Pssst has been banned following discussion amongst the founders/admins. There were differing views as to how to approach the situation, and in the end I was the one who pressed the ban button. The following is a list of reasons - in no particular order even though numbered - as to why I did that. Other founders/admins might voice their own potentially differing views in this thread.
Firstly, as many would know, Pssst has a long history of misbehaving on and trolling forums under various usernames, including as "Waller Joel" and as "MU!!". It seems fair to say that he is notorious for it. He has been banned from several forums, including Skeptiko in both of its incarnations as well as AfterLifeForums.com. We know from Skeptiko admins and users that after being banned, he sent some of the most abusive and scatalogical private messages to various users that the admins had ever seen. It seems fair to say, too, then, that his presence on Psience Quest was controversial from the start.
We initially took the view that his (mis)behaviour elsewhere need not affect the way he was received here. I now believe that view to be misguided. As another founder put it privately (though I may not be paraphrasing him all that well), we are part of a community of forums in which alternative, paranormal, and spiritual topics are discussed, and Pssst is one of several individuals who misbehaves across those forums: he deserves no special harbour or immunity in our little part of that forum community, and we owe it to the rest of the forum community not to turn a blind eye to his misbehaviour elsewhere.
Secondly, he has no respect for truth, evidence, or accountability, and thus he has largely[1] treated this forum - with its emphasis on the scientific investigation of psi and the paranormal - with contempt. When called on this, he responds with insults and nastiness.
Thirdly, his behaviour is especially offensive towards and alienating of women, such as his "joke" about one forum member not doing well enough to get into another's pants. When called on this by an admin (me), his response was to double down and essentially deny doing anything wrong.
He has also targeted without apparent cause Dreamsoap, and his recent utterly uncalled-for, out-of-the-blue sarcastic response - which I've deleted - to one of her very recent (and totally innocent) posts was the last straw for me. The fact that such a valuable contributor as Dreamsoap has been reluctant to post because of this miscreant is shameful. Too, his nasty and false recent comment in the "Contentious posts involving Pssst" thread about Dreamsoap and Mediochre's relationship further demonstrates his contempt for truth and respectfulness.
Fourthly, he privately showed contempt for Psience Quest and its admins - and me in particular - in what I am going to refer to as "the BillyWallace affair". There's no point in getting into the details of this publicly, but anybody interested should feel free to PM me and I'll explain.
He is contentious, combative, and disrespectful in general, deters people from joining and participating in our forum, has prompted several people to both privately and publicly ask for his removal - some of whom (including the admin of another forum) have expressed bafflement as to why he has been allowed to remain for so long - and in my very strong view has no place here.
[1] Admittedly, he has occasionally shared useful sourced information, such as his recent thread on Tom Campbell's Kickstarter campaign.
(This post was last modified: 2018-05-22, 09:39 AM by Laird.)
Firstly, as many would know, Pssst has a long history of misbehaving on and trolling forums under various usernames, including as "Waller Joel" and as "MU!!". It seems fair to say that he is notorious for it. He has been banned from several forums, including Skeptiko in both of its incarnations as well as AfterLifeForums.com. We know from Skeptiko admins and users that after being banned, he sent some of the most abusive and scatalogical private messages to various users that the admins had ever seen. It seems fair to say, too, then, that his presence on Psience Quest was controversial from the start.
We initially took the view that his (mis)behaviour elsewhere need not affect the way he was received here. I now believe that view to be misguided. As another founder put it privately (though I may not be paraphrasing him all that well), we are part of a community of forums in which alternative, paranormal, and spiritual topics are discussed, and Pssst is one of several individuals who misbehaves across those forums: he deserves no special harbour or immunity in our little part of that forum community, and we owe it to the rest of the forum community not to turn a blind eye to his misbehaviour elsewhere.
Secondly, he has no respect for truth, evidence, or accountability, and thus he has largely[1] treated this forum - with its emphasis on the scientific investigation of psi and the paranormal - with contempt. When called on this, he responds with insults and nastiness.
Thirdly, his behaviour is especially offensive towards and alienating of women, such as his "joke" about one forum member not doing well enough to get into another's pants. When called on this by an admin (me), his response was to double down and essentially deny doing anything wrong.
He has also targeted without apparent cause Dreamsoap, and his recent utterly uncalled-for, out-of-the-blue sarcastic response - which I've deleted - to one of her very recent (and totally innocent) posts was the last straw for me. The fact that such a valuable contributor as Dreamsoap has been reluctant to post because of this miscreant is shameful. Too, his nasty and false recent comment in the "Contentious posts involving Pssst" thread about Dreamsoap and Mediochre's relationship further demonstrates his contempt for truth and respectfulness.
Fourthly, he privately showed contempt for Psience Quest and its admins - and me in particular - in what I am going to refer to as "the BillyWallace affair". There's no point in getting into the details of this publicly, but anybody interested should feel free to PM me and I'll explain.
He is contentious, combative, and disrespectful in general, deters people from joining and participating in our forum, has prompted several people to both privately and publicly ask for his removal - some of whom (including the admin of another forum) have expressed bafflement as to why he has been allowed to remain for so long - and in my very strong view has no place here.
[1] Admittedly, he has occasionally shared useful sourced information, such as his recent thread on Tom Campbell's Kickstarter campaign.
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