Prolific poster posts 17 posts per hour for 3.5 hours

February 25, 2006 12:06 AM

This has got to be some kind of record. Setting aside the merits of Glider's argument, you have to admire his persistence. By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, the guy made roughly 17 posts per hour for 3.5 hours, took a three hour break, then jumped back into the fray for a total of 70 posts over 13 hours. Wow.
posted by BitterOldPunk to MetaFilter-Related at 12:06 AM (64 comments total)

In this same time span, I worked a nine-hour shift, had a drink with friends after work, updated my blog, went to the store for cigarettes and Yoo-Hoo, and watched some TV....When I put it that way, I'm not sure which one of us is in more need of getting a life....
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:09 AM on February 25, 2006

Her?...
posted by growabrain at 12:43 AM on February 25, 2006

I stopped counting after I read: "The North is almost singlehandedly responsible for the problems in the US right now, both on a racial/cultural level and in terms of how it interacts with the world."

I'm fairly sure that's the dumbest thing anybody has ever said on MeFi. And I've read the newsfilter threads.
posted by I Love Tacos at 12:51 AM on February 25, 2006

I'm really not sure what's lamer: that posting spree or the fact that somebody felt compelled to sit down and crunch the numbers on it. Opinions?
posted by keswick at 1:13 AM on February 25, 2006

growabrain, Glider is a "him", not a "her".
posted by exlotuseater at 1:27 AM on February 25, 2006

somebody felt compelled to sit down and crunch the numbers on it.

Yeah, I guess that is pretty lame....

It was that sorta slow-down-for-the-car-wreck horrified fascination thing, you know?

But in my defense, in the time it took me to crunch those numbers, Glider could have posted 4 times. :)
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:29 AM on February 25, 2006

I wonder, is there a special term for such "my-favourite-discussion-point" diarrhea postings? I've come across them many times on other forums, where poster A writes about a topic that is (supposedly?) common knowledge. That topic just happens to be poster B's favourite topic, cos s/he's read something that flies in the face of said common knowledge and hangs on that for dear life, smacking down the evidently ignorant people that share poster A's views.

Favourite topics of these people are mainly conspiracy theories (HIV is a government-sponsored, so-called disease gone awry; vapour trails of passing jetliners is filled with toxics, etc.)... anybody know what I'm talking about?
posted by slater at 1:42 AM on February 25, 2006

Wingnuts will be wingnuts. But at least if they're furiously posting in the blue, they're not starting fights in smoky bars.

And I guess, as veteran of all kinds of Usenet shenanigans, I've come to feel this is the best and highest use of the Internet. All these unwinable arguments, all these weird theories, and passionately held points of view, spewed into an endless, warm receptive ether of a net, thence to be swept onto millions of waiting, softly glowing displays, read by interested eyes, to inflame other brains and hearts, which respond with yet more tapping of keyboards, and warm invective.

Talk about your heartwarming bonds of humanity... I get a little vklempt just thinking about it.
posted by paulsc at 2:05 AM on February 25, 2006

Maybe some American states should have laws against slavery denial.
posted by fleacircus at 2:29 AM on February 25, 2006

Reminded me a bit of articlebot, who went timecubing in a thread about his SEO-spam-aid software.
posted by brownpau at 3:06 AM on February 25, 2006

what the lol?! haha... did that articlebot dude get banned?
posted by slater at 4:04 AM on February 25, 2006

I think articlebot's dating Anna from IKEA.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:24 AM on February 25, 2006

wow. "I cannot help the fact that I find specific words to say specific things." articlebot rules.
posted by unknowncommand at 6:14 AM on February 25, 2006

I wonder, is there a special term for such "my-favourite-discussion-point" diarrhea postings?

I don't know if there's a specific term for it, but I chalk it up to one of my g.f.'s favorite points about arguments- those who know, consciously or not, that they are arguing from a weaker position will argue their point all the more loudly and often, rather than letting their statement stand on its own merit.

For an example, see every other MeFi posting, ever.
posted by mkultra at 6:35 AM on February 25, 2006

I agree with your GF, mkultra - many times arguments devolve into "I don't care if I'm right or wrong, just so long as I can prove you're wrong".

Okay, maybe not the same thing...
posted by disclaimer at 6:45 AM on February 25, 2006

No, you're dumb! Am not! Are too!
posted by blue_beetle at 6:56 AM on February 25, 2006

I don't like glider as a person and I don't care for his arguments in that thread, but this thread - the callout that's not explicitly a callout - will provoke more shitty, inappropriate comments, and I think that's a bad thing.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 7:10 AM on February 25, 2006

Oh yeah? Well, you're poopy.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:19 AM on February 25, 2006

Whoever you are and whatever you say, if the k3wl kidz don't like you you're a l00ser.
posted by davy at 7:20 AM on February 25, 2006

But at least if they're furiously posting in the blue, they're not starting fights in smoky bars.

strangely enough, some of us read MeFi hoping to avoid the kind of rubes one would encounter in a redneck bar
posted by matteo at 7:22 AM on February 25, 2006

and for all that the South still lost
posted by caddis at 7:23 AM on February 25, 2006

and but for slavery there would have been no war
posted by caddis at 7:24 AM on February 25, 2006

I do agree with mkultra's GF's point at least via one example: you know when you really and truly are an expert on something and your knowledge is 100% reliable and comprehensive and you argue with someone on this topic...and you really can't think of much to do other than typing out the truth of the matter simply and walking away? It's as if the more you know, the more someone else's ignorance is a sort of nearly insurmountable barrier.

