News & Current Affairs - A New Subscription Board

[[St...]]

I trust you, Colin and I appreciate the care with which you seem to be approaching this. I share Red’s concern, especially since Americans specifically are having a collective nervous breakdown right now. I’ve lost friends and family in the last year because they won’t quit saying racist things. Some because they won’t quit threatening violence against the other “side”. America is unhealthy and kind of mental right now. I welcome some in-context political discussion (drug policy, etc.), but otherwise I plan to stay away from this board.

[Guest [Le...]]

One thing that has been noticeable following the restriction on election-related news was that all sorts of sneaky and frankly, unpleasant, subtexts began to pop up, particularly in some Buddie Blogs, where entire paragraphs are constructed simply to convey little political zingers in the current lingo, designed to insult one extreme faction or the other, while managing to also offend the vast majority of Americans who fall in the middle.

 

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to show examples without ‘outing’ the members.

 

It’s my personal hope that once members have access to this board if they so choose, there will no longer be the urge to seed blogs with really unpleasant submessages that border on zealotry. Buddie Blogs can be read by all members, so these do get noticed, and the veiled insults hit home.

 

From my personal POV, I can say that when posts are out in the open with all the cards on the table, moderation becomes a much easier task.

[[Co...]]

I trust you, Colin and I appreciate the care with which you seem to be approaching this. I share Red’s concern, especially since Americans specifically are having a collective nervous breakdown right now. I’ve lost friends and family in the last year because they won’t quit saying racist things. Some because they won’t quit threatening violence against the other “side”. America is unhealthy and kind of mental right now. I welcome some in-context political discussion (drug policy, etc.), but otherwise I plan to stay away from this board.

 

I can assure you, the UK is extremely divided too (over Brexit). Most of the subtext (and arguments) are identical to what's been happening in America. Families, and long-time friends (even spouses) are divided / no longer talking since the EU referendum.

[[pi...]]

I'd agree with Colin that the only heated discussions appear to revolve around the establishment of the new board. Speaking from the team's perspective, there is no way we will let things get out of hand.  Our team is quite small and everyone has other responsibilities away from the forum in addition to forum duties.  We will make certain that conversations/debates/discussions stay within the guidelines set forth by Colin.

 

As Leslie mentioned, we have noticed less than veiled political references on the forum.  If you are going to speak your position, do it on this board where it's open and available for comment to be fair to everyone.

 

pianogirl

[[In...]]

I have no idea if anyone else has requested to be part of this board, but I just submitted a request.

 

Sounds like it could be very interesting. So if permitted to join, I’ll use the political knowledge I have to participate.

 

I lean a bit left, and I’m in the state of Utah which is a fairly red state. I can happily say that my immediate family do not argue about all the positions of the federal government or this state because we’re all reasonable democrats. We do have opinions, but no arguing here.

 

Let’s give this “experiment “ a shot.

 

 

[[Ch...]]

You've been approved, Intend. 

[[In...]]

Piano girl,

 

I was just thinking the same thing: the most “heated” discussion is around establishing the board itself.

 

It can always be “dissolved” if “things” get out of hand, but let’s at least try.

 

 

[[In...]]

Thank you Challis. I hope others join.

 

I’ve never joined a subscription board before, so I hope it’s not a difficult process to access it.

 

I admit to ignorance on that part.

 

I think it’s a great idea however.

[[Ch...]]

You should see it on the main board now, Intend.  There are sub-categories for different topics.

[[In...]]

Thank you again Challis. I’m going to look right now.

[[Co...]]

Sounds like it could be very interesting. So if permitted to join, I’ll use the political knowledge I have to participate.

 

Practically, the only applications which will be rejected are from those who have already lost access to the board, and where we feel less than confident that they will behave well next time around. I suppose we might also restrict access from a very new forum member, but I (for one) have not given that any thought until now. In all ordinary situations, applications for access will be approved.

[[Yo...]]

Let's just hope it doesn't get too heated like in this video.

 

 

She poked his heart!  :'(

 

[[Gs...]]

I appreciate the effort to allow wider discussions but the language concerns me.

 

Referencing of publications and websites which promote conspiracy theories, propaganda, and/or hate speech are expressly disallowed. As a general rule, if your source believes that the 'Mainstream Media' (MSM) are the problem or enemy, they are highly unlikely to be an independent, legitimate source of fact-based information.

