Monday, January 25, 2010

ZIOH: CYBER-BULLYING & THREATS ARE ALIVE AND WELL ON THE ZERO-CARB FORUM...[UPDATED JANUARY 25, 2010]

Charles Washington, Zero Carb

Charles Washington, Founder of Zeroing in on Health (ZIOH) and the Zero-Carb forums


Since my original post on January 8, 2010 (see below), I've spent some time in the forums at ZIOH to see just how many members actively post there.

Charles Washington has made it very clear that if you don't post "regularly" in your journal, your membership at ZIOH will be terminated. And what does "regularly" mean to Charles? Well, it appears it means "at least once every two weeks."

Charles has also proclaimed that members are NOT allowed to lurk. If you lurk without posting at least once every 2 weeks, you're gone.

So today, I see in Charles's own journal this comment made by him:

"RE: Charles's Running Journal

My journal is hard to find because I rarely get time to write in it and I'm not nearly as popular as you are. I'm hated, but you're loved so they all flock to read yours -- even me. Plus, I don't run so much these days. I took off the last 8 days after the half-marathon to rest. So now, fully recovered, I went out running 5 miles today with my 14-year old. I left him behind with a mile to go. He only ran about 3 miles. That boy does Tae Kwon Do every single day but can't keep up with a 42 year-old man. Pathetic.

Regards,

Charles"
Screenshot:

Charles Washington screenshot from Zeroing in on Health(Left click to enlarge)


So I guess what's good for the goose is not good for the gander(s).

Below are recent comments made by Charles in the journals of some of his members, plus some parting shots from some members as they flee ZIOH:

"RE: LauraUK's Journal
(01-16-2010 05:03 PM)LauraUK Wrote: Oh and another thing. Charles; I haven't noticed you being so rude to anyone else who hasn't written in their journal for a few weeks!!!!
[Charles]:

"Not only do you not post much, but it's also clear you don't read journals very much because I am "rude" in all journals where people don't post. I've never met you so I can't just assume that you're ZC when you are gone for a long period of time.

In fact, I don't always say anything to inactive members. Most of the time, I just delete the person and that's the end of it. So, give that some thought before you decide to lash out like that next time.

I don't know how you can say that "another lurker I'm afraid" is rude? What planet are you from? I've earned the right to question anyone about anything on this forum, wouldn't you say?

If you have no ZC experience to share, then be a guest. We have many guests that do ZC and are quite successful despite not posting and participating. It's not the end of the world.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2699&page=37


**********

"RE: My Journey To Here

[Charles]:

"I was just curious. So sorry that such a simple question had you so stressed that you are no longer happy on our forum. I hope the enablers at your new and happier place will bring you the peace you seek."

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=577&page=73


(Wow, not TOO sarcastic)

**********

"RE: Allan's Journal
Allan Wrote:Thank you for accepting me to your forum, and I appreciate your efforts. I have learned quite a bit here, and I plan to continue my six month ZC experiment.

However, I'm a bit alarmed by some of the ongoings of the forum over the past couple days. As such, I am no longer comfortable being a member and maintaining a journal. Please deactivate/unregister me.

Best of luck to you.'

Regards,

Charles"

(No comment from Charles. How strange.)

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2916&page=5


**********

"01-10-2010, 05:10 PM

"RE: Leesa's Journal

I can't believe the shit I've been reading on this forum lately. I'm outta here."

(And again, no comment from Charles)

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2803&page=6


**********
"RE: Tiger’s Experimentation

[Charles]:

This member has claimed that we are "cyber bullies" and therefore decided not to return. We wish you well."

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=711&page=134

**********

"RE: MartinT's Journal

[Martin]:

ok Caroline Wink

EDITED BY CHARLES

I'm out of here"

[Charles]:

"RE: MartinT's Journal

Sorry Rose, but he has decided to leave our poisoned forum.

Regards,

Charles"

NOTE: MartinT was a long-time member of ZIOH

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2851&page=26


**********

RE: Carressa's Journal

"Appears we have ourselves yet another lurker. I guess she never got over that fatty liver scare.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2470&page=10


**********
01-08-2010, 04:18 PM


"RE: From This Moment Forth........
I am so confused.
I thought I was in someone else's journal.

Where was I? Oh yes, I was saying that life is ho hum here. Holidays were good, family flew out and spent weeks with us from CA. It's been cold here and we're complaining just like the natives here. I just learned that I'm expecting our 2nd child in October. I have no plans to differentiate with the way I'm eating. My dh has crossed the barrier in that he's eating steak with me now. It's been a slow transition, but he sees how easy my life is, how calm I've gotten in spite of the pregnancy. He has seen a full transformation in me that he's quite excited about.

