# For Libertarian

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 18, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225 "2002-11-18T00:16:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/1 "2002-11-18T00:16:29Z")

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Apparently you have forgotten, but awhile back you took exception to one of my posts, and accused me of misquoting you. I disagreed, since I had quoted your exact words FIRST, and then proceeded to paraphrase you to the effect of “is this what you meant?”. You then announced that you would not respond to any more of my posts. I’m not interested in re-hashing anything now, but I’ve noticed that you have started responding to my posts again. I just wanted to remind you of your previous announcement that I am on your “ignore” list. I can’t stop you from responding to my posts now, but I don’t see the point in you doing so.

I apologize if I have broken any rule of decorum here.

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### Author: ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/2 "2002-11-18T00:26:02Z")

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Link?

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### Author: ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/3 "2002-11-18T00:27:52Z")

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First: where did Libertarian say that you are on his ignore list, and if he did, did a moderator tell him to not do that?

Second: maybe he thought you were an asshole before, but gave you a second chance? 🙂

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### Author: ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/4 "2002-11-18T00:51:49Z")

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\*\* I can’t stop you from responding to my posts now, but I don’t see the point in you doing so.\*\*

And… maybe it’s not about whether you see the point or not. You are not the only person that reads the response.

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### Author: ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/5 "2002-11-18T07:57:12Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Coldfire \*  
> First: where did Libertarian say that you are on his ignore list, and if he did, did a moderator tell him to not do that?

I can’t find the thread - it was awhile ago. No, the moderator did not intervene. I was really hoping to avoid getting into who was at fault and rehashing the whole thing. This wasn’t supposed to sound like a flame directed at Libertarian, but maybe it did. I just thought it was silly for him to keep directing posts at me and possibly wondering why I wasn’t responding.

> [@](#):
>
> Second: maybe he thought you were an asshole before, but gave you a second chance? 🙂

Maybe. Not interested in a second chance, though.

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### Author: ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/6 "2002-11-18T10:27:43Z")

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Actually, I don’t recall ever saying that anyone was on my ignore list, certainly not after the ignore list rule was announced. I’m typically quite scrupulous about obeying the rules. Some say that I’m anal about it. I often ask about finer points of the rules, sometimes no doubt to the dismay of those who administer them. Even now, I have a rules question open in ATMB.

That said, there was a discussion a few months back in which a user (I don’t remember who) made what I believed to be a convincing argument that the ignore list is not only pointless but problematic. I decided then that I would remove every entry from my ignore list, and I did so.

It’s nothing to do with any “second chance”. I simply decided that I would read what I want to read and respond to what I want to respond to.

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### Author: ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/7 "2002-11-18T10:28:54Z")

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Libby seems to be an all right guy to me… a little quick to respond sometimes, but over time his faults smooth out. 'Course, I’m the kind of guy who’s all about “second chances” (and third chances, and fourth chances, and fifth chances) so maybe I just find a sort of twisted, delirious auto-brotherhood with someone else who does the same.

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### Author: ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/8 "2002-11-18T14:22:47Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by blowero \*  
> \*\*Apparently you have forgotten, but awhile back you took exception to one of my posts, and accused me of misquoting you. I disagreed, since I had quoted your exact words FIRST, and then proceeded to paraphrase you to the effect of “is this what you meant?”. You then announced that you would not respond to any more of my posts. I’m not interested in re-hashing anything now, but I’ve noticed that you have started responding to my posts again. I just wanted to remind you of your previous announcement that I am on your “ignore” list. I can’t stop you from responding to my posts now, but I don’t see the point in you doing so.
> 
> I apologize if I have broken any rule of decorum here. \*\*

Maybe Libertarian just responds to posts he/she (or thon maybe) finds interesting without considering the psuedo-bullshit-relationship he has with the person he’s responding to.

And his response isn’t to you alone, that’s what email is for. This is a messageboard.

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### Author: ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/9 "2002-11-18T14:38:58Z")

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Blowero, you’ve broken the biggest rule of Pit decorum–“Don’t be pointless”–because without a link, so the rest of us can read for ourselves what happened, this whole thread is pretty pointless

IMO.

Although you and Lib have my permission to consider this thread as your “room”. 😛

as in “get a”

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### Author: ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/10 "2002-11-18T19:24:20Z")

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O.K., since you all seem so interested, I found the thread. And I have to apologize, Libertarian. You’re right; you didn’t say I was on your ignore list. You said “this discussion is finished”, and typed a line (------) under it. And then you didn’t direct any posts towards me for several months, but maybe that’s just a coincidence.

