So I log on today and, not unsurprisingly, the Trump thread has been locked. But surprisingly, the only nasty comment came from NE2 (which in itself was not surprising, but up until that point and beyond it, the discussion had been civil and pretty high-level, focusing on issues and not personalities.)
In that thread, one moderator had posted a purple note requesting civility, and at least one other moderator posted his own personal opinion. It wasn't until well into the thread that a moderator closed it down.
This once again raises questions about the moderation process and policy. Why is it that two mods had posted before a third mod shut it down? Why didn't the third mod let it continue since two other mods had apparently blessed the thread with their postings in it?
That's why I've always been skeptical of the moderation process (not specifically here, but in moderated forums in general). Was this the sole decision of the mod who shut it down? Was it some sort of group decision? If so, what was the vote among the mods and who voted how?
Of course, it often seems that even a call for transparency in moderation can often be controversial. No doubt this one will be too. But I again raise the question in hopes of shining some light on the process.
Scott is an Admin, so I would assume that would "trump" (pun not intended but hey why not?) the moderation process? Really that thread was on dangerously thin ice from the start. Alex spells out the stance of political discussion in the Welcome Board:
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=992.0
I know on the Pacific Southwest politics have come up many times, but they have related directly to transportation measures. There was a big back and forth with funding ideas for Caltrans that had a point of origin of a specific user talking about a usage tax. I don't recall any conversation being shut down for those reasons, so long as it stayed kind of in the sphere of transportation measures. Wasn't there a thread about Trump Administration Transportation Secretary that is still alive somewhere on the forum?
If all it takes is one nasty comment to lock down a thread, all I can say is that this is a "sensitive" site. Some are like that! Others are not. I have seen free for all forums hang in there and stay active as well.
AARoads Forum, however it is moderated, still has a great value to me though. After all, I do love roads! Maybe we need a Mad Max subforum where it's anything goes...LOL!
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on January 14, 2017, 02:51:28 PM
If all it takes is one nasty comment to lock down a thread, all I can say is that this is a "sensitive" site. Some are like that! Others are not. I have seen free for all forums hang in there and stay active as well.
AARoads Forum, however it is moderated, still has a great value to me though. After all, I do love roads! Maybe we need a Mad Max subforum where it's anything goes...LOL!
Rick
AAfuryroads or Fictional Thunderdome? Two fake highways enter, one fake highway leaves?
Quote from: hbelkins on January 14, 2017, 02:17:58 PMThis once again raises questions about the moderation process and policy. Why is it that two mods had posted before a third mod shut it down? Why didn't the third mod let it continue since two other mods had apparently blessed the thread with their postings in it?
That's why I've always been skeptical of the moderation process (not specifically here, but in moderated forums in general). Was this the sole decision of the mod who shut it down? Was it some sort of group decision? If so, what was the vote among the mods and who voted how?
Of course, it often seems that even a call for transparency in moderation can often be controversial. No doubt this one will be too. But I again raise the question in hopes of shining some light on the process.
In British administrative law there is a concept called "Wednesbury reasonableness": a particular exercise of a discretionary power (such as a decision to grant a cinema license (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Provincial_Picture_Houses_Ltd_v_Wednesbury_Corp), or to lock a thread on a Web forum) should not be disallowed unless it is (1) discriminatory, or (2) so outrageous that no sensible person would have arrived at it. It is closely related to the "arbitrary and capricious" standard in American administrative law, which is the criterion judges apply when they throw out actions taken under administrative discretion.
As I see it, Scott's decision to lock the thread was Wednesbury reasonable, and neither arbitrary nor capricious. I would not necessarily have made the same decision if I were in his shoes. (In the past, as manager of a different forum, I
was in his shoes and generally preferred a more progressive approach for long-running threads, where I would lock a thread for a fixed period of time if it showed signs of overheating, and lock it permanently if it overheated again after one or more of these cooling-off periods. One time I locked a thread of more than 700 posts and said it would remain permanently locked until someone presented a convincing case that flamewars would not resume if it were unlocked. No-one approached me to present such an argument.) However, I could see the thread was starting to get out of control. People were starting to make politely worded but very long posts showing very different "reads" of the same sets of political issues, with disturbing hints of working from divergent sets of "facts" (or, more precisely, received understandings of current events). Sooner or later someone would have given in to the temptation to "take the other side to school" and then we would have been off to the races.
