I'm visiting my old high school today as part of a story I'm writing for The Atlantic, so blogging may be light-to-nonexistant. Play nice while I'm away.
Comment moderation postscript: The above is not meant as a troll, it is a humorous reference to the Drew Barrymore vehicle, Never Been Kissed (1999). Please visit IMDB for plot details.
Lets see early 90's I think Sam Kinison. ohhhh OHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Man he was foul, outrageously funny in the meanest way. I think Carlin told him to play nice.
Are we supposed to interpret this post as a directive to miss you in your absence? Or is it your heart that's grown fonder since you last visited your old high school? This will bother me all day.
Ms. McArdle, I just realized there's something I feel very strongly about, and I absolutely need to post it, and damn it, you ought to support my cause on this one.
See, yesterday below where you announced your "cleansing of comments" policy, I made a comment about how the Atlantic would need to hire you a mess of helper gnomes. Well, no kidding, but in the original version I'd typed not "gnomes," but "trolls," thinking, I dunno, lots of little gruff complaining blue spotted things like sort of unpleasant, kind of smelly Shoemaker's Elves, muttering to themselves in their strange guttural tongue while deleting the nasties and clanking their leg shackles. Seriously, I wrote "trolls." And just before hitting "Post" I realized, damn, that means something else here. And so I thought like crazy and came up with the thoroughly unsatisfying (to me) "gnomes" (unsatisfying because, what, really, is a gnome? Is it good? Is it bad? Those little garden things? From those kitschy old books? Can they even use the Internets?)
Anyway, I'm regretting it. I mean, "troll" can be vague too, it could be the kind of nasty frumpy worker thing I was envisioning, or the evil child-eater under the bridge, or whatever. But in any case it is something numinous, ensorcelled, special, whose name we invoke for just when we need something like that.
So -- and I mean this -- let's do take back "troll." I really hate how it's used now, and I frankly hate all this hipster, let's use the cool-ass new "cyberspace" lingo, stuff. I don't, for all you dumbf*ck MySpace whippersnappers out there, "grok" it. The fact is, we're using "troll" when there's already a plethora of words that are often just as applicable and offer the user shades of meaning: plain vanilla "jerk," the somewhat snotty "ass" or similar (but vaguely Mencken-allusive) "boob," hoi polloi "dick," the retro-hip "knob," the so-immature-as-to-be-specially-dismissive "wiener," the particularly-effective-on-males "bitch," and so on. Spare us this special word, this little piece of magic, this hint of the shadow world below the bridge of our civilized veneer. Take back "troll"!
Now as I look back on it, of course, using "Smurf" in that post would have been really more apropos than either: "Hi, I'm Censor Smurf!"
Not that I play WoW (although back in the day I played my fair share of Warcraft II--sigh, those were the days) but I always envision trolls as like those from the game. Tusked with sweet accents and mohawks.
Both Republicans and Democrats seem thoroughly convinced that the mainstream media is shilling for the other candidate. Both sides can cite specific and frankly convincing examples. McCain has even made Obama's media glow a major theme of his campaign.
Now this is an economics blog, not a politics blog, but you're among the most fair-minded bloggers I read. I wonder if you have any thoughts about the economics of partisanship in television media -- either in this election or in general. What factors have driven its growth? How is it that people say they want unbiased news coverage, then turn around and watch The O'Reilly Factor or Countdown with Keith Olbermann? Do they not know their preferences, do they misrepresent them to pollsters, or do they believe these shows are not biased? Is this related to the replacement of primary-source journalism with news analysis? I know very little about this topic, and I'm hoping you can shed some light on it!
Elrond, "elves" too has other uses. Plus, why a word? Look at all the subtle things you can say about the commenter by appropriate choice of put-down, as I tried to show. Plus the blogger can signal things about him/herself: Neanderthal boob bloggers, for example, could indicate such by using "fag." C'mon, people: take back troll! Not for dinks, blowhards and buttholes anymore, only for real (meaning unreal) trolls. Even if it does help those Warcraft-obsessed losers.
