Foo - where did my thread go?

y'know, the one where i posted about being attacked, and then got painted as a racist because i mentioned that the attackers happened to be black? if it was a group of white guys, i would've said that it was a group of white guys. if it was a group of asians, i would've said that. if it was a group of latinos, i would've said that too.

sure, we all get harassed by people when we ride our bikes, but it's not every day that someone gets punched in the firggen head by some random stranger (it was the first time it happened to me, anyway). that's why i posted the thread. to say, "hey, this happened to me, be careful because it could probably happen to you too." i know there are quite a few folks who read this forum who reside in the bay area, i just wanted to give them a heads up so maybe they could avoid a similar situation.

maybe the folks who think i'm racist missed the posts where i said the actions of the few don't have any bearing on my opinions of the many, or that there aren't any bad neighborhoods, just bad people, individuals, not entire groups or races. it's really unfortunate that it happened to begin with, and it's equally unfortunate that just because i happened to mention the race of the individual, people get offended. i never said anything hostile about black people in specific, and i never would...about any race for that matter. i said "i hope the ****er broke his hand." and i meant it. i'd say it about anyone who attacked me, regardless of race.

i STILL have a headache after two nights, and i can't get to sleep at night because i keep thinking about it. last night when i had to ride home alone after dark, i was so paranoid the whole time that someone, was gonna run out in front of me and do it again. it's ridiculous that we live in a society where that kind of behavior becomes acceptable.

i was angry and i was scared when i made the post, but i didn't say anything intended to incite racist comments. i have no control over what other people say. maybe we should start nerfing "black" and "white" and any other race classifications to asterices as well, to prevent people from being offended.

a word about the vulgarity policy on this board. i understand why it exists, but, i don't see why moderators have to edit posts and constantly bring it up when the "bad words" are already nerfed to come out as asterices. how is "****" more offensive than "<snip>." people still know there was something there that was editted out. in my orginal post, there was a section where i said something like "that M-Fer", and the starred-out word was replaced by "<snip>." if the thread actually existed anymore, anyone who read it might think i said the N-word, or some other heinous word in the same vein. something i would never do. with the stars in there, they'd see that, in fact, i had not said the N-word. the fact that it was changed when there was nothing wrong with it is insulting to me.

The reason racial issues or tensions still exist, I think, is because everyone is afraid to discuss these things openly without reservations. Everyone is afraid to say anything lest they be deemed a racist or a bigot, so everything gets swept under the rug where it won't be seen or heard, thus depriving those people involved from potentially learning and growing. Of course I could be wrong. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. I think in too many problems that face our society today people tend toward the ostrich defense.

this is really creepy here. like beeing in an asylum where the guards are psychos.

the whole race thing is so sensitive nowadays it cannot even be discussed- I remember years ago when I first started work I was telling a story about when a friend of mine was visiting a croc farm in South Africa. I meant the story in sort of liberal "aren´t the white South Africans a bunch of oppressive morons" type thing, But suddenly when I mentioned the race thing everone just looked embarrassed and sort of went very quiet. I realised at that point there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that could be safely said concerning race. I resolved at that point never to mention race/black/white issues ever again to anyone in public again and I have largely succeeded to date. I would advise anyone else to do the same. Even when it has been raised by other people I just smile enigmatically and stare out of the window. It s the safest way.

the funny thing is there is no biological foundation for the term race. its just a thing
that keeps ******* busy. those ******* have pretty much revealed themselves
by removing the thread.
a race is at least two people competing for the best time on a race track. fullstop.

the funny thing is there is no biological foundation for the term race. its just a thing
that keeps ******* busy. those ******* have pretty much revealed themselves
by removing the thread.


WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE!!! i think you mean mentally or physically challenged persons!!!

WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE!!! i think you mean mentally or physically challenged persons!!!

*beep*

OneTinSloth, the only problem I had with your original post was the swearing. I ran a query that removed all asterisks in that thread with <snip>, so the thread could stay open. Normally when I see a post with more then 5 works censored out, I'll delete it, and ask the user to post again without using vulgarity. The thread in question grew to fast for that to really be an option for you. Hence my editing query. I can see why you are upset, but at the same time, rules are rules.

As for the thread being removed: We had more then a few users report it to the mods, for language and for racist comments. I think it got to the point were the thread was not compatible with the guidelines without removing over half the posts, at that point it makes more sense to delete the thread then try to delete individual posts to keep it within the guidelines.

