Engineer comp geek: please reconsider your warning in the WWI thread

It takes serious balls, upon learning that someone else has made a complaint on your behalf, and your warning rescinded because of it, to then demand that not only should the warning be rescinded (which completely nullfies it), but also expunged entirely from your record. Wow Leo! Respect.

Leo, it wasn’t an “illegal arrest.” At least in my opinion, it was a warnable offense. The “but I was only joking (or being sarcastic)” defense doesn’t necessarily get you off the hook. We know you didn’t mean it at face value, but it’s still the kind of remark we don’t want people making because other posters may take it that way - and derail a thread in taking exception to it. As has been said, no one can see the (rescinded) infraction in your profile except you and the mods.

Leo, too often you post the first thing that pops into your head without considering how others may take it. In the future, please consider carefully what you post to avoid other incidents of this kind.

Colibri, everyone knows that “other posters” covers a lot of territory, and that being on tenterhooks for any and all interpretations is a mug’s game.

Let me say that I never thought I would be writing this kind of post to [del]Pent[/del] ATMB. And I refrained completely up till now in writing the first thing that popped into my head as a response to the original warning, replete with sarcastic statements I believed were equally obvious, littered with “/sarcasm” comments.

But here I am. This post and drift in their larger sense is old news.

Who’s the derailer? Yes, one poster afterwards didn’t let me off the hook.

But I might add that another poster, dutifully responded to fight ignorance and analyzed my assessment of the religion/race of obscure 19th-century armament manufacturers. Why is he not warned for his obvious mockery of Mormons via his not-too-subtle emoticon?

In fact, I believe your post triggered trauma I have suffered in relation to anti-Semitism and my efforts in dealing with the PTSD, which I may point out has been declared off-limits in licensed institutions of higher learning such as Dartmouth, the likes of which GQ can only aspire to.

/sarcasm

/popped into my head, but I did consider how others might take it.

I appreciate the advice and the spirit in which it is given. I also appreciate that what is given and taken as friendly advice here is a copy-paste of what I took as a cordial private note from years ago to a newbie. I’m of mixed feelings. You are interested enough to be aware and remember an early impression I, a poster among thousands, made on you–perhaps even unconsciously recalling it with the exact words, perhaps writing it with a disappointed “some-people-never-learn.” Or, by by posting it again, have de-natured it somehow, and I was wrong to take it that way to begin with.

This clearly enters into weird areas of professional and personal interest, so I’ll quit when I think I’m ahead.

I remember being at the dinner table as a kid and my Mom correcting me for slurping loudly, even though I was innocent and said so vehemently. Later she told me she intended my father to hear it. So I’ll take this is that, but this time I did slurp.

FTR, as of a just received text: Spending time and carefully considering and reconsidering how to best word the first thing that popped into my head when I saw Colibri’s post, I didn’t notice how much time had elapsed and I now have missed my expensive shrink appointment, where, no doubt, I would have discussed how I sometimes get fixated on the first thing that pops into my head, and how that is made manifest in my behaviors and if so, when and how other people I am not aware of may notice it and how they might take it.

Leo, stop digging.

Wow, just wow.

I think you’re talking about this post by dropzone, right? If so, I didn’t see any mockery or emoticons regarding Mormons, but there was a “shocked” emoticon after the word “Freemason.” Is that what you were thinking of?

Regarding the infraction: it sounds like receiving a warning for perceived anti-Semitic remarks, and the reminder of it on your account (even if it does say “rescinded” now), was/is very upsetting for you. But does it show up anywhere normally, or is it only when you go into your profile or whatever? If it only shows up in your profile and not when using the board normally, I hope it will be “out of sight, out of mind” enough for you to forget about it eventually. It would be a shame if you stopped posting, your questions can be pretty freaking hilarious. :slight_smile:

It shows up at the bottom of the user control panel if you scroll all the way down.

Weird thing is that posts of this sort are extremely common, and I’ve never seen them moderated in any form.

Generally they are crude racist comments about African-Americans, Hispanics, or Muslims, and are presented by left-wing posters in the guise of summaries of posts posted by right-wing posters (or of comments by RW public figures). I’ve seen this dozens and dozens of times.

So I assume this represents a change in moderating policy and we’ll see some moderation of this type of post in the future, at least by you, ECG, or “quite a few” other moderators who believed warnings were appropriate in such circumstances.

How often have you seen them in GQ?

Example, please? I don’t recall seeing anything like that, but maybe I didn’t read all those threads.

I don’t know. That’s why I quoted Colibri’s post and not ECG’s.

I would guess that relatively few were in GQ, because it doesn’t tend to involve that type of discussion, but I don’t recall at all.

Well that’s kind of the rub. You can get away with a lot more in the other fora than you can in GQ (bet you’ve never seen anyone warned for making a joke in the first three responses outside GQ) and ecg is only a GQ moderator.

Unless I’m missing something, the ironic reference to anti-Semitism was disproportionate to the post it was in response to, which I wouldn’t have even thought that offensive, although I’m not American.

If I saw such a post in GQ, I would moderate it.