Curious to know Are We Happy Now?

[Ms. Denmark]

______________

[SC Cheesehead]

The AJ thing made me think about how the group dynamic/mentality works in our forum. I don't know the details but he seems to be gone. I'm not sure if the majority ruled. I was generally part of the silent minority/majority? Not sure. Of course this isn't a democracy. :dunno: It just leaves me thinking.;)

AJ is gone?

I thought he posted up the last couple days. Did I miss something?

[03calitejas]

What AJ thing? Can you post a link to what you are referring to? I hadn't been on in a couple days so I'm in the dark. His thread are sometimes a bit unusual and I wonder what the topic is, but the responses to those thread are usually pretty entertaining.

[-Matt-]

IMO he seemed like a waste of bandwidth

[Dr Caleb]

AJ is gone?

I thought he posted up the last couple days. Did I miss something?

AJ emailed me last night. He received a message that he had been banned, permanently for his recent antics. No further explanation was given. I see no such antics in the last few days.

On the contrary, I saw several people trolling his threads. 300+ views on his thread in the 'test' forum, which I suspect was the 'test'. It was to see how many people are actually trolling anything AJ posted in; regardless of subject, content or forum location. (FAIL! BTW)

Everything that went on with AJ left me disturbed. He obviously had a different upbringing that the rest of us. His priorities were different. His education in Cambridge, at the same time as Professor Stephen Hawking was one of the more profound. He posted things about the nature of the universe, and got ridiculed for it. His most recent, about properties of invisibility was the most striking.

Personal attacks are frowned upon here, unless they were directed at AJ. Then it was acceptable. It's the oldest of the primate instincts. If it surprises you, or threatens you in any way - whack it with something heavy till it leaves you alone.

And I thought we had evolved beyond that.

[O's Fan Rich]

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x237/jbmiller616/Admin__pwnt_user.gif?t=1212107 580

Thought this explained the way it is.

[Joe Walsh]

AJ emailed me last night. He received a message that he had been banned, permanently for his recent antics. No further explanation was given. I see no such antics in the last few days.

On the contrary, I saw several people trolling his threads. 300+ views on his thread in the 'test' forum, which I suspect was the 'test'. It was to see how many people are actually trolling anything AJ posted in; regardless of subject, content or forum location. (FAIL! BTW)

Just to clear something up: Viewing a thread is NOT trolling.

Everything that went on with AJ left me disturbed. He obviously had a different upbringing that the rest of us. His priorities were different. His education in Cambridge, at the same time as Professor Stephen Hawking was one of the more profound.
He posted things about the nature of the universe, and got ridiculed for it. His most recent, about properties of invisibility was the most striking.

Maybe that's because he had destroyed almost all of his credibilty with thousands of inane posts prior to his most recent posts/threads.
He actually seemed to be posting some interesting things and had curtailed his troll like activities.

Personal attacks are frowned upon here, unless they were directed at AJ.
The attacks were put to a stop as soon as they got personal.

Then it was acceptable. It's the oldest of the primate instincts. If it surprises you, or threatens you in any way - whack it with something heavy till it leaves you alone.

And I thought we had evolved beyond that.

My post from the other, just closed thread:

Can't lay this banning on me....I have steered clear of his threads, and any interaction with him for some time.
I don't know what he did now*, but it was not in response to me.
I won't pretend that I am upset nor sorry to hear the news.

Can someone 'PM' me with what occurred?

*except for starting another VW Pheaton discussion....

[Joe Walsh]

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x237/jbmiller616/Admin__pwnt_user.gif?t=1212107 580

Thought this explained the way it is.

:rofl:

AJ was an elderly lady?

.....and why was Detective Starsky $h*t kicking her while Richard Carpenter calmly looked on???

[O's Fan Rich]

:rofl:

AJ was an elderly lady?

.....and why was Detective Starsky $h*t kicking her while Richard Carpenter calmly looked on???

I actually thought that he had become less distracting and annoying lately.
He really was not hurting anyone.....

[Bluerauder]

The AJ thing made me think about how the group dynamic/mentality works in our forum. I don't know the details but he seems to be gone. I'm not sure if the majority ruled. I was generally part of the silent minority/majority? Not sure. Of course this isn't a democracy. :dunno: It just leaves me thinking.;)
Whatever happened seems to have occurred around midnight last night. :dunno: His last "visible" thread is the Winter Car Woes discussion which seemed to be fairly innocuous and non-contentious. Dr. Caleb's post around 12:30 AM about any response being irrelevant because he is gone/banned seems to be the only indication of any problem.

