Ode to JGoldman ... um... uh... well sort of...

Ya mean like this one roger?

If Finn is unpopular, and i have no opinion on that subject, it would be because he is aggressive, sarcastic, sneering--but more than anything, because he is a hit and run turd stirrer. He makes claims which he never supports, he sneers at others without offering cogent arguments against their positions, and if called upon to back up what he says, he disappears. Saying that he is unpopular because he holds opinions contrary to those of the majority is bullshit. Roger holds political opnions which he has expressed openly, and which are not those of the majority of regularly particpating members here. I have no reason to assume that Roger is unpopular here, and in my experience, he is treated decently and given respect.

My comment wasn't specifically directed at you or your photo.

My comment was based on my displeasure with the gang mentality that so often manifests itself in this forum and selects one poor sap or another to **** upon.

Clearly JGoldman is an oddball, and just as clearly he is not someone who anyone takes seriously...either positively or negatively.

This makes him an easy target for folks who like to pick on the weak.

I find such conduct disgusting, and I have consistently expressed my feeling in this regard whenever the Gang gathers to mock a member who can't possibly respond adequately.

Goldman doesn't get teased in this forum, he gets ridiculed.

I leave it to you to decide your role in this thread. Chances are you may not have realized you were joining the Gang.

I would never attempt to have anyone banned, and you well know my comment didn't come even remotely close to suggesting anyone should be banned.

Thank you for that show of support Pooch.

we had to eat at our own desks in 7th grade

i was definitely the coolest kid at my lunch table

I understand now.



Your sentiments are both noble and morally correct. Like aiden and certain others, you are one of the more decent members. The anonymity of board messaging discourages inhibitions that are normally operative in face-to-face dealings with others. For example, I’ve discovered I’m more likely to lose my temper online than I am in real life.

I believe that JGoldman10 has left on his own accord, never to return again; but that is beside the point.



I'm afraid you're right. Very recently I’ve been reflecting upon my own role in the JGoldman10 exchanges. By the way, I’m not the only one. In one of his most recent posts, Sturgis (who, incidentally, hasn't posted since July 14) expressed regret over teasing him.

In my own desire to achieve a modest level of popularity here at A2K after my emotionally unrestrained debut three years ago in the “Welcome Sports Haters” thread, I may have compromised my own moral values a bit. There’s the scenario of the bullied teenage boy who quietly celebrates inwardly because he sees that a classmate of his is bullied even more often and in a more cruel way than he is. He takes some pleasure that someone is even worse off. Of course, this is false comfort, as that doesn’t change his own situation and distracts him from considering what he can possibly do to improve it. This, of course, is a confession of precisely the sort of attitude I had when I was of that age. So, I partially compromised my moral convictions against bullying. I longed for hilarious moments at someone else’s expense.

There were times when I sincerely gave JGoldman10 advice, but I also allowed myself to be carried along with the circus that ensued over him -- a circus that was his own creation, but only in part. JGoldman10 clearly lacked social skills, but sometimes we have to make allowances for others.

I think there were at least a few times when I could have come to his defense without putting anyone else down, but did nothing. I should have had enough courage to risk displeasing other members.

The more I think about it, the JGoldman10 episode wasn’t always one of my better moments. Oh, well, you live and learn, especially online.



I realize that. I was reacting out of emotion instead of intellect when I responded to your post. I have to admit I’ve been slightly thin-skinned online. That’s just my personality. There’s a reason why I don’t express some of my social views in this forum. I’d rather not be insulted or feel as if I were. Perhaps in a small way I’m a little like JGoldman10.

Thanks again for responding, Finn.

**** that....when ever anyone took him as real and then of course advised him to get professional help he with out fail said that he was fine and berated us. We had no choice but to take him as a troll, which means if we are going to get any use out of him then we needed to toy with him. I dont feel guilty at all, and neither should you.

I can't say how much I admire this post wmcjr, but gosh, don't be so hard on yourself, and don't be so easy on me.

I doubt I was so immediately cognizant of JGoldman's limitations and have no doubt that I initially gave him the business.

I'd like to think that once I realized that debating him was pointless, I moved on, but perhaps I dragged it along for longer than I should have. I don't know.

What I didn't do is join the Gang who apparently couldn't get enough of ridiculing him when he could respond and felt the need to revist their past glories.

