How To Stop Commenting On TTAC, And Walk Away With A Nice Hat

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

We love our commenters. We hate to see them go. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made. This is to announce the untimely departure of dogsledder54 a.k.a. “scarey”, and of curbie138 from the pages of TTAC. They were banished. What happened?

The matter turned into a story, because there is a moral to it. It illustrates perfectly the dos and don’ts of commenting on TTAC.

As a comment to Suzuki Workers Burn Factory, Manager Killed, “Scarey” entered this comment:

I think we have sufficient information to assign you the title of ‘Moron’. Murder, assault, and arson are acceptable if you have workplace grievances ? Not hardly. Not anywhere.”

Can you spot the problem? Correct. Whether murder, assault, and arson are acceptable if you have workplace grievances can be debated all day long at TTAC. But it must be done without calling someone names. It’s that simple.

“Scarey” was put on notice and given six hours to apologize for the moron. “Scarey” sent a defiant note instead. “Scarey” had been given a chance. Refusing the chance, he was banned for making personal attacks.

Also banned was curbie138. Not because he posted that he thinks that workplace grievances can justify murder, assault and arson, under certain circumstances. That’s his opinion. People will oppose it. At TTAC, we fight for the right to voice any opinion. That right does not include the right to call someone a “moron” again. Curbie 138 was banned for making personal attacks.

In both cases, the comments were well within the bounds of TTAC’s commenting policy – except for a little word: “Moron.” This site is wide open to any arguments, even if they are as extreme as the above. This site is not open to rude behavior and an absence of manner.

Other sites would maybe edit the comment. We don’t. We are amongst grown-ups. People are responsible for what they do and say. Moderators are not here to clean up other peoples’ messes.

And what’s with the hat? To mark the fact that this commenter may no longer comment, the avatar may be changed. The one in the picture seems appropriate.

TTAC’s commenting policy always drew the line at flaming, trolling, and personal attacks. That policy has been rewritten to clarify, but not to change the policy. Please read the policy.

In short: You can say whatever you want at TTAC, but you may not be rude and uncivil. If you can’t say it without being insulting, better don’t touch that keyboard.

No more dunces!

P.S.: Also, I recommend resisting the urge to call TTAC editors a bunch of goose-stepping control freaks,as evidenced by the Teutonic masthead. First, it would be racism, and punishable by bannage as per the TTAC commenting policy. Second, I don’t know either how that happened, maybe Farago had a black leather fetish. Third, be advised that about half of them are Jewish, and they would be upset if you bunch them in with the other Nazis.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Seth1065 Seth1065 on Jul 22, 2012

    calling some one a "moron" got someone kicked off???? People the whole PC world has got to go. I mean really compared to some of the stuff Jack writes this is like showing a wrist and calling it Amish Porn ( sorry to the Amish if I offend)What happen to the whole sticks and stones rant my folks would tell me. Anyone who wants to call me a Moron for likeing Saabs and driving a VW TDI feel free I have my big boy pants on and can take it.

    • Mark MacInnis Mark MacInnis on Jul 24, 2012

      you sir, are a mor...e astute and discerning driver for your vehicle choices. ;^I

  • Replica Replica on Jul 24, 2012

    I don't always comment on TTAC, but when I do, I call your mother a whore.

    • Les Les on Jul 24, 2012

      BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH.. *cough, gasp, WHEEZE!*

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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