I am sometimes dismayed to find that my tendency towards paranoia, which I keep sternly controlled, is not only correct but inadequate.

Jan

It exhibits a lack of morals and ethics. With anonymity one can revert to savagery without consequences. Many things written would evoke the wrong end of a fist if said in person. Paying someone to be a propaganda distributer might be termed as operating in their self interest but not certainly ethically.

Actually, they were never really there to begin with. They're like malevolent shadows. When the light of truth shines on them, they disappear.

Yes, I have seen that, they didn't bother me too much on facebook, the subjects were beyond their understanding...had a nice group of followers though. Been trying to get them into AS.

Twitter? wow, is that brutal! I recently started to respond to those twit's you read about in some news articles. Had Ariana Huffington thrash me while I was using my famous "Anti-Lectual quotes...but once I explained it to her...I got a like and a retwit out of her.
If it's the paid for by sorass, walking dead you wish to engage?...go on twitter.

Do I have to say it again? It's the well-greased road for meme warfare. Before computers (BC) people sat around the village green and argued. Traitors to their dominant belief system were excommunicated or executed. Nowadays, trolls and moles.

Those who put their money where their mouthpieces operate are not unethical; they believe sincerely in the causes they espouse and have a mountain of rationalizations to buttress their tenets. They don't realize they are not being rational; they are, in fact, the sort of pragmatists Rand condemned.

And they plead altruism as their overriding motivation. They view themselves as virtuous warriors against the selfish individualists. They conflate crony cads with honorable entrepreneurs. And then there are the malcontents who enjoy being nasty behind their cloak of anonymity. Like jackals, they follow the scent.

How to deal with them? Ignore them. Don’t give them the satisfaction of attention and rebuttal.

Wouldn't it be fun for some of us to be paid to infiltrate their forums? ;-)

Soros funds hundreds - if not thousands - of people in this manner as a form of influencing public policy. While it isn't strictly illegal, it crosses the boundaries of my ethics.

I also wouldn't put it past some to have created AI's for this purpose either, though it would be pretty hard to program in an AI with the grammar and vitriol I've seen in many posts...

An allosaur can attract those from time to time.
Me dino be a-thinking "Who dis?"
But to rumble in da jungle be what dinos do.

Sounds like you might be referring to those who come in with a flame thrower and light a fire and then sit back to watch it burn. Most of these individuals do in fact have strong opinions on a number of topics but are unable and unwilling to stand their ground and argue their wayward cause.

Trolls...

Some of us just don't post very often.

You have to assault the Progressives with an over the top written paragraph of opposing propaganda that hurts them to their core. It's amazing how many people will positively rally to you.

I have not been posting much lately. But not due to lack of interest, I have just been busier than hell with a new gold project. And one that is nowhere near any sage grouse!