Perhaps if more people exercised judgement and just ignored those whose opinions they find distasteful instead of filling the blogs with vitriole, they would find they aren't getting banned. You get banned/suspended for breaking the rules, regardless of whom those rule-breaking comments are directed towards. This is not a public forum (in the 1st ammendment sense of the word public). It's a private forum with rules of conduct and the consequences of breaking those rules is to get suspended or banned. It is just like how you can be escorted out of a business establishment if you started slinging foul language or behaving menacingly to other customers, regardless of your 1st ammendment rights. Free speach does not cover you when you behave poorly in a private business.

Lesson of the day: act like an adult.

I guess it depends on your perspective, queen.  I'm not sick of HusbandMaterial.  In fact, I like him very much.  In fact, he's one of my favorite bloggers on this site.  [Assuming you're talking about HusbandMaterial.]

Anyway, Shwaine's right.  People get kicked off the blogs for their OWN bad behavior, not for someone else's.

SHWAINE: Does this mean I have to grow up now???  Dang :-(  I was told maturity is optional and I opted out!!!

*stomps foot/pouts*   NOT gonna do it :-(

I don't see what HusbandMaterial is saying or doing that is so terrible, either.

We need to remember that he is deaf, so his avenues of contact with other human beings aren't as easy and available as they are to most of us.

Some people are afraid of someone who is an admitted and an unapologetic homosexual. They feel that people should just hide in a cave and only mention it when asked. HM is alright with me and I'm glad that someone out of the Bakersfield loop is on the site.

You can't get kicked off if you don't respond.

OldBlue made an interesting comment the other day. He said "the blog nazi" has his favorites.

I rarely read HM's blogs, because I really don't believe that this pitiful deaf homosexual who spends the vast majority of his conscious hours posting on bakersfield.com has anything of value to contribute any longer. Pro-gay and anti-Palin posts get to be wearisome after awhile.

I don't read HM's blogs unless they are very short and address me personally in a subject line.  I find his blogs long winded and pompous so the way for me to NOT say things I shouldn't is to ignore them.  Actually, there are 3 1/2 people who blog on here that I ignore now.

People who come here and post inflamatory comments and then cry foul when called on it need to be ignored.  And, by the way, people are certainly free to ignore my posts, it won't hurt my feelings.

Having any sort of problem is no excuse for rudeness and in case it has escaped attention, you don't have to come right out and call a profane name to get your point across.... but it does seem to keep you out of the blog monitors office.

well there is a group out there that are not part of his fan club..even fellow gays are upset with how he rams his agenda down every ones throats...its a big turnoff ..straight people that might have listened before find him annoying..I have gay friends but they don't act the way he does..they just go about life and blend in with the rest of the world trying to go to work pay their PG&E bills and mortgages. they do their connection thing at home just like me and my wife do

Any time some one starts demanding you accept their views from the other side of the room whether it be welfare religion gay marriage or any of the other controversial topics people shut you off..

OB was booted because he didnt agree with HM and stated his differences in typical OB fashion god love him....vanity was booted because he kept goating her about a friend of hers who died on the flight during 911 that the passengerrs took down. He said alot of nasty things to her and she finally blew it and cussed..whats right about that?? Yet he can tell someone that if he ever meets him hes going to knock his teeth down his throat because he didn tlike what that guy was saying...and hes still here posting giving his opinons on our local issues when he doesnt even live in our town..it just isnt fair...

There's several i routinely ignore also. ignore as in i don't even read their comments on someone else's posting as they're not worth reading.   the ones who are repetitive, whiny, incendiary (sp?), and/or make absolutely no sense are the ones i ignore.  some will just not change their minds no matter what, so why get into meaningless debates?  

There's one i noticed who was posting quite a bit for a while, then seemed to stop getting as much reaction, so quit posting as much.  if more people ignored them, maybe they might just get the hint and go away....

Hey Sioux--are you serious about Old Blue getting kicked off this site?  When did that happen?  Lord, do I notice NOTHING around here?

