djThunderfunk said:

RichardS said:

Anyway, it's bedtime in the UK. Just stayed up for the first hour of Boxing Day to watch the Aussies continue to batter us in the Ashes. It doesn't get more traditionally English than that.

I've never understood what the hell "Boxing Day" is but I hope you have a fantastic one, my friend!

Isn't Boxing Day when you and Ian duke it out?

I KID, I KID. But Boxing Day started as one thing and has really evolved into something else entirely (some would argue the exact opposite of its original intentions). Kinda like the P&R forum. HA! I KID, I KID.

djThunderfunk said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

And to all y'all in here bless your hearts bless all y'all's hearts.

TrivialPursuit said:

IanRG said:

However, over time many of these people were systematically removed from the site or discouraged from participating until in its final months most of the threads were started by one person and flooded by articles and pictures by that same person - mainly to push an agenda that could never be seen as left-of-centre or even moderate conservative and certainly not pro-black lives, equity or equality.

I'm glad someone said this without naming names. But we know who it was. It just became so flagrant and obvious - I mean, why didn't they just put on their MAGA hat and say it? It's like the Org was infiltrated by a Klan member. And this - the same person who used to just flood with threads on Around The World In A Day every four months; an action 100% more tolerable than attacks on every other person of color in the world. I was snipped and warned repeatedly when I called out the white supremacy being doled out like paychecks on a Friday.

There's censorship. Then there's the responsibility of the owner to shut down those avenues in which people spread such vitriol and hate. And that's what Ben rightly did. I know he's a busy guy with real life, but I can only imagine what went through his head when he really sat back and saw what was going on.

Seriously I've been telling hime for at least 2 years, and I know for a fact that others have been telling him also. He never opens his messages, never reads them, never replies, zip, zilch, nada.

He started this thread, and hasn't been seen since.

Again, I am asking that all the banned orgers be unbanned. They were banned only because of 1 mod who let the power go to his head.

I'm also asking to get rid of every single mod, and start fresh.

And I'm positive I'm not the only one who has asked this.

You celebrated some of the bans, of the people you didn't like. Should they be reinstated too?

For that matter, you demanded that I be banned. So, what's up with that?

[Edited 12/25/21 18:46pm]

djThunderfunk said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I'm just gonna get in between you two fine folks and say, "hey... drop it. Let's stop with the personal attacks and move forward."

Let's ask ourselves this: How are we, as a community of online Prince fans who have wide and varied interests, going to agree to disagree and handle discourse in the future, from this moment forward?

We can't just keep stampeding each other into a virtual submission. We can't just dismiss folks because they don't agree with us, or they say something we don't like, at all. Arguing is never going to convince anyone of anything other than that both parties are obtuse and living in a vacuum; only exiting to enter their echo chamber, then back again.

We're all bigger and better than that. I hope.

If what I said was percieved as an "attack", then there is no way to disagree. Some people choose to be offended by anything. Some even think calling one "honey" is as bad as calling them "bitch".
One can choose not to say anything offensive but has no power over whether or not others are offended anyway.

Your 'honey', 'sweetie' etc., was used in a demeaning manner and you know it. You called me and others 'bitches' also. So don't even play your so innocent game.

PennyPurple said:

djThunderfunk said:

If what I said was percieved as an "attack", then there is no way to disagree. Some people choose to be offended by anything. Some even think calling one "honey" is as bad as calling them "bitch".
One can choose not to say anything offensive but has no power over whether or not others are offended anyway.

Your 'honey', 'sweetie' etc., was used in a demeaning manner and you know it. You called me and others 'bitches' also. So don't even play your so innocent game.

Well aren't you precious!

If you find the words honey and sweetie to be demeaning, that's on you.

I never called you "bitch" either. If I did that would have been the day you finally succeeded in having me banned. And you would have screenshots. But you don't. Because I didn't.

djThunderfunk said:

You celebrated some of the bans, of the people you didn't like. Should they be reinstated too?

For that matter, you demanded that I be banned. So, what's up with that?

[Edited 12/25/21 18:46pm]

At this point, I say reinstate everybody. Start fresh. The one thing we all have in common is why we are here and that's Prince.

djThunderfunk said:

PennyPurple said:

Your 'honey', 'sweetie' etc., was used in a demeaning manner and you know it. You called me and others 'bitches' also. So don't even play your so innocent game.

Well aren't you precious!

