# How many strikes does Collounsbury get? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224 "2003-07-13T20:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/1 "2003-07-13T20:14:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gaudere \* > \*\*[Moderator Hat ON] > > Collounsbury, you’re stepping close to the line again. I will strongly advise you to eschew personal comments about posters in GD, lest you lose your posting priviledges again. And don’t post full text of copyrighted articles, you know better than that. > > [Moderator Hat OFF] \*\* However, less than 24 hours later, he attacks **December** in yet another GD thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=194836&perpage=50&pagenumber=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=194836&perpage=50&pagenumber=2) To sum up: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*You know, I just finished reading **Collounsbury** ’s message to **December** , and for the life of me I can’t see a single argument being made. It is just one long personal attack, culminating with this beauty: > > > [@](#): > > > > We all understand very well your delicate ultra-Zionist sensibilities are the real source of whatever interest you have in BBC. > > In which Collounsbury attacks December for something unrelated to the thread in hand. > > Is there a Moderator in the house? How long do we have to take this crap before he gets punted again? I have the same question as **Sam**. How long does he get to do this and get away with it? ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/2 "2003-07-13T21:03:58Z")
I really respect the guy’s in-depth knowledge of MENA and cheerfully supported his return to these boards. If he gets banned once more for the same irrelevant offensive and abrasive characterizations in a factual forum, I may not be entirely unhappy about it. Correcting someone’s misapprehensions is one thing. Routinely impugning other people’s perceptions in such an obnoxious manner gets rather tedious after a while. Somehow, **Tamerlane** manages much of the same remonstrance without all the spewing and vitriol. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/3 "2003-07-13T21:14:19Z")
I’m generally interested enough in what Collounsbury has to say to put up with his abrasive style. I say give him LOTS of strikes. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/4 "2003-07-13T21:22:26Z")
No special treatment, but I do like the guy a lot. He should stick to the pit, period. Enough debating goes on here. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/5 "2003-07-13T21:25:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*I’m generally interested enough in what Collounsbury has to say to put up with his abrasive style. I say give him LOTS of strikes. \*\* I say everybody should be subject to the same rules. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/6 "2003-07-13T21:31:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*I’m generally interested enough in what Collounsbury has to say to put up with his abrasive style. I say give him LOTS of strikes. \*\* It seems like he’s already gotten lots of strikes. This includes being banned and reinstated. How many more should he get? Haj ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/7 "2003-07-13T21:40:55Z")
I do understand why he gets fed up, particularly with some people who think that they know about Muslims and the Muslim world from what they learn on Fox News and WorldNetDaily (I’ve lived in a Muslim country and I know many Muslims in the UK and it irks me when someone goes around painting all muslims as insane Islamo-facists) and are absolutely adamant that their view is correct. I do seem to remember once being on the receiving end of Collounsbury’s scorn and it’s not the best way to debate, but on the otherhand he does have alot of value to say and you shouldn’t ignore that. ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/8 "2003-07-13T22:02:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Somehow, **Tamerlane** manages much of the same remonstrance without all the spewing and vitriol. \*\* Exactly. Why can’t Col? ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/9 "2003-07-13T22:04:13Z")
I agree that **Collounsbury** should stay in the Pit if he can’t restrain his urge to flame. The Pit does have many good and interesting debates, and he’s contributed positively to many of them here. Flaming in GD (or other fora besides the Pit), though, is an official no-no, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/10 "2003-07-13T22:04:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Exactly. Why can’t Col? That’s like asking why _your_ responses and question aren’t as sharp as **Sam Stone’s**.😃 ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/11 "2003-07-13T22:05:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*I say everybody should be subject to the same rules. \*\* Yes I agree. Apparently the Mods have a different opinion, which hasn’t been explained to us lesser folks. ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/12 "2003-07-13T22:07:13Z")
BTW, I got banned (and later reinstated after public and private apologies) for flaming someone in the Pit. There are limits. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/13 "2003-07-13T22:15:45Z")
> [@](#): > > I say everybody should be subject to the same rules. Well, they are and they aren’t. This board, with all of the wonderful, gifted Mods that they have, is about as good as you get out there in cyberland. But, do you ban someone for _one_ bad comment? _two_? _three_. How many? In any **december** thread of my choosing, I can cite you comments from posters other than **collounsbury** which are grounds for banning the member who uttered them. It wouldn’t be that difficult. And they are repeated. Where do you draw the line? **Col** is horribly abrasive. **december** is horribly clever in how he posts stupid threads. There’s no board rule against being a semi-jerk, only in being a jerk. More’s the pity. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/14 "2003-07-13T22:22:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes I agree. Apparently the Mods have a different opinion, which hasn’t been explained to us lesser folks At least you recognize your station in life.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/15 "2003-07-13T22:22:30Z")
Where do we draw the line? Perhaps the line should drawn around someone who has been banned, and reinstated, and continues to violate board rules after repeated warnings? I don’t have a link, but he got warned in Cafe Society for being a jerk. Why would anyone feel it necessary to be a jerk in that forum? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/16 "2003-07-13T22:24:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by milroyj \* > \*\*…Why would anyone feel it necessary to be a jerk in that forum? \*\* Because if I read one more, ‘What if Colonel Sanders wrote _The Lord of the Rings_? Would Frodo be a delicious a bucket of chicken?’-type thread, I too would become a jerk in CS. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/17 "2003-07-13T23:24:46Z")
Damn those posters who prise your eyes open and FORCE you to read speculative posts. ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/18 "2003-07-13T23:31:09Z")
I love **Coll’s** posts. They’re incredible to read on most occasions. Like all of us, he tires easily with fools, and suffers them with zero tolerance and it shows. But you know, oddly, I love the guy’s style. He’s as much an institution as **december** is, and when those two go at it hammer and tong, it’s like watching a classic McEnroe v Borg final. That **Coll** has disdain for **december** there can be no denying. However, it has to also be said in the interests of fairness that your typical **Collounsbury** post, on almost any subject he cares to write about, is simply dripping with inarguable facts and historical perspectives which I find incredibly valueable. The trick, I find, is to engage **Coll** as something of a mental tennis game - he loves to hit winners - so you can either go for the huge ace right up front (which is frought with danger) or you can simply engage the guy in a less adversarial style which results in a far more rewarding kind of rallying. Once **Coll** recognises that you aren’t prone to speaking out of your arse and that you’re genuinely interested in actually learning something, he invariably displays immense respect and writes with much restraint. It’s just the idiots he lets loose on and I have to say, I can’t blame him for getting fired up at times - especially given the almost imperial arrogance demonstrated by a small number of his fellow countrymen these last 4 months. Dumb question time now… if someone on this messageboard is banned, where is it noted, if at all? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/19 "2003-07-13T23:39:21Z")
Boo Boo Foo: It’s noted underneath the user name: _member_ is replaced by _BANNED_. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224/20 "2003-07-13T23:47:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boo Boo Foo \* > But you know, oddly, I love the guy’s style. He’s as much an institution as **december** is, and when those two go at it hammer and tong, it’s like watching a classic McEnroe v Borg final. Are we thinking of the same two tennis players? I recall both of them having more tennis skill in their armpit hair than **december** has knowledge or debating prowess in his entire being. Watching **Col** and **december** “go at it” is like watching Nolan Ryan hit the broad side of a dilapidated barn with a fastball. The only thing you wonder about is how loud the smash is going to be when the pitched ball goes through wood. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-strikes-does-collounsbury-get/188224.md?page=2)