Topic: I agree With The Rear Window Sticker On A Durango Today.

[Hope]

hope... what did you see? 

The sticker on the back of a car

     If you don't want to stand behind our troops,

                   Then stand in Front of them!

[BobbyR]

bobby... i'm not sure if that 7000 mile comment was aimed at me but if you think i have patriotic zeal you misread my post. 

i am about as far from patriotic as one can get... but that does not mean i don't wish the troops well and hope that they might come home soon.

ichi saw a lot of sh!+ that i purposefully didn't enlist because of so that i didn't have to... for doing the dirty work... i thank him too.

hope... what did you see? 

No, no not at all. There are others are foursquare for a war as long as they don't have to do the killing and the dying. I am sure you are as patriotic as the next person. Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and Adams were considered traitors and would have been hung if we lost the war. The Constitution was wriitne to allow dissent, so you can be a patriot and disagree with the Gov't.  I actually used your 7,000 mile reference only because I was too lazy to look it up.
You cannot imagine what guys like Ichi saw. You never want to see what Ichi probably saw.

[edbikerii]

Tell the truth, I was just hoping that everybody arguing here would go over there (except me), thus making this thread stop showing up whenever I look at "unread posts since last visit".

I don't know about you guys, but I find it very hard to resist replying to some posts when they continuously show up in my unread posts.  Of course this is a terrible waste of time in some cases (like this one).

Is there some way to configure the forum software such that each user can ignore threads that they consider to be just miserable trolls, so they don't keep popping up in their unread posts?

Maybe, on a per user basis of course, we could each set up filters to block threads from showing up that contain keywords like "Clinton", "Obama", "McCain", "Bush", "Gun control", "cafe vs. restoration", "democrat", "republican", "election", "Bin Laden", "WTC", "Al Qaeda", "welfare", "socialism", "healthcare", "what's it worth", etc., while still seeing threads that might actually pertain to Honda SOHC4 motorcycles.

I certainly do not advocate globally censoring these subjects.  I just don't want to see it myself anymore.  I come here because I like my CB550, and I like chatting about it with other enthusiasts.  I find, however, that occasionally the trolls get the better of me, and I waste a lot of time reading these emails and writing replies.

Does anybody have any ideas how to increase the signal to noise ratio with respect to motorcycles?

Maybe if we could just get the "unread posts since last visit" on selected forums (like the technical forum, project forum, tips & tricks, etc.), that would suit my needs.

Any ideas?

one reply to a democrat bashing thread is a good discussion?

[kuyarico]

I support our troops 100%. Unfortunately our government does not. During the planning stage of the war in Iraq, General Franks told Rumsfeld that he would need 400K + troops to be able to complete the mission. Rumsfeld gave him 120,000, and no armor. To say "If you don't support the war, then you don't support the troops" is illogical. 4000+ soldiers have now died as a result of the failed neocon plan. If we indeed 'Stay the course' how many more lives do we have to sacrifice? In regards to the quote, "If a leader in another country is killing people in his own country through weapons of mass destruction (a gas is a germ is a nuke) of through conventional means do we as a people have any obligation, moral or otherwise, to interfere with the internal workings of their country.",  Saddam is dead, as of Apr 3, 2008, 4012 U.S. Soldiers are dead, 80,000 - 92,000 Iraqi civilians are  dead, and no weapons of mass destruction have been found. Who's killing who? When will this war be 'worth it' to you?

[SEBNN]

sebnn, how do you finish Iraq properly? I would like to know that one. Also how long will this take? IS there a way to end it properly? I mean Bush's plans have not worked with stay the course now have they. I mean do you feel it is ok to have troops there 20 or 30 years to "do it right"?

Fact is that even racism is alive and well over 100 years after the civil war. It will take even longer than that over there as they are driven by religion. There is no "Proper" way to end this.

Just like there was no proper way with vietnam. Even today the military experts do not see any way there could have been a "proper" way out.

