margaret wrote:Wendy,
I'm not a techie, but think this idea would mean setting up another separate Forum which would have to be administered by someone.
No. I am aware of at least one phpBB forum which has done just this to establish a "Lively Debates" section after band management threatened to close the forum down because they thought the content was creating the wrong impression. I did think that this meant that posts to the Lively Debates section were excluded from the new posts listing but having gone back in to the forum and tested it out I have to admit that I was wrong and Jarkko was right (of course!) so I'm out of ideas now .....
Well it seems that if the politics section shouldn't be abolished (and I agree with the many who are saying that it shouldn't), but it can't be taken off of 'new posts' because of website limitations - then maybe the only answer is to leave as is?
I guess any need to do anything about the politics section really depends on whether many people have been complaining about it appearing in the new post section or not.
I use the the new post section, and personally speaking it doesn't bother me any, as you can generally tell in an instant if you want to just skim past any of that, just by the info as it is displayed in the new posts list.
A
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Weybridge MBW 11th July 2009
'All I know - and you must listen very carefully to this... All I know - is that I know absolutely nothing'- Frank
'Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?' - Christopher Marlowe
Much misunderstood... was the 'Hippie' with a reality fixation...
Well we can click or not click.
It would be nice though for people to keep politics and debatables in the appropriate sections and to add to existing threads instead of starting new threads about the same subject - I'm sure our moderators have better things to do then move stuff around.
Leonard is our primary connection to each other but I think that what makes this site so interesting and vibrate is that we go beyond that with each other. It really is a unique opportunity to be able to speak with so many people from different places and different backgrounds that I feel connected to because I love something that they love as well. Personally I'm not big on politics itself but I can see how people could be and would want to talk about it with others who are a little bit like themselves even if they disagree.
I don't really like the idea of sending people off to some segregated area so that I don't have to look at their topic thread.
a little off topic - I don't smoke but have you ever noticed the best conversations happen outside shivering in small smokers circles.
I don't look at the topics in the politics section but, given the regularity of the same people posting there, perhaps more of them might wish to contribute to this debate? They do normally seem to have opinions which they wish to share with us. Maybe they don't mind the section being abolished? Or am I being cynical?
Cate I do smoke and I will let you into a little secret most of the time the animate circle of smokers engrossed in conversation are normally saying how bloody cold they are
Dublin 14th June, Manchester 20th June, O2 17th July, Matlock Bandstand Aug 28, O2 14th November, Royal Albert Hall 17th and 18th November 2008, MBW 11th July 2009, Liverpool Echo 14th July 2009
Jarkko I remember the forum before the political thread was established and no matter how bland the topic was someone would hijack the thread to rant about their perception of politics. It is much better letting them have somewhere to discuss politics they are not harming anyone and if you don't want to read it you can easily avoid that section.
Dublin 14th June, Manchester 20th June, O2 17th July, Matlock Bandstand Aug 28, O2 14th November, Royal Albert Hall 17th and 18th November 2008, MBW 11th July 2009, Liverpool Echo 14th July 2009
In the words of Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat Politics."
Better that politically motivated thoughts find a home in this section, than run like a virus through other threads.
"Bipolar is a roller-coaster ride without a seat belt. One day you're flying with the fireworks; for the next month you're being scraped off the trolley" I said that.
I reviewed your introductory post this morning, and I ask if the politics posts are consuming too much time and band width, i.e., money? I know it must be time-consuming to monitor post after post after post in a thread which is only kept alive by a handful (as in less then 3) members. After reading all the ideas I concur with the distastefulness, and likely impracticality, of exiling "politics" from the Forum. But are the politics posts becoming too cumbersome and/or resource-draining for the moderators to handle?
Political interests will be all-engulfing in a short while, as the great British public embark on the run up to a General Election in a few weeks.
The heat of battle; mire of political debate; mud-chucking; sh*t-stiring; lying; obfuscation; etc., etc., will be all-encompassing on television, radio, internet, bingo-halls, street corners, pubs, doss houses, unemployment offices.........to a point where the vast population will speak as one man......
"Enough !!!! " Because dear friends, it doesn't matter who the hell you vote for, you'll still get 'The Government.'