MGR, I agree with your post fully, well said. I don't mind discussing racial tensions in the Foo (off topic chit chat) forum. I just don't want to see any racially offensive comments a reply to somebody else's post on this forum ever again.

Sohi... is that the best analogy you could come up with? Think of me as the sheriff that will let you go 10% over speed limit 90% of the time. Just dont cry when you get a ticket for doing 50 in a 25.

OneTinSloth, the only problem I had with your original post was the swearing. I ran a query that removed all asterisks in that thread with <snip>, so the thread could stay open. Normally when I see a post with more then 5 works censored out, I'll delete it, and ask the user to post again without using vulgarity. The thread in question grew to fast for that to really be an option for you. Hence my editing query. I can see why you are upset, but at the same time, rules are rules.

see this is what i don't understand. how is <snip> less offensive than asterisks?

where are your simpsons avatars? they kept it in context atleast :)

It may, or may not be more offensive. People perceive different things in life as being offensive.

maybe it should be switched to like, pound signs or something...

####!!!

actually, last night i switch it to underscores, pound signs may also work. I just don't want everyones eyes to be drawn to the censored word and feel they can do the same.

actually, last night i switch it to underscores, pound signs may also work. I just don't want everyones eyes to be drawn to the censored word and feel they can do the same.

the "at" symbol is nice and round, no sharp edges or anything like that, seems like a pretty safe, inocuous little symbol.

@.

actually, you know what would keep people's eyes from being drawn to the censored words? not censoring them.

That wont be an option. :)

Onetin
fwiw I read your post though I did not read any but maybe the first two comments and I did not think you were being racist at all. In fact it did not even cross my mind. I saw it as a descriptive outline of what happened anyway like I said fwiw....

Can we censor this kind of stuff:
"B4 u road BMX u wer a looser! isnt it gr8 two ride a bike! wut trix do u do?"

I'm serious.


No, really.



Seriously! Wut do u think?

IMHO, the first few posts were not racist. However, a good portion of the comments in the whole thread were racially offensive, and a few posts that were deleted outright before the thread was trashed, were down right racist.

What it comes down to, with this thread, or any other thread / post / comment on the forums: If one my moderators, or myself believe that the thread / post / comment is breaking the spirit of the guidelines, they have the option to take action and delete the said thread / post / comment. It is very rare that we delete a whole thread, but some times the thread itself is not salvageable by deleting the offending posts.

My two cents worth: Underscores, snips, asterisks, pound signs--all of these are simply lame attempts to make acceptable words some people may find offensive. In fact, polite, effective communication happens much better without offensive diction, which functions often as meaningless intensification rather than as meaningful content. Name calling, invoking excrement and other forms of scatology, condeming to hell all impede discussion rather than enhance it. One who cannot discuss an issue without resorting to such tactgics ought to step back and calm down. Even discussion of issues as difficult as race can happen well if people approach it thoughtfully and with respect for the opinions of others.

Registering to mock people crying about language and the word 'black' being used.

Edit: oh sweet I'm right below the ad

JMTCW... Censorship sucks. No two ways about it... censorship sucks!


What is the difference if someone writes $hit, ***** or gets ****, @@@@ or ____ ? We all know what (insert name here) stepped in and got all over their shoe. As George Carlin reminds us "There are no bad word, bad thoughts, bad intentions but no bad words.

What's next? We limit all but the highest of technical vernacular. So we can't write the word 'poo' without getting <snip> End result, 'Jimmy stepped in canine fecal matter'. C'mon, when you (collectively) step in it, you've just stepped in dogsiht!

My two cents worth: Underscores, snips, asterisks, pound signs--all of these are simply lame attempts to make acceptable words some people may find offensive. In fact, polite, effective communication happens much better without offensive diction, which functions often as meaningless intensification rather than as meaningful content. Name calling, invoking excrement and other forms of scatology, condeming to hell all impede discussion rather than enhance it. One who cannot discuss an issue without resorting to such tactgics ought to step back and calm down. Even discussion of issues as difficult as race can happen well if people approach it thoughtfully and with respect for the opinions of others.

were you even involved in the original discussion? it wasn't a discusison about race, it was me posting a thread about how i got attacked on my way home from work. please, save the $.50 words for term papers and blog entries, they tend to obscure your point.

and people can be just as offensive or non-sensical without using the 7 dirty words.

Just ignore Slothy, he's a vertically challenged, gearing disadvantaged, melanin deficient bicycle maintenance officer.

WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE!!! i think you mean mentally or physically challenged persons!!!