There never really is a proper way in war other than to avoid it all together.

I would love to know that too.  If I did, I bet I would know a lot of others things and be making a whole lot more money.  One question, do we ever want to go back over there, now, or in 20 years.  I have friends who have been over there who would prefer not to go back (mainly because its a nasty sandbox in addition to the things that they have seen) and I don't blame them.  I would prefer not to go there (having a family is a part of that) and hate to see our soldiers going over there. 

With all of that I don't like what happens now if we were to pull out tomorrow.  When we did that in Vietnam the North took over and it has been a miserable hole since then.  When we left North Korea intact it has been a miserable little hole since then.  If we pull out I see Iran moving quickly to grow their territory and if you haven't noticed the Iranian front men aren't exactly reasonable or peaceful.  To prevent creating another little hole (or in this case a big one) I think we need to stay until the Iraqi's are maintaining it themselves (this could take up to 40 or more years as we have to indoctrinate a whole new generation of Iraqis to think freedom rather than sharia law). 

I am for staying in Iraq on a few conditions 1) We don't break our energy independance from the gulf states, 2) We increase the number of troops in Iraq, 3) We change the ROE's in favor of keeping our troops alive (yes, this leads to more civilian deaths, but why send our soldiers to fight a war with both hands tied behind their backs), and 4) we let the armed forces control the armed forces without the politicians sticking in their noses every 2 seconds.

If we start implementing the technology that we have for energy independance (nuclear power plants, more oil from mexico and canada, self reliant solar (buildings with solar roofs)) then I am of the mindset to drop Iraq and let the whole persian arabian area sink into oblivion (while keeping an eye on Iran as they are building some formidable weapons systems).  We don't have a lot of issues with Vietnam and Korea now (we still have some with NK because of our relations with South Korea and Japan) and I forsee that if we have no interests in the P gulf region it would be similar there as well.

As for avoiding it altogether, I am all for that, but do we ever have any responsability to help out others?  Ignoring the possible faulty intelligence about his current WMD capabilities, we do know that Saddam used WMD's on his own people in the 90's.  Do we have any responsability to help out the citizens of Iraq against an oppressive dictator?  And now it is helping to prevent the takeover of Iraq by Iran (or another unfriendly neighbor) and to limit the damage done by terrorists in Iraq.

I suppose an easy solution would be to divide the country up and let the Kurds go north, the Sunnis to the south and the Shiites to the east, oh and give a little piece to the Palastinians so they have somewhere that they can call home since no Arab country is giving them land to live on and the Jews aren't giving up the land that they live on.  Just an idea, but I don't know how the Iraqis would feel about it.

I don't know if this is a better solution, but judging by the success of a fased withdrawl, it can't be any worse.

[DammitDan]

Does anybody have any ideas how to increase the signal to noise ratio with respect to motorcycles?

A handlebar-mounted DSP unit would be nice...  So far the only thing I've been able to find is a tighter-sealing helmet though 

[Rocking-M]

Why is it that when someone says something against this invasion or the idiot that ordered it, it always is turned around to infer that that someone is not standing behind our troops?  I've NEVER heard anything derogatory said about our troops, only about the jerks that started it.

All that said, +1 to the bumper sticker and +1 to finishing the war in Iraq properly, unlike the "phased withdrawal" that we did in Vietnam that had so many positive effects for the lives of those in south Vietnam.

Oh come on, what planet you on???

I personally like the bumper sticker,

The Bush legacy, leave no child a dime.

[eldar]

So ed, you propose not having an "open" forum huh. I mean that is what this forum is all about. You do not have to click on these topics. Nothing forces you to do it. We all know you are pro bush and pro republican. You have said it many times. I mean we all have the option of clicking on a post.

sebnn, our energy independence will not happen as the people in control have too many oil interests. The whole terrorism angle does not convince me as terrorists come from every country in the middle east. So why are we not in those countries? I mean they even come from saudi which is supposedly our ally. Why not bomb the hell out of them and do the same thing then.
As for going back, remember, it was the first bush that left it open. Even if we "win", things will still suck over there and there is nothing that says we will not go back.