I have grown enamored of Censor Smurf by the way. He's the one who makes them replace the censored words with "smurf."
I have a term paper due tomorrow its about the theme; what is the theme of pride and predijuice how does Jane Austin interrorgate society and its convention Hey can you help thanks. ps do you have thoughts on Huckleberry Fin I have to find the theme for that to!
The theme of Pride and Predjudice is 'See people clearly. They are real, fascinating and often lovable when you do.' A second theme is how conventions (not Party ones) hold society together to the common benefit; but do get in the way of seeing people clearly.
Mark Twain's theme in Huckleberry Finn is 'Tom Sawyer was a terrific success. Where do I go from there?' I do not think that he had much idea of how the book would turn out until he had written it. Still, it is a book I would have been proud to have written.
Not to beat a dead horse, but while you were away, did you find those supposed Democrats who were smearing Bristol Palin or saying that she can't be VP because she has kids at home?
Either Megan got lucky this weekend or she was involved in the planning of the GSE bailout is my guess. The latter is a great great deal for taxpayers. For up to $300 billion they get stocks worth, supposedly, $1 billion. I say supposedly because after all investment does carry risk.
A good way to look at this is that capitalism is now operating without capital so the government, ie. the taxpayers have to supply it. Oh, and Obama might be a socialist.
"Class, do you have any questions for Ms. McArdle? Yes, in the back?"
"Ms. McArdle, if you had known that your blogging job would involve so much interaction with the vitriolically unpleasant yet thoroughly boring people who make up a sizable part of your comment pool, would you have just cut out the middleman and become a prison guard instead?"
"That's a good question. I thought about that, but at least this way I don't have to join a union."
Consider the following observation: McCain “seems to think that the values that guide a brigade should also guide the nation at large. This is a bad idea for the same reason that we should not be run by the codes of the Bar Association or the Hippocratic Oath.” A nation run like a brigade might be good idea for a nation in WWIII. Is the U.S.A. headed toward WWIII or an unfortunately close approximation? According to J. Arnold Toynbee, the conflict between Christians and Muslims has been one of the greatest themes of history. According to Warren Buffett there is a strong likelihood of a nuclear terrorist attack on a major city within the next 20 years. Are we living in foolish denial of the risks of nuclear and biological weapons? Do we still have a naïve belief in peaceful coexistence based upon tolerant multiculturalism? Are the God shouters and the fanatical bioterrorists going to give leftwing agnostics and optimistic liberals a rude awakening?
Consider some remarks made by Andrew Sullivan:
With Sarah Palin, America has taken one very large leap toward a completely theocratic politics. For Palin, as for Rick Warren, there can be no distinction between politics and religion: all politics is subject to religious guidance and that guidance is to obey the literal truth of everything in the Bible:
In the address at the Assembly of God Church here, Ms. Palin’s ease in talking about the intersection of faith and public life was clear. Among other things, she encouraged the group of young church leaders to pray that “God’s will” be done in bringing about the construction of a big pipeline in the state, and suggested her work as governor would be hampered “if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God.”
She also told the group that her eldest child, Track, would soon be deployed by the Army to Iraq, and that they should pray “that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God, that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.”
Everything in her worldview must be according to God's plan, and God's plan is revealed without any ambiguity whatsoever in the literal words of the Bible, Old and New Testament. There is no detail too small, no policy too obscure, that isn't vetted through this filter. This is the fundamentalist psyche in its most extreme form: think Bush but less intellectual. Think Bush's evangelical tradition combined with speaking in tongues and a belief in the Rapture. Yes, this is now conservatism.
I, Dave Brown, ask the following question:
Should Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics be somewhat alarmed by Sarah Palin?
Sarah Palin and her co-religionists pray for America’s soldiers, marines, and sailors and “that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God, that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.”
Is tolerant multiculturalism really possible? Is one person’s freedom always another person’s blasphemy, superstition, crime, or intolerable anarchy?
