HEADS UP: How DU is going to handle the CIA Leak Case

[Skinner]

Usually when there is a big news story, the DU General Discussion forum experiences a huge flood of threads on that story, which tend to make it impossible to discuss any other topics besides that story.

In an effort to address this issue, the DU Administrators have decided to try something new if-and-when indictments are handed down.

In order to better accommodate the expected flood of topics with regard to the possible indictments in the CIA leak case, we will institute a TEMPORARY change to the two General Discussion forums.

The General Discussion forum will be renamed GD: CIA Leak Case, and in that forum we will only permit threads about the CIA Leak Case.

The General Discussion: Politics forum will be renamed GD: Everything Else, and in that forum we will NOT permit any threads about the CIA Leak Case.

The two forums will be MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. Threads about the CIA Leak Case MUST be posted in the GD: CIA Leak Case forum. Threads about other political topics must be posted in the GD: Everything Else forum.

When you click "Post" or "Poll" in either General Discussion forum, there will be an automatic interrupt page directing you to post your topic in the correct forum.

We understand that some members might not appreciate being forced to post their topics in a particular forum. We have never done this in the past, and it may take a little getting used to. While this does require some adjustment on the part of members, the DU administrators believe that the extra effort is worth it in order to keep things somewhat organized, and to help keep our website open for other topics.

This change will be temporary. When appropriate, the two General Discussion forums will revert back to their regular names.

Thank you for your understanding.

The DU Administrators

[xultar]

1. Until then can we get a Fitzmas forum?

:rofl:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

Aye!

:cheers:

Merry Fitzmas!

[xultar]

47. Are you feeling like a persecuted Fitztian?

[Montauk6]

121. Ooh, can we sing Fitzmas carols???

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Great idea, Skinner.

[meganmonkey]

3. Is there anything else?

:rofl:

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

4. I CAN'T WAIT !!!!

[endarkenment]

5. Merry Fitzmas Skinner!

Thanks for all your hard work.

[janx]

6. Ogay!

:party:

[Autonomy]

7. Seems fine to me.

I'm all tingly with anticipation. What is Santa Fitz going to put under the tree!

[libnnc]

8. Easy-Peasy works for me!

:kick:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

9. Sounds fine to me.

Have a very merry Fitzmas, Skinner. :party:

[kevinmc]

10. Good Idea n/t

[Oreo]

11. Imagine that...

preemptive planning to mitigate any problems from a major event.

Skinner... you should head FEMA ;)

[WritingIsMyReligion]

15. ROFLMAO!

Laughing at the joke, not at the idea of actually having a competent person in office. What a novel idea THAT would be. :D :D

[Junkdrawer]

12. If there are big indictments, "GD: Everything Else" will be *crickets*...

GD: CIA Leak Case will be the new GD.

[benburch]

Excellent!

On top of things as usual!

[maximovich]

13. Merry Fitzmas, Skinner

Great site.

[TahitiNut]

14. When will the change be initiated?

Will it be within an hour (or whatever) of the announcement of indictments or, in anticiaption of the indictments, beforehand?

[Skinner]

19. As soon as the indictments are announced. (nt)

[hang a left]

16. OK lets do it now.

Can't think of anything else anyway.

[SoCalDem]

17. Love it.. We should always have a "Hot Stuff" forum

That would eliminate a lot of the complaints on dupes and the warp speed of archiving the other stuff:)

Thanks guys:)

[yellowcanine]

18. I am so excited that it is necessary to do this kind of planning. But the

suspense is still killing me.

[VaYallaDawg]

20. Great Skinner.

I join the member above too - thanks for all the work you and your fellow admins do for us every day.

[SidDithers]

21. Forcing posts into 2 groups? Next you'll be forcing us to take vaccines!

:evilgrin:

Sid

[AmBlue]

60. And mandating at least

a once a day visit in GD:Everything Else!! Geez....... let's hope there's nothing else that really needs our attention after indictments are handed down.

[chknltl]

123. Executive Order 13139

be careful what you wish for

[Debi]

22. Can we still post Rove perpwalk pics in The Lounge? n/t

[Autonomy]

29. After seeing Tom Delay's special treatment

with the mood lighting and the K-Mart family portrait background and being allowed to smile like the Gringch Who Stole Christmas for his mug shot, I have serious doubts there will be pics of Rove or anyone else being hauled off to jail.

