h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Mikey,

The word 'obsessive' is quite commonly used to mean 'a person with an obsession.' Given her behaviour over the last few months, I think that's a perfectly reasonable description of LeKZ.

Azara

I always wanted to know - what's the difference between obsessive and compulsive?

As far as I remember from university psychology courses, and what I've learned from folks on Sanctuary, 'obsessive' tends to relate to thought patterns, while 'compulsive' more describes actions... so a person with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) would have an obsession that his hands had germs, and a related compulsion then to wash their hands after touching anything.

Inanna's close, although someone with OCD would not necessarily have both obsessions and compulsions -- the diagnostic criteria only require one or the other.

Azara -- While I agree that "obsessive" can be used to describe someone who is "obsessing" about something, the phrase "mentally ill obsessive" indicates the psychiatric sense of the word.

Mikey

A woefully disjointed posting; sorry.

The basis of a lot of humor is pain. "Ha! That fool slipped on a banana peel and I didn't. *That's* funny!" "A three-legged dog walks into the Old West saloon and says,' I'm looking for the man who shot my paw.'" Somebody gets hurt, and we laugh to release the tension that it might have been us. Whew!

Taken completly out-of-context - say, posted in the Wall Street Journal - the parodies might have been funny. *One* parody might have been funny, maybe. But: given that there were an arguably excessive number of them (which shows a great deal of forethought and planning) all focused on an entity known to be capable of wide mood swings who has been summarily rendered incapable of defending themselves here, it is my opinion that the 'parodies' failed miserably at accomplishing anything other than inflicting pain and misery. And I am someone known - I think - as an appreciator of the wicked laugh and the sarcastic beau jest. Knowing the 'target', I thought them cruel, thoughtless and disappointing. And 'accurate' enough to prove that the perpetrator knew the target also.

Has anyone else been struck by the oddity of all the concentrated effort being expended to keep someone *off* the site that so many think is the greatest site in the known/unknown world? LeKZ gets every door repeatedly slammed in their face at the very whispered allegation that they are "LeKZ." Sheesh. I think this comes under the heading of "Bad Public Relations."

Finally (I'm past the end of lunch already...), has anyone totaled the number of reseachers who've left h2g2 because of LeKZ' behavior verus the number of researchers who've left h2g2 because of LeKZ' treatment by others? Just curious.

Thanks.

And remember: dead babies stick to the pitchfork better than bowling balls.

-7_sicko_7

Just to throw my tuppence into the circle:
Satya...cuppa "let slip" that he was me (I yikesed it on the ground of impersonation and it was removed). I was hurt because

1. Someone thought little enough of my feeliings to do that (although I think it had more to do with the fact I was online at the time).

2. If it was a parody of LeKZ (which I believe it was) then it made fun of her in a pretty meanspirited way, and I didn't want my name associated with that- even though no one who knows me would seriousely think it was me (I hope).

3. It was in a conversation between me and a friend, I was looking forwards to hearing about a big adventure he said he'd had, and the thread was hanging off my space. Altogether, it was the type of safe thread I'd head to if I was feeling down- which made it worse that it was just someone being mean.

I do have a sense of humour (not as active as some people's, but it's buried deep down somewhere) but I found this more hurtful than funny. I over-reacted to it, which hasn't helped my cause (I know that's not the fault of the phantom poster, but it's related), but I don't think that subtracts from the issue.

I come here for fun. To learn to write. To talk. I don't come here with the intention of hurting people and I find it hard to believe that other people do.
If this was a joke then it's gone wrong, from my perspective at least. If it was someone being deliberately mean, then that's horrid, and if it's LeKZ then I'll never be able to show my face in a gathering of guardian angels again

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'h2g2 Feedback - Community Soapbox' to 'Discussions Relating to the Lifetime Ban of Arpeggio'.

Thought I'd better chime in, given recent off-site developments...



First up, I'm moving this Conversation to the discussion page for Arpeggio's banning, not because this wasn't the right place to post it (it was, GTB), but because it's now moving on to a more general discussion surrounding LeKZ, and that's where these discussions get moved (see later).



Recently we've been in off-site discussion with LeKZ, because we'd like her to stop coming back to h2g2 and opening accounts and thought that a bit of negotiation would help achieve that. Unfortunately those negotiations have broken down, but there were two things that came out of it that we'd done that she felt were unfair to her, so I'm here to apologise, in the hope that it will ease her pain a little bit.

1. During the post-Arpeggio ban Conversations, I said something along the lines of 'Arpeggio targeted h2g2'. This wasn't fair, and I'm sorry for saying it; it just *felt* at that time as if she was targeting h2g2, but I apologise for saying that she was, and take it back.

