FYI

19 April 2007 by Stardust

Regretfully, The Old Git has resigned from GifS and has requested that all of his posts be taken down. I thank him for his time and written contributions, though we may no longer have the pleasure of reading them. I would have liked him to leave his posts behind, but we had to respect his wishes to remove them. Please do not ask further questions concerning details which led to his decision as it is not proper to gossip about old friends.

Peace be with you and wishes for the best, Old Git

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32 comments to “FYI”

  1. Zipi:
    19 April 2007, on 10:17 am

    Peace be with you and wishes for the best, Old Git

    Hear, hear.

  2. Toni:
    19 April 2007, on 10:40 am

    SAD SAD DAY…Best wishes for the future.

  3. Bean:
    19 April 2007, on 10:46 am

    I……but…wow. I think I’m in shock. I don’t want to pry, but I would like know if he was angry with us. Not why, just if. But it’s not necessary. Old Git, if you read this, thank you for everything. Please be happy.

    Kaylene

  4. Eve:
    19 April 2007, on 11:22 am

    Don’t worry, guys; it had nothing to do with our commenters and visitors.

    Thank you for everything, Star, and all the best to The Old Git.

  5. Bean:
    19 April 2007, on 11:27 am

    That’s all I needed to know. It’s hard to understand because he is so respected here. Thanks, Eve. And thanks for letting us know, Stardust.

  6. karen:
    19 April 2007, on 11:58 am

    Oh, no, Old Git! You will be sorely and truly missed. Be well, and happy. Love, Karen

  7. The Rev. Jenner J. Hull:
    19 April 2007, on 12:07 pm

    Dogspeed, OG, dogspeed…

  8. Mike:
    19 April 2007, on 12:20 pm

    Did something happen? Like, did he “find Jesus” or something?

  9. Stardust:
    19 April 2007, on 12:32 pm

    Mike, no he most definitely did not find Jeebus. His link to his personal blog is still in the sidebar and will remain unless he asks us to remove that also. His blog is “The Anti-Theist and Misoclere Society.” He also has another site called “Ravings of an Old Git” and you will find that link at his Anti-Theist blog.

  10. Naomi:
    19 April 2007, on 1:53 pm

    I add my best wishes and good health to the best and most prolific writer GifS has ever had! His input will be missed. Many times, I could almost here a brogue in his unique “blog voice”…

    All the best to The Old Git!

  11. karen:
    19 April 2007, on 2:21 pm

    *Sigh* I can’t leave a comment on Old Git’s blog, as it only allows for those who have blogs of their own.
    I am really sad that he has left. I hope all is well with him.

  12. ChuckA:
    19 April 2007, on 2:50 pm

    Add another sad addendum to this day of troubled world news.
    It’ll take some real getting used to…coming to GifS on my daily ’rounds’…and not seeing the always, “mind tweaking” posts and comments of our UK friend.
    All the best to The Old Git…What!…”We hardly knew Ye”?
    Be Well!…dear internet friend!
    Thanks, also, for the positive encouragement your presence here engendered…
    particularly to us older GifS atheists.
    :(

  13. Bronze Dog:
    19 April 2007, on 3:25 pm

    Well, my curiosity is aroused.

    …I’m going to miss the guy.

  14. Berlzebub:
    19 April 2007, on 4:23 pm

    …I’m going to miss the guy.

    And you’re not the only one, BD. He was one of the most eloquent I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and also seemed to become even more so when dealing with the trolls.

    You will be missed, TOG. Peaceful journeys, and a pleasant life to ya.

    -Berlzebub

  15. Eve:
    19 April 2007, on 6:14 pm

    I can only hope to have half his sharpness and a quarter of his wit if and when I reach his age!

  16. The Atheist Jew:
    19 April 2007, on 8:43 pm

    He seems to give his reasons for leaving in this post.

  17. karen:
    19 April 2007, on 9:02 pm

    TAJ
    Thanks for the link.
    Shame that we all have to miss out on his wit and wisdom because of a beef with one person. I don’t even recall seeing the controversial post to which he refers. I’m sure I wouldn’t have had a problem with it and I’m a democrat.

  18. Stardust:
    19 April 2007, on 9:31 pm

    I have posted this explanation at TOG’s website. I didn’t want to get into this, but since TOG has posted about it, I guess a response is now ok.

    As long-time moderator, I just want to say that in all fairness, I admit that TOG should have been contacted privately about the comments in question. Perhaps if the reasons were explained this all could have been avoided. Communication is everything.

    I am not the one who removed the comments and this is the first time comments of other moderators have been removed. We didn’t have an established set of guidelines concerning removal of another moderator’s posts, but we now have one (sadly after the fact). The comments removed was not for any kind of malicious motives, nor for any kind of political reasons (we have had many a heated political debate and love good satire, and those posts and comment threads are still there for all to read). The comments in question were removed by the moderator for reasons to avoid potential lawsuit threats for slander since no supporting evidence could be found anywhere to substantiate those claims. It’s not satire if there is no truth in it. In the past, other’s have been asked to curtail things when we thought things were going too far, and that is what should have happened in this situation. However, the other mod was only acting out of concern for GifS.

