Is it me or does there seem to be a disconcerting bit of behind the scenes censorship going on around here at Dims lately?
Case in point: I was just crafting a response to GoldenDelicious's "should I stay or should I go?" thread about mergirl's recent banning and when I went to post it, the thread had been closed. Before it was closed there was a great post by TraciJo67 which questioned the reasoning behind mer's ban, but now it has been removed. Why? It wasn't overly negative, it merely questioned whether there may have been personal reasons behind the ban. Are respectful questions like these, that just so happen to call out certain higher ups, verboten here? Frankly, these bowdlerizing actions sort of creep me out. They say to me that certain things, no matter how civil in tone, are simply NOT allowed and that sort of bearing stumbles onto a slippery slope.
Sure the site owner and the mods have certain powers and I'm all for 'em. But where is the line demarcating abuse of those powers? When does the good of all become the good of the few? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Now, I'm not privy to all that mergirl may have done around here, or what she may have done in private to piss off certain powers that be, but I've always had lovely encounters with her. I found her to be funny, intelligent, witty and refreshingly assertive without being pompous or insulting, unlike a certain someone around here who's always so full of himself and his self-deluded and so-called "cleverness" that it really puzzles me as to why he wasn't banned LONG ago.
But I digress. The bottom line for me is that mer was FAR from the worst example of someone who uses this site for "needling and lecturing". I feel she brought a spark of impish fun to this place and was definitely a cheerleader for trying to get people here involved in various tasks, such as the Dimensions Reading Group, which she spearheaded. I believe it's a shame to have her permanently banished from Dimensions when she brought so much to it.
But what do I know? I'm just a faceless prole blending with the thousands of other faceless proles who make up the bulk what Dimensions is. Power to the people...I guess.
Case in point: I was just crafting a response to GoldenDelicious's "should I stay or should I go?" thread about mergirl's recent banning and when I went to post it, the thread had been closed. Before it was closed there was a great post by TraciJo67 which questioned the reasoning behind mer's ban, but now it has been removed. Why? It wasn't overly negative, it merely questioned whether there may have been personal reasons behind the ban. Are respectful questions like these, that just so happen to call out certain higher ups, verboten here? Frankly, these bowdlerizing actions sort of creep me out. They say to me that certain things, no matter how civil in tone, are simply NOT allowed and that sort of bearing stumbles onto a slippery slope.
Sure the site owner and the mods have certain powers and I'm all for 'em. But where is the line demarcating abuse of those powers? When does the good of all become the good of the few? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Now, I'm not privy to all that mergirl may have done around here, or what she may have done in private to piss off certain powers that be, but I've always had lovely encounters with her. I found her to be funny, intelligent, witty and refreshingly assertive without being pompous or insulting, unlike a certain someone around here who's always so full of himself and his self-deluded and so-called "cleverness" that it really puzzles me as to why he wasn't banned LONG ago.
But I digress. The bottom line for me is that mer was FAR from the worst example of someone who uses this site for "needling and lecturing". I feel she brought a spark of impish fun to this place and was definitely a cheerleader for trying to get people here involved in various tasks, such as the Dimensions Reading Group, which she spearheaded. I believe it's a shame to have her permanently banished from Dimensions when she brought so much to it.
But what do I know? I'm just a faceless prole blending with the thousands of other faceless proles who make up the bulk what Dimensions is. Power to the people...I guess.
