There is another message board, Craftweb, where I had a recent dispute with the moderator. The moderator posted some accusations and then didn't allow me to respond. If anyone has been in that position, you know how frustrating that is. In fact, he reffered to this as, "a foul mouthed rant". I really am sorry to have to engage in such a silly maneuver, but its the only way I could respond to the guy. I'm sure this is futile, and admittedly childish, but it gives me a bit of satisfaction to know my response is on the record somewhere.
"Your drop shipping dichroic doesn't amount to a "favor" to anyone. Given the CBS pricing strategy it allows YOU to buy wholesale at a better price. Which is typical from you. I simply informed CBS I would be buying 25 sheets. Its not a big deal, I need the writeoff.
Lets face it, this is all about you, your little power trip. The fact is not that I like to argue, but that you're uncomfortable with disagreement. Hell you managed to ban or drive off all the Republicans on the board. Yes, I do like Bob Stephan. I always have. I don't like his politics, no. But He's a cool guy. Original ideas, great intelligence and technical knowledge, and just look at his site to see that he has a sense of humor. What you really want to have here is not a discussion group, but a gentlemans club for people who'll share similar opinions and voice them at a safe distance. To me, that's chickenshit.
About my work, when you came to my studio you were LITERALLY hopping up and down on one foot and saying, "no one's doing anything like this", and asking me to sell you stuff for your gallery. When I balked, you said you would produce it yourself. When you got back, you reported on Craftweb that you had had an epiphany on the beach. Remember that Pete? I know Mary Beth does. I bit my tongue. But that was a bitter pill, I can tell you. I can only imagine how many other people's work you've ripped off. For anyone who has actually talked with you privately, they know you are really about making the cash, art be screwed. And of course as Shute has pointed out, the private Pete is considerably less scrupulous than the public Pete. I wish I had recorded that whole story about how you invited other artists to your studio and told them the wrong materials to use.
In fact, your whole deal with being a moderator in the first place was ripped off from Shute, and really, he has an arguable position in being pissed off. I agree with Bob. I think your are completely unsuited to this position. You use it to pump up your products, your financial aims, your view of the world, and of course your own shall we say, 'unique' view of thermodynamics. And you do all this not from a goal of proselytizing a notion, or an ethic, but from your own petty interests and insecurities.
A MODERATOR is supposed to moderate. As in, moderation. To be even handed, aloof, resolve disputes, etc. A moderator is not supposed to be injecting his/her opinion into the debate at every opportunity. And if they do, they are certainly not supposed to use the power of their position to reinforce their own view, which at that point really becomes precisely antithetical to the whole principle of moderation and moderating. The elephant in the room at craftweb that no one really talks about, is that you aren't a moderator, you are an OWNER. You own the forum, and in order to keep in good with the landlord, people don't complain about the sh*t that keeps backing up in the john.
What Craftweb should really have is a rotating moderatorship or an academic moderator. If, this was really as professed, a place for learning. I suggest you ban me, because I'm not stepping into line in the way I know you want me to.
Bob Stephan is the moderator at the Glass Art Society board. You can post if you buy a membership. I never really saw a reason to join before. But, I have seen the evolution of glass boards from when there was only usenet. Frankly, I don't care for where we've ended up, with sponsorship and unilateral control by one individual. I think at this point I feel much more comfortable with a "society" being in charge. So, I will leave Craftweb to go to the GAS board. I think there is much more potential there for an unvarnished exchange of glass info.