    I truly regret this whole thing had to happen. I am the one who chose and invited The Old Git to join us, so I am very saddened about all of this.

    Anyway, Old Git, I appreciate your time, enjoyed your posts, had many a laugh. Take care.

  19. Stardust:
    19 April 2007, on 9:56 pm

    Now I hope we all can let this drop and move on.

  20. vjack:
    20 April 2007, on 9:04 am

    Sad news. He will be missed.

  21. Stardust:
    20 April 2007, on 9:35 am

    I posted this over at TOG’s blog in response to criticism about the faults of GifS moderators and this website not being the same as it once was, and then hopefully this is the last I need to say about the matter:

    Jonzie and all…You are right. Since the death of Sean last fall, GIfS has not been the same, nor ever will be the same again. Sean was not just another moderator…he was a friend. Sean had a spark, a passion, wit, humor, talent, that I will never be able to match…not in a million years. We still mourn the loss of our friend, so forgive us if we aren’t “up to par” with past standards. We are struggling to do our best.

    Along with the death of our dear friend we lost the following of people who were his loyal readers and a few great moderators, and they were also witty, smart, passionate, and even downright hilarious. I don’t think there is a minute that goes by while working on the GifS website, or a post we write where Eve, jimmer, KR, Bob & all don’t think about Sean…and know we cannot measure up to him. GifS was Sean’s, and still is. We do the best we can to keep it going in his memory.

  22. Hugo:
    20 April 2007, on 11:02 am

    Seems spiteful for him to remove everything.
    Makes it look like he doesn’t agree with what he said anymore just because he has a fallout with GiFS, I had bookmarked some of his posts for reference, those links are now all invalid.
    It’s more like something a fundie would do.

  23. Eve:
    20 April 2007, on 11:37 am

    More than anyone else you’ve shouldered much of the load Sean usually assumed automatically, Star, and I can’t thank you enough personally for it and your dedication to the site. We can certainly never hope to be the same without him, and I for one don’t really want to be, since that would imply he was replaceable here and he most definitely was not.

    Nevertheless we will continue and grow (or is that mutate? :-)) along the way. Not knowing quite what that journey will look like is part of the fun for me, anyway!

  24. Stardust:
    20 April 2007, on 1:22 pm

    Thanks Eve, I appreciate your kind words. We all have been trying to keep things going, best we can which isn’t easy since we all have jobs and other obligations, too. And we have done a lot of “winging it” and learning as we go.

  25. P.C.:
    20 April 2007, on 2:56 pm

    Star and all other mods, ya’ll have been doing a great job under less than ideal circumstances and I for one still love the site. Thank ya’ll for keeping it going.

    OT: We here on the gulf coast are still fighting insurance companies and federal bureaucracies to rebuild, almost two years later it makes me sick.

  26. Stardust:
    20 April 2007, on 3:04 pm

    Your OT comment is a good idea for a post, P.C. (and thanks for being a loyal Gifster)

  27. P.C.:
    20 April 2007, on 3:14 pm

    Star your welcome and feel free to make a post about. The Mississippi Attorney General, Jim Hood has actually been fighting for us and taking insurance companies to task. The big one now is State Farm, that according to Mr.Hood and their own records paid engineers to claim that damage had been done by flooding versus the hurricane and because of that they do not have to pay people. Mr.Hood is in the process of suing several insurance companies and trying to get some federal regulations imposed upon them as well, but it is an up hill battle.

  28. The Atheist Jew:
    20 April 2007, on 8:03 pm

    I hope nobody is upset with me posting the link to Gits post. I was curious what was going on and saw that he addressed it.
    I was hesitant to post it because I’m sure that at least one person here didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but I posted it because us atheists I believe don’t duck and dodge what is out in the open.

  29. Stardust:
    20 April 2007, on 8:54 pm

    beaj, don’t worry about it. Time to just move on from this whole mess. People can still go to over to TOGs and read his posts and keep in touch with him. His link is still on our sidebar.

  30. Russman:
    20 April 2007, on 10:01 pm

    Wow…Go away for a few days and come back home to a room full of rearranged furniture!

    Except I think one of my favorite comfortable English chairs is missing…

    I must go to the neighbor’s and see what has become of him.

  31. JJR:
    20 April 2007, on 10:41 pm

    Fare ye well, Old Git. Keep fighting the good fight on your side of the Pond.

    Alba go Bragh!
    (Scotland forever!)

    –JJR

  32. Stardust:
    21 April 2007, on 8:44 pm

    Since there is really nothing more we can say or do about this, and JJR has provided an excellent final comment to end this with, I have decided to close this comment thread. Let’s just leave it at that and move on.

    Anyone who is interested can still visit Old Git’s blog at

    The Anti-Theist and Misoclere Society





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