[nickf]

The other day I happened to see this comment in someone's profile:

It was (more or less):

Is (country) the only country where everyone is an Expert?

I've deliberately masked the country in question. I thought the comment was deliberately inflammatory and mentioned it to a yellow in passing for his thoughts. I haven't seen this person on line since so I dont know whether he or she was asked to remove it.

Is my reaction over the top?

nickf
sydney

[sceptic]

it is not a nice thing to have on your profile, I agree, BUT, I bet $10 I can guess which country they are talking about

[paulg]

nickf, on Apr 21 2006, 07:09 AM, said:

Is my reaction over the top?

nickf
sydney

Yes, but not as over the top as this thread is about to become. It was bad enough in the Water Cooler!

Now where is the 'Mask this topic' button?

p

[keylime]

I don't think it was over the top - if anything I think it was quite reserved in reaction.

[pigpenz]

haha.....I was asked last summer to remove from my profile....."better than a XXXXXX expert" after several people from that country complained they were probably all experts too

some people have no sense of humor

oh well now we all know chef is a pedophile

[jillybean]

nickf, on Apr 21 2006, 12:09 AM, said:

Is my reaction over the top?

I dont think so, I saw this comment too and had the same reaction.

BBO rules of the site state the following are considered serious offenses:

The use of profanities as well as racist or sexually explicit remarks
Insulting your partners, opponents or any other member of BBO
Kibitzers chatting with players about the contents of unseen hands
Sending private chat to another member who has asked you to stop doing so

I do think these rules need to be strictly enforced. Surely if you want to talk or act like this you can do so at another site where that type of behavior is encouraged or simply do it privately.

I am surprised the pedophile reference is acceptable.

[bid_em_up]

jillybean2, on Apr 21 2006, 10:14 AM, said:

I am surprised the pedophile reference is acceptable.

(pulls out soapbox, climbs on).

Oh please.

While the subject itself is repulsive, it is a reference to a South Park episode (Chef is a character on the show). The comment goes to reflect exactly what he meant by "Oh well, some people have no sense of humor". (What may offend you, can be funny to someone else when presented in a certain context).

And yes, I do think that complaining about this is "over the top", not to mention petty. Just exactly how is the comment inflammatory? How is it racist? How is it "insulting"?

It is a statement of (perceived) fact and a generality regarding the proliferation of "everybody is an expert", especially from a certain unnamed country.

I, myself, usually have something "insulting" (if thats what you wish to call it) in my profile regarding "experts", except I am an EOI (thats Equal Opportunity Insulter, for the anacronym challenged). I insult all "experts" equally. Face it, they earned it when they chose to blatantly lie about their abilities. I am tired of having people claim to be experts that are barely above beginner in their abilities, and I will continue to let it be known, as I see fit to do so. (Mind you, I will never say directly to them at a table "you are not an expert" or anything along those lines)

My profile currently says "So many experts, so few X cards...", do I need to change it because I might offend someone claiming to be expert who knows that they are not? I dont think so. If they are offended by this, its only because they know that I am correct in my assessment of their abilities or they are oblivious to the fact that I mean them because they believe they are truly expert.

Pigpenz, I hope you changed it to "Better than a "CENSORED BY BBO" expert".

(rant over, climbs off soapbox, dons flak jacket).

From the title, I thought this thread was going to be about some computer freak, not realizing that PC referred to Political Correctness. Guess I am anacronym challenged as well.

[uday]

Quote

I am surprised the pedophile reference is acceptable.

We don't have a user "chef". The user w/the reference insists on repeatedly peeing on the line between his bad taste and our site rules. Some of our users (fortunately not too many) are like that.

We currently can't micromanage every means of expression available to users. Our usual reaction to something like this is to make a quick decision one way or another, groan, and move on.

As I hinted in the Watercooler forum, though, the inevitable consequence of a user abusing the ability to express himself in a manner that is NOT NICE will be to have that ability removed.

