So now we close threads we disagree with?

[David Ayers]

Well? I was trying to have a serious conversation.

[fasstrack]

This is my final comment before moving on (always up for PMs): it is very, very sad how intolerant too many of the poor (jazz=poor}and self-professed progressives have become. Disunity, finger-pointing, and repulsion of those bringing viewpoints out of step with those of one's cozy clubhouse-good luck with that, gents. I'll have none of it, thanks all the same.My advice: 'fight the power'--NOT each other. The next statement from me will be made with melody, rhythm, and-especially-harmony.

Edited September 20, 2011 by fasstrack

[Christiern]

Political Correctness can be ludicrous.

[Big Wheel]

This is my final comment before moving on (always up for PMs): it is very, very sad how intolerant too many of the poor (jazz=poor}and self-professed progressives have become. Disunity, finger-pointing, and repulsion of those bringing viewpoints out of step with those of one's cozy clubhouse-good luck with that, gents.

Care to share some examples?

People believe different things. Saying when you think someone's opinion is ill-considered or ridiculous doesn't make you "intolerant." Sorry if you feel like this is a personal slam - it isn't, believe me, it's just that the whole trope of claiming "the mere fact that I have different opinions means they must be defensible, and your making fun of my ideas shows that you're intolerant" is really tiresome at this point and is the most common BS line used by the board's resident political reactionary to justify all kinds of garbage.

If anything, the intolerance is stronger on the part of the one claiming others are being intolerant: there are implicit claims in this whole line of thinking that 1) their ideas should not be subject to critical scrutiny, 2) decrying "disunity" basically amounts to saying "I'm right and you should uncritically embrace my correct position because not doing so means we aren't unified." Not a very generous attitude if you ask me.

Perhaps a thicker skin is in order?

Edited September 20, 2011 by Big Wheel

[Tom Storer]

What thread was closed, anyway?

[brownie]

I must have missed something

What I read from the thread was lively and interesting!

Edited September 20, 2011 by brownie

[thedwork]

...it is very, very sad how intolerant too many of the poor (jazz=poor}and self-professed progressives have become. Disunity, finger-pointing, and repulsion of those bringing viewpoints out of step with those of one's cozy clubhouse... My advice: 'fight the power'--NOT each other.

i can relate to this. and the way you've phrased your post here reminds me of the last Hedges book i read: Death Of The Liberal Class. similar issues of attitude and behavior. same shit, different arena. when i moved over here a couple years ago from AAJ i was thinking it'd be different. it's not. it's like the difference between Hannity and O'Reilly. that's of course an extreme example, but you get the point...

good luck w/ the music and since we all know quitting internet forums after posting for years is like quitting cigarettes after decades, if/when you post again, welcome back

[peterintoronto]

While I'm sorry to hear that a thread got locked, one must remember that this is a private website and the owners/webmasters can do whatever they want to any of our posts.

I'm all for starting a new forum made by and for the members, but I can't promise people would be any more happy with that - I'd probably be overly permissive and offer no censorship at all.

[AllenLowe]

there's actually a new forum rule: No More Threads on Closed Threads.

So I am closing this thread. You're all grounded.

[jlhoots]

Much ado about not very much IMHO.

Ignore what you don't like.

[Christiern]

Exactly! Ignore threads that bother you—they don't necessarily bother everyone else.

[AllenLowe]

personally I ignore the ignore function. If I keep it on I imagine that everyone is saying bad things about me.

Edited September 20, 2011 by AllenLowe

[Larry Kart]

OK -- I'll try to open the closed thread again (the "Hanging Judges" one) but first a little history here. Thanks largely to the behavior of one poster, that thread was (in the view of many here, including myself) spinning its wheels to say the least, and many people we're saying, "Please, close it down -- it's run its course." I said that I would do that shortly, but then David Ayers posted something that I found provocative but that I also didn't fully understand. I asked him some questions about what he meant, he replied, and I though that was it. As for Chris waving the Political Correctness flag, I don't see how any of that was involved here.

Whatever, I'll try to reopen the Hanging Judges thread. Have at it.

[Larry Kart]

The thread is unlocked/open now. Sorry, David, if you thought I was being rude to you; that was certainly not my intent.

[Larry Kart]

Just to be clear, the "Hanging Judges" thread can be found in "Forums Discussion."

