One other thing I wished to touch on in my lengthy post, but I figured most members would have fallen asleep sometime around chapter 6...

quote:

Only upon sustained criticism or rule breaking would I personally show a friend or equal to the door.

The last three members I have banished from this forum represent the three primary examples of what will get you gone from this place.

1. A vendor who contacted me last year with an introductory email, stating his purpose for registering, and who asked about rules and guidelines for posting in Classifieds. I took the time to respond to him in a detailed email, clearly stating what we require from all members- vendor or no- in order to use the Classifieds section of this forum. This was not a canned response which I copied and pasted. This was a personal, individual response. He failed to acknowledge this email and I had to email him to find out if he received it.

It was all nothing but bullshit on his end. He failed to follow my directives, even though he had asked. Over the course of a year, I allowed him to use Classifieds without participating in other sections of the forum. Finally, I had enough when he was posting items for sale and then not responding to members who were trying to buy his items.

That is just downright weird. I gave him one last chance (yes, even after all of that) and simply asked him to acknowledge that he understood that ads placed in this forum must be monitored.

Nothing. Silence.

Clueless, aloof, time-wasting son of a bitch. Wasted my time, wasted member's time.

Gone

____


2. New member, just registered, uses their first post to try to get a price check on a pistol they said they were intending on selling, because they were moving to Europe, and damn, they would've like to post pictures of their pistol but this piece of shit old forum made it too hard for them.

Clearly, this is a person who was here for one reason only and who would have disappeared had they been allowed to sell their gun here, and was rude in the process.

I couldn't revoke their access rights fast enough.

___


3. A long-time member, who, as best as I can recall, was never admonished by me in this forum, and whose username I recognized, but that's about it. He comes into my thread about football players- grown men- crying and making dramatic gestures for the cameras on the sidelines of the game in which a player collapsed and was administered CPR on the field. In this thread, I expressed my surprise and disgust at this behavior. I did not expect everyone to agree with me, nor did I expect this particular member to come into the thread, insult me personally, and tell lies about this forum and about the fundraiser for me which was held last year. He called me "Big Bad Para" because I am of the opinion that grown men should keep their shit wrapped tight in public, with a few notable exceptions. For example- no one would fault a man for crying at his mother's funeral, or the birth of his first child.

Basically, he suggested that I was callous and did not understand these things, and he told us that he cries, for example, when his pets die. Well, no shit, man. I do the same, and so do all decent people who love their pets and by the way, this has nothing to do with the subject of the thread.

He would have been fine if he had stopped there, but apparently, he had been carrying a chip on his shoulder for quite some time, pointing out that a fundraiser was held for me in order to fund this forum when, in fact (he said), this forum had been "gifted" to me.

Uh huh

First of all, if you go back and read the fundraiser thread, you will see that at least three times in that thread, I made it clear that the fundraiser was for me, personally; not for funding the forum, but for my personal needs.

Secondly- and this is the part that got him the boot- if that first lie wasn't bad enough, he claimed that this forum was given to me, and that is a flat-out Goddamned lie. lbj and I paid cash money for this place, and somewhere in my garage is an ancient bank statement with a cancelled check to prove it.

He had been here for years, had thousands of posts and as far as I can recall, had never caused any trouble or had been admonished by me for the slightest of infraction, but boys and girls, I am here to tell you that I will never take that kind of lying fucking shit from anyone. Frankly, the shit he was spewing sounded like the lies and rumors that Benny Bigtime and his myrmidons were generating over in the Island of Misfit Toys.

I didn't just ban him; I erased him from this forum completely. Every post he ever made, every reference to him, as when another member quoted him- gone. And, on top of that, I blocked his IP address, which, these days, is more of symbolic gesture, given that we all have multiple devices and are not reliant solely on home networks. Nevertheless, I don't have to take that kind of shit from anyone.

Friends and Equals? Let's see:

Example 1 - No, not my friend. No, not my equal, because my equal would never pull the kind of time-wasting shit he did.

