http://www.kook-watch.net

Keeping an eye on the loonies for the good of mankind.

Kook n. (slang) A person regarded as strange, eccentric or crazy.

Synonyms: crackpot, cuckoo, ding-a-ling, harebrain, lunatic, nut,
screwball,woo-woo

WHAT IS A KOOK?

First and foremost, kooks believe really weird stuff.
But simply holding weird beliefs isn't enough to make someone a kook.
It's the tactics they use to spread their beliefs that separates kooks
from the merely eccentric. Below is a list of common kook
distinguishing
characteristics. The average Usenet kook will possess at least several
of these traits. Über Kooks will possess most or all of them.

a. Kooks make lists of their enemies. Anyone who maintains a list of
enemies is almost certainly a kook. Anyone who appears on one or more
kook enemy lists probably isn't a kook.

b. Kooks are control freaks. Kooks try to moderate the NG and try to
force people to only talk about certain subjects and/or conduct
themselves only in what the kooky wannabe moderator sees as the correct
manner. Kooks will even complain to the ISPs of other NG posters whose
views they don't agree with in an attempt to have them removed from
Usenet.

c. Kooks are paranoid. Most kooks are big believers in conspiracies
large and small. They seem to think everyone is out to harm them or at
least silence them (because they alone know the truth, (see

d). From the mighty New World Order, to various three letter agencies
of
the Federal Government to anyone on the NG who disagrees with them,
kooks see enemies everywhere and make lists of them (see a).

d. Kooks are always right. They have had the absolute "TRUTH" bestowed
upon them by god or the aliens or by the voices in their heads or
whatever. They are utterly convinced that they, and only they, know the
"TRUTH." No matter how many times their beliefs are proven wrong, they
continue to cling to them like grim death and will never, EVER admit to
being wrong about ANYTHING.

e. KOOKS LIKE TO SHOUT IN ALL CAPS. THEY SEE THEIR MESSAGES AS BEING SO
IMPORTANT THAT THEY NEED TO SHOUT THEM OUT. THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE
*EVERYONE* NOTICES WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY.

f. Kooks are obsessed. They are obsessed with certain subjects and
certain other users of the NG, even to the point of stalking them. But
above all, they are obsessed with spreading their message and keeping
it
in discussion at all times on their favorite NGs. Kooks rarely let
anyone else get in the last word in any discussion that touches even
remotely on one of their obsessions.

g. Kooks will create sock puppets and use them to attack their enemies
and/or post positive responses to the kook's own posts (since no one
else will).

h. Kooks are incapable of intellectual debate. Kooks believe they are
in
possession of the absolute TRUTH on a given subject or subjects and
they
are here to share that truth, not debate it. Since kooks are always
right and will never ever admit to being wrong (see d), they refuse to
debate their beliefs and tolerate no skepticism toward them. To a kook,
anyone who disagrees with them MUST be either ignorant, insane or a
paid
disinformation agent out to discredit them (see c).

i. Kooks don't have a sense of humor, especially in regards to the
subjects they are obsessed with. They are always deadly serious about
their pet issues and often berate other NG users for not taking them
seriously enough. Kooks are perpetual straight men. Their lack of humor
is ironically one of the kook's most amusing characteristics.

j. Kooks lie. Kooks lie about their backgrounds, their qualifications,
their achievements, their level of education, their experiences, etc.,
etc. Kooks see their message as being so important that they are
willing
to do whatever it takes (especially lying) to get that message out and
make it look like it came from a credible source, rather than from a
mere kooky nobody who can be safely ignored. Kooks however aren't
generally smart enough to lie well or be consistent in their lying, so
they are easily caught and their lies are often exposed. However, even
when presented with absolute proof of lying, a true kook will never
admit to it (see 4) and usually either ignore the evidence or claim it
was manufactured by some "conspiracy" that is out to discredit them
(see
c).

k. Kooks tend to be hypocrites. For example, they will rage against
others for posting off topic material but still do it themselves
regularly, and they take great offense when someone else points out
that
they are off topic. When this is pointed out, they will go to great
lengths to try to justify *their* off topic posts as being so important
that topical considerations are irrelevant. Another example of kook
hypocrisy is name calling. A kook will rage against others for name
calling but be completely oblivious to their own continual name calling
and ad hominem attacks on others. Kooks tend to live by the motto of
"Do
as I say, not as I do."

l. Kooks don't play well with others. Since kooks are paranoid, always
think they are right on every issue, tolerate no skepticism or
differing
views and always want to be the one in control, kooks just don't get
along with other people, not even other kooks. Every kook is an island
unto itself of strange beliefs and weird psychoses. Kooks are very
lonely people, and it shows.

m. Kooks have poor reading comprehension skills. A kook will often read
a book, web site or Usenet message and conclude that the author's point
and/or the information presented is something completely different from
what the author actually wrote and totally off the wall compared to
what
normal people read in the material. Kooks just can't seem to help
reading their own kooky ideas into other people's writing no matter how
clearly and unambiguously it was written. This often leads to hilarious
blunders when kooks try to cite various written sources when challenged
to back up their kooky claims.

The best is to ignore them and all the anonymous posters.
Google them and you will see whooms a kook and a troll.
I could hang around to teach you about the trolls, kooks and the
meawers if you like to.

I have crossposted this to a.m.r-w since he is singing about the
dinga-lings, rude one and the monkeys.


JDA~today