Announcement about RDF

[klr]

I had a link there in my Sig but all the sigs have been removed. :pissed: :pissed:

They are purposely trying to separate us from one another! I feel as though I have been physically assaulted. I want to sue these fuckers!

They deleted sigs? lol, without my "I'm An Anglican: Prejudice declared" I my have become a de facto atheist !

j x

More like they disabled them. Your sig will still be in your profile, but it will never show at the end of a post (or a PM?).

[lordpasternack]

The new discussion area will not be a new forum. It will be different. We will be using a system of tags to categorize items, instead of sub-forums. Discussions can have multiple tags, such as "Education", "Children", and "Critical Thinking". Starting a new discussion will require approval, so we ask that you only submit new discussions that are truly relevant to reason and science. Subsequent responses on the thread will not need approval—however anything off topic or violating the new terms of service will be removed. The approval process will be there to ensure the quality of posts on the site. This is purely an editorial exercise to help new visitors find quality content quickly. We hope this discussion area will reflect the foundation's goals and values.

I see exactly what they are doing there. They are managing the content of the forum now to focus on the foundation's goals. I can understand it, but still disagree vehemently with the way they are going about it. I also take slight offense to the implication that users do not provide 'quality content.' People don't use discussion forums as an archive or scientific journal. Perhaps RD wants to focus his website in that direction, but the way they've gone about it is completely wrong and abuses the site's established user base.

The forum already focuses on the Foundation's goals in the core areas of Dawkins, Science & Reason. We had 2000+ posts per day in those core areas whereas the front page only gets a tenth of that. The other posts on the forum weren't all unrelated either eg the welcome forum is a joy to read as people tell their tales of escaping various religions or religious environments. The new discussion area may provide some of that but why replace something so worthwhile and successful at meeting RDFRS goals?

What has Dawkins got to do with RDFRS' goals, though? Unless a goal of the foundation is indeed to promote the Richard Dawkins persona/brand, as well as to promote pure reason and science.

I actually thought of this myself. They said they wanted threads focussing more on reason and science. If threads start asking about Richard Dawkins the personal character, I will feel compelled to report them.

And I wonder what Richard will do without that subforum. With only a slight satirical smile to myself, and no genuine malice in saying this - I have to say that he hardly ever reads/writes outside of that section. Also I observe that it has indeed been a rare occasion to see him floating anywhere near the General Science or even Evolution & Natural Selection subfora himself. I'm certain I'v likely spent more time there than the man himself has.

[ozewiezeloose]

Someone should put a paragraph about this debacle on Wikipedia's RDF page.

[Mazille]

Is NineOneFour on here?

Edit. Pensioner and Aunt Nancy too are needed

I have a list at home of people I tried to get in contact with so will post it when I get home to see if any of them have made it over yet

Pen is here. As for the rest: We're all trying to get in contact with them ASAP.

[klr]

Is NineOneFour on here?

Edit. Pensioner and Aunt Nancy too are needed

I have a list at home of people I tried to get in contact with so will post it when I get home to see if any of them have made it over yet

Pen is here. As for the rest: We're all trying to get in contact with them ASAP.

We need to make it to the evening news.

[lordpasternack]

I now have a direct (non-RD.net) email address for Richard Dawkins, which I'm currently only willing to share with RD.net staff members (please PM if you want it), who will likely be more familiar with this whole situation than many of the members, and have more familiarity with the importance of the forum and whatnot. They'll also be more likely to be polite. (The email address is available in the public domain, but would be hard to find - so there's no worry about breaching privacy as such.)

I'd also ask that we try to get our stories straight with respect to all that Josh has done to alienate a number of the community. Not just in that he plans essentiality to obliterate the forum format - but the many utterly arrogant, spiteful, underhand ways which he has gone trying to implement this change. We are not just angry at the decision - but at the objectionable behaviour of Josh in trying to implement that decision. I want to make this clear to Richard, and I want to get a clear-cut and accurate bullet-type list of the various pieces of shit he's thrown at us, and carefully covered up before Richard arrived home.

