Moderator action

Discussion in 'SF Open Government' started by Captain Kremmen, Apr 9, 2014.

  1. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    Any chance of reducing the ban to 7 days?
    I know that 30 is the next stage, but it seems a little OTT.
     
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  3. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    You misunderstand - I am not suggesting it is the governments responsibility to "purge" people of their preconceptions... rather, we, as a species, must move beyond them willingly. Admittedly, not likely to happen with our current caste-based wealth-enamored society but cest la vie...

    Truth be told, it could have very well been a permanent; as it was, since no other moderators had stepped in to issue warnings/infractions before the topic in question went entirely out of hand, I issued a single infraction for all the posts in question, instead of one infraction per post. However, I will discuss with the other moderators what their feelings on this matter are (admittedly I have not dealt with MR very often, but the posts in question were blatant attacks)
     
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  5. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, he does get a bit overheated sometimes, but his heart's in the right place.
    He starts a lot of interesting threads.
     
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  7. Aqueous Id flat Earth skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    I thought MR had a lot of good interesting things to say. Truth is, I didn't hang out where he was posting, so I only caught a glimpse. I have no idea what lead to the meltdown, but it looks like he was reacting to Balerion, who just says what's on his mind to get the point across. If you look at the content of what Balerion posts, he speaks a lot about being a decent person for the sake of decency, without any of the trimmings that come with superstition. And he constantly defends common sense, the value of knowledge, and anything that pertains to science, as these things often come under attack. He is also very good about pinning people down to their logic and definitions, and he reads fallacies like the back of his hand. For whatever reason MR felt hurt by this, and it all went to hell, since, for one thing, Balerion doesn't take any guff and speaks his mind. In any case they have a history I'm ignorant of. It just doesn't matter to me Who Shot John. In my mind both guys have said a lot of brilliant things, and so MR should be regarded as an asset to the dialogue. Maybe you guys could cut him some slack, recognizing that if he had gotten the first warning soon enough, he might have cooled his jets.

    I liked what MagicalRealist said here. I thought it was going to develop. Too bad things went South.
     
  8. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Taken and understood - as I said, I haven't had much contact with MR so I went purely on the established infractions and ban pattern - I've already requested the opinions of the other moderators (especially since I can't actually alter the ban myself)

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  9. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    My way of thinking is similar to Balerion's.
    I doubt everything until I have good reason to think it's true. That's the theory anyway.
    MR believes all sorts of things which I would never entertain for an instant,
    but it takes him to some interesting places.
     
  10. Yazata Valued Senior Member

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    5,902
    Magical Realist is my friend.

    I disagree (sometimes violently) with his left-politics, his over-the-top hostility towards "religion" and with many of his philosophical ideas. But I've also known him online for something like 15 years and he's fundamentally a good guy. (And as Balerion said, wickedly smart.) I enjoy arguing with him and I'd have no hesitation having a beer with him in real life.

    If MR's been banned, then I guess that I'll be taking a break from posting too. (There's been way too much banning going on around here recently.)

    What Sciforums' moderators don't seem to realize is that Sciforums is only as good, and only as interesting, as the people that post here. A discussion board's greatest asset isn't its software, it's the conversation that it hosts. Driving participants off subverts the board's whole reason for being.

    (Stated simply, you need us more than we need you.)

    And it's both ironic and telling that all this happens on a thread that at least ostensibly is about eliminating all differences between people and bringing everyone together in love.

    That's usually the way these things work, whether on Sciforums, in Pyongyang, or in real life. Perhaps that's the lesson that needs to be learned. The desired homogeneity has to be imposed with force on whoever refuses to conform, and it always seems to end up being enforced top-down by a ruling elite that believes that it's more enlightened than the little-people.

    I prefer bottom-up popular soverignty myself. Democracy in other words. And that, just by its nature, means that differences of opinion will inevitably exist. I see internal diversity as a good thing, even if it's sometimes associated with hostility and with arguments. It means that people have the freedom to think for themselves.

    It's the image of herding cats compared to herding sheep. I fully intend to remain a cat.
     
