LOL I'm not a "groupie."

I find the people to be very nice and NORMAL. I just love to meet people in general, and I'm telling you, you won't meet a nicer, more intelligent group of people than those on this board. That's why I "stay." Most of the people here are really cool.....

I thought Fastpat did own a Porsche....

I just don't pay attention to Mul anymore (takes care of that) and Fastpat just posts opposing opinions that people don't seem to like and they get all mad at this opposing opinion for some odd reason......then someone will start getting personal on him....I don't usually see him starting the personal stuff...

Actually Fastpat does own a Porsche, and has posted on the 911 tech forum.

what would you say you do here?

My 'panties are in a bunch' over a frustrating ajax problem I am having.

I've been saving up for this thread, though, for a long ass time.

Bryan, lesson I've learned....you can't change people's actions, you can only change your reaction to them.......

In other words, don't sweat the small stuff.

We love Wayne, I'm happy he allows me to visit his house, and any business I can bring his way will be sent to him....

Patsy aside...back up your allegation bryan...It is obvious that I go out of my way to not get personal. I attack ideology not individual...Substantiate yourself.

k, thanks for the correction, and apologies to fastpaste. SmileWavy

Don't ya hate it when people start calling for a thread to close when it doesn't go in the direction they like?

Or start posting remarks somehow implying the "wrong people" are posting...so the thread is useless....

Too bad we are not as intellectual as they are...

Sorta sounds like policy from China or the, now defunct, Soviet Union.

While I realize that a private BBS owner can allow or disallow whatever he pleases on a site...I cannot imagine that Wayne ever intended that of-topic turn into a liberal blog.

Panties in a bunch and on PMS obviously. Your reaction, albeit in line with the Mulholland haters/Bush haters on board, is as hysterical as a woman.

An unfocused discussion aka lament won't accomplish anything. It is like discussing world peace. Everybody agrees on nothing.

Seems to me there are five basic options (I'm sure I'm overlooking others).

1. Status quo. The OT forum goes whereever it's going to go, if you don't like all the pissing and insulting then leave, those who like it will continue on.

2. Top-down rules system. Forum owner/moderators state what sort of conduct, language, attitude, etc will and won't be permitted and get active about deleting posts, closing threads, and banning users.

3. Bottom-up feedback system. Forum members get to blackball other forum members who they consider to be trolls. If you get blackballed by enough other members, you're warned, suspended, and eventually deleted.

4. Walling Off. A separate forum for anything political, social, religious, or cultural.

5. Group Ban. No discussion of any political, cultural, social, religious, or current-events issues whatosoever. Only titty pics and pet threads.

Perhaps we could discuss the subject in the context of these options (and any others that I've overlooked). Which do you think is best? Why?

Personally, I'm happy with either #2 or #3.

For #2, there's other forums that run this way, I suspect it means more work for the mods at first but then people figure out the rules and the ones that continue to require lots of mod time are deleted.

For #3, it would depend on whether there is enabling software within or separate from vBulletin. Experimentation would be necessary to figure out what level of blackballing leads to what result (blackballed by only a few OT posters shouldn't get you banned, but it shouldn't take 100 either) and if you want to let everyone cast blackballs (or only those with a minimum number of posts, etc).

#4 or #5 would be sad, IMO. There are a lot of smart, articulate people here with whom I like hearing from and discussing current events. Many of those are people whose views are 100% different from mine. I've actually found my views changed by some of them, usually not 180-degrees but more subtly. (Yes, fint, you've actually influenced my views on some things.) Plus then where would the real estate bears gather?

#1 is not ideal but better than #4 or #5, IMO. But we might think differently as the mid-term elections heat up, and Heaven help us in 2008.

The crazy thing is that I agree with most of your ideology. :eek:

you don't think that's a personal attack?

So, what is it. I'm calling you on it. Are you just a troll who just loves to bait people and get a reaction or do you really believe everything you say, and you honestly think that you don't personally attack/insult people?

Mul receives continual personal attack, but rarely, if ever, engages in them himself. The most conservative poster here always is a target for such...regardless of what they drive or who they are. If Mul were gone, they would just go back to spending even more time trashing me or Nathan's Dad or you Bryan. They cannot win with ideas....so they must resort to the personal attack.

I don't think it's an issue of "going in the direction they don't like", I think it's an issue of the exact thing that the original post was talking about is happening in the subsequent posts.

This thread isn't about political idealogy, it's about people's behavior.

I would call it self defense.

Fint, he ALWAYS engages and starts them with me. That's why I don't even respond to him anymore. It's silly.

Fact...Bryan has been drinking the cool-aid on this one.

So once they post their opinion, those with different views should just STFU? Clearly they had no problem with the thread...and thought it a great idea as long as posters agreed with their posts.

No,from where I'm sitting, I think their position is those with different views should share the views, and not attack posters. That's their point.....

It is a response to false accusations and hysterical nonsensical slander...in this case it was bryan who flung the insult and I softened the reply but pushed back in the reaction.

If you will point me to a thread where you have not first attacked him...where he posts something along the line of "Cool Chick...you are a moron" I will have to agree....but I don't believe that is the case.

If he says "IT professionals are fools" or "liberals are closet homosexuals"...that is really no different than attacking the military (my profession) or religion (Mul's thing) as many folks tend to do..