Your Attention Please [Breaking News and WoD Flamewars]

[Admin Moderator]

Since my last vanity announcement on keywords went so swimmingly (it ended up with something like 5000 keywords added to it) I thought a great idea would be to throw some propane on some other fires with a vanity.

Breaking news is being abused again, big time. This goes in cycles, with sometimes people being responsible, but other times people not being very responsible.

We are in one of the not-very time periods.

Please, do not post something in Breaking News because you think it is something you want people to see. Place something in Breaking News only if it is

1. Something the networks would interrupt their programming to say,
2. The networks would interrupt their programming to say if they weren't overwhelmingly liberal,
3. Something that honestly would (not should, would) be of interest to majority of self-described conservatives
4. Official chapter announcements

Or things along those lines. Don't consider that a list of rules, but of guidelines. But act as if the guidelines matter, please. And flame the heck out of people that don't. And provide appropriate feedback to people who don't.

Some things that are never breaking news: Stories that have been posted before, stories that are over a day old, opinion vanities, freep this poll, or anything from the op-ed section of any newspaper.

Now, on to the WoD [War on Drugs] flamewars. There are a few problems with them. The flaming on them is tremendous. It is wrong for several reasons, and it should stop and the first thing we are going to do to try to get them to stop is to make a request for them to stop. If you feel the need to flame someone for something they say on one of these threads, do this (and yes, it involves a lot more work than just hitting reply, but such is life):

1. Post a copy of the article to the Smokey Backroom
2. Ping your flamee to that copy.
3. Go to town over there and keep the crap off the main forum.

Instead of hitting abuse on someone on a WoD thread right away (unless it is extremely bad), please just advise them to do what I am saying here- take it to the backroom. Link them to this if need be. And if you don't want to get into a flamewar, leave it at that. If you do, then join them in the backroom and have at it. The WoD flamewars overwhelm the latest posts page with a neverending sequence of posts that are just mindless insults. Please, spare us, and don't try to put it on the moderators to determine who fired the first shot. There are rarely clean hands here, and no matter what we do one side or another is going to complain.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Freeping. I expect no fewer than 500 taunts at us in the keywords here before this is over. Thank you, and God Bless. ;-)

[harpseal]

No taunt just a thank you and bump

[Corin Stormhands]

And flame the heck out of people that don't.

OMG did you really just say that? This could be fun. ;-)

[Blood of Tyrants]

You could also argue your point in a civil manner using logic and persuasion instead of name calling and bitter responses.

[Peach]

So glad you posted this; thank you and keep up the good work. BTW, what is a WoD?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Worship of Democrats.

[Quilla]

Not to mention vanities out the gazoo....

[Hot Tabasco]

My birdfeeder is now empty but I think I shall refrain from posting it as breaking news, only because it has happened before and is now considered a common occurance....

[vin-one]

BTTT
The Flame wars and Flame Baiting is good entertainment(sometimes)
thanks for posting the rules on Breaking news.
I guess if people would just look at latest posts they would still see
the latest stuff. Personaly I almost never look at breaking but latest posts.
Anyway to all AM's keep up the good work.

[Psalm 73]

"WoD flamewars"

Sorry, I must have missed that class - what's "WoD"?
No, really - I'm always behind on the acronym stuff, I'm not trying to be a smart-alec.

[Indy Pendance]

What a concept.

[freedomcrusader]

WoD = War on Drugs

If you've never seen a WoD thread flame war, you haven't seen a fascinating aspect of Free Republic, IMHO.

[Peach]

WoD explanation - thank you.

[FoxGirl]

using logic and persuasion instead of name calling and bitter responses

Yeah, can't we all get along?

[sinclair]

"You could also argue your point in a civil manner using logic and persuasion instead of name calling and bitter responses."

And what fun would that be, pray tell?

[Chad Fairbanks]

We obliviate Democrats

[new cruelty]

Groovy.

[sausageseller]

AM. throw some propane on some other fires

How do you throw a "gas"? Is that anything like "letting one"?

LOL. I could just see the "keywords" for that!

[Constitution Day]

Thanks.

[robertpaulsen]

"what is a WoD?"

A noble effort, undertaken and supported by those of us who desire a safe, sane, and drug-free America.

[Admin Moderator]

I did not. I swear.

[JimRed]

Sorry, I must have missed that class - what's "WoD"?

War on drugs. Almost always guaranteed to start a 300+ thread with lots of name calling (flaming).

[Admin Moderator]

With much difficulty, and not very far.

[Frapster]

A please and thank you bump! (assuming posts like this don't 'stick' to the top of the forum). lol

[Eagle Eye]

So are you an authoritarian Statist who desires to rule with an iron fist and shred the Constitution or a Soros worshipping, libertine doper/pedophile/hippy pornmonger?

