Ben Stein Unlocked!

[mRclARK1]

Originally Posted by S14DB

Soylent green is people!

buhahahahahahahahaha

[B18C5MK1]

[ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=MclmOo39yKY"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=MclmOo39yKY[/ame]

[DragonUSMC]

damn i missed all this!?!!

but hey he might have a point... Marines are kinda dumb. But we sure can beat the $hit out of anything on this earth with a MRE spoon and a chem-light. I say that makes up for it a little bit =D

[Vision Garage]

So much hate from the banned. I swear you kids need to calm down. Support our troops. Shit they've seen worse than pissy little kids. Even if you dont agree with the politics, its not right to oppose your thoughts on someone else. No one is forcing you to join the Armed Forces. But if you keep doing this shit, it will come back to fukk you up. You are one person against millions. Think before you say shit!

[Phlip]

Hey, I heard some people were getting banned today...
How come this has to happen while I am working?

[DragonUSMC]

Hell i didnt even know Ben Stein had an awesome book and interview thing! I've been saying that stuff since i came back from the sandbox! I think the real culprit is Britney Spears and her damn popularity, or lack there of.

See what happens when all you do is concentrate on work while at work? You miss all the good stuff. =(

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by PHLIP

Hey, I heard some people were getting banned today...
How come this has to happen while I am working?

Yea you REALLY missed out. I even got to instigate a lil. I made my afternoon fly by!

[silvia-junkie]

how can anyone not support the troops? they our our friends our family and our neighbors, but above all they are our FELLOW AMERICANS. i have many friends and family members who have served or are currently serving. 1 who was hit by and ied and will never be able to walk right again and a few i have not heard from since they left. i thank them, and all who serve. i would give my life to protect thoes may americans fighting for us.

do i support this war no. i know i dont have all the information nor do i claim to. but i dont think we have any business being over there. i know some of you think we do and some of you dont. but thats what makes this country great we can publicly express our belief and feeling freely.

SUPPORT OR TROOPS NOT NECESSARILY THE WAR

[S13SilviaGirl]

Originally Posted by PHLIP

Hey, I heard some people were getting banned today...
How come this has to happen while I am working?

Phil, you can't always have ALL the fun I just beat you to it!

[fromxtor]

^^ Word, everytime I turn on the TV the news is actually airing BS stories about celebs. Like thats why I turned on the news, to find out Britney has visitation rights again. If I wanted to follow her story I would just be addicted to a gossip forum, instead of the multiple car forums I'm on. Bottom line is there isn't hardly anything this day and age worth reporting on so they feel like all this insinificent stuff is worth cramming down my throat. That's probably why I only turn the news on maybe once a week.

Onto the whole "war" discussion, I personally believe(I know I know Ms teen SC ) the war has been won, and we are just over there trying to keep things stable till Iraq can figure out how to take care of their own country after years of living under a dictator. Do you really think I enjoy getting deployed, that I relish the day I have to go back for my third time? Come on

[azndoc]

Alright

First of all. To those who think that the troops wake up one day and decide to go to war on our own is probably the biggest dumbshit in the world.

We don't say "Shit Bob what do you feel like doing today? I know let's invade another country."

We are sent there by a government that we chose to serve and a country that we sacrifice our own freedom and lives for.

Don't fucking blame the military for doing a job that a lot of others take for granted or don't have the self pride to do.

Seriously why do people insist on holding protests outside of military bases. We DON'T make the decision to go to war. We are sent there to do a job.

Go to the Whitehouse, your Senators, and your local politicians to complain and argue. Don't do it to us.

Just serve one fucking day and you might have the slightest idea why we pride ourselves so much. You don't understand. You can't talk shit about something that you have never done or never will.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
John Stuart MillI'm done.

[mRclARK1]

^^^ One of my favorite quotes of all time right there.

[steve shadows]

Originally Posted by Vision Garage

kids need to calm down. Support our troops. Shit they've seen worse than pissy little kids. Even if you dont agree with the politics, its not right to oppose your thoughts on someone else. No one is forcing you to join the Armed Forces. But if you keep doing this shit, it will come back to fukk you up. You are one person against millions. Think before you say shit!

well hold on now

this i honestly disagree with.

We shouldnt be silencing the obviously trite and ignorant.

By silencing everyone simply by disagreeing with politics concerns over our current foriegn policy we arent any better than Iran.

