Important Announcement: Temporary Lock on Politics, Evolution

[ban basketball]

Of course I know that I'm "one of those" (unfairly, I will add, as all that I do is defend myself against others), but the best thing that the mat.com did was to stop their politics thread.  Ironically, they all moved over here though.

To me, that's an easier fix, but if the choice is made to ban users, I can live with that.

I think I can make an exception on this thread because it is a bigger moment in the existence of this venue. 

Then now is the time to make your plea to the powers that be that I may not be the best person for the newly revamped TOM site, as my track record shows that I'll continue to shoot my mouth off. 

[ctc]

Ban the violators.  It would save my space on my "ignore" list.  Currently, there is no fear of repercussions.

[ban basketball]

Ban the violators.  It would save my space on my "ignore" list.  Currently, there is no fear of repercussions.

Why does this post remind me of the episode of the Twilight Zone, where a madman kept talking about how at high noon all of the evil people will be shrunken down to minature size and thus rendered meaningless, only to shrink down to minature size himself when the clock strikes noon?   

[Ray Brinzer]

Odd that a board that has not had a single post on it for almost two months would be locked down.  i.e. Evolution.  With no post for two months there obviously has not been a problem.

This was to stop the Evolution category from being a runoff mechanism for politics, with posters turning their attention there.

Most likely what you will get with this option is a very manila community of all right wing mostly white wrestling fans.  It would certainly lack any significant dialogue, but you would have a lot of people patting each other on the back with very little true diversity of opinion.  Diversity is the spice of life.

While I can see where civility might strike you as bland, I can assure you that it is not a quality exclusive to right-wing white people.

[Ray Brinzer]

Of course I know that I'm "one of those"

I should prefer that not to be the case, and will correspond with you privately as time allows.

[Ray Brinzer]

I am thinking whether I will be banned so I probably will be as per logic above.

I do not want to get into fortune-telling for individuals, but in this case I'll make an exception.  I cannot recall a single instance of your saying something harsh to another user.  The idea of banning you, therefore, is somewhat crazy... and while this admittedly makes it a good fit for your worldview, I nevertheless encourage you not to worry about it much.

[leglace]

I do not have any idea what events took place to cause this "Mat.com era" type of policy. I have been proud that this site has understood the competitive nature of the wrestling community with the realization that we too like to be challenged philosophically. Sure it seems like constant bickering between 2 sides without open mindedness. However there are many cases where the 2 opposing sides find common ground. In the end, each person sharpens their minds on one another for the most part.  I hope whatever it is truly warrants this.

[Ray Brinzer]

It would be ironic if the politics board were removed, since that action on the other board in large part led to the formation of this one.

Not from my perspective.

Trolls and inattentive moderators just make for a shoddy forum.  Moderators who do not participate on a forum are a problem.  Censoring discussion of the forum itself plainly shows that the proprietors don't understand the medium they're operating.

In the short time that I've taken an interest in The Mat Forums (out of a long time I've known about them), I've seen each of these.  I'm thinking that substantive discussion of USA Wrestling itself is probably not safe, there, either.

This is an unacceptable situation.  I'm partly inclined to start making a fuss about it, but no matter what policy changes might be made, there's a conflict of interest there which cannot be avoided.  The government should not hold the reins of political discussion, and USA Wrestling is our government (or one of them, anyway).

Maybe Viratas' motivations were different, but a wrestling board choosing to be on-topic has never struck me as a problem at all.  As for the things which do:  you know and can talk to our moderators and administrators, disciplinary actions to not happen anonymously or without explanation, and people are free to discuss the forum's policies, as we are doing here.

[Ray Brinzer]

I do not have any idea what events took place to cause this "Mat.com era" type of policy. I have been proud that this site has understood the competitive nature of the wrestling community with the realization that we too like to be challenged philosophically. Sure it seems like constant bickering between 2 sides without open mindedness. However there are many cases where the 2 opposing sides find common ground. In the end, each person sharpens their minds on one another for the most part.  I hope whatever it is truly warrants this.

