suggesting that people who do not share your religious beliefs are going to suffer certain death or damnation by fire? You've got to be kidding me.

  134. Who Rules Ameirca? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who Rules America?
    The Alien Grip on Our News and Entertainment Media Must Be Broken

    By the Research Staff of National Vanguard Books
    Kevin Alfred Strom, Media Director

    P.O. Box 330 Hillsboro West Virginia 24946 USA

    THERE IS NO GREATER POWER in the world today than that wielded by the manipulators of public opinion in America. No king or pope of old, no conquering general or high priest ever disposed of a power even remotely approaching that of the few dozen men who control America's mass media of news and entertainment.

    Their power is not distant and impersonal; it reaches into every home in America, and it works its will during nearly every waking hour. It is the power that shapes and molds the mind of virtually every citizen, young or old, rich or poor, simple or sophisticated.

    The mass media form for us our image of the world and then tell us what to think about that image. Essentially everything we know--or think we know--about events outside our own neighborhood or circle of acquaintances comes to us via our daily newspaper, our weekly news magazine, our radio, or our television.

    It is not just the heavy-handed suppression of certain news stories from our newspapers or the blatant propagandizing of history-distorting TV "docudramas" that characterizes the opinion-manipulating techniques of the media masters. They exercise both subtlety and thoroughness in their management of the news and the entertainment that they present to us.

    For example, the way in which the news is covered: which items are emphasized and which are played down; the reporter's choice of words, tone of voice, and facial expressions; the wording of headlines; the choice of illustrations--all of these things subliminally and yet profoundly affect the way in which we interpret what we see or hear.

    On top of this, of course, the columnists and editors remove any remaining doubt from our minds as to just what we are to think about it all. Employing carefully developed psychological techniques, they guide our thought and opinion so that we can be in tune with the "in" crowd, the "beautiful people," the "smart money." They let us know exactly what our attitudes should be toward various types of people and behavior by placing those people or that behavior in the context of a TV drama or situation comedy and having the other TV characters react in the Politically Correct way.

    Molding American Minds

    For example, a racially mixed couple will be respected, liked, and socially sought after by other characters, as will a "take charge" Black scholar or businessman, or a sensitive and talented homosexual, or a poor but honest and hardworking illegal alien from Mexico. On the other hand, a White racist--that is, any racially conscious White person who looks askance at miscegenation or at the rapidly darkening racial situation in America--is portrayed, at best, as a despicable bigot who is reviled by the other characters, or, at worst, as a dangerous psychopath who is fascinated by firearms and is a menace to all law-abiding citizens. The White racist "gun nut," in fact, has become a familiar stereotype on TV shows.

    The average American, of whose daily life TV-watching takes such an unhealthy portion, distinguishes between these fictional situations and reality only with difficulty, if at all. He responds to the televised actions, statements, and attitudes of TV actors much as he does to his own peers in real life. For all too many Americans the real world has been replaced by the false reality of the TV environment, and it is to this false reality that his urge to conform responds. Thus, when a TV scriptwriter expresses approval of some ideas and actions through the TV characters for whom he is writing, and disapproval of others, he exerts a powerful pressure on millions of viewers toward conformity with his own views.

    And as it is with TV entertainment, so it is also with the news, whether televised or printed. The insidious thing about this form of thought

  135. What Is Racism? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What Is Racism?

    The 'racist' double standard: how Whites are made to feel guilty and "hateful" for loving their own people and culture.

    by Thomas Jackson

    There is surely no nation in the world that holds "racism" in greater horror than does the United States. Compared to other kinds of offenses, it is thought to be somehow more reprehensible. The press and public have become so used to tales of murder, rape, robbery, and arson, that any but the most spectacular crimes are shrugged off as part of the inevitable texture of American life. "Racism" is never shrugged off. For example, when a White Georgetown Law School student reported earlier this year that black students are not as qualified as White students, it set off a booming, national controversy about "racism." If the student had merely murdered someone he would have attracted far less attention and criticism.

    Racism is, indeed, the national obsession. Universities are on full alert for it, newspapers and politicians denounce it, churches preach against it, America is said to be racked with it, but just what is racism?

    Dictionaries are not much help in understanding what is meant by the word. They usually define it as the belief that one's own ethnic stock is superior to others, or as the belief that culture and behavior are rooted in race. When Americans speak of racism they mean a great deal more than this. Nevertheless, the dictionary definition of racism is a clue to understanding what Americans do mean. A peculiarly American meaning derives from the current dogma that all ethnic stocks are equal. Despite clear evidence to the contrary, all races have been declared to be equally talented and hard- working, and anyone who questions the dogma is thought to be not merely wrong but evil.

    The dogma has logical consequences that are profoundly important. If blacks, for example, are equal to Whites in every way, what accounts for their poverty, criminality, and dissipation? Since any theory of racial differences has been outlawed, the only possible explanation for black failure is White racism. And since blacks are markedly poor, crime-prone, and dissipated, America must be racked with pervasive racism. Nothing else could be keeping them in such an abject state.

    All public discourse on race today is locked into this rigid logic. Any explanation for black failure that does not depend on White wickedness threatens to veer off into the forbidden territory of racial differences. Thus, even if today's Whites can find in their hearts no desire to oppress blacks, yesterday's Whites must have oppressed them. If Whites do not consciously oppress blacks, they must oppress them Unconsciously. If no obviously racist individuals can be identified, then societal institutions must be racist. Or, since blacks are failing so terribly in America, there simply must be millions of White people we do not know about, who are working day and night to keep blacks in misery. The dogma of racial equality leaves no room for an explanation of black failure that is not, in some fashion, an indictment of White people.

