Moderators etc.

[MORTARDUDE]

Arrow :

I think you missed my point. Time and again moderators have let threads degenerate, then berate the participants, and close the thread, leaving all the posts with the name calling and personal attacks there to read. What good does that do ? The same people will say and do the the same things later on. I agree that to discourage behavior like we had on The History Channel is a part of the role.
I have only admiration for those who police this site. These are just my views. I didn't mean for you to read things into them that were not there.

Larry

[BLUEHAWK]

I was wondering... free speech means FREE speech, which we are blessed with in America... fought and died many deaths in many kinds of ways for...

So then, now that you have said those ideas Larry, at WHAT point does dialogue degenerate?

I am a Moderator my own self...(GREAT HONOR!)... so the rule I use is this... I do not stop the dialogue NO MATTER how feisty, but if it seems a person has become, for the moment, too mean nasty cruel and ugly... then I will warn them of the dread 86. If they do it again, even so much as one more time, then I will go to David Webmaster and ask him to temporarily block their words for the sake of all concerned. I want them to come back when there is calm in the mind and heart.

Dunno what has gone on that you would respond to Sparrow as you did... but I trust you both, and just put in this two cents (Indian Head pennies :-)

[frisco-kid]

Not sure what sparked this thread, but that's between you and Arrow.

Like many of us, including you Larry, I've been on this site since DAY1. It's always been my understanding, as personally told to me by David when I asked him, that pretty much everything goes on here. It's OUR site.

The few things that aren't/won't be tolerated on here are:
1. America-Bashing. There are plenty of other sites specific to this. It won't be tolerated here.
2. American Military-Bashing. Specifically, it's men and women in uniform, past or present. It won't be tolerated here. See #1.
3. Personal attacks of one member by another. Hopefully, we're all articulate enough to disagree with each other and post a rebuttal without resorting to name calling, etc..

Awhile back the subject of language was brought up. Personally, this isn't an issue with me. I have used the F-word a few times in my posts to emphasize a point that I'm trying to get across, or while quoting someone else. You will never hear from me on this, or see your post censored because of it by me, as a moderator. This isn't to say that I condone swearing for the sake of swearing. Keep it within reason.

I HATE all forms of censorship. I will never delete a post. If I find a post that's out of line on the forum that I moderate, I will PM the person that posted it and ask them to edit it, delete it themselves, or apologize for it. If the person persists, like Mike, I will ask David to lock them out for a time. So far, this hasn't come up for me as a moderator. I WILL MOVE a post that I feel has no place on the forum. Particularly political posts. ESPECIALLY ARGUEMENTATIVE POLITICAL POSTS. I'm not going to move every post that doesn't pertain specificly to VN. If you want to share something about your dog, vacation, or talk about whatever, that's cool.

Just my .05 cents worth [wooden nickel] .

[Arrow]

My .02c worth. Why do we have moderators ? I have never been one and do not want the job. I thought it was to delete posts that are in violation of the rules and to notify the person that posted it. What else do they do ?Larry

Larry,

To answer your question what do moderators do. I would refer you tothe the History Channel Veterans forum for a good look at what they didn't do when we made our mass exit in search of the promise land.

There was little ornoresponse at all from the moderators when it came to dealing with people like Kule. There was for a time a young lady that would respond but we lost her. After that it was a free for all. He ran rough shod over everyone and what he did on the womens forum to harass them was akin to emotional rape. It was a disgrace.


On this site you all have the luxury of asking any one of the moderators to deal with a given situation and we do our best to do it in a timely manner. We are no more perfect in our decisions than anyone else. We are just willing and here. No one can be on line24/7 so it is necessary to have moderators to pick up the slack. I think we have been blessed to have hit on the right combination of people and personalities. We seem to be able to cover each other's slack when we have had our down times. So far so good.

I am not going to sit here and catalog each and every contribution we have made orincident that has been handled by one of us over the last few yearsthat is up to the individuals that we have served to say if we have been a useful addition to the site or not. I'm sorry you are unable to see us other than the people that delete and move post around. We have tired to be a good defensive team keeping the site a place where people can come and feel comfortable and find community without fear of intimidation. Arrow

Larry

I read your first post just the way I am reading thisone specifically wedon't domuch more that delete and move post around.My answer is the same but shorter.We do the best we can.I would go for a longer version but I've got these steadly depressin' low down mind messin' workin at the car wash blues tonight.

Peace,

Arrow

[MORTARDUDE]

It seems everyone on here has their own idea of what we can say and do. Very seldom is anyone convinced by anyone else's views. My view is let anyone post what ever they want as long as it is not pornographic or profane. The personal squabbles usually sort themselves out. All I am saying is that if the moderators are opposed to certain behaviors ( i.e. bad language, personal attacks against other members, name calling etc. etc. ), it would seem more logical to delete those posts close the thread and inform the participants to cease and desist.

By the way, altho most of us cannot delete a post, you can always go in later and edit out all of it and leave something else.

I for one am not going to post a great deal anymore. I have tired of the political arguments that never end. I have endured being called a variety of things. No one seemed bothered by that but me. It is just time to rest for awhile.

Larry

[Gimpy]

I WAS "bothered" by it also!

Stick around.........we NEED your insight and participation.

[Keith_Hixson]

Let's just take time to look in the Good Book.
Read Matthew 7:12 and all problems will be solved.

Keith

[39mto39g]

That page is not in my Idian book, I looked to the fat Chinees guy but he had no Idea what a bible was, We tried to look it up in the corin (or is that Korin) but Alla was busy with the jews.

Ron

[Keith_Hixson]

Ron,

With all them Southern Baptists hanging around down there in Texas - should be able to find at least one good King James Bible.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The golden rule.

Now you are a man without excuse.

Keith

[Arrow]

Originally posted by MORTARDUDE It seems everyone on here has their own idea of what we can say and do. Very seldom is anyone convinced by anyone else's views. My view is let anyone post what ever they want as long as it is not pornographic or profane. The personal squabbles usually sort themselves out. All I am saying is that if the moderators are opposed to certain behaviors ( i.e. bad language, personal attacks against other members, name calling etc. etc. ), it would seem more logical to delete those posts close the thread and inform the participants to cease and desist.

By the way, altho most of us cannot delete a post, you can always go in later and edit out all of it and leave something else.

I for one am not going to post a great deal anymore. I have tired of the political arguments that never end. I have endured being called a variety of things. No one seemed bothered by that but me. It is just time to rest for awhile.

Larry

Larry,

We have tried more than one method and to be honest you just can't please all the people all the time. It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenerio.

I can tell you also that there is not a moderator on here that wants to seea brother or sister attacked personally.Yes wedo care about each of you as individuals.

To take it a step farther I'm willing to bet if anyone of you had your back up against a wall agreement in politics would not mean diddly squat and you would be right there to carry the other persons ruck if at all possible.

I'm with you in being tired of the arguements that never end. Although I think they are necessary for the very reason that Curtis stated on another thread measuring them one against the other to help in the decision making process.

Rest if you need to and come back when you are ready. We all need a break once in a while.

Arrow>>>> <<<<<(Arrow in wingdings)