Posting in PA?

Well, I should be the one you all should try to emulate.

I'm perfect. Just ask me.

Snydershrugged said:

Where do you see if you have gotten any infractions again?

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It would be in your inbox like a flaming bag of dog crap on your porch on Halloween. You wouldn't even have to look for it, a big white screen telling you all about it would pop up and yell at you until you checked it.

Dear Nobody,

You have received an infraction at BGObsession.com.

Reason: Commenting to incite reaction, not advance discussion

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This is my infraction. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My infraction is my best friend. It is my life. I must master the forum as I must master my life.
My infraction, without me, is useless. Without my infraction, I am useless.
I must earn my infraction true. I must argue louder than my enemy who is trying to make a fool out of me.
I must condescend him before he condescends me. I will...

My infraction and I know that what counts in this war is not the words we fire, the noise of our rants, nor the commotion we create. We know that it is the jabs that count.
We will jab...

My infraction is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother.
I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its meanings, its many uses, its significance and its might.
I will keep my keyboard tough guy hands clean and ready, even as my insults are clean and ready.
We must become part of each other. We will...

Before BGO, I swear this creed. My infraction and I are the defenders of my beliefs. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is mine and there is no Liberal, but peace!

Surprised, and somewhat disappointed by the folks who aren't missing today.

Ax said:

Surprised, and somewhat disappointed by the folks who aren't missing today.

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maybe there weren't enough milk cartons to put all of our faces on.

Ax said:

Surprised, and somewhat disappointed by the folks who aren't missing today.

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Ya can't get rid of me that easy ya big lug.

Goaldeje said:

Ya can't get rid of me that easy ya big lug.

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Just trying to gain an advantage for our Death Match, er um, FF game this weekend.

MikeSr619 said:

My vote is to just close the thing down. We all have said time and time again that we would tone it down, monitor ourselves, and keep it civil. But the truth is none of us have. I am as guilty (if not more) than anyone else at it.

and thats not what this site is about. its not what we want it to be either.

I am going to do my best to be better than what the PA is. And if I am not, I want to be held accountable for it. Because this is a great ****ing site and it deserves great ****ing members.

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I couldn't agree more. I also find it telling that the most vocal members like you, me, El, Lanky, etc. have lobbied multiple times for it to be shut down.

The problem isn't that we can't be adults about it, it's that certain topics will always drive passionate and heated debates, and if someone is thin skinned or overly passionate about it, they are more likely to take offense even where it wasn't intended. We're all guilty of it, because it's part of being human.

It also doesn't help progress things when someone takes the approach of intentionally provoking a fight, and tells everyone they just wanted to see where it would go. If someone more or less makes it clear their intent is to start a fight and see how it unravels in their first sentence, that's a huge problem. The fact they stay within the rules by doing so doesn't make it any less wrong. The opening post of the age of the Earth thread being a perfect example of this.

Also, if it stays open, I think the easiest way to control the chaos would be to find some way to make a rule where if a person only posts in threads to antagonize other members, and never contributes to the topic (on either side, neither side is innocent in this) they should be dismissed from the PA. A lot of us that frequent the forum have had our share of spats. It's inevitable on hot button topics. But most of us have also had thought provoking conversations, insightful conversations, and conversations where we stated our views and left it at that. When a thread is obviously dead and done, and someone comes in weeks later just to stir the pot, it's obvious what their intent is.

Ex, I don't mean to be an asshole (I'm just gifted, I guess), but your post is a microcosm of the entire problem. You, yourself, have done exactly what you described so many times it's ridiculous. We don't realize, or take ownership, of what we do wrong, but we sure as hell will let someone else know IMMEDIATELY when they have effed up. That's the human nature part of it, and I don't know what the answer is, if there is an answer to it.

And I really don't mean to pick on you. We all do it. Much easier to see when Ax is being a jackass than when I am.

