Pierre C Belarge said:
Last night I posted on this site in response to another post that was on the same thread.
George in his capacity as a moderator removed the two posts.
I did not
remove the posts, I moved them. In this interesting case, since a member and a moderator began to argue in such a way that I thought was outside the scope of the public forum, I moved the post to the relocation forum where the moderator in question could see it, see my explanation for moving it, and respond accordingly.
Given the unusual nature of the move, I also left explicit permission to return the posts to public view if anyone believed I had overstepped my bounds.
Pierre said:
I disagree with his action.
Surely, a public thread is the most appropriate way to address this sentiment.
Pierre said:
Moderators have a tough job here sometimes and I understand and sympathize with them, but they should not have the right to just remove all posts they think are not correct. The two posts in my opinion did not have the necessary content to be removed.
We are all entitled to our opinions. I haven't been around as long as you, Pierre, but I have seen enough threads go south to read the writing on the wall.
I am not always correct, however; so I do my best to ensure that anything I do can be undone. Just earlier this week, Dennis and Chris K. had a little lighthearted exchange that I soft-deleted because I saw it as being off topic. Chris PM'ed me to ask what I was smoking, and I realized I had crossed the line and returned it to view.
Please note, this entire exchange occurred via
private messaging and was resolved within minutes, without a "George is a moron" thread.
If it was to get worse, that would be different.
It was already bad enough, and had a 85% chance of getting a lot worse. This forum does not exist so that people can attack each other, it's for
technical discussion between
professionals. When sight of that is lost, we have problems like this, which I am supposed to eliminate.
In not so distant memory, I used my position as moderator to quell personal attacks against you, I would think you would understand the position I have been placed in. I imagine you probably understand, but don't really care. That's your choice.
In moderation, George could have sent a PM or email to help diffuse the situation.
I immediately posted a reply to that thread, explaining my action and the reasoning behind it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had a clue whose name to attach to the title of this public thread. I don't see what a PM would have accomplished that the public message didn't get across to the forum at large and the involved parties in particular.
I feel if I am going to frequent this site, that I should be able to discuss - even if I am upset/mad - topics that are more than just of a a friendly nature, especially when I respond to defend myself after someone else has their post up for hours before I was able to respond.
I am telling you right now, and you know full well, that we are under no moral or technical responsibility to assure equal time aired for arguments. Just because one guy's message was up for three years and yours was up for two hours, in no way obligates me to leave the second message up for longer.
You are not entitled to discuss
any topic on this board. A few months ago I started a thread, mentioned some personal information that was seized upon and discussed, and Marc Shunk stepped up and cried foul that this was not my personal forum. I agree with that sentiment. It's Mike Holt's forum, not mine, and we will stick to that agenda. If you don't like it, you can do as Marc invited me: start a blog somewhere else to air personal issues.
I am amazed that thread has been started in public to decry my lack of PM'ing, I'm still trying to figure that out. I hope I have made myself clear.
