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Bit of an odd thing for me to post here, since I joined DDO when I was in 8th grade, but today was my college move-in day. It was a weird feeling, because normally I would do hangouts with people whose dorm or college apartment walls were visible from their camera. And now I have the concrete walls - which has been my biggest takeaway of the day, and is the only reason I logged onto here to make this post.
Is there anyone else here moving into college soon, or has anyone already done so for this year?
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Personal
Are you ready for the best day of the year? The Presidential campaign starts in less than 24 hours.
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Politics
So, after the last thread I posted, which had its ups and downs, I thought it would be good to make a new one to broaden and refocus the discussion a bit. But first, I want to summarize some of what happened since the previous thread ("Moving More Quickly On Moderation") was made.
- We will probably have someone in a moderation role soon, per Mike's reaction to the thread
- Mike also implemented a block function not too long after that thread was posted
I don't want to summarize people's discussion points, as I don't want to cheapen any arguments that were made. Those are a bit more tangible to just say outright. But anyways, there's something that Blamonkey mentioned in the midst of the flame war that caught my attention. He mentioned the old Debate.org Orientation Thread, which has been absorbed into the newer, still pinned New Members Read Me Thread, on the main DDO forum.
Getting back on task, I think that a thread similar to this that explains the jargon behind debating, voting, mafia etc. would allow new people to become better acquainted with the site and competitive debate in general. This is assuming, of course, that we do not have one right now. Please correct me if we do have one. If not, a DDO veteran who has the time would preferably be the best bet in creating this type of thread.
I like the idea of making a new one of these, even though DA has a ways to go on attracting new clicks to the site, on the occasion we do it would be helpful to make one of these. And, in the spirit of community, we can follow up our recent issue with working on something cooperative. And, maybe some structuring can provide a reason for other old DDO members to try DA out. Of course, there is some things that need to get in order first.
We should also include the basic rules of the site in said thread and expected punishments for violations, (i.e. temp-banning, removal of thread etc.) By making the rules clear we would likely deter people from engaging in dubious behavior. I guess a rulebook for the site and general recommendations on debateart activity would be what I am advocating for.
With this in mind, some of this will have to be made after we have a stable moderation system. There was discussion of things of this nature in Virtuoso's Site Rules/Terms of Service thread, but now that we've had a few weeks on this site and it's starting to look like a long-term thing, I think it's time to start thinking about making something official. My suggestion, though Mike has the final say on everything, is that when a mod is appointed they organize a vote on motions for rules for the site, and what passes becomes a part of that.
Other Ideas
Aside from more formal matters I think our informal community aspects could use a bit of work. We have a "beginner's" series of mafia running, and I take that as a good sign for that - I thought it would have taken until September, at least, to start any forum game. But aside from that, it's been a bit weak. I understand a few members are going back to school and such things, but there are some things I would like to see happen on the site in the relative near future.
- Weekend games Hangouts (e.g. mafia, risk)
- AMAs, or Hangouts-on-Air discussions (I'd just suggest to spread them out a bit)
- Occasional live debates
My hope with these is that maybe some links to these get sent to DDO members that haven't made the jump over here, so it can not only get people talking to each other here but attract the attention of others.
Those are all of my thoughts I wanted to share for now. I want to hear from all of you on what I said, or any ideas you might have for what to do around here.
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DebateArt.com
I know we had a thread on moderators rights already, but given the current situation I think we are at the point we need to start thinking about having a dispute moderator that can deal with issues that go too far.
If Mike wants to appoint a mod, I suggest he does so quickly. Moderation can become a job in itself when there's a lot of people involved on the site, and given he's currently working on the code and features of the site, it's up to him but I think he should appoint a mod - sooner rather than later.
How do you think a moderator should opt to handle disputes?
I think the best option for a moderator right now is someone that knows to keep their hand steady and somewhat relaxed until people start getting to the point of excessive cursing in a belligerent manner, derailing threads not made to host drama, threats, doxxing, and targeted harassment. Ideally, we need someone who can stay impartial, but we should acknowledge that we are humans with emotions, so it would be better to have a moderator that can figure out if they made a mistake in a situation so they can adapt and remedy it.
What are your thoughts on having a moderator?
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DebateArt.com
Today marks the complete death of an era of American conservatism, and likely the end of one of the most legendary runs of Senators from a seat in American history (Carl Hayden - Barry Goldwater - John McCain): just three Senators over the course of 89 years.
He was a mixed bag, and given the things he said close to death, he might have been the first to tell you that. But today is not a good day in American history. Likely the Republican in American politics with the most guts left until today, the country is worse off without him.
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Politics
As those familiar with United States politics may know, FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was with the Bureau for over 20 years, was fired recently over text messages he had sent over President Trump. Regardless of what I think about whether or not he should have been fired, or been given a demotion and suspension as had been suggested internally, Strzok's actions and the outpouring of #Resistance support for him are a good lesson in misguided politics.
Strzok, as a veteran FBI official, had no reason to double down on his texts that indicated a bias against someone he was investigating. Robert Mueller even distanced himself from Strzok as a result of the scandal, because Mueller knew Strzok was fighting a losing battle. The FBI's investigative power is only feasibly granted when the FBI maintains a public front of truth and non-bias. The firing of Strzok, whether pressured by the Trump administration or not, should not come as an absolute surprise.
Then comes the response to the firing. Strzok has a GoFundMe for legal fees and lost income, which has gotten $400,000 over the past couple days. In a country where there are millions of causes more in need of money than a 20-plus year veteran of the FBI, who I assume has been well paid, this sort of outpouring screams of Trump derangement. There are better ways to waste money, and better problems with the Trump administration to address.
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Politics
Another spam attack hit DDO last night, affecting all forums. This is even with the captcha system in place. I was refreshing the site a few minutes ago when I got an all-white page with small text saying: "The page cannot be displayed because an internal server error has occurred." This is pretty odd, because even at the spam's worst points, I never saw that page come up. I wonder if the server is actually messed up, or if Juggle temporarily shut down the site to do work on it. Whatever the reason, this site is more important for our online debating community in the short term than it seemed to be when Juggle did mass deletions yesterday.
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DebateArt.com