V.

[jbatteen]

Edit Neven: Changed the subject as this commenter is now banned.

---

Just curious to get your thoughts.

I feel that V.'s attitude and graphs are getting out of hand.  It's disrupting the informational threads and he's disrespectful to the real contributors.  Readership at the blog and membership at the forum is growing.  I worry that if we continue to allow this it could set a bad example, and push new viewers away or dissuade them from contributing.

Is anyone else in favor of a temporary ban?  Polite requests and logic do not seem to be working.  I'd really rather just keep my mouth shut, I'm mostly here to learn, but he's really getting in the way of my use and enjoyment of the forum, and I don't think I'm the only one.

[Buddy]

In some respects I certainly agree.  Do I wish he wasn't posting?  Yes.  But for me....having him on ignore works just fine.  You know he's posting....but you don't waste space with the post itself....and I know he's not adding anything of substance.

That is also a slippery slope....but one that Neven might need to consider in the future.

[Neven]

Either you PM each other, or you PM the administrator (me, or if I'm not available, the Dungeon Master), but you don't go opening topics to discuss annoying persons. The Internet is full of annoying persons, just like the world is. There should be room for one or two on the ASIF.

[wili]

"The Internet is full of annoying person"

I think we get a bit spoiled by the generally high level of discourse here (and of course of moderation! and forget this.

[Neven]

V. sent me a PM to express his dissatisfaction with me leaving this topic open. So, now I'm going to try and explain my position as transparently as possible.

When I was talking about annoying persons, I was talking in general. I personally don't find V. all that annoying, he is smart, has a sense of humour, and also contributes in various ways to the Forum. Although I don't always understand what his graphs are meant to say or could say, I appreciate the fact that he's taking the effort to squeeze out information through statistics. If it wasn't for all of that I would probably have banned him a while ago.

Because there is one thing about V. that annoys me, and that's that most of the recent conflicts on the forum had him involved. So obviously there's something going wrong there in the communication. I've discussed this with V., and I feel that he makes an effort to be less belligerent and provocative.

The problem is people now provoke him because of earlier stuff. That's how this topic came into being (which I jokingly called the 'topic to discuss the beheading of V.' in a private conversation with DungeonMaster  ), and so we never seem able to move on.

If I close or remove this topic, people get angry at me for keeping V. on the forum. If I don't close it, V. gets angry and kicks it back on top of the category again (which is no big problem, because few people keep an eye on this part of the forum). I don't want to pick sides and I'm not the forum's policeman. I'm just the janitor!

So, to recapitulate, I'm not banning V. because I like him enough to forgive his occasional arrogance and provocations. But I'm not removing this topic either, because I think people's complaints are legitimate. If those people can just realize that this is the Internet and that we don't have to be friends to be on the same team, and if V. can try to prevent conflicts to happen (because they're not worth it), we can live happily ever after and be richer for it.

This doesn't mean you can't have arguments and lose your temper every once in a while. And it doesn't mean I won't do anything if things get really out of hand. Just don't let it fester. It's the Arctic Sea Ice Forum. Like V. rightly said in his first comment to this thread:

[AbruptSLR]

I must say that this thread serves to remind me of the difficulties of finding balance to face our collective challenges (including learning to work together to face climate change).  However, as I primarily post in this forum in order to keep learning, I decided to take this opportunity to learn more about one of the uglier aspects of climate change in that it enables amoral opportunists to push the poor over the edge into slavery:

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/dec/13/slavery-climate-change-poverty

Extract: "For years, researchers in a variety of sectors have known two key concepts about the intersection of poverty and the environment. The first is that unsustainable use of natural resources can and does cause poverty. The second is that poverty can, and does, cause environmental degradation. But many anti-slavery activists and climate change researchers are making more connections.

Increasingly it seems that there's a link between a damaged environment and growth in modern-day slavery."

[Neven]

Couple of points:

- V., if you keep posting comments, this topic becomes more and more prominent (keeps popping up on the front page, people get notified, etc). Sooner or later, someone will come along and start yet another verbal fight over nothing.
- You compare yourself to Christ and me to the opposite. You obviously feel persecuted, despite my explanations. You don't even appreciate the jokes I insert to lighten up the tension! You're taking this far too serious, and that's why things escalate.
- How do you see your role in all this? Do you have any responsibility for the conflicts that have occurred since you became a member on this board? If yes, why not take a step back, take a deep breath, let bygones be bygones, and just get on with it.

There is no enemy here. And if there was, it's not worth losing your temper over.

[DungeonMaster]

This thread is out of bounds and is now closed - more decisions may come.

DM