    The logical consequences of this are clear. Since we are required to believe that the only explanation for non-White failure is White racism, every time a non-White is poor, commits a crime, goes on welfare, or takes drugs, White society stands accused of yet another act of racism. All failure or misbehavior by non-Whites is standing proof that White society is riddled with hatred and bigotry. For precisely so long as non-Whites fail to succeed in life at exactly the same level as Whites, Whites will be, by definition, thwarting and oppressing them. This obligatory pattern of thinking leads to strange conclusions. First of all, racism is a sin that is thought to be committed almost exclusively by White people. Indeed, a black congressman from Chicago, Gus Savage, and Coleman Young, the black mayor of Detroit, have argued that only White people can be racist. Likewise, in 1987, the affirmative action officer of the State In

  136. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by BattleTroll · · Score: 1

    You're a coward then, in the truest sense of the word. If you believe in what you say then you shouldn't be affraid of being persecuted for your beliefs. The fact that you hide behind AC tells me you're using your "religion" as a shield to be bigoted.

    I happen to be Christian, I just don't happen to believe that you're interpritation of Christ's message is correct. Preaching hate and intolerance goes against everything Christ stood for.

  137. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by BattleTroll · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bigots will use whatever rationalization they can to justify their hatred. I'm saddened to see people continue to use religion as a rationale for ignorance.

    If you were a true Christian you'd know that the New Testament is a new Covenant between God and Man. All the hatred found in the Old Testament are historically interesting but irrelevant if you believe in Jesus Christ. As Christ never preached hatred or intolerance, you do him a diserve by using his name to justify your sin.

    Hate all you want, but don't blaspheme by bringing God into the picture.

  138. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He was tyring to illustrate the absurdity of the original poster's statement (that homosexuality is a choice). You're right, it was a poor example. Let's get back to the original point: do YOU think that gay people have any choice in the matter? Can they simply decide to be attracted to women from now on?

    Is it really so hard to uderstand? A homosexual may be unable to decide to be attracted to women but he can decide to stop giving blowjobs to men! A pedophile may be unable to stop being attracted to children but he can stop raping them. A sadistic murderer may be unable to stop thinking about blood but he can stop murdering people if he only understands it is wrong. A wife can be attracted to other men but she can still avoid adultery because she has a free will. You are confusing an attraction with behaviour.

    You missed the OP's point. If God felt so strongly about homosexuality, then why didn't he ever SAY so?

    He did, countless times. Stop lying. If you bothered to do a minimum research, you would find numerous references. But instead you prefer to shout: "He didn't SAY so! He didn't SAY so!" while other people are providing exact references. He didn't SAY so? Please! Haven't you heard about Sodomy and Gomorrah, for God's sake?! Your argument is just pathetic.

  139. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are confusing an attraction with behaviour.

    Let me ask you this: If your best same-sex friend came to you this valentine's day and said "I know how you feel about this, but I can't hide it any longer, I love you, even if I can never consummate that love." how would you react?

  140. Flamebait? by ggvaidya · · Score: 1

    Mods, wake up. Nothing Flamebait about this.

  141. Re:Some things I know about moderating conversatio by Queer+Boy · · Score: 1
    She has some interesting things to say but in general she scares me more than Tilda Swinton in The Beach.

    "Kill them quickly and have no regrets."
    "Disemvowelling works. Consider it."
    "If...a post is offensive, upsetting, or just plain unpleasant, it's important to get rid of it...as quickly as possible."
    "You can let one...unpleasant jerk hang around for a while, but the minute you get two...they both have to go, and all their recent messages with them."

    --
    Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
  142. Yep, and not only that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    But alot of the people who don't align themselves with the anti-women, anti-free-speech, anti-tolerance, islamic fascists are aligning themselves with the anti-women, anti-free-speech, anti-tolerance, christian facists.

  143. Re: Condolences to the Dumber Monkeys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Humans are social creatures by nature. Cleverness/intelligence isn't the the main thing that helped our dumber monkey ancestors to survive against animals that were physically superior. Co-operation was."

    Sorry. most of the "dumber monkeys" most closely related to us DID NOT SURVIVE, primarily because other "smarter apes" were more clever at either killing them, deceiving them, or otherwise out competing them.

    If you look at the circuitry of our enlarged forebrains (relative to other primates), you will observe complex behaviors mediated by mirror neurons. Such circuitry is closely associated with that used when engaged in deception. There is no reason to assume that the function of such such structures is not largely constrained by the genetics that encodes their development.

    True altruism doesn't exist, since it has no way to reproduce itself. Darwin noted that you could destroy his theory (of natural selection) by providing but a single example. Of course, to date no one has. Most of the "cooperation" you refer to results from kin-selection. If you look at who is getting the benefit, it is usually other individuals genetically related to those seeming to be "altruistic". Keep in mind that there are circumstances in which acting "truly altruistically" can occur and actually be selected for (aside from by accident), since at other times it can make it much easier to be deceptive with even greater reward at a later time. Have you ever noticed the difference between what politicians say before and after elections or ever wondered why sons/daughters of politicians seem to have a better shot than most at attaining their parents postions upon the death or retirement of their parent?

    However, I will agree with you that xenophobia and racism are related to competitive behavior. Other races are definitely genetically less closely related. However, keep in mind most genetic traits do not occur in isolation. Most are plieotropic and over time these accumulate in aggregate into population, "tribial", racial, subspecies, or species differences (in that order).

    We may be transitioning from the "age of reason" to the "age of the born again", but no one will be repealing Darwinian Law anytime soon.