I don't see any reason the participation of other moderators in the same thread should have affected Scott's decision to lock it. Most Web forums that have multiple moderators have to operate on at least an implicit understanding of collegiality and collective responsibility in order to avoid the disruption that occurs when moderators duel. This means that when one moderator decides to lock a thread, the other moderators honor it, and it is left to higher authority (such as a lead moderator) to intervene if the moderator's action seems motivated by personal spite or some other inappropriate reason.
I'm surprised the thread was allowed as long as it was. Normally political threads seem to be locked on sight.
I've had this thought rumbling around in my head for the last couple of days following the thread being locked.
I have had a tendency to moderate on behalf of the moderators, by reminding users of certain rules that I have been made aware of over time, mostly to ensure that a thread does not get locked. The thread in question was no exception; right off the bat, I had to remind Ghostbuster of the rules regarding political discussions. I have a feeling that my tendency to moderate, when it's not my responsibility, resulted in the thread being allowed to continue, just to spite me.
Of course, realistically, that's almost precisely what did not happen.
Quote from: US 41 on January 15, 2017, 08:14:20 PM
I also find it funny how it is against the forum rules to post about politics, but yet over in the chat room all they (including a few mods) want to talk about is politics. Like what's up with that?
I never got into the chat rooms. Neither here nor the old IRC chats. There was a Facebook chat going on once among a bunch of the roadgeeks and they added me to it, and I like to never have gotten myself extracted from it. I kept getting notifications and I was not the least bit interested in participating, even though for that particular chat for some reason I was the topic of discussion.
Chat is freewheeling. Chat is not the forum.
Quote from: vdeane on January 15, 2017, 07:15:38 PM
I'm surprised the thread was allowed as long as it was. Normally political threads seem to be locked on sight.
Sometimes "sight" takes awhile.
Quote from: Alps on January 15, 2017, 08:49:48 PM
Quote from: vdeane on January 15, 2017, 07:15:38 PM
I'm surprised the thread was allowed as long as it was. Normally political threads seem to be locked on sight.
Sometimes "sight" takes awhile.
That was part of my question. Two mods "sighted" and posted, apparently having no problem with its presence, before a third one closed it.
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
Quote from: US 41 on January 15, 2017, 08:14:20 PM
I do agree though there are a lot of inconsistencies on this forum with the moderating.
By its very nature, moderating is going to be subjective. There's always going to be those threads that are on thin ice but survive, and others that close up. Compared to other forums, this one is pretty good. They made it known in the beginning that politics should be a no-no, so any thread that even talks about politics (and has nothing to do with transportation) should just be considered a little bonus candy till it gets closed.
Really, the blame should be on the person who created the thread in the first place, or the person that threw politics into the discussion, as that forced the moderator's hands.
Any type of reffing or umpiring is like that. Millimeters are the different between a strike and a ball. Grabbing the jersey an inch either way is holding or not.
If a thread is locked, I don't take it personally. It was fun while it lasted.
I think we all knew it was destined to fail by the rules, though once the 1-or-2-sentence/image posts were removed, it was polite...I've had to mod threads (obviously, elsewhere) like that before, and you have to put your personal bias away and stick to the rules when doing so. The problem lies in that you get accused of using personal slant when you have to intervene. I suppose they know that some people are going spill their thoughts into every other thread, so consistently keeping to policy keeps the boat afloat. After all, there haven't been threads here allowing direct discussion of the Obama Administration, nor those prior to it, except those related to DOT or Federal spending, et al.
I don't think it was a purely personal decision; after all, there's a current thread about Trump's Transportation Secretary which is more relevant.
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
Let's flip that one around and see how you like it!
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 10:24:12 AM
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
Let's flip that one around and see how you like it!
Rick
Oh look, someone who thinks Trump is normal.
And let the countdown begin until yet another thread gets locked.
Moderation suggestion [if a variant of this policy doesn't already exist]: If you cause x number of threads to get locked (most of these seem to be obvious as to who the instigator was), you get banned.
Trump gets banned? Awesome.
