Blog Notes

Go Riders?
Would that be Sask. or Ottawa?

Well said Lance, and go Bruins (I know, a little early for NHL, but the Lions are sucking so bad I couldn't go with them).

Sorry Lance, but GO BLUE! (hope that does not cause you to decide that I am a troll)

Go Kate!

Yes, well. Who is Lance?

and, GO Raiders.
`

Fair enough. Kate is our conservative diva and the trolls should get what they deserve. To be ignored and banned.

FYI - Lance is Mr. Kate. :0)

I've been ignoring the trolls since asked last week because I respect what Kate and the crew do here.

The CFL is another thing...Go Stamps!!

Oh...and you guys can keep Lingenspcincter..we don't want him either.

I must confess that one of the main reasons I read this blog is the comments. And in those comments, I enjoy reading the debate between SDA regulars and the usual leftists that, for some odd reason, feel the need to post here. I hope that the bans won't be heavy-handed in regards to honest debate between these commenters.

I know not to feed the trolls... but, it's just so very very difficult sometimes.

Luke: Leftist blog commenters and "honest debate": in the same sentence? Please.

I think people like Davenport and Alex keep returning for the debate because they just have some inner need to be convinced of a different viewpoint. Otherwise why would they keep coming back?
Don't they have better things to do.....ie: fight some social cause somewhere, save a tree, commiserate with a victim of something?
"N" is just.........unusual.
JMO

Go Esks!!!

I really appreciate the blog big time Kate, and much thanks goes to all who maintain it while you are away.

Even though I do not comment that much, I read and follow the links as much as I can. I also find similar comments to my thoughts already posted, so what is the point of being redundant? Kudos to all the residents and visitors of this site.

The trolls I have no sympathy for. Although we have some regular posters of a "different" nature, some can add to the conversation and others are well,....just trolls.

My only criticism with this blog would be that some of the regular posters watch their demeanor. I am not suggesting a shift to political correctness(which I am very much against), just some of the rhetoric that is understood(without saying) but is also unnecessary to get the point across.

I just wish we could attract a better class of troll.

I live in Hamilton but "GO ARGO's".

Lance

Whilst I can sympathise with the point of your comment, and its timely reminder to the rules, banning trolls is surely defeating any sense of err free speech and comment. Which I'm not of course suggesting that Kate has no right to do, but is surely a bit out of sync with the general ethos of freedom etc blah blah blah, and whilst bad language, spam and personal insults I have no issue with anyone deleting, surely the expression of a counter view should be allowed?

And to be fair, the mirth that can be generated by reading trolls comments can't be underestimated, even though mocking the afflicted is considered crass in polite company.

Surely the point should be to ignore and treat with complete distain the comments of trolls?
I do I admit sometimes wonder at some of the long time commentators on here who do respond to trolls, it does make me wonder why they get so easily drawn, especially when the comments made are either so preposterously, obviously baiting tactics or just plain ridiculous.

I think perhaps we should all help, be a little more active and just remind the more exuberant on occasions to not feed the trolls.

lance, your comments are much appreciated—as are all your, Kate’s and the guest bloggers’ considerable time and effort.

There’s no other blog like SDA in Canada: it’s a national treasure. Thanks.

Go, Kate and doggie, go!

The thing I like about this blog is the range of topics that are presented and the exchange if different opinions when they are reasonable. But I will caution that when you argue with idiots you reduce yourself to the same level. Having been interested and involved in politics all of my life I find many on the left argue from emotion rather than logic and therefore you will always be shouted down (figuratively some times) and they will not listen to your points. The best you can do is be civil and smile.

Go Riders is right.

At the risk of being redundant I have to echo lookout's comment.

"Echo" is the right word. Sadly, this is an echo chamber where the host's posts are normally followed by some version of "what she (or he) said". Even reasonable comments that are contrary to the theme of the post are attacked with juvenile insults. Since there is no real discussion, you get trolls doing drive by's, because it's just not worth the effort to do any more. Sometimes I think "small dead animals" is code for Kate's sock puppets.

Drive-by's aren't the issue here, lberia. This isn't some anonymous lib/prog blog. SDA, being what Kate has made it, attracts a more dedicated detractor.

Lance...you have my support. I tend to lose it with trolls so the sooner you rid SDA of them the better my health. Cheers

bverwey

Getting a but more choosy about keeping the comments of the "trolls" might not be a bad idea.

