Anonymous wrote:
On a forum where you won't get involved with people publicly blaming a mom who has just lost her child for not providing an epi-pen, a forum where people routinely say racist things, and are really ugly to one another, I'm just a bit bemused by why, exactly, this is a line you want to draw in the sand.

Really, the answer to your question is sort of obvious. I want DCUM to be useful. If someone starts a thread in search for specific information, DCUM is not useful for them if the thread is dominated by posts which not only don't provide the information but are antagonistic toward the original poster. Some users, apparently you are one, will just deal with it. Others will give up on DCUM and any "word of mouth" publicity from them will be negative. Some will ask me to exercise my prerogatives as moderator. If I have the time and feel the request is reasonable, I'll do it.

In the case of the epipen, the thread was not started in order to obtain information. The original post was a clip of a news article. The poster offered no information regarding why the news clip was posted, but it is reasonable to expect discussion of the article. I place a high value on free discussion, even when -- make that especially when -- I disagree with some of the opinions expressed. I think the usefulness of the discussion is enhanced by a wide range of views. I don't think the nuances between an "information-seeking" thread and a "discussion" thread are particularly subtle. We all can tell them apart.

In the case where users are interested in addressing a larger issue rather than a derived request for specific information -- for example, the pros and cons of beef rather than how to cook a steak -- users are free to start their own thread. Nothing prevented you or others from starting a thread about medicating ADHD children. In fact, just that sort of thread was started. Nothing is stopping you from starting a thread regarding the propriety of seeking legal custody of a neighbor's children. Indeed, in the case of the recent abortion-related thread, I stepped in and stopped non-responsive posts and another thread was started almost immediately. That second thread is on the list of Hottest Topics. That's the sort of "censorship" of which you accuse me.

Anonymous wrote:
Personally as a long time poster to DCUM (and the one you deleted from the thread -- I guess you didn't like my response to your intervention), I would have responded much differently to you if you had simply stated this when you got involved. I wouldn't have responded at all, nor posted here.

Yes, but as you see from a subsequent post, my explanation here might have satisfied you but it wouldn't have satisfied others. No matter what I have to say, someone will choose to argue. Also, as your response in the previous thread demonstrated, no matter how clear I make it that responses to me should be in this forum, someone will ignore it.

Because the OP requested me to get involved. I want DCUM to be a useful place to obtain information. As I've said in other posts, it's not helpful to ask how to grill a steak and be told you shouldn't eat meat. Such responses dissuade people from using DCUM for its intended purpose. Anyone who starts a thread is free to ask for the same sort of intervention.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OWS has suffered from #messagefail ever since it decided it was angry at the banks and showcased that by ... protesting the stock exchange. The hell?

The name of the movement is "Occupy Wall Street". The symbolic importance of the New York Stock Exchange to Wall Street should be clear to even the least perceptive among us.

Um, the stock exchange is just a marketplace. Traders didn't design credit default swaps. Hell, they didn't even trade them. Certainly not on the NYSE. That, actually, was part of the problem -- the lack of transparency.

You might take the time to actually understand how these things worked before you get up in arms over this. The stock exchange didn't cause the financial crisis, the banks did, and if you think they are synonymous, you are wrong.

You may want to take the time to actually understand the term "symbolic" before you get up in arms.

Anonymous wrote:
Not the PP you're talking to but I completely agree. I can't believe OP is so dismissive of the people speaking from experience here saying that it is a TERRIBLE idea. If there are mitigating issues that make the kids' parents unfit, then that is a different issue. The issue of temporary custody just so mom can get "on her feet," is terrible.

And OP says that mom is moving to be near family - so she has the hubris to think she can take better care of these kids than the kids' own family! Agree with the PP who says she hopes the mom in this story will get strong legal custody before giving up her kids to the OP.

Let's please keep additional responses in this thread limited to addressing the original request which was for information about how to obtain temporary guardianship. Opinions about whether or not temporary guardianship is a good idea are not responsive to the request. That is a decision that will be made by the children's parents.

