# The Banning of Shodan **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 14, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763 "2020-05-14T02:33:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/121 "2020-05-14T17:31:38Z")
While we are on the subject, WTF was up with him being able to use that snarky “Regards” for years? Has any other doper been accommodated like that? ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/122 "2020-05-14T17:33:45Z")
PS I’m a woman. The word harpy doesn’t bother me. What does is when grown-up adults can’t abide by the rules of the place where they are. It disturbs everyone else who is following the rules and trying to enjoy themself. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/123 "2020-05-14T17:42:22Z")
> [@tricoteuse](#): > > PS I’m a woman. The word harpy doesn’t bother me. What does is when grown-up adults can’t abide by the rules of the place where they are. It disturbs everyone else who is following the rules and trying to enjoy themself. What rule? A poster just showed numerous posts that used the word “harpy”. If there was a rule against it, each one of those would have received a warning. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/124 "2020-05-14T17:43:06Z")
Mixed feelings. He (almost) never was one to apologize, but I always chalked that up to his midwestern strong-silent male culture. I’d like to share something about Shodan: following a discussion in the wake of the 2016 election, after I’d commended him for acknowledging Trump’s flaws, he IMed me to thank me. “Trump a uniter, whoda thunk it”, he mused. IMO he did seem to become more deliberately obnoxious in the last few years since that exchange. It’s unfortunate that happened as the board was tightening up on various things, like misogynist language. One thing I’m kicking myself over (and I hope it’s appropriate to mention this now that he can’t respond) is that I didn’t get around to revisiting a thread\* he and I conversed in right before the 2004 election. Recall that there was speculation at the time by Democrats that the critical Ohio vote might be influenced by vote tampering–the Diebold corporation was in Ohio. Anyway, Shodan expressed the opinion that if indisputeable evidence of voter fraud came out, even Republicans would admit it. I said that I disagreed, but I remember thinking that he seemed to sincerely believe it. He recalled the way Republicans in Congress stood by Nixon until it was clear he was guilty, at which point they deserted him. In 2020, I don’t believe for a minute that any significant number of Republicans in Congress would ever hold Trump accountable for anything, unless their own electoral fortunes were jeopardized by it. What I wanted to ask Shodan was whether he still believed otherwise. Too late now. \*[Relevant](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5443169&postcount=34) [posts.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5443971&postcount=40) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/125 "2020-05-14T17:45:07Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > While we are on the subject, WTF was up with him being able to use that snarky “Regards” for years? Has any other doper been accommodated like that? As I recall, this came up more than once in Pit threads directed at Shodan, but the Mods, you know, the ones who supposedly just now invented a flimsy excuse to ban him, did not consider it a rules violation. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/126 "2020-05-14T17:45:33Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > What rule? A poster just showed numerous posts that used the word “harpy”. If there was a rule against it, each one of those would have received a warning. I wasn’t saying that using the word harpy is against the rules. I was saying that people who don’t follow the rules ruin the experience for the people who are. When I reread my post it isn’t clear so I’m going to edit it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/127 "2020-05-14T17:46:12Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > \ 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. I think that a true misandrist would use the word “gryphon” or “satyr” instead of “dick”. 😃 Actually, I can’t think of a male counterpart to harpy or fishwife or other terms of the sort. “He’s such a fisherman!” would just leave people looking confused. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/128 "2020-05-14T17:47:48Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Damn, now we’ll never know what ‘Regards’ meant. Perhaps it referred to a childhood toy like a Big Wheel or a two wheeler without training wheels… “Regards” was the name of his sled. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/129 "2020-05-14T17:49:59Z")
It’s too late to edit that post so what I SHOULD have said was, The word harpy doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is when people don’t follow the rules of the place they’re in and ruin the experience for the people who are obeying them. Shodan dind’t follow the rules so he got kicked out. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/130 "2020-05-14T17:50:04Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I don’t think the mods are purposefully going after people of a different political bent than they (although I am not aware of any of the mods identifying as conservative, they have banned plenty of liberals like **Huey Freeman** and \*\*Budget Player Cadet \*\*before, too) - they are doing a fine job for the most part, but we can’t dismiss the issue of subconscious bias either. Per the question posed earlier upthread, which is whether or not the identity of the target of a slur has anything to do with the severity or leniency of moderation, I think **Unreconstructed Man** had a very valid point when he opined that had \*\*Shodan \*\*called Betsy DeVos (or Melania/Ivanka Trump) a harpy, he wouldn’t be banned. More likely, he would have been confronted with _Who are you, and what have you done with **Shodan**?_ ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/131 "2020-05-14T17:51:03Z")
> [@tricoteuse](#): > > Oh for fucks’ sakes, he wasn’t banned for saying harpy. You’re missing the point by miles if you think that’s it. He was banned for making a misogynistic threadshit after getting lots of warnings and a suspension so he was walking on thin ice the way it was. It’s the same as how the bratty jackass kid in class gets suspended for shooting spitballs but a kid who normally behaves just gets extra homework. I bet he would have been banned if he said harridan, hen, hag, bitch, cunt, wench, virago, termagant, whore, slut, shrill, bint, or anything else because the actual word did’t matter. What did matter was that he was THREADSHITTING AFTER GETTING A BUNCH OF WARNINGS AND LONG SUSPENSION! > > I really don’t know why so many people are trying to defend a threadshitting jerk. It looks like he was given plenty of chances to clean up his act and he didn’t so why would anyone thing a warning or suspension now would make a damn bit of difference? Well said. ```auto I, too, am a woman who isn't bothered out of the box by the term 'harpy,' but context matters a lot. In another discussion on another board, a male participant dismissed the points made by a female participant simply by replying to her post, "Silly woman." There's nothing wrong with either of the words "silly" or "woman" -- but in that context, they were an outright disparagement of her gender as a basis to ignore her (well made) points. Same deal here. I long ago learned to ignore **Shodan**. It was obvious his posts were only intended to troll. They were simplistic, weak minded, never defended and meant to be inflammatory. I found his little tropes tedious and dumb. I gathered along the way that other posters had in the past found his posts useful. I never saw those. Good ban. ``` ---