 

I'm not sure how it is in the rest of the world but in the USA the environment is hostile to the conservative message. Many things that are not politically correct according to the current trend are labeled as hate speech, even if it is based on objective facts. What is the criteria used to determine what is or is not hate speech?

 

Also, folks need to keep in mind that the subject of benzo withdrawal might be considered by many to be a conspiracy theory or propaganda. Every other commercial on tv is for a prescription drug. Does anyone here believe that you can really trust the mainstream media to be unbiased on this subject when they derive a big chunk of their ad revenue from pharmaceutical companies? If you can't trust them on this matter, how can you trust them to deliver an accurate, unbiased message with everything else?

 

I will give it a shot but it sounds like there is already an anti-conservative bias, and that disappoints me.

 

Agreed...and I have enough problems getting people to respond to my questions about my benzo withdrawal issues without begging for a response sometimes. I lean conservative and I don't want to get judged for that. There are plenty of other websites to discuss politics. I'm pretty disappointed that people feel the need to discuss politics here when some of us are too sick to even keep up with politics because our withdrawal symptoms are running our lives. I know this isn't something I have to be a part of, but the feeling that it's necessary to make this available on a benzo board concerns me. I'm pretty sure I won't be back. I'll find another benzo support board. Sorry folks. It's been real...

[[Lo...]]

One apple a day, keeps a doctor away.

One benzo a day, and pretty soon, you can't run away.

 

"What's scarier than politics?"

"Politics while being in benzo withdrawal" - Anonymous

[[Co...]]

Agreed...and I have enough problems getting people to respond to my questions about my benzo withdrawal issues without begging for a response sometimes. I lean conservative and I don't want to get judged for that. There are plenty of other websites to discuss politics. I'm pretty disappointed that people feel the need to discuss politics here when some of us are too sick to even keep up with politics because our withdrawal symptoms are running our lives. I know this isn't something I have to be a part of, but the feeling that it's necessary to make this available on a benzo board concerns me. I'm pretty sure I won't be back. I'll find another benzo support board. Sorry folks. It's been real...

 

Short answer: there aren't any.

 

Longer answer: there are some Facebook groups, but many people find those unsatisfactory. And, according to Facebook rules, you have to use your real name for the account you use to access the group. There are some non-English speaking benzodiazepine withdrawal support groups out there. I assume some of them are excellent, but I wouldn't know which ones to recommend or any other languages you might speak.

 

As for your thoughts on the new board: the restriction on politics at BB was relatively recent and intended to be only temporary. So, this is more of a return to the status quo. However, unlike the past, we have restricted such content to a specific board. Whenever BB restricts (just about) any type of content, we receive complaints. When we allow particular types of content, we also receive complaints. No support space is perfect, and none can cater to all its members' particular requirements and preferences. There is probably no member who is fully satisfied with the policies of this forum. Indeed, I do not even run this space according to my particular tastes - I'm sure most members benefit from this, even if they do not realise it.

 

GsGirl, I hope you decide to stay. Since you have not joined the new board, I am sure that you are unaffected by the change. But if BB is not right for you, I wish you well. Good luck.

[[Lo...]]

I think this new board is a terrible idea. It is an invitation to a brawl. It will produce nothing but division and hard feelings. It is contrary to the purpose of benzobuddies, which is to bring people together to help each other through withdrawal and recovery. Battle lines will be drawn, enemies will be made, grudges will be nursed, people will remember who was with them and who was against them on some issue that seemed important to them, and those various divisions and disagreements will be carried over onto every other board and thread at benzobuddies. People will refuse to help each other, based on those divisions.

 

Beyond benzobuddies there is a big internet, full of websites set up specifically for political discussion, organization, and even combat. People who have access to benzobuddies also have access to all those other websites. If they want to engage in debate, and if they think they are actually up to it, they can go to one of those websites, and nobody at benzobuddies will be any the wiser. There is no reason for us to expect benzobuddies to be everybody's everything. This is not Facebook. This is not YouTube. This is not Twitter. This is not an IRC Chat channel.

