Free Speech

Hi Blowlamp

Yes, I don't want to take the chance.

I am struggling to post as the internet is playing up so please excuse me if I can't reply immediately.

regards David

Edited By David Clark 1 on 18/01/2013 14:25:49

World's gone mad. We can't have a blackboard but you can have a whiteboard ? etc

stop the world I want to get off .

Black is black just as white will always be white

As a ocassional poster on here my view is simply that the Moderators rules are the Moderators rules. He makes them and we comply.

David if you feel that the sort of comments you have described are not acceptable ten that is really the end to it. At least you have made a positive decision and for that I applaud you.

I don't know the details but I if I'm right I CAN understand why David is sensitive about this.

There are some folks who would be delighted to get an opportunity to sling mud.

Neil

David

I feel that any posts about the weather by people who have local knowledge are very helpful. I live about 400 miles away to the north, where we have no snow, but I would be very unhappy if I tried to travel to London and found that there were insurmountable problems. I therefore appreciate all the local posts and I have also phoned my sister in law who lives at the bottom of the hill below AllyPally.

This forum is the "property" of the owners of Model Engineer. The Present London exhibition is associated with the other regular model engineering publication. I can appreciate good reason for not posting comments about a competitors event whilst it is in progress - comments that might affect that competitors business.

We should remember that we do not "own" this forum and this small restriction is, to my mind, a small inconvenience to pay for a great facility. I'm more than happy to accept David's judgement in this matter

Regards

Norman

Edited By NJH on 18/01/2013 21:42:44

Hi Norman

Exactly right.

regards David

Don't blame Carol Kirkwood, she tells it like it is!

The Beeb's Breakfast told me more though, It was all tabletop railways, plastic helicopters and R/C trucks- not a machine tool in sight.
Perhaps they are not photogenic enough for Morning TV.

Bob D

All posts on this forum are branded "Model Engineer". It's Model Engineer sponsored. POsts here are effectively "Letters to the editor'. David's the editor. That's it.

There are loads of other forums which are not "sponsored" and some not moderated. They are all free.

I think I too remember..last year I think...But I support DC1 in this...his action and the reason behind it say something about the editors of the respected magazines.....nuff said.

What NJH said. No one is entitled to free speech in a forum. We are all guests of the forum host. The host can legislate as he likes. If you go to a friends house and he deems you are annoying his neighbours, whether you are or not, he's entitled to ask you to stop. Whether there is a legal case to answer or not is probably a good debating point but it makes no difference if David wants to pull the plug on a thread. I always used to get narked as a kid when I got pulled in by my mother when there was trouble outside even if I was nothing to do with it. The fact is that it's often simpler for the parent to avoid the problem all together than debate the actions with the recalcitrant child.

Hi gentlemen
Could I ask what this is all about as have been stuck somewhelre else

thanks

Bob

Hi Bob, if you have a copy of the March 2012 EIM, read the editorial, as I believe there is a clue under the second heading. I didn't see the postings before the moderation, but I guess they may have been in a similar vein.

I do believe that David said last year that unwelcome comments made relating to this situation would be removed.

Anyway I now off to the the Ally Pally to see an exhibition.

Regards Nick.

Hi Bob

I'm a "victim" of the moderation.
What happened was I was planning to drive down Friday from Norfolk to the show but at 7am Friday decided not to risk it.
One of my passengers is 70 ish and not in great shape, so there was an extra risk.
So naturally I asked if anyone could say what the weather was like in the area.
Someone came back and said the roads were ok but there was a very light snowfall.
I said something along the lines of "great but the problem is getting down to the area safely from Norfolk"
I then said I would not go that day, but would appreciate an update towards evening if possible, thinking Saturday maybe ok.

Chris.

Given the history from last year (yes, I do read the Editorials), I'm really not suprised that a little caution was exercised here. In Davids place, I would have done exactly the same. This is not censorship or a 'freedom of spech' issue or anything else - it's simply commercial caution.

We live in an age of litigation, ambulance chasers and other blights that were unknown in this Country just 10-15 years ago. Fear of legal action is the reason many ME Society's have taken Limited Company status after all.

There are many ways to check weaher conditions (Web, TV, Radio) - so I don't see this as a real problem for the Gentleman - but I'm sure MHS don't want any more agrevation in this area - so let's be a bit more understanding and get this Forum back to Model Engineering please.

Regards, IanT

Ian

You may be correct in most of what you say but I can assure you that the best way of checking the weather situation at a specific place is to converse with someone who is actually there.

Anyway I will withdraw having stated what happened to me for those interested.

Posted by chris j on 19/01/2013 09:35:09
...If I do go Sunday and get involved in a fender bender I may have to sue him for depriving me of a traffic warning

Chris

That's one of the most valid comments so far.

No one would ever sue this site because of peoples opinion of the weather and it's difficult to believe anything other than this 'moderation' being done for commercial reasons.

There are advertisements on here that can influence a person away from one company towards another - so by this logic all the businesses that don't make a sale can sue DC1 when the public don't support them because DC1 allowed someone else's advert to exist here.

Martin.

Hi There

Any good comments about Alexander Palace will be approved.

I have no wish to see this exhibition suffer.

However, comments about the bad weather stopping someone from going or the car park might be dangerous will not be approved.

regards David

I don't want anyone or any thing to suffer, but the idea that you would actively prevent us from having truthful information is not on.

How is withholding the information you cite (above) helpful to us?

Martin.