And then I will mention that the membership and staff of the forum are virtually unanimously against the decision to trash the forum (which of course Josh couldn't care less about), and feel strongly about it, and whatnot.

[Darkchilde]

Spearthower: I am in an e-mail conversation with him, and can be found on facebook as Gary Sparkes. Infact, he has opened a thread titled Betrayal there. I invited him here, but don't know whether he'll come.

RaspK also phoned me, and I told him what was happening, and he said he will be joining here.

[HughMcB]

A lot of people contributing hours in order to post a rebuttal to creationist posts, or to debunk alien conspiracy videos....

That was me... now all my hours of research pyramids is lost...

Darkchilde I'm really happy to see you here, the place would not be the same without you. I'm still so angry... and so fucking furious for all the mods who got ass raped.

Here's to the future, whatever it may bring.


Since I've been away (sleeping) a big hello to all my old comrades who have been so dishonourably discharged from the Motherland;
Crocodile Gandhi, Babel, Lazar, fretmeister, Comte de Saint-Germain, natselrox, Blip, Fallible, laklak, Arcanyn, DanDare, CTC, GreyBeardLoon, Skinny Puppy, ozewiezeloose and Witticism... (missing any?)

How hard would it have been to divorce the forum from Dawkins and let someone else host it? How hard would it have been to give people time to establish a new location away from RD.net? Why were all attempts to alert people to an alternative discussion area so vigorously stamped upon, to the extent that the forum itself has been locked and the accounts of the "ringleaders" deleted altogether?

I thought this two:

a) keep the old forum and use his new "discussion board" science database thingy
or
b) just cut us adrift, the whole site, if we had notice I'm sure we could of kept ourselves afloat and gone under a new forum name.

Obviously this fucking fascist prick wants to have his cake and eat it too. If he can't have us (on his new board) no one can.

I hope he gets gonorrhea!

PS Just a though, doesn't it strike you as odd that Josh took such a heavy hand with all of this? If I was a lead tech destroying a the biggest atheist forum online I might be a bit more apologetic or trying to say "orders are orders". The fact that he didn't indicates to me that either he is the most childish arrogant little shit of a tech I've ever known, or that he is keeping Dawkins in the dark about much of this and is trying to keep it that way. I don't care, either way I hope he gets gonorrhea.

[Strontium Dog]

Is NineOneFour on here?

Edit. Pensioner and Aunt Nancy too are needed

I have a list at home of people I tried to get in contact with so will post it when I get home to see if any of them have made it over yet

Pen is here. As for the rest: We're all trying to get in contact with them ASAP.

Don't forget Bob Kolker....

[SnowLeopard]

Since I've been away (sleeping) a big hello to all my old comrades who have been so dishonourably discharged from the Motherland;
Crocodile Gandhi, Babel, Lazar, fretmeister, Comte de Saint-Germain, natselrox, Blip, Fallible, laklak, Arcanyn, DanDare, CTC, GreyBeardLoon, Skinny Puppy, ozewiezeloose and Witticism... (missing any?)

[Cunt]

I'm certain I'v likely spent more time there than the man himself has.

For some strange reason, I feel compelled to remark on your elbows.

I don't even think I have SEEN your elbows, but that is the only remark I can come up with.

[SnowLeopard]

Josh defriended me on Facebook... do you see me crying?

Odd when he RT this on Twitter.

"I might unfollow you" is an existential threat almost as terrifying as the UPS guy forgetting your cat's name.

[laklak]

I hope he gets gonorrhea!

Only if he gets it from a toilet seat on a dirty shrimp boat. I begrudge him even a second's pleasure.

[Kristie]

I'm certain I'v likely spent more time there than the man himself has.

For some strange reason, I feel compelled to remark on your elbows.

I don't even think I have SEEN your elbows, but that is the only remark I can come up with.

She has lovely elbows.

[Flora]

@ LordP

We already have Richard's personal email (the non RD.net one) as that's the one he used to contact me on.