The alerting and jury system at DU sucks and could use
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by cyberswede (a host of the General Discussion forum).
a real overhaul. Some people base their alerts on shallow, non-researched, gut based opinions and/or their own personal biases and many jurors, in turn, base their votes on shallow, factious, non-researched, and/or biased decision making. Follow my story below and you'll see exactly what I mean. Or hell, just alert on me and get me banned from DU for life.
I had a comment alerted on and juroryed with the results being a 4-3 "Hide" because of two things:
1) The display of the copyrighted term "Vaginal Vampire", Registration # TX7-576-293 and;
2) A picture that depicts a gop mascot called a "GOP Rape-UgliCONasaurous", as presented at the end of this thread along with some other picentaties of real life “Vaginal Vampires” and “VagHags.” (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Picentary)
Here is the statement by the alerter:
“"Vaginal Vampire" Need I say more?”
Here are the explanations by two of the four jurors who voted to hide my comment and also did what really should be a requirement to be on a jury, they made the effort to explain their votes (the remaining two of four offered no explanation):
1) Explanation: “I admit I don't get the posters intent. However there no time rape is suitable as an element of humor.”
2) Explanation: “HOF needs to take a break. Hide.”
Let’s first discuss the explanations of the two jurors who voted to hide my comment before we analyze the alerter’s short and sanctimonious reason for the alert.
1) This juror starts out with an honest statement, “I don’t understand the poster’s intent” but then immediately moves to a conclusion that “the poster is trying to make rape funny.” Let’s see, by employing some very basic logic skills, one might ask, if you don’t understand it, how can you possibly think that this was an attempt to make the subject of rape humorous? Did you find the web-site “VaginalVampire.com” to be a “Comedy” site? Or did you even view the site before you voted? If you did view the site you might have seen how it points out that “Vaginal Vampires” are constantly working on “the defining down of the violent crime of rape” which, by no stretch of the imagination, could be viewed as anything but drop dead serious. It’s too bad you couldn’t ask my daughter, son or wife how fucking serious I am about the crime of rape and the gop’s “War on Women.” Since you can’t, you could go to VaginalVampire.com and read the first page, then come back with your tail between your legs and apologize about how wrong your interpretation of the picentary I posted was.
2) This juror’s reasoning for hiding my comment really threw me for a loop. What the fuck is “HOF” I asked myself? After 15 minutes searching and reading 50 different Google hits and coming up empty, I went back and searched on DU. Well what do you know, I was a member of a secret and hidden sub-group on DU called “House of Feminism.” As a man who has spent the last 30 years of his life in the construction industry, to end up a verbally assaulted victim of a misogynist who voted to have me hidden for a picentary on a blog, is something I never ever saw coming. Yo, all you at HOF, if you really exist, don’t hesitate to ask for support or add me to you secret group if it any way supports the “War on” the “War on Women.”
The obvious conclusions here, based on the jurors’ own explanations, is that we are dealing with shallow, biased, under researched, and uninformed people who are showing piss poor reasoning and research skills when given the power of being on a jury.
Here are the “Leave It Alone” vote explanations:
1) Explanation: “This is in reference to how the GOP thinks. I don't see a problem with it.”
2) Explanation: “Did you look up the site? "Vaginal Vampire" is a term used to rip RWers who are attempting to control women.
Plus... why the alert now, 3 weeks later? Just curious...”
3) Explanation: “I mostly got a lot of html garbage. What's upsetting about Vaginal Vampire, btw? I confess I have no idea what it is supposed to mean. In fact, I didn't understand the whole post.”
Quite a contrast in the explanations between the “Hide” and “Leave It” jurors. To the “Leave It” group let me just say Thank You for those who researched and understood the point I was making or didn’t understand it yet didn’t vote a “Hide” on something because they lacked information needed to make that decision. Either choice is to be commended and all jurors that left an explanation on their vote deserve a slap on the back for going the extra mile. My thanks to all five of you.
Here are my votes and responses from my four forays into jury duty:
1) Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE (0-7 Leave It)
Explanation: You can never lose with too much debate but you do lose when one artificially shuts it down.
2) Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT (7-0 Hide)
Explanation: yea, looks like a spam bot. hide and delete the poster.
3) Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE (4-3 Leave It)
Explanation: Sticks and stones, now let's get after the real problems we face from the real asses that are destroying everything that liberals and progressives stand for!
4) Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE (4-3 Leave It)
Explanation: I'm not big on censoring anyone, because when someone is as decrepit as lucky presents himself here, he would be allowed to continue posting without this record of evidence to his stupidity being available for others to see. Or, who knows, maybe he just did a terrible Onion parody. I'm hoping for the parody because it would be a shame to think someone this callus had escaped from faux noise!
Now let’s review the alerter's alert:
Yes, you do need to say more, like what offends you about the copyrighted term “Vaginal Vampire” for a start? Is it a disgusting group of words? You bet it is. Read the goddamn definition and then try to come up with a more vile and contemptible word or group of words to describe the peoples that want to control and subjugate the lives of all women and children.
The only thing that comes to my mind is the VVS, which is the acronym for the “Values Voter Summit”, or as I would call it, the “Vaginal Vampire Symposium.” Though symposium neatly backs into the VVS acronym, the correct term to use when referencing a group of two or more “Vaginal Vampires”, “VagHags”, or a combination of the two, would be a “Vaggle.”
Here are a couple more terms that you can also alert on, but you might want to find out what they mean first. I have put links to their “Urban Dictionary” definitions for you to easily locate them so that you can be informed ahead of your next shallow alert. Because the “Urban Dictionary” is awash in juvenile, misogynist, and rancid definitions you should note that the following list of words are only referencing the #1 definition at each link. Feel free to give each a thumbs up if you like them, but even if you don’t, be sure to give a thumbs down to the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th word definitions thereby doing your small part to counter the misogynist asses that came up with them. By the way alerter, you may find the use of the term “VagVamp” more to your liking. Also, my apologies to my LGBT friends for the play off the old term “FagHag” in the number two link and definition below.
1) “VagVamp” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=VagVamp
2) “VagHag” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=VagHag
3) “Vaggle” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Vaggle
4) and of course “VaginalVampire” http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Vaginal+Vampire
A quick bit of history on our choice for and the construction of a definition for the term “Vaginal Vampire.”
Back in the Winter of 2011, shortly after the CONservatives and rethugliCONs had taken over the US House and many state houses, they began their verbal and legislative attacks on aid to the poor, the ADA, food stamps, and any other social program in site. Their “War on Women”, depicted through their attacks on abortion rights and contraception, came roaring back with a vengeance. My wife, a degreed English teacher, my daughter, a senior in college majoring in English and journalism, and myself, were sitting in the living room discussing the catastrophe that this group of sociopaths were trying to unleash on society.
During that discussion, the point was made how CONservatives and rethugliCONs seem to thrive electorally by going after the weakest and least represented members of society. Someone mentioned how they sounded like vampires of lore who preyed on and controlled young women and drank the blood of the young and the outcasts of society, the people that no one would ever miss. From that discussion coupled with a few toddies, the term “Vaginal Vampire” was born because it seemed to best fit the rhetoric and activities of that right wing “War on Women” movement. What I thought was the really great part of the term “Vaginal Vampire” was the fact that no CONservative or rethugliCON would ever try to co-op it. As a matter of fact, I didn’t believe then, and don’t believe now, that you will ever, not even in a million years, hear a CONservative or rethugliCON utter the word “Vagina”, much less “Vaginal Vampire.”
From there we spent a few days honing the final definition and in January of 2011, my daughter, with input from my wife and myself, created the web-site, VaginalVampire.com. Unfortunately, we are all caught up in the ongoing race of life that makes it next to impossible to grow and update the site. Any one interested in helping to improve, up date, or expand it, send me a note. Another great idea would be an app that had an assortment of different fang types so that it would be easy for users to mark and exchange pictures of the “Vaginal Vampires” and “VagHags” amongst us so they can no longer hide in their long shadows of deceit and propaganda.
When my daughter went back for her final semester in her Div III, she found the time to post a partial definition of “Vaginal Vampire” at the Urban Dictionary. Growth at the location has been strictly through word of mouth and my occasional postings on comments at different blogs.