Since people seem interested in re-hashing this, here’s the link. Did I misquote Libertarian, or was he just being a baby? I leave it up to you, fellow Dopers. (I believe the post in question starts around page 3.)

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=112682](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=112682)

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### Author: ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/11 "2002-11-18T19:51:36Z")

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People seem interested in re-hashing this only because you brought it up first, remember. 😉 As you have already apologized to Lib, I will address only a couple of salient points.

Er, it’s a thread from last May? And it’s taken you six months to get around to this?

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2080392#post2080392](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=2080392#post2080392)

I don’t think Lib sounds like a “baby” at all–I think he sounds like he’s tired of the discussion. He soldiered on through two whole pages of stuff like this–

"You said “unknowable from within our closed reference frames” (emphasis mine). The word “our” includes the writer himself, which would make YOUR (Libertarian’s) reference frame CLOSED, and would therefore make objective reality unknowable to you (Libertarian). Are you saying that you have access to your so-called “absolute reference frame”? If so, why then do you believe in these so-called “closed reference frames”? And, if possible, could you explain this stuff without using self-invented jargon?

and this:

“the problem with the Eristic Principle is that there is indeed an objective grid for the universe; i.e., for any arbitrary particle, its distance from any other particle at any time is an exact sum of Planck distances. Thus, the objective grid is the grid whose coordinates are Planck distances apart.”

–which gives me a headache just to Copy and Paste, let alone try to understand. And so after a while he’d had enough, and he left.

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### Author: ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/12 "2002-11-18T20:17:58Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \*  
> Er, it’s a thread from last May? And it’s taken you six months to get around to this?

No, it took Libertarian six months to get around to directing posts towards me, and I was curious as to why the sudden change. My God, wasn’t the o.p. clear enough?

> [@](#):
>
> –which gives me a headache just to Copy and Paste, let alone try to understand. And so after a while he’d had enough, and he left.

If you think I was wrong, that’s fine. But Libertarian distinctly cut and pasted the part of the discussion where I denied having misquoted him, and said, directly below: “then this discussion is finished”. It was NOT simply because he was tired of the discussion, so let’s please be clear about that.

And it was my opinion that all the gobbledygook that you quoted from the thread was in large part from Libertarian’s own pen, so to speak. He was the one who introduced the stuff about “closed reference frames”, etc. I was just trying to nail him down on what exactly he was talking about, at which point he claimed I misquoted him and stopped responding. I mean, that was the whole point; the guy was talking in riddles, and giving curt replies when anyone asked him what he meant.

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### Author: ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/13 "2002-11-18T20:20:54Z")

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Blowero

I accept your apology. No harm done. Just so you know, I try always to separate comments in any one post to multiple users with 5 sequential hyphens. Like this:

* * *

Duck Duck Goose

Greetings.

* * *

Spoofe

Thank you.

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### Author: ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/14 "2002-11-18T21:55:44Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Libertarian \*  
> Blowero
> 
> I accept your apology. No harm done. Just so you know, I try always to separate comments in any one post to multiple users with 5 sequential hyphens. Like this:

I understand. And just so you know, I wasn’t accusing you of breaking any rules. A couple people seem to have thought that was what I was saying, so I wanted to clear that up.

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### Author: ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/15 "2002-11-18T22:01:46Z")

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Well nice, this only took 6 months to wrap up in a tidy neat package. 😃

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### Author: ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/16 "2002-11-19T00:15:22Z")

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Group hug!

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### Author: ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/17 "2002-11-19T10:50:28Z")

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Incidentally, a closed reference frame is [symbol]R[/symbol], such that [symbol]R Û a[/symbol] for every [symbol]a[/symbol]. An open reference frame, by contrast, is [symbol]R[/symbol], such that [symbol]R Þ a[/symbol] for every [symbol]a[/symbol] in [symbol]R[/symbol].

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### Author: ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/18 "2002-11-19T19:07:53Z")

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Aaaaaaaaaaaaahrgh!

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### Author: ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/19 "2002-11-19T19:09:02Z")

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(nice use of character sets, though)

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### Author: ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225/20 "2002-11-19T19:12:31Z")

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Please do not _P_ in the thread. Thank you, and good night.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarian/137225.md?page=2)