  144. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a good question. I've had a similar situation once, when a friend of mine has told my wife that he finds me attractive but he doesn't want to ruin our friendship. So instead of telling you what I would do, I'll tell you what I have done. I told him that indeed he will never consummate this love, nor would he ever consummate any homosexual love at all if he wants to go to Heaven, and I as his friend would not want him to go to hell. I pointed him here. It's a homosexual page of a web site devoted to helping people fight with their impure desires and sinful lust. Today, he is regularly participating in a support group meetings. It is extremely hard for him to avoid any sex and masturbation and he doesn't love any woman and says he never will so he'll probably never have a wife. He thinks about getting medication to lower the level of testosterone so he won't feel any lust at all. I'm really glad that he is so strong in his fight with his lust. He's a good friend of mine and I want to meet him in Heaven some day. Does it answer your question?

  145. Re:Hatred has nothing to do with population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its difficult to understand how you failed to notice that the population [size] of Jews in Europe decreased dramatically during the 1940s.

    Perhaps your problem is that you don't spend much time reading.

    "It has to do with the precepitated outlook of the specific person."

    I'm not sure what you mean, if anything, by a precepitated outlook, but hatred is related to the ability of some to deceive others to engage in spiteful acts agains others so that the deceiver receives a reward (usually the power to take the hated's possessions, rank, rights, etc.). Quite often those who have been deceived into hating are too dimwitted to recognize that such behavior also places them at a disadvantage relative to the deceiver, even though they too may share in the "spoils of hate".

  146. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by dejavudeux · · Score: 1

    You're of course correct. I guess I wasn't reading this thread too carefully. (i.e. Nothing to see here, please move along...)

  147. Re:I am not a troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since you are familiar with Aristotle's writings you may have noticed that he argued that greatest reward (joy), as Richard Feynmann was also fond of noting, is in finding things out.

    I am curious as to why you think it becomes more worthwhile when you deceive your fellow readers most (ie by trolling) rather than arguing with them, say as mathematicians or logicians would, directly by proof or soundness of argument?

    It would be ironic if you agreed with Plato rather than Aristotle in believing that it is the shadows that are the reality (see the Meno).

  148. Brazilians in Orkut by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As brazilian and a member I know there are lots of kids far younger than these 18 who Orkut membership states. Its an interesting phenomenon, just look at age demographics, and you'll see 55% are in 18-25 range and 50% single.

    I don't know kids specific social networks sites, but sounds a good idea in Brazil.

    This could be one explanation for that problem.

  149. Not only online by mdavids · · Score: 1

    A lot of comments have claimed that anonymity is a prerequisite for this kind of behaviour. I disagree.

    I've been involved in a number of discussion groups that meet in person in public venues, and it doesn't take more than a few meetings before someone comes along who wants to talk about the great Jewish conspiracy that runs the world. The next week, they'll bring a like-minded friend, and the next week another, until they run out of friends (which doesn't usually take too long), by which time the group has become untenable.

    These people can be anything from outright Nazis to decent but gullible people who once read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and thought "My God! This explains everything!" Either way, they will attend any public meeting they happen to hear about, and leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

  150. Film at 11... by Alsee · · Score: 1

    In related news Orkut is plagued by pedophiles, terrorists, hackers, pirates, and people saying George Bush sucks.

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  151. www.ihateorkut.com by dangil · · Score: 1

    I am on the verge of releasing my reply to the whole orkut thing : www.ihateorkut.com

    it will work like this :
    if you hate somebody, you send a invitation, convocating a confrontation on I Hate Orkut battlegrounds... it will be a discussion battle that will be judged by others on the community.. whoever wins, wins points.. whoever has more points has more power on the votes..

    soon there will be gangs that will be controlling the battlegrounds.. so when you hate someone, you will call upon your gang to destroy your enemies... all your gangstas will vote with you...

    and of course will be 2 or more gangs...

    it will be awsome...

    the invitation sistem will be awsome too, and irresistable, because nobody on the net can resist a good argument.. especially when they are encouraged to curse, and destroy your enemy by all means necessary... it will be sweeeeet...

    keep visiting www.ihateorkut.com ... soon it will be open to a few lucky ones, and soon everybody will be receiving invitations, or what I like to call "threats"...ahhaahhaah

  152. Re: Condolences to the Dumber Monkeys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Dumber" in relation to modern humans, not other monkeys.

  153. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

    "Hey I have a great idea - how about arguing against what he said and not words you decide to put in his mouth."

    The guy said "it's silly to hate Jews because Jesus was a Jew." He did not say "it's silly to hate Jews because they're human beings, too." His rationale for not being antisemitic was based entirely on who Jesus happened to be and not, say, what he taught. It appeared that if Jesus were not a Jew, then the poster would have little issue with hating them.

    I didn't say "related," I said "forced to relate." The poster seemed to be accepting Jews because he was forced to relate to Jesus' Judaism.

    "I'm sure he wants to save criminals too - does that mean he should try doing things he feels are wrong (i.e. violating his conscience) just to gain a better understanding? That's insane!"

    If they don't want to be "saved," the least he could do is try to understand why instead of stonewalling. Otherwise, you'd serve everybody better by moving on, which the poster seems to refuse to do (constantly wanting to "save" those who would have nothing of it).

    "I think you'll find out that things like rape and incest (things we feel are bad still today in modern society) were also offenses of similar magnitude"

    All covered by "Don't murder" and "don't covet." Also goes against "do unto others..." None of those, however, apply to consensual homosexuality.

    "I don't know why he felt it was unnecessary to say this (or that those recording it did not record it) but perhaps people of the time already knew that was wrong?"

    We're talking about divine scripture here. Everything in it is supposed to be important and everything important is supposed to be in it. There are many things Jesus preached about that were copied down that everybody at the time were supposed to know better about, and homosexuality didn't make the rather exhaustive list.