In Israel, people are not allowed to publicly incite Muslims by insulting the Prophet Mohammad. However, consider this: If you believe the Quran, then Mohammad of Mecca was liar, lunatic, or the last and greatest Prophet of God. Therefore, a fundamentalist Muslim might say that to deny the truth of the Quran is an insult to God and to the Prophet Mohammad, because such denial gives the insult that Mohammad was either a deliberate liar or a deluded lunatic. Therefore, any public denial of anything in the Quran is an insult to Islam. To claim that miracles, immortal souls, and supernatural entities are total nonsense might be interpreted as both an insult and an attack against Islam. To assert that Darwin’s theory is true might be interpreted as an insult to Islam.
Sarah Palin is a skeptic on Darwin’s theory of evolution and a believer in immortal souls for fetuses. What does the future hold for religious fundamentalism and tolerant multiculturalism?
>>thinking, I dunno, lots of little gruff complaining blue spotted things like sort of unpleasant, kind of smelly Shoemaker's Elves, muttering to themselves in their strange guttural tongue while deleting the nasties and clanking their leg shackles
I think the word you are looking for is "goblins".
Megan McArdle has offered the people of the world a keen observation: “John McCain does not seem particularly comfortable talking about God. The lines are there, but they're mechanical, clearly recited by rote.” Should Brother McCain find the joy, power, and majesty of God? Everybody now: Put the glory of God into your life, your words, your thoughts, and your actions. I, Dave Brown, possess absolute belief in God. John McCain should take advice from Dick Morris. What does Wikipedia tell us about Dick Morris? “Dick told Clinton the way to winning was to throw out all ideology and treat politics as a consumer business -- to target the swing voters and identify their personal desires and whims and then promise to fulfill them.” Are there those among you that believe the Democrats and Republicans are anything more than greedy, amoral scam artists using lifestyle marketing techniques? Consider Ambrose Bierce’s “The Devil’s Dictionary,” Robert Winter-Berger’s “The Washington Pay-Off,” and Dick Morris’s “Fleeced.” The graveyards are filled with indispensable men and patriots who believed the lies of their governments. I, Dave Brown, believe that history can only be understood with the aid of true religion. Consider the following observations by Albert Einstein: Imagination is more important than knowledge. Religion with science is blind, while science without religion is lame. I, Dave Brown, believe that history can only be understood in terms of true science and true religion. According to traditional religions, human life is more important than money. I believe that the most important lesson of history is that money is more important than human life. I define God as “the prime mover of the human spirit.” Therefore, God is money. In other words, money is the one true god that people truly worship. People might, occasionally, believe in eternal life, eternal joy, and eternal reunion with loved ones, but people’s actions demonstrate that money is the one true god. However, a person finds few friends by proclaiming, “Money is more important than human life!” Therefore, hypocrisy is the one true religion. In order to gain understanding and wisdom, believe in God and follow the money. Perhaps the preceding analysis is incorrect. However, I invite others to offer a better foundation for understanding history.
Fred, she can't post for a while because when she does it'll look goofy if she doesn't post on Freddie and Fannie and at this point it's going to be damn near impossible to have anything novel to say about it.
Kunal, no, I am convinced that goblins are yellowish and fat, and are mostly being shaken out of Fannie and Freddie.
Josie Grossie, Josie Grossie!
Comment moderation postscript: The above is not meant as a troll, it is a humorous reference to the Drew Barrymore vehicle, Never Been Kissed (1999). Please visit IMDB for plot details.
Lets see early 90's I think Sam Kinison. ohhhh OHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Man he was foul, outrageously funny in the meanest way. I think Carlin told him to play nice.
If we are very very nice, do we get sweeties?
Are we supposed to interpret this post as a directive to miss you in your absence? Or is it your heart that's grown fonder since you last visited your old high school? This will bother me all day.
A prediction:
On October 1st, the presidential race (as measured by the major polls) will either not have tightened or Obama's lead will have grown.
Gee, this isn\'t meant to be a honey pot is it Megan?
I think Megan should jump in a river too.
Ms. McArdle, I just realized there's something I feel very strongly about, and I absolutely need to post it, and damn it, you ought to support my cause on this one.
