# Arrogant Freeloading "Information" Seeking Asshats! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 12, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115 "2009-05-12T00:39:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/361 "2009-05-14T09:18:20Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > NORTHERN PIPER: > > One question. > > Ten Questions. > A thousand Questions. > The number of questions doesn’t change the nature of the request from “information/Knowledge” to “advice” > > And I will never be picking for advice. Counsel. Suggestions. Future predictions. Just…data. Experience. And if I get it, i won’t base any decisions on it. I WILL USE IT TO GET MORE INFORMATION. > > If someone DID sit me down and tell me they saw a situation where X and X happened, it would only mean I have something to GO ON. > I do not understand why this distinction seems so blurry to you. > And I DO UNDERSTAND why you would be uncomfortable being helpful in this way IN CASE the help was misunderstood. Just don’t tell me I AM ACTIVELY AND CURRENTLY MISUNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF MY OWN QUESTIONS. Stoid, a quote often attributed variously to Wilde, Shaw or Churchill is that “Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.” Similarly, lawyers and non-lawyers are frequently divided by a common language. Let me give examples. I am a barrister of some experience. In court, I conduct the case as I see fit. Yet next to me is usually a young clerk or very junior lawyer who is called my “instructing officer”. This does not mean that this young greenhorn “instructs” me like a teacher might, telling me what to do or say. When lawyers talk about “instructions”, they largely mean information from their clients or witnesses. The instructing officer goes and gets information as it is needed. S/he is not my training wheels. If anything, they are learning from me. Similarly, one often finds the word “consideration” used by lawyers, as in the phrase “a contract is not complete unless consideration flows from the offeree”. Now a non-lawyer might think this means the offeree has to show respect, goodwill and attentiveness to the feelings of the other party. Not so - consideration effectively means what the offeree is giving in return for what the offeror is offering (I am compressing here - bear with me). Might be money, goods, or even a counter-promise. But it has nothing to do with “showing consideration” to someone as that expression is used in everyday life. The word “advice” is in the same category of words which seem familiar but have technical meanings that might be foreign to non-lawyers. That is why you _are_ “actively and currently misunderstanding the nature of your own questions.” ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/362 "2009-05-14T12:27:43Z")
This threads really are the gift that keeps on giving. I’m not at all surprised to find that: > [@Stoid](#): > > I am appealing virtually every part of the rulings I’m sure you are, I’m sure you are… I gather that nice Dopers pay sometimes for someone else’s subscription. I’d pay $50 or more to get Stoid’s ex- in here. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/363 "2009-05-14T12:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=Noel Prosequi] Might be money, goods, or even a counter-promise [/QUOTE] Might it be a peppercorn? ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/364 "2009-05-14T13:23:33Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Might it be a peppercorn? You jest but I’ve seen leaseholds with peppercorns as rent. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/365 "2009-05-14T13:27:16Z")
Look, **Stoid** , we get it. Everyone is wrong except you. You are perfect and without sin. Good luck with your appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/366 "2009-05-14T13:55:34Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > You tilt the tray at a 33.3 degree angle and put the spout of the faucet at the higher end in the middle, waiting for the water to trickle down and fill the lower slots, at which point you return the tray to center, tap once to get out bubbles, and carefully place it back in the freezer. Anyone who says any different is a stupid fucking whore who couldn’t make ice at the goddamn fucking North Pole even if Santa his motherfucking self gave her super ice making powers. I hate you! I hate you!! You destroyed my life!!! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/367 "2009-05-14T14:33:22Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I am not attached to whether I was right or wrong, it’s not pertinent to any of my issues. I’d like to know because it’s interesting. Then you’ll be interested to know that you were wrong. This is what you said at 7:26 p.m. yesterday: > [@Stoid](#): > > Oh, and it’s possible that you are unclear on what he was trying to prove, which was that he did in fact say it. His contention was that he said it and I ignored it. The fact is that he never said it, so the “controverted issue” is whether he conveyed his desire that I not pay the bills or he didn’t. According to YOU by YOUR OWN WORDS, “what he was trying to prove” was “that he did in fact say it.” **Thus the issue – according to you yourself – is not whether his statement was _true_, but whether he _made the statement at all._** That’s not hearsay, and it’s not even a hard call as to whether or not it’s hearsay: It’s not. The out-of-court statement is not offered to to prove the truth of the matter asserted in it; the out-of-court statement is offered as in-court evidence (testimony) that the statement was made. And in case you think this stuff is easy and can be adequately handled by any layperson with a good brain and a love of caselaw, allow me to point out that by recasting the issue in the language you did above, you turned a half-decent argument about whether or not it was hearsay, into a concession that it is not. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/368 "2009-05-14T15:16:06Z")
Oooh oooh, can we do the Rule against Perpetuities or the Erie Doctrine next? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/369 "2009-05-14T15:21:38Z")
