Split "Everything Else" into two boards?

[Chris]

However, it's still not that big a deal!

[Chris]

Beneath Chris' avatar it says don't panic.

[shmokes]

LMAO.....You should add a bit of a sense of humor to your diet, Chris.  I don't have agoraphobia.

And the reference to republicans in my title is an inside joke, refering to this thread

On it's face being voted brilliant by BYOAC republicans is neutral.  If anything, being a flaming liberal, I should be the one who is offended by it, lol

And considering that I am, in fact, the creator of the universe I don't see how that can be considered inappropriate.

Here's the thing.  This isn't a general purpose message board.  It's an arcade message board.  Hence the lump forum "everything else".  I personally find time-wasting blind links to supposedly funny things that turn out to be canned or immature or unfunny for any one of a thousand other reasons offensive.  But I'm not going to push for a "humor" forum.  There's no reason for an arcade message board to have a humor forum (regardless of whether the jokes are genuinely funny or not). 

If you want to see when the meets are it's not too tough to filter them out of the rest of the crap in there, considering they are pinned topics. 

Please quit complaining.  You're starting to remind me of Kerry supporters.  Has anyone ever noticed how whiny liberals are and how dumb conservatives are.   

...mwahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!!  Political thread, here we come!

[saint]

If I recall correctly, "creator of the universe" was Shmoke's choice when I offered him a custom avatar title. The "voted brilliant" portion I added as a joke in response to a thread picking on him (in a good natured fashion I believe).

[shmokes]

You recall correctly

[APFelon]

  APFelon, I see 16 posts from you in all of 2005, that's just once a week.

-sab

So... the level of active posting gives credance to opinion, does it?

Well Sir, have a look at WHAT I post and compare it to say... anyone against splitting the board.

Your lame "drama queen" comment was less than appreciated and it suggested that you did not fully digest what I had written.

I suggested a compromise. OOh, how dramatic.

Yeesh.

I will try to put this as plainly as I possibly can in order to avoid yet ANOTHER rude assault over what has got to be one of the weakest Internet arguments I have ever been involved with.

As of this writing, this is the ONLY forum I frequent as most of the other ones have become infested by self righteous political "experts" who all think that their mission on Earth is to be a missionary to whatever political screed they have aligned themselves with. It's tiring, it's boring, it's not worth my time to deal with people who have to inject politics in everything they say and do.

You know those guys who have to make some sexual innuendo in even the most benign conversations? You know how annoying it is? Do you see a parallel AT ALL?

When I started on this forum, it was squeaky clean from all of that political, religious, and "lifestyle" junk that flows from 99% of the other forums out there. Just good people meeting to share a common hobby.

It was fun. It was clean. Nearly zero white noise from people who wanted to tell me about Jesus or John Kerry or George Bush  or whatever cultural war topic happened to grace the front page of The New York Times that day. You see, I read political stuff all of the time. But sometimes I just don't want to. Sometimes I just want to delve in to a hobby (and former career) that I still love.

And you know, sometimes people don't need to know that you think America sucks or is great, you believe everything Noam Chomsky puts down on paper, that you think Condoleeza Rice is the next president, you think Michael Moore is a big fat liar or that you think Ann Coulter has an adams apple.

Sometimes, especially in a community that is (or used to be?) so narrow and tight, we can just come together and discuss the ONE LOUSY THING we all have in common without bickering like children and posting things that are DELIBERATELY hurtful to other users of this community.

I took interest in this topic NOT because I want to shut anyone up, or I want to stifle people, or I want to control the content of this forum. No, I want this forum to be as civil and hospitable to ALL people, and I think a stricter code of conduct is warranted within the forum proper. We have people who get their jollies by pissing other people off for no other reason than their own amusement. I strongly believe that this behavior needs to be curtailed.

Have a look at the vote. Somehow, I don't think I am alone in thinking this way.

I thought that the segregation of topics idea was not only a reasonable request, but an incredibly fair one. Despite the LONG rants on this thread and the other one dedicated to the subject, I honestly see zero reason why that it shouldn't have come to pass. As far as I'm concerned, it was a no-brainer question, which basically boiled down to this:

Shall we continue to intermingle arcade topics and politics, or shall we break the hot-topic subjects away from the subjects that most people here actually come to read?

But hey, the decision has been made, and the long term effects will be interesting to see. Maybe I'm wrong and all of that political stuff is doing the arcade building community some service that I can't see, despite the fact that I have seen over a dozen forums overrun and ruined by religious and/or political bluster.