That's about it. Nothing exciting going on in my life, just living, loving, sharing, preparing.

I noticed that the membership is real low. Was there some kind of purging?"

Charles's response:

"RE: From This Moment Forth........

Confused is a good word. I'm confused too about how smooth this pregnancy is going when by your calculations, you were just impregnated yesterday. I'm sure that takes careful adherence to ZC in order to pull that off. I'm not amused.

Regards,

Charles"

(Member was "de-registered")

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=1991&page=44


**********

"RE: Trish's 2009 Journal into ZC WOE

[Charles]:

"Trish, I'm amazed you're still a member. Since you're online today, we need an update on your ZC-ness. If not, you may become officially, what you have become, so to speak."

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=976&page=22

(Member was de-registered)

**********
RE: When The Going Gets Tough...

[Charles]:

"He has announced that his "time here is done." That being the case, his journal is now closed until further notice. I will open it upon his request.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2046&page=112


**********
"RE: Dona's Journal
Dona Wrote:Go ahead and unsub me Charles. Having to defend my every thought, being assumed argumentative when i said nothing of the sort, is not healthy on either side of a relationship. Ive never met a more unfriendly group.

Dona"
[Charles]:

"As I said to her, please spend more time on mastering ZC and less time on proselytizing on what types of meat are healthy or not. Why is it that people who don't eat ZC always want to tell those of us who do what meat is best for us? I never understood that. Anyway, she has been "unsubbed" as she put it.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2943&page=6

**********

"RE: Joseph's (aka Antenor60) Journal

Joseph, I need you to update this journal. I'm afraid that you've become a lurker and that's equivalent to a "guest".

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2670&page=4

**********
"RE: Will's Journal

[Charles]:

"From your description, you are not ZC and therefore not eligible for membership. Had you mentioned all of this in your questionnaire, you would have been denied membership. You will remain a guest until your "vices" have been conquered.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2866

**********
"RE: Lillyforce's Journal

Another professional lurker, it seems. You should contact me when you're prepared for membership again.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2570


**********
"RE: Meat You There

"Sherri has been under the radar and she somehow escaped the prune. She has about 24 hours to answer Laura's question....

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=713&page=5


**********
"RE: Cara's Journal (formerly dreamagreatdream)

Cara has decided not to remain with us. Evidently this is too much for her. I wish her well.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2506&page=22


**********

"RE: free at last

Sandy, you haven't updated this journal since July of 2009. I need you to update this journal or your membership may be in jeopardy in accordance with our new membership guidelines. You have become a professional lurker and that is not allowed any longer.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2126&page=4


**********
RE: Pear Blossoms

"When she first logged in and said how she was going to start ZC down the road, that was a red flag for me and nowadays it will cause a membership application to this forum to be denied. She came in all close to Laurie and the others, that I thought maybe there was a chance. I won't make that mistake again.

Don't want people to pile on, so this thread is closed. Pear, if you ever get to ZC, send me a PM and you can resume them.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2580&page=19


**********
"RE: Beth Sch's Journal

Beth, we need an update in this journal on your ZC. You have become a professional lurker and that is not acceptable on our forum anymore.

Regards,

Charles"

http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=2517&page=5


And these are just a few of Charles's admonitions to, and de-registrations of, members of his site.

Odd that Charles doesn't have time to post in his own journal yet revokes memberships of those who fail to post for several weeks.


There has been an exodus of members from ZC recently, which makes me wonder just how many members truly remain, especially when the journals of de-registered members still remain on the site.

This was posted on January 20, 2010 by Charles:

"ZIOH has never been concerned with numbers. We had over 1600 members and I pruned the majority of them. Any time you see the reference "the mixed multitude" in the Bible, they are always up to no good and I sense the same is true here. I have seen the recent posts and justifications from these former members and I am not moved or impressed. Katelyn is busy justifying the difficult decision I chose to make -- which by the way, I would make once again under the same circumstances. She was not ZC and she was removed.

Those of you who have been shown not to be ZC will not return as it says in our membership guidelines. When I said a pure ZC forum, that's exactly what I meant."

(http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=1364&page=33)


Even after ex-members have asked Charles to delete their journals, those journals still remain at ZIOH.

Have ex-members' names been removed from the membership list? Are the membership numbers at ZIOH artificially inflated? I'd wager they are.

