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  2. Low-hanging slurs are counterproductive. But otherwise, censorship doesn't stop opposing views, it just pushes them down like a pressure cooker. Falsehoods should be openly debunked. Flawed ideologies should be openly exposed. No reason to ban reasonable dialogue. Get in the ring and glove up! Take on your challengers and may the best person win! Is this even really that hard to debunk the American Right/Left nuts? Like, I've already subsumed and overridden both the "intellectual" alt-right and leftists with a greater paradigm that will dominate this forum in 5 years. DONE!
  3. You created a new thread and created the drama there, beginning with tagging my name and making zero apologies for that or any of the behavior already outlined in that thread in spite of changing the thread title after it was pointed out by me. Damned because you missed the point and began talking about The Topic That Must Not Be Named in the new thread even when I did not even allude to it at all until you kept bringing it up and putting words in my mouth. Do not post here further about that--continue it over there in your original thread if you must, cease and desist here. ..."If I say so."
  4. You and Zork were complaining about the thread being derailed, and I was told to create a new thread. Darned if you do, darned if you don't.
  5. I still think these could be adapted for meaningful and growth-oriented discourses. Not as rules per se. Unfortunately that period when the OP happened was a very tumultuous period. And I do believe the original intent of this post got buried in the politics.
  6. This thread's original post really should be incorporated as the main rules of the site. The rest of the thread is sadly a demonstration of what was wrong with some people who were administering this forum and the abuse of power.
  7. Today

  8. Blood Qigong and External Alchemy

    Earl Grey replied to rideforever's topic in Daoist Discussion

    https://gizmodo.com/the-taboo-treatment-how-fecal-transplants-save-lives-5893234

  9. Blood Qigong and External Alchemy

    EmeraldHead replied to rideforever's topic in Daoist Discussion

    I don't know but to save someone you can give blood. Not piss, semen, spit or flesh, but blood.

