# 2015 Housecleaning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 1, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724 "2015-01-01T23:23:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/1 "2015-01-01T23:23:30Z")
Well, it looks like the Game Room situation is going to be addressed, that’s a good start. Can we also put an end to **FX Mastermind** ’s personal blog in the Pit? I’ve been here for 15 years and I’ve never seen a thread like that one be allowed to live. It’s 100% trollery but worse, it’s pure stupidity. He’s now resorting to quoting himself, and often has six or seven consecutive posts. It’s gone on for 16 months and said poster has posted in it over 1200 times. Enough. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/2 "2015-01-02T17:32:06Z")
Busy day yesterday. Sorry for being late to see this. +1. Any point he wanted to make has surely been made by now. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/3 "2015-01-02T18:12:37Z")
Agreed. Certain posters have been told under no certain circumstances is the SDMB to be their personal blog. How **FXM** can get away with it (twice now) I don’t understand. Close it down and nuke any more ersatz blogs that will undoubtedly appear in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/4 "2015-01-02T18:22:49Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Well, it looks like the Game Room situation is going to be addressed, that’s a good start. Can we also put an end to **FX Mastermind** ’s personal blog in the Pit? I’ve been here for 15 years and I’ve never seen a thread like that one be allowed to live. It’s 100% trollery but worse, it’s pure stupidity. He’s now resorting to quoting himself, and often has six or seven consecutive posts. > > It’s gone on for 16 months and said poster has posted in it over 1200 times. > > Enough. If you don’t like a thread you don’t have to open it and read it. You keep reading that thread and it is annoying you. Maybe you could stop reading it and then you’ll stop being annoyed. > [@Lancia](#): > > Certain posters have been told under no certain circumstances is the SDMB to be their personal blog. And certain other posters are allowed to have their personal blog here. Like the pigeon eggs thread that’s been going on for 6 years and 38 pages and 99% of the posts are by **siam sam**. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467835&highlight=pigeon&page=38](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467835&highlight=pigeon&page=38) ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/5 "2015-01-02T19:02:17Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > And certain other posters are allowed to have their personal blog here. Like the pigeon eggs thread that’s been going on for 6 years and 38 pages and 99% of the posts are by **siam sam**. > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467835&highlight=pigeon&page=38](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467835&highlight=pigeon&page=38) I’ve never opened that thread before now, and I’m surprised it is indeed a blog. So. Honest question: How is it posters such as **JohnClay** have been forbidden to start blog-ish threads, while **FXMastermind** and apparently **siam sam** are allowed free reign? What am I missing? And while I’m well aware that threads that hold no interest for me can be suitably ignored, that doesn’t negate the fact that using the SDMB as a blogging platform is generally frowned upon. **FXM** ’s previous blog attempt was shut down, **siam sam** ’s is allowed to live… So I ask again, what am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/6 "2015-01-02T19:17:16Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > So I ask again, what am I missing? This was (sort of) answered in another thread where it was also asked why **JohnClay** wasn’t allowed to “blog” about his issues here, while **Sam’s** egg thread was still allowed. The answer given is: **JohnClay** would often write and talk about things that were far too TMI even for the SDMB. Most of his topics didn’t really break any rules per se, but fell under what I like to call the “Just Not a Good Idea To Make a Thread About” common sense thing. **Siam Sam** , on the other hand, has never made ongoing, blogging-like topics that included sex with his wife and that kind of stuff. Had **JohnClay** made an ongoing topic about other things, like his ongoing efforts to build a house (or something like that, I’m just giving an example), I doubt the thread would have been closed and him told to “stop blogging”. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/7 "2015-01-02T19:35:32Z")
Cool. Now that somewhat extraneous issues have been addressed, what about that “_I pit global warming_” ridiculosity? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/8 "2015-01-02T19:37:10Z")
Holy hell, you’ve got to be kidding me. Well, you don’t _have_ to be kidding me; it’s your prerogative and all, but still. I generally subscribe to the ‘don’t open it if you’re not interested’ camp, so never re-opened those threads for a few reasons. So I always figured there was a thriving set of pigeon fans or maybe a diehard group dedicated to answering the ‘Where are all the Baby Pigeon’ question from way back. And although I work in climate change policy, I never got past the first few questionable posts in the GW thread but figured GIGObuster and a lot of others were actively debating various bits of nonsense that arose. But no, holy pigeon no. Sam made 1,200 of the pigeon thread’s 1,900 posts. That’s a hell of a lot higher than Fx’s 1,300 in a 3,500 thread, but still–welcome to the Straight Dope Message Blog. Any other Board blogs out there? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/9 "2015-01-02T20:13:34Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > This was (sort of) answered in another thread where it was also asked why **JohnClay** wasn’t allowed to “blog” about his issues here, while **Sam’s** egg thread was still allowed. > The answer given is: **JohnClay** would often write and talk about things that were far too TMI even for the SDMB. Most of his topics didn’t really break any rules per se, but fell under what I like to call the “Just Not a Good Idea To Make a Thread About” common sense thing. > **Siam Sam** , on the other hand, has never made ongoing, blogging-like topics that included sex with his wife and that kind of stuff. > > Had **JohnClay** made an ongoing topic about other things, like his ongoing efforts to build a house (or something like that, I’m just giving an example), I doubt the thread would have been closed and him told to “stop blogging”. In addition to this, the Pigeon Egg thread is just one very long thread. If Sam started a new Egg thread every week, there would probably be a problem. JohnClay might have gotten away with it if all of his personal life posts were confined to one single thread. I am vaguely aware of the Pigeon Egg thread and didn’t know that the other one existed. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/10 "2015-01-02T20:20:13Z")
