Let's fix a little issue in Politics...

Look, I’ll just say it upfront—I really hate wasting my own time, let alone yours, on these kinds of weird, childish antics. Honestly, I don't think we've ever seen anything quite this bizarre on this forum before, but I feel like it's going to cause way more damage if we just sit here and tolerate this total disregard for the community rules.

Now, look, I’m not really the type to go running to the mods; I’ve honestly never reported anyone or even a single post in all my time here, but the way rapidfox26 has been slanderously stalking me has become so tacky and borderline manic that I don't see any other choice but to bring this to the administration.

This guy has been relentlessly shadowing me for quite a while now; over in the thread about Bridgebuilders, he seems to exist solely to respond to my posts. It’s pretty obvious to everyone following that thread that like, 99% of his entire output is just reacting to what I write—which is textbook stalking, if you ask me—but I can actually prove it using his own words, specifically when he expressed "concern" during my brief absence by saying what am I supposed to do while granitetinker6 is away!?

And the way he stalks me is just so tragically comical and weird; I don't think I've ever seen anyone use this specific tactic on this board. He basically uses this strange method where he constantly crops my posts just to yank out one sentence, or sometimes even just a fragment or a handful of words, and then he responds as if he’s totally agreeing with what I was trying to say, even though that wasn't my point at all.

Just to give you an idea, suppose I write this and our friend here responds like this. As you can clearly see, in a post where I’m not attacking Božo Petrov at all, he quotes it in a way that isolates one tiny sliver of the whole message, twisting those few words into a completely different context—making it look like my own critique of Petrov—which he then, you know, pretends to agree with.

To make the whole thing even more ridiculous, every single one of his posts ends with these pointless little equivalencies that he’s somehow proudly claimed as his own trademark, like for example, Bridgebuilders=Republican Party=Democratic Party, Bridgebuilders=TOTAL CHAOS=SAVIOR (!?)/

On that note, the real kicker is how emboldened this guy is by the fact that this behavior is being tolerated, because he actually admitted once that his main goal was to stir up confusion so the thread would become unreadable, cluttered, and totally confusing. Basically, it's completely unfit for any kind of normal discussion. If you ask me, it’s the textbook definition of trolling.

So, there it is: the guy openly admitted that his only motive is to troll the thread!

Which really makes you wonder, doesn't it... why is this kind of trolling being allowed to drag on for so long!?

And honestly, we really need to talk about that part where he’s going after me personally, claiming—get this—that I was actually trying to bribe him just to keep his mouth shut about Bridgebuilders? Like, seriously? Can you believe the nerve of some people?

Look, let me just lay it all out for you because, honestly, this whole thing is nothing more than a total, 100% pure work of fiction. It’s actually kind of wild how someone could make something up like this, right? I haven't offered money to him—or anyone else, for that matter—ever, and I've never even had a private conversation with this colleague outside of our public back-and-forth right here on the forum. Why would I even bother doing something like that when everything we say is out in the open anyway?

When was that colleague around? So, I finally went ahead and posted that absolute nonsense for the first time! Can you believe I actually did it? I mean, look, I just reacted the only way I felt was right in that moment—how else were you supposed to respond to something that absolutely insane? Is there anything more satisfying than that kind of ironic confirmation? You know, when things play out exactly how you suspected they would, almost like a cosmic wink to let you know you were right all along? It’s funny how life works sometimes, isn't it? I basically just doubled down on my point by jokingly "confessing" that I was offering cash to anyone who dared to criticize Bridgebuilders—honestly, some people even claimed they got rich off it! But if you look at this from a bird's-eye view, it’s pretty obvious I’m being sarcastic, right? Because if that were actually happening, we wouldn't just be hearing about it from a few voices here; there would be a massive trail of witnesses everywhere, and literally every single critic of Bridgebuilders on this forum would be coming forward to say, "Yeah, they totally tried to buy me off!" Which, let's be real, is obviously impossible. Plus, I personally... He went ahead and cleared things up later on. I mean, if we're being totally honest here, isn't it just pure irony?