APf

[Chris]

Please quit complaining.

[shmokes]

AP, the whole point of Everything Else is to give all those things you hate a home in order to minimize their appearance in the other forums.  Just don't go to the Everything Else forum.  It's as simple as that.  I almost never go to the Monitor/Video forum because I have no interest in reading the vast majority of threads in there.  No biggie.  You, it would seem, have no interest in reading the vast majority of threads in the Everything Else forum.  No biggie.  but...

Again:

Everything Else
- Things that don't fit on other boards. There is more
tolerance for stronger language on this forum,
but the rules for civility remain the same. Bring strong
feelings and opinions -- leave hate at the door.

The rules don't specifically mention "strong feelings and opinions" for nothing.  It's not referring to the strong opinions in comedy threads or the harsh language characteristic of the BYOAC Get-together threads.  Everything else was created with us riff-raff in mind.  We are the yahoos with the strong feelings that the rules are referring to.  If a Debate forum is created it's only a matter of time before someone comes in and wants to split it out into two forums: one for devisive topics like religion and politics, etc. and one for any other kind of debates -- say ipac vs. keywiz, or vortex vs. tornado (though, maybe those belong in the devisive forum as well). 

Susan Powter said it best:  STOP THE INSANITY!

[shmokes]

Thank you very much for making my point for me.

No, thank you very much for making my point for me.......again.

LMAO.....You should add a bit of a sense of humor to your diet, Chris.

[Chris]

AP, the whole point of Everything Else is to give all those things you hate a home in order to minimize their appearance in the other forums.

[saint]

Chris - you should be able to click the "profile" link button at the top, choose "Look and Layout Preferences" on the menu on the left, and turn on these two options:

Don't show other users' avatars.
Don't show other users' signatures.

Which should filter out most of that I believe. Let me know if you can't get to it? I think everyone can but sometimes I'm not sure what I can get to as a mod that others can't.

--- saint

AP, the whole point of Everything Else is to give all those things you hate a home in order to minimize their appearance in the other forums.  Just don't go to the Everything Else forum.

Good point.  This would be a great suggestion if sigs, avatars, avatar captions, etc. didn't appear in every forum here at arcadepolitics.com.

[shmokes]

Chris, the subject of this thread is "Split "Everything Else" into two boards?"

It didn't change until you lost your battle.  Inappropriate sigs and avatars etc. are quashed as you saw in this very thread when someone brought a porn avatar to Saint's attention.  But I don't think he wants to run a police state, either.  The point I was trying to make by singling out your "Don't Panic" bit was that you shouldn't go around looking for things to offend you.  For a long time Drew had a football player in his sig.  Team sports can be devisive.  I personally know people who will kick you out of their house for disparaging certain teams.  I know of at least one case where a man cut off his own testicles, he was such a fanatic of his team.  But should Drew be forced to remove this sig as soon as someone comes in who hates that player or that team? 

A wise parrot who only knew how to say one thing (and in a portuguese accent) once squawked, "People of zee world, Relax!"

[Chris]

Which should filter out most of that I believe. Let me know if you can't get to it? I think everyone can but sometimes I'm not sure what I can get to as a mod that others can't.

It filters out the image and the sig, but not the custom title or the avatar text.

[APFelon]

Seriously Schmokes. Have you kept up with anything I have written on this topic at all? Have you read any of the posts regarding splitting the forum? I have addressed most of those points that you just brought up... today, in fact.

Honestly. I put the time and effort into reading and understanding what people write. I wish people would extend the same courtesy to me. I guess people just think "OOH, BIG SCARY BLOCK OF TEXT FROM A GUY WITH NO AVATAR" and skim it. And then they talk to me as though I am a child and my points (that they don't bother to fully read) are foolish.

By they way, EE was not created for you riff-raff. It was redefined and redescribed for you riff-raff. That description is not the original one that was around when the forum was created.

And as for this:

If a Debate forum is created it's only a matter of time before someone comes in and wants to split it out into two threads: one for devisive topics like religion and politics, etc. and one for any other kind of debates.

Call Mr. C over and show him what a "slippery slope" argument looks like because here is a prime example. Unfounded, baseless, junk argument.

Argh... You know, this is EXACTLY the crap I wanted to get away from in the EE forum. I effing hate this.