I won't speculate on the reason for the banning but I am sure there was a good reason. There always is. The admins will let us know if they want to.

AJ hasn't bothered me for months .... I deliberately chose not to participate in many of his topics/threads/posts. Just made life simpler for me.

[Dr Caleb]

Just to clear something up: Viewing a thread is NOT trolling.

Just to clear something up - I never said it was. But it is an indicator as to how many people are 'forced' to open his threads and 'waste' their time, just because it was his ID that started the thread. Something they, ironically, used to label him as 'troll'.

Have a look at other recent threads in the 'test' forum, and tell me I'm wrong.



Maybe that's because he had destroyed almost all of his credibilty with thousands of inane posts prior to his most recent posts/threads.
He actually seemed to be posting some interesting things and had curtailed his troll like activities.

Funny, but he didn't. He started threads that were of interest to him. (because we know all threads started here are of interest to every single member, right?) Those things didn't interest others, so they 'hit it with a stick to make it go away'. He only recently got to the understanding of what interested everyone else, so he appeared to 'change'.

And people labelled him a 'troll'. I wonder if they really know the meaning of that word? He never swore, he never taunted, he never broke a single rule of the forum, he didn't try to steer other people's threads in completely pointless directions - yet, he was the 'troll' so anything that happened to him was deserved.

What is the meaning of 'troll' as you understand it? Then I'll explain how you and everyone got it wrong.



The attacks were put to a stop as soon as they got personal.

Really? He got called a retard yesterday, I see nothing condemning this nor was it removed.


My post from the other, just closed thread:

Can't lay this banning on me....I have steered clear of his threads, and any interaction with him for some time.
I don't know what he did now*, but it was not in response to me.
I won't pretend that I am upset nor sorry to hear the news.

Can someone 'PM' me with what occurred?

*except for starting another VW Pheaton discussion....

I never said you are responsible for this latest thing. but you, and many others did have a hand in labelling him 'troll' and creating the atmosphere where it was acceptable to berate him openly and with the consent of those who should never condone it.

[Vortex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcYsO890YJY

[Joe Walsh]

Just to clear something up - I never said it was. But it is an indicator as to how many people are 'forced' to open his threads and 'waste' their time, just because it was his ID that started the thread. Something they, ironically, used to label him as 'troll'.

Have a look at other recent threads in the 'test' forum, and tell me I'm wrong.



Funny, but he didn't. He started threads that were of interest to him. (because we know all threads started here are of interest to every single member, right?) Those things didn't interest others, so they 'hit it with a stick to make it go away'. He only recently got to the understanding of what interested everyone else, so he appeared to 'change'.

And people labelled him a 'troll'. I wonder if they really know the meaning of that word? He never swore, he never taunted, he never broke a single rule of the forum, he didn't try to steer other people's threads in completely pointless directions - yet, he was the 'troll' so anything that happened to him was deserved.

What is the meaning of 'troll' as you understand it? Then I'll explain how you and everyone got it wrong.

You don't recall his last banning...when he dug up scores of very old threads, just to clog 'Today's Posts'?
Or the many threads he started where he would ask a truly ridiculous question?
If he was so smart, he would not have asked those questions and started those threads other than to illicit negative responses from other members.

How about interjecting 'non sequiturs' into other member's threads?
Then acting surprised and picked on when other members responded with WTF?


Really? He got called a retard yesterday, I see nothing condemning this nor was it removed.



I never said you are responsible for this latest thing. but you, and many others did have a hand in labelling him 'troll' and creating the atmosphere where it was acceptable to berate him openly and with the consent of those who should never condone it.

He never attempted, until most recently, to change his behavior to fit better with the majority of the site's members.
I am not saying that every member must conform to the overall group's standards and behavior ....
but if you can't or won't slightly modify your behavior to fit in better with the group, when you clearly recognize that you are different from a majority of the group....why be a member of that group???
It is a voluntary website!

I labeled him a troll based on his posts and threads and on his responses to other member's posts.
He thrived on the attention...even if it was largely negative.
He often seemed to revel in the uproar and turmoil that he could cause....to me, that is a troll.

...............

[Egon Spengler]

I would love to know what transpired! What antics did he pulls last night... I have been going elsewhere for my "therapy" because they keep closing my threads so I haven't been coming to this site much anymore... What happened?

[FordNut]

AJ is gone?

I thought he posted up the last couple days. Did I miss something?

Apparently several of us did...


IMO he seemed like a waste of bandwidth

Most of the time...


