You will find that this thread is now "locked."

[Guest]

That is absolute BS. Because a few people think that they should have total control of all threads and that they have some god-given right not to be offended, a thread is locked with no notice. How many had composed responses, possibly even well written and pertinent, only to have them disappear when they hit the post button?

Politics is a contact game. Everybody just wants to get along. like Rodney King, but when the Speaker say "If Bush is for it, we're against it.", how do you compromise?

If one cannot discuss the many vagueries of politics, then it's best he or she hide under a rock or bury his head in the sand. You may not like it, but politics impacts every aspect of your life.

[Guest]

Muncle, I am completely with you on this one. (side note: hope you're feeling better)

Let's hope they don't lock this one. chels

[Guest]

Although I don't condone mean spirited posts in the Political Forum, I'm afraid it's a way of life or the nature of the beast. If one can't stand the heat then get out of the fire, I say. If one doesn't like the television program, they invented switches that turn off as well as on.
Censorship is OK when vulgarities are rampant but to censor a political forum for the reason that it's getting heated is over the top in my opinion. I'm well aware of the censorship that goes on in TOTV, I have been deleted more than once, and threatened to be banned. Lets see if this post flies
Handie :joke:

[Guest]

That is absolute BS. Because a few people think that they should have total control of all threads and that they have some god-given right not to be offended, a thread is locked with no notice.

I agree with Muncle, Chels and Handie. I don't like censorship in any form. Although I rarely post on political, I believe the Political Forum fulfils a useful purpose and helps to educate a lot of us.

People are offended at comments and therefore want to stifle the free speech of others who may well have something very valid to say, or a fresh viewpoint. If you don't like reading Political Threads, in the words of Russ Boston, "It is very easy to ignore, just don't go there".

[Guest]

IMHO...this may be a case of restricting our rights to freedom of speech. If true, this would be a case for legal litigation.

[Guest]

just curious, who is the heavy handed one that decided censorship is ok?

[Guest]

One of the administrators...either Talk Host (Jan), Tony, or dklassen (Darrel).

[Guest]

I've been told that since this is a privately owned forum freedom of speech doesn't apply because all of us are "invited" guests. I was also told freedom of speech only applies to public forums..."Only in a public forum are you protected by the first amendment."

So there it is in a nutshell....according to one of the administrators!

[Guest]

somehow not suprised at that attitude.

funny though, don't these very "guests" essentially make the forum?

[Guest]

In this instance, I think freedom of speech is a concept, not a legal issue.

I don't believe adults should be censored or sent for a Time Out, or to the "Naughty Room" , because someone objects to a post or a thread. The person objecting can move on with one key stroke.

If there is no interest in a thread, it will die a natural death. If peeps are having fun with it, why not let them?

[Guest]

Hmmm...not sure what the indignation is about. As best as I can reconstruct...

A topic/thread was begun in General Villages Forum regarding a suggestion for moratorium on political posting. That led to a number of replies, many of which ventured into political and freedom of speech issues.

Admin (Jan/Talk Host) decided to lock THAT thread in THAT forum before it unravelled and degraded any further and he moved some of the hijack spinoffs to the rightful political forum. Admins have locked controversial threads before to preserve the peace. It's never an easy call and I'm sure they do their best.

Perhaps the subject line of his 'moved' post led to misinterpretation. It's not like the admins have locked the entire Political forum...is that what y'all think happened? As far as I can tell, it's business as usual.

Did I miss something here???

[Guest]

well stated barefoot. seems pretty darn logical when you look at it with that perspective.

[Guest]

Hmmm...not sure what the indignation is about.

Seven, there was a post by JohnnyM suggesting that there be a moratorium on the political thread, and that the political forum be closed down for one month. I think the comments pertain to his suggestion.

[Guest]

It was MOVED, not locked where you can no longer post. CHILL! Go to political and find it there. I think that is where the moratorium thread should have been to begin with (not really a General Villages discussion about The Villages, right?) and agree with the adm. moving it there. NO BIG DEAL!! I don't post there, but do find it entertaining reading, to say the least!! LOL PEACE!!

[Guest]

somehow not suprised at that attitude.