The site currently shows 270 members. Quite a drop from the 1600 hundred members Charles alleges he had prior to his membership cull.


********************

Original post (January 8, 2010):

I don't know where to start with this post. There are so many issues I want to address: my feelings about Charles and his site, Zeroing in on Health and his Zero-Carb Forum; the bullying that goes on in the forums; members consuming nothing but raw beef...the list goes on and on and on.

I feel I'm on the verge of a full-blown rant but will pull back and let you all decide for yourselves what the hell is going on at that site and in the forums.


I have been reading the forums, off and on, since their inception but got to the point where I could no longer stomach all the crazy talk and Charles's heavy-handed criticisms and banning of members who did not follow his zero-carb plan to the tee. Reading about members eating bowls of raw meat for breakfast made me want to hurl.

A good friend of mine alerted me yesterday to what could only be called a despicable case of cyber-bullying on one of the forums. Please check out Kimorexia's post here: OMG, RUN Katelyn, RUN!!!!

Katelyn, Zero Carb forum
Katelyn's avatar from the forum

Kari, a new member of the forums, decided to inform, Katelyn, a long-time member that she was anorexic and unless Katelyn admitted that she, Katelyn, was anorexic and followed a 60-day challenge put forward by Kari that Katelyn could be involuntarily committed to a mental institution. What is even more shocking is that Charles Washington supported this craziness.

Kari, Zero Carb ForumKari, the new member


If you read the thread in its entirety, many of the members speak ABOUT Katelyn, not TO Katelyn, who is also posting on the thread. It's bizarre.

Please read the entire thread (which has been preserved for posterity, by the way, in case it goes poof). It starts here:


Here are some screenshots of some of Katelyn's posts, Kari's posts, and then the vitriolic bullying and threats:

Kari posts the first part of her "story" of anorexia, cutting, suicide attempts, committal to a mental institution, etc. and Katelyn responds:


Katelyn screenshot, Zero Carb forum(Click to enlarge)

Katelyn makes another comment and Kari responds:


Kari, Zero Carb forum(Click to enlarge)

Katelyn's response:


Katelyn screenshot, Zero Carb forum(Click to enlarge)

Other forum members jump in. Charles, who has apparently, very recently, become an expert in EDs, jumps in. And then all hell breaks loose. Katelyn garners no sympathy whatsoever, just vitriol.

Kari then posts this:


Kari, Zero Carb forum

Kari screenshot, Zero Carb forum(Click to enlarge)


And then Kari posts her challenge and threat re committal to Katelyn...


Kari threat, Zero Carb forum
Kari screenshot2, Zero Carb forum, threat(Click to enlarge)


Now, doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy? "We KNOW where you live. "We KNOW where you work."

Imagine threatening Katelyn with committal when Kari herself alleges she was involuntarily committed to a mental institution and suffered terribly.

There were some forum members who posted in the thread that they were uncomfortable with how Katelyn was being treated...like Tigerlily (see quote at top of screenshot below)...but then Charles rakes Tigerlily over the coals in a way that only a megalomaniac could do:


screenshot, Charles Washington, Zero Carb forum(Click to enlarge)



Isn't that special?

Here we have Kari who, in my opinion, is still struggling with a serious eating disorder, a woman who has suffered heart attacks, bouts of cutting, suicide, depression (all graphically described in her posts on the thread) who is now raging at a young girl (Katelyn) because Katelyn will not admit she has an eating disorder. Makes perfect sense to me...NOT. Sounds like there's a major case of psychological "projection" happening here with Kari. Google that.

Katelyn, if you read this, please contact me @ gorgon@2medusa.com. I'll put you on to some people who will truly help you when and if you want it...not people who will condemn you, insult you, threaten you, and ostracize you.


Please also take a moment to read Mariasol's excellent post here:

ZERO CARB ATTRACTS ANOREXICS

Comments?

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34 comments:

OhYeahBabe said...

YES - projection!

Kari was threatening the same kind of tough love that led Kari to attempt to kill herself!?! How can she not connect that and realize it's dangerous? I can't imagine a more wrong way to handle all that. Why Katelyn stayed there as long as she did is difficult to understand, though I see that she does have some friends there. Most won't cross Charles and his new sidekick though! Frankly, when Charles banned 75% or more of his roster there, he gave all those people a real gift. No more cyber bullying from that awful place.

I'm glad Kately has escaped from there and apparently others have gone with her. So very glad!

How twisted is it that in order to PROVE she didn't have anorexia, she had to post for 60 days in a row saying she does?