From there we applied to the US copyright office for a copyright and received that copyright registration in June of 2012.
And finally, we are quite proud that “Vaginal Vampire” has become the most reprehensible definition of the most vile and despicable creatures in our political process and on the “Urban Dictionary.” Two of the most beautiful, caring, and intelligent women I know put a great deal of time and energy into the construction of this definition. I take it as a personal insult to them when someone just brushes it aside with a vapid statement like “Vaginal Vampire, need I say more!”
Here is the full, unabridged, and copyrighted definition of "Vaginal Vampire", which is also located at VaginalVampire.com:
Vaginal Vampire – (VagVamp – slang, link, label)
Any person, group of people, or organization that through their speech, writings, and/or actions are implicitly attempting to control, direct, and/or subjugate a woman’s inherent rights to the control of her body, her mind, her sexuality, and medical choices made between her and her doctor. Most of these Vaginal Vampire attacks are veiled in authoritarian religious dogma and conservative political rhetoric in an attempt to steal and control the power of the Womb and/ or Woman. This is accomplished through the demonizing of birth control, abortion, Planned Parenthood, the dumbing down and/or elimination of sexual education, the defining down of the violent crime of rape, the propagation of abstinence only, and the theft of a women’s rights of equality. The tactics employed to accomplish these goals run the gamut from intimidation, fear, propaganda, terror, violence, and murder/assassination.
As with imaginary vampires, these Vaginal Vampires gain their power, wealth, notoriety, and prestige among their peers and the media by employing deceit, propaganda, and out right lies to suck the lifeblood from women who are making their own religious, moral, and heart wrenching decisions based on their individual medical and health circumstances.
VagVamp’s consider no measure of action to be too vile or contemptible, not even terrorism or murder, to attain their most reprehensible ends. It also appears that those most concerned with a woman’s womb are way at the back of the pack in the caring and support after that child is born. This manifests itself in their unrelenting promotion of the cutting of early child health care, pre-natal care, head start, education, Planned Parenthood, and food programs, just to mention a few.
And my commentary from the same site:
Definition Above, Commentary Below
As a man who will never ever be in the situation of having an abortion, it really seems that this might be better handled as a Women's issue for women to resolve.
Find below a link to a list of these Vaginal Vampire organizations, a link to their disgusting statements, and a link to proposed and enacted legislative bills.
Please don’t hesitate to define any of these sites with the VagVamp link in their comment or discussion sections or e-mail us info on a person, organization, statement, or bill that should be added to the list. We will forward them notification that they have been officially nominated as a Class FU Vaginal Vampire.
It is time to bring these f…ing slimy excuses for human beings into the light, one of the two sure methods of destroying their evil Vaginal Vampire souls. The most unfortunate component of this educational exercise is that too many people will wear the label of Vaginal Vampire with some sort of perverted pride.
(A person’s religious faith and beliefs can be sustenance to their own life if they choose, but that faith has to be theirs, not mine.)
= new reply since forum marked as read
And believe me, hasn't always been easy. I've ignored most of the worst offenders by now, though. Makes my experience a little better, for sure. 
Also, HI!
2) This juror’s reasoning for hiding my comment really threw me for a loop. What the fuck is “HOF” I asked myself? After 15 minutes searching and reading 50 different Google hits and coming up empty, I went back and searched on DU. Well what do you know, I was a member of a secret and hidden sub-group on DU called “House of Feminism.” As a man who has spent the last 30 years of his life in the construction industry, to end up a verbally assaulted victim of a misogynist who voted to have me hidden for a picentary on a blog, is something I never ever saw coming. Yo, all you at HOF, if you really exist, don’t hesitate to ask for support or add me to you secret group if it any way supports the “War on” the “War on Women.”
In fact, hardly a pile on at all. I realize it was a huge wall of text, so maybe you just missed it on first glance, but that last sentence definitely clinched it for me.....
Some folks just don't fuckin' get it.....and, btw, I've been the victim of a fair number of bogus hides(and hide attempts) myself, so I feel you, man.
You honestly seem like one of the good ones, so don't let a few bad hides done out of poor judgment on the alerters' part get you down! I haven't let it happen to me, either.
"LOL"
"What she said"