Everybody yakking away and no one listening. Everyone seems to get some joy out of fighting but nothing gets discussed. Everyone thinks that the are so flippin' smart and wise, but they are unwilling or unable to read and understand anything more than 100 words long. No ideas are exchanged because no one actually READS anything. They are too busy indulging in "clever" barbs, insults and slams.

It sucks and I am through with this.

The decision has been made, and my "side" lost. I have already written my thoughts on this and I have no want to write more.

APf

[tommy]

If your not happy maybe you should not be here.

That is not directed at any one person, its directed at a few.

Ahhhh that feels better my anger is released now. 

[quarterback]

If your not happy maybe you should not be here.

Which is the whole reason people wanted the split in the first place.

[Stingray]

I just read a thread about Beer in Everything Else, and it ends up as, guess what, talking about politics.  Gee, how did that happen?  Oh, yeah, YOU!

When you are talking about laws thats politics.
politicians make laws. I continued typing in a thread that already had a political discussion going on in it. I did not start mentioning laws and regulations on alcohoul sales.

My fault on that one. I'm pretty sure I was the first one to start discussing laws regarding beer in that thread. IMO, I don't see that thread as being particularly political, there was just a little good natured ribbing. I was the target of the ribbing and it didn't offend me.

No, the note starting to take it into political terriotory is:

not in WI, open monday thru sunday.

And you hate us liberals. 

That, of course, was certainly just meant to be a fun tweak, but ChadTower wasn'tcontent to leave that there:

I love beer and hate politics. I think that makes me liberal.

No no, if you loved beer and hated America, that would make you Liberal.

And thus I am now taking offense.

(edit: Spelling)

Well you really have to consider the source. Chad and I have always gotten along fairly well, despite the fact that sometimes his "ribbing" can sometimes be a little less good natured than it might have been.  So again, I feel like this was directed at me, was meant as a joke, and I didn't take offence.

-S

[Shape D.]

plus he can't put that [thye status text above the avatar] in a mod? or admin has to.

I missed this point the first time; noticed again re-reading the thread.  THis is disturbing.  So mods are attaching political statements to people's accounts?

That speaks books about the situation.

Welcome to arcadepolitics.com.

I'd understatnd your point if it actually said something that made a negitive point. Example:
Shmokes
***
pimp slapper to
you crybaby liberals.
full member

it says (and I cant see it now so i'm trying to recite from memory)

creator of the universe voted genious by byoac republicans.

Hes not trying to "convert you to the dark side"  its just a silly statement.

other people have them as well,
DrewKaree
***
specialist
pompus windbag
division
full member

Apollo
***
yes you can have
a custom title.
full member.

If you want to see offensive check out the dc emu forum. theres a guy who is a moderator on that board and has a swastica for an avitar. which is why I don't go tho that board unless I have too.

[shmokes]

I think a big reason that some of us oppose the split is that we don't want to have our own little niche forum with five people regular visitors.  We like the occasional post by ApFelon and Monkeybomb.  We like it when our discussion becomes so irresistable that Saint is compelled to chime in.  Maybe y'all wish you had better will-power, but when the topic of a thread is "It looks like the Pope is about to die" or "1000 Reasons not to vote for G.W. Bush" you can be pretty confident what you're going to find inside.  Certainly there are the mystery Subject headings, and I'm the first to rail against those.  I think a person should always enter a thread with a good idea of what the topic is.  But it's a public forum and sometimes you just have to put up with the ocassional post in ALL-CAPS.

I think we draw a much bigger and more diverse crowd, which makes for much more interesting debates, in the Everything Else forum, than we would in a debate forum.

My point about someone coming along later on, wanting to split the debate forum, wasn't meant as a slippery slope -- one thing leading to the next.  I simply mean that the request to create new forums and subforums is endless.  I've probably seen it a dozen times on BYOAC alone, and I don't even visit the Board Discussion forum often.  My point is that splitting the Everything Else forum is not going to finally settle issue so that peace can reign over BYOAC for years to come.  Some people will always be dissatisfied.  And anyway, a slippery slope is not a logical fallacy if the chances of the chain of events actually happening is quite high.

There are plenty of safeguards in place, IMO.  Avatars can be blocked.  Sigs can be blocked.  Users can be ignored altogether.  Subject headings generally give a very good idea of what the contents of the thread will be like. 