Quote from: NE2 on January 16, 2017, 10:58:39 AM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 10:24:12 AM
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
Let's flip that one around and see how you like it!
Rick
Oh look, someone who thinks Trump is normal.
Normal is a setting on an iron.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi2.kym-cdn.com%2Fphotos%2Fimages%2Ffacebook%2F000%2F732%2F170%2F796.jpg&hash=d794ffe24f362932557c1c79db71a07310dd5bf5)
(Quick y'all! Let's turn this into Alanland 3.0 before it gets locked!)
Quote from: US71 on January 16, 2017, 12:18:47 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 16, 2017, 10:58:39 AM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 10:24:12 AM
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
Let's flip that one around and see how you like it!
Rick
Oh look, someone who thinks Trump is normal.
Normal is a setting on an iron.
It is also a town in Illinois!
Rick
Normal is also perpendicular to tangent.
Normal is still normal in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Combining the city with the mathematical concept, I-39 is normal to I-55 where they intersect in Normal. This must be intentional – almost parallel Business US 51 is a few degrees off.
I vote to ban everyone who ever starts this thread.
It seems to me that the solution is simply to ban political discussion except when it's clearly transportation-related. That solution worked well on another forum I used to frequent, and the moderators there implemented that rule because political garbage was causing too many hard feelings between people who had once been fairly friendly.
The thing I don't understand is why one member is routinely allowed to ignore a couple of clearly-stated forum rules. Obviously that's the moderators' prerogative, but I got put on the warning list for far less obnoxious conduct than NE2's routine behavior. I mean, really, did anyone really have any doubt that NE2 was going to post his usual profane crap when that thread started? The only question was how long it would take, and frankly I was surprised it took as long as it did.
(FWIW before you-know-who calls me a kook and tells me to fuck off as a Trump supporter, I didn't vote for either Trump or Clinton–I voted Libertarian. But I'm intelligent enough to recognize that the whole POINT of elections is that people are going to have different opinions.)
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 16, 2017, 08:56:01 PM
It seems to me that the solution is simply to ban political discussion except when it's clearly transportation-related. That solution worked well on another forum I used to frequent, and the moderators there implemented that rule because political garbage was causing too many hard feelings between people who had once been fairly friendly.
The thing I don't understand is why one member is routinely allowed to ignore a couple of clearly-stated forum rules. Obviously that's the moderators' prerogative, but I got put on the warning list for far less obnoxious conduct than NE2's routine behavior. I mean, really, did anyone really have any doubt that NE2 was going to post his usual profane crap when that thread started? The only question was how long it would take, and frankly I was surprised it took as long as it did.
(FWIW before you-know-who calls me a kook and tells me to fuck off as a Trump supporter, I didn't vote for either Trump or Clinton—I voted Libertarian. But I'm intelligent enough to recognize that the whole POINT of elections is that people are going to have different opinions.)
Yeah, NE2 must have lots of politically in tune friends here. Typical partisan behavior. Ignore your side's a-holes and rip the other side's. Goes with the territory including this one. But hey, if you all want to play rough, I'm up for some political football! Like I said earlier, set up a Mad Max forum and when a discussion gets heated, DO NOT CENSOR IT! Just move it to that forum where it's no holds barred and let 'er rip while freedom rings.
Snowflakes from the left or right who melt easily can simply avoid the forum. End of problem!
Hey mods, I have been doing this net thingie for 22 years and been on plenty of forums. Take my advice. I do have some experience in these matters, mmkay?
Rick
As a global mod at another forum I have to say that JN Winkler is spot on with his assessment of the situation above.
I would never openly overrule one of the other mods if they made the decision to close a thread it's closed, period.
The 2 site admins there would never do that to me, either. There have been threads that I have locked that they have posted in, and I never got any blow back from them on that decision.
I also agree that those who are calling for a separate subforum for no holds barred political discussion may be helpful. At my other forum we had a "no political discussion" rule too. It was getting violated in almost every thread-points and bans just weren't doing anything to curtail it either.