See, yesterday below where you announced your "cleansing of comments" policy, I made a comment about how the Atlantic would need to hire you a mess of helper gnomes. Well, no kidding, but in the original version I'd typed not "gnomes," but "trolls," thinking, I dunno, lots of little gruff complaining blue spotted things like sort of unpleasant, kind of smelly Shoemaker's Elves, muttering to themselves in their strange guttural tongue while deleting the nasties and clanking their leg shackles. Seriously, I wrote "trolls." And just before hitting "Post" I realized, damn, that means something else here. And so I thought like crazy and came up with the thoroughly unsatisfying (to me) "gnomes" (unsatisfying because, what, really, is a gnome? Is it good? Is it bad? Those little garden things? From those kitschy old books? Can they even use the Internets?)
Anyway, I'm regretting it. I mean, "troll" can be vague too, it could be the kind of nasty frumpy worker thing I was envisioning, or the evil child-eater under the bridge, or whatever. But in any case it is something numinous, ensorcelled, special, whose name we invoke for just when we need something like that.
So -- and I mean this -- let's do take back "troll." I really hate how it's used now, and I frankly hate all this hipster, let's use the cool-ass new "cyberspace" lingo, stuff. I don't, for all you dumbf*ck MySpace whippersnappers out there, "grok" it. The fact is, we're using "troll" when there's already a plethora of words that are often just as applicable and offer the user shades of meaning: plain vanilla "jerk," the somewhat snotty "ass" or similar (but vaguely Mencken-allusive) "boob," hoi polloi "dick," the retro-hip "knob," the so-immature-as-to-be-specially-dismissive "wiener," the particularly-effective-on-males "bitch," and so on. Spare us this special word, this little piece of magic, this hint of the shadow world below the bridge of our civilized veneer. Take back "troll"!
Now as I look back on it, of course, using "Smurf" in that post would have been really more apropos than either: "Hi, I'm Censor Smurf!"
Not that I play WoW (although back in the day I played my fair share of Warcraft II--sigh, those were the days) but I always envision trolls as like those from the game. Tusked with sweet accents and mohawks.
Sanjay:
Why not call them "elves"?
Dear Mlle. McArdle,
Do you also have a "new" high school? Was your "old" one pre-owned when you purchased it? How much does one cost, new or used?
Thank you for any further information you can provide me, as I am always looking to diversify my portfolio. (It beats the hell out of working.)
As B/4,
M. B.
Megan,
Both Republicans and Democrats seem thoroughly convinced that the mainstream media is shilling for the other candidate. Both sides can cite specific and frankly convincing examples. McCain has even made Obama's media glow a major theme of his campaign.
Now this is an economics blog, not a politics blog, but you're among the most fair-minded bloggers I read. I wonder if you have any thoughts about the economics of partisanship in television media -- either in this election or in general. What factors have driven its growth? How is it that people say they want unbiased news coverage, then turn around and watch The O'Reilly Factor or Countdown with Keith Olbermann? Do they not know their preferences, do they misrepresent them to pollsters, or do they believe these shows are not biased? Is this related to the replacement of primary-source journalism with news analysis? I know very little about this topic, and I'm hoping you can shed some light on it!
Thank you!
Elrond, "elves" too has other uses. Plus, why a word? Look at all the subtle things you can say about the commenter by appropriate choice of put-down, as I tried to show. Plus the blogger can signal things about him/herself: Neanderthal boob bloggers, for example, could indicate such by using "fag." C'mon, people: take back troll! Not for dinks, blowhards and buttholes anymore, only for real (meaning unreal) trolls. Even if it does help those Warcraft-obsessed losers.
I have grown enamored of Censor Smurf by the way. He's the one who makes them replace the censored words with "smurf."
Megan.
I have a term paper due tomorrow its about the theme; what is the theme of pride and predijuice how does Jane Austin interrorgate society and its convention Hey can you help thanks. ps do you have thoughts on Huckleberry Fin I have to find the theme for that to!
