The Censor Swoops

This is bad and irresponsible and I know it, but it's also strangely pleasurable. I will try to stop. I promise.

on the other hand, as childish as it may seem, i wouldnt want c*l*m to think he has managed to disrupt an entire board so successfully and create such debate, perceived as an achievement just for tying to 'shock' or whatever. sometimes it was fun (SommerMute's pics), sometimes it was horrible (petty spineless abuse directed at particular posters who couldnt let it lie). i just hope he doesnt find a way to duplicate himself...

"The decision to create and enforce the policy was not taken lightly and involved a heck of a lot of debate." That you feel this needs to be underlined to me in fact does me a disservice :-(

For the record, and to avoid further confusion, I think the moderators do a sterling service to us all. It's a dirty job la la la. I've been around here for a while now and I think we all owe the people who make this bitch tick a cigar.

Dan Perry spotted what I was saying, the boring, little minds minds I was referring to are those of the agitators and I am thankful you were able to see that too Mark. On your point, Dan, is it anything to get too upset about? Well, not really I guess now that I've thought about it for an hour or so, but from an idealist position (which was undermined the moment Calum and his ilk began posting with any regularity), it is as though some of our freedom here has been sacrificed (albeit to protect us all from extraneous and unwanted attacks). I guess that's what I struggle with... Is there anything wrong with idealism, even in the face of ignorance and idiocy?

Yeah, the heart and soul of ilx is intact... Probably.

It is always gonna be tricky talking about censorship, especially when those pressed to fulfil the role of censor (unwillingly, I would guess) are standing by. I'm sorry if anyone thought I was undermining the effort and thought that goes into making ilx possible.

Lastly, Andrew Farrel probably has it right - maybe I should have just shut up and let the dust settle.

I do apologize for the confusion on this point. I will say that having been a list moderator for a number of years I have heard any number of complaints about agendas and the like whenever a poster went out of line -- complaints FROM such a poster (or those who felt that my reaction might have been too much) about what I was supposedly doing. So to my mind your end comment can be read one way as much as it could the other (to Mark's credit, he sensed your meaning more thoroughly).

Lastly, Andrew Farrel probably has it right - maybe I should have just shut up and let the dust settle.

Well, debate is a good thing, after all. I sympathize with your idealism more than you might think -- personally I felt Calum was little more than an attention-seeking irritant for the most part, though in recent months his spitefulness and baiting of other posters grew wearying, to put it mildly. But when push came to shove, I was glad to see him gone and I think the policy drawn up -- which again reminds me of my own experience since a few months into running my lists I was also forced by circumstances to draft and enforce a policy -- is something that allows for the ideal existence of ILX while noting that in practice there are people who can and will abuse its ideals. Drawing a line in that case seems to be the only logical response.

oops, I just googled "calum best emma bunton" and we're hit #3

=:o

What this ongoing ILX growth and debate shows is that censorship is rarely as mechanical as people think of it. I'm not saying I'm pro-censorship, but I am pro-understanding, and I'm glad that the process here is fairly transparent and that people feel comfortable enough to question things and that those who get questioned feel comfortable enough to make sincere efforts to answer for themselves.

http://www.ff.iij4u.or.jp/~yeelen/system/law/groat.gif

(Though a random Goat Generator would be fun!)

who are you fancying RIGHT NOW ?

so that the image is properly sized? Cheers.

I only went out to thee shops for a little while. What did I miss?