I don't know all the details on the Banning's but I have a feeling it was not for the sake of allowing a balanced display of points of views.

but then again its a private forum...so its their choice

[ThePenIsMightier]

I support the troops as individuals fighting to survive, but I don't see how they're protecting my freedom, and 99.8% of the rest of us here in the U.S.A.'s freedom. The only way our lives are in danger from what we've seen in the recent past is terrorism. Do you fear terrorism? If you do then doesn't that mean the war was lost? Oh no!

I also think it's funny how the attitude is all America!!, but the politics of this board have that totalitarian vibe.

I support the troops. I hope they live. But they signed up for it knowing what they'd be fighting for. I won't participate in a war to horde resources.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Shiet Im in the military and I dont believe in the war. I got in before 9/11, I wasnt one of the people who signed up because I'm "patriotic." I came in because its a job for me. It was either this or try to to school while working full time and supporting myself. No way in hell I could have started my life in a dead end job working 40-50 hrs a week, trying to go to school with 14-16 hr semester. I joined the AF because of the steady paycheck and I get proficient on a job that I can use later down the road. I guess me wanting to better my life made me less american...

[mrmephistopheles]

Originally Posted by steve shadows

We shouldnt be silencing the obviously trite and ignorant.

By silencing everyone simply by disagreeing with politics concerns over our current foriegn policy we arent any better than Iran.

I don't know all the details on the Banning's but I have a feeling it was not for the sake of allowing a balanced display of points of views.

but then again its a private forum...so its their choice

Conspiracy theorize much?

Come on Steve, we're not Fox News and I'm not Bill O'Reilly. Nobody is going to shut you down because they don't agree with you.

Nobody got banned because of their views or opinions.

I'm actually getting irritated at this sort of cockamamie BS theorizing.

All users were banned for rule violations, not for differences of opinion.

Originally Posted by ThePenIsMightier

I support the troops as individuals fighting to survive, but I don't see how they're protecting my freedom, and 99.8% of the rest of us here in the U.S.A.'s freedom. The only way our lives are in danger from what we've seen in the recent past is terrorism. Do you fear terrorism? If you do then doesn't that mean the war was lost? Oh no!

I also think it's funny how the attitude is all America!!, but the politics of this board have that totalitarian vibe.

I support the troops. I hope they live. But they signed up for it knowing what they'd be fighting for. I won't participate in a war to horde resources.

I'm sure you think you're a smart guy.

Clearly you can't read before you type though, because I've covered one of the points you've raised.

THE CONCEPT OF SUPPORTING TROOPS IS THAT IT'S DONE REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION THEY'RE IN.

Not sure how I can spell that out any more clearly.

Now to address another issue you've raised - the concept of the servicemember's duty to protect freedom, etc.
That's the primary duty of a servicemember. That's the MAIN reason they've been enlisted (or commissioned).
Part of that job means you follow the orders given to you by those in your chain of command. The only time when it's permissible to disobey those orders is when they're clearly illegal orders (go kill that baby/go rape that woman, etc). Foreign policy decisions are not within the purview of any servicemember to question. While you may not agree with that, those are the rules we play by.

As far as why the war started and what America's goal was behind it - I can't say. I don't agree with the war (though it is nice to have Saddam out of power), and I want us out of that quagmire ASAP.

The reason this forum isn't a democracy is simple. This is a private forum. It's privately owned, and staffed by volunteers. If we allowed users to elect moderators, then the owner wouldn't have as much control over his property. Last time I checked, Best Buy wasn't keen on having customers pick their managers and employees.
Zilvia is free to use, but we still like to think of users as customers, with the goal of providing a good experience (product). In order to make that experience nice for all, we have rules established for users to abide by, and terms that they must agree with. Sometimes users fail to abide by these rules and are subject to administrative action.
Any business would do the same to anyone who cause their other customers to have a negative experience.

Your suggestion that Zilvia is a totalitarian state, or others' that it's a Nazi state, etc are just plain ignorant and immature.

We're not unreasonable here, we just have a low tolerance for BS.

[LimitedEdition]

Many people have already said it,

I dont agree with the war, but that doesnt stop me from supporting our troops. They are Americans just like us and deserve the respect.

Lets take this for instance, the tool that said all troops are braindead fucks or whateve, what about the ones that have been in since desert storm and earlier? My point is, its not like you get to choose whether or not you want to deploy. Uncle Sam says your going and guess what, you end up there.

