The Current Events Folder

[NYU 0]

Guys, just so we're perfectly clear, it is appropriate to have alternate viewpoints in the Current Events folder. Just as in the real world, some have liberal opinions and some have conservative opinions. While I understand that many of you now aren't used to having Republican posters visit the forums anymore, the mere fact that they are conservative is not a bannable offense.

 

So no, I do not want any more PMs from posters that ask me to take action simply because Cancer Marney is posting in the CE Folder again.

 

As long as flaming is avoided, and people can get along civilly without getting personal and offensive with one another, everything should be just fine. Healthy debate is encouraged. I would hope that if we're grown-up enough to have an opinion on the War in Iraq, then we're grown-up enough to deal with criticism from others who might have a contrasting viewpoint.

 

So yeah, Marney is welcomed back, as is Vyce, Dr. Tom, and anybody else who have stayed away from TSM that wishes to post in the Current Events folder. When someone truly steps over the line with an offensive insult or a racial slur, you can be rest assured either myself or another hot rat will step in and take the appropriate action. But until then, it's best to learn that conversations are obviously going to get heated at times but hey, that's politics.

[Firestarter 0]

In that case, kindly remove your damned word filters.

[Guest (Loggins Name)]

The Obama censorship is gone, but "Glenn Beck" will still be rendered as "gay sex."

[Firestarter 0]

Thank you. I hate gay sex anyway.

 

EDIT: ahahaha. Think, THEN post. <slaps self>

[Guest (Loggins Name)]

Stockton to Malone on that one, huh.

[Firestarter 0]

Okay, I'll admit it, that one went right over my head.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

While I understand that many of you now aren't used to having Republican posters visit the forums anymore, the mere fact that they are conservative is not a bannable offense.

 

Oy.

[snuffbox 0]

Calling everybody else a bunch of queers is skilled messageboarding.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

Why are we unbanning/letting/encouraging all these people to come back again? I don't exactly take a side in these little fights or issues...they amuse me from the sidelines like all TSM related drama, but that Campaign thread got really weird about a page or two ago. It went from disagreements about the election that's been going on for ages to a fight to suddenly the discussion of Jesus. It appears to have calmed down now.

 

Sadly, I apparently missed Jerk being thrown in the Gulag. Shame. And I even asked for more people to be thrown randomly in there as well.

[snuffbox 0]

It almost makes you think people might have been banned for a reason. Almost.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Why are we unbanning/letting/encouraging all these people to come back again? I don't exactly take a side in these little fights or issues...they amuse me from the sidelines like all TSM related drama, but that Campaign thread got really weird about a page or two ago. It went from disagreements about the election that's been going on for ages to a fight to suddenly the discussion of Jesus. It appears to have calmed down now.

 

Sadly, I apparently missed Jerk being thrown in the Gulag. Shame. And I even asked for more people to be thrown randomly in there as well.

 

Marney was never ever banned. She left of her own account, and she came back of her own account.

[NYU 0]

Marney was never banned.

 

MikeSC WAS banned and he will STAY banned, so there's no discussion there.

 

And yeesh guys, that Jesus discussion lasted for a grand total of seven posts, two of which consisted of "Jesus was a bastard" and "woa woa woa", in a thread that is 4,070 posts deep and growing. I think we all need to take a deep breath. Marney posting here is not a cause for hysteria -- it's really not. As I've said, until myself or another moderator feels she has stepped out of line, action will be taken. I do not yet feel she has stepped out of line, thus, I have taken no action.

 

If you don't want to debate with her, do not. If you don't want to read her posts, feel free to place her on Ignore. But if she's not resorting to personal insults and she's not using racial slurs, then really, there's no damage being done. I am not banning Marney because certain people feel threatened by her forceful demeanor. Be forceful back. As I already said, it's best to learn quickly that not everybody agrees on politics. The world is not a land of gumdrops and lollipops and perfect teamwork, as much as certain people might hope it would be. And neither is the CE Folder.

