Iraqulence - a simple notion for screening Iraq posts.

April 8, 2003 12:58 PM

Iraqulence - a simple notion for screening Iraq posts. What is Iraqulence? Well, obviously, it is like flatulence in that it's smell can drive many from the Metafilter "room", while those who stay become irritable and fling invectives around.

Iraqulence tends to involve posts about stories which are divisive and could be perhaps framed in a less inflammatory way, yes, but it is also NewsFilterish, tending towards stories which might very well prove - the following day - to have been unfounded ("The US thinks it may have killed Saddam in a bombing attack (but maybe not) or have questionable significance and lack scope - or both ( perhaps "Exclusive Middle East sources have tracked down top Iraqi leader's bolt Hole?" - Not to point fingers too accusingly, as I've broken all these principles many times myself ).
posted by troutfishing to etiquette/policy at 12:58 PM (44 comments total)

Not to point fingers too accusingly
posted by homunculus at 1:27 PM on April 8, 2003

ho-hum, I think UncleFes just did this same thing better.
posted by mischief at 1:28 PM on April 8, 2003

trout - this is a worthy topic, but it begs the question: What isn't Iraqulence? That is, what kinds of posts pertaining to the war in Iraq would be worthwhile and spur postivie discussion? It may sound like I'm asking rhetorically. I'm not. I know they're out there, but the science of this is somewhat haphazard.

...until now!!!!?
posted by soyjoy at 1:29 PM on April 8, 2003

Why not just post all of it to Warfilter?
posted by dhoyt at 1:37 PM on April 8, 2003

Are you mentioning that until fact, not hear say, better to just take note instead of spreading the word here. Because I'm seeing ammunition on both sides that is more like friendly fire. Plus how can one remember the crap from the truth if every "if" was reported. Don't mind a glimpse yet half or more of the news, is hear say. Almost yelled WTF at my TV because it was obvious people in the news were reporting with out hearing the full end of the tale, and was hoping a member of meta-filter would pop up from the gallery and say, you didn't read hear the whole story did you?

PS filtering the news on Meta is the fun of News-Meta-Filter.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:44 PM on April 8, 2003

Here's a radical idea, maybe people could actual follow the posting guidelines instead of letting their anger, indignation, self-righteousness, or desire for a soapbox dictate their actions? Yeah, I know, that's just *wacky*!
posted by MrBaliHai at 3:27 PM on April 8, 2003

Follow the posting guidelines? What on earth were you thinking MrBaliHai?
posted by dg at 3:33 PM on April 8, 2003

dhoyt: Most of it is going to Warfilter. The problem is that it then shows up here as well.
posted by Ljubljana at 3:38 PM on April 8, 2003

Yes, but I will say this much as verifiable fact: Whether we disagree or not, Warfilter has remained enormously polite and inviting because we have welcomed dissent and our on-line-egos aren't the end-all proof of our user-number superiority. We don't have to bitch about posts over there. If the comments over here are tiresome or formulaic, I suggest you relax, and go over there. Many may not agree with you, but I don't think anyone's been called an asshat yet ...
posted by Wulfgar! at 4:29 PM on April 8, 2003

Iraqulence sounds too much like crapulence.

Unless that was the intent, in which case, bravo!
posted by padraigin at 9:07 PM on April 8, 2003

Of course, there's Iran, Syria, Lebannon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia coming up.........poor little ol' Metafilter!
posted by troutfishing at 10:18 PM on April 8, 2003

Iraqulence rhymes with opulence. So, what's your point?

"You say tomAto, I say tomAHto..." ;-P
posted by mischief at 6:30 AM on April 9, 2003

Of course, there's Iran, Syria, Lebannon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia coming up.........poor little ol' Metafilter!

trout, you have the gift, reading the writings on the wall. But looking at the crystal ball in one's mind then reading it aloud, may make one look like he/she is not all there. I do see your points. But Meta-Filter has not made it to the end of this war. Now wondering how many members of Meta-Filter have a personal connection to this war that makes them involved in it daily?
posted by thomcatspike at 6:38 AM on April 9, 2003

thomcatspike - Thanks, but I'm just reading other people's writing and "repackaging" their ideas. I'm really not involved in the war in the slightest - financially, through friends, through family, through work, or whatever - even to the extent of knowing anyone (except on Metafilter, that is) who has a son or daughter or relative fighting in Aghanistan or Iraq. But I think there are quite a few on Mefi who are pretty directly involved. It would be interesting to find out but, then again, I'm not completely sure I would want to know for fear of unconciously pegging someone's perspective (pro-war, anti-war, pro-more invasions, anti-more invasions, whatever).

As for metafilter....I suspect that if the US just keeps on invading one country after another, that Mefi members will post less about this on Metafilter and start going to "Warfilter" for their war-related news.

