Hmmmm calling someone a Hitler… that’s like calling someone a Nazi, no? Silence? hmmmm…
Click on the link. It’s a series of photos analogous to, if further developed than [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/political-satire-and-political-jokes-part-2/26005/31 post[/url] of Chewycorns’. Granted, junior senator from N.Y.'s a serious step below the president, and Savonarola’s bon fire of the vanities is more than a just few l-o-n-g steps below the cremetoriums, so the Bush-Hitler ‘joke’ is (amazingly) even less funny than the already unfunny earlier post. I think it’s stupid, unfunny, and somewhat offensive.
That said, at the moment, I don’t see a good reason to flame it, but I’m open to hearing contrary arguments.
Yes, if the accused were a Forumosan, than that would most certainly be considered a personal attack. Thank you for your astute observation.
Ah… I see… So… then what other terms must Forumosans not be called? Just so we are all clear… fascists? warmongers? intolerant? Christians? rednecks? gunslinging cowboys? murderers of defenseless women and children? war profiteers? torturers? abusers? anti-Muslim? unilateralists? my way or the highway kind of folks? So difficult to see the many unique nuances and variations of these charges but I am willing to learn… Please, oh please, do teach me so that I will better fit in with the new multicultural agenda of who the victims are and who the perpetrators of all that is evil in the world are? Can I put my hand up now for a quick guess? All Republicans? Bush supporters? advocates of hardline action against the intransigent mullahs? etc. are targets for open-season insults but for anyone else, we must encourage dialogue, have appeals for peaceful negotiations? greater understanding? tolerance? How am I doing?
You’re getting funnier. I may have to move this back to the jokes thread. Oops… I can’t. 
g’night fred.
Ah… I see… So… then what other terms must Forumosans not be called? Just so we are all clear… fascists? warmongers? intolerant? Christians? rednecks? gunslinging cowboys? murderers of defenseless women and children? war profiteers? torturers? abusers? anti-Muslim? unilateralists? my way or the highway kind of folks? So difficult to see the many unique nuances and variations of these charges but I am willing to learn… [/quote]
Willing to learn? I doubt it, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
[quote=“The Rules”]The administrators of Forumosa are working to provide a place where foreigners living in or interested in Taiwan can share ideas and debate in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Despite our best efforts, some posters stray from this ideal and cheapen the quality of discourse for everyone else. Unfortunately, it is simply impossible to write a comprehensive set of rules forbidding every type of antisocial behavior. The fact that the rules don’t forbid a certain type of post does not automatically make an uncivil post appropriate, nor does it imply that the administrators approve of disrespectful behavior. Every member of this community has a responsibility to participate in a respectful manner, and to help foster a community atmosphere where thoughtful discussion is valued. In this regard, we strongly advise that our members exercise a little common decency, rather than trying to parse the message board rules to figure out what type of antisocial behavior is not forbidden.
Do not post personal attacks or engage in name-calling against other members of this discussion board. Do not distort another poster’s name for the purpose of insulting or ridiculing him/her.
If you are going to disagree with someone, please stick to the message rather than the messenger. For example, if someone posts factually incorrect information, it is appropriate to say, “your facts are wrong,” but it is not appropriate to say “you are a liar.”
Do not publicly accuse another member of this message board of being a disruptor, troll, conservative, liberal or any other labels used in a negative sense. Do not try to come up with cute ways of skirting around the spirit of this rule. If you think someone is a disruptor, PM the moderator(s) of that forum with a link to the offending post and let the moderators deal with it. We disapprove of any behaviour intended to stifle discussion, or pre-emptively label a particular point of view as inappropriate or unwelcome as such behaviour makes thoughtful and open discussion virtually impossible.
Forumosa is a “big tent” message board which welcomes a broad range of opinions from posters hailing from many countries and cultures. As such, from time to time you are likely to disagree with many of the comments you see expressed here. Please do not take these differences of opinion personally. The simple fact that someone disagrees with you does not give you the right to lash out and break the rules of this message board. A thick skin is usually required to participate on this or any message board.
