Opinion of politicus

[Torie]

Is politcus under some kind of stress? Threatening posters with physical harm or stalking is a very serious matter, and cannot stand. Surely politicus knows that. We've had a recent precedent.

[Torie]

Does Scandinavia have a high alcoholism rate? Just curious.

[Torie]

The Nordic countries have a rather special history with alcohol and alcoholism, yes. I'd say this applies more to Norway, Sweden and Finland (countries with a state monopoly on selling alcohol) than to Denmark, though, at least nowadays. But not sure if this is relevant to the thread, playing the "internet doctor" is not really helpful when you hardly know anything about someone. I have sent stupid messages to people on Facebook when I was drunk in the past. Doesn't mean I'm an alcoholic, it means that I shouldn't be online after drinking.

Correct. And for disciplinary purposes, what counts is conduct. But given that the poster is highly intelligent and informed, and typically rational, such lash outs (I received one such PM back when myself), which seem to occur on a fairly regular basis,  seem somewhat at odds with that.  It's quite sad actually. If she has a problem, hopefully one day she will deal with it.

[Torie]

"But remember that this is not some long distance cyberspace enmity with a guy in Australia or Montana, you are well within my reach shovel-face. So be a good little boy and piss off from both forums, otherwise this is about to become personal and switch to RL."

They're called personal messages for a reason. 

If a trend gets started where posters start to clutter up this board with PMs from other posters, then you'll have only yourself to blame.

PM's should not be posted at all without permission of the other party, but making physical threats is an exception to the rules about PM's that normally obtain.

[Torie]

PM's should not be posted at all without permission of the other party, but making physical threats is an exception to the rules about PM's that normally obtain.

I see.  If I say lovely things about you you're not allowed to broadcast them.  If I say I'm going to burn down your house you're obligated to broadcast it.

You guys really know how to create a welcoming environment.  That's why you're the moderators.

You're not obligated to "broadcast it" obviously, and it is not something really that should be done in my view (as opposed to reporting it to the Cave), but I don't consider it a violation of the terms of use. If someone says something lovely to you in a PM Angus, just ask their permission to post it, and it's all good. So let me give you permission in advance to post any PM I send you, stating that I think you are the most talented writer on the forum.

[Torie]

"But remember that this is not some long distance cyberspace enmity with a guy in Australia or Montana, you are well within my reach shovel-face. So be a good little boy and piss off from both forums, otherwise this is about to become personal and switch to RL."

They're called personal messages for a reason.  

If a trend gets started where posters start to clutter up this board with PMs from other posters, then you'll have only yourself to blame.

Oh, chill. This wasn't even a message sent on here. But yeah, if you wanna be on your high horse in a public forum and constantly harass people in personal messages then maybe it'll bite you in the ass eventually.

I think you know better Angus. If you wanna support the crazy, do so directly, not by interpreting rules in a weird way.

Yes, I do know better than many.  I know better than to act like an outraged schoolgirl and post private messages publicly.  When I call someone out, I do it in full view of the forum.  Not only have I never harassed anyone in a personal message, but I also have never posted the contents of a personal message on this forum.  And yes, I think that makes my horse a tall one.  Call my interpretation weird if you want, but if it's weird not to be a bully, then I'm weird.  It is indeed very fortunate for all of us to have on this forum such an expert in psychology who is confident enough to decide who is crazy and who is weird.  

No, really. Politicus has sent me insane messages for ages and I've said nothing. She eventually got so upset she issued threats over disagreements. If you want to take the side of the person so easily offended she would always block, ignore or issue threats against anyone who disagreed with them, be my guest. But I think that you don't actually want to.

I know you have been a moderator for a very long time, and I know that it's probably a thankless task.  Still, I was a astonished that you'd post a personal message.  I would not do that.  Also, if in your position as moderator you feel that you need to use your mod superpowers, then it seems unseemly to broadcast it here.  I don't support bannings and suspensions of or editing of posts by any one other than the original poster, but if you have to have such recrimination, or if you genuinely feel harassed and feel that discussion is warranted, then such discussions ought to stay in the moderator cave.  

Also, if every drunken diatribe merited an opinion thread, I'd have racked up at least a thousand of them by now.  I disagree with politicus about half the time, but she is well informed and I admire her for her courage for speaking unpopular opinions.  That she lets you get the better of her is a weakness on her part, but a forgivable one, because you can be very trying at times.  Admittedly, the PM is a little creepy.  If I want to call you a jerk I do it out here in the open.  Still, I don't think I"m going to convince you that you're over-reacting, so I'm not going to argue with you any more.

Good day.

That's the real discussion we should be having. Why is it that moderators go out of their way to relentlessly troll, provoke, and purposely upset posters for the sheer joy of it all? Anyone else doing this would be moderated.

Because you've been a bad influence on us?

[Torie]

^zing? Are you mad because I asked why you're a mod and opebo was banned? You've had a weird hate thing going on lately. That must be it.

Honey, you really don't bother me at all. It is always a pleasure to "see" you surface every once in awhile from your new digs to share your little insights about us.

[Torie]

"Don't you understand that the real experts, the ones who society expects to decide whether someone is crazy also regularly determine that someone is generally driven crazy by the types of people who bully them into being crazy?"

Not sure what "crazy" means here (not a medical term), but generally really crazy folks (psychotics), are that way for reasons we don't understand very well, and what starts it all, though it does have a genetic correlation, and yes, that makes them more vulnerable to something relatively trivial setting them off on a "break" or whatever.  I tend to doubt, but obviously don't know, that Politicus is in that category, but beyond that, I really don't think you can attribute much of her behavior to much of what Gustaf did, or did not not do, that may be seen by some to be overaggressive or argumentative. She was predisposed to act that way is my guess, at least when drunk (which she admits happens). As I said before, she lashed out at me in a PM (no threats or anything), in a way that really surprised me, was largely inexplicable, and in any event a gross overreaction in my view. I just ignored the PM and moved on, but I did find it strange, and a bit troubling.

Anyway, what happened, happened, can't be undone, and now needs to be dealt with appropriately going forward through the proper channels. At this point, continuing to go back and forth, and back and forth, on it here, serves no useful purpose really.