I'm long enough in my remaining teeth to have missed the VanDerBeek reference (but I looked it up and remembered the GIF).

I'm all for in thread reminders of our mutual humanity (I remember trying to deflect some of the flack off people like Fishmanlee and Janskeet, people I frequently disagree/d with and felt the need to remonstrate with).

They really only work (if they work) when they are rolled out at the moment and location that they are needed and are proportional to what has been done or said.

I was rather sharp yesterday with someone jesting about committing suicide I did it in the same thread as soon as I spotted it. Today he has said sorry and hopefully that will be the end of it.

A gentle "back off a bit" well timed and well placed has a better chance of success than on a later hour and/or in another place bring.

I really like Skyjedi and I never noticed that thread before it was pointed out to me I would probably have said something if I had.

As for the pictures thing if you had framed you initial request in practical terms it may have got a better response ('politics is mostly a wordy subject, the pictures are slowing my page loading times could you please post less...that sort of thing') .

I can't open the GIF page or doubleofive's wishlist page when someone else is using the net in the room because the pictures slow down the connection so I recognise that issue and if it had been phrased that way I would probably have been lending you gentle support (there would be no way of telling if my support would have helped but it would probably have been there).

As it is much larger pictures (sometimes too big for the site format to support) are frequently posted on the Politics thread but they go unnoticed because they are deemed 'seriously pertinent' and not 'just jokes' which are part of any political discussion indeed part of politics in practice.