borntorun
God of This World  
Posts -8695
Registered 7-22-2003 Location Breathe Member Is Offline Mood: House, Monk-E
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 05:52 AM |
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Filling the Void: How SpinningToeHold Gave Himself Meaning Through Plagiarism
�I, myself, got straight A's in History.� This sentence�the last posted (notice I�m not saying �written�) by the venerable SpinningToeHold�is
indicative of the way most of us see (saw?) one of the most beloved OOsters. Playful. Intelligent. Topical. His final claim, however, is notable for
really only one reason: it�s one of the few that appear to be actually written by him.
SpinningToeHold�Jonah, to some�registered here on June 17, 2002. In the more than three years and 266 posts before his last contribution in July of
2005, he slowly built a reputation as one of the most insightful, well-spoken, and valued members of our community, and nearly all of that acclaim
stood on a fraudulent foundation. No less than 25 lengthy posts�only 10% of his entire quantity (MUCH more when you calculate for word count) but 90%
of his quality�were adapted, plagiarized, and outright stolen from various sources, without citation and with little remorse. The SpinningToeHold
persona�a middle-aged former military man now working for the Department of Homeland Security, who was also a man on his second marriage and the
father of three teenage girls�allowed him, ironically, to breach our defenses and sneak by unchecked. The fact that his posts were lauded and never
questioned allowed him to plagiarize unchecked in a highly calculated manner, a snowball of praise and admiration that eventually led to him
manipulating the emotions of this online community.
In essence, he�s a big liar-head who couldn�t cut it with original thought and stole the words and ideas of others to make himself look good.
The Beginning
SpinningToeHold�s first post on the OOForums, �Filling the Void,� was
normal and relatively unspectacular. It even included some embarrassing spelling and grammar errors that were uncharacteristic of the thieving STH
(wrong �your,� �strickly�). His first few posts were wrestling-related and nothing an above-average user wouldn�t really emulate. Unfortunately, the
Great Board wipe took out all records from December through the first quarter of 2003. Come spring, our little robin returned and began to make a name
for himself.
His first signature post came on May 12, 2003 in Jeb Tennyson Lund�s thread
�Manhood as Defined by Movies. In it, he makes a list of why Steve McQueen was the man for his father�s generation. It was a great post and even
was praised in a �Crashing the Boards� column. Now, you might be expecting me to
drop the hammer on him lifting this list from someone, but guess what: I can�t find any evidence (on the Internet, at least) that this was not an STH
original. As for as I know, this post was legit. Less than two weeks later, though, the plagiarism began.
On May 22nd, STH responded to a thread Salmonjunkie started featuring an
article on The War on Drugs. If you read his post, he ends with a thought about his career working the �front lines� in the war. While I can�t find
any evidence to say that he lied about that, I can tell you that the first 80% of his post is stolen from this article:
http://www.serendipity.li/wod.htm l. If you go about � of the way down the page, you�ll find the match. The same information�written in the same
way�is found on many sites throughout cyberspace. This, I suppose, isn�t completely inexcusable; it was meant to inform rather than entertain. But STH
got away with it, like a thief who keeps robbing something without getting caught. Okay, bad simile. Onward�
One week later, our oh-so-creative friend wanted an �honest opinion� about some more �creative� pieces of his own. In
this thread, he posts a series of short pieces ostensibly about his life
and asks for feedback. Most of it is pretty good, prompting him to put a fourth piece out that is given the consensus �YOU�RE GREEEEAAAATTT� from the
few people who commented on it. Truth be told, I can only find the original sources for two of the four pieces (I�m not going to search every f�n word
for them; I do have a life). However, the fact that he stole Submission #2 as
well as Submission #4 from a Men�s Health writer by the name of Ron Geraci makes
me very doubtful that any of them were STH�s. In a sweet reversal of Biblical fortune, Jonah was the one catching the big fish of OO, hook, line, and
sinker.
SpinningToeHold and the Martial Art of Tae Kwan Don�t Write My Own Stuff
At this point, you can probably see where this story is going. Over the next 20 months or so, �Uncle STH� (as I now regretfully dubbed him at one
point) posted sporadically, becoming the model for the phrase �don�t post unless absolutely necessary.� Sometimes he�d post a sentence or two, but
usually it was long, and usually it was good. Sadly, he had earned our trust and no one�or at least no one that came forward�bothered to check him on
it. Unfortunately, neither did Chuck Werner and the people at http://www.masterninja.com. I won�t spend much time giving any explanations;
in this case, web links say a thousand words. Here is a list, in order of when posted on OO, of most (I�m sure I missed some) of SpinningToeHold�s
plagiarism. Some of the OO links are buried in Top Five and Fuck List threads, but you�ll note that masterninja.com hosted all the articles first.
You�ll also notice that he did this A LOT.