But, on the blocking of all that personalization stuff, that stuff is there for a purpose.  People like to set themselves apart from everyone else.  They like to have things up there that will give other people an idea of who they are.  I, for example, know that Chris is a big fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy based soley on two little words under his avatar.  Maybe I think that series of novels is awful.  Maybe I think that the violent destruction of every person on earth (except one, of course) to make way for an intergalactic highway crosses the line on what a person should even joke about.  But that doesn't change who Chris is, or the fact that this is a public forum.  If I don't like the tiny line under his avatar I just won't read it every time he posts.  If something can be said in a post without breaking forum rules it should be allowed in a person's profile.  Obviously there are limits to what is allowed, but Saint has to please a lot of people.  If he takes a lowest common denominator approach, banning anything that can be remotely construed as offensive to someone, he's going to anger just as many people as if he takes a middle-of-the-road approach.  He strikes me as someone who believes very strongly in freedom of expression and prefers to err on the side of tolerance.  It's a thin line to walk and I think that most people appreciate how well he walks it.  I think few people find him overly restrictive and few people find him overly tolerant.  Obviously there will always be some people on either side who believe he is one or the other.

"Peaple of zee world, Relax!

[Chris]

I think we draw a much bigger and more diverse crowd, which makes for much more interesting debates, in the Everything Else forum, than we would in a debate forum.

But this is arcadecontrols.com, not interestingpoliticaldebates.com.  Why must you have political debates here?

There are plenty of safeguards in place, IMO.

[shmokes]

It is interestingdebates.com.  And it's lamejokes.com.   And it's periodically funnyjokes.com.  And it's timewastinggames.com  .  And it's wierdnews.com.

In fact it's EVERYTHINGELSE.COM

And yes, when there are two people on the entire board that find the phrase "Voted Brilliant by BYOAC Rupublicans" offensive, while to the rest it either means absolutely nothing or they get a kick out of it, you should have to wall yourself in to avoid it.  We're not talking about pornography or swastikas. 

LMAO, where exactly is this ad hominem attack you speak of.  For that matter, where's the previous one you allude to when you say "Once again"?  Perhaps you should look up the definition of an ad hominem.  Bonus points if you can find the definition for all three types.

And so what if Hitchhiker's Guide is a mostly harmless (cute) flight of fancy.  Between 1990-2000 the Harry Potter series holds the number 7 spot of the 100 most frequently challenged (attempts to censor, forbid, etc.) books.  Huck Finn holds the number 5 spot.  Others include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou), The Witches (Roald Dahl), the Scary Stories series (top of the list), the Goosebumps Series, and The Joy of Gay Sex.

What is "mostly harmless" to you is not to another person.  This may seem incomprehensible to you, but I probably find you every bit as offensive as you find me. 

"People of zee world, Relax!"

[Chris]

LMAO, where exactly is this ad hominem attack you speak of.

[Stingray]

And so what if Hitchhiker's Guide is a mostly harmless (cute) flight of fancy.  Between 1990-2000 the Harry Potter series holds the number 7 spot of the 100 most frequently challenged (attempts to censor, forbid, etc.) books.  Huck Finn holds the number 5 spot.  Others include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou), The Witches (Roald Dahl), the Scary Stories series (top of the list), the Goosebumps Series, and The Joy of Gay Sex.

And where does the Hitchhiker's Guide fit into that list?

I'm pretty sure he's just making that point that there's nothing in the world (not even a book a goofily charming as The Hitchhiker's Guide) that someone somewhere won't find offensive. I seriously doubt he has any problem with that book, he's only using it as an example.

-S

[Chris]

I'm pretty sure he's just making that point that there's nothing in the world (not even a book a goofily charming as The Hitchhiker's Guide) that someone somewhere won't find offensive. I seriously doubt he has any problem with that book, he's only using it as an example.

I know exactly what he's trying to do, and I'm calling him on it.  Where on the list of 100 most frequently challenged (attempts to censor, forbid, etc.) books is the Hitchhiker's Guide?

According to http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm, it's not even on the list.

--Chris

[quarterback]

Politics and religion these days are the most divisive things in the country.

And, as I noted in an earlier post, politics and relgion are literally matters of life and death.  The religions or political beliefs of one group or another very literally determine who lives, who dies and what kinds of lives they live.

OTOH, "The Hitchiker's Guide" does not in any way directly determine the lives or deaths of thousands or hundred's of thousands or millions of people.  The Terri Schiavo case does, the War in Iraq does, the Presidential election does, the makeup of Congress does, the Supreme court does etc etc etc etc

[shmokes]

Oooh....I've been called out.