A few weeks back, I made the mistake of reading two of "New"'s posts and seriously strained my eyes and brain trying to figure out what the hell he/she was trying to say.I am still mystified.

Some of the counter-comments are justified,though. Lberia has a point, we DO tend to just say,"ayuh,yep, yeah, uhuh" to the post.I know I've nodded and said "yup" so many times here I've developed a chronic neck condition.

I tried surfing to Kinsella's to see some ideas that might have me shaking the cranium from side to side,for a sort of counter-effect,and it DID work for a while,but my brain has become seriously addled and my Doctor says I may be eligible for a disability pension.

What I'd REALLY like to see though,is the people who come here to vilify and insult others post under their real name,maybe give us a quick profile about who they are,what life experience they have,etc.

Example:"my name NOT really Hideawayunderthebed,it is Jason Godzillachuck. I am 19 years of age. I live in my Mom's basement.I collect welfare,and to make a few extra dollars,deal in a small amount of ecstasy, pot, LSD,and crystal meth. I sell to no one under 12. I have a high school diploma from Tommy Douglas Secondary School in Haemmorrhoid,Sask.. I always vote NDP 'cause they are the Party of the little guy and I am a little guy. I hate all you right wing bastards because you are so ignorant and stupid".

Like that,sorta,except with all the usual spelling mistakes I love to see.

Thanks for all the great work by Kate and the regular guests here. I've enjoyed this blog for about six years since my older and wiser brother recommended it.

I believe in free speech, its up to people to have enough self control not to be sucked into useless rants against Social & moral Ignoramuses.
Sometimes seing the garbage of the left is instructive. Do we really want to live in a cone of silence?
The drive by types though are another catagory.
JMO

It would e a shame to deleted all putative trolls comments although we all could buck up and send "new" an updated Amharic/English dictionary, the multistage Turkish/Latin/ Bulgarian method he/she employs at present is not working.

It would e a shame to deleted all putative trolls comments although we all could buck up and send "new" an updated Amharic/English dictionary, the multistage Turkish/Latin/ Bulgarian method he/she employs at present is not working.

Please leave the trolls... it gives the rest of us an idea of how disfunctional they really are.

Go schnauzer! And Kate!

Well said,I even sort of agree with the last part,as the Stamps suck this year,so far.

Hope Kate and her Venus do well.

My thoughts exactly, revnant dream.

Interesting .... sticky issue the troll banning thing .... but like booting a juvenile delinquent out of school or the cafe or the pool hall.... it does provide relief from the BS.

BTW ... much as I'd like to go Bombers ... I still have a connection with the Roughies .... so GO GREEN.....

I have no problems with trolls and like dmorris I also enjoy the spelling mistakes and the view from the shallow end of the gene pool. If all regulars of SDA were of the same mind set, it would get pretty dull. Variety is good and even trolls have a need to be heeded. Many actually believe the drivel they project and are a product of brainwashing by some of the leftist finest. Someday they may inherit a mind of their own. View them with a little pity and a touch of tolerance , but don't take away the entertainment by banning them.

I will adjust my helmet accordingly.

"Sadly, this is an echo chamber where the host's posts are normally followed by some version of "what she (or he) said"

If you go to a jazz blog you might be surprised that all the comments are positive about jazz. Or a blues blog. Or a poetry blog. Or a Thai cooking blog. I never see any childish comments saying "AC/DC rule" on the jazz blogs. Or "Hitler liked poetry so all poets are fascists" on the poetry sites. You might get discussions as to the worth of the particular subject at hand. Only on political discussion sites do you get the childish juvenile antics of "the left" displayed for all to see.

There's a difference between a troll and someone with a different point of view.

Thanks, lance, for your clarifications about how to make this a better blog, one that Kate's built into the best in the country. I try to avoid being sucked in by the trolls -- and, now, I'll try harder!

Good luck to Kate and Venus. Way to go! (I have no opinion on football ...)

*(Dammit batb, toe [tow?] the line or we're all finished!)* Local sports team, huzzah! Go Riders!

Red Jeff at 10:09 PM: "Please leave the trolls... it gives the rest of us an idea of how disfunctional they really are."
===================
I agree. I certainly haven't got the time or the inclination to spend reading lefty blogs and it is rather instructive and even encouraging to see what sort of competition the right has in the great contest of ideas. Our opponents are hopelessly inept, it seems, which is good to know.

