The old political thread has been removed due to numerous and recent name calling comments bordering on abuse, and in some cases being very close to ban type abuse. This subject (and at least one other) has always been touchy but we have usually managed to keep things on a civil level, this is disappearing. I was contacted recently and asked about removing certain threads due to bias, my answer was no, because this forum is bigger than that and caters for many subjects that can and should be discussed rationally and civilly, and indeed I'm not the only admin who supports this stance, @OldMav and I have discussed this in detail.
I don't get the 'bias' angle put to me and this has been discussed, again I'm not the only admin who doesn't get it. Having been around for some years I have seen the thread go through cycles but mainly stay respectful, we all have our opinions and we are free to hold those opinions and to express them in a manner that is acceptable under forum rules, indeed I'm a conservative in most respects but I respect others views and I don't get personal because that is not how an admin, or anyone else for that matter, should react. Our rules have recently undergone a bit of a hammering, that will stop. There will be one only domestic political thread, any others started will be deleted at the first opportunity, the Trump thread will be renamed and focus more on international politics, the climate change thread will remain but all of these will be closely monitored by admins and moderators, any abuse in any form will result in a ban no matter who it is.
Lastly, if you can't extract a laugh out of politics or climate change then we are doing something wrong.
I don't get the 'bias' angle put to me and this has been discussed, again I'm not the only admin who doesn't get it. Having been around for some years I have seen the thread go through cycles but mainly stay respectful, we all have our opinions and we are free to hold those opinions and to express them in a manner that is acceptable under forum rules, indeed I'm a conservative in most respects but I respect others views and I don't get personal because that is not how an admin, or anyone else for that matter, should react. Our rules have recently undergone a bit of a hammering, that will stop. There will be one only domestic political thread, any others started will be deleted at the first opportunity, the Trump thread will be renamed and focus more on international politics, the climate change thread will remain but all of these will be closely monitored by admins and moderators, any abuse in any form will result in a ban no matter who it is.
Lastly, if you can't extract a laugh out of politics or climate change then we are doing something wrong.