Thank you!
lampwick
The theme of Pride and Predjudice is 'See people clearly. They are real, fascinating and often lovable when you do.' A second theme is how conventions (not Party ones) hold society together to the common benefit; but do get in the way of seeing people clearly.
Mark Twain's theme in Huckleberry Finn is 'Tom Sawyer was a terrific success. Where do I go from there?' I do not think that he had much idea of how the book would turn out until he had written it. Still, it is a book I would have been proud to have written.
Deversity. thanx you SO SO much. xx oo. ps i think I saw Megan in the hall today. she was checkin out her old locker!!!!
Man, that Miss McArdle is kinda hot for an old chick! I saw her in the hall today, and she gave me this like knowing look. Scary, but sexy too!
For what it's worth:
"nonexistent" - not "nonexistant"
Sorry. I'm just in one of those moods. Must find a sugar rush!
Megan,
Not to beat a dead horse, but while you were away, did you find those supposed Democrats who were smearing Bristol Palin or saying that she can't be VP because she has kids at home?
I'm fairly sure that Dr. Laura is NOT a Democrat.
Mike, I think we can all agree that Bristol Palin can't be VP because she's only 17 and the age requirement is 35.
Either Megan got lucky this weekend or she was involved in the planning of the GSE bailout is my guess. The latter is a great great deal for taxpayers. For up to $300 billion they get stocks worth, supposedly, $1 billion. I say supposedly because after all investment does carry risk.
A good way to look at this is that capitalism is now operating without capital so the government, ie. the taxpayers have to supply it. Oh, and Obama might be a socialist.
[I can imagine the high school visit now:]
"Class, do you have any questions for Ms. McArdle? Yes, in the back?"
"Ms. McArdle, if you had known that your blogging job would involve so much interaction with the vitriolically unpleasant yet thoroughly boring people who make up a sizable part of your comment pool, would you have just cut out the middleman and become a prison guard instead?"
"That's a good question. I thought about that, but at least this way I don't have to join a union."
Consider the following observation: McCain “seems to think that the values that guide a brigade should also guide the nation at large. This is a bad idea for the same reason that we should not be run by the codes of the Bar Association or the Hippocratic Oath.” A nation run like a brigade might be good idea for a nation in WWIII. Is the U.S.A. headed toward WWIII or an unfortunately close approximation? According to J. Arnold Toynbee, the conflict between Christians and Muslims has been one of the greatest themes of history. According to Warren Buffett there is a strong likelihood of a nuclear terrorist attack on a major city within the next 20 years. Are we living in foolish denial of the risks of nuclear and biological weapons? Do we still have a naïve belief in peaceful coexistence based upon tolerant multiculturalism? Are the God shouters and the fanatical bioterrorists going to give leftwing agnostics and optimistic liberals a rude awakening?
Consider some remarks made by Andrew Sullivan:
With Sarah Palin, America has taken one very large leap toward a completely theocratic politics. For Palin, as for Rick Warren, there can be no distinction between politics and religion: all politics is subject to religious guidance and that guidance is to obey the literal truth of everything in the Bible:
In the address at the Assembly of God Church here, Ms. Palin’s ease in talking about the intersection of faith and public life was clear. Among other things, she encouraged the group of young church leaders to pray that “God’s will” be done in bringing about the construction of a big pipeline in the state, and suggested her work as governor would be hampered “if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God.”
She also told the group that her eldest child, Track, would soon be deployed by the Army to Iraq, and that they should pray “that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God, that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.”
Everything in her worldview must be according to God's plan, and God's plan is revealed without any ambiguity whatsoever in the literal words of the Bible, Old and New Testament. There is no detail too small, no policy too obscure, that isn't vetted through this filter. This is the fundamentalist psyche in its most extreme form: think Bush but less intellectual. Think Bush's evangelical tradition combined with speaking in tongues and a belief in the Rapture. Yes, this is now conservatism.
I, Dave Brown, ask the following question:
Should Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics be somewhat alarmed by Sarah Palin?
Sarah Palin and her co-religionists pray for America’s soldiers, marines, and sailors and “that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God, that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.”
