Heavy-handed moderators and the posters who don't love them

I was searching for something online the other day, I don't even remember what, and I ran across a post on http://www.healthboards.com/ that seemed to be an answer to my query (although I could only see a snippet, given that Google is such a tease!) When I tried to go to the boards and see the actual post, it required registration to see anything that had been posted. Well, okey dokey. So I registered, filled out my profile (which, for one thing, asked for "occupation" and so I listed, "medical student".)

Then I read the post that matched my search, and I perused the site and posted two more things. I returned yesterday to find that my account had been suspended. What the February? (I don't care if Ellen DeGeneres is a big ol' lesbian. She makes me laugh, and I don't laugh much anymore, and therefore I love her.)

Anyway.

The big scary "SUSPENDED, YOU LAWLESS THUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" page gave an email address to which to direct appeals. And appeal I did:

Hello,

I just visited HealthBoards.com to login - I only registered the other day (username: kimberly78) and made two posts, one on an skin treatment regimen that has worked well for me and the other on the pain management boards. When I visited today to check for any responses, I see my account has been suspended for the following reason:

"Peer Sharing Only - Med School"

Huh? What did I do wrong here? I would very much like an explanation and for my account to be reinstated. Thank you.

~Kim

Today, I got this email back:

This website is a peer support group for patients, only. The terms of use are very clear that you may not register or post on the message boards as a board topic professional/student.

From the rules:

Do not register or post or reveal your past, current or future board topic or healthcare profession, in any way. The boards are to be used for PEER support, only. Professional titles lend undue weight to what is to be only your opinion. Members are to share health
opinions and advice as PEERS.

You need to know that the Posting Rules and moderator instructions are enforced.

Thank you for your understanding.

Administrator

www.healthboards.com

Whoopsie. I guess I shouldn't have signed my post, "Kim, a third-year medical student who has been going to medical school for three years, during which time they have been teaching me medicine so that when I finish this school to prepare doctors of medicine, I will be a physician (an M.D.) who knows and can practice medicine."

Seriously though, Jiminy Christmas. That was a little snooty, Mr./Ms. Gestapo Moderator. (It hearkens back to the fugly brown moderator edits that I got when the loony bird Clackhouse began (before I fully realized their loony-birdness and got the heck out, although I still enjoy reading them once in awhile for a good fix of crazy). I was always getting edited at their banana republic because they hated me a really lot.)

But this guy/girl hasn't quite had enough time to hate me, you know? Furthermore - not just in medicine, but can anyone who has learned anything give their opinion without taking into account what they know? Are we all supposed to go, "La la la la la! I've forgotten everything I've ever learned, and now, here is my ignorant opinion!" Geesh. I guess this means I can't use health forums, never ever again.

It makes me wonder if this moderator is someone who applied to medical school and didn't get in. Heh. Actually, he/she probably is an actual physician or something (or, if it's a girl, she's obviously a nurse because girls can't be anything else, right?) and just has a stick between his/her gluteus maximii butt cheeks.

[an inside joke] Yes, Lori et al., I didn't read the effin' FAQ. So shoot me. :-) [/inside joke]

American Idol Randomness

I've only been randomly watching Idol this season - I keep forgetting it's on, and then usually I've fallen asleep (because I've felt so crappy for months) and if I do watch it, I don't feel like sitting at the computer and blogging. With that said, tonight I'm feeling a smidge better and I have a few thoughts.

I've only seen Danny Noriega sing once, at Hollywood, but he did this one thing that reminded me of Clay Aiken for a second. I'll keep an eye on him.

And speaking of Clay Aiken, every time they say "Hotlanta", it reminds me of the crazy Clackhouse. I'm not so sure why that is - Clay Aiken must have done something in Atlanta (besides audition - hey, I *am* a PRoCer at heart, after all - I do remember some random Clay trivia.)

I might have to call shenanigans on Asia’h Epperson's story about her dad. She just wasn't reacting the way that I would be if my daddy had died suddenly two days before (God forbid.) Also, her apostrophe reminds me of a post that I need to do, because it's something that really grinds my gears - people who name their kids stupid things with phonetic spellings and random punctuation scattered throughout.

I like Amanda Overmyer. I'm thinking she may scare the old people at the nursing home, though.

I also like Josiah Leming, but I don't understand why he has this occasional British accent.

Nice to see that Pauler is still talking about happy spirits and magicalness. Randy is sitting in the middle, though, and it's throwing my world off a little bit. Also, about Randy - he doesn't know how to work percentages. And so he should just stop saying things like, "Eleventy billion percent yes!" Because it annoys me when people mess up percentages. And it's all about ME.

Perrie Cataldo - oversang everything, like his life depended on it. Good thing it didn't.

That guy who kept talking about the "tingly feeling" that he only gets when he sings (didn't catch his name) reminds me of a junior-high version of Scott. A little bit.

Amy Flynn & her abstinence curriculum (not that there's anything wrong with that) always looks freshly scrubbed. And also, unfortunately for her and her Caruso hairstyler, freshly eliminated.

Dear Bruce Dickson, it's very creepy to have one of those "half" necklaces with your DAD. You probably shouldn't tell that to the entire country (and my BFF Corrie, who I'm sure is watching from Dutchlandia.)

Kristy Lee Cook, Amazing Grace is a great song - no doubt about that. But things usually don't fare well for people who always sing the same song. Just ask ... uh, that one girl. Whose name I can't remember. See?

It's hilarious that Jeffrey Lampkin is singing so passionately about PEE-kan pie. (Speaking of PEE-kan pie - I can't eat it normally. I'm allergic to tree nuts, so I have to scrape the PEE-kan layer off and just eat the filler goo and the crust. It's really good that way, too.) Anyway, Jeffrey Lampkin. I might like him if he's not too Ruben-esque. Not rubenesque, Ruben-esque. You know.

Angela Martin's dad just died too? Geez - all the other contestant's dads better watch themselves.

Oh! Did I tell y'all about the American Idol concert that I went to back in the fall? It was actually pretty entertaining (shut up!) - I went with my mom, and met a random person who is now my Facebook friend (she's applying to my medical school.) But the most interesting part was afterwards, when I met Scott at a movie theater (within walking distance of the concert arena) to see 3:10 to Yuma. A few minutes after the movie started, two guys walked in with a few other guys and sat right in front of us, and I am like, 95% sure that it was Blake Lewis and Chris Richardson. Well - 97% on Blake and about 90% on Chris. "Blake" spent a good bit of the movie IMing on his phone, and I spent a good bit of the movie watching Possibly!Blake and Possibly!Chris - so much so that Scott gave me a quiz on the movie on the way home. Heh. I can pay attention to two things at once, you know - it's installed in the female brain.

Crazy Clay Aiken fans skeere me. I mean, look at this, from Gilded Moose - these people have to realize that they're insane, or maybe they're just happily oblivious.

I admit that I'm a fan of Clay Aiken, but I'm not crazy. Well, I am crazy, just for other reasons. And I'd never write about my ovaries with puff-paint on a T-shirt. By the way, shaking ovaries must indicate a serious medical condition. I haven't had female reproductive pathology yet, but it certainly doesn't sound normal. None of it does, actually.