Jedi Pit Theory
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=jedipittheory (April 26, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=5872 (September 26, 2003)
Top 5 Things Found While Cleaning and Top 5 Moments in Fantasy Movies (both found on the same page in the original Top 5 thread)
http://masterninja.com/lists/?name=cleaning (August 5, 2003 )
http://masterninja.com/lists/?name=5great80s (February 13, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=5710&page;=10 (November 19 and 21, 2003)
The Terminator�s Guide to Picking Up Chicks
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=t3-wingman (October 17, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6549 (November 30, 2003)
Top 5 Rock Band Tragedies I Would Like To See
http://masterninja.com/lists/?name=5bandtragedies (March 4, 2003 )
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=5710&page;=11 (November 30, 2003)
�What the Fuck is Emo?� And bonus �Kids These Days� on the same page
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=emo (August 8, 2002)
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=ljteens (June 26, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6589 (December 3, 2003)
Terrorism for Everyone
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=terrorism (July 2, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6590 (December 3, 2003)
Review: The Paris Hilton Sex Video
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?movie=parishilton (November 13, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6619 (December 5, 2003)
The Middle East Crisis
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=MiddleEast (April 17, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6890 (January 2, 2004)
Gargamel: Man, Myth, Legend
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=gargamel (January 31, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6697 (January 3, 2004)
Jesus Saves and Takes Half Damage
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=jesussaves (Tuesday, Oct 28, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7027 (January 13, 2004)
I Heart Spam
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=sexspam (October 24th, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7077 (January 17, 2004)
Fear and Loathing in Wal-Mart
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=walmart (Wednesday, Sep 25, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7377 (February 9, 2004)
How Can the Terrorists Lose?
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=terrorwins (February 18, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7578 (February 21, 2004)
The Revolution Starts Here
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=revolution (February 23, 2004)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7685 (February 27, 2004)
A Smartass Look at Modern Love
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=modernlove (June 25, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7777 (March 5, 2004)
Bathrooms: The Perfect Place to Be Anal
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=bathrooms (February 4, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6832&page;=13 (June 21, 2004)
Review: Ilovebees.com
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?review=ihatebees (August 24, 2004)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=9802 (August 25, 2004)
Review: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (September 16, 2004)
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?review=skycaptain
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=10053 (September 18, 2004)
Review: The PowerPuff Girls Movie
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?movie=powerpuff (July 8, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=11583&page;=2 (March 21, 2005)
Hatemail: Sosi the Christian
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=hate-sosi (July 31, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=11849 (March 30, 2005)
Scattered through these dates are some posts�mainly in the Fuck List�coming from http://www.drunkbastard.net. If need be, I�ll pull those up, but I
think the point is clear.
The end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004 brought most of the theft; looking back, his posts came at such a high volume and so quickly that it�s
impossible for us not to slap our collective selves on the forehead and think, �Why didn�t anyone notice?� STH must have thought so, too. While I
can�t claim to know his motives, the fact that he was able to get away with this so easily (and with regular praise from a wide variety of board
members), that there really was no reason to stop. Master Ninja, indeed.
Overworking the Leg
According to Wikipedia (see how I can cite sources!), a
spinning toe hold is done like so: �the wrestler using this move stands over the opponent who is lying on the mat, face up and grasps a leg of the
victim. The wrestler then turns 360 degrees over the leg twisting it inward. A wrestler will repeatedly step over the leg and round again to twist the
knee, and ankle joint even more.� Our STH did the same to us, except we could have easily escaped the move. But no, we writhed, completely prostrate,
and let him wrench and pull our leg at every angle. Still, we could take it; wrestling isn�t real, and neither were his posts. Why should any of this
really matter?
Jonah, despite the falseness of his face, seemed like one of the more genuine people on the boards, and certainly one of the more admired and liked.
That�s why October 17, 2004 was a day of worry for the OO Community.
That was the day SpinningToeHold posted about getting heart surgery. Yes, one of our own, undergoing pain and threat of death and wanting to
share that with us! The piece was moving, and he asked us to wish him luck and told us to take care. In return, we sent our genuine concerns and
sympathies and were happy when we found out he was fine. It was one of those weird times a message board seems more than a computer screen with a
bunch of pretty pictures and words on it. I don�t know about you, but I like that people care and are concerned. I like when real life matters.
Of course, SpinningFuckFace lied about that too.
SFF went back to an old stand by�Men�s Health�and lifted a piece
from Peter Moore. Not just any piece, but an award-winning one. �As we have always
been told, heart disease is America's number one killer. Peter Moore '78, executive editor of Men's Health magazine, won a 2004
National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism with a powerful
first-person account of his heart troubles. The ASME/Columbia award honors excellence in service journalism, stipulating that �the advice or
instruction presented should help readers improve the quality of their personal lives.��
I doubt that Jonah will be winning legit writing awards of any kind.
The Troll Under the Bridge
I have to admit, I feel pretty stupid doing this now. Last June, STH posted
a critique of the operations of the Ambassador Bridge. I read and
enjoyed it, as usual. So much so that I wanted to read more about it (since I�m from the Detroit area) and stumbled upon
this identical article from Forbes.com. Of course, I was shaken a bit, and out of
respect for STH I U2U�d him about it. The messages have long since been deleted, but he basically covered by saying that the article echoed how he
felt and it was much more time convenient for him to post that. I asked him to edit and put in proper citation, and he said he would, and apologized.