It's a dangerous game, this unqalified keyboard diagnosis & tough love stuff. Indeed, people HAVE killed themselves over such things.

If Katelyn does need help, I hope she gets it. For sure this is not safe help.

Thanks for posting, Medusa. I knew you'd summarize it better than I could.

mariasol said...

Great post, as always, Medusa. I think the character assassination of Katelyn is by far the worst I have seen on a public forum. A forum that is supposed to about support?

i love bows:) said...

I have never seen such a hideous case of cyber bullying like that before.
Seems to me, Charles has made Kari 'hero of the hour' and worshios her, in a really bizarre, and slightly sickening way. Its clear he has an over inflated ego, but what the heck was a moderator of a forum doing encouraging such an attack.

And who put kari incharge?seems all she really wanted to do was bask in the praise she was getting from the others for attacking poor kaitlyn. Yes, she does know about ED-her own, so how dare she asume she knows everything about a girl she has never met, and has barely spoken to. This gets my back up more than i could ever explain.

Obviously Kari has had a diificult time-clear from her very graphic accounts-and if it helped her to get it out, good, but dont pull someelse into your games. Its total projection, sorry to quoye you Meduse, but yeh, 'GOOGLE THAT' kari.
Its absurb that they issued that 'challenge', it was like reading about a planned coup by the gestapo or something. And what exactly did she think she was going to achieve by threatening involuntary section-erm did she forget that was exactly led her to attempt suicide.

I dont understand.Because surely, having been through it, she should understand that even if kaityn does have a problem, she can only change when she is ready.
The whole thread made my head hurt, and the only people that spoke any sense, apart from poor kaitlyn repeatedly trying to get them to stop bullying her, was samantha and tigerlilly-and i thought it was disgusting that Charles attacked them both for sticking up for her. Sorry..this is a bit long...

Seems to me Kari is enjoying this 'hero worship' far too much, and feeding her own ego with all the 'praise' from charles was actually her aim, and dont take this to mean im not sympatheic of her struggles with ED, and alleged institution.

and what makes anyone from that forum capable of diagnosing an ED...I think it would be fair to say that they ALL have some kind of issue.

You look after yourself if you ever read this kaitlyn, and know that there are places online where you can find real support.

HopefullyGrowing said...

WOW! I've never commented here before, but that was amazing; I'm a cynic, but that has offered a completely new level of human perversity.

And the claim that "ZC can reverse bulimia" WHAT?

Rosie said...

I call shenanigans.
If Kari really had this horrible illness she would know the terror of being found out. She wouldn't "tough-love" Katlyn - there would likely be more private messaging between them and I see no evidence of that.
If Kari really know how horrible the threat of institutionalization is, she wouldn't be so quick to use it. I have over a dozen friends with direct experience in the mental health system. While some appreciate it, none would force someone into treatment. This is counter-productive. She would know this.
If Kari had really been living only on ephedra for years her heart and other bodily functions would likely be damaged enough that this meat-only diet would quickly have serious consequences.
If Kari had really been taking multiple vitamins daily-plus on no food, she would know that a) they require food to be absorbed, b) that they can make you throw up when you don't ingest food with them, c) that your dosages change on a low-calorie intake. She likely would have overdosed on some vitamin.
At the beginning Kari maintains that she is not yet ready to tell her story, yet it goes into a great amount of detail. It is almost too complete - it doesn't read as though she has difficulty writing it. It feels planned.
My conclusion is that Kari is jealous of Katlyn and, like any bully, is doing whatever damage she can to someone that she doesn't like.

Sue said...

Bloody hell. That was crazy to read - what I could read - too much of it. Talk about bullying Katelyn.
This Kari is scary. I didn't read Kari's story but reading some of the other comments it was probably horrific. Kari still has issues I think.
I think I've read comments Katelyn made on other sites defending Zero Carb and then to be treated like this by the Zero Carb members and Charles himself. Disgusting.

Anonymous said...

This is TigerLily, the link to your article was just brought to my attention today. Frankly I was going slightly insane at one point because I thought I was the only one who could see what’s going on there as character assassination and bullying. Unfortunately many on that board agree with me, but don’t dare to disagree in public with the admin or they could face the ban. This bullying is a sort of regular thing there unfortunately, Katelyn wasn’t the only victim.

Its sad to see a good eating plan turns into this ugliness, ZIOH was a support forum for a clean carnivore woe, there are many other carnivore forums, all have a wide scope and acceptance of each person’s limitation and way of applying the plan, but the very narrow scope and the aggressive behaviour of the admin on ZIOH has turned it into a middle school bullying playground.