[Dan Gould]

What I don't see the point of is locking down a thread because its "run its course". Traditionally, threads end of their own volition or petering out. Being self-indulgent or runnings its course isn't a reason to close a thread, IMHO. Instead, threads should be closed when they devolve into pointless beligerence and verbal abuse. Exhibit 1 through 10 would be the baseball steroid thread, and I should know since I contributed so much pointless beligerence!

But seriously, I do think that the main, if not sole reason to actually shut off discussion is when it reaches that point, not just due to some perceived loss of ongoing value. Let it die its natural death.

[AllenLowe]

privately I have sent Larry a list of 19 prior threads I would also like unlocked.

[Larry Kart]

Dan -- This may be what you were talking about on the baseball steroids thread, but the apparent consensus on this thread seemed to be that the thread starter was making the same points over and over again, while getting more and more indignant and accusatory, that this inevitably sparked some responses in kind, and round and round we were going. Of course, as one of the schlubs (i.e. a moderator) whose job it is to keep an eye on such things here, I may have a somewhat skewed point of view, but I could see no reason to spend much of the day doing that (and waiting for an explosion of some sort) when the content of the thread was so darn repetitious.

[David Ayers]

The thread is unlocked/open now. Sorry, David, if you thought I was being rude to you; that was certainly not my intent.

Thanks Larry, no I didn't think you were being rude. I just thought you'd had enough!

[danasgoodstuff]

What I don't see the point of is locking down a thread because its "run its course". Traditionally, threads end of their own volition or petering out. Being self-indulgent or runnings its course isn't a reason to close a thread, IMHO. Instead, threads should be closed when they devolve into pointless beligerence and verbal abuse. Exhibit 1 through 10 would be the baseball steroid thread, and I should know since I contributed so much pointless beligerence!

But seriously, I do think that the main, if not sole reason to actually shut off discussion is when it reaches that point, not just due to some perceived loss of ongoing value. Let it die its natural death.

If you want to close a thread, just have me post on it - seems to end 'em most of the time!

[Tom Storer]

many people we're saying, "Please, close it down -- it's run its course." I said that I would do that shortly, but then David Ayers posted something that I found provocative but that I also didn't fully understand. I asked him some questions about what he meant, he replied, and I though that was it.

Larry, thanks for re-opening the thread. What I think you're not seeing is this: you wanted the thread to remain open long enough to ask your own questions of David, but once you closed it you denied anyone else the right to find the post provocative and ask questions or make remarks. A thread does not belong only to those who have already participated in it, still less to a subset who are tired of the thread; others may be lurking, others may come along afterwards, and they might have legitimate contributions they will want to make.

I agree with Dan that the only good reason to close down a thread is when it has escalated into a flame war. Not a frank and bracing exchange of strongly stated criticisms, either, but a real flame war, a pointless exchange of hostility and insult. If it's just become a little silly or boring or repetitious, it will die a natural death--and might be revived weeks, months, years later with more interesting posts.

[Christiern]

What I don't see the point of is locking down a thread because its "run its course". Traditionally, threads end of their own volition or petering out. Being self-indulgent or runnings its course isn't a reason to close a thread, IMHO. Instead, threads should be closed when they devolve into pointless beligerence and verbal abuse. Exhibit 1 through 10 would be the baseball steroid thread, and I should know since I contributed so much pointless beligerence!

But seriously, I do think that the main, if not sole reason to actually shut off discussion is when it reaches that point, not just due to some perceived loss of ongoing value. Let it die its natural death.

Dan and I often disagree, but he is spot on here.

[Jazzmoose]

Dan -- This may be what you were talking about on the baseball steroids thread, but the apparent consensus on this thread seemed to be that the thread starter was making the same points over and over again, while getting more and more indignant and accusatory, that this inevitably sparked some responses in kind, and round and round we were going. Of course, as one of the schlubs (i.e. a moderator) whose job it is to keep an eye on such things here, I may have a somewhat skewed point of view, but I could see no reason to spend much of the day doing that (and waiting for an explosion of some sort) when the content of the thread was so darn repetitious.

Yes it was, but I have this incredible super power that allows me to stop reading threads that get that way. I really don't need help.

[Hot Ptah]

The thing is, it seems to me that if the threads that are repetitious and contain points being made over and over again were generally closed, there would hardly be any threads left on the board much of the time.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Hot Ptah

[7/4]

The thing is, it seems to me that if the threads that are repetitious and contain points being made over and over again were generally closed, there would hardly be any threads left on the board much of the time.

OK, that's enough...time to close this thread too.