Tides of War

This is an actual radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations , 10-10-95 , MSG#H000011502ecb52EMHS

#1 . "Please divert yourcourse 15 degrees to the north to avoid a colision "

#2. " Recommend that you change YOUR course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision ".

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#1. " This is the captain of a U.S.navy ship . I say again , divert YOUR course ".

#2. " No. I say again divert YOUR course "

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#1. " This is the aircraft carrier Enterprise , we are a large warship of the U.S. navy . Divert your course NOW ! "

~2. " This is a lighthouse . Your call ? "

I am capable of using COMMON SENSE to see whether or not a posting is " Flaming " or in any way ' abusively ' " Shouting ".

I need no text book , reference manual , or guidance from politically correct thought school or anyone else to do so .

During 2002 , 2003 , 2004 , occasionaly I have used CAPITAL LETTERS .

This I consider a freedom of expression .

I do NOT recognise the current convention about this as ABSOLUTE .

If indeed one were to apply tha convention as an absolute , it folows that :

Were one to " flame " , it would be okay , just so long as small letters were used .

Yes or no ?

Recent communications inform me that " action will be taken ".

If it means I am excluded from posting , then so be it .

I now make this known on this board , and the reason known if no more postings from me appear again .

Should this particular posting be removed , it will mean someone did not want you to know this , ( or know why )but if it remains here then perhaps some convincing reply from those who say " action will be taken " will be added , and possibly open this to discussion .

Of course I am for the monitoring of postings , but I consider the application of a " No caps " rule as an absolute to be absoluety absurd .

Last time I checked, the internet is the place to go for people worldwide that might otherwise not have the free speech ethics we support as Americans in good old USA.

Sorry that has just got to be one of the funniest things I have heard in ages!!

I dont mean to offend any Americans but in recent years I have heard so much that has contradicted that!

I'm sure glad that I don't type like I write then. I write in all uppercase when I am printing. Always have, always will. =)

Perhaps it's time for everyone to sit back, pop the cork on a nice Pol Roger Champagne, toast those who fought the battles that inspire us to create and play games about them. Give the nectar a soft swirl, raise the glass and draw in deeply the aromas of sun and rain and honey and Christmas. Drink and remember that we are gentlemen. Feel the glow and resolve to treat each other accordingly: with a little less stridency, a little less defiance, a little more discretion and a little more of that rarest thing; the camaraderie of kindred spirits in voluntary association.

--East

The words of a very wise man.

( and I'm not just referring to the drinking part...lol)

I killed the Jesper and Maxim posts (sry guys).

Hello Everyone,

My name is Todd Markham and *I* am the owner/operator of this site and board. I use the name of ToWF (Tides of War Forums) and normally use Tbar or BAD_Tbar as my posting name. I don't really venture into public postings too often

Everyone is welcome to post here like gentelmen and officers and enjoy the atmosphere of "Enigma".

First off, our Moderators do a first class job overall... sometimes a Moderator and some Users have history off 'bad feelings' that permeates out on the board in public areas such as this one leading to flamming and all other types of negative direction. Let's put this to rest GENTELMEN..please

If you are having a problem or issue that you feel is NOT being treated properly or fairly .. then contact me. tbar AT tidesofwar.net I will look into any such matters and deal with you direct.

IT APPEARS TO ME THE ISSUE IS CAPS? Many communities consider CAPS as RUDE. If I made this whole post in CAPS .. there is no ruling against such at Tides. If I directed a message at YOU in CAPs, I'm sure that is considered YELLING and is RUDE.

sOMETIMES CAPS ARE IMPORTANT TO MAKE SOMETHNG STAND OUT. IF YOU MADE YOU WHOLE POST IN CAPS, I PERSONALLY PROBABLY WOULD NOT READ IT.

I can't really pick up what the WHOLE issue is here because apparently the issue started with another post .. or the posts above were editied, or worse.. its simply old bad blood

I would like to point out a few things to our general users:

1) It is against our Tides of War policy to EDIT a persons post. In general it is not allowed, but there are some exceptions:

a) If the user requested an edit

If the post is clearly marked "Edited by".. and here we must be carefull NOT to change the message in any way. An example might be 'fixing' a link for the user. We also encourage the moderator on an EDIT to change the color of the information changed so that the original poster knows what was edited as well as the normal user/viewer

c) If a post appears to need editing by a moderator .. they are encouraged to contact the poster and request the edit be done by the poster and give a reason why. This is normally a request. If the request is not responded to or honored .. then its possible the edit will take place as described above.

Editing is an extream. Our general policy is NOT to edit posts.

Removing a Post:

It takes 3 Mgr's of Tides of War to finalize a 'delete" of a post' . The process is one where the moderator may MOVE the topic/thread to a non-viewable section to everyday members so the post can be reviewed by our staff. Again.. it takes 3 Mgrs of Tides to have post permantly deleated. Thread starts are easy to do.. a reply post takes an little more effort to remove in that we have to delete the post and copy it.

Why woud we delete a post? Four letter words .. or just out of line trouble making. You get the picture.

At Tides .. we don't want to be fixated on Rules .. but we do have to keep a happy community. Yes, we have rules, but in most cases they are are guidlines and not everything fits prefectly into guidlines.

This is a community for the Enigma fans. Its also an outlet for TAG to give you the latest updates as well as a forum for TAG to respond directly to your game questions/comments/problems, etc. If you have something negative to say.. say it as a community members and like a gentelmen. Remember we are family oriented, our users let their children play here because it is safe .. we want to keep it that way.

Again, I can't really home in to the exact problem here as it appears to be a subject of caps. Frankly, I don't care if Martha Stuart used CAPS and wrote the dialog ... .. its the content and tone (of voice) I'm concerned about.

This whole thread is silly IMHO. Now.. go sink a tanker and chill out .. and again.. if you need to contact me.. do so.

If I'm off target here .. then just consider all the above "further information".

Todd Markham

Owner / Operator

Tides of War

tbar AT tidesofwar.net

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Thank you East, and Mr. Towf.

TOWF is right on the money and shows there is a very fair system to all kinds of users and that justice can prevail. I'm personally happy to see that "freedom" has once again prevailed. People all over the world have died for freedom of expression, to get away from oppression, and it is not dead here at TOW.

However, if you use your freedom in a way that is hurtful to others, "ugly" to others, then you will deserve the shunning you get, and even worse the hammer will come down from the top to protect the innocent.

Vindicating your rights to use caps does not mean you should be overly lavish with them (it is considered shouting or being loud, and I agree with Jesper on that single point).

I will defend anyone's rights to use caps, but I personally will not use all caps due to the percieved image of lack of intelligence and ettiqute I may create for myself in others. Like all good things, using caps sensibly in moderation is a good rule (not lavishly). Advertising in the proper way, humor of the proper kind, there are many places where it has its uses.

I apologize for making fun of anyone in here and I really dont have any bad blood towards "any single person". The bad blood rises when I see abuse of power or where I percieve bad ideas beginning to spread into positions of power. I simply hate to stand by idle when my rights may be in danger of being eroded a little bit by bit, so I spoke out harshly against any abuse of power in order to make sure everyone had an opportunity to be aware of what needed discussing.

Now doesnt that sound fair and reasonable? Merry Christmas in advance and here's to bringing on more good spirits.