If you find the words honey and sweetie to be demeaning, that's on you.

I never called you "bitch" either. If I did that would have been the day you finally succeeded in having me banned. And you would have screenshots. But you don't. Because I didn't.

Yes you did, and I reported it to the mod.

Luv just opened the report this week, when it was reported months ago. Which again shows why we need new mods.

PJMcGee said:

Good move. There's a reason why a lot of family gatherings have a No politics or religion rule.

.

I wish "no corporations" can be added on that list too, to be quite honest.

PennyPurple said:

djThunderfunk said:

Well aren't you precious!

If you find the words honey and sweetie to be demeaning, that's on you.

I never called you "bitch" either. If I did that would have been the day you finally succeeded in having me banned. And you would have screenshots. But you don't. Because I didn't.

Yes you did, and I reported it to the mod.

Luv just opened the report this week, when it was reported months ago. Which again shows why we need new mods.

I have reviewed your request to moderate the post at the link above. You had said about this post: "Ahh so now DJ gets away with calling a poster a bitch?? Seriously? WOW".

Let's see the post where I called you that. You have a screenshot, right?

djThunderfunk said:

PennyPurple said:

Yes you did, and I reported it to the mod.

Luv just opened the report this week, when it was reported months ago. Which again shows why we need new mods.

I have reviewed your request to moderate the post at the link above.
You had said about this post: "Ahh so now DJ gets away with calling a poster a bitch?? Seriously? WOW".

Let's see the post where I called you that. You have a screenshot, right?

The P&R forum is not up, you can't access it. Just because I didn't screen shot it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. So don't even try to weasel out of it.

I have reviewed your request to moderate the post at the link above.
You had said about this post: "Ahh so now DJ gets away with calling a poster a bitch?? Seriously? WOW".

PennyPurple said:

djThunderfunk said:

You celebrated some of the bans, of the people you didn't like. Should they be reinstated too?

For that matter, you demanded that I be banned. So, what's up with that?

[Edited 12/25/21 18:46pm]

At this point, I say reinstate everybody. Start fresh. The one thing we all have in common is why we are here and that's Prince.

Cool. Well, if I really called you that word, then I will get banned, and then if your demands are granted, I'll get to come right back. CoolCoolCool!

[Edited 12/25/21 20:02pm]

PennyPurple said:

djThunderfunk said:

Let's see the post where I called you that. You have a screenshot, right?

The P&R forum is not up, you can't access it. Just because I didn't screen shot it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. So don't even try to weasel out of it.

There's nothing to "weasel" out of. If I called you a "bitch" and you reported it, I will be banned. If you reported something that was not factual, I will not.

Interestingly, every other time you've tried to have me banned, you've had screenshots. But now you don't. Hmmm...

[Edited 12/25/21 19:56pm]

djThunderfunk said:

PennyPurple said:

The P&R forum is not up, you can't access it. Just because I didn't screen shot it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. So don't even try to weasel out of it.

There's nothing to "weasel" out of. If I called you a "bitch" and you reported it, I will be banned. If you reported something that was not factual, I will not.

You weren't banned. That's part of the problem with the mods not doing their damn job. That's why there needs to be a change. If I called someone a bitch I would have been banned, but you and others had free reign, and you've called people much worse...

You aren't man enough to admit what you've said and called people. So stop twisting things around like you are so innocent, you are not, and you aren't man enough to admit it.

So talk to the hand, I'm done with you.

PennyPurple said:

djThunderfunk said:

There's nothing to "weasel" out of. If I called you a "bitch" and you reported it, I will be banned. If you reported something that was not factual, I will not.

You weren't banned. That's part of the problem with the mods not doing their damn job. That's why there needs to be a change. If I called someone a bitch I would have been banned, but you and others had free reign, and you've called people much worse...

You aren't man enough to admit what you've said and called people. So stop twisting things around like you are so innocent, you are not, and you aren't man enough to admit it.

So talk to the hand, I'm done with you.

Don't try to weasel out of it, prove your accusations. I did not call you a bitch. I seem to recall you calling me a pussy or something like that though. Is that the thread you are talking about?

[Edited 12/25/21 20:34pm]

Well all right then. Since you won't give with the screenshots, I will. You and your old friend that was banned taught me to screenshot when things got nasty. So thanks!

I did not call you "bitch". Technically. I did call you something, in response to something you called me.

