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4 Hours Ago #1
EDDIE JONES
The water's fine
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 4,422 I resign
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It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation as supermoderator of MTBR....When I started my new obsession 7 years ago (mountain biking) I got into it totally...I often came to MTBR to read info on the best bikes and parts and to join other riders in what I considered to be a vibrant, healthy, cycling community....And it was while here that I was entrusted with the position of Super Moderator, a job, although totally voluntary, I truly enjoyed doing. I volunteered to be the Moderator of F88, the red headed children of MTBR. It was a collection of some of the smartest, wittiest, most humorous, sarcastic people that I have run across in years and I had many a fun discussion with them...Unfortunately, things had happened before my time that continued to simmer. Old resentments that bubbled to the surface from time to time....There was an innocuous thread in a post long ago that a bike retailer took offense to and started a war of words with f88. Kinda like coming to a gunfight armed only with a knife...After numerous threats and bannings, search function was removed from f88 and bannings were issued. Resentments simmered. In that time, I became quite fond of the irreverent personalities in f88 and have planned rides with them and moderated the forum and kept it in line as good as I could...Then this retailer had a problem that, while minor, was a problem nonetheless. It was posted in f88 then the trouble started. While at first denying the problem, when it became obvious that the problem would not just disappear, only then was the problem acknowledged and a solution sought and offered. Again, if the post had not been made in f88, the problem would not have been found. After complaints were made, threads were sanitized or deleted and bannings issued...some for nothing other than questioning the attempt to cover up the problem...some only made suggestions on supply side management. The bannings, IMHO, were not fair and it is out of protest that I resign....I have tremendous respect for the other mods and super mods on this site and feel that if opinions and discussion were quelled on their forums, they to would come to the defense of their respective forum....It is a matter of credibility, and credibility and truth mean a lot to me. I hope the bike retailer is proud of himself...he has done what no one thought could be done...destroyed the spirit of an entire site...Some of you may not have liked f88 and some of you may not have posted in f88. But when this kind of thing happens in your forums, think of it this way
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
__________________
One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.
