I wondered that too. I never really saw him do anything worse than anything I do. Then again, I'm never sure how close I am to being banned either.
Well, I almost never come down to these areas, but was rather surprised to see my name mentioned by a few. I have to admit I have several favorites, among them Governor, Herk, IgnoranceisBliss, and most definitely RoccoR (who I have not seen in a while). And one of the more recent ones is William Walker. Mostly it is not because we agree or disagree with each other, but all of those I listed present themselves clearly, normally logically and normally can reference and back up what they say. And they also all at least listen to others, even if they do not always agree. It is that civility and open mindedness that I appreciate, which is all to rare in these kinds of forum anymore. And odds are that if people have never dipped into the military section, they have never seen me post. Because probably 95% of my posts are all in that narrow realm. I almost never wander into the "he said - she said" political sections, they really do not interest me. I prefer to live in a realm of facts, not personal opinions.
Most of my favorite posters are not left-wingers like myself. Most of the people on the left who remain are mostly unthinking shills for the democratic party. All the good left-wing posters have been banned or driven away from this forum. Teamosil was a fantastic poster. Javablack was great. Raytri still comes around from time to time, and is a very good poster. I also miss Anikdote and Southpaw, who weren't on the left, but were very good posters. I enjoyed Frogger and JohnnyDangerously as people as well, even if we rarely agreed on much. As far as the posters left at the forum, I mostly like those who lean libertarian (non-objectivist libertarians to be precise). Liberals are Democratic sycophants, and conservatives are mostly unthinking sycophants for the Republican party. I think Ethereal is a good poster, even if our discussions get heated at times. I think Bleedingheadken is good poster. Shiva is fantastic. SirThaddeus is smart and quite funny, I enjoy his posts. I think Iriemon is pretty solid, though a bit too much of an apologist for Democrats for my tastes. I think E Pluribus Venom is a good poster. I like RedRpublic's contribution. Same for SerfinUSA. Tomfoory is a very good poster also. I am running out of peoples whose opinions I really respect and who I feel I am challenged when I debate them. This place used to be pretty decent, and was good for at least a laugh, now it is just endless repetition ad nauseum of the same 10 topics or so. If you don't want to hear the same 8 people talk about Israel Palestine, or see a debate which basically amounts to "Obama is awful" with the response "Nuh Uh, Obama is doing the best he can, Bush was the awful one," then you are basically out of luck.
It was a terrible mistake!! You are definitely one of my favorites. You are just never around..... It makes me so sad.
I need to add Cubed to my list. That guy's a cool guy. We don't agree on much, but he's one of the most honest and open-minded people on here. There's no pretentiousness in him anywhere. He's just real. And he actually listens to you when you speak. He's one of the few people that you can consistently have a real conversation with and not just a flame war. And I really appreciate that. I think that makes him stand out. Dude's way underrated. He deserves more recognition. Props, brother.
Folks I like... Liberals: Margot- She debates the Treyvon Martin threads well, holding the conservatives feet to the fire. Gorn Captain- Good liberal, always witty, his Aviation Conspiracy thread is one of the funniest threads on here. Conservatives: Small Town Guy- He can actually debate gun control without sounding like a conservative tool bag. Crew Cab- Another guy who can talk guns, and you know what he thinks and doesn't play word games. DonGlock- A conspiracy theorist, the opposite of Gorn Captain, but is always serious. Grokmaster- The all CAPS to words cracks me up. I should list my favorite trolls, that would be fun!
It'd probably get turfed - - - Updated - - - It was actually a requested ban because I was getting tired of the forum and just wanted a break - I thought the mods would put 'banned by request' like they did with Viv. In fact I may take another break soon because I tend end up feeling negative when I spend too much time here, I don't know why that is. Was wondering if I'd feel different with some time off.
I don't know what that means. EDIT: While I'm on it though, I wonder why Pimptight got banned? He was sort of a tin foil hat type of guy, but one of the more rational ones in that camp, and was pretty funny to read sometimes.