[stopbush]

23. This info was leaked to me over an hour ago...

:)

[Cults4Bush]

24. YES! Sorry to shout but I was so hoping you all would do something

like this.

I also think it sends a message of how serious we here at DU consider this episode.

Question though, will inter-related topica (i.e. AIPAC) be exclusive to the Leak Forum or will that be by a thread by thread basis.

[swimboy]

25. Have a peeance, freeance Fitzmas!

Thanks for all the hard work you guys do!

[July]

111. BWAAA--HAAAA-HAAAA!!!

I think you just coined what will become a traditional Fitzmas greeting, swimboy!

[swimboy]

112. Hey, thanks!

I hope so! :hi:

[July]

113. I'll do my part! Cheers! nt

[wordpix]

125. have a happy, slappy Fitzmas, Slap the handcuffs on the 'cons

let's write a good group Fitzmas song

[SeattleGirl]

26. Good idea, Skinner!

And I'll bet you have your Fitzmas shopping already completed!! :evilgrin:

[DemExpat]

27. Exciting stuff, and good idea.

:kick:

DemEx

[MuseRider]

28. That seems the best way to do it,

thank you. I was thinking about this just this morning and figured you would do something considering how it has been in the past with big topics. Great idea. Thanks.

[nookiemonster]

30. Forward thinking.

You know your server's gonna get a workout.

:thumbsup:

[SharonRB]

31. Great idea, Skinner

It certainly will help keep things organized and keep indictment threads from being posted all over the site.

I wish you and yours a very, very merry Fitzmas (and a happy Fitznukah)!

[DemReadingDU]

32. Excellent idea! Thanks!

[sniffa]

33. great idea

most topics of such magnitude are usuaLLy thrust upon us... at Least with this, you've got a hankering of when it's gonna hit.

[yodermon]

34. My prediction:

The forums will never re-unite.
This story will be all-consuming for the indefinite future.

[Straight Shooter]

85. I guess that's just more evidence that bush is a divider, not a uniter.

;)

[hvn_nbr_2]

35. One question

What happens to threads currently in the GD forum that are NOT about CIA leak case, and what happens to threads currently in GDP that ARE about CIA leak case? If they stay where they are, they'll be off topic for the duration of the temporary change.

[Skinner]

39. Not sure.

My guess is that we'll just let them stay where they are.

[Zenlitened]

36. Shouldn't it be just the opposite? GD remains... general.

While GD: P becomes focused on the top political issue of the day?

:shrug:

[Skinner]

41. We thought about that.

That would seem logical. But after much discussion we decided to do it this way. We figure that if we didn't do anything, GD would by default become the CIA Leak Case forum, so we figured we should just go with the flow and leave it that way.

Also, there were a number of other considerations with regard to the re-naming and the order of the forums. I'm not gonna go into all that minutiae. Let's just say that we considered all the angles, and we thought this would be the least confusing and least disruptive way to do it..

[Blue_Roses]

83. wow--this is making me nervous

just reading this post. The anticipation...wow...
History in the making:popcorn:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

37. And IF God Forbid

if nobody is indicted, can we shut down public access so we can just hang out together in private?

[C_U_L8R]

38. Where do we go...

to go Fitzmas Carolling ?
fa la la la la !!!

:-)

[garthranzz]

40. A wise move

:toast:

[northamericancitizen]

45. Proactive. . . Great planning. Thanks guys. nt

[Missy Vixen]

42. Thanks, Skinner and mods, and Merry Fitzmas

I know it will be a huge amount of work for all, but sheesh, I can't wait. :woohoo:

:loveya: to admins and mods! I miss you guys!

Julie

[Coexist]

43. Great idea. Thanks for the pre-planning

BTW - it is going to be tomorrow because that's my day in the pool!

[understandinglife]

44. Reasonable. Thank you.

I hope your ISP(s) are prepared, as well.


Peace.

[enough]

46. What about actual LBN stories about the leak case?

Will they still go into LBN?

