This Forum Has Taken A Sad Turn For The Worse

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 7:01 am

It's in the Community forum after all. This is the typical location for this type of discussion. I have no issue with it. It's actually the place in just about any forum where politics is discussed...no matter how the discssion turns.
I enjoy it. I say let it roll.

alaskanexile · Post by **alaskanexile** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 7:45 am

Was reading this thread just out of curiosity to see where it was going. In fact, think it rare anyone gains mind changing information from such a discussion. But, I have indeed profited from it. Never heard the term "Malon Labe" before. So looked it up the find the origin and meaning. Thanks guys.

ryanbp01 · Post by **ryanbp01** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:12 am

keakap wrote:etc.
who said "curiouser and curiouser"?

Lewis Carroll in "Alice in Wonderland". Could also be "Through the Looking Glass".
BPR

frank81 · Post by **frank81** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:42 am

Politics, religion, and money are three things to always be careful talking about.

I'm all for free speach and expressing your opinions. But I also believe "just because you can doesn't mean you should."

I have strong opinions about our government and the political environment in this country in general. Talking (or venting) about it on the internet, or among friends, or to strangers in public (happened to me last night buying shotgun shells), isn't going to change anything. No one is going to change sides, and its not going to result in a recall election or whatnot. It's only going to add to your own frustration, and possibly cheapen others' perception of you. No upside, all downside.

My friends and I have an understanding - no politics. It was necessary because it was ruining good times. Our free time and hobbies are a nice break from the real world, choosing to break that wall makes no sense to me.

My point here is, this is a free country and the community board is for off-topic discussions. You have the constitutional right to say anything you want, but the constitution also gaurantees you the freedom to make a fool and a pariah of yourself.

swampgator · Post by **swampgator** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 11:26 am

I sincerely agree with the OP. The only times I try to join in is to show that Federal employees are not the Trojan Horse so often made up to be. That comes from experience and National Active and Retired Employees and Federal Times. But, I am finished discussing it here as even when the facts are posted, it is still argued. I did 9 years in blue collar, 9 years in admin, 5 years in systems and 11 years programming and software support and developement. So, I know that we are not the "enemy" made out to be by some posters. For the future, all policital discussions and attacks on federal employees will be ignored.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 12:45 pm

The answer then is turning a blind eye?

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:13 pm

There are some bed wetting, thumb sucking, hippie, commies on the this forum but telling them that is what they are does little good.

They already know who they are, they wake up every morning with wet PJ's and a thumb that smells like it has been in their mouth all night.

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:44 pm

ryanbp01 wrote:Lewis Carroll in "Alice in Wonderland". Could also be "Through the Looking Glass".
BPR

Aha! Thanks.
Never did get around to reading that. Perhaps I should.
Seems the more I hear about it, the curiouser and curiouser...

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:48 pm

frank81 wrote:Politics, religion, and money are three things to always be careful talking about.

I'm all for free speach and expressing your opinions. But I also believe "just because you can doesn't mean you should."

I have strong opinions about our government and the political environment in this country in general. Talking (or venting) about it on the internet, or among friends, or to strangers in public (happened to me last night buying shotgun shells), isn't going to change anything. No one is going to change sides, and its not going to result in a recall election or whatnot. It's only going to add to your own frustration, and possibly cheapen others' perception of you. No upside, all downside.

My friends and I have an understanding - no politics. It was necessary because it was ruining good times. Our free time and hobbies are a nice break from the real world, choosing to break that wall makes no sense to me.

My point here is, this is a free country and the community board is for off-topic discussions. You have the constitutional right to say anything you want, but the constitution also gaurantees you the freedom to make a fool and a pariah of yourself.

I totally agree with this statement in regard to discussing such issues as politics...no one's mind will be changed, just further polarization and alienation.

As for this site, I have to wonder what effect such contentious threads have on new members and casual visitors. I'd hate to see such folks turned off before they have a chance to become an active member. The more active members the better in terms of discussing shopsmiths and woodworking. I assume Shopsmith would appreciate any possible chance to attract a new customer.

The presumed point of this site is for Shopsmith to provide a place for Shopsmith users, fans etc. to ask questions, share shopsmith and woodworking ideas, and otherwise discuss all things Shopsmith. The structure of the site is perhaps not the greatest - four woodworking related forums and then a Community forum. While the community forum is seem by many as the location for off-topic discussions, it also often becomes the location for a new woodworking/shopsmith thread that the OP isn't sure where to park. I suppose I should re-phrase my statement about the site - it's not the structure that's not the greatest but perhaps the titles of the various woodworking related forums. It's not always clear where a given new thread should be placed and hence folks just end up putting them in whatever one seems to fit to them...hence they all are a bit of a messy closet when it comes to the content in each. The Community Forum often gets many of these woodworking threads as well, resulting on those who might prefer to avoid the off-topic discourse wading through all the various threads to check out those that are on-topic. I do my best to ignore and avoid the political stuff here (and everywhere) but perhaps that would be easier if the community forum was split into two new forums - one for misc. shopsmith/woodworking stuff that doesn't seem to fit the other forum titles, and one that is clearly named as an off-topic place to discuss politics and any other topics unrelated to the intent of the site.

As an example, another forum in which I participate has two off-topic forums - one titled "Open Forum" with the description "Feel free to talk about non-taping related topics in this board" and another titled "Political Zone" with the description "Political free-for-all!". This makes it really easy to provide a place for folks that wish to discuss off-topic stuff and also easily allow those that prefer to avoid such discourse an easy way to do so. How did these forums come to be at this site? Because too many contentious threads were appearing in the middle of on-topic threads and it was causing too much friction. No folks can gleefully express their free speech rights and others can easily avoid them.

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:53 pm

frank81 wrote:You have the constitutional right to say anything you want, but the constitution also gaurantees you the freedom to make a fool and a pariah of yourself.

And you're free to lose your freedoms.
Best way to do that is keep quiet.

Was it Franklin that replied to the question "what have you given us?" simply "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it."

Most people, imho, are ignorant, and happily, of their government. Here we are!

One of the best feelings-of-the-day is to speak the truth and be called a fool for it. For you just know that someone saw that, and took notice.