I’ve been totally ghosting him lately because his recent posts have been nothing but pure, baseless slander, but man, he just keeps doubling down on these ridiculous lies more and more often. It’s getting wild—just the other day, he actually went at it three separate times! I can't see what you're referring to—looks like the link didn't make it through! Could you drop it again? I'm all ears and ready to dive in once it pops up.; I'm still waiting on that link, folks! Any chance someone could drop it here? I've been refreshing my feed like crazy hoping to see what everyone is talking about, but nothing yet. Would love to dive into this once it's live!; I can't really see what you're pointing at without the actual link, friend! If you were trying to share something interesting or maybe a crazy news story you found, go ahead and drop it again? I'm always down to dive into a good thread or check out whatever cool stuff you guys are talking about, so don't be shy! What have you got for me?And on top of that, he’s really doubling down on the whole "aggressive play" angle—which is hilarious, because honestly, I've taken a few red cards myself just for playing that hard! exampleI think you might have missed pasting the actual text you want me to work on! Just drop the content right here, and I'll get straight to work re-crafting it into something fresh, punchy, and authentically American for you. Whether it's a long-winded rant or a quick observation, I'm ready when you are!

Since I’m a firm believer that there are actually ways to figure out who’s being straight with us and who’s just spinning tales, I’m throwing it out there—if it’s even possible—that we should just pull the logs from our private messages to settle this once and for all?I mean, seriously, there isn't even anything to talk about here, let alone some wild accusation about someone trying to throw money around, right?).

If we can't actually pull that off, I say we just ask the guy to put up or shut up and show us the proof behind these bribery claims. Honestly, if any of my messages to him actually contained an offer like that, they’d be such massive, bombshell evidence against me that there wouldn't be a single doubt in anyone's mind—he would have splashed them all over this forum already, right? But since he hasn't done a thing, why not just have him drop that "communication" right here, right now? He claims I offered him cash, so let's see the receipts! If he can actually present the messages where I'm supposedly offering him money, then maybe we can finally settle this little dilemma of his once and for all.

So, to wrap this all up, I feel like I’ve laid out a pretty clear case that what we're seeing here is straight-up selective quoting, stalking, and trolling, which I'm fairly certain flies in the face of this forum's actual rules. On top of that, we've got this totally bizarre tactic where someone just keeps looping the same insane lie and fabrication over and over again.

From where I’m sitting, there are at least four distinct issues at play here...
- malicious cherry-picking of quotes,
- blatant stalking,
- pure trolling,
- and flat-out false accusations.
...and honestly, I don't see how any of that could be tolerated on any decent online forum, let alone this one, where I'm pretty sure those behaviors are explicitly banned. Then there's the obvious fact that Caps-lock shouting is being totally brushed under the rug, even though I've been slapped with warnings for doing the exact same thing.

Now, I'm not going to get bogged into whether this is allowed just because the moderators over at a site like Reddit are mostly critics of Bridgebuilders—so they kind of share the same vibe as rapidfox26—but I do want to pose one little rhetorical question.

Just imagine if I decided to play by those same rules on this forum. Say I started stalking some user, like @kiss me (I'm mentioning her because she's one of the most active critics of Bridgebuilders out there). What if I only replied to her posts? What if I did it in a way where I'd clip her messages to completely twist her meaning, only to then pretend I actually agree with her "new" points? What if I openly admitted and wrote out that my whole goal was to stir the pot and leave everyone following the thread feeling totally confused? And then, to top it all off, I’d spend my time screaming in bold letters, constantly repeating the same slanderous lie about her.

How long do you think I’d actually last on this forum before someone finally stepped in to sanction me?

Since I'm being called out, let's just settle this right now:

granitetinker6 said:Even though I'm not the type to report anyone—honestly, I've never flagged a single post in my life—this slanderous stalking by @rapidfox26 has become so obnoxious and unhinged that I have no choice but to take it to the admins.

First off, since your BRIBERY ATTEMPT TO KEEP ME QUIET didn't fly on that thread, you went from acting like a big shot to whining here...
Moving on...

granitetinker6 said:It's also super important to address his claim that I offered him money to stop writing things against Bridgebuilders.

Basically, it's a total, 100% pure fabrication. Not only have I never offered money to him—or anyone else for that matter—but I haven't even had any contact with this guy outside of replying to him publicly here on the forum.