[barb162]

87. Doesn't it also go in LBN?

[Skinner]

94. They can still go in LBN.

LBN is unchanged. Editorials is unchanged. The only forums that will change are the GD forums.

[dalloway]

48. great idea!

DU: Where the masses turns when they want the truth.

[sabra]

49. makes sense, and looking forward to post :-)

[Catherine Vincent]

50. Thank you Skinner!

I can hardly wait!

[Bunny]

51. Is this similar to the post-election split?

One GD was called Acrimony and Recrimination and the other was called Warm Fuzzy Hugs? Or something like that? That was a stroke of genius, BTW!

[wildflower]

52. Thanks, Skinner - what about duplicates?

Will they be locked, or let go? Or a warning message displayed when one goes to post a thread (along the lines of "Are you sure this is not a duplicate topic")?

Thanks,

wildflower

[wildflower]

66. Sorry, I meant duplicate threads

Too late to edit.

wf

[Skinner]

95. We generally do not police duplicates in GD.

I suspect that all the threads are going to be duplicates.

[cynatnite]

53. If the case goes further than indictments...

will you change it to the impeachment forum? :evilgrin:

[astonamous]

54. It's better than a good idea...it's a great idea! I'm old and

have a hard time keeping up with all the posts anyway and it will be nice to be able to locate them in one area.

[BeHereNow]

55. YES! I was dreading the prospect of forum surfing...

Now tracking the Fitzmas threads will be much
easier because they will all be in one place.
You're so smart Skinner...
BHN

[EuroObserver]

56. So, that's Treasongate & closely related, right?

eg. (amongst many outstanding issues) the hopefully soon-to be forthcoming international repercussions, eg. Bliargate?

[lostnfound]

57. "WHEN indictments are handed down"--sweeter words never spoken! nt

[deadparrot]

58. Works for me. Best of luck to all the admins and mods...

If/When this breaks, this place is going to go nuts. :D

Merry (almost) Fitzmas to you all. :)

[IChing]

59. good plan thanks for the heads up. but you know some will post in the

lounge anyway ;-) :bounce: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Pithy Cherub]

61. Dear Santa Skinner:

Please may I have a fainting smilie for Fitzmas, please? I have been mostly kinda very good all year.

Thank you Skinner! May your Fitzmas be bright!

[MazeRat7]

62. Thank-you... now if we can just do the same for the other "hot" topics

Personally, I thought that was the whole point in have topic centric forums. A specific place for like topics that get lots of posts.

MZr7

[WilliamPitt]

63. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Shoulda done this with the new pope.

:P

I'm the reason they closed ATA.

[kath]

76. Dumb question - ATA?? nt.

[deadparrot]

81. Ask the Administrator forum.

:)

[hvn_nbr_2]

92. The real reason they closed ATA--Skinner ran out of Swedish fish :-) n/t

[IdaBriggs]

64. Thanks for the great job you do! This sounds like a good plan! :) nt

[Arugula Latte]

65. Um, can you repeat that?

I was trying to finish my homework in class, and then this kid next to me started passing notes.

Also, is this going to be on the test?

[mod mom]

67. I feel like a 5 year old. The suspense is killing me. I only hope I can

access DU. I am afraid the volume of users will slow things tremendously. Thanks Skinner!

[geekgrrl]

68. Yay! Crossing my fingers for lots of celebrating- Merry Fitzmas! n/t

[EFerrari]

69. Good call, Skinner. Hope it doesn't get too nuts for you all.

And we think * has had an exciting year.

:evilgrin:

You guys take good care please. b

/typin

[lonestarnot]

70. Good thinking, good organization, good night and good luck!

[SharonRB]

71. And keep your knees loose.

[Cha]

72. Sounds good to me!

Organize, organize, organize..Here's to there being a Good reason for this. :toast:

[democrank]

73. Thanks, Skinner and

good luck wading through the mess once the news breaks. You might need a Haz-Mat suit.

[bettyellen]

74. boy you're really earning your keep lately, skinner.

i wish i hadn't been too beer soaked to pick that mighty brain back in DC.
ah well, cya next protest.

