Since it has been 8 months since the suspension and since the suspension was only for a week, banning is harsh. A one month suspension would be more appropriate.
Harsh, but fair. Members on this board have been asking the mods to take the rampant misogyny here seriously for a long time, and they finally are starting to.
I’m torn. I know it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it seems like a weak way to flame out. I know he’s had a history of misogyny, but “harpy” is hardly the worst possible word he could have used.
I guess it’s a good thing, as he was mind-numbingly frustrating almost all the time. But it’s like Capone getting busted for tax evasion. All the things he did, and this is the one that sticks.
Shodan had been pretty much shitting up this board continuously for more than a decade. If four warnings and a suspension didn’t cause him to modify his behavior, why would another suspension be likely to do the trick?
I’m fine with him not going out in a blaze of glory. If he’s going to keep calling people misogynistic names, he can do it somewhere else.
I think “harpy” is a horrible word to use against any woman, and in the case of an educated woman with opinions and a strong point of view, its purpose was to focus on and discredit the source based on her sex, rather than on the arguments.
He might as well have called her the B or the C word, it wouldn’t have been any more misogynistic.
You are describing a bug, not a feature. It should not be the case that longtime toxic posters don’t get banned until they go out in blazes of whatever the opposite of glory is.
And in any case “harpy” is a very pointed, very specific, very gross word to use in any context unless you are literally talking about Greek mythology and even then the literary harpies were super gross.
If I may paraphrase John Mulaney, first off, no. You and I are actually saying the word “harpy.” If we’re comparing how bad two words are, and we’re not saying one of them, that’s the worse word.
It’s not a good word, sure. But it’s not on the same level as “bitch” or “whore” or any other derogatory term.
I agree with you that it’s an insulting, misogynistic word. My point was that it’s not the worst he could have used. I don’t condone its usage. But it was just a weak infraction to go out on.
That’s the problem with these “last straw” bannings. I know it’s about the overall picture, but, in isolation, he could have used a worse word.
I don’t disagree with the banning, however. Just the strength of this infraction.
Extremely harsh and over the top. All of his warnings were the weakest possible. He’s been here 20 years and gets shown the door that way? Ridiculous.
Yes, the word “harpy” was very insulting to this Harvard professor, however I thought it was the rule that we COULD insult people off the board. See every political thread about Trump. It is true that the insult “harpy” is one that can only apply to a woman, but I’ve not seen the term “dick” used as an insult or anything male related being modded.
So 4 warnings in the last year is a banning for a 20 year poster, but 4 warnings in 6 weeks for a shorter term poster is a 1 week ban? I also thought that the 30 day ban was the last and final?
Which is why I agree with the ban: If you make a habit of dancing on the line, you deserve to have the line moved out from under you, at least in a social setting like this. Heck, some people who dance on legal lines deserve to have that line wiggle a bit to land them on their asses, but we don’t do that because we’re too justifiably afraid of the long-term consequences. Here, that isn’t an issue.
Shodan was given an inexplicable ability to straddle the line so far he was practically in midair on the wrong side of it. Gravity finally works. Good.
I recall that Budget Player Cadet, who was only with us for a few years, was allowed 17 warnings and 2 suspensions before being banned. I don’t know how many warnings **Shodan **racked up over the last twenty years, but that sounds like a significantly tougher standard for Shodan.
I think it’s horrible and should be rescinded. I am well aware this board is on borrowed time and most likely won’t last the year. Come on, mods.
:dubious:
He was always snide in a way I didn’t enjoy, but that should not be a bannable offense IMO.
4 warnings in 10 months versus 4 warnings in 12. Such a TERRIBLE abuse of power against conservative stalwarts!
It’s late and I’m tired, but I just wanted to say that I don’t know what we’re accomplishing by banning long-term posters like Shodan.
His banning feels more like censorship than anything else (and I say that as someone who doesn’t particularly agree with his views). None of his warnings that were linked to in the ban announcement seem like bannable offenses to me, whether taken individually or as a whole.
I greatly appreciate the work that the moderators do – a message board quickly becomes untenable without effective moderation. However, it just seems to me that someone who has contributed over 40,000 posts over the course of two decades deserves more of a fair shake.
I hope this decision will be reconsidered.
I have no problem with this moderation. Good job, mods.
if he’s contributed anything but a snide one-liner over the past several months, I’ve missed it - and I won’t miss him.
Of course you would.
You must happy that you got everyone that disagrees with you banned.
The decision is ridiculous of course. The sdmb: ever more in its own little bubble.
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Meh, Shodan was like the uncle who sits in the corner at family gatherings, and after enough sherries would jump up on his soapbox in order to be as hateful as he could, only retreating when his meds kicked in and he’d go off for a nap.
This time the meds are permanent, and the SDMB family can breathe a sigh of relief that he’s not going to take flaming dumps at parties anymore.
Still gonna miss the arsehole though.
Just out of interest, if he’d referred to, say, Betsy DeVos as a harpy, would anyone have given a shit? Can anyone imagine him being banned over that?