this is dumb

why cant we talk about what we want? it wasnt even a tense conversation.

Granted, the conversation was calm.

And you can talk about anything you want within reason.

Tangents that have appropriate threads to land in... shouldn't kill discussions that ARE on topic. Like what happened in the AA thread.

tame_ may have moved the offending posts. I chose not to.... as there were many.

Several posts discussing obesity and comorbidities was moved from the Vaccine passports thread to the older obesity thread. A newer thread named "obesity containment" was locked.

As for the general principle behind moving, I have tried to be a bit more lenient about allowing discussion to branch out, as some find it negative with too much moving of posts.

That said, there are some decent reasons to make threads stay somewhat on-topic. It is a bit more welcoming to new posters, and more posters is good for discussion and the forum. Some regs have "recurring quarrels" which often leak into and spam unrelated or semi-related topics, which bystanders can find frustrating. A similar problem is flame-baiting, purposefully trying to derail conversations and discussions by making controversial posts meant to annoy people (note that this is not the same as simply posting something controversial or trying to rile up a discussion).

FWIW i think you do a pretty job balancing interests which is not a perfect science.

I believe that moderation of a hot and topical thread should be more tight at the beginnings, to allow people to address the issues being explored in real time elsewhere without seeing the thread dragged off course. I might be tempted to start a second thread myself on the same topic if I feel my original thread was hijacked.

But as time goes on and the OP topic has been debated fully and you can see direct discussion withering, I think you should allow then for any sideline discussions to evolve and if they gain momentum split them out into a separate thread. If they do not, let them die in the already dying thread.

I think the George Floyd is a good example of that. OP discussion is now all but dead so if any tangential issues about that case can bloom, let them.


Especially on this forum where I find users are hesitant or uninterested in creating new thread topics. Forums die off when that happens. They need new discussion avenues even if split out from other threads,.

Kyle Rittenhouse thread has been renamed to reflect a discussion that has moved on to discussing bail, prison and incarceration. Well, that and engaging in some good old political scuffles.

I got a feeling this isn't the last we hear about American Hero Patriot Kyle Rittenhous

Sarcasm aside, you are probably right.

Might I recommend THe Supreme Court Thread be renamed to the SC, Senate and House?

A catch all for all the co-equal branches that are not the Executive or POTUS which can carry its own thread but these three areas combined may struggle to do.

i have often looked for the appropriate spot to put my 'other' gov't rants.... err I mean "discussions" and have shoehorned them into other threads.

An troll comment and related back and forth was removed from the Kyle Rittenhouse thread.

I’m sure he has more good deeds left in him.

Thank you, t_d!

Mods - there is a federal hate crimes trial coming up for the McMichaels in the Arbery case, could we re-open the thread please?

"coming up"
How about when the trial starts we can revisit a reopening?

Regarding the new policy rules, the moderators here are not automatons. We will still use judgment and nor can we baby-sit the forum 24/7. Moderators were asked for feedback, but I honestly don't know if anybody listened, it was not much of a discussion. As a result I will simply exercise the judgment I have.

Some discussion gets heated, that is the nature of politics. We will not blindly delete posts just because tempers are flaring. This is a place to discuss ideology and tempers should be flaring. Throwing some shade is also a time-honored tradition in politics and political discourse going back at least as far as we have written history of it. Some of the most beloved political quotes in history are a testament to that.

But the new policy will at least give us a solid mechanism to handle pure vitriol, repeated trolling, obvious gimmick accounts and high-noise / low-content posters.

Oh ****.

I feel your pain.

I believe you are confusing high-noise/medium content with high-noise/low content.

The "Prison reform, bail, incarceration" thread (which is increasingly inaccurately named) will be timed out for 24 hours. When the discussion picks up again, make it less about flinging poo and more about arguing.

It actually got interesting so naturally it's time to lock it up.

New management can't be held responsible for killing the poker boom since it's been dead a long time, but they just might kill poker.

I can just see you dropping the mic as you delivered that killer line.

I imagined it with a little feedback screech and then 'boom'.

I was also dressed like The Dice Man.

So much for that welding Job.

Maybe things were deleted but that was as a about as professional as you can get when part of your discussion is arguing whether commies or nazis are worse.

you will post exactly the way we want or else the thread gets locked. pretty amazing really.

Why is it amazing? That's kinda how moderated forums work.