Your Choice, your Vote

[Sleepy Taz]

Why is it that new people come here and state what a great place this is, and then want to change it? Gazhack has many valid points but in his enthusiasm to contribute lit the fire under some people, not about the content, but the act of banning free speech which is a hot topic always. In the process we may have lost a member because of how we reacted to his ideas. This should make us chose our words more carefully, so that feelings are spared. It is OK to disagree but not at the expense of running someone off. We are better people than that is evidenced by the willingness to help total strangers.

[NightMonkey]

My suspicion though is that if you started a new poll, the same voices would come forward asserting that "freedom of speech" gives one the prerogative to be irrelevant and ill-mannered in their posts.

Anyone who reads through the responses to this poll can easily see that none of the responses that were posted against banning the subject of politics and religion claimed it was a "freedom of speech" issue. (Although ink did stumble on the phrase in his seventh post in this thread.)

[jnk]

. . . in his seventh post in this thread.

Does that mean I'm banned from the rest of the thread?

[Vader]

. . . in his seventh post in this thread.

Does that mean I'm banned from the rest of the thread?

Heck no!
These censorship threads go on and on and on.....(till the next new censorship thread)
There's much more "work" to be done, apparently!

[NateS]

My suspicion though is that if you started a new poll, the same voices would come forward asserting that "freedom of speech" gives one the prerogative to be irrelevant and ill-mannered in their posts.

Anyone who reads through the responses to this poll can easily see that none of the responses that were posted against banning the subject of politics and religion claimed it was a "freedom of speech" issue. (Although ink did stumble on the phrase in his seventh post in this thread.)

You're playing a word game with me, EveningSimian. I'm confident that you own an excellent thesaurus!

Regards,

Nate

[NightMonkey]

My suspicion though is that if you started a new poll, the same voices would come forward asserting that "freedom of speech" gives one the prerogative to be irrelevant and ill-mannered in their posts.

Anyone who reads through the responses to this poll can easily see that none of the responses that were posted against banning the subject of politics and religion claimed it was a "freedom of speech" issue. (Although ink did stumble on the phrase in his seventh post in this thread.)

You're playing a word game with me, EveningSimian. I'm confident that you own an excellent thesaurus!

Regards,

Nate

No, I am afraid I am not playing a word game. It constantly has to be explained to the left. "Freedom of speech" has nothing to do with this forum - it is private property and the owners can control the speech.

Did you even look to see what the negative responses to the poll said? Or do you have your strawman opponent fully formed and you are determined to stick with it?

Instead of "freedom of speech" it would be less inaccurate to describe those posts as "freedom to hear". I have read the posts. Now you should.

[NateS]

My suspicion though is that if you started a new poll, the same voices would come forward asserting that "freedom of speech" gives one the prerogative to be irrelevant and ill-mannered in their posts.

Anyone who reads through the responses to this poll can easily see that none of the responses that were posted against banning the subject of politics and religion claimed it was a "freedom of speech" issue. (Although ink did stumble on the phrase in his seventh post in this thread.)

You're playing a word game with me, EveningSimian. I'm confident that you own an excellent thesaurus!

Regards,

Nate

No, I am afraid I am not playing a word game. It constantly has to be explained to the left. "Freedom of speech" has nothing to do with this forum - it is private property and the owners can control the speech.

Did you even look to see what the negative responses to the poll said? Or do you have your strawman opponent fully formed and you are determined to stick with it?

Instead of "freedom of speech" it would be less inaccurate to describe those posts as "freedom to hear". I have read the posts. Now you should.

You're being needlessly sarcastic and mean-spirited with me, your debating buddy and apnea friend. You've just given me a new reason to avoid political OTs on cpaptalk. Thanks.

"Censorship" is the cry that was repeatedly raised here, and which is synonymous with an alleged denial of free speech.

"Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship

Nate

[deltadave]

Its obvious that Jonny foreigner is not welcome here by certain parties and to be honest I dont really care.

I'm of Lowland Scots-Irish... by way of the hill people of Eastern Kentucky

That's certainly an ancestrally-topographical roller coaster.

By the way, your avatar is fun. But subconsciously, some may be tending to growl back and to bite before getting bit. Many may have assumed that was the point.

Well, "IMHO", the avatar was an inadvertent revelation of the OP's subconscious agenda, namely, expecting instant recognition as an Alpha Dog. Failing this, a terrible Crash-and-Burn was inevitable.

Personally, I enjoyed the poll. It was educational to me.