2. In a private email to someone who was claiming to be a medical doctor, we referred to LeKZ as a 'mentally ill obsessive'. We didn't intend this to be interpreted as a medical term, as we're obviously not doctors, but it turns out that it's not an accurate description of LeKZ. We apologise for any offence that this may have caused.



Finally, if anyone here has LeKZ' best interests at heart, the best thing they can do is to ignore the topic of LeKZ completely. People talking about her on h2g2 winds her up, and as she can't come here to defend herself, it only makes things worse.

We've asked before, and we'll ask again - please can we stop talking about LeKZ? In any form? The lessons learned from the closure of her various accounts have been valuable, and there's obviously a place for hypothetical discussion about things like humour and parody, but if we can try to avoid talking about LeKZ, it can only help everyone.

Thanks.

Just to add something from the Editors' perspective, we are dealing with these parody accounts as best we can. We've removed the Postings that 'impersonated' existing Researchers, and we're talking to the author about the Spaces themselves. We're not wading in with hobnail boots as that would only cause more grief, but we're dealing with it as best we can.

I have followed this affair for months, because there was a lot going on here that I didn't understand and I wanted to understand. I have deliberately refrained from comment, and have never passed (nor will I now) any judgement on any of the researchers involved. I read the backlog, I formed views, I kept them to myself. I am not party to any of the offsite communications. I try to keep out of it.

But I have to say my say - I am sick and tired of tripping over this stuff every couple of weeks. I tripped over Quincy (I was going to respond at length in one of Quincy's threads, I'm not sure what stopped me), I've just tripped over fenceblossomboy. I know a lot of people have suffered much upset over this, and some researchers have left, or fallen out with each other. I have not suffered pain, I'm just fed up with the whole thing.

This is not intended to minimize anybody else's pain, but I'm not responsible for it. I am truly sorry for anybody here, or previously here, who has any kind of debilitating condition (or whatever is the aceptable term), or who has been in any way abused, verbally, physically, mentally, sexually - whatever - I have compassion. But I'm not responsible for any of that, either.

Dastardly put it perfectly in the last post, <>

I might add that I take the people I talk to here - and I don't think I've ever had a cross word - at face value. I am friendly with everybody I speak to, and see no reason why they should not respond likewise - and everybody has. I have made friends here. I don't want to be forever wondering whether the researchers I am talking to have a hidden agenda.

Can't we all just stop picking at the wounds?

Oh, there was one more thing that I'd offered in those negotiations that LeKZ wanted. She wanted me to state that what was on the screen when she posted the X-d out Posting was *only* the X-d out Posting, and that everything that followed (ie the translation) was generated or created by people other than her. That's true, and I'd like to state it here, as requested.

Of course, Arpeggio/LeKZ was banned for posting that X-d out Posting for reasons discussed in detail at the time, so it doesn't change the fact that she's banned. But I'm happy to state the above, as LeKZ has requested.

And now, as Captain Kebab and LeKZ herself have requested, I'm going to shut up about LeKZ now. And if everyone else could do the same and take their discussions about LeKZ elsewhere, it would be good for everyone.

Oops - Dastardly's was the last post when I started typing that.

S'okay Captain!

*agrees with Mark*

If anyone is still listening...

Please Yikes any impersonating posts, whoever they're from, unless you know that it is a joke, in which case please make it clear in the thread (if anyone else is posting there). Thank you.

-Spike A.

FYI, a bit of light relief. My Posting 71 was accidentally failed by a Moderator last night after I'd gone home (yep, Editors don't escape moderation either!), for the reason that it included 'personal information, such as a telephone number, or postal address'.

It was slip of the Moderator's mouse button, but I thought you might like to know.

"A three-legged dog walks into the Old West saloon and says,' I'm looking for the man who shot my paw.'"



for that!

Spiff

re: Mark's #1. Thanks - that means more than you might think.
-myre

Mark - I would like to thank you as well, and vouch for Lucinda/ myre's post above. Your statements are greatly appreciated in many quarters. (I thought this would be a better place to put this than in your more-than-likely swollen inbox.)

-7_careening_close_to_posting_for_a_banned_researcher_7

7_that_dog_joke_is_zarking_hiLARious!_7



Mark,

I look forward to meeting you when I storm the Towers in March, if all goes according to plan, eh?

As a friend of LeKZ, I'd just like to say that I really appreciate your postings here.



This thread is on the 'Disussions Relating...' page now? And I started it myself? Wow! I'm going to be walking around for the rest of the day wondering how I feel about that