Great work, spiderwire.

September 13, 2007 9:41 AM

I just wanted to take a moment to thank spiderwire for his fantastic contributions to this thread.

spiderwire took what could have been a run-of-the-mill, panicky, tinfoil-hat ConspiracyFilter thread and elevated it to the "best of the web" level. I, for one, appreciate it. Thanks again.

posted by joedan to MetaFilter-Related at 9:41 AM (19 comments total)

Yes, that was a terrible post that went surprisingly well, thanks in large part to spiderwire.
posted by brain_drain at 9:53 AM on September 13, 2007

I was just going to a start a MeTa thread about the quality of that thread, and here it is already. Spiderwire, eriko, c13, nickyskye, and ctmf, among others, deserve a round of applause for creating an informative and compulsively readable thread larded with good supporting links.

Reading this thread will teach you something about nuclear missiles and military procedure. It will also teach you how to have a civil disagreement online, how to buttress your arguments with relevant links, and how to address complex and contentious issues without resorting to hand-waving.

Good stuff.

That a mediocre FPP can turn into such a great diuscussion is one of the things I love about MeFi.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:02 AM on September 13, 2007 [3 favorites]

Agreed. Thanks for the heads-up, because I'd given up on the thread and wouldn't have seen spiderwire's excellent comments. (Not sure what nickyskye is going for with the scattershot news quotes, though.)
posted by languagehat at 10:39 AM on September 13, 2007

Wow, I'm so happy that thread redeemed itself. We spent some time in modland debating it since it got flagged a lot but thought we'd leave it and see what happened. This is good news.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:47 AM on September 13, 2007

Spiderwire is indeed oil on those troubled waters.
posted by jamjam at 10:52 AM on September 13, 2007

modland? You guys have your own country now? Or is it just someones basement filled with bean-bag chairs and lava lamps?
posted by blue_beetle at 10:58 AM on September 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Absolutely agreed.
posted by OmieWise at 10:59 AM on September 13, 2007

Indeed, hear hear.
posted by maxwelton at 11:26 AM on September 13, 2007

Amen. The man knows his politics and law.
posted by spiderskull at 11:46 AM on September 13, 2007

That made for some sweet reading. Thanks for dropping a nuclear knowledge bomb, spiderwire.
posted by phaedon at 12:13 PM on September 13, 2007

Those were some excellent responses to a thread I had given up on until just now. Oh, and blue_beetle, thanks for showing me what a bean-chair and a lava lamp are. Cause those aren't at all common enough for anyone to know about.
posted by KingoftheWhales at 12:24 PM on September 13, 2007

Very cool. I had heard about the story on the radio and didn't bother checking out the FPP, so thanks for the heads-up!

*Waves to spiderwire*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:28 PM on September 13, 2007

Nice job, spiderwire.

The Mods in Modland are better known as The Mod Squad. (In COLOR!)
posted by Floydd at 12:42 PM on September 13, 2007

I'm quite flattered. I'm also thankful that no one gave me a much-deserved callout for my completely incorrect assertion about the warhead-decoupling. It really was an honest mistake, but after I've spent way too much time on a subject my confidence in what I know often outstrips my actual knowedge. c13 was right, I was totally wrong, and I should have double-checked.
posted by spiderwire at 3:15 PM on September 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yeah. This is good mefi action, all around.

Modland is where modcasts come from.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:56 PM on September 13, 2007

True story: I read this story on stumble first, came here to post it - *hoping* to get that sort of informative content - but saw it already posted! Fantastic.

I believe I am dreaming you all.
posted by absalom at 6:34 PM on September 13, 2007

I believe I am dreaming you all.

How apropos. I just learned that Scooter Libby really did head straight to a think tank, like we said.

And I was thinking that when I say things like "a conspiracy would be a relief at this point," all I'm really getting at is that the tinfoil hats have nothing on reality as of late.

Am I Scooter's bad dream, or is he mine?
posted by spiderwire at 7:13 PM on September 13, 2007

bureaucrafuck is my new favorite word.. all thanks to spiderwire :)
posted by pjern at 8:35 PM on September 13, 2007

nth'd. Thanks spiderwire.
posted by yerfatma at 10:22 AM on September 14, 2007