What are the rules of debate here?

[smokey442]

Amen

[tortoise]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

Might be time for a few members to put their big boy panties on and ditch those big girl panties . . . Man up

Stop acting like women? What?

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Now after all this babbling I think I have related what Christ did in maybe 3 words.

regards
Mech

I noticed that Christ gave me a 'thanks' for my last post. Or did you mean some other Christ? For Christ's sake don't leave us guessing.

(C'mon guys, smile...)

[ecomodded]

Originally Posted by tortoise

Stop acting like women? What?

Geez I hope i did not offend you miss.
I was not trying to be sexiest.. thought the post was very clear.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Apparently you still don't understand the difference between name-calling and categorizing someone with an accurate description of their behavior or ideology.

There's nothing wrong with calling someone a communist, or a republican, or an anarchist, or a democrat, or a demagogue - if that's what they ARE. That's not name calling. (If it walks like a duck, and it flies like a duck, and it quacks like a duck... it's a duck!

If someone is a duck, and you call him that, then there is no problem. But if that someone has only one trait of a duck, for example a feather, then calling him a duck is jumping to conclusions. And name-calling, if it is done in any manner other than affectionately.

Iirc, a while back someone called me a communist, which pissed me off not because he unmasked me (which he couldn't, since my views are far from communist), but because that had nothing to do with the discussion going on. I wrote one thing which he may have interpreted as one of the many traits of communists, and suddenly the discussion has gone to my political views. What does it matter when we're discussing speed limits or catalytic converters?!?
The truth is that I didn't take offence to being called this or that, but I still don't understand why someone would want to go that far off topic for no reason at all And that's what this thread is about: name-calling has nothing to do with ecomodding or hypermiling, so why should it be tolerated here?

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Frankly, I don't think this board needs stricter moderation.

Why doesn't that surprise me?

[landsailor]

Ad Hominem does not equal Add Humanity.

"Genius's" often mistake measured honesty with the belief that total honesty is noble and always required.

Brutally honest genius's live and die alone with wonderful and brillant ideas for whom all who knew him long ago quit listening.

[tortoise]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

Geez I hope i did not offend you miss.

Am I a woman?

I was not trying to be sexiest..

Don't worry.

thought the post was very clear.

Absolutely.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by landsailor

Ad Hominem does not equal Add Humanity.

"Genius's" often mistake measured honesty with the belief that total honesty is noble and always required.

Brutally honest genius's live and die alone with wonderful and brillant ideas for whom all who knew him long ago quit listening.

Amen, man! Einstein was never called an as**ole, because he was a sweet unkempt genius, and Pablo Picasso was never called an as**ole, though the reasons are less clear. One historian insists it was related to his Cadillac El Dorado:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k43XjuhInkU

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

If someone is a duck, and you call him that, then there is no problem. But if that someone has only one trait of a duck, for example a feather, then calling him a duck is jumping to conclusions. And name-calling, if it is done in any manner other than affectionately.

Hmm, so if a description lacks affection then it is to be prohibited? So we can't call the feathered bird a duck; can we call it a bird or is that also 'name-calling'? As for the feather analogy he would be in denial to insist that he is not a bird, right? And then would you complain if anyone were to point out his denial?

The truth is that I didn't take offence to being called this or that, but I still don't understand why someone would want to go that far off topic for no reason at all And that's what this thread is about: name-calling has nothing to do with ecomodding or hypermiling, so why should it be tolerated here?

Posts drift off topic constantly here and most folks don't get their panties in a knot about it happening. If we were to have strict enforcement imposed upon every post that is off topic we would need scores of text police to enforce it. As with society at large, the more laws, rules and regulation that are imposed, the more law enforcement is employed, and that tends to lead to a police state. Or is it that you want to use the 'off-topic' reason to be available as an excuse to impose selective enforcement upon certain comments that some people find annoying?

[Christ]

There's a "report post" feature for a reason. I suggest those of you who have a problem with the current state of moderation on this forum embrace it's proper use.

Don't swap Darren and the other mods with a bunch of reported posts because you can't handle a slight of jocularity, though... Enjoy yourself here.

Most threads are, at least partly, moderated by the person who started the thread. If I post about using hamsters in a wheel for propulsion, and ask what to feed them for maximum efficiency, and you don't like the thread, /don't answer it/.

If, in that thread, I start getting posts pertaining to how to grow greener grass, and the original question and subsequent line of discussion hasn't been attended, I will make every viable attempt to bring the thread back on topic and into some semblance, and any OP is welcome to do the same, using due diplomacy.

Side conversation is usually welcome, so long as it doesn't detract from the thread (and even then sometimes). When things start to degrade into pissing matches and people spend their keystrokes without adding anything useful, but instead to argue or attack others, and don't respect the OP's requests to back off and take it elsewhere (cuz that's what PM is for, usually), THAT'S when moderation is required.