On another thread on the Pit, modertor Giraffe has just implied that I am lying when I say I have been to see a lot of doctors about a certain condition. Since this thread has become a sterile shouting match and since it is bootless to argue with people who accuse you of lying to them, I refuse to go back to that thread. But are there any rules that would limit the right of a Mod to imply that I am a liar?
Also, it has been suggested that I am about to be banned from SDMB for some reason (I thought controversy was the lifeblood of the PIT).
So I am wondering if SD refunds part or all of the membership fee when they kick you off? My guess is that both questions are to be answered in the negative.
Yes, Mods (and anyone else) are allowed to call you a liar. We’re also allowed to call you an idiot, a nutjob and (within the confines of the Pit) a troll.
No, you get not partial refunds if your antics get you banned.
Moderators are also members of the board, and often interact with the rest of us lowlifes. In that capacity, and within the proper forum, they can call you whatever they like. You’ll find that when they are acting as moderators, they will often use the phrase “Moderator hat on”. It generally means that they are stepping outside their role as a member, and enforcing a board rule, or making an announcement, or just generally lording it over the rest of us. They can also call you whatever they like.
You will want to check out the “About This Message Board” forum. Lots o’ answers there.
Also, if a mod has warned you of imminent bannination, you probably deserved it. Take a break.
He said he didn’t believe you. Pretty mild for the Pit, actually. As far as I can tell, he was posting as a member, and not a modrator. Mods will make it clear when what they are saying is Official Business.
If you have not been warned by a mod you are not about to be banned. What does “it has been suggested” mean?
Sorry, Eliza, but I am not smart enough to know how it create links. I am referring to the last posting by Giraffe in the Pit Thread “Why is suicide a forbidden topic…”
When I was born, “computer” was defined in the dictionary as “One who computes trajectories in the military”. So it is a wonder I can use a computer at all.
However, as Otto has made it clear in his posting, they are free to call me a liar and kick me off without a refund.
So I will just end all participation in this thread as well and go post in one of the threads concerning freedom of speech :rolleyes:
Surely you’re aware that “freedom of speech” as it is commonly understood (which is unfortunately not well at all) refers to the government, and not private message boards?
The issue seems to have been that in the older thread, Valteron expressed his consideration of suicide from a very personal experience rather than expressing it as a point of philosophical expression. It was closed because the SDMB does not encourgae the sort of suicide threads in which idiots will post merely to shout “Jump! Jump!” Vatlteron then opened the second thread, here in the Pit (as is his right), but oddly missed every single point that was expressed to him by any staff member, continuing to harp on perceived liability issues for the Chicago Reader and litigious American society and getting rather hostile with every poster who did not shout “Jump!” (which is certainly his right, but somewhat misses the point of a thread if one does not actually read the responses for comprehension).
Now, after several hostile replies by Valteron, two Mods replied with a certain amount of hostility to him. It’s the Pit and they have that option, as well.
No one has threatened to ban him, however. There were two jokes by non-staff memebrs about “suicide by Mod” that were triggered by Valteron’s insistence that he was abandoning the thread and subsequent return to make one final point a couple of times. There was one other comment by a non-staff memebr suggesting that his hostility and failure to read the actual posts by the staff memebrs might have been an example of trolling, an action for which one may be banned.
At this point, no staff member has threatened Valteron with any sanctions. No Mod has issued a Warning. He is not under any threat of banishment that I can see–short of a truly marvelous meltdown.
Regarding the other question, near the bottom of the Subscription Agreement is the very clear sentence
Given that Valteron appears to be more in danger of banning in his mind than in the minds of the staff, I would treat that question as a hypothetical–much like a theoretical, not personal, discussion of suicide.
Giraffe said he didn’t believe me. So he believes my statement is a mistruth. Let us look at the logic of this.
A lie is defined as the act of willfully expressing a mistruth. "Willfully is an important element of the *mens rea * here… If I say something untrue that I sincerely believe to be true, I am not lying, I am mistaken.
If Giraffe believes my statement is a mistruth, then he must either believe I made a false statement willingly or unwillingly, correct?
If he believes I made a false statement willingly, he is in fact calling me a liar.
If he believes I made a false statement when I said I had seen lots of doctors, but does NOT believe I uttered this “fasehood” willingly, then he either believes a) somone was holding a gun to my head and making me type that untruth, or b) that I am delusional and have memories of seeing lots of doctors when I in gact did not see any.
Which of these three options do you suppose he meant, contrapuntal?
Valteron, even if he meant you willfully lied, saying he didn’t believe is still pretty mild for the pit. He could have called you shit-spewing lying vole-molesting snatchnugget, or something like that.
FYI, I’m not calling you any of that stuff either, I haven’t read the thread in question, I’m just pointing out that’s likely what was meant when you were told those comments were mild for the pit.
Valteron, seriously, you’re overreacting. You received some very calm, reasoned replies in that thread, including the ones from the mods, and then you jumped the shit. If I’d read the thread earlier, I probably would have suggested that you see a doctor/psychiatrist based upon your reactions as well.
Oh hell, y’all need to grow a pair. Attention Valteron: ahem LYING LIAR OF LIES!!! YOU LIE LIKE A RUG! YOU LIE LIKE A BAD HAIRPIECE! YOU LIE LIKE BILL CLINTON IN FRONT OF A GRAND JURY! YOU LIE LIKE O.J.! LLLLLLIIIAAAAAR!!
I remember, when I was a kid, a bunch of illiterate goons that used to hassle me in the schoolyard if they heard my friends and me using words that sounded a little too educated by their standards. If we said something like “automatically” or “assume” they would prance around like excited simians mocking us, repeating the word and rolling their eyes. There was also the implication that we were all “fruits” because we did not have moron vocabulary levels. It bothered me until my father explained that they were idiots who felt threatened because they instinctively knew that their careers would involve vocabulary like “Fries with that, sir?”.
Just because I use the word “bootless” does not automatically imply that I used it to impress you. In fact, if you work a little at your literacy levels and vocabulary, you will no doubt find that words like that, while not exactly used on a daily basis, are perfectly legitimate when used in their proper context. The delusion that people are using them to impress you will fade away.
Valteron, I normally avoid mod-query threads like this, however, for my own reasons I have a keen interest in the suicide phenomenon. I sense that you have some valuable insight to share, and I would like to hear more. But, and I mean this in the best possible way, you need to try and calm the fuck down.
I want to hear your message, but it is getting drowned out by a lot of anger. I think your anger is misdirected.
