THE AFUZZ EFFECT

yup on the opposing views thingie-dooey

i campaigned to bring the rainforest group here, because, in part, i thought there'd be a better opportunity for us to need to defend our clicking - not all happy nodding heads together - that would be, well, blechhhhhhhh

i don't like people to be hateful, but a bit of spirited discussion is more than pleasant

Thanks Soz... I did it just for you

Heh heh, I agree, Bo. D reminds me of Dee, a name most commonly found in either bad Country & Western music, or in Geriatric homes.)

yeh, there were some excellent posters with excellent ideas from other leanings over there on abuzz. i wont name names but , no matter how heated an argument got , there were many who argued from the brain and heart. The trolls just trashed the whole abuzz nation by miles of four letter words and references to ones sexuality.
Is that the level of "high intellectual debate and exchange of ideas' to which you were referring jp?
Maybe we see things a bit differently and being smarter is not a bad thing. We all came here because it was more important to learn than just practice our cuss words and mindless drivvle.

AND, nobodys dragging you here.

... but I'm happy you're here. And not just 'cause of your cool avatar. :-)

I gotta go check my other email account for rainforest emails, ehBeth, and get back into the swing of things.

In lieu of an essay, I offer this instead:

I had the interior decorator over today who said that some well-placed colour would be an improvement on the walls in the apartment, and he said "Hey, down the road, if you don't like it, it can always be stripped."

"Stripped," I asked.

"Oh yes, completely stripped."

Maybe it was too much late night cable, but for some reason, Turkish prisons came to mind. Then he asked the strangest question. "Have you ever been to a Turkish prison?"

"Are you quoting 'Airplane'," I asked. It seemed I was doing a lot of asking.

"No, I'm serious. The frescos in some of them are amazing."

"Well, that does sound intriguing, and I could use an interesting mural. I am wondering though, if these paintings were pulled off the prison walls, wouldn't all the prisoners escape?"

He smiled at me and winked. "Of course they would, but it's Turkey fer chrissakes. Who cares?"

I started to get the feeling that despite his feminine ways, he might just be a registered Rebublican. "Tell me a bit more about your history. I have time."

A strange pallor came over his face.

"What is it?"

"I..I have some difficulty discussing my past."

"Do you mean your voting patterns?"

"No...."

"Then talk to me, I'm here to listen. The more I know about you, the more I'll be in a better position to choose between eggplant and magenta."

His grew wide, and bold with fire. He rose from the chesterfield in a rage, and for a few brief seconds, I thought he was going to thrash me....then he yelled "It's my angry boyhood in Quebec! That's what I can't talk about!"

He fell back on the sofa and started weeping.

"What was it, bad poutine?"

"Ahh, I only wish."

He showed me his arms, scarred and bloody. "See these arms? They used to be flippers. I was born that way, and....couldn't speak French. The schoolchildren tormented me, and I could not express my pain, except in bad Franglais. They were ruthless in their torment. I had many operations, of varying success, but still, I bleed so easily. Despite a donation of adhesive from 3M, who saw my story on the internet, the arms continue to be....problematic."

"That must have been extremely traumatizing."

"Not as traumatizing as politics...."

"Yes, politics, the great divider. How did you get involved with that?"

The decorator sighed. "It's a tragic tale really, of lost love in the face of adversity."

"Do tell!"

"Back in the great war, the first one, yes I do look young for my age, I fought for the allies. To my elation and horror, I fell for a Balkan girl, who curiously did not eat yogurt. This intrigued me. We had a torrid secret affair, and then...oh! I found out she was a double agent."

"Did you have to kill her?"

"No, I didn't really care all that much about the double agent thing. You are too young to remember, but these were the early days of what is now known as the 'internet'. Al Gore didn't invent it, Kaiser Wilhelm did, which is the main reason he was falsely blamed for WWI. At that time, the internet was strictly for military use, but we pioneered 'text messaging'. Our phones were gigantic, but it worked. Then it happened..."

"What happened?"

"My love....she started sending me messages in all caps, spelled badly. I just couldn't go on."

"I'm not sure what this has to do with Turkish prisons. Care to extrapolate?"

He started to get wistful. "I was captured by the Turks and imprisoned, with thoughts of my all caps bad spelling love, and how she had betrayed our promise to have an internet free of such nonsense."

"So...you killed her then."

"No...despite my desire to, I could not go through with it. I spent years in that prison, and made many friends. By the time I was released, the internet was public. As soon as I was able, I bought a new computer, and found out that my old betrayer was still alive!"

"So, you hunted her down and...then what?"

"Yes, hunted her down, but in the most noble way. I could not kill her, but I did learn how to ban her ISP. Do you know what an ISP is?"

"A deadly snake with a speech impediment?"

