Concerning the Politics subforum.

[Joe Williams]

"Statements made by the organization?" As far as I can tell, the statements were made by Moderators, who happen to be individuals, and as such have differing opinions and points of view.

As chosen officers of the organization, you ARE the organization when acting in an official capacity. Like it or not, that's the reality.

 

[shooter521]

Why not delete posts you have issues with?

You did NOT just seriously suggest that...

It is beginning to sound like this was a knee-jerk reaction and haldir was not contacted and given an opportunity to comply. Someone made the "I don't want that type of member here" decision and poof he was gone.

You don't know what communication may or may not have taken place off the public board; this is sheer speculation on your part.

 

[hornadylnl]

I'm obviously not a mod, so I have no idea what it's like to get 20 messages a day complaining about one member, but still...I don't understand why Haldir was banned. I may not have agreed with his personal opinion about Muslims as an entire group, but you've stated that you didn't ban him for his personal opinions. You say that you banned him because he posted 5-7 articles a day about violent Muslims. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Haldir did not personally write these stories. He didn't make them up. He found actual news and was posting it here for us to read. I would understand if he was just ranting about Muslims, but he wasn't, he was posting NEWS articles, actual events that are happening. Isn't that exactly like saying "guns kill people"? I love INGO, I may not have been a member for long, but I've been coming here for a while, reading. I don't mean to be rude, but banning Haldir isn't going to stop violent Muslims from attacking or raping people. Now we're either just hiding from the facts or aren't going to be aware of them, because members who post news will be deterred from it.

You may not have had this sort of forum in mind when it was created, but this is what it is now. This is what the forum's members are posting and talking about. What more is a forum than a group of people talking? I still say you should divide the sub forum up into two categories. Politics being one of them, 2A and 2A laws being the other.

Didn't you get the memo? If we quit calling them terrorists, they'll like us.

Here's the post that I was going to put in the poll thread. It was closed as I was typing it. One way or another, a decision needs to be made.

I'll liken this to work supervision. Imagine a supervisor at a factory who has 30 people working for him. His people get a 30 minute lunch break. Every day, it is the same 2-5 people who come back to break a couple minutes late and it is causing a delay in production. A supervisor who is a leader will pull those 2-5 people aside and deal with them directly. A supervisor who only wears the name tag supervisor will pull all 30 of his people into a meeting and proceed to chew all 30 people out for taking too long on their breaks. The moral of this story is to deal with those who are causing the problem and not belittle all of those who are playing by the rules.

Here's what needs to happen. The mod team needs to sit down and hammer out a set of rules. Make those rules known to everyone and enforce them. If those rules state only 2a political issues are to be discussed, so be it. If you want to block only religious issues, then enforce it evenly for all religions. You aren't going to please everyone. Make a decision and stick with it. If you are unwilling to do that, then drop the issue completely and move on. There is no point in rehashing this same subject every few weeks.

 

[cce1302]

As chosen officers of the organization, you ARE the organization when acting in an official capacity. Like it or not, that's the reality.

The man has a point.

 

[techres]

Can there be an option "I use the politics forum far more than I use the forum support/suggestions subforum so I didn't see this poll"

Polls can't be modified after started to my knowledge.

 

[mettle]

I use the politics forum to catch the latest news. Most of the time, by the time I get to a particular thread the discussion has been going on for a bit.

I like seeing BOTH the article posted, and the link provided. If I feel like clicking and following I do; and, if I don't feel like it I don't.

I don't peruse a lot of news sites, don't have the time and don't want to spend it looking. (have too much homework and life work to do)

THIS SUBFORUM provides a concise, single point of information where I can gather the latest news and political news ALL in ONE SPOT. I like that.

Most members are like me, don't read a whole lot of news, or don't know where to get it.

Don't change it, leave it be. I need ONE SOURCE like this.

 

[BloodEclipse]

You did NOT just seriously suggest that...

So it's easier and less messy to delete a member than it is some of their posts?
shooter I doubt you had anything to do with this and would ask you to get the facts before an attempt at defending what others might have done.

 

[shooter521]

So it's easier and less messy to delete a member than it is some of their posts?

