Letters to the Editor
tempus
Published Letters: 446 Editor's Choice: 7
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Bizzarre
[Read the article: Men who hate women on the Web]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am deeply saddened and sorry that Ms Sierra experienced the nasty vitriol that that she did. I honestly don't understand it. The closest I've ever come, as a man, to what she apparently experienced was in a usenet group when I was a pure 'noob' to that media. I'd post an opinion/reply to some comment on a subject and get reamed deep and hard on what I replied/posted. I was puzzled by the response and very earnestly sought out my attacker and asked what the problem was. I finally got a response and found that the person was intentionally being VERY incendiary. They were more interested in the response to outrageousness than in actually hurting me personally and subsequently wanted to get me to join them in their personal 'experiment'.
I HOPE that much of what Ms Sierra experienced was something similar. There is a great deal of freedom for the Id that comes from the anonymity of the web. Things one would NEVER say face-to-face become possible (I've been one to act so myself). The web amplifies the id because there is safety in the remove from reality. I think that this is not well dealt with by a small subset of net users and they go beyond the pale.
I don't particularly give a damn anymore, now that I have progressed well beyond noob on the net, what idiots online might say about me. I would, however, still become somewhat paranoid and take defensive action if someone were to post my personal address online.
Ms Sierra, I don't understand what occurred with you (it makes absolutely no sense to me at all) and I am deeply sorry for what you experienced. I hope you come to terms with the nonsense and come back and offer you voice to the chorus of humanity online.
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Just a pointer
[Read the article: Men who hate women on the Web]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If I am interested in venting my spleen at someone online, I am going to use the most offensive and profane language I can. I don't necessarily truly mean what I write in such circumstances, rare that they are, but when they show up... The BEST way to emotionally and personally attack someone (online) is to use the nastiest, most offensive language available. This is spleen venting we're talking here, not intellectual discourse. For a woman 'target' that means making use of terms like 'dyke', 'fat', 'ugly', 'weak', etc. The terms one has available in this vein are largely completely different from those one would use against a male target.
If you want to offend someone and attack them personally, then you must use the most offensive terms available that are applicable for that person. Political correctness goes out the window in such circumstances. Sexism, homophobic terminology, racism, etc are the weapons. Unfortunately, given the nature of the medium, it is impossible to tell the caustic messages from the truly psychodangerous messages.
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Derbyshire is less than dogsh*t
[Read the article: Compassionate conservatism]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He would soil his diapers the instant a gunman came into this office space. Guaranteed.
As for his nonsense about inaccuracy of handguns and counting shots, etc. I hit my target. Every time. And I'm not a sharpshooter, just practiced and trained (military, though that is not necessary to get the practice and training). He extrapolates his incompetence with a gun he clearly shouldn't have onto everyone else. Then his comment on rushing the guy while he's reloading. Idiotic on its face under almost all circumstances.
Counting shots and rushing him when he's reloading?! First, having the mental clarity and calmness under such circumstances to count shots (and knowing when the first shot of any given clip was fired) doesn't tell you how many bullets the clip holds (9, 15, what?) and doesn't help at all with someone practiced with their weapon. It takes 2-3 seconds to swap a clip for a practiced competent. I've seen a clip swap in less than 2 seconds as well. So, Mr Derbyshire, even giving your stupid, insensitive, and loony idea/critique a passing thought gives it little credence at all. You were dogsh*t before you said that nonsense and you are are even more dogsh*t afterwards.
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Flaming liberal/progressive
[Read the article: Why Democrats dumped gun control]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]AND a gun owner (of an assault weapon, no less). I don't hunt, just like to shoot. I don't have anger management issues, mental health issues, or any other "issues". I see my weapons as tools intended to serve a specific function in case of the most dire of circumstances. MackK, take your mamby pamby surrender-to-tyranny-without-a-peep nonsense and shove it.
By the way, I'm also military and took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign or domestic (that includes the government too, not just cells of whackjobs), and I, like many others in the military or those who are veterans, take that oath very seriously. That oath doesn't mean protect and defend with words or letters to the editor or via passive resistance. It means active protection and defense of the Constitution.
You'll get THIS liberal's guns only when you pry them from my cold dead fingers...and I, like many like me, are willing to go to that extent (kinda like our Founding Fathers were). Period. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are not just a nice idea, they are sacrosanct and non-negotiable. Tyranny doesn't usually fall to passive means or nasty letters. Tyranny is ended by those (apparently) better than you.
You want reasonable regulations? Fine. But try to take my guns away from me and you've got trouble.
I don't lie down and take it. That isn't the military way. It isn't a passive resistance organization. I suggest you could use a little military discipline and training to get a full appreciation of the Constitution and what it really means to protect and defend it: it means literally putting your life on the line in active defense of same.