Forums & Moderators

So the lesson is: if you want to kill a thread, throw in a pun.

Further drama from this same website...

There was a thread about COVID19 in California and the discussion going back & forth was very civil. The owner of the site, who doesn't live in California, makes a post about how focusing on the deaths misses the point, that people need to focus on the hospitalizations, because that is what is overwhelming our health care industry. I responded, in a near Bick or Luca fashion, very nice and not insulting. I agreed with him that the hospitalizations were the key, but that the forecasts were way off and as a nation, our health care industry is not overwhelmed. I even threw in a smiley face to avoid being non-confrontational. The owners response:

"Well, I suppose you can either be supportive, empathetic, and helpful to your fellow man by staying at home and avoiding contact for a brief period in time, or you can try to argue your way into justifying the opposite actions..."

And then he closed the thread for any further discussion.

That is such a douchebag, liberal, cowardly response (he is from Washington state).  So I threw off my Bick/Luca mask and flagged his post as being insulting & offensive.  I questioned him in the comment section of the flagging if the site rule against insulting other forum members applied to him or not and then demanded a public apology.  I expect his response will be to ban me without another word.

Unfortunately for him, I have a workaround to his solution...

Just can't help yourself can you?

And it continues...

I was wrong about that he would ban me.  No, he thought I wasn't very bright and that he could just talk his way out of it.  He sent me the following PM:

"Saw you reported my post and demanded an apology, so I wanted to clear up any misunderstanding. I didn't quote you directly on the final post when I closed the thread because it wasn't aimed directly at you. 

Everyone has their own opinion and feelings about the situation and there's very little known facts, and tempers are starting to wear thin on the subject. That's why those posts are being closed and will be blocked in the future. As a reminder, I modified the rules a few weeks ago here:"

I thought I would put the Bick/Luca mask back on and take the high road.  I said I would take him at his word and if it wasn't aimed at me, then obviously no apology was needed.  I then added that the post itself was insulting to whomever it was directed at, because a difference of opinion does not make a person an inhumane monster.  I guess that pushed a button because I received the following PM this morning:

"Since you claim I insulted the members, I asked six active members about your thoughts. I forwarded them your messages to me with a link to the thread, and asked for their feedback.

None of them agreed with your point of view. They didn't feel my comments were insulting at all.

As one of them said, "Maybe he has some deep seated guilt for not doing what he knows he's supposed to do? But what you said wasn't aimed directly at him from what I read, if he took it that way oh well."

Another said, "Sounds like he has an issue with you personally for whatever reason."

I think we can put this issue to rest and move on now." 

So the moment I show any kindness by taking him at his word, he takes it for weakness and throws more insults my way, all under the guise that they were said by others.  Not to mention the weak psychological warfare of telling a person that everyone else sees things differently, so they must be wrong.  Again off with the Bick/Luca mask, but I spin his response and insults right back to him with my PM back:

"Before we put this to rest & move on, I do need to respond.  Since you claim you asked six active members about my thoughts, I did a similar experiment.  I forwarded your original comments to six individuals on a different forum, people who have no association with your website and who have no idea who you are.  I felt that would be fair because it eliminates any preconceived notions that may exist and allows those who are commenting to do so in a non biased manner.  The only information given about you was that you were the owner of the website.

Amazingly, my results were the complete opposite of yours.  All six felt you were making a false equivalency that was aimed directly at me.  I later told them that you explained that it wasn't aimed at me and all six said they found that hard to believe.

One of them said "He seems to have an issue with power or that he doesn't like being shown he is wrong about something".

Another commented, very rudely I might add "He sounds like a useful idiot".

So I will take the comments of both the forum members and the unbiased folks with a grain of salt and call it a day.  I agree we can put this to rest and move on.

Thank you for your response to this, hope you & your family stay safe in these trying times."


I find it amazing the way people will interact with others when they have power.  Some people, like Bick, look at it as a responsibility, something not to be misused.  Others, like this douchebag, are like a monkey with a firearm.

Let me end this overly-long rant to once again thank Bick for the way he runs this forum.  He walks the fine line, being neither a tyrant nor a pushover, and is one of the most fair people I have ever encountered.  Thanks Bick.

Bick, he's just stroking your ego to get you to agree that Tom Brady is mediocre.

Wow, RSM... that’s a low, er, ah... blow. 

😳