As the replacement Moderation page has developed the old bug so that permalinks no longer navigate to the appropriate comment, so here is yet another page for continuing discussion on moderating issues. The Rules can be found there so anyone with an issue should check that they are familiar with them.
The Skeptical Zone
"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken."
You just have a long history of standing there while others do it and saying nothing. I’m sure the bloke who did not actually light the crosses said much the same. I was just there. I was not taking part.
That’s a double standard at TAMSZ then, isn’t it?
(I’ll gladly leave Fox’s cropped photo which I requested him to post aside.)
Mung,
The offending comments have been moved to Guano.
Gregory,
Thank Joe Gallien for that restriction.
Patrick,
So, you admit it’s both a ‘double standard’ and a ‘restriction’? And that it privileges you, who is appointed ‘Admin’ at TAMSZ?
It’s certainly a nuisance. I would like to be able to give non-Admins the capacity to post images in their comments. But I’m not a good enough coder to fix it.
So, apologies. Unfortunately the people who write WP and other forum software tend to have a very hierarchical view of humanity which I do not share!
Gregory,
Yeah, Check your privilege, Patrick! I am *so* triggered right now.
I don’t think it was to do with JoeG’s image, which was actually a link to an image, not the image itself. The restriction on posting images would not prevent people doing what JoeG did.
It’s just the way the comment script is coded. I did make some adjustments to it (allowing tags etc), but I couldn’t see how to enable images, and in anyway, I think the code had been reinstalled since then, after the hack.
Dunno.
html is a foreign country to me, and I only have a Berlitz phrase-book.
Re “abuse” – yes there is more than I’d like, here, although at least Noyau is diverting some of it, and I would agree that more gets directed at pro-IDists than in the reverse direction.
I suggest that this is solely a result of the imbalance of numbers (though it serves to maintain the imbalance :(. So I would ask the majority to sit on their hands and bite their tongues more rigorously.
But I would also, in fairness, observe that “abuse” isn’t just rude words, and it can be as “abusive” to, for instance, imply that someone is lying, using polite words, than to say explicitly that someone is an asshole, using rude ones.
And I try to operate as fairly as possible (hence the formulation of the rules) – I try not to distinguish between “rude” abuse and “polite” abuse. And I also try not to be overly heavy-handed anyway.
So apologies Mung, if you feel that you get more than your share. It’s possible that you do, but I suggest it’s numeric.
And I’d also opine (from a biased standpoint) that we put up with less rudeness here from the “home team” than UD does. And tolerate more rudeness from the away team.
My forlorn hope remains that we could move past “teams” anyway….
Elizabeth,
It’s hard to even find a venue to communicate. We *can’t* go there (or if we can, we are censored), they *won’t* come here (credit to Mung and FMM for doing so).
Yes, credit to both of them, and to William, and also Gregory who seems to be on neither “team” and may even be playing a different sport!
And I know it’s hard not to find some theistic views offensive – just as theist find some non-theistic views blasphemous (or “apostasy”). It’s difficult. No wonder there is war in the world.
But it would be nice if it were limited to friendly skirmishes here.
Elizabeth,
It’s a fine line between searching for truth, and imposing your truth on others. 😉
Indeed. As an online friend once said (I must get the exact quotation one day): “of course I think I’m right – if I thought I was wrong, I’d change my mind!”
I offered an opinion. You are under no obligation to agree with me. There’s only been one “professional victim” disrupting the board by screaming about this for months now. He’s playing you like a violin.
Gregory, Frankie and phoodoo are angry in a way that the others aren’t. It makes one think that their religion can be little but a burden to them. Hardly the way to attract people to one’s views, I’d think.
BWTHDIK?
There are no “professional victims” on this board.
It’s a well-investigated phenomenon that attacks from the receiving end always feel more severe than attacks from the inflicting end. It’s to do with forward models even.
But whatever causes it, escalation seems hard-wired in to human conflict.
Let’s learn to de-escalate.
Gregory,
I’d say “explain” rather than “admit”. I don’t know about a double standard, but yes, there is a reason they’re called admin “privileges”.
If you think that no one should be able to post images, please take it up with Lizzie. I won’t have time until the weekend to look into providing that capability on a user-by-user basis, but if you want to post an image in the meantime, please include the image URL in your comment and include a note saying something like “Admins — please add inline.” When I see that, I’ll make the change for you.
Don’t you find it interesting that it was a theist rather than an evil, depressing atheist who abused the open system?
Richardthughes,
I suspect that you, at least, know how many microagressions are in a milliaggression.
Adapa,
I read it as much stronger than just your opinion. I agree with Alan that you should support your claim or retract it.
Patrick,
I demand a “safe space” where only I can post, or people I really really like. And If I don’t like them any more I can shut them up or delete them.*
*Sound familiar?
I know many Christians and Jews for whom their faith plays a big role in their love of others, love of themselves, and the sheer delight that they take in the gift of being alive. There’s no trace of any of that in Gregory, Frankie, or phoodoo.
Here’s the thing: they might say that they are Christians, or theists, but I don’t think that they are. I really do think that they are deeply self-deceived. I say that because I don’t think you can judge someone based on what they assert, but only based on their actions.
I really don’t think that anyone who really believed that we should love of neighbors as ourselves and treat strangers as if they were neighbors could say the vile, hateful, mocking, and disgusting things that we routinely hear from them. Theirs is not a religion of love — it is a religion of hate. If Christianity is a religion of love, then they are not Christians*..
* unless Nietzsche is right about Christianity — that Christianity is a religion of hate. If Christianity is a religion of hate, then Gregory, phoodoo, and Frankie are extremely good Christians.
Richardthughes,
Appalled as I am by the behavior of those students, I must say I’m enjoying the opportunity to needle my Yalie colleagues.
