closure on off topic, and objectivity in moderators.

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Originally Posted by Stigmata

As a new member, I'm shocked at the blatant bias and rough treatment by moderators of senior members. Shouldn't the moderators be neutral, and just moderate? Or does the moderators' bias reflect uppper management's thinking? Is there a place for "off topic" discussion here at all? Perhaps the moderators should be prohibited from participating in the discussions alltogether, and avoid a conflict of interest entirely?

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1) "senior member can just mean someone who posts too much. any person can become a senior member within a couple days of constant posting.
2) When a topic becomes "too hot" and many posts are being added every day we can risk going over any monthly data transfer limits the account may have
3) since #2 directly costs the owner of this board in physical dollars as he's the one who pays the bills for all this, it's just simple courtesy to avoid that
4) In the event that a topic is closed, etc. for reasons other than bandwidth, etc. The Administrators and moderators usually only do this because they feel it could cause trouble to allow the topic to continue.
5) Some people like it rough :p.
6) Moderators are people too.
7) We all probably need to be put in check at some time or another.

Glen F

while we are kind of on the topic of the 2nd amendment thread, I would like to apoligize for any post I made on such a heated topic. I made a couple of post when it started and never got back to reading it, and didnt realize until today how heated of a topic it became. So in that, I would like to do the gentlemen thing to do, and aplogize for anything that I might have said.

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Originally Posted by celticstone

while we are kind of on the topic of the 2nd amendment thread, I would like to apoligize for any post I made on such a heated topic. I made a couple of post when it started and never got back to reading it, and didnt realize until today how heated of a topic it became. So in that, I would like to do the gentlemen thing to do, and aplogize for anything that I might have said.

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To be honest, I can't remember what anybody said..... :)
No interest in going back and finding out either.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and many
many wonderful shaves.


Terry

I like to live by the following rules when using Internet forums:

1. There is no promise of, nor right to, free speech in an online forum. Anyone who is not the owner of the site, whether a registered member or moderator, is a guest and is subject to the rules set up by the site's owner. Those who are looking for a venue for free speech should start a forum of their own.

2. If you aren't sure whether what you're about to post will be regarded as offensive, inappropriate, mean-spirited, racist, sexist, or whatever, then assume it will be. Don't post it.

3. If you want to fool around, that's fine. But balance it by contributing something useful.

4. Don't log on just to pick a fight. Spend some time in the real world. Cool off. Similarly, don't waste anyone's time by trolling. :hmmm:

5. Deal with any issues you may have with a fellow member privately, one-on-one. Work toward resolution.

This is a great resource and a fine site.

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Originally Posted by Ben

I like to live by the following rules when using Internet forums:

1. There is no promise of, nor right to, free speech in an online forum. Anyone who is not the owner of the site, whether a registered member or moderator, is a guest and is subject to the rules set up by the site's owner. Those who are looking for a venue for free speech should start a forum of their own.

2. If you aren't sure whether what you're about to post will be regarded as offensive, inappropriate, mean-spirited, racist, sexist, or whatever, then assume it will be. Don't post it.

3. If you want to fool around, that's fine. But balance it by contributing something useful.

4. Don't log on just to pick a fight. Spend some time in the real world. Cool off. Similarly, don't waste anyone's time by trolling. :hmmm:

5. Deal with any issues you may have with a fellow member privately, one-on-one. Work toward resolution.

This is a great resource and a fine site.

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Well said, I couldn't agree more.

Ant

Wow, first off: kudos to all the more-senior members than me who have been so kind to Stigmata. Stig, your posts on this forum have been the equivalent of inroducing yourself to your neighbors and then pissing in their swimming pool. That's just not nice. Repeatedly posting to "boycott" Lynn and the other extremely knowledgeable members of this site is really not in good taste. These guys could probably find better things to do than help noobs like you and me learn how to shave with a straight, but they don't. They help us because they really care about the craft and because they're nice, decent people.

This community actually reminds me more of a barbershop like the movie "Barbershop." It shouldn't be a problem to talk about any hot-button issue in the off topic area, as we're all adults, and hopefully adults can maintain their decorum -- especially while debating, since attacking the other person instead of the other idea is pretty much the same as just acknowledging your loss. That said, despite my strong feelings on the 2nd amendment (and most of the constitution in general), I stayed out of that thread because by the time I read it it was unsalvageable.

My opinion on the actual topic is that that they are moderators, not referees. This isn't debate class, it's a place for adults to come and talk about a hobby / art / religion (depending on how you look at it, I guess): straight razor shaving. Noone here is getting paid a wage, so they have the same rights as anyone else when it comes to using the forums. They should be able to do whatever a normal person does, and if they exhibit favoritism or abuse their powers, they should be reprimanded or returned to the plebes.

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Originally Posted by TomlinAS

This community actually reminds me more of a barbershop like the movie "Barbershop."

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"Is this a barber shop? Is this a barbershop? If we can't talk straight in a barbershop, where can we talk straight?" - Cedric the Entertainer :D

Sorry, you just made me think of that.

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Originally Posted by TomlinAS

This community actually reminds me more of a barbershop like the movie "Barbershop."

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That's a great little flic. Thanks for reminding me of it.

X

I remember when that Second Amendment topic was posted. I was probably one of the first to read the author's initial thoughts, but I chose not to participate in the thread early on because, as garbled as the starting post was, I could sense that even if a discussion got going, it would quickly deteriorate. And now that I've taken a few minutes to read the thread (or what's been left by censors, at least), I can see that's exactly what happened. Discussions about such deep-seated beliefs never go anywhere and I find them very tiring.

That said, I see no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to take place -- regardless of how heated the discussion gets. Throughout this "Objectivity" thread I've noticed that some people seem to think this community should be a familial haunt, where we can all talk like "gentleman" about gentlemanly things, like smoking cigars, drinking scotch, shooting guns, shaving, and waxing our moustaches. And I think those things are all well and good, but when a normal religious/political debate (age-old topics gentleman are known to discuss) arises, it shouldn't have to be broken up like a high school kegger.

Of all the people in that thread, I think Joe Lerch made the most sense (though I've learned that much of his inappropriate comments have also been edited out. Shame on Joe Lerch...Shame...) His (leftover) arguments were logical and, from what I saw (keeping in mind that what's left of that thread seems to be a watered-down version of what it was, seeing as how two members high-tailed it out of here and I think the current thread is too tame to warrant such a reaction), didn't cross the line. I also read that urleebird flew the coop, and yet he doesn't have a post in that thread. I also heard that he had been editing his posts, so...

Anyway, I clearly I got here too late. I wish I could have been here to watch it all unfold, but even though I wasn't, I'm going to conclude that everyone is overreacting.

Urleebird had probably the most posts in that thread. But he's edited out almost everything he posted on the forum.

Both sides (all sides?) in that argument made a lot of sense. The thing is though that they were not trying to make their point understood. They were trying to make the other party believe what they themselves believed.

As far as I see it does no harm to put the things you believe out there and clarify them when someone else asks questions about them. Just as long as you're not trying to convince them of your opinion.