I just came from TB2000. The forum seems to be going around the bend over there. Good Grief! I know its not just because a few of us are also over here. Check out the thread "What is going on with this forum. Part 1" by Iona. And then PLEASE send an invitation to GlenCurtis so we can enjoy some of his rational and well written information. Whew! All they need over there now is LL and it will have digressed 360. The whole board seems to be on the verge of hysteria. Guess I will stay away for awhile until things calm down. There is enuff real crap to deal with without all that misinformation and histeria. My God...I guess I have metamorphed into a Polly!!!

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Answers

Response to What is going on at TB2000?

I vote for hijacking TodBerg if he's not already here.

Yes, it's amazing to watch the forum growing pains in real- time. 'Course, might be a sign that LL already showed up... :-(

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Response to What is going on at TB2000?

Taz, I think we're seeing the culmination of a process that began several weeks ago when Chuck posted an e-mail he received from a long-time board member concerning the number of [REL] threads on the board and their lack of relevance to the board's original purpose. The writer, as I recall, suggested that the fundies form their own board for religious discussions and allow TB2K to revert to its original interests.

The reaction was, as you can imagine, highly inflamed, with many of the usual suspects accusing the board of being anti-Christian, intolerant, and various other sins, all the while ignoring the point of the debate. The andrenalin levels over there have been rising ever since -- along with the growing militance of the religiously oriented subset there. If I had to guess, I'd say what we're seeing is a battle for the soul of TB2K. I do not expect the board to survive in its current form.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Response to What is going on at TB2000?

Nah....couldn't be LL. She would have repeated herself 500 times taking up all the bandwidth. Those were the *good old days* (not) heh? But I'll tell you, when I got through reading some of those posts today, my head was spinning.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Response to What is going on at TB2000?

Speaking of impolite comments. . .

Sacramento Bee

Impolite Civil War-era graffiti uncovered

The Associated Press

WINCHESTER, Va. (March 28, 2001 12:44 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Restoration crews working at an old courthouse have stumbled upon Civil War-era graffiti condemning Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Someone wrote: "To Jeff. Davis: May he be set afloat ... (on a) boat without compass or rudder ... eaten by a shark, the shark by a whale, the whale in the Devil's belly, and the Devil in Hell, the gates locked ... and, further, may he be put in the northwest corner with a southeast wind blowing ashes in his eyes for all ETERNITY."

The block letters, partially obscured by plaster repairs and years of decay, had been etched into the wall and were discovered last week by crews converting the Frederick County Courthouse into a Civil War Museum.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

My last posting at TB2000 only generated 20 hits, on a very important topic (the rapid depletion of oil well production in Texas. The board is self-destructing, and the number of interesting threads is being displayed by OT and REL posts. The signal to noise ratio is deteriorating.

That's the reason why I started my own energy forum on ezboard. This format is good for an "email-type" favor but I needed ease of pasting graphics and stories.

Flavius Aetius

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

But please post your most significant topics here, Flavius. I know from the old Currents forum that we have a large numebr of lurkers who read posts, especially on the important topics, like Energy and Sustainable Living.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

It seems to me part of the trouble started when the white supremists showed up. Blessings, David

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

Yep David... I agree...

Did I ever tell you how I got awarded two flames in one sitting? Equating homophobic racists with little-dicked closet queens...

Ah, it was worth it... :)

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

And you should've seen the little link Carl gave that got him in a whole HEAP of trouble! That's when I thought, hmm, if I weren't happily married and of a certain age. . . I STILL giggle out loud when I think of that incident. Maybe if you're nice to him, he'll give you the link.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

I just dropped by the old board. Man the place is comming apart fast. Carl I really like your style. Blessings, David

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

There are a lot of good people over at TB and loyalty dies hard. But I hope that they come over here so I don't have to keep checking back over there. Its like going into a stirred up hornets nest. Wonder what Ed Yourdon thinks of it? I am sure the admin are doing all they can to hang it together, but jeeze, they are getting out numbered and why should they take all the crap for an otherwise thankless job? They need a forum called Zealots Inc.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

WHICH link was it that got you in trouble, Carl? [handing him a large platter of fudge] If discretion requires, you can put the appropriate warnings around it.

My goodness, what a soap opera it is over there. The self-pity and mutual admiration is so deep in various venues that I want to dip my hip-boots in a foot-and-mouth sterilization vat.

There are no definitive turning points in the forum. So many possible flashpoints, but also so many quiet but decisive changes.

Not, for example, that the white supremacists posting was so much the issue -- but that excuses were made for them, and that they were agreed with, instead of trounced and run out of town and told the forum had a zero-tolerance for racism. That there were blanket statements made about various groups which the posters didn't like and the chorus of appproval and "ain't it awful?" became standard fare (and that the ROE of engagement regarding flaming other posters were so spineless as to be meaningless). That "I" statements about one's personal religious practice, which are not a problem when not used as a bludgeon, morphed into pervasive and frequent attacks on the differing religious practices of others. That some utterly awesome feats of paranoia became a norm. That the "we are all family" bullshit got reflected back and forth like a hall of mirrors while it was apparent that there were a number of long-time (pre-Y2k) posters who were decidedly not welcome, and that tolerance of diversity was a farce.