    "You have created a false dichotomy - Ten Commandments vs Stuff Not In The Ten Commandments."

    Because it's not a false dichotomy. The commandments say "don't murder." Leviticus says "kill homosexuals." You can't have both without some serious handwaving, and ultimately "don't murder" was what was written directly by the hand of God while Leviticus involved some vague inspirations.

    "Maybe the Ten Commandments are just the Ten most important"

    Covenant what? What was the point of making this short list to begin with, then?

    "The *ENTIRE* message of Christianity is that it is possible to have a direct, personal connection of God"

    Having such a direct and personal connection with Him is not the same as knowing His will; this is why you're supposed to be willing to do what He asks of you even if you do not understand it. However devout the poster believes himself to be, there are contradictory statesments, attributed to either God Himself or divine inspiration, within each and between both testaments. It was my understanding that the Christian solution is to approach God directly through prayer and meditation to find what His command is supposed to be in your life rather than, say, playing favorites with scripture. After all, there should be no need for such slavish devotion to scripture if you have such a direct connection to the source of that scripture.

    "If you went into a burning building, and a helpless guy in there said they didn't want to be saved - would your conscience allow you to simply leave them to burn alive - because that's what they said they wanted?"

    If they said it because they thought they couldn't be saved, I'd try. If they said it because they actually sought death, I'd let them have what they wanted. I may try to argue, but I will certanly not attempt to force my opinion on someone who does not want it, especially in a life-and-death matter.

    I suppose this all depends on your denomination's view of the role of Pilate, doesn't it?

    "Would you

  154. I hate Orkut ... by porky_pig_jr · · Score: 1

    I hate Google ... Grrrrr.....

  155. Perhaps. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You know, I've recently begun to think of trolling as more than just trying to get a rise out of people. The truly successful trolls get people to betray their principles. This is why they're so often found in places like this, where folks have hoity-toity principles just waiting to be popped.

    Klerck was a successful troll, even though all he did was crapflood with that stupid "page widening" stuff. But it was because of him that the lameness filter was added.

    The Wikipedia article on the GNAA (which mentions the structural changes the GNAA made to Slashdot by their trolling) has been put up for deletion more than any other article. If the article is deleted, they "win" by making Wikipedia betray its principles. If the article stays, they "win" by being advertised on Wikipedia.

    At least, that's what trolling seems like to me. As a troll, what's your take?

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  156. Getting better? by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    He's just stopped reading at -1, I believe. There's a lot of good stuff left out at +5, but it also leaves out the people bitching about moderation and how awful it is here.

    And, hey, if no one's complainin', it must be working well.

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  157. Something is flourishing on Orkut? by retrosteve · · Score: 1

    I quit doing anything on Orkut months ago, since their servers have become so overloaded and buggy that it's nearly impossible to follow a thread or post a reply.

    In fact I run (or ran) my own community with over 600 members, but I suspect most of them got up and left about the same time I did. When I go back to check, the conversation has died.

    If the Brazilians have found a way to use Orkut without constantly seeing "Bad Server: No Donut for you!", then more power to them. And if enjoying yourself in Brazil means whipping losers into a frenzy of scapegoating and irrational racism and hate, well, I'm just not that impressed with Brazilians....

  158. Re:Some things I know about moderating conversatio by maggard · · Score: 1
    she scares me
    Possibly she does, However I suspect that depends for many their reaction depends on how experienced they are with online communication.

    In direct social interaction it's possible to wander away from the boors, the cranks, the simply or creatively obnoxious. However in online conversation they're able to continually re-interject themselves in conversation after conversation until the whole space becomes overwhelmed and falls apart.

    In the real world the host would have long ago gone up to the offending party and asked them to cool it, or to leave. TNH is simply pointing out the exact same responsibilities in an online host and the unlikelihood of not doing so suddenly resulting in constructive conversation.

    BTW, "disenvoweling" is the tactic of removing all of the vowels from a particularly noxious post. By leaving the style but not the substance it reflects that this person did post and it was judged inappropriate by the host, serves as a warning to other like-minded folks

    This is akin to the tactic of slicing off 1/2 of those annoying pseudo-anonymous "WORK FROM HOME" / "HERBAL DIET" / etc. placards affixed to many of the street poles in the US. By not entirely removing these, but rendering their contact #'s incomplete, it informs following sign posters that their investment will be quickly disabled and to not waste their time doing so there.

    If you find these sorts of checks & balances offensive I suggest you open up an online conversation space without any such moderation. Or check out the squirming spam & flamer ridden remains of many, including much of Usenet.

    --
    I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
  159. Population. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I'm sure there are in fact a number of people out there who are to some extent racist and hide their true feelings because those feelings aren't popular. There is likely a whole spectrum of racist attitudes from very minor to very extreme. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that there aren't ANY people who truly aren't racist.
    Sure, that was a blanket statement. A generalization. The idea being, it is true in the majority of cases, which is really the best you can hope for when dealing with large populations.

    That being said... There are plenty of assholes (such as felis_panthera and poopdeville) who claim to find racism so repugnant, yet give the distinct impression that they are more trying to convince themselves of that fact than they are trying to convince me. I gaurantee that if any one of them were to get violated (mugged, raped, had someone they know murdered) by a nigger, they'd be letting loose with quite a few racial epithets (even if only behind closed doors).

    I can't stand how fake all these people are.