My post from the other, just closed thread:

Maybe that's because he had destroyed almost all of his credibilty with thousands of inane posts prior to his most recent posts/threads.
He actually seemed to be posting some interesting things and had curtailed his troll like activities.
....

Yep, hard to un-do the previous posts...


I actually thought that he had become less distracting and annoying lately.
He really was not hurting anyone.....

Actually last week it seemed that way, this week he was drifting back into his old habits...



AJ hasn't bothered me for months .... I deliberately chose not to participate in many of his topics/threads/posts. Just made life simpler for me.

Me too.

[SC Cheesehead]

I actually thought that he had become less distracting and annoying lately.
He really was not hurting anyone.....

Rich,

I agree. The "cloaking" technology thread was a little goofy, but overall, he was posting up some fairly interesting stuff lately and was generating some decent dialog among folks, myself included.

Would be interesting to see what happend that lead to the ban.

[rayjay]

I had stopped reading anything that had his name on it weeks ago. Less aggravation & ogidda that way.

[Dr Caleb]

You don't recall his last banning...when he dug up scores of very old threads, just to clog 'Today's Posts'?

What banning? He has only ever received one. This one.

The 'last time' he was asked to cool it, and he did so, voluntarily. Ask yourself why he did that.

He was all by himself, the Mods gave him zero recourse with all the threats, berating and plain old trolling. So he acted as anyone who is at their wits end will do. And he still did it within the rules and without insulting anyone - even if it was against the spirit of the rules.



Or the many threads he started where he would ask a truly ridiculous question?

And? As I said, is every single thread here is of 100% value to every single member? It's not up to you to decide what I find ridiculous. I found many of his threads to be great subjects for discussion. Some I found pointless. I commented in the former, and ignored the latter. As I do with every other new thread I see.



If he was so smart, he would not have asked those questions and started those threads other than to illicit negative responses from other members.


If you were so smart, you'd see that once he was cast in the role of villain, no mater what he did he was wrong.



How about interjecting 'non sequiturs' into other member's threads?
Then acting surprised and picked on when other members responded with WTF?
...............

Again, your narrative begins once he was already the bad guy. If you had been paying attention, he was only doing what others did to him for weeks previously. Only he didn't threaten, swear or berate anyone.



He never attempted, until most recently, to change his behavior to fit better with the majority of the site's members.

I am not saying that every member must conform to the overall group's standards and behavior ....
but if you can't or won't slightly modify your behavior to fit in better with the group, when you clearly recognize that you are different from a majority of the group....why be a member of that group???

None of us here fit into any one single mould. We all have bits of us that overlap. But AJ is one of those people who just hasn't had the same life experiences we have. So he was just finding his place in our group - and he gets banned. Nice!



It is a voluntary website!

Indeed! "If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise we do not believe in it at all." Noam Chomsky. I'm not saying Aren was a saint. But he at least had some standards to which he held.

The mods & owners are of course free to do as they wish. I'm not commenting on their decision. I only hope to understand it, because the seeming randomness of it does not give me hope for the future of MM.net.



I labeled him a troll based on his posts and threads and on his responses to other member's posts.

He thrived on the attention...even if it was largely negative.

He often seemed to revel in the uproar and turmoil that he could cause....to me, that is a troll.

After a while of 'going it alone', I'm sure you are right. It's not like he wasn't trolled hard before he got there however. When life give you only crap, make crapade.

[Blackened300a]

What banning? He has only ever received one. This one.

The 'last time' he was asked to cool it, and he did so, voluntarily. Ask yourself why he did that.

Joe is correct, When he started digging up old threads from "Fastblackmerc" he received a 2 week banning. That was within this year I believe.

I didn't see anything in his threads to get him banned, I think something behind the scenes led to this.

[knine]

......... I only hope to understand it, because the seeming randomness of it does not give me hope for the future of MM.net.

Best quote of the year.

[DEFYANT]

AJ who? What....? Banned..? Did he piss on the bosses shoes?

[O's Fan Rich]

Rich,

I agree. The "cloaking" technology thread was a little goofy, but overall, he was posting up some fairly interesting stuff lately and was generating some decent dialog among folks, myself included.

Would be interesting to see what happend that lead to the ban.

Don't assume I was actually reading his posts, Rex.:D

[FordNut]

What banning? He has only ever received one. This one.

The 'last time' he was asked to cool it, and he did so, voluntarily. Ask yourself why he did that.

He was all by himself, the Mods gave him zero recourse with all the threats, berating and plain old trolling. So he acted as anyone who is at their wits end will do. And he still did it within the rules and without insulting anyone - even if it was against the spirit of the rules.