TigerLily

Marie said...

Oh my word.

Okay.....

I've never heard of this crazy forum, but just from what you posted of this bizarre exchange, they all need help. Seriously. That attack on the girl was unreal; yes, she's following a very unhealthy diet (bowls of raw meat????? Where has common sense gone?) but this whole forum appears to exist for the very purpose of ENCOURAGING that. Yes, low carb diets do attract anorexics (and other borderline people with messed-up attitudes about food and their bodies).

Instead of encouraging this craziness, that "doctor" should be doing some good by encouraging a balanced diet, moderate exercise, and for those gals to meet with nutritionists. He is unwittingly making the whole problem worse -- exponentially so with his personal attacks and accusations.

Oy.

Sol123 said...

Geeez!
Hi Medusa, my name is Sol. I had anorexia and battled it for 10 years, I´m healthy now and I love myself.
I like your site but I do think that it is worringly triggering, some people may actually look for it in order to obsess some more. But you do keep a balance, you underline the dangers of eds and some of your posts focus on being healthy...
But that´s not why I wanted to leave a comment.....after reading all this stuff from this zero carb forum I couldn´t help myself and I went tot and read this girl Kari´s story, it was all good until she started bullyung this other girl! Who des she think she is to bully her like that???! Giving her ultimatums and challenging her to that stupid experiment?That forum is dangerous! And those people only eating meat once a day? Raw meat???? Do the rally think that´s healthy? I mean, can they lead a normal life, and whenever they have a date or soemthing then what? They just won´t eat or eat only raw meat? YUCK! Those people are sick! I hope someone does soemthing to that forum, or it will get out of hand.....
:)

MrsMenopausal said...

Wow. Unbelievable. Thanks for posting about this, Medusa. I'm sitting here, reading, totally disgusted.

Anonymous said...

excuse me but yall are missing the whole point that zero carb works to treat eating disorders... please come up with something that works better for an anorexic... i would like to see one who hasnt turned into a binge eater or who has not relapsed into the disease without the help of doctors and pills.

nutrition and health from an eating disorder is purely diet based. it has nothing to do with pills and doctors. zero carb, if you would do the research on nutrition, would show you WHY it works for eating disorders ESPECIALLY bulimia

Noumi said...

Hello Medusa, I really like your blog :), I come here everytime I can even if I'm not allowed at work :3. I think the content of this site is very useful and very important but I just can't stand that horrible image you have in the header >_<(it makes the whole blog look hideous), i mean i'm sorry I'm saying this this way but I had to get this off my chest =p. Have a great day and take care! =D

OhYeahBabe said...

Anymous says that ZC treats eating disorders. I would argue that at best it replaces one disorder with another. At worst, it's an awful enabling tool - both the diet and the site.

Anonymous said...

It is a sick society at ZIOH. Sick.

OhYeahBabe said...

Good call, backing up that thread.

By the way, Kari appears to have left the site. All references to her name have been changed, and it appears her membership has been disabled.

Satya said...

Medusa, thank you for capturing this evil before it was edited away.

Anonymous said...

WOW! I was a lurker at ZIOH, and sensed right away that KARI was/is a wacko! Threatening to institutionalize a member all in the name of "tough love"??

Also, IF she was for real, then why not continue on with her "story"?

Anonymous said...

If I had to bet, I would say that Kari wasn't for real. Do you think we should try to find her photo on a Russian bride site? ;~)

Anonymous said...

It's just shocking to me how so-called intellectuals on that site even assume Kari is even a real person with real experiences.

On the internet a dog can be a parrot. Or, if you're morbidly obese, a Russian model in a red dress.

Unknown said...

can you help me? please... i don't know what to do, i'm scared, and i can't make it on my own :(

http://mementomori-femina.blogspot.com/

this is my blog, that's what i do, and how i feel...

Medusa said...

Eutifrona, your comment alarms me.

Please join We Bite Back (www.webiteback.com) as soon as possible. There is a wonderful forum at that site and so many members there have recovered who help those who are struggling with ana and bulimia. One of the main contributors there is Arielle.

Arielle has recovered from anorexia and bulimia, and she's a wonderful support to new members who are struggling. She also has her own blog and invites anyone to contact her directly. Her blog is at http://tearstowords.blogspot.com.

Many of my readers are now in recovery because of the love, support, and help they've received from the members of the forum at We Bite Back, and from Arielle directly.

