Moderation is censorship, hence I am opposed to it.
I take it you were referring to my suggestion on the "other" topic.
That comment was brought on by my strong belief that another forum, hosted on our own F16 website, that is completing open to anyone wanting to post, will bring a quick death to this forum, which is a good thing after this last week of hell.
My theory is that a lot of the pain we get here is caused by ppl that are looking through the whole of the catsailor forum, not necessarily looking for a fight, but commenting on items they have no vested interest in (ie. are not class members). This means their comments are not thought through with the class in mind and/or are lacking a solid understanding of how the class was formed and its reasons for existing.
Creating a new, OPEN forum on our website will remove the tendency for anyone who is just mindlessly looking through the catsailor forum to be inclined to click on our link and be presented with topics to post to if they have a bright idea that isn't thought through.
I'd like to clarify that I don't think the original post of that "other" topic was too inflammatory, and I think it was dealt with properly in the first couple of pages.
Mary, I think you've mis-read that whole "other" topic. Many times was it reinforced by class members with boats, me included, that an increase in weight at this point in time was considered detrimental to the class. Other topics were raised, beyond the scope of the original post, and this is what has caused the majority of the heated discussion.
It is the only thread I've ever read that I thought should be closed by a moderator because it was getting very heated over topics that were not part of the original discussion, AND I'm even opposed to censorship!
May I suggest to the GC that our own OPEN forum be created on our website, and then let it be. Don't close this one, just create an alternative. I predict the migration of F16ers and truly interested parties to the new forum will be rapid and threads like the "other" one will be few and far between. My only suggestions on the format of the new forum would be to have full names and F16 activity/interest as compulsory input on the registration form (but nicknames will be shown on posts) and it should be thoroughly open to anyone wanting to post that can provide that valid information.
