Unsubstantiated, Racist, Character Attacks; Propeller’s Front Page »
Posted By Spadecaller 1 year, 3 months ago in News
For those of us who cherish the freedom to use Propeller for responsible communication, we must endure articles that are false, bigoted, and hurtful to others. The sad fact is articles of this nature often make the front page and even become the number one story. Why should it be that way? Should anyone be held accountable... and if so, who should that be?
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Spadecaller
Welcome to my profile. About me: I'm an artist of several kinds; from bull to painting. I don't spare too many words. Most ...
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Bacalao1 year, 3 months ago
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populist1 year, 3 months ago
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What people, I believe, need to understand is quite simple. An article reaches the home page of propeller based, not on what each of us sees as "good" - but rather, on a ranking system, an algorithm, that tries to mathematically determine what the community is most interested in.
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Without specifics, an article's score goes up as it gets more reads, more props and more comments. Comments, for example, seem to be quite powerful.
That being said, if anyone here thinks an article is simply inflammatory, the best move is to NOT read it - and even more so to NOT comment on it.
Those that want to promote nasty articles will always "bait" people to comment and read with wild headlines, crude comments, and the like. They want people to get mad - and comment.
Why? So their "message" will get to the front page. period.
Personally, I just ignore a lot of articles here.
On the other hand, when people see an article they like - instead of just a blind "prop" it might be a good idea to post a quick comment too. I'm going to start doing that a bit more often myself. -
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jovial1 year, 3 months ago
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That was an outstanding article and comment. The attacks have been unrelenting. His preacher, his wife, his mother, his father, his grandparents. It's an unrelenting attack on the character of this candidate. I think i know why. It's worked in the past. It's a ploy that has given the Republican party good results and explains why they have won so many elections in the last 20 years. I don't think it's so much a color or racist thing. It's more an ideology attack. Let's face it, Perot dropped out of the candidacy in large part due to the attacks on his family. Kerry was swiftboated. Clinton was dogged throughout his entire Presidency with sex scandals. Imagine if George Bush had a left-wing special prosecutor assigned to investigate him throughout his entire presidency. Do you think he would still be President now? I think not. The fact of the matter is that the "race thing" is convenient now. The candidate is black. It's the easiest thing to pick on. He's also got a foreign name. So what better way to debase the character of this candidate, but by saying everyone that he ever associated with was a racist, a Muslim, or a communist. It's dirty politics at it's worst. A real eye opener for those that think our democracy and political system is the greatest system in the world.
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Endoscopy1 year, 3 months ago
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This article is written by someone who likes to throw the hate around a lot when it comes to Christian and Conservatives. He puts together presentations and puts them on sites like this one that puts pictures of Christians or conservatives along with pictures of Hitler and the Nazi war machine. This is nice discourse. He uses the term Nazi on this site and others when talking about conservatives.
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My advice to Spadecaller is to get the beam out of your eye before trying to get the spec out of someone else's eye.
Most of what was said in that article is found by simply verifying by using the web. There are portions that are not verifiable by doing that. Spadecaller expresses his hate by arguing against existing evidence. Is he trying to silence people that he does not agree with. What a guy. -
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donald511 year, 3 months ago
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...why the country needs the Truth in Telecommunications Act that Reagan vetoed... and why today's repugs oppose the Fairness Act. If it takes a court of law to penalize the liarsand deceivers... eventually honest news will prevail... only an honestly informed America insures democracy as our forefathers envisioned can survive!
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dunkirk1 year, 3 months ago
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I can understand you ignoring them, but in some ways its like the majority of the Christians who dont comment on the wack nuts taking over. If an article is over the line someone needs to say it, otherwise you read a slew of comments that basically are in support of it. The Sink button is gone now and that use to be one way to place a comment on an article to say it sucked.
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Spadecaller1 year, 3 months ago
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jovial1 year, 3 months ago
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You know what sometimes get's me angry is that when stories are put out like this, a lot of liberals run over to comment. I've even seem some liberal minded individuals prop the story! When you comment, either yay or nay you lend validity to the story by raising the prop number.
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Goppy1 year, 3 months ago
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Yes, I agree. Thanks Bacalao.