Incidentally, to be clear here in the gray...glider is not a southerner, he can't be characterized as a "redneck", and he's not a southern apologist in the typical "Northern War of Aggression" mold. He's actually a Canadian pastiche contrarian conspiratorialist it seems to me.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:27 AM on February 25, 2006

In my experience, which is considerable, never, ever, ever argue with a Southerner (OK, a white Southerner) about race, slavery and Civil War causation, unless you just absolutely need to have a three-hour, knock down, flat out, down-to-the-last-empty-cartridge argument.

These days when I hear someone trot out "it wasn't about slavery..." I just nod vaguely and go get another drink.

Here's the thing: you think you're arguing history, they're arguing over regional pride, their great-great-grandfather's memory, and the reputation of some the most valorous, skilled, and tenacious fighting men the world has ever seen.

Who, regrettably, ultimately were fighting to preserv..., ah forget it.
posted by mojohand at 7:32 AM on February 25, 2006

I don't know Glider, EB, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that converts are the most commited partisans of all.
posted by mojohand at 7:38 AM on February 25, 2006

I think we can all agree that beedogs.com is the premier online repository for pictures of dogs in bee costumes.
posted by wakko at 8:00 AM on February 25, 2006

beedogs.com sucks more every day.
posted by quonsar at 8:21 AM on February 25, 2006

Glider has the posting strength of ten wingnuts, plus two.
posted by LarryC at 8:29 AM on February 25, 2006

As a white Southerner who isn't an apologist for the sins of my forefathers, I loudly second mojohand's observation.

And beedogs.com sux. Tubcat r00lz!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:01 AM on February 25, 2006

no one should get congrats for having nothing else better to do than argue on the internet.
posted by the aloha at 9:05 AM on February 25, 2006

you think you're arguing history, they're arguing over regional pride, their great-great-grandfather's memory, and the reputation of some the most valorous, skilled, and tenacious fighting men the world has ever seen.

true ... but my great-great-grandfather was in the union army, so i've got my own side to represent ...

we won, too
posted by pyramid termite at 9:28 AM on February 25, 2006

the reputation of some the most valorous, skilled, and tenacious fighting men the world has ever seen

Ulysses S. Grant on Robert E. Lee:

I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse.

posted by kirkaracha at 9:38 AM on February 25, 2006

the reputation of some the most valorous, skilled, and tenacious fighting men the world has ever seen

Oh man, that is such Myth-of-the-Lost-Cause bullshit. By the end of the war there were more deserters from the Confederate army than there were active soldiers.

/sorry, wrong thread
posted by LarryC at 10:28 AM on February 25, 2006

yeah, I'm not finding anything to celebrate, here. Although I think that BitterOldPunk's post is more of a "Look at that crazy shit!" schadenfreude thing.
posted by shmegegge at 11:04 AM on February 25, 2006

I wonder, is there a special term for such "my-favourite-discussion-point" diarrhea postings?

Not that I'm aware of, but may I suggest we call them "Gliders?"
posted by shmegegge at 11:25 AM on February 25, 2006

Crivens, there was some deranged spouting in that threat. And not just from glider (eg. the number of folk who believe that black people are better off in the US than anywhere else in the world was... surprising.)
posted by jack_mo at 11:34 AM on February 25, 2006

true ... but my great-great-grandfather was in the union army, so i've got my own side to represent ...

Sure, but The North has pretty well moved past it.
posted by leftcoastbob at 11:40 AM on February 25, 2006

jack_mo: two?

Also, I largely agree with EB's assessment of glider: he prides himself on his stubbornness in the face of facts because he's some sort of "underground scholar" and is doomed to be persecuted. If I were more of a dick, I would draw a parallel between his seeming delight in the face of others' contempt and his involvement in the body modification scene.

Never mind, I guess I am a dick today. Forgive me, as I am cranky due to an unrelated matter.
posted by jenovus at 12:23 PM on February 25, 2006

"The North has pretty well moved past it."

I have a hunch that the vast bulk of the North immigrated in from Europe well after the end of it.
posted by mischief at 12:27 PM on February 25, 2006

What about the vast bulk that immigrated up from the south after the end of it?
posted by OmieWise at 12:36 PM on February 25, 2006

He's canadian?!?
posted by delmoi at 12:45 PM on February 25, 2006

Hmm, good point, OmieWise. One could then speculate that the North's own deep-seated racism is due more to conflicts between migrating blacks and the many european immigrants to american cities during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Union families and their descendents, being more rural, had little to do with it.
posted by mischief at 12:46 PM on February 25, 2006

Oh my god, I had never seen that articlebot thing! BEST THREAD EVAR.

