PF Exceeds Donation Goal!

Wow! Congrats to all the staffers who've been working hard to dispel fears the forum is going to drastically change with the new rules. Some may disagree, but I think things are running pretty smooth. Good job, mods. Glad to see your efforts are paying off.

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*cough cough* Kiss butt!I'm a kiddin' a course! ​

 

Perhaps it's because of this new member/donor who I invited to this forum yesterday and I assume that he donated a few hundred dollars. I know him from an old forum, which had been taken offline last year due to a virus problem. Beaudreaux is very knowledgeable about military matters as a former Marine or something similar and he has a lot to contribute to this site.

 

Generous if thats the case. I renewed my donation this month as well after not donating for over a year so hopefully its a combo of efforts that are making a statement. I donate for selfish reasons... figure it gives me the right to (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) if I see something I dont like.

 

Congratulations, that's almost as high as my $698 welfare check for this month. I learn a lot here, and glad the monies is used for good purposes, like the advancement of my deficiencies from public school education.

 

Would be neat if it were like buying chits, that we could use to keep from being banned in total. Thread-banned no, but just let off the hook a bit ......

 

I agree, darlin. In fact, I'd kick in a few bucks to keep you outta hot water if they'd let me. ♥

 

Hahahaha .... if I run out of money, I'll ask you to drop a dime !

With the point system now, I think it would be a great way to run things. Heck, its no different than such as a traffic violation. Pay a fine or do some time ! All they need to do is treat it the same way. Enable someone to pay a "fine" once over the limit .......... $10 units, buying 10 points, in that every $10 knocks 10 points of infractions off. It would surely raise more funding.

That's capitalism !!

 

I like it! After all, its a political forum. Payoffs and bribes fit right in.

Lets take a vote.

Oh, wait...

 

Hey. I am all thumbs with such, but maybe you could set up a poll thread ? I would suggest keeping it simple, as though as a voluntary fine option. Fines are certainly a form of punishment, so I wouldn't even see it as a bribe !! It might also ease some friction around here.

I might try to set it up later tonight. Or at least ask the main squeeze if its OK to set up the poll thread. Heck, maybe they would want to give such a poll a try and set it up themselves. If anything comes of it before I can get to it, LMK where to look !!

 

This is a fascinating idea....(being serious). But I worry that just enough idiots, w/wallets where their brains oughta be, would use a system like this as a means of screwing it up for everyone else.
I can totally see some rich, feels like they be entitled son of a biscuit eater, who would just revel in telling folks "What for", click a button to pay the fine, then turn around & do it all again.

 

Thus they institute failsafe:

" Buying the freedom to step over the line does NOT erase the line, it simply allows someone to step over it for a second. Going extreme with this limited freedom to play rough will obviously result in the cattle prod."

The Idea is sound and would likely help the forum in both financial stability, and member enjoyment.

 

Excellent eye!
However, I'm still really uneasy with the idea that just b/c someone has more money than me, it gives them any more rights than I have when it comes to treating people on the board with civility or not.
Just how I see things. *shrugs*

 

Agreed. There is risk in this idea, though there is also benefit to the community. Fortunately there is a wonderful tool already in place that easily trumps the concept....two actually, one physical and one mental.

It is called "Ignore".

I took the liberty of gaining the opinions of the board.
http://www.politicalforum.com/opinion-polls/320081-would-you-pay-say-what-you-really-think.html

 

Dang it!
Seems you & I aren't gonna find much to agree on this evening....(um....you aren't by chance the one who snuck into my hospital room and punched me right in the throat are ya?....Prob not. Just thought I'd ask.....owie owie owie owie owie)

Um....yeah, I'm glad there's an ignore button and know that lots and lots of people use it & use it well....but only in certain times will I use it.
Really not trying to be a poo head, just having some honest reactions.

I do love the idea of a poll though!
Wish I'd thought of it.....nicely done!

---------------------------------------------------------> off in search of ----------->go away! Mine...........

 

Thank you for responding Bear. But if the concept is such a rule killer, then why does our Criminal Justice system carry so many misdemeanor offense that are either fine or probation/jail time, at the option of the perp ? Doesn't seem as the US populace has cried foul over such all that much.

Further, the forum would still carry all of its other disciplinary tools. Without changing a thing, you still have thread bans, for instance, which is wholly under-utilized here IMMHO. There are also other simple modifications that could be made, again patterned loosely with our own Justice System.

I also think the suggestion that folks will be fine with trashing a system because they can continue to buy their way out of it is a bit shortsighted. I believe that is putting too high of a value on posting here. I would rather flip the argument, and say that compelling rule-breakers with the option to be investors might have an opposite effect.

Good to see a monetary goal reached for once though.

Cheers.

 

Yeah, allowing members to pay their way outta trouble would be too much like the real world. Can't have that... we come here to escape and pretend someone cares what we think!

No need for muscle flexing, WB. This thread is celebrating the fact the forum seems to have survived your first 'my way or the highway'
mandate.

 

It basically boils down to the fact that we are being accused of bias as is. Just imagine what would happen if we, i.e. infract or temp ban a member after implementing the above mentioned suggestion. Countless questions liken"how much did he/she donate that he/she isn't banned yet".
Don't get me wrong, the idea, in itself, is a fine one. Its just that we are on someone's list most of the time already, so why add more fodder?

 

I agree and think 82s suggestion was mostly tongue in cheek.

 

How about this idea?

Members could earn points/stars for good behavior, esp those with less than perfect track records. Not sure, but perhaps that could be another automated feature, kinda like working within infraction system, but with positive reinforcement.

 

You mean like gold stars?

I see the whole infraction thing as a learning process. I got plenty of slaps before figuring out what 'attack the post, not the poster' means. Some either never learn or cant resist returning fire when attacked.

Whatta dull forum it would be if nobody ever stepped over the line.

 

That is something I can get into supporting with a donation.

Even as I am currently not working, I intend to support what I can and when I can.

 

Well, in concept it sounds peachy. But those earning credits for good behavior are not going to need the graces of such.

As I pointed out, and which has not been refuted, we are society with multiple models of variable forms of behavior modification. Optional fines are a part of it going back long before any of us were born. They work too.

The arguments against it are small-minded. In large part because fines diminish imperial power, as they give more option to the underlings. If you just ban someone for an extended period of time, they are just gone. They will surely take their marbles to another forum. On that note, you have lost members who had years of posting here, many Mods, who never had a worry of being banned. Ever.

Absolute power corrupts. Always has. Always will.

 

Making the "Thanks/Like" numbers visible might accomplish this with little effort. Fellow members are the best indicator of a "Gold Star".....