Your sins relative to JGoldman are far less than many others, but your willingness to examine yourself in this regard is quite remarkable. This post of yours is quite remarkable.

You do live and learn, and obviously you care about the latter. Very good to see.

you two should get a room...

(I don't think I would invite hawkeyes, he's prolly into things you boys aren't.)

The love fest here is ironic . . . as being from one turd stirrer to another . . .

I almost never start threads about specific members here, but i did once about Goldman. It wasn't actually about Goldman, though. Someone whom i will not name had posted an image in one of his thread's entitled "obvious troll." So the burden of the thread was why people would continue to pile into his threads if they thought he was a troll. Why not just go away and leave him alone? (Something i had done quite a while before--i'm claiming no great virtue, i probably spent too long talking to him before that, but the nickel did eventually drop for me.)

Well, the prime reason that i was willing to start that thread was that Goldman had said that he had put me on ignore, and the evidence of that thread running for a long time without comment from him suggests that that was true. After all, it was only tangentially about him, anyway. It's real subject was why people who claimed to despise him as a troll continued to respond to him.

So Wmwcjr trots off to one of his thread and tells him about that thread, considerately providing a link for him to follow. Goldman showed up, but he is basically so clueless that he didn't get it anyway, and he left soon after because he wasn't getting the sort of attention he got in his own threads.

Since then, i've seen that Wmwcjr is just exactly the same kind of turd stirrer that Finn is--in incident after incident. My experience is that he is less interested in discussing the topics here than in seeing people lay into one another, and he will help that along, all for his own entertainment. This love fest doesn't surprise me at all.

Well, everyone can speak their mind.

What if, just what if, Wmwcjr is and has, and is, trying to do exactly what he is stating, "trying to fit in".... After being bullied so long, no longer wants to be bullied but to "fit in".. That post came from his core being Set.


This place opens itself to so many degrades it's not funny..

Only the strong survive Set..

You've been a good support for me and I thank you.. You are right though, on one aspect, the discussion of topics.. For me, I guess being younger I don't have as much intelligence as you do and others on some said subjects, where I do, I join in...

Hand me a crying towel, will ya?

Ok, handing you a crying towel.

Nothing wrong with having a heart.. And understanding people and what they have written and why...

I nearly got drowned , beaten by two girls at school for it.. Not going to stop now, just because ..

What would you think of a girl called " Pamela Finger" who has ecxema and her father is Mr Finger, a teacher. Imagine what she went though... Yeah you guessed it, i befriended her.

Thing is, with life... People have **** happening... You can choose to diss them or you can choose to be there, you can guess which type I am, and what I have taken as a result.

It's me Set... I am who I am.

Your such a noble soul, i dasn't speak to you . . .

Haven't you seen the bitch in me too? It's there, prob cause I was born on the 19th of June...........Gemini and all.

(Edit) talking about me, not anyone else born on that date, referring to being a Gemini, two people.

Oh, wow, I get out of bed this morning, walk over to the PC, and see this ...



How interesting ... I see you're still dwelling about this incident, despite the fact that it's been over a year since it happened. At the time I publicly admitted I was wrong and apologized to you in a post for all to read, but I guess that doesn't count for anything. I was genuinely sorry about what I had done. I had thought that this problem was settled; but I see whenever it suits your purposes, you will bring out someone else's failing as if your own character is of sterling quality. No wonder you carry grudges against other members that have lasted for years. Your unwillingness to forgive doesn't speak well of you.



You seem to be quite willing to stir up a lot of trouble yourself. Ever since the incident with izzy, I had been steering clear of you. Incidentally, at that time I was genuinely sorry that you and izzy weren't getting along. (I realize now that I was wasting my time because neither of you is willing to get along. Izzy obviously enjoys fighting. Whatever floats his boat.) So, in that particular temper tantrum of yours, you exercised your ability to read the mind of someone who is who knows how many thousands of miles away. That's truly an amazing talent.

Notice that I kept my promise to not post the animated popcorn-eating smilie. I had no intention of reacting with you again. I respected your space, yet you have sought me out to personally attack me like some kind of whining bully. This isn't even a serious thread. It's a silly one. But that's beside the point. Wherever your prey is, there you will go. You're downright relentless to have it out with anyone who expresses a view you don't happen to appreciate. Sure, you're entitled to criticize anyone who doesn't have proper form or whatever; but you frequently show no grace.