Is tolerant multiculturalism really possible? Is one person’s freedom always another person’s blasphemy, superstition, crime, or intolerable anarchy?
In Israel, people are not allowed to publicly incite Muslims by insulting the Prophet Mohammad. However, consider this: If you believe the Quran, then Mohammad of Mecca was liar, lunatic, or the last and greatest Prophet of God. Therefore, a fundamentalist Muslim might say that to deny the truth of the Quran is an insult to God and to the Prophet Mohammad, because such denial gives the insult that Mohammad was either a deliberate liar or a deluded lunatic. Therefore, any public denial of anything in the Quran is an insult to Islam. To claim that miracles, immortal souls, and supernatural entities are total nonsense might be interpreted as both an insult and an attack against Islam. To assert that Darwin’s theory is true might be interpreted as an insult to Islam.
Sarah Palin is a skeptic on Darwin’s theory of evolution and a believer in immortal souls for fetuses. What does the future hold for religious fundamentalism and tolerant multiculturalism?
>>thinking, I dunno, lots of little gruff complaining blue spotted things like sort of unpleasant, kind of smelly Shoemaker's Elves, muttering to themselves in their strange guttural tongue while deleting the nasties and clanking their leg shackles
I think the word you are looking for is "goblins".
Megan McArdle has offered the people of the world a keen observation: “John McCain does not seem particularly comfortable talking about God. The lines are there, but they're mechanical, clearly recited by rote.” Should Brother McCain find the joy, power, and majesty of God? Everybody now: Put the glory of God into your life, your words, your thoughts, and your actions. I, Dave Brown, possess absolute belief in God. John McCain should take advice from Dick Morris. What does Wikipedia tell us about Dick Morris? “Dick told Clinton the way to winning was to throw out all ideology and treat politics as a consumer business -- to target the swing voters and identify their personal desires and whims and then promise to fulfill them.” Are there those among you that believe the Democrats and Republicans are anything more than greedy, amoral scam artists using lifestyle marketing techniques? Consider Ambrose Bierce’s “The Devil’s Dictionary,” Robert Winter-Berger’s “The Washington Pay-Off,” and Dick Morris’s “Fleeced.” The graveyards are filled with indispensable men and patriots who believed the lies of their governments. I, Dave Brown, believe that history can only be understood with the aid of true religion. Consider the following observations by Albert Einstein: Imagination is more important than knowledge. Religion with science is blind, while science without religion is lame. I, Dave Brown, believe that history can only be understood in terms of true science and true religion. According to traditional religions, human life is more important than money. I believe that the most important lesson of history is that money is more important than human life. I define God as “the prime mover of the human spirit.” Therefore, God is money. In other words, money is the one true god that people truly worship. People might, occasionally, believe in eternal life, eternal joy, and eternal reunion with loved ones, but people’s actions demonstrate that money is the one true god. However, a person finds few friends by proclaiming, “Money is more important than human life!” Therefore, hypocrisy is the one true religion. In order to gain understanding and wisdom, believe in God and follow the money. Perhaps the preceding analysis is incorrect. However, I invite others to offer a better foundation for understanding history.
Is it just me, or does it seem like Megan has been slacking lately in her posting output?
Fred, she can't post for a while because when she does it'll look goofy if she doesn't post on Freddie and Fannie and at this point it's going to be damn near impossible to have anything novel to say about it.
Kunal, no, I am convinced that goblins are yellowish and fat, and are mostly being shaken out of Fannie and Freddie.
This extended absence is starting to make us overly fond of you. Please come back and start posting!
I think we can all agree Megan was the only thing holding Fannie and Freddie together. She takes one little break, and the government takes over! ;)
Tel says: "I think we can all agree Megan was the only thing holding Fannie and Freddie together."
I don't know about Fannie, but Freddie and Megan are definitely an item.
He's like her left-leaning flirtatious homunculus... Oh, wait, you mean Freddie Mac.
Never mind.
Anyone else get the feeling that if Freddie weren't 9 inches shorter than Megan that nuptials would have already been discussed?
nonexistant
I hope you gave the diploma back and signed up for some remedial English classes.