# We can't state opinions as fact? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868 "2010-12-20T20:03:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/41 "2010-12-21T00:09:35Z")
> [@What did Madonna have that Cyndi Lauper didn't?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-madonna-have-that-cyndi-lauper-didnt/564723/42): > > …I didn’t think much better of Madonna and in a lot of ways she is a repulsive piece of garbage (putting pictures of John McCain next to Adolf Hitler during your 2008 tour is the hate speech so typical of Obama supporters)… _This_ is the post that should have been moderated in that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/42 "2010-12-21T00:11:54Z")
How about the one calling me a troll? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/43 "2010-12-21T00:13:08Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > Is this the proper forum to detail such a history? It would take me some time, but I would be happy to do it. It’s pretty damning, even over the last week alone. > > And I would be surprised if anyone agreed with you that what I wrote was “an opinion expressed as a fact.” I think it was clearly just an opinion, with explanation as to how I arrived at that opinion. It was an opinion expressed as a fact, and it’s completely incorrect. No such history exists. I do not troll. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/44 "2010-12-21T00:16:27Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > No, I don’t “have a history,” You have a _board phenomenon_ named after you. When someone says, “oh great - it’s another episode of The Dio Show”, a large portion of this board’s population knows EXACTLY what that means. You may want to deny it, but you have a history on this board, and it’s not a good one. Correction: You have TWO histories on this board as a poster - one is good, one is bad. The Dio Show does not paint you in a favorable light. And over the last year, it’s been nothing but fucking reruns. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/45 "2010-12-21T00:18:30Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Yeah, you probably should have just let Marley do the speaking on this one, because he managed to do it without sounding silly. Way too funny. So if twick would have said, “We are not going to have another Dio hijack” instead, would everyone have been happy? Yes? Well now what we’ve established that… > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t agree with a word of this. The so-called “Dio show” is just me getting piled on by others. I don’t precipitate it. Others do. Well I agree with it, except for the part about relieving you of some of the fault. You do “have a history,” regardless of whether or not you want to bullshit, and pretend like you’ve just stated your li’l ol’ opinion, when all the internet jerkos piled all on your innocent little shit. Even when people disregard you, you _keep on_ posting furiously, and don’t let up. What’s worse is very frequently, as if you haven’t even read the thread, you seem to be psycho-posting to everything you see, and so many times we’ll see multiple Dio posts in a row, all in response to things written before your first of blitzkrieg postings. It’s like there’s smoke coming from your keyboard. So now we’re all blanketed in your walls of Dio-text, because, what, you couldn’t have finished the thread before you started posting out of your ass the minute you saw something? So yeah, people who respond to you are partially to blame, but you posting style is not easy to ignore. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never blurted out a post, but Jesucristo, don’t give me any of this “I don’t have a history. I just post, then people can’t control themselves” nonsense. It’s bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/46 "2010-12-21T00:21:58Z")
I don’t have a history. The Dio show is a phenomenon of others, not me. I also don’t keep posting if others “disregard me.” The problem is that THEY can’t let something go. Every post of mine in those threads is a response to someone else. If I didn’t respond to them, I’d be attacked for running away. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/47 "2010-12-21T00:24:59Z")
And here we go again… ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/48 "2010-12-21T00:26:38Z")
Your responses to **Dio** are a perfect illustration of what I’m talking about. You are playing into his hands. He acts obtuse. As though he has no idea why someone might say he has a history. This precipitates responses and wastes peoples time. Somehow many of you are unable to reconcile the notion that he is “really smart and well educated” with the fact that he can possibly act _this_ obtuse in sincerity. You can’t have it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/49 "2010-12-21T00:27:30Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > The problem, **Dio** , is that you have a very clear history. When others make a seemingly jejune blanket statement (and are not just fooling around), then when they are called on it they usually will explain their position in more detail. You, on the other hand, will continue to make facile blanket statements in response, presenting them as fact, without hardly a word of explanation. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > No, I don’t “have a history,” … **Dio** , you have exactly such a history, and it’s getting worse. Such posts from you used to be background noise to your preponderance of interesting and even educational posts; now they’re becoming standard–the ratio has flipped. While I disagree with the preemptive mod action in that thread, I completely understand the mod reasoning. I, for one, would herald the return of the old **Diogenes the Cynic**. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/50 "2010-12-21T00:29:22Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t have a history. The Dio show is a phenomenon of others, not me. I also don’t keep posting if others “disregard me.” The problem is that THEY can’t let something go. Every post of mine in those threads is a response to someone else. If I didn’t respond to them, I’d be attacked for running away. What is the longest river in Egypt? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/51 "2010-12-21T00:36:49Z")