 

Of course, there are other boards at benzobuddies set up for non-benzo posts, but those posts are intended to divert, distract, amuse, and lessen the stress of this whole painful process. This new board will have precisely the opposite effect - and that effect is so obvious that it must have been intended. This will be the only board at benzobuddies specificially designed to provoke argument and conflict. And then, to add insult to injury, it is presented as a Christmas gift! You might as well stuff your children's stockings with loaded rifles.

 

Of course, I don't have to join this new board - and of course, I will not be joining it. But my absense from that board will not prevent the damage it will do to benzobuddies, to the morale of this community, to the spirit of mutual support and assistance. If I board an airplane where everyone is allowed to smoke cigarettes, it is worse than useless to tell me that I don't have to smoke. Oh, but, you see, we have a smokers' section on the airplane, and so.. well... uh....

 

The stench and the toxicity of this new board is bound to perfuse all of benzobuddies and ruin it even for those who don't subscribe to the new board. I really don't understand what you were thinking, Cousin Colin. But I hope you change your mind and shut this new board down, quickly.

 

Well, I hate to say it, but I think redevan was right. I disagreed with him, because I didn't see it the way he saw it, but am starting to realize the wisdom of his words. Yes, he may have stated it in a very stern and heavy and dire fashion, but I do believe now that he was 100% right.

[[Sh...]]

 

Well, I hate to say it, but I think redevan was right. I disagreed with him, because I didn't see it the way he saw it, but am starting to realize the wisdom of his words. Yes, he may have stated it in a very stern and heavy and dire fashion, but I do believe now that he was 100% right.

 

I am curious.  What changed your mind?

 

XX

She

[[Co...]]

I think this new board is a terrible idea. It is an invitation to a brawl. It will produce nothing but division and hard feelings. It is contrary to the purpose of benzobuddies, which is to bring people together to help each other through withdrawal and recovery. Battle lines will be drawn, enemies will be made, grudges will be nursed, people will remember who was with them and who was against them on some issue that seemed important to them, and those various divisions and disagreements will be carried over onto every other board and thread at benzobuddies. People will refuse to help each other, based on those divisions.

 

Beyond benzobuddies there is a big internet, full of websites set up specifically for political discussion, organization, and even combat. People who have access to benzobuddies also have access to all those other websites. If they want to engage in debate, and if they think they are actually up to it, they can go to one of those websites, and nobody at benzobuddies will be any the wiser. There is no reason for us to expect benzobuddies to be everybody's everything. This is not Facebook. This is not YouTube. This is not Twitter. This is not an IRC Chat channel.

 

Of course, there are other boards at benzobuddies set up for non-benzo posts, but those posts are intended to divert, distract, amuse, and lessen the stress of this whole painful process. This new board will have precisely the opposite effect - and that effect is so obvious that it must have been intended. This will be the only board at benzobuddies specificially designed to provoke argument and conflict. And then, to add insult to injury, it is presented as a Christmas gift! You might as well stuff your children's stockings with loaded rifles.

 

Of course, I don't have to join this new board - and of course, I will not be joining it. But my absense from that board will not prevent the damage it will do to benzobuddies, to the morale of this community, to the spirit of mutual support and assistance. If I board an airplane where everyone is allowed to smoke cigarettes, it is worse than useless to tell me that I don't have to smoke. Oh, but, you see, we have a smokers' section on the airplane, and so.. well... uh....

 

The stench and the toxicity of this new board is bound to perfuse all of benzobuddies and ruin it even for those who don't subscribe to the new board. I really don't understand what you were thinking, Cousin Colin. But I hope you change your mind and shut this new board down, quickly.

 

Well, I hate to say it, but I think redevan was right. I disagreed with him, because I didn't see it the way he saw it, but am starting to realize the wisdom of his words. Yes, he may have stated it in a very stern and heavy and dire fashion, but I do believe now that he was 100% right.

 

Actually, a little before your post here, I made some changes to the new board (check it out). The News & Current Affairs board was intended to be driven by current news - this was not was occurring on the new board. So, I've now made what was more implicit, explicit. I've also made it a requirement that a reliable news source is referenced in the opening post.

[[Lo...]]

 

Well, I hate to say it, but I think redevan was right. I disagreed with him, because I didn't see it the way he saw it, but am starting to realize the wisdom of his words. Yes, he may have stated it in a very stern and heavy and dire fashion, but I do believe now that he was 100% right.

