wordmunger said:
I think that's exactly what sigs are for -- expressing who you are. Sure, you may disagree with someone, but it's not like they're your roommate or something. Personally I could do without some of the more childish sigs (and avatars), but I can certainly learn to live with them.
I guess my sig could be one of the ones you're talking about, since I put my latest blog topic in my sig. If it bugs you, pm me and let me know about it. Or heck, just post it in this thread. I'm open to change -- plus, it's not like I get thousands of hits from MR anyway....
No it does not bother me, nor do most sigs. Most of them I find quite interesting or funny. You just post your latest topic, oh well. BTW, I kinda like your site
rueyeet said:
And I suppose you'd say that the war in Iraq didn't "have a huge impact" on the world? Do you think it would have happened under a President Gore? Whether you agree with the war or not, you have to admit it's had a pretty big impact, and that it will continue to influence the Mideast conflicts for years to come.
America often does make the mistake of assuming it's the most important country in the world. But, for better or for worse, America does have a sizable impact on politics and economics. And since the health of the American democracy depends on a caring and informed public, I'd rather see people getting involved than not....even when the sigs annoy me (as they often do when I disagree with them
).
Or, as the quote says, I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
You are absolutely right, it had and still has a huge impact on the world but I was referring to the exact phrasing of that sentence which implied that the future of the entire planet depended on the US. I am not arguing the importance of a strong American democracy but the last time I checked America didn't have one.
jtgotsjets said:
or, you know, it might just be (this is only a suggestion, so bear with me), that people with political yard signs actually feel strongly about the issues our nation faces and feel like any impact they can make is still an impact.
it is possible that people can feel the need to exercise free speech for reasons other than hearing their own voice, you know...
but i suppose you wouldn't understand that.
You could have saved that cynical remark for your US History class. If you could discuss that in a neutral way I might even have to say a thing or two about your comment.
paulwhannel said:
Yard signs are one thing, and it's your property, and it's great. But this forum isn't your property, it's private... you wouldn't go putting up political signs in your friends' houses, would you? It seems like the distinction of having a political forum is all that needs to be said- keep politics in there. But I should say, the one-line, small ones don't bother me, they're kind of like bumper stickers. It's the colorful, big "vote for ___!" sigs that annoy me (and a few others, it sounds). Perhaps everyone could behave like adults and tone it down, rather than making yet another issue for the mods?
paul
This was exactly my point. Toning it down would be nice and sufficient.
Jovian9 said:
I agree.
My sig is political........is it bothering you?
Oh so much
I am not against those 2 word sigs, what I am against are those colored, huge, different font using sigs.
Doctor Q said:
You can report signatures that violate the rules, which are that they not violate any forum rules dealing with content and that they not be inflammatory or too distracting. We generally define "distracting" as having too-large type or too many lines of text. If a signature is taller than, say, half a dozen lines of regular-size text, it will tend to dwarf a typical post and is therefore too tall under the "distracting" rule. There is no rule against political messages or links to your hobby or business web site, as long as the signature meets the other rules.
The moderators often have to make judgment calls, but those are our guidelines. If you find all signatures with color text or comments about the election distracting, we won't be able to help you and you should turn off signature display.
As I said, I don't mind most of the sigs I just find the political statemnents in conjunction with the use of color, huge size and a different font annoying.
Since I don't feel like reporting all the sigs that annoy me I guess I have to live with them or turn them off.
Capt Underpants said:
I guess so.
blackfox said:
Do I offend?
Diatribe, your name is very appropriate.
Why would you offend and for what is my name appropriate?
Edot said:
Wow, this could just keep going round, and round, and round. Free speech can annoy you, but allowing you to say how annoyed you are is priceless. Be glad we can all practice it!
Again, free speech does not annoy me but where is there free speech? Where in America is there free speech? Where in here is there free speech when I want to swear? There is no free speech because people don't want to put up with certain things.
Do I think censoring is good? Hell no! I for one would rather have it that each one could express themselves freely (in a behaved manner of course, which does not imply a 20 word post containing 19 swear words
) than the way it is right now.
I would also like to hear non censored songs on the radio, etc. But since there is a distinction between behaved and annoying with swear words, there is also one with political sigs.
There is nothing wrong with an unobstrusive 3 word comment on the election.As Paul said above... toning it down would be nice.