Example 2 - No, not a friend, not even an acquaintance, and most assuredly not my equal, given the rude way they appeared in this forum, and just another user, like example number 1.

Example 3 - No, not a friend because I didn't really know him, despite his tenure here. There are just too many members for me to get to know all of them. My equal? I imagine so, perhaps even my better. Before I nuked all his posts, I took a look through them, and he came across like a decent man, and he had at least one fairly close friend here, who, while they still have posting rights, I wouldn't be surprised to never see again in this forum.

So, there you have it- three prime examples of things which will get you booted: Wasting my time; failure to follow my directives despite repeated attempts to get you to comply; plopping yourself down in this forum with the sole purpose of using our bandwidth and at the same time making it clear that you will never be a real member; treachery and betrayal and the telling of outright lies clearly intended to wound me.

Usually it takes quite a bit to get the boot here, but sometimes, one single post will do the trick, and "friend" and "equal" have nothing to do with it.

Para, Mr. Mike,

I wouldn’t have ever made this post but since you asked in this thread I’ll answer. I’ve thought about how to word this post for 2 days, not because I’m nervous, but because I often have trouble putting into text what I am thinking.

To answer your question, “Is a man bound but he rules he sets in his house?”

Absolutely not, I wager very few of us are that disciplined. A man does in his house or forum as you see fit. My mom used to always teach us, “do as I say, not as I do”.

Furthermore, any man questioning me in my house isn’t gonna like my answer. Much to your maligned phrase, “Its your house, do as you see fit”.

But, when I see the thread you posted, plus the thread regarding the price quote on the 22 upper, it screams hypocrite. Being hypocritical in your house or mine is of no consequence, it’s still hypocritical.

Now, I’ve always assumed, and I’m sure you’ll correct me if I’m wrong, that you know, “of course I’m being hypocritical, but this is my house”, which is in all honesty more respectful than the alternative. “I’m not being hypocritical BECAUSE this is my house”.

I always assumed it’s the former, if it’s the latter I would say you’re wrong. But I don’t think that’s the case.

With regards to the post you linked, I think, and this is just my opinion that I have more respect for the person who calls me out than those that don’t.

Neither are wrong, but I appreciate them all. I’ve seen you apologize, ask questions related to your behavior and that’s a strong sign.

I don’t always agree with you but hell, what two people would be agreeable all the time?

I find myself getting away with saying more on this forum than any other, sounding like a sailor, like a disgruntled adult, like someone tired of something I can’t quite articulate. On other forums I’ve been banned for a week, admonished, criticized, or permabanned. But here I can speak my mind with very little worry so long as I’m not a complete jackass. What does that mean? I don’t quite know except to say that I appreciate you 99% of the time and every once in a while I am like, “damn that was not quite right”.

Did I articulate what I was thinking? I’ll let your reply tell me.

I appreciate the forum Mr. Mike, it’s helped me through two tours away from family. It’s helped me stay sane during troublesome operations, I haven’t agreed with you 100%, and hell yeah you can be hypocritical but this is your house.

Thanks for letting us mingle and enjoy ourselves.

Who the fuck is "Mr. Mike"?

Have another six pack and then we can discuss all the contradictions in your post.

Inherent in your authority is a form of exemption from your own rules, in much the same way as it permissible for a police officer to speed to catch up to a speeder.

There’s been many a time when para has to provide a psychological uplift to me.

I need it, as I get too far out there for my own good. I always learn something.

Your house, your rules!

I come in here to get a good laugh, learn something I might not know and see other's opinions.
I know the rules and have stepped in the shit occasionally. Most have at one time or another.
I see you as the person who operates and runs this forum. I'm just a visitor.

quote:

Originally posted by G-Man:
Inherent in your authority is a form of exemption from your own rules, in much the same way as it permissible for a police officer to speed to catch up to a speeder.

I'd think in this case a better analogy is a cop who habitually speeds for no reason at all other than that he can with impunity.

Excuse me? You'll want to clarify that a bit. Is that what you're saying I'm doing?

