This forum is now invite only

[Eric]

If you can see this you are either staff or have been added/invited. This will now be more exclusive and any future additions beyond those we're adding automatically will need to be discussed by staff first.

If you have been added and don't want to be here, just let us know and we'll pull you.

 

[Clix Pix]

Probably a dumb question, but by "forum" do you mean TA as a whole or specifically the "News & Current Events" area? (I'm guessing the latter, but just want to make sure.)

 

[Eric]

Probably a dumb question, but by "forum" do you mean TA as a whole or specifically the "News & Current Events" area? (I'm guessing the latter, but just want to make sure.)

Actually, good question that I should've made clear. Just this news forum only.

 

[Herdfan]

Thank you. I hope we can all be good stewards of this.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[rdrr]

Thank you. I hope we can all be good stewards of this.

Lets see how long we last at it... I'd say the over and under is 2 days (from now) before you either say something bombastic or I reply with a knee jerk reaction.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Has anybody notified Trump he can start posting here again?

 

[Eric]

Has anybody notified Trump he can start posting here again?

After careful consideration we have decided to reinstate his account.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

After careful consideration we have decided to reinstate his account.

Good call. This place was seriously lacking truth, patriotic tchotchke promotion, and litigation threats.

 

[Renzatic]

I'M ONE OF THE SPECIAL PEOPLE! \o/

 

[rdrr]

I'M ONE OF THE SPECIAL PEOPLE! \o/

One of us! One of us! One of us!

 

[Eric]

I'M ONE OF THE SPECIAL PEOPLE! \o/

One of us! One of us! One of us!

Oh he's special alright.

 

[lizkat]

Wow, thanks @Eric... February is looking up already.

 

[AG_PhamD]

I’m glad a solution has been found here. Understandably politics is an extremely tricky to moderate these days. I would say the alternate option if people are unable to have civil discourse is just to kick them off.

Relatively recently I had a minor single outburst at another member due to repeated misrepresentations of my comments, repeated bad faith and disingenuous arguments, etc… culminating in a post that ignored my sentiments entirely and and stated I took some sort of pleasure in the mass murder of others… which I find incredibly insulting considering I’ve devoted a career to healthcare dealing with one of the most marginalized populations (and frankly libelous) and have continuously advocated for a diverse array of solutions to prevent the issues at hand. I chose not to respond to him after that pertaining to that thread (and had previously avoided engaging with him).

I have no idea if this incident was related to the changes on the PRSI section here, but for the record I never made a complaint to Eric or any other powers at be. I think hearing a variety of opinions is important. I have never blocked anyone, though this person’s disingenuous behavior made me strongly consider it… but I instead opted not to engage with this person any further.

I think there is a false assumption some people have that if you hold one opinion in line with one political party, you must hold all their opinions… or that you if share the same opinion on policy, it’s for the same reasons.

I think where many people read me wrong is that because I don’t for example complain enough about Trump, I must be a secret supporter of his. The truth is I don’t feel the need to repeat comments that have ever already been made 10000 times before. And I assure you, I wouldn’t waste my time pretending to promote views if I didn’t believe them- that’s been another accusation. I’d rather talk about things where my views differ rather than ubiquitous sentiments here. I try not to look at things in a black and white manner and to think outside the partisan boxes politicians and media love to create. All to often people on the left thing I’m on the right, and visa versa. The reality is I’m a moderate like the much of the country (which people often forget).

Anyways, I think the overwhelming majority of us are completely able to have polite, civilized, well-intended discussions. I have the upmost respect for others opinions and strive to understand them and where they come from. That is why I enjoy these discussions, even if we don’t always agree.

 

[Eric]

I’m glad a solution has been found here. Understandably politics is an extremely tricky to moderate these days. I would say the alternate option if people are unable to have civil discourse is just to kick them off.

Relatively recently I had a minor single outburst at another member due to repeated misrepresentations of my comments, repeated bad faith and disingenuous arguments, etc… culminating in a post that ignored my sentiments entirely and and stated I took some sort of pleasure in the mass murder of others… which I find incredibly insulting considering I’ve devoted a career to healthcare dealing with one of the most marginalized populations (and frankly libelous) and have continuously advocated for a diverse array of solutions to prevent the issues at hand. I chose not to respond to him after that pertaining to that thread (and had previously avoided engaging with him).

There were a couple of problem users that will not be allowed into this section. This has been an ongoing issue since we've started this site and their removal is the biggest stipulation in my reopening it.