I, liking and believing him, thought little of it and went on my way as summer vacation approached. STH always was busy with �work� and �family� and
going to Greece to get Vergina, so it didn�t seem strange that he disappeared less than a month after I nearly outed him. He never did edit that
piece, and it wasn�t until nearly a year later when I wondered if he had plagiarized more than just that. This post is what came of that
investigation.
SpinningToeHold�s last post came on July 14, 2005. In it, he talks about
the Alien and Sedition Acts. Ironically, I can�t find any evidence of this post being stolen from anywhere else. Maybe my calling him out prompted him
to lay low, and he couldn�t be bothered to actually write more of his own material. The Sedition Act �made it a crime to publish �false, scandalous,
and malicious writing" against the government or its officials.�� While OO isn�t a government, STH certainly knew about false, scandalous, and
malicious writing.
We�re grabbing the ropes, SpinningToeHold. The hold has been broken. It�s easy to get straight A�s in history when you cheat off those better than
you.
=============================
Personal thoughts:
Sure, playing �detective� or Bob wOOdward is kind of fun, but I hated writing this. While going over STH�s post over the last week, I saw a few dozen
of my responses: moments I took�after spending minutes of my day reading fraudulent work�to affirm someone I admired and, yeah, envied. It�s pretty
disheartening, especially when I had talked to him a few times in chat and he seemed like a normal, humble, humorous guy. ModSquad has some comments
below that echo much of what I�m thinking.
For me, the �heart surgery� post was the worst. Maybe he did get heart surgery, I don�t know. Maybe he was really scared for awhile and thought we
were his family. But I�m not going to speculate or excuse him for anything, and I�m not going to really draw too many conclusions. Bottom line�whether
he was enjoying manipulating all of us here or whether he was lonely and needed some adulation he couldn�t get through his own skill alone�he�s not
someone I respect. That�s it. Really, the best thing you can do is go to masterninja.com and let them know how much you liked their work, even if it
is a few years too late.
Three things about this make me happy, though:
1) The picture at the top of this thread. OpTard is the man.
2)I think his current avatar of a withered old man is absolutely perfect and should never be changed.
3) Many of you remember his �Fuck IKEA� rant. I couldn�t find if he had stolen it from anywhere. If that was a legit writing of his, the irony reaches
its peak when
a poster at some fish forum steals the stuff of a stealer. Great stuff.
And now, ModSquad has the floor to finish up. I thank him for his help.
=========================
Hi, Everybody,
It's Modsquad. Cory's letting me post within his post just to add a bit of facts and internet detective stuff. Cory brought all the STH
stuff to me and asked me to look around. Credit him for asking me to look for things that proved HIM wrong. Cory wanted to be wrong. That's a
really nice way to think. I wanted Cory to be wrong too. Too bad I couldn't find anything that made us feel better.
Cory showed me the links that STH copied from. I checked out the IPs of the domain owners of all the sites that featured STH's "content." It
didn't take long to see that most of those sites had domains far and wide across the US. STH had claimed that he was writing for friends'
local sites, but there was no evidence that the content he got came from anywhere near where he lived. The evidence showed that he got content from
online news sites and tons of sites from around the US. Nothing from a "local buddy page."
That brings us to the last point. STH told us he couldn't write a lot anymore because he was working for "Homeland Security" to keep the
"POTUS" safe during the last election and afterward. It was too convenient that the same assignment happened just after Cory caught him copying
someone else.
It's even sadder now that I checked his IP and it's from a Department of Transportation IP. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I
don't want terrorists messing with the I-5 interchange.
For the record, I don't check everyone's IP. I sure don't check good people who post fun stuff. No point. I was surprised and
shocked and sad. The guy who claimed to be an ex-SEAL or Marine or something... the guy who was working against terrorism... the guy who wrote all
that great shit... THAT guy might be asking a supervisor if it's okay to repave a road in a Utah State Recreation Area and just hoping he can go
back to copying stuff from one message board, pasting it on another, then playing World of Warcraft.
Pathetic.
The last thing I want to say is this: I'm sorry.
STH won't say it because he doesn't care. He used you, me and everyone. He doesn't care. I do. I liked his stuff. I'm sorry
because I asked OOsters to try to post more like STH and less like [idiot du jour]. I hoped we could all be more like STH. I hoped a dozen people or
so on OO could be just as cool as STH. Turns out, STH was only cool because he was copying a dozen or so people from somewhere else.
We got unlucky. STH could have copied from a dozen or so people here and posted on another board and been THE MAN there. Maybe he did. We'll
never know.
I apologize for holding up STH and asking OOsters to try to be like him. I just learned the hard way that STH was pretty much the kind of guy who took
the best of OO (or a site like it) and made a personality out of it.
