A reminder for everyone posting in the Lounge.

[Skinner]

This is not an AOL chat room. Democratic Underground is a message board intended for the discussion of politics. We provide you with places to discuss non-political topics, because we know that not everyone wants to discuss politics 24/7. But recently, the number of immature threads about sex have cheapened the message board for everyone else.

Everyone here already knows the rules, and everyone here knows our opinion on this matter. We would prefer not to have to institute some sort of zero-tolerance enforcement policy.

Thank you for your understanding.

[LincolnMcGrath]

1. I love it when you talk dirty!

Kidding



Thanks for speaking up.

[Fenris]

2. Perhaps you should pin this up at the top of the board?

I completely agree with this assesment, but I fear it will sink like a stone if not tacked up at the top of the first page.

[LincolnMcGrath]

3. I second that motion!

[gollygee]

5. Maybe with bright red flashing letters

LOL

I agree - it needs to be pinned at the top

[RedEarth]

33. I agree.........

[commander bunnypants]

4. I swear it was not a sex thread

I was just hunting for Christmas presents

CB

[LincolnMcGrath]

6. Yo Demman

Love your new user name. lol

[northamericancitizen]

8. kick

[commander bunnypants]

11. thank you much

once person gave me grief over it though :grr:

CB

[Renew Deal]

50. Your old name was pretty cool.

Oh well. I was wondering if someone would do that.

[Beer Snob-50]

7. thanks for the reminder!!

[MallRat]

9. Does this mean I have to report Matcom's sig?

I'd hate to see him get in trouble. The Lounge wouldn't be the same without the thong-wearing smiley and the scantily-clad purple hippo. :-)

Actually, come to think of it, it's been a while since I've seen ANYBODY'S sig. Are they still turned off due to high traffic?

-MR

[eataTREE]

10. Well, you guys make the rules, but...

...I thought liberals were the ones who didn't have a hang-up about sex?

Just sayin'.

[Droopy]

13. Notice he said

immature threads about sex. I guess we need some clarification. Are all sex threads considered immature? Or is there considered to be a difference between immature sex threads and mature ones.

[4_Legs_Good]

14. I certainly hope so.

[FuzzySlippers]

42. Maybe we could have scholarly discussions of Kinsey.

:shrug:

[Trajan]

12. But Skinner ? ...

Isn't the Lounge the preferred locale for such inanities ? ..

I generally avoid the Lounge, for that reason, especially the sillysex threads .... But it does seem an apt outlet for some here to blow off some steam ....

[jdots]

15. agree 100%

even though i get out of hand. The net is a familly show ,sometimes it sounds like the manson familly so we have to be cool. We should serve as better examples sometimes because out freeparian counterparts are certainly monitoring our chatter.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. Off topic BUT

Skinner has the cutest little chihuahua I have ever seen! That heart in the middle of his/her head is darling!

On topic:

If the sex threads offend then be gone with them. I for one don't mind, but I have noticed a lot of quite young people here so I see the point.

[sui generis]

17. please don't smite me but

Does this mean no poo poo words too?:evilgrin:

Actually on a serious note: I don't really know what a sex thread is and I haven't seen anything here that would make me reach for a cigarette or think about breakfast, but I'm not on here all the time either, and pretty uncaring about what tickles other people's jollies besides.

Do double entendre's qualify? I hate to ask for an example of "going too far" (Skinner readies lightning bolt, smell of ozone), but I am rather loose with language myself. I mean, we have threads about people's cats for cryin' out loud - how tempting is that, to uh, people who are interested in, uh, cats? (Skinner flings lightning bolt, sui explodes into flame; a light drizzle of greasy ash stains one of the internets)

How about kaboshing copycat threads? They seem to be where all this double and triple entendre gets started. And cat threads.

[underpants]

18. Yeah it has gotten a bit out of hand

When I first logged back on after the election curse words were flying all over the place and since then I think a lot of people have taken liberties. I have too.

Got it chief.

[Wat_Tyler]

19. Agreed. The flirt and sex threads can make uncomfortable reading.

[HEyHEY]

24. Or make your eyes hurt from rolling so much

[pagerbear]

27. You're so cute when you're uncomfortable!

[Wat_Tyler]

31. Pagerflirting earns an exception, of course.

[Dukakis88]

20. My little friend will not enter the lounge again.

My kitten extends his feline apologies for besmirching the Lounge with his unsavory, salty monicker.