One of our site admins came up with the idea to add a subforum to allow just that, and it must be kept in there. We even took the added step where a member had to reach a certain level of standing before they could apply for the password to be allowed into that subforum. We also made it perfectly clear to the "snowflakes" that we weren't going to be sanctioning someone for merely hurting their feelings in that subforum like we would in the rest of the forum, so if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. It has worked beautifully, the rest of the forum is so much more pleasant now than it was in 2012-2013. I stay out of the subforum for the most part so I can't really speak to what goes on in there, but we don't have the fights we used to have in other threads (isn't funny how something as simple as a bad set of brake pads could blow up into being the President's fault!)
slorydn1's comment reminds me that the other forum I mentioned, on which political discussion is banned, did in fact create a "secret" no-holds-barred politics board, but they don't even publicize the link (hence why I forgot about it–I don't have the link and don't want it). Works pretty well for them, although sometimes the "no politics" can be a little draconian in that even routine jokes aren't allowed. But then, part of the reason for that last part is that certain people are unable to treat anything as a joke and will fly off into rants.
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 11:57:58 PM
Hey mods, I have been doing this net thingie for 22 years and been on plenty of forums. Take my advice. I do have some experience in these matters, mmkay?
Because someone's been playing on the internet for 22 years makes one an expert on how forums should work?
I remember using the internet when I started college in 1993, so I have nearly 24 years of internet expertise. Can I outrank you?
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
LOL I think that is what he was talking about :)
Quote from: NE2 on January 16, 2017, 10:58:39 AM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 10:24:12 AM
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
Let's flip that one around and see how you like it!
Rick
Oh look, someone who thinks Trump is normal.
Someone has some anger issues to work through.
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 11:57:58 PM
Hey mods, I have been doing this net thingie for 22 years and been on plenty of forums. Take my advice. I do have some experience in these matters, mmkay?
Because someone's been playing on the internet for 22 years makes one an expert on how forums should work?
I remember using the internet when I started college in 1993, so I have nearly 24 years of internet expertise. Can I outrank you?
[/quote]
Uh. yes to both...LOL!
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on January 17, 2017, 09:11:18 AM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 11:57:58 PM
Hey mods, I have been doing this net thingie for 22 years and been on plenty of forums. Take my advice. I do have some experience in these matters, mmkay?
Because someone's been playing on the internet for 22 years makes one an expert on how forums should work?
I remember using the internet when I started college in 1993, so I have nearly 24 years of internet expertise. Can I outrank you?
Uh. yes to both...LOL!
Rick
[/quote]
I had it back in September 1990 when Prodigy Online went national, even had a 9000k dial-up modem which was the hot $#!+ back in those days. That would certainly wouldn't qualify as internet expertise since it was my father's deal more so than mine. It would certainly qualify for internet OG status of the thread so far though with just over 26 years. :)
Some of the personal attacks here have hijacked what should be a serious discussion on moderation transparency.
And one mod has posted in this thread, and we still don't have any clarification.
Quote from: Alps on January 16, 2017, 07:52:03 PM
I vote to ban everyone who ever starts this thread.
Gee, thanks. You mean you are willing to just accept everything blindly and without question?
Look. Unfortunately, this is all we have. And it's not a fully open forum. MTR is dead. There have only been two posts there since Dec. 20, and one of them was off-topic and the other was Calrog posting his crap. The Yahoo group's on life support and will probably eventually go away; if lack of interest doesn't kill it, then Yahoo itself will probably die off. I'm not going to go off in a huff and create another forum, but if this is all we have, I'd like to see it operate with a bit more transparency. I don't think that's a bad thing.
Alps is on the side of good in our fight against horrible people who support Trump.
Easy answer: there is no easy answer.
Quote from: NE2 on January 17, 2017, 10:54:36 AM
Alps is on the side of good in our fight against horrible people who support Trump.
Trump is on the good side!
Quote from: US71 on January 17, 2017, 10:58:51 AM
Easy answer: there is no easy answer.
Is this the official answer? Can we close the topic now?
Cooperation is inexact.
Quote from: texaskdog on January 17, 2017, 02:00:53 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 17, 2017, 10:54:36 AM
Alps is on the side of good in our fight against horrible people who support Trump.
Trump is on the good side!
It's crap like both of these posts that threatens the possibility of clarification and enlightenment. Someone will come and lock the thread, which will require the question to be asked again.