I never said Hitchhikers Guide was on the list.  I pointed out many books that the average person would consider harmless, or at least mostly harmless, that actually TOP the 100 most challenged list.  You'll notice that that's the 100 Most Challenged list, not a list of every book that has been challenged.

Maybe the Hitchhiker's Guide has never been challenged.  Maybe it was #1 on the list for 1980-1990.

And yeah, generally speaking an ad hominem is attacking a person's character rather than what the person believes or is saying or is otherwise relevant to the issue.  You seem to be talking about a Straw Man -- claiming that your oponent is taking a much more extreme position then he is, destroying that position and then claiming to have destroyed your oponent's argument.  But still I did no such thing. 

I made a perfectly reasonable analogy between someone being offended by your reference to Hitchhiker's Guide and your being offended by my Voted Brilliant by Republicans.  My point is that in either case the VAST majority of people would not be offended, but in either (practically any) case you will be able to find someone who is.

Here's my real question.  I love this stuff.  I enjoy it.  I think it makes me smarter and faster and I learn a great deal about how I see the world when I actually sit down and put it on paper (or 1's and 0's in this case).  I enjoy debating and I'm getting a kick out of this argument with you.  But are you sure you hate it as much as you say you do?  Afterall, the decision is made.  The forum stays the same.  The rules about Avs and Sigs remains the same.  And yet here we are.  Maybe, like me, you derive a little pleasure and benefit from articulating your thoughts for the forum.  Maybe you think I'm full of crap, as most of us probably think about most everyone else, but you still perceive some benefit of arguing.  You apparently DO perceive some benefit. 

You should come over to the Everything Else forum more often, man.  You've been obsessively monitoring this thread.  I would imagine there's something in that.

Changing people's minds doesn't have to be the only goal of debate and argument.  It teaches you to think critically.  It forces you to take a position, as this is usually a prerequisite for articulating said position.  Maybe you will stubbornly adhere to all of your beliefs.  At least you'll learn how to defend them logically.  And no, I'm not saying you don't know how to be logical, I'm just saying that practice makes perfect.

...and so on.

"People of zee world, Relax!"

[Chris]

Here's my real question.

[Stingray]

Here's my real answer.  I DON'T LOVE THIS STUFF.  I've been upset and angry for two days about this.  I could hardly sleep last night, and came within a hairs breadth of wiping my hard drive of everything to do with MAME and DOSCab/WinCab.  I am not getting a kick out of this argument.  I hate it.  I have felt hurt from your personal attacks.  I have nothing personal against you, even though you say I offend you, and don't understand the joy you and others get from trying to be hurtful in addition to making your point.  I really don't get it.

Wow man, I think you may be taking this a little (or a lot) too seriously. I don't think I gave this thread a second thought over the last few days when I wasn't reading it. I'm not sure where you're seeing personal attacks.

I was all for splitting Everything Else, but hey it didn't happen. It's not going to ruin my life or anything. I'll continue looking in there daily, since it's one of my favorite spots on the internet, and I'll continue to try and avoid the threads I'm not interested in. Seriously, don't take online discussions so personally.

I think I'll tack on a "People of zee world, Relax!" here.

-S

[Chris]

Wow man, I think you may be taking this a little (or a lot) too seriously. I don't think I gave this thread a second thought over the last few days when I wasn't reading it. I'm not sure where you're seeing personal attacks.

I was all for splitting Everything Else, but hey it didn't happen. It's not going to ruin my life or anything. I'll continue looking in there daily, since it's one of my favorite spots on the internet, and I'll continue to try and avoid the threads I'm not interested in. Seriously, don't take online discussions so personally.

A lot of people can't not take politics and religion seriously and personally.  Politics and religion are life-altering.  I try not to discuss politics and religion with people I intend to remain friends with, although I may have made the mistake in participating in the occasional discussion here.

Imagine an arcade with C-Span playing on a TV next to the snack machines, Rush Limbaugh on another TV over the bathrooms, and political bumper stickers on a number of game cabinets, and being told by the management "If you don't like it, stay away from the snack machine and the bathrooms, and cover your eyes when walking past the games.  I'm not moving the TV's to another room, cause me and five of the guys here are political junkies."  Sure, you could stay away from the bathrooms and try to tune out the bumper stickers plastered over the side art, but how much are you really going to enjoy that arcade?  Although I'm sure you and Shmokes will be in heaven in this environment, to some of us this is just not fun.

