[MD] Where I'm at [Administrator Message]

[Krimel]

[Horse]
You're completely wrong about who has a right to say what on this forum.
This is a place to discuss Robert Pirsigs MoQ and not just every single 
thing that comes into anyone's head.
I give a great deal of latitude to most people here but there are times 
at which I think it's reasonable to step in and enforce what I consider 
to be reasonable behaviour.

[Krimel]
You are of course quite right we all serve here at your discretion. My outburst was mainly an expression of my own core belief in the value of free speech. I do not hold that Value as a matter of personal convenience. I take it to mean that in order to have my own right to speak I have to suffer with listening to people, who I think, often use their freedom unwisely. As moderator of this forum you obviously have the power to rule as you see fit and I support about 95% of your exercise of that power. I don't agree with some of the decisions you have made but I don't question your right to make them.

I have not belabored these disagreements in part because they are not strongly held and in part because I do respect your right to make them. I was not around for the Bradford debacle, so I really am out of line there. With regard to Squonk, as I recall, he was banned for his tone and terminology. But I think in retrospect the substance of what he was saying has proven to be more correct than not. 

Tinfoil hat dude had been a member of this forum since at least 2006. While it did seem that here was another Moqer having a mental breakdown it was never clear to me what he was going on about or why it took so few posts to have him removed.

Bo was not banned of course but it was clear that no matter what, it was coming. The conditions of his staying were that he not to claim that Pirsig endorsed his position and yet what he usually said was that his position was consistent with "young Phaedrus" as opposed to "old Pirsig" but even making that distinction was not sufficient. 

Again those are your calls.

On the other hand there has been a disturbing tendency of late for people to urge you to further action often for trivial reasons, calls to ban Marsha for spamming, calls to ban Platt for being... well, for being Platt. Call to ban me for being an asshole... So it isn't just your use of power that I see as a problem but the expectation by some that you will and ought to use those powers more often. That, to me, is an example of what you said: "...they are expected to behave reasonably and not like a bunch of fucking 3 year olds, which is what has been happening recently."

Part of having free speech, to the extent that we have it, and part of living in a multicultural world is not just respect for other's right to speak; but not getting your panties in a bunch and whining to authority when you don't like what others say. I am concerned that the recent use of power and threats of using power have caused some to bail and others to repeatedly call such rules as there are into question, that is testing the rules or asking if this or that is out of bounds. This is of course what "fucking 3 year olds" do.

[Horse]
This has nothing to do with thought police or censorship or any other 
nonsense that's raised to try and force me to run this list the way 
others want. It has to do with a list administrators right to perform 
his or her job as they see fit. And as I've said before if this is not 
acceptable to any member then they should leave.

[Krimel]
I was not referring to you as the thought police but to Ian and the others who have lately taken to calling for you to act. As Lao Tsu says, 

When the Master governs, the people
are hardly aware that he exists.
Next best is a leader who is loved.
Next, one who is feared.
The worst is one who is despised.
If you don't trust the people,
you make them untrustworthy.
The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!"

For most of the time I have been here you have been the "Master" we didn't know existed and who allowed us to think we were doing this all by ourselves. I think it is sad indeed that we are increasingly having to appeal to you as a leader, because that is a slippery slope.