I think that whole thread was pretty funny. It should be reopened and bumped- “the Way We Were…”
I said that we would have to disagree what constituted “gloves off”. It’s clear to me that you are arguing that the Pit has always had moderation and limits and I am saying that those limits used to be much more generous and loose. Oh, never mind.
I’m sticking my hand in the crazy again. Time to go. Thanks for the er, discussion.
ETA
Colibri: actually, Fenris is correct. FoieGras was very quickly shut down, indeed–MUCH faster than any much more offensive poster (I suck at names, but there’s been more than one pedophile-no, I will NOT be pedantic about the term, dammit-- who could go on and on about his “interest” and more than one openly racist douche, but mercy! We can’t talk about the irrationalities of a banned person. I’m not asking to change it; I’m just noting that it seems internally illogical and more than a bit controlling. YMMV.
In one way, yes, the Pit was looser. But in another way, it was actually a lot tighter, in that I was pretty quick to close threads, delete posts, and ban people. Nowadays, the mod staff has to discuss all of that stuff, but when we first started, the mod staff pretty much would take action when we noticed a problem, we didn’t discuss it for two or three days.
So what you are remembering as “looser” means that you didn’t see a lot of the real problem posts and threads. They got disappeared pretty quick, and I usually just banned posters who were on the SDMB to poke sticks at other posters and/or the mod staff. If the mod staff was able to shut down problem posters almost immediately, we were able to be more lax in other areas. But the SDMB grew, and grew, and grew, and we had to have more rules, because we’d have things like posters making sock puppets constantly.
No, he’s not correct. He himself admitted that his statement was hyperbole.
Nobody takes him seriously anywhere he posts. Not even where he’s a mod.
poor Fenris Dangerfield… He don’t get no respect
I take Fenris’ posts seriously!
Not surprising in the least.
This isn’t an issue that I’d get very worked up over, but I’d like to point out that someone who reads a message board where they’ve been banned probably has bigger issues to worry about. That’s not very healthy behavior.
Okay, no more helping circle the wagons, you mods are on your own.
Excuse me? Fenris’ entire statement was NOT hyperbole, merely the part about things being shot down with the “merest hint” etc. I agreed with Fenris re his statement that such bizarre censorship actually feeds snark. How much is not read for comprehension in this thread alone? 
Lynn: when I was here, I was very much here. Every day. I am not wrong that Pit rules or standards were looser and Pit threads were not shut down all that quickly. It was Cuntgate that changed it all for me and after that, the Pit became Which Rule Applies Today-Land. I got fed up (and I had always been a Mod supporter up till then) and stopped visiting and posting every day. I make a rare appearance now and again, and I’m most likely not missed at all (probably nobody noticed I was even gone… maybe a few MMPers, but I digress).
It’s your sandbox, your rules. But I have distinctly different memories of my time here and I highly doubt I’m wrong. IMO, you are rewriting history for no clear reason.
I understand that making stupid, pedantic, nitpicky, posts about an unimportant detail of a post, while ignoring the main point is a tradition here, but please, just this once, try to keep up.
The single statement “the merest hint of discussing an old banning gets the discussion shot down.” was, in fact, hyperbole.
However, the key point that seems to have eluded you in my post and then re-eluded you again in Eleanor’s post is that you guys were thrilled to let Cesario post for months about his disgusting fantasies all over the board, you let racists post the same damned posts over and over about how black people are dumb because their brains are less evolved*, but IN GENERAL you guys have fucking hissy-fits when someone opens a thread about a banned poster (which never used to be a rule), and you and you rapidly close threads about old bannings/meltdowns and you do it far, far, far more quickly than posts/threads that are openly racist, threads polluted by perverts posting about how A THREE** YEAR OLD LITTLE GIRL was HAWT and totally coming on to him and how he’d totally do her.
What I’m saying is (focus again-this part is the important part) the priorities of the SDMB Mods is completely fucked up. Kiddy-rapist-wannabes and people who would have been kicked out of South Africa 30 years ago for having backwards views about black people*** are fine to post thread after thread, but posting a thread about banned posters and the thread is locked.
This is a stupid policy. <-This is the key point. (It’s not the specific racial policies of South Africa 30 years back–just to prevent you from getting distracted again)
*Or what-the-fuck-ever bullshit theory they’re actually saying. Don’t get bogged down. Focus. The specific detail of their particular brand of racism isn’t the point.
**Focus again, Colibri. She might have been FOUR years old or TWO years old. This detail again is not the point. FOCUS!!!
***Hyperbole again…just so there’s no confusion.
Yep.
So, Colibri comes up with a smart arse answer rather than addressing his own inability to interact with humans? I am shocked.
Wow, Fenris…you are skirting awfully close to a meltdown, which would lead to a banning, and then…we wouldn’t be able to talk about you anymore!
I’ve reported this post as talking about a future banned poster. This this needs to stop NOW!
You do realise that the use of “this this” contravenes Treasury Regulation 34(1) Sub c?
The squid is on its way.
Thank you, Fenris. Thank you for understanding all my posts in here, for restating very clearly and amplifying what I had already said, and thank you for actually remembering the names of the Dopers and the specific incidents to which I only generally eluded. One would think this would not require such efforts. Apparently one would be dead wrong.
Discussing this issue has become ridiculously convoluted and difficult. I will likely bow out now, due to a very busy week ahead of me, and (frankly) a complete lack of faith that
- the opinions posted here by Fenris, me, FoieGras et al will be understood, and
- insight will be gained that might benefit the board in future.
At this point, lack of comprehension must be deliberate–for whatever murky reason suits you all. Have at it, but don’t act so surprised when you are looked at askance.
If Fenris’ points are so incredibly clear, why must he resort to hyperbole?
Hyperbole is a literary/rhetorical device, it isn’t something you resort to, it’s something you use. There’s nothing bad about it. Quite the opposite.
For example, I might ask why you resort to questions when you clearly mean to make a statement.
That’s the absolute best time to discuss them! It’s like lynching someone who’s already dead – no harm, no foul, just the sweet taste of mob justice.