Regarding the "Important Rules And Guidance" in Administrative Announcements

[KITROBASKIN]

A quote from "Goal of the community":
"Everything aspect we do as a community is to encourage conversation, not discourage curiosity."

I submit that some of us do not want to be CPFU'd, and that COVID information previously presented by CPF members has been helpful in understanding this difficult circumstance; That some members go overboard, but we all make mistakes. It can be helpful to talk about trying events as a way of healing, growth, and tolerance.

 

[Greta]

Kitro - I'm not sure what your point is. Can you clarify a little more?

IMO - we ALL did very well with the COVID thing and discussing it here on CPF. Yes, there were certain things we needed to nip in the bud for pure safety reasons and yes, there were some people who went a little overboard but overall, I'm very proud of how EVERYONE handled it. Sure kept us busy during our lockdown

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Yes, CPF was Fantastic with the granting of discussions about COVID. Hopefully it is a mistake to think that recent COVID talk has been squelched, then told to take it underground. Yes, they were not (on the whole) all that constructive. And some members got personal with accusations. Just hoping that we can discuss potentially controversial subjects like we used to, absolutely minimizing the religious/political incendiary stuff.

Other forums have chosen to outlaw COVID talk, and it is a point of pride (if you will) that we were able to have sometimes cathartic discussion here, with great thanks to our moderators and administrators.

We do need to cut the current leadership some slack, admittedly. Greta, please advise.

 

[Greta]

Ok, I'll admit... I haven't been following as closely as I used to. That being said, I haven't been alerted to any issues either. Can you give me a link to the thread/post you're referring to that got squelched? I would like to check that out.




FYI - While I am not the owner or primary administrator here anymore, I am still an administrator. My intent is not to overturn or even disagree with the current owner/administrator. But I think it is still important for me to know what's going on. Does that make sense?

 

[jtr1962]

Yes, CPF was Fantastic with the granting of discussions about COVID. Hopefully it is a mistake to think that recent COVID talk has been squelched, then told to take it underground. Yes, they were not (on the whole) all that constructive. And some members got personal with accusations. Just hoping that we can discuss potentially controversial subjects like we used to, absolutely minimizing the religious/political incendiary stuff.

Other forums have chosen to outlaw COVID talk, and it is a point of pride (if you will) that we were able to have sometimes cathartic discussion here, with great thanks to our moderators and administrators.

We do need to cut the current leadership some slack, admittedly. Greta, please advise.

I was personally glad those recent threads were closed. I've been involved in similar discussions elsewhere and they never end well. A lot of the problem I think stems from misconceptions about how medicine and science works. We were and still are on a learning curve with covid. That means experts will change their message. Unfortunately, some of the population thinks that if these experts aren't right 100% of the time then their advice is worth no more than that of a layperson. After that you have people chiming in who think they know more than the experts do. Same pattern with a lot of topics, not just covid.

This is a good a description of this phenomenon as any:

The Death Of Expertise

To reject the notion of expertise, and to replace it with a sanctimonious insistence that every person has a right to his or her own opinion, is silly.

thefederalist.com

 

[bykfixer]

A year later this was still in my cardiologists office.
A year later I put this back up on CPF again.

I hope I don't see it in his office next year when I return.

 

[GoVegan]

View attachment 15595
A year later this was still in my cardiologists office.
A year later I put this back up on CPF again.

I hope I don't see it in his office next year when I return.

It will probably be there next year too.

In 1919, I'm certain there were many who believed that the 1918 influenza pandemic would be over soon too, yet 100 years later 290,000 to 650,000 people die of flu-related causes every year worldwide.
The Flu is with us forever, and most likely Covid-19 will be too, in the form of yearly variants. More and more medical experts are saying the same thing recently. I have been saying this since Feb 2020, it's just obvious.

 

[bykfixer]

The flu was around loooooooooong before 1919.
It was one of mother natures cruel jokes way back in the BC days. Same with the virus that causes a head cold. Is it a folley of mankind or a lesson to be learned?
Perhaps we'll never know. One thing is certain. History will repeat and mankind will probably still screw it up.

Humans do a helluva good job at spreading viruses.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Thanks Greta:
bykfixer's Pandemic light at the end of the tunnel and mask thread were closed, as well as raggie's very short-lived how can we stop COVID thread. Truly they had all devolved, but seems like we were able to weather those outbursts in the past, and get back on track, letting the ebb and flow take its course.

With all this COVID fatigue going on, and folks going 'tribal' in the USA and elsewhere, perhaps the CPF owner wants to tamp it down for now. But I think more than a few of us were getting a perspective from members here presenting information they had found, as well as their personal experience in their part of this big world. As said before, sharing our plight has beneficial effects as well.

If we could limit discussion to studies, reports and personal experience without pontificating and predicting... maybe those who can't hardly help themselves from telling other people what to think, would chill. Yeah, herding cats.

 

[Mister Ed]

One of the best parts of CPF is the level headiness, lack of name calling, and civil discussions. There's no doubt that the Covid-fatigue is settling in, and I don't want that to infiltrate the community for sure. If we can move forward with understandings that political discussion, name calling, and just watering down of the community can result is being removed from the conversation I'd be up for getting it back going again.

 

[jtr1962]

With all this COVID fatigue going on, and folks going 'tribal' in the USA and elsewhere, perhaps the CPF owner wants to tamp it down for now.

I think this is the problem. Our knowledge of covid is constantly changing. We're also throwing everything and the kitchen sink at it in an attempt to find cures. The end result of that is some good studies, along with lots of junk studies which wouldn't pass peer review. And for the layperson often no real way to tell the difference.

