gc, actually I made a mistake in accusing bp of trying to suspend me and apologized to her in a private message. I was mistaken she never reported me to SI.
However, I actually was suspended from here 2 weekends ago. Bob suspended me for 3 posts I made on a Clinton thread, the most abusive of which was calling someone a "hypocrite". If anyone has ever been on the Clinton threads they know that there are many worse, far worse dialogs that go on there than calling someone a hypocrite, however, in purely technical terms calling someone a hypocrite is indeed a violation of the SI terms of use.
Unfortunately, that weekend was the weekend that Barrons ran an article on I2 so being banned from SI was indeed a problem for me with regards to my investments whereas on a regular weekend it wouldnt have mattered.
I think there is a fundamental flaw in the way SI operates with regards to suspension of people and Im looking into yahoo clubs etc which might provide a better solution for me at least. Example in my case, the problem was that I was on a coffee shop thread, which imo should be a "free for all", and also the people that reported me are actually worse violators of the SI rules in many cases but I have too much dignity to report them. In order for me to defend myself against these stupid claims, I have to dig up a bunch of dirt on them. I dont want to do that. Also, in this case (on the Clinton threads) theres a bunch of non industry people there and they constantly call me a liar with regard to well documented facts I have stated about my profession - this is more than irritating it borders on real offensiveness, certainly far beyond any damage done by calling someone a hypocrite.
With yahoo clubs, (which Im looking into), I think it is more like IRC chat - someone is designated as an "op" and anybody can come on or off etc. The ops are the regulars, so you would never have a case where some third party like Bob would look at some complaint out of context and determine that this individual should be suspended with no basis for the past, or the value add of the complainer etc.
BTW those same people from the Clinton thread banned Stockman who was an SI member for years (and a little annoying I agree) but I think most people think coffee shop threads are immune from this and that is not the case. I would encourage anybody to think twice before they waste time here arguing with anyone on a coffee shop thread - you might see it as entertainment but depending on the maturity level of your opponent, you could lose you SI membership over it.
Michelle |