[edbikerii]

No Eldar, that is not what I said.  I said I would like to be able to have my forum settings ignore certain threads by choice so I'm not distracted by them and goaded into arguments by trollers (like yourself).

I suspect that many users here would benefit from such functionality, as they find themselves wasting a lot of time with these BS trolling threads.  They have a hard time ignoring them when they read posts that rub them the wrong way (either way).

My political opinions are just as meaningless to you as yours are to me, so I'd like to avoid wasting any more time looking at these threads constantly coming up in my "unread posts since last visit".

So ed, you propose not having an "open" forum huh. I mean that is what this forum is all about. You do not have to click on these topics. Nothing forces you to do it. We all know you are pro bush and pro republican. You have said it many times. I mean we all have the option of clicking on a post.

sebnn, our energy independence will not happen as the people in control have too many oil interests. The whole terrorism angle does not convince me as terrorists come from every country in the middle east. So why are we not in those countries? I mean they even come from saudi which is supposedly our ally. Why not bomb the hell out of them and do the same thing then.
As for going back, remember, it was the first bush that left it open. Even if we "win", things will still suck over there and there is nothing that says we will not go back.

[eldar]

Yes I am such a troller. Sorry but trollers usually do not stay around long. I just happen to disagree with you and you cant stand anyone who disagrees with you.

There is no time wasting going on. If you cannot control your clicking, that is your problem. I mean you are an adult right? You CAN control what you click on. You CAN choose to not say anything or not read a post. We all can. No one is forced to read anything on here they do not want. Just because it is unread, does not mean you have to read it.

Oh wait, you just want to be able to block certain people. I see, that is your concern. well again, you do not have to read a persons post, skim over it or jump to the next one.

I have done it before, I am sure you can too.

[Spikeybike]

yet i still see ed's name at the top of this thread ,reading it , right now ....

have you lost control again?

[SEBNN]

sebnn, our energy independence will not happen as the people in control have too many oil interests. The whole terrorism angle does not convince me as terrorists come from every country in the middle east. So why are we not in those countries? I mean they even come from saudi which is supposedly our ally. Why not bomb the hell out of them and do the same thing then.
As for going back, remember, it was the first bush that left it open. Even if we "win", things will still suck over there and there is nothing that says we will not go back.

See my earlier posts about finding a non-twit leader for president.  No matter how much those on the left love to scream about how they are for saving the planet and those on the right burn tires for fun they are in bed with large corporations and oil companies just like the right.  Smart companies donate to both parties so as to stay in favor with whomever may be occupying the office.  Like all things of worth, energy independance starts with the individual/family that adapts their lifestyle to using less fossil fuels.  But with that we also need to increase our non-oil burning electrical production in order to make serious inroads towards energy independance.

One reason not to bomb saudi is that they are a fairly stable neighbor whose leadership doesn't rattle swords like their nutjob neighbors across the gulf.  Should we do more to help other countries?  I don't know.  A part of me (probably the good part) say yes, even at the cost of men and money, the other portion says no, if they want to kill each other off, who am I to interfere, lets just make sure that the fighters are evenly matched.  Then hopefully if we let them do unrestricted warfare all of the nuts intent on killing each other will kill each other off.  It means we don't put any boots on the ground and they get to war for several centuries and we just have to ignore what they are doing to each other (we seem to have that part down).

[edbikerii]

OH, hey, there's an idea that I didn't mention!  I'm glad you thought of it, Eldar.  Sure, I'd love to be able to set filters so that I could ignore repeated nit-wit trollers' inane comments and prevent them from showing up in my "unread posts since last visit".  I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would benefit greatly from that suggestion, too.

