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New member-only political subforum - FHOPolitics- read here to join

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Danny, Dec 2, 2007.

  1. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    Fred's House of Pancakes was never meant to be overrun by political discussions, but the political threads have seem to taken over lately in here. To help keep FHOP the social hangout for established PriusChat members, we've created FHOPolitics, a member-only private subforum where ALL political discussions will need to occur from now on. Making it a private forum will keep these posts out of everyone's "View New Posts" searches unless they choose to be members of the FHOPolitics group.

    So, I know you're all asking 1 of 2 questions:
    • How do I keep FHOPolitics threads out of my "View New Posts"?
      • Easy. Do nothing. By default these threads will not show up for you.
    • How I gain access to the FHOPolitics forum so that I can post threads about political subjects?
      • Check out your "Group Memberships" page and you'll see the Fred's House of Politics Group. Just click the radio button next to Join Group, then click "Join Group". Boom! You have access to talk politics at your leisure.
    Moderators will determine what are/are not political threads. We'll slowly be moving existing threads into the FHOPolitics, but all new politically-themed threads should only be started in the FHOPolitics forum.

    Questions? Fire away.

    To prevent trolling by those who learn of this forum and join simply to stir controversy and rancor the privilege of joining FHOPol will require moderator approval. There are no strict criteria and there will be some subjectivity, but we wish this to be a forum for Prius owners and enthusiasts first and foremost to discuss their views without invited or uninvited outside interference.
     
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  2. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I would like to make it clear up front that this move was spurred by the large majority of PriusChat members who did want to see all the political discussions. Danny pitched this idea to the Moderators a long time ago and we all supported it. As most of you have noticed, in the previous PriusChat incarnation, when you hit [New posts] you saw everything in all sub-forums. Even the local groups.

    With this new software upgrade, Danny is able to set up these private forums. A big ol' "well done" and "atta boy" to Danny for this.

    And now let me shoot the first arrow across the bow of anyone who will be joining FHOPol. We will still be watching for personal attacks and direct insults. You will get dinged when you insult someone directly. Do it again and we will kick it up a notch. Just because FHOPol is private doesn't mean it's going to be lawless. You have the ability to opt in and we have the ability to opt you out, if you catch my drift.
     
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  3. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    I hear and obey, oh great Moderators [rushes to opt in, as the political skirmishes are just too entertaining!]
     
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  4. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    oh good, a walled ghetto.
    .
    _H*
     
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  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    . . .after considerable thought, the first guy says, "for my wish, I want a twenty-foot wall constructed around my home town to keep out all the undesirables and all those people who we don't want coming in."
    The genie nodded his head. "It is done."
    The second guy turned to the genie and with no hesitation said, "fill it with water."
     
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  6. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    I'll join. Why not? It will be fun.
     
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  7. Pinto Girl

    Pinto Girl New Member

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    I'm totally confused. What's politics, anyway? The price of hamburger at the local grocery store...?

    Meat production is subsidized, the prices for the fuel used to transport it are manipulated by government and business forces, shelf space is a commodity, itself, based upon...what...?


    How about the article in the local paper, about environmentalism...?

    Who owns the paper? What are their [gasp] political leanings and financial concerns, and how do they stand to benefit from the stories which they print? Who are their advertisers? And how do *they* benefit?

    I may be paranoid, but I'm a bit confused, too.

    Is there a definition of what "Politics" are, for the concerns of this thread?

    Maybe FHOP should stay the same, and you should create another "social networking" forum instead...clearly FHOP as it was was of a lot of interest to at least a few regular posters.

    Just my $0.02...adjusted for inflation...
    ...oooooh, ooooh...THAT statement just reeks of politics!!
    :)
     
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  8. Ichabod

    Ichabod Artist In Residence

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    Pinto Girl you're a trouble-maker, and semantics aside, I think you know what they're talking about ;) Also, at least one of your examples already has a sub-forum; Environmental discussion.

    Still, this seems a little like a "because we can" kind of change... but I understand the reasoning since so much of FHOP has been politics, of late. I'll be seeing y'all in FHOPol!
     
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  9. madler

    madler Member

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    Why create a new forum? Why not just shunt them over to Fred's Pancakes?
     
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  10. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    Would someone please ban her? :eek:
     
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  11. IsrAmeriPrius

    IsrAmeriPrius Progressive Member

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    So far this experiment is failing miserably. There are numerous threads in many of the forums, especially in Environmental Discussion and Fred's House of Pancakes, which have morphed into political discussions but were left in the supposedly non-political topics area. The moderators have not been consistent in their enforcement of the new rule.

    Secondly, the serious political discussion has been seriously stifled and the sub forum has been taken over by a name calling troll.

    It is not longer fun to read and participate in the off topic discussions. This is not the PriusChat I have known and loved.

    :(
     
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  12. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    We've said that it's going to be a learning process for all involved - for the mods to catch the political discussions and move them to the FHOPol forum and for the members to stop posting political commentary in threads outside of the FHOPol.

    Think of it as a "beta test" - we're constantly re-analyzing it and looking for suggestions to better the experiment.
     
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  13. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I will say that personally reading all the threads and watching for political interjection takes time. Time I don't have. Usually, by the time a thread shifts, I just don't care about it anymore and stop reading it. I know everyone would like to think that every post gets reviewed by a Moderator at some point, but that's most likely just not the case. And for this Moderator, that is most definitely not the case.
     
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  14. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    any forum, even well moderated forums can only be successful if some self policing is done. instead of pointing out the flaws and hiccups in the new process, inform instead. someone will take care of it. just click the icon in the lower left of the post...
     
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  15. Ichabod

    Ichabod Artist In Residence

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    The only way to really do something about it is for members to fully respect the rules. Even here that's a little bit of a stretch ;) I do agree that it's especially hard to avoid letting an "Environmental Discussion" turn into a "Political Discussion" in the current "climate" (both political and environmetnal :D ).
     
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  16. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Wouldn't be the first time.

    Tom
     
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  17. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    Is this a subforum or only a thread?

    I don't see how new threads can be started.
     
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  18. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    It's its own sub-forum of Fred's House of Pancakes. Once you join it becomes visible just like all the other forums and you can post within it just like all the other forums.
     
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  19. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    Since I can't open a new thread, I'll just start with a request.

    Our primary is 2 weeks from Christmas day. I haven't made up my mind yet even which party's primary I'll vote in. (NH allows independent voters to select either party's ballot when signing in to the polling station).

    I don't like Romney - not a really effective governor while in MA. The overwhelming Democrat majority in MA legislature prevented most of his more interesting ideas. Too many position changes as well.

    Rudy doesn't impress me. Other than 9/11 handling, he's really got nothing else.

    McCain's stance on amnesty for illegal immigrants turns me off.

    Huckabee - sorry no fundamentalists of any religion for me.

    Clinton - she scares me almost as much as Bill did the first time I heard him in a debate. She is always telling each audience what it wants to hear, and it changes constantly.

    Obama - not enough experience; his Illinois experience was as a follower, not a leader. Maybe next time.

    Edwards - No thanks. His plan to ruin business to finance big government is illogical.

    Richardson - Again, his immigration plan provides amnesty.

    The rest of the gang isn't going anywhere.

    So, ok guys. Without going negative why should I:

    First pick a ballot from your party;
    Second, vote for any of these candidates.
     
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  20. malorn

    malorn Senior Member

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    How do I join?
     
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