"Close, but no cigar or Cleopatra for you."

"I'm just fooling with you."

"Yes, young one, I know. Take this can of paint from Sherwin-Williams as a token of my gratitude for listening to my tale of woe. It will look fabulous."

great name, but a bit unwieldy! how about "wwdyfsalayduhbwaastyat2y"?

[it has a 'ring' to it; don't you think?]



where's the fun in that?

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We're more than ready. Don't worry 'bout it at all.

he said with L 'ISP'.

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Good point and I can just another say, that's right. But how really defeat they? That would be difficult,actually for the admistrators, too.

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thanks indeed

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jp in M pointed out, if we just ignore them, they'll go away!

[who knows, they might even have something to add! ]

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of course. however, user post still there.

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I didn't realize we had such delicate sensibilities here. There was more than a bit of muttering in the early days of this site, that it was, hmmmmm, a bit boring - because everyone was being so nice and polite and agreeable. And it was boring.

While I don't care to interact with some of the more loutish characters, I do still take interest in reading their ramblings, and this site is a lot less boring than it was once. The more the merrier, the wilder and the woolier.

Personally, in the beginning, I was extremely sensitive about A2K BECAUSE of Abuzz. My worst nightmare was that if things got out of hand, A2K would deteriorate, and become another Abuzz. Maybe it was overreaction, but I was worried.

I expect that on one level or another, other people were feeling the same way, so that was probably why many of us were walking on eggshells. I think that as members started to relax when they realized that the site was NOT going to deteriorate, the interactions became more heated and passionate, and therefore more interesting.

What the heck ... anybody willing and able to abide by The Terms is welcome here, whether they're from Abuzz or Patagonia. Anybody who doesn't stay within The Envelope doesn't really get any opportunity to do more than temporary, localized damage anyhow, so live and let live, I figure. The ones that need shootin' will get shot as the need arises; we have not only law enforcement here, but effective rubbish disposal, too, ya know.

I was not on Abuzz so perhaps I am not as sensitive as all of you to the deterioration you are talking about. But...

The political forum, by far, has the most activity with 153,273 posts. Second is Trivia with 124,640 posts. Third is General with 110,272 posts. Next is Film with 38,159 followed by Debate with 35,943...117,330 posts less then Political forum.

Now the thing I don't understand is why, if you are looking for civilized rational debate, people spend so much time in the political forum, where there is so much hatred and name calling, when you can go to the Debate forum where, from what I have seen, there actually is civilized rational debate (for the most part). Sure there are some less intellectual topics but there are some really good ones also.

I tried to start a book club the other day in the book forum. No interest what-so-ever. If you do find a topic in the Political forum that is meant for discussion, not just partisan bickering, it quickly dies and fades away. Why? I think people here like to argue.

There are many places where the talk is still civilized. If it isn't, can't you create a Usergroup of like minded people and keep out those that aren't. But like BoGo said "What is the fun in that?"

My, my, my . . . what a fun thread this is turning out to be. I have the utmost faith in Jespah's assurances--i've met that puppy, and i do not doubt that she treads fearlessly in the muck of cyber vomit.

I reported two posts by one of the newcomers yestereve. In the thread in which that person insulted me, the author of the thread had referred to me as "scum." I didn't report that, though, because that individual was making an effort to discuss the topic. The new member i did report was just rushing from thread to thread, referring to people as stupid, ignorant, liars, etc. I reported that member for insulting me, and referring to one of our valued members as a "cow" in another thread, because, on balance, that member was making no contribution.

We can all use our judgment in these matters. If i use the report function, and staff don't think it justified, i'm sure i would sooner or later be advised not to abuse the feature. I can also decide to ignore someone, to heap abuse on them (while attempting to avoid violating the TOS), or i can report them, as can we all.

My point in starting this thread was to remind people that this is a very likely possibility if AFUZZ does finally shut down, and even before such an eventuality. When one long-term member here whom i like and respect was referred to as a "_________ cow," i decided it was time to give everyone the heads up on what we might expect.

Now i must go elsewhere, as i haven't yet had my daily fix of demonstrating my superior intellect to the benighted masses who come here to spew their witless ramblings on matters political with which i disagree . . .

seey'alllaterokbye

If the 'scum' etc comments are disallowed, the politics forum will be deserted in moments. I've always figured the TOS aren't applied there, or at least not to any of the supporters of the current American administration. Or at least that's how it'd be looking from here.

<shrug> Politics. In the world. In the forums. <shrug>

There is a certain degree of latitude given I think based on context.

Outside the political threads, I think setanta is a good dog who is very smart and has a great way with words. Inside though, he is the enemy and must be crushed. :wink:

I hope others have the same ability to be able to turn it on and off depending on the thread and the forum.