When I have stepped into threads in this manner in the past, posters have frequently had questions about why I am doing it. Such questions are also not responsive to the topic of this thread and should be posted in the Website Feedback forum.

Anonymous wrote:OWS has suffered from #messagefail ever since it decided it was angry at the banks and showcased that by ... protesting the stock exchange. The hell?

The name of the movement is "Occupy Wall Street". The symbolic importance of the New York Stock Exchange to Wall Street should be clear to even the least perceptive among us.

The OP asked for it to be removed. Plus it was pretty off-topic for General Parenting in the first place.

Calling the feature "Avoid Ghetto" is offensive and misleading. I wonder how that term ended up in the news report given that it doesn't appear in the patent application and Microsoft refused to comment for the report. Did some "reporter" just make it up? From the patent application, here is the description of this feature:

"Production of the direction set can be based upon security information (e.g., avoiding unsafe neighborhoods), weather information (e.g., having a user travel indoors when rain is expected or taking place), terrain information (e.g., avoiding non-paved roads for an elderly pedestrian), or a combination thereof."

The feature sounds interesting and calling it "Avoid Ghetto" is really a disservice.

WCP has been losing a lot of staff lately. Assuming this article is accurate, it has some interesting insight into the situation:

http://dcist.com/2011/12/dave_mckenna_leaves_city_paper_afte.php

It focuses on the departure of sportswriter Dave McKenna. However, it mentions the following:

"McKenna's departure also adds to the number of postions the City Paper needs to fill. The paper has been looking to hire a web producer, while the assistant managing editor postion has been vacant since the summer when Michael Grass (a former DCist editor) left to launch Huffington Post's D.C. vertical."

Jason Cherkis also left to join the HuffPost. The Dan Snyder lawsuit probably consumed a lot of attention as well.

Yep, I'm working on it. Still can't track down the root of the issue.

And, now Thomas has resigned. The Board of Elections has five days to declare the seat vacant and set the date for a special election which will probably be in May (I think). Potential candidates are coming out of the woodwork, but Vincent Orange -- who previously held that seat -- apparently wants to be kingmaker and is planning a meeting to try to narrow the candidate field.

Without commenting on the previous post, I can say that direct costs are not that high and advertising revenue has easily covered them for several years. We have operated the DCUM mailing list and the website for a decade now. During most of that time, we couldn't even contemplate being compensated for our time. Within the past two years, revenue grew to the point that Maria could quit her job with the expectation that continued revenue growth would quickly replace her lost salary.

Anonymous wrote:Man, this is going to be so fun watching the Teabaggers and GOP base slowly come to the realization that Romney's their guy. Teabaggers will love the rich eastern elite guy who invented Obamacare. And the Christianists will love that he's a member of a cult-like perversion of Christianity.

They've discovered the perfect candidate!

It gets so much better than that. Mitt was a supporter of the Vietnam War. However, he failed to enlist in order to participate in said war. Moreover, despite being of an age to be eligible for the draft, he avoid the draft. Guess how? He was exempted as a "minister of religion". He spent two and a half years proselytizing. But, this is the best part. Guess in which country he did his missionary work? France!

So, the likely Republican nominee is a chickenhawk, Francophone missionary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Al Gore never said he invented the Internet. This is an urban myth.

The same way Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her house. That was started by Tina Fey on SNL

He really did say it. He used the word "created". Close enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnFJ8cHAlco

He said "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet..." He is clearly referring to the legislation that he introduced or and/or co-sponsored which led to the Internet as we know it. It's was clumsily worded, but it's a pretty common way for legislators to talk about things. The legislation was indeed key to expanding the Internet beyond its original scope.

Anonymous wrote:I hope Maria kicks your ass OP!

If I have the story correct, DCUM was Maria's idea and Maria quit her other job/career to manage DCUM full-time.

That's mostly correct. A friend of Maria's had an idea for a "real life" Mom's group. Maria had the idea for a virtual counterpart, which ended up being the more popular aspect of it. DCUM grew out of that. Maria quit her job with the intention of putting her time into developing new features for DCUM. However, she has since been diverted onto another project in which the two of us are involved.