Naw, ya know what?

[brainpanhandler]

There isn't much any of the other "boys" could do for you about this.

At least nothing productive or otherwise differing from stereotypical male solutions to the annoying aggressions of other males.

That's pretty much right I think, although if this was my board I'd say fuck it and just ban people for being stupid.

[Canadian_watcher]

I'm not loving the still image. This is me. Deal with it.

[brainpanhandler]

If she had said that minus the "driving out females" I would have had no objection. Women can choose to freely come and go, speak or not.

quite so.. but we don't want to want to go. And the people here should ask themselves why we would choose not to stay. Don't you think?

I guess it's a little like Catholics who try and change the status quo in the Church. I wondered why they would bother.. why wouldn't they just leave the Church if they didn't like it? But then I realized that their fight was to make something that they loved even better. They didn't want to choose between belonging to something that they partly loved and leaving it altogether - they wanted a voice in making it the best place it could be.

Is that wrong?

Of course not, but if one of the reasons women are choosing not to stay is because they believe RI is a "good ol' boys club" I think they are wrong and doing a disservice to themselves as well as disregarding the obvious attempts Jeff has made to make the board more women friendly. Maybe I'm blind to it. Can one of the women show me how RI can be fairly described as a "good ol' boys club"?

no, no one can, but that's not because the vibe does not exist.

Well then that's a blind spot for me.

[norton ash]

That's pretty much right I think, although if this was my board I'd say fuck it and just ban people for being stupid.

You are as bad as the Chinese communists who killed Olaf Palme and Anne Frank.

[barracuda]

Can one of the women show me how RI can be fairly described as a "good ol' boys club"?

C'mon. The entirety of conspiracy culture is a boys club. Anyone with a passing familiarity in the matter knows this, whether they admit it to themselves or not.

OP ED suggests ignoring them and continuing conversation with those who are capable of carrying one in a mostly civil manner, however much they might disagree. [Mr Morgan is a good example]

There was no ignoring the behavior that WakeUpandLive was up to - he was stalking and harrassing another poster. Brekin wanted to be suspended on principle, so he was obliged after he forced the issue. I don't think the argument can be profitably made that either of these individuals were posting in good faith here over the last two days, or posting with the respect of the community and other board members in mind.

Stephen is a good example of how the conversation can continue without bullying and trolling entering the picture. He took some lumps and re-entered the dialogue with his position unchanged, but with a new set of parameters from which to argue in place.

And, oh, hey, Canadian_Watcher, you're pretty cute.

[Canadian_watcher]

Can one of the women show me how RI can be fairly described as a "good ol' boys club"?

C'mon. The entirety of conspiracy culture is a boys club. Anyone with a passing familiarity in the matter knows this, whether they admit it to themselves or not.

OP ED suggests ignoring them and continuing conversation with those who are capable of carrying one in a mostly civil manner, however much they might disagree. [Mr Morgan is a good example]

There was no ignoring the behavior that WakeUpandLive was up to - he was stalking and harrassing another poster. Brekin wanted to be suspended on principle, so he was obliged after he forced the issue. I don't think the argument can be profitably made that either of these individuals were posting in good faith here over the last two days, or posting with the respect of the community and other board members in mind.

Stephen is a good example of how the conversation can continue without bullying and trolling entering the picture. He took some lumps and re-entered the dialogue with his position unchanged, but with a new set of parameters from which to argue in place.

And, oh, hey, Canadian_Watcher, you're pretty cute.

This is an excellent post. I am having trouble choosing my favourite part.

[brainpanhandler]

That's pretty much right I think, although if this was my board I'd say fuck it and just ban people for being stupid.

You are as bad as the Chinese communists who killed Olaf Palme and Anne Frank.

Banned.


But seriously, why fuck around with obvious trolls and nitwits? Why? We've all witnessed members here expend enormous amounts of time and energy fencing with trolls and they didn't get nearly the thanks they should have for their efforts. I'm too lazy to go around and around with them.

[brainpanhandler]

C'mon. The entirety of conspiracy culture is a boys club. Anyone with a passing familiarity in the matter knows this, whether they admit it to themselves or not.

Yah, but who's fault is that if it's anyone's?

And we're not talking about the entirety of conspiracy culture. We're talking about RI.

[Canadian_watcher]

That's pretty much right I think, although if this was my board I'd say fuck it and just ban people for being stupid.

You are as bad as the Chinese communists who killed Olaf Palme and Anne Frank.

Banned.


But seriously, why fuck around with obvious trolls and nitwits? Why? We've all witnessed members here expend enormous amounts of time and energy fencing with trolls and they didn't get nearly the thanks they should have for their efforts. I'm too lazy to go around and around with them.

have you ever had a stalker? I've had two IRL.
you cannot ignore them out of existence, believe me. BELIEVE ME.
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BELIEVE ME.

[DrVolin]

I'm frankly uncertain right now what to do about the current toxicity, though I do think that rushing new rules into the breach is nobody's answer. And I do promise to be more present than I have in recent weeks.

Staying away from it works for me. I'm a Zapruder/Patterson-Gimlin/Mena/McMinnville/Boothe/Chapman/Hinckley/Wellstone kind of guy. I'm here for the deep politics and the synchro stuff because there currently is simply no better place for it. I get quite enough of the rest at work. See you in the suicides and accidents thread.

[Canadian_watcher]

yes, let's all just stay away from harassment, that'll make it go away.

nice for those of you who aren't being harassed.. shitty for the rest of us.

[Canadian_watcher]

I'm shaking my head.

this is what Maddy was getting at. Yes, there are good people here but being in 'community' with people who obviously think that it's okay to just ignore toxic influences if they don't immediately effect THEM is hard. It's really tough to take anything else any of those people say seriously because they clearly are missing a switch somewhere.

This whole "that's your issue not mine" thing is really.. well it's kind of the seed of the women's movement, isn't it?

edit: really important addendum... If this isn't something you are interested in, and it isn't your issue, and you "just avoid it" why are you posting about it at all?

[DrVolin]

C_W, with all due respect. Ignoring the toxic influences is as easy as not reading the posts. Is there an ignore button on this board? If not, there should be. Over and out.

Edit to answer your edit: While I can easily ignore toxic influences, I have more trouble ignoring obvious distress.

[brainpanhandler]

have you ever had a stalker?

Over the course of the last five years I have had a couple of trolls make an effort to fuck with me. Generally by nature they tend to be pretty stupid and it's fairly easy to demonstrate that to the board. I can't really say that I have been "stalked" though. I understand that ignoring a stalker does not work. What does work is to relentlessly confront them. I've seen it work. Generally thankless work. Admittedly not everyone has Compared2what?"s tenacity. But barring that there is no shame in asking the mods for moderation. That's what they do.

[Canadian_watcher]

have you ever had a stalker?

Over the course of the last five years I have had a couple of trolls make an effort to fuck with me. Generally by nature they tend to be pretty stupid and it's fairly easy to demonstrate that to the board. I can't really say that I have been "stalked" though. I understand that ignoring a stalker does not work. What does work is to relentlessly confront them. I've seen it work. Generally thankless work. Admittedly not everyone has Compared2what?"s tenacity. But barring that there is no shame in asking the mods for moderation. That's what they do.

okay, and that's what has happened here.
so.. your problem is.... what?