Padraigin - crapulence, or flatulence, I'd say (on our side). But lets hope mischief is right about the opulent Iraqulence on the Iraqi side.
posted by troutfishing at 8:03 AM on April 9, 2003

Of course, there's Iran, Syria, Lebannon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia coming up...

east asia, eurasia, oceana...
posted by quonsar at 8:14 AM on April 9, 2003

I just wanna know when the fuckin' martians are gonna get what's coming to them...
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:33 AM on April 9, 2003

No, quonsar, we are already at war with eurasia. Don't you keep up with the news?
*sends thugs out to make sure quonsar's telescreen is still working*
posted by dg at 2:38 PM on April 9, 2003

Warfilter has remained enormously polite and inviting because we have welcomed dissent and our on-line-egos aren't the end-all proof of our user-number superiority.

Not to mention we've kept our girlish figures.
posted by y2karl at 3:47 PM on April 9, 2003

A certain member of this site, known for his euridition on every subject under the sun and pro-war views, sent me a moronic mock sympathy e-card today. Had two little puppies with droopy ears on it, with a "heard you were down" as a caption. This person who sent this is, despite his erudition, a child. This immature crap was prompted by no e-mailing of my own, nor any message to him inside a recent thread. What I took from this is: The Iraq threads are often to noisy not because of a lack of intelligence, but the maturity - or lack thereof - of some people involved in them. We all fail in this regard from time to time, and this includes yours truly. But I've never seen anything like that stupid e-card. When it gets that personal and you're acting that insane, it's time for an ego check, already. Are you interested in democracy and justice, or your own supposed authority as a poster? Is it important because the stakes are so small?
posted by raysmj at 4:34 PM on April 9, 2003

Can you post a link to that e-card?
posted by dhoyt at 5:54 PM on April 9, 2003

dhoyt: No. First, because I can't, since the card's been sent to the trash. Of course, I'm sure I could find it in my Mozilla history, but I have another good reason for not sending it. I think the e-card sender is suffering from a common affliction these days, one that affects both the left and the right, and everyone in between: War insanity, as documented well recently by Neal Pollack. I'm maybe being too nice here, and I don't think war insanity excuses such extremely childish behavior (by either Neal or the poster in question, or you or me or President Bush or pundits or Democratic leaders or Richard Perle or Michael Moore or whoever), but I understand to some degree what's causing it.
posted by raysmj at 7:15 PM on April 9, 2003

Let me see if I get this straight. If someone sends you a sappy email card he's extremely childish.

If someone whines about being sent a sappy email card...

My own inner child is saying: Bwaaahhhh!
posted by konolia at 7:42 PM on April 9, 2003

What baffles me, raysmj, is that you're hardly the fire breather hereabouts. Your comments have been judicious and restrained. Sounds like someone needs to up his anti-hysterics.
posted by y2karl at 7:42 PM on April 9, 2003

If you want whining about anything in particular, I'll give you whining. I can be second to no one there. That wasn't whining, but calmly and directly pointing out an example of genuinely lunkheaded and childish behavior regarding Iraq, a matter in keeping with the topic of this thread.
posted by raysmj at 8:06 PM on April 9, 2003

Lunkheadfilter?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:12 PM on April 9, 2003

I hate you hippies so much hahahaha! Good for the Iraq people. Bring on the hippies and peace protesters! sic: are you Noam Chomsky? What is the FUCKING matter with you people? Do you hate America and George Bush so much that you would rather have seen an Iraqi population continue to live under Sadaam's opression? FUCK FRANCE AND CHIRAC.Now, back to our regular programming.... So you're one of those who would rather see Saddam still in power?

Lunkheadfilter? Nah....
posted by y2karl at 8:29 PM on April 9, 2003

This immature crap was prompted by no e-mailing of my own, nor any message to him inside a recent thread.

Hmm, maybe it was an inadvertent pin in his balloon?
posted by y2karl at 8:32 PM on April 9, 2003

Also, I suspect that you regard the situation in Israel right now as a wonderful success. And that Ariel Sharon is wiping his flaccid penis, having successfully removed it from your quivering rectum.

AssholeFilter? Nah....
posted by dhoyt at 8:33 PM on April 9, 2003

At least riviera's (admittedly nasty) comment got a laugh out of me, no small feat in that trainwreck of a thread....
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:44 PM on April 9, 2003

As if we really needed an object lesson in what troutfishing was talking about, here it comes... An IraqNewsFilter link of the most egregious kind that degenerates into the same ol' same ol' piss-and-shit-on-each-other match, most of the Usual Suspects in rare form on both sides of the so-called "debate" - it's rank as hell and twice as ugly and all I could think was, God, what do I have to do to erase the memory of having read that shite from my mind?