I have no idea if this incident was related to the changes on the PRSI section here, but for the record I never made a complaint to Eric or any other powers at be. I think hearing a variety of opinions is important. I have never blocked anyone, though this person’s disingenuous behavior made me strongly consider it… but I instead opted not to engage with this person any further.

I think there is a false assumption some people have that if you hold one opinion in line with one political party, you must hold all their opinions… or that you if share the same opinion on policy, it’s for the same reasons.

I think where many people read me wrong is that because I don’t for example complain enough about Trump, I must be a secret supporter of his. The truth is I don’t feel the need to repeat comments that have ever already been made 10000 times before. And I assure you, I wouldn’t waste my time pretending to promote views if I didn’t believe them- that’s been another accusation. I’d rather talk about things where my views differ rather than ubiquitous sentiments here. I try not to look at things in a black and white manner and to think outside the partisan boxes politicians and media love to create. All to often people on the left thing I’m on the right, and visa versa. The reality is I’m a moderate like the much of the country (which people often forget).

Anyways, I think the overwhelming majority of us are completely able to have polite, civilized, well-intended discussions. I have the upmost respect for others opinions and strive to understand other people’s. That is why I enjoy these discussions, even if we don’t always agree.

No, you haven't and there are others here who took it without complaining as well. IMO it just makes the place unpleasant. Kudos to you all for putting up with it but we don't want you to have to anymore.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I’m glad a solution has been found here. Understandably politics is an extremely tricky to moderate these days. I would say the alternate option if people are unable to have civil discourse is just to kick them off.

Relatively recently I had a minor single outburst at another member due to repeated misrepresentations of my comments, repeated bad faith and disingenuous arguments, etc… culminating in a post that ignored my sentiments entirely and and stated I took some sort of pleasure in the mass murder of others… which I find incredibly insulting considering I’ve devoted a career to healthcare dealing with one of the most marginalized populations (and frankly libelous) and have continuously advocated for a diverse array of solutions to prevent the issues at hand. I chose not to respond to him after that pertaining to that thread (and had previously avoided engaging with him).

I have no idea if this incident was related to the changes on the PRSI section here, but for the record I never made a complaint to Eric or any other powers at be. I think hearing a variety of opinions is important. I have never blocked anyone, though this person’s disingenuous behavior made me strongly consider it… but I instead opted not to engage with this person any further.

I think there is a false assumption some people have that if you hold one opinion in line with one political party, you must hold all their opinions… or that you if share the same opinion on policy, it’s for the same reasons.

I think where many people read me wrong is that because I don’t for example complain enough about Trump, I must be a secret supporter of his. The truth is I don’t feel the need to repeat comments that have ever already been made 10000 times before. And I assure you, I wouldn’t waste my time pretending to promote views if I didn’t believe them- that’s been another accusation. I’d rather talk about things where my views differ rather than ubiquitous sentiments here. I try not to look at things in a black and white manner and to think outside the partisan boxes politicians and media love to create. All to often people on the left thing I’m on the right, and visa versa. The reality is I’m a moderate like the much of the country (which people often forget).

Anyways, I think the overwhelming majority of us are completely able to have polite, civilized, well-intended discussions. I have the upmost respect for others opinions and strive to understand them and where they come from. That is why I enjoy these discussions, even if we don’t always agree.

On occasion I’ve been accused of being a Republican. For some people, criticizing Democrats in any detail beyond “not perfect” makes you a right wing nutter. But I’ve been putting some effort into understanding conservative beliefs as not all coming from a cauldron of fear, hate, and racism. I think a main key difference is that even when we agree on the cause people on the right tend to lean towards personal economic preservation and people on the left tend to lean towards a rising tide lifts all ships.

 

[Eric]

On occasion I’ve been accused of being a Republican. For some people, criticizing Democrats in any detail beyond “not perfect” makes you a right wing nutter. But I’ve been putting some effort into understanding conservative beliefs as not all coming from a cauldron of fear, hate, and racism. I think a main key difference is that even when we agree on the cause people on the right tend to lean towards personal economic preservation and people on the left tend to lean towards a rising tide lifts all ships.

But with most of us it's a disagreement on an idea and that's what we challenge, not attacking the actual person so much and that's what I take issue with the most. An example would be there is nobody I disagree with politically on this site more than Herdfan, but there is also nobody I would rather have a beer with more. As long as we can keep the debate civil I'm all for it no matter what one's position is.

 

[AG_PhamD]

There were a couple of problem users that will not be allowed into this section. This has been an ongoing issue since we've started this site and their removal is the biggest stipulation in my reopening it.