I do not have a history. I know perfectly well what my own thoughts, intentions and motivations are, and I have never once made a post simply to provoke a reaction or troll. I do not enjoy the pile ups. I just feel obliged to respond to them. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/52 "2010-12-21T00:44:06Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I do not have a history. I know perfectly well what my own thoughts, intentions and motivations are, and I have never once made a post simply to provoke a reaction or troll. I do not enjoy the pile ups. That’s not what your history is, that is not what The Dio Show is. There have been numerous Pit threads detailing you exactly what that history is, and there are a lot of reasoned, sincere discussions pleading with you to recognize what that history is. You haven’t taken that to heart, as is your right. But the least you could do is to stop playing the fucking martyr. > [@](#): > > I just feel obliged to respond to them. If you qualify that with “in great detail never giving up an inch of ground even when it’s clear I might be wrong on a tiny little detail that has absolutely no bearing on the discussion but I will be publicly shamed if I even suggest I didn’t put forth a 100% factual argument”, THAT is the Dio Show. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/53 "2010-12-21T00:54:27Z")
This thread is rapidly getting dangerously ( or maybe amusingly ) meta-. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/54 "2010-12-21T00:59:28Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t have a history. The Dio show is a phenomenon of others, not me. I also don’t keep posting if others “disregard me.” The problem is that THEY can’t let something go. Every post of mine in those threads is a response to someone else. If I didn’t respond to them, I’d be attacked for running away. Then do me a favor. Next time you make one of your crazy, off-topic statements, just do so once, let it go, and don’t keep posting craziness to the thread until someone bites. Can you do that? Also, no more three posts in a row to a thread, as opposed to just saying what you needed to say in a single post. The Dio rabid-posts are inherently disruptive. > [@Munch](#): > > And here we go again… I know… I know. My new year’s resolution is to not get dragged in to this kind of BS. And to floss twice daily. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/55 "2010-12-21T01:07:02Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > No, I don’t “have a history,” and I’ve never trolled in my life. I don’t appreciate that accusation. It’s false, it’s offensive and guess what..it’s an opinion expressed as a fact. Didn’t know you were a comedian too. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I just feel obliged to respond to them. Yeah, stop that. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/56 "2010-12-21T01:08:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I do not have a history. I know perfectly well what my own thoughts, intentions and motivations are, and I have never once made a post simply to provoke a reaction or troll. I do not enjoy the pile ups. I just feel obliged to respond to them. So, just out of curiosity **Dio** , what goes on in your mind when you make assertions like the following: _[Hand sanitizer doesn’t do anything, by the way. Just FYI. It’s a total scam.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13266564&postcount=58)_ or _[[Germany] defended themselves us against our military.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13264378&postcount=54)_ [referring to Germany’s participation in WWII] It would be one thing if when asked, you corrected your statement (ie “OK, hand sanitizer does do something and it is not a scam, but it isn’t quite as effective as washing your hands well [cite] and there seems to be a little bit of popular overconfidence it it” or “OK, my point about Germany just defending against our aggression was just a confusing and irrelevant semantic technicality”). But no. You just bate people by defending it with brusque declarations. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/57 "2010-12-21T01:23:06Z")
Yeesh almighty. The scenario discussed in this thread (and some of the subsequent commentary) is exhibit eleventy million and one for the over-modding of this board. Why can’t the mods just ban spammers and obvious trolls (e.g., the grapist), warn people for insulting others outside the pit, and leave everything else alone? Why the mod action for the very serious infraction of “perhaps causing a thread to start to veer off topic”? Who gives a shit (except for some of the mods, obviously)? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/58 "2010-12-21T01:35:18Z")
Oh, why don’t you just pull “Dio is a jerk” out of some handy orifice and be done with it? That’s what you usually do when you can’t find an actual infraction or rules violations in someone’s posts, innit? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/59 "2010-12-21T01:41:49Z")
I didn’t say anything jerkish. All I said was that performers want to be successful, for fuck’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868/60 "2010-12-21T01:43:02Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Then do me a favor. Next time you make one of your crazy, off-topic statements, just do so once, let it go, and don’t keep posting craziness to the thread until someone bites. Can you do that? Also, no more three posts in a row to a thread, as opposed to just saying what you needed to say in a single post. The Dio rabid-posts are inherently disruptive. > > I know… I know. My new year’s resolution is to not get dragged in to this kind of BS. > > And to floss twice daily. You have me confused with somebody else. You are not describinmg my posting history. I do not do these things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-cant-state-opinions-as-fact/564868.md?page=4)