Where is Chas's comment? What the HELL is going on here??

Tony without Kaiser

Tony without Kaiser

Departed
Staff member
Chas made a statement here about that absurd censoring code which replaces the word F-A-K-E which is idiotic, when I tied to talk about my Husaren Busby that had a F-A-K-E skull put on it, it came up as "may not be original" which is absolute chicken S-H-I-T. No forum with their right mind does something so stupid. And now his comment is gone??

When you let people who are intelligent, articulate, and well-versed in this hobby slide away like Chas, then that is the death of this forum.

Let me speak my mind here or shut this forum down. Or do you prefer intellects like those ask the SAME stupid questions over and over to be your voice? Then go ahead. Go ahead. Erase this message, and I will be gone. Enough.
 
Tony & Kaiser said:
Chas made a statement here about that absurd censoring code which replaces the word F-A-K-E which is idiotic, when I tied to talk about my Husaren Busby that had a F-A-K-E skull put on it, it came up as "may not be original" which is absolute chicken S-H-I-T. No forum with their right mind does something so stupid. And now his comment is gone??

When you let people who are intelligent, articulate, and well-versed in this hobby slide away like Chas, then that is the death of this forum.

Let me speak my mind here or shut this forum down. Or do you prefer intellects like those ask the SAME stupid questions over and over to be your voice? Then go ahead. Go ahead. Erase this message, and I will be gone. Enough.
Click to expand...

If my English was good, this would have been exactly my comment. Congratulations Tony, I agree with you, I make mine, your words.
Otto =D>



PS. I used Globalink Power Transalator.
 
I think Chas is a great loss too, he was one of the best people on this site and his knowledge, insight, and humour will be greatly missed.

Can't you get together on this and work something out?
 
"I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." Patrick Henry
Steve
 
Tony, Otto, Steve and Mike,

I would like to address your questions as I feel that I am the one responsable for the rift that has developed. At SOS I made the suggestion that a few words be added to the "censored" list (the forum had been censored for many months, but the list was limited to vulgar words). A few weeks before SOS, Chas answered a post with a question about a helmet with this comment


Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:59 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feculent
Abominable
Khazeray
Excrement.

Chas.
Click to expand...



This was not taken well by the member who posed the question, there was at least one more member that followed up with the response "fake". I felt that this word was being abused on the ebay forum, and I suggested that it be banned from the ebay forum. Margo and Brian have to work for a living, and it takes a long time to write code to make such a change, specific to one part of the forum, so it ended up being banned on the entire forum (even the PM). Many members joined the forum after the problems that came up related to the ebay forum in the beginning, and there was the posssibility that Brian could have lost his ebay privilages because of some of the activity by members (the activity in question was all done in good faith, but was misinterprited by others). Chas was asked to tone down his responses on several ocassions, but it seems that he decieded (to me any way) to make a stand on the US First Constitutional amendment of freedom speech. We in the United States are very protective of our constitution, but I do not feel that this constitution applies to an international forum and one should have the decorum to not abuse their freedom of speech when it causes problems for their host. I phoned Chas to discuss this problem, and he felt that he was justifyed in the short comment as the question was short, and did not deserve a real answer. I told him that the reason that his question was short was because English was not his first language, and that is the main reason that we need to have some limit of free speach (as some people will always abuse their rights). We need to remember that a large portion of the forum must deal with translation of the text to follow the threads. Also, this should be a place of learning, not a place to flame others, and flip answers to newer members does not teach, and smacks of elitism, and drives new mwmbers away.

Gus
 
Arrgh, I see that censorship has smote me as well, the thread I referred to can be found here
http://pickelhaubes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1000
 
Gustaf said:
etc etc etc
Click to expand...

I cheered when I read Chas's posting regarding the idiotic and absolutely paranoid auto-censor feature for words like "f-a-k-e". Absolutely ridiculous. There is NO possibility of any liability to anyone on Forums, especially for an anonymous ebay name. Ask any lawyer. This is paranoia and exaggeration of perceived danger.

I have been a member of almost every militaria forum at one time or another. Profanity is not allowed. Naturally. But to "auto-correct" someone's typing is absurd. The "job" of any moderator is to remove profanity. You guys almost wet yourselves scrabbling to become moderators, yet you do nothing.

As an observer, this Forum business is getting stranger and stranger. Sad actually. If this was my forum, I would do everything I could to keep the people with intellect who actually academically contribute. I would leave Chas's account open and let him know that he would be welcomed back. But to now close his account, delete his "complaint" postings, seems very childish and rather fascist.
 
My take on the entire matter:
We have just removed the word fake from the censored words as per the wishes of the membership. I have no interest in breaking up the forum based on the use of one word so use it.
Regarding new members and their questions I think that it is common sense to treat everyone here with respect and not call a question stupid or put them down. This sort of thing is what breaks up forums. By the way Dragon who was involed in the fake episode has never posted again. He has told Gus that he will never come back. We need to encourage new members if our forum is to thrive and grow. Perhaps we went about this the wrong way but we felt that a point needed to be made.
Regarding Chas, he chose to leave the forum, there was absolutely no pressure from this end. There were other issues that he had which also figured in his decision. In addition, he has been told that if he wants to he can rejoin. He has told other members that he regrets quitting and would like to come back. I hope that he does so. Chas requested that his profile be removed for fear of breach of privacy.
In the matter of the Ebay forum, we did make a change again after discussion at the SOS. Essentially in order to see this forum one has to be a member. Naturally, the question arises as to why? The answer is that I am not willing to risk litigation or the loss of my Ebay priveledges as the result of some comment such as "fake" being thrown at an ebay listing. What if a seller chose to make an issue of this?? It is easy to call something a fake and another to be asked to prove it to ebay. My reputation is on the line here. I know this and accept it but I do not need problems.
Hopefully this will put and end to this issue, Chas will rejoin and we can all get on with the hobby. Brian
 
Chas

Please come back!