My uncle joined in 1998. He didnt join to go fight some BS war. He joined for the job, sight seeing, education. 7 years later he was deployed to the sandbox.

I dont know, someone might be able to understand my response.

All troops have my respect though.

[HalveBlue]

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

...Your suggestion that Zilvia is a totalitarian state, or others' that it's a Nazi state, etc are just plain ignorant and immature...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXM9IzZcFME[/ame]

[Vision Garage]

Originally Posted by steve shadows

well hold on now

this i honestly disagree with.

We shouldnt be silencing the obviously trite and ignorant.

By silencing everyone simply by disagreeing with politics concerns over our current foriegn policy we arent any better than Iran.

I don't know all the details on the Banning's but I have a feeling it was not for the sake of allowing a balanced display of points of views.

but then again its a private forum...so its their choice

Steve, they can talk all they want. Its a forum and thats just life. I just want to make sure they dont go around everywhere saying shit like this. If they were to say this stuff in a public place, lets hope they can run like forest gump cuz there wont be flaming or banning, more like punching and kicking.

[supad0rk]

Why are people wishing death upon others because what they believe in, how they feel, or what their job is? Just because at your job, if someone asks you to do something you can simply say no and get fired? Life is easy for the people who sit around and do a simple task but when it comes to putting your life on the line you think twice, some jobs don't give you that choice. Government, politics, hate, differences, and religion all help fuel war so in my opinion you are no different from the ones who start it.

These people are simply doing their duty, if you believe you can do a better job at directing a few million people then do so. Or do you simply come on a forum to spread your hate in an attempt to show that you are not running a country for a reason? In reality if there was no competition between a single person, we did only simply enough to survive, and our only thought was to live, create a spawn and die without passing on any knowledge besides that, we could live without war. If that is what you really believe in give up everything you have, take off all the clothes that keep you warm, get off your fucking computer, and live out in the wilderness... let's see how long you survive. And if you don't like this country then GTFO. People make mistakes and the wrong a lot of times including the leaders of our country, but if you can't show back bone to stand up for what you believe in and protecting those around you then how do you call yourself a human being? Listen up there are worse things out there than death, if you lose people who love you and you are still alive it hurts a lot than any death can bring. If you are just going to babble on about politics why don't you run for some kind of official, don't talk shit to the people who follow orders to protect your sorry ass.

Learn to STFU and enjoy life because every second you have sitting around you have the choice to do so or not. There are people out there who have to wonder whether they will make it to the next day or not, you fucking cock socks have no knowledge or understanding of what that is like. I support all of those out there and their families because they have to deal with that everyday. When have you ever had to put your life on the line for someone you didn't know?

[ThePenIsMightier]

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

Nobody got banned because of their views or opinions.

Looking through the original thread, nearly every person who had an opinion other than Ben Stein's was banned. No porn posts. No advertising. Just thought I'd point that out.

Now to address your unfounded personal attack on myself...

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

I'm sure you think you're a smart guy.

Clearly you can't read before you type though, because I've covered one of the points you've raised.

THE CONCEPT OF SUPPORTING TROOPS IS THAT IT'S DONE REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION THEY'RE IN.

Not sure how I can spell that out any more clearly.

You can read too. You just chose not to read the first sentence in the first and last paragraphs of my previous post. Here let me reiterate. I support the troops. I cannot imagine being one, and that's why I live in Dallas. I don't like hurting people blah blah blah war is stupid. I still support the troops. No need explaining anything to me. I can read.

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

Now to address another issue you've raised - the concept of the servicemember's duty to protect freedom, etc.
That's the primary duty of a servicemember. That's the MAIN reason they've been enlisted (or commissioned).
Part of that job means you follow the orders given to you by those in your chain of command. The only time when it's permissible to disobey those orders is when they're clearly illegal orders (go kill that baby/go rape that woman, etc). Foreign policy decisions are not within the purview of any servicemember to question. While you may not agree with that, those are the rules we play by.

Thank you for that insight. I know.

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

As far as why the war started and what America's goal was behind it - I can't say. I don't agree with the war (though it is nice to have Saddam out of power), and I want us out of that quagmire ASAP.

Well we can make our own conjectures about why we started a war on terror in Afghanistan and ended up in Iraq. It seems obvious to me, but I can't be certain.