 

I am curious.  What changed your mind?

 

XX

She

 

The understanding that sank in. The way how the state of benzo-induced fragility can infinitely trigger one another in ways that can be unintentional, yet so complex and profound and difficult to explain, that it may become such a tangled mess of perpetual misunderstandings, causing much frustration and unneeded debates and arguments.

 

[[Sh...]]

 

Well, I hate to say it, but I think redevan was right. I disagreed with him, because I didn't see it the way he saw it, but am starting to realize the wisdom of his words. Yes, he may have stated it in a very stern and heavy and dire fashion, but I do believe now that he was 100% right.

 

I am curious.  What changed your mind?

 

XX

She

 

The understanding that sank in. The way how the state of benzo-induced fragility can infinitely trigger one another in ways that can be unintentional, yet so complex and profound and difficult to explain, that it may become such a tangled mess of perpetual misunderstandings, causing much frustration and unneeded debates and arguments.

 

Thank you for your response.  I felt the same way, but I couldn't articulate it clearly and still can't.    I just knew I had and have a very visceral aversion to the stated scenario of political discussion amongst benzo withdrawal compromised members.  I accept that others feel differently.  But I have decided to steer clear and can only hope the ricochet effect doesn't bleed over into the general forum as predicted. 

 

She

[[Co...]]

Thank you for your response.  I felt the same way, but I couldn't articulate it clearly and still can't.    I just knew I had and have a very visceral aversion to the stated scenario of political discussion amongst benzo withdrawal compromised members.  I accept that others feel differently.  But I have decided to steer clear and can only hope the ricochet effect doesn't bleed over into the general forum as predicted. 

 

She

 

That was my fault - I was a bit sloppy in my language. It was not meant to be a space for the discussion of politics, per se. Rather, it was meant to be (as per the title of the board) a space for discussing current news events. Now, of course politics would come into that, but it was not meant to be primary purpose. I've updated the guidance and closed the spurious threads there. I've also made it an absolute requirement to include a link (or quote) a reputable news source in the opening post of threads. If it does not work out, as I stated in my opening sentence of my announcement, the board is an experiment.

[[Sh...]]

Thank you for your response.  I felt the same way, but I couldn't articulate it clearly and still can't.    I just knew I had and have a very visceral aversion to the stated scenario of political discussion amongst benzo withdrawal compromised members.  I accept that others feel differently.  But I have decided to steer clear and can only hope the ricochet effect doesn't bleed over into the general forum as predicted. 

 

She

 

That was my fault - I was a bit sloppy in my language. It was not meant to be a space for the discussion of politics, per se. Rather, it was meant to be (as per the title of the board) a space for discussing current news events. Now, of course politics would come into that, but it was not meant to be primary purpose. I've updated the guidance and closed the spurious threads there. I've also made it an absolute requirement to include a link (or quote) a reputable news source in the opening post of threads. If it does not work out, as I stated in my opening sentence of my announcement, the board is an experiment.

 

Thank you for the clarification Colin.  Closed group with subscription only makes it low risk IMO.  The forum should not be averse to trying something new and I'm sure it will be closely monitored as promised.

 

She

[[br...]]

I agree with both of you. I started posting in good faith, and hopefully in an intelligent thinking manner .Most of the time I stayed in that framework ,and probably in a non benzo  state of mind I could have continued ,without occasionally reverting to the verbal badinage of a tired six year old child. Now I realise that I was not emotionally ready to deal with the vitriol and bad feeling that literally oozed through the posts. I'm hoping that I can get back the old warm fuzzy feeling of benzo buddieland being a safe haven.

 

[[In...]]

Vitriol and bad feeling did ooze through a lot of posts.

 

That sort of thing happens when you have a man like Trump as president of the United States.

 

I don’t think it’s about being emotionally ready to post about it. I believe it’s about his emotional readiness to be president.

 

But those are my thoughts. Others have there own. At my age, I’m definitely an adult. Not so happy about benzos but tapering so slow, I can talk about it all. I can get my back up, however, and I’ll react to button pushing. Such a contentious problem. Never wanted time to pass fast, since I was 13 years old. Would love to escape this nightmare.

[[be...]]

I just assumed most news would end up in benzos in the news. Any politics was bound to cause discord.