    --
    I'm a racist's. -- Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
  160. Re:How come only Anglos must be pilloried for this by DerekLyons · · Score: 1
    As a Latino, I find it funny that only Anglos gets scorn for racism, but the second a Black or Asian does it, no one says a peep. Want proof? Just look at most Black sitcoms or films, there's almost always a pointed anti-White tone to it all. Jokes that get directed towards Whites would garner instant outrage if the situation were reversed.
    Amen. The crematory operator in Georgia that got hammered for leaving bodies to rot behind the crematory while returning sand (rather than ashes) to the families?

    Over 60% of the bodies he left to fester were white. He's black. Not one of the mass media ever mentioned this. Had the colors been reversed, the NAACP, Al Sharpton, Jessse Jackson etc... Would have been up in arms.
  161. Reading comprehension. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Evidence from the analysis of genetics (e.g., DNA) indicates that most physical variation, about 94%, lies within so-called racial groups. Conventional geographic "racial" groupings differ from one another only in about 6% of their genes.
    This is a commonly quoted statistic. It is almost accurate, albeit conveniently misphrased as I'll explain below. We also share roughly the same amount of our DNA with chimpanzees. Small coding differences can produce large phenotypic changes. This says remarkably little, to anyone who knows anything about genetics. The correct phrasing of this data is, "Conventional geographic "racial" groupings differ from one another only in about 6% of their genes.", the first sentence is entirely bullshit.
    This means that there is greater variation within "racial" groups than between them. In neighboring populations there is much overlapping of genes and their phenotypic (physical) expressions.
    WRONG! This is a wild misinterpretation of the previous statement, supported by the misphrasing of the original data. Whites and niggers share about 94% of their DNA. This is true. Phenotypically distinct species can often have less than 2% variation. Saying that 94% is shared between the races, does not mean that there is a 94% variation within the races. It doesn't add up that way. The variation does not (and, indeed can not) add up to 100% (at least, not without moving entirely out of multicelled organisms).

    I love how people quote that stupid paragraph, and feel like they've bolstered their argument. Meanwhile, all they've done is shown themselves to be incompetent.

    In fact, that whole page you linked to is an entirely politically correct propoganda piece. I've discussed this many times before. But, I'll go into it again, just to enlighten you.

    They claim that you can not group together various "ethnic" traits. Besides the glaring logical inconsistency in this, which should be obvious to anyone, you can easily show it to be wrong. For example, they claim that black skin can not be associated with broad noses, big lips, and kinky hair. Simply take a look at niggers. The only time they don't exhibit these traits is when they've been interbred with other races.

    Different races do exhibit dark skin, this is true. However, choosing two distinct races with one similar trait, you can still tell them apart by the other traits defining each group. Just because one trait is not exclusive to a single group does not prohibit its use as part of a larger array of phenotypical features used to distinguish races.

    It is, in fact, the collection of physical, intellectual and social traits which demarcates races. These traits come grouped together, due to centuries of inbreeding within racial groups (the intermingling across races has been, largely, minimal, with only a few notable exceptions prior to the past two centuries).

    --
    I'm a racist's. -- Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
  162. Also of importance: by Ayanami+Rei · · Score: 1

    2 + 3 == cats

    It's almost as beautiful as e ^ pi * i + 1 = 0

    --
    THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
  163. Orkut itself is part of the problem by ded_si_luap · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Orkut tries to maintain an air of "exclusivity" by having reference-only membership. People then think that they have the right to say anything because they were "invited". Lack of any overall moderation lets people become extremists. I was in Orkut for a short while and found the anti-Brazilian hate-mongering to be too much to put up with. Some Americans seemed to be the worst of the bunch - they thought they had more "rights" to be on Orkut than anyone else since Orkut was "American" (although written largely by a Turk), and objected to the Brazilian language being used.

    1. Re:Orkut itself is part of the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I only objected to brazilian language being used on forums marked as "english only". A select few would post replies to english topics in portuguese and then hijack the threads and then they started bumping all of the brazilian language topics to the top of the topics list with the brazilian equivalent of the word "bump". I know a few people from brazil and liked them fairly well, but on the internet I always find that the select few ruin the impression I have of the majority. The arguments they used for using brazilian in english only forums were stupid too. They would say "you guys are american so like democracy because we are the majority then portuguese is ok here". People like this frustrate me because it makes it impossible to be a part of the community. If I can't use the only language I know to communicate in a forum that says that language is being used(english) then I can understand why people are hostile towards all brazilians. I don't think its right to hate the brazilians for the actions of the few, but since most of the communities were made unusable for me due to this it made me stop using orkut. I think this is the real reason there is a brazilian majority on orkut. Not because brazilians are the majority of people on the internet but that a select few managed to make it unusable for the rest of the world. Thats life, if people will be anti-brazilian its because their communities were destroyed by people cloaked under the brazilian flag and telling them it was all for brazil. I don't mind though, I felt frustrated at first then realized that people get the community they deserve and left orkut. :)

    2. Re:Orkut itself is part of the problem by ded_si_luap · · Score: 1

      In some ways your frustration is understandable, because you thought that an "English Only" forum was a normal and acceptable thing. But the idea of calling something "English Only" is objectionable to those of us who are non-English first. It is akin to saying "Americans Only","British Only","WASP Only" or some-such nonsense.

      In a few years the American economy will be destroyed by the Bushite's rampant spending program and bizarre wars, plus an ever-growing need for every American to buy toys made in China and software written in India. Over 1 billion dollars more in the red every day - the US economy is an unsupportable bubble waiting to burst.

      When it does burst, China/India (and Brazil :-) will take over the remnants, and you're going to feel rather put out when the first "Chinese/etc only" signs come up. But since you've accepted this kind of treatment already for Brazilians on Orkut, you won't have any grounds to complain when it happens to you next. And it will within in our lifetimes.

