A recent thread over on the fittingly named MADboard from the well-known and amicable critic called sethbag:
sethbag wrote:NOTE: this is not a complaint. Please don't suspend me.
I just noticed that most of the quotes in my sig line disappeared, and I remember some mention recently by the mods that they were thinking about quotes in sig lines, so I'm wondering if a policy decision was just made and I missed it. I'm not complaining about this, I'm merely asking what the new policy is so I can read it and know what the rules of the game are from now on out. The quotes in my sig up until a few minutes ago were from Hammer and Kemara, and I hadn't been asked by either of them (as far as I know) to remove them. I had thought, from my experience with the Charity quote a few weeks ago, that quotes were OK unless the person quoted asked for the quote to be removed.
Can we get a heads up what's going on? Again, I'm not complaining, I'm just asking for the new policy to be posted so we can all know what the rules are from here on out. I'm sure this must affect a lot of posters, because a great many posters have had quotes of other posters in their sigs.
(bold emphasis ibid)
What I find intriguing about this post is not the fact that the MADmods are editing people's siglines without permission and without any explanation. Rather, what is so troubling is the tone. Sethbag practically sounds as if he's begging for his life! Why should he have to adopt such a pleading, groveling tone here? Why on earth would people want to subject themselves to this sort of baloney? Masochism? Can we begin counting the minutes until he is banned?
Groveling because they obviously give a crap whether or not they remain an active poster there...and know if they don't tow the line and essentially bow down, they'll get wiped out into oblivion. Why? Because that's the reality in that little vacuum they've got going on.
Mister Scratch wrote:Sethbag practically sounds as if he's begging for his life! Why should he have to adopt such a pleading, groveling tone here? Why on earth would people want to subject themselves to this sort of baloney? Masochism?
I can very well remember the mindset, since I once suffered under it too.
Of course, that was back before the days of MormonDiscussions.com, when there wasn't a viable alternative board. Now there's no excuse.
"Finally, for your rather strange idea that miracles are somehow linked to the amount of gay sexual gratification that is taking place would require that primitive Christianity was launched by gay sex, would it not?"
Jersey Girl wrote:Groveling because they obviously give a crap whether or not they remain an active poster there...and know if they don't tow the line and essentially bow down, they'll get wiped out into oblivion. Why? Because that's the reality in that little vacuum they've got going on.
Jersey Girl
(sorry if I seem negative today...I am)
Or (and this is pure speculation), it could be that experienced critics such as sethbag know that the powers-that-be on the fittingly named MADboard want to see them grovel. It seems that poor sethbag is being pulled in two different directions: he wants to remain a critic, and yet he is willing to sacrifice his dignity in order to maintain his posting privileges. In any case, in my view, this is yet another of MAD's death paroxysms that we are bearing witness to.
Mister Scratch wrote:Sethbag practically sounds as if he's begging for his life! Why should he have to adopt such a pleading, groveling tone here? Why on earth would people want to subject themselves to this sort of baloney? Masochism?
I can very well remember the mindset, since I once suffered under it too.
Of course, that was back before the days of MormonDiscussions.com, when there wasn't a viable alternative board. Now there's no excuse.
Interesting. You know, this goes a good ways towards helping to explain juliann's mindset and behavior on that board, I think. I doubt very sincerely that her primary interest is in stimulating debate, or legitimate scholarship. Rather, it seems that she wants to "stack the deck," and "flex her muscles," so to speak. She enjoys the power, and sadistically enjoys seeing critics suffer this way. How sad that as a 'leader' (as it were), she prefers to see the people in her charge reduced to this very sad and pathetic spectacle. It is rather like a lover who abuses you, and refuses to return your love until you have been reduced to tears. Incidentally, juliann herself once said on the ironically named FAIRboard that she was married to an abusive man for quite some time.
Incidentally, juliann herself once said on the ironically named FAIRboard that she was married to an abusive man for quite some time.
Scratch...I understand the point you are trying to make with this....and you know that there is ABSOLUTELY no love lost between Juliann and I.....but I think that bringing this up is crossing the line. Juliann's personal business is her business. It shouldn't be mulled over here.
Mister Scratch wrote:Sethbag practically sounds as if he's begging for his life! Why should he have to adopt such a pleading, groveling tone here? Why on earth would people want to subject themselves to this sort of baloney? Masochism?
I can very well remember the mindset, since I once suffered under it too.
Of course, that was back before the days of MormonDiscussions.com, when there wasn't a viable alternative board. Now there's no excuse.
Incidentally, juliann herself once said on the ironically named FAIRboard that she was married to an abusive man for quite some time.
Scratch...I understand the point you are trying to make with this....and you know that there is ABSOLUTELY no love lost between Juliann and I.....but I think that bringing this up is crossing the line. Juliann's personal business is her business. It shouldn't be mulled over here.
You know Liz, I sort of agree with you. Before you found your way over here, I re-posted the old post of hers in which she went into some detail about the whole affair over on the Board Formerly Known as FAIR. I expected to get at least a few finger-wagging replies from people, much in the same vein as what you just wrote. To my surprise, everyone approved of the reposting, and some people even went so far as to say that they felt she deserved the abuse! Now *that* is crossing the line, in my opinion, but I'm afraid I disagree with you about "dishing the dirt" that appears on FAIR/MAD. What is publicly written on that MB is FAIRgame, in my opinion.
Mister Scratch wrote:Sethbag practically sounds as if he's begging for his life! Why should he have to adopt such a pleading, groveling tone here?
Sethbag is merely being pragmatic. He has a valid concern, and yet he realized the petulant and capricious nature of the anonymous MAD moderators. They demand anonymity so they do not have to be responsible for being called on the petulant and capricious nature of their moderation. What Sethbag did in prefacing his concern was quite wise given the environment. The above qualms, about the sad nature of the needing to placate the moderators in order to ask a question, makes sense as well.