[Metal Ed 0]

Yeah, I just wanted to complain because that bitch Marney done ruined that "Campain 2008" thread. I went and announced that I was running right there in that thread and she done told me that I couldn't never do it. She thought my forrieegnj policy was righteous ("bomb all them fuckers") but she dissmised my ecomonic plan like I ain't never even said nothing. I figger if I'm president, I should get one of them Lambergeeni's and some Maiden tapes and then the rest should tickle down, but she got all up in that shit. I think you should ban her. She ain't even hot or nothin.

[alfdogg 0]

Nice closeout, NYU.

[Golgo 13 0]

Yeah, I just wanted to complain because that bitch Marney done ruined that "Campain 2008" thread. I went and announced that I was running right there in that thread and she done told me that I couldn't never do it. She thought my forrieegnj policy was righteous ("bomb all them fuckers") but she dissmised my ecomonic plan like I ain't never even said nothing. I figger if I'm president, I should get one of them Lambergeeni's and some Maiden tapes and then the rest should tickle down, but she got all up in that shit. I think you should ban her. She ain't even hot or nothin.

 

That Trans Am not cutting it for you anymore?

[Maztinho 0]

Okay, I'll admit it, that one went right over my head.

 

It was a Sports reference to the Utah Jazz former Point Guard John Stockton and Power Forward Karl Malone who had the most direct Assist to points scored in NBA history. It's popularly used around these parts as something akin to "walking right into one."

 

Off the subject every time I read Stockton to Malone I hear Rod Huntley the long time Jazz announcer's voice saying it, so it's odd when it pops up at times.

[bob_barron 0]

MikeSC WAS banned and he will STAY banned, so there's no discussion there.

 

You do realise that keeping Mike banned contradicts a lot of this thread right?

 

The fact that people are whining to mods about the CE folder is really sad. Almost as sad as my complaining. Come on guys.

[NYU 0]

Bob, I posted this at The Pit already but I'm posting it here also to explain why I don't think Mike should be welcomed back to TSM.

 

As was said, Anglesault was let back in to see if he has chilled out over the past three years. He's on a tight leash -- if he screws up once, he's gone, and he understood that when he accepted the invite back.

 

We can see simply by venturing into the Current Events folder over here that Mike is as pushy and overwhelming as he ever was. And if those were his only character faults, it's debatable that he might have been invited back along with some of the other posters. But in my opinion, and in the opinions of many other posters at TSM including the vast majority of mods, he had a dangerous effect on the board. I'm not denying his intelligence or his ability to find sources to corroborate his statements, but there were countless times he spewed insults and petty name-calling in threads that did not require it.

 

And Bob, I know you say that Mike did nothing to bring about his banning but as far as I'm concerned, his conduct in the Fahrenheit 9/11 thread in the "Movies/DVDs/Television" folder so long ago was the perfect reason. There was already a thread to discuss the film in the Current Events folder, and he quite clearly knew that considering his angry posts there, but he felt the need to carry it over to the Movies folder. And you know what, I can understand doing that for a post or two to just make your point clear to posters who might not see it otherwise. But he trolled to the point of insanity. He refused to let other posters discuss the film without interjecting and carrying on to a ridiculous degree about how unfounded the movie was. He went off-topic by talking about how Roger Ebert is a fucking idiot for saying the film "The Reagans" was midly critical....and illogically asking if a rightie ever did a documentary about Bill Clinton killing Ron Brown. Just anything to bring the thread off-topic. He refused to let up. Even though he had never even seen the film! I agree he could have learned what was in it beforehand but it looks highly hypocritical to condemn a film if you haven't even yet seen it.

 

This is also the famous thread where where NoCalMike told him he didn't post the thread in the Current Events folder because he wanted to discuss it with people who saw it already and Mike replied "This gets filed under 'tough shit'". Funny response, yes, but it's not the kind of stuff I want continuing at TSM. How Mike survived not being banned from that thread I still don't quite know but to me, it shows that he had it coming regardless.

 

I want discussion to continue in the Current Events Folder and as I said at TSM, I expect it to get heated at times. But I want it to be civil. I want people to respect each other's opinions. I won't have it revert back to the angry, nasty environment it was years ago. Just because people disagree on liberal or conservative philosophies doesn't mean they need to raise the ire of each and every single poster on the other side of the political spectrum.