Please note that, strictly speaking, sweeping statements about entire groups of people are not considered personal attacks. However, they are often inflammatory and counterproductive and the moderators have broad discretion to remove such posts in the interests of keeping the peace on the message board.
There is a difference between forceful advocacy for a particular issue or point of view (which is allowed), and personally attacking people (which is forbidden). If you can’t tell the difference, you are likely to get into trouble here.
Do not “stalk” another member from one discussion thread to another. Do not follow someone into another thread to try to continue a disagreement you had elsewhere. Do not talk negatively about an individual in a thread where they are not participating. Do not start a new discussion thread with the purpose of “calling out” another member or picking a fight with another member. Do not use your signature line to draw negative attention to another member of the board.
If you just don’t like someone, please be aware that you have the option of putting that person on your ignore list. Just click on the appropriate icon on one of that person’s posts.
We do not typically delete threads which many members may consider to be “flamebait.” However, the administrators will occasionally remove threads which we, in our discretion, consider too rhetorically hot or too inflammatory. Please use good judgment when starting threads; inflammatory rhetoric does not normally lead to productive discussion.
If you are the type of person who just can’t get along with other people, and if you seem to repeatedly cause trouble, eventually we will decide that your presence is a disruption and we will ban you. It doesn’t matter if you are a long-term member of this board.
There are no exceptions to these civility rules. You cannot attack someone because they attacked you first, or because that person “deserved it,” or because you think someone is a disruptor. We consider it a personal attack to call a liar a liar, to call a moron a moron, or to call a jerk a jerk.
For detailed information about how we enforce our personal attacks rule, please read the following article - “What is a Personal Attack?”[/quote]
What is a Personal Attack?
Our goal is to provide a forum where foreigners can discuss life in Taiwan, current events and other topics of interest in an atmosphere of mutual respect. While we know that we can never be 100% successful, we are committed to doing whatever we can, within reason, to make this goal a reality.
Forumosa.com has rules against posting personal attacks. We have learned that there exists a broad range of opinion about what constitutes a personal attack. It is our opinion that any negative comment about another member of this message board is a personal attack, and such comments should not be posted on our message board. In practice, however, not all personal attacks get removed by the moderators. If there is a specific example of rule-breaking that you feel should be dealt with, PM the moderator of the relevant forum, with a link to the post in question.
Occasionally mistakes are made, as the moderators are human. If a member feels that a moderator has acted inappropriately, that member should send an email to admin@forumosa.com. The administrators will always respond to specific complaints.
In an effort to standardize the enforcement of our personal attacks rules, and to increase understanding among our members, here are some guidelines and issues relating to our personal attacks rules.
The importance of having a thick skin
If you are a human being with feelings, you might read things on Forumosa.com that you find offensive. That is to be expected. Discussions of political topics, cultural differences, and even daily life in Taiwan can be passionate and contentious. The administrators of this message board have little interest in catering to the most oversensitive members. If you get offended by many of the things you read on Forumosa.com, you might have to learn to deal with it.
Types of Personal Attacks
There are two types of personal attacks.
Saying bad things about another member of this message board. For example: “You are an idiot.”
Hurling insults at another member of this message board. For example: “Screw you.”
What Personal Attacks Get Removed By The Moderators?
A personal attack is removed by the moderator if it has the following characteristics:
[ol][li]The attack is against a member of this message board, rather than a non-member. If you attack another member of this message board, your post will be removed. We do not remove attacks against public figures, such as presidential candidates, entertainers, or other prominent individuals. If a public figure is also a member of Forumosa, then attacks against that person are allowed, but only if they are narrowly focused on that person’s public activity. Attacks unrelated to that person’s public activity are not allowed.
[/li]
[li]The attack is against an individual, rather than a group. If an attack is against an individual member of this message board, then it will be removed. However, if someone posts a diffuse attack against a very generalized, non-discrete group of people it is not considered a personal attack for enforcement purposes. (Be aware that such group attacks may still be removed as bigotry or flame bait, following the guidelines listed below.)
