Sniff, sniff. You couldn't wait for me? It was only gonna be till Wednesday.

Okay, looks like a Minear thread will be considered separately from all our other thread changes.

Are we okay with a ladies' and gentlemen's agreement to put off other thread proposing till after the 15th?

Are we agreeing on an All Tim All the Time thread, or a general graduate studies thread with Wonder Falls in the slug? I'd favor the latter.

All Tim All the Time thread, or

Can we just give Minear his due, and see what happens organically from there? There may be the odd mention of a former ME-er in Minearvana (yes!) from time to time, which would sort of obviate the need for a grads thread. Or if the grads threaten to take over, then we can discuss the need for a second thread, right?

This shouldn't be this hard, folks. Procedure is fine, but the hairsplitting is giving me a headache.

Schmoker/Anathema took his voluntary suspension on or about March 9. It's now over two months later and his account was not reinstated.

Mieskie was suspended under the then existing rules, and that suspension was totally valid. Those of you who were around don't need to be reminded what went on, and I was as much a victim as anyone.

It is important to keep in mind that when he was suspended as mieskie he was never given an opportunity to respond in Bureaucracy which most of us feel (after the last vote on this issue) is a necessary component before banning. So he violated the terms by coming back and lying about his identity.

Months later he was busted. But by this time he had become a valuable contributing member and had learned to conform his behavior to community standards. Which is really the whole point of the suspension. And he chose to take a voluntary suspension to prevent a kerfuffle, so that he could "do the time" and come back without rancor.

The point of this post is that Schmoker/Anathema has indicated that he very much would like to come back. He is an avid fan of all things Jossian, and has been reading the board throughout the suspension anxious to come back and post again with the illustrious Buffistas. I want to go on record as saying that I think he should be immediately reinstated. Whether he chooses to post again or not is entirely up to him.

We are right now having a discussion about when to apply the rules of Bureaucracy strictly and when good sense suggests a bit of leniency. I'm in favor of good sense on this one.

Let's be generous, let's be forgiving, let's be Buffistas.

Oh, christ.

I'm split. On a personal level, I had no problem with mieskie under any login, and would love to see him again, especially if he quit agitating for a Normal Again ending for Buffy.

But on a board protocol level? Bad, bad idea. Yes, we muffed his banning, largely because it was a new process. I don't think that means we should set aside the will of (most) Buffistas aside. Plus, it sets a precendent that would mean we would have to let anyone else who was banned back in as long as they acted really, really sorry. And I don't want to do that.

I recuse myself from this. I just don't care.

If you violate the terms of a suspension, you get banned. Period. End of story. A person who actually cares about this community would not violate the suspension.

I'm with Jesse.

Also, kill me now.

Suddenly I feel like a battered spouse: "But he's so great a lot of the time! And he didn't really mean it. And it's my fault, really -- if only I had done things differently, it wouldn't have happened...." Fuck that. I'm sorry, but really.