Libertarian, with all due respect, to even hint at, let alone suggest outright, that the threads we post at the Straight Dope are the reason her resumes have been round-filed, is highly offensive, as it preculdes the possibility that prospective employers have ruled her out for a thousand other reasons, such as; her experience as it relates to the position she’s seeking, her level of education compared to what they require, the certifications she may or may not possess, the fact that they don’t like the font she chose. Or, it’s even possible that they see a candidate not abiding by the rules her superiors in her current position have charged her with the responsibility to uphold in others, and rule her out as a candidate based on that.
But no, it’s our fault.
Thanks, but I refuse to accept that responsibility.
P.S., IJGrieve, that remark was directed at Libertarian, not to Tuba Diva, since it was his command that if we don’t like what’s happening here, instead of voicing our concerns/objections, we should go away. I merely suggested the same applies to him. Sorry if there was any confusion on that point.
I don’t think she’s saying it’s THE reason. It’s possibly a reason. In fact, it isn’t even a main reason. She just wants a decent place that isn’t neck deep in infantile doo-doo posts. What’s wrong with that?
Scotticher, of course I and hopefully the vast majority of the other posters are aware that mods are human and have their off-days and inconsistencies like everyone else on the planet. Just about every mod has closed a thread with a flip comment in their time, and I can’t say I’ve never been at the wrong end of it.
However, posting in this thread in defence of Scylla’s, is hopefully, an indication to the Great SDMB Mod Congress, or whatever, that we’d rather not be nannied, and that the board should rather, within the law, reflect the full range of life’s experiences as it always has done.
P.P.S Shayna, sorry about the misunderstanding. The two paragraphs above dealt with Tuba so I thought the final remark did as well.
Oh for the sake of all that’s even moderately holy… Libertarian, here’s a useful piece of advice that might help you in the future. Just because you shove a stick up your ass and jump in the freezer doesn’t make you a popsicle. By the same token, complaining that you’re being piled on because of an unpopular opinion, doesn’t make it true. Has the possibility even crossed your mind that a lot of people are taking you to task, not because of diametrically opposed ideologies, but because you’re being an asshole? Or are you too in love with your own rectitude and obvious righteousness to even consider that you might have stepped over the line?
Lib you and I don’t have any history of animosity (to the best of my recall), and IIRC, have even had some ‘nice’ moments from time to time. In addition, I’ve not participated much in this whole gig (either thread), but what I have posted, was in support of the mods, specifically Tuba, so maybe, just maybe, you’ll see my voice as one of semi-objectiveness.
There is no pile on on Tuba going on. There’s been some respectful disagreements w/her actions, some genuine concerns about the implied policies, some harsh words, some strong praise and many thanks for a job generally well done. Hardly a pile on of any nature. The fact that out of four pages, you only found one or two posts that could be seen as calling for her to re-think her position here should demonstrate that it **isn’t ** a pile on.
Neither is it a pile- on for you - unless you count as a pile on, people disagreeing with you. Some are getting stronger in their criticalness and harshness, but again, disagreeing with your position is not necessarily a pile-on.
I strongly recommend that you step away from this thread. You are an exceptionally loyal person, and it seems to pain you to the extreme when people to whom you’ve given your loyalty, are criticized. But I feel in this instance that your strong feelings for Tuba are leading you to a ‘can’t win/back down’ type of position. You’ve made your point. Adults can disagree with each other w/o it being a total nullification of their being.
Shayna–I thought the “go away” remark was directed at Tuba also… Maybe you should ask for an edit. (I would have emailed you privately to tell you this, but your email’s not listed.)
(Geez, a moral dilemma! Let this ridiculous untruth stand, and deny my own need to challenge falsehoods? Or call him on it and increase his sense that he’s being piled on? Well, since he obviously has a weird masochistic martyr complex going on, I guess the former would be best. That way, both of our kinks are satisfied. So…)
Bacchus’ bulbous ballsack, Lib! What does the fact that you’re part Indian have to do with anything? Just “playing the race card” for sympathy? Implying that people here are disagreeing with you because they are prejudiced against “Injuns” is pretty darn offensive, IMO.
I know Jesus is your best friend and all, but that cross is really only meant for one, so get off it, okay?
