I feel it is essential that I state some facts for the record. Posts like Jake2001 remind me that somebody seems to have forgotten a few things and perhaps many don't know because of course they wouldn't know since I RARELY participate on this Message Board. I personally don't much enjoy this type of forum -- threaded discussions -- but obviously I'm in the minority since the Message Board is extremely popular. Of course I imagine it is popular in no small part because it is more narrowly focused and not often allowed to simply go all over the place in terms of what can be discussed. Guys know they aren't going to be asked to support an anti-whaling measure when they come to this Message Board and were I a more frequent user of the forums, I'd actually appreciate that point.
First fact is this: I have not removed, edited or deleted any post by anyone in this thread on censorship. Jake2001 says I have, but he is beginning to sound a great deal like Bongo: making claims he can't back up.
Second fact: The original thread that caused the creation of this thread was NOT removed, edited or deleted by me. Indeed I never knew about the thread or read the thread while it existed. As I said earlier, I fully support the moderator who decided to stop the thread. He was making a judgement call in figuring out how appropriate a thread was in his forum and that is all one can ask of a moderator. I've heard no one claim that the Oregon moderator is unfair or unreasonable and since he has been doing this volunteer job for a very long time, guys must be satisfied. Believe me guys when I say that if users don't like a moderator they let me know about it.
I was called into this after someone asked me to loook at this thread on censorship and after reading the opening threads, I explained why a moderator would do what he did: remove a posting in the Oregon forum that wasn't about finding dick.
Third fact: I have rarely, and I mean rarely removed, edited or deleted any postings on this Message Board. I frequently send messages to the Moderators asking them to remove spam from their forum. I have removed remarks from or about sex with kids, and no doubt a few others over the years like when someone posts a guys phone number as a way to harass them. Oddly, given all the angst about my Republican affiliation, the most I've ever done in the area of deleting was to remove a flurry of pro-George Bush crap that popped up prior to the November election. I removed perhaps 50 postings since of course the Gore people responded in kind to the Bush postings. All were removed if I found them.
For those who feel that political organizing about sex needs to be allowed, I am baffled that anyone would claim I feel otherwise. I have spent years writing editorials published on this website essentially begging fellow cruisers to think political and organize resistence against police crackdowns, sensational journalism on TV, etc. I appreciate the importance of political activism as much as the next cruiser, but I also know that I don't want someone screaming about politics when I'm in a sexclub looking to get off. That is essentially the same way I view this issue as it relates to this Message Board. This leads to the next fact:
There are forums on this Message Board that encourage political discussion to a degree. While there is no forum that expressly allows for someone to talk about NAFTA, the forum 'Cruiser Crackdown' which has existed for at least a year would have been the ideal place to start a thread about a police crackdown in Portland, Oregon (by the way, that was the nature of the thread that started all this, or so I've been told). To some it may seem practical that such a thread appear in the Oregon forum, but since very, very few of the people who read this Message Board ever visit the Oregon forum, it makes more sense to me that a discussion about any police crackdown show up in a more broadly focused forum such as 'Cruiser Crackdown' so more than just those who live in a particular area can see the degree of the police crackdowns that are happening around the USA and the world at large. Part of the way activists organize is sharing experiences and the Web allows people all over the world who can't easily sit down around one conference table to share experiences and learn from one another. Persons who want to make sure that Oregonians know about this discussion could easily have posted a note in the Oregon forum directing fellow Oregonians to the thread in the 'Cruiser Crackdown' forum.
This very forum on 'Sexual Politics' was created as a direct result of a suggestion from a moderator a few days ago about a thread that had gotten too political in his forum. The timing dovetailed nicely with this discussion of censorship which was moved from Oregon to this forum.
I'm sure there are more than a few more things that need to be covered, but since so many of the posters in this thread are listed as 'future cruisers' that implies they are new to this Message Board and thus don't have the history many of us have with this website (By the way, 'future cruiser' is a distinction the board makes to show if someone has recently registered. After posting a certain amount of topics they automatically become a 'cruiser'.).
I'd like to think these facts might help settle things down, but I suspect that isn't going to be the case for some. While I expressed earlier that this is in fact a private enterprise and posters have no 'free speech rights' as such, I feel it important to explain exactly how little 'censorship' actually goes on here, especially since a few people are making it appear that I stand over every thread and edit and delete at will. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I'm going to shut up for now and await some clarifications from Bongo.
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Cruisemaster
cruisingforsex.com
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