OT: Locked threads

[Wobbly Boxer]

Mr Scott,

I guess Mr Threadgill broke his own record by having his thread locked up in mere minutes. Frankly I'm a tad disappointed. I was enjoying the Star Wars episodes greatly. Being mostly a lurker here I was suprised not to have seen the first installment until you re-posted it. I laughed so hard my boss came in and saw me spitting coffee on my companies new monitor. It was quite embarrassing. Then I read Mr Threadgills latest movie script and like you had to cease my programming duties because I was on the floor positively choking with laughter.

I understand your wanting to cool the flames a little but I must convey that in my humble opinion the source of the fire greatly deserved the stake he was tied to by yourself and Mr Threadgill. I for one will not miss the long winded pontifications here and cannot wait to see Mr Threadgill again in person and thank him for his comedic talents and a job well done. Takamura Sensei evidently rubbed off on Mr Threadgill in many ways beside martial talent. Comedy was his strong suit as well. I miss him.

Man....I'm still laughing!

Tommy Thomas - my real name

Hello Tom,

Well.... a sheepish thankyou. Long time no see. I hope all is well with you in Silicon Valley.

I knew my Star Wars spoof woulld be short lived but Dang... minutes. Nathan is just being a good moderator and trying to keep me out of too much trouble. I'll buy him a drink in a couple of weeks and thank him for tempering my temper... and falling on the floor laughing.

Tobs

[Nathan Scott]

Hi Mr. Thomas,

I sympathize with your feelings, but the public throwdown was a last effort to rectify the situation in one way or another with our former member. The goal has been achieved, and prodding him further on the board will not be viewed as very "sportsman" like.

For the benefit of all involved, we're likely going to edit and/or nuke the P-threads of recent, since they are no longer relevant and are not what e-budo needs as a focal point of discussion.

As far as locking the threads - think of it this way: if discussion was allowed to escalate on those threads, it would surely become necessary to delete them for being seriously off topic and inappropriate. As it stands now, I will probably leave them up for all to appreciate the creative fictional story telling skills of Sir Tobs.

So, as I said before - let's move on (we can move this kind of stuff to PM's or CC'd emails if you like).

Regards,

[George Ledyard]

I will tell you that it is highly risky to let the folks with a high "irksomeness quotient" get to you. I used to participate quite regularly on a discussion group on the ASU website. One psychotic individual single handedly destroyed the group. He was only able to do that because we weren't able to just ignore him.

People of this type thrive on attention. It doesn't matter if it's negative. In fact the idea that they could be really pissing off a truely international group of people who are infinitely more experienced and well known than they themselves gives them a sense of importance missing from their normal lives. Any reaction to them only makes it worse. Think of it as a centering exercise.

George,

I'm on the same page with you but the story you cite is why we are all suppose to post our real names here. I admit my temper got the best of me and that's why I instinctively reverted to humor. It's just what I do.

I think E-budo remains as civil and above board as it does because we are expected to present our real names as opposed to some internet "handle". As stated before, when your name is next to your words you post with the realization that you will be personally held accountable for them. As long as that rule applies to all of us here, E-budo will tend to foster interesting discussion over pointless diatribes between faceless cybertoon characters. If people don't obey the rules here they are in a position to threaten the whole environment of decent discussion. I felt that was where things were headed here at E-budo. I knew my posts of the last few days would set me up for some criticism but I really did it in all of our best interests. Several individuals I greatly enjoyed discussions with here have since quit posting due to one particular past members flagrant violation of the rules. Something needed to be done so I did it. Was that presumptuous of me? Maybe, but I did do it with my name in plain view.

For those save one who thought I went too far, my apologies.
I will not post on this subject again unless it resurfaces as a problem in the future

Respectfully,

Toby Threadgill

[Edited by Toby Threadgill on 11-09-2000 at 10:16 AM]

[Richard A Tolson]

So should we all get retinal scanners on our computers to make a positive confirmation of our ID? Anyone can come here with any made up name and we would be "none the wiser". Or how about a teacher who has a computer at the dojo and just lets anyone use his username and password. And how many people list Japan as their location in their profile, while actually living in Boogerhole, W. VA (a real place, BTW)?
Their is no full proof way to keep this honest. It seems it all comes down to trust.

[Earl Hartman]

Richard:

There actually is a place called Boogerhole? Where is it? Right next to Horseballs, or just down the road a piece from Possumbutt?

Earl

[Nathan Scott]

Hi Guys,

I agree with all of you.

Mr. Ledyard, your absolutely correct in your analysis (IMHO). Mr. Skoss aluded to this as well, but my response was that not everyone here could ignore the nonsense rantings of this individual, and when they did he would become so offensive that someone would pipe up, and next thing you know the whole thread is ruined.

*Everyone* can't ignore people like that, and that's just how the world is made up. It came down to him or us!

BTW, I know this is not the first time you've heard this, but I really liked your article on "Atemi". I finally got a chance to read it. Very concise and accurate - mirrors my attitutude exactly, save for the possibility of "atemi without striking". But that's a different subject!

Toby-san, well.... you know.

Mr. Tolson, yes - we should all get retinal scanners. But until then, we all are supposed to be students of "Budo", and as such should be worthy of trust when it comes to simple things like, well, telling the truth (idealistic, I know. Quite unlike me.)

People can say and do what they like. But it would seem that most people here choose to honor the policy instead. That is encouraging to see these days.

Ahhh, the wonderful sound of.... sanity.

[Joseph Svinth]

Earl --

Booger Hole is a toponym rather than an incorporated area, but for its historical significance in the Civil War, see http://web.mountain.net/~redeb/boogerhole.htm while for driving directions, see
http://www.lincolnjournal.com/letters0712.shtml .

[Earl Hartman]

Joe:

You're amazing, in a strange sort of way. I just want to know how the hell the place got a name like "Booger Hole". Maybe it sounded more poetic than "Nostril".

[Richard A Tolson]

Earl,
Trust me, you wouldn't believe the names for places in West Virginia!!!

[Earl Hartman]

Richard:

Examples?

(This should be GOOD!)

[Bridger Dyson-Smith]

This is "slightly" off topic, but there's a town in eastern Louisiana called Cooter Point. For some reason, that was the funniest thing about 8th grade state geography.

Have a good Friday,
Bridger Dyson-Smith

[Cady Goldfield]

Aw geez,
Now y'all got me to thinking of such places as Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

Cady "Goldfield, Iowa and Goldfield, Nevada"

[Brently Keen]

I absolutely endorse Toby's creative handling of the offensive individual by using such great parody.

It fit's nicely with my preferred strategy of dealing with imitation, wannabe budo master's. Heaping scorn upon and poking fun at these clowns shows that one, we don't take them seriously, and two, we won't tolerate excessively deceitful, obnoxious or disrespectful behavior.

Laughter has always been good medicine. My stomach still hurts, but I feel much better now. Thanks Toby!

Brently Keen