Fact is, **FXM** would have given up long ago if some of us didn’t keep egging him on. He knows that sooner or later, someone will feed him. Since that someone has often been me, I guess I could apologize. But I don’t see the harm it, frankly. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/11 "2015-01-02T23:14:07Z")
I’m not going to say there’s any _harm_ - clearly there’s not. There is, however, [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=650726) : > [@](#): > > The board is not intended to furnish you with a forum for promoting your personal agenda. We reserve the right to ask you to limit postings on a particular topic, or to refrain from posting on such topics altogether. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/12 "2015-01-03T00:28:15Z")
I completely missed his original GD debacle…how did TPTB tell him to modify his behavior? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/13 "2015-01-03T00:36:43Z")
As the mod chiefly responsible for not closing that thread, the main reason is that every time I go in there, there’s at least half a dozen people actively engaging him. I’m not sure _why_ they’re still engaging him, but if they’re having fun with it, I don’t see much point in stopping them. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/14 "2015-01-03T01:09:11Z")
Thanks for responding, **Miller**. I appreciate and value your view on the matter. I will just say that if what **FXMastermind** is doing in that thread is _not_ promoting his personal agenda, then I suggest that the two sentences I quoted above have no meaning and should perhaps be excised from the Registration Agreement. Just kidding!! Of course they have meaning. I really don’t see why they are not applicable here. 16 months. The same stuff over and over and over again. Is there ever a point where it is decided that enough is enough? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/15 "2015-01-03T01:53:42Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > If you don’t like a thread you don’t have to open it and read it. You keep reading that thread and it is annoying you. Maybe you could stop reading it and then you’ll stop being annoyed. > > And certain other posters are allowed to have their personal blog here. Like the pigeon eggs thread that’s been going on for 6 years and 38 pages and 99% of the posts are by **siam sam**. > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467835&highlight=pigeon&page=38](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467835&highlight=pigeon&page=38) I don’t actually read it. I’ve posted in it exactly once, and that was to tell people to stop feeding the troll. I’m just tired of seeing it pop up day after day and it seems to be at odds with what this message boards mission. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/16 "2015-01-03T10:19:42Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Thanks for responding, **Miller**. I appreciate and value your view on the matter. I will just say that if what **FXMastermind** is doing in that thread is _not_ promoting his personal agenda, then I suggest that the two sentences I quoted above have no meaning and should perhaps be excised from the Registration Agreement. > > Just kidding!! Of course they have meaning. I really don’t see why they are not applicable here. 16 months. The same stuff over and over and over again. Is there ever a point where it is decided that enough is enough? Sure, **FX** is promoting a personal agenda with that thread. That’s not necessarily against board rules. Every time I post in a thread about gay rights, I’m promoting a personal agenda. Every time **GIGObuster** posts about how global warming is a real danger, he’s promoting a personal agenda. Or **ITRchampion** on Obamacare, or **PJen** on Scottish independence. The question is, at what point does pursuing a personal agenda become a problem for the board in general? Posting repeatedly to a single thread does not, in my estimation, present a problem to the board at large. If **FX** were posting multiple threads a week on the same subject, or had a habit of injectjng his opinions on climate change into every thread he participated in, regardless of subject, then that rule would come into play. If he’s keeping it all in that one ridiculous Pit Thread, then as long as people are willing to engage him, I don’t see a good reason to shut it down. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/17 "2015-01-03T12:47:36Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Fact is, **FXM** would have given up long ago if some of us didn’t keep egging him on. Pigeon egging? Seriously, move the FXM thread to the Mundane Pontless forum and Twix will have it shut down by the end of the weekend. Problem solved! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/18 "2015-01-03T12:53:17Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > As the mod chiefly responsible for not closing that thread, the main reason is that every time I go in there, there’s at least half a dozen people actively engaging him. I’m not sure _why_ they’re still engaging him, but if they’re having fun with it, I don’t see much point in stopping them. Excellent point and excellent mod decision. As an aside, I would like to see the part I highlighted in red become official SDMB policy. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/19 "2015-01-03T16:20:03Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > If you don’t like a thread you don’t have to open it and read it. You keep reading that thread and it is annoying you. Maybe you could stop reading it and then you’ll stop being annoyed. So simple, direct, blindingly clear. And applies to roughly 97percent of the things people gripe about around here. Never ceases to blow my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724/20 "2015-01-03T16:21:14Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Excellent point and excellent mod decision. > > As an aside, I would like to see the part I highlighted in red become official SDMB policy. Oh please please please can we? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2015-housecleaning/708724.md?page=2)