I hope everyone here takes a moment to appreciate the other posters here and thank them for the laughs they've gotten/given for free. Then take
some time to give yourselves a round of applause. Almost everyone here is a bright and creative person who gives someone else something to think and
laugh about. It's STUPID that lots of you got overshadowed by someone who couldn't do anything better than paste posts together.
It's STUPID.
I'm sorry I never noticed this plagiarism, and I thank you all for being better, smarter, funnier, and more honest people.
Thank you, OO.
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Operation Retard
Beats me, I'm gay!
Posts 3289
Registered 1-4-2002 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:04 AM |
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so umm..... what are you trying to say exactly?
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TarheelMike
The Immortal One 
Posts 4844
Registered 3-6-2003 Location Mtgy, AL Member Is Offline Mood: Medium Rare
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:37 AM |
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Note to self: Don't fuck with Cory Harris.
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bo_knows
And I am AWESOME
Posts 220
Registered 4-23-2005 Location Three doors down from the Shrieking Sheik Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:39 AM |
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Who cares? He looks like a horse.
"Between you being naked and Moose washing his ass, I'm in heaven." - fsol
Say what you want about America, thirteen bucks can still get you a hell of a lot of mice.
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USF Bull
Banned
Posts 1785
Registered 11-16-2005 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 07:01 AM |
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I take it back. It isn't "Fuck with Bull Day". It is obviously "Freaking Destroy STH Day".
Damn!
Mikey- I'm with you: Never Piss Off Cory Harris.
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King of Harts
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1153
Registered 12-5-2005 Location Sam's Town Member Is Offline Mood: Truthy
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 07:14 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by borntorun
(I�m not going to search every f�n word for them; I do have a life).
and then
quote:
Originally posted by borntorun
everything else
Jesus! That was some insane detective work. Impressive, and compelling - I actually followed all the way through (although I did skip over the
masterninja links). Now, I wasn't here when this STH guy was, so I have no idea how he affected everyone. But damn - sounds like a real
fraud...
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angstboy
cornerkicked.com 
Posts 4929
Registered 12-11-2002 Location Baltimore, MD Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 04:34 PM |
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EXCLUSIVE IN-DEPTH ANGSTBOY ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
�I, myself, got straight A's in History.� This sentence�the last posted (notice I�m not saying �written�) by the venerable SpinningToeHold�is
indicative of the way most of us see (saw?) one of the most beloved OOsters. Playful. Intelligent. Topical. His final claim, however, is notable for
really only one reason: it�s one of the few that appear to be actually written by him.
SpinningToeHold�Jonah, to some�registered here on June 17, 2002. In the more than three years and 266 posts before his last contribution in July of
2005, he slowly built a reputation as one of the most insightful, well-spoken, and valued members of our community, and nearly all of that acclaim
stood on a fraudulent foundation. No less than 25 lengthy posts�only 10% of his entire quantity (MUCH more when you calculate for word count) but 90%
of his quality�were adapted, plagiarized, and outright stolen from various sources, without citation and with little remorse. The SpinningToeHold
persona�a middle-aged former military man now working for the Department of Homeland Security, who was also a man on his second marriage and the
father of three teenage girls�allowed him, ironically, to breach our defenses and sneak by unchecked. The fact that his posts were lauded and never
questioned allowed him to plagiarize unchecked in a highly calculated manner, a snowball of praise and admiration that eventually led to him
manipulating the emotions of this online community.
In essence, he�s a big liar-head who couldn�t cut it with original thought and stole the words and ideas of others to make himself look good.
The Beginning
SpinningToeHold�s first post on the OOForums, �Filling the Void,� was
normal and relatively unspectacular. It even included some embarrassing spelling and grammar errors that were uncharacteristic of the thieving STH
(wrong �your,� �strickly�). His first few posts were wrestling-related and nothing an above-average user wouldn�t really emulate. Unfortunately, the
Great Board wipe took out all records from December through the first quarter of 2003. Come spring, our little robin returned and began to make a name
for himself.
His first signature post came on May 12, 2003 in Jeb Tennyson Lund�s thread
�Manhood as Defined by Movies. In it, he makes a list of why Steve McQueen was the man for his father�s generation. It was a great post and even
was praised in a �Crashing the Boards� column. Now, you might be expecting me to
drop the hammer on him lifting this list from someone, but guess what: I can�t find any evidence (on the Internet, at least) that this was not an STH
original. As for as I know, this post was legit. Less than two weeks later, though, the plagiarism began.