After all, the nature of a troll is to try to suck in as many people as possible with inflammatory comments, and to do it over and over again.  I'm sick and tired of it.  I come here to read about motorcycles, but half the headlines that show up in the "unread posts since last visit" results are inflammatory political ramblings and other time-wasting trolls.  The way things are now, we have to read the headlines if we want to get to the decent content.  Does anybody know of a better way that I can implement today?

I don't care what anybody else wants to read or post, but I'd love to be able to filter this garbage out of my own view, because I simply don't want to waste any more time on it.  If I could just omit the non-technical forums from my "unread posts since last visit" search, I think I'd be happy.  I can even live with "which oil is best" and "cafe vs. resto".

Oh wait, you just want to be able to block certain people. I see, that is your concern. well again, you do not have to read a persons post, skim over it or jump to the next one.

[edbikerii]

I left the office at 445, after shooting off that last post.  Forgot to shut down the browser.   But yes, you are correct.  I've obviously lost control again and replied to yet another inane troll since then.  See, if I had an "ignore this thread forever" checkbox, then I wouldn't even know there were replies in it, and I'd never be tempted to read them and reply myself.  WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT??

yet i still see ed's name at the top of this thread ,reading it , right now ....

have you lost control again?

[Spikeybike]

OH, hey, there's an idea that I didn't mention!  I'm glad you thought of it, Eldar.  Sure, I'd love to be able to set filters so that I could ignore repeated nit-wit trollers' inane comments and prevent them from showing up in my "unread posts since last visit".  I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would benefit greatly from that suggestion, too.

After all, the nature of a troll is to try to suck in as many people as possible with inflammatory comments, and to do it over and over again.  I'm sick and tired of it.  I come here to read about motorcycles, but half the headlines that show up in the "unread posts since last visit" results are inflammatory political ramblings and other time-wasting trolls.  The way things are now, we have to read the headlines if we want to get to the decent content.  Does anybody know of a better way that I can implement today?

I don't care what anybody else wants to read or post, but I'd love to be able to filter this garbage out of my own view, because I simply don't want to waste any more time on it.  If I could just omit the non-technical forums from my "unread posts since last visit" search, I think I'd be happy.  I can even live with "which oil is best" and "cafe vs. resto".

oh man that was so hilarios, i've got this mental image of you frothing at the mouth, swearing at the computer......  man, lighten up , ...... better yet dont lighten up ,why dont you just tell me more about how i'm a troll 

[edbikerii]

OK, you're a troll 

Here's the proof:
You posted this one minute and thirteen seconds after my post.  Then you modified it again within two more minutes!!!

Were you sitting there waiting, or do you have an email notification sent to you whenever this thread is updated?

If it is so simple to have an email notification sent, then why is it so hard to have an "ignore this thread button"?

Cheers

OH, hey, there's an idea that I didn't mention!  I'm glad you thought of it, Eldar.  Sure, I'd love to be able to set filters so that I could ignore repeated nit-wit trollers' inane comments and prevent them from showing up in my "unread posts since last visit".  I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would benefit greatly from that suggestion, too.

After all, the nature of a troll is to try to suck in as many people as possible with inflammatory comments, and to do it over and over again.  I'm sick and tired of it.  I come here to read about motorcycles, but half the headlines that show up in the "unread posts since last visit" results are inflammatory political ramblings and other time-wasting trolls.  The way things are now, we have to read the headlines if we want to get to the decent content.  Does anybody know of a better way that I can implement today?

I don't care what anybody else wants to read or post, but I'd love to be able to filter this garbage out of my own view, because I simply don't want to waste any more time on it.  If I could just omit the non-technical forums from my "unread posts since last visit" search, I think I'd be happy.  I can even live with "which oil is best" and "cafe vs. resto".

oh man that was so hilarios, i've got this mental image of you frothing at the mouth, swearing at the computer......  man, lighten up , ...... better yet dont lighten up ,why dont you just tell me more about how i'm a troll 

[DammitDan]

Ed, you of all people should be advocating self control.  After all, our government is too inept to make decisions for itself, why should you expect a forum filter to work any better?

