And Now It's Come to This...

To my pals who like to check out ol' Olaf now and then and leave comments, I'm afraid I've had to institute a moderation step into the process. Due to perhaps my own intemperate (considering the effect) commenting on another blog, I experienced a mild version of internet harrassment, including having my blog name and link spoofed. Thanks to Ed Ward at Berlin Bites (check it out--excellent writing and also listen for Ed's pieces on culture and music on Fresh Air with Terry Gross), the damage was limited.

What a pain in the ass. But that's the price of freedom of the net.

Anyway, now I'll be checking posted comments to filter a particular individual's ravings. I hate censorship, but that's essentially what it amounts to.

We had a similar problem at our local city council meetings. At one time, anyone could address the council for any purpose with no time limit...until one individual started using it as a personal platform for random ravings and insults to the council members totally unrelated to policy. The consequence was that now all citizens have a three-minute time limit imposed. In the formulation of public policy (aside from asphalt contracts, maybe) most issues are complex enough to require more than three minutes to explain one's position, but thanks to the ranter, we've all had our access constrained. That limit has already been used to try to shut out dissent, and that's the truly terrible result from those who cannot or will not understand how self-control is an essential part of adult discourse.

And that's what's so damned maddening on the internet--99.999999999 percent of all users can be good stewards. Even when involved in truly rabid flame wars, all but a tiny few don't end up trying to sabotage other people's presence in the blogosphere or wherever. But a single individual with no more than an internet hookup, access to a PC, and some malevolent and pretty useless intentions can create a royal crimp in the flow of opinion.

So I'm sorry, but until I can automate filtering the way I'd like to, it's a manual process and you may not see your comments as soon as you've sent them. I'll do my best to frequently check for new comments and get them up.

Again, sorry for the hassle. Don't let it deter you saying whatever you like--I'm only filtering for one jackass.

Another Sign That the Apocalypse Is Near

When theofascist James Dobson starts making nice with Democrats, it's time to start worrying about the coming of the Rapture, so I visited our pals over at Rapture Ready Index which is hovering at 159, a full 14 points above the highest threshold labeled "Fasten Your Seatbelts." Apparently, the recent election results caused the index to jump three points, so I'd expect Jesus to be coming over the horizon any day now to kick off the End Times.

You could almost say, as Chimpie stands down, Jesus will stand up. And that's because, you know, left-wingers are the spawn of Satan. We might as well confess as such, since we're going to be boiling in the hell cauldron for a while before being sent to eternal suffering in the underworld; that is, we "shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb," those sadistic bastards.

Rejecting Bush has put us sinful Americans on the top of God's shit list, at least according to the Tim LeHayes of the world. But this raises a nagging question: Who is the Antichrist?

Name your favorite candidate on the global scene today. Perhaps it is someone as yet unknown to us generally, but to you personally? Maybe the Antichrist is your neighbor, your friend, your mother, brother, or your uncle Buddy.

Let me know.