You seem to believe that you run this forum. (Robert should just leave, I guess. ). You act like you're Supreme Lord of A2K. I've wondered where you find the time to keep tabs on all of us inferiors. Do you keep files on us like some secret police chief keeping his eye on all those dissidents?

I strongly suspect you have an authoritarian personality, which really is less of an ideological problem than it is a psychological one. That would explain your intolerance, your need to hold grudges, and your inability to get along with those who have the misfortune to be different from you. Politically you may be Libertarian Left; but when it comes to the way you relate to people on an individual level, you're definitely authoritarian.

The reasons why I usually don't participate in serious topics are as follows (said items not listed in order of significance):
(1) I don't have well-developed debating skills. (Is this a crime?)
(2) I haven't felt free to express certain views of mind because I don't care to put up with all the name-calling and personal attacks that are likely to ensue. Granted, this spirit can be found all over the Internet; but that doesn't make it right. I don't care to be personally attacked by some goofball hiding behind his keyboard far, far away. If anyone wants to attack me personally, I would prefer that he be a man and do so to my face. Aside from that (especially considering we would never meet in person), I would at least appreciate an attempt to try to understand why someone has a different point of view. Of course, that would involve too much work. It's so much easier to engage in name-calling and personal attacks. Is that true debate?
(3) Perhaps I'm too sensitive for this stuff, which is not necessarily the same as being a wimp. I prefer to attempt to find common ground and reach an understanding. I made my debut here in a way that I now regret. I had just started posting at any website for the first time, and I was completely unfamiliar with this newfangled way of "communicating." I first started posting here three years ago in the "Welcome Sports Haters" thread when I was not in the best frame of mind. (Lord Setanta, I'm sure you're going to look up that thread so you can add more incriminating evidence to my dossier. I'se scared!) I ended up having regrets there, not the least was that I didn't express myself very well and acted a little bit like you, My Lord. I'm not able to go back and read any of those posts for a number of reasons. Too much anger involved there. So, I've been adverse to repeating such an experience. As I've said, I'm more likely to lose my temper online than I am in real life. Perhaps I'm just too sensitive for online brawls, although sometimes I've been fascinated by them in a morbid sort of way.

Well, My Lord Setanta, you must be pleased that I've dedicated so much verbiage to you. Must be a boost to your rather large ego. As much as I regret to say so, this shall be my very last communication with you (although I've enjoyed writing it). I've lost interest in your travails with all the unwashed. (Would it surprise you to say I've actually sided with you at times in your battles for righteousness?) "Parting is such sweet sorrow," or whatever it was that guy said. As I've dedicated all this verbiage to you, I now dedicate this Bob Dylan song to you (with love and kisses, although I'm not gay.) Please pay close attention to the last few lines of the lyrics. They are quite relevant. I address them to you with all the fondness in my heart. Have a good life, Setanta! Toodle-oo!

And here's the very song I dedicate to you. Enjoy!

Yawn . . . i never liked Dylan . . . and i'm certainly not going to waste my time on your post. Have a nice day, Bubba.

But ... but ... but ...

What's going on here? What, pray tell, are the social dynamics that are at play in this online interaction? Being the naive guy that I am, I'm hopelessly clueless about the nature of this online exchange.

Have I violated a social norm here at this beacon of the Internet -- A2K? Have I done wrong by having a respectful exchange with Mister Finn? Oh, I get it! This is like high school. We're supposed to be tribal here. If anyone is on the "outside," those who would be with the "in crowd" had better not communicate -- except abusively, of course -- with the unwashed. Yeah, I get it. Sorta like "Hey, Bubbah, your standing with the team will suffer if you dare to communicate with that nerd sitting over there by himself in this here cafeteria. He's one of them, not one of us. You might get cooties! If you know what's good for you, you will not cross any social boundaries. If you do, we will consider you to be just like them. Let cliques be cliques."

I take that back. This isn't high school-ish. It's definitely junior high stuff.

Could I possibly be wrong here? Aw, who cares! This isn't a serious thread, anyway.

you're thinking way too much about a joke.

If I have to explain it, it's not funny anymore...

relax.

and enjoy yourself a little bit.

even the trolls can't really bite you here, if you don't let them...

Oops! (as I slink away ...)

I really wasn't upset, anyway. Was just trying to make a joke of my own. No hard feelings and all that.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.