Isamu, if you could not insult the entire US because of 1 person, that would be great

[Skald the Rhymer]

A very mild Pitting, this is, but I wish to make a personal comment about another poster and where else is it gonna go?

In another thread of mine (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=506529) about a sexual harassment complaint which I think to be bullshit, Isamu writes:

My thoughts? Your whole country is fucked. If this woman has a position in your company where she has to interact with people, your company is also fucked. Really.

When I asked just what that meant, s/he continues:

If I have to spell it out then there is no hope of you understanding it. So a pointless exercise. But you seem, from your initial post, to know that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. In fact your thread title says "full of shit" in it. Your instincts are correct. What else is there to say?

and two posts later adds

Numbers are irrelevant. Think about what factors came in to play to make you have to spend valuable time responding to this "stupid" complaint. If you have no knowledge about how things work in other countries then I'll just give you a pass, and hope you'll forgive my 'slander'.

Isamu, I find it difficult to believe that the sentiments you express in these posts was in any way genuine. The incident I spoke of is just too small, too minor to elicit such a response from anyone who is not already disposed to irrationality. It seems more likely that you are attempting to elicit an outraged and irrational response from any American posters; in other words you seem to be trolling.

I could, of course, be wrong. But just in case, please be careful not to linger overlong out of doors in the pre-dawn hours. It is all too easy to miscalculate and find oneself petrified.

Ciao!

[Mosier]

My favorite part was the third grade "if you have to ask, you're never going to know" thing he threw in there.

[AngelSoft]

My favorite part was the third grade "if you have to ask, you're never going to know" thing he threw in there.

Isn't that one of the first rebuttals they teach in Debate 101? Considered the 'trump card' of the debating community. Rarely used but highly effective. Not to be confused with the "I can't hear you la la la" technique.

[Tom Tildrum]

Hasn't s/he also insulted the entire nation of Denmark?

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Is trolling something that has become acceptable on this board, because it seems to be happening a lot without a whole lot of response from mods. I only say this because when a poster comes in, hijacks a thread and in doing so inflames just about everyone in the thread, being called a troll repeatedly, you kind of expect authority to step in and say something. Even if that's just cut it out.

[The Tao's Revenge]

Isn't that one of the first rebuttals they teach in Debate 101? Considered the 'trump card' of the debating community. Rarely used but highly effective. Not to be confused with the "I can't hear you la la la" technique.

I prefer the Cartman stratagem.

"screw you guys I'm going home"

[dropzone]

Hasn't s/he also insulted the entire nation of Denmark? Yeah, couldn't even get the continent right. Skald's in Memphis, right? And that's in Egypt. Dumbass.

[Skald the Rhymer]

Hasn't s/he also insulted the entire nation of Denmark?

You know s/he was alludinng to Hamlet, right? You're just kidding, right?

Because otherwise I have to kill myself in grief for America.

[Skald the Rhymer]

Is trolling something that has become acceptable on this board, because it seems to be happening a lot without a whole lot of response from mods. I only say this because when a poster comes in, hijacks a thread and in doing so inflames just about everyone in the thread, being called a troll repeatedly, you kind of expect authority to step in and say something. Even if that's just cut it out.

I don't know that anyone's reported him. I certainly didn't. On the off chance that he was being sincere, he might have gotten in trouble for hate speech, and I have some philosophical issues with that.

[eleanorigby]

Isn't that one of the first rebuttals they teach in Debate 101? Considered the 'trump card' of the debating community. Rarely used but highly effective. Not to be confused with the "I can't hear you la la la" technique.

That is the traditional school of thought. There has been some debate in more scholarly forensic quarters, though, that both of these techniques are in turn trumped by the "I know you are, but what am I?" approach. Crude, provincial, you may decry, but effective in its own right and gaining acceptance among the intelligensia. It is related closely to yet another method, entitled "I"m rubber and you're glue".


Please make a note of it.

[DrCube]

The comment was over the top, but there is a modicum of truth to it.

Something is fucked when "Men in speedos on a personal screen saver in a coffee shop" is taken seriously as a sexual harassment complaint. It is kind of like the guy who sued for $26 million dollars because the dry cleaner ruined his pants. You, me, and everybody else with brains knows that the complaint needs to be dismissed immediately and that everyone should point and laugh at the complainer. But something in our society (and I highly doubt it is just our country) has driven all sanity out the window and forced otherwise busy and important people to have to focus their valuable time on it.

I wouldn't say "America is fucked" because of it, but something is wrong, and it isn't just a single incident.

[Skald the Rhymer]

The comment was over the top, but there is a modicum of truth to it.

Something is fucked when "Men in speedos on a personal screen saver in a coffee shop" is taken seriously as a sexual harassment complaint. It is kind of like the guy who sued for $26 million dollars because the dry cleaner ruined his pants. You, me, and everybody else with brains knows that the complaint needs to be dismissed immediately and that everyone should point and laugh at the complainer. But something in our society (and I highly doubt it is just our country) has driven all sanity out the window and forced otherwise busy and important people to have to focus their valuable time on it.

I wouldn't say "America is fucked" because of it, but something is wrong, and it isn't just a single incident.

I still think s/he was trolling, but you have a point.

[Isamu]

I still think s/he was trolling, but you have a point.

He.

Not trolling Skald, that's not what I do. Getting worked up about idiocy though, yes, I'm guilty. Sorry about the tone I used. But if I sounded dismissive in my few posts, it's because, well, sometimes you either get it or you don't. I don't want to waste time being nitpicked by people who don't get it.

For what it's worth, and for the record, I don't think that saying a country is fucked is the same as insulting all the inhabitants of that country. In fact I said something like "America is fucked", not "Americans are fucked". Still further (and I don't want to press the issue but...) saying something is "fucked", means, to me, that it's in serious trouble. I certainly didn't intend to insult the entire US population. I think most people know this.