  10. President Trump

    Earl Grey replied to Jim D.'s topic in The Rabbit Hole

    Because you know that this isn't a dialogue or up for debate from Sean, it's also very easy to pick apart a lot of what you're saying, which is really based off of personal, normative values rather than positive facts and information. To save time and make sure the forum does not get even one chance to allow the right-wing bullshit and Trump apologists to grow and fester here like fungus from the dank, sweaty corners full of rot and foetor found in dirty gym locker rooms, I will respond partially point-by-point here. Rightfully so--he was already a controversial individual prior to his political debut, even without the leaked information about him or the meddlesome manner in which he was brought into power. Logical fallacy: appeal to pity. He has an abysmal understanding of what his job is given that people are constantly reminding him the limits of his powers, which he has either outright ignored or had complete disinterest in honoring either the letter or the spirit of the law. Logical fallacy: appeal to pity. Much like admiring the child who begins to lie more and more even though his hands and teeth show that he's had access to the cookie jar and his lies become all the more entertaining because he honestly believes the appeal to absurdity and audacity will win. Logical fallacy: appeal to pity. Which speaks to his and his supporters absence of understanding 1) how those funds are allocated, 2) the voluntary desire and policy of the US since the Cold War and post-Cold War order to have more power and influence through its dollars, 3) the relationships built on trust and reciprocity, which is measured with more than solely financial contributions. Logical fallacy: sweeping generalization. You should, given that he was not only using aid promised by the country for his individual gain, but both harming the existing relationship with Ukraine and endangering them, and damaging the integrity of diplomacy. Logical fallacy: wishful thinking. Yes, it would have. Logical fallacy: poisoning the well. He very much is a politician based on both the tactics he employs and possesses the characteristics of the people he claimed to be "draining the swamp" of before. Logical fallacies: style over substance, hasty generalization, logical inconsistency, missing the point. The media as a whole is not the enemy, and this is common rhetoric used in highly authoritarian regimes with extreme punitive responses to criticism. Parts of the media are questionable, but to deny facts and research is not helpful for a thriving society or community. Logical fallacy: poisoning the well. His confrontation has been more damaging financially to US consumers than it has been to China. Logical fallacy: hasty generalization. Hitler and Stalin, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes Czechoslovakia, then comes Austria, then comes Poland and an end to their marriage of convenience! Look at Syria now. I wonder how people felt when they saw the US relationship with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s before retrospect and even with all the information about his dubious rule. Or with Pinochet and all the other Latin American strongmen. Logical fallacies: appeal to emotion, appeal to pity, wishful thinking. And yet it does affect the American and global economy. Whiskey alone has been affected by Brexit and both Scots and Americans are affected by it. Logical fallacy: appeal to spite. A businessman who refuses to release his own taxes, has declared bankruptcy multiple times, has had a documented history of abuses against tenants and partnerships, including Trump University and Deutschebank. Logical fallacies: wishful thinking, appeal to emotion, appeal to authority, false equivalence, false conclusion. Logical fallacies: false equivalence, poisoning the well, false conclusion, appeal to emotion. Depends on whom you ask. Logical fallacy: wishful thinking. Logical fallacies: appeal to pity, appeal to ridicule, conspiracy theory... Logical fallacies: appeal to fear, appeal to pity, conspiracy theory, poisoning the well, wishful thinking. There is no question that they have also had their fair share of dubious behavior, but not at the level of Trump. Logical fallacies: false equivalence, begging the question, appeal to fear, appeal to pity, conspiracy theory, hasty generalization, missing the point, repetition, slippery slope, strawman, false analogy... Me too.
  11. You are doing nothing but attempting to skirt the real issue here! How many times did I report bigotry in all it's forms and yet your mod crew did nothing to enforce the rules that were written years ago. If I remember correctly the rules were posted at the beginning of the off topic section for all to see and possibly recognize that rules do exist here. E.g. incessant posting of Stephen Molyneux videos whom is an avowed racist/misogynist etc. Or, what about the many references to 4chan by certain members here? Furthermore, references to 4chan and other alt-right groups should be scrutinized and not tolerated here. Words matter and can influence weak minded fools, usually for the worse! Link is posted here to point out the type of racist propaganda that was frequently posted here. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stefan-molyneux
  12. No need to remove what is in reference to my humble person, but I'd appreciate a more precise wording. I myself didn't understand what you meant by "break" on first read and was very surprised, almost to the point of dropping and in all likelihood breaking a cup of tea I was holding. Ah... he means I "took a break." I did take a voluntary break, which would have been permanent departure if the staff that caused me to make this decision was still in power. As I told you in our private conversation. What that hardworking, tireless, industrious mob you were either unwilling or unable to stand up to (if you can't beat them, join them kind of a deal -- or maybe more like if you don't want to beat them because you're OK with their ways -- I won't speculate which) -- what they managed to pull off was the single meanest, ugliest, most dishonest, most disgusting and distorted example of power abuse -- beginning with the power of interpretation/spin that, in a dizzying display of black magic, twisted the right into the wrong and the wrong into the right with stunning sleight-of-hand -- that I've ever encountered in all of my virtual, online life. However, it was still virtual, and anyone who might even have the foggiest about what I had to deal with in real life without breaking would split their sides laughing at the prospect of me "breaking" from a virtual event. I merely decided, with profound regrets, that unless those responsible are gone from the position of power, I'm not going to be part of this forum. And no, I don't want to discuss it any further either, it was protracted enough in its own sweet time and serves no current purpose. You know what I said about the possibility of coming back from our private exchanges. The condition has been met, not by you and not on my behalf, but it came to pass, so I'm back. So all I ask for now is that you rephrase "break" to "voluntary exile" or "deciding to stay away from the forum" or even "taking an indefinite break" -- for stylistic and factual clarity. If you don't mind of course. If you mind, just remove the whole paragraph, please.
  13. I lurk more than I post (I think this is my 5th post). I tend to read threads without logging in (mostly at work, I admit). No logging in, no personal Ignore List. So when someone hijacks a thread, that thread is pretty much hosed for a regular reader who does not log in.
  14. thanks for that honesty. I think your posting was ok. Calling someone out may raise eyebrows and there are of course many variables to weigh ( I work with data and just my mindset). I find your post a very reasonable expression to staff.. but you may have to accept if nothing is done in response. Having been on staff for almost 15 years (not just here), I do get that. It is a challenge of forum discussion. I am personally a bit aligned to staying on topic... but the freedom to bs is something we see in all topics at times. That is why I favor subforums where we say, this is discrete content and you can't bs in it. Editing another's response post is truly wrong. Everything was told to stop posting in that one thread... a big problem is, that message was months before he next posted... so nobody can know if he saw it. That is a big challenge on staff. I get it. Posting a thread also gets member attention. I think that is ok. We should understand how members feel. Don't think for a minute that this has consequence outside of honest sharing. I personally think the transition to a single Admin creates some pressure on Sean to be here and responding to issues. So I think we need to give him some space to his availability and how the forum plays out based on the comments laid out so far. Each of us has a vision, on the past and present and future, as to how we see this forum exist. Your thread helps an understanding in that direction. Sean's decisions will help show his vision for what he wants of the forum. (SOrry to comment for Sean, and if I said anything wrong, I will remove it). You have opened up a discussion on an issue. The challenge is likely how fast there is response and action or not.