Patrick,
It is delicious. I leaned a new term, “Cry Bullies”. Yale and UD, more similar than either is comfortable with.
Well, the facts tell a different story. You see, Adapa went away for a while not long after he made that comment. And you didn’t find me “screaming about it for months” when there was no Adapa here.
So maybe Adapa should just go away again. 🙂
There’s a large gap between those who provide (or at least can provide) evidence for their claims and those who fail to do so. Merely carping about the evidence, and pretending that the rules that normally exclude magic should be waived where life is concerned, is not providing evidence.
Another problem is that saying ID is pseudoscience is presumably about as annoying to IDists as saying that evolution is pseudoscience is annoying to “evolutionists,” or probably more so, given that the former is the truth.
So there’s inherent tension that simply cannot go away. IDists will inevitably feel badly used for hearing that nonsense is nonsense (and Mung will go to UD to say that you just have to go to TSZ to see that brains fossilize–ha ha, who would think that up, beyond 6th grade anyway), and we’ll never take the untrue and unevidenced attacks on our integrity at all well, even if it is from their sort. One has to recognize that the overwhelming majority of IDists really believe what they do because they want to discredit the infidels that they already loathe for not agreeing with them.
The discussions inevitably fail, and the most we can hope to do is to get some ideas out there before any one discussion fails.
Glen Davidson
Folks
I’ve tried a couple of plugins that are supposed to enable members to upload images in comments but both crashed (Comment Images and Comment Image). I’ve tried modifying permissions but this doesn’t seem to work either.
Anyone with a helpful suggestion?
Elizabeth,
See my comment above. 🙁
Alan Fox,
If you don’t solve it by the weekend, I’ll do some digging too. Hopefully we can find one that flags images with an excessive percentage of flesh for review before posting.
LOL! Mung just can’t stop being the butthurt drama queen even for a minute. The attention whore in him won’t allow it.
Oh do grow up guys.
Admins. Please do the needful. Thank you.
Send to Guano:
I thought those rules were relaxed in Noyau. The whole point of that forum is that it allows ad homs, isn’t it?
I object. The defendant is not allowed to testify in defense of his attorney.
This isn’t UD Brave Sir Mung. You can’t hide behind Barry’s skirt like you do there. Whining for censorship won’t fly here.
Just a heads up on new poster ‘otangelo’
A frequent visitor to Sandwalk as ElShamah, and 4 pages into a thread at AtBC. Engage by all means, but with realistic expectations.
Oh goodness. Here we go again. Moralising TAMSZ moderators want to claim words for themselves.
First, petrushka was Guano’d. Then miraculously (ad hom) reinstated. Then my post critiquing KN’s philosophistry and shallowness was Guano’d.
Who’s responsible for this?
You people are not worth breath.
Pick the one particular (note: I didn’t use ‘moron’ this time, ala Alan Fox’s fetish) word you object to, Admin, and delete it, then reinstate the post.
Gregory,
Gregory, if you want to discuss why I moved your post to guano, raise it in the moderation issues thread.
Whoever Guano’d my post should be excused from the Admin priviledges. He or she obviously lacks proper judgement. (But Lizzie would never take such a move to reverse her TAMSZ priviledging.)
I was a bit surprised, but I’m not a whiner.
Alan Fox,
Go give an explanation there yourself.
Gregory,
Don’t attack fellow commenters personally.
This is a great example. Does anyone think Lizzie might or even would admonish Alan Fox for his ‘moderation’ in this case? He’ll delete an entire post because one word, a concept duo or a phrase he simply, personally, subjectively ‘doesn’t like’ and then not be held accountable anywhere on TAMSZ to explain the ‘moderation/admin’. Apparently that’s ‘free speech’ on this site. LOL!
You could always just leave. What’s stopping you?
This is absolutely priceless. I could put this in a book, but I won’t.
1) Alan Fox Guano’s me for my comment to Frankie, calling it personal.
Then on a very different post, 2) Alan Fox Guano’s me for telling KN truth, without specifying what was Guano-worthy.
3) Alan Fox then conflates them together, apparently trying to criticise a theist as a weapon against an atheist.
Folks, this ‘Alan Fox’ is an imposter of a human being. No justice, no law, no rule, no explanation. Alan Fox is a dictator TAMSZ mod/admin. And Lizzie probably loves him for it 😉
This site is unbelievable!! 🙂
Gregory,
I’ll answer this in the moderation issues thread.
You started this. Deal with it here. Or don’t do it again, Alan, this is more than the 2nd time you’ve acted like a language dictator admin at TAMSZ. Why should Lizzie give you a 3rd strike to correct your knee-jerk ways?
Gregory,
No comments are deleted, but those that violate Lizzie’s rules may be moved to Guano. They are still readable there.
If you have issues with any admin’s actions, please raise them in the Moderation Issues thread.
Switch ‘Guano’ for ‘delete’. Alan Fox is now TAMSZ mod/admin rogue, giving no explanation, even privately, for his ‘disapproval’.
Replying to Gregory’s complaint about moderation.
Pasting from this thread:
I think you are mistaken.
It breaks the rules to personally attack a fellow member.
I’ve not guano’d a comment from you on the grounds of remarks addressed to Frankie. I don’t see a comment of yours in guano that refers to Frankie.
Well, we have you on the case to keep us honest! Just try to express yourself without personal insults. This should avoid further comments being moved to guano.
“It breaks the rules to personally attack a fellow member.”
Identify this supposed ‘attack.’ I will retract, if appropriate, and then repost the rest of the message. You are a fake mod/amin with your apparent aversion to certain singular words, as a result of which you seem to think you can ‘legitimately’ Guano a post. Come clean, Alan.