With the preponderance of things that America gets right, the few things it gets so horribly wrong make me angrier than I otherwise would be. And this single incidence of complete workplace douchbaggery that you reported was a kind of straw that broke the camels back. Having lurked here for many years I've seen many similar accounts and I draw, what I think are, appropriate conclusions. As always, YMMV.

[Loach]

He.

Not trolling Skald, that's not what I do. Getting worked up about idiocy though, yes, I'm guilty. Sorry about the tone I used. But if I sounded dismissive in my few posts, it's because, well, sometimes you either get it or you don't. I don't want to waste time being nitpicked by people who don't get it.


That goes against everything that this board is about. You either fight ignorance or you don't.

[Liberal]

Our president is Barack Hussein Obama. Put that in your Canadian pipe and smoke it.

[billfish678]

I prefer the Cartman stratagem.

"screw you guys I'm going home"


Shit, thats become my whole life process algorithm these days :)

Obviously i do a lot of leaving...

[billfish678]

That goes against everything that this board is about. You either fight ignorance or you don't.


cite?

[Loach]

cite?

Well that's the theory anyway.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

Well that's the theory anyway.

And, like evolution, it is not a fact!

* Fans self with Chick tract *

[The Hamster King]

Having lurked here for many years I've seen many similar accounts and I draw, what I think are, appropriate conclusions.How are women treated in the workplace in Japan?

Here's a study (http://www.weforum.org/en/Communities/Women%20Leaders%20and%20Gender%20Parity/GenderGapNetwork/index.htm) ranking 130 countries according to how well women are treated relative to men. The United States is 27th on the list. Japan is down at 99. That's about as low as Kuwait.

If you're a man living somewhere where misogyny is the norm, I can see how American sexual harassment laws might look bizarre ... .

[Spoons]

Our president is Barack Hussein Obama. Put that in your Canadian pipe and smoke it.He may have a Canadian pipe, but I doubt he has any connections to Canada. This post (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10793007&postcount=85) of his makes me think he is Australian, and his series of posts in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=506194) leads me to believe he is resident in Japan. I don't think you can blame him on Canada or Canadians.

[billfish678]

How are women treated in the workplace in Japan?

Here's a study (http://www.weforum.org/en/Communities/Women%20Leaders%20and%20Gender%20Parity/GenderGapNetwork/index.htm) ranking 130 countries according to how well women are treated relative to men. The United States is 27th on the list. Japan is down at 99. That's about as low as Kuwait.

If you're a man living somewhere where misogyny is the norm, I can see how American sexual harassment laws might look bizarre ... .


I live in America and thought the sexual harassment scenario that inspired this was absolutely retarded.

And that the guys point, that such a thing could even be somewhat of a concern in America does NOT bode well for America, is also something I could get behind.

Just a data point.

[Liberal]

He may have a Canadian pipe, but I doubt he has any connections to Canada. This post (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10793007&postcount=85) of his makes me think he is Australian, and his series of posts in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=506194) leads me to believe he is resident in Japan. I don't think you can blame him on Canada or Canadians.Then let him smoke his Australian pipe or his Japanese pipe as the case may be.

[E-Sabbath]

It's not retarded. The problem is not sexual harassment. The problem is that someone in an office wants to cause problems for their own benefit, and are abusing rules towards that goal. As a result, you can't try to solve it rationally, without making a scene, because the goal of the person causing the problem is to make a scene.
If it wasn't sexual harassment, she'd accuse them of stealing office supplies or selling the company work to someone.

[Zebra]

With the preponderance of things that America gets right, the few things it gets so horribly wrong make me angrier than I otherwise would be.

So you are going to give China a pass on their bullshit but we get so many things right?

Do this make sense in bizzro world or something?

[Isamu]

He may have a Canadian pipe, but I doubt he has any connections to Canada. This post (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10793007&postcount=85) of his makes me think he is Australian, and his series of posts in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=506194) leads me to believe he is resident in Japan. I don't think you can blame him on Canada or Canadians.


Yes, Australian living in Japan for the last decade+. My pipe is French though (Chacom) and that might explain my general disagreeability.

[Isamu]

So you are going to give China a pass on their bullshit but we get so many things right?

Do this make sense in bizzro world or something?

China, and a few other places, as countries (i.e. systems of of rules to organize their citizens) are the slow kids of the world's classroom. They can sit in the back and color, eat the paste, whatever, and I won't care so much. I'm not going to get upset with them when they get another pencil stuck up their nose - there's no point. Japan has its own hurdles to overcome. But they're not a hopeless case. And I do get mad and write about it when they fuck up.

[Spoons]

My pipe is French though (Chacom) and that might explain my general disagreeability.Ah. You might want to try a different pipe; I find that smoking a Stanwell usually makes all right with the world. :)

[BlinkingDuck]

America may be fucked...but at least we aren't Canada.

[CairoCarol]

Isamu's assessment of the US doesn't follow from Skald's story.

Gothmog is obviously a petty, evil person who delights in causing trouble for others and/or is willing to do anything, however ruthless or ill-considered, to secure her own position.

She is taking advantage of a particular feature of the American workplace, which most Dopers would probably agree has its origins in a noble idea but which has gone amok to the point where it can produce situations like the one Skald described.

So what can we conclude about America from Skald's story? Two things:

1) In America, there are some assholes.
2) In America, noble ideas sometimes go astray, occasionally on an epic scale.

The above two sentences are true of just about every country, so if Isamu's view holds, I guess they're all fucked.



Originally Posted by Liberal
Our president is Barack Hussein Obama. Put that in your Canadian pipe and smoke it.
I had to quote that, because it makes me so happy.