An open letter to Atlanta smokers of marijuana

[froedrick]

REVOLUTION, YOU FORUM NAZI MODERATORS... GARRR.

Seriously stfu. If you need to ask online where to buy your weed. You probably shouldn't be smoking it.

[Troll King]

I think continuing the discussion while it was closed showed poor form, and I'm glad to see it reopened just so the discussion can expand.

I personally think the thread should have been closed, but I can understand how some could argue otherwise. I also think the criticism of Zeus for closing the thread initially was much too harsh. Calling him "Mister Gestapo" was stepping beyond the boundaries. Zeus didn't close this thread until nearly forty minutes after his first reply, so it's not like he made a snap decision to close this thread but actually thought about it. Zeus has also formed a reputation for being a fairly loose moderator and to let things go a bit farther than others might, so likening him to the Gestapo is going to far and should warrant an apology.

I don't believe that Forum Staff needs to be absolutely clear and precise with forum rules unless the matter leads to a warning or a ban. If it results in just a thread closing, then I accept that as a staffer making a discretionary decision. If he slapped a big red warning across it then yes, you can argue that the rules weren't clear. With simple thread closures however, I wouldn't accept that argument, mainly as the decision on whether or not to close a thread in any case has always been and should be discretionary.

The biggest problem I have is Qan continuing to post in this thread after it was closed. I assume he has forum staff priviledges, so this would have been better off being discussed in-house. It was bad form to argue about policy in public, especially with the thread still closed off from others. If it was reopened right away (and perhaps Zeus should have opened it sooner) for discussion, that would have been better. It also undermined Zeus' authority on these boards, and for one staff member to do that to another is inappropriate. If something similar were to happen in a corporate setting, there would be repercussions. Another situation this is similar to is the one Terrell Owens and the Eagles just went through. That doesn't deal with authority, but the tone and feeling are similar.

Since people were discussing whether something was "beneficial" or not, I say that continuing to post and argue about it in a closed thread was more harmful to the forum than the initial posting. It sets a bad example and it is an abuse of power as others would not be able to have done the same thing.

[PH]

lol @ this thread.

[Jerome Scuggs]

I think the main problem here is you guys are all assuming this place is a democracy.

It's a ZeUsocracy(!!). He could shit on a bowl, call it a rule, and you guy'd have to obey it. (Though how you would do so is beyond me)

[Subjugation]

I really don't want it to seem that I'm picking sides, cuz I really don't feel involved in this thread on a personal level at all. On one hand, I think Zeus does one of the best jobs here. He stays out of most things, but isn't shy to drop the hammer when it's warranted.

On the other hand, I really don't think this forum is "family-friendly" at all. I don't think that's very realistic. People call each other faggots and trashtalk eachother, sig's say I LOVE PENIS in huge pink letters, swimkid gets sodomized...I've seen pics of skin-tight camel-toed panty wearing hotties, a line of see-through wet t-shirt wearing girls, etc. If school admin or someone's uptight mom saw that shit, it would be drama for the user.

But I acknowledge that posting the request for the hook up in such an uncoded way puts this forum and the staff in a tough position (considering US federal law). I would have probably asked if there were any 420 friendly from the ATL or what Sarien said.

[Dabram]

ZeUs so crazy!!

edited

[Ashlee]

EDIT: edit

[Jeenyuss]

edited

Ahahahahah

[Vehicle]

Quite possibly the most words containing more than 5 letters in a trash talk thread.

[ZeUs!!]

You could argue that worse has been posted on the forums, for example a lot has been mentioned of a well-known sex pest (Brian Peppers). Taken in context with everyday society, the guy's on a register somewhere, there have been active measures to keep him away from the kids. However this is an internet message board, the guy's all over the internet, you can't escape him. This is what I've tried to do with these forums. Obviously you can't moderate against absolutely everything otherwise General Discussion would consist of 14 threads on ponies, 6 threads on how hot Johnny Depp is and a thread discussing the merits of yellow jelly beans over green, so I have attempted to get rid of the stuff that really isn't everywhere, what is percieved as more extreme on the internet. That includes pornography (just), that includes racism and that includes giving out details of where to get discount wacky backy

You could keep arguing a microcosm of the facts that gives you a loophole and you are convinced that now makes you free from blame and able to deal drugs on these forums because that I didn't specifically state in the rules that you can't deal drugs on these forums. Here's what I have been saying for the last bagillion posts in this thread, the private forums, the private messages: We (forum staff) don't take the rules letter by letter, but as a guideline. The rule's are down to moderator disgression which is what I have been saying most other forums do have strict rules this isn't other forums this is this forum and this is how we work this is so frustrating I am banging my head against the desk repeatedly asdknrungfwefnsdnernerugeoterng

[Subjugation]

Hooray for ponies!

[Arikel]

I just see a downside of someone trying to buy drug on a ss forum... i mean there are lots of young forum goers and you never know if they get their first drug experience with drug bought on a SS forum... kinda sad really!

[BleakFuture]

I got lost on the way over here, can someone recap and tell me who I should agree with? ^-^

[DoTheFandango]

Let's put this simply:

Pot = Illegal

Illegal = Bad to show on forums

THEREFOR:

Pot = Bad to show on the forums.

Now shut the fuck up.

[qan]

Okay, okay, silliness aside. This has been fun, but you can only bite the metal as an unrealistic logic foghat for so long before it really gets ridiculous.

Here is the nice piece: In Zeus' place I would have most likely made the exact same decision as he did, because I'd probably have to even if I didn't necessarily want to. I would understand a vague and contradictory definition of what most people see as 'family friendly,' or for the purposes of this board what we might take as family friendly, and realize 100% that asking someone in a roundabout way to meet up with you and give you an illicit substance doesn't fall very nicely within those guidelines.

But: I wouldn't have said that you can define what's family friendly -- that it's some sort of innate Universal truth you can appeal to as to what such a concept is. It varies from culture to culture, to subculture, and of course to family. A lot of things that "the man on the street" might not say are family friendly appear to be okay (probably just borderline) and because of that, there's some hypocrisy going on here. That's not really important. It's absolutely necessary, that is to say. You can't define any kind of morality without being something of a hypocrite, having several inconsistencies and contradictions, because morality can't be defined in any objective way. And that's what I was waiting for you to say, Zeus, rather than trying to refer back to some perfect truth about what is acceptable and what isn't, something that everyone should just inherently understand. This is the only reason I'd said you have no argument, because quite simply you didn't if that's the angle you kept taking. In your shoes, I would have been forced to admit my own hypocrisy (by the way, I'm still a hypocrite) and say that it's only my personal definition of family values that we are working on, and it's one I can't define -- tough if other people have another definition that does not include binge drinking, etc. -- and that's just the way it would have to be. You were chosen to be a forum mod because you're solid in your decisions, you make generally the calls that people are happy with here, and keep things running and in check with a good set of values that generally enforces what needs to be enforced, while still allowing people to have fun. And you're also a hypocrite because of that, and that's no big deal. You're doing your job and you're doing it well, and I have no reason to interfere with what you do well.

That said, while I apologize for any jabs aimed at tasteless defamation, I can't apologize for reopening the thread and such. Privately we've discussed it and that's probably sufficient. Publically I'm glad we discussed what we did, despite some people once again claiming (for no striking reason) that we shouldn't be pulling dirty laundry into the open. Never understood that one.

Oh well, pip pip --