[newyawker99]

75. This is a great solution!

:thumbsup:

[uppityperson]

77. Sounds good. Thank you Skinner et al

Good idea to have 1 place for all the "hot topic of the time" news. Thank you.

[DanCa]

78. coolio nice advance planning tactics.

[thinkingwoman]

79. Great idea!

Thanks for thinking ahead!

[bigwillq]

80. Great idea.

Good job, Skinner! :hi:

[karlrschneider]

82. Good idea!

Thanks D.
:D

[donheld]

84. Sounds great Skinner

That will make for a much easier time reading everything. Thanks for all the work.

[welshTerrier2]

86. Question on bookmarks

how will bookmarks be handled once these temporary changes are implemented?

for example, will previous GD bookmarks still be available?
will items bookmarked in "GD: CIA Leak Case" be available in the future once the GD forums revert to their permanent status?

i like the idea of segregating "CIA Leak" posts from other posts once the volume gets heavy ...

just as an alternative idea, i wonder whether it might be worth creating a new forum called "Hot Topic Forum" that could be used whenever a single topic would overwhelm GD ... that would allow the two GD forums to remain unchanged at such times ... just an idea; the approach you chose is fine ...

btw, i like having the two separate GD forums ... i can't really see any difference in content but i like the fact that one (GD-P) moves a little more slowly ... posts in GD sometimes disappear too quickly ...

and as long as i'm bending your ear, i noticed in some of the smaller groups and forums, Massachusetts for example, posts almost never get enough recommendations to make the greatest page ... i thought this could be because the activity is much lower in those forums ... perhaps it would be helpful to remove the 24-hour time limit on recommendations in those forums ... this would allow votes to come in over a longer period of time commensurate with the volume of readers and might allow important, high quality posts to break out of their sub-group area and be more widely seen by the DU community ... again, not a big deal ... just a thought ...

keep up the good work ... DU's doing great ...

[Skinner]

96. Bookmarks will work just fine.

The only thing changing is the names of teh forums. But the links to threads will work fine.

We are reconsidering the 24-hour time limit.

[Broken_Hero]

88. thanks for the heads up...:)

[eleny]

89. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smooches!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wilms]

90. "The Fitz Forum"

eleny says:

"Maybe we'll even need a new permanent "Big Forum" for this."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5159354#top

I think so, too.

[upi402]

91. I smell toast

I like hot butter on my breakfast toast!

[Neil Lisst]

93. Sounds great! Plame Game it is.

PLAME GAME - this week all, week, the spy who shagged me





Wait until you see Wednesday's!!


Merry, Merry Fitz-mas!

[AussieDave]

97. A good idea - it'll help sort the wheat from the chaff

I think we can do without the GD/GD:Politics split for a while.

[Jersey Devil]

98. The ultimate test for DU - Will we reach Defcon 5?

I don't know if this is technically possible, but has any thought been given to putting GD:CIA Leak Case on a different server from the rest of DU so that if the database is overwhelmed the rest of DU will remain up and intact? Would that require 2 parallel installations of the complete database with a DU1 and a DU2 designation? Just wondering.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

99. My take on this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5160821&mesg_id=5161020

[underpants]

100. What about the Vaughniston posts?

:bounce:

[Marnieworld]

101. Brilliant! Thank you!

Brav-freakin-OH!

This shows more foresight and planning than FEMA did for Katrina.

:applause: :woohoo:

[Peace Patriot]

102. Excellent idea! Thanks for the pre-planning! I think the "CIA Leak Case"

forum should have some permanent posts at the top, at the very least the content of Fitzgerald's web site and the actual indictments, but I wish there could also be permanent posts that provide all the background work that DUer's have done on this case already (and the AIPAC/Franklin case, which is closely related), and lists/descriptions of the perps, the unindicted co-conspirator perps, and the potential future perps, and all persons connected to these cases. You said prior posts on this topic will stay where they are. But people--especially newbies--will need almost an encyclopedia to quickly get up to speed on this massive scandal. Can we please have some reference posts at the top?

DUers are good at re-posting important information and background, but it could get chaotic, given the scope of this scandal, having to re-post the basics over and over again.

