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ACTIVITY INCREASED

Pet troll Miranda Divide has been unusually yappy of late:

* “If you are trying to hide the bloody debacle that is Iraq behind arcane conspiracy theories at the world’s most respected scientific peer-reviewed journal then as Bill says: Kool-Aid alert!”

* “Do you really do this for a living? Do you still live with your parents?”

* “Yeah, those dirty leftoid liars.”

* “The point is, 50,000 or 500,000 you toolheads couldn’t give a toss abt the loss of life, American, Iraqi or just plain old human. This is a smokescreen, a diversion, anything to distract from the utter failure of the iraqi adventure and the fact that all this blood needlessly spilled is on your hands. Actually, you are soaking in it and will be held to account by the supreme being of choice.”

* “Did anyone say cluster?”

* “Yeah, things are so bad for the bloghead’s team that it must be all a big conspiracy.”

* “Pathetic.”

* “ooh, goodie, a nicely unsanitised opportunity for some high-handed anti-muslim hate speech. and where, good keepers of the one true faith, does honour fester here on the blogmire? in the remote and inoperable reaches of your brains?”

* “attack dogs of war! attack like crazed blogsheep on heat, even while your impact remains marginal, half-arsed and little more than the ugly face of the most venerated blogosphere.”

* “Bloghead, you are fair dinkum phoning it in.”

* “Lots of crying wolf about the Lancet from the blogsheep, not so much bleating about your civil war, huh?”

* “This cut and paste caper is a piece of cake!”

Increased Miranda activity sometimes indicates forthcoming change, similar to housepets behaving erratically prior to a storm. In Miranda’s case, the change is usually for the better; be alert for good news.

Posted by Tim B. on 10/22/2006 at 10:43 AM
  1. I enjoy the manner in which she mixes up her words in order, she thinks, to sound all metaphory and wisely cynical.

    Of course, she just sounds silly.

    That’s why I like her!

    Posted by ushie on 2006 10 22 at 10:54 AM • permalink

  2. You have to hand it to her though for coming out of the cocoon most of the leftards live in on the web.

    Posted by moptop on 2006 10 22 at 10:56 AM • permalink

  3. In Miranda’s case, the change is usually for the better; be alert for good news.

    If it’s a change in medication or dosages, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.  These new experimental drugs can work wonders I hear.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 10 22 at 10:56 AM • permalink

  4. Even if she only ventures out of her cocoon, not to engage in rational discussion, but to throw here prejudices around blindly, like poop from a monkey cage.

    Posted by moptop on 2006 10 22 at 10:58 AM • permalink

  5. Miranda likes muslims, but do muslims like mouthy opinionated women, use the free speech thing while its here sweety, cos if your tea towel wearing mates ever gain power its over, especially for you and your kind, so throw your toys out of your pram while you still can.

    Posted by phillip on 2006 10 22 at 11:30 AM • permalink

  6. I positively fail to see why Miranda is considered a particularly interesting troll. Give me bongoman any day.

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 22 at 11:34 AM • permalink

  7. I blame hiatus in her “love life” or the death of a favorite houseplant.

    Posted by Harry Bergeron on 2006 10 22 at 11:48 AM • permalink

  8. Mirands’s “pearls of wisdom” are like urine on a frosty morning. Interesting, when the sun comes up, but all piss and wind at the end of the event.

    Posted by BJM on 2006 10 22 at 11:50 AM • permalink

  9. ...be alert for good news.

    I’ve noticed that when things look dark for the leftoids, the moonbat barking increases in pitch and tempo, until they sound like a cacophony of a multitude of rabid chihuahuas in a sound stage.  The harsher the cacophony, the better for the rational segment of the world.

    Not unlike the MSM when they cover Iraq and the US elections, come to think of it.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 10 22 at 12:17 PM • permalink

  10. #6 Paco,

    I find bongoman repellant in the extreme. His early comments always included links to ‘war prOn’. Miranda on the other hand simply strikes me as a bitter person who’s life has not turned out as successfully as he/she once hoped.

    Posted by JDB on 2006 10 22 at 12:36 PM • permalink

  11. #10: A plague on all of them, then. My point is simply that Miranda is a Johnny-One-Note like all the rest, and is inherently uninteresting. As grist for our mill, he/she is no better than the others.

    O/T, but it looks like, in the evolutionary struggle among plastic birds, the plastic turkey will survive the pink plastic flamingo .

    Via my daily dose of Florida Cracker .

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 22 at 12:56 PM • permalink

  12. In re: my own number 11 - I just can’t get ahead of the curve; Tim has already linked to the pink flamingo story on another post.

