Waiting for what Ginx? You sound like you have your head screwed on. All I'm saying is when someone constantly makes topics about enforcing the 'rules', or 'politeness' or net etiquette, they'd wanna make sure their house is in order, and that they apply their 'rules' objectively.

Otherwise all THEY have proved is that they are a hypocrite, or are just using a spurious argument to
marginalise people with whom they have differing opinions.

Opinionated2 had the best post here. People who complain about trolls...

' aren't winning the debate OR just do it to try to undermine a person's status amongst other posters.

In that way I suspect the people who use the term troll against someone, are either being a troll themselves OR are unable to use debate to convince people of their points of view. Either way you have defeated them as soon as they resort to the word.

All name calling is rather silly (although I may have been guilty of it at times) but hey if you can dish it out, you should be able to take it.'

It's not the name calling I object to, it's the hypocracy. Col, Antiseptic, or yourself can call me anything under the sun and I wont care. It's the snivelling 'I'm one of the 'nice' posters type who start these type of topics, or those who dish it out and then cry bully once their argument is unravelling that I object to.

Ginx:"I know you are, but what am I?"

Oh yes, Ginx, truly scintillating...

"Oh yes, Ginx, truly scintillating...

Posted by Antiseptic, Monday, 27 April 2009 3:44:59 PM"

By comparison you mean? Then I agree. It's not difficult.

____________________

Houell's mate,-I DO understand what you're saying, but this is a forum! It's frustrating at times, and when I'm not agreed with, I find it unfair and unjust! BUT; if defence of your opinion is structured in attacking the OP's motivation's/agenda....................................sheesh! it makes me uncomfortable to give people lessons on netiquette.

It isn't the best thing surely to defi...hits! I'm finding this hard.

Look: I refute the title feminist, because it's too structured for me, and because the burdens and fears that blokes have to cope with, sometimes go ignored,-or are considered 'wussy'. Believe me: I hate that!

Why does everything have to be a bleedin' war? All things being equal, men and women need each other. I wish to all hell that we could find the balance, because to attack a female (vicversy?) if she puts up something as having an ulterior motive is annoying. It is.

We will all defend our standpoint. I should know! And women DID-DID!!, come from a kitchen sink scenario to win their equality. It has been a hard road. WHY in defending themselves must they always considered to be diminishing men to jellies?-they are NOT.

I can only surmise that examinator's post of Saturday, 25 April 2009 at 4:35:49 PM was making an oblique reference to a certain Scandinavian aerial safari involving an overflight of the Norwegian village made famous in Edvard Grieg's composition of the piece in the 'Peer Gynt' suite, 'Wedding Day in Trolldhaugen'. (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=2654#59738 )

I apologise for coming so late to the thread. At the time of examinator's posting I was engaged in a lot of upper body weightlifting after an earlier route march that day. Multiple sets of ten repetitions each using 0.4Kg weights; arm extensors and flexors. Quite exhausting. Intellectually challenging, too. Everyone in the exercise program had to remember old names and new stories between sets. Not just anyone can do that. You try remembering a new story some time without the weights, if you don't believe me!

My story here is that I am innocent! I never said anyone was trolling. It was the sheerest coincidence that the village overflown somehow seems to have evoked that inference. Honest! Its all a terrible mistake. I thought I could see a flame war coming on, and desperately wanted to rise above it. I never saw any troll, only three billy goats and a bridge, fleetingly. It was only later I realized the identity of the goats.

Let me hasten to advise that there was no typo in the surname of the three billy goats. It was deliberately spelled 'Groff'. Not all may realise that was an open source software joke. 'Groff' is a typesetting package which reads plain text mixed with formatting commands and produces formatted output. See: http://www.gnu.org/software/groff/ . Much the same as some posters read the word 'flame' (or, if you must, phlaigme), mix it with thought-patterns, and output the word 'troll'.

I belatedly endorse examinator's "Introducing topics that are stalking horses for topics that have already been debated ..." as being one characteristic of trolling. Hence my remark, when such is coupled with a short one-line highly provocative statement, about 'trolling in the topics'.

Forrest Gumpp,
Masterfully stated!

I'm glad that this thread has given people
a chance to "vent their spleens," so to speak.

That's good.

Perhaps, now, greater understanding and tolerance
will be the result. I certainly hope so.
I'm starting to see that we have to be careful though
not to divide ourselves up in "them," and "us," camps.

We have to try to modify our judgements and stop
accusing each other because this merely encourages
counter-accusations and the result may well be
a complete breakdown in communication.

Just for the record - I did not join OLO to purposely
antagonize people, or be part of any "club," or set
myself up as some sort of "role model."
That's not who I am.

I don't pretend to know all the answers. I definitely
admit to being wrong in the past and have apologised
for it. If I've caused offense - it was never intentional,
and again I apologise for it.

OLO to me is special - because of the people and the
variety of opinions expressed. If that were to change
drastically, I would simply leave.
Nobody needs to be the villains here. We're all adults,
and we should all be capable of (civilized)
dissent opinions over wide-ranging debates.