Question.

Does this represent a specific change in policy or at least a change in the enforcement of this policy in regard to the Off-Topic forum?

I ask this because I have two pretty long running threads that are pretty liberal in content both of which have been in the Off-Topic forum for close to 6 months and each with over 500 replies.

It's been my impression that I have been allowed to keep these two threads running in this forum mainly because I've been able to keep the flaming to a minimum. I've been able to do this primarily because I simply blacklist those that from my point of view simply want to cause trouble as opposed to those that want to have an honest exchange of ideas.

I realize that how you define causing trouble and how you define an honest exchange of ideas may be different dependent on whether you are in the minority or the majority. Regretably when the shoe is on the other foot this often goes unrecognized.

I have long been on record as objecting to the Joe User site because it is intolerant of any opinion to the left of Ann Coulter. I have said this many times and each time it's been discounted by those whose opinion is to the right of Ann Coulter.

Regardless of opinion to the contrary there are only two ways to be acceptable on the Joe User site.

One is to be politically to the right of Ann Coulter in which case you will automatically get along just fine.

The second is to be politically to the left of Ann Coulter but also be an extreme masochist that enjoys being abused and is willing to lie down and be a doormat.

Anyone whose politics that are to the left of Ann Coulter that is unwilling to lie down and be a doormat will otherwise find themselves very unwelcome very quickly despite protestations by the majority to the contrary.

To me that makes Joe User a particularly unattractive site to visit.

I came to the GalCiv2 site close to 4 years ago and at that time it was a wonderful experience. Pretty much everyone was helpful and also most sites were pretty much in isolation which guaranteed that most folks on the site shared your same interests.

Over time interest in the game declined interest in the forums declined and the forums that existed got cross posted and slowly the GalCiv2 site has devolved into the Ott-topic/Impulse/Personal Computing forum.

So if you are really going to be insistent on enforcing this policy to the letter of the law as opposed to allowing threads that can manage to keep civility to a low roar then I gues I will have to say goodbye to the site. Perhaps things may change in the future with a GC3 but otherwise Joe User is an unacceptable alternative which as Aroddo mentions is Stardock's right. However don't delude yourself into believing that Joe User is a friendly place for non right wing non masochists to visit because it's most certainly not. Regardless of who says it is to the contrary.

Maybe it's time to start your very own blog Mumblefratz!

More or less. Since you've kept it pretty up-front (last I checked in on your thread) that you mainly just want to discuss with those of like mind, and nobody has complained about it, it's stayed under the radar.

Aroddo on the other hand (despite any claims he may make to the contrary) is largely just out to get a rise out of people he disagrees with. And those sorts of threads aren't going to fly.

It may be a subtle difference, but it's there all the same.

The secret is that if you want someone on the other side to at least give your arguments an honest listen then you need to be able to do the same for them. If you want someone to acknowledge a point you have made then you must be willing to acknowledge a point that someone on the other side makes as well.

I've tired to encourage that kind of interchange but there are only a few conservatives that seem willing to "play ball" and that is the short coming on the Joe User site. Regardless of the arguments I've made I have apparently *never* made a legitimate point on the Joe User site. Also it *always* works out that my opinions are not only opinions but are intrinsically wrong whereas their opinions are not just opinions but proven fact.

It gets real old real quickly when you are *always* wrong and the other side is *always* right. You'd think that would be as boring for them as it is for "us" but it doesn't seem like it.

Anyway if Aroddo wants to jump in on my threads he's perfectly welcome. And I would also encourage conservatives that can "play ball" (i.e give a little and not just all take) to join in as well. But like I said I try to keep things from getting out of hand just for the above mentioned reasons.

How US politics works

The GOP Plan

oooh, nifty. Now I can't even make a claim to the contrary because kryo says so.

And I suppose all the fascist comments from your hired forum mutt islanddog are neutral, fair and balanced, well tempered and absolutely not intended to get a rise out of people he disagrees with.

And regarding the latest thread about the bible: It's really not my fault when conservatives do something that is so ... interesting ... that the forum censors can't help but lock that topic in order to protect the dignity of the far right.

It's your forum, do what you want. You'll probably all get shot by doggie if you don't voluntarily agree to his opinions. Ok, maybe not. But he sure sounds like that's something he'd do.

http://forums.demigodthegame.com/378373

Sorry, didn't know that Glenn Beck was your personal hero whom no one may make fun of, Frogboy.

Well, I'll just say that I don't consider Jon Stewart to be 'far left'.  If you made a Keith Oberman post, then it would be relatively 'far left' as far as news media is concerned, not counting non-mainstream news casts like Air America and the like.  Glen Beck is also an easy target, being totally insane.  I'd say you were posting in a gray area, and Frogboy wanted to err on the side of caution.  While the Daily Show is a comedy show, and it is rather sad that a comedy show can be more honest and informative than a number of standard news outlets, they do deal with a lot of political content. 

Actually, Aroddo, that Post was already doomed because everyone knows that once you mention Nazis in a thread its only a matter of time before it dies.

Its less a matter of extremist political views and more a matter of diluting the term "Nazi" until its a bastardized colloqualism.

Indeed, often Comedic News outlets can be as informative, if not moreso, than standard news outlets. If for no other reason than that they do not have to be "politically correct" or rather, more correctly, that they follow a different agenda entirely and have a different view of what IS "politically correct".

This thread was made 4 years ago so no, it's not a change in policy.

Yes.  Mumble's threads have been allowed in the Off-Topic area because his threads have generally been about thoughtful discussion and not simply "Look how stupid my ideological opposites are".

News flash: its possible to be right of Ann Coulter.

Btw, Mumbles makes more of an attempt to be balanced than any of the other left-wing nuts (my experience in the global warming threads).

Jon Stewart is anything but far left.  It's an interesting phenomenon that occurred in the USA, probably since 911 and since Bush took power.  People shifted rather quickly to the far right.  Pat Buchanan was considered far.  Now, he's barely an extremist, he's a "fairly centered" one now.  People who are really fair and don't take sides are called Far Left, while the truly far right are called neutral, "fair and balanced".  Maybe it has something to do with the "Either you are with us or against us" state of the union Bush rhetoric.  Interesting that usa foreign policy since around 2003 has been decided upon by extremism.  "We are right, there are nukes, we dont need more evidence than god's will, therefore we will invade." "No nukes, but at least there's democracy in the middle east now."

 It is sad that a comedy show actually does comedy just by pointing out the outright STUPIDITY and RETARDEDNESS of mainstream political views and drivel by such popular pundits like glenn beck.  I would love to be on Jon Stewart's writing team.  The comedy just writes itself. They just have to copy and paste the soundbites. 

Jon Stewart leans far left, but he is smart about it. Once in a while he calls out one of his own, which is more than you can say about the truly far left.