Sound familiar?

It's getting worse lol.We should link him here, ask for a mention in the next issue.
 
I don't get it. I don't spend all that much time on B&B except in certain forums (checkin BST, newbie and DE forums). Are they social conservatives who ban "racy" things or is it more a control issue?
 
I don't know... I was almost shocked when I joined B&B and saw how darn nice everyone was to each other and how gentlemanly the conduct is. It made me laugh out loud, but also renewed my faith in mankind a bit. The only other forum I'd been active on is a martial arts-based site which I've been a part of for like 9 years and nothing is out of bounds on that site. Vile, rude, violent and offensive conversations and language, physical threats, you name it. And I've noticed much of the Internet is no different.

As far as I can tell, the CONUK group was definitely more laid back, humorous and tolerant than the rest of B&B, but equally friendly and helpful. There seems to be plenty of social and political conservatives on the forums, but that's fine, they all generally seem to be polite and nice. America has a lot of social conservatives (who may or may not be fiscal liberals), but also lots of fiscal conservatives who are extremely socially liberal. The church is strong, gun rights, privacy rights, anti tax sentiment, pro military... but do the nature of the bans and thread deletion reflect this?

I'm just wondering if these bans, etc. are ostensibly about language, manners, or just because some posters violated rules as regards to spamming, selling, publicity and the like.
 
The 'conservative' and 'liberal' or 'left-wing' labels do seem to be bandied about without much thought or discrimination by several B&B posters, often assuming that if they are conservative (or liberal) then whatever they say is right and they can dismiss an opinion as bunkum if they percieve it to be from the other end of the political spectrum. I thought the mods were even handed in dealing with this if it got too far. Some posters love to rant and rave yet are surprisingly quick to take offence. The vehemence in the way some opinions were expressed does amaze me. But then people behave differently when interracting with something between them than they would when sitting in a room together.

I regularly read the Washington Post website and enjoy Jon Stewart's show, which, I think would make me a lefty, communist liberal to some Americans, and something else to others. Mind you I also think Michael Moore is a mouthy lump, who likes to rant and has been able to make a lot of money from it. Internet forums are full of wannabe Michael Moores and Rush Limbaughs, or David Ickes for us Brits :D

I do think that if you put a crowd of Brits/Irish together in forum then they will speak and treat each other in a way that North Americans or even other Europeans may find disconcerting. We tend to need to be able to laugh together before we can feel comfortable ( a simplistic generalisation I know). I think it is something that comes from the school playground, the sports field, the works canteen, and of course, the pub!

ANd it is very true that the vast majority of people on B&B behave in a friendly and polite way that is rare on the interweb. The low level of intellect displayed and the macho posturing I have seen on many other forums is really pathetic. Shaving forums just are not like that. I don't know why.
 
Phil, America is in this bitter argument, molded by the media, in which pure vitriol is spat back and forth without people being even slightly well-informed. The fact is that there are lots of traditional Democrats, unionists, i.e. the American "left" who are religious and socially conservative. There are also lots of younger fiscal conservatives who are socially very liberal, humanist and pro gay rights, etc. Neither of these groups have much, if any, political representation in the government or media, so they usually vote with their pocketbooks or due to fear or other populist reasons.

Jon Stewart, who I don't find that funny, is quite good at pointing out the failings of the media. For laughs and more sophistication though, I prefer Bill Maher. The Washington Post was my home paper so I have to be a bit partial to it, though the NY Times is maybe better. Michael Moore brings up some good points, but often in a cheesy, sensationalist way. David Icke believes in reptilians. Enough said on that :lol:

I know what you mean about the Brit and Irish sense of humor. There are many differences between them and the Yanks and I think I fall somewhere in between, though I am originally a middle-of-the-middle class mid Atlantic American kid. I also lived in Sweden for 8 years and am therefore ultra liberal, egalitarian and at times overly shy. :)

The B&B does reflect a very American archetype: the patriotic "rugged individualist", which can really contrast with many European attitudes.
 
PaulH said:
I was just over at the other place to see if anything interesting was going on. Seems like not much has changed. See this thread http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=97303
Click to expand...

When I click on this I get this message:

Pig Cat, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

Any idea how I can get past this, or could someone please enlighten me as to what this thread is all about? :?:
 
g-train said:
Phil, America is in this bitter argument, molded by the media, in which pure vitriol is spat back and forth without people being even slightly well-informed.
Click to expand...

G-train,

Thanks for your detailed and interesting comment
That seems to sum up a lot of what is happening. Politics and political debate in the UK may be going the same way.

Jon Stewart's items on the Fox network 'journalists' are genuinely scary. I believe there is a place for the likes of Jim Cramer in the media. In the UK he might have an opinion column in a tabloid newspaper. But to present him as a neutral, dispassionate journo is impossible, do people actually rely on him for their news on the machinations of finance and the economy? However the media here has been 'dumbing down' and who knows what our TV news programmes will be like in 5years :lol: I do think we need a British Jon Stewart, and I would love to see Ian Hislop step up to the oche (a British version of 'step up to the plate' :mrgreen: ).

I will check the web to find out a bit more about Bill Maher!

Wow, are we having a gentlemanly discussion about politics?!?! :lol:

I spent some time studying American government and politics at University, and the interest has remained with me.
 
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Jim the Dalek takes it just a bit too far
 

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