His prose is actualy pretty easy to read, if bizzare sounding, though.
posted by delmoi at 12:53 PM on February 25, 2006

That thread is intense.

But I'm having a hard time determining if it went Godwin yet or not.
posted by loquacious at 1:10 PM on February 25, 2006

It seems to be a general rule that people remember the wars they lost better than those they won. I don't know why this is so. Certainly growing up in Connecticut I had zero consciousness of the Civil War. My Alabama and Arkansas friends by contrast were raised on it.
posted by LarryC at 1:13 PM on February 25, 2006

And beedogs.com sux. Tubcat r00lz!

But FATMOUSE owns them all. FATMOUSE is a universal language!
posted by loquacious at 1:19 PM on February 25, 2006

Nuh Uh... It's Sex Kitten all the way.
posted by y2karl at 2:05 PM on February 25, 2006

But I'm having a hard time determining if it went Godwin yet or not.

I did my best to Godwin it, but it just kept going.
posted by languagehat at 2:44 PM on February 25, 2006

Almost no one in that thread is saying anything about the movie that is the actual subject of the post. You might as well have made an FPP that just said, "Lets argue pointlessly about the American Civil War."
posted by octothorpe at 3:03 PM on February 25, 2006

It's taken a late turn toward World War II (which I don't think is as odd as it might seem at first), but no one's mentioned Hitler. So far.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:15 PM on February 25, 2006

Whoops. I just did. Sorry.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:52 PM on February 25, 2006

I can't put my finger on precisely why, but Articlebot set my Scientology spidey-sense a-tingling.
posted by Ritchie at 3:58 PM on February 25, 2006

And beedogs.com sux. Tubcat r00lz!

But FATMOUSE owns them all. FATMOUSE is a universal language!
posted by loquacious at 1:19 PM PST on February 25 [!]

Aw, man, between these sites and the link to the articlebot thread this post totally wins. More callouts should be this entertaining.

BE WARNED, LOYAL VASSALS! NEW INTELLIGENCE HAS BEEN RECEIVED CONCERNING THE DESPICABLE BARON VON BLOATENKAT, WHO CONTINUES IN HIS WRETCHED AND COWARDLY ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE OUR GREAT CRUSADE.
posted by kosher_jenny at 1:56 AM on February 26, 2006

"growing up in Connecticut I had zero consciousness of the Civil War"

Maybe cuz northern states have a problem teaching black history.
posted by mischief at 8:28 AM on February 26, 2006

Maybe cuz northern states have a problem teaching black history.

Hello there, Mr. Stereotype.

My K-12 schooling was in rural New England public schools. Every February, we studied nothing but black history in all disciplines (not just history, but English, science, music, everything). This was in addition to one entire school year spent studying nothing but black history in English and history classes (that was seventh grade; Jewish history was eighth grade).

That time spent still kind of seems like a sop until you realize that every single year, we studied black history whenever it was even slightly relevant to the history of America. We spent more time on George Washington Carver than we ever did on Mendel or Einstein.
posted by booksandlibretti at 11:39 AM on February 26, 2006

Nice to know a bigot like glider has friends here.
posted by bardic at 2:01 PM on February 26, 2006

In my experience, which is considerable, never, ever, ever argue with a Southerner (OK, a white Southerner) ...

Glider isn't from the Southern USA, he's from Canada. Click his profile and read some of his work, while I don't agree with him on many things, I do read his sites (and I belong to iam.bmezine.com, which is part of BME.)

(note, I'm not stating anything about glider's position on the USA's Civil War, as this isn't the thread for it. I just wanted to point out that he isn't from the Southern USA.)
posted by SuzySmith at 2:36 PM on February 26, 2006

b&l: Yeah, sure, that's why New Jersey passed a law mandating black history be taught and they can't even begin to enforce it.
posted by mischief at 7:37 PM on February 26, 2006

One state's passing of an unenforceable law (one that I know nothing about -- do you have any support?) does not give you license to stereotype all states within a radius of several hundred miles.
posted by booksandlibretti at 8:38 PM on February 26, 2006

First thing tomorrow morning, I send articlebot to my boss with a note that it will do all his work for him. I think he may have already bought it though. That would explain a lot.
posted by srs at 1:54 AM on February 27, 2006

License? I don't need no steenkin' license.
posted by mischief at 6:22 AM on February 27, 2006

Oh, yeah: Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
posted by mischief at 6:29 AM on February 27, 2006

mischief, you don't know what you're talking about.
posted by shmegegge at 9:02 AM on February 27, 2006

So I've heard.
posted by mischief at 9:09 AM on February 27, 2006