# Ed, WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650 "2009-01-23T15:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/61 "2009-01-24T16:37:48Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I sort of understand where Ed is coming from. Without any context, just looking at the phrase “I will mop the floor with your ass” was/is? a common threat on the schoolyard when you were threatening to beat someone up. There’s no excuse for giving a warning _without_ examining the context. Ed Zotti banned me once for asking a question he didn’t like. Pussy move. The warning to Sapo (who is, to be fair, kind of an asshole) was another. ETA: No criticism of Ed Zotti is implied, nor should be inferred, from the phrase “pussy move”. And it’s definitely not a threat. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/62 "2009-01-24T17:08:08Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Why does it have to be one or the other? I didn’t say he threatened to kill **Colibri**. I said it was a dick move because that’s what it was. It was not a “dick” move, it was a funny move and Colibri, being of average intelligence, understood it. And even if we accept, solely for the sake of argument, that it could be interpreted as a dick move by someone under the influence of mental retardation, it is still not a “threat”. Now, if the reader is in his early teens, English is not his first language and was suffering a dandruff episode at the time… that might explain something… ever so slightly. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/63 "2009-01-24T18:40:55Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But the question for this thread is not whether it was a “dick move.” I’m aware. But Ed’s already explained why he gave the warning, and I think Sapo’s other comments in that thread also merit consideration. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/64 "2009-01-25T04:32:48Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > For the record, my dislike for Colibri is mostly for show, … For show? For what purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/65 "2009-01-25T12:03:38Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > For show? For what purpose? Well, we do bump heads once in a while and “no u” gets boring after a while. One needs to spice it up to keep the relationship going. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/66 "2009-01-25T13:57:51Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > For show? For what purpose? Show. Come on, now, that was an easy one. Hostile Dialect, Hostile Dialect, Narcissist ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/67 "2009-01-25T17:02:02Z")
Ed’s clearly been off his meds for a while. Or his brain chemistry has changed and his meds haven’t been changed along with it. So Ed is sick and grumpy and lashing out at people. Everybody, lower your voices and walk softly. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/68 "2009-01-25T17:37:58Z")
**Ed** … buddy… pal… I mean it in the least offensive way when I say that you’re really not very good at the whole Moderating thing. Some people just aren’t. You have a highly analytical mind–frequently to the point of over-analysis–and that is a good thing for certain tasks, tasks which have made Cecil a legend. But it’s not good a good trait for board moderation. But you wear the biggest boots so nobody can tell you to just cool out, already. So I’ll tell you–just cool out, already. Now, you don’t have to listen to me; that’s up to you. But… there were no threats, just as there was no hate speech, just as the bannings were (at worst) suspenison material. Maybe you should do what you do best and leave the Moderating to the professionals. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/69 "2009-01-25T18:07:33Z")
> [@SoulFrost](#): > > Maybe you should do what you do best and leave the Moderating to the professionals. Aren’t they technically skilled amateurs? I don’t think the coffee mug disqualifies them from amateur competition. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/70 "2009-01-25T18:55:18Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Aren’t they technically skilled amateurs? > I don’t think the coffee mug disqualifies them from amateur competition. Their performance in general, however, does. I have complained before and often about the moderation here, but frankly, they get it right more often than not. But what we are seeing here seems to be part of the new American business model. An organization is in troble, and let’s face it, Creative laofing, and through it SDMB is in trouble. So the boss mosseys in and looks around and sees something that works, say, The BBQ Pit, and for all its faults, it used to work. Then the boss decides that he might learn from some part of the business that is working and gets involved. This is where stuff makes a turn for the worse. You see, he’s the boss, and rather than learn, he starts to remake it, refine it. Even though it’s one of the areas that is working, that bossman, he knows how to fix it. So, just like some place where you’d get a guy in a suit showing the loading dock how to stack pallets, here we have Ed Zotti remaking the Pit in his own image. We have had more contradictions, staff meetings, and clarifications that only served to muddy things up since Ed got involved than we had in the rest on my tenure here. Sadly, it seems to be getting worse. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/71 "2009-01-25T20:50:01Z")
Yeah, sort of a “fix it 'til it breaks” scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/72 "2009-01-25T22:07:07Z")
This is a post. I really like seeing my own name. Hostile Dialect, Hostile Dialect, Narcissist ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/73 "2009-01-26T02:06:48Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > \ > So Ed is sick and grumpy and lashing out at people. Everybody, lower your voices and walk softly. That’s pretty much what we’ve been doing for quite a while now. ☹ zuig het, verliezers featherlou ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/74 "2009-01-26T02:15:36Z")
… and it’s called “talking back”? Aha! NOW the dime drops. So if we get dissed, we cannot answer unless we go to the PIT, is that right? Even if a pitting isn’t really warranted? Is this right? Q ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/75 "2009-01-26T12:23:53Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > That’s pretty much what we’ve been doing for quite a while now. ☹ > > zuig het, verliezers > featherlou Yeah, well, the disease is chronic. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/76 "2009-01-26T13:34:31Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > … and it’s called “talking back”? > > Aha! NOW the dime drops. > > So if we get dissed, we cannot answer unless we go to the PIT, is that right? > > Even if a pitting isn’t really warranted? > > Is this right? > > Q It is part of the latest shitstorm. If you are modded in the Pit and you want to grill the mod for it, you cannot do it in the thread where you were modded. You need to start your own thread. It actually makes some sense, except that it results in this kind of lame threads that are some sort of a two-click rule for talking back to the mods. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/77 "2009-01-26T18:32:13Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > It is part of the latest shitstorm. If you are modded in the Pit and you want to grill the mod for it, you cannot do it in the thread where you were modded. You need to start your own thread. It actually makes some sense, except that it results in this kind of lame threads that are some sort of a two-click rule for talking back to the mods. No, you see it makes _perfect_ sense, in that a minor kerfuffle over a mod action in a thread, instead of having better than good chance of just getting resolved quickly and simply with a bit of discussion instead gets moved to center stage in its own thread with a specific title pointing directly to the conflict which, of course, will then be totally ignored by the community. Yup, no way that’s gonna increase the level of perceived conflict between members and staff! Pure genius, I tell’s ya. Oops, forgot SmartAleq ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/78 "2009-01-27T14:42:47Z")
So, any official word on the ill-conceived warning, or is the staff still out selling apples trying to come up with paper clip money? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/79 "2009-01-27T18:05:21Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > So, any official word on the ill-conceived warning, or is the staff still out selling apples trying to come up with paper clip money? _crickets_ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650/80 "2009-01-27T19:26:10Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > _crickets_ Well, at least _something_ is making the appropriate noises. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-wtf/482650.md?page=5)