My favorite was how the changes were justified in part because the previous version of the forum was not conducive to new posters joining. In 3 6 9 months or whatever with no new posters joining will we blame the terrible current regime/rules? Or will all the obvious reasons for why this forum hasn't attracted new posters for years on end suddenly matter then?

After your repeated criticisms of the be nice policy, I asked you over a week ago to give some specific examples of how the be nice policy has hurt the forum and specifically what it is you think people should be able to say that they can't say. You must have multiple examples since you repeatedly post with such passion about the problems with the be nice policy.

Yet to date you haven't provided any examples of this. Just hotter and hotter air about how terrible it is for the forum if people are expected to be nice. Please tell us what you feel has been eliminated by the be nice policy that you feel so strongly should be restored.

Thanks.

On the topic of the "acting like animals" line, I understand the concerns and it is awkwardly worded. But imo, when read in the context it was not the use of a racist trope. Chillrob detests the sport of boxing and believes it is barbaric, animalistic behavior. He stated that he considers white men boxing to be acting like animals also. Particularly in the realm of violent sports, references to "he's an animal" or "what a beast" are used after esp violent hits or plays.

The site-wide rules state no personal attacks are allowed and people should "be kind and treat each other with respect, or at least civilly". I have added no additional rules. So if you believe the site-wide rules are terrible, feel free to surface that in the About the Forum subforum. If you lay out a persuasive case with concrete examples of how being nice and respectful to other posters damages the forum, I'm sure you will be able to get the new owners, who personally directed that rule be implemented, to change their minds.

Should you be successful I will happily support the new policy.

Good luck.

I'm sure your modding will continue to be as exactly as successful as it's been so far and droves of new members will sign up, proving your theories about previous iterations of the forum correct.

Best wishes to you and yours.

I find it amusing that someone gets worked up about using "two blacks acting like animals" in post (while obviously taking it out of context) when most of the discussion centered around Muhammad Ali. The same Ali, a black man, who once famously called Joe Frazier, another black man, a "gorilla" (probably for the important reason that it rhymed).

There was no niceness rule in professional boxing.

not to mention what he called frazier. Still the greatest but that was not his finest moment

Dont let the attacks on niceness get to you. It's long been virulently opposed round these part and there is still along way to go.

For sure. And Frazier resented that for years. Eventually, though, Ali apologized and the two reconciled.

"Joe Frazier carried disdain toward Muhammad Ali that lasted well past his boxing career.

Simultaneously, as Ali’s health worsened due to his battle with Parkinson’s Disease, it gave him an entirely different perspective on life. His changed mindset led him to apologize to Frazier in March 2001 for the harsh words during his boxing career. (H/T New York Times)

”In a way, Joe’s right. I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn’t have said. Called him names I shouldn’t have called him. I apologize for that. I’m sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight.”

Ali’s comments toward Joe Frazier cut him deep emotionally, leading to lingering resentment. Despite all that, Frazier accepted Ali’s apology to finally move on from the situation.

”I accept that,” he said in a telephone interview from Wildwood, N.J. ”I’ll accept it, shake his hand and hug him when I see him. We’re grown guys. This has been going on too long. It’s like we’ve been fighting the Vietnam War. We’re two athletes of the world. Why we been biting off bullets? We have to embrace each other. It’s time to talk and get together. Life’s too short.”

Things may have remained unresolved much further than they should have, but the two found internal peace with each other."

I was thinking Frazier and my fingers typed Foreman. Fixed.

Frazier was great too. In every respect.

What a boxer.

Thanks.

Seems to me that the very fact that a forum itself has had to have multiple iterations is an indication that something wasn't exactly working well. But we'll see what the future brings.

This forum has been around for nearly 20 years. The present modding regime..... won't be.

I'm still trying to figure out how gorilla rhymes with either name.

But as I said, Ali seems to have popularized trash talking one's opponents. I hadn't heard of the gorilla reference, but it doesn't surprise me.

.

Well no ****. That's a brilliant prediction. Really going out on a limb there. I don't plan on modding this when I'm 87.

And let's not forget the great wrestler George "The Animal" Steele.

The forum has already improved a lot imo. Note well at least two frequent posters who recently got temp-banned.

This!!!!

Generally, the folks opposing the niceness policy are terrible posters (imo) who wouldn't be missed if they left (imo).

So?

Thanks. But I'm good. It's sort of like a physics principle. You can't generate forward motion without friction. I welcome feedback. It's sort of strange about the be nice thing though. Lots of people comment that it is hurting the forum or restricting their ability to discuss politics. But they never state how it is actually hurting the forum. And they don't give actual examples of things they can't say that they want to be allowed to say.

So it's hard to reassess a policy when all someone provides for feedback is "this sucks" and then when asked what should be allowed, it's silence.

Yes, it was an equally brilliant observation that a largely user run forum has undergone changes over the last 20 years. But I understand if these points go over your head.

The stuff you complain about here is a joke (no new users changing mods) and you're actively making the place worse with terrible, arbitrary decisions and rules so vague they are simply a license for you to abuse. The things you complain about will not change just because you're now in charge.

Wasn't the politics forum actually shut down in an earlier iteration?

It was shut down for like 2 or 3 days, and old mods were relieved of their duties and then Well Named took over as mod before passing it onto Tame. So you're the third mod post-shutdown.