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 22 at 12:59 PM • permalink

  13. So you got a new job then Timbo?

    Posted by saint on 2006 10 22 at 01:13 PM • permalink

  14. I don’t read Miranda.  I just don’t.  Or bongoman.  Or any of the other trolls whose names my mind seems to have erased.

    Pay me big bucks and maybe I would.  Um.  No, I wouldn’t.

    Posted by wronwright on 2006 10 22 at 01:24 PM • permalink

  15. “Did anyone say cluster?”

    Yeah, well that litany of quotes looks like a cluster fuck to me.


    Off tomorrow on annual pilgrimage to Oz (with small grandkids) and then Vietnam, so no more comments from me for a while (somehow or other my laptop is not allowed to comment here).

    You’ll all be sorry when I’m gone

    Posted by jlc on 2006 10 22 at 01:54 PM • permalink

  16. You’ll all be sorry when I’m gone

    Oh! ... maybe that’s the good news ...

    Posted by jlc on 2006 10 22 at 01:55 PM • permalink

  17. 15: You’ll all be sorry when I’m gone .

    I know I will; I haven’t had a chance to razz you about the Mets yet. Maybe when you return, we can both compare notes on how the Cards won the World Series through bad officiating.

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 22 at 01:58 PM • permalink

  18. #17 Mets?? ... Did I say Mets??

    Damn, but it was close and game 7 was baseball at its best.

    Cards for the series.

    Posted by jlc on 2006 10 22 at 02:13 PM • permalink

  19. (somehow or other my laptop is not allowed to comment here).

    Have you tried logging in again?

    Enjoy your trip.  I envy you the pilgrimage to Oz.  Vietnam, not so much, but maybe you can change my mind when you come back.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 10 22 at 02:17 PM • permalink

  20. “Lots of crying wolf about the Lancet from the blogsheep, not so much bleating about your civil war, huh?”

    And, of course, complete Leftard Miranda doesn’t understand that the aim of those creating havoc in Iraq is to affect the opinion of complete Leftards like Miranda who have lost the ability to think for themselves.

    Posted by Jack Lacton on 2006 10 22 at 04:19 PM • permalink

  21. Author!  Author!

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 10 22 at 04:25 PM • permalink

  22. Perhaps the reason why Miranda has been so vociferous lately is that she’s lost her job.

    That would explain her bitterness. Either that or she’s a very, very lonely woman.

    I feel sorry for her. Pity her actually.

    —Nora

    Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2006 10 22 at 04:41 PM • permalink

  23. Stop picking on Miranda! It’s not easy replying to all your posts when you’re in a straitjacket. You have to tap out all the words with your nose.
    And hitting Ctrl-Alt-Delete is a bitch.

    Posted by Merlin on 2006 10 22 at 04:41 PM • permalink

  24. A troll-free timblair.net wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. But there’s always the hope that a troll will notice that they are tolerated here - up to a point - and, more importantly, that their comments are left intact. When they compare that to the deletions and erasures that are commonplace on some leftist-oriented blogs, maybe a couple of gear wheels will suddenly engage. Maybe, miracle of miracles, the thinking process, will begin.
    Much as they annoy me, the trolls deserve their chance at enlightenment too.

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2006 10 22 at 05:01 PM • permalink

  25. Being an argumentative person by nature, I quite enjoy the visits by some trolls, but only when they actually try to construct an argument. Picking through the pieces is fun. Miranda, however, just enters, coughs up a fur ball and exits before you can spank her properly.

    As for her increased mewling lately, I blame sunspot activity.

    Posted by Dminor on 2006 10 22 at 05:02 PM • permalink

  26. bongoman is silly. Miranda is the thinking man’s troll.

    Let’s have a vote!

    Favourite troll?

    Posted by Quentin George on 2006 10 22 at 05:10 PM • permalink

  27. Could Lefty Latte Lover be classed as a troll? I was only a lurker when he was posting away at Fisk speed, that was until Andrea did the unthinkable. Ahh, fond memories…

    Posted by Dminor on 2006 10 22 at 05:15 PM • permalink

  28. A “thinking man’s troll” would actually provide something in the way of facts to chew on; Miranda’s bile and spittle don’t qualify. I’m not in favor of banning any trolls; commenting here at least keeps them off the street. As for bongoman, I see him as a primitive, cargo-cult type leftist who thinks the debris from rusty old ideologies represents some kind of totem to be venerated (silly ass); hence, my attempts to talk to him in his own language (futile, of course). I think I agree with wronwright’s take: none of them are worth reading at all, for the simple reason that they’re not serious people.

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 22 at 05:23 PM • permalink

  29. I will unban any troll if they will send me a sincere apology for the behavior that got them banned.

    Or maybe I’ll just laugh maniacally and write back: “Sucker! Gotcha! Bwahahahahahahaaaa!”