  11. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Yazata - before making any hasty decisions, I implore you to have patience - the reason for the ban is documented here and I have requested to have the ban reviewed with intention to have it shortened (probably to 14 days) - trust me when I say I, and many of the other moderators, do understand the lifeblood of these boards. My actions in this, as I have stated, were consistent PURELY with the regulations set forth by the administration- he had 2 active infraction points and garnered one more for those posts; this was in fact lenient as those posts could have easily been individually acted upon, but I felt that would have been inappropriate as no other, more subtle, action had been taken prior; the reason I acted "by the book" is that I have no prior experience with MR - as it has been pointed out, he has contributed many interesting topics and discussions; the fact that he can, and has, contributed positively to the site does mean something in my eyes. Had I known that before, or had I gotten to the thread a bit earlier in the discussion (before it devolved into absolute carnage) I would likely have started with a simple verbal warning; unfortunately, things did not play out that way, so I was left with just the established procedures for such a situation.

    I understand the concerns with the recent rise in moderation activity. This is something also being discussed in the back with regards to how we want to handle things in the long term. However, for the time being, it is a period of transition and things will be a bit strange.

    If anyone has any further questions regarding this, I urge you to take them up with me via PM so as not to further derail the thread

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  12. Balerion Banned Banned

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    He wasnt banned for his posts in this thread. He was banned for flaming and trolling in a different thread. It's far from his first time.

    He's smart, but he's also extremely immature. His reaction tk criticism of his Ideas resembles that of a 9-year-old having a tantrum. If you guys are so close, maybe you should talk to him about that.

    I wasn't exactly well-behaved in that discussion either, so I'm not claiming to be innocent. I also don't agree with a month ban. But I'm not bent out of shape abkut it, either, considering how rotten he got in the course of our dialogue. MR's contributions can be great, but he can also be the worst, which he demonstrated in that thread.
     
  13. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    I am abashed to admit that the one month ban was actually inconsistent with the pattern set forth by the administration; I have been, since becoming a moderator, operating under the understanding that the infraction being given that resulted in the ban was included in the total points calculation to determine the ban length. I was incorrect - a 14 day ban should have been the longest it could have been.

    I have requested to have it reduced to 7 days in lieu of my error and heavy-handedness in the matter.
     
  14. Sorcerer Put a Spell on you Registered Senior Member

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    To be honest Balerion - and I respect you as a decent human being - it takes 2 to tango, and maybe you should have walked away and given him time to cool down.
     
  15. Sorcerer Put a Spell on you Registered Senior Member

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    Wow! Mod in doesn't-understand-the-rules-shocker!

    At least you've had the honesty to admit it, which is more than the other guy ever did.
     
  16. Balerion Banned Banned

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    You're absolutely right.

    I would submit to perhaps a 3 day ban to balance the scales a bit, if you guys think I should.
     
  17. Gremmie "Happiness is a warm gun" Valued Senior Member

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    I have been here almost four years... I have never seen so many bans being cranked out. No Balerion, you shouldn't be banned at all... Though, I do respect your sense of fairness. And, MR, in my opinion, should have his ban greatly shortened, if not overturned... I've seen so much worse here, with no bans... Let's play nice.
     
  18. Sorcerer Put a Spell on you Registered Senior Member

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    856
    Very fair and reasonable, Gremmie, and I agree on all counts.
     
  19. Balerion Banned Banned

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    Thanks, Gremmie.

    Let's not turn on Kitt. He's trying to do the right thing. He always is.

    I should have walked away from MR, but I didn't. That doesn't excuse him, though.
     
  20. Gremmie "Happiness is a warm gun" Valued Senior Member

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    I totally hear what you're saying... It takes two to tango. Debates do get heated, who cares.. Life is short people. And, as far a Kitt goes, he has my full vote of confidence... He truly tries to be fair... Can't say that for all of our mods though.
     
  21. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    “The trouble ain’t that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain’t distributed right,” -Mark Twain
     
  22. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Heh, not so much that I didn't understand/know the rules as it was I misinterpreted how they were implemented (to be fair, it made sense to me that the infraction being issued would be included in the calculation; as it was, the point was made that it shouldn't be in that there is a method for dealing with people with zero infraction points when issuing an infraction)


    I appreciate the vote of confidence Balerion - while I agree, you could have walked away, you were correct in requesting proof; perhaps a bit accusatory/inflammatory in the process, but in a scientific forum a "thick skin" is to be expected
     
  23. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    I couldn't be a cop. Much rather be a criminal. Fewer rules to study.
     

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