No, you haven't and there are others here who took it without complaining as well. IMO it just makes the place unpleasant. Kudos to you all for putting up with it but we don't want you to have to anymore.

I empathize with the challenge that you must face addressing such issues political in nature, especially if you are receiving complaints (not sure if that is the case). Many of us are here because of MR’s overzealous moderation or their closing of PRSI, or some combination of both. So I appreciate your commitment to at least try solutions to see where they go regarding the PRSI section here and your exercising of restraint from excessive moderation, intervening only when absolutely necessary.

It’s understandable people will have differing opinions and people can become emotional at times and not use the best judgement or maintain a composure of respect. Undoubtably some of the topics discussed are rather traumatic and/or relate to issues with profound implications. It’s also should not be surprising that people’s unrelated personal issues get unconsciously projected into discussions (like how one’s anger at their boss might be displaced onto one’s spouse).

But if there’s ever a place to have thoughtfully considered interactions, an online forum should be place- despite this rarely being the case on the internet. We all have the ability to type, re-read, sit-on, edit, and delete our messages unlike real world conversation. Understandable emotions and tempers flare from time to time, but at some point there really should be no excuse.

I suppose the fundamental issue is that the internet in many cases is very dehumanizing. People say things and talk in tones online they’d never express to someone else’s face in real life. I suspect most of us are all guilty of this, myself included. I think the decision to create a new introduction thread is a great effort to try to humanize others here. I will be posting at some point, I hope others do the same.

 

[lizkat]

I suppose the fundamental issue is that the internet in many cases is very dehumanizing. People say things and talk in tones online they’d never express to someone else’s face in real life. I suspect most of us are all guilty of this, myself included.

This. From the get-go in my childhood sitting at my grandparents' dining table, "news and politics" discussions were the usual order of the day as the meal progressed towards coffee and dessert. Kids could participate if they had something to say, and my granddad was who decided that, same as when we'd be roughhousing in the living room or sunporch and get out of hand and he'd suddenly rattle his paper and say "That'll DO now." It was a warning and if disregarded, somehow the next step was up to bed early. At the dinner table though it was more about knowing to have read the newspaper and then ask questions if people said something at table that didn't sound like same as the newspaper article, etc. Who got to "moderate" that was sometimes my grandmother... her version of "That'll DO now" ran more to "Well we can talk about that later, please pass your grandfather the biscuits."

In real life the site owner is the host or hostess... the mom and pop... and so the idea of dropping an f-bomb in the living room to shock Aunt Ella might be tempting, but you just know not to do it. Everything in the ambience says DON'T GO THERE.

On the net though, it can just become too easy eventually to let it fly anyway, especially if the situation becomes the equivalent of having the same argument over the same toy truck with the same sibling as last week. There are some threads I've stayed out of because I've already said what I think while still capable of remaining civil. Most of the time I don't feel like finding out where's my own limit lol and for sure you all don't want to find out.

 

[rdrr]

This. From the get-go in my childhood sitting at my grandparents' dining table, "news and politics" discussions were the usual order of the day as the meal progressed towards coffee and dessert. Kids could participate if they had something to say, and my granddad was who decided that, same as when we'd be roughhousing in the living room or sunporch and get out of hand and he'd suddenly rattle his paper and say "That'll DO now." It was a warning and if disregarded, somehow the next step was up to bed early. At the dinner table though it was more about knowing to have read the newspaper and then ask questions if people said something at table that didn't sound like same as the newspaper article, etc. Who got to "moderate" that was sometimes my grandmother... her version of "That'll DO now" ran more to "Well we can talk about that later, please pass your grandfather the biscuits."

In real life the site owner is the host or hostess... the mom and pop... and so the idea of dropping an f-bomb in the living room to shock Aunt Ella might be tempting, but you just know not to do it. Everything in the ambience says DON'T GO THERE.

On the net though, it can just become too easy eventually to let it fly anyway, especially if the situation becomes the equivalent of having the same argument over the same toy truck with the same sibling as last week. There are some threads I've stayed out of because I've already said what I think while still capable of remaining civil. Most of the time I don't feel like finding out where's my own limit lol and for sure you all don't want to find out.

That probably sums it up the best way anyone could. With this reboot, I am trying to make a concerted effort not to get triggered (yes I said it) by some of the responses that have happened in the past. I think where I get wrapped around the axel on dehumanizing aspect of the internet, is the lack of empathy on both parties. I know I felt that the responder doesn't seem to account for it, as much as I do not on my quick, less thought out, snarky replies.