(to be fair, I hardly ever am really a jackass. I'm swell)

The main difference, as I have stated several times, is I don't shy away and go into denial mode if I'm blatantly being an asshole. I admit to my faults, as I did when I said we are all guilty of it. I own what I do, which is why I have always mocked my own arrogance, my attitude problems, my infractions, etc. I don't shy away from the fact I'm a dick, and I don't refrain from being one when people go out of their way to sugarcoat the fact they're being abrasive pricks.

Trust me, nobody here realizes how much of an asshole I can be more than I do. I am a grumpy, vocal, over the top mother****er. It comes from not giving two ****s what people think about me, and standing firm in my beliefs regardless of the opinions of others on my beliefs.

There is no difference between calling someone an asshole, implying they are an asshole, describing their behavior as something only an asshole would do, and using what one things is clever double talk wording to avoid looking like the bad guy. Where I'm different, is I call a spade a spade, I don't see the need to waste time and beat around the bush. I get the blowback I do, because I come right out and say it. If that makes me an asshole, add it to the list of things that make me an asshole, it's not like I'll lose sleep over it.

A perfect example - if I tell someone they said something that makes them look foolish, I get personally attacked for it, as there are several examples of. But certain members, which you are all surely aware of who, will tell you that if you disagree with what they're saying, even if they only provide their word as support for their stance, that it's just because you don't understand what you're talking about, or you don't comprehend how they worded it. But honestly, both ways of wording that are essentially calling the other person a dumbass. So why is one punishable and frowned upon, but not the other?

And while I may be one of the biggest assholes here, I do have loads of friends here to, because I do speak my mind. It's my delivery that causes conflict. And one thing I can say in support of myself, is I don't carryover disagreements from the PA into other forums to launch attacks on people, and by looking around I can say for certain I am one of very few active PA posters who can say that. I'm a get in a fist fight and shake hands afterwards kinda guy, not a fist fight followed by years of harassment and obsession kinda guy.

Even though it might not always seem like it, there is a difference between passion about something and being a dick. The line between the two gets very thin in the heat of a debate. I have never said anything here intentionally to offend anyone, and I think a lot of times certain members like to feign offense to things others say, just to look like the victim. It's like floppers in soccer and basketball. To me, that's more annoying than someone being blatantly offensive.

Seriously though, people should take what I say with a grain of salt anyway, because a lot of the time I'm only being half serious, and people get their panties ruffled and it's hilarious because it's over nothing.

In short......


People need to lighten up and learn how to tell when someone is being sincere with their hatred. Like with tr1, I don't honestly think he's an asshole or a bad person, but he most definitely goes out of his way to be an asshole just for the sake of riling people up in the PA. I have no problem with him elsewhere though, other than I think he's a closet Dallas fan

Goaldeje said:

Ex, I don't mean to be an asshole (I'm just gifted, I guess), but your post is a microcosm of the entire problem. You, yourself, have done exactly what you described so many times it's ridiculous. We don't realize, or take ownership, of what we do wrong, but we sure as hell will let someone else know IMMEDIATELY when they have effed up. That's the human nature part of it, and I don't know what the answer is, if there is an answer to it.

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So right. Everyone does this! (Except me, obvs)





Nailed it...its an accountability issue. I do the same thing...for me, I often get caught up in 'well so and so said this, why am *I* getting an infraction?' When in reality, we only know when we get an infraction, and have no knowledge of what others have received (unless they talk about it). Maybe we need big, scarlet I's on our profile when we get infractions.

I'm glad we're all working all this out. However, let's not turn this into PA part Duex,

Ex, I'm having a hard time going from this paragraph:

There is no difference between calling someone an asshole, implying they are an asshole, describing their behavior as something only an asshole would do, and using what one things is clever double talk wording to avoid looking like the bad guy. Where I'm different, is I call a spade a spade, I don't see the need to waste time and beat around the bush. I get the blowback I do, because I come right out and say it. If that makes me an asshole, add it to the list of things that make me an asshole, it's not like I'll lose sleep over it.