Anyway, I really liked OldBlue.  He was funny.

yup he didnt even curse..just used another term for gay that starts with H when referencing HM ...and he got johnburnsucks kicked off too..hes a peach

Old Blue got kicked off by the "nazi" who seems to be siding with HM.  It does appear ActaNonVerba and Nancy undertand where I am coming from. 

The term OB used was one that HM had previously used describing himself.  At the time OB said he guessed he could use it too since HM had.  Apparently not.

Who in the heck is the Nazi?  Are you guys talking about some other gay person on this blog?  I totally don't know what is going on around here nowadays!  Have I been asleep like Rip Van Winkle or something? 

As for johnburnsucks--I remember why he got kicked off--I saw it that night (though I didn't report him.)  He told somebody to take a gun and blow their own brains out.  Oldblue agreed with him and said the same thing.  I thought at the time they were gonna get in trouble for that.  They should have erased it.   Again, it goes back to the fact that you can only control what YOU write.  You can't control what other people write. 

 That sucks about OB, vanity, and JBS.  It's amazing sometimes around here. 

I am also tired of the pity-me-thee-homosexual routine.  It seems that on certain blogs, he will post a totally irrelevant comment referring to homosexuality. Blah blah blah blaaah, I say.

So, here's the interesting part...1. How long before "the blog god" nails us? And, how long before a certain blogger ransacks this blog???

Who in the heck is the Nazi?

OB referred to Jason as the "Blog Nazi" earlier in the week.

just thinkin the same thing popeye..I guess if the chosen ones here arent around for a few days after this ..everybody else knows they got hit too..Im sure HM will work his magic..

I remember one blog he kept telling me i was spamming his blog because I wrote something contrary to what his blog was about..I gave the other sides view...he kept saying thats one thats two..he meant he was reporting me to Jason every time i posted..so I returned the favor..Jason finally stepped in and told him to knock it off in so many words and HM got upset that Jason didnt side with just him and spanked us both..

Oh.  I thought you were talking about one of the gay bloggers on here.  For the record, I like Jason.  I met him a couple of times, and he really is the nicest guy you'll ever meet.  I'm really serious.  I think once all this blows over and all this political misery is over, everyone will mellow out and Jason won't seem like a "nazi" anymore to some people.

Well, I also felt bad when Allred got kicked off, and I never knew what that was about.  I'm glad he's back.  Maybe these are just suspensions and everyone will be back.  I give my son "time-outs" because they not only get him out of my hair, but they are a time for him to calm down.  He needs those times to mellow out.

Actually, we could ALL use time-outs around here sometimes.  I, myself, have been pretty darn irritated by some extremely inflammatory posts on these blogs, but I didn't throw out expletives over it.  I didn't tell people to kill themselves over it.  However, I think we're ALL losing our perspective a little--yes, me included.  These are just blogs.  I (and everyone else) need to remember that.

I don't think we should be using OldBlue and VanityFair as examples of mature bloggers. Both pushed the boundaries time and again with various posters, not just HM. That it finally caught up with them (assuming they have indeed been suspended/banned) should not be suprising.

Shwaine you have your moments too as I do..its not fair that you would single them out..let those without guilt cast the first stone..and yes they were banned..I dont understand your comment...are you insinuating all of this is a lie??

Is HM a frakking Osama Obama plant?  I'll bet he works for ACORN.  I always thought he lived here.  How did he get you banned from the blog?

And say what you want about Jason, but if he weren't around I wouldn't even be blogging here.  I don't know if some of you were around for the old blogs, but they were HORRIBLE!!!  You couldn't even make a *peep* on those blogs without somebody jumping down your throat and calling you every cuss word in the book.  They would actually make criminal threats against you, threatening to find out where you live and come over and beat you up, or find out your personal information and then go into your accounts and ruin your credit and stuff.  I'm serious!  Oh man, you guys DON'T KNOW how good we have it now.  It's much safer on the blogs nowadays.  I tried blogging way back then for about 2 months, and I was so bruised and beaten over it, I didn't go near the blogs again for a year or two.  Those blogs were WILD & WOOLY, let me tell you. 

