Open letter. A few thoughts.

[Doktor Howl]

Fair enough, it would be optimal if cooler heads would prevail on either side of the equation. 

I just get an extra little twinge when I see someone being called a racist.  For my sensibilities, that's on a different level than calling each other assholes, and the like.

Eartha and BB tried to hit as hard as they could, to upset Nigel and I as much as possible.

I see no different level here.  What I see is a nasty response to a nasty attack.  What I also see is that for some people, different standards are applied to different people.

No.  I personally would have a problem with anyone who called anyone else a racist.  And I happen to think even in the heat of a nasty argument, calling someone a racist is just plain un-called for.  Is it un-called for to call someone a nasty bitch, cunt, whatever?  Absolutely.  I think BB was wrong for that.  I think Nigel was wrong for calling BB a racist.  And I think it was wrong to bring BB into this to begin with.  All kinds of wrong that would have easily been avoided if it was kept out of the public sphere.

Well, except for the harrassment via PM.  But no shiny people were involved, so no biggie, right?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And RWHN, I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you utilized your acute sense of social justice to call me out on my unfair oppression and harsh cruelty for editing my OP to call BB "a racist, misogynist twat with a two-by-four up his ass and a sense of humor from 1987" and "a poopy-bottom, and eats boogies", but it is evidently totally fine and justified in your eyes for him to have first called me a "nasty cunt" and "a nasty, snaggletoothed old bitch" because I put "attn: Badbeast" in a thread about how his batshit internet girlfriend is harassing the shit out of me in PM.

No, really; I mean I really appreciate it to the fullest degree possible. And all it tells me about who you are.

[navkat]

Fair enough, it would be optimal if cooler heads would prevail on either side of the equation. 

I just get an extra little twinge when I see someone being called a racist.  For my sensibilities, that's on a different level than calling each other assholes, and the like.

Eartha and BB tried to hit as hard as they could, to upset Nigel and I as much as possible.

I see no different level here.  What I see is a nasty response to a nasty attack.  What I also see is that for some people, different standards are applied to different people.

No.  I personally would have a problem with anyone who called anyone else a racist.  And I happen to think even in the heat of a nasty argument, calling someone a racist is just plain un-called for.  Is it un-called for to call someone a nasty bitch, cunt, whatever?  Absolutely.  I think BB was wrong for that.  I think Nigel was wrong for calling BB a racist.  And I think it was wrong to bring BB into this to begin with.  All kinds of wrong that would have easily been avoided if it was kept out of the public sphere.

Yeah, racist is sort of the Nu-Godwin, however, I think what Nigel's saying is that they were deliberately being absurd as a way to express her outrage without crossing lines...essentially like calling a jewish person a nazi. Everyone knows you don't seriously believe that and in the meantime, you decompress. I do it all the time. It's laffs.

[AFK]

I understand that.  I just don't think it is constructive which has been my whole point. 

Look, I don't know if people have noticed but there has been a slow drip-drip of attrition here.  I think this kind of stuff doesn't help.  I'm just humbly suggesting there are alternative ways to handle things that prevent board flare-ups. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Fair enough, it would be optimal if cooler heads would prevail on either side of the equation. 

I just get an extra little twinge when I see someone being called a racist.  For my sensibilities, that's on a different level than calling each other assholes, and the like.

Eartha and BB tried to hit as hard as they could, to upset Nigel and I as much as possible.

I see no different level here.  What I see is a nasty response to a nasty attack.  What I also see is that for some people, different standards are applied to different people.

No.  I personally would have a problem with anyone who called anyone else a racist.  And I happen to think even in the heat of a nasty argument, calling someone a racist is just plain un-called for.  Is it un-called for to call someone a nasty bitch, cunt, whatever?  Absolutely.  I think BB was wrong for that.  I think Nigel was wrong for calling BB a racist.  And I think it was wrong to bring BB into this to begin with.  All kinds of wrong that would have easily been avoided if it was kept out of the public sphere.

Well, except for the harrassment via PM.  But no shiny people were involved, so no biggie, right?

We're unclean, though, so we deserved it.

But I get the message loud and clear; I should have kept my mouth shut and kept private business private; it's nobody else's business to know what goes on behind closed doors.

Put those sunglasses on and if anybody asks, you fell down the stairs. Right? 

[Doktor Howl]

Fair enough, it would be optimal if cooler heads would prevail on either side of the equation. 

I just get an extra little twinge when I see someone being called a racist.  For my sensibilities, that's on a different level than calling each other assholes, and the like.

Eartha and BB tried to hit as hard as they could, to upset Nigel and I as much as possible.

I see no different level here.  What I see is a nasty response to a nasty attack.  What I also see is that for some people, different standards are applied to different people.

No.  I personally would have a problem with anyone who called anyone else a racist.  And I happen to think even in the heat of a nasty argument, calling someone a racist is just plain un-called for.  Is it un-called for to call someone a nasty bitch, cunt, whatever?  Absolutely.  I think BB was wrong for that.  I think Nigel was wrong for calling BB a racist.  And I think it was wrong to bring BB into this to begin with.  All kinds of wrong that would have easily been avoided if it was kept out of the public sphere.