What exactly do you mean by that. We have 79673 Posts in 8404 threads on Talk of The Villages, and the administrators have "locked" threads two, maybe three, times in the past three years. We have given the members more latitude than most forums do. We stay out of discussions more than most administrators do. This forum is privately owned by the three administrators with an investment that exceeds $10,000. Anything that compromises the integrity of our investment needs to be controlled.

I see that you have been a member since May and have 22 posts. I suggest that you check with our "veteran" members and learn that the "attitude" of your administrators here is one of extreme patients. At least we try. Our job is to keep the peace. Anything short of that leads to anarchy.

[Guest]

Hmmm...not sure what the indignation is about. As best as I can reconstruct...

A topic/thread was begun in General Villages Forum regarding a suggestion for moratorium on political posting. That led to a number of replies, many of which ventured into political and freedom of speech issues.

Admin (Jan/Talk Host) decided to lock THAT thread in THAT forum before it unravelled and degraded any further and he moved some of the hijack spinoffs to the rightful political forum. Admins have locked controversial threads before to preserve the peace. It's never an easy call and I'm sure they do their best.

Perhaps the subject line of his 'moved' post led to misinterpretation. It's not like the admins have locked the entire Political forum...is that what y'all think happened? As far as I can tell, it's business as usual.

Did I miss something here???


07....I beleive you are correct. It was in the wrong area...should have stayed in the Political Forum....I don't think it was locked to keep us out....just the it got out of hand in the wrong area....so it was moved and dispersed.

I really don't think this is too big a deal....I don't think they are trying to quiet us....Dem or Repub.....

Let's all breathe a little....after all.....

It is a beautiful day in The Villages!!!!

[Guest]

I do have to point out that though this thread has been "moved" now, it was locked most of the day and I could be wrong, but I think the original intent was to leave it that way. :dontknow:

[Guest]

Hmmm...not sure what the indignation is about. As best as I can reconstruct...



Well 07, as the instigator of this thread, let me explain my indigation. I don't know about the rest of the responders, but my reaction was purely personal and mostly visceral.

Yesterday afternoon, I read all the comments about putting the political forum on hiatus. The last msg was from Host suggesting that possibly the subject should be moved to Political. Might not agree, but I don't have a dog in that fight and it is his website. It moves, it moves. I didn't care.

Anyway, I gave the initial problem (moratorium for Political) some thought and came up with several brilliant observations on the issue. They ranged from the makeup of TOTV to the importance of politics in everyone's life whether they wanted to admit it or not. The piece was absolutely fabulous. Had it been published as an essay, critics would have sworn it came straight from Walden Pond. Emerson, Thoreau, and the others would be spinning in their respective graves in envy. Even Boomer and Barefoot would have approved.

So finally complete, I did hit the spell check button. Eventually that came up and I was able to correct a few typos. Then I hit the preview button and was able to review my masterpiece one last time before going live. Dare I say it again, BRILLIANT! So I finally hit the post button to release this magnum opus to the general public, or at least those on TOTV.

Guess what happened. I get a screen back that the thread is now locked. And my message over which I have slaved for about an hour, typing one-handed? It's gone, flushed down the urinal that is life.

Soooo yeah, I was a tad incensed. All I could think about were the poor souls on TOTV who would be denied the enlightenment of my words, that they must continue their lives in abject ignorance. Ah well.

But this situation has taught me well. No more long expository postings for me. From now on, only one or two line quick hitters making sarcastic witticisms about foolish positions of others or, should I actually cocur with someone's position, I could reply with the ever popular in some circles and totally meaningless

:agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree:

[Guest]

Muncle I love reading your posts too much to let you even consider making them short. I often agree with you and even when I don't I just like the way you string the words together.

I have lost posts also...and it must be a rule, that it only happens to the ones you have slaved over and made exceptionally brilliant.

So now, what I do before spell check or preview...I copy and paste it into a Word doc. Then I do the checking. Should my tome be lost I can cut and paste it again from my Word doc and not suffer the lose.

Just an idea...but please do not cut your posts short. I like them too much.

[Guest]

Muncle I love reading your posts too much to let you even consider making them short. I often agree with you and even when I don't I just like the way you string the words together.

I have lost posts also...and it must be a rule, that it only happens to the ones you have slaved over and made exceptionally brilliant.

