[Edi]

So, the people carping most loudly about Calahan's banning and how he was such a bad person and always mean to them are the ones whose posts I long ago stopped reading (unless required for thread moderation purposes) on account of it being such a colossal waste of my time 99 times out of 100. How unsurprising.

Calahan may have been an abrasive poster under certain conditions, but given the number of times I had to moderate threads where he participated, it generally came down to the following sort of exchange:

Newbie: *asks question*
Poster X: *specious, incorrect answer*
Calahan: "No, that's not how it works, it's [correct answer]"
Newbie: "Thanks!"
Poster X: "But how can you be saying that because under the conditions of [entirely different situation] my answer..."
Calahan: "Your situation did not apply and even if it did [essay length correct explanation for that situation]"
Poster X: You still don't understand and you're clearly wrong! [holds forth, still on wrong track]
Calahan: *annoyed answer*
Poster X: *more Wall of Ignorance*
Calahan: *pulls out flamethrower*


Sometimes it took a longer time, sometimes it took a shorter while, but that was the general pattern on all those occasions. And when he was told to back down, Calahan did so.

Nobody appreciates having their time wasted and over time people who do waste someone else's time tend to start getting shorter and shorter slack for it until there is nothing at all and they get told to sod off from the get-go.

I'm also rather amused at the indignation toward Calahan for being such a bad person for sometimes being short with certain people or even *gasp* using rude language. Generally (not limited to this forum only) I see that behavior mostly from people who have absolutely no problem wasting massive amounts of people's time, repeating their already discredited arguments ad nauseam and then swooning and reaching for the smelling salts the second someone loses patience with them and calls them out on it. How dare that person be rude to them?! As if it wasn't rude to repeatedly ignore his arguments and waster his time and perhaps even insult him into the bargain, albeit less directly.

Now, which one of those behaviors is actually more offensive?


As another point I would like to bring up, I do not see it as very good sportsmanship to come out of the woodwork to bash a person who was banned without warning and is thus unable to even defend himself at this venue.

There are opinions both for and against the banning among the forum members, as we have seen here, though to me it seems very much that there are a great deal more of those against than those who approve of the events. But for the time being, it is a done deal. The only way it would change is if the Shrapnel administrators decide to reverse their decision through whatever rationale.

If those who agree and approve of the decision to ban Calahan wish to gloat about it, they are free to do so in private elsewhere, but I am not going to put up with it in this thread.

Now, if you like to discuss what types of approaches to debate and making arguments one should preferably use and other such things with the posters here, go for it.