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

The reason this forum isn't a democracy is simple. This is a private forum. It's privately owned, and staffed by volunteers. If we allowed users to elect moderators, then the owner wouldn't have as much control over his property. Last time I checked, Best Buy wasn't keen on having customers pick their managers and employees.
Zilvia is free to use, but we still like to think of users as customers, with the goal of providing a good experience (product). In order to make that experience nice for all, we have rules established for users to abide by, and terms that they must agree with. Sometimes users fail to abide by these rules and are subject to administrative action.
Any business would do the same to anyone who cause their other customers to have a negative experience.

Your suggestion that Zilvia is a totalitarian state, or others' that it's a Nazi state, etc are just plain ignorant and immature.

We're not unreasonable here, we just have a low tolerance for BS.

Understood, but Best Buy isn't a discussion forum. It's a retail store. Here we come to discuss whatever is on our minds. When discussing whatever, opinions often rise. Saying you are making this place better by silencing opinions that differ from your own is well...

an opinion. It makes the place better for you, but you aren't a "customer".

[mrmephistopheles]

Originally Posted by ThePenIsMightier

Looking through the original thread, nearly every person who had an opinion other than Ben Stein's was banned. No porn posts. No advertising. Just thought I'd point that out.

Indeed. It was a matter of personal attacks, and failing to follow forum rules.

Now to address your unfounded personal attack on myself...

The sardonic nature of my accusation wasn't clear, and I've only myself to blame. It's entirely obvious to anyone following along that yes, indeed, you are capable of reading.

You can read too. You just chose not to read the first sentence in the first and last paragraphs of my previous post. Here let me reiterate. I support the troops. I cannot imagine being one, and that's why I live in Dallas. I don't like hurting people blah blah blah war is stupid. I still support the troops. No need explaining anything to me. I can read.

I certainly did read it and replied to it.
I never accused you of not supporting the troops (and in fact made no comment on anyone's preference on the matter) - simply that you did not understand the purpose of the 'movement', if you will. You made that clear when you said you didn't understand how US servicemembers in Iraq were defending yours or others' freedom. I explained that it's without regard to where they are and what they're doing that their primary job is the defense of the nation.

I don't follow what you mean about your decision to live in Dallas because you don't want to serve in the armed forces.

Thank you for that insight. I know.

Sorry if I broke it down Barney-style for you there, but you clearly stated in that first sentence that you didn't understand the situation. I was merely trying to help.

Well we can make our own conjectures about why we started a war on terror in Afghanistan and ended up in Iraq. It seems obvious to me, but I can't be certain.

Agreed. In the end, it'll still only be conjecture. What we should be concerning ourselves with at this point is the election of a better leader and pressuring our representatives to resolve the situation. Much as blame needs to be heaped around, pointing fingers does nobody any good right now.

Understood, but Best Buy isn't a discussion forum. It's a retail store. Here we come to discuss whatever is on our minds. When discussing whatever, opinions often rise. Saying you are making this place better by silencing opinions that differ from your own is well...

an opinion. It makes the place better for you, but you aren't a "customer".

I know. I simply couldn't conjure up a better comparison on short notice.
This forum isn't necessarily to discuss ''whatever is on our minds", but primarily a place to discuss the 240sx, with an OT forum for flavor.
Opinions are fine and welcome, so long as they're presented appropriately.
For the umpteenth time, we're not making an effort to 'silence opinions' - it's a matter of keeping the forums a nice place to be. How can you possibly blame me for the fact that the people banned weren't capable of controlling their emotions sufficient to continuing an argument?
Again, it's not a matter of making it a better place for *ME*, it's for the general public. If I was the kind of admin you're painting me as, I'd be deleting users and posts willy-nilly and you'd never even know that anyone disagreed with me. It's irritating that people enjoy taking moderation personally and will without fail, make the mod/admin out to be a power-crazed jerk.

In the end, it's a private forum open to registration pending agreement to a set of rules designed to keep the forum running smoothly. It's not a democracy and freedom of speech is not a given. Given that all of the admin/mod staff is American (and some of us have served in the military), we tend to support the ideals our nation was founded on. We don't, however, stop ourselves from eliminating a problematic user if it means editing a post or banning them.

I believe in one's freedom of speech, and prefer to let people's opinions air freely. I cannot abide personal attacks though, and users that break forum rules cannot be left unchecked. If you sincerely have a problem with our handling of our forum, we suggest you seek comfort elsewhere.