Here's how it went down:

In a thread about Pepe Le Pew, that went waaaay off-topic, lust and I were bickering back and forth.

lust said to me: "yes, you and your pandemic enabling mouth breathing brethren should be censored and in fact, the most vociferous amongst you should be charged with bio terrorism because they certainly have a body count."

While technically he was saying people like me were bio terrorists, I took it as him saying I was a bio terrorist. And I mean come on, I'm people like me, right?

So I replied to lust: "This bitch is accusing me of terrorism?!?" followed by an org approved and supplied emoji of a middle finger.

To which lust deflected with the technicality that he never called me that. Just people like me I guess.

Here's that exchange:

And that was it between myself and lust. It was over.

Meanwhile PennyPurple and AMERICA1ST were having their own very nasty spat, of which I was not involved, during which, he called her a "lying bitch", rather technically he tried to get her to confess that she was a lying bitch. So like lust did with me, AMERICA1ST was skating on a technicality of not actually calling her that.

In her response to him she said "Hey MODS, why is this poster and the other poster DJ, getting away with calling other posters bitches? How is that even allowed?"

She was not involved in my bickering with lust and I was not involved with her's and AMERICA1ST, yet still, she called me out.

So I responded to her: "Stop pretending words hurt you, honey."

Her reply back to me: "Stop being a pussy."

And I came back with: "And with that, you just gave up any leverage you think you had about name-calling, BEYOTCH!!" followed by another org approved and supplied middle finger emoji.

And her answer was: "Hey if you 2 can get away with it, so can everyone else. You cunt."

So eventually I did call her a PG-approved version of the word but I was not the one that flat out called her a bitch. AND, it was after she had already called me a pussy. Plus she followed up by calling me a cunt. So, she's not really offended by such language, she just pretends to be to try to get others banned. And don't point out the irony of being so anti-ban while also actively campaigning to get people banned. It will go right over her head.

Here are the exchanges described above:

So, to recap, I did not call PennyPurple a bitch.

lust called people like me bio terrorists, I "mistook" this as him calling ME a bio terrorist and called him a bitch. He and I moved on.

AMERICA1ST suggested PennyPurple confess to being a lying bitch.

PennyPurple complained to mods about myself and AMERICA1ST calling people bitches and getting away with it.

I called her on her faux offense to the language.

She called me a pussy.

I pointed out her hypocrisy and THEN, in response to being called a pussy, called her a BEYOTCH. A sanitized version of bitch. She had not sanitized "pussy" in any way. Then she called me a cunt which she likewise did not sanitize.

Not once did I call PennyPurple a bitch.

Not that it would really cause her the harm she claims to have suffered...

One last screenshot, grabbed tonight, to prove PennyPurple is not really offended by the word bitch.

From her own profile here on the org: "BIDEN WINS, BITCHES!"

Microphone... DROPPED!


EDIT: I realize I don't look any better than the other people in the screenshots above. I'm not. P&R was often a volatile, toxic invironment and things often got very nasty, escalating to the point where all sides crossed lines. I certainly participated in more than my share of the bickering. But I only came with the personal attacks in response to being personally attacked. Call me a name, I call you a name, try to hurt my feelings I try to hurt your feelings more. That's what we had to learn as kids to deal with bullies. Don't back down. As I get older and see so much division I'm learning that sometimes it's best to walk away and ignore BS, especially on the internet, which is why I've barely posted in P&R the past year and a half, but that's a work in progress and someimes I've gotten pulled back in. Anyway, every time I was involved, it was never one-sided. It takes two (or many) to bicker and fight incessently. I'm stubborn, many of the people I disagreed with are stubborn. If nobody backs down and mods don't catch it in time, it gets bad. Which is why I've already stated in this thread that I think Ben's decision to close it is probably for the best. Both of the battles sampled above should have been nipped by moderation long before they got to the point they did and people got nasty, but MODS weren't around till the only thing to do was lock the thread. I also don't blame the MODS. Not the ones I like and not the ones I don't. They have a thankless job, that they do for free, and they are constantly attacked, even in this thread, by so many of the people on this site. Some of the things being said about them are uncalled for. Hopefully this exchange I shared above will give people an idea, a snapshot, of what it was really like, and balance out some of the claims that are being made as to what it was like, and to help people understand that Ben made the right choice.

And lastly, a lesson for everyone, if things get nasty, screenshot that shit before the thread gets locked and somebody accuses you of saying something you did not. Gotta keep the reciepts!!

