Shalom: I'll take a pass on your "end justifies the means" comment. I disagree but I don't expect to convince you that you are wrong.
LaraLove: Disagreeing with someone does not make them wrong, Shalom. You've got no one on your side. I think it's pretty obvious that people who have that mentality feel that Iridescent's actions were justified. Regardless, what really matters here is that you've got no one on your side.[/quote]
I have nobody on my side anymore. However, that was not always so. Aside from Sarcasticidealist who nominated me, and Riana who nominated me the time before that, WJBscribe defended me pretty well in the third RFA and was a regretful neutral in the fourth. The fact that nobody takes my side on this fight doesn't mean my side is meritless. It just means not enough people are aware of the facts. If people really were aware, they might think differently. I'm sorry that you're not aware, Lara, or that you refuse to acknowledge the truth.
I said it above in this thread and I'll repeat it: there was enough bad shit that I really did do. Iridescent had ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to oppose my RFA by alleging GRATUITOUS LIES. All she had to do is say "Oppose" per [diff1] [diff2] [diff3] [diff4] ... [diff100] etc. and say sorry, I don't care how long it's been but I can't support anyone who ever did this much vandalism. Simple. Stick to facts. All those other red herrings about doing a pagemove without seeking consensus or writing long posts on WR attacking anyone I saw as part of "the Cabal" - those were LIES. I repeat: LIES! If you can't see that, you should see an eye doctor.
The problem with "end justifies the means" argument in THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE is that Iridescent and others could EASILY have achieved THE SAME END through completely honest means. She chose to tell lies instead. That shows a great deal about her moral character.
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Shalom: The wikisuicide has begun, folks.
LaraLove: It began within your first handful of edits. Hopefully it's ending now.[/quote]
That's the other most painful part. I remember between the Sunday I applied for RFA last summer and the Friday I "retired" - it was either a Tuesday or Wednesday night. I went for a walk outside in the warm summer air, near the local high school in my hometown, and I started talking to myself (as I often do when nobody else is around) about the situation, trying to make sense of it. I cried in anguish about the injustice of it all, how from my SECOND EVER EDIT under my username I never had a fair chance. It was so damn unfortunate, really. I could have started over many times (and did twice after that incident, and can do it yet again...) and I don't doubt that some of the current admins (specifically Cirt and possibly others unknown) did get that clean start after doing shit that got them in serious trouble. All I had to do is start over after those first vandalism edits. Everyone who treats Wikipedia as a silly game knows to do that. I didn't know any better so I didn't do that. I took Wikipedia seriously. That's why the whole episode hurt so deeply. I treated the free encyclopedia as a calling, for a while. I really believed I was doing good things for the world by writing hundreds of articles for free, and I believed that folks who were aware of what I was doing would RECOGNIZE AND THANK me for it. Instead, I could never escape the shadow of my first ten edits. I still can't do that. I can, but I'll be accused of sockpuppeting if it ever comes to light, so really, I can't.
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Shalom: Last Friday in my office I was so upset with things that I started throwing books around. It was a closed room and nobody else was there. By the time the fellow who works in the next room came over to calm me down, I had thoroughly destroyed a notebook I don't use anyway by throwing it against a wall six times. That's vandalism on Wikipedia. Just an act of frustration, needing to destroy something but not knowing what. I've sometimes torn leaves off a tree and torn them up for unleashing angst. Same idea.
LaraLove: Anger management, Shalom. And it's not the same idea. Who had to clean up your office? Did you leave it for the janitor, did your co-worker clean it up, or your boss maybe? I think what would have been the best for all involved is if your boss cleaned it up after firing you and having security toss your ass out the front door. But hey, that's just me.
You're missing some background here. I work alone in my office. Others share it but are not there simultaneously. I cleaned up the mess myself. Being a grad student, I don't have a "boss."
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LaraLove: You release your anger like a child. Were you one of those kids that took a magnifying glass to the sidewalk and lit up ant hills? Took your slingshot to the woods to play target practice with the squirrels and birds? Or were you one of the kids that scribbled hate into a notebook, lit matches into piles of hay, or other similar acts of rage that didn't inflict pain on living creatures? [/quote]
None of the above. Did YOU do any of those things?
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LaraLove: All that said, as an off-topic aside, Bottled Spider is my favorite poster. The Comedy Central of WR. (IMG:
smilys0b23ax56/default/laugh.gif) Love it.
I couldn't disagree more. I think Bottled_Spider is a total moron.