But I think more than a few of us were getting a perspective from members here presenting information they had found, as well as their personal experience in their part of this big world. As said before, sharing our plight has beneficial effects as well.

If we could limit discussion to studies, reports and personal experience without pontificating and predicting... maybe those who can't hardly help themselves from telling other people what to think, would chill. Yeah, herding cats.

I'd personally prefer it if we could limit it mostly to personal experiences. For now anyway. The Underground might be a better place to discuss some of the stuff that was in those threads which were shut down. It's good to be open to new perspectives on this. At the same time it's also good to take anything which radically disagrees with what most experts are telling us with a huge grain of salt.

 

[bykfixer]

After a few covid threads got shut down over the "I'm right, you're wrong" nonsense I tried the light at the end of the tunnel thread. I had done a mask thread not to state whether they work or not but to create positive dialog. Same with the light at the end of the tunnel thread. Both went well for longer than I expected.
Both devolved into "I'm right and you're wrong" once again.

I could see Raggaes thread had the lifespan of a housefly.

There's a common element that frankly I'm tired of witnessing. To be cordule I won't specify what or who but it has been pervassive over every single covid thread and it's why so many forums do not allow the discussion to begin. It's already creeping into this one.

So with that said, I'll watch this one and set on the fence to observe how long this one remains open.

 

[boo5ted]

I submit that some of us do not want to be CPFU'd

What is CPFU'd?



I think discussion (calm, honest, levelheaded) about any subject is a good thing.

The main reason some can't have those discussions(on both sides) is they just can't accept a simple answer of "no".

 

[scout24]

CPFU'd = Take it to the underground. Some topics have been deemed too incendiary or controversial for discussion "up here." Or more recently, the topic starts going off the rails and poo flinging commences, resulting in the above suggestion and a closed thread.

 

[richbuff]

This is a flashlight forum. That is a strong, tight focus. What's our purpose? To nurture the flashlight community. Are there not so many political conflicts out there in this hostile world in this evil age that tear apart the fabric of nation, state, community, family and individual? Why should we allow such outside controversial issues that we can never agree on to bring division amongst ourselves, to disable us from furthering our single purpose?

There is the Underground. I can open my favorite irrelevant personal hot topic issue, hot topic thread there, but why have yet another point source of open hostility in this forum that is purposed to furthering the flashlight community?

Admin and moderators are always busy keeping a lid on things so they don't boil over. At least water has a very high latent heat of vaporization, so when it boils, it doesn't explode all at once. The virus issue is both a medical issue and also a political issue. The problem is that political issues have an extremely low heat of vaporization, so they immediately explode at their boiling point, where they are always at.

Let's give admin and moderators a break and make it so that flashoholics are people who like to argue about flashlights, instead of people who like to argue about explosive political issues.

 

[scout24]

Given the effect the current medical situation has had on everyone's life, past (and new) administration allowed discussion of various aspects of the ongoing situation here in the off-topic Cafe with the admonishments to please stay away from politics and personal attacks. Same as in all threads. Sometimes emotion boils over, sometimes it may be more intentional poking with a stick. There's some merit in having that discussion here, it is after all a rather tight knit community with a lot of friendships. Warnings (guidance) are given, sometimes posts get deleted. Sometimes threads are closed. Respect for other opinions and tolerance go a long way, as does stepping away from the keyboard. 😊 I find the last tidbit difficult at times myself.

 

[bykfixer]

I was saddened when my RIP thread got closed when keyboard warriors hurled insults after a divisive figure passed away. Several people asked me to start a new one but I chose not to for the simple fact that sooner or later another contreversial figure will pass away and keyboard warriors will again resort to what keyboard warriors do.

At a car forum a few years back one guy took offense to a comment I made and threatened me with bodily harm. I invited him to meet me in a parking lot and he did. We ended up having a great time. We still disagreed on how to properly set up a race car but ended up exchanging ideas and parts later on. His car blew an engine shortly after. I laughed and said "told ya"……but he taught me some stuff too. He is the first person I ever heard use the term keyboard warrior (talking about me).
"Who me? No way dude".

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

I was saddened when my RIP thread got closed when keyboard warriors hurled insults after a divisive figure passed away. Several people asked me to start a new one but I chose not to for the simple fact that sooner or later another contreversial figure will pass away and keyboard warriors will again resort to what keyboard warriors do.

At a car forum a few years back one guy took offense to a comment I made and threatened me with bodily harm. I invited him to meet me in a parking lot and he did. We ended up having a great time. We still disagreed on how to properly set up a race car but ended up exchanging ideas and parts later on. His car blew an engine shortly after. I laughed and said "told ya"……but he taught me some stuff too. He is the first person I ever heard use the term keyboard warrior (talking about me).
"Who me? No way dude".

The way some members conducted themselves in your RIP thread was an all-time low point for CPF. Truly boorish behavior.

 

[bykfixer]

Boorish……you sound like Charles Emerson Winchester the 3rd. lol.

Edit: now I want to watch MASH season 5……

 

[jtr1962]

I was saddened when my RIP thread got closed when keyboard warriors hurled insults after a divisive figure passed away. Several people asked me to start a new one but I chose not to for the simple fact that sooner or later another contreversial figure will pass away and keyboard warriors will again resort to what keyboard warriors do.

I recall that thread. I refrained from posting in it because of the old adage if you can't say anything good then don't say anything at all. Besides, what's hurling insults at a dead person going to accomplish, other than to reflect negatively on the person posting the insults?