[Edited 12/26/21 0:19am]

djThunderfunk said:

IanRG said:

.

No, I take your words as someone who cannot let it go.

Anybody that reads all your posts and all of mine in this thread would have to laugh as they hold a mirror up for you.

.

The forum has been closed with good reason and you are demonstrating why.

I already said it's best the forum closed. I've actually said it should be for years now. But whatevs.

.

It is time to just move on.

Look in that mirror again.

.

And this (and all the posts between the post above and this post) is why the forum was closed.

RichardS said:

djThunderfunk said:

i rest my case...

SantanaMaitreya said:

RichardS said:

I think the P&R forum showed that for the most part we're not bigger and better than that.

My approach was generally to state a few facts, sometimes an opinion, assume nobody will take a blind bit of notice and move on.

Was anyone really on P&R to try and learn anything that might change their mind on a given subject? The very nature of that sort of forum attracts people whose minds are pretty much made up on the subjects that are raised. It's like expecting a candidate in a Presidential debate to say to his opponent - hey, you're right, I never thought of that, good point. I was wrong.

I was. When Trump became president, I started following the forum because I wanted to know more about how a man like that could become president. After a while I closed my account because I got tired of the endless arguments and name calling. I came back with a new account because I liked the org too much to completely let it go and because there was "new" Prince music coming.

.

I was also there to learn and, indeed, I did learn a lot.

.

There used to be a number of people with different religions or denominations who could come and discuss their different beliefs but nothing was done to make this a safe place for people to express different religious views. Instead every religious thread was allowed to became a place where athiests would mock people with impunity. The last religious thread was to push the ultra-conservative views of some Catholic Bishops against Biden - all done with thread flooding of articles by one person.

.

There used to be a wide range of different views across the whole spectrum of politics. People could discuss different shades of being left, right or centrist, supporting major or minor parties and topics like Brexit, different views on tax, health care, wages and social welfare etc. However, with the polarisation of politics following partisan "news" channels, the rise of the tea party, backlash against the election of a Black President culminating in trumpism and equivalents in different parts of the world, people have become less tolerant of other views - especially in the USA.

.

I think it is incorrect to compare people on a forum to presidential candidates. The latter is driven by forced need to differentiate yourself from your opponent, whilst the former may or may not agree with you or may agree with most of what you say and only disagree on some points. But the process of discussing could mean overtime the conversation help both develop different views. It is more like going on PM&M and expecting people to accept your opinion on Tony M, or the different era or styles of Prince and say I was wrong, Tony M can rap and he improved Prince's music greatly. What may happen instead is an early 80s only fan may become more open to songs post post this period.

.

The argument also confuses learning from someone with agreeing with that person.

TrivialPursuit said:

IanRG said:

.

Please stop the continual attacks on those who are "left of center".

.

The forum has been closed with good reason and you are demonstrating why.

Let's ask ourselves this: How are we, as a community of online Prince fans who have wide and varied interests, going to agree to disagree and handle discourse in the future, from this moment forward?

I;m gonna take a wild guess and go with "poorly"

herb4 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Let's ask ourselves this: How are we, as a community of online Prince fans who have wide and varied interests, going to agree to disagree and handle discourse in the future, from this moment forward?

I;m gonna take a wild guess and go with "poorly"

coldcoffeeandcocacola said:

How do these screenshots have a black background the org is Grey and purple?

You can change settings and viewing options in your browser. Also sometimes on specific websites.

coldcoffeeandcocacola said:

How do these screenshots have a black background the org is Grey and purple?

I use an addon for Firefox called Dark Reader. It makes everything, darker. It's designed to be easier on the eyes. I have chronic migraines and one of my triggers is too much screen time. I use the app to get a little more screen time.

PennyPurple said:

You weren't banned. That's part of the problem with the mods not doing their damn job. That's why there needs to be a change. If I called someone a bitch I would have been banned, but you and others had free reign, and you've called people much worse...

You aren't man enough to admit what you've said and called people. So stop twisting things around like you are so innocent, you are not, and you aren't man enough to admit it.

So talk to the hand, I'm done with you.

So now that I've proven which of us is "man enough to admit what (they've) said" and which of us is "twisting things around like (they) are so innocent", should I expect you to likewise man up and admit your part in the toxic invironment that was P&R?

Or do I need to dig up some more reciepts?

[Edited 12/26/21 8:53am]