Courtesy, cussing and the First Ammendment

Good Friday morning, Mike. Our culture has been in decline for some time now - decades, really. One is often confronted in public places by what was at one time considered foul language - from both sexes. Your memory of the US is what things used to be like until, say, the 1960s.

As for moderation of this board, in my experience, it was better to delete the worst of language or an entire message than to try to delete everything that might be offensive. We do try to keep things so that more sensitive people are not unduly offended, but there is some balancing that has to be done.

As for the First Amendment, it only governs our relations with the government. Government can not inhibit our right to freedom of expression (unless public safety is involved). As a private entity, the club could choose to eliminate any discussion that did not deal with Cats.

So as you can see, there is a lot of judgment that comes into play when moderating this bulletin board. I wonder what the views of other users would be.

GWH

Good Friday morning, Mike. Our culture has been in decline for some time now - decades, really. One is often confronted in public places by what was at one time considered foul language - from both sexes. Your memory of the US is what things used to be like until, say, the 1960s.

As for moderation of this board, in my experience, it was better to delete the worst of language or an entire message than to try to delete everything that might be offensive. We do try to keep things so that more sensitive people are not unduly offended, but there is some balancing that has to be done.

As for the First Amendment, it only governs our relations with the government. Government can not inhibit our right to freedom of expression (unless public safety is involved). As a private entity, the club could choose to eliminate any discussion that did not deal with Cats.

So as you can see, there is a lot of judgment that comes into play when moderating this bulletin board. I wonder what the views of other users would be.

GWH

My two cents:
I feel like it causes a lot of anxiety in ones own person if they have to think about who is around them before letting out a string of swear words. The easiest way is to never use the words around anyone or on any occasion and then one does not worry about swearing and offending others.

That being said, there are a lot of things posted on this board and on other boards that are very offensive to certain individuals and they are not swear words but are much more hurtful. We also need to realize that each of us has "standards" and they are not necessarily the same standards that others might have. I have seen 10 year old kids let out a string of swear words that would make a sailor blush yet they think it is OK to do so.

I'm just rambling but I think this board does a pretty good job of keeping the bad stuff off here but some is bound to creep in from time to time. Unless someone speaks up like Mike did, and I applaud him for it, we go on thinking everything is A-OK when it actually needs a tweak or two.

Real men are judged by their actions in life, not their words, and I agree whole heartedly with your comments and thankyou for replying in a positive manner, I really do appreciate the hard work done by the Moderators.
I know of several women, and young teenage kids from good families who read this BB on a regular basis as Cat owners and collectors, and I'm often introducing my friends to the site who don't even collect old Cats simply so I can in some way explain my passion, or "illness" as some have wickedly suggested. You know the story when friends visit and see your old Cats scattered around the yard for the first time, "Mike, you have how many old Caterpillars????", followed immediately by "But what on earth do you do with them all???"
We need the ongoing support of the special women and children in our lives if we are to continue enjoying our old Cats in a sane fashion, and if they see it as a safe, non threatening Association of good folks then our lives within our homes and workshops have a more normal flow and structure, just like the good old days we remember and yearn for again, and hopefully we will nurture and excite the next generation of Caterpillar Custodians to take over our collections and protect them from the scourge of the scrap metal industry.
Thanks for listening.
Mike Meyer

I support Mike. I don't use foul language and I don't care to have to sit and listen to someone else degrade my life by me haviing to sit and listen to them. Let's keep it clean. 😊

Gentlemen and Ladies, I'm assuming that one of the posts you are refering to was mine, where I was quoting my dear wife who was looking at some pictures of extra steep ground being cut with cat and a pull combine that are posted on the farming with steel tracks thread. Being my truck driver during harvest she can appreciate just how nasty the certain hill was. So she exclaimed a certian explitive. Now don't go thinking the misses is a some foul mouthed lounge bar dweller. She normally goes out of her way not to use such language. But she did, and it made me laugh, so I thought I'd share. I'd seen such language posted before, apparently it was OK.

Well apparently not.

I'm sorry if I offended any one

It won't happen again, at least not from me.

Bruce P

Don't beat yourself to death Bruce. A quick search shows that the word appears in 19 different threads so it has been used many times before. 😊