On May 22nd, STH responded to a thread Salmonjunkie started featuring an
article on The War on Drugs. If you read his post, he ends with a thought about his career working the �front lines� in the war. While I can�t find
any evidence to say that he lied about that, I can tell you that the first 80% of his post is stolen from this article:
http://www.serendipity.li/wod.htm l. If you go about � of the way down the page, you�ll find the match. The same information�written in the same
way�is found on many sites throughout cyberspace. This, I suppose, isn�t completely inexcusable; it was meant to inform rather than entertain. But STH
got away with it, like a thief who keeps robbing something without getting caught. Okay, bad simile. Onward�
One week later, our oh-so-creative friend wanted an �honest opinion� about some more �creative� pieces of his own. In
this thread, he posts a series of short pieces ostensibly about his life
and asks for feedback. Most of it is pretty good, prompting him to put a fourth piece out that is given the consensus �YOU�RE GREEEEAAAATTT� from the
few people who commented on it. Truth be told, I can only find the original sources for two of the four pieces (I�m not going to search every f�n word
for them; I do have a life). However, the fact that he stole Submission #2 as
well as Submission #4 from a Men�s Health writer by the name of Ron Geraci makes
me very doubtful that any of them were STH�s. In a sweet reversal of Biblical fortune, Jonah was the one catching the big fish of OO, hook, line, and
sinker.
SpinningToeHold and the Martial Art of Tae Kwan Don�t Write My Own Stuff
At this point, you can probably see where this story is going. Over the next 20 months or so, �Uncle STH� (as I now regretfully dubbed him at one
point) posted sporadically, becoming the model for the phrase �don�t post unless absolutely necessary.� Sometimes he�d post a sentence or two, but
usually it was long, and usually it was good. Sadly, he had earned our trust and no one�or at least no one that came forward�bothered to check him on
it. Unfortunately, neither did Chuck Werner and the people at http://www.masterninja.com. I won�t spend much time giving any explanations;
in this case, web links say a thousand words. Here is a list, in order of when posted on OO, of most (I�m sure I missed some) of SpinningToeHold�s
plagiarism. Some of the OO links are buried in Top Five and Fuck List threads, but you�ll note that masterninja.com hosted all the articles first.
You�ll also notice that he did this A LOT.
Jedi Pit Theory
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=jedipittheory (April 26, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=5872 (September 26, 2003)
Top 5 Things Found While Cleaning and Top 5 Moments in Fantasy Movies (both found on the same page in the original Top 5 thread)
http://masterninja.com/lists/?name=cleaning (August 5, 2003 )
http://masterninja.com/lists/?name=5great80s (February 13, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=5710&page;=10 (November 19 and 21, 2003)
The Terminator�s Guide to Picking Up Chicks
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=t3-wingman (October 17, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6549 (November 30, 2003)
Top 5 Rock Band Tragedies I Would Like To See
http://masterninja.com/lists/?name=5bandtragedies (March 4, 2003 )
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=5710&page;=11 (November 30, 2003)
�What the Fuck is Emo?� And bonus �Kids These Days� on the same page
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=emo (August 8, 2002)
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=ljteens (June 26, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6589 (December 3, 2003)
Terrorism for Everyone
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=terrorism (July 2, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6590 (December 3, 2003)
Review: The Paris Hilton Sex Video
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?movie=parishilton (November 13, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6619 (December 5, 2003)
The Middle East Crisis
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=MiddleEast (April 17, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6890 (January 2, 2004)
Gargamel: Man, Myth, Legend
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=gargamel (January 31, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6697 (January 3, 2004)
Jesus Saves and Takes Half Damage
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=jesussaves (Tuesday, Oct 28, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7027 (January 13, 2004)
I Heart Spam
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=sexspam (October 24th, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7077 (January 17, 2004)
Fear and Loathing in Wal-Mart
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=walmart (Wednesday, Sep 25, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7377 (February 9, 2004)
How Can the Terrorists Lose?
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=terrorwins (February 18, 2003)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7578 (February 21, 2004)
The Revolution Starts Here
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=revolution (February 23, 2004)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7685 (February 27, 2004)
A Smartass Look at Modern Love
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=modernlove (June 25, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=7777 (March 5, 2004)
Bathrooms: The Perfect Place to Be Anal
http://masterninja.com/rants/?rant=bathrooms (February 4, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=6832&page;=13 (June 21, 2004)
Review: Ilovebees.com
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?review=ihatebees (August 24, 2004)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=9802 (August 25, 2004)
Review: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (September 16, 2004)
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?review=skycaptain
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=10053 (September 18, 2004)
Review: The PowerPuff Girls Movie
http://masterninja.com/reviews/?movie=powerpuff (July 8, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=11583&page;=2 (March 21, 2005)
Hatemail: Sosi the Christian
http://masterninja.com/smartass/?remark=hate-sosi (July 31, 2002)
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=11849 (March 30, 2005)
Scattered through these dates are some posts�mainly in the Fuck List�coming from http://www.drunkbastard.net. If need be, I�ll pull those up, but I
think the point is clear.
The end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004 brought most of the theft; looking back, his posts came at such a high volume and so quickly that it�s
impossible for us not to slap our collective selves on the forehead and think, �Why didn�t anyone notice?� STH must have thought so, too. While I
can�t claim to know his motives, the fact that he was able to get away with this so easily (and with regular praise from a wide variety of board
members), that there really was no reason to stop. Master Ninja, indeed.
