Dear Gene...

[MonkeySlap Too]

I am the real fake monkey!

[GeneChing]

Man, I'd love to do that seminar next time I'm at some kind of tournament. Request it from the promoters....

[Shaolindynasty]

Will do Gene!

[GeneChing]

How to adminstrate a kungfu forum 101

How to write kungfu videos 101

How make a living in kungfu without having to suit up everyday 101

Also have I told you of the new qigong system I'm developing. Sit on your butt qigong. I'm practicing it right now.

[Shaolindynasty]

I'll take this one
"How make a living in kungfu without having to suit up everyday 101"


but How about

Reading ridiculus KF posts all day 101

Kissing @$$ for free Kungfu stuff 101

Shameless Kungfu promotion 101

[rubthebuddha]

Gene,

just thought i'd mention a couple things:

we got in a smidgeon of an OT discussion in the KF/KF thread of "some of you might appreciate this," and to ask a question of other users, i felt i had to use a couple racist terms (dago, wet back, etc.). in no way do i appreciate these terms, but i refer to them in dialogue when the situation warrants it. i hope i wasn't out of line, but you might want to take a look at that thread to make sure i wasn't. kill my post if you need to -- it won't hurt my feelings.

also, kudos to you on your software catching the term wet back, as it shows up as lots of stars when you type it properly as one word.

one last thing: i dunno how much you know about press law and libel, but i gave a quick glossover of libel law in the KF/KF thread of "on the nature of ranting and gossip" that kung lek tossed up. i put that up there for both users and admin, just in case it can help.

anyhoo, that's it. have a grand day and post here or e-mail me if you need to chats.

[GeneChing]

sd: Shameless Kungfu promotion 101 is graduate version of How to sell out in martial arts 101. Reading ridiculus KF posts all day 101, well, that's more of an addiction. And Kissing @$$ for free Kungfu stuff 101 should be a class that you all teach me. There's a chapter in Shameless Kungfu promotion 101 that cover how to get the free stuff to give away...

rtb: Libel is a funny thing on the net, especially when juxtaposed with confidentiality. So far, no one has really pursued it to the point of lawsuit since lawsuits are often more expensive to get started than they are worth. But I'm sure that's coming...
As for the posts, I believe you have the power to edit your onw posts now, so try that. We have been focused on just getting the forum moved and running smoothly, so the censored words are still just auto functions of vBulletin.

[rubthebuddha]

i've actually edited plenty of my own posts, but i was curious about your opinion of the content of that particular one, and i wanted to let you know that something out there is questionable.

as far as libel and anonymity, i'm looking forward to how the courts will view such things as privacy, confidentiality and censorship. private organizations don't usually have to share membership information, but since the internet is so much more prevalent and far-reaching than print, radio and television (still trying to get my antennae to pick up leningrad's KMIX 96 fm - home of russky rock!), and it's far more difficult to screen content, i wouldn't be surprised if applicable laws actually became MORE stringent.

[GeneChing]

In answer to your question, since you put it so directly, I didn't think you were particularly out of line, given the context. But I did think the subject was way OT, and as always, the profanity is troublesome - this is a family show, after all. Unfortunately there's not too much that can be done about that - even the most rigorous of censors will be thwarted by a well placed *. So while I don't support that thread personally, and posting on it feeds it, I'll defend your right to post there. As a publisher, I'm a devout supporter of free speech, so my moderation style is pretty lax, perhaps to a fault. I'd go crazy if I had to delete every OT post. My opinion beyond that is pretty irrelevant. We provide this forum for airing opinions, preferably about MA, but as we saw on 9/11, it has a powerful social function that cannot be denied. That day changed my perception of this forum - indeed my perception of everything - and it made me much more forgiving of OT threads.

As for libel, as soon as a lawyer produces good cause, we'll be happy to give them whatever info they need and delete whatever posts necessary. It's just a forum and I don't feel as if it's members have to be protected by us. Again, this is a MA forum, so everyone should be focused on protecting themselves. A warrior should stand behind his or her word. But then, truly, we aren't all warriors here. Nevertheless, I would hope that we could behave as such. While I certainly don't expect the newbies to understand the ins and outs of martial etiquette, there is a obvious high moral ground here, and certainly those who take that path are recognized. If a member is actually harming another member by 'libel' posts, they should be busted, and the justice system will have our full cooperation. However, personally I think it's only a forum, and if you have to take it to the point of lawsuit, well, that seems just a little absurd. But who knows what tommorrow will bring?

[rubthebuddha]

well said.

as far as tomorrow, i feel it'll only bring what we make of it. could be armageddon or worse, but if we act the way we should and do something right for others and ourselves, then the day can't be a total loss.

happy day and consider my next toast to be aimed in your direction.

-dave

[GeneChing]

For a long time I had the lyrics to a song titled "My brother Esau" on my license plate frames. The front said "shadowboxing the apocalypse"; the back said "and wandering the land." Well, I lost the back frame, so I moved the front frame to the back, then it broke in two, so now it just says "apocalypse".

For me, Kungfu has always been about shadowboxing the apocalypse. To me it's a spin on the Hakagure's notion of greeting every day like it's your dying one. Implicit in that is to be righteousness, although with the current trend towards suicide mass murders maybe not so. Still, those are outliers, I hope everyone wants to face death with courage and righteousness.

Hmm, this is a pretty heavy place to arrive from asking about the appropriateness of racial slang. That toast is coming right back at you, Dave. Cheers!