The only reasonable thing to say at this point is: Trumpotenuse.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 17, 2017, 02:10:22 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on January 17, 2017, 02:00:53 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 17, 2017, 10:54:36 AM
Alps is on the side of good in our fight against horrible people who support Trump.
Trump is on the good side!
It's crap like both of these posts that threatens the possibility of clarification and enlightenment. Someone will come and lock the thread, which will require the question to be asked again.
LOL my point exactly. If NE2 can go on and on I should be able to respond.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 17, 2017, 09:23:51 AM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 17, 2017, 09:11:18 AM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 11:57:58 PM
Hey mods, I have been doing this net thingie for 22 years and been on plenty of forums. Take my advice. I do have some experience in these matters, mmkay?
Because someone's been playing on the internet for 22 years makes one an expert on how forums should work?
I remember using the internet when I started college in 1993, so I have nearly 24 years of internet expertise. Can I outrank you?
Uh. yes to both...LOL!
Rick
I had it back in September 1990 when Prodigy Online went national, even had a 9000k dial-up modem which was the hot $#!+ back in those days. That would certainly wouldn't qualify as internet expertise since it was my father's deal more so than mine. It would certainly qualify for internet OG status of the thread so far though with just over 26 years. :)
[/quote]
See if you can beat this! I was doing FORTRAN and BASIC programming back in 1971. The FORTRAN was done with IBM cards sent to a mainframe located at a community college. So slow! Now for BASIC, we had the most advanced setup at the time, a teletype and modem which connected to another computer about 200 miles away. All paper, no screen...LOL!
I have been online longer than most, so there...LOL!
Rick
^^^
Yeah I can't compete with that considering I wasn't born for a couple more years there. :-D Besides Prodigy was technically a closed IP for a long time, so more like "intranet" would be the operative term kinda sorta. Speaking of moderation, talk about having one of the hardest core and oppressive systems I've ever seen. It got so bad at one point if you swore just a handful of times on a chat room or message board they would suspend your account....for a service you paid for by the minute! Granted I know the assumption for anything net based was much different in those days, but they literally ruined the social interaction sites by over policing the crap out of them.
Not that any of that is a commentary about this forum...total side tangent.
Quote from: nexus73 on January 17, 2017, 02:38:56 PM
IBM
I work in telecommunications, and my primary program–the online database that we access for customer accounts, equipment provisioning, work orders, etc–pops up with a 1980 copyright:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1092.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi410%2Fkphoger%2FIBM_zpsbydkrm3j.png&hash=cd9bb93bb08fb20f07c2db11a361bf9e7b91b7dd)
As recently as a few years ago, at least, there was still a non-GUI interface which was green screen and no mouse control. I'm not sure if any departments still use that interface. I was recently told that Kansas City is the last market in the nation where Time Warner still uses the program, but it's alive and well in the parent provider that I do most of my work for. And, actually, the program that Time Warner markets have switched to is frustratingly uncool. It's supposedly easier to learn from the ground up, but it has nowhere near the level of usefulness as the old one. It's like a pimped-out MS Access.
But the old one is not user-friendly. You basically have to memorize a LOT of things in order to use it well. And the demographic who can successfully master it is slim. There are plenty of young people who are computer-savvy but didn't learn them before everything was user-friendly; they flounder. And there are plenty of older people who remember the old days of computers, but they're not very computer-savvy because their generation didn't rely on them; they have trouble learning the basics. You really have to have been using computers in the early 1990s to succeed at it.
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
What is the point of posts like this? Doesn't persuade anyone and just alienates people who are on the same place in the political spectrum.
We sho
Quote from: kkt on January 17, 2017, 03:54:41 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
What is the point of posts like this? Doesn't persuade anyone and just alienates people who are on the same place in the political spectrum.
Anger management issues on this site should be limited to issue such as I-238, I-99.....
(https://imageserve.babycenter.com/8/000/394/GtApQSU45B5JDQDkaHGQb6E4dcyccF5q_lg.jpg)
Quote from: kkt on January 17, 2017, 03:54:41 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
What is the point of posts like this? Doesn't persuade anyone and just alienates people who are on the same place in the political spectrum.