What I'm saying is that if we go arbitrarily deleting people's posts simply because "we don't like them," it would cause a crapstorm of untold proportions. Furthermore, that's not the kind of environment we're trying to foster here.

I doubt you had anything to do with this and would ask you to get the facts before an attempt at defending what others might have done.

And I would suggest that, not being a Mod, you are not privy to all the facts in this case, yourself. As previously stated, decisions such as this are not made without considerable discussion at the Mod/Admin level. I may not have personally swung the hammer, so to speak, but I stand in complete support of the action that was taken.

 

[bigus_D]

Thanks for running a great forum, Mods!

My ... ban all of the trouble makers without warning (cry babies included). The rest of us will enjoy the site even more.

 

[Joe Williams]

What I'm saying is that if we go arbitrarily deleting people's posts simply because "we don't like them," it would cause a crapstorm of untold proportions. Furthermore, that's not the kind of environment we're trying to foster here.
snip.

Pardon me, but it seems you've done pretty much the same thing, banning outright members who's viewpoints you disagree with, then giving cover stories like calling them spammers that simply don't match the facts.

 

[BloodEclipse]

I'm on my way out for a few hours. Not ignoring anyone. I will catch up later.

 

[cce1302]

Pardon me, but it seems you've done pretty much the same thing, banning outright members who's viewpoints you disagree with, then giving cover stories like calling them spammers that simply don't match the facts.

Yeah, I'm seeing the same thing.

 

[360]

I thought I posted a remark here, but I can't find it.

 

[techres]

Yeah, I'm seeing the same thing.

No post from this thread has been trashed.

 

[jsharmon7]

Pardon me, but it seems you've done pretty much the same thing, banning outright members who's viewpoints you disagree with, then giving cover stories like calling them spammers that simply don't match the facts.

Do you have access to the Mod forum that the rest of us don't? Were you involved in their discussions as to why decisions are made and for what specific reasons? If not, I'd say all you're basing your statements on are pure speculation. Go through Haldir's previous posts and you'll see how many of them really were copy/paste articles from random "news" sites across the internet. If they claim he was spamming, I'd say the facts support it. You also don't know how many times he was warned or asked to desist. I don't either, that's why I'm not questioning anyone's decisions in regard to running this forum.

It also seems like the ones that are posting in this thread and the other poll are the same 4 or 5 people. I'm sorry that you're unhappy but calling the Mods censors and making accusations about what they do and don't support is childish.

 

[360]

I thought I posted a remark here, but I can't find it.

I found it...it was attached to another post about a forum constitution.

Speaking from past experience, I used to own, maintain, and run a forum. I also tried the ol' "standby and see what happens" approach. It worked for awhile, and the members kept it in pretty good check. Then something happened, new people decided to come along, and to make a long story short, the anarchy that ensued caused the demise of our forum. With no "rules" enforced, the new kids on the block made quick to run off the members who had supported the forum for so long, and escalated their rhetoric to the point of being physically threatening. My forum was literally overrun, and as an Admin, and including my Moderators, we were completely overwhelmed by the amount of lunacy that fell upon the place.

You simply cannot make everybody happy.

It's Fenway's forum, and his to create any rule he wants. I admire the group of Mods for posting public polls to find out what the members support.

Do I agree with it all? Doesn't matter. It's their baby.

I can tell you one thing. With the overall theme and content of this forum, it would be VERY easy for a situation to escalate out of control, if not for RULES.

Look what happened with the Christmas Present Theft thread.

IMO, just by that thread remaining alive as long as it did shows the folks that run this joint are VERY open-minded.

It may appear to some that I am kissing ***, but that's not the case. I simply know what they are dealing with.

 

[lashicoN]

Is it inappropriate to ask, how many times was Haldir warned? I know it isn't any of our business...

 

[techres]

Is it inappropriate to ask, how many times was Haldir warned? I know it isn't any of our business...

Sorry, the last time I gave details I was correctly reminded that I broke the policy not to share that kind of information.

I will not make the mistake again.

 

[lashicoN]

That's alright. It doesn't really matter anyway, if he was warned, he was warned. He should have just listened, I guess. I wasn't sure if you could share that kind of information or not, thanks for clearing that up.

 

[cce1302]

No post from this thread has been trashed.

That's nice to know, but why are you telling me?