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My position on this issue is probably not popular ... ... ...
While I have voiced outrage to these stories online, I personally see these stories as an opportunity. I figure ... it's better that they appear on Propeller than on FOX, SBC, and on Rush Limbaugh ... because you KNOW they will appear on those venues ... but without the intelligent rebuttals which Propeller members can provide.
Look, I work with Christian Conservatives every day. This is how they think. As AlphaGnosis has been saying ... (half kidding ... I hope) these people see Barack Obama as the anti-Christ. It's an opportunity to recognize that for a large portion of America, the election is a twisted religious issue. I see these stories as an opportunity to compare the extreme moral perversion they represent and contrast them with the aspirations of patriotic Americans who wish to make our nation a better place for our children ... and our children's children.
As the election draws near, I do see a ramping up of attack stories from my fellow Christian Conservatives. Interestingly, the more avowed they are as 'Mainstream Christian', the more intense is their vitriole. I am seeing what I assess as a 4 to 1 vicious attack from the right. I think Liberals and Progressives ... whatever you call yourselves ... should be proud of this ratio.
As an aside, I would recommend that Liberals refrain from calling John McCain a traitor or submitting stories to this affect. He's not a traitor. He's an adulterer and a Flip-Flopper, but he's not a traitor. To say otherwise will not garner any good will to your point of view.
I also think it's a bad idea to compare Bush to Hitler. Certainly, this happens far less than my fellow Conservatives harp about. But I HAVE seen it on occasion. Bush is the worst president ever, the most duplicitous, and I believe the most dangerous ... but he's not a Hitler. His low regard does NOT need to be augmented with this kind of comparison. Again, to say otherwise will not garner good will to your point of view. -
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Nixie1 year, 3 months ago
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Charlson1 year, 3 months ago
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Spadecaller, I participated on that post and after reviewing MY comments, I am ashamed at what I said while trying to debunk the spurious claims of the post and the intent of the poster. I will in the future endeavor to avoid commenting on these types of submissions - from the left or the right.
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Too bad Propeller has ignored our requests to add a sink button to these submissions.-
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Spadecaller1 year, 3 months ago
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Charlson
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I agree and commend you for your humility in admitting that you (like me and others) can easily get swept into the inflammatory dialogue that these articles thrive on.
I prefer the sink button too, but that still doesn't offer a better substitute than refusing to participate, to vote, and to comment. These miserable stories have no power unless members give into them. -
mntnman444Comment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned17 Replies
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ind061 year, 3 months ago
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Well, I did my best to do honest research on the Obama's Mother thread but it seemed mostly to be ignored. To be fair, it was at the bottom of a VERY long thread and I haven't been able to look at threads after they get past 300 comments or so, so not long after I put up my last post, that comment string went blank on me...
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Plus, it took me all morning to debunk the equivalent of "Have you stopped beating your wife?"
So, even though I personally feel good about clearing a few names I doubt I changed any minds about the truthfulness of that post, or even if such articles should be posted in the future...
I could add vis-a-vis the sink button that it was never a way to do anything but voice your dislike of a post without actually bothering to formulate an intelligent opinion and was used far too often because people didn't like the poster rather than anything to do with the post. Good riddance to it.
Also, any comment you make on a post helps it's "score" go up so ignoring a story you hate may be the best route with the current system. -
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ind061 year, 3 months ago
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Well, I did my best to do honest research on the Obama's Mother thread but it seemed mostly to be ignored. To be fair, it was at the bottom of a VERY long thread and I haven't been able to look at threads after they get past 300 comments or so, so not long after I put up my last post, that comment string went blank on me...
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Plus, it took me all morning to debunk the equivalent of "Have you stopped beating your wife?"
So, even though I personally feel good about clearing a few names I doubt I changed any minds about the truthfulness of that post, or even if such articles should be posted in the future... -
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Spadecaller1 year, 3 months ago
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It has been many months since I participated on an article like that. I will not need to repeat this experiment again. If the community should choose to populate articles of this nature, I do not see a promising future for Propeller or for my future with Propeller either.