Incidents like this make me wonder if the ability to communicate to the (bbo) world at large (username, profile, lobby chat, team game titles,tourney chat) or at all (private chat) should be treated as an earned privilege rather than as a right-by-virtue-of-drawing-breath.

[chicken]

and right he is. i guess the borderline to racist or inflammatory lies somewhere else but in the as bid_em_up put it "perceived fact".

[Rain]

btw referece to:
oh well now we all know chef is a pedophile

This is referring to a southpark episode.

[Al_U_Card]

I defend my right to avoid playing with anyone online because of any stereotype or personal (mis)conception that I may have.

I have no right to explicitly nor implicitly indicate this right (whether cleverly phrased or obliquely expressed) in a public manner. If more than 3 people complain about some "public" statement that I have made then I deserve to be banished for a pre-determined period and then put on "probation" for permanent exclusion upon further transgression.

When will people learn that any insult, no matter how intended, is still an insult and is not conducive to friendly and proper relations?

[nickf]

cardsharp, on Apr 21 2006, 06:01 PM, said:

nickf, on Apr 21 2006, 07:09 AM, said:

Is my reaction over the top?

nickf
sydney

Yes

<snip>

Um... I was looking for some guidance here, perhaps you can rationalise your response.

nickf
sydney

[nickf]

sceptic, on Apr 21 2006, 05:17 PM, said:

I bet $10 I can guess which country they are talking about

Wayne, that comment is irrelevant to the discussion I was initiating and you know it.

nickf
sydney

[nickf]

pigpenz, on Apr 22 2006, 12:39 AM, said:

haha.....I was asked last summer to remove from my profile....."better than a ###### expert" after several people from that country complained they were probably all experts too

some people have no sense of humor

oh well now we all know chef is a pedophile

wtf is all this meant to mean ?

And in what way is the last sentence relevant to the original post?

This is like chinese whispers gone mad.

nickf
sydney

[paulg]

nickf, on Apr 22 2006, 05:35 AM, said:

cardsharp, on Apr 21 2006, 06:01 PM, said:

nickf, on Apr 21 2006, 07:09 AM, said:

Is my reaction over the top?

nickf
sydney

Yes

<snip>

Um... I was looking for some guidance here, perhaps you can rationalise your response.

nickf
sydney

I guess that there are just so many more things in the world today to be worried about.

Paul

[sceptic]

nick, ok I agree that the comment is not nice for someone who comes from that country (if they could be bothered to take offence at it, I hardly think it is worh it myself)

some one from a different country may find it amusing (I would go as so far that, if I had seen it on someones profile, it would have made me smile), but it would have been forgotten in a minute and I would not have thought any less of my friends from that country, nor would I have thought badly about the person who had it on their profile. In fact I may even think, ah that guy has a sense of humour, I would like to meet him

If you want some guidance (I hope you don't take this personally as I do not mean to offend) what harm did it do you? they would probably have changed the message as soon as they got bored and

Quote

Is my reaction over the top?

have you not got better things to do as I consider this quite petty.(IMHO)

But an insult is an insult and looking at it from a politically correct point of view, you were right to do what you did.

my comments about

Quote

bet $10 I can guess which country they are talking about

it is probably petty and was intended to be slightly amusing only.

[luke warm]

i agree with everything bid em up said... i can't imagine saying anything about the profile, i'd simply ignore it... i'm much happier when i don't try to control how other people think or act, even when they sometimes offend me... i can take it (usually)

[pigpenz]

uday, on Apr 21 2006, 11:44 AM, said:

The user w/the reference insists on repeatedly peeing on the line between his bad taste and our site rules. .

And that is exactly what SouthPark has been trying to do....pee on the fence between what is freedom of speech and what is funny or insulting to others.

1. They werent allowed to show Mohammend in their Cartoon
2. Tom Cruise got them to not show reruns of Scientology spoof
3. They got Chef and scientology in one show
4. they got Bush, Jesus and everything else in the next.

As National Lampoon in the 70's used to say
"is nothing sacred anymore"

so lets all pee on the fence somemore

[keylime]

Bid-ster has hit a home run here.