Sorry, but when you dump the type of hyperbolic garbage you did in post #9, don’t expect to not be called out on it.
Point is, sometimes supporting Ed goes beyond changing your location field – sometimes it’s about not acting like an ass in his name. If you want people to believe the motives I assigned to you are actually false, then try finding the high road.
Wow, I was wondering how long it would take before someone would be so desperate as to try to use my location field against me. How old are you? 15?
So…in other words, you deliberately assign false motives to me, and it’s my job to disprove it? That’s some old-school intellectual dishonesty you got going there.
Don’t you talk to me about any “high road” - I didn’t hear a peep out of you about any “high road” when people were flaming the SDMB Staff and Ed on here. That could be an oversight; I am quite busy after all. Why don’t you link me in your very next post to where you take that “high road” and castigated people for their flaming of the SDMB Staff?
I don’t want to speak for Una, but maybe she is expressing a little frustration that now every little action or inaction is met with snark.
It’s getting a little tedious. Before **An Arky’s **apology, I certainly would have thought that too about this thread.
I have rarely seen a post by Una that is not calm and well-reasoned.
Una, please feel free to correct me if I have the wrong perspective. I promise not to pit you or call you a cunt :D.
I also wouldn’t mind the thread being re-opened as long as we don’t cross into illegal territory.
My brother had a situation in Argentina where he was accused of buying his baby. His take was that the official wanted a bribe. It became weirder after his nanny disappeared when he wanted her to make a statement.
It was very interesting to hear of other cultures where bribery is open and accepted.
And then on preview, I see RNATB’s post, a little more succinct than mine.
Don’t sweat it, RNATB – this is my last word on this.
Una, the past few weeks have been frustrating for all of us. I’m just saying that not every complaint that comes down the pipe is going to be related to what’s been happening here. Scissorjack’s actions in the other thread were indefensible, obnoxious, and uncalled for. They’re also completely unrelated to this topic, and trying to make a connection just gives more ammo to the naysayers.
I’ll also apologize for the “While you might have gotten a nice thrill out of bashing the userbase…” and “…it’s likely you’re long past caring” bits. Those are the kinds of things we could use a lot less of around here.
You’re absolutely correct. This thread, read immediately after seeing Ed called a cunt and insulted again, was a tipping point for me. There was nothing so egregious in here itself that set me off.
I’ve sat quietly for weeks on this issue as it’s played out, and just been really disappointed in what I’ve read from some. I understand completely that people were upset at Rules enforcement or about the new Rules that Ed tried to put into place. There were many people who wrote very good posts expressing themselves well who made good, logical objections and rebuttals to the new Rules.
And there were also several people who used this as an opportunity to just be a fucking snarkapotamus and flame and demean the SDMB Staff and Ed every chance they got. Some were blatant, others more subtle. Some have been doing it for years on here, complaining about the SDMB every chance they get, but like some punch-drunk palooka still returning to the ring to…well, I don’t honestly know why.
I know Ed. Ed does care about this board. He does care that people post here. He does want this to be a good place that people enjoy coming to and that they find it to be something that makes their lives better. If Ed made changes to the board it was because he thought that overall it would make it a better place. OK, so he’s re-thought some things. And it took a while. But the same people who were bitching about Ed doing things “capriciously” or “haphazardly” also wanted action, now, now, now. You just have to believe me, Ed is a good guy and whether anyone agrees with the methods, deployment, or whatever, he did not want to make this a worse place, he did not want to send people away, and he did not want to make people unhappy. Dispute, discussion, and even protest is good and healthy, but so much of what I’ve been seeing is just snark, or a mix of the two.
I’m sorry, guys, for yelling in here. I just really got fed up with the weeks of snark and attacks on the SDMB Staff and Ed. I am honestly sorry.
Hal, I understand. Like I said to The Surb, it was just things hitting a tipping point. I like the SDMB Staff and Ed very much, even if I sometimes do not agree with policy decisions and Rules, and the non-stop flow of negativity and insults and such heaped on the Staff here just…made me blow a gasket. I’m sorry, honestly, I apologize for losing my cool.
I’m going to let anyone I yelled at have the last word, and not respond in here. I do this not out of disrespect for their position, but because I feel like I’ve got something off my breast and don’t really want to fight with the people in here, not one of whom is someone I dislike.
Try to consider how it looks from the other side. We can be flamed and insulted and snarked at just as readily as Ed or any other SDMB staff member can be. But we’re also subject to arbitrary bannings, deletions, and rules changes over which we have no control. Take all the frustration and anger you experience and add powerlessness to it. If it seems petty to you when we whine and start up other boards in protest, keep in mind that’s all we can do - we have no other avenue to register our unhappiness.
I think this is it. I have absolutely no doubt that in real life Ed is one of the nicest people around. But on this board, when I started here he was nowhere to be seen. Recently he appeared, making rules that were unpopular, and responding to reasonable complaints by literally telling people to go away if they didn’t like it. So the only impression that could be made, based on his posts - because that’s all we have - was not very positive. Because he seemed to be completely intransigent, people who objected to his rulings and responses became frustrated, and eventually left to start other boards. Ed may be adjusting his approach, but there’s a lot of ground to be made up, and it will take time. I still think an all inclusive statement from him would be beneficial.
You know I have to respond to this, and you’re not someone I yelled at previously so I guess I can…
All your concerns about “arbitrary bannings, deletions, and rules changes over which we have no control.”, as well as “powerlessness” have been there since Day 1 when you first signed up. Those concerns were there on the AOL Board. Anyone could be subject to those things, at any time, if they were happening.
How many people have been arbitrarily banned for violating Ed’s new Rules? Anyone? And I don’t mean “suicide by Mod”, nor do I mean Baldwin’s suspension for posting links even though he was specifically asked not to by Moderators (and he denied doing it, until SkipMagic proved he was lying). There’s a bit of smoke, but where’s the fire?
And I never once said it seemed or was petty. See above, where I said: “I understand completely that people were upset at Rules enforcement or about the new Rules that Ed tried to put into place. There were many people who wrote very good posts expressing themselves well who made good, logical objections and rebuttals to the new Rules.” What in that text makes it sound like it seemed petty to me?
The daily bitchy snark on Ed and the SDMB Staff is what has to end and it’s what set me off. People need to either:
Accept the Rules,
Not accept the Rules, and protest reasonably against the Rules without picking on and flaming the Staff, or
Exactly. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Those are the only options we have. I understand this and I accept it. I’m sure if I were in Ed’s position, I’d be doing the same kind of things he’s doing and many people would be complaining about me. All I was trying to do with my posts here is explain how things look from down here in response to your posts that seemed to boil down to “Why are the peasants revolting? Don’t they appreciate all that the King has done for them?”
Well, I did admit that I blew a gasket from overload of snark, and apologized. But I never said in effect “Don’t they appreciate all that the King has done for them?” but rather in effect “I’m tired of some of them throwing flaming pigshit at the King.”
Because the logic you used in closing that thread suggests that ANY post in which a person admits to prior illegal activity would (or should) be unacceptable.
Did I ever tell you about that time I murdered the illegal immigrant hooker using an illegal firearm while doing a line of coke within 1000 feet of a school… and failed to declare any of that activity on my tax return?