Especially the massive vote swing following the invitation to the Pity Party.

Like, what are people really voting for?

[deltadave]

Anything else?

Yeah, I have one.

Did you serve?

[Matty332]

My suspicion though is that if you started a new poll, the same voices would come forward asserting that "freedom of speech" gives one the prerogative to be irrelevant and ill-mannered in their posts.

Anyone who reads through the responses to this poll can easily see that none of the responses that were posted against banning the subject of politics and religion claimed it was a "freedom of speech" issue. (Although ink did stumble on the phrase in his seventh post in this thread.)

You're playing a word game with me, EveningSimian. I'm confident that you own an excellent thesaurus!

Regards,

Nate

No, I am afraid I am not playing a word game. It constantly has to be explained to the left. "Freedom of speech" has nothing to do with this forum - it is private property and the owners can control the speech.

Did you even look to see what the negative responses to the poll said? Or do you have your strawman opponent fully formed and you are determined to stick with it?

Instead of "freedom of speech" it would be less inaccurate to describe those posts as "freedom to hear". I have read the posts. Now you should.

I presume this entire thread has been declared off topic so I don't need to declare my response to be OSA/CPAP related.

I am no lawyer but according to what I have read about the American First Amendment - it extends to cyberspace. Apparently on American privately owned forums you can say whatever you like - freedom of speech, but the owners have the right to censor it as they see fit.

[jnk]

. . . the massive vote swing . . .

I had hoped that the swing of the vote was because of the discussion of the larger issues (such as censorship) and Johnny's stated views related to the matter. But it was probably just Roster using his 20-some, or more, identities to swing it. As they say, vote early, vote often.

[-SWS]

. . . the massive vote swing . . .

I had hoped that the swing of the vote was because of the discussion of the larger issues (such as censorship) and Johnny's stated views related to the matter. But it was probably just Roster using his 20-some, or more, identities to swing it. As they say, vote early, vote often.

That's EXACTLY what I had thought about the vote swing, jnk.

[deltadave]

. . . the massive vote swing . . .

I had hoped that the swing of the vote was because of the discussion of the larger issues (such as censorship) and Johnny's stated views related to the matter. But it was probably just Roster using his 20-some, or more, identities to swing it. As they say, vote early, vote often.

Hey, don't look at me!

All my votes went into "IDGAF"!

"IMHO", I'd like to see a "The Best of Muffy" category, with such routines as:

• The aforementioned Sections and Categories, featuring "Moderators";
• "Jan and The Chainsaw";
• "Sister Mary Louise and Anthrax"; and
• "PuffDaddy's Tank"

[jnk]

That's EXACTLY what I had thought about the vote swing, jnk.

We might call it "Rostermandering."

Good to "see" ya, -SWS.

[DreamDiver]

The only person you can control is you. Consideration is a good thing.
I like this forum because it is sometimes off topic. I learn a lot here, and it's not always about SA. I suspect there are a large number of people who generously elect NOT to post exactly what's on their minds, or a lot more people would be told to get stuffed publicly. To me, that says we have group of very balanced and well-rounded individuals with a lot of self control.

5 Most Common Forum Member Types
The Salesman
The Intellect
The Clueless
The Angry and Frustrated
The Lurker

I'd add a few more:

The Story Teller - Sometimes for a laugh, some times for condolence - Stories are often treasure for the forum.

The List Maker - Lists, references, links, all neatly sorted. This person takes a lot of time.

The Howto / Demo / Artist - Directions graphics with videos and details on what to do. Useful.

The Community Builder - The person who connects the new member who needs to know something with another member who actually knows and can help.

The Turfie - Thinks he has to 'defend' some self-understood metaphysical forum 'turf' by establishing dominance over others.

The Preacher - Prodigious posts along the lines of 'My product/theory/dental floss is best. These people/books/references prove it. All other opinions are misguided. I am here to save you from yourself.' Not always truly educated, but can have a slick spiel.

The Paid Viral Publisher - Creates consecutive new posts about some product he's 'trying out', gets lots of replies in consecutive threads but never responds. Probably paid to promote whatever product they're 'trying out' on multiple fora.

The Multiple Personality - Has several avatars for entertainment value. Might think he's smarter than everyone else. (Probably is.) Prone to extreme tangents, often intentionally difficult to follow.

The Troll - Attempts to cause anarchy and chaos by making inflammatory posts.

The Gang - two or more forum members who gang up on one member to toy with or hurt that member.

Most of us can claim a bit of 'Mix and Match'. Who are you?