Well, except for the harrassment via PM.  But no shiny people were involved, so no biggie, right?

We're unclean, though, so we deserved it.

But I get the message loud and clear; I should have kept my mouth shut and kept private business private; it's nobody else's business to know what goes on behind closed doors.

Put those sunglasses on and if anybody asks, you fell down the stairs. Right? 

Walked right into the fucking door.

[navkat]

Stop running into doorknobs, bitch! 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Fair enough, it would be optimal if cooler heads would prevail on either side of the equation. 

I just get an extra little twinge when I see someone being called a racist.  For my sensibilities, that's on a different level than calling each other assholes, and the like.

Eartha and BB tried to hit as hard as they could, to upset Nigel and I as much as possible.

I see no different level here.  What I see is a nasty response to a nasty attack.  What I also see is that for some people, different standards are applied to different people.

No.  I personally would have a problem with anyone who called anyone else a racist.  And I happen to think even in the heat of a nasty argument, calling someone a racist is just plain un-called for.  Is it un-called for to call someone a nasty bitch, cunt, whatever?  Absolutely.  I think BB was wrong for that.  I think Nigel was wrong for calling BB a racist.  And I think it was wrong to bring BB into this to begin with.  All kinds of wrong that would have easily been avoided if it was kept out of the public sphere.

Yeah, racist is sort of the Nu-Godwin, however, I think what Nigel's saying is that they were deliberately being absurd as a way to express her outrage without crossing lines...essentially like calling a jewish person a nazi. Everyone knows you don't seriously believe that and in the meantime, you decompress. I do it all the time. It's laffs.

No, clearly I totally 100% seriously meant that Badbeast is a racist, sexist poopy-bottomed boogie-eater from 1987. Literally.

RWHN gets that, why can't everybody else?

[navkat]

I don't know if you've noticed but I'm slower than the other children.

Badbeast, when are you going to stop eating boogers, clean your ass and treat women and black people as equals?

[Doktor Howl]

Look, I don't know if people have noticed but there has been a slow drip-drip of attrition here. 

I think that has more to do with the fact that anything BESIDES drama threads gets immediately derailed, because a lot of people here would sell their own mother to get in an epigram, pun, or poop joke.

But stating that someone being stalked should shut their gob or the board will die is bullshit.

And let's face facts:  If Charles Manson came on this board and attacked Nigel (or to a lesser extent, me), you'd find good reasons to either support his arguments or criticize her rebuttal.  It's pretty transparent, and just about 100% consistent.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I understand that.  I just don't think it is constructive which has been my whole point. 

Look, I don't know if people have noticed but there has been a slow drip-drip of attrition here.  I think this kind of stuff doesn't help.  I'm just humbly suggesting there are alternative ways to handle things that prevent board flare-ups.

Yeah, the important thing is that we don't call out people who harass and abuse regular users via PM, or mention by name the people who inexplicably support their behavior, because it might deplete the audience.

We've seen how well not ever offending those people works on other boards, why not try it here? Maybe we can invite back Lumberjim and Snake-Man, too. We need to create an environment where people feel free to privately bully anyone who isn't shiny as much as they want without fear of public reprise.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

 

I don't know if you've noticed but I'm slower than the other children.

Badbeast, when are you going to stop eating boogers, clean your ass and treat women and black people as equals?

[AFK]

But stating that someone being stalked should shut their gob or the board will die is bullshit.

No, I'm not saying that at all.  I'm just saying that an innocent bystander shouldn't be dragged into it. 

[AFK]

I understand that.  I just don't think it is constructive which has been my whole point. 

Look, I don't know if people have noticed but there has been a slow drip-drip of attrition here.  I think this kind of stuff doesn't help.  I'm just humbly suggesting there are alternative ways to handle things that prevent board flare-ups.

Yeah, the important thing is that we don't call out people who harass and abuse regular users via PM, or mention by name the people who inexplicably support their behavior, because it might deplete the audience.

We've seen how well not ever offending those people works on other boards, why not try it here? Maybe we can invite back Lumberjim and Snake-Man, too. We need to create an environment where people feel free to privately bully anyone who isn't shiny as much as they want without fear of public reprise.

See my above response to Howl. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Look, I don't know if people have noticed but there has been a slow drip-drip of attrition here. 

I think that has more to do with the fact that anything BESIDES drama threads gets immediately derailed, because a lot of people here would sell their own mother to get in an epigram, pun, or poop joke.

But stating that someone being stalked should shut their gob or the board will die is bullshit.

And let's face facts:  If Charles Manson came on this board and attacked Nigel (or to a lesser extent, me), you'd find good reasons to either support his arguments or criticize her rebuttal.  It's pretty transparent, and just about 100% consistent.

Yep. Everything you just said.

Especially the part about content being derailed. We can even get going on an awesome collaborative thread, and some jackass will feel the need to show off how clever he is not by contributing to the theme of the thread, but by derailing it with some idiotic joke. I think it's some kind of neurotic attention-shifting ploy, honestly.

And if it's not that, it's someone complaining about how much the few people who still bother saying anything post. Because evidently it makes the people who don't bother posting feel bad, or something.