Was wondering if your PF induced negativity might be from an excess of negatively charged free electrons accumulated by scuffing your feet on the carpet as you shift about uncomfortably in reading very stupid posts - like this. [i.e. juss kidding]
Thank you to the both of you. I always strive to learn something from every debate, and hopefully impart something that I believe. Now I know I have only been here a short time, and have a hard time getting to other subs then just the Current events and Canada (not enough time in the day lol) but I have really enjoyed my time so far. As for my list I would say Unifier - An extremely articulate individual who I know I can have a reasoned and well thought out debate on issues we may never find common ground on. Webrockk - A well thought out poster who doesn't brook any stupidity. I see the edge come out when others have nothing intelligent to say and would rather spout nonsense. Grokmaster - When we agree, we REALLY AGREE. When we disagree, WE REALLY DISAGREE. But that's ok, because it's all above the board. I don't feel any personal malice, and I know I can always have a good back and forth. Mac 7 - This one might be a little out of left field, especially with his animosity towards me for being a 'Foreigner', but I always know if I stick to logic and reason, I can get civil debates out of him, which for me is almost as fun as an actual reasoned debate. DonGlock - I will always appreciate his viewpoint and posting of articles. I can, at times, find myself a bit to insulated from the right wing point of view (one of the reasons I love this place) and find his articles extremely helpful to help me navigate the side of the media I used to spurn without thought. TheDiplomat 2.0 - A great poster who always has tons of info to back up his extremely well articulated positions. These are some of the ones who stood out for specific reasons. Others I would like to mention merely because they have given me things to argue and things to ponder. Professor Peabody RRP12 FearandLoathing AceFrehley Ctrl PregnarKraps EightyDeuce Iremon 1wiseguy SJEFF Sadistic Savior Agent 286 (mostly for his tireless efforts to advertise for HuffPo ) Flintc Sec OldYoungin Silhouette (we seem to agree on nearly all things, except Homosexuality, where we vehemently disagree) I know I probably missed some folks but I'm sure as time passes I'll argue with more and more of you. cheers
See? This is exactly what I'm talking about. Who else talks like this on here? You're actually interested in understanding the other side of the argument. I think this is awesome. I wish more people were willing to do this. This is what true open-mindedness really looks like.
It is the naiveté of newness. I used to hold to similar ideals as well, as I am sure many on this forum did. However, after more than 5 years at this forum, I no longer have ANYTHING to learn from 99% of the posters at this forum. I honestly feel like there was a time when this forum made me smarter and a better debater (it was also a time when the forum had a stronger intellectual community), but that time passed long ago. Now I hear the same partisan idiocy endlessly from both sides, and I have little interest in hearing it. It may sound nice to want to be exposed to the information DonGlock posts, but the reality is, it is not sensible. There is only so much time in a day, spending your time reading insane partisan propaganda is a waste of that valuable time. Read information of quality instead, and then go have a drink. It is a much better use of time.
Naive? No offense, but just because your burned out doesn't mean I will be. As it is, I am rather adept at skipping over the partisan BS and finding the nuggets of truth if they are there. It's just a matter of how much focus you wish to put in. I'm sorry that your time here has disillusioned you about political debate, but with a forum of this size with as many posts a day as it gets, it is an easy pit to fall into. But I definitely agree with you about reading quality information, but with todays' media, it's a bit of a minefield to navigate.
Careful. That's cynicism talking. Cynicism is exactly what closes minds. It's true that the internet in general is typically full of trolls. So you're not going to get through most people's stubborn nonsense. But that's exactly why it's important not to become one of them. Lest you become the thing you hate. I guess I would ask why you continue posting here at all if you don't see anything worth reading. I commend Cubed for being open-minded enough to actually read stuff by somebody like DonGlock instead of just shutting it out like most people here on the left. DonGlock is one of the more consistently rational people on my side. And he posts a lot of news articles which I think adds a lot to his overall forum value. Because it's not just empty rhetoric like a lot of us are prone to. He's actually addressing specific events that are going on in the world. Keep doing what you do, man. I think you're a breath of fresh air around here. The worst thing you could do at this point would be to let the toxicity of the forum close your mind. Because once it's closed, it's really hard to open again. I've seen it happen to quite a few people. And I've even been guilty of it, myself. I mean just take a look at my screen name. I used to be a little more like you when I first got here. I just don't want to see you get hardened like me. I guess that's the difference between me and frodly here. He seems to think it's inevitable that you'll get jaded like us whereas I believe you can maintain your integrity. In fact, I actually think your humility is a good influence on those of us that originally came from a more open place. I've noticed that you tend to draw that back out of me when I talk to you. Which is cool. It's a big reason why I enjoy our discussions.
Thank you, my friend, I am sure you know those sentiments are reciprocated. Gratifying as your compliment is, that was not the purpose of my making this thread, nor was it my reasonable expectation. The membership of this place appears to be predominantly conservative American, and I am not so naive as to expect a 'foreigner', regarded by some as 'left-leaning', to be popular. But being popular is perhaps less important than learning of unfamiliar philosophies and views of the world. At any rate, this thread may allow some people to metaphorically 'touch' others whom they might otherwise not. There are times when compliments are not empty.
I'm surprised to not see Snakestretcher mentioned here. My list includes but is not limited to Snakestretcher, happy fun dude, Jack Napier, Marlowe, Abu Sina, Leo, Iolo, GraspingforPeace, Robini, indofred, Junobet, MegadethFan, moon, Misri, PropagandaMachine, NoPartyAffiliation, margot, Swensson, wyly, goomba, Prof Sarcastic, crank, misri, trout mask replica, creation, precision, Pardy, query, and jazz. There are more, but for the purpose of not making a list impossible to read, I'll cut it short. Apologies to those I left out.