There are plently of other words that can be used in the e-bay section to ID fakes... or.... just add the simple words "in my opnion" after the word fake. I would think that that should nullify any threat of litigation.

Chas... we need you here!

Pete
 
Enough is enough, please!

I believe I am entitled to a voice regarding this farrago.

Hopefully, my words comments will be read and not summarily deleted.

My reasons for retiring from this forum are, by and large, personal. Quite frankly, I believe the forum has been splintering into factions for some time. There are those who wish to share knowledge and learn. There are also those who are frustrated comedians and respond to virtually every post with labored and pointless jokes.

There is no reason for the forum to be a humorless place. However, it should not be a trivial one either. These are my opinions.

Regarding the furor over fake or f-a-k-e (oh, I see; now that I'm officially gone so is the coding), I would like to say that the context of the word, any word, should be the governing factor of its acceptability; not the word itself. Gus, spare me your First Ammendment civics babble.

Since there is a specific accusation to answer, permit me to address it.

When I learned I had unintentionally hurt "dragon's" feelings. I apologized both publicly and through a private message. This apology was accepted. I also wrote the following for dragon's benefit and placed it in the Pickelhaube Discussion Forum so that it could be read by the world:

http://www.pickelhaubes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1003

Please read all the comments following my post and decide for yourselves what my intentions were.

For the record, and I wish to make this absolutely clear, I never ridiculed dragon, or any member, new or otherwise. The object of my "mockery" has always been the fraud helmets on eBay.

One final word on this issue. What has become of ridingroanhorses? I seem to recall a nameless moderator who addressed this gentleman as
"rhinogroaninghoarse." Would anyone care to comment on this, and speculate as to why he left the forum?

Much has been written lately regarding my thoughts and actions. Some of it appears here and some, I understand, may only be accessed by a select few. These are opinions, not facts. I am weary of this pop psychology. If you want to know what I think, ask me or quote me, but don't put words in my mouth.

If anything positive is to be gained from this sorry episode, consider the following. Much has been written regarding possible litigious action by eBay sellers or by eBay itself. I'm sorry, but this is simply ridiculous. There is no legal precedent for such action at all.

If we keep silent about the frauds and shams that can be readily identitfied and exposed, who benefits? Because the eBay forum is invisible to visitors, who benefits? To my way of thinking, the only beneficiaries are the fraud and sham sellers. This is my opinion.

I'll spare you my feelings regarding libel. However, I have read comments about me that are false and detrimental to my reputation. I caution those responsible most earnestly to cease and desist.

In response to what I had hoped would be a private, dignified exit, I have received supportive messages and negative, threatening ones. Those responsible for the latter, please cease and desist.

I will not rejoin this forum. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I agree with Tony, there is a surfeit of moderators on this forum and a dearth of moderation. Perhaps you should consider putting your house in order rather than dwell on this story.

Chas.
 
Thank you Chas for the clarification. We wish you well in your collecting pursuits. Brian and Margo
 
Re-reading my initial outburst and the title of this thread, it seems pretty harsh now, so Brian please accept my apologies as it appears I was slamming you. :-# I should have been more diplomatic and not so emotional. Especially when it concerns a disagreement between two of my friends that I have no part in. Clearly I owe Chas an apology too for opening this all up.

I hope Chip does not see this thread, he told me to "lighten up" on Forums and here I went semi-postal again. Sorry. I think I found the answer though.........

prozac.gif
 
The difference between a man and a boy, is the price of his toy...

Tarzan is :cry:

PS... in spite of this whole mess, I love you all.
 
Many thanks T. Apology accepted I need some prozac too got any to spare?? Lets get on with collecting!! Brian
 
I received several e-mails that suggested that my silence on this issue meant I supported the issues raised, or that I was afraid. I just want to collect World War I German things, and learn something while making friends.

Not all of us applauded when this issue became so central. This was a private matter that was made very public. I regret Charles’ leaving; however, he is a big boy and will make his own decisions.

I am 50 years old, I cannot walk, I cannot write, I fail to correct most of the typos that this mouth typewriter does, and I do not care if someone thinks less of me because of their judgment of a typo, joke or any other issue. I have been called names, insulted, threatened and even shot at over other people’s issues. In my context, I did not think automatic editing was that big of a deal. It is to some people. I’m glad it has been resolved. Should someone have issues with my actions past or future, I would hope they would open dialog privately not paint it broadly in a public forum.

I would like to thank Brian & Margo for hosting this forum, and every single person who has contributed. I continue to learn a great deal. In my mind this is about collecting. I’m back to research.
 
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