Thats another one that chaps my eye. people get offended by the word ********, which is a perfectly correct technical term like accelerate or penis. In a sentance "If something ******* his mental devolopment, than he has become mentally ********."
I think people switched to 'mentally challenged' for the same reason people spell out words when talking about dogs. Example "Give that dog a b-a-t-h." so the dog dosen't run off. That does bug me a little.

I new a gal that would get in a snit if she heard '******' or '********' I was talking to someone about a chemical reaction being ******** under certain conditions and she still got all fluffed up, at which point I told her she was free to leave. :) (she was a freind of an aquaintance)

I like that this site tries to keep the profanity down. Still, there are some emotions that are difficult to properly express without a little profanity and I think OneTinSloth did an admirable job of restraint with his post even if it was outside the guidelines.

Had I been physically attacked by a gang while riding my bike I would be very upset. Especially if there was nothing that authorities would do to the perpetrators or to prevent it from happening again to me or someone else. Venting to this group was a good way for the victim to look for support in dealing with what happened as well as warning others of the danger. That the thread got pulled is a shame.

I probably didn't get to read all of the posts in the pulled thread but I don't recall anything in the thread that was racially offensive other than one post which, if I recall, accused OneTinSloth of racism because he included the skin color of his attackers in his description of them.

Since the thread is gone maybe it could be restarted without any profanity or reference to the skin color of the attackers so that other cyclist may be warned of the danger. After the attack OneTinSloth had found that other cyclist had been similarly attacked along the same route. Some struck in the head with 2x4's. The objective of the attacks apparently is to knock the cyclist to the ground so he can be robbed and beaten.

to end this thread, if your out riding your bike and you see a potential danger approaching you, stay clear off the danger, what I mean if you see a group of people advancing towards you then stay away from them or don't be near them, get the hell out of that place, this way you have averted any attacks on you person...

where did it happen? I was thinking of headin' down that way to see my uncle in north Berkeley but I was going to make a bit of a tour out of it.

to end this thread, if your out riding your bike and you see a potential danger approaching you, stay clear off the danger, what I mean if you see a group of people advancing towards you then stay away from them or don't be near them, get the hell out of that place, this way you have averted any attacks on you person...

the thing is, i had no reason to think they were going to attack me until it was too late. i see large groups of folks all the time on my way home and had never been attacked before. and they weren't advancing, there were two people crossing the street, i went to ride around the one in the rear, so as not to cut hium off or run him over. that was when i realised what was about to happen, and i was about 10 feet away from them. i really had no options at that point, so i plowed through. i'm really lucky it wasn't worse.

if i notice something suspucious, i generally do avoid it. in this case, nothing was suspicious until the last two seconds and there was nothing i could do. i try not to deem every large group of people as suspicious or a threat right off the bat though...i was more prone to do that in boston when i saw a huge group of frattish-looking white boys though, but that's because in boston, that's who ____s with you at 1am when you're on a BMX bike.

capiscum: it was in oakland, sorta near emeryville on adeline street somewhere around 27th or 28th i think...coulda been lower than that though.

Cool beans, I wasn't planning on riding through Oakland at night anyway as I'm not a local and I know enough of the city's overall reputation.
I haven't heard anything bad about the (berk.)university district however, the few times I've been around there it seemed a decent neighborhood, would this be an accurate veiw?

Cool beans, I wasn't planning on riding through Oakland at night anyway as I'm not a local and I know enough of the city's overall reputation.
I haven't heard anything bad about the (berk.)university district however, the few times I've been around there it seemed a decent neighborhood, would this be an accurate veiw?

oakland isn't all that bad, just certain parts, i guess? this happened at about 7:20pm, still plenty of sunlight. lake merrit is fun to ride around a few times, and getting there isn't too much of a hassle, depending on which route you take. downtown oakland looks like fun from a distance, but then you get there and it's a major let-down.

downtown berkeley is pretty boring if you ask me. it's not very large, it takes like, 2 minutes to ride from university ave. to dwight way, which is pretty much the end of downtown berkeley. and it's only two streets wide (shattuck and telegraph are basically it). and telegraph is pretty much constantly littered with travelling punks, or homeless folks, or nasty hippy burnouts...it's one way, it's two lanes, it's narrow, and traffic gets backed up really, really fast. shattuck is wider, but with the wider lanes comes faster traffic (even though the speed limit is the same). berkeley was fun to ride around and explore for like, 2 weeks. it's mostly just houses. i get a pretty bad case of small-town-itis when i try to find anywhere fun to go on my bike in berkeley.