**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:** [May 14, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/132 "2020-05-14T17:51:50Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > You injected Till into the discussion, and for a reason that was unneeded for the “logical” point you were attempting to make. Not only unneeded, but having the effect of overwhelming said logical point. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/133 "2020-05-14T17:53:11Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > While we are on the subject, WTF was up with him being able to use that snarky “Regards” for years? Has any other doper been accommodated like that? Sure, it happens all the time. Sent via Tapatalk from my expensive mobile device. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/134 "2020-05-14T17:54:03Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > As I recall, this came up more than once in Pit threads directed at Shodan, but the Mods, you know, the ones who supposedly just now invented a flimsy excuse to ban him, did not consider it a rules violation. Isn’t that when he admitted that he used regards as an FU? Sounds like he should have been banned years ago, but conservatives get very long leashes here. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/135 "2020-05-14T17:55:19Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > As I recall, this came up more than once in Pit threads directed at Shodan, but the Mods, you know, the ones who supposedly just now invented a flimsy excuse to ban him, did not consider it a rules violation. Posters of a certain vintage will recall: Yer Pal, Satan The reasons **Satan** was banned had nothing to do with that sign-off. (IIRC, it had to do with being unable to restrain himself outside the Pit, but don’t hold me to it: that was a _looooooong_ time ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/136 "2020-05-14T17:57:17Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > What rule? A poster just showed numerous posts that used the word “harpy”. If there was a rule against it, each one of those would have received a warning. This difference in the posts quoted by **Velocity** is that they were not made by **Shodan**. He was clearly targeted for elimination for not being one of the cool kids that agree with everyone and was an irritant to the board “culture.” The fact that a banning is usually discussed among all the mods only makes this banning worse. Clearly targeted elimination. It is a shame that there is no one really in charge of this board any longer. Never thought that I would miss Ed. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/137 "2020-05-14T17:59:09Z")
Just in case anyone wants to send their sympathies and kind regards or continue to debate with our dearly departed **Shodan** , his email is in his profile. Have at it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/138 "2020-05-14T18:05:04Z")
I’m offended that we all assume the gender **The Harpy** self-identifies as. We should all be deeply ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/139 "2020-05-14T18:09:18Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Damn, now we’ll never know what ‘Regards’ meant. Perhaps it referred to a childhood toy like a Big Wheel or a two wheeler without training wheels… [He explained it this way](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7753294&postcount=16): > [@Why do some sign their posts with 'Regards'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-sign-their-posts-with-regards/371717/16): > > It’s just a habit. Sometimes it means just what it says; sometimes it is shorthand for “fuck you, you meerkat-molesting slimebucket”. Depends on the context. It’s like someone scratching their head with their extended middle finger, and when you ask “Hey, were you flipping the bird at me?” they smile and reply, “Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t.” Whenever this little “habit” came up in threads, some people would complain about how trolly and irritating it was, and others would insist that it was a merely a cordial signoff and they _simply couldn’t imagine_ how anyone could POSSIBLY think otherwise. I’m sure **Shodan** enjoyed this immensely. ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/140 "2020-05-14T18:14:20Z")
> [@tricoteuse](#): > > Oh for fucks’ sakes, he wasn’t banned for saying harpy. You’re missing the point by miles if you think that’s it. He was banned for making a misogynistic threadshit after getting lots of warnings and a suspension so he was walking on thin ice the way it was. It’s the same as how the bratty jackass kid in class gets suspended for shooting spitballs but a kid who normally behaves just gets extra homework. I bet he would have been banned if he said harridan, hen, hag, bitch, cunt, wench, virago, termagant, whore, slut, shrill, bint, or anything else because the actual word did’t matter. What did matter was that he was THREADSHITTING AFTER GETTING A BUNCH OF WARNINGS AND LONG SUSPENSION! > > I really don’t know why so many people are trying to defend a threadshitting jerk. It looks like he was given plenty of chances to clean up his act and he didn’t so why would anyone thing a warning or suspension now would make a damn bit of difference? The trouble is, there are lots of threadshitting jerks on these boards. There are plenty of posters I could name who do next to nothing but flit from thread to thread dropping smoking hot turds of witless snark wherever they go. Even on those rare occasions where they deign to make a point, they tend to wrap it up in snark, or indiscriminate jabs at their political opponents. **Shodan** spent years flirting with getting banned. That’s undeniable. He loved to tap dance on the line and he did it very well. It finally caught up with him. But there are _plenty_ of liberal posters who tap dance on that very same line, and they’ve been doing it every bit as long, and every bit as often, and in ways which, to an impartial observer, are every bit as egregious and intellectually dishonest. Yet, somehow, they only get warned when they lose their shit like **Budget Player Cadet** used to do. The bias here is pretty transparent, even to a Trump hating Sanders supporter like me. In their defense, I don’t think the moderators are actually biased. I’ve seen no evidence that, **Jonathan Chance** , say, is anti-conservative. However, moderators are much more likely to respond to posts that get reported, and since this board is 90% liberal, a snarky conservative will likely generate far more reports than ten snarky liberals. Over time, this results in conservatives getting banned for things which liberal turd-droppers do with abandon. It’s not deliberate. It’s just something that arises organically once the political leaning of a forum tilts too far in one direction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763.md?page=8)