[pagerbear]

21. Bring your little friend over here, Dukakis!

[Dukakis88]

29. SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND, PAGERBEAR!

:hi:

[pagerbear]

30. Hello, little friend.

[Dukakis88]

32. I'm speechless!

:hug:

[ogradda]

22. that is a darling little cat

show him/her with pride!

[Beer Snob-50]

25. so again i ask the question

what kind of cat is this?

[Dukakis88]

26. It's a Seal Lynx.

[Beer Snob-50]

28. thanks it is an interesting looking creature!

[TaleWgnDg]

73. yeah. a seal lynx Himalayan cat? n/t

[FuzzySlippers]

43. Awwwwww.....

What an adorable pus...er...um...I mean Felis catus.

[MADem]

68. Mrs. Slocombe, is that YOU???

Are you being served????

Ground floor perfumery, stationery and leather goods, wigs and haberdashery, going up!"

[HEyHEY]

23. Got it all you pervs?

[MallRat]

34. Even I have to admit, a line was DEFINITELY crossed yesterday.

I can't remember whose thread it was, but it purported to have a photograph of Matcom (BTW, it wasn't him), which was... ahem... unbelievably disturbing.

No... on second thought, "unbelievably disturbing" would have been good.

Those of you who saw it know exactly what I'm talking about.

:scared:

[sui generis]

35. but was it a sex thread? or just disturbing?

I think I agree with Skinner in principle, but I also think that if we try to make ourselves too mainstream we won't be underground any more.

Where IS the line?

[MADem]

69. According to the chimp

...it's out there in the sand somewhere....

[Kali]

37. link?

;)

[MallRat]

38. It's gone. And thank god.

I still can't get the image out of my mind.

Let's just say it involves pseudo-full frontal male nudity. I say "pseudo" because... oh, geez, I can't even say it...

-MR

[Kali]

40. thought maybe it had something to do with

that pic of "Dick" Cheney

[amandae]

52. That was a horrible pic ...

:puke:

[liberalhistorian]

60. Aw, man, why

do I always miss the good stuff???

[Jersey Devil]

36. Uh oh!

Sometimes the Devil gets the best of us and with me that is more often than not!

[American Tragedy]

39. Could somebody here give an example of an 'immature sex thread'?

I honestly am not certain what would be considered inappropriate.

I certainly hope that we do not ever come to the point of censoring expletives. One of the things that I hated most about other boards in the past was that one would have to write f***, with letters replaced with asterisks or other symbols, even though everybody knew what you were saying. It seems more effective and satisfying to express oneself clearly and plainly.

[Selwynn]

58. I'd like to know too -- are we just not supposed to talk about sex at all?

Is this the 50s? Should we be ashamed of the subject? If not, then can someone explain how a clearly enforceable and consistent standard will be applied to differentiate the "immature" sex threads from those of adults talking about a subject that only right-wing fanatics what us to feel embarrassed or ashamed to talk about?

Thanks for the clarification,
Sel

[sundog]

41. Understood...

I just hope that DU isn't moving to the right too :cry:

DU is one of the last bohemian vestiges left in this increasingly puritanical country. Liberals have always been free spirits... unrestrained by the morality that binds others.

Anyway, message understood.

Glad this place is here. :)

[jukes]

44. a p.m. kick

i act up someXs, too, so don't want any of us to get the big smackdown. let's behave, i'd feel bad if i caused a crackdown!

[newyawker99]

45. kick

:kick:

[Metatron]

46. And another

kick

[BlondieK143]

47. Please don't get mad at me.

I just have a question. What is the difference between talking about sex and dropping the F bomb like it's going out of style? I love the Lounge, I love DU. It has gotten me through some of the toughest times in my life (and I hope that with me saying these things, it won't jeoporadize my access to DU). But one of the things I've loved sooo much about DU, and especially in the Lounge, is our freedom to say what's on our minds, the irrational, off-the-top-of-your-head statements that make it what it is. I understand there is a line when it becomes raunchy (and I've probably stepped over that line in good fun), but I don't think anyone here would intentionally try to step on other people's beliefs/feelings. If we're allowed to have religious threads, threads about absolutely nothing of importance, what we should eat for breakfast, and even my own "hey, here's your doughnut and coffee" morning thread, what is the harm in sex threads? If an individual does not want to read things of a sexual matter, we all have the option of not clicking on a thread. Look at television and movies today, are our kids really not already exposed to this?