[Stingray]

Although I'm sure you and Shmokes will be in heaven in this environment, to some of us this is just not fun.

Re-read this thread, man. I was all for splitting EE into two forums:

Yes, I agree that crap should be moved into the sewer.

---

A general chat section and a politics & religion section would work best. Almost every angry flame war (or regular war for that matter) starts over politics or religion.

---

No one is suggesting that these topics should be deleted, or not allowed. We just want to move them into another area. I don't understand why you think this is a bad idea. You and others say if you don't like them, don't read them. Moving them into their own forum will make it easier for us to do so.

---

You can also look at as half the users think it {splitting EE} would be a good idea. As QB said, ultimatly it's Saint's decision.

Also for what it's worth, I'd rather stick toothpicks into my eyes than watch Rush Limbaugh.

-S

[monkeybomb]

Also for what it's worth, I'd rather stick toothpicks into my eyes than watch Rush Limbaugh.

Even pre-flavored mint toothpicks.

[Shape D.]

Imagine an arcade with C-Span playing on a TV next to the snack machines, Rush Limbaugh on another TV over the bathrooms, and political bumper stickers on a number of game cabinets, and being told by the management "If you don't like it, stay away from the snack machine and the bathrooms, and cover your eyes when walking past the games.

umm as a proprieter of a buisness he has every right to tell you that. although you have every right to tell him he lost a customer and can  go himself.

[shmokes]

Also for what it's worth, I'd rather stick toothpicks into my eyes than watch Rush Limbaugh.

Even pre-flavored mint toothpicks.

Especially the pre-flavored ones.

[shmokes]

Imagine an arcade with C-Span playing on a TV next to the snack machines, Rush Limbaugh on another TV over the bathrooms, and political bumper stickers on a number of game cabinets, and being told by the management "If you don't like it, stay away from the snack machine and the bathrooms, and cover your eyes when walking past the games.

umm as a proprieter of a buisness he has every right to tell you that. although you have every right to tell him he lost a customer and can  go himself.

Anyway, it's a pretty weak analogy.  A better analogy would be an arcade with a TV that was turned off, but labeled CSPAN and another turned-off TV that was labeled Rush Limbaugh and for some strange reason a person finds it irresistable to walk over and turn on the TV even though they know that it's going to piss them off.  You don't have to enter a thread if you don't want to.  The bumber sticker is actually a great analogy.  Should we outlaw bumber stickers on peoples' cars?  Should we outlaw the fish with the cross?  How about the fish with the DARWIN?  How about the fish eating the fish with the DARWIN?

Look, Chris, I'm done holding your hand.  I haven't attacked you or insulted you any more than is implied by the fact that I disagree with your position.  I find your position offensive because your position is that the things I do are inappropriate and other people need to be protected from me.  You obviously find me offensive -- to the degree, in fact, that you can't sleep and are considering giving up on arcade games altogether in order to avoid exposure to me and my kind.

I don't care whether you make a point of not talking politics/religion with people you want to remain friends with.  I make a point of talking politics with my friends.  Who elected you Queen of England?  Maybe the fact that you seem to be unable to remain friends with people with whom you talk politics/religion is a sign that you should approach the subjects with a little more friendliness.  And BTW, who exactly do you talk politics/religion with?  You say they are "life-altering".  Presumably that makes them important, since the affect all of our lives.  Do you find people who are already your enemies and talk to them about it?  Do you just keep it all bottled up?  Do you hope that if you ignore it, it will go away? 

For my part I talk politics with almost all my friends and I have a great number of them.  In fact, while I've never met Drew in real life or spoken to him on the phone, I consider him a friend.  This, dispite the fact that we both maintain a near constant belief that the other one is pretty wrongheaded.  In spite of us being mortal political enemies Drew recently found out that I enjoy audiobooks but did not have access to Farenheight 451, which he happened to be in possession of.  Guess what he did?  He got my address from me, made a copy of it and mailed it to me free of charge. 

If you've got sensitive eyes maybe you should consider sunglasses or staying indoors.  Don't ask the sun to stop shining.

oh yeah....nearly forgot:  "People of zee world, Relax!"

[mozzer]

...

[monkeybomb]

If we're going to use the acade analogy how about this. 

