Mac

[Jeff]

Just gave him a week off.

[barracuda]

I am, as you might expect, completely supportive of that move, in my own sophisticated fashion.

[barracuda]

But I'd like to hear, if I could, just what straw did the back-breaking.

[Jeff]

Ah, the straw. I got this tonight:

" sometimes we'd like suspected trolls to keep talking for a while. Not only to give them enough rope, but to see if they give away who they are and if they've been here before under other usernames."

How are you getting on with that project, Jeff? Because it's now been 25 days since you sent me that PM. For twenty-five days we've all been enduring your crafty secret experiment, as well as putting up with innumerable jesuitically "bipartisan" and tut-tuttingly moralising PMs and stern public admonishments against us alone from you and barracuda.

Not funny indeed. What's going on?

To which I replied:

Did I guarantee a postive? No trolling found. That's how it's going. Get over it.

Mac answered:

May I quote you on that? I'd like to post the whole exchange, verbatim.

I am seriously wondering if you might be being blackmailed.

Said I:

Private messages should remain such. But then, you've already violated that trust on the board.

Blackmailed? Christ, no. Fed up with you? Fuck yes.

[barracuda]

Yeah, I guess that would do it. There you have it - straight from the camel's mouth.

You've been putting up with shit like this for a long time, dude. My hat's off to you.

Thanks.

[barracuda]

Have you heard any word from this nerd?

[Jeff]

No, he must still be licking his wounds. I emailed him on Sunday.

[barracuda]

I guess he wearied of wound-licking, 'cause he's back and angry as ever, I'm ever so glad to see. Really, I didn't want him to stay away, even if he hates me. Perverse perhaps, but there it is.

[Jeff]

Haven't seen his post yet, but I'll be glad to see him. As much as he can be a pain in the ass he's an asset to the board, and even when he's wrong he's usually wrong for the right reasons.

[barracuda]

Mac is on suspension. It's up to you if you want him to return.

[Jeff]

Thanks. No telling what he'd do tonight.

[barracuda]

Be warned, dude: I only gave him a day's time out. And I have no idea what to do with him on his return. You may have noticed he wasn't very happy with me this evening.

[Jeff]

Oh, I've already received an email:

Rename it "Rigorous Arselicking"‏


I have no desire to associate any further with cowards, liars, petty
bullies, preening poseurs and enablers of fascism.

- The post I tried to post:

__________________________________

What in the name of Pete are you on about Mac? I
didn't intervene in any way, shape or form on that thread.

You're all perfectly capable of beginning new threads on whatever
subjects you desire, either with new information or by borrowing
subject matter from the old thread.

What in the name of Pete are you on about Mac? I
didn't intervene in any way, shape or form on that
thread.

Of course you intervened, and in a deeply stupid and supercilious and
counter-productive manner.

Don't deny it, barracuda. Seek & find your own first (two-line)
contribution to that 30-page thread, and then post it here. You know
exactly what it was.

Because seeking that post is work, and I don't see why I should
do that work for you, boss , at 5:00 a.m.,
because we haven't yet discussed my wages and you haven't yet offered
me a contract

But maybe you'll use your elegant silk overseer's whip with exquisite
mastery and force me to do that work for you. After all, you're in
charge now.

Glad you didn't, but I wouldn't have faulted you for tossing your badge back in my face tonight.

Jeff

[barracuda]

Are you kidding? I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I love nothing more than the epic journey of discovering whether or not I'm full of shit.

Just for the record, my first post on the thread is this one:

viewtopic.php?p=339305#p339305

which, at the time, I considered to be about as cynical a statement as I could make about the whole mess. I guess it could have been misconstrued as something other than rhetorical, but that's the breaks.

I think I'm going to bed now. Let me know by pm if the world ends.