If I (or anyone else) was to post something ridiculous like "F Hillary supporters" I guarantee I'd at the very least get an official warning from someone. I don't really understand how one person can be exempt from the rules of the forum for this long. Do any of the mods have an answer?
Quote from: nexus73 on January 16, 2017, 11:57:58 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 16, 2017, 08:56:01 PM
It seems to me that the solution is simply to ban political discussion except when it's clearly transportation-related. That solution worked well on another forum I used to frequent, and the moderators there implemented that rule because political garbage was causing too many hard feelings between people who had once been fairly friendly.
The thing I don't understand is why one member is routinely allowed to ignore a couple of clearly-stated forum rules. Obviously that's the moderators' prerogative, but I got put on the warning list for far less obnoxious conduct than NE2's routine behavior. I mean, really, did anyone really have any doubt that NE2 was going to post his usual profane crap when that thread started? The only question was how long it would take, and frankly I was surprised it took as long as it did.
(FWIW before you-know-who calls me a kook and tells me to fuck off as a Trump supporter, I didn't vote for either Trump or Clinton–I voted Libertarian. But I'm intelligent enough to recognize that the whole POINT of elections is that people are going to have different opinions.)
But hey, if you all want to play rough, I'm up for some political football! Like I said earlier, set up a Mad Max forum and when a discussion gets heated, DO NOT CENSOR IT! Just move it to that forum where it's no holds barred and let 'er rip while freedom rings.
Rick
I would love to see this. Be the best thing to read while drinking my morning coffee
Two people should probably be given topic bans:
1. NE2 for adding politics to unrelated threads.
2. dzlsabe for the Hypotenuse.
(I'm saying this as someone who strongly opposes Trump. NE2 has just taken it too far.)
Quote from: kkt on January 17, 2017, 03:54:41 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 15, 2017, 11:03:09 PM
Would be nice if Trump supporters could be banned. Fuck them.
What is the point of posts like this? Doesn't persuade anyone and just alienates people who are on the same place in the political spectrum.
I figured you might know better than to look for a reason.
Quote from: US 41 on January 17, 2017, 04:13:56 PM
If I (or anyone else) was to post something ridiculous like "F Hillary supporters" I guarantee I'd at the very least get an official warning from someone. I don't really understand how one person can be exempt from the rules of the forum for this long. Do any of the mods have an answer?
No, if the mods had an answer, they'd have given it already. The big issue I have is that, for every four profane, trolling posts NE2 makes, there's one nugget of interesting and valuable information plucked from his bottomless knowledge of American highway history. I find it easier to roll my eyes at NE2's sour comments, understanding them for what they are, not wishing his real contributions to the forum to go absent. I just wish the good-to-bad ratio were higher.
Quote from: kphoger on January 17, 2017, 04:22:38 PM
Quote from: US 41 on January 17, 2017, 04:13:56 PM
If I (or anyone else) was to post something ridiculous like "F Hillary supporters" I guarantee I'd at the very least get an official warning from someone. I don't really understand how one person can be exempt from the rules of the forum for this long. Do any of the mods have an answer?
No, if the mods had an answer, they'd have given it already. The big issue I have is that, for every four profane, trolling posts NE2 makes, there's one nugget of interesting and valuable information plucked from his bottomless knowledge of American highway history. I find it easier to roll my eyes at NE2's sour comments, understanding them for what they are, not wishing his real contributions to the forum to go absent. I just wish the good-to-bad ratio were higher.
I think you may have just answered his question. :hmm:
Hmm...
NE2: brash, loves to insult others, uses profanity on a regular basis
Trump: brash, insults others with alarming regularity, seems to enjoy using profanity
They seem like they'd get along pretty well.
My bigger issue with NE2 being allowed to act as he does, simply because he is knowledgeable, is that no other legal system permits such behavior. Even that sweet, old lady Martha Stewart had to serve her time for insider trading. You don't get a slip just because you're smart. You've broken the rules, and you should pay the price.
You don't have to ban NE2. Just don't let him post anywhere except off-topic for a few months (i.e. probation, which is a legal punishment).
Quote from: jakeroot on January 17, 2017, 05:29:32 PM
You don't have to ban NE2. Just don't let him post anywhere except off-topic for a few months (i.e. probation, which is a legal punishment).
