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

Ho hum. Mike A, Styx's owner buddy, (aka QMike) has received a life ban from h2g2.

He broke the rules. That is clear and beyond question.

It's a bit of a blow to those of us who spend our time at the atelier though. Lil hasn't said much but it's obvious how much she has been hurt.

We all need time to think.

Hey what!!??

What's going on!!?? Is this a joke!!??

What happened, what did he do!!??

You don't joke about things like this.

He confused freedom of thought with a right to offend and thought that freedom of speech meant a right to force someone else to publish your words.

Bad mistakes. Racism and homophobia are against the rules of this community.

He's achieved nothing.

He has hurt Lil.

What the...?

Who was he racist or homophobic to?

What does it matter?

Well, I want to know exactly why he was banned...

I can't let this go unnoticed in by myself...

I mean, did he actually deserve to be banned, or were h2g2 being too strict? I can't decide these for mysefl without knowing the facts...

You must understand I'm a curious fellow...

Er... I cannot provide you with the required data without repeating the offending material and getting banned myself.

Take it from me, he did contravene the rules as they are written. h2g2 were not misinterpreting their rules.

Part of me wishes that they had made allowances for Mike being a child and sought to put some extra educative steps into the ladder of punishments. You're his age -- would you appreciate that? I suspect not.

Part of me also wishes that I had stepped in and told him what a twerp he was being instead of smiling indulgently and hoping that he would grow up before TPPB cought up with him. He wouldn't have listened. Not even to a cool ant-type dude.

Hmmm...alright then...

I'm guessing they deleted the thread it was posted in then...or the article? Whichever...

anyway, on to brighter topics...

In reading along with your brain woes, Amy, I spotted this thread. It's true that I was hurt, at the time, and in hindsight I think it was exactly the way a parent would feel hurt when a kid of theirs screws up.

But Mike is still hurting a lot worse. He was a much-published researcher and proud of his place here, and the ban still rankles with him.

As to whom he was being homophobic, the interesting thing is that he has come out this year as being homosexual or bisexual. We're not sure which yet. I think I'm safe in making that fact public, since he has outed himself on other BBs.

If I remember correctly, Chris, the material he put on his personal space was a verbatim transcription off the back of a Guns n Roses record, so he was additionally breaching copyright, I suppose.

At any rate, Mike also had an extreme anti-religious bias, based on the fact that the religions in question have an extreme anti-homosexual bias. He was emerging into his gender orientation to find himself in the camp of the damned and he jolly well didn't like it. He's very hot-headed, and he took the pronouncements of the Old Testament very personally.

As Hootoo is a business and not a juvenile counselling service, I can't argue with their official decision, but I think lightning struck particularly close to Mike because of his continuing intemperate remarks about Christianity and Judaism, which were taken at face value and with no effort to determine his motivation.

I don't know whether Hootoo offers parole on life bans, but I would suspect that TPTB would be terrified of having Mike back until say, age thirty.

I know he wishes he were still here, but he won't admit it, and he won't apologise to those to whom he spoke roughly (and should not have). But he's still writing and being vocal in other parts of the web.