[/li]
[li]The attack is directed at a person, rather than at an idea. If an attack is against an idea, then it will be allowed to stay. For example, it is permissible to say that an idea is “stupid” but it is not permissible to say that an individual member of this message board is “stupid”.
[/li]
[li]The attack is clearly intended to smear, insult, or otherwise attack. If an attack is obviously intended to be malicious, then it will be removed. In practice, however, not all attacks are clear-cut. If a member makes a relatively harmless assertion about another member that is based on fact and not necessarily negative, it will generally be allowed to stay. For example, if someone posts “you frequently make negative comments about Group X,” that would be allowed to stay. This is a reasonable conclusion to draw about someone’s activity on this message board, and it isn’t necessarily a negative personal characteristic. However, if someone says “you are a liar” or “you frequently tell lies,” then that would be crossing the line into attacking because the comment asserts a negative personal characteristic.
[/li]
[li]The attack is direct, rather than inferred by the listener. For example, if someone says “that is a stupid idea,” that is not considered to be a personal attack. Often, in cases like this, people will infer that the speaker is calling the other person “stupid” even though the comment is narrowly targeted to the idea. We will not consider such inferred attacks to be prohibited personal attacks. Occasionally, however, an attack is so obvious and mean-spirited that we will nonetheless assume that it was intended as a personal insult by the author and remove the post.[/li][/ol]
What Attacks Against Groups Are Removed By The Moderators?
We do not have a strict rule against attacks against groups of people. However, group attacks can still be removed if they break other rules, such as our rule against bigotry, and our rule against posting blatant flame bait. Here are some thoughts about attacks against groups.
[ul][li]If an attack is against a discrete group of individual members, then it will be removed under the personal attacks rule. For example: If someone says “Person X, Person Y, and Person Z can kiss my ass” then that would be considered to be three individual personal attacks, and the post would be removed. However, if someone posts “All Geminis can kiss my ass” we would consider the target to be sufficiently diffuse that it does not constitute a personal attack. (Under certain circumstances, we might delete such a post under our flame-bait rule.)
[/li]
[li]If an attack is racist or hateful in nature, then it will be removed under our bigotry rule. The person who posts the attack might also get their account shut off. Our rules forbid racist, sexist, homophobic, ethnic, or anti-religious bigotry.
[/li]
[li]If a group attack is particularly vicious, pointless, or disruptive, then it might be removed under our flame bait rule. The judgment of what constitutes flame bait is highly subjective, but we will occasionally delete posts that cross a very arbitrary line of acceptability. If a group attack is particularly vicious, pointless, or disruptive, the moderators have the right to remove it. In such cases, moderators of a forum are expected to confer with each other and reach a clear consensus before taking action.[/li][/ul]
Closing The Loopholes
Occasionally members will post messages which aren’t strictly against the rules, but are deliberately rude, offensive, uncivil, or disruptive. The moderators have the right to remove those posts, too.
Hopefully these guidelines will help our moderators enforce our personal attacks rule more fairly and evenly. Our intent is not to give a “green light” to anti-social behavior that is not specifically outlawed. We hope that all of our members will make an effort to participate on our message board in a civil and productive manner. Please be aware that members who choose to repeatedly engage in anti-social behavior (even behavior that is not specifically prohibited) will be banned for disrupting the message board.
“Outings” ?
tsk tsk tsk…
Quick question: Why is God’s Rottweiler thread locked?
Fred
Sorry about that, FS. I had to remove a bunch of “Yer a Dickhead” comments and locked it until I had time to get to it. It’s fixed now. Thanks for the heads up.
Can I please post a poll on perceptions of my tone and content. The issue seems to come up a lot on the IP forum and apparently affects viewers perceptions of the forum and their willingness to post so I would like to get an honest assessment. I don’t mind if things get hot. Can we please put it back in IP?
Love Fred
The Sinking Ship or Deserting the Ship thread in the IP forum keeps timing out.
Fred
Roger that. Page two times out. Page one loads quickly.