I believe NE2's had [several?] temporary bans before. Maybe the mods could simply delete insulting and other trolling rants that add nothing to the active discussion threads.
Why is dzalbe or whatever his name is aloud to spam the Midwest/ Chicago boards non stop with his hypotenuse bullshit? Isn't that spamming?
NE2 should not be banned or even given probation if it was up to me. Heck, let him yell his head off! The phrase "I disagree with what you say but I'll die to preserve your right to say it" is my sentiment. Besides, he'd be a lot of fun to drag out of the gutter where a few cuss words are used and really let him open up with some genuine paragraphs!
The roads must roll.
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on January 17, 2017, 06:16:29 PM
NE2 should not be banned or even given probation if it was up to me. Heck, let him yell his head off! The phrase "I disagree with what you say but I'll die to preserve your right to say it" is my sentiment. Besides, he'd be a lot of fun to drag out of the gutter where a few cuss words are used and really let him open up with some genuine paragraphs!
The roads must roll.
Rick
So you would be okay if he personally attacked you?
Quote from: nexus73 on January 17, 2017, 06:16:29 PM
NE2 should not be banned or even given probation if it was up to me. Heck, let him yell his head off! The phrase "I disagree with what you say but I'll die to preserve your right to say it" is my sentiment. Besides, he'd be a lot of fun to drag out of the gutter where a few cuss words are used and really let him open up with some genuine paragraphs!
The roads must roll.
I agree with you 99%. The issue, really, is that AARoads is a private web server, not subject to the US constitution. There is no free speech here. I think most moderators (and users) are open to free speech in its basic form, but there are still rules against personal insults. This rule has, in the eyes of most users, been broken by NE2 on far too many occasions for additional action (beyond temp-banning) to not have been taken.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 17, 2017, 02:10:22 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on January 17, 2017, 02:00:53 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 17, 2017, 10:54:36 AM
Alps is on the side of good in our fight against horrible people who support Trump.
Trump is on the good side!
It's crap like both of these posts that threatens the possibility of clarification and enlightenment. Someone will come and lock the thread, which will require the question to be asked again.
THERE IS NO ANSWER. Moderators are people. People aren't always consistent. We don't have robot overlords to make every decision consistently and perfectly.
As for this thread - note that I have no power to moderate it - I wouldn't be surprised if the global mods and admins are simply letting it run its course.
Quote from: 1 on January 17, 2017, 06:27:22 PM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 17, 2017, 06:16:29 PM
NE2 should not be banned or even given probation if it was up to me. Heck, let him yell his head off! The phrase "I disagree with what you say but I'll die to preserve your right to say it" is my sentiment. Besides, he'd be a lot of fun to drag out of the gutter where a few cuss words are used and really let him open up with some genuine paragraphs!
The roads must roll.
Rick
So you would be okay if he personally attacked you?
Remember, I can bite back too! *grin* That is the whole point of having a Mad Max forum. Let the feces fly...LOL! Mods can then just move any thread which gets out of hand to that particular pile.
Rick
Just change the word "Trump" in all his posts to "Obama" or "Hillary" and watch him go crazy.
NE2 is just a lonely, harmless, misanthrope. No biggie.
Quote from: Rothman on January 18, 2017, 08:18:10 AM
NE2 is just a lonely, harmless, misanthrope. No biggie.
While this is surely true, I feel turnabout is fair play–if he wants to dish it out, he should have to take it when people give it back to him.
People are complaining about NE2, but not the pro-Trump garbage that gets posted.
Persecution against those who dissent from right-wing thought policing is a very real problem in society, and must end.
Quote from: bandit957 on January 18, 2017, 10:48:10 AM
People are complaining about NE2, but not the pro-Trump garbage that gets posted.
Persecution against those who dissent from right-wing thought policing is a very real problem in society, and must end.
Ideological purity pervades both sides. You do know we are a polarized polity these days. Heretics and infidels, burn 'em at the stake...LOL! Then along comes Trump, who can get in hot water with both sides and even people who are not American like the Pope. My hope is that "The Art Of The Deal" approaches results in some common ground being found by both parties, who actually have numerous sides.
Rick
Hitler was a great finder of common ground. He brought the U.S. and USSR together.