<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">---------- Forwarded message ---------</span><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Marco McClean</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:memo@mcn.org">memo@mcn.org</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, Jan 1, 2024 at 7:34 PM<br>Subject: [MCN-Announce]- Recognizing when you're allowing yourself to be trolled.<br>To: <a href="mailto:announce@lists.mcn.org">announce@lists.mcn.org</a> <<a href="mailto:announce@lists.mcn.org">announce@lists.mcn.org</a>><br></div><br>
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Marco here, Alan. If you don't like /the whole list/ of people, why <br>
subscribe to it, unless it's like a Mormon subscribing to Hustler, for <br>
the same titillating reason normal readers would, but with the added <br>
attraction of getting high on your own moral outrage at the same time, <br>
which many Mormons consider hot, I have read. (The porn-use heat map is <br>
past orange and into brown in Mormon country.) And if it's only one or <br>
two people in the group who you can't stand, why not just block their <br>
email addresses? And if that's not good enough, because others allow <br>
themselves to be trolled by them into responding so you see them anyway, <br>
filter out emails whose body text contains the offender's name. And the <br>
next day when you look, only the wonderful people are there and the <br>
trolls are not, and you can lean back and breathe, "Ahhhh," and wonder <br>
why you didn't do this a long time ago. And if they're fixated on you, <br>
when they realize they're not reaching you and they make up another <br>
Secret Squirrel name for themself, block that.<br>
<br>
If the reason you don't solve it in those ways is that they're still out <br>
there somewhere, sitting at the computer in their undershorts, writing <br>
jerky things and woo-hooing and picking their nose and being awful, <br>
/maybe thinking they're saving the world from people like you/, and the <br>
idea of not keeping current on their output frightens you, here's some <br>
really scary news: There are millions and millions of people in the <br>
world, maybe a thousand miles away, but also maybe right next door or <br>
down the street or facing you across the counter in the store, who are <br>
thinking and saying and writing horrible things all the time where you <br>
can't hear, and you will never know which ones they are or what exactly <br>
they're bigoted about or how much they despise people like you, because <br>
there's only so much time in the day to punch yourself in the nose with <br>
media. Life is short. Why waste it rising to trolls? You're only giving <br>
them what they want.<br>
<br>
All along, you have had a magic button you can press to make everyone <br>
you hate vanish from your life. But you seem to want a button you can <br>
press to make everyone you hate vanish from everyone else's life too. <br>
The first thing is fair and right, the second thing isn't, because if <br>
everyone had the second kind of button, how many people would be left in <br>
all the world? Very few, and they'd probably all be sweet-natured Down <br>
syndrome people without a mean bone in their body, which might be nice <br>
for them for like five minutes, and then where did their loved ones go? <br>
And what happens when the utilities break down, and the fuel deliveries <br>
stop, and nobody's feeding any of the billions of fenced and shut in <br>
farm animals and zoo animals and pets, and so on. Maybe in a couple <br>
hundred thousand years or so, raccoons or ravens might evolve to have <br>
really big brains and develop a civilization of their own, and send <br>
scientists into the poison zones to learn about what our kind were like <br>
from the durable crap we left behind, titanium golf clubs and hip <br>
joints, gold jewelry, strata of compacted telephone books in landfills, <br>
a pyramid or two, and figure us out.<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Marco McClean, <a href="mailto:memo@mcn.org" target="_blank">memo@mcn.org</a><br>
<a href="https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com</a><br>
<br><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:small">======================</div><div class="gmail-gE gmail-iv gmail-gt" style="font-size:0.875rem;padding:20px 0px 0px;font-family:"Google Sans",Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><table cellpadding="0" class="gmail-cf gmail-gJ" style="border-collapse:collapse;margin-top:0px;width:auto;font-size:0.875rem;display:block"><tbody style="display:block"><tr class="gmail-acZ" style="display:flex;height:auto"><td class="gmail-gF gmail-gK" style="padding:0px;vertical-align:top;width:666.25px;line-height:20px;display:block;max-height:20px"><table cellpadding="0" class="gmail-cf gmail-ix" style="border-collapse:collapse;table-layout:fixed;width:666.25px"><tbody><tr><td class="gmail-c2" style="display:flex"><h3 class="gmail-iw" style="overflow:hidden;font-size:0.75rem;font-weight:inherit;margin:inherit;text-overflow:ellipsis;color:rgb(95,99,104);line-height:20px"><span class="gmail-qu" role="gridcell" tabindex="-1"><span name="David Gurney" class="gmail-gD" style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:bold;display:inline;vertical-align:top;line-height:20px"><span style="vertical-align:top">David Gurney</span></span> <span class="gmail-cfXrwd"></span><span class="gmail-go" style="vertical-align:top;color:rgb(94,94,94)"><span aria-hidden="true"><</span><a href="mailto:jugglestone@gmail.com">jugglestone@gmail.com</a><span aria-hidden="true">></span></span></span></h3></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="gmail-gH gmail-bAk" style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;display:block;max-height:20px"><div