Which sounds more appealing? Anonymous comments by trolls on the Johnny Northside blog, or this gigantic camel spider?
I know what you're thinking: where can I get a camel spider paperweight like THAT one?
In any case...
A little more than a month ago, I announced this blog would reverse its former "free speech bloody free-for-all" policy and begin refusing to publish or even acknowledge the anonymous comments of trolls. I wanted to see if the discourse in this blog's comment forum would improve as a result.
Well, there *is* a noticeable improvement in the discourse.
I find this "no trolls" policy comparable to a moderator who tries to control a public meeting, especially when there are...
...half crazy, stinky people who want to yell things they consider SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than what everybody else has to say. By "everybody else" I mean the polite, decent people who are actually from the neighborhood and have a stake in what happens. The compulsive desire of "the crazies" to pour out their always-anonymous, psychotic bile at every opportunity is intimidating to those more quiet, thoughtful voices who have something much more valuable to say.
Yes, this blog will continue to encourage a vital exchange of ideas. If the creepy, anonymous individuals who want to make their ugly, personal remarks are willing to come here as themselves or with Blogspot profiles and monikers that can be linked to real people, then this blog will consider posting at least SOME of the nasty, stupid things they have to say.
Until then, the trolls have their own green-slime-dripping blogs where they can advocate for their mortgage fraudster friends doing time in prison, their butt ugly slumlord empires, their Level Three sex offender pervert pets, their coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs political candidates like Al Flowers, etc.
But the political and social changes created by the "NoMi revitalizer blogs" will be around long after the trolls and the crazies succumb to the inevitable psychological consequences of their own negativity and self-imposed marginalization.
And, at some level, the trolls KNOW this, which is why their voices are so shrill, angry, and desperate.
To my Northside friends who urged this blog policy change for months, even years:
You were right.