I've said it before, I'll say it again: killfile. Please. Yes, Matt, this is me begging...
posted by JollyWanker at 8:52 PM on April 9, 2003

Metafilter: You want whining about anything in particular, we'll give you whining.
posted by raysmj at 8:57 PM on April 9, 2003

God knows, I regret making my Baghdad Centre post, comments within and to the Hussein & sons--but this was entirely predictable.
posted by y2karl at 9:00 PM on April 9, 2003

An IraqNewsFilter link of the most egregious

Sorry that an acknowledgement of what seems like a fairly important day seems "egregious" to you, JollyWanker. I hate IraqNewsFilter, too, but WarFilter.com was begrudging to actually discuss the event, so....
posted by dhoyt at 9:01 PM on April 9, 2003

Your intentions were noble, dhoyt, and the post well phrased but this war has been polarizing, and a few of the few came out swinging. And, Paris Paramus will always throw buckets of gasoline when sparks begin to fly. Well, I tried to change the subject this time.
posted by y2karl at 9:28 PM on April 9, 2003

And it was a noble attempt, too :)

As right-aisle as you think I may be, I've always been too independent to be much of a "joiner"--which is why both the Bush administration and some of the more vapid activists have really rubbed me wrong for the last six months. In other words, I don't identify with either sic's or PP's contributions within the thread in question.

I'm glad some people made informative comments, and unhappy it turned into a brawl that I took part in, in the end. Just another day here at MeFi...
posted by dhoyt at 9:37 PM on April 9, 2003

However one feels about the war, it sure is good to see all the smiling Iraqi faces.

Well, who could argue with your last sentence, dhoyt? I could list any number of intellectual reservations, and see it as manipulation, but on the emotional level, it was like watching Tiananmen, only with a happy ending. It was moving.

Whew, I just checked back in, it's really going down the tube now. But, you know what? I think that after these screamfests, everyone's too hungover to be mean to each other for the few next days. Let's hope so, anyway.
posted by y2karl at 9:47 PM on April 9, 2003

The Teletubbies pic is a nice touch....

Someone once told me that Tinky Winky was...you know....musical?
posted by dhoyt at 10:23 PM on April 9, 2003

When you have a party and it gets late and and the guests won't leave, put on a copy of Steve Martin's A Wild and Crazy Guy. That will send them home.

On a similar tip, a stationery store downtown with a recessed door found that playing opera over an outside loudspeaker drove away the winos, crackheads, gutterpunks and junkies.
posted by y2karl at 11:01 PM on April 9, 2003

I've said it before, I'll say it again: killfile. Please. Yes, Matt, this is me begging...

That would be nice in a way, but then we would be seeing lots of nonsense like:

"Oh did mathowie post that? I have that troll killfiled so I didn't see the original post."

You would most likely tire of the killfile after a few dozen times of person x proudly announcing "I have person y killfiled!" and the replies condeming it, the metatalk posts about it....
posted by bargle at 11:36 PM on April 9, 2003

Sorry, bargle, I allowed my frustration with the level of discourse in that thread to get to me... We've discussed killfiles before, acknowledged the many and varied technical and social implications and, as you can see, Matt's declined to implement it... Bringing it up again, having participated in those debates periodically, was meant more as an indication of my frustration level than an actual request. Funny how tone of voice doesn't always make it into online 'conversation,' huh? Oh, well, I've been misinterpreted here before and I'm sure this won't be the last time...

And an apology to dhoyt, too, because it appears I was critizing him/her directly and that wasn't really my intent. I am ardently anti-NewsFilter and that thread brought out the worst in some of MeFi's worst, and it just made me crazy. That said, I recognize that it was within Matt's general guidelines for breaking news posts - I mean, c'mon, they did take the capital, whether or not the specific "event" with the tank and the statue and the kids and the flowers was staged for CNN.
posted by JollyWanker at 5:05 AM on April 10, 2003

I didn't much like that thread: it was nearly all polemic.

Not dhoyt's fault at all. The post was worded in an attempt to defuse the ensuing thread. I think something like this was bound to happen though. Gets the bile out.
posted by walrus at 7:40 AM on April 10, 2003

Naive as it sounds, I was hoping the thread would be almost a collective "moment of silence". Or in lieu of that, at least a break from the usual imbroglio, a chance to mutually acknowledge the beauty of images depicting the Iraqis as "free". It was an opportunity for conviviality, but it essentially failed.
posted by dhoyt at 8:00 AM on April 10, 2003

At least riviera's (admittedly nasty) comment got a laugh out of me

Yeah, I felt bad about laughing so hard, but there's only so much dead-serious political invective you can read without longing for cannons to start rolling wildly across the deck...

dhoyt, I'm glad you clarified your position in this thread; it's definitely revised my opinion of you.
posted by languagehat at 10:20 AM on April 10, 2003

No, quonsar, we are already at war with eurasia. Don't you keep up with the news?

What does keeping up with the news have to do with it? We have always been at war with eurasia.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:42 AM on April 11, 2003