class="gmail-gK" style="padding:0px;display:flex"><span id="gmail-:194" class="gmail-g3" title="Jan 2, 2024, 8:59 AM" alt="Jan 2, 2024, 8:59 AM" role="gridcell" tabindex="-1" style="vertical-align:top;margin:0px;font-size:0.75rem;color:rgb(94,94,94);display:block;line-height:20px">8:59 AM (4 hours ago)</span><div class="gmail-zd gmail-bi4" aria-label="Not starred" tabindex="0" role="checkbox" aria-checked="false" style="display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-left:20px;outline:0px"><span class="gmail-T-KT" style="display:inline-flex;height:20px;text-align:center;width:20px;padding:0px;margin:0px;border:none;outline:none"></span></div></div></td><td class="gmail-gH" style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;display:flex"></td><td class="gmail-gH gmail-acX gmail-bAm" rowspan="2" style="text-align:right;vertical-align:top;display:block;max-height:20px"><div class="gmail-T-I gmail-J-J5-Ji gmail-T-I-Js-IF gmail-R1Zuwf gmail-T-I-ax7 gmail-L3" role="button" tabindex="0" aria-label="Add reaction" style="display:inline-flex;border-radius:2px 0px 0px 2px;font-size:0.875rem;text-align:center;margin:0px 0px 0px 20px;height:20px;line-height:18px;min-width:auto;outline:none;padding:0px;background:transparent;color:rgb(68,68,68);border:none"><img class="gmail-qfynfc gmail-T-I-J3" role="button" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="background-image: url("//ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/gm3/1x/mood_baseline_nv700_20dp.png"); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 20px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: middle; opacity: 1; display: inline-block; height: 20px; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s; width: 20px;"></div><div class="gmail-T-I gmail-J-J5-Ji gmail-T-I-Js-IF gmail-aaq gmail-T-I-ax7 gmail-L3" role="button" tabindex="0" aria-label="Reply" style="display:inline-flex;border-radius:2px 0px 0px 2px;font-size:0.875rem;text-align:center;margin:0px 0px 0px 20px;height:20px;line-height:18px;min-width:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;background:transparent;color:rgb(68,68,68);border:none"><img class="gmail-hB gmail-T-I-J3" role="button" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="background: url("//ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/gm3/1x/reply_baseline_nv700_20dp.png") 50% 50% / 20px no-repeat; height: 20px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 20px; opacity: 1; display: inline-block; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s;"></div><div id="gmail-:19e" class="gmail-T-I gmail-J-J5-Ji gmail-T-I-Js-Gs gmail-aap gmail-T-I-awG gmail-T-I-ax7 gmail-L3" role="button" tabindex="0" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" aria-label="More" style="display:inline-flex;border-radius:0px 2px 2px 0px;font-size:0.875rem;text-align:center;margin:0px 0px 0px 20px;height:20px;line-height:18px;min-width:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;background:transparent;color:rgb(68,68,68);border:none"><img class="gmail-hA gmail-T-I-J3" role="menu" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="background: url("//ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/gm3/1x/more_vert_baseline_nv700_20dp.png") 50% 50% / 20px no-repeat; height: 20px; width: 20px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: middle; opacity: 1; display: inline-block; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s;"></div></td></tr><tr class="gmail-acZ gmail-xD" style="display:flex;height:auto"><td colspan="3"><table cellpadding="0" class="gmail-cf gmail-adz" style="border-collapse:collapse;table-layout:fixed;width:974px"><tbody><tr><td class="gmail-ady" style="overflow:visible;text-overflow:ellipsis;display:flex;line-height:20px"><div class="gmail-iw gmail-ajw" style="overflow:hidden;max-width:92%;display:inline-block"><span class="gmail-hb" style="vertical-align:top;color:rgb(94,94,94);font-size:0.75rem;line-height:20px">to <span name="Marco" class="gmail-g2" style="vertical-align:top">Marco</span></span></div><div id="gmail-:19d" aria-haspopup="true" class="gmail-ajy" role="button" tabindex="0" aria-label="Show details" style="display:inline-flex;margin-left:4px;vertical-align:top;border:none;outline:none"><img class="gmail-ajz" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system_gm/1x/arrow_drop_down_black_20dp.png") 50% 50% / 20px no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; height: 20px; width: 20px; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; right: 0px; top: 0px; display: flex; opacity: 0.71;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div id="gmail-:190" style="font-family:"Google Sans",Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:medium"><div class="gmail-qQVYZb"></div><div class="gmail-utdU2e"></div><div class="gmail-lQs8Hd"></div><div class="gmail-wl4W9b" style="display:flex"></div></div><div class="gmail-" style="font-family:"Google Sans",Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:medium"><div class="gmail-aHl" style=""></div><div id="gmail-:19c" tabindex="-1"></div><div id="gmail-:192" class="gmail-ii gmail-gt gmail-adO" style="direction:ltr;margin:8px 0px 0px;padding:0px;font-size:0.875rem;overflow-x:hidden"><div id="gmail-:191" class="gmail-a3s gmail-aiL" style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:small;line-height:1.5;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;overflow:auto hidden;direction:initial"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif">What kind of scumbag uses their own personal radio show to demean, denigrate and defame other members of a small community?</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif">. . .</div></div></div></div></div><br>
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