Maybe have a special nomination process for the most critical background (prior, or current) posts? Or, you decide. Pick the most informative; the most geared to general information/general readership--and post those permanently at the top of the forum. Then, posters/commenters can just refer back to them, or link to them, if someone, say, asks who Michael Ledeen is, or what Libby wrote to Miller about "the aspens."

One other thought: The incursions into Syria, and other Mideast war developments, may be directly or indirectly, related to the CIA leak case and its players. There may in fact already be a deal in place to limit the damage from this leak case--i.e., Libby taking the fall for Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Bolton, for instance--so that the capabilities that this cabal developed to make FALSE CASES FOR WAR remain in place, to widen the war into Syria and Iran. (This may be the meaning of Libby's "aspens" and their connected "roots.") False nuke evidence may have been planted. Nukes or "biological threats" (Libby's phrase) might be used, and Syria or Iran falsely accused of it. I'm already suspicious of this assassination that Bush is accusing Syria of. This case may be highly relevant to ON-GOING events, not just about what happened back in July 2003. Ergo: You will need to make some judgements as to "connecting the dots" between on-going events, and the progress of the case itself, in the placement of posts.

Cheers and Merry Fitzmas!

[marions ghost]

117. GOOD suggestion

for a compilation thread on the CIA Leak background stuff that could be fixed at the top of the page for easy reference. These are helpful not only for newbies but because this subject is so complicated. I would use it.

Seems like a DU volunteer could take the time to make up the contents of the compilation thread from previous postings? (Someone who is efficient at bookmarking).

:thumbsup: for designation of temporary 'hot topic' forum

[Sapphire Blue]

103. Sweet music to my ears... it's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas!

http://www.walkthroughlife.com/midis/christmas/begginingtolookcmas.mid

Merry Fitzmas to all!

[Rosco T.]

104. Maybe I'm dense.. but wouldn't it be easier to open up..

.. a THIRD GD forum, Call it simply "LeakGate/PlameGate/Fitzmas Greetings"???

There will still be other 'Political' things happening, so to effectively shove all political talk back in to 'General Discussion' will make it more confusing than ever..

[0rganism]

105. I agree. The topic deserves its own forum

rather than a "temporary lease" on GD.

The implications of this are far-reaching, and the ripples could easily spread for the next five years.

[Generic Other]

106. Sounds good

An-ti-ci-pa-a-tion is making me wait...

[Beaverhausen]

107. Looks like it's time to implement this plan

[DainBramaged]

108. As always, great idea.

But that's why we're here, because of this great idea of DU.:toast:

[fortyfeetunder]

109. Think it's a great idea

I support DU for this one. Go for it.

[SoCalDemocrat]

110. Start by emailing factcheck.org

We need to get the facts out through our internet sources and fight misinformation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2182248

[Skittles]

114. I like this idea

yes INDEED :thumbsup:

[frankly_fedup2]

115. I like it that way with a big story of the day. Gives everyone's post a

chance to get reviewed b4 going into the 2nd or 3rd page of posts, which a lot of people do not look past for further information.. (guilty)..

:hi:

[musical_soul]

116. That sounds like a good plan.

I hate it when a forum gets flooded with the same topic. Kudos.

[tyedyeto]

118. I just posted a thread and saw we have a reminder to not post dupes

And it also shows the ten previous threads.

Good idea admins!!!!

[Jamastiene]

119. I think it's a perfect idea, one I'd like to see used more often in GD

and GD:Politics especially. That way those of us who are obsessed with it moreso can have a field day and those of us who need a break from it can get away from it.

[bigwillq]

120. How about no new members?

Could we hold off on allowing new members when something offical is announced? Don't know if this was suggested before. I am at work and do not have time sometimes to read each and every post in a thread this huge.

[terrya]

124. I second this idea. Turn off new applications for now,

We've done this before. And I think, for the mods, admins and everyone else, that it would be a worthwhile idea all around.

Not allow any new members until this settles down.

[0rganism]

122. Can this be GD: Indictments instead of just the leak indictment(s)?

There are so many right now, it's hard to keep track. We could have a "GOP indictments" forum just to track these hardened white-collar criminal elites through the very justice system they once claimed to love.