There's one distinction about my "moments" SCR: I have never hurled profanity at anyone, used racially charged language or made mention of bodily harm.

As for my little parenthetical qualification, since banishments are not made public, there is no real way to confirm someone has been banned as opposed to someone being on vacation or otherwise away from the computer. Likewise, there is no way of confirming what caused the person to be banned. Gossip rarely has the full truth, as any child who has played a game of Telephone should have learned.

To ascribe everything to the "evil actions" of HM influencing Jason is nothing more than gossip fueled by idle speculation. It is a very human thing to do because humans are very bad at admitting that they crossed the line (and perhaps hoped not to be caught). Ultimately, such speculation takes the focus off the real problem here: lack of personal accountability.

So I get back to my first post on this thread: Act like an adult having a civil conversation and you won't get banned. You are responsible for your words. If someone annoys you so much that it would "incite" you to post something you'd regret, just walk away from the keyboard. YOU have the responsibility and power to not stoop to that level and, if you do so anyways, man up and live with the consequences.

How do you find out someone has been kicked off or suspended?  I don't follow these blogs much anymore (got sick and tired of most of what's posted here). 

Shwaine you might not use profanity ..however i was referring to you stating that OB and vanity deserve what they got because the may have irrated you on occasion....they got banned for using their chosen terms one time..it wasnt like they used them continuously..as an everyday thing

My point is (and you dont seem to get it) we are all in the same boat yourself included.. when it comes to trying to anger other people with comments. Like you saying that what I just shared with you isnt the truth and are calling it gossip ..That is an inflamatory remark..so you just proved my point that everyone has been guilty.

sometimes being a skeptic sounds alittle silly especially when more than one person is telling you what they know as fact..its not gossip so whatever blows your skirt up..

Nine, you don't except through private channels (someone emails you about it) or through gossip on threads like this. Jason made it pretty clear on the following thread that he does not publically announce such decisions: people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/jasonsperber/350 66

 My Dad use to say that if you ignore some one long enough, they'd go away.  Let's all stay off his blogs!

still calling it gossip schwaine??? hahahahaha if you only knew how your sounding

*gee whilikers Batman*

your like a teenage kid that wont back down no matter what..even when you already lost the battle before it started...I am now officially embarrassed for you

Murph..you dads a smart man

My mom always said: If you can't say something nice...........don't say anything at all.

There are a lot of people on these blogs who cause a lot of silences!!!!

Just a question??? Why is it ok to say *gay* and *homosexual* but not "h*m*" What's the difference? All three words - and they are just words - mean the same thing. Well except *gay*.  Gay means Happy - in the world I'm from!  I was in the stage play "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay" in HS and it had nothing to do with sexuality!!!!!

I guess its all in what that person deems offensive witt..similar too afro americans have a name they regularly call each other but if a another race uses it ....your in the dog house

oops i used your instead of you're...OB woulda kicked my tail

I don't think one incident (unless it's horrific) will get a person kicked off the blogs.  I think a blogger has to demonstrate a pattern of offensive,  aggressive, or threatening behavior for Jason to kick them off.

Jason does a good job keeping these blogs open to bloggers who want a discourse instead of an argument.  I commend him for it.

BTW

I'm sorry OB is gone.  He was very entertaining.  Hey OB come back when your suspensions over. 

PS  I'm glad Ron's back too.

hmmmmmmmmmmm I guess Sioux.  I'm from Canada and have been called a Canook - Offensive? Naaaaaaaaaaaa. 

I have found in 63 years of being on this earth that the best way to deal with stuff like that is humor!! When someone says something THEY think is going to hurt your feelings or is rude, laugh and AGREE with them!!! i.e. person at work told me I was a bit**..........I said, "Thank you for noticing I've been working on that for a really long time"!!!  It totally defuses the negative they thought they were going to inflict! Most don't know how to deal with the humor of it!