Overworking the Leg
According to Wikipedia (see how I can cite sources!), a
spinning toe hold is done like so: �the wrestler using this move stands over the opponent who is lying on the mat, face up and grasps a leg of the
victim. The wrestler then turns 360 degrees over the leg twisting it inward. A wrestler will repeatedly step over the leg and round again to twist the
knee, and ankle joint even more.� Our STH did the same to us, except we could have easily escaped the move. But no, we writhed, completely prostrate,
and let him wrench and pull our leg at every angle. Still, we could take it; wrestling isn�t real, and neither were his posts. Why should any of this
really matter?
Jonah, despite the falseness of his face, seemed like one of the more genuine people on the boards, and certainly one of the more admired and liked.
That�s why October 17, 2004 was a day of worry for the OO Community.
That was the day SpinningToeHold posted about getting heart surgery. Yes, one of our own, undergoing pain and threat of death and wanting to
share that with us! The piece was moving, and he asked us to wish him luck and told us to take care. In return, we sent our genuine concerns and
sympathies and were happy when we found out he was fine. It was one of those weird times a message board seems more than a computer screen with a
bunch of pretty pictures and words on it. I don�t know about you, but I like that people care and are concerned. I like when real life matters.
Of course, SpinningFuckFace lied about that too.
SFF went back to an old stand by�Men�s Health�and lifted a piece
from Peter Moore. Not just any piece, but an award-winning one. �As we have always
been told, heart disease is America's number one killer. Peter Moore '78, executive editor of Men's Health magazine, won a 2004
National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism with a powerful
first-person account of his heart troubles. The ASME/Columbia award honors excellence in service journalism, stipulating that �the advice or
instruction presented should help readers improve the quality of their personal lives.��
I doubt that Jonah will be winning legit writing awards of any kind.
The Troll Under the Bridge
I have to admit, I feel pretty stupid doing this now. Last June, STH posted
a critique of the operations of the Ambassador Bridge. I read and
enjoyed it, as usual. So much so that I wanted to read more about it (since I�m from the Detroit area) and stumbled upon
this identical article from Forbes.com. Of course, I was shaken a bit, and out of
respect for STH I U2U�d him about it. The messages have long since been deleted, but he basically covered by saying that the article echoed how he
felt and it was much more time convenient for him to post that. I asked him to edit and put in proper citation, and he said he would, and apologized.
I, liking and believing him, thought little of it and went on my way as summer vacation approached. STH always was busy with �work� and �family� and
going to Greece to get Vergina, so it didn�t seem strange that he disappeared less than a month after I nearly outed him. He never did edit that
piece, and it wasn�t until nearly a year later when I wondered if he had plagiarized more than just that. This post is what came of that
investigation.
SpinningToeHold�s last post came on July 14, 2005. In it, he talks about
the Alien and Sedition Acts. Ironically, I can�t find any evidence of this post being stolen from anywhere else. Maybe my calling him out prompted him
to lay low, and he couldn�t be bothered to actually write more of his own material. The Sedition Act �made it a crime to publish �false, scandalous,
and malicious writing" against the government or its officials.�� While OO isn�t a government, STH certainly knew about false, scandalous, and
malicious writing.
We�re grabbing the ropes, SpinningToeHold. The hold has been broken. It�s easy to get straight A�s in history when you cheat off those better than
you.
=============================
Personal thoughts:
Sure, playing �detective� or Bob wOOdward is kind of fun, but I hated writing this. While going over STH�s post over the last week, I saw a few dozen
of my responses: moments I took�after spending minutes of my day reading fraudulent work�to affirm someone I admired and, yeah, envied. It�s pretty
disheartening, especially when I had talked to him a few times in chat and he seemed like a normal, humble, humorous guy. ModSquad has some comments
below that echo much of what I�m thinking.
For me, the �heart surgery� post was the worst. Maybe he did get heart surgery, I don�t know. Maybe he was really scared for awhile and thought we
were his family. But I�m not going to speculate or excuse him for anything, and I�m not going to really draw too many conclusions. Bottom line�whether
he was enjoying manipulating all of us here or whether he was lonely and needed some adulation he couldn�t get through his own skill alone�he�s not
someone I respect. That�s it. Really, the best thing you can do is go to masterninja.com and let them know how much you liked their work, even if it
is a few years too late.
Three things about this make me happy, though:
1) The picture at the top of this thread. OpTard is the man.
2)I think his current avatar of a withered old man is absolutely perfect and should never be changed.
3) Many of you remember his �Fuck IKEA� rant. I couldn�t find if he had stolen it from anywhere. If that was a legit writing of his, the irony reaches
its peak when
a poster at some fish forum steals the stuff of a stealer. Great stuff.
And now, ModSquad has the floor to finish up. I thank him for his help.
=========================
Hi, Everybody,
It's Modsquad. BRAD SMOLEY's letting me post within his post just to add a bit of facts and internet detective stuff. BRAD SMOLEY brought
all the STH stuff to me and asked me to look around. Credit him for asking me to look for things that proved HIM wrong. BRAD SMOLEY wanted to be
wrong. That's a really nice way to think. I wanted BRAD SMOLEY to be wrong too. Too bad I couldn't find anything that made us feel better.