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 10 22 at 06:18 PM • permalink

  30. I think I agree with wronwright’s take: none of them are worth reading at all, for the simple reason that they’re not serious people.

    Oh, I’m sure bongoman would tell you that he’s a deep thinker with serious regard for the world, unlike us primitive war-mongers.

    Miranda, on the other hand…well, occasionally she breaks character (somebody linked a 2004 thread a few days ago where she did, and there was another instance a couple of weeks ago), and my take on it is that, while the leftist outlook is probably genuine, she doesn’t believe half the stuff she posts. It’s a cat-and-mouse game at this point, and her being allowed to spout her abject nonsense is probably the second-oldest running joke on the site now. (Perhaps even the oldest…there haven’t been too many references to long lunches with expensive wine lately.)

    Posted by PW on 2006 10 22 at 06:31 PM • permalink

  31. And I second dminor’s nomination of LLL…now there was a thinking man’s troll, and he wasn’t reflexively anti-everything that Tim would post.

    The weirdest parts were always when he would slip from complete lucidity to lefty talking-points parrot within a handful of posts. I’ve never personally encountered somebody who’s in the process of breaking with leftist orthodoxy, but I figure that’s what they would sound like in the interim phase.

    Posted by PW on 2006 10 22 at 06:34 PM • permalink

  32. Actually, I think Miranda is slipping.  He/she posted one of his/her inane comments on the Mellow Fellow thread and not one of you bothered to reply to it.  I was so proud of you all, but it must have rattled him/her.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 10 22 at 06:43 PM • permalink

  33. OT but I wonder how Margo Kingston is going? I sincerely hope she is fightin’ fit and ready to take on those economic rationalists who have ruined webdiary.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 10 22 at 07:55 PM • permalink

  34. * “attack dogs of war! attack like crazed blogsheep on heat, even while your impact remains marginal, half-arsed and little more than the ugly face of the most venerated blogosphere.”

    That is some of the most moving and vivid shit I have ever read. I wish Miranda would explore and develop upon this theme.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 10 22 at 08:20 PM • permalink

  35. #33 Maybe Margo Kingston is not off topic… See other posts on the identity of MD:  Bitter leftist, recently lost a job, etc…hmmmm?

    Posted by Big Jim on 2006 10 22 at 08:21 PM • permalink

  36. #31: I had forgotten about LLL, PW, and you’re absolutely right: I didn’t see him as a knee-jerk leftist at all, certainly not a broken record like Miranda or Bongoman.

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 22 at 08:45 PM • permalink

  37. I found LLL almost impossible to refute, mainly because I couldn’t understand him.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 10 22 at 08:54 PM • permalink

  38. I’m with MM on LLL. He was pretty much incomprehensible. And Lord, did he go on. And on. And on.

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2006 10 22 at 09:03 PM • permalink

  39. I don’t think Miranda qualifies as a troll. According to Wikipedia, a troll posts “disruptive messages designed intentionally to annoy, stimulate or antagonize the existing members or alter the flow of discussion”. But as RebeccaH (#32) points out, in one recent discussion, Miranda’s comments not only didn’t alter the flow of disucussion, they were simply ignored. So the real question is, what do you call a person whose trolling doesn’t even attain troll status? Wikipedia is silent on the issue (which is strange, because the entry linked above is wide ranging, to say the least), but I think the time has come to establish a benchmark for legitimate trolls and to hell with the wannabes. Any ideas?

    Posted by Hanyu on 2006 10 22 at 09:15 PM • permalink

  40. Hanyu is quite correct.

    Miranda tends to fall into the drive-by category - one venomous comment fire and she screeches away in a metaphorical Nissan Sylvia.

    If we’re going to raid mythology for new names how about describing Miranda as a goblin or its female equivalent ‘hag’

    According to Wikipedia some of the charactistics would suit:

    1. A goblin smile curdles blood

    2. A goblin laugh sours milk and causes fruit to fall from trees.

    3. It is said that they mimic human actions in their sardonic way, twisting human rituals and culture to show the worst aspects.

    4. Goblins are often depicted possessing a coarse raspy sounding and slightly high-pitched voice.

    5. When speaking a human tongue, goblins will stereotypically refer to themselves in third person

    —Nora

    Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2006 10 22 at 10:04 PM • permalink

  41. Miranda is Troll-lite or possibly a Hobgoblin.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 10 22 at 10:22 PM • permalink

  42. Slow news day, Tim? Why devote a bit of your blog to that waste of bandwidth, when you’ve got a loyal following much more interesting than her/him/it? Like ...er…um…er…okay, I give up!

