# Pitting UltraVires **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 22, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734 "2018-09-22T16:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 33
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/641 "2022-04-10T13:18:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > My understanding, based on the recent spat of ATMB threads, is that he simply rejects the notion that kindness is a virtue. There is absolutely no reason to consider, let alone practice, empathy on these boards. You may be correct. That might be his exact position. Which means he’s also too stupid to realize there is a wide gap between rejecting “the notion that kindness is a virtue” and concluding “[t]here is absolutely no reason to consider, let alone practice, empathy…” here or anywhere else. There are great many things that are not virtuous that one might nevertheless do at of pure self-interest. But it’s not just that he is unkind to people on the boards. I don’t consider myself kind either. It’s that he’s also just not very bright and has gotten bogged down in some pretty abhorrent positions. The “banality of evil” applies to the non-famous as well as to the infamous. More so, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/642 "2022-04-10T15:20:39Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I ignored him a few days ago. He’s my one and only on that list. This gives me a bittersweet smile, remembering **Opal** ’s admonition that a list can’t have fewer than three items. Certainly _ONE_ item is out of the question. Miss you, **Opal**. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/643 "2022-04-10T18:24:44Z")
So if I’ve got two people blocked, I should block Opal because she’d want me to. Sounds logical! Now, what can I do to honor TubaDiva as well? And Jonathan… damn, the list gets too long. I think a _wee dram_ of Ol’ Finnerty’s Single Malt, at noon on a Sunday, should cover 'em all. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/644 "2022-04-10T18:31:20Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So if I’ve got two people blocked, I should block Opal because she’d want me to. Sounds logical! That shouldn’t be necessary. You can always just have an Ignore _roster_ with no names on it at all, just awaiting the need for entries. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/645 "2022-04-10T19:29:28Z")
> [@Airline passenger arrested for Masturbating 4 times during flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-passenger-arrested-for-masturbating-4-times-during-flight/962333/177): > > There doesn’t need to be a judicial resolution of it. The solution is clear on its face. You move the woman to another seat; have her switch with some MMA type strong dude flying alone. If nothing else happens, great. If MMA dude says that the guy is wanking it, you now have two people and the woman is believed. If the woman complains that a second guy is wanking it, maybe you then think that she was making it up. UV is getting downright biblical (old testament, even): > [@Deuteronomy 22:23-24](#): > > 23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you. She’ll either get a witness and be believed, or she must be making it up! ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/646 "2022-04-11T02:11:57Z")
> [@Closed FQ thread on laws about sexual assault. Why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-fq-thread-on-laws-about-sexual-assault-why/962587/33): > > If I ever personally hurt anyone on here, it is not intended and I will withdraw the comment. I don’t participate in the Pit for reasons discussed in other threads. I agree with the idea of civility, but I’ll make a mistake here and there, and if the standard is that comments made without precise, up to date PC terminology are forbidden, then you won’t have conservative posters because we will all get banned for saying the wrong thing as I have no interest in proofing my comments. Ah, yes. The fake apology. You might not appreciate the pit, but the pit appreciates you. You are a major source of content. All the same, if losing you means losing this pit thread, I think we’ll get by well enough. It’s a sacrifice I think we’d all be willing to make. Would that your flounce had not flopped. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/647 "2022-04-11T02:31:43Z")
Meh. He’ll go away soon. Once people realize its a waste of time trying to get him to actually debate and realize his schtick of pretending to be a martyred conservative pilloried by “woke” liberals is just another tired lie he tells himself, he’ll stop getting the attention he so desperately craves and he’ll throw a fit and disappear. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/648 "2022-04-11T03:31:41Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Meh. He’ll go away soon. Once people realize its a waste of time trying to get him to actually debate and realize his schtick of pretending to be a martyred conservative pilloried by “woke” liberals is just another tired lie he tells himself, he’ll stop getting the attention he so desperately craves and he’ll throw a fit and disappear Is that what happened to Octopus? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/649 "2022-04-11T03:53:59Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > he’ll stop getting the attention he so desperately craves Are you sure? My experience is that no matter how transparently a poster is spouting ignorant comments, there are a LOT of people here who just can’t help engaging them, over and over… Why do you think those middle school bullies stay? Our chains are easy to jerk… by jerks. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/650 "2022-04-11T04:19:05Z")
Sometimes UV has good contributions, especially in constitutional matters. Lately it feels like picking bits of edible corn out of a pile of shit. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/651 "2022-04-11T04:30:41Z")
Bits of edible corn in shit aren’t really corn. The hulls aren’t very digestible, but when they fill up with shit in your colon, they regain their unchewed corn kernel appearance. What, did you think people routinely swallow corn kernels whole? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/652 "2022-04-11T04:45:07Z")
The worst part of trolls is their hijacking of threads, which the moderators then close. And thus they redirect away and otherwise prevent certain topics from being discussed. That is, every closed thread is a troll win. And the rest of us are poorer for it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/653 "2022-04-11T11:34:02Z")
Yeah, I can agree with this. “Do not feed the troll” simply never happens. Really effective trolls are little self-taught psychological warriors. They have a working understanding of how to draw people in, hijack threads, and upset members of their community without getting banned. And they don’t need a ton of interaction to get fed. You only need a quick back-and-forth with one person to overwhelm the rest of a thread. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/654 "2022-04-11T11:51:58Z")
Many threads are just derailed by 2 stubborn thick-headed people that aren’t trolls. Also many threads are derailed by posters with no self-control that can’t help make inappropriate (usually political) jabs in threads where they don’t belong and then the trollish posters seize that to derail the thread. By the time the mods show up, the thread is mostly dead. Often not worth the effort to rescue, and so end up closed. Most of the time if reported early, derailments can be stopped or even prevented. I’ve been seeing more flags for threads with things like … “Even though I agree with the poster, this post is off-topic and likely to derail the thread.” Those are really helpful in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/655 "2022-04-11T12:34:29Z")
Still, maybe there’s some entertainment value to be found in his posts. [![](https://i.ibb.co/7JQdrmb/civility.png) ](https://i.ibb.co/7JQdrmb/civility.png) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/656 "2022-04-11T14:50:25Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Bits of edible corn in shit aren’t really corn. The hulls aren’t very digestible, but when they fill up with shit in your colon, they regain their unchewed corn kernel appearance. I’ll take “Things I didn’t know and actually did not _ **want** _ to know for $100, Alex” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/657 "2022-04-11T14:51:25Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > posters with no self-control \< raises hand \> ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/658 "2022-04-11T17:03:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Still, maybe there’s some entertainment value to be found in his posts. Unless it’s in the Pit where his posts can get the attention they deserve, I’d prefer he not post. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Most of the time if reported early, derailments can be stopped or even prevented. I’ve been seeing more flags for threads with things like … > > “Even though I agree with the poster, this post is off-topic and likely to derail the thread.” > > Those are really helpful in my opinion. This is good to know. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/659 "2022-04-11T17:14:25Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Unless it’s in the Pit where his posts can get the attention they deserve, I’d prefer he not post. Oh, I don’t disagree. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/660 "2022-04-11T22:38:41Z")
> [@Deliberate (and deliberately offensive) racism should be moderatable. It is Being a Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-and-deliberately-offensive-racism-should-be-moderatable-it-is-being-a-jerk/962145/59): > > I take your point, but wouldn’t these people you describe see that thread and the unanimity of posts criticizing the very idea to see that the board is a welcoming place to them? I don’t know UV . . . I mean how’s the response you got to ‘If it ain’t bleeding it ain’t rape!’ working? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734.md?page=34)