Mortmain! we haven’t had a good discussion on mortmain for years! ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/370 "2009-05-14T15:28:32Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > So, will you admit that you were wrong about hearsay? I think perhaps in this case, silence implies assent. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/371 "2009-05-14T15:29:34Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Oooh oooh, can we do the Rule against Perpetuities or the Erie Doctrine next? Everybody knows the Erie Doctrine, though: Any NFL team based in a city on the shores of Lake Erie will never win a Super Bowl. Am I right, or what? Pah! ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/372 "2009-05-14T15:42:49Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > My god, it is to weep. > > HE IS THE ONE WHO CREATED THIS. > > I tried to get him to talk to me on 7 separate occasions. EIther silence, or “gimme $200,000” or $300,000. > > I came up with at least four different scenarios after the first trial. His response? "Take awy her medical insurance, evict her and put the business in my hands. " > > The second trial, I said, give him some and me some, even though, in pure accounting terms, it’s all due to me…he said gimme $500,000 for rent, for all the mortgage payments she made FOR me, for all the car payments SHE made FOR me, for all the insurance an cell phone bills of mine that SHE paid FOR me… and make her pay my lawyer. > > Please stop assuming and saying that this thing has gone on like this because of me. I made him an excellent offer that far exceeded the genuine value of his assets, and every single attempt to be reasonable or fair, or even TALK about it came from ME. > > jesus fucking christ, people. I think you misunderstood me. I wasn’t saying anything about who might or might not be at fault. What I was trying to say was that you are an incredibly driven person. From your descriptions, your ex sounds like he was uncooperative, but mostly in a passive agressive way. On the other hand, you have invested a tremendous amount of energy in this process, while he’s off banging the new girl. Now we enter the twilight zone, where Stoid and mirror Stoid are facing off against each other. Imagine that instead of having to work against the system and your stonewalling ex, you had to work against yourself. (In this scenario, your alternate member has a goatee, so you know she is _eeeeeevil_!) Imagine how much harder this all would be if the person on the other end of the suit was willing to fight as hard and relentlessly as you. For the purposes of this hypothetical, both you and mirror-Stoid believe that the other is the one causing all the problems. And then all of a sudden penguins are getting sunburns. Oh, the penguinanity! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/373 "2009-05-14T16:01:19Z")
Anyone for incorporeal heriditaments? Fugacious substances? Riparian rights? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/374 "2009-05-14T16:05:04Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > \Just don’t tell me I AM ACTIVELY AND CURRENTLY MISUNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF MY OWN QUESTIONS. **Stoid** , you pathetic, befuddled nutter, you are being correctly and repeatedly told that you are “actively and currently misunderstanding the nature” of what the answers to your questions would constitute. No matter what, in your mind, you are seeking, the answers would be advice. You are as deluded, maddening and entertaining as anyone I have seen on SDMB since **Scott Plaid** left our midst. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/375 "2009-05-14T16:20:36Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I did not mean lying, I meant hearsay. It was two different comments in two different contexts. Some people seemed to think that I was focusing on it as a genuine part of my case that i intended to argue, and that was wrong. The reason it came to mind is simply because it was a lie that seemed to fit the explanation being put forth in the text. The thing is, it’s super, super hard to follow all of this. Unbelieveably hard. Trying to ferret out and keep track of what’s actually relevant to your case vs. stuff you’re throwing out as examples or analogies…I’ve completely lost track, and I’m guessing most people have. I doubt anyone is getting anything wrong here on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/376 "2009-05-14T16:21:01Z")
It may be a bit late and I believe that Stoid doesn’t want to reveal the facts in the case on a message board - but can I try for a summary? - Stoid and partner own stuff (e.g. a business or property) - they split up - he won’t agree to any offer that Stoid makes to split the stuff - it goes to court - Stoid reckons her ex-partner gives dodgy testimony and the Judge makes mistakes - verdict for ex-partner - Stoid appeals - costs in the case are now so high that all the stuff will have to be sold to pay them ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Wombats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Wombats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Wombats)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/377 "2009-05-14T16:29:59Z")
> [@glee](#): > > It may be a bit late and I believe that Stoid doesn’t want to reveal the facts in the case on a message board - but can I try for a summary? > > - Stoid and partner own stuff (e.g. a business or property) > - they split up > - he won’t agree to any offer that Stoid makes to split the stuff > - it goes to court > - Stoid reckons her ex-partner gives dodgy testimony and the Judge makes mistakes > - verdict for ex-partner > - Stoid appeals > - costs in the case are now so high that all the stuff will have to be sold to pay them Profit? ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/378 "2009-05-14T16:31:37Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I cannot say “Yes, I was wrong” Alas, we know this all too well, **Stoid.** It is sad, because it will ruin you. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/379 "2009-05-14T16:32:31Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Wombats](#): > > Profit? Seems very unlikely at this point, except for the arrogant asshat lawyers. They always profit. ---
**Author:** ![Squooshed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Squooshed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squooshed)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115/380 "2009-05-14T16:44:16Z")
That’s arrogant asshat attorneys. It’s more alliterative that way! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrogant-freeloading-information-seeking-asshats/496115.md?page=20)