[ROADKILLS13]

AND I THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA TALK ABOUT 240'S........

[EndLeSS8]

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

I believe in one's freedom of speech, and prefer to let people's opinions air freely. I cannot abide personal attacks though, and users that break forum rules cannot be left unchecked. If you sincerely have a problem with our handling of our forum, we suggest you seek comfort elsewhere.

So where does one draw the line between flaming and personal attacks?

A good portion of the premium members and posters with high post counts/ friends with the moderators have huge leeway, while newer posters have ZERO slack.

Regarding flaming, a lot of premium members take great pride in personal attacks, that go well beyond flaming.
I understand that yes, noobs should search before making topics that have been asked for the zillionth time, however, even in normal, relevent topics, a good portion of the older members/premies/high post counts go beyond flaming.

Again, it's your forum, so I read only the threads that I like, and you can moderate whatever way you so feel.
It's kinda like, I'm in your house, so I have to obey your rules.
That is perfectly acceptable.



However, to deny that mods are biased towards Premies/older members/high post counts, I feel, is quite untrue.

The best example is Chmercer

He ripped people off for T-shirts. Excuse after excuse, and he's banned from the marketplace.
However, he STILL IS on the forum. You can check his last visit here on Zilvia, it is Oct 17th, 2007, WELL beyond later than when he ripped people off.

The mods are biased towards him because they have a relationship with him. Also, Chmercers REAL LIFE friends have made ZERO attempt to right this wrong.

If fact, they made a mockery of things, adding insult to injury to people who were ripped off by Chmercer
http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=161583


If it was any other noob poster, or someone disliked, they would of been permabanned, no questions asked.

[EndLeSS8]

Baka Sama was banned for personal attacks against other members.

Chmercer has instigated personal attacks against other members and has never been banned.

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showpost.php...1&postcount=51

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showpost.php...2&postcount=79

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showpost.php...9&postcount=24

[SimpleSexy180]

Originally Posted by Baka Sama

He said all this talking about supporting our troops was taking away from talking about why we are there. Which is true!

which is slightly true, but those are two different different subjects in the war. Sadly....


this war is an embarrassment IMO. I support the guys over there, they will come back and should be honored for doing there job.

But the way OUR government has been ran the past years pisses me off. NOW IRAN is a so called threat, give me a fucking break US OF A

[ThePenIsMightier]

Endless - Chmercer did get banned for saying "a nigga'd put rims on a toaster if he could" a while back. A Chris Rock joke iirc. Not consistent with what I and others have been banned for, but hey, private forum.

mrmephistopheles - thank you for being civil. But I did want to point out that if you only took what was said in the other thread as a personal attack because it was against your opinion. The people in that thread that brought the other side to the table were completely civil and called nobody names. They asked questions and wanted to have their points answered. That is normally how a debate works.

Now if you read the people not answering questions, but defending themselves (it's hard to defend that the troops are actually doing anything), you will notice much name calling and what I would consider attacks. "they fight for stupid people like you to ask stupid questions like you just did" was one that struck me.

I can't remember the last time an Iraqi wouldn't let me ask a stupid question. I can't think of the last time I even saw an Iraqi. The troops aren't fighting to defend my freedom. They may use that as defense against "commie libs" (lol) who ask these blasphemous un-american questions, but in reality they aren't.

Just thought I'd point that out.

[steve shadows]

Originally Posted by mrmephistopheles

I'm actually getting irritated at this sort of cockamamie BS theorizing.

All users were banned for rule violations, not for differences of opinion.

free speech?

it seems like the rules have been changing a lot lately

[Unholy S14]

anyone like cereal ?

[supad0rk]

The members that were banned sounded very civil when voicing their opinions. However when someone decides to instigate no matter how calm they are sounding, it is still instigating. If I ask you "What good do you fucking do for this country?" does it matter what tone I make it seem like I am asking?

I would suggest against asking a person what their own worth is in life and backing them into a corner, most people don't appreciate that. Let me ask you, what is your personal worth in life? You aren't doing a single thing that really helps me, why should I care whether you live or die? You know what, I don't think you are really doing anything for this country at all, you should really just leave. Remember that whatever BS excuse you make it doesn't matter, I don't see you lifting a finger for me... sooo that makes you useless.