[TheBigB]

Better move this to Breaking News...sounds vey series. :)

[TheRightGuy]

And flame the heck out of people that don't.

Hold muh torch alert!

[mewzilla]

The gazoo? Where's that, Quilla? ;)

[Izzy Dunne]

How is that working for you?

[TheSpottedOwl]

Your profile page is way cool; especially your picture hahaha!!!

[Hemingway's Ghost]

A noble effort, undertaken and supported by those of us who desire a safe, sane, and drug-free America.

An insane effort, undertaken and supported by those of you who need a boogieman to fight/make $$$/feel good about yourselves. I say we turn the no-more-flamewar thread into a flamewar!!!

[kristinn]

It's my understanding that Breaking News is also okay for Chapter/FRN activism announcements and reports, yes?

[fuquadukie]

That is all.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled FReeping.

[Publius Maximus]

Currently, as I write this, an announcement regarding the NC Freepers Patriot Rally scheduled for Feb 15th is at the top of the breaking news column. I wish this were in the announcement column. So many of these announcements get dumped onto breaking news that the really interesting news gets bumped off very quickly. It would be nice if announcements such as these were moved over to announcements. I agree with everything you say about the abuse of breaking news, and wish to include with your remarks this observation.

[Augustus McCrae]

My bird feeders are also empty! This is series!

[toothless]

A noble effort, undertaken and supported by those of us who desire a safe, sane, and drug-free America.

An evil effort, using the 'commerce clause' to regulate what people do in their private lives. Perputrated by nazis.

"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."

Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), U.S. President. Speech, 18 Dec. 1840, to Illinois House of Representatives

[Chad Fairbanks]

Something the networks would interrupt their programming to say

So, if I'm watching Fox News, and they interrupt with a breaking news alert that there is a car chaase in East Podunk, I can put it in breaking news? Cool!

[Quilla]

Right beside the ying-yang! LOL!

[AppyPappy]

WOD = War On Drugs or Weary Of Drugs depending on your situation. Someone posts an article about drugs. Then someone praises the authorities about an arrest. Then the Libertarian Church Ladies(LCL) appear and attack that person as a communist, burying them under a hail of purse strikes. Then the Goofs appear, demanding more drug laws as a way to prod the LCL's to watch them catch fire and swing harder.

See Civil War threads for another example.

[toothless]

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this."

Albert Einstein, "My First Impression of the U.S.A.", 1921

[TheSpottedOwl]

"what is a WoD?" A noble effort, undertaken and supported by those of us who desire a safe, sane, and drug-free America.

Hoooo booooy, better move this thread to the Smokey Back Room real quick.

Legalize it and tax the hell out of it. Continuing to keep drugs illegal will not create a safe, sane America. My dad was old enough to remember when Coca Cola had the dreaded cocaine additive. I think America was a lot safer and saner back then.

[RabidBartender]

"Now, on to the WoD flamewars. There are a few problems with them. The flaming on them is tremendous. It is wrong for several reasons, and it should stop and the first thing we are going to do to try to get them to stop is to make a request for them to stop."

Amen.

[b4its2late]

This should've been in Breaking News.... ;-)

[BlueLancer]

"...take it to the backroom..."

If you two are going to play rough ...

... I said, "Take it to the back room!"

[ofMagog]

Where in Podunk is the car chaase? Does it involve hostages? Will some hysterical FReeper post a "FREEP THIS POLL" concerning the chaase? Will you keep up posted?

[Kerberos]

"You could also argue your point in a civil manner using logic and persuasion instead of name calling and bitter responses. "

But name calling and bitter responses is the only tools that drug warriors can come up with, since they are way short on evidence. To deny them the use of such would be to silence them.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Dave
(Knocking)
Who is it?
It's me Dave, open up, I got the stuff.
(Long Pause.Knocking.)
Who is it.
It's me Dave, man, open up I got the stuff.
Who??
It's Dave, man, open up, I think the cops saw me come in here.
(Pause.Knocking.)
Who is it?
(Getting A Little Mad) It's, it's Dave, man, will you open up I got the stuff with me.
Who?!
DAVE!! Man, open up!
Dave??
Yeah, Dave! Come on man open up!I think the cops saw me-
Dave's Not Here!!
Frantically Knocking.) Open Up The Door It's Dave!!!
WHO?!
DAVE!!D-A-V-E!!!!! WILL YOU OPEN UP THE [blank] DOOR!!!
DAVE??
YEAH DAVE!!
DAVE??!!
Right man, Dave. Now will you open up the door??
(Pause)
DAVE'S NOT HERE!!

[robertpaulsen]

Being clever?

[Chad Fairbanks]

Only if it's series... If it's Hugh, of course I'll keep up posted... :0)