BRAD SMOLEY showed me the links that STH copied from. I checked out the IPs of the domain owners of all the sites that featured STH's
"content." It didn't take long to see that most of those sites had domains far and wide across the US. STH had claimed that he was writing for
friends' local sites, but there was no evidence that the content he got came from anywhere near where he lived. The evidence showed that he got
content from online news sites and tons of sites from around the US. Nothing from a "local buddy page."
That brings us to the last point. STH told us he couldn't write a lot anymore because he was working for "Homeland Security" to keep the
"POTUS" safe during the last election and afterward. It was too convenient that the same assignment happened just after BRAD SMOLEY caught him
copying someone else.
It's even sadder now that I checked his IP and it's from a Department of Transportation IP. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I
don't want terrorists messing with the I-5 interchange.
For the record, I don't check everyone's IP. I sure don't check good people who post fun stuff. No point. I was surprised and
shocked and sad. The guy who claimed to be an ex-SEAL or Marine or something... the guy who was working against terrorism... the guy who wrote all
that great shit... THAT guy might be asking a supervisor if it's okay to repave a road in a Utah State Recreation Area and just hoping he can go
back to copying stuff from one message board, pasting it on another, then playing World of Warcraft.
Pathetic.
The last thing I want to say is this: I'm sorry.
STH won't say it because he doesn't care. He used you, me and everyone. He doesn't care. I do. I liked his stuff. I'm sorry
because I asked OOsters to try to post more like STH and less like [idiot du jour]. I hoped we could all be more like STH. I hoped a dozen people or
so on OO could be just as cool as STH. Turns out, STH was only cool because he was copying a dozen or so people from somewhere else.
We got unlucky. STH could have copied from a dozen or so people here and posted on another board and been THE MAN there. Maybe he did. We'll
never know.
I apologize for holding up STH and asking OOsters to try to be like him. I just learned the hard way that STH was pretty much the kind of guy who took
the best of OO (or a site like it) and made a personality out of it.
I hope everyone here takes a moment to appreciate the other posters here and thank them for the laughs they've gotten/given for free. Then take
some time to give yourselves a round of applause. Almost everyone here is a bright and creative person who gives someone else something to think and
laugh about. It's STUPID that lots of you got overshadowed by someone who couldn't do anything better than paste posts together.
It's STUPID.
I'm sorry I never noticed this plagiarism, and I thank you all for being better, smarter, funnier, and more honest people.
Thank you, OO.
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Canadian Bulldog
Man of a Thousand Holds 
Posts 1889
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Yes. Member Is Offline Mood: EVER!!!
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 04:36 PM |
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Um, what?
The book... IS... HERE!!!
The Official Inside The Ropes website
BulldogZone : Official Inside The Ropes Merchandise
The Ridiculously Expensive Canadian BullBLOG
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angstboy
cornerkicked.com
Posts 4929
Registered 12-11-2002 Location Baltimore, MD Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 04:59 PM |
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I'm not explaining anything.
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Operation Retard
Beats me, I'm gay!
Posts 3289
Registered 1-4-2002 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 05:27 PM |
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hey jerk! you stole MY idea to copy/paste that!
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LuckyLopez
Reeks of WCW 
Posts 12562
Registered 2-13-2003 Member Is Offline Mood: Grieving
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:15 PM |
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Dude! STH sucks!
There's definatelly an "Uncle STH"/"took advantange"/"dirty uncle" joke to be made here but I'm not going to do it.
He smiled.
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OOMatt
Crazy Go Nuts 
Posts 1227
Registered 12-19-2002 Location St. Paul Member Is Offline Mood: Greatest Mood
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:37 PM |
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I still like STH a fuck of a lot more than I like Bulldog.
For NFL Power Rankings, My Blog and More check out Hock Show Dot Com
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Canadian Bulldog
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1889
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Yes. Member Is Offline Mood: EVER!!!
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by OOMatt
I still like STH a fuck of a lot more than I like Bulldog.
Pyrofalkon?
The book... IS... HERE!!!
The Official Inside The Ropes website
BulldogZone : Official Inside The Ropes Merchandise
The Ridiculously Expensive Canadian BullBLOG
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benoitbrokemyneck
John Edwards is a faggot.
Posts 4108
Registered 3-17-2002 Location Inside The Internets Member Is Offline Mood: sad boy
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:43 PM |
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Okay, that was fucking bizarre. Good work guys. I even wished that fucker well with his heart surgery.
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USF Bull
Banned
Posts 1785
Registered 11-16-2005 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:43 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by OOMatt
I still like STH a fuck of a lot more than I like Bulldog.
True- at least STH stole FUNNY stuff.
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maclen
Showstopper
Posts 649
Registered 9-10-2003 Location 22 Acacia Ave Member Is Offline Mood: for a day
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:46 PM |
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You know that song Stairway To Heaven?
I wrote it.
Rising From Darkness where hell hath no mercy and the screams of vengeance echo on forever, only those who keep the faith shall escape the wrath of
The Metallian...