OUR PERSPECTIVE

You're looking for your favorite game and as you walk around you notice a political tee-shirt here and there.  Some of it mildy offensive but whatever it's just a t-shirt. 

As you continue walk around you hear a comment or two about liberal this and republican that.  Anoying but stll no big deal.  Finnally You realize that all the good fighting games have long lines but you don't want to leave just yet.  It turns out there is a starbucks IN THE ARCADE. 

You walk in and it's great,  all us arcade geeks just talking about life and little about games.  Suddenly you overhear a line or two about religeon and politics.  It kind of ruined starbucks.  You didn't stick around to hear the whole debate but it certainly changed you mood.  Then you see a few of the people you were talking to at starbucks left because they got sick of hearing the politics.  Most people seems to ignore it but a few are just getting pissed.

When you go back to the arcade it's not quite as fun.  The starbucks left a bad taste and you don't quite look at those the same who were particulary vocal.  You still play with them, as MVC has now opened up but there is an uneasy feeling and it's just not as fun as it could have been.



THE OTHER SIDE

Great arcade, great conversation, a few people were complaining about something.  oh well, I won't let that stop me from talking.  And can you believe the nerve of them asking us to go to the other empty room at starbuck.  What babies.

[shmokes]

WHITE SUPREMECIST'S PERSPECTIVE:

You walk into an arcade looking for your favorite game and as you walk around you see a few blacks here and there.  Mildly offensive, but whatever.

As you continue to walk around you hear a comment or two about voting this, integration that.  Annoying, but no big deal.  Finally you realize that all the good games have lines so you go to Starbucks, but the coffee's not the only the only thing black here, if you catch my drift.  So Starbucks is ruined.  And to make matters worse some of your white supremecist friends have left too after getting sick of being in the same room as blacks.  Most seem to ignore them, but a few are just getting pissed.


THE OTHER SIDE

Great arcade, great conversation, a few people were complaining about something.  Oh well, I won't let that stop me from talking and being black.  And can you believe the nerve of them asking us to go to the other empty room at Starbucks?  I thought that crap ended in the 70's.

[shmokes]

BEHOLD!!!!!!  The cesspool that is the Everything Else forum!  Feast your eyes on the evil ways of such threads as numbers 2, 3, 24 and 35.   And um....don't feast your eyes on any of the others!!!!

This is the entire first page of the Everything Else forum as of about five minutes ago.  Seriously, people of zee world.....Relax!

edit: It just occurred to me that none of the four bad threads in this list would have been started in a debate forum.  #2 is the only one with a debate going on and it was not planned.


1- The Rules of Manhood 
2- Vegetarians   There is some full-on debate going on in here
3- shmokes critique  An all-out assault on me that I started in good fun, I might add that there are some new negative votes, lol - Chris?APFelon? Monkeybomb?
4- Wendy's Chili Update
5- hood mounted rocket launcher?
6- Now THAT'S a utensil! (Hot Rod Pizza Cutter)
7- My civic is more UB3R than YOURS!!!
8- Track and Field Spoof
9- Just booked my Star Wars tickets!
10- Who wants a Nigerian roommate.
11- You Know You're A Child Of The 80's If...
12- powerpoint
13- CGEUK
14- car problems
15- File-swappers beware
16- UK 80's TV Adverts
17- What vitamins do you take?
18- A few choice words
19- D&D suggestions
20- my next DIY project !HOME THEATER!!
21- Zip Zaps (or whatever they're called)
22- beer drinking rules
23- BYO Mobile Hotspot
24- XBox Grid Girls    Scantily clad women are offensive to some unfortunate people
25- How big is... too big?
26- Arcade- related riddles
27- Orange County, CA
28- Mixing Acetone with gasoline for better fuel economy
29- Littlest Hobo in Spanish
30- Game store promo art
31- Gmes you didn't think you liked
32- Hey y'all, looks like the pope might be about to die
33- I FINALLY found a local one with a clear title.
34- MORE "things to do with gasoline for your car"
35- New Pope Elected!   Religion, but no arguing - just people making fun of the new Pope's evilness

[monkeybomb]

Can't type...too funny.

I say every post has a white supremisist perspective.

[APFelon]

3- shmokes critique  An all-out assault on me that I started in good fun, I might add that there are some new negative votes, lol - Chris?APFelon? Monkeybomb?

Get over yourself, dude. I voted you a retard months ago.

APf