Surely one of the reasons for coming here to the comments section is all the great links all you folks offer up. What a vast array of top quality info you have to share with us.

soooo basically the brass at sda wishes a guarantee they are preaching to the converted.

gotcha.

any word yet when the local fav slogan 'not dead enough' will be applied to the once leader of the opposition?

Sadly, this is an echo chamber where the host's posts are normally followed by some version of "what she (or he) said".
~lberia

Not at all.
Fact is, conservatives argue more amongst themselves and have more different views of how to make good progress than progressives who parrot the same talking points have because conservatives argue in good faith and have facts pointing toward real solutions to real problems.

Example-the budget debates in the U.S.:
The Republicans keep putting plans forward and all the Democrats do is stick to the same discredited talking points, run the Republican plans down, and put no workable plans forward from the Democrat side while amping up the crisis instead of calming the markets and putting forward solutions that will solve the crisis instead of delaying it's recurrence.
(fact- despite having had control of the House of Congress since Jan2007-Jan2011 the Democrats themselves haven't put forward a budget for over 3 years)

Similar with trolls on SDA.

What I wonder is:
-who are the trolls?(please name them to avert confusion)
-why haven't they been banned yet?
-if Kate or one of the co-bloggers engages the questionable person does that mean they aren't a troll and the rest of us can engage them until such time as Kate or one of the co-bloggers identitfies them as a troll?(and then the troll is banned?)

Kate's work is amazing. Kudos to the guest posters, but the way Kate picks out certain topics just nails it.

And Lance, Sat night, Taylor Field (yes, the real name) I know exactly where I'll be sitting!

Green is the colour! Football is the game! Go Riders!!!

I read the HuffPo and Breitbart regularly, occasionally watch Phil Mahr, will check out Rabble once in a while but I always read here and follow the links.

I watch FOX, SUN NEWS and CBC and surf their stuff.

I find the most interesting conversations here.

The trolls play a role in stimulating the conversation as long as they are not the conversation.

I think...

"There's a difference between a troll and someone with a different point of view."

*Exactly*, batb. Thank you. I get the impression that some of the commenters in this thread who are petitioning for leniency for "trolls" might be conflating the two.

Take "Dizzy", for example, who I disagree with on just about everything, and whose views are contrary to those of the majority of SDA regulars: she isn't a troll by any stretch of the imagination; she makes her case, she responds to other points, and she puts some thought into her posts. If SDA regulars compare dizzy to "N" - for example - and can't see the difference, they aren't using their common sense.

Anyone who is worried that a crackdown on egregious, sidetrack/flame-inducing trolls will mean that there won't be debate, or that there won't always be stupid, mockable viewpoints being expressed, should note that lance didn't say "Recently, SDA has suffered from a plethora of people with different points of view..."

EBD

Jason Cherniak and Katsmeat once dared to post here...back in the day.

Warren did! Wow, that must have been fun.

The fierce elfin one was better...God bless Spurwing Plover...

A troll is not someone who disagrees with you or who argues with you or even who tries to insult you. It's just someone who likes to set off a pointless inflammatory remark and chortles when people take him/her seriously and actually respond. It's an attention getting gambit. It's the loud fart in the midst of a conversation.

I just hope the local curling team wins. How I love them!

And schnauzers.

What... did.... you.... do ...with...the cats?

I just read a few of the comments on Globe & Mail article about ethical oil. Walking along Yonge Street three weeks into a garbage strike, though comparable, would be preferable.

Thanks to those who work to make sda the (2nd) best place in Canada. (Taylor Field 1st)

I'm all for deleting posts that are off-topic or juvenile ('N') or incomprehensible ('new'). But if it were up to me -- which it isn't, of course -- I would cut some slack for anyone who is disagreeing coherently.

Trolls always meant for me, mission accomplished.

In the local Calgary Co-op, which has about a third of the local food market, there are "endcap" displays of Rider branded food items, coffee, breakfast cereal, beef jerky, ect... all with the green and Rider logos plastered all over them. As jarring to an ex Regina resident as this can be, I stand in awe of the Rider marketing people.

I saw in the downtown Tim Horton's that the Stampeders had secured some white horses printed on Tim Horton's cards... of course I have one, and that's it so far for the local marketing effort?

Nothing is settled in the CFL this year, it's looking like the recent order has been shaken up and an interesting season is at hand.