I hate to use a SouthsideCentral article on this but it’s the only way to get my response out. Anyway, Darrin’s got his side of the story out and here’s my response.
HalifaxTalk: Free BruceH!
Here’s Darrin’s reply…
Stop. You really aren’t helping things.
Bruce was banned for one main reason – the location he chose to go on a rant. I had gotten used to and tolerant of his behavior on other parts of this board, but the commercial section is not the place for going off on a poster. If you go into any business and start bad-mouthing that business, the owner will have no problem calling the police and getting you booted.
When I talked with Bruce yesterday, the conversation was short because I was actually working. I told him to just give it some time, and he chose to twist that into a post on his blog that I was never going to unban him. Fine. I’ve gotten used to him making me into the bad guy on his blog.
He posted on his blog that I was not responding to three emails he sent; I never got any emails from him.
He posted on his blog that I was taking steps to remove any reference to Southside Central on here; he never mentioned that he was the one who had set his profile to only display his signature when he checked the sig box on a post.
I told him to just give it time, and he continues to burn bridges.
I don’t miss his arrogance and attitude here; I do miss his insightful posts that he has shown in the past that he is capable of making.
Fair enough, that’s his side of the story and I’ve got no problem posting it here for anyone to see. Now it’s time for my response/rebuttal.
Stop. You really aren’t helping things.
I translate that as “Stop. Now you’ve put this in two locations where people can see what’s been going on. That’s not helping my side of the story.”
Bruce was banned for one main reason – the location he chose to go on a rant. I had gotten used to and tolerant of his behavior on other parts of this board, but the commercial section is not the place for going off on a poster. If you go into any business and start bad-mouthing that business, the owner will have no problem calling the police and getting you booted.
Bullshit. Darrin could have deleted any of the postings made and then we could have handled that in a different way. That would have been fine with me. Notice he didn’t say anything about the person who actually had the nerve to say that the product he was selling was total crap. So it’s OK to walk into a business and tell the owner that the product he’s selling is junk? Ah, I see the logic there. All that being said, I am 100% sure that he snapped because I heard the nerve to criticize a member of Clan Talbott. Last time he pulled this banning trick, it was about criticizing the same member. Go figure, eh?
When I talked with Bruce yesterday, the conversation was short because I was actually working. I told him to just give it some time, and he chose to twist that into a post on his blog that I was never going to unban him. Fine. I’ve gotten used to him making me into the bad guy on his blog.
He had enough time for a 10 second pause after I told him I didn’t believe him. “Give it some time” just made me realize that he wasn’t ever going to remove the ban. I posted my opinion and that’s no twisting. Finally, Darrin? I’m not making you into the “bad guy”. I’ve just pointed out the excessive use of nepotism regarding Clan Talbott and you snapped.
He posted on his blog that I was not responding to three emails he sent; I never got any emails from him.
The plaintiff offers Exhibit “A” into evidence, Your Honor.
I call “bullshit”, Your Honor.
He posted on his blog that I was taking steps to remove any reference to Southside Central on here; he never mentioned that he was the one who had set his profile to only display his signature when he checked the sig box on a post.
Which I also retracted as soon as I figured it out. Your Honor, the plaintiff offers Exhibit “B” into evidence.
(This can be viewed directly at http://twitter.com/sosidecentral/status/6286731282)
Your Honor, the plaintiff rests.
I told him to just give it time, and he continues to burn bridges.
Too bad if he thinks this is “burning bridges”. When you’ve got sheep-minded people that think everything the message board owner does must be oh-so-right, I’ve got to get my message out.
I don’t miss his arrogance and attitude here; I do miss his insightful posts that he has shown in the past that he is capable of making.
Sometimes people mistake confidence and self-esteem for arrogance and attitude but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of arrogance and attitude there. On the second part, I appreciate the compliment.
Update #1: Darrin replies (in his thread, of course. Not here), “I get it that you don’t like it here. I get it that you don’t like the way I run things.”
No, Darrin, I never said that at all nor implied it. HalifaxTalk is a fun forum to participate in most of the time. On the second part, I’ve gotten used to your “style”. Unlike the others, I don’t think you’re a god and never make mistakes. Instead of saying crap like you did, why don’t you address my rebuttals? The floor is yours.
Playing devils advocate.
1. Just because he paused 10 seconds doesn’t mean much. I do that all the time when people call me (assuming I actually answer) and am in the middle of something. I pause because I’m not paying attention to the phone but rather to what I was doing when I picked it up. The conversation seems like he was pre-occupied when you called.
2. Just because you sent 3 emails doesn’t mean he received them. You know where I work. I sent 2 emails to a friend in a similar position as mine in another organization. My org’s email IP (our provider) was on a blacklist somewhere. It happens.
Saying all that, it could still be true that he was in shock or something because you called and he received the emails and he’s lying.
Agreed on your counter-points. I’m just presenting my case and will let others decide.
I vote for a steel cage match. The winner gets total autonomy over control of these here internets.
On a related note, hchstudent seems to be all about protesting and campaigning on behalf of others… Maybe you should enlist him.
For some reason the terms “mountain” and “mole-hill” come to my mind. I don’t know why.
Student has chose to pull out of this one. I don’t see either side worth fighting for. I have not seen evidence of the Clan-Talbott. Bruce, don’t you stick up for your sister? I believe it was even on here were she posted in your defense. It is only natural for family and friends to stick together.
I feel there is competition in the air.
Reply: Hell yeah, I’ll take up for her as she’d take up for me. But we both have no problem calling each other idiots when deserved. And if she was trying to schlock new-age crap bracelets, I’d call her on it (as she’d do the same to me).
I am not in competition with HalifaxTalk, never have been, never will be.