Vigorous debate is the best thing we can hope to have, here.  It is for precisely this reason that personal attacks, for instance, are prohibited.  Not because they aren't true:  the person you call a liar or an idiot may actually be one.  But in an environment which permits such things, it becomes difficult or impossible to discuss ideas, and sharpen ourselves as we should wish.

[leglace]

I understand and I also understand that the moderators do not have time to play policemen. However, I just assumed that when an individual crossed the line, they were just straight up disciplined, or given a "time out" so to speak. I think it is to be expected. Again, I do not know the example that led to the suspension for everybody. As I said, I hope it was well warranted.

[ban basketball]

On my end, I just feel a little sorry for all persons on here for the hand that I had in all of this, and I do apologize to everyone for that.

However, I also respect any decision that needs to be made.  I'm probably a better man not taking part in such discussions.

[coachsparky]

Ban the violators.  It would save my space on my "ignore" list.  Currently, there is no fear of repercussions.

And he cannot even recognize he is one of the violators.  My lord ctc you are dense sometimes.

[coachsparky]

Odd that a board that has not had a single post on it for almost two months would be locked down.  i.e. Evolution.  With no post for two months there obviously has not been a problem.

This was to stop the Evolution category from being a runoff mechanism for politics, with posters turning their attention there.

Most likely what you will get with this option is a very manila community of all right wing mostly white wrestling fans.  It would certainly lack any significant dialogue, but you would have a lot of people patting each other on the back with very little true diversity of opinion.  Diversity is the spice of life.

While I can see where civility might strike you as bland, I can assure you that it is not a quality exclusive to right-wing white people.

Understood but I suspect I will be banned and I have been nothing but civil for the last couple months since my return from Afghanistan.  So it would not be lack of civility that gets me banned but rather the fact that I am an extreme liberal.

[fuhr]

Odd that a board that has not had a single post on it for almost two months would be locked down.  i.e. Evolution.  With no post for two months there obviously has not been a problem.

This was to stop the Evolution category from being a runoff mechanism for politics, with posters turning their attention there.

Most likely what you will get with this option is a very manila community of all right wing mostly white wrestling fans.  It would certainly lack any significant dialogue, but you would have a lot of people patting each other on the back with very little true diversity of opinion.  Diversity is the spice of life.

While I can see where civility might strike you as bland, I can assure you that it is not a quality exclusive to right-wing white people.

Understood but I suspect I will be banned and I have been nothing but civil for the last couple months since my return from Afghanistan.  So it would not be lack of civility that gets me banned but rather the fact that I am an extreme liberal.

You just called someone dense then went on to say how civil you've been.  I honestly have had no complaints on you being combative recently but you do see that calling a poster dense is one of the things Ray is talking about, right?  It adds nothing to the conversation and is solely intended to attack another poster.

[coachsparky]

Odd that a board that has not had a single post on it for almost two months would be locked down.  i.e. Evolution.  With no post for two months there obviously has not been a problem.

This was to stop the Evolution category from being a runoff mechanism for politics, with posters turning their attention there.

Most likely what you will get with this option is a very manila community of all right wing mostly white wrestling fans.  It would certainly lack any significant dialogue, but you would have a lot of people patting each other on the back with very little true diversity of opinion.  Diversity is the spice of life.

While I can see where civility might strike you as bland, I can assure you that it is not a quality exclusive to right-wing white people.

Understood but I suspect I will be banned and I have been nothing but civil for the last couple months since my return from Afghanistan.  So it would not be lack of civility that gets me banned but rather the fact that I am an extreme liberal.

You just called someone dense then went on to say how civil you've been.  I honestly have had no complaints on you being combative recently but you do see that calling a poster dense is one of the things Ray is talking about, right?  It adds nothing to the conversation and is solely intended to attack another poster.

Come on are your serious.  Speaking the truth is a problem.  You honestly are telling me ctc has never done the things that Ray is talking about that would get someone banned?  If that is true then clearly the banning are based on which way you lean and not truly on the things you post.