I'm not trying to say "let's have all the sex threads we want" or anything like that, I just needed to vent. I think our society has gotten so concerned with painting a wholesome image with themselves, that we're not seeing the reality in life. The reality is our children are growing up at a much faster rate than say, 10 years ago. *sigh* I don't know what my point was, but I feel better. Besides, does anything in the Lounge make sense? :D

[jdog]

48. Joke of the day

> The Parrot

> >
> > A young man named John received a parrot as a
> > gift. The parrot had a
> > bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every
> > word out of the bird's
> > mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.
> >
> > John tried and tried to change the bird's
> > attitude by consistently
> > saying only polite words, playing soft music and
> > anything else he could
> > think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.
> > Finally, John was fed up and
> > he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back.
> > John shook the parrot and
> > the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in
> > desperation, threw up his
> > hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.
> > For a few minutes the
> > parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then
> > suddenly there was total
> > quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.
> > Fearing that he'd hurt the
> > parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.
> >
> > The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's
> > outstretched arms and said
> > "I believe I may have offended you with my rude
> > language and actions. I'm
> > sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate
> > transgressions and I fully intend
> > to do everything I can to correct my rude and
> > unforgivable behavior."
> >
> > John was stunned at the change in the bird's
> > attitude. As he was about
> > to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic
> > change in his behavior, the
> > bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

[TaleWgnDg]

74. LOL . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Renew Deal]

51. lol

I guess if you're serious you better start your own thread on it.

[TexasBushwhacker]

53. Oh for crying out loud

"But recently, the number of immature threads about sex have cheapened the message board for everyone else."

While I don't believe in "stealth" threads that don't make their topic clear in the subject line, if someone says something about sex in their subject line, more sensitive viewers can just NOT READ IT! I quit reading the Abu Ghraib threads because I just couldn't look at those pictures anymore. That's the kind of stuff that I'm sensitive to.

For example, you just locked the "Does size matter?" thread. It's a question that many men have. A few people gave answers, some more detailed than others, but none that couldn't have read out loud on network TV after 9 pm, and you've locked it down.

Don't kid yourself Skinner. You already HAVE a zero tolerance policy.

[Runcible Spoon]

56. that's it-lounge has officially been renamed Cute Puppy/Kitty Pic Forum!

not that I have any problem with puppies and kitties, of course....

[helnwhls]

54. Thank you!

[Greylyn58]

55. Kick...

:kick:

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NightTrain]

59. Why, exactly, is it verboten to talk about sex at DU?

Sex is a normal, healthy part of being human. So why does DU insist on perpetuating the 1950s mentality of stigmatizing it? I thought we were adults, for chrissake!

[Selwynn]

61. I'm hoping that it goes like this:

Ok..

I'm hoping that the administrative answer would be something like, "yes, we agree the sex is normal and healthy, and we'd like to encourage adult, mature, intelligent conversations about sex with honesty and frankness. However, a normal, healthy attitude toward sex doesn't necessarily include juvenile or offensive conversations. We'd like to encourage mature responsible discussion of sex and sexuality, but we won't tolerate offensive topics or excessively crass and juvenile threads as we have a large and diverse group of members to take care of."

Something like that would be great. Anything else is pretty stupid.

[Skinner]

71. That sounds good to me.

Seems like a longer version of what has been written in the DU Rules for the last two years:

Do not post sexually explicit images or messages. If you wish to discuss topics of a sexual nature, please exercise an appropriate level of maturity and sensitivity.

[Champ]

72. I feel that answers my question

Thank you.

[ForrestGump]

62. I did not have sex with that forum...

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ForrestGump]

65. Dude...you stole my punchline!

I am soooo cutting-edge, getting a post deleted in this thread. Go me! :D

</no, I'm not serious>

[SarahB]

70. Care for some...

snugglebunnies? :P

[Nicky Scarfo]

64. Puritanism kicks ass! nt

[Champ]

66. I can understand

Locks for threads that become nasty, ones with images of nudity, etc. Why can't we talk about it though? We talk about alot of things that come out as an immature thread(though I agree, some of the sex threads have been by far the most immature). It is hard to explain what I'm getting at but Questions like "Have you cheated?", "How long should you wait to have sex after childbirth?", "My SO is an I person I love with all my heart, but (s)he doesn't satisfy me(sexually), what should I do?" These may have not been the best examples, my point is sex is a significant issue in most people's lives(especially democrats who are open minded about sex), even those who never had intercourse. What I'm asking is sex threads strickly off limits or can we discuss important sexual topic too many of us face in our lifetime in a professional and mature fashion?

[TaleWgnDg]

67. Quite frankly, Skinner, if I may add my two cents . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You've already got a zero tolerance policy about obscenity, Skinner.




.

[mykpart]

75. Maybe we could have an Immature Sex Discussion forum?