Please get help as soon as possible. I'm very worried about you.

Hugs,
Medusa

Anonymous said...

Interesting theories on here. Please check out mine @ http://mariasols.com/2010/01/09/zero-carb-attracts-anorexics/comment-page-1/#comment-9529

I'm posting as "Anon2" on there.

Lou Lou said...

wow. i read this days ago on your post. and i have thougth about it since, its just stuck with me. what a messy forum. thanks for posting it.
lou

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry for Kately, for she had to endure those charges from that sick forum. I hope that she's ok !

OhYeahBabe said...

Your updated post contains dozens of example of Charles control issues, but only hit on the issues with journals, and are only posts by Charles. There are dozens of other examples of Charles roughing people up for not conforming to whatever his demand-du-jour happens to be, and other moderators & members following his lead. This domination and control is being used make the truth of the forum be exactly what he says it should be. Anything that doesn't fit his truth is pruned out or shunned into silence. In the end, the site will be one big ZC lie. A few dozen happy & healthy zero carbers, proving ZC is the way, the truth and the light. No struggles, no symptoms, no variations, no thoughtful evaluation of facts.

mariasol said...

Regarding your update:
I always wondered what a "professional lurker" was. As opposed to an unprofessional poster?

Medusa said...

LOL, Mariasol!

Medusa said...

Word, OYB.

Linn said...

What is that man doing? To me it seems as though he isn't running a forum as much as trying to start a cult.

Making the few "worthy" people feel special, eliminating sceptics, holding himself higher than others... Freaky.

OhYeahBabe said...

Here's one quote Charles uses to explain his pruning, this time stated in the journal of someone who chose to leave the site. It was his parting shot at her, after he refused to see her point about something that didn't fit his truth.

"That's the thing about sharpening. You do lose some metal in the process; however, the knife is much more usable when you do."

ak said...

How bizzare! That beats any sort of challenge I've read from an active anorexic to another active anorexic. Just all sorts of maladaptive communication skills by "Kari" and "Charles".

Charles has been given too much power as "Forummaster". He behaves as though he believes he is omniscient. I hope this isn't his day to day way of treating people in real life, but even if this behaviour is relegated to his online persona, it illustrates to me that the person behind the curtain needs help.

This is the sort of dangerous delusion and manipulation that you can't beat with a stick (ie: reason). Therefore, I hope his forum fails miserably. Soon. And that the people who have found good friends there can move on to healthier lives, and healthier things to relate over.

Just BIZZARE!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Charles is getting kinda cranky.
That happens to me all the time when my blood sugar drops.
He'd be amazed at how much less cranky he could be when his body gets, like... what are those things called that your body uses to like, live and stuff?? Oh yeah, nutrients.
Then again, since he obviously is in denial about his own eating disorder, he'd probably say that eating say, a carrot or a broccoli, would make him fat. But of course, he'd be right, since science changes to suit him anyway.

Medusa said...

"Anonymous said...

Sounds like Charles is getting kinda cranky.

That happens to me all the time when my blood sugar drops.

He'd be amazed at how much less cranky he could be when his body gets, like... what are those things called that your body uses to like, live and stuff?? Oh yeah, nutrients.

Then again, since he obviously is in denial about his own eating disorder, he'd probably say that eating say, a carrot or a broccoli, would make him fat. But of course, he'd be right, since science changes to suit him anyway."


Quoted for truth ;^)

Great comment, Anonymous!

Facetious_Neophyte said...

As a former Marine there is nothing I hate worse than a bully. The rule of thumb in the Corps generally involves some very harsh tough love as needed, but there is not any automatic belittling or constant belittling. The only exception is when someone is being willfully negligent, lazy, or otherwise acting a way detrimental to good order and discipline or completing the mission. Effort has always been strongly praised, and encouraged.
One of the most well regarded Marines in my platoon was a 30 year old who was always in perpetual risk of being assigned to weight control. He always was a mediocre PTer, but nobody looked down on him because he had heart like you wouldn't believe. He may not finish in the top half or 3/4 of run times, but he refused to quit and would slog it out to the finish without complaint.
I can't believe this ZC crap. It is one thing (though still inexcusable) to berate a total stranger, but what he said to his son is infuriating. Rest assured if I ever ran into this guy I would first begin some extensive questioning, and should he continue to absolve himself of the consequences of his behavior then I would make it my mission to break his nose in as many places as I could. He is a bully, and appears to have a disturbingly cult like following.