      Also, if English speakers hadn't made such a point of being rude to the Brazilians on Orkut, they wouldn't have started retailiating. There were a truckload of "I hate Brazilians" lists being started up by American and other yobs. What's the point? It's not going to stop a global trend. It just makes the Americans look silly.

      Which gets back to Orkut being at least partialy responsible for the mess it is. They should have made it be unable to specify languages on the list in the first place.

      In the end, it's hooray for Brazilians for fighting back what they've had to put up with for so long. And it's time for a few more uni-lingual Americans and British and so on to learn a few other languages as well.

    3. Re:Orkut itself is part of the problem by lifespan · · Score: 0

      Were they who they said they were?
      Orkut or any chat groups can be hijacked by racists, sexists, whateverists that offends you. Trolls rarely use their real name, age, sex or *nationality*. I wouldn't recommend moulding someones racial tolerances around what a troll enters in the nationality text field of a chat website subscription form.

      Why isn't the whole world multi-lingual?
      The reason many people of the world are multi-lingual is that they share borders, trade and recreational ties with foreign-language speakers. America only shares borders with 2 foreign speaking nations, French-speakers in Canada and Spanish-speakers in Mexico. Amanzingly enough, many who live in areas near to these borders are.....gasp.... multilingual. The lack of a multi-lingual American majority can't be conveniently blamed on laziness or ignorance where the problem is their proximity to foreign-language speakers. Obviously an Italian street vendor doesn't particularly want to learn Italian, French, German and English, but he needs the knowledge to sell effectively to ethnically diverse customers. People are usually multi-lingual by necessity, rarely by choice.

      Am I American?
      Before anyone jumps up and down about me being American, I'm not. I'm Australian. We're a bit like Americans.... only smaller and we drive on the other side of the road (the proper side!) :)

      English only means language, not race
      In the context of these forums, I suspect "English Only" means "you can only post in English". Only the most sensitive of types with the most intense of inferiority complexes would genuinely interpret it to means "only those with English as their first-language can post". Of course if a bigot wanted to whip up some anti-Western hysteria, conveniently misinterpreting "English only" to be some kind of racial slurr is an excellent place to start.

      Misinterpretation.... a window to better bigotry!

      --
      -- Howto: Get +5 (1) Whine about M$ (2) Namedrop Gentoo (3) Casually Abuse Mods (4) Namedrop Early Computer Model
  164. Oprah's Success by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you imagine how much money Oprah would have if every white person was not a hatefilled racist?

  165. Oh wait, correct that. by gelfling · · Score: 1

    When I heard the head of the John Locke foundation giving Michael Barone a tongue bath on CSPAN today I realized they're just Republicans who smoke better weed.

  166. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rubbish, nothing in my first sentence implies that homosexuality is not a mental disorder because you are an idiot, it actually says you are an idiot for holding that belief.

    You have just proved my point. You say that I am an idiot because I hold that belief but failed to explained why holding that belief makes people idiots i.e. why only idiots hold that belief. What you said is begging the question. If you say that this is a belief holded by idiots and idiots only you address not the belief but its holders i.e. present argumentum ad hominum without discussing the real merit of said belief. And that is a red herring.

    So you see there was no red herring, rather your insistence on promoting your hand me down belief system to those around you lead me to the conclusion that you are an idiot.

    There were even two red herrings. (Though I suspect you don't know what "red herring" means.) 1. you are childishly calling me an idiot instead of discussing the belief that you are supposedly opposed to, and 2. you are nitpicking about a usage of "you" like you were not aware what "homosexual" mean and needed an explanation in every sentence containing that word. This is just silly. If you think that such a style of discussing is serious than you are indeed pathetic.

  167. You are LYING again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Hey I have a great idea - how about arguing against what he said and not words you decide to put in his mouth."

    The guy said "it's silly to hate Jews because Jesus was a Jew."


    The guy REALLY said: "hatred for Jews is stupid (after all, even Jesus was a Jew) and blacks (or whites, asians, etc.) didn't have a choice which race would they want to inherit."

    In the FIRST sentence of your post after you were asked to stop misrepresenting the original poster's words, you are openly LYING again while completely misquoting the original poster? And you expect people to treat you seriously? This is just pathetic.

    1. Re:You are LYING again! by Guppy06 · · Score: 1
      "The guy REALLY said: "

      And the two clauses are related because...? The only way they could be seen as related is if you ignore Judaism as a religion and consider it solely on terms of race.

      He said:
      1. Hatred of Jews is bad because Jesus was a Jew
      2. Hatred of $SKIN_COLOR is bad because people had no choice
      3. Ultimately, hatred of homosexuals is OK (if not required) because they had a choice and because Jesus was not a homosexual
      By the poster's logic, if Jesus were not a Jew, then Jews who chose not to convert to Christianity are in the same boat as homosexuals: they made the wrong choice and therefore must be punished (apparently by death and/or dismemberment).
    2. Re:You are LYING again! by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

      "And you expect people to treat you seriously?"

      Oh, and one more thing: If I wanted to be taken seriously, would I really be posting on Slashdot? I'm here to piss people off and make enemies, all while demonstrating how utterly contemptable and evil I am to all who would read the posts I put at score: 1. Or haven't you noticed all the other responses I've been getting? Hello, McFly?

  168. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "OK, hatred for Jews is stupid (after all, even Jesus was a Jew)"

    And so it's OK for Muslims, who don't view Jesus as a Messiah, to be antisemetic? Nice logic: by it, you're allowed to hate people you're not forced to relate with.

    Hey, why didn't you include the rest of the sentence you quote? It answers your qustion pretty well:

    "OK, hatred for Jews is stupid (after all, even Jesus was a Jew) and blacks (or whites, asians, etc.) didn't have a choice which race would they want to inherit."