So now, what I do before spell check or preview...I copy and paste it into a Word doc. Then I do the checking. Should my tome be lost I can cut and paste it again from my Word doc and not suffer the lose.

Just an idea...but please do not cut your posts short. I like them too much.



:agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree:

[Guest]

:redface: Aw pshaw.

[Guest]

Talkshow,

What did I mean by that? My only interaction with you on this forum has been exposure to a combative and sarcastic attitude when you didn't agree with, nor take the time to understand the nature of the posts I participated in. The fact that i "wasn't surprised" was simply a reflection of my experiences with you in particular thus far. I do not know you personally, only what you have shown me.
I was waiting on the "I see you only have x amount of posts", as if that affects someones ability to intelligently reply or otherwise participate in conversations.Every veteran here likely had 22 posts at some time. My impression from the vast majority of the members on this site led me to believe the cliquish nature of "I'm somehow better because I'm a 'veteran poster' is not a predominate attitude here. One of the things that drew me to this board was the lack of such "high school" attitudes.
Anarchy? Had no idea things were that dangerous. I was simply looking for a place to learn about my new home, and perhaps learn some other things in the process, maybe even have a good laugh here and there. I also had no idea that stating things that were not in agreement with the ad ministators would draw such personal ire and fears of anarchy. I am used to a friendly exchange of ideas, experiences, and differences of opinion that allow people to learn and grow. Life is to short for sweating the petty stuff.

[Guest]

:redface: Aw pshaw.


Oh Muncle....you really are loved!!!

They like you....they really, really like you....

Me too!!!!

[Guest]

There is a time and place for everything. With the election coming up, this should be one time when politics should be discussed. Now that religion has become so intertwined I guess its time for that too. I think a moratorium after the election would be a good idea. The problem with the politicians is they are always running for office but hardly ever working.
I have noticed a number of posts do get deleted. Perhaps instead of talk of the villages this should be renamed the Daily Sun forum.
Don't mean to be too gloomy though, must be all the storms we are having.
I do thank the providers for all the time, effort and money they have put into this.

[Guest]

I’d like to make some comments regarding brightspot's first amendment, legal action comments just so you are all clear.

First the nasty part.

The First Amendment / Free Speech has no bearing on ANY privately held forum / discussion board on the internet no matter the subject or the content. TOTV or any other forum is here and operational at the discretion of the owners who created it including the content that is posted on it.

The forum owners / creators set the subject matter, focus, tone and direction of the forums. If it’s a forum about flowers they do not have to allow discussions about changing the oil in your car. If it’s a forum dedicated to automotive repair they do not have to allow discussions about flowers. Any post any thread can be closed or deleted at any time for any reason.

One press of the delete button can make the political board go away forever and it is completely within the rights of the forum owners to do so. Forum owners also have the right to refuse access to any member or potential member at our discretion.

Given that, as Jan said we have close to 80,000 posts here and only a very tiny hand full has ever been closed or deleted in almost three years. In fact our wish is that no post, no thread, no member would EVER have to be deleted. Maybe in a perfect world that would be the case but as I’m sure you ALL know we live in a far from perfect world.

As most of you know there is a vast array of personalities on this forum with vastly different views. Some play nice and some don’t. Some can express differing opinions with each other and enjoy a lively debate. Yet others can’t blink without getting insulted or their feelings hurt. Sounds just like life outside the forums to me.

TOTV admins have a VERY fine line to walk when looking at what may need to be moderated. Some member(s) demand behind the scenes that a particular post or thread be deleted and when it is, others scream “We’ve been censored.” If we don’t close the post the complainers will leave. If we do close the post then some feel they are being censored. No one is being "censored" but we do have an obligation to all members to control the forums when we feel it necessary.

TOTV is a great place to be and we hope everyone will be happy here. Some never will and that’s just the way it is. Relax and enjoy TOTV for what it is and why it was created. Life is way too short to get bent out of shape over posts in a forum.

Take it easy on each other folks… and us to.

[Guest]

dk http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh96/renielarson/eggheadsmile.gif I can take it.

[Guest]

DK :bow: :bow:

And may I add that we are all extremely grateful for all the time and effort put in by the Admins to make this such a wonderful site. You've made over 5,000 people happy!