This thread doesn't have to remain. I'm not trying to start an us vs them thread. I'm posting it because people have asked what went down with me being banned and I've wondered about other users who were banned. I did tell my side of the story in my thread on the other Lake the other night, but that's been removed.
I had heard from Daisey what went down with Billy and I was incredulous. I just read his account of it on his profile and I remain incredulous. Unlike myself, Billy was never nasty or insulting.
I have drawn 5 warnings in the six years I posted at Greasy Lake. All were from Joan Fontaine and three of them were early on and deserved. I came to the Lake with an attitude held over from the previous board I had posted on, where things were pretty rough and tumble. I also posted some angry thoughts here and there along the way that I was never warned for and maybe should have been.
Flash forward to the recent Coronavirus thread and I commented on the forum about a moderator's openly and admittedly political post. I think it must have been the same post Billy reported. Anyway, I drew two more quick warnings from Joan Fontaine and with the second warning, I was censured from posting indefinitely. I could still read the board, react to posts and access my PMs. I had already responded to both warnings, but my responses were too defiant and not groveling enough. There was no open communication from the moderators to me. I changed my signature to "hell hath no fury like a moderator scorned" and within 24 hours my account was banned.
I definitely stepped up to their line and across it. I expected the banning, so it wasn't any surprise to me like it was to some of my friends. I felt it was more important to call out the hypocrisy of someone who wields her authority around there like a sledgehammer. There was a very telling comment from another mod, made on the public board, asking me if I felt it were more important to be right than to remain in the community. It seemed to me an admission that they knew there was hypocrisy among their ranks and a foretelling of my banning if I persisted.
Thus, I persisted.
When I was initially banned, I reached out to Karsten on facebook. The opening of his response to me was "why do you even care about this?" and the rest of it was pretty similar to what he posted in his PSA on Greasy Lake. I read both of those statements from him and Mikey and neither one of them took what I considered the proper approach in addressing the people who actually populate Greasy Lake and pay the bills with their donations.
I'm grateful to be here and won't carry any old beefs from the Lake over to this Lake. This should be a clean slate for everyone who comes here.
But I'm wondering...are we the other Lakers or are they the other Lakers.
As one of 'The Banned' I fell compelled to tell a little more about my feelings about GL, what happened and all that.
I was a member of GL for many many years...made thousands of posts and was I think mostly respectful of the rules, the other members and the mods. I was most active in the FC and then LOHAD...but I of course kept up with the main board and all things Bruce. It all started going downhill when then shut down the FC. Then they came up with LOHAD and a bunch of new rules. I felt uneasy about much of it, but was grateful to be able to discuss, debate or argue over politics or whatever was the 'news of the day'. Side note - it was mentioned somewhere here about how nobody ever changes someones mind about politics...so why debate? For me it wasn't about trying to change minds...maybe make someone at least appreciate other points of view...or for me to learn something from others...but almost nobody will change decades of having a certain mindset.
For me those discussions were occasionally enlightening, but more often than not I thought of it as entertaining....we had some great people posting their thoughts and opinions back then...often with humor...even during some of the most heated discussions about the most difficult subjects people would make me smile...and that was good.
So LOHAD was closed up and I was pretty livid. I pretty much decided to stop posting and was mostly successful at it. But after all those years...GL was pretty important to me and I kept going back to see what was going on...hoping the powers that be would wake up and realize the error they were making. There were PMs to Mods and the fearless leader to no avail. One thing I loved doing was going back into the older stuff on LOHAD. As some of you may know there was a guy named Welby/Miami MArk who was also my best friend...when he passed away it hurt...and I would sometimes look for his old crazy assed posts. But with LOHAD gone, so were those great old threads and posts. I will say that Karsten offered to cull all of Marks posts out and send them to me. But taken on there own, out of context and without the replies and comments it wouldn't be the same as my dives into GL's history...so I declined that kind offer.
Sorry this is getting a little long winded. Eventually I gave up on the idea that they would ever bring back the part of the Lake that was missing and was still annoyed. Especially when I would see or get wind of Mods posting something political or deleting stuff for no good reason beyond their lack of ability to see humor in some stuff. So I started using the 'smiley' emoji on political posts that were not deleted and Mod posts employing people to stop making political posts. Apparently the some of the Mods not only were humorless they also didn't understand how hypocritical they were being. The Smiley's got me put in the corner, but my response to the mods got me the ban. Funny thing...I actually got banned without actually posting a word on any threads...lol. While on timeout, I reported ModJudys political President Nixon post for 2nd time and added a comment and hypocrisy and how they fucked up GL. They didn't like that and I was gone....excessive smileys (mocking they said) and 'stalking'.
The 'Smiley' thing still cracks me up, I think I was give a timeout during LOHAD days for using them...to this day I still don't get how a stupid Smiley face can piss people off so much. I can guess the one or two posters from GL that would have actually complained. I'm not sure if it was me, bbb's or a combination that actually made them implement the 'No Smiley' rule...but it still amazes me that they did it.😀
Anyway...sorry for long post...I'm happy to be here and hoping we see a 'Political' section soon....but taking time to get it right is a good thing.
Thanks,
BB
I wasn’t banned but I’m quite happy being here.
"Where the banned" are is only for the truly banned?