    See? If you quote entire sentences you might understand the meaning without asking your "insightful" questions for other Slashdotters to figure it out for you.

  169. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

    So, religion isn't a choice?

  170. Re:How come only Anglos must be pilloried for this by Motherfucking+Shit · · Score: 1
    As a Latino, I find it funny that only Anglos gets scorn for racism, but the second a Black or Asian does it, no one says a peep. Want proof? Just look at most Black sitcoms or films, there's almost always a pointed anti-White tone to it all. Jokes that get directed towards Whites would garner instant outrage if the situation were reversed.
    It's a double-standard that has existed for a long time. I believe the reason that racism against whites is "tolerated" is because whites are currently in the majority. I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm just saying that in general, it's only called racism if it's directed at a minority, and even then, only when the minority is some other color than white. Where I live, us honkeys are in the minority.

    I think there's also a pervasive belief among some minorities that pulling the race card will get them anything they want; I also think that there's some truth to that. After all, nobody wants to be called racist, and certainly not in public. White people will generally bend over backwards to avoid being seen as racists. Rather than get a bad public image, they'll grease the squeaky wheel. In the end, the minority often achieves their goal even though no racism occurred.

    For example, there was a group that came through town a couple of weeks ago trying to boycott the Dillard's department store chain, claiming that they don't hire enough black people. They don't offer any proof of this, no one's come forward saying that Dillard's fired them or didn't hire them because they were black. This group just has it in their mind that not enough blacks work at Dillard's (maybe they just aren't applying there?) so they call it racism and stir up a boycott that all of 10 people showed up for. If there's any meat to the story - like, you know, even remotely circumstantial evidence that Dillard's discriminates - the black boycotters and black reporter didn't bother to mention it.

    As another example, one of our local school systems is outsourcing the custodial and janitorial positions to a private company. Instead of hiring custodians directly, the school system is going to pay a private company to manage that part of their workforce. This will supposedly save the school system, which is about 80 million in the red, some money. Immediately, the head of the custodial workers' union (yes, there really is one) went on the news and started calling it racism and discrimination because 90% of the janitors are black. Well, I doubt that the private company has located a secret cache of white people who are lining up to be janitors. It's still going to be 90% black once it's privatized, but something is happening that affects black people, so it must be racist.

    Then there's one of our esteemed state Senators, John Ford. Over the past month, he's been caught up in four separate scandals. Now he's trying to say that it's all racism.

    First off, he's trying to pass legislation that would ease the child support burden on fathers who maintain more than one home - and guess what, he qualifies, seeing as how he has kids with 3 different women and apparently lives with two of them part-time. Next, he's trying to pass legislation that would significantly raise the standard of entry for newcomers into the funeral home business. Guess which business his family has been in for generations? Thirdly, he didn't report a significant chunk of income, as legislators are required by state law to report. Finally, it came out that he used upwards of $20,000 in campaign funds to pay for his daughter's wedding expenses. This isn't just unethical, it's outright illegal.

    What's his response? He's saying that the "white media" (his term!) are out to get him. That's right, it's not his fault that he's a philandering, corrupt politician who seems to spend most of his public time trying to legislate new financial benefits for himself and his family. No, of course not. Even though half of the local news anchors and reporters are black, all of this is the "white media's" fault.

    He's going for the "get what I want because I'm in the minority and they're all racists" ploy. Unfortunately, it works fairly often around here. It's probably not going to work for Senator Ford, though.
    --
    "BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
  171. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Somebody better tell your friend that there is no heaven (and no santa and no easter bunny etc.) and he might as well do as he likes because otherwise he will never be happy.

  172. Notice the technique by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So here we have a "virulently" religious person attempting to spread an irrational hatred of gay people, in hopes of leveraging fear of social reform to win converts.

    He may even know that his holy document is fictional, and the entire exercise of "citing" it is as legitimate as citing the National Enquirer. He uses this sleight of hand like a magician; creating a theatrical indirection to confuse you and get you to accept something which is untrue.

    And notice how he has adapted to slashdot. He has learned to post anonymous replies to himself that are crafted to increase the effect.

    It's little details like this that tell you how evilly deceptive someone in the grip of the "virus" will become. Because they've found the kind of "pure truth" that is only available to the irrational, almost any act, no matter how deceptive, revolting, or even violent, is justified.

  173. "Orkut" means "orgasms" in Finnish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    just felt I had to point that out...

  174. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by GWTPict · · Score: 1
    You may wish to look up causality and correlation and ponder the different meanings. My statement could be taken to indicate a correlation between idiocy and the belief that homosexuality is a mental disorder, it in no way implied causality. If you really think I just proved your point you may also wish to take a refresher course in logic. For an explanation of my opinion that 'homosexuality is a mental disorder' is a belief held by idiots you may wish to pose the question to a reputable psychologist or psychiatrist. My comments on the meaning of the word 'you' were an explanation of why I interpreted your statement regarding sinning by sleeping with men in the way that I did, that's not nitpicking, that's clarification. I'm perfectly aware of the meaning of 'red herring', anything that diverts attention from a topic or line of enquiry, I do have my doubts as to your grasp of it. Well done sir, once again you've reinforced my belief that you are an idiot.

    You may consider me pathetic, fine, that's a personal opinion no different than my belief in your idiocy, however I will go to sleep tonight happy in the knowledge that my beliefs are the result of a widely read, open and enquiring mind, unlike your slavish devotion to a 2000 year old text of dubious provenance. You have my pity.

    Oh yes, you may wish to find a remedial English lesson, 'holded' is not a word, 'held' is what I think you were grasping for. Sleep tight.

