An old tired Horse called the Lounge

[domenico Foschi]

We did over at Yahoo, but it ain't the same. It's sort of a pain to leave here go there and then come back. Believe it or not, some of my favorite people here were the ones I had "heated" discussions with. You can learn a lot about a person's character especially when you don't agree.

Yes, Greg is a Teddy Bear.

[Marko]

ausweiss???
whoa, I had to look that up, (not easy to find references here in the USA), the historical references are all SS or Gestapo, but contemporary usage can simply mean a passport, right?

a troubling concept (not the images, but the permission) to say the least, mein got!

(4th of July parade, Granbury, Texas -- subject to individual interpretation)

It's more like permit, but it can also mean an I.D. History does provide special context, though, doesn't it?


P.S. I goofed - there's no double "s"... and both it and Got are nouns and should be capitalized

[domenico Foschi]

If I was in your house and you asked me not to curse, I would not consider it an infringement on my rights. I might say to myself that it was old fashioned but I certainly wouldn’t tell you that you were taking away my most basic rights as an American citizen.

Mark, have you read anywhere that I promote cursing?

If it's the cursing that you don't want act surgically and get rid of the elements who curse.
If you use an axe instead of a chisel, in the words of our new (meaning the USA) leader, it will be a coarse and unsophisticated remedy that will show its inherent flaws as our moderator's decision is doing now.

[m.bruehl]

You see, David, the point is not whether I am desperate or not, as you say, to talk about politics.
The real point is that my very core rejects vehemently the possibility that a person has invested himself of the power to delete my thoughts expressed in writing.

It is about respect toward other people and respect toward an Universal ideal called Freedom.
It is not that I want to talk about politic, it is that if you outline some limits on which my ideas can be expressed you are limiting my freedom.
If the owner and the moderators of this forum care about this ideal that we all cherish, they should also consider the philosophical implications of their decision.

If you believe in an ideal as Universal, you should treat it as such.

When the decision to prohibit political issues was taken I posted my thoughts about it saying that it was an unfortunate decision but I still thought that this was a good forum.
My opinion has changed since then and I don't think that this is a good forum anymore.

Dear Domenico,

I see you did your lessons in rhetorics well, and you are highly involved in philosophy.

I bet you understood well, what Mark wanted to say with the example of cursing. But as you couldn't argue against the whole - that in the house of somebody else, you have to show respect to the owner - you take it out of the context to attack it. Nice rhetorics, no argument. You still have to behave as a guest.

Same with the ideal of freedom: if you can't beat them at defined arguments, go to a common place nobody can deny, and argue back. Nice rethorics again, but that's it. You don't have to defend anybodies freedom here - It's a forum on LF, not human rights.

If you had the same respect for the people who do this forum, like you claim it for your own opinions, you would accept their decision and discuss political matters elsewhere. And you would stop whining about it.

As you seem to be intelligent and educated, and you still harp on about this, I can't deny I get the impression you only want to enforce your point.

If you talk about respect, but you don't take "no" for an answer, you have way to go.

Regards

[domenico Foschi]

First, thank you for the "Dear Domenico", but if you do not mean it spare it.
Your post exudes abundant sarcasm, a defect of character that I abhor in people and even more the venomous feel I get from it.

I would have ended this post at this stage, but for the sake of trying to explain further my position, here you go.

There is something very important that marks the difference between a house or household and this site.

What constitutes the very fabric of this forum is not only the html and on and so forth but more importantly its members.
Without its members this site would be an empty shell and that's why I think it is important to have respect for them.
This might not be a democracy but since, again, it is constituted by its members, it should be very close in being so.

[domenico Foschi]

And yes, I will take "no" for an answer but first I feel entitled to a fight.

[Mark Sloane]

Mark, have you read anywhere that I promote cursing?

If it's the cursing that you don't want act surgically and get rid of the elements who curse.
If you use an axe instead of a chisel, in the words of our new (meaning the USA) leader, it will be a coarse and unsophisticated remedy that will show its inherent flaws as our moderator's decision is doing now.

I was merely using cursing as an example. Pick any context you like.

However, I do agree with you about the axe vs chisel approach.

[Mark Sloane]

What constitutes the very fabric of this forum is not only the html and on and so forth but more importantly its members.
Without its members this site would be an empty shell and that's why I think it is important to have respect for them.
This might not be a democracy but since, again, it is constituted by its members, it should be very close in being so.

Well said.......

[Scott Schroeder]

did they outlaw porn to?
We could talk about that
Any one up for stroking that sinar shaft of Frank's.....
:-)
lighten up people....

[Darryl Baird]

I belong and have previously belonged to many lists, mostly 'moderated'... some are great resources (like here) and others are communities AND great resources. From time to time things get out of hand... (a byproduct of faceless communication) and arguments spill over into the whole forum/list. After a short while, if the problem persists, a moderator will contact the offending parties (guess how I know that... ), and warned. If the problem persists, the naughty folks get a variety of banishments, a few weeks, months, or permanent (the death penalty) depending on the severity of the infraction.

That system seems to work fine, there have been no rips in the fabric of time/space and we are still talking about the same topics as before. I think the decision to ban ALL politics and religion was an easy way out of moderating the wild-n-wooly Lounge in this incredible election cycle.
It's certainly put a cloud on the forum for me personally, and I almost never came into the lounge until the political season began because I didn't have a big interest to hang out ... but I got hooked. It's cruel world. I can't help but feel the forum is worse for the loss... I try to commit to the other forums, but I have less heart for it. And like Domenico, I just don't like places that deny speech on any principle. It certainly doesn't feel like any home I want to live in for very long.