Well, I felt banned because of events even though lightning never struck me.
Never been banned, I only have the link to this place on a WhatsApp message, and cant get on when I type the address into Google. Thanks.
Does this mean that only 'the banned' can post in the new political forum? That's JF, Billy and me (albeit for 2 days) ... who else? Oh ... bushy of course.
I like 'Where the banned are' as well, especially as a title for the political subforum!!
If I may chime in, "WTBA" could be the name, then everyone who joined now knows what it stands for, while allowing us to forge a new identity all our own as the site gets more polished and established in the wider Bruce community, whatever that is.
Stealing liberally from @Mario Brega I guess we have options like Bannedlands or Junglebanned, but neither sound as good as Where The Banned
I'm glad you all liked that suggestion. I think 99.99% of the time I'm awful when it comes to puns like that, so it's nice to have gotten off to a good start on this new forum with one.
It's definitely all downhill from here though 😂
I really like Where The Banned Are. I see we are now asked to vote on a series of things - haven't checked it out yet (too busy watching tennis!) but I guess this is one of the questions.
"Where the banned are" makes perfect sense to me. It's catchy, it's intriguing, it sets off the song in my head the way the title "greasy lake" never did. If we change the name at all - I can see some would rather rescue some connection to something that was a home for so long - well, if we change, it should be Where the banned are.
I'd say something BETTER than Greasy Lake. I dont know what that is at the moment. We should grow beyond them.
Maybe, just maybe, we should be bit pragmatic and wait for the new album to arrive, before we change our name? Just thinking out loud.
Yes, well done young Mario - perfect!
Where the banned are! Perfect!!!
Where The Banned Are
I do believe we have a winner!
@Mario Brega you are a genius Sir. 😂😂😂
I posted on this thread on Saturday, but I'll admit that I've only just read through it all now. I wasn't even aware that it was started four days earlier - I'm struggling to keep up with everything on here at the minute, but I'll get there, most likely when the Notification Alerts are sorted out.
Some great posts in here that I've really enjoyed reading, and I can only echo what a lot of you have said. As I've mentioned in the last week or so, I'll still be posting blog links on Greasy Lake (Would you expect anything less?), but I'm finished as a regular poster on there. This is the new best place to talk Springsteen, and you lot are the people to talk Springsteen with.
I've read all the comments about the name of this forum, and to be perfectly honest I'm not that bothered either way if we stick with Greasy Lake For Us or go with something different. I feel that it's up to @ibbhomero and if it's any hassle for him.
Still, I'll offer this suggestion for a potential new name: Where The Banned Are. That's it, that's the best I can do.
I missed the whole departure and temporary return of JF, only checking in to Greasy Lake every so often, but the removal of his previous posts is simply petty and ridiculous. Even my husband and son, who have never been on GL, agree with me. You don’t delete an entire collection of forum contributions.
I tend not to go on political threads. It's not like you are going to change anyone's mind. Most seem to be like a drunken couple fighting. You just wish they would hurry up and divorce, or shag. I did once post a thread in the Lake that was political in nature, for which I was punted for a week. The funny thing is, it was about a vile Australian politician who would be anonymous to all but about 10 people in the Lake (Mr Potato Head). I just wanted to post as I was angry, and it was my way of lashing out and letting my feelings known. At the end of the day, that post said more about me than anyone else.
I wouldn't be a Mod for quids. There is no doubt they are inconsistent in their adjudication. There are some members who get away with more than others. Some posts that might be pulled aren't. They have their favourites who they just ignore no matter what they say. I have generally been happy with that, as I think some members need more latitude.
I saw a lot of what JF posted that led to his suspension. He was very angry and vocal in the Coronavirus thread. I agreed with his point of view and frustration. You would go back to the thread later and there was two pages less, as JF's posts and replies had been chopped. In the end JF reminded me of the boy who keeps being naughtier and naughtier, goading the parents until he gets a smack. I saw the changed signature. Then he was gone.
I was lucky enough to jump on when Romeo made his appearance. It was fun. If the kids don't muck around whilst the teachers are out of the school room, then the world has become a sad place. The thread was always going to be axed.
It was the next bit that made me sad. I posted the next day on the 'For those of you who have read my stories' thread that I felt like I was at the Moonlight Motel. I think Bosstralian and Ann and some others jumped on with their enjoyment of the previous day and the current sadness they were feeling. JF was never mentioned in the comments I saw. Next time I go back all JF threads seemed to be gone. That made me sad. I hadn't seen any criticism, just people expressing their feelings.
I don't know JF outside of GL. I don't even know him that well on GL, though I have interacted with him plenty of times. I have not read his books and probably won't. What I value about him is that he lives a different life from me, and he provides me with a window into that life. It is the diversity of opinion and experience that I value from everyone. It makes your world bigger. Will you change my opinion, probably not. But I want to be opened up to what other people in other parts are thinking. Your feelings. Your experiences. I don't want an echo chamber. I already know what I think.
I am still a member of GL but they won't be getting the big donation I gave last time.
As for names, I love This Hard Land.
Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive.
Cheers
Kent Guitar
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I cannot say enough about your efforts in getting this place up and running Bud, you've done an amazing job.
I think the early traffic has been encouraging and hopefully this site goes from strength to strength.