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Directly to this one:

A perfect example - if I tell someone they said something that makes them look foolish, I get personally attacked for it, as there are several examples of. But certain members, which you are all surely aware of who, will tell you that if you disagree with what they're saying, even if they only provide their word as support for their stance, that it's just because you don't understand what you're talking about, or you don't comprehend how they worded it. But honestly, both ways of wording that are essentially calling the other person a dumbass. So why is one punishable and frowned upon, but not the other?

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Let's call a spade a spade. That was an indirect continuation of an argument in a thread that happens to be in PA and locked down at the moment. Please don't do that.

Thanks.

Burn it to the ground and piss on the ashes.

Henry said:

I'm glad we're all working all this out. However, let's not turn this into PA part Duex,

Ex, I'm having a hard time going from this paragraph:



Directly to this one:



Let's call a spade a spade. That was an indirect continuation of an argument in a thread that happens to be in PA and locked down at the moment. Please don't do that.

Thanks.

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That was unintentional, seriously. I effed up, my bad.

I'd vote to close it permanently.

For some reason, people are unable to control themselves, and it becomes a huge pain in the ass for mods, and an embarrassment to the site.

Goaldeje said:

Much easier to see when Ax is being a jackass than when I am.

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I'm sure, like most, I don't believe I have EVER thrown the 1st punch. But I'm a counterpunchin' fool. And, if they bring a knife, I pull a gun.

Sometimes, being a jackass, is thought to be the only recourse available. (Punching someone's lights out are unpossible on the enterwebz)

The smart guys, like myself, know when to let it go, once the aggressor backs off. I think, though I do not know, that the mods don't mind little dust ups, provided the guilty party's gain control of the situation before it gets too far out of whack. Some guys, consistently, go too far. I'd hate to see 3-4 ruin it for everyone.

You don't close a bar down because 2 lug nuts can't figure it out. You toss their ass out to the curb.

For the record, we are trying to avoid closing it permanently because if we do that we will have to ban all political or religious discussions. We consider that to be censorship and we sort of have an issue with that. Doesn't mean we won't do it but we don't like it.

Honestly, a lot of what you guys say is just utter bull****. You're fully capable of controlling yourselves and what you post. You choose not to. Could we shut it down? Sure. And it's tempting, because a couple of you make it a ****ing continual headache. But we're stubborn. Why should we shut it down? There are a lot of members who post in the PA forum who don't act like jackasses, don't appear arrogant, condescending, or hostile, and who can deal with opposing viewpoints without insulting or demeaning the other person. Why should they lose access to a forum they may enjoy because a handful of members can't act like grownups?

What makes me sad is that I can almost guarantee you we're going to permanently cut bait on a couple guys before much longer. We don't want to, and we dont even have to tell you who you are - you already know it. But if we ask repeatedly for guys to post in the spirit of the site, with some respect, humility, and civility, and again and again you ignore us and just do whatever the hell you want - well, we're just not going to show indefinite patience.

I don't think I have a vote in the matter, but I don't want it shut down. I hate to see it go away because there's a lot of people here that are capable of adding intelligent perspectives to the conversations, but don't for obvious reasons (not wanting to argue on the internet...)

I don't know if weeding out people that can't handle it will product a more active and more civil PA that's worth reading and participating in or if it'll just reduce the number of people that post in there even further. I'd like to see it tried before being shut down permanently.

I think that's the job of the Moderator. I don't think the person being infracted/kicked out is going to agree with it, and I'm sure there will be people that side with him/her as well. That's life. The people that own the board, and the people they pick to help moderate, get to make the rules the way they want and enforce them the way they want. I think Henry does a pretty good job in there; I say that as someone with quite a few infractions. I realize I may be part of the problem, maybe even a significant part of the problem. If I'm one removed so be it - I don't think the answer is to shut it down.

I have no idea what this is all about since I don't post in politics much but upon reading this thread:

Those who've already cast stones and to those casting stones at those

GROW THE **** UP

This is supposed to be our refuge from the vomitous diatribe of hypocrisy angst and semi-retardation from the place we were before........grab your pair....learn to stfu sometimes.............

HAIL !!!!