the only real fun riding (in the east bay) is up in the hills, and beyond, and that's pretty much road or mountain bike territory. riding a fixed up a hill that takes 30minutes to ride up on a road bike isn't really my idea of fun....although, i might try it sometime...that's just 30 minutes to the crest of the big hill. then there's about 10-20 minutes of rollers, flats, downhills, then an intersection where you can go back down into berkeley via claremont. claremont is UBER steep and curvey. or you can continue up grizzly peak into tilden park. the continuation of grizzly isn't very long, but it's a pretty steep one. once you're up that one you can go into tilden and beyond and have oh so much fun on some backroads, take in some views, see some chickens. you can get out there via richmond and el cerrito, it's flatter, but it takes a lot longer.

if you're into "hardcore" downtown city riding, SF would be the place to go. it's not as crazy as boston, but it's fun.

[edit]
Well for the few days I plan on being there my base is going to be on Spruce which is just below grizzly peak so I might try that.
I love city riding on my moto(did 101 through San Fran during evening rush hour a couple years ago- exellent) especially in Cali due to lane spliting(illegal in WA :mad: ) however all I have doen on a bicyle is Tacoma but Tacoma just doesn't have traffic problems like a lot of cities, I should give Seattle a try just to try it out, now thats a city that knows how to bugger traffic(somtimes they do it on purpose :eek:) I'm not sure I want to do it on a loaded touring bike or w/trailer(undecided)

[QUOTE=OneTinSloth]

the only real fun riding (in the east bay) is up in the hills, and beyond, and that's pretty much road or mountain bike territory. riding a fixed up a hill that takes 30minutes to ride up on a road bike isn't really my idea of fun....although, i might try it sometime...that's just 30 minutes to the crest of the big hill. then there's about 10-20 minutes of rollers, flats, downhills, then an intersection where you can go back down into berkeley via claremont. claremont is UBER steep and curvey. or you can continue up grizzly peak into tilden park. the continuation of grizzly isn't very long, but it's a pretty steep one. once you're up that one you can go into tilden and beyond and have oh so much fun on some backroads, take in some views, see some chickens. you can get out there via richmond and el cerrito, it's flatter, but it takes a lot longer.
QUOTE]

i envy you and your hills. i have ridden up maybe one 'hill' in two months in denmark. when i was in bornholm, i wanted to bomb the main street in gudhjem where i was staying. only thing was, it was a 500 kr (~$85) if i got caught riding down it. not much crazy city riding here either unless you ride between cars in københavn, which i am sure is a hefty fine too. on a sidenote, i broke a toestrap once again. i need to find new ones so i can riding somewhat safely again.

i envy you and your hills. i have ridden up maybe one 'hill' in two months in denmark. when i was in bornholm, i wanted to bomb the main street in gudhjem where i was staying. only thing was, it was a 500 kr (~$85) if i got caught riding down it. not much crazy city riding here either unless you ride between cars in københavn, which i am sure is a hefty fine too. on a sidenote, i broke a toestrap once again. i need to find new ones so i can riding somewhat safely again.

i've been doing the three bears lately. that's a fun-ass ride!

when are you coming back?

i am back in the beginning of january. yea, i have only done that ride every so often. its funny how between my friend and i we have a fleet of bikes now. we just find crappy bikes in the back of our place and fix them up. its weird how people abandon a bike with a flat tire. takes all of 5 minutes to fix it.

my toestrap broke again and i was finally able to find some replacements as well. i am thinking of ordering some nice pedals over here if i can find a good price. i think i want to run spd's now or at least on longer rides.

you'd appreciate my ghhhhhhettttttooo rear fender i made today as well. of course nothing fits with the little clearance a track bike has. nothing a little scissoring and ingenuity can't fix. i'll upload pictures of my bike in urban mode with innertube handlebar tape!

A lot of people seem to enjoy being offended for no good reason. For example, I stated a simple statistic and fact that the majority of delivery guys in new york city are chinese and mexican immigrants and some people went all over that one. Give me a break. The majority of people in china are chinese. The majority of people in the italian mafia are italian.. booooo!

My boss is black and a delivery guy said,that colored lady told me to take it away. She found out what he said and was very unhappy. She said leave it to a white guy to say something dumb and i told her A-Holes come in all colors but she told me the loudest ones come plain.

gawd. you people all insult each other too... i thought it was just me

Now that you believe it's everybody...we can return to picking on you. :D

but what on me will you pick? :D

Is your stash pocket made of carbon?

yes... it is very sexy too (i never could understand why ya'll picked teh stash pocket. i spent little time typing about it. AFAIR)