    Posted by AlburyShifton on 2006 10 22 at 11:13 PM • permalink

  43. I would like to state unequivocally here and now that Miranda is not Margo.

    No, no, no, no, no and

    no.

    Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 10 23 at 12:58 AM • permalink

  44. Miranda - goblin bandwidth…

    Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2006 10 23 at 01:17 AM • permalink

  45. Miranda Divide is a blogparrot.  Or a blog parrot, depending on how you spell it.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 10 23 at 01:56 AM • permalink

  46. I am disappointed in Miranda.  When I first began lurking the comments, I read about her and how the other trolls (like LLL) didn’t measure up.  Now that I’ve “met” her, I don’t see where she offers anything to reply to.  There is no way to reason with the mere emotionalism of her verbal vomit.

    Posted by saltydog on 2006 10 23 at 02:28 AM • permalink

  47. I wondered sometimes if Miranda was Addamo in cyber-drag.

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2006 10 23 at 02:55 AM • permalink

  48. Just to remind all my admirers of that link again.

    Posted by Miranda Divide on 2006 10 23 at 03:12 AM • permalink

  49. Miranda, It’s not always about you, okay?

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 10 23 at 03:19 AM • permalink

  50. Hey! I got a Miranda post straight after mine!
    Ooh… I’ve never been this close to you before, Miranda. I might break out in a rash!
    (Truthfully now, is that you in the JLove.com ad? I could forgive a lot for that smile.)

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2006 10 23 at 03:39 AM • permalink

  51. I like the idea of having Moronda as a pet troll. Mostly this is becuase she is actually a pathetic troll, so we are taking pity on her.
    We can metaphorically pat her little pointy head.
    She is a self-parodying narcissist.
    We bring the only joy her pathetic and vacuous life knows.
    She reminds us that even complete intellectual cripples can type out a sentence or two before their drool short-circuits the keyboard.

    She costs nothing to feed and is even possibly able to be housetrained.

    Best of all, we can tell when her batteries go flat, and take up a collection to buy her more, while telling her it’s less messy than a man, anyway…. 

    MarkL
    Canberra

    Posted by MarkL on 2006 10 23 at 03:48 AM • permalink

  52. Ooh… I’ve never been this close to you before, Miranda. I might break out in a rash!

    Don’t worry, Swinish. They’re have been amazing advancements with topical creams.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 10 23 at 04:03 AM • permalink

  53. #46: Good, succinct observation. Case closed.

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 23 at 07:44 AM • permalink

  54. Miranda - drive by poster, no replies, no clue.
    bongoman - who the hell knows… I’m pretty sure he’s an unsupervised pre-teen.
    addamo - just liked to aruge - IE: asshole
    LLL - I believed right from the start (and still do) that he simply was trying to evoke hypocrisy.  He rarely failed to tack on some absurd leftist remark inside an otherwise acceptable post, waiting for someone to agree with the overall post so he could come back and accuse you of accepting the little turd he’d left.  Come to think of it, I do remember several of you good folks coming to HIS rescue when I would call him out. And unfortunately, I have a very long memory and tend to make lists of names (usually in red lipstick). Anywho… the guy was a lying jerk.

    Posted by Texas Bob on 2006 10 23 at 07:51 AM • permalink

  55. Oh yeah, and another thing, maybe we should clearly define the term troll.  I don’t like trolls and think Andrea should ban ALL of them. On the other hand, does someone who merely has a leftist viewpoint but posts with some degree of civility (not that I ever do that…) qualify as a troll? Maybe we categorize them as Tools? I enjoy the ones who come here and post differing viewpoints but stop before crossing the miranda divide.  So I say No to Trolls and Yes to Tools.

    Posted by Texas Bob on 2006 10 23 at 08:06 AM • permalink

  56. Aw shucks Mirandy you LIKE all these strokes..nice or nasty Miranda you crave it.
    Well o.k. then Sunshine,in the spirit of harmony and blogfriendship.
    We offer you unconditional love -group hug now and hope you feel better soon.

    Posted by crash on 2006 10 23 at 09:05 AM • permalink

  57. #56: We offer you unconditional love -group hug now and hope you feel better soon.

    Hey! Has anybody seen my wallet? Nobody leave the room!

    Posted by paco on 2006 10 23 at 10:36 AM • permalink

  58. I always thought Miranda was just a not-particularly-sophisticated TuringBot.  Is there any real proof of her corporeal existence? Is there any proof of any point to her corporeal existence, if so?

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 10 23 at 08:37 PM • permalink

  59. Is there any proof of any point to her corporeal existence, if so?

    Don’t get our hopes up, richard…..

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 10 23 at 08:55 PM • permalink

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