  175. I don't have racists feelings by pablo.cl · · Score: 1
    Please, everyone here who does not think like this closed minded, hate filled near-human, respond here and prove the parent wrong... we do /not/ all think like racists.

    I'm surprised that nobody has responded so far. Maybe all Slashdot readers are having a computerless Sunday? We should ask racists to answer this informal poll, so that not answering is not considered as agreeing with racism.

  176. Re:As a member of one of those "hatred" communitie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's see, prejudice? Check. Intolerance? Check. Hatred (godhatesfags)? Check.

    There's no doubt about it. You're going to hell.

  177. First Amendment is NOT equal to Free Speech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know most people on here are against baning hate speech, but for a second I'd like you to consider how the holocaust happened. Do you honestly believe that one day a group of people just suddenly got the idea to commit genocide, build death camps, and then carry it out? The roots of the holocaust were completely non-violent in nature. It started out as merely people talking and writing about their contempt for Jews. Anti-Jewish books were widespread in Europe. Nazis frequently incorporated anti-Jewish remarks into their speeches.

    So before people start defending hate-speech in the name of the first amendment, understand that free speech does and needs to have limits. You can't merely say, write, and publish anything you want. (A lot of Americans think they can, but if you are really convinced you should try:
    * Start a web site dedicated to erotism between men and young boys. Include pictures of men-boy couples engaged in sexual acts.
    * Go to the middle of your city, get a loudspeaker, and deliver a speech praising the 9-11 hijackers.

    I think most of us deep-down understand that total free speech is a really bad idea.

  178. welcome to the internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the vast majority of hte world speaks languages other than english as their first language. get used to it. go learn another language.

  179. Re:How come only Anglos must be pilloried for this by voorko02 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Its the same reason people focus on men being sexist towards women, or straight people being homophobic towards gays as opposed to the reverse.

    Its not a level playing field and until it is these ism's just aren't equal. Just like its incorrect to assume that sexism and racism are the same, you can't assume that white racism and black racism cause the same amount of damage. The group with power is the one with the responsibility.

    Its like that tired racist arguement "How come there are all black fraternities, but if we had an all white fraternity people would call us racist?". I hate it when people (particularly white people) say that they don't think about race... its because they (we) don't fucking have to. You don't need a white fraternity because chances are you live in a predominately white neighborhood, your group of friends are all white and so are your coworkers.

  180. The perils of moral equivalence. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    I think America has every bit as much hatred, racism, and bigotry as other countries.

    Then you either have a distorted picture of America, or of other countries.

    Look, in places like Rwanda or Yugoslavia, significant segments of the populace were ready, with not so much provocation, to rise up and slaughter other segments. We simply do not have that here. In the last thirty years, the largest civil unrest was the LA riots, confined to one city and a whole lot of property damage. Show me the mass graves, like they have in Yugoslavia, in Iraq, in Germany.

    If you think being denied employment or shunned in school is the worst thing that happens in other places, you've clearly been reading too much "Indy Media" or something.

    (Before you leap up and mention the locals who were here before the Americans came and drove them out/murdered them---that's not civil unrest. It's a horrific act of war, but it was carried out by one nation against another.)

    I'm not saying there's no racism in America. But to throw one's hands up and state that everyone has racism, and we just pretend it isn't so bad... it's intellectually lazy, and dishonest.

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  181. Re:MOD PARENT UP by stanmann · · Score: 1

    Ok, I haven't done an exhaustive study, but I've never seen a 2 legged insect, All insects I've seen had 4(or more) legs and thusly go about on 4 legs. Since we are having a pointless semantical discussion.

    And Owph... the word (mis)translated fowl in Leviticus 11:13 means Flying creatures.. including insects, and logically bats and superman.

    --
    Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
  182. hatred and racism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    well, racism is ONE aspect of hatred. And also, murder/riot is ONE way of acting on/spreading hatred. So, it is plain obvious you have chosen to look at this thing in ONE particular way, to arive at the conculsion that Americans are not *that* hateful as others. This is of course a typical american response to the rest of the world, if that exists.

    You dont have to 'murder your neighbor of 40 yrs' to show your hatred. You can as well and as much display your hatred to other 'races', 'colors' and/or ethnicity by various other ways. I dont want to go in detail of what they are, but well, few examples should suffice - e.g. Promotion to a specific segment of employees - based on Sex, Race and other stuff, cops chosing to establish law and order in one situation and ignoring in some other situation, 'positive profiling' of drivers. There are enough examples to prove that americans are as much hateful as others, if not more.

    After all, by denying this fact, you are also denying that Americans are human. well, you can always choose to call the typical white american a super-human, can't you?

    1. Re:hatred and racism by DerWulf · · Score: 1

      yes, all hatred is equal, right? Saying 'I won't hire blacks' is absolutly the same as 'Hey, lets go there, kill them all, then rape their corpses and burn their houses down'. No it isn't. It might not be a qualitative difference (arguable) but it certainly is a quantitative difference. Hatred in the US does get expressed 'less' in the sense of the forms it takes, therefore, hatred actually IS less.

      --

      ___
      No power in the 'verse can stop me
  183. HateMongering by __aaasvk1266 · · Score: 1

    This whole KDE vs. Gnome thing just makes me sick to my stomach. A whitesheet wearing users group slagging another users group that can barely reach the keyboard.

    Break the cycle, stop the violence.

  184. Re:How come only Anglos must be pilloried for this by deanj · · Score: 1

    I'm not buying that. Racism isn't something that's purely one color and not another. Having a single group that excludes others based on the color of their skin is racist. Period.

    Until people are completely color blind about all this, having an all "this-group" or all "that-group" is just contributing to the problem, not helping solve it.