 

It could be debated that Marney is just as vociferous and pushy as Mike is and I'm not arguing that. But the fact of the matter is that she was never banned so, until she does something viewed as bannable, she is always free to post as TSM. But Mike has already been banned and, looking at his past behavior, his attitude towards posters at TSM when he WAS there, his propensity to turn to calling other posters "dolts" and "idiots" at the drop of a hat, and his inability to show that this has changed at all since relocating to the Pit three years ago makes him unwelcome back at TSM.

 

If that affects the rest of you wanting to post at TSM again, so be it. If your account has not been banned, you are more than welcome. But Mike is not, and that stance will not change.

[bob_barron 0]

Well my response is at The Pit! OMG BOARD WARFARE

[At Home 0]

NYU, it's not the fact that she's a conservative, it's that she deliberately trolls there. "B.O. Hussein" and all that good stuff.

[NYU 0]

She's being deliberately snarky. Surely nobody here could be accused of referring to Bush or Cheney in less than flattering terms?

[Failed Bridge 0]

Marney posting here is not a cause for hysteria

[At Home 0]

She's being deliberately snarky.

 

Yes, that's what a troll does. Posts bait in order to incite a fight.

[Guest]

Snuffbox acts like that all the time. I like the guy, but he does it too (be snarky, I mean), and doesn't get in trouble. Why should Marney? It sounds like a couple of people are mad that their circle-jerk has been interrupted. That gets filed under tough shit, amirite?

 

Grow a set. I can't believe a few GROWN FUCKING MEN are complaining about someone calling Obama "B.O. Hussein." Give me a goddamn break.

[BUTT 0]

And I can't believe that a GROWN FUCKING WOMAN hasn't realized that "B.O. Hussein" isn't funny when you write it 150 times a day!

[At Home 0]

Snuffbox acts like that all the time. I like the guy, but he does it too, and doesn't get in trouble. Why should Marney? It sounds like a couple of people are mad that their circle-jerk has been interrupted. That gets filed under tough shit, amirite?

 

Grow a set. I can't believe a few GROWN FUCKING MEN are complaining about someone calling Obama "B.O. Hussein." Give me a goddamn break.

 

You're not comparing two similar cases here. We know what Snuff believes. When he says something sarcastic, it's regarded as such.

 

Grow a set? Yeah, I really need to grow a pair of balls because I'm defending myself. Okay. I didn't complain, I didn't send any PMs, but I'm just pointing out the mistake. K? K.

[Guest]

So, you were the one complaining? Yeah, you do need to grow a set. I don't think you need to grow a set for defending yourself, but rather for complaining in the first place. It's just a messageboard. If you get offended so easily, the internet probably isn't for you.

 

And I can't believe that a GROWN FUCKING WOMAN hasn't realized that "B.O. Hussein" isn't funny when you write it 150 times a day!

Fair nuff, but I think it's pretty funny that everyone's complaining about it. You don't like it, get over it.

 

You're not comparing two similar cases here. We know what Snuff believes. When he says something sarcastic, it's regarded as such.

Marney has posted on these boards forever. We know what she believes too. Why does anyone want Marney banned for some dumb shit like that anyway? You can always complain when she starts talking about "niggers." You know it'll happen.

 

Well, you made an edit. Hold on. Yeah, whoever complained, shut the fuck up. The board needs to get away from the totalitarian mindset that you need to conform or get banned on sight. That's been the problem here for far too long. Sorry for getting all worked up, I just think it's pretty damn dumb for people to be complaining about banning someone just because they don't like what someone else has to say. Different opinions should be welcome. I'm guilty of criticizing people about that and doing my worst to get them banned, but really, that wasn't fair at all. At all. It's quite another thing if Marney starts up with that racist, bigot shit that I read all the time at the Pit. Things like that don't have a place being said AT ALL, much less here.

[Guest]

I don't even know why I'm defending Marney here. I can't fucking stand her.

[Guest (Loggins Name)]

It's that whole Voltaire defend-your-right-to-say-it thing. I think we should adopt a Cabaret Voltaire axiom from here on out, like "why kill time when you can kill yourself" or something. I hope gary floyd makes it to this thread now.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Marney's lame name for Obama is not a bannable offense. CE has always had relaxed rules because of the volatile nature of the discussions. We have our eyes on the situation and if Marney steps over the line we will deal with it.