You know, I hate seeing a thread as (IMHO) important as this one get hijacked in this way. Taking pot shots at one another, arguing word choice, and redirecting attention to the self-righteous obstinance of a couple of posters does not do this situation any good.
I remain awaiting “official word” on this matter, and agree with Larry Mudd that it’s likely just a matter of awaiting administrative consensus (I hope).
Christ Libertarian! WTF? are you sleeping with Tuba or something? Are you her Shining Knight? Does it not occur to you that people honestly criticising and asking for answers does not constitute a Big Nasty Attack and you don’t need to rescue her? She isn’t some fainting damsel, in case you hadn’t noticed.
Ummm, yeah, Lib, get off the cross; some of us want to use the mesquite for steaks.
This post is in no way meant to impugn the beliefs or symbols of Christianity. Rather, it is merely a reference to the concept of the martyr, which role Lib is playing like Judy Garland at a gay dinner theatre.
Yes! Ultress, I apologize for painting the content you have a problem with with too broad a brush. But the above is a perfect summary of my problem with what you had to say.
Looks from this end that the complaints (in general) aren’t as much about actions as they are consistency and tone.
Which is probably a gigantic “duh.”
I am still trying to figure out why Libertarian has become so shrill…unless it’s merely an effort to redirect the vitriol he thinks would normally be heading at top speed torward TubaDiva.
Fortunately, I’m not friends with any of the principals. This entire thread takes on an almost satirical feel when you don’t have an emotional investment.
Certainly nobody here thinks a moderator must be flawless, the ultimate in objective perfection. Many of the posters in this thread have said, before TubaDiva posted to it, something along the lines of, “Yeah, maybe she shouldn’t have closed the thread, but she’s human, maybe she had a bad day.”
I think there are two reasons many people have been criticising her reasoning. One is that she never addressed the snide remark she made to Scylla upon the closing of his thread. It seems many people were more upset by that remark than by the actual closing of the thread or the implication of unwritten board policies.
Second is that it doesn’t seem fair to the posters on this board that a moderator’s decisions are influenced by the moderator’s personal issues, be they a prospective job offer, an emotional conflict with the subject matter, or any other personal matter. Perhaps Scylla might have thought twice about posting that thread at all if he’d known that TubaDiva was citing this message board on her resume, perhaps not. But we’ll never know because there was no way for Scylla or any of us to know that these things were happening. It’s not fair to be judged against a standard we know nothing about, in fact that we didn’t even know existed.
Furthermore, Scotticher, I think some posters might have been more forgiving of TubaDiva’s reasoning if she had included in her post that she did consider the closing of that thread a mistake. If her words had been, “Perhaps I am being more judgemental; it was a mistake to close that thread and take that shot at Scylla. I apologise,” I doubt there would be such an uproar.
As it stands, however, there was no apology and no admission of error.
I’ve lurked here for a long time, and I’ve been to many other boards in my short little internet ‘career’, and I’ve never considered it a blemish upon a moderator if the posters to a board were posting disgusting, sexual or scatological (is that the word I’m looking for?) material. I know that it’s not a moderator’s job to filter out content before it’s even posted. It can’t be. There’s no apparent rule in the FAQ or anywhere else (until that long-ago thread in ATMB showed up recently) that states that detailed posts of a gross nature are disallowed; there would be no reason for a potential employer to assume that TubaDiva is incompetent in her duties due to this material’s presence, because there is no written rule that states this material is contraband.
Personally I think the mods here do a fantastic job. There’s so many posters and only so much time in a day, after all. I don’t think one disfavourable episode out of probably 10,000 moderator actions really means TubaDiva is an incompetent moderator. She’s obviously good if she’s been able to put up with her duties and the massive time investments for such a long time. I don’t think anyone here is even saying that this episode makes her a “bad moderator”. All I’d like to see, personally, is a specific guideline the moderators wish us to follow, and the reassurance that moderator decisions are not going to be consistently based upon personal issues we have no way of knowing about nor understanding.
Good luck on your job hunt, TubaDiva. It’s a tough market out there, and I’m sure that had far more to do with any of your difficulties than anything else, the SDMB most definitely included.