You keep complaining about inane posts and trolls, and yet you keep coming back and posting...  You shouldn't need a button to tell you to ignore something if it upsets you.  Don't like a forum feature?  Don't use it.  Don't like a forum poster?  Don't go to any topics they might frequent.  It's as simple as that.

Although Spikey sure gives an interesting mental image...

[edbikerii]

Huh?  WTF are you talking about?  I just want an "ignore this forum" button or an "ignore this thread button" please.  And like Eldar suggests, an "ignore this user" button would be great too.

Ed, you of all people should be advocating self control.  After all, our government is too inept to make decisions for itself, why should you expect a forum filter to work any better?

You keep complaining about inane posts and trolls, and yet you keep coming back and posting...  You shouldn't need a button to tell you to ignore something if it upsets you.  Don't like a forum feature?  Don't use it.  Don't like a forum poster?  Don't go to any topics they might frequent.  It's as simple as that.

Although Spikey sure gives an interesting mental image...

[DammitDan]

I'm talking about you don't need it.

Show Unread Posts tells you which forum a topic comes from... if you don't want to read it, simply check that topic and hit the "mark as read" button.

That way you get to choose which forums or topics to ignore.  There is no button needed unless you want to spend the umpteen hours programming it.

Though I do think it's funny that you're getting defensive about not being able to ignore a topic that you can't seem to stop reading.

[Gordon]

Does anybody know of a better way that I can implement today?

Okay, here it is.  Make sure you have something to write with.


Don't use the "Show unread posts since last visit" option! 

I've been here since this version of the forums began and I've never used that option.  It's not a requirement. 

[Spikeybike]

OK, you're a troll 

Here's the proof:
You posted this one minute and thirteen seconds after my post.  Then you modified it again within two more minutes!!!

i forgot to add stuff


oops did it again

[DammitDan]

Don't use the "Show unread posts since last visit" option! 

I've been here since this version of the forums began and I've never used that option.  It's not a requirement. 

This method works too, of course.

It's all about self control and self regulation.  Wait, isn't that an argument from another recent topic? 

Don't you hate it when you find a typo and you don't get it modified quick enough and it puts that "Edited xxx/xxx/xxx" at the bottom of the post? 

Dammit, there it is again.  Can we get rid of that please?  I demand we get rid of it right now.

[Spikeybike]

 

[Uncle Ernie]

Bill, haven't read all the other stuff, just your bumper sticker.
1) This ain't Viet Nam
2) I just assumed you are more intelligent than that.
3) Why would you spose it's necessary to stir up floatng doody?

NOBODY is calling returning soldiers any names or disrespectring them. 
The crooked administration that sent them ro Iraq- that's another story.
So.  Why would an intelligent person like you feel the need to start something.  Those are Bush's tactice, not even especially Republicans.

Useless troll thread.  yeah- I love ya, but I'm steamed.  No good done here.  This country doesn't need knife fights like this. 

[edbikerii]

Except that they keep coming back after you've marked them as read.  Every time somebody wastes the bytes to post another message, the stupid annoying thread titles come back, and you have to read them in order to get through the "unread posts since last visit".

Now, if any subset of these features is already available in the forum software, then it would be great.  I'd just like access.  Otherwise, I'd like it if someone knows of a better way.  I've considered using the RSS feeds, but I think I'd need something more sophisticated than Yahoo to implement what I'd like.  At least the RSS feeds allow me to NOT see entire forums if I choose.

I'm talking about you don't need it.

Show Unread Posts tells you which forum a topic comes from... if you don't want to read it, simply check that topic and hit the "mark as read" button.

That way you get to choose which forums or topics to ignore.  There is no button needed unless you want to spend the umpteen hours programming it.

Though I do think it's funny that you're getting defensive about not being able to ignore a topic that you can't seem to stop reading.