That the place has been allowed to be a whiny, vicious cesspit for at least a full year is not news.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

Flavius Aetus made an good point, seems like the really important stuff gets pushed aside by the -- excuse me -- crap and drops off the bottom of the first page, then disappears. I posted a thread over there about North American natural gas production remaining level despite a record number of wells in production and it drew maybe 8 views and no posts before it sank to Page 2.

BTW, has anyone else noticed a lot of new names among the posters at TB2K on the most inflammatory threads? Hmmmm.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

One of the reasons I have kept up with TimeBomb is that it seems to represent a slice of society that I'm not usually exposed to and need to be reminded about. In particular, that Americans have all sorts of opinions and beliefs, and all sorts of ways of rationalizing those opinions and beliefs. It's irrelevant how ridiculous or invalid I may find some of them; what I must accept is that they exist and that they have had and will continue to have a continuing impact on the development of our society. (An example personal to me would be why folks can feel so differently about environmental issues.)

I do hope I understand better than I had where some of these folks are coming from. I see the current angst just another manifestation of those differences. Doesn't mean it's pleasant to watch, though, so I'm trying to stay out of it.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

I think I will go chase Beckie around the barn untill everything settles down. LOL Blessings, David

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

I'm biting mmy tongue and fingers too, but if there's any more venom about Wilferd being mostly responsible for this stuff (see RAL's forum), no doubt aided and abetted by the skulduggery of Todberg (WTF?), I may not be able to restrain myself.

David--so it's TRUE! You dawgs!!! (See, I'm bilingual, I speak American too.)

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

OG,

What thread is it at RAL's forum? I may just have to use another computer somewhere around here and put my 0.02 in. How dare they attach Wilferd.

My blood is about to the boiling point. And with the drugs I'm on, it takes more to get to that point.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

Oh yeah, forgot about this one... sure got the fundies knickers in a twist :)

Guy deserved it though, for flaming our Git....

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

Carl, glad I wasn't chomping or slurping on anything when I saw that, woulda landed all over my keyboard (and 'puter and telephone and...)

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Response to DK - What is going on at TB2000?

It's here, Sheeps, first two posts at the top of the page:

Take blood pressure pills before reading

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Funny you should say that Brooks... I've been accused of ruining a few keyboards in the past...

Folks gotta learn to not surf with their mouths full is all I gotta say...

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Damn, damn, damn, I hate this. Jessebelle is now telling kip that she and I have resolved our differences. I [i]had[/i] to reply, so that people don't get the wrong idea. She also said on RAL's board that I said I was ashamed of my actions at TB. Not true. I have not said I am ashamed of anything. End of story. I will NOT have that woman sowing doubt among you great folks. Please don't doubt my loyalty to you all.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

"Please don't doubt my loyalty to you all." Boy, THAT was never a possibility! ;^)

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

I may doubt your abilities to link using html, and your abilites to remember that ezcodes don't work here, but loyalty, never was a question or doubt on that!

LOLOLOLOL

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Gee thanks David, I needed my exercise today. BTW don't forget your hip waders, the BS is piled high in my barn :)

[and he really doesn't know how true that statement is.. ]

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Beckie, I could really use some of that bs for my garden. Would you mind e-mailing me a few yards of it? Ever so much appreciated!

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

I can just picture the ISP personnel cleaning that outta the routers!

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Ol' Git ma'am -- Jessebelle was one person I thought was reasonably level-headed -- but her unprovoked belligerence toward you changed my mind in a hurry. What in the world is there about biblical literalism that makes the fundamentalists so contentious? "My way, or no way" becomes their guiding light. It's a form of intellectual encephalopathy so to speak.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Tom, level-headed is one thing I never attributed to Jessebelle.

Way too one-sided.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Carl: Thanks for the belly laugh! My have got them twisted at the old place, but I thought it was hilarious. GB7

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Thanks, Tom. I'm just so weary of them all and perceive the situation as tediously absurd; I am fast becoming indifferent.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Greybeard! How good to see you--Carlos/RiffRaff (from old TB and Unk's) is due in this area around the beginning of May. Perhaps we can all get together. Critt is interested too. Taz may be here around the beginning of June. Anyone interested, please drop me a mail at Mr. Donald's address--jas.donald@usa.net.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

OG:

Thanks for the howdy. Seems like there are a lot of familiar names around here. The conversation level on this thread reminds me of last year on the other board. Adult, civil, intelligent, sometimes irreverant (in a humorous way), and friendly.

Hope I have time to hang around here a little more.

The meet sounds like fun. Email is on the way.

GB7

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

You can hang around all you want, but ya gotta bring your own rope!

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

Barefoot:

I think that's why I always hated wearing a tie so much, just thought management was too cheap to buy their own rope.

I'll try to make sure it's a very LONG rope and a very short drop.

GB7

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

I never liked wearing a tie, either.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2001

0700 - GB, haven't got the mail yet but USA.net has been down for maintenance. Would you please resend? Thanks. PS--Glad you like the civility, but watch Carl and Barefoot!

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001