Let's get specific. Let's talk about which rules, specifically, I am breaking. Cite the rules, please, I am breaking, other than the examples I gave about price checks and the like.

I'd really love to hear more about these things I am doing, simply because I can.

This is most edifying. Yes, indeed. There seems to be some confusion amongst some of you. It's good to clear the air in this respect, because if you're saying what it sounds like you're saying, you are very much out of line, not to mention flat-out wrong.

So these rules I am breaking just for the fuck of it- tell me about them.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by G-Man:
Inherent in your authority is a form of exemption from your own rules, in much the same way as it permissible for a police officer to speed to catch up to a speeder.

I'd think in this case a better analogy is a cop who habitually speeds for no reason at all other than that he can with impunity.

Talk about stepping in a pile of shit...with impunity no less.

My intention this morning was to address OttoSig's beer-fueled contradictory post, but I find Flash-LB's remarks far more interesting.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I'd think in this case a better analogy is a cop who habitually speeds for no reason at all other than that he can with impunity.

While we're waiting for Flash-LB to formulate a response, let's take a look at how rigid are my rules:

Is it OK to ask value questions now???

Still nothing, huh?

OK, let's take a look at these draconian rules of mine, bereft of all logic; calculated only to make life Hell for SIGforum members. You would think I could have taken the time to explain the logic guiding these rules, but, no,- I just said "Do these things because I said so" while at the same time brazenly flaunting my authority by breaking the rules in that list just because I can.

And, damn, wouldn't it have been nice if I had invited input from the membership? But, no, I just said "Here, this is what I and I alone want you to do."

Flash-LB, you dropped that steaming pile of shit into this thread and then you signed off??

Shit List, son- you are on it.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Excuse me? You'll want to clarify that a bit. Is that what you're saying I'm doing?

Let's get specific. Let's talk about which rules, specifically, I am breaking. Cite the rules, please, I am breaking, other than the examples I gave about price checks and the like.

I'd really love to hear more about these things I am doing, simply because I can.

This is most edifying. Yes, indeed. There seems to be some confusion amongst some of you. It's good to clear the air in this respect, because if you're saying what it sounds like you're saying, you are very much out of line, not to mention flat-out wrong.

So these rules I am breaking just for the fuck of it- tell me about them.

Here's what I'm referring to, your stating in your first post that you would ignore any rules you felt like ignoring and that is what I am referring to. Nothing more, nothing less.

[/QUOTE]None of this is negotiable. I have the absolute, unquestionable right to set policy and choose whether or not I will follow my own guidelines.
[/QUOTE]

Fucking ridiculous. How weak is a man who doesn't rule his own kingdom?

What, you don't like this? You don't think I have the right?

What is your problem, man? Don't screw around with analogies. Tell me what is the real problem, because you know how insulting what you said is.

I police this forum every day. All the time, I have to re-state well-known rules and guidelines, and you think because I do these things to maintain order, I don't have the right to make exceptions for myself from time to time? What color is the sky in your world?

Tell me- what is your fucking problem?

I have no issues with how this place is run. I doubt many people here could run a forum. It’s not an easy job.

Para can be hard but he is fair.

FLash-LB can't even give me specifics of what rules he is referring to. He took an abstract statement and, by discounting all which must be factored in- in this place and in the circumstances being discussed- turned it into a pile of shit.

He's accomplished nothing but managing to raise my ire. Fucking brilliant.

I want to know what the real problem is. Out with it.

Do I need to go searching through your posts? That'll help you a lot right now, me investing more time in this shit you dumped in here.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Originally posted by G-Man:
Inherent in your authority is a form of exemption from your own rules, in much the same way as it permissible for a police officer to speed to catch up to a speeder.

I'd think in this case a better analogy is a cop who habitually speeds for no reason at all other than that he can with impunity.

Lol, if that isn't a great example of suicide by cop. I agree that Otto's post did seem a bit alcohol influenced (maybe, maybe not) , but yours is just an obvious disdain for the owner. I hope that is what you were going for, because you succeeded.