Okay- until DT’s specific grief was posted, Bruce blasting him in the For Sale section, I was kind of wondering WTF was so tragic that he had to go. Okay, so now I get it. It’s not really like Bruce protesting DT’s business. Bruce wasn’t even the one to start the “discussion”. However, Bruce bit the bait and went full throttle on the beatdown. Once again, this was not like Bruce standing outside of a business and protesting. In this case, he was standing in the front yard at DT’s house. It’s his house.
Now, mega mountain over molehill thing? Uh, yeah. But…. now I see why DT booted him. I’m not sure if I would have done it that way. He could have called Bruce out and specifically said, “No debate in the business section.” Like Bruce, I agree that DT could have yanked the posts easy as pie. But he didn’t. He let it ramble on…. Even where everyone was kind of thinking Bruce was booted over the “Clan” remark. But this wasn’t it at all.
So while I will still have the “Free Bruce” on my sig, I better understand what went down….
And yes, 007 is an instigator. Bored and harmless but at least his instigating gave us something to post about for a few hours… and each site had a few more hit counts over it.
Soooooo moving forward…. Free Bruce, clarify the rules and hazards, and LET’S TALK!!!!
HomeStyle said, “clarify the rules.”
Sage advice to HT and I doubt it will ever be taken. Different people are allowed different ‘transgressions’ over there. Some get away with murder, while others get smacked down for just giving their opinion.
When Darrin banned you, the only thing said was,
“I’m done with this, Bruce. You are much more of a headache than you are worth.
Feel free to post your opinions somewhere else.”
That was it. He never called you out like you have called him out.
Maybe a Sincere apology would do the trick instead of trying to de-characterize him.
Reply: Let me summarize my reply to make it clear & concise: Hell no.
I have nothing to apologize for. If Darrin wanted to, he could have deleted everything that offended him in “his business”. I meant every word I said. I’ve called him out because this is the only public area that others would be able to see what I said.
If Darrin truly wants to make HalifaxTalk a place where people can talk, he sure isn’t accomplishing it by banning me.
Define “Decharacterize”
Isn’t it amazing how if you say exactly what some people want you to say they never have a problem but give a different side and you get banned.Sounds to me VDOT has a street named after them it’s called oneway.Free Bruce let him give his opinion.
I have no idea what de-characterize means, maybe it means that person thinks that Bruce is trying to rid the world of characters like Darrin. HA HA HA
I will say however that if you look back over almost all the bannings that have taken place by Darrin (the only moderator who has ever banned anyone), almost every one of them has the same characteristic. That characteristic is that a poster dared to question or challenge either his or his sister’s posts. Check it out. If of course you are willing to see the truth, rather than the spin being spouted by (dare I post it) “clan talbott”. LOL
For those of you that need help, the prefix “de-” can mean to destruct, destroy, derail, and many other things.
Character- is moral, ethical,and quality features of a person.
When you put the two together, de- (Destroy) Character (quality of person) ize (process)
The process of destroying ones character. Now was that hard?
Reply: I’ll give you four points for the instant etymology, but have to MUTE you one point for making the word up. 😀
Darrin does alot of good on HalifaxTalk. He allows people to post of events with out charging them fees even though he pays for HalifaxTalk to exist so you people can have something to complain on.
Reply: What’s this “you people” talk? The entire SouthsideCentral empire costs me less than $10 per month. You seem to be making a big logical mistake. I’m not complaining about that website. I’m complaining about the way I was banned for stupid reasons.
Darrin’s HalifaxTalk is also a great resource to all information ,including keeping up to date on local politics and information you will never find in a news paper.
Reply: Horsecrap. It’s a site of bitching and complaining by at most 15 people. There’s a reason that nobody in local or regional government has joined in the past three years there. You’ve only got the Usual Suspects that say All Taxes Are Bad and John Cannon is
SatanA Nice PersonA PoopyheadOne Hell Of A Guy! (as of now) The news? As long as you’ve got McFriendly leading the charge, all I can say is “HA!”Darrin’s sister, Bunny, has taken charge of the Operation Christmas in which HalifaxTalk posters donate money and then send gift card out to families in need. Which I remind you only exist only because HT.
The Clan Talbott, to me, should be a compliment towards them for sticking together as families should do.
I have NO shame in saying I think highly of these people.
Reply: Agreed, Bunny is a great person and I support her 100%. I think highly of her. Darrin? Not so much. He loves his “social club” so much that he hasn’t came to any of the events that have been put on.
To quote Barry Tuck: “Student has chose to pull out of this one. I don’t see either side worth fighting for.”
Does Student really mean this? Student doesn’t see either side worth fighting for???
If so, what a slap in the face to the Talbotts who ride to Student’s rescue every time someone has something critical to say about him.
Shame, shame, shame on you, Student.
And people wonder why I quit posting on Halifax Talk? Yes, I did tout the virtues of my job ( which was new at the time) and I did trash Halifax Co. Public Schools. And some folks got offended. But in the end; everything I said was true. And I’d say it again. Yes, Bruce is my brother and no, we don’t agree on everything. But it seems to me that some folks get special treatment, while others are pooped on on a regular basis. I thought Halifax Talk was created so that people could have a sounding board for issues and to post just for fun. But if the topic is considered out of place or offends someone; people get all out of whack!!! I, for one, am glad I’m out of HalifaxTalk. May the Talbotts forever regin!!!!
“Decharacterize” is still not a word. Your attempt at redefinalizationismizing are futile.
/Looks up redefinalizationismizing in dictionary
//Doesn’t find it.
///Breaks down every etymological element of the word
////Double face palm in disgust.
Oh, and FREE BRUCE!