Thread: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Too bad it has to go that far, but justified if behavior is not corrected after being warned.

And also, people that equate social programs with communism, should save themselves the embarrassment of having these debates.

It is indeed true that it is not always possible to be perfectly even handed, and if I have been annoyed a couple of times already, then the next one to step over the line has a higher chance of getting a temp ban.

However, I have temp banned lefties as well as righties. Probably more of the latter, for the simple fact that the right / conservatives outnumber the left / prrogessives / liberals about 4 to 1 as a rought guess.
So I don't think I deserve the accusation of political bias.

I also try to be as mild as possible. Usually a temp ban is only 3 days. I this case it was more. I had silently deleted the offending post an sent a PM to the poster, asking him not to do so because it was an unwarranted accusation. He then replied that he felt my action was unwarranted and a violation of his freedom of speech. He then posted his comment again with an added provocation.

I was not going to let that slide, but even despite that the temp ban was until the end of this month. Yet then he signed up with another account to spam the forum with complaints.

I am not an unreasonable mod, or so I think. I have banned several members (some for longer than a month) who are now on my friends list. I have banned 2 other members who became mods afterwards with my full support. I have had many people PM me after being banned that they understood they left me no choice and thanking me for only banning them for the time I chose and not permanently.

So all in all I think I am not unreasonable, and I am perfectly willing to give people a second chance and assume people made an onest mistake. However, I will not stand for crap talk and provocation. There are thousands of you and only a handful of us. If we can't get along like mature people, then I have very little patience.

I have read everything pertaining to this situation - including the thread "In the Spirit of Barck" (which is key here) and I must say that DistortedPenguin's post:

“Be careful what you say or someone may accuse you of spreading anti-Obama Rhetoric.”

had nothing to do with you specifically or any moderator. DistortedPenguin had been accused as stated in his quote in a previous thread and this was merely a reference to that.

Saying that this quote was a reference to the way you moderate is merely an assumption and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the situation. Not that my opinion matters, but I would request that moderators more thoroughly investigate and take the time to UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION AND THE CONTEXT before deciding to cut someone like that.

that was what he posted the second time after he complained that he had been moderated. And had he posted that the first time, he he wouldn't have been moderated. I did not misunderstand it at all.

The first time he posted the quote I posted above. I reacted to that one because it pointed the finger at the mod team.

His second post was first a complaint about being moderated, followed by the part that you included, making it appear as if that was what he moderated for. It wasn't. that part was fine. Him whining about freedom of speech and claiming lying about what he was modded for. That was why I temp banned him.

As for doing a more thorough job: I spend more than 2 hours per day here, with nearly half my posts being site discussion or administrative discussion. Perhaps it is not too much to ask to also consider our point of view? This could have ended in any number of ways. He could have started his post with 'There was a misunderstanding with my previous post, I meant...' or 'My last post was deleted. without repeating it my point was that ...' or he could have done any number of different things and it would have ended there. But he didn't.

It's easy enough for you or anyone to complain and cry foul. Yet you are not the one working for hours, day after day to keep this site and this community alive.

It is simple, if you've been asked not to do that and you choose to come back and do it again then you should be banned. I run a couple of these forum thingies myself and I tell everyone - you get one warning, this is my forum. My rules or GTFO. If you don't like it go start your own.

He didn't listen when warned so he was shown the door.

I may be biased because I shell out my own money to run a few of these but I don't care.

Originally Posted by Bruno

I matched the IP address to distortedpinguin , so the temp ban is now a permanent one.

If he has a dynamic IP address, a simple modem powercycle will usually (and probably) pull a new IP address. Then it's just a matter of creating a new SRP account. Then he could come back and annoy us all with his TERRIBLE anti-Obama rhetoric. Please save us!

Originally Posted by JMS

To answer the question, it starts and ends where the owner says it does.

The -only- reason I don't mind doing this work is that the owner and I are on the same wavelength. We think of SRP as a gentlemen's club. We welcome the diversity of opinions and allow people to discuss what they want, but always in a polite manner. Just because this is the internet does not mean that we appreciate rants, rude behavior or arguments designed to cause problems for us.

Originally Posted by tabre

Then he could come back and annoy us all with his TERRIBLE anti-Obama rhetoric. Please save us!

I would suggest you take a short break from posting and reread everything posted so far. It appears that you don't quite understand what is being said.

Incidentally the barrier to this section can be made even higher, it may help new members concentrate on presumably their main reason to be on this forum. Apparently not everybody can handle the responsibility of being adult.

Originally Posted by Bruno

It's easy enough for you or anyone to complain and cry foul. Yet you are not the one working for hours, day after day to keep this site and this community alive.

We appreciate it. Sincerely. It is good to have a cool free place to come and discuss various topic. But something about this just didn't seem right and so I could not remain quiet. Let me just say that freedom of speech still does exist here. I can say whatever I want right now and post it to this thread. NO cops or government officials will come to my door demanding my arrest. That's my freedom. If you choose to ban me for it, then that is your freedom. If we choose to, in turn, see you as a tyrant, that is our freedom. Freedoms can only be restricted by law - not by anything you or any moderator on any forum on the internet does.

Originally Posted by tabre

If he has a dynamic IP address, a simple modem powercycle will usually (and probably) pull a new IP address. Then it's just a matter of creating a new SRP account. Then he could come back and annoy us all with his TERRIBLE anti-Obama rhetoric. Please save us!

Knock it off.