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ind061 year, 3 months ago
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Spadecaller1 year, 3 months ago
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ameliog1 year, 3 months ago
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There are many members who seemingly argue almost for the enjoyment of it. These people seek out these sorts of stories just to get into it with an opponent. A vote and comment gets these things seen, so our individual control over content comes down to ignoring what we don't want to see. I feel no obligation to read any stories on this site, and tend to go with trusted sources, although what is "trusted" varies widely for each of us.
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ind061 year, 3 months ago
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I agree ameliog, I already tend to ignore that kind of thing, though I am occasionally sucked in, it hasn't had any effect.
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However, Senor Coconut, I believe the most important part of the new algorithm is still votes. Since we would need people from all sides of the political spectrum on this string agreeing to not vote for such posts, and we don't have that, they'll surely keep showing up.
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mackiemesserComment removed: Retracted by user
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Spadecaller1 year, 3 months ago
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ameliog
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I agree that what is considered "trusted" sources varies among us. And yet, other than the sociopaths and psychopaths that operate and participate on these web pages, most of us know the difference between shoddy content and reliable stories. -
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ClockworkorangeComment removed: Abusive5 Replies
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Mdiar1 year, 3 months ago
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I like the idea of just not participating in threads like that... I stay out of the attacks on McCain's war record and out of the "The truth!!! about Barack Obama!!! type threads.
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I do participate once they reach the front page, for the most part. -
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Beau78901 year, 3 months ago
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What Obama stands for is RARELY discussed.
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What is most often discussed is unverified rumors about Obama's mother and wife.
If you'd like to get into a discussion about policy or issues, without bringing up associations from the past, just let me know, Endoscopy.
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crespi1 year, 3 months ago
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A black man running for office really brings out the racist in Americans, doesn't it?
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At least we don't have to hear how there ISN'T ANY racism in America anymore (always said by white guys.)
Propeller illuminates the ooze from the creeps by offering an open forum racists just can't help themselves from posting on.-
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ecotourusa1 year, 3 months ago
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Obama has no policy or issues. what has he done except support the FISA BILL? (a move to remove our personal freedoms, to make legal what bush has been doing illegally for years)
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his vote absolutely shocked me; since it came from the man of change!
a policed country is different, though. -
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Endoscopy1 year, 3 months ago
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This is a response to Beau7890 above. Propeller strikes again.
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I have posted many time about his policies that I get from his own web site. He has the Johnson spending, Carter economic, and Clinton taxing policies. That makes him a typical old school tax and spend Democrat.
A major problem when looking at all the spending programs (go to his web site) is that the taxes he proposes (go to his web site) will never pay for them. Even if he did a tax of 100% on that top 5% there is not enough money.
He foolishly believes like most liberals the opposite of what Kennedy knew and experience has taught us since then. Increasing taxes lowers revenue from them. Lowering taxes increases revenue from them. Liberals never look at how people change their behavior when giving or taking money by the government is done. -
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miklkit1 year, 3 months ago
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Those threads are irritating for sure. I try to avoid them, but am not always successful. I have not propped, read, or commented on some; but just done some serial negging. Some of you may have noticed that they do that also.
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I believe they use the Jerry Springer strategy because they can't debate the facts. -
FormidableComment removed: Hard Banned12 Replies
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Nowalive1 year, 3 months ago
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Excellent piece. I would agree that too many negatively charged articles make it to the front page, but OUR tool to remove them was also removed. If enough members "sunk" an article it went away.
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I miss the sink and retract functions. -
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Will13131 year, 3 months ago
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http://www.propeller.com/story/2008/08/25/snopescom-barack-obamas-mother/
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there is NO WAY this story got over 5791 legimate reads....
only Propped.. 72 times.... yet remained on the front page.. AT THE TOP for several hours....
I've stuck around here .... but if this is going to sink to the level of other network sites.. some of them are easier at this time to navigate.. and don't seem to censor anything let alone LOLOL... -
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Will13131 year, 3 months ago
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i too would like the return of the SINK feature..i rarely used it.. and I NEVER NEG... but would like to see who does.....
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I'd bet not being able to see who negged you.. has cut down considerably on the fun and sexual excitement that Wolfie used to get from this site...-
PsychoHosebeastComment removed: Spammer, Abusive
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