Our beloved St. Heraclitus wasn't the first person to seriously claim that Jesus was a troll; the New York Times has a loooooong article about some hardcore trolls, all of whom share some disturbingly Gunnels-esque qualities:
"Zeno of Elea, Socrates and Jesus, Weev said, are his all-time favorite trolls."
"Trolls embody the opposite principle. They are liberal in what they do and conservative in what they construe as acceptable behavior from others. You, the troll says, are not worthy of my understanding; I, therefore, will do everything I can to confound you."
And the insistence that the troll is really working for the betterment of his victims: “It’s not that I do this because I hate them. I do this because I’m trying to save them.”
Between this, and the troll article from the Wall Street Journal I posted a few months back, I'm pleased to see that my theory about trolls has been proven true: people who are assholes online are assholes in real life, too.
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
Also: I'll turn in my decoder ring if I have to, but I think the guy in the story who admitted putting seizure-inducing flash animation on an epileptics' Web site should be arrested for some form of assault.
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
I've reverse engineered mine, so I don't worry about it. Reckless endangerment seems an appropriate charge.
♫And the man at the back
said everyone attack
and it turned into a ballroom blitz♫
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
What bothered me was how self-righteous they were - as if they were doing the world a favor by being annoying pricks.
I guess there are no limits to rationalization.
All I ask is a good horse and a fair day.
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
I think the most confounding character in that whole weird parade was the dude called "Weev" (or whatever)...I mean, is he what he says he is, delusional, or playing a game? Or could it simultaneously be all three?
Bizarre and sad, really. I didn't realize that there were people living with that level of mental illness.
Someday if Jennifer serves on a jury, I would like to see her rise up in the middle of the trial and yell, "No, you're out of water! And you're out of water! They're out of water! This whole trial is out of water!". - Stevo Darkly-
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
Regarding Zeno of Elea, is the person in question an ancient Greek author or a Gunnels screen name?
That's a serious question. This is, after all, an article about trolls.
"the only thing worse than a freeper is a blue state freeper that doesn't realize they're a freeper." -dhex
hoisted by their own waterboard!
-dhex
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
The real Zeno, I suspect.
Ayn Randian was kicking major ass on Hit and Run's thread about the story. Someone claiming to be the troll from the article (no name mentioned here, to hide from the Googlebots) posted some pathetic justifications for his sociopathy.
It reminded me a bit of how Gunnels claimed he invited T-nad here for our own edification.
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
People who are assholes in one social space are probably assholes in another: big surprise. They like to be assholes in spaces where they can't be gotten back at: also big surprise. You'll notice that none of them seemed very asshole-ish in person: this is because they know they can be punched in the nose in person.
Frankly, I'm not sure the topic is even worthy of an article, except to illustrate how self-serving all their justifications are.
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
nasrudin would be a much better example of a historical troll. and perhaps emperor norton as well.
and discordianism in general, of course, but that may be too esoteric for that particular crowd.
"Yeah, but my character would be all swav and deboner." - Warren
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
These guys really can't distinguish between playing devil's advocate, being a contrarian, and simply being a cruel prick for no good reason. Even worse is that they don't realize how little honor there is is plucking such low-hanging fruit. Looking at their photos, you'd think that these guys, of all people, would be able to appreciate how shitty it is to abuse those who can't defend themselves.
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
Seizures can cause bodily harm, brain damage, or even death (see status epilepticus).
You got my vote to okay criminal charges.
I have a tank full of gentle cuttlefish.
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
Apparently King Troll faces a long legal battle now.
I CAUTION YOU / IN DEFEATING ORCS WE MAY FIND THE ONLY VILLAIN LEFT TO FACE IS OUR OWN PREJUDICE--qwantz.com
Re: Gary Gunnels in the New York Times
Um, Shem? Nothing about mk and Gary?
"Discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" -Marcel Proust