Master of all Metal
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tills24
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1246
Registered 7-22-2005 Location New Haven, birthplace of the hamburger sandwich. Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:48 PM |
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Soooo, not to unleash the BTR wrath, but what brought this investigation on? Did you stumble upon one of the places that he stole from?
"I may not be a class act, but I'm an American." -- Ron Artest on wanting to play for the Olympic team
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OOMatt
Crazy Go Nuts
Posts 1227
Registered 12-19-2002 Location St. Paul Member Is Offline Mood: Greatest Mood
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:53 PM |
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I hate to break it to you guys, but the Satire? I steal the characters and situations from a popular cable television show every week.
I'm such a fraud.
For NFL Power Rankings, My Blog and More check out Hock Show Dot Com
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outback jack
The Great One
Posts 3811
Registered 3-10-2003 Location not Australia Member Is Offline Mood: old
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 06:54 PM |
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Here is a list of the 5 most painful things that ever happened to me:
5. 19 stitches across my back coupled with a distended elbow. I was inspecting a long-line trawler, and was heading down into the main hold when the
ladder I was on gave way and dropped me close to 15 feet. Would not have been so bad if I did not land on what was left of the ladder. The ladder was
so rusty it splintered on impact, sending half a pound of metal shards tearing through my right lat.
4. 2 inch puncture, completely through my left thigh. Again, inspecting a long-liner, traipsing through a hold filled with ice and swordfish, when one
of them decided to exact its revenge in it�s final breath. Of course, the damn thing got infected.
3. Shattered eye socket, broken collarbone, and every rib on my left side snapped in two. I was on a heavy weather rescue boat on the Columbia River
bar trying to go get some dumbass who thought that sailing his sunfish in a gale was a sound decision. We crashed through a twenty foot wave and was
then smashed broadside by a rogue wave. My safety harness broke (actually the bolts that held my seat to the deck snapped first) and I bounced around
the cabin like a pinball.
2. Three .32 caliber gunshot wounds from about 9 feet away. I was working the heroin lines into Seattle, things went badly, and I ended up getting
pasted by a guy who was not on the ship�s manifest and did not want to be found. I took two in the gut and one lodged in my sternum, cracking it. I
thought I was dead�he was by the end of it.
1. STH took my heart and dumped it in the drink like so much leftover meatloaf surprise. That one still hurts.
No wonder he never filled us in about the guy who peed on his shoe.
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LuckyLopez
Reeks of WCW
Posts 12562
Registered 2-13-2003 Member Is Offline Mood: Grieving
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 07:22 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by tills24
Soooo, not to unleash the BTR wrath, but what brought this investigation on? Did you stumble upon one of the places that he stole from?
He said it in there. One of STH's posts had made him curious and he went looking for more info on the subject. He found the article copied,
confronted STHprivately, and gave him the benefit of the doubt and accepted his explanation/apology. But STH apparently split soon after and the
whole thing apparently kept nagging BTR. I can't say I blame him. I liked Jonah a lot and respected the guy. This is kind of a punch in the
gut.
Blah. Stupid stuff.
He smiled.
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bo_knows
And I am AWESOME
Posts 220
Registered 4-23-2005 Location Three doors down from the Shrieking Sheik Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 07:46 PM |
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After doing my own lengthy research, Mr. Harris, I'd like to know how long you're going to keep calling that kettle black with this
skeleton in your closet.
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/features/chaprilfool.shtml
He's a phony! A big fat phony!
"Between you being naked and Moose washing his ass, I'm in heaven." - fsol
Say what you want about America, thirteen bucks can still get you a hell of a lot of mice.
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salmonjunkie
Best There Is Was or Ever Will Be 
Posts 11442
Registered 6-25-2002 Location Sunny Seattle, WA Member Is Offline Mood: Authoritized
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 07:55 PM |
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I should've known something was wrong when he sent me his myspace profile
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2HoT
The Immortal One
Posts 4818
Registered 3-23-2002 Location Yermomsbox PA Member Is Offline Mood: Cock-sure
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 09:48 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by OOMatt
I hate to break it to you guys, but the Satire? I steal the characters and situations from a popular cable television show every week.
I'm such a fraud.
Yes, but that's not why we don't like you.
Who wants soup?
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Witterquick
Fella
Posts 298
Registered 5-4-2005 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 3-21-2006 at 11:59 PM |
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I know I'm one of the new guys around here, and don't even remember most of these posts, but I really have pity for the person.
Part of the appeal of forums like this is that you can screen out a lot of the crap in your life: your appearance, your job, your shitty love life and
just project the parts you like. But a person who can't even take the remnants and come up with something useable but has to steal a
personality instead? That's sad.
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markout
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1300
Registered 1-4-2002 Location Elsewhere Member Is Offline Mood: Zen-tastic
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| posted on 3-22-2006 at 03:04 AM |
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So wait...who crushed the Snapple bottle in his bare hand and was asked to leave the Wal-Mart?
Do NOT fuck with my chi.
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