We are born, we pay taxes, we die.
"Bipolar is a roller-coaster ride without a seat belt. One day you're flying with the fireworks; for the next month you're being scraped off the trolley" I said that.
My point of view is that if the political posts relate to Leonard Cohen's lyrics, other writings, actions, comments etc., then they've got a place on leonardcohenforum.com. If it they are entirely unrelated to Leonard Cohen, then they get reported as 'off topic' and deleted, in the same way as posts about what to pack in your hospital bag when you're about to give birth and other such bizarre posts I have come across on this forum. There are other forum boards elesewhere for discusing general political matters, as there are forum boards for pregnancy and pretty much everything else. The focus of leonardcohenforum.com is Leonard Cohen, but that's why we want to be there...
Politics and birth are a part of everyone's life. Life cannot be arranged into separate boxes and drawers in a large cupboard. All human life is a continuous interweave of emotion, community, social intercourse, discussion, views, opinions, likes, dislikes, hopes, aspirations, heartbreak, joy, depression, promise and loss. Each and every aspect of life is touched by politics somewhere along the way. It cannot be divorced from innocence and experience (Blake) any more than blood cannot be totally withdrawn from our living bodies. Blood is the oil of life and politics is the oil of society. Without politics in any discussion forum, you are without perspective and experience. Every single contribution in this forum is written by someone who brings a modicum of a political influence that has coloured their life. It can be the tiniest amount of influence, but it is there anyway.
People believe they are expressing the Truth as they see it when discussing issues in the forum. There are always several different versions of any Truth. That is Politics. Births take place in a society which is governed by politics. Where and how a baby is born are the result of how each society governs itself and how its people accept such governance. Born at home; born in a rice paddy; born in a birthing house; born in a hospital.........society shapes the emergence of the new-born in ways that are taken for granted. It is impossible to remove politics from everyday life and death.
As for 'bizarre' subjects, that's life. We all come to this forum with our own personal baggage. We exchange life's experiences with one another. That's what makes this forum so rich. Perhaps we ought not to have discussed an Elvis impersonator seen and heard in a pub in Wales some months ago. He arrived in our midst without any views about Leonard, but thanks to some discussion and listening he is now a Cohen fan. Some people rode up a mountain on a train. Are we to remove that part of a thread too? Life happens. It is a rich tapestry, which includes politics.
ps: perhaps we ought to remove the Jokes needed threads too??????
"Bipolar is a roller-coaster ride without a seat belt. One day you're flying with the fireworks; for the next month you're being scraped off the trolley" I said that.
Remote a lot of us have nurtured very strong friendships on this forum. The one thing that binds us together is our love of Leonard but over the years we have shared personal experiences sometimes not connected to Leonard in the slightest. One of the nice things about this forum is a lot of us have met face to face.
We have discussed events happening in countries where forum members are based. Things like Tusamis, bombs, tibet monks etc etc and that is part of the forum.
Some of us have been through birth, marriage and death and shared it with the forum this is not just a "fan" forum this is like a virtual family and always at the centre is the knowledge we all love Leonard. And in my opinion that is why it is one of the best forums on the web so I disagree with you I think the variation on this forum keeps it strong.
Dublin 14th June, Manchester 20th June, O2 17th July, Matlock Bandstand Aug 28, O2 14th November, Royal Albert Hall 17th and 18th November 2008, MBW 11th July 2009, Liverpool Echo 14th July 2009
Circling back to Jarkko's original suggestion, there have been within this past 6 weeks or so, so many "new" Politics topics introduced -- and nearly all about US or Israeli issues, that I agree that all these "new" topics should be merged into either a US or an Israeli thread. Is that the best solution here? (Which is what Jarkko originally proposed.) That would not be censorship -- more like cat herding. Impossible? Maybe. But perhaps worth the effort.
I've seen in another forum subjects that are 'pinned'. They always stay at the top of an area and might include rules or popular subjects so that people aren't always starting new topics about the same thing. I've also seen 'sub-topics' used so that you might see 'Israel' in the politics section but have to click on it to see all of the subtopics - just a possible way of keeping things tidier.