And? As I said, is every single thread here is of 100% value to every single member? It's not up to you to decide what I find ridiculous. I found many of his threads to be great subjects for discussion. Some I found pointless. I commented in the former, and ignored the latter. As I do with every other new thread I see.



If you were so smart, you'd see that once he was cast in the role of villain, no mater what he did he was wrong.



Again, your narrative begins once he was already the bad guy. If you had been paying attention, he was only doing what others did to him for weeks previously. Only he didn't threaten, swear or berate anyone.



None of us here fit into any one single mould. We all have bits of us that overlap. But AJ is one of those people who just hasn't had the same life experiences we have. So he was just finding his place in our group - and he gets banned. Nice!



Indeed! "If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise we do not believe in it at all." Noam Chomsky. I'm not saying Aren was a saint. But he at least had some standards to which he held.

The mods & owners are of course free to do as they wish. I'm not commenting on their decision. I only hope to understand it, because the seeming randomness of it does not give me hope for the future of MM.net.



After a while of 'going it alone', I'm sure you are right. It's not like he wasn't trolled hard before he got there however. When life give you only crap, make crapade.

He was a pest, good riddance.

[LIGHTNIN1]

I read him yesterday I think, Dr. Caleb, what is the problem? If the post got to be too long I just past them by.:dunno:

[Ms. Denmark]

______________

[Ms. Denmark]

______________

[oldekid]

I thought AJ was doing much better. He wasn't nearly as annoying as some have been on here. He has always been in his own world, but in all honesty, he never really bothered me, and lately, I thought he was being quite civil.

I have never seen him get involved in politics or religion. Hell, he doesn't even curse. He may be annoying to some, but he does it by the rules.

Crap, I miss him already.
:beer:

[Mac-MerC]

Seemed like a cool dude
enjoyed his stories

[a_d_a_m]

I thought AJ was doing much better. Same here... :confused:

[Dr Caleb]

Look again. If there's one thing I dislike more than an annoying post......it's an annoying bully.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showpost.php?p=800334&postcount=18

It still exists.


If that's all it takes ........it's been nice chatting with some of you.;)

My point, exactly. All it takes is a whim. I'm happy to play inside the boundaries, if I know what they are. Aren always played inside the boundaries.

[rayjay]

[quote=Dr Caleb;800870

My point, exactly. All it takes is a whim. I'm happy to play inside the boundaries, if I know what they are. Aren always played inside the boundaries.[/quote]

Uhm, it takes more than a whim. You need only look at the others that this has happened to. I don't know what he did, but it had to have really offended someone.

[Marauderjack]

This used to be a car site.....recently it has become a "Psycho Ward"!!:shake:

[SC Cheesehead]

This used to be a car site.....recently it has become a "Psycho Ward"!!:shake:

Still a car site, Jack, but with "optional equipment." ;)

[Dr Caleb]

This used to be a car site.....recently it has become a "Psycho Ward"!!:shake:

It's always been a Psycho Ward. We're just playing with the dosages right now.

[UncleLar]

Personally I thought his posts were just the efforts of someone more interested in being a post ho and stated the same.For the first time since I've been frequenting this site I put someone,AJ,on my ignore list.Whether or not the contents of his posts changed I don't know as I did ignore them.
As far as the reason(s) for banning him I hope it wasn't for the "nitwit" posts as I refer to the threads he posted before I instituted the ignore feature.Maybe things would've been better served by "taking him out back and slapping a little sense into him" figuritively speaking. I can tell you in the going on 7 years i've been around here on and off there have been MANY members banned,"eliminated",intimidated or harassed into leaving for what seem mostly to be site politics,it's happened under each different set of site owners for whatever their reasons were.So,we can all be shown the door if we displease the powers that be,as owners that's their right,even if it isn't "right".

[UAW 588]

First Zack, now AJ. Who's next Motorhead 350. What has this site come to.

[SC Cheesehead]

First Zack, now AJ. Who's next Motorhead 350. What has this site come to.

Nah, Dom's an institution here.

[Egon Spengler]

Watch your backsides!

I am immortal here so I have nothing to worry about!:rolleyes:

[UAW 588]

Nah, Dom's an institution here.

Don't you mean he should be locked up in an institution. After hearing his Hot Sauce stories, they need to.

[SC Cheesehead]

Don't you mean he should be locked up in an institution. After hearing his Hot Sauce stories, they need to.
:stooges:-------->:rofl:------>:lol:

[Egon Spengler]

This isn't where I parked my car....