You notice many times (not always) on these blogs I insert something so outrageously hysterical and totally off topic that most just ignor me!!! BUT I get my point across in that I think what they are saying is idiotic!!

Witters

You are tooo funny!  I like your style.

if that were true we would all be down the road Audrey..there are lines Jason feels one doesn't cross ..sometimes we dont all agree with that descion because after all people have emotions and sometimes we just BLOW due to insults  being thrown in our direction..atleast that's my observation..

granted it would be a tuff job here with all the different type of nuts falling off the same tree..  ill lay claim to any of them except an ACORN *wink*

Sioux

It's easy to overlook the bad behavior of someone you've formed a blog friendship with.  On the other hand, almost anything a blogger you don't like says is enough, in your eyes, to get them kicked off.

That's the schizophrenic nature of the blogs that encourages me take a break from them now and then.

Especially during this terrible election year.

I cannot relate to a homosexual lifestyle. Anyone who would get satisfaction from putting things in his rectum that don't belong there is beyond my conception of what is normal. Convincing me otherwise is a waste of time.

That doesn't mean I hate homos, or want to kill them or consign them to burn in hell. I resent anyone suggesting that I do because I don't embrace sex deviance as "normal" or wholesome. Likewise, I resent anyone who would push such views on me or teach my children that homosexuality is anything other than deviant behavior.

I am voting "yes" on Prop. 8 simply because "same sex marriage" is an oxymoran. If the next generation of voters feel differntly about the issue, fine with me. I'll be too old to care. Meantime, I don't think a minority of sex diviants are going to have a bearing on my social standards or definitions of normal behavior by making a political issue of it. Sorry, homos, that you bear a handicap but legislation is not going to cure it.

I'm entitled to MY schizophrenic natures......................I'm a GEMINI!!!! What can I say, it's genetic :-)

catpaw fix that H word..we don't need anymore casualty's

CATPAW:  Is there a specific definition of "normal"???  just askin'. I have been married to my husband ( I'm a girl :-)  ) for 37 years, I know what is "normal" for us as a couple, although you might not think it "normal" - maybe what we do or don't do is deviant to you or others. What about races (no not track & field) intermarrying? Years ago it was an "OMG" moment if a white girl was seen even talking to, let alone holding hands with, a black guy.  Now, no big deal.

Personally, I don't care who marries who, humans love who they love (and hate who they hate) and if I don't happen to agree with that choice, I don't have to be around them. My brother-in-law is a total jerk and I refuse to attend any family outings if he and his wife are going to attend. 

As far as what kids are being taught in school, I think ALL schools need to just get back to basics, reading, writing & arithmetic. Leave the rest of it to the parents. If the parents don't bother, they learn like a lot of us did..........friends!! 

We are defined first as human being and secondly as women or men.  Therefore, our rights as human beings supercede our gender rights.

It's the same concept as "equality under the law".  We are ALL entitled to equal treatment.  That includes the equal right to marry.

I'm voting no on Proposition 8 because I'm not motivated by bigotry.

Thank you Audrey & RF  :-)

I think there are bigger fish to worry about, like our country tanking and how are WE going to fix it.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm  should I push the big red button "report violation"?  Nawwwwwwwwww Catpaw can say what he thinks in the verbage that makes him happy. Words are just letters placed in a line to alegedly communicate ones thinking - or not.

Witter

You would think so, huh?  But some people like to look at the trees instead of the forest.

Then they chop the tree down 1) because it's there; 2) they can't see the forest for the tree!!!!!!

Tee Hee

well i see RF finally got out of bed..'bigotry' a useless word since it can be applied to either side of an issue..

Well, witters, I was trying to point out that for whatever reason one cares to apply, my mind is made up and nobody is going to change it, anymore than I can convince you that your brother-in-law is a nice guy. The issue has become so polorized that there doesn't seem to be room for tolorance. Why should I be a bigoted, prejudicial, hate-filled person because I have an opinion?

Likewise, I'm not going to grab a picket sign and join a mob because two sickos have a muddled definition of what normal is.