I like sidebar too.

I wanted to mention some things I just recalled about the war thread idea.

1. We didn't want to be inundated with trolls who might never integrate with the rest of the community, or, might try, and really suck at it.

2. We didn't want to make a thread that might be divisive. If it's a thread that's very important to Poster A and Poster Z, and they argue and it gets tense, then the ripples are felt everywhere, whether said posters post everywhere or only in the War thread, because many are going to read those posts and the tensions do mutate beyond a single thread.

3. This I think is most important: We cannot be all things to all people. This is primarily a board dedicated to the entertainment industry, sub-genre sci-fi/fantasy/horror, all Whedon, all the time. If we change this, adding general interest (politics, war, crafts - they all seem general interest to me, even war as it is being discussed here) isn't part of the hmm.. manifesto.. of this board.

I'm feeling some trepidation at posting this. I don't want a fight. I don't want a huge conflict. I don't want to get emotional. I'm trying to post my feelings as clearly, concisely and non-judgementally as I possibly can. I have a great deal of respect for everyone on this board*

*Channelling Jesse: Even those of you who are WRONG and do not understand the value of 50!

By saying the old decisions are untouchable means we're repudiating the new voting system which we voted for, and validating the old system which we voted against.

If anyone feels that the decision made was a poor one, they can propose to revisit it once the expiration period is up. We haven't decided what the period is yet but, once we do, that's how we can handle it.

There are three issues at stake here:

1. Was this a valid Buffista decision? That is, was it properly made?

2. If the decision was valid, is it appropriate to reconsider old-process valid decisions before the (insert-month) quiet period?

3. Was it the right decision?

I don't think it's appropriate to address (3) before you address (1) and (2).

(1) In my opinion, the process that led to the decision was valid. It was the old Buffista process. A question was raised. It was discussed. It became clear that an overwhelming majority (23-6, I believe) of the people discussing the issue were against it. The issue was dropped.

That is the way that we always handled negative decisions before voting was put in place. Whoever showed up in Bureaucracy and argued had a vote; whoever didn't show up, didn't. It became clear to me, the proposer, that the consensus was against me, and I shut up.

(2) I don't think we should reconsider *any* decision made under the old rules. I don't want to reconsider this particular decision, but I would be equally annoyed if we reopened the Music thread (which I opposed). We have enough on our plates without reopening the stuff we decided on.

(3) Sure, the war affects all of us. Sex also affects all of us. That doesn't mean we should have a dedicated Buffista sex thread. (And, no, that's not what Bitches is.) But the question of whether we should have a War thread is IRRELEVANT, in my opinion, because we already made that decision.

Deena - your post is good but premature. It belongs in a discussion of the merits of a war thread.

Bitterchick - 3 or 6 mos on this issue is tantamount to a non-issue. Rules are good, but fairness needs to play a role too. Sometimes the rules need to be flexible.

What. Betsy. Said.

We cannot be all things to all people.

Yes, Deena. This. It seems like we're trying to cover too much ground in one community.

There's also the technical ramifications of opening new threads. I'm not going to pretend I understand the architecture of this board but I do know that when we went dark, posting volume was an issue. And it seems the more threads we have, the more posts we make.

Bitterchick - 3 or 6 mos on this issue is tantamount to a non-issue. Rules are good, but fairness needs to play a role too. Sometimes the rules need to be flexible.

And sometimes, you have to follow them, even if you don't like the result.

Wolfram, I was summing up what I perceive as the consensus of the previous discussion, not trying to lobby for or against at this time.

and why, oh why can't I spell consensus??

would be equally annoyed if we reopened the Music thread (which I opposed).

Good point. If we can go back and reconsider our decisions not to do something, logically we might end up reconsidering our decisions to do something.

And, coming in late -- yes, COMM went to the sidebar because it's an archive.