When my colleague firstly spread that nonsense, I responded the only way that felt right given how crazy it was—with ironic confirmation. I even doubled down by "admitting" I offered money to everyone criticizing Bridgebuilders, claiming some people actually got rich off it. It’s obvious from an airplane view that it was sarcasm... if it were actually true, there would be way more witnesses, and every single critic of Bridgebuilders on this board would be confirming they were offered cash, which obviously isn't happening. Plus, I later clarified that I was being ironic.

Since I've been ignoring his pointless posts lately, he's started practicing this slanderous lie more and more often. Just the other day, he did it three times: link; link; link. He’s even doing it with all caps (and honestly, I've been warned a few times for using caps myself—example) and bold text.

Since I believe there are tools to easily see who's lying and who's telling the truth, I'm asking for a review of any private messages between us (which, again, don't exist, much less involve any bribery offers). .

If that can't be done, then I suggest we ask him to prove these bribery claims. If any message of mine like that actually existed, it would be such explosive evidence against me that he'd have posted it on the forum immediately. But since he hasn't, he should just show us right here and now—that alleged communication where I supposedly offered him money—so we can finally put this whole dilemma to rest.

Of course there isn't any, BECAUSE YOU OFFERED MONEY.
If there are tools to check this, feel free to ☕

granitetinker6 said:Basically, I think I've made it pretty clear that this is straight-up quote-snipping, stalking, and trolling—stuff that definitely shouldn't be allowed under the forum rules. On top of that, we’ve got this weird tactic of just repeating one insane lie over and over.

From where I'm sitting, there are at least four issues here...
- malicious quote-snipping,
- stalking,
- trolling,
- false accusations
...which I don't see having any place on any internet forum, and I'm pretty sure they're strictly banned here. Then there's the obvious fact that Caps-lock is being tolerated—basically people screaming—while I'm the one constantly getting penalized for it.

First off, you're lying about always getting penalized for yelling—every single time you post "Republican Party=Democratic Party" in huge fonts, you don't get a single warning.

Second, stalking? 🤣
Does that mean I'm not allowed to quote you or respond to what you write?

Where does it say that in the rules??? You're honestly such a joke 🤣

Trolling?
I interpret your posts my own way, and you don't get to dictate how I react to them or what they mean to me.

And of course, you don't see yourself as the troll...

False accusations?
YOU OFFERED MONEY TO KEEP ME OFF THIS THREAD.
PERIOD.
Let them check.

Maliciously snipping quotes?
I interpret your posts my own way, and you don't get to dictate how I react to them or what they mean to me.

granitetinker6 said:Imagine if I participated on the forum in the exact same way. If I started stalking someone, let's say a colleague like @kiss me (mentioning her because she's one of the most active critics of Bridgebuilders on this thread). If I responded only to her posts. If I did it by snipping her quotes to change their meaning and then expressing agreement with those altered points. If I openly admitted and wrote that I was doing it specifically to cause confusion and mess with people following the thread. And finally, to top it all off, using Caps-lock and bold text to repeatedly spread one slanderous lie about her.

How long would I last on this forum before getting sanctioned?

Again, what's the actual problem?
Am I not allowed to quote you and reply to your posts?
Am I not allowed to interpret them my own way and respond?

I HAVE NEVER CHANGED A SINGLE WORD IN YOUR POST!

All of this just shows how desperate you are when That bribery attempt didn't fly.

Total disgrace.

We'll get this sorted out.

Charles Fox10, you can certainly quote snippets, but it needs to be obvious at first glance that you're only quoting part of a message. Use ellipses before and after the quote to make it clear. The way you've been doing it is clumsy and potentially misleading, so please be more careful moving forward.

Mostaja has practically dedicated his entire history of 1,518 posts to threads regarding the bridge—both this current one and the previous one. I haven't looked further back, so it’s hard to say if anyone can actually accuse him of stalking.

Regarding the money you mentioned, which Charles Fox10 also brought up, I’ll just include the specific post of yours that earned you a warning:

Mostaja said:🤦

Why should I act like it's some exclusive scoop? Everyone already knows. I offered it to everyone ages ago; some have already taken it and made a killing.

The amount you suggested was laughably low because, frankly, you're the least interesting and most harmless opponent in an argument. 😁

Irony or not, you wrote it.

If a post violates any of our Terms of Service, use the report button. Only if there is no response from the moderators within 24 hours should you bring the issue here. Just because someone refuses to use the report button doesn't give them the right to post those grievances here.

That should settle it.