  15. Master....what master ?

    Earl Grey replied to Marcus's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Tin Yat is someone whose "system" I will go out on a limb to say that it is more dangerous to study with him than it is to make up your own nonsense from the misinformation out there that people get from YouTube videos and books or DVDs by popular teachers whose names I will not mention here. I should also mention that one of his own pathetic attempts to describe demons in Buddhism was laughable. For starters, he believes Buddhism is demonic and especially attacks Tibetan Buddhism, but also fails to understand that there are many sects of Buddhism, not even realizing Pure Land, Vajrayana, and Theravada are all different. Guess whose picture he posted as a demonic entity? Akuma/Gouki, a character from Street Fighter. It's like he's not even trying...
  16. I thought this was "The Wheels of Justice," "Every Vote Counts In An Electoral Oligarchy!," "Government Efficiency," "Facts Vs Trump," etc...?
  17. There was no need to edit the original post; honestly, I agree that calling someone out and starting a topic about it is a faux pas, as it was clearly understood to be when you were administering things here. Given that it seemed to not be seen as a big deal by Sean after you all were removed from your positions, I still felt that the spirit of that self-moderation rule of not calling someone out and starting a thread is still something to be honored. The reason I broke that personal rule and unspoken social agreement is that I am at the end of my rope here, and a lot of people don't seem to be able to focus on the topic of their threads when they're constantly reminding and asking Everything to STOP. It isn't just about placing a member on ignore, especially when he quotes us and edits our posts--it's that others who have yet to place him on ignore also get affected as he pushes his agenda of the same nonsense EVERYWHERE. I created this initially with the intent to make this a petition for action. I created this as a Xanatos gambit to get people talking about it anyway to bring the focus of Everything here instead of multiple threads telling him to leave, and a possible solution to be created short of banning him. I created this because it will get Sean's attention, just like it got everyone else's attention. Whatever consequences await me--for better or for worse--I take full responsibility for and have no regrets about opening Pandora's Box here.
  18. I want to add... members should report issues they see. How else can the staff know what is the pulse of the forum? I think we may want to consider what is reported vs posted... the former usually gets almost no action but the latter gets member response. I understood your original post and meaning and support of what you see going on. I think you should be afforded the chance to post such issues.
  19. You´ll never see me hanging out in the philosophical taoism threads. Not my thing. But I do know that one line about the Tao not being something you can name with language. I love that. I think all deep truths are beyond language. For me, the essence of truth is paradox, mystery, the unknowable. I bring this up because I find myself agreeing with two seemingly contrary positions at the same time. In a rational universe both ideas couldn´t be true at the same time -- so thank goodness this isn´t a rational universe! Let me say from the get-go that I totally agree with Taomeow that Everything´s behavior has been abusive. He was really awful in her thread. Worse, he was awful in the guise of being loving. It´s the guise of being loving part that really twists it up into something awful. I don´t know squat about Sumeria and ancient history but if there was some sort of primordial paradise that was lost with the dawning of civilization, I´ll bet the downfall started with pretend sweetness. There´s really nothing worse. So to Taomeow and Earl Grey and Nungali and myself I say this: You have every right to be pissed. You have every right to shout your dissatisfaction loud and clear. You care about this place and the time you put into your contributions and it sucks that someone is allowed to come and...bleep, bleep, bleep. And then there´s @Silent Thunder saying in his wise way...no one is capable of ruining my experience here but me. And as much as I don´t want to, I find myself agreeing with him too. Even though it seems to go against everything I just said. I can´t tell you which of these perspectives is more right. I like them both, which I suppose makes me either a namby pamby people pleaser or a sage. Please don´t bother telling me which.

  20. President Trump

    Jim D. replied to Jim D.'s topic in The Rabbit Hole

    Thanks Earl Grey. I was warned already.
  21. Sorry... this one item I would, as Admin, not consider as an issue. I'll edit it out. You should be afforded a freedom to start a thread. I understand the point made by the poster, but disagree this is an offense to the forum. Edit: I have edited the post. You may choose to edit out yours with an original content or not.
  22. This was done to me in a WMP thread a few months ago, and when it was brought up, the user was full of impunity, while Sean’s response was, “Are you offended?” about my name being used. The thread title was changed, but the main lesson there was that we’re on our own in a dynamic anarchic state that to me means we do what we can ourselves--until it’s a dealbreaker scenario for Sean to step in and eliminate things, like an individual who had the audacity to actually praise Hitler in another thread, leading to his instant dismissal. To me, we are in a state of forum anarchy, and this has actually been a part of my plan to stop pretending things like Everything and his constant spamming are “okay” and actually address them. If it gets everyone’s attention and creates dialogue, fantastic, even though my petition here was an attempt to get action more than attention. At the very least, the people I know reporting this will bring this to Sean’s attention, eventually. I’m willing to be the fall guy now if need be, because it had to be said.

  23. President Trump

    dawei replied to Jim D.'s topic in The Rabbit Hole

  24. How to be on topic?

    dawei replied to Everything's topic in General Discussion

    Everything is Everyone... Just waiting on this...

  25. President Trump

    Earl Grey replied to Jim D.'s topic in The Rabbit Hole

    You probably never read this mandate from Sean the owner before you came back to post, but you probably should if you want to stay here. Or you can leave.

  26. Deity seals

    SirPalomides replied to SirPalomides's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Another question, what are 令牌 (lingpai)? They look like spirit tablets but with additional talismanic stuff carved on them. Are they objects of worship like statues or do they have some further ritual function?

  27. Xing and Ming cultivation

    exorcist_1699 replied to dwai's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Yeah. But I know not much about other Yoga/Tantra and other dharmic practices. Maybe they have their unique expressions.
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