4 ms·

I know your comment was sarcastic, but NAFTA has been around since 1993, which precedes Obama by several administrations.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

by otoburb 10y ago

I know your comment was sarcastic, but NAFTA has been around since 1993, which precedes Obama by several administrations.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement#Negotiation_and_U.S._ratification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agre...

tptacek 10y ago
Instead of responding to trolls, just click the timestamps on their comment to find the "flag" button. (I'll delete this comment in a few minutes to clean up the thread; you could do that too.)
- stonogo 10y ago
  Yes, why spend the time to correct someone's misapprehensions, when you could just silence them and remove them from your echo chamber?
  - ketralnis 10y ago
    Because if they are in fact just trolls, they aren't simple misapprehensions made in good faith that can be corrected by facts and reason. They're either an intentional derailment or a lie told as a catchy tune to be repeated by others. "Obama wants to take away your guns and institute death panels" can't actually be refuted by facts because the problem isn't that the teller just holds the wrong facts. There are no facts or arguments will make that person walk away with their mind changed. Which one this commenter was is up to you, but actually responding to trolls makes the problem worse, not better. It's a case where only moderation can really help. Besides, Hacker News is very clearly a heavily moderated echo chamber and you don't have to spend long here to know it. And there's nothing wrong with that, nobody is obligated to go to places that they don't want to go and this is an interest group with a culture. Accosting people in their interest groups to demand that they debate you is clearly not helpful to anyone.
    - williamle8300 10y ago
      I'm not a troll. TPP was mentioned... that was tabled during the Ohbuttocks administration. Also the ACA. Several expansions for domestic surveillance. These should be repealed/reformed.
      - dang 10y ago
        If you continue to post uncivil and/or unsubstantive comments, we're going to have to ban your account. No more of this, please. We don't want partisan or ideological flamewars here.
        williamle8300 10y ago
        Hey thanks for your reply. How could I have edited my comment to be acceptable? Just replace "Ohbummer" and "Ohbuttocks" and use "Obama?" Is that the only problem?
        dang 10y ago
        That was the only egregious thing in that comment, yes. But you've got a pattern of posting comments that are both political and unsubstantive (like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13453147 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13453147). That's a bad combination for HN—one of the worst—so please don't do that.
  - williamle8300 10y ago
    I'm not a troll. Also, not part of #fakenews. Please read my other comments in the parent.
- williamle8300 10y ago
  I didn't say anything about NAFTA so I'm not sure why you're bring it up. TPP happened during the Ohbummer admin. ACA. Several expansions for domestic surveillance. That's what I'm referring to.
- tptacek 10y ago
  Sorry about this! I went to go make dinner and forgot about promising to delete the comment.
thephyber 10y ago
I came here to reply the same thing. More important than ignoring trolls is to combat them with facts so other observers don't get the wrong impression about the topic they troll. I would love to see more work along the lines of browser extensions that automatically provide a certain amount of factual context/background around articles. This browser extension[1] seems like a great start in that direction. [1] https://github.com/rabidaudio/fact-check-extension https://github.com/rabidaudio/fact-check-extension
williamle8300 10y ago
I didn't say anything about NAFTA so I'm not sure why you're bring it up. TPP happened during the Ohbummer admin. ACA. Several expansions for domestic surveillance. That's what I'm referring to.
- lotharbot 10y ago
  I see you've been on Hacker News for a long time, but haven't been very active, so I just thought I'd point you toward the guidelines, linked at the bottom of the page. Of particular note, name-calling is off limits, even if it's of the former President and he's not actually involved in the thread. Among other things, it's a relatively strong signal that productive dialogue is not going to happen. Since we prefer productive dialogue here, we'd appreciate if you'd fill your comments with substance but not name-calling.
- dpark 10y ago
  You literally responded to Animat's comment about NAFTA.

by otoburb 10y ago

tptacek 10y ago

Instead of responding to trolls, just click the timestamps on their comment to find the "flag" button. (I'll delete this comment in a few minutes to clean up the thread; you could do that too.)

stonogo 10y ago
Yes, why spend the time to correct someone's misapprehensions, when you could just silence them and remove them from your echo chamber?
- ketralnis 10y ago
  Because if they are in fact just trolls, they aren't simple misapprehensions made in good faith that can be corrected by facts and reason. They're either an intentional derailment or a lie told as a catchy tune to be repeated by others. "Obama wants to take away your guns and institute death panels" can't actually be refuted by facts because the problem isn't that the teller just holds the wrong facts. There are no facts or arguments will make that person walk away with their mind changed. Which one this commenter was is up to you, but actually responding to trolls makes the problem worse, not better. It's a case where only moderation can really help. Besides, Hacker News is very clearly a heavily moderated echo chamber and you don't have to spend long here to know it. And there's nothing wrong with that, nobody is obligated to go to places that they don't want to go and this is an interest group with a culture. Accosting people in their interest groups to demand that they debate you is clearly not helpful to anyone.
  - williamle8300 10y ago
    I'm not a troll. TPP was mentioned... that was tabled during the Ohbuttocks administration. Also the ACA. Several expansions for domestic surveillance. These should be repealed/reformed.
    - dang 10y ago
      If you continue to post uncivil and/or unsubstantive comments, we're going to have to ban your account. No more of this, please. We don't want partisan or ideological flamewars here.
      - williamle8300 10y ago
        Hey thanks for your reply. How could I have edited my comment to be acceptable? Just replace "Ohbummer" and "Ohbuttocks" and use "Obama?" Is that the only problem?
        dang 10y ago
        That was the only egregious thing in that comment, yes. But you've got a pattern of posting comments that are both political and unsubstantive (like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13453147 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13453147). That's a bad combination for HN—one of the worst—so please don't do that.
- williamle8300 10y ago
  I'm not a troll. Also, not part of #fakenews. Please read my other comments in the parent.
williamle8300 10y ago
I didn't say anything about NAFTA so I'm not sure why you're bring it up. TPP happened during the Ohbummer admin. ACA. Several expansions for domestic surveillance. That's what I'm referring to.
tptacek 10y ago
Sorry about this! I went to go make dinner and forgot about promising to delete the comment.

thephyber 10y ago

I came here to reply the same thing. More important than ignoring trolls is to combat them with facts so other observers don't get the wrong impression about the topic they troll. I would love to see more work along the lines of browser extensions that automatically provide a certain amount of factual context/background around articles. This browser extension[1] seems like a great start in that direction. [1] https://github.com/rabidaudio/fact-check-extension https://github.com/rabidaudio/fact-check-extension

williamle8300 10y ago

I didn't say anything about NAFTA so I'm not sure why you're bring it up. TPP happened during the Ohbummer admin. ACA. Several expansions for domestic surveillance. That's what I'm referring to.

lotharbot 10y ago
I see you've been on Hacker News for a long time, but haven't been very active, so I just thought I'd point you toward the guidelines, linked at the bottom of the page. Of particular note, name-calling is off limits, even if it's of the former President and he's not actually involved in the thread. Among other things, it's a relatively strong signal that productive dialogue is not going to happen. Since we prefer productive dialogue here, we'd appreciate if you'd fill your comments with substance but not name-calling.
dpark 10y ago
You literally responded to Animat's comment about NAFTA.