A happy ending?

[reohn2]

I'm inclined to agree with 661-Pete. It might be easier to change the name of the forum to Politics UK and include a separate cycling ghetto.

I'm all for free speech and although not participating do occasionally enjoy the arguments. My concern is the unrelenting nature of the political threads. We are living in exceptional times and the country seems more polarised than ever. Cycling ought be a unifying force but the forum seems to be dominated by the divisions of politics.

The Tea Shop is an any 'other subjects' section and it's because we are living in exceptional times,that politricks and the perhaps the biggest politirckal economic decisions of our country is why it's to the forefront of many people's minds.

I also wonder what purpose is served by such debates. Certainly the main protagonists are unlikely to alter their opinions. It's possible, I suppose, that some onlookers may have their prejudices challenged, if they haven't all lost the will to live, but I get the feeling that the main purpose is the gratification of the thread instigators. Grahams use of the term Shock Jock seems very appropriate. The Helmet Ghetto was formed I believe because people became bored with the recycling of the same arguments. It appears to me that a similar case could be made in this instance. Whatever the mods decide, they have my support.

Whatever the mods decide will be final,a bit like our government's decisions I s'pose.
Though the mods aren't democratically elected,but are volunteers and I for one,am glad for their dedicated work,if I may take the opportunity to acknowledge.

[reohn2]

I like most of the political debate here, but if it was banned I'd have more time to do other things. E.g. staring out of the window, staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, sleeping...

You left the floor out

What kind of loser do you think I am?!! I have some pride.

I take your point,though the floor needs a little attention occasionally,even if only to decide if it needs sweeping or not.

[bovlomov]

I like most of the political debate here, but if it was banned I'd have more time to do other things. E.g. staring out of the window, staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, sleeping...

Cycling ??... i'll do a combined ride / put the world to rights day with you ...

Oh that! [pm sent]

[661-Pete]

maybe A 661-pete forum for anyone who wants to discuss with him

well, it would certainly be a change from the 'mercalia' forum which the Tea Shop seems to have exclusively transformed into, over recent months....

[Edwards]

I also feel that a separate Sub Section for politics would be a good idea.

Those with political interests forget that some of use do not want to see all these topics and have to try quite hard at times, as the Tea Shop is now littered with them.
The fun and games example is a good one, something that nobody reasonable could object to was moved so as not to clutter up the Tea Shop.
The Sub Section could then carry a statement that opinions expressed are not those of CUK.

I do not feel any reasonable person could object at this sort of tidying up and certainly could not claim it was any sort of censorship.

[Heltor Chasca]

I'm inclined to agree with 661-Pete. It might be easier to change the name of the forum to Politics UK and include a separate cycling ghetto.

I'm all for free speech and although not participating do occasionally enjoy the arguments. My concern is the unrelenting nature of the political threads. We are living in exceptional times and the country seems more polarised than ever. Cycling ought be a unifying force but the forum seems to be dominated by the divisions of politics.

I also wonder what purpose is served by such debates. Certainly the main protagonists are unlikely to alter their opinions. It's possible, I suppose, that some onlookers may have their prejudices challenged, if they haven't all lost the will to live, but I get the feeling that the main purpose is the gratification of the thread instigators. Grahams use of the term Shock Jock seems very appropriate. The Helmet Ghetto was formed I believe because people became bored with the recycling of the same arguments. It appears to me that a similar case could be made in this instance. Whatever the mods decide, they have my support.

I'm inclined to agree with you. Recently I've stopped contributing as much because of the constant fault finding, negative and combative tone on here. There are some talented and intelligent debaters here, but there are also a handful of deeply miserable folk, living life to their full potential from behind a much beaten keyboard.

If I have something's strong to say, I make sure I am confident I could say it to someone's face. I would be very surprised if certain characters here could talk to their fellows in such a manner out in the real world.

[landsurfer]

If I have something's strong to say, I make sure I am confident I could say it to someone's face. I would be very surprised if certain characters here could talk to their fellows in such a manner out in the real world.

+1

[pete75]

If I have something's strong to say, I make sure I am confident I could say it to someone's face. I would be very surprised if certain characters here could talk to their fellows in such a manner out in the real world.

+1

Same here. Never said anything I haven't or wouldn't say to someone in person.

[Ben@Forest]

I also feel that a separate Sub Section for politics would be a good idea.

Those with political interests forget that some of use do not want to see all these topics and have to try quite hard at times, as the Tea Shop is now littered with them.

This has been mooted before and I don't see how it would work. Eg: someone praises a good cycle lane, another compares it to their bad cycle lane, another complains about their council's efforts on cycle lanes. All politics? Or where does it become politics?

I think there's only one rule, don't say anything you wouldn't say to a casual acquaintance in a public setting (i.e. a pub). If you wouldn't say it there don't say it at all.

[SpannerGeek]

Add me to the list for a separate politics section, with the disclaimer 'strong views expressed' and less moderation.

Too many contentious and poorly researched views (with lazy Wikipedia refs) aired and frankly racist ideologies which deserve to be discussed much more vigorously.

There was a post the other day about 'Pakis' that, if it were discussed so in the real world would have ended in a prosecution.

I would like to see a sub forum with the above disclaimer where extreme and frankly anachronistic ideas can be discussed without unnecessary moderation.

We live in interesting times, where the very balance of democracy and free speech could tip one way or the other.

The Russian Empire and the subsequent Soviet union both collapsed in a very short period of history, we shouldn't be so over confident in our own shaky predicament. Free speech is everything, but with that freedom comes responsibility.

[661-Pete]

It works elsewhere. Both YACF and CycleChat have segregated political sections (the CC one is quite difficult to gain access to, I understand). Were it not for my 'history', I'd be thinking of decamping to one of those - and then either taking part in or shunning the politics, as I see fit.

But I still prefer this forum. Not because of its association with CTC/CUK, but because the demographic here is one I feel more 'at home' with.

But please understand: this is not about me, not about what I want. It's about what the whole forum, what the majority of people who use the forum, wants. Hence the thread.

And someone suggested above, I can just ignore the threads - or the people - that I don't like. No. When racist, bigoted dogma crops up, I can refuse to read it, but I can't ignore its presence. Obviously.

[661-Pete]

Because there seems to be quite a spread of views here, I've turned this thread into a poll.

[SpannerGeek]

A happy ending... Isn't that what you get after a Turkish massage?

[Heltor Chasca]

Political threads get heated. Strong points, well delivered can be a delight to read. I'm happy with that.

But there are certain individuals I have noticed, who take it upon themselves to snipe and criticise particular people on their hit list. Sometimes the 'victim' hasn't really said much to deserve the pointless criticism. Sometimes it isn't even on a political thread. I don't know if I'm missing something and these pairs and groups of people are mates in real life engaged in boisterous banter on this forum.

If that isn't the case, I can't understand what the point of the negativity is. It rarely contributes to the richness of the debate and it must create a lot of unnecessary work for the mods. It's boring and juvenile.

I'm not willing to say who I notice mostly engaging in this grumpy old men stuff. It's pretty obvious. I just choose not to carry on reading or to contribute to the thread.

[700c]

You need to add another option:

No: get rid of everything not bicycle related.